I don't eat fast food! This has been my silent mantra for at least the last 7 years. Sure, I occasionally partake in a nibble when we are on the road (i.e. to Fresno, Tahoe or other trip where fine dining establishments are not part of the scenic route). But as a rule, it doesn't make our way into our regular daily diet. In my former life as a student of Sociology, I was a BIG fan of the concept of Ideal vs. Real. The concept was not a complicated one, but still it had the "a-ha" effect on me as it gave me words for something I saw around me (typical of what a lot of Soc concepts do). I would pride myself (secretly, of course) on being able to identify people who were blind to their reality because I did not suffer from this same blindness...I could see clearly, I was special somehow!


One day I was driving home from a party with a friend and her son wanted to go to McDonald's, so we went through the drive through and I ordered a shake and my friend was bewildered to find out that I hadn't been to McDonald's in well over 5 years. How is that possible, she exclaimed?!


I know, I though later, how is it possible?


I think it all starts with a love of food and a sprinkle of calorie watching. And then of course there are political reasons for this as well. But how have I really managed to avoid it all these years? After all, we live in a fast-paced society with a lot of demands on us and sometimes you need it - fast! I was pondering all of this just the other day as I was sipping my coffee and dreaming about dinner (that Dale was going bring home for us).


And then it hit me (like a ton of bricks)

I DO EAT FAST-FOOD!


I had this icky feeling in my stomach (similar to one experienced by Cher in Clueless after she flunked her driving test)


Everyday I drink my Double-Tall 1/2 Caff 2-pump Soy Mocha (now with an addition of 1 pump of honey - sooooo good)
And about once a week I eat my steak quesadilla (light on the queso & with a side of sour cream & corn salsa)


Starbucks and Chipotle - yikes!


How did this happen!?


In order to continue living in my ideal world I have decided to differentiate between good (or acceptable) and bad (or unacceptable) fast food choices.


Thank you for indulging me!


Good Fast Food:


Chipotle (no longer owned by McD)
Starbucks (let's face it, it is consistent and the friendly people are making my drink before I even get to the front of the line - genius training program!)
Anything else I might happen to eat


Bad Fast Food:


McDonald's
Burger King
Anything else I don't or won't eat

Labels: Eating, Flourishing, Thinking

As we enter into Spring, I thought I would leverage this opportunity (again, too much time at work) and stand on my soap box for a moment...

For years I have heard from non-native Calfornian's that we (Californian's, that is) don't know the true meaning of seasons. The East Coast is always heralded as the only place in the world (and by world I mean The US which as we know is the world, right?) that has true seasons. This is just bologna if you ask me (which I know you didn't, but this is My Soap Box). If you buy into the notion that seasons are only defined by "fall colors", blankets of snow, spring flowers and so on, then how do you explain this?!

Labels: Thinking

Until recently I bought in to the notion (albeit on an unconscious level) that when Mom's get taken down they still have to care for everyone (including themselves). I am now annoyed on behalf of my husband for this line of thinking. I was taken down recently by a Sinus Infection (something I had avoided my whole life) and it was so miserable! I had a fever, couldn't breath out of my nose, used almost a whole box of tissue in one day, and for the first time in as far as I can remember I lost my appetite (seriously, I never lose my appetite when I am sick). My dear husband did everything short of bathing me and nary a complaint from his lips. He took on all the care for our sweet Elliot - dressed, his meds (ear infection), diapers changed...took over all the household duties - grocery shopping, laundry, food for me (I could still eat, just not quite so much). Now, this makes it sounds like he only did all these things because I was sick, and I don't mean it that way. These are things we do together every week, but like any good team player (I am spending too much time at work as you can see by my use of phrases like "team player") he kicked it into overdrive to compensate for my inability to "play ball". Thanks hubby!

Labels: Flourishing, Thinking

This whole workin' Mom thing is a killer! What a crazy circus life has become! Throw a sick mom and baby on top of it all and life becomes chaos - manageable chaos, but chaos nonetheless. I have not kept up my "What did I eat today" and I have not lost the weight that I had hoped I would by now...but I am alive and loving every moment I have with my son and dear husband! I have missed blogging, but have been lucky to get even a few moments (usually when I am pumping at work) to read a blog, let alone write a post. But here I am, finally not sick, I have showered, the dishes are done, our sweet baby (who has ear infection #2) is asleep, and though l am feeling the strongest urge to go fall asleep myself, I just really wanted to say hello! Goodnight.

Labels: Thinking

15 years ago I graduated from High School, packed my bags and move to the big city - Fremont! (I moved from Tracy). 6 months later (still in Fremont) I met a boy...who quickly became (and still is) the love of my life. (Photo on the left is courtesy of Jennie Oh, Circa 1997 UC Berkeley)


January 29th, 1995 we celebrated our 1st dating anniversary - we went roller skating. This year on our 14th anniversary we decided to commemorate the occasion by once again going roller skating - and to our surprise the roller rink is still in business. On our drive to the roller rink I suggested that we stop and get ourselves a Starbucks after we skate and Dale suggested Pete's instead. In an effort to get my way I quickly said, "Pete's wasn't around 14 years ago, so we are getting Starbucks", at which point my husband reminded me that neither was Starbucks (by not around, we mean not in Fremont).


This little bit of history made us start recollecting all the other things that were to come... In 1994 ...


*There was no Starbucks in Fremont, now there are 10 (including Newark where there are 2) ; our regular cafe, of course, is no longer in business


*Neither of us owned a computer (and only used them sparingly), now we have 3 (not including Dale's iPhone)


*All the picures we took used film


*I have had 7 addresses since then - 2 in Fremont, back to Tracy, 2 in San Francisco, 1 in San Mateo and now once again we reside in Fremont


*There was no Yahoo!, and now Dale is one of their 14K employees (ignoring the news for now)


*We bought and sold CD's, now we have 4 iPods (not kidding)


*We weren't really in college yet, now we are 1-2 years from our 10 year reunion


*We weren't going to get married nor have kids


*I drove a dark brown 1974 diesel Mercedes and Dale didn't own a car (shortly after mine blew up & Dale bought a 1985 Dodge Colt Hatchback)


*I had been smoking for less than a year, now it has been 2 1/2 years since I quit (Dale has been clean for a year)


I decided we should make a tradition out of it and go roller skating in another 14 years, at which point we got a little weirded out thinking of ourselves approaching 50 and Elliot turning 15 - Yikes (I am less wierd about 50, and more about Elliot being 15)!

Labels: Thinking

When we walked into Erik's Deli today for lunch a nice older gentleman smiled at Elliot as we passed by his table. Later as we were nearing the end of our dining experience the same gentleman came over to us, looked at sweet Elliot, tickled his little foot and said, "Keep Smilin', soon you'll be paying taxes".

Elliot accompanied Dale and I to a fun and delicious night of German Food with friends. Our waiter was quite enjoyable in an unusual sort of way. Near the end of the evening he was struck by how good Elliot had been and asked if he was always so happy and mellow. We responded (proudly) yes and he said, "he will be a great surgeon or an Eastern Religious Leader".

Labels: Thinking

Just when thought Elliot was 98% over a bad cold, he goes and develops Hand, Foot & Mouth! Poor little bear! Thankfully he has not developed blisters in his mouth (OMG - can you imagine!) and he is in great spirits (if it weren't for the spots on his itty bitty hands and feet you wouldn't even know he was sick). It just kind of sucks to get sent home on your first day at your new daycare (a spot openened up at the original place we were hoping for...more on that decision another time). We new as working parents that we would have to take "sick days" to care for our little one, but as my dear hubby said, "I just didn't think it would happen so soon". We didn't even have a real "disaster plan" set up yet...but thankfully Grandma can take tomorrow, Dad will take Thursday and I'll take Friday...hopefully Elliot will be ready to start his new daycare next week.

Labels: Kid-ing, Thinking