Turkey Meatloaf Sandwich - 249 Calorie Bento

Hubbie loves Turkey Meatloaf and Turkey Meatballs. And meatloaf is so easy to make and store! I find turkey is basically lacking in taste - so seasonings come in mighty handy!

Bento Content:

• Turkey Meatloaf Sandwich (160)
• Organic Light String Cheese (60)
• Grape Tomatoes (12)
• Celery (5)
• Carrot Flowers (12)

Total Bento : 249 calories

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TURKEY MEATLOAF (yields 6 servings)

1 lb. Lean Turkey

4 Tbsp. No-Salt Ketchup

1/3 cup Plain fine Bread Crumbs

4 Tbsp Red Pepper Spread with Eggplant and Garlic (Trader Joe's)

1/2 Tbsp Black Pepper

1 Egg - beaten

1/2 cup minced Onion

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

Oil spray

Mix 1 tbsp each of Ketchup and Red Pepper Spread - set aside.

Combine and mix rest of ingredients well with a fork - as not to squish it too much.

Lightly spray an oven-safe pan with oil. Distribute meat mixture on pan.Cover with aluminum paper and bake in 350 deg Fahrenheit for approx. 20 minutes.

Uncover, and you will notice juices coming from the meatloaf. Carefully, drain the juices onto the ketchup and pepper spread mixture you set aside.Combine well and spread on top of meatloaf.

Put back in oven, uncovered, until cooked through and sort of crusty on top - approx. 15-20 minutes.

Low Glycemic Fried Rice - 255 calorie Bento

I was experimenting with a low glycemic rice I found at the market. It is called Moolgiri. I found it once and I haven't been able to find it again. I messed up the rice the first time around - I followed their instructions and the rice got totally mushed-up. It took a bit of experimenting until I got it right.

I threw all the little bits of frozen veggies I had rolling around in the freezer. I knew they would come in handy some day! I also made a very small thin egg omellete and shredded it (kinshi tamago). The rice had the yum approval from hubbie.

Bento content:

• Sausage & Vegetable Fried 'Moolgiri' Rice (168)
• Shredded Lettuce, Red Onion & Garbanzos (83)
• Lime Juice for Dressing (4)

Total Bento = 255 calories

Ochazuke - 282 calorie Bento

The day I made this bento it was cold - and I didn't have any soup already made, so....Ochazuke to the rescue! Good thing I had leftover rice and Wild Alaskan Pink Salmon pouches in the cupboard...

Bento Content:

• Leftover rice (51)
• Wild Alaskan Pink Salmon Pouch (90)
• Shredded scallion (2)
• Green Tea Bag (0)
• Wakame & Arare (10)

As sides:

• Savory Thin Rice Mini Crackers from Trader Joe's (53)
• Corn & Red Pepper Mini Muffin - homemade (76)

Total Bento : 282 calories

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CORN AND RED PEPPER MINI MUFFINS (yields 24 Mini Muffins)

1 cup Fine Yellow Corn Meal

1 cup All-purpose Flour

1/2 cup Red Bell Pepper - chopped very small

1 cup Corn Kernels

2 packets Salt

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 egg

4 tsp Brown Sugar

1 cup Skim Milk

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

2 Tbsp. minced fresh basil

Oil Spray

Spray muffin tins.Preheat oven to 350 deg Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl sift flour, salt and baking powder. Mix in the corn meal and sugar.

Beat egg, oil and milk and add to dry ingredients.

Stir until just moistened but do not overmix.

Add peppers, basil and corn. Do not overmix.

Spoon mixture into the muffin tins.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or ntil muffins are well risen.

Let sit for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

I found this recipe in an old book I found and the original one had much more calories and the recipe was for 12 large muffins. It also had hot peppers in it, but my hubbie doesn't like 'hot' in muffins, so...there you go!

Potato with Toppings - 298 calorie Bento

This was a fast bento to put together - but will require the 'nuking' of the potato!

I find that kiddush cups are great for the height of some bentos. A little bit of Press-and-Seal on top of each cup works like a charm - specially for the creams and sauces.

Bento Content:

• Washed Potato - to be nuked (160)
• Trader Joe's Lite Shredded 3-cheese Blend (20)
• McCormick Salad Toppins (35)
• Sliced Black Olives (25)
• Fat Free Sour Cream (15)
• Micro Carrots (23)
• Blueberries (20)

Total Bento = 298 calories

Summer Rolls & Plum Sauce - 329 calorie Bento

I love summer rolls. I love making them - I love eating them. This time I made them vegetarian. I also usually make my own plum sauce. Whenever plums are in season I make a batch and it keeps well in the fridge (using an airtight jar to store it).

Bento Content:

• Summer rolls (Rice Wrappers/Carrot/Bean Sprouts/Lettuce/Spearmint) (124)
• Home made Plum suace (38)
• Grapes (18)
• Plum (30)
• Babybel Light (50)
• Cherries (9)
• Ginger Chews from Trader Joe's (60)

Total Bento = 329 calories

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HOMEMADE PLUM SAUCE (yields approx 40 Tablespoons)

15 pitted very ripe black plums

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 fl oz Lemon Juice

1/2 tsp Ground ginger (powder)

1 tsp Garlic powder

3 Tbsp Soy sauce - lite

2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

Puree raw plums in blender - I used the Magic Bullet. In a sauce pan, combine all ingredients and cook down until you reach a soft jam consistency. The color on this is incredible!

A Trip to Little Italy - 289 calorie Bento

Hubbie and I went to Little Italy and we bought the usual suspects - but not tons of anything. We did purchase what we like, but in small quantities.

Bento Content:

• 2 Mini Breadsticks (40)
• 1 oz. hard sweet Salami sliced thin (55)
• 2 small Bocconcinni (small mozarrella balls) (90)
• Mixed Olives (32)
• Grape Tomatoes (12)
• Wasabe Peas (not quite italian!) (60)

Total Bento = 289 calories

Mini Pita with Veggie Salad - 174 calorie Bento

This bento turned out to be quite low in calories. I had to throw in a banana to bulk up. The banana does not make an appearance in the bento. The cress & cilantro are from my terrace 'farm'.

Bento Contents:

• 3 Mini Pitas filled with Lite Feta Cheese (40)
• Carrot, Radish & Cucumber flowers over Cilantro, Red Cabbage & Mini Cressida Cress (17)
• Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil in the small containers (32)
• Grape Tomatoes (25)

Total Bento = 174 calories

Plus banana (120)

Skewered 'Un-Cooked' Lunch - 248 calorie Bento

Well, there was no cooking involved, but plenty of preparation! It was fun to do and came out quite colorful.

Bento Contents:

• Sickle Pear (40)
• Organic Light String Cheese & Grape Tomato Skewers (81)
• Sandwich - 1 slice white bread + 1 slice turkey 'ham' + Spicy Deli Mustard (117)
• Radish & Carrot Flowers (10)

Total Bento = 248 calories

Chicken & Mushroom Yakitori with Rice Cylinders - 225 calorie Bento

I had a mushrooms in the fridge and a little bit of leftover rice, so I decided to throw in the mushrooms with chicken and molded the rice using Kiddush cups!

Also, I am growing Cressida Cress sprouts - and they are used as garnish for the Chicken & Mushroom.

Bento Content:

• Chicken & Mushroom in a little bit of Yakitori Sauce (145)
• Grape Tomatoes (25)
• Mini Rice Cylinders with Paprika & Carrot Garnish (55)

Total Bento = 225 calories

Breakfast for Lunch - 290 calorie Bento

This was my take on Breakfast for Lunch. Beats going to the local diner - no guilt afterwards! I love when that happens...

Contents for Bento:

• 2 homemade Turkey Sausage Patties (86)
• Mini Pancakes (130)
• Kinshi Tamago (50)
• Date Syrup (24)

Total Bento = 290 calories

Portion Control Lunch - Bento to the Rescue!

Hubbie and I are on a mission to lose weight. We have narrowed down the reasons for our weight mismanagement and the outstanding winner is.....Portion Control!

We have have been trying very hard to pay attention to what and how much we eat and it seems to be working. We have also joined MyFoodDiary to keep track.

For lunch, I am preparing Bentos in keeping with the portion size control. My goal is to prepare them for under 500 calories per Bento.

Let's see how it goes! I will post bentos I have already made to catch up with the newest ones. Most of these I have also posted in MFD.

It could have been me!

I heard in the news today that a lawsuit was won regarding a 'groping' incident by security in an airport. The amount awarded was US$1.8 million. Yikes...I could have been on the receiving end of that lawsuit! But, alas, I am not the litigious kind!

A few months ago, I was coming from Central America and was going to do a plane change in Puerto Rico and then to New York. On my first leg of the trip, here I am in line, when suddenly we are all instructed to get into two lines - one for men and one for women. Mind you, this was just after I had already given in my boarding ticket to the lady at the gate.

I found this odd and it should have sent me a warning signal that things were about to get stranger....but no, I was tired and only wanted to get on the plane. So, I didn't ask any questions (very odd indeed). All of a sudden, I see that the lady in front of me is told to open her legs wide and put out her arms (nothing strange yet) until....GASP! I see a hand emerging from the front of the lady and cupping the ladies butt!

Before my brain had a chance to digest what I just saw, the inspector approaches me, and without warning puts her hand on the front of my pants and proceeds to touch me (ok, grope) my frontal privates and then proceed to grab my butt and squeezes!! Then thanks me and proceeds to the next victim.

I was in total shock, my face beet red, and for once in my life I am rendered speachless. I could only say "but...but...but". I stayed for a couple of minutes trying to gather what was left of my self respect and noticed that the men on the other line were also being groped on their privates. In the men's case, their family jewels were being totally moved from their original position.

Now, I have been through enough airport security checks to know the drill, and believe me, this was totally innappropriate. Needless to say, when I told my husband, and he saw how upset I was, we called the people in charge of airport security. After many call transfers, I was told that sometimes they did that to look for drugs, and anyway Puerto Rico wasn't part of the US (hhmmm....the first I might understand, the second, well, is just lack of education).

Anyway, we were told that thanks for the info, but nothing could be done.
A few days later, we saw an interview on Larry King Live with a comedienne recounting her encounter with the same kind of thing at another airport. My hubbie and I were amused, due to the coincidence and left it at that.

Then, today, I see the news about the lawsuit. That could have been me! I could have won that 1.8 million lawsuit for sure and I could finally buy that pair of rollerskates that I want! hahaha

Oh well, just another story for my travel saga!

Later,
Z.

The Pet Saga

There was a time when my Dad started to accumulate pets. Well, not all started as pets but they eventually became part of the family.

Let's say that someone gives you a live chicken so that you can make a roasted dinner. Then you decide to give this chicken a name, Mary for example. At that point, the chicken can thank the patron of Birds because most probably it will never see the inside of an oven. Once you name an animal, it becomes a pet.

During the last 15 years, I'd say, my parents' backyard contained the following animals:
A rooster called Kiko and a a bunch of chickens (I don't recall the names).
Two parrots and a couple of parakeets.
A bunch of quails, approximately 40-50 of them.
A dog named Pompy (she is still alive and barking).
Two miniature turtles (Bridgette and Geronimo - these were mine).
A slow-in-the-brain turkey called Clo.
An insane dog called Bolin.

There were many others, but these stick in my head for various reasons.

The rooster outlived many, many chickens. I didn't know poulty lived that long, but this one lived at least 5 years. Very strange, but very true...believe me, that rooster woke me up very early in the morning while I was at my folks!

The quails..oh, did I despise them! These little animals where supposed to be a trial business venture my Dad made up. Quail eggs are VERY expensive, so he wanted to start a quail farm of some sort. He wanted to start them off in our backyard (my Mom was not amused). What he didn't know was that those little birds make a lot of noise and produce a great many eggs. My father got bored, and guess who ended up collecting this never-ending egg supply. Me! So, we were having quails eggs every which way. The neighbours didn't want any more eggs; I guess you can only have so much of a good thing. I must say...fried Quail eggs are too cute to eat! The neighbours were tired of the noise, so my Dad opend the coop and they all flew away.

The turkey didn't last very long, but he is part of my family's stories and will live forever in our minds. I wish they were good memories... A friend of the family, knowing how much my Dad loved animals, gave him a turkey very close to Thanksgiving. Supposedly, they were to stuff it and eat but, but alas, my father gave it a name. Same old story, another pet. The turkey was living with the chickens in the backyard. The dog, Pompy, did not take the turkey's arrival very well. It was used to the chickens, but when it took a gander at the turkey, it seemed very confused. It kept looking at the chickens and then at the turkey. I guess it couldn't figure out if it was an overgrown chicken or what, but poor Pompy was obsessed with it. For a few weeks, Pompy would park herself close to the chicken coop and just stare at the turkey, until one day it gave in to temptation and went berserk and pushed down the chicken wire and chased the turkey all around the yard. A big commotion ensued, where the turkey ran into the house, knocked down a few of my Mom's crystal figurines and proceeded to set itself on top of the dining room table (the one that no one ever uses), and made a poop right on top of it. Needless to say, that was one pet that made it to the oven. No one messes with Mom's decorations and live to tell about it!

The latest saga was a dog named Bolin. This animal was a gift to my parents, and it was a mixture of a Rottweiler and a Dalmation. Oh, this is a combination from hell, I assure you! I don't even know how to name this combo...would it be a Rottmation or maybe a Dalweiler? All I know is that some things should never be combined, and this is one of them.

He started out as a cute animal, I should give him that. He was all black, except that his chest was white with polka dots and half his legs all the way to his paws were also polka dotted. It seemed he had a vest and boots! He was named Bolin, which mean 'Little Ball'. Very cute, but very insane.

We should have known that something was wrong when we couldn't stop him from eating off the paint on my Mom's lawn chairs, when he wouldn't stop eating no matter the quantity of food given to him, the biting and digging up of the lawn. My husband says that he even saw him once licking up some transmission fluid, I don't know.

My hubbie and me were visiting. My husband was sitting on a chair on the front porch, and Boling proceeded to sneak up under the chair and tried to bite his family jewels. Later, he snuck up on me and stuck his head in my skirt from the back and bit me on my tush. But, his crazy-fest ended when he dug up my Mom's orchids. That was the end of the Bolin. He was given away and the last time we heard, his owner took him to a farm and he now happily chases all the guy's chickens and no one can come near the house. Oh well, we hope he has a lovely life! That is the picture of the infamous Bolin.

Right now, only Pompy lives with my folks. We are trying to convince them to get a good puupy because Pompy is getting very old.

I think that it will take a LOT of convincing!

Later,
Z.

Exercise vs. Me ... The Rematch

Exercise...the word in itself reminds me of its close cousin Exorcize. Let's face it. We exercise and diet for health reasons. Yeah right. Let's be honest...we do it to look better. We want to get rid of something that is mainly evil from our bodies (like fat!), so the comparison to its infamous cousin Exorcize is not that far fetched.

I have had many bouts with Exercise and sister Diet. At times I have thought I've won the match, but no. The dreaded fat creeps up on me. Or maybe I should admit it once and for all...it hasn't been creeping up on me: I've opened the gate and let it in. And usually it comes accompanied by its friends Pizza, Dark Chocolate and Soda.

Well, this time I think I am going to win that match no matter how long it takes! I commit to this last rematch, which is why I dare to type it here. Hopefully I will be shamed into following through...at this point I'll try most anything.

During my lifelong battle with the bulge (sometimes little scuffles, sometimes wars) I have done many things to win. There was the time when someone told me to eat Grapefruit because the acidity would 'melt down' the fat. I thought that was a good idea, but it didn't work. The person that clued me in to this grapefruit madness neglected to tell me that grapefruit also lowers your blood pressure rapidly. This little tidbit I discovered the hard way: Cold sweats, light-headedness and ultimately fainting on the front lawn. Not a pretty picture.

During most of my life I have tried to exercise one way or another. When I was in my pre-teen years I played tennis. That was good, plus I was doing that for fun. I wasn't really overweight then. I had to stop that because I was going into High School and I was studying piano and had no more time. I had to choose and I chose piano. That's when the dreaded pounds started to climb.

I was at a gym during my early 20's and it went pretty well. I had a six pack on my non-existing tummy and I felt great. The problem is that I was obsessed with exercise. But how can that be, you ask? Beats me, but I was. I lost a whole lot of pounds, gained muscle and NOTHING moved about when I walked. Then I stopped. I actually stopped because I was moving to another country, and that was the end of that.

I enrolled again, but I wasn't really into it. There was that one time that I saw in the gym schedule something called Boot Camp. An alarm whistled in my head but I chose to ignore it and decided to try this out. Hmmm...well, keep in mind that at that point I had no stamina, lots of fat and worse - no real desire to exercise, no matter that I am also hypertensive...oh, well.

So there I was, among a dozen or so 'recruits' in this Boot Camp class. I should have known that something terrible was going to happen to me since everyone in there was about a third of my size. I should have known that something incredibly hard and agonizing was about to happen when the trainer came in with a whistle and basically pushed us out of the aerobics room and onto the running track while shouting non-pleasantries into our ears. But nooo...I didn't want to back out, especially since he asked me "Are you in the right class?" In my ears, that was a dare. Oh yeah, I was in the right class alright!

So, he asked us to run around the track 10 times to 'loosen us up'. By the end of my first run about the track, all the rest of the recruits were into their 8th or 9th time, so the trainer kindly told me that I could do the rest by walking fast since I was 'hard-headed' enough to continue. With a smile - ok, a smirk - I thanked him and continued to run. He just shook his head and kept a close eye on me. Obviously, he wanted to be ready when he would have to call 911. In his mind it wasn't a matter of 'IF' but of 'WHEN'.

Once the others finished their run, they waited for me (nice people) and the trainer instructed us to do 4 runs around the track doing walking lunges. Walking Lunges, I found out, were exercises where your hands were on your waist, you bent one knee and took a step at the same time then you would alternate with the other leg. The first 10 times actually felt good. The next 20 were not feeling that great and the last 10 I did were excruciating. I was using muscles I didn't even know I had. At this time, my hair was dripping with sweat and my face was beetroot red. The trainer felt sorry for me, I guess, because he kept asking me if I was OK. I said Yes, of course, contrary to better judgment.

He then took us back to the aerobics class where now, there stood a bunch of punching bags that appeared who knows from where. This part I actually liked, since I imagined that I was hitting and kicking a few people that I know who would really benefit from an avalanche of whoop-ass. Unfortunately, I seemed to like it too much and I used up all my non-existent energy on this punching bag. The trainer asked us - well, actually yelled at us - to do 'Duck Walks' across the room and to crawl back on all fours. Duck Walk may sound funny and it certainly looks funny, but believe me, the consequences of duck walks will remain with me forever. What is duck walk, you ask? Well, basically you squat on the floor and proceed to walk while still squatting...you actually look like a duck, hence the name.

I did it once across the room and came back crawling on all fours. Not that I wanted to crawl back, I just couldn't come back any other way. I was done for. When I arrived to the trainer's shoes, I fell flat on my face and said very loudly "I GIVE UP!" At that point I should have felt defeated, but to my surprise all my fellow recruits plus a smiling trainer clapped and cheered. "We thought you would give up at the track! We are really surprised! Good for you!". I was then told that all these people in this particular class had been doing this for years. Silly me! I couldn't go back to work for two days after that..my legs were killing me and to this day when I hear Lunge or Duck Walk, I feel faint.

Now, I have decided not to diet, but change the way I eat. I'm going to try small goals, a new one every week, and just change my old ways. I'm trying to enroll my hubbie on this adventure and he has accepted. Not only am I still enrolled at the gym, but I also enrolled in a place called SHAPES that is located about a block away from where I live. It is sort of a strange place where there are about 10 different pneumatic exercise machines alternated with aerobic/cardiovascular stations. You start at one place and do whatever machine or cardio station you are at for 35 seconds and you hear 'CHANGE STATIONS' from a speaker and you do just that...you move on to the next cardio station or machine, whichever is next. You usually get to do the whole thing 2-3 times in about 30 minutes.So, let's see what happens.

Just like Weight-Watchers say: "We hope to see less of you next time!"

Hoping to be fit,
Z.

What would you do for a craving?

How far would you go to eat a specific food? In my case, I'd go to another country. Allow me to elaborate...

My work takes me to many different countries and under many different situations and accommodations. One of my trips took me to the Caribbean to one of Lesser Antilles Islands. Wonderful, you say? Well, I thought so as well, until I realized that I would have to island-jump to one of the tiniest islands aboard a minuscule 6-seater airplane.

Never mind that the captain looked liked he had been drinking before getting into the plane...never mind that I could smell fuel from my oh-so-comfortable seat...never mind that we were flying so low that I could swear I could see fishes in the sea. The island where I was supposed to get off was, of course, the very last stop on this plane ride from hell. But hey, I was in a relatively 'virgin' island and think of all the exotic nature I would find (this, I kept telling myself while holding on for dear life after the 4th landing, during the last hour).

Well, I finally got there and behold! What beautiful scenery...and nothing much else. I mean...NOTHING. The island is 3.5 square miles in total, and there is no Supermarket, just a small place called Rebecca's Place. There, I found a few extremely overpriced essentials like chocolate bars and soda. And that's it.

There really was no restaurant to speak of, I was being fed by the resort that was being built (where I was doing my consulting job), and the food did not agree with my stomach. My poor belly was in revolt and I really needed to eat something that even though it would not fix my tummy, it would at least soothe my soul. And I had to be there for a whole month!

I casually mentioned this to another consultant and he clued me in on a startling fact....he knew were to find a Kentucky Fried Chicken.

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN, you say? KFC? REALLY? I usually don't go to KFC in the USA where I live, but when my ears heard KFC, I could have sworn my tummy promised to behave and my body started to get prepared for the closest thing to Nirvana, but something in my head knew there had to be a catch. And, there was. I would have to Island hop on the dreaded 6-seater plane to get there.

What a dilemma....Soothe My Soul versus Die from Heart Attack. What did I choose, you ask? Why, the plane from hell, of course!

That Saturday morning, at 7:00am I was at the airport, very expensive ticket in hand and ready to begin the KFC adventure. I told no one that I was going, I simply talked to hotel person in charge of plane tickets and got myself a spot on the dreaded chunk of metal.

I arrived at my destination after much tossing about in the aircraft (it was raining like there was no tomorrow), and I literally ran towards a taxi and asked him to take me to KFC.

"Really? It's only 9:30am!", the driver said.
"Good!", I blurted. " I'll be the first one there when they open!"

To my surprise, there was a line of tourists lined up when I arrived - all hungry-looking and ready to snap at anyone that might have the inclination to cut into the line.

So, when they finally opened, I ordered almost everything on those picture thingies on the wall. I sat down and ate, and ate and ate until I felt embarrassed at people watching me. That's alright, they didn't know what I had been through.

I finally got up, went window shopping and guess what I found in a gift shop...a backpack in the form of a cylinder....are you thinking what I'm thinking??? Perfect for carrying a couple of KFC buckets back to my half-built resort room!

And that I did...I bought two buckets chock-full of all kinds of chicken and happily went back to my island-hopping plane and back to my destination. What I didn't count on was that to get to my room, I'd have to pass a bunch of other rooms...and it seems that KFC aroma travels...so, by the time I got back to my room, there were at least 12 colleagues looking like Pavlov's dogs after me.

It turned out to be a rather fun chicken eating and warm coca-cola drinking makeshift party.

I was happy...I had been to Nirvana and back and was still alive to talk about it!

Z.

Close Encounters of the Match Making Kind

Before I got 'hitched' to my wonderful hubbie, I decided to jump on the Match Making superhighway on the web. I wasn't expecting much, but it was worth a shot.

I must say that I did have a good time filling out my profile...maybe more than I should admit. I was quite honest on answering the questionnaire, like admitting I could find dust bunnies under my bed and the fact that I didn't like people chewing with their mouth open. You usually are prompted to list your accomplishments one way or another, and despite all my self-deprications about myself (usually in the form of "what have I done with my life?"), I found that I had accomplished quite a few things in my life. Some good, some not so good, some - quite frankly - downright bad, but hey....that is the story of ME.

On the matchmaking website it was recommended that you post a picture, assuring the potential 'matchee' a prompter reply. Well, hmmmm, considering the strange ideas that come into my mind - some fleeting, some more enduring - I decided to post the worst picture I had. In my mind I kept telling myself...If someone can look past what I can look like at my worst, well, that someone is worth meeting. Strange correlation, but there you have it. So, I posted a picture of my dressed up in Rennaissance attire....Don't ask...I might explain that one in another blog...

Well, lo and behold, I got some takers! Well, out of this, I allowed myself to put aside my fear of getting mugged or whatever while going out on a date with a person that might have crawled out from under who knows what rock....and I went out on a few dates.

If I had to choose, two dates where the more memorable...One quite good, the other horrific.

The good one was on a Saturday and turned out to be a Marathon Date. It lasted all day. I brought me a dozen red roses when he picked me up (one gold star for bachelor #1), then we went to a basketball game in New Jersey - The Miami Heat vs. The Nets. Then we went to a movie then to dinner. Everything very nice, except when during the game, Bachelor #1 proceeding to yell at a player "WAY TO HUSTLE!" in a derrogatory manner and the player stopped half-court and looked up straight at us. Can you imagine that Bachelor #1 actually me if I thought the guy had heard him. Duh!

Well, considering the probabilities, I would rate that date as an 8 out of 10. Pretty good, but I messed that one up. Mea culpa, I must confess. Some neurotic behaviour I wasn't aware of was lurking all these years in me and decided to make its debut during this short-lived relationship. Let's leave it at that.

The other memorable date I went out on was by far the worst. It was like a train wreck. It was so bad that I had to go on another date with him just to be sure that it wasn't that he was nervous (as all my friends said) or that I wasn't being paranoid (which I kept telling myself). I just couldn't believe that someone could be soooo socially inept. One thing is manners (that can be learned) and one thing is common sense.

Take these actions into consideration and you be the judge:

On our first date he proposed the Russian Tea Room. Now that restaurant is closed, but it used to be a snazzy high class restaurant. I told him that maybe we might go to a more relaxed place on our first date, just a place to sit back and talk. He got uppity and said that maybe we could go to a hot-dog stand on 42nd Street and Broadway. What a charmer! Well, I decided to accept his invitation to the Russian Tea room.

I get there, all dolled up and dressed to kill, and Yes, Miss, we have your reservation under Bachelor #2's name, but No, Miss, he has not arrived. Needless to say, after 27 minutes (Oh, yes, I was timing this), I decided the go in and have dinner by my lonesome. Hey, I was dressed and could afford to pay my own meal. "You go girl", I said to myself and then, miracle of miracles, there he made his entrance like nothing happened. No I'm Sorry, no nothing. Then he acted offended when he realized I was going to have my dinner with or without him. Ugh!!

He crossed a street and left me standing on the other side and started to yell at me "Hurry up...you can still make it if you run!".

I'm glad that I didn't find anyone for myself on the web, basically because if I did, I wouldn't have met my adorable husband. And guess what...I met him a blind date. Hey, you never know!

All in all, I would recommend matchmaking sites to anyone. It is a good media and if you go to a reputable site, just be careful and just be yourself!

Until our next encounter,
Z.

Not Ditzy...but definitely Confused!

I don't consider myself to be totally confused, but certain things most certainly make my head spin. Hopefully, as you get to know me, you will figure out what makes me tick. When you do...please clue me in!

My very good friend Gill has enlightened me and has led me down the path of blog-gedness (don't look it up in the dictionary), hoping that it will serve as a canvas to let out and share my kooky stories.

See..this is the thing...I can't tell a joke. Well, I can, but no one usually laughs, which is very annoying. But, when I am recounting something I saw or happened to me, or just something out of my everyday life, people just crack up. I really don't know what that means (I hope it doesn't mean my life is a joke, 'cause that would not be amusing!).

Hopefully, I'll make you smile. If not, at least you know that there is someone out there crazier or kookier than you are.

Looking forward to showering you with unsolicited Close Encounters of the Insane Kind!

Z.