Good Times

Is there anything better than soup on a cold day, afternoon tea, or watching a movie with your hubby? Possibly, but I can't think of anything.

On Friday, Chris and I had a desperate desire to get away alone for awhile. We drove to Santa Fe, even though he had to work a couple hours on his Friday off. We finally found the elusive Back Street Bistro that we've searched for months for. They are renowned for having lots of soup on the menu. We both love soup so I sampled the Hungarian Mushroom, and Chris tried the Clam Chowder. They were both delicious.

After that luscious meal, we apparently hadn't had enough. My mom cooked a brisket and mashed potatoes for dinner. I proceeded to watch Chris eat about five pounds of mashed potatoes in one sitting. And then he ate dessert. My mom pointed out that he is getting to be as interesting to watch feed as his dad is. My father-in-law, who really and truly deserves his own post and I'm sure will get one someday when I'm inspired, can put away food like that 90 pound Asian woman that wins hot dog contests. It is truly a sight to behold.

On Saturday our church had a lady's tea and my mom and I hosted a table. We'd been picking out dishes for a week, adding and eliminating every day. Then somehow she talked me into baking sugar cookies as a party favor. We had, at the most, 8 women at our table. But, we baked and decorated 12 dozen cookies. How does she talk me into this stuff? You should know that I don't care for tedious tasks. I don't like crafts because they frustrate me. Fortunately, my friend Megan came over and helped ice them. She has a month old baby, and I used her little Zion to introduce my doggies to a newborn. They loved her. I think Sophie loved her because she smells like milk.

So, we were all set to go for our tea when we arrived at the church early to decorate our table and oops...my mom locked her keys in the car. She was surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

Dawn suggested that Bryan, our pastor, could probably pop the lock on the car so she called him, while my mom asked my dad to make the 45 minute drive up to our church just in case Bryan wasn't as good a car thief as his wife claimed. Bryan proved to be a very handy breaker-inner. I think he may have a profession to fall back on if times get hard. Always good to have a back up.

Our table got decorated in a timely fashion. The tea was a success. At least as far as the food went, because it was delicious. I don't know how else you measure a successful tea.

I guess all of that setting up, eating, and going home to veg on the couch caught up with me. I overslept for church on Sunday so we went to town to a furniture auction. Thank goodness Bryan hasn't been teaching on consumerism or anything. Especially when we missed church and then went and bought a bookcase. Auctions are so fun. My granddad is an auctioneer, so I was raised around them and even helped with them when I was older. Chris hated how the auctioneer talked at first. I guess it is kind of loud and weird, but I think the sing-songiness of the chanting is kind of hypnotic. And, it's kind of like a game to see how much or how little something will go for. It hypnotized us into a beautiful antique bookcase for a very reasonable price.