Conversations over Dinner

It was a dark and stormy night.

Well, it was!

Last night wasn’t, though. We had a wonderful evening at a local vineyard. In the summertime, they show movies outdoors under the stars. It’s such a great way to spend a warm summer night… snuggled up next to someone you love, sharing a bottle of wine.

Last night’s movie was Waitress and it was very enjoyable. Before heading out, I read that this movie involved a lot of pie. Knowing we would be soon craving a piece of pie, we left the popcorn at home and picked up a pie on the way. To be totally honest, we bought two — blueberry and peach. Good thing, too, because if you like pie, this movie will trigger the desire to have some. It is not an action movie, but Andy Griffith plays an interesting character, and I do recommend it for a nice quiet summer night.

We’re a little behind the times, but we recently had the pleasure of watching the 2000 movie, “Chocolat” starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. The story takes place in 1959 and revolves around a single mother and her young daughter, who move to rural France and open a chocolate shop — during Lent. Conflict with the mayor, interactions with the townspeople, and long-held traditions combine to create a fascinating tale of perseverance and acceptance. And, oh, the chocolate!

Wow, what a weekend!

Friday evening we went to the lodge where we had dinner with our new “gang.” The jukebox played oldies and we sang and laughed and had a wonderful time.

Saturday, we managed to do an incredible amount of yard work during the perfect spring weather.

Sunday night, our friends invited us over for dinner out on their patio. They had invited another couple and they were easy to get to know and a lot of fun. We played lawn games and 70’s hits. Again the evening ended with laughter and singing.

Today Jake and I went out to breakfast, then grocery shopping. Back at home, Jake settled in for a snooze in front of the TV while I sat outside in the under the maple tree and chatted on the phone with Emily. We’ve been having great heart-to-heart talks lately.

Then we decided to go downtown and stroll for awhile. Then we had a late lunch/early dinner at a Thai restaurant. It was delicious and relaxing. Then we decided, this being Memorial Day, that we would stroll through our local historic cemetery. Since we couldn’t visit with our own dearly departed, we decided to visit others. On the way home, we stopped for an ice cream treat.

These past several days I have been doing well, physically. Headache-free, fatigue-free, and able to manage short walks, I have had little reason to complain. I need to get some test results from the doctor tomorrow afternoon, so I just hope he doesn’t plan on bursting my bubble. As Scarlett O’Hara used to say, “I won’t think about that today. I’ll go crazy if I do! I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

Happy Memorial Day!

Nice juicy steaks ended a productive Sunday for us. We lingered at the table and talked of work for quite some time. We have our goals, and we have thrown ourselves wholeheartedly into achieving them.

I had a bad week, physically. Besides the MS acting up, it seemed that every other physical problem I’ve ever had decided to stop by for a visit. It verged on brutal. The funny thing is, my head is in a really good place. I feel inspired and enthusiastic about my future opportunities. I am definitely going to transition myself into a work-at-home situation before MS forces the issue. I am going to win on this one, and that is a wonderful feeling.

Dinner was late this evening, due to my mistiming of turkey legs, but it was worth the wait. We had no fresh vegetables, so I had to make do with canned. Now we are off to the grocery store to restock the kitchen.

The buzz over dinner had to do with an exciting proposal I received this afternoon. For the second time since we launched our blogs last August, I have been approached for a writing assignment. This time my article will appear in a national print magazine, and I am honored to have been asked. Naturally, I will share details upon publication in July. Onward and upward.

Dinner at our kitchen table was never so wonderful as it was this evening. After several days out-of-town, staying in one of the world’s worst hotel rooms, home is sweet, indeed! I adore eating out, but after a couple of days, I crave the simplicity of the meals we prepare at home, and the healthier feeling that comes with it. The icing on the cake will be popcorn later tonight.

Jake commented that he appreciates that I light candles at dinner each night. It’s always nice know that the little touches are noticed.

Well, as of Saturday, my son is officially a college graduate and, as of today, he is officially a grad student and teacher’s assistant. I am bursting with pride at his accomplishments. He is an extremely focused and bright young man, and he possesses a most important asset — common sense. His life is in a good place.

Tomorrow morning I am off to the hospital for tests, then on to work for a few hours. As far as work goes, my favorite part of the day 2:00 pm, when I finally make it over to my home computer to work on more interesting projects.

We’ve been engrossed in our own travels and health-related problems of late, but we have kept up with the news. The natural disasters and tragedies which surround us lately give one pause. No matter how difficult life seems, it can always get worse. What you do have can be taken away in an instant. Food for thought.

It was a nice weekend. Mandy and I went up north to visit family and to take my father out to dinner for his 80th birthday. We stayed with him at his home which is something we haven’t done for the past couple of years. It was nice; something we should do more often when he head up that way.

We took the opportunity of being up there to call my daughter Mary. She and her husband drove up from where they live to meet us and have dinner with my Dad, his wife, Mandy, and I. It was really nice too. We all had a great time.

So that’s that. Tomorrow, it’s back to work… so to speak.

Date: September 15, 2007

Dinner: 7:00pm

Menu: Omelette & Pancakes, Diet Coke

Comfort food. That’s what tonight was all about. We ate at Perkin’s Pancake House. We don’t go there very often, the last time being sometime around Thanksgiving after we had unsucessfully combed every restaurant in town looking for pumpkin pie. Perkin’s was the only place we could go to satisfy our rare cravings for such dessert.

The upshot: dinner was good. People were friendly. What more can you ask for twenty bucks?

We talked mostly about the fact that we were cheating on our normal diet. For the past three years, Mandy and I have adhered to the Atkins low-carb diet. It really works for us. My doctor can’t believe it. He says that I should keep doing whatever it is that I’m doing. There are those, of course, who say it’s going to kill us. I suppose time will tell.

The weather’s changing quickly these days here in Virginia. Once the sun goes down, it’s actually gets a bit chilly. It won’t be long before we break out the fall jackets. Then I’ll start wearing this really great hat I bought in NYC a year or two ago. Fall is my favorite time of year.

We’re on a moving kick again. We’d really like to live somewhere else; we just can’t figure out where that place might be. I’m working to be a freelance web designer and flash programmer, so it’s not too important where we live as long as there’s a high speed internet connection.

Hey, if you’ve got any ideas about where we might like to live, and if you want to tell us about the place, please leave a comment. We’ll be sure to read what you say and look into your suggestions.

Technorati Tags: food

Date: September 8, 2007

Dinner: 5:00pm

Menu: Burger, Stew, Soda

Homemade Pies and Patsy Cline. Neither one of those ever saw the inside of a Red Hot & Blue restaurant, but images of both are mounted on the walls for those who care to look. For a chain restaurant, RH&B is pretty good. For those of you who’ve never been there, try the Brunswick Stew. Out of this world!

Mandy and I enjoyed a little dinner out of the house tonight. We want to move from here so we spent some of that time discussing other parts of the country in which we might like to live. New England keeps popping up; mostly because Mandy’s originally from that part of the world, but the pull of a slightly warmer climate still lingers over the conversation. One thing’s for certain, though. We absolutely need to get out of rural Virginia. It’s nice and all… and you can’t beat the weather, but it’s the most boring place I’ve ever been. And I’ve been in close to all 50 states at one time or another.

Of course, if you love the civil war, you’ll adore rural Virginia. You’d think the war ended yesterday and, moreover, you’d swear the south won. Perhaps they should have. I don’t pretend to know. Having lived in the south for the past 12 years, my loyalties are a bit divided these days. Like most places, there’s a lot to love and there’s a lot to hate. It just depends.

I asked Mandy how Emily made out at the doctor the other day. Mandy told me that when Emily finally returned her call, she was told that she didn’t go to the doctor; that the problems she’s been having are no big deal and will probably work themselves out. If you read my earlier post on this subject, you’re thinking about now, ‘Boy, that Jake sure knows his girls!’ And you’d be right.

Well, Mandy and I enjoyed our dinner, basking in each other’s company. Saturdays are special for us. We like to just kind of relax together and save the chores for Sunday. Guess that’s the opposite of what most people do, which, if you got to know us, would just seem par for the course.

Date: August 25, 2007

Dinner: 6:30pm

Meal: Pork Chops, Peas, Wine

“I got an email from my cousin’s daughter the other day,” said Mandy between forkfuls of what for some strange reason was rather tough pork chops. “She wanted to know if we’re ever going to go visit them in Canada.”

“Not now,” I thought. Who knows — truth be told, if we went we might not return. Of course, it’s pretty hard to get working papers in Canada. Maybe next year.

We were both a little bummed this evening. It’s nearly 100 degrees outside today and the air conditioner seems to have gone on the blink. At first, I thought I ‘fixed’ it by getting some new fuses, but now, while the compressor is at least running, it’s not cold. I think there’s a freon leak somewhere. We’re going to have to wait until Monday before calling the A/C guy. Tomorrow’s going to be pretty sticky.

Mandy says that mealtime always seems to perk her up a bit; even now when MS seems to be taking its toll on her. She’s in that fatigue state where, no matter what she does, tiredness seems to continually overtake her. Times like this are certainly no fun, but we’ve learned to live with the reality of the disease.

I hope these blogs get to be a bit more cheerful soon. We actually live a pretty darn good life, but you’d never know it from the dinner conversation of late. I guess the fact that the startup company I was heading up as president last year folded due to lack of investor financing and it’s been next to impossible to find any comparable work in this part of rural Virginia. I’ve been freelancing as a web designer in the meantime, but that kind of life isn’t what I wanted to us. Hopefully thing’s will break our way in the next month or so.

Stick with me. It’ll get better. It always does

Date: August 21, 2007

Menu: Salmon, asparagus, salad, wine.

Turns out that Emily had an unexpected bit of excitement at college this morning. She’s only been there a couple of days and, when she woke up this morning in her dorm, she found a guy she doesn’t know sleeping on the floor! It seems her roommate came in late with her boyfriend and he simply ‘crashed’ there for the night. Can you believe it? Emily had better set her roommate straight real quick, before it becomes a problem.

On a lighter note, Mandy told me that Emily likes her classes, but should not have listened to her brother who told her not to buy books before the first day of class since many times the professors change what books they want you to use. Well, needless to say, everyone else had their books. Lesson #1 to learn about college: Don’t listen to everyone else. Figure it out yourself.

Mandy’s kind of tired. Her MS seems to be flaring up again. She’s doing all she can do to hold on and not let it take hold. We’re hopeful, but the past has shown that there’s not much she can do; especially when the fatigue takes hold.

Date: August 19, 2007

Menu: Ham, brussels sprouts, salad, wine.

“I’ve got a little sore under my tongue,” I said between forkfuls of ham. Mandy looked perplexed. “What kind of sore?,” she asked. “I don’t know,” said I, “Looks like a pimple, but it’s not. Just forget about it. I’ll gargle with some salt water and see what happens.”

So went the dinner conversation this evening.

Over ham and brussels sprouts, we spoke about Emily, Mandy’s daughter and my step-daughter, who just started college this past week. She’s a great kid, but she’s a little shy and, like so many just stepping out into the world more-or-less on their own, she’s self-conscious and unsure of herself. Her biggest problem right now seems to be the laptop she just bought herself. It doesn’t work right. More on that saga later.

Conversation turned to my daughter, Mary, and her husband, Mike, who are preparing for a trip to Maine. They’ve got an RV and love to ride motorcycles. She told me this evening that they’re going to be staying in Maine, but then biking up to Nova Scotia to explore that part of the world for a few days. God bless them. They sure do travel a lot. I think it’s great, but I worry that they’re going to put themselves into a financial hole if they aren’t careful.

We spoke about this blog… and the companion blog that Mandy is starting. We had the is idea just last night. Mandy’s really excited about it, but is a bit concerned about privacy and all that. Me too, but I said we’d just have to feel our way and make sure we don’t go overboard in any one area. After all, dear reader, there are plenty of nuts out there and you might just be one of them.
So that’s it for night one of Conversations over Dinner. Not too exciting, but stay tuned. Some of them are a lot better. Some worse. My guess is that you may see a lot of yourselves in our conversations. Maybe you’ll even begin to see behind the mask of the person sitting across/beside you each evening.