Sweet Evening

For no special reason at all, Mike and I drove to Springerville and had dinner at Coyote Creek. Just the two of us. :)

It was sweet to sit together at the restaurant and chit-chat about little things that came to mind. Especially when Mike poked fun at the "cowboy beans" offered to patrons being the extent of western ambiance. He remembered. :)

On the ride home, we turned off at Lyman Lake and drove down to the water's edge to watch the nearly full moon rise from behind the mountain on the other side of the lake. Lacy clouds played peek-a-boo with the moon as they moved across the dark sky and ripples on the water surface reminded me of the 4th of July sparklers we'd seen last time we were at the lake.

We saw a pair of racoons, too!

It was fun to spend that time with Mike. It was a sweet evening.

That Old Predictability Factor

Recently, I posted about the predictability of what I'd order at a steakhouse restaurant and now another incident of predictability has arisen. Mike and I are at John's house (unplanned houseguests) and John picked up The Bucket List for me when he stopped at the store.

Everyone who knows me, or reads my blog, knows I have been waiting to see this movie! Zena even called me - yes, one of those rare occassions when the phone rang and it was a family member on the other end - to tell me she had just gotten the movie ... and would send it to me after she watched it. Of course, I'm still waiting to receive pictures from Heather's graduation years ago - her wedding a while back, newborn pictures of either of her children, etc but I'm certain getting The Bucket List into the mail to me will take priority over all those busy things filling her days and making it neigh impossible to get those pics in the mail.

Okay, so the wait is over. John has loaded the DVD into the player. He's adjusted the overhead lights for that theater effect. He's gotten the surround-sound speakers tuned just right and he's adjusted the ceiling fan to perfect the climate-controlled breeze circulating down from overhead to simulate the ambiance of being at a real movie theater there in his living room. The title screens roll by and in short order the two main characters are both in hospital beds and getting to know one another.

All too quickly, it seems, one character is talking at the funeral of his friend. What the heck? What happened between the hospital and the funeral? Okay ... if you know what happened, do NOT be a spoiler - I do not know. I slept through the movie. That's right. I slept through this long-awaited viewing of The Bucket List.

Quite predictable some would say.

Sunday Surprises

It was so nice. Over last weekend, Jacob and Maria traveled up and were staying at her parents house (just two houses over) and Quentin traveled up for the weekend, too. Jacob's in-laws went to the valley Saturday so Jacob and Maria had free reign in the house and they pulled together a delightful dinner with enough ambiance (wink) for a dozen meals. Maria's younger brother had dinner with us, too.

They had a seven course (think that's right) meal prepared. We started off with appetizers and a bit of Herb Alpert playing on the Victrola. Okay, it wasn't actually a Victrola but it was a for real record player. Remember those? Maria had to figure out how it worked and at one point thought she had broken it. Alas, it wasn't broken just the needle was not correctly engaged on the arm.

We then moved into the dining room, empty before this evening, and enjoyed mood lighting, draped doorways and windows, and a lavishly decorated table while we enjoyed a salad of baby spinach with dried cranberries and almonds and a raspberry vinaigrette.

For the main course we had steak and baked potatoes with all the toppings.

Jacob and Maria had a couple different sparkling ciders and I tried one of them: pomegranate. I'm not a fan of anything sparkling ... as Quentin said, only Pepsi, but do give it a try at times. The pomegranate cider tasted good, I'm glad I did try it.

They had pound cake slices with fresh berries and whipped topping for dessert.

It was a lovely dinner and so much fun to spend the evening with them ... and, yes, to be pampered like that! Earlier in the day I'd also received flowers and a coursage delivered to the house. It was a lot of fun.

The surprises weren't over at the end of the evening. When Quentin and I arrived at church the next morning, my typical late self, I was in for another surprise - make that shock! Jacob and Maria were both sitting behind the pulpit - where people sit waiting to talk!

Yes, seriously, they were giving talks at church on Mother's Day! Poor Maria, she was also singing with her sister, mom, and grandma. Talk about an emotional moment. I think it was My Mother, My Daughter they sang and Maria said she had permission from her grandmother to cry, "It's pregnancy hormones" ;-)

It was indeed a surprise, I didn't have a clue they'd be talking. They both did a really good job and it certainly made this Mother's Day quite memorable. I appreciated Quentin being here to visit, too. He learned the night before, when him and Jacob were speaking Spanish, that the other two would be talking. He didn't let on at all. Thank you all for making the day so special.

Teasers

Jacob called last night. It was oh so obvious he was delighting in taunting me about the Christmas gift he and Maria had gotten for Mike & I. He was wrapping the gift as he talked! He'd call to Maria for help with this or that ... she had been the last to use scissors, he couldn't find the scissors. She was the last one to wrap a gift, he couldn't find the tape. "Maria, hold this" as the snip, snip, snip of cutting paper echos into the phone. He's commenting and muttering the entire while. "Maria and I decided..." and "not square" and "sharp edges" peppered throughout the conversation.

I'm not sure it really was a conversation, just a teaser.

Teasing was fun when they were little. That's when I could do the teasing. I'd play that little guessing game, encouraging the teasing maybe, pretending not to know what the little gift was they'd brought home from school. You know the kind, the little gifts that weren't really wrapped completely. The gifts that came home a week before Christmas and were handled and prodded on a regular basis by little hands playing that teasing game of Guess What I Got You Mommy.

Then the teasing was a game. Usually it was all too clear what the gift was. The game was to not let on I knew. This is a whole new world of teasing.

Mike & I have been content to not give much thought to Christmas gifts. We decided a while back what we were doing for our grown kids this year. We had made a list and have been picking up gifts for the past while and have them all fully sorted and identified for wrapping. We have planned but not really thought, or is that worried, about Christmas gifts.

Then along comes this late evening long distance teaser and it all changes. I am consumed with wonder and guessing. What could it be? Something Mike would probably use and I'd enjoy that he uses it. (Okay, it isn't Viagra, and yes, I asked although I do "not" know why. Oh, Jacob, you baited me into asking that question! You know you did.) Something packaged in plastic with sharp edges, it isn't square packaging. hmmm I really don't know much else about The Gift. I do know what Jacob & Maria (did she really have a hand in this?) are giving Rod, Rodney and Robert for Christmas - a urinal.

Yes, that's right. They are giving the guys a urinal and the porcelain prize now holds a place of prominence near their Christmas tree, adding to the festive ambiance* by serving as a plant stand for the mandatory seasonal Poinsettia.

Just knowing they're giving friends a urinal adds to the anxiety of guessing The Gift but alas a person does have to get a bit of sleep at times. I did eventually shake thoughts of The Gift and trying to recall each of the teasers he put out there for identifying The Gift and slept peacefully until receiving an early morning (6:30, thanks TJei ;-)) phone call. After the call I listened to a bit more of the news then meandered into my office and started downloading email without any real thought of last night's conversations.

There it was ... a picture of The Gift!

It's going to be a long wait for Christmas.

*that one's for you, Mike ;-)

Got a Fire Going

Mike was heading off to Show Low this morning to take care of a couple errands. I flip-flopped all morning on whether I wanted to go and finally decided that I'd not go. Mike went down and started a fire in the wood stove to ward off a chill in the air. The weather has been wonderful all week but is expected to drop substantially over the weekend. The wind has picked up and it is chilly.

Mike came upstairs and began telling me that he had stoked the fire and closed down the air so it would likely burn down to a good bed of coals. I commented that it stinks and Mike quickly corrected me, "It doesn't stink. It smells like burning wood." He continued, "It smells like Christmas. The ambiance of Christmas."

Mike was walking away from me, into the living room as he talked. He had a huge smile when he turned my direction as I said, "Ambiance? I never thought the day would come when you'd talk of ambiance!"

I am so grateful to have Mike in my life. I hope he has a great - and safe - trip to Show Low this morning.