Life goes on

For at least a year, Fluffycat and I have talked about going to La Fondue in Saratoga. Finally as a celebration of her birthday this year -- You don't look a year over 21, Fluffycat -- she made reservations at La Fondue and invited me and a few other friends.


After salads, it was time to dive into the wonderfulness of cheese fondue. Now I happen to think that cheese is an essential food group and cannot imagine life without it. Also a couple of weeks ago I stopped counting calories. Some of my coworkers have started a weight loss challenge and I decided to not participate. Some of them participated in a similar challenge a couple of years ago. When I tried to argue for a "getting healthy" challenge, I was overruled. Under my idea even those who were not trying to lose weight would have been able to participate. And so came my mind shift. Yes, I am still trying to lose some more weight but I am no longer locked into the idea that it has to happen by a certain time as that was sure to lead to some unhealthy, unsustainable practices. So yeah, I enjoyed the hell out of that cheese.


The cheese was followed by meat and this was the big deal. See for years Fluffycat has been wanting to try the Wild Thing assortment but had yet to find anyone willing to indulge. (And yes, I believe there was some singing of Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" as the meat selection was ordered.) The meats are, from left to right, alligator, buffalo, llama, ostrich,wild boar and venison. (Fortunately the server told us that they were placed in alphabetical order. I can do alphabetical.) I just couldn't get myself to try the llama though. Fluffycat assures me it was quite tasty.

Dessert was two different chocolate mixes. And because the restaurant needed us to shift tables to accommodate a large party, we received free bubbly for our trouble. I think the consensus was that the favorite items for dipping in the chocolate were the pirouettes, the chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough, and the cream puffs.

This dinner was perfectly timed for me. On my way there I received a text message from my dad. Something about how I needed to call, he was sorry and that he's now attending AA meetings. I briefly thought about writing back, "Good for you." Oh, and this was after a week of being assaulted nearly non-stop by emails from his fiance. Because my saying that I wasn't in the mood to talk to people obviously stands for nothing.

But dinner was a reminder of what my life was like before I got enmeshed in the crazy. And I liked it. Today I received a call from my dad's younger brother and once more I let it go to voicemail. After hours of debate, I finally listened to his message. He said he understood. "Your dad didn't do what he was supposed to do when he got out of the hospital and so you cut off contact." A tear rolled down my cheek as I listened to the message because finally someone got it. And knowing that I plan to continue to get out there and live my life and not someone else's.