A post in which I see Nicole

Alan is out at the beginning of this week, so things were quiet today. 

I had made plans for dinner out with Nicole tonight.  I was able to get home pretty quickly (I'm using a new shortcut around traffic that is doing pretty well) and was able to get the house fluffed and get dressed before she got there.  Usually I'm running around the house in my underwear with a duster when she arrives. 

We had a cocktail and started catching up.  I filled her in on the birthday parties and Lisa's divorce, and she caught me up on her plans to go to Scotland.  She's going to a lot of weddings!  Better her than me.

Dinner was at Romano's Macaroni Grill tonight.  They have what used to be one of my favorite meals, but the last couple of times I've had it, it hasn't been as good.  The shrimp portofino they make is delicious, but the last time I had it in Columbia, the sauce had broken (it's a butter sauce, and if headed too rapidly it will separate).  Tonight's tasted pretty good, but there wasn't enough sauce, and the portion size has gotten much smaller.  Now that's fine for my waistline, but when I eat out and pay that much for a meal, I don't want to crave a snack later.  At $15 a plate, I think they could give me a decent serving of pasta, I'm just sayin'.  Because of the shrunken entree size, I finished mine, and then finished Nicole's too.  She had a Butternut Asiago Tortellaci that was quite good.  I also had plenty of room for the (also shrunken, but still excellent) tiramisu.  That is one of my very favorite desserts, and theirs has always been good. 

Over dinner, I got the skinny on her newly-again single status, and just what a rat bastard the guy had been.  We also talked about unhealthy relationship patterns. 

Our server was wonderful, very sweet, and very, very pregnant.  We talked to her about it, and she told us that unfortunately she was having to work later into the pregnancy than she expected.  Bless her heart.  She had to be miserable after being on her feet for the whole shift, but you would never have known it from her interactions with us. 

Nicole insisted on picking up the check, which was super nice of her.  I had behaved like a bought boy and hadn't even looked at the prices - I just ordered. 

It was a deliciously cool night, and we talked all the way home about relationships, and the difficulty of forming meaningful ones. 

By the time we got home, I was a pumpkin, so  I thanked Nicole for a lovely evening and she went on.