end of an era

on my BC Hydro bill before-last, i was informed that thanks to their new tiered rate structure and my low daily kilowatt usage, my monthly bill would be reduced from $23 to $17 dollars.
last night, the television consumer advocate Chris Olson reported on a new low rate for home phone service from Telus. mere moments later, Telus called me and, after declining their internet or tv service, i got me a lower phone bill, saving me about $10 each month.
that’s $16 more every month i’ll have to spend on the Purely Decadent Coconut Milk “ice cream” i’ve discovered! or the agave syrup i put in my coffee instead of sugar or Splenda. or put into my savings account so i have money available to buy myself new pants or take a long-lost friend out to lunch.
i like it when my bills get smaller instead of bigger, don’t you?
in other news, the whole no sugar/sweeteners thing is going so well i passed up Timbits yesterday. oh, how i wanted one. they were calling to me from the little yellow handled box on the receptionist’s desk. tempting me with their bite-sized doughy goodness. i even went so far as to stick my nose in and take a great big whiff of them. then i walked away.
i don’t quite know what’s gotten in to me, really. i even seem to like oatmeal now. that’s an accomplishment because i haven’t even contemplated oatmeal since the traumatic oatmeal incident at Outdoor School in grade four.
there we were, sitting on the benches at those long tables in the dining room with that giant poster up on the wall with the lyrics to the “Johnny Appleseed” song we sang before each meal. then the big pots of mushy, overcooked, slimy oatmeal were thumped on the table. i cringed. i knew i wasn’t going to be able to eat any of that ooze, but i tried anyway. grabbing the handle of the big serving spoon, i dolloped a sickening glop of mush into my bowl, then shoveled half the container of brown sugar onto it in a futile attempt at masking that awful flavour of it. my spoon stirred in the sugar, swirling around my bowl, but never getting remotely close to approaching my mouth. finally, a fraction of the spoon filled, i wrinkled my face and touched it to my reluctantly opened mouth.
as soon as that slimy, sweet mush touched my tongue, i was done. i probably gagged. there was definitely gacking and shuddering. pushing the bowl away from me, i looked around eagerly for anything else in that cavernous room to keep me fed until lunch time. nothing except juice. i must have drunk five glasses full. then, a fellow classmate asked if he could have my oatmeal. thrusting it at him, i vowed then and there i’d never EVER eat oatmeal ever again for the rest of my life. EVER.
almost 30 years later… a recently food-curious adult Heather was shopping in her local IGA when she paused in front of the Bob’s Red Mill section and looked at that bag of steel-cut oats with something akin to excitement. what the hell! it was only $3.99. it was time to see if it was just over-cooked rolled oats which had given oatmeal a bad name for nigh on three decades.
i brought them home and plunked the package on the counter, awaiting the next morning to try my hand at cooking oats for the first time. waking the next day, leaving the boy in bed for his extra hours of sleep, i again regarded the bag of oats with curiosity, then pulled out a pot and measuring cups.
about twenty minutes later, i had a bowl of chewy steel-cut oats drizzled with some maple syrup. they were definitely oaty in flavour, but had a lovely texture and not at all ooze-like. i ate the bowl in its entirety. then filled it again. i couldn’t get enough! i still can’t! all week long, when i haven’t been eating oatmeal, i’ve been thinking about eating oatmeal.
it’s hard to admit to giving up a food phobia. it makes people say things like “next up: mayonnaise!” (no way!) and, honestly, look at you weird when you start yammering on about how AMAZING oatmeal is because they’ve been eating it all their lives and they truly can’t imagine anyone getting that excited about a hot grain cereal. even when it has syrup and slivered almonds on top. YUM!
so, this is the story of the end of an era: i eat (steel-cut) oatmeal; and, i’d be everso happy to share some with you.