I thought it would be a good idea to go to Stop n’ Shop around noon today (while I was so hungry, my own arm was making me salivate.) I bumped into a couple of friends upon entering the Brighton establishment; they asked what I might grab for lunch. I informed them I was a big fan of the veggie packets with it’s own little low-fat dip. One is on a diet too and had already made her purchase. I have a feeling her purchase wasn’t as healthy as my intended purchase because she left with a sniff.
 

I headed for my lunch and decided to pick up a few things. You know, the usual, strawberries, bananas, mushrooms, etc then my veggie packs (3) and, I figured, what the heck, I’ll grab a salad too.
 

After I picked up all the healthy stuff, aka low point items, (I lost another pound, btw, I feel great!) I had an INTENSE urge for rice pudding. I hardly ever get that because it is very deceptive. You’d think it’s somewhat healthy (Why? I’m not sure, but I have always felt that it’s a healthy snack choice for my brown bag lunches.) It never is, mind you, because it comes in such small servings that I will inevitably eat two sometimes three… depending on how many points I burned in exercise that day, of course.

So, there I was, out of the produce safety zone, teetering between the dairy and freezer sections on an empty stomach, down 4.6 lbs. My eyes immediately darted towards the frozen treats, narrowing in on Ben & Jerry.

Now, can I just tell you? I’m not sure if you’ve been to the freezer section of your local grocery store lately but, there is something you NEED to check out. Ben & Jerry’s has a new creation: the single serving ice cream spectacular. With it’s own spoon.

I don’t know about you but, my idea of serving size for Cherry Garcia, has always been the whole pint. In one sitting. That’s why I only hit that section once in a blue moon, only if and when it falls on a Sunday. (Again, holy day…points are lowered on all treats.)

There was a special, buy 4 for five dollars. Well, since I’ve never been one to turn down a good deal, I tossed 4 different flavors into my basket.

Sixty dollars later, I was headed home for my “healthy” lunch…

The Ben & Jerry baby cups are 5 points and the rice pudding baby packs are 3 points each. I think green tea may cancel one point though. So, that would put me at 7 points for my healthy lunch.

At that point, I knew, I’d definitely be in the burn ‘til you learn (to just say “no” to the freezer section) spinning class tonight.

Can I just tell you? I am so all set with winter. A friend and I were emailing back and forth via Facebook, I just joined, if you’re not on it yet, you should try. Seems intriguing.

Anyway, she feels the same way about the cold but, she’s in Toronto. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it is there. So, she said she would like to go away the end of March. That is the only time I can go because Opening Day is the 8^th, I need to be ready for my beloved Red Sox. I threw it out there that I’d be interested in going away too.
 

She came back with…how about Cancun. Now, I was originally going to go to Cancun in December but was talked out of it and ended up in the Turks & Caicos, which I really liked. She suggested a place called Temptations.
 

Now, call me crazy but for those of you who know me pretty well…can you imagine me at a place called Temptations? That’s as bad as Hedonism. I mean, unless the temptations consist of ice cream sundaes and bon bons… I am WAY too conservative for that. I am tempted to go for the story factor. Can you imagine the stories I’d come back with?

I checked out the website and there’s a picture of naked massage. No towel! Seriously??? Now, don't get me wrong, I’m a big fan of massage. Just ask Cassandra’s Day Spa and Salon. They’re currently managing my retirement fund… however, when I go for my regular pampering, I am never without some sort of under garment.
 

I wrote back to let her know that it doesn’t really look like the place for me but she insisted it was REALLY nice.  Hmm. It’s also located “between Party Row and Downtown.” The second I land, you know I’d be stricken with uncontrollable giggles.

Any suggestions?

I finally started up my acting classes again. I’m signed up for a class titled Acting for the Camera. Of course, I love it. In fact, I got to be filmed twice last night. I was in the first and last scene. The first scene didn’t go so well. I have to admit, I was a little embarrassed. I had two lines. Two short lines. Do you think I could memorize them? Not for the life of me. I think I was nervous.

The class got better. I was able to finally focus rather than thinking about all the potential clients I could have called that day. We have some pretty talented and funny people in the group. I’m psyched. I feel like I’m really going to learn a lot. Not that I didn’t learn a lot in the other classes I’ve taken. It’s all good.

The last scene I got to participate in was for a man and a woman, Henry and Mary. My scene partner is also female. I hate that. I always feel like I need to take the female role even though the scene could obviously be reenacted by two people of the same sex. She clearly felt the same way because she jumped on the female role. “Would you like to be Henrietta?” she asked. “No.”

So, I played Henrietta. We had decided that the dynamic would be that she was my roommate and slept with my boss. I was to be angry. (Truth be told, I was angry that I was Henrietta.) When we got in front of the camera prepared to be scandalous, angry roommates, we were told… that I just found out I have a terminal illness.  Not going to lie, I‘m not a fan of being a part of tear-jerker scenes because I inevitably get a case of the inappropriate giggles at the height of the drama. We told him the original plan and he said we could do both. Sounded good to me.

The tear-jerker went off without a hitch. I memorized all my lines and was able to clearly establish my inner dialogue and act it out, sans giggles. He liked it. It worked so we were able to move to the scandal quickly. Well, can I just tell you? I relished every second of it! I LOVE playing deliciously mean, mean, mean! (Should I be writing that?) Vanessa Williams seems like she’s a nice woman off screen… Seriously, my favorite character to play is that awful woman. When we were finished, we finally got to view the tape.

As I was watching my scene unfold on film, I was horrified. How on earth could I possible think it was okay to wear full coverage panties under a fitted skirt??? My ass was the only thing I could focus on. I thought I had been doing so well with my diet; I was down 3.6lbs last week! I couldn’t believe that I had been walking around like that all day. Why didn’t anyone tell me? I love that underwear! How something so comfortable could look that bad was beyond me.

You may think underwear talk is a touchy subject but walking around with MAJOR lines accentuating your butt is worse. Trust me. That was fixable. Had someone told me several hours before, that underwear would have landed right in my purse where it belonged.

No wonder why my boss slept with my roommate!

I decided yesterday that I would go to church this morning. I hadn’t been in awhile. I was running late and you know, I think it’s beyond genetic (Beauty Sleep). I think it’s cultural. Greeks are notoriously late for church. It starts at 10 but very few consider getting there before quarter to eleven. Seriously. Anyway, I got there at 11:15. I almost didn’t go in because I was so embarrassed at how late I was but walked in, lit a candle and proceeded to my pew.

I sat next to my aunt. She said she had just gotten there a few minutes before me…she isn’t a blood relative. See? Cultural. Anyway, a priest was being ordained which, I have to say, was pretty interesting, I had never seen that before. So, church was WAY longer than it usually is. We usually get out around 11:45. It didn’t end until 1. Now, I like church but I hate when that happens.
 

There was a luncheon to celebrate the new priest right after the services. My aunt asked if I wanted to go and because I’ve never been one to turn down a free meal, I said, “sure.”

Well, can I just tell you? We sat at a table with Mrs. Dukakis, of Olympia Dukakis fame, it’s her cousin. She is also the author of Yia Yia’s Kitchen, one of my favorite cookbooks. When she asked me what my favorite thing to make was, I said, “reservations, but I like to wear my “Kiss me I’m Greek” apron while I call.” I don’t think she got it but, I was feeling a little punchy from being in church so long, it sounded so much better than, “spinach and rice.”

Her daughter, grandchildren and cousin sat with us. Her cousin was around my age, he’s an engineer who works in Lexington and lives in Chelmsford. He seemed like a nice guy but didn’t say more than two words. So, my plate was overflowing with Greek delicacies and my aunt and Mrs. Dukakis started talking in Greek. Now, I am not fluent in Greek but when you grow up with it, you pick up a few words. Especially ones you hear often like “gambro” which means “husband” in Greek. That word usually follows something like “when are you going to find a…” I hear it at every Greek gathering I attend with family.

I nearly choked on my spinach pie. They kibitzed in Greek and looked back and forth from me to him, him to me and said, “gambro” at least 5 times. Then, they proceeded to ask each of us questions, look at the other one of us and say, “Oh, that’s nice. What do you think of that?”

I hadn’t been this embarrassed since my mom used to invite her “nice, single…” buyers or sellers over for dinner then invite me. How is that embarrassing you wonder? She wouldn’t tell me. I would go over expecting to have dinner with my family and notice an extra place setting then…surprise.

So, if you’ve seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you may remember the line, “It’s every Greek woman’s duty to marry a nice Greek man, have Greek babies and feed everybody.” It’s true.