Day 4 Or... Why I've Never Been So Excited to See Spinach

Fear.

That's what I was dealing with almost all day today.
This afternoon, we traveled to Nicholasville, Kentucky to celebrate Carolyn's grandpa's birthday.
What was I afraid of? I wasn't afraid of the snow falling down on the roadways or that the temperature was in the teens. The roads seemed fine overall. I wasn't afraid of going completely bonkers from listening to Isaiah's Baby Signing Time CD the entire way there. Some of Rachel's songs are actually pretty careful. And I wasn't afraid of the big family gathering. While I'm usually really quiet around groups of people, Carolyn's family is made up of a fantastic group of people that are a whole lot of fun.

Well then, what was I afraid of? Lasagna.
Which is really strange, because it's by far one of my favorite foods. And today, I was dreading it beyond reason.

I had heard that we were having lasagna for dinner and I quickly realized that that probably meant no lasagna for me. Meat does usually play a starring role after all.

I was worrying about the temptation that I would face. Could I really say no to lasagna? Homemade lasagna?!? It would be very difficult to say the least. It would be like Cookie Monster saying no to cookies or Urkel saying no to cheese. Inconceivable.

One bite of heavenly lasagna with beef and the Go Veg Project would be over. Or at least a failure. And I thought about my many, many devoted readers. All five of you. Would you rally outside my apartment with picket signs and homemade t-shirts declaring me a failure?

I couldn't let that happen.

So, I prepared myself mentally. I prayed for strength. In my head, I practiced saying, "That's okay. I don't think I'll have any lasagna. This salad is plenty enough for me. Whew! I'm stuffed already!" I decided that I could just eat lots of bread while at least enjoying the smell of meaty lasagna. I even told myself that I could always gorge on the birthday cake after the meal.

When mealtime rolled around, I was just hoping that meat wouldn't end up on my plate. What made the whole experience harder was the fact that I was going to help my 16-month old little boy eat his lasagna. I wondered, "If I end up touching the beef on his lasagna, would it break my vegetarian diet if I just licked my fingers a little bit?" Unfortunately, the answer seemed like yes.

The good news, during the moments leading up to dinner time, was that two people attending the party, Michael and Melanie, were also vegetarians. I breathed a sigh of relief. Moral support! And I mentally acknowledged that they are probably more passionate about not eating meat than I am about eating or not eating... well... anything. At the same time, they were seasoned pros at this.

I, on the other hand, wasn't sure I'd finish four consecutive days of a vegetarian diet.

When the lasagna was served, I noticed that they had some on their plates too. Right there with their salad, bread, and fruit. Then a plate of lasagna almost magically appears before me. My wife casually tells me that it's spinach lasagna. There's not any meat in it!

Initially, I felt cautious, but then overjoyed!

At that moment, I thought that I should forcefully gather everyone together for some kind of giant group hug or perhaps a deafeningly loud victory cheer... to celebrate that all was right in the world.

Instead, I just ate lasagna.

- What did I eat on Day 4?

Breakfast. A banana and then a cinnamon roll. One was much healthier than the other.

Lunch. Pasta with broccoli and some carrots on the side. Do most vegetarians eat this much pasta in a week?

Dinner. Spinach lasagna. And a salad and bread and fruit and cake. But, let me say it again, spinach lasagna.

Do you remember those old Popeye cartoons where Bluto would be beating Popeye to a pulp when they were fighting over the affections of Olive Oil? [Which never made much sense to me because Olive Oil isn't much of a looker, but anyway.] Do you remember how excited Popeye would get when he found some spinach? You probably do.

But do you really know how he felt? I didn't until today. Because of the spinach, the Go Veg Project continues.

4 days down, 36 to go. Ten percent finished!