“Cheesecake! Come over!” Julia sounded excited on the other end of the phone line.
“Why? What are you celebrating?”
“Nothing. I walked by the bakery this afternoon and bought a cheesecake, that’s all.”
I saw a big “10” dancing in front of my eyes. I had been working hard trying to get rid of that 10 pounds I had gained last year. “Nah, I am on a diet. Remember?”
“It’s your favorite kind – New York style with strawberry sauce on top.”
Her voice was smooth… like a piece of good cheesecake. My mouth started watering. “Well, I suppose… no, I can’t,” I said.
Two weeks ago, after a full course of a fine Italian meal, I told myself not to eat any dessert for 6 months. What kind of person would break a promise that she made to herself?
After a short pause, Julia said, “If you don’t want it, I understand.”
“I want it, but I don’t like the consequence.”
“Forget it then,” she said, and hung up the phone.
In my mind, I could still hear her disappointing voice. Worse yet, I heard my own disappointing voice shouting: I WANT CHEESECAKE!
I haven’t had any sweets for two weeks now. Wasn’t it about time to reward myself with something… maybe a piece of cheesecake? Why am I so hard on myself? Life is too short to count calories.
What would be the consequence anyway? Gain 5 pounds? If I do gain 5 pounds, that means I’ll have to get rid of 15 later. Definitely an impossible task!
But, if I enjoy the cake, what is the big deal? I want to be happy, don’t I? Besides, a “small” piece of cheesecake can’t produce that much of damage, can it?
Strawberry sauce… She bought a cheesecake with strawberry sauce on the top? Why? She loves blueberry! Did she get strawberry sauce because of me?
No one is perfect… so what if I am not a determined person. I’ll work on the damage control tomorrow…
So, I happily picked up the phone.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
HHC Blog 
Glad you pick up the phone, Helen. 🙂 I don think I can do without any sweets for two weeks, maybe 24 hours. 🙂
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Thanks, Amy. I don’t know if it was because my family was poor or it is our culture, other than Chinese New Year, we seldom have sweets to eat. After I came here, of course, everything changed 😉
Good night.
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Your comment about sweet somehow reminded me a story that my colleague told me. She said, back in Oklahoma when she was a kid, on Christmas day, they went to church. The priest gave each kid a piece of candy, and that was her Christmas present. She used to repeat the story. 🙂
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Friendship is sweet too!
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Thanks, Anabel. It is definitely sweeter than cheesecake! 😉
Have a great day.
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Yay! Life’s short. Buy the shoes; eat the cheesecake. 😀
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Thanks, Lois. I think so, too. I used to be very careful with money, didn’t like to spend any. Now I don’t have problem spending it, because life is really short (getting shorter and shorter 😉
Good morning.
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How was the cake 😀
A friend of mine says we eat in grams and when it comes to “bruning it”, we burn in milligrams. That is not at all fair.
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Good morning, Rupali. The cake can taste better if I wasn’t exhausted from the mental exercise and driving 😉 But chatting with friends is always fun.
Have a wonderful day.
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Cake and/or friendship! Nice call!
only 2/3 to go! I have an idea suddenly. How about a collection of your November stories as your next book?!
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Good morning, Lady Oscar.
It won’t sell. 😉 I print most stories out and save them in a box. That will be one of the Christmas gifts my daughter will get 😉
Have a wonderful day.
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Nice! What a wonderful gift! (quietly hide it… ^^)
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If I eat anything I am not supposed to eat, I will drink a cup of diet tea (減肥茶), so that I can enjoy the delicious foods while I am keeping my shape 🙂
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Ha ha… is there a better brand? I tried one brand long time ago, but I didn’t think it worked.
Frost on the ground this morning, Yike.
Have a wonderful day.
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Try “trim Tea”.
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Ok. Thanks. In supermarket?
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Ha ha .. you deserve a treat after 2 weeks 🙂 Did it taste delicious?
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Good morning, Julie. During that exhausting mental battle, I think I lost some of my taste-buds ;-( A note to myself: next time, eat first; do the thinking later. 😉
Have a wonderful day.
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I grew up the “Chinese” way, here in Canada, no sweets were allowed except at for very special occasions, and even then .. it was from the Chinese bakery, so no sweets as known by most North Americans.. so I do enjoy a sweet from time to time, and the picture of the cheese cake you posted, for sure would be something I would enjoy.. but in very small amounts. I loved your private conversation with Self.. I’m glad you went, friends that think of us when it is time to share, is special.
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Good morning, Dymoon. Me, too, grew up the “Chinese” way. Actually, most sweets here are too sweet for me. (I still eat a lot of them 😉 I love Chinese bakery; every time I go to see my sister in DC, I would visit one or two! I seldom bake any myself though, maybe a year-cake for the Chinese New Year.
Have a wonderful day.
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