Adventure Days 5, 6, and 7 Recapped!

So, I apologize for leaving you all hanging on my virtually amazing experiences - ok maybe I’m overshooting it a bit. I’ll try to sum up the past few days for you and what’s been going on…

Day 5 – I worked a full day shift, so I’ll have to admit that I didn’t complete any part of my list that day, but I did go to the gym as scheduled. This was a great success to me, since day shifts generally seem more of a challenge for me physically than night shifts for some reason, and I wasn’t sure how I’d get to the gym after a day of work – especially without my gym buddy. However I did it and it wasn’t so bad after all!

Day 6 – I completed #32 by going to the gym for the 6th day in a row.

What did I learn from this? Well, I don’t mind going to the gym. I definitely like going in the morning more than later on, but it’s fun to go with a friend.

Having time to go is truly how big of a priority it is to you. I had made a decision to go and I was there – and that was while I working over 30 hours that week (which I realize isn’t a full work week but stay with me).

I definitely believe the strength you have to work out is less about your body physically and more about how strong you feel mentally. When I first started my job this summer I didn’t have much ambition or desire to go to the gym at all and I think a lot of that was because I was exhausted (in every way) from all of the new learning I was doing.

Overall it felt good to keep my resolution and I feel it has reminded me why I started to go in the first place – it just feels good: mentally, emotionally, and physically, to get all that energy out.

Another first I discovered on Day 6 was at a wedding Wally and I attended. There was an open bar – which used to be a total turn off. You know drunken people and the like. Now I get excited at an open bar because it means I can enjoy a drink on someone else’s tab – selfless of me eh? Anyways, I had remembered that I wished I’d put ‘try my first beer’ on the list but didn’t want to overdo the alcohol quotient. But since it was free I thought what the heck! Why not give it a try?

So, Marshmallow was around and I asked him for his – he wouldn’t give it up for me and seemed strangely concerned for me to be experimenting (which is interesting considering he’s experimented, and still does, a lot). I bugged a bit more and he gave in and filled his cup to about a half an inch. I gave him a look that said ‘You’re kidding me right?’ He protested that I may not like it. I told him to fill it up more. He added another half inch of liquid. *Sigh* ‘I want more’ I said. So eventually he filled it nearly half way and I gave up. I tried a bit. Wasn’t as bad as I remembered thinking it would be.

Anyhow I drank the rest and called it history. The status of my beer days: I’d have one to feel ‘cool’ but as Wally would put it ‘I wouldn’t order it in a restaurant’. Besides at the wedding I discovered some orangey Bacardi drink that tasted waaaay to good to be alcoholic. Mmmmm. Let’s just say it was probably a good thing I had to do an overnight shift that night – it put a stop to too much trouble.

Day 7 – This lucky number lent itself to Wally and me working on #2 on my list – only trying new restaurants. Let me preface this with the fact that I worked a ten hour night shift that I was supposed to be sleeping during (at least 7 hours of them). I never sleep well at work because you never know when someone may wake up, (and there’s a ringing monitor on that doesn’t help). That night I forced myself to keep the lights off and at least try to rest. By 2am I did finally fall asleep for 45 minute intervals – that is until 4am on the nose when my little suppose-ed sleeper was wide awake and peering through the little window of my door. I’ll spare you all of the next 5 hours of details, let’s just say that I didn’t get any more sleep (nor did he).

When I arrived home I was feeling ok but knowing that that feeling wouldn’t last long. I always try to come home and catch a 2 hour cat nap for good measure – Sunday was no different. None the less I was still in a ‘be careful not to say something that could make me kill you’ mood when I woke up. Generally I’m ok, but it’s bad when Wally says virtually nothing wrong at all and I act like he should be burned at the stake for it – that’s really what I’m like. Why am I telling you this? Because I want to let you know how daring it was for us to attempt #2 while I was in this fragile state.

You see the one reason Wally and I never step out and try new things is because we are both scared of disappointment, of making mistakes, of having a fight over what we should do – that’s why we usually end up doing what we always do, going where we always go and keeping safe. It’s just plain easier that way (not to mention more peaceful). So this day, in my rather crazy disposition it was definitely a risk to go somewhere new, even if it was just a restaurant. But we did it anyway – and no one died.

We have been talking for months about wishing we could find some restaurants that weren’t chains (because really their food is way cheaper and yummier). But the only way to find out what was good would be to either hear about it from someone or just try it, and since we didn’t know many people (at least not ones that like to frequent restaurants) we just hadn’t found any yet.

So after much discussion and some wandering around a bit, we went past a family restaurant we’d noticed several times but had never been too. We drove in and nervously walked up to the door and entered. When we opened the door much to our surprise the place was packed! It was a family diner. They had an all day breakfast and then everything else under the sun on the menu and with good prices too! We were quite excited and hoped it would be good eats too.

Now since this was a fairly ordinary diner I had a difficult time deciding what ‘new’ food I would try. I settled on a hotdog with ‘the works’ (I’ve only ever had ketchup on my dog and have never ordered one while out to eat before) and some onion rings (I usually only order these when I know the place is good). Wally ordered a full breakfast and we waited…the waitress soon came back to tell me that they were out of hotdogs (of course) and gave me back a menu. Now I had some thinking to do…I settled on a Beef Dip sandwich to accompany my hopefully delightful onion rings. We got our food a while later and … we loved our meal! I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed mine – it wasn’t even poultry!! Wow! This whole trying new things thing is workin’ out … so far.

We are looking forward to trying a few more great restaurants in the future.

(I know it wasn’t all that entertaining or deep but that’s life sometimes)