10:43 p.m. | 2005-11-20 Weekend Roundup. Did I tell you guys that I changed my Saturday brunch place? No? Well, I did. (For those not in the know, I go to brunch every Saturday and read the paper while I dine. MyDad and I use to go out to eat a lot when I was in high school and we’d read the paper and discuss the news. We always went to the same place. After he died, I started going out to Saturday brunch to memorialize his death. It helped with my grieving too.) Anyway, the place I used to go to was fine and I loved being waited upon by BostonBoston, but after I started watching my cholesterol, I realized that it was quite a challenge to eat heart healthy at the diner. (Not surprisingly, those types of places were MyDad’s favorites. Mine too, for that matter.) The last time I went there was for brunch before I went shopping at the natural food store (NFS) for the first time. Once at NSF, I realized they had a café there. So, I switched my brunch place to NFS. It’s quite convenient since I can eat and shop at the same locale. It’s an ironic place to “brunch with MyDad”, but since he has no choice in the matter, the change was quite simple to make. If he was alive, I’m not sure I’d ever be able to convince him to eat at NFS, but maybe I don’t give him enough credit. Second thought… no, I can’t really picture that. The food’s really good though. Plus, it makes it a no-brainer to eat heart-healthy. I have lots of choices, they change the menu regularly and everything is quite tasty. It’s been fun trying all kinds of new things. Ditto with the shopping. In fact, I LOVE the produce section. Everything is fresh because it’s in season and local. They have all these different varieties of fruits and vegetables that I haven’t had before. Hell, the whole store has all kinds of foods I haven’t had before. Better yet, the customer service is outstanding. There are always NFS people around to answer questions and offer suggestions. Everyone is friendly and courteous. It’s a community store which I like. Reminds me of the small towns I grew up in. Even the customers are friendly and helpful. I’ve been trying new foods left and right. New recipes too. I’ve been shopping and cooking for a couple of decades now and I have to say that it’s been nice to mix it up. I have a new enthusiasm for it. In fact, I think my new eating habits have been so easy to adopt because I don’t feel like I’m being deprived of the foods I used to eat. Rather, I have all these new foods to discover. And, I actually feel closer to MyDad eating brunch there. Which is good. However, I feel much farther away from BostonBoston. Which is unfortunate. But heck, NSF has some awfully cute grocery guys. your thoughts? seed flower