I've told this story before but it bears repeating. Once upon a time a poor baker realized he couldn't go on and had to close his store because he had nothing left. As he and his wife were closing up for the night a poor beggar came along and asked for help. The baker and his wife took the poor soul in, shared what little food they had with him and gave him a warm place to sleep by the fire. In the morning the beggar thanked them as he left and said: "That which you do first you shall do all day." The baker and his wife opened the shop wondering what to do. They decided they would make cookies for a sick little girl down the street. They couldn't stop, and somehow they never ran out of ingredients. Customers came in, lured by the delicious aroma. They helped themselves and left the money on the counter since the baker and his wife were too busy making the cookies.. A grocer across the street looked at all this activity and the money flowing in. At the end of the day he asked the baker what had happened, and the baker explained that they had given a beggar supper and a bed for the night. The grocer hurried out to look for the beggar and invited him home for the night. He didn't do much - after all he was just a beggar - so he gave the poor fellow a crust of bread and some thin soup and a hard rug to sleep on. In the morning when the beggar left he said, "That which you do first you will do all day." The grocer and his wife hurried into their shop. "Quick," he said, "you sweep the floor and I'll count the money so we'll be ready for the customers." And that's what they did all day. They couldn't stop to serve anyone, so people left in disgust without buying anything.

I think of that all the time. Write first, do something else later. Be careful what you do.

i'm a life member of Weight Watchers, though you wouldn't know it to look at me right now. I'm a recidivist, not criminal, not anorexic, but a slip-slider nonetheless. We are told at the WW meetings (much like AA meetings, I think, though I've never been to the latter), that the average person makes 250 decisions about food daily. Surely not the average person! Just someone who is obsessed with food? But most of us are, obsessed, I mean, one way or another. During my wet meditation every morning, that is, when I swim, I plan my menus, so that involves a lot of thinking and decision-making. I think not only of calories but also of leftovers. I take inventory of what's in the fridge and freezer and what has to be used before the expiry date - the food's, not mine. Coming home to an empty larder after so long away presented further problems of time and money, but I still had leftovers that i was grateful for, food I had thrust into the freezer just before I left. As some people know, who know my history, I am the leftover queen. My second cookbook after the leftovers one was about cheese but of course I couldn't resist including advice about using the leftovers from whatever recipe I was doling out. The book was illustrated with pen and ink drawings. After he had finished reading the book, the illustrator made a special page for me: pictures of rotting food, with mold or cobwebs or a miasma wafting above it indicating the smell. Very funny. It was, actually. I come by my respect for/obsession with leftovers honestly. My brother used to say he wished he was around when my mother served our food the first time around. He was, of course, but he couldn't remember what it started out as. (Now there are two good prepositions in a row.) All I'm saying is that if you fuss about the calories and try not to waste food and also use up the leftovers, all that activity can easily add up to 250 decisions a day. And that's just the beginning. What are you going to think about now? I have to swim now, and decide what I'm going to eat today. Bon appétit.