A Friday night in Lent

On Friday nights, I never feel like cooking. Or, I might feel like cooking but I'll have used up all the available entree choices by that late in the week. DH has come to accept this and probably sets his watch by my text or phone call at 5:30 pm, saying, "So.... I don't have much in the fridge tonight... do you want to go somewhere?"

Sometimes we let the kids dictate suggest a restaurant, which usually ends up with someone wailing that they don't LIIIIIIIKE that place. But this past Friday I decided what I wanted and didn't give anyone a chance to disagree. We could have gone to the church, where they were doing their fish-fry, but I chose the Italian place near our house, Vincent's, instead.  

I had the most delicious sacrificial garlic pasta, man. With shrimp. Austerity! (The joke in my family is "sacrificial (seafood) gumbo." Because it's so TERRIBLE to have to eat seafood gumbo! Wink. Catholicism is fun.)

First I must tell you that I had had a harrowing day at my office, where "harrowing" just means that I was in a blood-pressure-raising meeting from 10:30 to 12:30, and it took my heart another 2 hours to settle down after that. I don't often have physical reactions to work in that way, but because my computer was also acting up, and I had a huge to-do list that, therefore, I couldn't DO.... my whole day was jacked.

Man, I'm feeling my panic rise just remembering last Friday. Ugh. ...Deep breaths....

Anyway, I had poured the last of our red wine into a glass and kind-of downed it before we left for Vincent's. Didn't want it to go to waste, you know, and I needed it! Then I deserved another glass once we got there, of course, to enjoy with my husband. The kids were quite agreeable, and they ordered actual food -- i.e., not chicken nuggets, because they couldn't, but they were okay with that! -- and ate it, and didn't make me take them to the restroom the minute my food arrived (KT has a knack), and we toasted the new Pope, and even (get this):

Got a compliment from the diners sitting next to us, that our kids were so lovely and well behaved. !!!!

It was a pleasant time, is what I'm saying. The wine and the compliment rendered me almost giddy. It's pretty sweet when kids get old enough to go to a nice Italian place during Lent! Or anytime! Even though the meal and the shrimp ($1 each!) and the wine and a generous tip ended up costing us nearly $100. 

Of course, I had to face the consequences later: Pasta plus lots of wine (where 2 glasses = "lots") made it rather difficult to stay awake while KT read me her new Pete the Cat book on my bed. Luckily, she doesn't need my help as much as she used to. :) She finished the story and I'm pretty sure she had to wake me so I could put her into her bed.