Stuffed Like a Pig

Yesterday was all about food since it was my birthday.

My boss took me out to lunch and we invited his secretary and my friend in human resources to go with us. He wanted me to pick the restaurant, so I picked one that I know he likes – the Macaroni Grill. I think almost everyone likes good Italian food. We all ordered a different entre and then when it came out to our table we all shared between ourselves. That was really cool and one of the great things about working with these guys. We are a strong team and I think of several co-workers as fondly as I do my own brothers and sisters.

When we got back to the office, there was a surprise waiting for us – a birthday ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Everyone popped into the main conference room to wish me a happy birthday and get themselves a big piece of cake. So of course, I had to eat a slice – to hell with the diet on my birthday!

Then last night my parents wanted me to come over and I was hoping for a home cooked meal, as my mom is a great cook and there’s things she can cook that I can’t manage to have turn out any where near as good as hers. But my dad wanted to go out, so they told me to pick a restaurant. One of my favorites is an Asian Fusion restaurant, but it’s a little expensive for my budget and I would have loved to go there, but Dad doesn’t really like Asian food and he didn’t want to go there, so I just picked the Longhorn Steakhouse. My Dad is pretty much a meat and potatoes guy, and he likes just about everything on the Longhorn menu.

So I stuffed myself like a pig yesterday and had a very nice day celebrating my 30th birthday. Now, back to the diet!

Oh My! Over the Hill Now!

Today is my birthday. The big three-oh.

I’ve always like the way my birth date writes out: 5/6/78 and if I ever have the urge to play the lottery, those are the numbers I pick. But I’ve never won anything from them – yet.

I’m smack dab in the middle of the Taurus sign, so there’s no fudging my horoscope like my sister does. She was born “on the cusp” which means on the day that the signs change from one to the next, and she reads both horoscopes each morning and believes them both. I read my horoscope once in a while for entertainment – I just don’t take that stuff very seriously.

I know the guys at work know it’s my birthday. Our human resources manager sends out an email to every on the first of every month to wish all employees with birthdays that month a collective “Happy Birthday!” My boss wants to take me out to lunch and I have to pick the restaurant. That’s kinda stresses me out, as I don’t think my favorite restaurants are the kind that he likes to go to. So I have to decide, should I go to one of my actual favorite restaurants? Or should I pick one that I know HE likes?

Friday Lunches

Most Fridays we all get together at work and pick a restaurant to go out and eat lunch together. I really like this way of celebrating the end of the work week. I also like the way this forces some of my co-workers to get up off their duffs and go be sociable. It’s so easy to just get to work and hunker down at your desk or cubicle and not get up until 5:00. People need a certain amount of social interaction. Humans are social being by nature. It’s not good to isolate yourself from your co-workers. We are a team and it takes a little effort by everyone to keep the team spirit alive and I think you will find that everyone is more productive if they are emotionally secure. I know you can’t be best friends with everyone, but you need to make an effort to be polite and respectful and it won’t kill you to be pleasant to people that you see every day.

Breakfast on the Road

Although I love to eat breakfast, I truly hate to have to cook first thing in the morning.

I would much rather enjoy a cup of coffee and something light, like half an English muffin or half of a pop tart to get something on my stomache. Then in a couple hours as I leave the house if I’m hungry I can stop at any of a number of places for an actual meal.

One of my favorite “to go” breakfasts is at the Sonic Drive-in. They do a great job of making a breakfast burrito, with scrambled eggs, sausage and cheese. The burrito is easy to eat out of your hand, whether you are driving or chose to sit in your car and listen to their cool music piped in to all the car stalls while you people watch. They also make a great breakfast smoothie, with orange juice. I can have the whole meal, a burrito and a smoothie, for under $5, including a tip for the car hop.