Food Envy.

When Shane and I were first married I learned something about my wildly charasmatic husband that I knew would need to find a resolution.  When we would go out to eat to a restuarant, we would skim the menu and I would order my meal and he would order his.  We would chat over our tea or wine and discuss topics of interest until the food arrived.  The waiter would lay my plate in from of me and his plate in front of him.  It never failed, he would inevitably look at his meal and then look at mine and then look at me like a lost puppy.  So I would forfit most of my meal.  I usually did not like what he ordered, so we split mine.  It went on like this for a short while before one day, I pulled my chair next to his and we skimmed the menu together.  He looked confused at first.  He declared his order and in my mom tone I said No.  So I showed him the two meals we would be ordering much to his protest, but he allowed me to order and as the plates were set in front of us I asked for two additional plates.  He looked at both meals and then me.  His face was a lot like a kid on Christmas morning (ok a little exaggerated, but I'm telling the story here).  It was a wonderful revelation for the both of us. 

Now, we have been married for 10 years, so he is fully capable of ordering what he loves now and he usually orders for me too (he knows me that well).  He has become quite the foodie and schools me on cuisine often, which I pretend to be annoyed about, but secretly enjoy (I mean who is the expert here?).  See folk, my husband had a condition many suffer from....... FOOD ENVY.  It is a treatable condition and there is no reason to be embarrassed about it.  May I also add, however, there is also no reason to steal your partners meal at every outing either. 

This sharing technique is actually a much better way to dine, for us anyway, because we both have the luxury of eating two completely different things.  Shane took me to this Indian restaurant the other day that he said "I just had to try" and he ordered all kinds of things I could not pronounce.  It was amazing.  As I watched him pointing to different sides and main courses that we would both enjoy, I realized something; As we move through our lives together, we have tranformed what was once two single people into a couple that really understands how to enjoy each-other..............minus that pesky food envy :).