My food speaks to me

Being sick the past three weeks or so, I haven't been very hungry. And being not very hungry has made me drop a few pounds. I'd say it's around 20 now.

So when I'm actually in the mood to eat, it's a good thing. I mean, keeping my strength up and all that.

Today, I was in the mood for lunch -- that's progress. I IMd one of the designers, Laura, to ask if she'd like to walk down the street for take-out. Yes, most people in our (quite small) office communicate via IM or e-mail. I think it's so there's a record of anything anybody's ever said ("I didn't say that!" "Yes you did, in this e-mail dated March 2004!"). Still, it strikes me as pretty lazy. I probably walk to other people's desks more often than most people, and even then, it's not much.

Anyway, Laura and I walked down to a Southern home cooking place called Simply For Me. Do they have plate lunches up North? I mean, plate lunches like they have here? Downtown here, most of the restaurants -- even a lot of the bars -- have a meat 'n' three as standard fare Monday through Friday. The plate lunch today was a real Southern classic: smothered chicken and dressing, green beans, yams, cranberry sauce, and a wheat roll. I think they include the wheat roll so you can say you had something lo-cal for lunch.

Laura and I ordered our take-out plate lunches, along with a slice of the chocolate marble cake. Now, Simply For Me isn't just another meat 'n' three lunch joint. They also make the best darn cakes Downtown. Every time somebody in the office has a birthday, we get a butter pecan or coconut or pineapple or Neapolitan cake from Simply For Me, which means one of their delectable creations graces our break room once a week, on average.

We walked back to the office and I ate my yummy yummy yams. Man, food that tasted good! Yay! But it turns out I wasn't as hungry as I'd anticipated, so I threw away half my lunch. I left the cake on my desk in case I wanted it later.

About 3 p.m., I was craving a taste of chocolate-y marble-y cake-y goodness, so I opened the styrofoam container ...

... and saw the note inside. I think Sandy left it. She brought me a bag of homegrown pears last week. Oh, and she left a pile of fresh blueberries wrapped in a paper towel on my desk a couple of weeks ago, labeled "For your health :-)". So, yeah, chances are the note was from Sandy.

I started giggling uncontrollably ... then I closed the cake back up and stuck it in the fridge. I'm sure one of the reporters will want it tomorrow.

I'm not stupid... I know if I'm actually feeling hungry, I should take the opportunity to eat superfoods (a la blueberries and pears). So while the thought of chocolate marble cake still sounds good six hours later, I'm going to be good.

Sandy will be proud.