Sunday, February 24, 2013

February 24 – “It’s a date”


Chris and I did something last night that we haven’t been able to do in quite some time.  We left the house together.  Just the two of us.  And we went out to eat.  It was an actual date, I think.  Not sure I remember what that would actually consist of, but it was sure good to hang out with the gal I love and not have one eye and one ear focused on what Mom is doing.  Thanks so much to April and Cailyn for coming over and sitting with Mom for that hour and a half or so. 

We were going to try out the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company on the Pleasure Pier.  We began to have doubts, though, by the time we crossed 61st Street.  Beach traffic was pretty heavy, and there were even quite a few brave polar bear type souls actually in the water.  Sure enough, the closer we got to 25th Street where the restaurant is located, the more crowded it got.  We finally bailed out and went back to what has been one of our go-to special event places, Casey’s.  That’s a seafood restaurant that is right next door to the famous Gaido’s restaurant.  Funny thing is, the two places use the same kitchen, but Gaido’s is considerable more expensive.  You really pay for the ambiance there.  So we went into Casey’s, expecting some pretty good stuff.  As we walked toward the door from the car Chris took my hand.  I looked down at it and said, “Hey, what’s this thing touching my fingers?”  It really has been a while.  Sigh.

We ordered their fried seafood special, and we split it.  That’s one thing we have learned over the years we have been together.  No sense begin gluttons at places like this.  There is plenty of food on one plate for both of us, and paying for one plate at a place like this usually equals out to two at our favorite “locals” place, Shrimp and Stuff.  Sure enough, there was plenty to split.  Three or four fried shrimp, one stuffed shrimp, one crab cake and one pretty large catfish fillet from Mississippi.  Could have done without the catfish and replaced it with a speckled trout as far as I was concerned, but for catfish, I guess it was passable.  That’s why they put a slice of lemon on your plate.  Takes away from the “fishy” taste.  Oh, and of course the ketchup helps with that as well.  None of that fancy schmancy cocktail sauce for me.  Just bring out the Hunt’s ketchup.  OK, so Heinz does OK in a pinch if that’s all they have.  But at least they now have Thousand Island dressing for my salad.  That used to be a sticking point for me there.  Everything was pretty good, except for the crab cake.  Chris was convinced they left something out.  I think she just needed to dunk it in some ketchup. 

The rest of our date we spent walking around Home Depot.  We found some stain to use on the dining table chairs we stripped after Hurricane Ike.  Maybe they’ll come closer to matching the others.  Naked yellow pine doesn’t really go well with dark walnut-looking stain.  We’ll see soon how close we got to matching. 

We headed on home after getting the stain.  No movies playing that grasped our attention.  Just dinner and a stroll around our favorite home improvement store.  Sounds pretty sad, doesn’t it?  Guess you just don’t need quite as much hype to appreciate each other after you’ve been married for … wait, let me figure it up … 2013 minus 1975 … I’ll get there … almost 38 years. 

Psalms 68:3 says, “But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.”

 

Father, I sure am glad you gave me just right person to spend my life with.  Thanks for that.  Amen.

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