Today was my 45th birthday. It was nice. Andrea got me a couple of things off my wishlist: a watch winder and a Martin Backpacker Guitar.

The guitar is a little weird, but at least I’ll have something to take with me when I travel so I won’t lose a week or two practicing.

For dinner we went out to the Spotted Dog restaurant in Carrboro. It was the first restaurant I’ve been in since I changed my diet. They have a lot of vegan/vegetarian options, including a few tempeh dishes and I have yet to try tempeh.

However, I decided to be bad and we split an order of calamari. I only ate a small amount of it, but it was good. For my main dish I had black eyed pea cakes, which were wonderful, but there were three cakes so I only ate a little over one. With a nod to ETL I finished the side salad first so I was full. Tomorrow’s lunch will be good.

Not sure what the breading, oil and salt is going to do to my weight, however.