The hatred is well ingrained into my body and soul.
When I was single digits, things were tough for my parents. Sometimes, it was hard for them to make the $55 monthly mortgage and my mother skimped and cut corners to save money.

It was always something. Sometimes it was sewing up my repeatedly ripped pants from Summerville Elementary school’s asphalted playgrounds or buying fifteen cents worth of 32.9 cent a gallon gas , so she could make it to the station that sold it for 29.9 a gallon or any of the other many ways she always found to save a dime. Her own upbringing on a fifty acre dirt farm near Wedowee, Alabama saw to that. Whether she was frugal, cheap, thrifty, economical, sparing, penny-wise, careful, parsimonious and prudent or just a spendthrift remains to be seen. But while she would skimp on the basics, she would spend on my sister, MisDemeanor, and my self’s extras.

But this post isn’t about that, it’s about the oatmeal. Someone told me a while back that oatmeal was good for lowering your cholesterol numbers. And after a recent bout with a heart doctor and a stent for the heart, I decided to start really paying attention. I'll report back this fall how my numbers shape up. In order to avoid having to undergo the heart work again anytime soonm I’m willing to try anything, even oatmeal.

It’s not clear exactly why I hate oatmeal so much. I know I had it for most breakfasts, but then there were a lot of foods that we had repeatedly over and over and over again that I actually still like. It was amazing how many meals that woman could get out of one chicken to feed a family of four. I still enjoy a yard bird in most of it’s forms. And despite the repeated lunches of tomato soup, I still enjoy a cup of it on cold days.

Oatmeal?
I totally despise it. Breakfasts with 2, here lately, are amusing to him. We ride up to the McDonalds at the stadium every morning, where he used to have a biscuit with the rest of the old farts till he broke his hip. His order varies every morning. A senior coffee and a….., while mine is consistent, a Large cup of coffee.

Getting back to his house, he waits patiently till I dump three packs of the instant oatmeal, two packs of various flavors ( I especially despise the maple) and one regular into a bowl. That's right, in order to get my three grams of soluble fiber that is recommended to mop up the cholesterol remaining in your system after the Lipitor and fish oil and the olive oil and the… I eat three servings of the stuff.

I sit and spoon the oatmeal up into the air mixing it thoroughly with the nuked water, letting it drop back into my bowl, repeatedly while trying to get up the desire to put a spoonful into my mouth. It is actually amazing, once I get the awful stuff into my mouth, how much chewing is actually required before I can swallow it. Meanwhile the flashbacks start as 2 says “Will you quit playing with your food and eat?”