Favorite food

For several months now I have had an internal debate going pretty much incessantly within my mind. Is my favorite food pizza or sandwiches? Would I rather eat at this moment a large hot cheesy pizza with warm crust with some green chile or a thick turkey sandwich on warm bread with mayonnaise and pickles and all the good stuff all meshed together into something fresh and tasty (no Subway reference intended)? I've gone back and forth, back and forth. I had never fully made a committment one way or the other. I simply haven't been able to choose. Unless you count warm bread. The common denominator of the two. Bread is amazing, I'll admit. I could eat a whole loaf of it or a whole pack of tortillas in one sitting. I think, however, that it's the special stuff you add to it that makes or breaks the favorite food.

The importance of choosing ones favorite food is of course something critical. I understand the benefit of being open minded, trying new things, experiencing the full width of what there is in the wonderful world of food. I, like many, love food. I'll try new things (except a wide variety of seafood and things like bugs that aren't supposed to be eaten), but the comfort of knowing what it is that you would choose over all of that is something like being able to say where home is.

I think what has finally enabled me to choose a favorite has been my recent but anticipated shove into the world called No Food Whatsoever. I'm a week post-op and I've lost ten pounds while on an all liquid diet. I can only eat what I can suck through the gaps in my teeth. My orthodontist is quite good, so the gaps are few and small. It's from within my heart-breaking misery, my constantly grumbling stomach, and the incessant food commercials on TV that have solidified my decision. It took being deprived, being able to stand back from the situation long enough to miss food, and when it comes to missing food, Pizza wins. It's Pizza. Pizza is my favorite food. Doesn't matter what's on it, doesn't matter where it's made. I see a commercial for that new Domino's pizza with the garlicky cheese stuff in the crust, that bright red of the sauce oozing over the top and I want to stick something sharp in my eye because I can't have it. I can't have it for 5 more weeks. Pizza. Oh beautiful pizza. Hot. Melting cheese. Ooooooh. It's like home.

Valentine Joy

Here's the tale of my first Valentine's day in forever that I didn't feel that miserable, desperate, frustrated with the world for allowing a holiday that excludes such a significant portion of society just because they aren't married or dating someone. Here's how it went.

I woke up to inches of snow settled on the ground after snowing all night. It was a dry, fluffy snow that feels like little pieces of cold paper. I had to get up early to make it to a fun appointment! It took a little while to unbury my car from the paper pieces, so I was late to the Flower Company to do Valentine's deliveries! So much fun! Taking bouquets of gorgeous flowers to women all over. Ladies in pajamas at home who were so overjoyed at getting roses! Women at work who got to have a huge vase sit on their desk all day to the envy of coworkers. All the way to women who seemed not at all surprised and took the beautiful roses out of obligation or tradition. The deliveries were easy. Everyone was home, no road issues. I got home on time to watch Studio 60 that I taped from Monday night and eat a little lunch before going in to work. At work, first thing was a meeting during which I got a big pat on the back for making a good discovery the night before. Yay me! Then I got all full of this goofy joy inside. I don't know how else to describe it...goofy joy. I ran in to a couple of guys in the hallway and offered huge smiles and "Have a great day!"s and one of them said, "Wow, you're real smiley today" to which the other one responded, "All I can suggest is...random drug testing...". As if the only reason someone would be super cheerful and smiley is if they are high. So I giggled about that, out loud, as I walked down the hall. Then I got to have a fun little conversation with someone else about the joys of Valentine's day and marriage and how it's not always like the movies where everything is great all the time, and about how romance isn't just about candlelight and roses. Romance is about seeing the beauty in the things, appreciating the little things in life. My goofy joy multiplied as I thanked God for giving me a joyful heart and for allowing me to see the beauty in nearly everything and to appreciate the small things in life that turn out to be the best things. Like the crisp, fresh smell of a newly opened rose bud, and a pat on the back by the boss, and realizing that even though everyone in the world doesn't get to experience Valentine's Day for what it was intended to be, I still get goofy with joy thinking about those little cold pieces of paper and smiling for no good reason at people who don't understand why.

Jessica, Isis, Amanda, and Noah

Yesterday at work I got to experience one of those really exciting moments in someone elses life. When two lives get to share a moment. It's neat. This girl I work with, Jessica, has only been working here a few months and she's super neat and it's fun talking with her. Yesterday I ran in to her in the hallway and she said "Guess What!!??!!...We just set a date!!" She and her boyfriend have been dating for a couple years and had talked marriage, and they Have a Date!!!! She was so super excited. She said, "You're the first person to know!!!!" I jumped up and down and giggled with her like most girls would. It was fun. It was neat. I enjoyed seeing the sparkle in her eyes when I said "You're getting married!!!!" Fun stuff. This is the same girl who collects dolls. Blythe dolls? She's got a ton, she just bought her first official real make and model. She and her fiance Jess named the doll Isis. Another coworker, Amanda, brought a doll in for Jessica that she had at home and didn't want anymore. A "dead baby" where the flesh is pale and the eyes are white and there's little cuts and bruises on the doll. Freaky looking doll, but a neat addition to a collection, I think. Amanda wanted to get rid of the doll because she just had a little baby, Noah, and didn't want him to find the doll someday and be traumatized.