case study #1--stomach of steel--part 1
i am from the south, born and raised. our family reunions involve pot lucks...(everyone brings a dish or two for everyone to share). my dad always says it is important to know who brought what because you typically know what their house is like, etc. he and my grandfather are always the first to show at a potluck for this very reason. anyway, jj and i were about a year or so into our relationship and family reunion time rolled around. my grandmother had developed a little reputation in her later years. let's just say, you put it on your plate to be nice, but you don't eat it. so, i told (warned) jj before we got there. i explained our family etiquette and quizzed him on what to do...watch for the signals...put on plate...do not eat. because once we get there, you must follow suit, don't bring it up and most importantly don't clean your plate. so, the blessing was asked and the line started. everyone is looking at one another asking who brought what. i signal to jj, green beans and corn (mixture of the two...a southern favorite). we all sit down and we chat and eat, chat and eat...to no one's surprise, jj gets up to get more food. he says, "i have got to get more of those green beans and corn!!" tells my aunt she did a great job making it. the room got quiet. (everyone was kind of split between rooms). we all looked at him and i said "oh my goodness, we discussed this. what about my signals?" and he said "oh, i thought you were talking about something else"...which had been cleaned from his plate as well. we all belt out into laughter. i can't explain what i was thinking...but what i can say is...a kiss was nowhere in sight for jj. i was really hoping he made it home ok. we did and he was fine.
case study #1--stomach of steel--part 2
jj is very fluent in spanish. he speaks spanish for at least 9 hours of every day. during the week and when he travels for work, he eats authentic mexican food. yummy, you say? hmmm, maybe. when i say authentic though, i mean from the restaurant on wheels where fluency in the language is a must...or (even better)...he showed me a picture the other day where the food was spread out on the ground...there was a microwave and a griddle involved. i felt like i was looking at a picture from LIFE magazine. i realized i don't know this person...jota, jota. he is not my jj. the other day, jj went to 'compare foods' to buy authentic mexican cheese to go with his authentic mexican chips and tortillas and his hard to find (at an American grocery store) mexican hot peppers...none of which i can pronounce.
but somehow he is able to eat these things and lives to tell about it.
case study #2--consumption--
oh my goodness...let me say it again...the boy can eat. it almost makes you sick to watch it sometimes. any woman who cooks and loves to cook, loves him. when i cook, i typically cook for 4 just so i can have some. this story even surprises me. since this took place, those that were present can't stop talking about it...laughing about it.
so, every so often, we get together with a group of friends...sometimes the group is large and sometimes the group is small...like this particular night. we planned to have dinner with our very good friend, chris. we decided to meet at bonefish grill, one of our faves. jj had already said he was really hungry...shocker. so we sit down and order bang bang shrimp...an absolute must!! i told the waiter just one order would do and jj looked at me as if i were crazy..."um, ok i guess we'll have two orders". so the 'two' orders arrive and the waiter takes our dinner order. both jj and i had wahoo which came with two side items and chris had a steak that came with two sides as well. jj adds a 'bowl' of corn chowder to his meal. so chris and i basically share an order of bang bang shrimp while jj ate the other plus the lettuce we left in our order. he, all but licked the bowl of his corn chowder. now, i think it is important to share that we don't just stare as he eats,...we actually hold conversation and catch up with one another or reminisce. so dinner was served and you know how it takes some people a few minutes to get your plate situated? you know, butter a potato or add a little salt & pepper...that kind of thing. i think i had gotten one bite in before jj had cleaned his plate....licked clean (not really, but you get the point). now, i think most of you may be thinking he eats like a pig eating from a trough and that is not the case...he has very good table manners. he just inhaled this particular meal. so i get about 1/2 way finished (with the idea I could take left overs...wrong!) and jj finishes my plate. same scenario with chris. he basically ate two full meals with an appetizer and a bowl of chowder. so the waiter comes around and asks about dessert to which jj resisted (shocker). but chris told him how tasty the banana's foster was and that he must try it. so order up...banana's foster with a cup of jo. so we are all talking and i think jj may have even gone to the bathroom. i asked chris if he had planned to share the dessert with jj and he said he could not have another bite of anything...he was just too full. i don't really eat desserts, so that ruled me out as well. i told chris not to say anything and watch as jj ate the entire thing. so jj returns and the waiter brings out this mammoth dessert enough for a table of 6 to share. he sits it in the middle of the table. jj begins. he keeps asking chris to try but chris politely says no each time. so jj begins telling a story...which by the way, i have no idea what his story was about because my eyes were on this dessert. so the dessert is in the middle of the table and jj is telling this story...as the story goes on, jj ever so slightly slides the dessert closer to him. chris and i look at each other each time and giggle...jj doesn't notice. he goes on and on with this story occasionally sliding the dessert ever so slightly towards him, us giggling each time. finally he slides the dessert completely in front of him and chris and i lose it..we laughed so hard both of us started crying. well, who even knew jj had reached the punch line of his story and i guess the story was funny...he laughed with us and thought we were laughing with him. the more he went on oblivious, the harder we laughed. i think at one point he said...it's not really that funny...to which we laughed even harder. bless his heart, he thought he was being funny...and he was, just not in the way he thought. well, we finally told him after he had finished the entire dessert. what a great night. so we get in the car to drive home and we literally get out of the parking lot and he says..."oh no". and the boy does not use a public restroom for serious business. btw--we were like 25 minutes from home. i said that is your punishment for eating all that dang food.
i have tried over the last two years to incorporate healthy choices and even organic foods. he can get very picky...which is surprising seeing as how he will eat from the ground when he's with his 'boyz'. well, i had been craving steak salad for a while and he didn't want to give in. finally he agreed. i bought this new dressing from earthfare...that is delish and tons of yummy fresh and crisp veggies. we grilled steaks and i made the salad...thank the lord he loved it and it is now one of his favorite meals:):) YAY! he even thanked me for being so adventurous...which i am totally not.
ok so i could go on and on, but i am sure jj has suffered enough in the public eye. if you see us out...yes i feed him (i think it is quite obvious we eat by the looks of me:)). sorry if you found this post to be an utter bore, but whenever i think of these stories, i giggle so i thought i would share:)
xoxo.
