Our Delightful Evening

Last night felt more like a weekend and it was a distinct shock to realize I have to go work this morning and actually think! Tom and I were taken to dinner by a couple who we have known through work for some time. Steve has been a client for many years (10?) and his wife, Cathy, has a jewelry design business for which we have provided web work for maybe a couple of years. Both are very enjoyable people but it never occurred to us to get together socially until this invitation.

I sure am glad that they thought of it! We were taken to a tiny restaurant specializing in the cuisine of Veracruz in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff (for any Dallasites reading). This place had perhaps eight tables but wonderful decor, service and, most important of all, food. Although it is surprising that I noticed any of that because Cathy and I were so engrossed in conversation that my Pipian Chicken (chicken breast with pumpkin seed sauce) almost went to waste (almost!). As she later said to Steve, "Oh, were you there too?" I don't think the guys suffered because I heard a steady stream of talking and laughing coming from them.

It was especially fun because Cathy and I connected on soooooo many levels. She's the only other person I know who shops weekly at both the Central Market and Kuby's. She goes to a reformed temple ("it's very reformed") and y'all know I'm a staunchly conservative Catholic, but we agreed on so many intersecting areas of the need for education, intellectual curiousity and the application of those things to child rearing. It also was refreshing to talk to someone who has teenagers (hers are 19 and 16 year old girls) as so many of my friends have very young children. We both understood the idea of being the parents providing the gathering place for kids' friends, had similar "clever" stories about our almost grown kids' views, etc. Steve and Tom? Yeah, they were still there somewhere ...

Before and after dinner they showed us a bit of the area. Tom and I were intrigued and, if we can find our way back, want to go during the day with the girls and explore a bit more. One quirky place we explored was ifs ands & butts, which bills itself as "The World's Most Famous SodaPop & Tobacco Shop". I could believe it. I had no idea that so many old brands of soda pop still were being manufactured. Our conversation with the proprietor about Coca Cola from Mexico versus Holland was so fascinating that he almost couldn't quit talking (a passion for his work, don't ya know!).

As I work my way slowly toward New Year's resolutions (that is a whole other post), this reinforces a life style change that Tom and I discussed last year and that I am going to try to force this year ... we must make the time to entertain more. Ok, let's make that, we must make time to entertain at all! It's too easy to let it slide in the middle of a busy life and then discover you never have any of your friends ever come over. It took us several months just to set the date for last night's outing. Certainly we have to have Steve and Cathy over and continue all that talking ... for one thing, I never got to talk to Steve!