Comfort Food

Like most people, I have certain trigger foods that immediately imply comfort. Some love mashed potatoes -- I guess I do too. But mainly, I crave gooey and cheesy. I could eat macaroni and cheese every day. I don't allow myself to do it but I could.

About a year ago, I was slightly underweight for my size. Those days are gone. I've enjoyed mac & cheese, ice cream, and other guilty pleasures quite often. Now that I've balanced back to the normal range, plus quit smoking (Day 19!) I know the weight will begin to pile on.

I had three bites of mac & cheese tonight with my dinner. I probably won't do that again for a while.

But life cannot be all torture. I will still have some ice cream.

The Mindset List

Every year since 1998, Beloit College releases the "Mindset List." What started as a cultural reminder for teachers of incoming college freshmen has grown into a document used around the world. It's a touchstone of the rapidly changing frame of reference for this generation.

It's filled from the silly to the serious. Most of the students entering college this fall were born in 1991.

Members of the class of 2013 won't be surprised when they can charge a latte on their cell phone and curl up in the corner to read a textbook on an electronic screen. They live in a world organized around globalization with McDonald's everywhere on the planet. Carter and Reagan are as distant to them as Truman and Eisenhower were to their parents. Everybody knows the news before the evening news comes on.

Here are a few of my favorites from the list:

They have never used a card catalog to find a book.

Magic Johnson has always been HIV-positive.

Babies have always had a social security number.

The American health care system has always been in critical condition.

Women have always outnumbered men in college.

There has always been a computer in the oval office.

Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has always been a flavor choice.

The list is not intended to make the rest of us feel old but that's exactly what it does to me. It's still fun to read. To view the entire list, go to: http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/

Dating? Ugh.

I haven't been on a first date in about 18 years. My husband used to tell the story of our beginning as, "We went on a couple of dates and then she never left." There's a kernel of truth there.

The whole idea of dating fills me with dread and makes me want to crawl into bed with a book and a huge bowl of ice cream. It's too soon ... I'm too raw. But I know I will face it eventually.

One of the great safety nets of marriage is the ability to be with people of the opposite sex and no one thinks you're on the prowl. They know me. They know my husband. They know I'm going home to him. With strangers, a simple, "I'm married" clarifies the situation nicely. I'm used to going out alone or with girlfriends, running into people I know, etc. Now it feels odd.

I did have a date a couple of weekends ago. He wore a suit and tie and treated me like a Queen.

The next weekend I was tossed aside for a better woman; his wife returned home.