How Did I Get Here?: Part 15

My wife Tabitha and I started out as friends back in 2006.  We both shared a love of singing, an odd sense of humor (each different, but both odd) and just enjoyed our time with each other.  We went out a few times alone and I definitely had thing for her.  Her...not so much.  She just wasn't that attracted to me and thought of me as a friend.  There were a couple of times we went out and afterward decided that perhaps we weren't for each other.  That was until Mel Gibson day on July 28, 2006.  You've never heard of Mel Gibson Day?  It's celebrated annually in our house.  


I had invited Tabitha up to my home for a swim and perhaps dinner out.  When she arrived, the rain was just about to start, her modesty prevented her from bringing a swimsuit anyway and we just decided to adjourn to dinner.  We headed down the street to a now defunct place called Goodfellas and then went out for some singing.  Once we left the karaoke joint, I invited her into my place to watch a movie.  By this time it must've been 1AM and I asked her if she had ever seen Braveheart.  Well, if you haven't experienced this fabulous flick, made before Mel went batshit, it runs about 180 minutes.  We watched the movie until the wee dawn hours, all the while not knowing that at that very moment, drunken Mel was in a Malibu jail cell going off on Jews, the cops and telling everyone how he 'owns Malibu' and there would be hell to pay.  While Mel was showing the world his true colors, sparks were starting to fly back in NJ between Mike and Tabitha during his epic masterpiece and thus, Mel Gibson Day was inaugurated.  Coincidence?  I think not!  It had to be planets aligning to tell us something.... okay... coincidence, but if I ever need to jar my brain as to the date, there is plenty of documentation online about Mr. Gibson's fall from mega-stardom on that night that changed both our lives.


Tab was a practicing vegetarian at the time, so to say that we were culinarily mismatched is an understatement.  I was eating almost anything that moved and the richer and unhealthier the better.  She on the other hand, with the occasional exception of fish, was all about the veggies.  The first meal I cooked her was actually just like this past Thursday's entry of grilled vegetables and some overcooked tuna steaks.  I tried to wow her with my cooking wizardry. That time it fell short of the mark.

As our relationship progressed my weight and my eating habits were proving to be an obstacle in many areas.  I vowed to myself and eventually to her (although she never asked me to) to make changes and get healthy.  Although there were fits and starts of trying to lose weight, my addiction was more than I could handle and I fluctuated back and forth.  I managed to drop about 30 lbs. or so before our wedding in October of 2008, bringing me to the neighborhood of 340, but other than that, it was an up and down losing battle that I couldn't get my head around.  I have a few regrets in life and one is that I couldn't control my food demons in the early years of our relationship.  Tab is an active, healthy woman and we could have done a lot more had I been of today's mindset.  Of course, I wouldn't have the nifty story that is currently the number one blog entry you see above, called "My Wife Tried to Kill Me on October, 10, 2008", but I'd trade that in a heartbeat if I could.


Thanks for spending time with me today.


Cya Sunday,
M


What I ate Friday and how I exercised:
Breakfast ~ 2 scrambled eggs with grilled peppers, onions and a chicken sausage
Lunch ~ An unbelievably good grilled veggie sandwich on a sprouted grain roll with balsamic basil vinaigrette
Dinner ~ Mussels Diablo and a chicken Caesar salad, one glass of wine and a piece of bread
Exercise ~ none...not good