Lists

(Aileen)
I was cleaning up my email this morning and found the following list I had sent myself last Friday while in Cornwall. It is a list of what we had consumed (food and drink) by 14:30 on Friday:

• Between 6 and 10 cups of coffee (3 – 5 each)
• ½ Mortadella sandwich each
• Pack of rice crisps (shared)
• Pack of dried mango (shared)
• Pack of Japanese rice crackers (shared)
• Half bacon sandwich each
• Between 8 and 10 cups of tea (4 – 5 each)
• Cream tea - 1 raisin and 1 plain scone, served with strawberry jam and clotted cream (shared)
• Chicken mushroom pie with mash and peas (Ed)
• Fish and chips (Aileen)
• Beer (1 each)

It is no wonder I gained weight on the trip (was quite horrified when I got on the scale on Monday morning).

I was wondering recently though – Is this what life holds in store? A lifetime of watching what you eat? What happened to the good old days of wild abandonment and reckless eating? Age has crept up and slammed on the metabolism breaks.

At least we’ve recognized this limitation, and are now somewhat careful of what we eat. Weekday meals usually consist of:
• Breakfast – Nothing (as the outright rule breaker in the household when it comes to food, I may sometimes sneak in a croissant or yoghurt)
• Lunch - Veg wrap of some sort (Aileen will dutifully skip if she was naughty with a croissant earlier that day)
• Dinner – matchbox size piece of fish served with generous helping of steamed veg OR salad; a small plate of cheese (shared); and a small bowl of cereal (for Ed and sometimes Aileen)

On weekends, we let go quite a bit (as a reward for the disciplined weekdays). And on holidays? Fogetaboutit! We go nuts! (as you’ve no doubt gleaned by now from the scores of food pictures we take when on vaca)

Is it normal to be dreaming all day about what one will be eating in the evening (even if you know it’ll be just a tiny piece of fish and some veg). Is it normal to be dreaming and scheming all week about what one will be eating on the weekend? In the Small household, you can be sure that discussions on the coming weekend’s meal commence on Monday morning. By Monday we had already decided to consume the following this coming weekend:
• Friday: Steak dinner at either La Pampa or Le Bouchon
• Saturday: Dimsum or roast duck, veg and rice in Chinatown
• Sunday breakfast: Bacon roll (Dove bacon on a soft bap lovingly prepared by Ed)
• Sunday dinner : Some kind of meat served with veg (Depends on what Dove butcher has on offer on Saturday)

Are you hungry yet? I am.