The Dining Out Test

I'm making a real effort to get back into the daily posting habit, so while I'm still lacking in the muse factor, these may be boring or brief. Or both! Either way, I really believe this blogging thing helps me stay on track, so I'm gonna try.

Yesterday was a pretty bittersweet half-day of work. I finished up all my notes, reports and binders and handed those to my supervisor. I showed one of the associates where all my cold stores, frozen stocks and cultures were. I handed in my badge and I left. It's sad knowing that after 7 months of interning they have no positions available, but I gained a lot of valuable experience there and I will come away with two really good letters of recommendation. I'll put those to use over the coming weeks as I search for employment.

I had my standard breakfast of cereal and a FiberOne muffin, I didn't have my usual mid-morning snack as we were out of bananas, and before I left the lab, I heated up some leftover chicken marsala and whole wheat couscous and had those with a light yogurt, an orange and some baby carrots for lunch. Once I got home, I just kind of vegged out for a while. I can definitely tell I'm going to get very bored of unemployment very quickly. Around 4 or so, I grabbed some hummus, an ounce of pita chips, 2 green onions and some more baby carrots for a quick and easy snack to tide me over until dinner at 7.

Dinner was planned about a week ago when we invited another couple to go to a cajun restaurant with us. Dining out is frequently a challenge for me, especially when it's a social occasion with friends. I've remarked before that my family and friends have no idea how healthy I eat because whenever I'm with them I revert to poor choices and bigger portions than normal. Seeing as I've only been on the wagon for a week, though, I really wanted to stay within reason. I left myself with 17 points, so it's not like I had no room to enjoy myself, but I could easily eat double that with just a po' boy. Instead, I only had one of the gator bites we ordered for the table and one slice of bread from the basket and for my entree, instead of getting something fried like I normally would have, I got a bowl of gumbo. It was really tasty and filling, but best of all, I felt rather accomplished to have passed this little field test for myself.

We had discussed the possibility of hitting up the drive-in after dinner because both features were flicks I wanted to see (Halloween 2 and Inglourious Basterds), but everyone was too tired. I think the little lady and I will be going tonight instead. Maybe I'll bring some microwaved popcorn. Have a good Saturday.