Considering a Night Out

Tonight we celebrated Valentine’s Day.  Our family apparently has a difficult time with that.  CavGirl forgot to hand out the Valentine’s Day cards to her classmates today.  I worked hard on those.  They will have to wait until Wednesday to get those beauties.

Originally we were going to go out on Sunday.  Then Saturday, and this morning it was changed to tonight.  I asked CavWife to pick a place to eat.  Her parents are in town and watched the kids.   I was dirty and tired after spending the whole day unloading merchandise and answering questions from customers.  I needed a shower and a shot of energy.

Unlike the rest of the Southeast, it was not snowing here in central FL.  Just a cold rain.   But we braved the inclement weather to take advantage of the special deal Shred Slobster was running for Valentine’s Day.

Two problems.  1st problem was the lighting.  There was an incandescent bulb just above the table.  Hanging high was an florescent bulb.  Two lamps, two levels, and 2 kinds of light.  It was driving both of us crazy, and we had trouble gazing across the table into each others’ eyes.  Okay, the TVs were on the NFL Network, which didn’t help.  But the lights did hurt our eyes.

After I unscrewed the incandescent, nothing was better.  We were still squinting.  Screwed that back in, and unscrewed the florescent.  So much better.  Easier to see CavWife’s beautiful blue eyes.  Why has the government decided to torture us with these lousy bulbs?

Lots of Shrimp to enjoy

2nd problem was the menu.  There was no description in the menu for some of the main courses we could choose.  Kinda made it hard to choose.  But we did.  Which shrimp dish to get.  Oh, in case you didn’t know, CavWife is allergic to shellfish so I often partake when we are out on the town, which isn’t very often these days.  But, I choose the grilled shrimp.  Lots of shrimp to enjoy.

CavWife enjoyed the wood-grilled salmon.  But first were our Caesar Salads and garlic biscuits.   I was glad that we waited until our main dishes arrived.  I like a leisurely meal especially with my wife.  Then was the Chocolate Wave.   All in all, a nice meal.

Read Full Post »

Considering Her First Movie

CavGirl and I had a date this morning.  The local theaters run older kids movies a few mornings each week during the summer.  They are free since they expect you to spend money on concessions.  It works out well for everyone.  We were supposed to see this:

I double-checked the time and theater with my friend.  He was taking his daughter too.  Somehow wires got crossed because The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anythingwas not playing at that movie theater, and my friend was nowhere to be found.  It was at this moment that I was glad I didn’t tell CavGirl she’d see her friend this morning.  I was tempted to go home.

But my mind went back to the night before when I told her we were going on a date.  She was excited about the idea of going to the movie.  She wanted to bring Addison, her favorite doll.  She wanted to bring him in the stroller.  We compromised … ‘yes’ to Addison and ‘no’ to the stroller.  She was already disappointed, I didn’t want to completely disappoint her.

So … we saw this.  Yes, Alvin and the Chipmunks.  It was okay, aside from some words I was not excited about my daughter hearing.  Like “sucks” for instance- even though they used it to mean “awful”.  The scatological humor was something else I could do without.  The singers & dancers who joined them on stage were not exactly kid appropriate either.

But, she enjoyed her first taste of movie theater popcorn.  And she savored the Sprite that came with it in the kids combo.  She did really well for the first time in a movie theater.  She didn’t get restless until the last 10-15 minutes.

This may sound strange to some of you.  We know people who have been bringing their kids to the movies since they were a year old.  You might call us “old fashioned” since she’s 3 1/2 and has never gone to a movie.  Others might call us progressive because we took such a young child to the movies.

I thought she was old enough to enjoy it.  And I thought it was Veggie Tales.  Yes on the first, and no on the second.  But I had a good time watching a movie with my little girl- even if it was Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Read Full Post »