Day 4: Luisa's Cafe

It's Friday, which means payday; which means grocery shopping day.  On a normal Friday I get up anywhere between five and seven am, shower, dress, and get the kids up and dressed with Mark.  The children and I would then drop Mark off at work, grab some breakfast, and go grocery shopping.  However, the past couple Thursday nights we've been staying up late, so our Friday routine has been a bit messed up. Due to our Greek fun last night, I wasn't able to get out of bed before the sun rose.  So, this Friday Mark went off to work alone. 

The children and I wound up grocery shopping at eight o'clock tonight with their daddy.  Eight o'clock is their bedtime.  So, they were CRANKY, and miserable.  But, I couldn't blame them.  Really, it was my fault for not getting out of bed this morning.  The first stop of the night was at a store called Roses which is similar to a Big Lots.  There I purchased my first bathroom scale.  I've never owned a bathroom scale.  When I lived with my parents I used my mother's once in a while.  But, I never actually owned my own scale, one in which I didn't need anyone's permission to use.  I guess I've purposely never owned one.  I'm not sure if I'm the only person that feels this way, but a bathroom scale to me is a bit intimidating  Who wants to be constantly reminded that they've been making unhealthy choices, and that they need to lay off the sweets?  Well, apparently I want to be reminded.  This is my year of "new", of change.  So, to make my weight loss a reality and not just talk, the purchase of a bathroom scale was a must. 

Before using the scale I tested it with my husbands eighteen pound kettlebell, just to make sure it would give me an accurate reading.  Sure enough it was right on the dot, or on the line in this case.  I've been bloated lately, so I thought I would be around 120 lbs.... Well, I was only 111!  Yay!  I feel like I lost ten pounds without having to do anything!  So, I guess I accomplished my goal!  I'm just kidding.  I'm actually going to add another pound to my weight loss goal.  Instead of 10 pounds, I'm going to make it 11.  By the end of the year I will be 100 pounds. 

The second first of the night was going into a restaurant that I always considered to be a "dive".  The name of the place is Luisa's Cafe.  It's one of the kind of restaurants that's located in a slow shopping center.  The place isn't that bright from the outside, and doesn't look like anything special.  When I walked into the place the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover" ran through my mind.  On the inside Luisa's Cafe is quaint and bright.  The best way to describe it is an Italian Mom's and Pop's styled restaurant.  The employees (or possibly owners) were friendly.  We ordered take out, and it took us longer to decide on what we wanted to order than it took for the order to be cooked and ready to go.  We were in and out within fifteen minutes.  For dinner I ordered Chicken Al Limone, and bruschetta napoletana.  The bruschetta was fresh, and left my mouth watering for more.  It was the first time I had ordered chicken al limone.  I was too tired to pay that close of attention to the menu and honestly had no idea of what I was ordering.  To my surprise I ordered a dish with mushrooms.  Mushrooms can go one of two ways for me... Either they're canned, and I hate them, or they're fresh in which case I love them.  In this case they were fresh, and I fell in love with chicken al limone.  Well, maybe not "in love with", but we definitely had a thing tonight.  So, there you have it. Tonight I made myself go into a restaurant that I had summed up to be a dive, from it's appearance, and appearance alone.  It's kind of funny... Here I don't judge a homeless person, yet judge a restaurant.  Hypocritical?  Oh yeah!  So, tonight I learned a valuable lesson... Don't judge ANYTHING by it's cover!  Give everything a chance!  Sometimes it may be sushi (in which case all judgmental thoughts turn out to be true), but once in a while I might get a Luisa (in which case I was totally wrong).  So, I have to leave all of my decisions up to God, not myself.  If I have the urge to go into a place that I've never had any desire to go into before, I can't second guess that urge.  I have to listen to it, because who knows, maybe that homeless man that I will reform will be waiting for me inside.  Or, maybe a scared pregnant teenager will be sitting alone in a booth trying to make up her mind about her "choices" for the pregnancy... Or possibly a mother will be spending her last five bucks to buy her baby something to eat... The point is I have to go where God sends me.  I have to meet the people that God wants me to.  And, I have to touch their lives in the way God instructs me to.  I'm not the judge, He is!  Appearances are not always what they seem.  Anyway, I'm glad I went into Luisa's tonight.  And, I'm ecstatic that I'm not as heavy as I thought I was.  But, most importantly I thank God for teaching me a very important lesson.