Indulge

Are there certain foods that you cannot keep in your house? Foods that you know you can't resist?  The two that really stand out for me are 1) ice cream, and 2) saltine crackers. Those rectangular boxes with four rectangular "sleeves" filled with probably 50 crackers each?  I will sit and eat them mindlessly until they're all gone.  They are flour and water, for God's sake! They have no taste whatsoever!  But I can't stop eating them.  Ice cream, of course, is self-explanatory.  I will bring it home as a special treat for Jackson and me, but only in pint size (which we share) or better yet, in those individual little servings. 

But last night was the election, and I had to have some kind of dessert, so I tried out a new one -- a peanut butter and chocolate concoction by Reeses.  It was decadent and delicious.  Most of it got eaten, but there was a healthy serving of it left at the end of the night.  So what do you think I had for breakfast this morning?  A big mug of peanut butter and chocolate ice cream! Set off beautifully by a handful of pistachio nuts!  What a way to start the day!

But there is a happy ending to this story.  As I sat in my recliner, stupefied by sugar, digesting the election results AND my ridiculous "breakfast," I realized all was not lost.  Not yet, anyway.  I grabbed Banks, the leash and a plastic bag, and headed over to St. Ed's. The morning (6:20) was beautifully clear and cold, cold enough that I kept my Old Navy fleece hoodie on the whole time.  It was the best walk I've had in ages. I walked fast, kept seeking out hills and charging up them.  I'd find a building with a steep set of stairs, and go up and down them. Banks couldn't figure out what was going on.  I'd had two big cups of coffee, and they came calling pretty quickly.  I ducked into the woods and did my business.  Then we did a few circles around the soccer field where the girls' team was practicing, and headed home.

Well, I wasn't finished yet.  On the way to work, I stopped at McDonald's and had a greasy and disgusting(ly delicious) sausage biscuit with egg.  And another large coffee.  Who knows what horrors lunchtime may hold?

But here's the thing -- I don't feel defeated, or like a screw-up, and I don't hate myself.  I'm actually in a great mood. I'll do better tomorrow. Today was a setback. You gotta give in to it sometimes.  It's okay to be human, with everything self-destructive, noble, funny, pathetic, inspiring and mediocre that comes along with it. It's just one of those days.

Banks presented me with an irresistable photo op this morning after our walk.  He's the mirror image of the dog in the framed photo above him.