A Pat on the Back: Still No Mussels Involved

Contributor: Paralith

No, trying mussels will not be an item on my list of accomplishments. A general reference to my improved eating habits, however, is on the list:

1. Eating better

No, I don't mean I'm on a diet. I've never needed a diet, as my weight has always followed the bottom curve (though I do think my fat:muscle ratio is slowly increasing these days ...), which is kind of surprising, considering that carbs was about the only food group I consistently partook of while growing up. I was a super picky eater, as City Girl and Speak Coffee can attest to. But nowadays, I actually eat fruits and vegetables. And I enjoy them. That's right. I like them, as well as a wide variety of international foods that would have sent me diving behind the pews when I was in high school. Though I still have my penchants, which my unwillingness to try mussels proves - as well as a lingering love of Pasta Roni, aka, a big pile of salty, buttery, oily, noodles. Mmmmmmmm. You don't know how much willpower it takes not to go crazy when they have a ten for $10 sale at the grocery store. Which they do. All the damn time.

The main cause of my new eating habits is my boyfriend. On our first date he cooked dinner for me. During a lull in the preparations he chopped up an orange and handed me a piece - something I'd never eaten before. That's right, I'd never eaten an actual orange before. But I panicked, and did my best to eat it as though it was the most normal thing possible for me to. And, surprise surprise, it was pretty tasty. Amazing, the power of love - or, the power of not being embarrassed in front of a cute and charming boy. That works too.

2. Reading more books

This was a habit I had in high school that I regret losing. I was an avid reader and it contributed enough to my vocabulary that I earned that dorky nickname of the "walking dictionary." But, then college happened, and though I did try here and there to continue recreational reading, it just wasn't happening. At least I was being educated, though. After I left college and entered my Lost Year my efforts at both recreational and educational reading were more or less nonexistent. My brain stagnated. But today I have a big list of books accumulated, most science related and some recreational, but I'm getting back into it, and I want to get into it with a vengeance. I've wasted so many hours of my life that I could have spent improving my knowledge in my chosen field of study, that I don't want to waste anymore. In the past week I've finished two books (finish being the key word here, as the first one was started several months ago....ahem), and I hope to keep the trend up. And, if I'm lucky, get an even dorkier nickname, like "walking monkey encyclopedia" ... or something.


I feel like I may continue to write small "pat on the back" entries as things in my life progress, hopefully along the lines that I want them to. I think it will give me more courage to also write about things that I don't enjoy talking about as much. Hey, and then I can list that in my next "pat on the back" entry! Haha, I'm just kidding. Kind of .