That's Tom's sister Diane and her husband Marshall. The three of them are trying to decide what we should do for dinner.
We decide to have a bottle of wine and a cheese plate at that little bar in the Cliff House. It happens to be jazz night! A Latin Jazz group plays and Anna Estrada is singing. The music is so sweet and fun that a little girl gets up and spontaneously starts to dance in the middle of the triangular balcony, and the singer throws her some rattles.
Outside on the deck we order Chinese for delivery and when we get home, there it is. A delicious evening so far.
A few hours later on my way to the shower, I sit down on the bed. Then I find myself curled up on the bed talking to god! "Oh god. Oh man. Oh shit," over and over. I remember this same conversation from an earlier time in life, but this evening I know I haven't drunk too much. I feel nauseous and chilly and hot all at once and manage to open the window wide and collapse back on the bed, resuming the conversation.
Suddenly I know that if I can make it to the bathroom everything will be all right. I fling up the toilet lid and everything in the world I've ever eaten in my whole life exits the temple of my body orally.
All is well. I take a shower and get into bed. At 12:30 the whole thing happens again. At 3:30 it happens again. At 5:30 it happens again.
At 8:00 Tom receives a text message from Diane: "Marshall is sick. We need to cancel our trip to the farmers' market."
I'm still a little shaky--headache and stomach ache--but cognizant enough to realize that if there is ever a time to step on the scales, it's now. I know that over the course of the night I will have lost those 5 extra pounds. I take everything off including the earrings I had forgotten about. I step up, and I now weigh more than before.
Stephen Hawking has a new book out called The Grand Design. In it he says:
Regarding the laws that govern the universe, what we can say is this: There seems to be no single mathematical model or theory that can describe every aspect of the universe.
I'm going to order the book right away because I know it will explain how I can eat 5 pounds of food, throw up 10 pounds of food, and weigh five more pounds afterwards.
At any rate, by 6:00 this evening I'm ready for a walk on the Coastal Trail, and by 7:00 no Saltines for me–it's chile verde time!
