Is That Chicken???

One would think having a week off would supply me with more than enough time to write a blog; however, I do try to only write about things that seem worth my time and yours. I have been sitting on a good one for the past week, but have not found the time to sit down and blog.

Side Note: I found it much easier to blog while at work. You know, when I am supposed to be working and stuff. And, recently since Evie's mom is home I feel slightly weird blogging while we are sitting around waiting for the kids to wake up. Yes, this has been my life for the past few weeks. Maternity leave can not end soon enough.

So, here I was last weekend in VA Beach. Tori, Katie, and I went down for a race on Saturday. The Shamrock 8K. We got in late Friday night and because we had to pick up our race packets, we weren't ready to eat dinner until about 9:00. I was starving. Beyond starving actually. We decided to eat at this cute little bar type place. I will refrain from telling you the name, as I have found anytime I mention actual places, those places look at my blog (I know because I have a tracker on my blog and can see who is looking).

Anywho, hands down it was the worse dining experience I ever.
Long story short...

We ordered drinks (like most normal people) and the waitress came back to get our order, but had no drinks in her hands.

When she did finally come back with drinks, mine was completely wrong. I ordered a diet cream soda, and got a diet pepsi.

Then I had asked what was in the tossed salad before ordering it. I don't eat bacon, so I needed to make sure there weren't things in my salad I would not eat. All the salads on the menu had a list of ingredients, except that one. Probably because most normal people know what comes in a tossed salad. I know I do, but again...had to check to make sure they weren't adding things I refuse to eat.

The waitress responded with this: "spring mix, sprouts, and some other things"

Some other things? Other things? What if I have an allergy concern woman!? Know your menu!!!

Jenny: "Some other things? Well, do the other things include bacon?"

Waitress: "No."

Fine then, great. I then asked to add chicken to it too (this comes up later). So we wait and wait for our food. We barely see the waitress so I suck it up and drink my diet pepsi instead of what I really wanted.

Our food arrives. Tori seems to be complaining that she wanted a hot sandwhich and that she asked for a certain type of bread, etc. So, her order seemed off. Then I look at my salad. Friends, if this was a "tossed salad" then spin me around and paint me stupid.

Here is what was in it:

spring mix
sprouts
asparagus
artichoke hearts
heart of palm (a vegetable-like artichoke)
italian seaoning
a lot of oil
cherry tomatoes
NO CHICKEN


I am first ticked that there is no chicken. Then I am thinking, this is not what I ordered. This does not look like a regular tossed salad. She must have gotten it mixed up with something else. In fact, I remember seeing a salad with these ingredients on the menu and deciding that while it looked good, it was just not what I wanted.

So, I am in a pickle. I am beyond hunger at this point. Our waitress is never around. Do I suck it up and eat it? Or do I just wait to send it back.

I decided that I wanted my real salad.

So we track the waitress down. Tori tells her about her sandwhich. Then I say, "there's no chicken on this salad, plus I just don't know if this is what I ordered. Are you sure you grabbed the right salad?" (Nicely of course)

I wish I could tell you this was not the response I got from her:

"Well, did you dig down deep? Sometimes the chicken is at the bottom."
I dig up everything for her...still no chicken.

"Well, is it shredded??" She asks.
Nope. I don't see shredded chicken anywhere.

"Well, is that chicken?" She points to the heart of palm.
NO, CLEARLY NOT CHICKEN.

By "points", I mean she is basically touching my salad. And by "chicken", she meant the noodle like vegetable (the heart of palm) that is also NOT CHICKEN.

You probably had to be there to fully appreciate this story, but who doesn't know what chicken looks like?

She came back a minute later with my actual salad. It was a regular, tossed salad WITH chicken that you could see and didn't have to dig for. Praise God. Now let's eat!

Detention!

Last Friday, we *(Dan and I) went to see the play that Tori was helping to direct. It was a high school production of "Once Upon A Mattress".

Anywho, the fun began that day for me when I could not find my keys before work. In a panic, I literally tossed junk all over my room. It wasn't until after I trashed my room like a rockstar, that I realized my keys were in my roommate's car!! I had left them there the night before and she had already left for work! I couldn't find my spare keys. How was I going to get to work?

I rememebered my friend Val also works in the city, so I called her to see if she had left yet. She hadn't, so I caught a ride in with her. 

Later that day, Dan had to pick me up...

Anyways, we were on the go heading to Annapolis, so we had to get dinner somewhere. We decided to wait until we got to the high school to pick up Subway (it's across the street). So, we brought it back to the school since the Subway is really just a kiosk at the gas station. 

We searched around the school briefly for somewhere to sit. There was none to be found so we ended up eating on/near a teacher's desk shoved in the hallway. I repeat. No chairs in sight. At all.

While Dan stood next to it, I perched myself happily on top. 

Haha. Halfway through, this petite blonde lady, with way too many words came up to us. She asked where were were from, who we were supporting, bantered about the Baltimore area, and so on. One of the better conversations with a stranger I have had. 

Come to find out, she was the principal of the school. We figured this out when her sweet demeanor morphed into..."Can I get you a chair??" Disguised as her wanting to provide for my needs, her real intention was: Get off my desk before you break it, you hoodlum. 

So, she goes back into this dark, forbidden hallway. She retrieves this leather chair on wheels. 

Too funny.

When I was finished with it, she came back promptly to return it to the office from whence it came. 

Never, never throughout my four years of high school did I ever get in trouble, or get a detention, or anything. I go back for ONE night and get into trouble. Sheesh. 

*Dan thinks it's funny I use the word "we" in my blog now without even stating who the "we" is. I assume, dear reader, you now know that the "we" generally will always come to mean "Dan and I" unless otherwise noted. Thank you.*

PS. My keys were in my room on the floor where I normally throw them

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY!! (A JIB JAB)

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River Dance (We'd Like to Remind You That There's No Flash Photography In The Theater And That Smoking Is Strictly Prohibited, And Now. Riverdance.)

I got a phone call the other day from my sister's mother-in-law, Mary Kay. She and I both have this obsession with Ireland. She actually has a lot of Irish blood in her, while I...well, I have a smidgen. BUT IT ONLY TAKES A SMIDGEN PEOPLE!!!

Anywho, she called to ask if I would like a ticket to see Riverdance, since they were at the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore.

WOULD I EVER????

I mean, so very awesome. 

It was a wonderful evening. Very inspiring. Super lovely.

And I braved this night, after another root canal! Go me. 

My tooth was ok, but while my face was numbed up on drugs, I bit almost straight through my lip! Yowzers.

Here, a taste:

Sidewalk Chalk and Cheerios: And I Am Not A Mom...

Yesterday Evie and I took a walk around the neighborhood and then went to the grocery store. It was such a fantastic day! The weather was perfect. I had to take advantage, because I know all too well that the cold weather will return after a short-lived warm front. 

Upon coming home, we found Connor, his mother Emily, and baby Sarah outside enjoying the nice day. We stopped to play for a little while. 

Emily and I usually talk about everything under the sun. When I come over to her house on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she will generally run my ear off for a good half hour. Most of the stories are about how Connor refused a nap the other day, or how he decided to draw on the bottom side of the table with his crayons, or even more humorously...how his hand gets stuck in the collar of his shirt when he tried to remove his clothes while lying in his crib.

It was because of this woman that I finally realized how Evie's neighbors have become my own community. I mean, I am here so often, that her neighbors are my neighbors. One day, I was in and out of about three people's houses. I stop in to say "hi", pass mom's I have seen at the library "reading time", play out in the back with other moms, stop to talk to people I know from the MAC, and so on.

I really feel like this is my network. My ministry. It used to be more focused on the kids, but now I realize how much time I spend with these stay at home mom's, that I realized the other day how much life I could speak into them just by spending time at the playground, or following after the kids at the park. 

Especially Emily. I don't know what it is about this woman that makes my heart hurt for her. She seems so put together on the outside, and yet the more I talk to her, the more I see how she is just so all over the place. 

One time, I was listening to her talk for close to 20 minutes and I was enjoying the conversation, but thinking to myself, "Ok, how do I bow out gracefully and tactfully?". That's when the Holy Spirit convicted me to just shut up and listen. This woman needed me to hear her. She just needed someone to hear her. She needed someone to rescue her from the monotony of motherhood. From the noisy silence, as I like to call it. It's not that it's quiet when you have children running around the house. It is so not quiet. But, it's just. So. Lonely. 

A loneliness that I can understand all too well, really. 

Sometimes, this makes me yearn for motherhood, but also (smartly) want to run in the opposite direction. I feel like a stay at home mom, but am not. I feel like I got the best of both worlds...but then why do I feel so out of place?

Anywho, here I was yesterday afternoon, hearing this woman go on and on about cheerios, and sidewalk chalk. Again, enjoying the conversation. It finally turns to the topic of faith. Her daughter, having been baptized into the Catholic Church on Saturday, was the perfect opening for me to tell her a small piece of my story. That was just. So. Awesome. 

Then we got to talking about how she gave up sweets for Lent (I have as well, so it was cool to talk to her about how it was going) because she finds that, "Easter is such a boring holiday, I like to jazz it up by being able to eat sweets again". I am not kidding you. This is what she told me. 

My first thought, as sad as it is to admit this, was "yeah, it is". Then I was like whoa, wait a minute here!! Easter is the very definition of excitement! Hello. Jesus just rose from the dead! Are you even serious?!? There couldn't be anything more exciting in life. 

Let's just hope that I can communicate this to her in the near future.

Pet Store Fun (This Is Disturbing...)

I forgot to tell you all about one of the highlights from this past weekend...

We were in my old neighborhood visiting my old house that my family lived in from the time I was 6 to about the age of 10.We also saw my old elementary school, William S. James Elementary (or as I pronounced it in 1st grade, Willmer S. James) School. Afterwards, we went to IKEA and White Marsh Mall. It was there that we decided to go look in the pet store.

No, we are not currently looking at buying a cat together (like Ross and Julie from Season 2 of Friends), we were just looking people!!

Anywho, we were looking at some of the cutest puppies this side of the Chesepeake, when we saw probably one of the grossest sights I have encountered in the whole of my life.

One of the cuter puppies (with a "sold" sign on his cage) pooped. Turned around. Sniffed his poop. Then proceeded to eat the poop. All of it. Then, he licked up the remnants, much like an old man who enjoyed his dinner so much, he just needs a little smacker-el to finish it off.

I didn't believe Dan when he said, "He's eating his poop". I thought for sure he was being silly! But, no. Not so.

I talked with my friend who is a vet and she said it is not uncommon for animals who are caged to do this. Especially dogs, since they have a highly developed sense of smell and can actually smell their food inside of their excrement.

Still. Gross.

Bathroom Mishap.

Today, I hit up Shopper's Food Warehouse. Before I schlep my way to Evie's home, I usually go to the store to pick up a few items for the day. 

This day was no different. However, I had to pee so badly that I found myself in the nasty bathroom in the back dungeon.

I have never really ventured into this bathroom before (maybe once or twice), I try to avoid it at all costs. 

Side Note: Dan, you can pick your jaw off the floor, I know it's shocking to think I have not used this bathroom much in the past. But. I really haven't.

Anywho, I was using said bathroom when I hear someone come in and all of a sudden my door is flying open and I am staring into the face of a middle aged employee. 

"Girl" she says to me, "You gotta learn to lock the door!!"

"I did!" I say. (Who forgets to lock the bathroom door?)

She responds with, "That happened to me before in here".

Ok then. So it's possible these doors don't lock properly then?? And it's not a user error?

The add insult to injury, I frequent this grocery store so often that I see her face every morning as she check s out my food...

Stellar.

Conversation With A Nephew:

Reid: Aunt Jenny

Jenny: Yes, nephew?

Reid: I hate girls.

Jenny: How come?

Reid: Cause they're pretty.