Changing the Way I Do Things on Vacay

I have been coming up here to Otsego Lake since 1997. This is my 11th summer. DQ has been coming since the summer of 1971. The only summer he ever missed, we missed together, was the summer of 2001. Eric was an infant, we lived in CA and we had too much going on and not enough money to make it out here.

So for the past eleven or so summers we have come to the lake and done one thing REALLY well – EAT! Our mornings were lazy with breakfast of French toast or pancakes, bacon, eggs and the like. Very rarely was it just cereal. One summer I made sure I had an English muffin every morning, with lots of butter, on top of everything else.

If lunch was a sandwich it included chips and soda. In the hours between lunch and dinner, if we weren’t on the lake we were inside playing games while eating chips and dip. Homemade French onion dip. French Onion dip is a staple here at the lake.

Dinner was a grand affair. Depending on who was here there may be appetizers. Dinner was large, and while we did have a salad that was probably the healthiest thing on the table. It was followed with a dessert. My aunt, the one I have been going to the gym with, is known for buying great desserts just because. She is skinny as a rail!

From dinner until bedtime, especially once the kids were in bed, the time was spent playing cards games, drinking and eating cookies or candy. If the kids were up, and it was chilly enough we would make S’mores in the fireplace. I would certainly have more than one.

FAST FORWARD to the summer of 2008 – now! Our first trip to the grocery store was decidedly different. NO soda, no cookies (OK – one bag of vanilla crème wafers for Fridays!) Lots of fruit, nuts, and whole grain this and whole grain that. I was proud (and poor!) of our choices as we left the store.

As I have gone through the last ten days though, it has been a constant struggle to get used to my “new way” of life. Gone are the chips with lunch. In its place are veggies and fruit. Gone are the cookies at night. I did get a box of Mike and Ike’s the other day, but it wasn’t the same. Card games are played with no accoutrements, just the game itself and maybe some carrot sticks. I am chewing gum like crazy to keep myself from eating all the kids’ stuff. Their available choices are OK, if you eat just one. But I doubt I could stop at just one!

So this trip to the lake, while not over yet (I still have seventeen days left here!) has been all about changing my mindset while here at the lake. Did I tell you I went to the movies and didn’t even get popcorn? No soda, candy, nothing! UGH!!!!

Til next time (which might be in a few minutes!)
Mummy Qua