2002-06-23 - 2:06 p.m. this wheel's on fire Before jumping in to my tales of tourism, I must include a note to self: Do not continue to make plans for European travel with people you hardly know. Let last Spring's Italy trip be a warning! Danger Will Robinson! Get to know people first well before travelling with them. Alternatively, if you must continue to make such plans, swear to run screaming to the nearest train station when instincts point towards that being a good idea. Somehow, it always appears to be a good idea to plan that trip with the co-worker you've started hanging out with and are working with on a long, involved project. Inviting along the ex you've started to become friends with again, and who has the marvelous foreign language skills, also seems like a good idea... why????? Looking back upon these rash plans of the past two months, I am grateful to have escaped unscathed...it would appear my wanderlust had too firm of a grip upon my brain this Spring... My "country friends", as they called themselves, were in the City yesterday for mother-daughter bonding (I got to be a surrogate daughter for the day which is a lovely thing.) The funniest recurring scene that happens when we have these mini reunions is watching the expression on the faces of people around us when my friend's mother calls her name, and we both answer in unison "yes?" People typically assume we're sisters taking our mom out for a whirl, so this clearly confounds them. In addition to sharing the same name, my friend and I spent our childhood living on the same block, having Barbie adventures together, crying over boys on each other's front porches, and camping out in my backyard, sharing our fears and aspirations under the stars...I moved away for college and never came back, making our reunions intense and always a little sad, with each of us wishing the other would move a little bit closer... After a long session of girl talk and window shopping downtown, I had the pleasure of escorting the ladies to a tattoo parlor in my old neighborhood to get their matching tattoos touched up and added on to a bit. Then it was off to Q restaurant for dinner. As we stood by the door waiting for a table to clear so we could be seated, I smelled the most heavenly roasted spicy nut aroma. I am pleased to report the entree I ordered was the source of this aromatic stimulation: Roasted pepita crusted baked chicken breast, with morel mushrooms, a polenta cake topped with goat cheese, and grilled asparagus. The waiter licked his lips when he handed this dish to me. He had good reason to do so. It was amazingly tasty. I was so engrossed in wolfing down my delicious dinner I almost forgot to share some with my guests (a major faux pas in my book.) The only uncomfortable moment in the midst of this day was of my own making. When we reached the restaurant, I picked up the sign up sheet and wrote my name plus a request for a table for 4... It took me a while to realize what I'd done and why. My ex-boy had been a specter hanging over this day since he was typically a participant in the girlie shopping and eating fests, typically acting as our chauffeur, comic foil, and fashion consultant. We'd discussed him briefly in the morning, but, after this slip, we dug into the issue a little more. Despite the anger many of my friends feel towards him, many of them also share my feeling of loss. We miss his humor at the dinner table...the funny little tangents...his cajoling my not-so-adventurous-when-it-comes-to-eating friend into trying new foods (which is something I've only ever seen him be able to do). They loved him as a part of my life, and my extended family and feel his loss. On some level, I think he feels the same. He asked me to tell them hello for him. My first reaction and response to that request was that I did not think that was such a good idea, which appeared to upset him and hastened an end to our telephone conversation. In practice, I *did* tell them he said hello, which led into our initial discussion about him before we started our adventures... This will only continue to get easier with time. any comments? (0 so far) previous - next recently on almostgoldsf... in defense of an email box I came to do battle with SPAM - 2008-05-17 hello 2006 - 2005-12-31 Happy Thanksgiving - 2005-11-14 bon voyage - 2005-11-05 October already? - 2005-10-09