I taught 4th grade before I had my daughter. I was teaching math one warm January morning back in 2004 with the door open and this cute little mutt ran into my classroom. I called my principal and asked her what I should do. Her response was, "Go buy that dog and outfit and take it home". I did exactly what she said. I bought him a cute sweater and took him home with me. He was such a cute dog that I just knew he had to be someone's pet. I put up flyers and took him to the vet to see if he had a microchip. No one claimed the puppy so he was officially mine. He was the sweetest, funniest, most laid back dog in the world. When Callie came along, he became her dog. They would take naps together, lay by the fire together, and chase each other outside. Roadie was the best dog any kid (or adult) could have. It was an off day for me (but we were in the middle of filming) and I was going to walk the dogs. I asked Callie to go and get them out of their beds. She let out Maddie and Heiny and not Roadie. She came out and told me that he was sleeping and not moving. I knew this was not good so I called Kevin and told him to get back home. He got home and confirmed my fear. Roadie was dead. We were all devastated. I was sad for Kevin. I was sad for me, but mostly I was heartbroken for Callie. She just lost her best friend. The crew we had working with us were the kindest people in the world. Several sent us flowers and Dawn brought us a cute little plant.
The old Jasmin would have eaten her way out of depression. The new me decided that food was not going to bring my dog back. It was just going to make me feel worse if I went back to my old habits. It's so crazy to think about all of the reasons I used to eat. I ate when I was happy, when I was sad, when I was nervous. I have learned that eating is about so much more than food. It's about dealing with emotions. This is a hard lesson to learn, but probably one of the most important. I no longer let my emotions dictate when I will eat. I let my stomach tell me when I am hungry.
