This morning was the first time I didn’t wake up exactly at 6:30 am to take a tinkle. My body still feels a little out of wack and I’ve been bothered by an acute pain combination between my shoulder blade and spine, deltoid, and forearm on my left side since our arrival. I blame it on my old futon mattress, which is way over its two year expiration date. I love the softness but now it deforms into a nest shape from Alex’s body. I’m sure in the night I trying to climb my way out of the crater for more even ground, thus the shoulder pain. Gees, I just re-read this paragraph and I’m already formulating a preamble to my upcoming birthday…the last year of my 20s. Bring on the pain :glurps:

No, I’m actually looking forward to my birthday because it’s a prime number year. But unlike most people I know who complain about growing older, I’m pretty excited about reaching subsequent birthdays. I like change and challenges. Yesterday, Alex and I visited my grandfather and he’s doing very well because he eats right and exercises not only his body but his brain as well. Things I can’t so readily take for granted anymore. It feels good to have a role-model of healthy living in the family.

It seems to be harder these days to better our lifestyles though, especially if you are meeting friends and family at restaurants. Since I left Florida, restaurant meal portions have doubled. I’m not lying. My grandfather loves the Bistro on Seminole Blvd. so every time we visit him that’s where we go for the last five or so years. I usually get the blue crab salad because blue crab isn’t that common of a choice in most restaurants. The salad plate hadn’t changed but the salad was twice as high as before, with a larger scoop of blue crab meat.

This past Wednesday, my mom, dad, sis, Alex and I went to Orlando to see Cirque de Soleil and arrived back in Tampa around 9:45pm. The family was a little hungry but not starving. There was no food to prepare quickly at home, so we went to the Bahama Breeze on Highway 60. Alex and I ordered a club salad to share because it was so late but what we received was dressing-soaked lettuce in a shallow bowl 16 inches in diameter, enough to feed four people. What are we doing to ourselves?

I don’t blame the restaurants. Their goal is to make money not to teach people how to eat. If we want gluttony, we get it. I overheard a woman chastising the waitress because she didn’t warn the woman that the bell peppers in her omelette weren’t diced smaller. Sorry you couldn’t shovel your omelette in fast enough because you were forced to chew your food. Have vegetables become just meal decoration, the new parsley? Now we want to see the veggie color or specks, but heaven forbid that we taste a vegetable and benefit from their nutrients. The woman wasn’t rude but her behavior really disappoints me to the point of disgust because she had two young girls with her and they will most likely learn from her bad eating habits.