Personally, I only have children of the furry 4 legged variety. But I still love Mother's Day because I am lucky enough to still have my Mom with me…..at 82, going on 50, she is an amazing woman, you'd all love her. We bought her flowers, a dress jacket, and went out for lunner (the meal that falls somewhere between lunch and dinner).

We broke tradition….for years we have gone to brunch at the Wm Penn Inn. A local upscale restaurant with a Mother's Day all you can eat "buffet" that is to die for !!! And let me tell you we never hesitated to get our money's worth….they lost money on us just from our trips to the dessert tables alone. Every year we starting drooling over the thought of going to the Wm Penn Inn Brunch as soon as the dishes from Easter Dinner were cleared from the table. However, this year, figuring that asking a lap-band patient to go to a sumptuous buffet would be like sending a gambling addict to a free weekend in Vegas (you can look, but you can't touch) Mom kindly suggested we go to the Olive Garden instead. Now Olive Garden, with it’s bottomless salad & breadsticks IS like winning in Vegas to me…..JACKPOT !!! I was salivating on the drive over, and it was a wonder I didn't get a speeding ticket in my haste to arrive and get in what I knew was going to be a very looooooong line (they don't take reservations).

Little did I know, my band had other plans for Mother's Day……in the end my meal consisted of 1/2 cup salad and 1/2 breast of chicken parmesan…...that was it…..I was full. No breadsticks, no pasta, no dessert. I was satisfied, and I did NOT feel deprived the least little bit. I did NOT need to unbutton my pants to be able to breathe, or need to go home and nap after eating.

As we sipped our coffee, we couldn't help but talk about of how much emphasis we place on food. How much I looked forward to "going all out" during the weeks building up to the big event (only to be replaced by the next big event on the calendar). How in the past I would have had several helpings of salad (it's good for you, right???), and by the end of the meal we would have asked for several baskets of breadsticks (they are free, right, so they don't actually count as part of the meal)…. oh, and don't forget the dipping oil for them…..we are half Italian after all. Speaking of which, it's impolite to leave anything on your plate, so both chicken breasts and the pasta would have disappeared as well….and dessert and coffee are necessary to relax and help the digestion. NOT so in lap-band land.

So, my memories this year of Mother's Day do NOT consist of another buffet just like the year before, and the year before that, and the year before……

This year, we went shopping together, talked a lot, took the dogs for a walk, took them to the farm and rode my horse, watched a movie together as a family…..oh, and we stopped off and got a bite to eat along the way.

What a difference a little band makes :-)