FELICE ANNO NUOVO! (w:176.8)

Happy New Years Everyone!

Well, now that that's out of the way! :) I hope everyone's New Year's is going well, I'm spending mine tonight with my mom cooking my brains out. Which leads me to two very important topics: my mom, and cooking.

It's hard to talk about one without talking about the other. I love to cook, I've never discussed it much here, but in my real life I am a kitchenophile and I must say (modestly) that I am damn good at making food. I don't mean green bean whatever with a can of soup tossed on top good. Because though that may taste good, there is a different between making good food, and cooking well. I would contend, that after cooking and screwing up, and learning for years I am beginning to come into my own. From such a young age, I would see my mom making her delicious Italian gravy rushing back and forth between hot pans, making the whole house smell rich and warm and I fell in love. I used to only be allowed to grate the cheese, now I can practically cook the whole ordeal myself. Cooking and my family go hand in hand, while my mom only likes to do her big gravy once a year, my dad is Puerto Rican and loves doing time consuming things like paella as much as he loves whipping up some chicken. Where my mom and I are about flavor and quality he is all about economy, and can get a terrible cut of meat, but season it and cook it until it tastes like heaven. Its not hard then to imagine why none of us are thin. Its less extreme in my dad's case but not by much. My mom weighs around 275, and it scares me. I want her to live for a long time, to see me grow up, and I want her to be healthy and happy. We had a heart to heart yesterday, and I basically told her that if she keeps living the way she is living, without changing anything she will die sooner. It's just fact. We cried, and she looked so sad but I told her, I promised her that we would commit to changing our lives together. I can't be selfish and do this alone, I need her to be healthy too for our family. She knows that, and she's started counting her calories too. It's nice to have a buddy to do this with. Lord knows i need her help as much as she needs mine!

So calorie count should be around 1,545 today (a little lot high...but okay it's a holiday...excuses! I know! But I'm just starting again! Can't get militant on a holiday!) . I've already factored in everything we should be having for dinner (rib roast, roasted potatoes, asparagus, etc.) but I'll let you know tomorrow if anything has changed I've eaten my own weight in butter. Stay tuned tomorrow for a description of dinner, and (cheesy I know, but I can't help myself) some resolutions for 2011! Happy 2011 Everyone and good luck in the New Year!

-Bella