Who Is This Man...

And What Have You Done With My Husband?!

When I married John, I was always rather surprised when we went out to dinner.  He would order what he wanted and maybe even a soda or raspberry lemonade or a desert.  Being a teen of the 80's I had learned to be pretty tight with money.  Even on vacation, my family had usually packed meals. I loved eating out once in awhile, now that I could afford it but I had usually ordered less than more in an effort to save where I could.   Though we were never big spenders, with John I learned to relax a little bit and enjoy a nice meal and worry less about the cost the whole time.

Imagine my surprise when suddenly, lately, this man with whom I've enjoyed a few meals out over the past 15 years suddenly turns on me.  "I really hate eating out."  he says with a disenchanted look all about him. " It's just so expensive and it'll kill you ya know." he'll tell me as I dream of eating a nice batch of chips and salsa and maybe an enchilada out, while I look moodily in the cupboards trying to dream up something as satisfying as all that.

Imagine again, my shock and amazement when lately, this same man drives up at 3 in the afternoon, asks me if I'd like to load everyone up and go to Boise with him.  He has a service call.  We can all go and then do something fun like go to the park.  Oh,  but of course, he's rebelling against eating out though, so we will need to bring some dinner.  And,  he needs to leave, now.

I remember my friend Kevera and also my sister Annie's words...."just throw in the peanut butter and grab a loaf of bread."   So we did.  I was even more amazed when my usually ever-so-proper husband chose the parking lot of TJ Max as the place to prepare dinner.   Just picture it, people coming out with bags of bargain clothes, and my man making sandwiches right out of the back of the van!  Hilarious!  Sort of fun, even, him doing it!

"There." he says as we all buckle our seat belts while eating Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches and drinking our juice bags (isn't that the weirdest word?  "juice bag"?  I can hardly say it).   "And we're already done,  that fast."  he states with great satisfaction.  "You know it's just not worth taking kids out to dinner.  They don't even eat anything," he tells me as we  pull out of the parking lot on the way to the park.

And I think, he must be right.

Grace

Clara

and Emma at the Discovery center.  After a nice meal in the car.