FOOD!!!

Yesterday I was talking to a friend at school.  I missed a dinner date she had set up with a few other girlfriends last week, because I was just feeling a bit under the weather.  (With a constant winter of snow and ice, feeling sucky thanks to sniffles and headache has gotten to us all.)  I told her that we should start a Dinner Club, that I was officially naming it Dinner Club, and then I asked when the next Dinner Club would be.  She told me they were planning on getting together but at someone's house....without food. 

I didn't get it.

Without food?

What was this crazy moon language?

It was with this simple statement delivered from her and my quick subsequent thoughts, that I did not hold in but vocalized, that I realized food is EVERYTHING.  Forget Elvis, forget the Beatles, FOOD is EVERYTHING.

It's how I socialize.  It's how I show others I care.  It's how I comfort those in need of hugs and support.  It's how I celebrate with those who have just had a new baby.  It's all about food.  I can be creative, mix things together, and revel in a new dish I created.  I can be transported back to my grandmother's small, crowded kitchen when I try to re-create perfect mashed potatoes that would make her proud.  I can spend time with my daughter, teaching her how to use kitchen tools, and then have her school me by saying, "Mama, don't forget to curve your fingers, so they don't get cut," when I was dicing onions.  (For.  Reals.  I almost died.)   

I've struggled with my body image my whole life, but after this third baby I've been looking down and finally, FINALLY saying, "Yup, this is it."  THIS is me.  I might fluctuate here and there, but I'm always gonna be a solid girl.  I got hips, I got a butt, I got big thighs.  It's me.  And, it's all from food...I don't even mind.  I will strive to eat healthy and totally balloon, but I am who I am.  

Later in the same day, another friend asked what I was eating for lunch.  It was quinoa chili.  She asked, "Oh, are you vegetarian?"  To which I replied, "Nope.  I just love food.  Give me meat.  Give me veggies and tofu.  I LOVE it all."  Well...I guess I don't want to eat live octopus that sticks to your tongue and mouth, but I'm game to most things.