Obsession, maybe????

Before surgery, I never ate the same food two days in a row. I'm not even kidding. I'm weird like that. If I had leftovers, there was always a day in between the original consumption and the reheating of the leftovers. If I had cereal for breakfast one morning, I didn't have it for breakfast the next morning. I would go out of my way, or sometimes not even eat dinner, if it kept me from eating the same thing twice. Fast forward to three months ago (can you believe it has been that long?!). The doctor went in an did this procedure on my stomach, but somehow it turned into something more like brain surgery! Now, instead of avoiding the same foods two days in a row, I eat the same two things constantly! Without fail. It's actually quite funny...or ironic.

Here is one example (I'll share the other example another day, but it's not nearly as exciting):

You take some chicken, oil, and a Wok...

Add some Rice Stir Fry mix, fresh zucchini, onion, soy sauce, water, and a sauce packet....

Ta-da! You get some YUMMY Kung Pao Chicken!

Yes, welcome to my new obsession - Kung Pao Chicken. I eat it no less than 4 days a week, sometimes twice a day. It is that good. I go hooked when I realized Panda Express was practically the only fast food place I could eat, because everywhere else either offers fried entrees or bread! Let me tell you, after a couple of attempts of just eating the meat off of a fast food hamburger, I decided to just let it go....haha. Ok, back to the Kung Pao. I decided it wasn't too economical to run through Panda Express every evening, so I scoured the grocery store and found alternatives. There are two different packets of sauce that I have found, a frozen ready to make packet that includes the chicken, and a boxed packet that you add your own chicken to. I have tried them all. I'm still not sure which one I like the best....the only thing I am sure of right now is that it will take me probably 5 days, 2 meals a day to eat all of this Kung Pao....but it sure is delicious!!

Lots to post in the coming days - I have my 3 month check-up tomorrow morning; classes start on Monday; and I have a birthday coming up. My parents are in town this weekend (yeah!!!!!!), and we're hosting a party for my friends at my place on Saturday evening. I'm excited - now if only this durn rain would go away (I'm sorry West Texas family, but we're drowning up here! If I could send you some, believe me - I would!). That brings me to another funny point, then I must get back to finishing grading rubrics and making cookies for the weekend.....

I came home Monday afternoon and my elderly oh-so-sweet next door neighbor - whom I affectionately call "Old Man" because I can't remember his name - was standing on his porch. The sky was threatening rain, so after saying hi, I asked him if he thought we were going to get some rain that evening. His reply, "I hope so...we sure need it." When I got inside, I thought about how interesting his comment was from my perspective or that of most of my family. See, I have decided that in Kansas City, people "need" rain so that they don't have to water their yards. It's true....people around here don't regularly water their yards - some never do. Weird, I know. Where I come from, and where most of my family lives, they really do "need" rain. They will go weeks without rain. I think we have gone a total of 9 consecutive days this summer without rain....but apparently we "need" it.

....Most of life is about perspective, isn't it?