Happy Birthday to Me

As of yesterday, I'm another year older, another year fartier. Although I am quite lucky to still be here really, so I should be grateful. I went out for a birthday dinner last night with my mother, we went to the Outback Steakhouse just down the road since we had a gift card for them. We both enjoyed our dinners. I had the sirloin steak and grilled shrimp, my mother ordered the tilapia. The steak was nicely medium rare and delicious, the shrimp where pretty good, though perhaps had a bit too much seasoning on them. There where only, like, 4 shrimp, so I would have liked a few more, but probably wouldn't have been able to eat them all anyway. I actually managed to eat the entire 8 oz steak, along with about half of the garlic mashed potatoes (which where also delicious), and the shrimp. By the end, we where both totally, completely full. It's now been about 11 hours since, and I'm still full!  It's funny, every time we go out to eat, we always have a peek at the desert menu and talk about how maybe we'll have room for desert this time, but it never happens. We always end up so full, we might as well be Mr. Creosote from "Monty Python's the Meaning of Life". You know, that enormously huge fat guy who goes into the restaurant and eats everything on the menu while projectile vomiting, then explodes after John Cleese (the waiter) forces an after-dinner mint on him. These restaurants need a table to car wheelchair/wheelbarrow/stretcher service for those who've overeaten and are about to explode.

Dirty Silverware

I have a thing when it comes to food, any surfaces used to prepare food, and any dishes or utensils used to serve or eat food. Call me obsessive compulsive, but anything that will come in contact with food or drink has to be clean. I cannot abide dirty dishes or utensils. If it's going to go in my mouth, I want to inspect it. That may be a bit silly, considering how filthy mouths are, mine in particular. But still, I've had one too many incidents in the past of finding something gross on food I've been eating, or the dish/utensil I've been using to eat/drink with. I'm very thorough when doing dishes (no dishwasher). I automatically inspect dishes and silverware when pulling them out to use, even in my own home when I've been the one to wash them. I do the same in restaurants, and when eating at someone else's home (though I'm more surreptitious about it). It's an automatic habit. If something doesn't pass my inspection, I don't use it. Maybe it's a good thing food preparation areas tend to be hidden from view in restaurants. I might never eat out again if I saw too much. :P