10 Pounds Later

How come no one told me what happens to a body when it sits in a car day after day and then goes to bed instead of using the exercise room in the hotel? I guess you all figured that was irrelevant and I suppose it's true.

But ouch! I looked at a picture today and barely recognized myself. We've only been on the road a week or so, right? The other morning I woke up with a kink in my neck. Grandma brought me some Advil and I dropped one. We looked and looked and finally she goes, "Pick up your boob" and there it was! I'm starting to get lumpy all over though. And parts of me that should be neatly tucked are making surprise appearances when I lift my arms or bend over. I know there are new terms for fat rolls, but I'm really out of touch. I recall hearing something about a muffin top. If that's the case, I'm approaching bakery (please, please let it be the Cloud Cliff Bakery in Santa Fe) and I've got to get this under control soon or I'm going to be as big as the 50 states when this is all over.

But why start doing something about it in Santa Fe? I adore this cuisine more than any other in the world. I love to answer "Christmas" when I'm asked "red or green", meaning the type of chili I'd like on my enchiladas or my eggs. I get a little of both! And I love to eat an eclectic lunch like the one we had today at The Blue Heron Restaurant. This had to be the nicest place my kids have ever eaten and they were little champs. (Granted we got there at 11:30am when the place was empty along with their stomachs.) Grandma and Little Man split a shi-shi cheeseburger with cactus fries, and Doodle and I split grilled shrimp with yucca and capers. She also took over Grandma's portion of the very decadent crab and corn flan! Peanut ate for the first time in 3 days -- the chicken from my Caesar Salad, which wasn't a salad at all, but 3 pieces of the most delicious grilled lettuce I've ever tasted.

Having said all that, my absolute favorite thing to eat in Santa Fe are the enormous sopapaillas. For those of you who aren't familiar with these, they are an Indian fry bread. You can get them in Texas but they're weak comparatively. You've got to have them (after a proper chili relleno, of course) at Tomasita's Restaurant where they are absolutely enormous. Take off a corner, grab your knife and the little ramekin filled with honey-butter, and get to it. As you munch away, you can always add more honey!