Tuesday, 6 April 2021: A nice, nice weekend.
Yikes! It's been nearly two weeks since I posted here, perhaps because those were two weeks when I stayed self-quarantined and not much happened until the weekend, a weekend almost like old times, thanks to two of my sons.
On Friday my middle son, Alan, called and asked me if I'd like to take him and his partner, Olga, out to dinner Saturday night. "Yes!" I had gotten my second shot of the Moderna vaccine on 12 March, and more than enough days had passed for me to be sure it was fully effective. I was more than ready to go out to eat, after about 15 months of not doing so.
>Alan had a $100 gift certificate from the restaurant in the Warwick Hotel...not sure of its name...so I told him to go ahead and make reservations. It was only when Alan called back to say that he had made reservations for four at 5:00 on Saturday that I learned that Olga's son, Zac. was joining us.
Whoa! I knew Alan and Olga had been vaccinated, but Zac is in his 20's; what was the likelihood that he had gotten the vaccine? I started getting cold feet about the whole expedition. When I said as much to Alan, he just rolled right over me, and I allowed myself to be persuaded/bullied into going even though I didn't appreciate the pressure.
When we got to the restaurant, I was reassured by how widely spaced the tables were; they must have removed at least 50% of their usual complement. I also liked that we were seated at a round table that would easily have fit two more diners; all of us were separated by the width of the table, nor were we on top of whom ever sat on either side of us. I felt safe, but was glad I was fully vaccinated.
I was also found out why Alan insisted Zac come with us. Zac is in the process of completing the purchase of a house in Maine, not far far from its capital, Augusta. I knew he was moving to Maine...he works on line, so he can, easily...but I didn't realize that Olga's family was from Maine and that Zac has a plethera of relatives a short drive from Peru, Maine. Meanwhile, while he waits to complete settlement on his house, he is living with Olga and Alan. They couldn't very well go out to dinner and leave him on his own, I gather. (Why not? If he's old enough to buy a house, he's old enough to make dinner for himself, right?)
As long as I'm complaining, let me add that the Warwick's steak house is a very nice, up-scale venue with up-scale prices, and all three of them were appropriately dressed for a Valu-Meal at McDonald's, wearing baggy jeans. Olga matched her jeans with a nice sweater, and Alan wore a knit, collared shirt. I'm not sure what kind of top Zac wore; I had a hard time dragging my eyes away from his out-of-control mop of hair and thick curly black beard. When a man's beard is long enough to curl all along his chin line, from ear to ear, it's too long. Unsurprisingly, I've never heard of Zac going on a date.
The meal itself was delicious. We started off splitting an order of steak tartare: enough for all four us. Alan and Zac both ordered the 8 oz. cut of fillet mignon that looked luscious, and Olga had veal chops. She shared one of her little chops with me, and I was almost sorry that I ordered crab cakes. Almost, but not quite: my crab cakes were 100% crab...no filler at all...and just delicious. Vegetables were family style, so Zac and I shared green beans and potato skins. (Not sure what sides Alan and Olga had.) For dessert, I had a scoop of chocolate ice cream, and Alan had a generous slice of spice cake with chocolate icing. I don't remember Zac and Olga's choices, but we all had dessert.
None of us ordered drinks before or with dinner...Alan is strictly AA...but everybody else had tea with dessert. I didn't need to swallow one more thing.
When I picked up the tab, I was happy that Alan helped with his gift certificate. My total came to $313, including tip.
All in all, I was glad we went out to eat together and indoors. Seating us at a generously sized round table made the experience feel safe, even with unvaccinated Zac. I did enjoy eating in company and having conversation with my meal.
On Sunday, John and Pam came to my apartment for dinner, the dinner that they brought with them. They have both had their first Pfizer injection, plus they are fanatical about maintaining social distancing and we cracked open the windows in the living room. (Don't want Smoke seeing if he really will survive floating down eight stories to the ground, as cats are rumored to be able to do.)
They prepped the meal at home, but cooked it here: fresh asparagus, home fried potatoes with onions, and salmon which they baked here. I want to get the recipe; it was delicious, and seemed almost to have been steamed in its sauce. They topped it with another sauce which I think was whipped avocado: yum. They served the meal with a full-bodied white wine that was neither sweet nor astringent and which I really enjoyed.
The conversation was very interesting. Pam spent last week in Ohio, helping her sister-in-law, Yvonne, straightening up Yvonne's mother's house. Mom had been hospitalized and was now in rehab; Yvonne does not think she will be able to live on her own again. I'm not sure whether or not Yvonne is an only child; I think Pam mentioned a brother. At any rate, Pam described Yvonne's mother as 'difficult:' this was the first time they have seen each other in thirteen years. (Yvonne is not difficult; I like her a lot.)
Pam shared pictures of Mom's kitchen cabinets; the pantry was jammed solid with canned goods, row upon row on top of each other. She said that Mom's house was tidy until you opened a cabinet door: then you realized she was a hoarder. She and Yvonne threw out all the canned, bottled and otherwise packaged food with expired Use By dates, some of which went back to the 1990s.
Quite a saga. I'm glad Pam could take time off to go with Yvonne; that's not the sort of situation you want to tackle on your own. You need someone to share your OMGs with.
That was the best weekend I've had in over a year. FanSee
On Friday my middle son, Alan, called and asked me if I'd like to take him and his partner, Olga, out to dinner Saturday night. "Yes!" I had gotten my second shot of the Moderna vaccine on 12 March, and more than enough days had passed for me to be sure it was fully effective. I was more than ready to go out to eat, after about 15 months of not doing so.
>Alan had a $100 gift certificate from the restaurant in the Warwick Hotel...not sure of its name...so I told him to go ahead and make reservations. It was only when Alan called back to say that he had made reservations for four at 5:00 on Saturday that I learned that Olga's son, Zac. was joining us.
Whoa! I knew Alan and Olga had been vaccinated, but Zac is in his 20's; what was the likelihood that he had gotten the vaccine? I started getting cold feet about the whole expedition. When I said as much to Alan, he just rolled right over me, and I allowed myself to be persuaded/bullied into going even though I didn't appreciate the pressure.
When we got to the restaurant, I was reassured by how widely spaced the tables were; they must have removed at least 50% of their usual complement. I also liked that we were seated at a round table that would easily have fit two more diners; all of us were separated by the width of the table, nor were we on top of whom ever sat on either side of us. I felt safe, but was glad I was fully vaccinated.
I was also found out why Alan insisted Zac come with us. Zac is in the process of completing the purchase of a house in Maine, not far far from its capital, Augusta. I knew he was moving to Maine...he works on line, so he can, easily...but I didn't realize that Olga's family was from Maine and that Zac has a plethera of relatives a short drive from Peru, Maine. Meanwhile, while he waits to complete settlement on his house, he is living with Olga and Alan. They couldn't very well go out to dinner and leave him on his own, I gather. (Why not? If he's old enough to buy a house, he's old enough to make dinner for himself, right?)
As long as I'm complaining, let me add that the Warwick's steak house is a very nice, up-scale venue with up-scale prices, and all three of them were appropriately dressed for a Valu-Meal at McDonald's, wearing baggy jeans. Olga matched her jeans with a nice sweater, and Alan wore a knit, collared shirt. I'm not sure what kind of top Zac wore; I had a hard time dragging my eyes away from his out-of-control mop of hair and thick curly black beard. When a man's beard is long enough to curl all along his chin line, from ear to ear, it's too long. Unsurprisingly, I've never heard of Zac going on a date.
The meal itself was delicious. We started off splitting an order of steak tartare: enough for all four us. Alan and Zac both ordered the 8 oz. cut of fillet mignon that looked luscious, and Olga had veal chops. She shared one of her little chops with me, and I was almost sorry that I ordered crab cakes. Almost, but not quite: my crab cakes were 100% crab...no filler at all...and just delicious. Vegetables were family style, so Zac and I shared green beans and potato skins. (Not sure what sides Alan and Olga had.) For dessert, I had a scoop of chocolate ice cream, and Alan had a generous slice of spice cake with chocolate icing. I don't remember Zac and Olga's choices, but we all had dessert.
None of us ordered drinks before or with dinner...Alan is strictly AA...but everybody else had tea with dessert. I didn't need to swallow one more thing.
When I picked up the tab, I was happy that Alan helped with his gift certificate. My total came to $313, including tip.
All in all, I was glad we went out to eat together and indoors. Seating us at a generously sized round table made the experience feel safe, even with unvaccinated Zac. I did enjoy eating in company and having conversation with my meal.
On Sunday, John and Pam came to my apartment for dinner, the dinner that they brought with them. They have both had their first Pfizer injection, plus they are fanatical about maintaining social distancing and we cracked open the windows in the living room. (Don't want Smoke seeing if he really will survive floating down eight stories to the ground, as cats are rumored to be able to do.)
They prepped the meal at home, but cooked it here: fresh asparagus, home fried potatoes with onions, and salmon which they baked here. I want to get the recipe; it was delicious, and seemed almost to have been steamed in its sauce. They topped it with another sauce which I think was whipped avocado: yum. They served the meal with a full-bodied white wine that was neither sweet nor astringent and which I really enjoyed.
The conversation was very interesting. Pam spent last week in Ohio, helping her sister-in-law, Yvonne, straightening up Yvonne's mother's house. Mom had been hospitalized and was now in rehab; Yvonne does not think she will be able to live on her own again. I'm not sure whether or not Yvonne is an only child; I think Pam mentioned a brother. At any rate, Pam described Yvonne's mother as 'difficult:' this was the first time they have seen each other in thirteen years. (Yvonne is not difficult; I like her a lot.)
Pam shared pictures of Mom's kitchen cabinets; the pantry was jammed solid with canned goods, row upon row on top of each other. She said that Mom's house was tidy until you opened a cabinet door: then you realized she was a hoarder. She and Yvonne threw out all the canned, bottled and otherwise packaged food with expired Use By dates, some of which went back to the 1990s.
Quite a saga. I'm glad Pam could take time off to go with Yvonne; that's not the sort of situation you want to tackle on your own. You need someone to share your OMGs with.
That was the best weekend I've had in over a year. FanSee