I am sure that we have all watched a child in our life open a gift and is more interested in the box than the gift. There is so much truth to that on so many levels.

Last night my two nieces played with two empty boxes for over two hours over our Shabbat meal. In fact, they were having so much fun before dinner, that they wanted to leave the table early to continue their works of art.

Zoe was very interested in creating “Zoe’s Taxi” and had Gramma cut out windows for the front, back and sides of the car. She drew wheels, and headlights and tail lights, and inside the ‘taxi’ she drew in the steering wheel and seats on the bottom of the box. When I asked her if she wanted me to write the word “TAXI” at the front, she said no, but asked how “taxi” was spelled and did it herself. Very sophisticated at six years old.

Jaime’s car was more the look of a 1960’s VW hippie van with all kinds of art on the sides, front and back. I had written the words “Jaime’s Car” in bubble letters on one side, and she was very interested in colouring each letter about 4/5 different colours. I coloured in trees, and a sun, and she followed it up with a kite in the sky.

After their creations were done, photos were taken with them inside their cars to email to their mom (she and Ezra were not there due to illness). It was fun to see the creativity flourish and grow the way they are.

After that, Gramma put on Klezmer music and the dance fest began. There was lots of creativity there as well. Jaime told me that she could “feel the music in my heart”….and that made my heart melt just a bit.

We did say a prayer for the Fogel family and being with my family and watching them laugh, smile and dance was all I needed on this Shabbat.

Last weekend I went to the Keg for dinner with my friends to celebrate my friend Judy’s upcoming birthday. I love the Keg, and I was looking forward to the meal ever since we made the plans to go there.

BUT…as the day drew closer, I thought more about what I would eat there and how I would enjoy what I used to never think twice about eating. It was mentioned to me, “have a chicken breast, that is a safe bet”….yeah, well, not when you are going to a steakhouse and you eat chicken pretty much 5 out of every 7 days of the week.

So steak it was going to be. But which one, and how big. Portion size should be the size of your palm, which is about 4 oz of protein. There isn’t a steak on the menu that is the correct portion size, so you have to make a choice, to take some home, or be okay with what you eat and leave the rest.

The Keg has a great prix fixed menu right now – $39.95 gives you a choice of salad, four different steak/prime rib options, seafood side and then dessert. The dessert was the only thing that made the option not the best for me, but it turned out it was not a full size dessert, but their shooter glass size mini portion.

Ordering reminded me of my favourite movie – When Harry Met Sally. I said to the girl, “I will have the 7 oz filet, but I would like it like this….can you give me a tablespoon size of garlic mashed, and the rest steamed vegetables, not the sauteed ones that you normally give, but steamed.”. To which she replied, “the portions are all pre-portioned out, but I will see what I can do.”

I should say that I also had shrimp with my steak. So, when the plate arrived at the table, it was exactly what I asked for, my steak, the shrimp, one beautiful little scoop of garlic mashed and veggies, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and green beans – the perfect plate.

After eating the salad, and then as the nutritionist suggested, the veggies, I ate the four shrimp and at the end of all of that, didn’t eat the whole 7oz filet. I didn’t even finish the one little scoop of potato. It was a really great meal, and it was totally satisfying.

Eating out has been a source of stress for me the last few months. Making the right choices is really challenging. I guess as time goes on, and the new lifestyle starts to become habit and normal, it won’t be as hard. I am hoping that happens, because it really hasn’t happened yet.

Conquered the Keg, and was really happy about it.

Every time I hear this song I stop….what I am doing, and just listen….really listen to the words. Baz Lurhmann was ahead of his time, or was he? Take some time and read this post, the whole way through….it really makes you think:

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99, if I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth;

oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine. Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you. Sing.
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss. Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…”

Many thoughts for the day….and the year…the year that a lot of the people I know will turn over into a new decade. WOW!