A post in which I eat out with friends

I continue to enjoy feeling better. I’m still not sleeping very well, but I’ll take what I can get.

Because I was good last night, I decided not to be tonight. I set up dinner out with Donnie, Mark, Kimbley, and Laura at Liberty Tap Room. I still had the gift certificates for them that I got a month or so back. I also wanted to show off the new windows and the house a bit; Lord only knows when it will be this clean again.

I talked to Justin on the way home. We firmed up plans for Saturday. He's coming to the house tomorrow night to stay over. Then we can have brekkie and get going first thing. I'm really looking forward to it!

When I got home I started to fret over the things that weren’t done, and then I just made myself stop. The house looks pretty good. It isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t have to be. I settled for dusting the coffee table, lighting some candles, and doing the garden window. I’ve been putting off putting anything in it until it was cleaned and just haven’t gotten to it. But I wanted them to see it for the first time with glass in it. I hastily cleaned it out, used window cleaner on the shelves, and pulled pieces at random out of the cabinets and displays to fill it up. It looks good. Not great, and I’m sure Justin (and I, for that matter) will want to move everything all around this weekend anyway, but it was nice to see it loaded with stuff.

The other thing that I did was move Gracine around and back her in the driveway. I had to go out for a pack of smokes anyway. But like most ladies designed with a more practical bent, her best angle is not seen from the back side. So I turned her around to show her at her best the first time they saw her.

I also wanted to get Donnie’s opinion on the bedspread. He loved the spread, but really didn’t seem to be much more sure about what colors to use on the walls than I am. He eventually settled on a pale blue for the walls, and a pea green for the ceiling. I’m not sure how I feel about that. He also told me definitively that the valance fabric I wanted to use in there is out. The most I can get away with will be a solid damask, and I'd prefer a geometric pattern even then. The bedspread has a very busy pattern, and with the Indian rugs in there too, the room just can’t take another pattern. I wish I could find some fabric to match the bedspread, which would give me some breathing room. But thus far no dice.

There was supposed to be snow tonight, but no accumulation – the best kind. Everyone was kind of excited at work, and that carried over to the group tonight. There’s just something about snow that brings out the child in any Southerner. It’s a novelty to us. Even I – self-proclaimed snow hater – was a bit more vibrant.

The restaurant had a plate glass wall, and while we were eating the snow began to fall. It was quite beautiful - the snow falling through the light of the street lamps stood out in stark, white contrast to the dark buildings across the street. The food was very good. We were all in the mood for fish and chips, and so that’s what we all got (except for Laura). The fish (purportedly flounder, but not, Michael) was battered in a very tasty beer batter and fried. The batter on the fish got to be a bit much for me after the first piece, I shouldn’t have finished mine. The fries were good too. It’s hard to really screw up fries (unless they're cold - these weren't), but I don’t eat them that often and really enjoyed them. The piece de resistance on the plate was the blue cheese cole slaw. I was skeptical too, but it was wonderful: crunchy shredded cabbage and carrots in a lightly sweet sauce that for some reason really worked with a liberal chunking of blue cheese. It was gorgeous, but so rich you really didn’t want more than they gave you. I ate every bite on my plate like a pig.

By the time we visited and did dinner, it was almost 10pm. D&M dropped me at the house and I went on to bed. It was a lovely evening, and so good to see them - not to mention to be gratifyingly complimented on my new windows.