I ate everything

The hubbster and I are on vacation right now.  I just wanted to document everything I ate because it was DELICIOUS and I'm 99% sure I can recreate pretty much all of it at home.  Of course I won't get to eat it on a patio with the ocean crashing on the beach right below me, but whatever.  (wait, is that why it tasted so good?  oh I'm screwed...)

First meal worth remembering: it was so simple, yet so delectable.  We went to a Greek restaurant and I had a veggie wrap.  It was just a pita bread, toasted, and filled with red and green bell peppers, onions, and these giant meaty mushrooms that had all been... umm... probably sauteed in 32 gallons of olive oil...  and then there was tzatziki and feta.  It was served with lemony potatoes and a bit of Greek salad.  Yum!  Also my permanent dining partner ordered a corn and crab soup that was out of this world.  It was creamy, and if memory serves me correctly (it's not on their online menu) I think it said something about Chardonnay.  But I might be crazy.

And then tonight.  I ate EVERYTHING.  3 hours later and I'm still stuffed.  We started with fried calamari.  And I had a local brew.  Then I had this bowl of stuff...  started with a base of diced mango and red bell peppers.  Shrimps.  Add some coconut rice.  And because I like to live on the edge, I had them add a big ol' hunk of sesame and wasabi crusted tuna.  Rare, of course.  My man loves his steak rare.  And he even makes medium-ish pork chops.  But he FREAKS THE HELL OUT when I order rare tuna.  So I do it every chance I get.  Because it's fun.  Oh yeah, and after I finished my beer, I had two-for-ones of their version of rum punch.  Mmmmmmmm rum punch.  But wait, I forgot the best part!

Crab
Mac
and
Cheese

Shut the fuck up.  That was awesome.

I munched on 4 different kinds of marine life in one meal.  Die, fishies!  Get in mah belly! 

Did I mention crab mac and cheese?  Seriously.  I kinda wanted to order 3 or 4 more servings and bring them back to the hotel for breakfast.

And we wrapped it up by splitting a piece of Key lime pie. Which I also wanted extras to bring back for breakfast. 

I slid off my chair.  Holy shitballs.

Springtime Fantasies

I am a winter person.  I love winter. My favorite sports are all related to snow and ice. 

And then I moved to a place dominated by summer... and misery. 

Winter around here is typically pretty chilly and windy, but mostly brown.  And as this pathetic snow-less winter drags into an even more dreary no-longer-winter-but-not-yet-spring season, I start dreaming of spring.  Visions start running through my head.  Beautiful ones, not the horrifically terrifying visions I have in that half hour between laying down in bed and falling asleep, but that's a story for another day. 

I have visions of glorious colorful flowers.  Visions of a bountiful vegetable garden.  Fragrant herbs in terracotta pots on my patio.  My front porch and white picket fence all cleaned up and mold-free.  Me frolicking gaily around my yard in a sundress and big floppy straw hat. 

And then (because I have an extremely vivid imagination) my visions get even more elaborate.  I'm taking all those delicious vegetables and herbs and preserving them in various states and recipes with my canner.  I've swapped my big floppy straw hat for a yellow apron.  I see a stuffed canning cabinet, with so much food, bold colors in sparkling clear jars, ready and waiting to perk me up during another gloomy winter. 

But then reality sets in.  And I remember the following:

• we have crappy clay soil that won't grow much of anything except weeds and moles
• it gets beastly hot and humid here in the summer and I don't ever want to be outside except to be in the pool
• the only place we have to garden is across the driveway and more than a hose-length from the nearest water spigot
• I don't look good in a sundress
• the deer/rabbits/other creatures like to eat any flowers/vegetables/herbs/small trees/etc
• canning is no fun during August because the air conditioner can't keep up with all the boiling water

Basically the only realistic things from my visions are that I do own both a big floppy straw hat and a yellow apron.  I think I'll just let the farmer's market take care of the vegetable and herb production this year.  And my husband is actually better at flowers than I am.  I will still do the canning, but hopefully be able to schedule it for a rare cool or at least cloudy day. 

And I will power-wash the front of the house.   Possibly tomorrow if the wind dies down. 

And Where Is My Jet-Pack???

Sometimes I wish all that futuristic sci-fi stuff that was dreamed up back in the '60s actually came true.  Yeah, jet-packs would be pretty cool, but mostly I'm talking about food coming in pill form.

I have been working on improving my emotional relationship with food.  I have made great strides (more on that later, if anyone is interested) but the one downfall is I struggle with figuring out what to eat now.

I was at the grocery store on Friday.  I had two meals to plan: my parents were going to be over for supper on Saturday and the hubbster was home for supper tonight for the only time in two weeks.  That was no problem, I love to cook for others.  I found two recipes that looked good, and decided which to make on which night based on my dad's and my husband's likes and dislikes.  Before I left home, I made up my grocery list with the things I'd need for both meals, and then at the bottom of the list I added "my lunches"

I wandered all the way around that grocery store three full times.  I could NOT figure out what the heck I wanted for my next few lunches.  And at that point I realized my life would really be easier if food came in pill form and I didn't have to think about it. 

And I want a jet-pack.

But I do not want to have to wear a shiny silver track suit.

The Secret Club

Trying new foods.  Specifically new produce.  Yeah yeah it's good and good for you and blah blah blah, but do you know what my favorite part is?  My very most favoritest part?

When you plop something down on that (potentially rather nasty) conveyer belt at the checkout counter in the grocery store, and the cashier has no freaking clue what you are buying... that makes me feel superior. 

Wait, am I a hipster?  Oh lordie.

But anyway, my point is that there are certain things cashiers always know.  If you go into a grocery store and buy bananas and your cashier has to look up the PLU, he is either brand new to the job, or mentally handicapped.  Or both. 

I will go to my grave knowing that the PLU for bananas is 4011.  And I haven't been a cashier for nearly 15 years now. 

But I went to the store and bought an Asian Pear.  It had no little cheat-sheet sticker on it.  Cashier was clueless, she finally had to ask me what it was because she couldn't figure it out. 

And I felt superior. 

No pain no gain

That phrase is so maligned these days. "If it hurts, you're doing it wrong!" But as someone who hates exercise, just walking down a nature path kind of hurts. I mean not in an injury kind of way. Just in a this is work and I'm lazy way.

Right now my feet are killing me. The plantar fasciitis is in high gear. And I could easily use that as an excuse to be lazy today. And short term it would feel better to put my feet up. But being a long term ultimate pleasure seeker, I would feel sooooo much better is I struggle through the foot pain today because my feet feel better and better the less I weigh. And the best way to do that is to burn off the excess calories. Well, it would have been even better to not have eaten the excess in the first place. But fitness is also a good thing.

You can never go back

I started to write a post back on... Friday?  Saturday morning?  Anyway, I was back in the only place I've ever truly considered home besides my parents' house, and it wasn't the same.  Things had changed.  Lots of things.  Some things weren't as glorious as I had remembered them.  But at the same time it was still beautiful, it was still that old home of mine, some things hadn't changed and were still as glorious as I remembered.

When I started the post, I was depressed because I couldn't go back.  But now I'm not depressed anymore.  I still can't go back to the way it was, but I got validation that those memories are real and they were great times... and that I can make myself a new good life even if things aren't perfect around me.

I'm doing an online course for the next month-ish.  I may not be writing here as much because of the writing I'll be doing for that.  I'm going to keep up on my podcasts, but probably putting that stuff in the class writing too.  Maybe.  No promises.  Actually I may drop the podcasts during the class if they're interfering. 

This podcast I love, because she teaches us to do the three P's.  Persistence, Patience, and Practice.  And everyone take note, Perfection ISN'T one of the P's.

Also, I'm going to be stepping away from the computer a bit.  I think that's contributing to my neck/shoulder/back pain and my headaches.  I'll still be around occasionally, but not on the couch or the bed for hours at a time. 

And now, time to go for today. 

Turtle

I know slow and steady wins the race, but I'm having a tough time accepting that.  I want what I want, and I want it now!  At the rate I'm going, I'm going to be 40 before I reach my goal.  I know I could lose weight faster... go on any of the many mainstream diet plans...  but I wouldn't stick with it.  It wouldn't be a life-long change for the better.  So, I'm gonna strap on my turtle shell and self-correct from yesterday and see how things work out. 

I'm super emotional right now too.  Marriage problems.  Last night I watched Tangled, the new Disney take on Rapunzel.  And I saw my marriage in the fake mother-daughter relationship.  No, I don't have magical hair.  But anyone could see the dysfunction in their relationship... and I was just fine with it, blah de dah, right up until the first time with the "I love you""I love you more""I love you most" bit.  And I was reminded so much of how the man can never say "I'm sorry" or anything even remotely close to admitting he might have made a mistake.  Any time he's done something to hurt me, it's "I love you?" always in a question way.  He's not telling me he loves me, and he's not apologizing for anything.  He's asking if I still love him.  He's never done any one thing directly to me to make me feel I need to leave, but he's also never done anything to make me want to stay.  And he has done a sum total, cumulative effect of lots of things to make me want to leave.  I need to hunt down K2's shrink's number again.  I'm really feeling it's time to go.  Except I signed up for the path finder.  Maybe I should give that a shot first.  I mean after 6.5 years, what's another 5 weeks?  Except I'm feeling the ambition right now.  Which, history has taught me, will be fleeting. 

Hmm.

Still sleepy.  Been up since 3:30.  Nap time?