It’s a miserable, cold and rainy, sleety, slushy day so I skip Weight Watchers. That, and the fact that this past week has been a major eating week, and the same is expected for the next ten days or so.
I’m happy to leave the house after spending all morning getting more anxious by reading College Confidential…a helpful website that is custom-made for mothers like me. It seems near miraculous to get into any top school today, given how fierce and qualified the competition is. When did so many kids get so smart?
I meet Meredith for a pleasant afternoon concert. I’d gotten us $4 tickets for a Broadway play called Rain. It’s basically a concert of 30 or so Beatle songs, sung by four excellent impersonators. We rock away the afternoon with a group of other like-people. Emotions are evoked as I listen to the music and watch the accompanying slide show. Music is so embedded into the culture of the 60's and early 70's that separating the two is impossible. We sit next to a well-dressed, attractive age-appropriate single guy. Meredith turns to me and says, “You should ask him out.” I think about how I can give him my card. But then he begins to talk. I mean really talk, as in, "Please, I have so much to tell. Can you listen? Maybe you can help me?" He of course doesn't say this, but it is implied. We quickly learn that his ex-girlfriend's mother died within 15 minutes of being bitten by killer ants. That this same ex-girlfriend has a son who is a sociopath and lives in Buffalo. And that before his current girlfriend, he was divorced but still living with his wife. As the concert progresses, he talks more. He takes out his Blackberry and shows us an email that begins Dear Jon(athan). It's a break up email from his ex of two years who cannot give him the many "hugs and kisses" she knows he needs. He loses his attractiveness quickly and I drop out of the conversation. Meredith is kind and offers him the advice he is seeking. Then he tells us his son is a senior in high school. I jump back into the conversation and ask, “Where’s your son thinking of going next year?” And he says his son has some issues and probably will live at home, and, “Besides, it's so different with kids today. When I was graduating from high school, everyone was going to college to avoid the draft. Kids today don’t seem that motivated to go to college.” Okay, now I know he’s not for me. We clearly live on different planets. Some people are better off just not speaking.
I’m meeting Corinne at six for a BAFTA reception at HBO followed by a screening for Mildred Pierce, so I decide to hang out in midtown rather than go home. I pop into a favorite lunch place that I used to go to when I was working called Pret A Manger. I peruse the sandwiches, all of which list the calorie count. Most are between 450-600. But then I see the Wrap section, described as “ fresh natural ingredients wrapped in low calorie, all natural tortillas.” I chose the Spicy Shrimp and Cilantro Wrap based solely on its 290 calorie count.
The reception turns out to be much better that the expected cheese and grapes. No, this one includes an open bar, mini shepherd’s pies, shrimp in a curry sauce, lamb in a pastry dough, exotic cheeses with truffles, and other high-end delicious-looking passed appetizers. I say no to all of them and drink only seltzer water.
While I don’t measure and weigh and track food any more, the weight-watchers lifestyle has become an integral part of my life. And most importantly, it’s not all that difficult to live this way. 18 months after starting, and I'm still amazed by the results.
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