Temptations

Yesterday I went to Target (my favorite store in the world) to pick up a few odds and ends before going to the beach this weekend. As I'm about to walk out with my purchases, I hear my name called. I turn towards the snackbar/Starbucks and see an old co-worker of mine from Miami Subs. They now work at Target and apparently manage the snack bar area. He waved me over and as I make my way over there, it hits me. I'm about to go stand in front of a plethora of food that I love. Individual pizzas from Pizza Hut, hot dogs, french fries, chicken fingers, and a variety of ice cream treats. The soda fountain beckons at me with their shiny labels and the smell of carbonated goodness dripping from them. I'm pretty sure the only thing I said during that conversation with him was "mmmhmm, yep, oh really?" I was too busy smelling the aromas of the food of my past. Mercifully, he had a customer and our meeting was cut short and I hurried towards the exit. Just as I was starting to let myself drown in the deep despair of being denied all those yummy foods, I thought, "Hey! Stop it! You walked away, didn't you? You didn't grab a pizza to go or buy an extra large Diet Coke for the road! Snap out of it!" I had walked away from my past..and it felt good.

Yesterday was "Birthday Cake Wednesday" at my job. The 2nd Wednesdayof every month, we get a HUGE sheet cake from Publix to celebrate all the birthdays of that month. July is my birthday month, so I was even more aware that there was going to be a giant cake with my name on it at approximately 2pm that day. Normally, the cakes they get are marble cake with a gooey fudge icing on it. Sooo yummy. All day I was thinking of ways to get out of eating this cake. Should I pretend my stomach hurts? Maybe I should take my lunch late and by the time I get back, the cake will be gone. Should I just throw it in the trash? They always make a big production of bringing the cake to the desk of those that have a birthday that month. Much to my delight, the cake they brought over was not the normally ooey gooey cake that I love so much, it was a spice cake with date nuts and cream cheese frosting. YES! I'm ALLERGIC to nuts! Now, I won't always get out of stuff like this so easy, but let me tell you the relief I felt when my manager brought me my cake and I got to say, "I'm sorry - I'm allergic to nuts". Whew! Crisis averted! My manager apologized over and over, saying they shouldn't have tried a new cake, blah blah blah. I said it was fine and got back to work, happy I could work the rest of the day not dreaming about cake.
Of course 20 min later, my manager returns with an individual cupcake she got from a nearby bakery to "make up" for the cake blunder. Sigh...