Shrimp

I woke up at 4 pm after working a full sixteen hour shift, I know it seems bad but considering all of the overtime, bonuses, night and weekend differentials it was well worth the strain and stress of a sixteen hour shift on the busiest night in the Emergency Room. Which by the way I only sat down for maybe ten minutes during the whole thing. "Hell Night"

ALONE.....

It didn't feel so bad this time, usually I feel that loneliness is my worst enemy. It was a relief to be rid of people begging for pain medication, asking how long till the doctor is going to see them among several other needs and wants that keep me on my feet in the ER.

ALONE...... at last, it felt like a breath of fresh air.

I decided to live it up, I bought some shrimp.

Strangely enough, I didn't start liking shrimp until last summer in Las Vegas when Dulce cooked them for me on the grill at her house. It was incredible. Now I can't have enough shrimp.

If only my step sister Rachael didn't cause me to loathe shrimp when I was fifteen years old.

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"Leo Ho, I dare you to eat 10 plates of shrimp," my step sister Rachael, 21 years old at the time (which then seemed so old to me) said across the table with a candid smile.

"Do you?" I asked, unaware that the joke was on me. "What will you give me if I do?"

"I'll pay for the meal and you will have bragging rights for the rest of your life," she said looking over the menu and laughed.

"You were going to pay for it anyway," I said catching on that there was nothing in it for me.

It wasn't unlike Rachael, the sadistic step sister, to dare me to do things and me having no benefit of having done it. I suppose bragging right, but who brags about:

"I can drink a 60 ounce drink and not use the bathroom for four hours."

or

"I can eat 11 plates of shrimp at Sizzler."

I try my hardest to include these in my everyday conversation now.... I did the dares for a reason right?

"And what will you be having?" the waitress asked me.

"The all you can eat shrimp," I said with motivation and a mission in mind.

"I love you," Rachael laughed at me.

The challenge was on....."I hate you." I told Rachael as we drove home.

I ate 11 plates of shrimp, and I felt sick! Right after I went on a bike ride with my best friend at the time, Holly. I tried to pretend nothing was wrong, surprisingly I managed not to puke leaving a trail as I road off into the sunset with my friend.

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I marinated my shrimp with lemon and olive oil, cut up some tomatoes and marinated them too. Then added some fresh parsley. I don't know why I added parsley because still to this day I am not sure how to apply it to cooking. I understand the theory of parsley but I don't get it in practice. Does anyone know the point of parsley? It just sounds nice to say

"I added fresh parsley," makes you sound like you know what you are doing.

"But of course you did!!" someone would reply somehow trying to act like that was somehow a good thing and in reality they have no idea what parsley is for.

THANK GOD for parsley!! What would I do without it.....????

Get off the parsley, you are probably thinking.

I snacked on shrimp, lit some apple pie smelling candles and watched Knocked Up. It was bliss...