FALL BACK

Steven and I were sitting on the couch reading the morning paper. “I hate turning the clocks back!” Steven grumbled as he pointed to the reminder at the top of the newspaper.

“Not me!” I cried. “I love it!”

Steven looked over at me, I could see the confusion on his face. “Since when? You hate winter.”

“That's true.” I took another section of the paper, from the pile between us.

“You hate cold, you hate snow.” Steven began listing all my dislikes. “You hate ice. You hate shoveling, you hate not being able to sit out on the porch.”

I held up my hand to stop him from continuing. “All true.” I said. “But this year I've decided there's some good things that will happen when we change the clocks so, I've changed my mind.”

“What good things?”

“Well, I'll feel like cooking more.” I looked over at him and smiled. “You like that, don't you?”

He nodded in agreement. “I do like that.”

“So now the house is going to be filled with the smells of stews, pots of sauce, and roasts.” I nodded, slowly bringing him around to what I was thinking.

“That does sound nice.” He looked confused again. “But why are you thinking turning the clocks back is going to make you cook more?”

“It isn't.” I admitted. “It's just going to make me feel less guilty eating.”

“Less guilty?”
“Well after my spring, summer and fall diets all failed.” I explained. “I've decided I'm giving up the diet for the winter and embracing the layered, oversized, flaw-hiding clothes instead.”

“Seriously?”

“Oh...completely serious.” I said. “I'm also looking forward to coming home from work and getting right into my pajamas.” We switched sections of newspapers. “If you do that when it's still light outside people think you're a slug.” I adjusted the pillow behind my back. “But when it's dark at 4:30 everyone thinks you're just getting snugly.” I looked over at Steven and smiled. “Gotta love that, right?”

Steven just shook his head.

“I'm not saying I'm completely giving up on losing some weight.” I added. “I'm just giving myself a little break.”

“How long of a break?”

“Oh...I'm thinking maybe until January when all the weight loss commercials come on and make you feel bad about yourself.” I looked over at Steven. “So a diet break? You in?”

“Well, we do have to make it through Thanksgiving and Christmas.” he said. “Those are always tough for us.”

“Exactly!” I said. “See if we both agree, then neither one of us has to feel bad.”

“That's true.” he finally shrugged his shoulders. “Why not? I'm in.”

“See turning the clocks back is going to be great!” I smiled over at him. “Let's celebrate!”

“Celebrate? How?”

“Meet me here on the couch Monday night, right after work. Wear your pajamas and we'll order in!”

“Wait, I thought you said you were looking forward to cooking?”

“I can cook anytime.” I reminded him. “But this is a celebration!”