Date Archives → November 2007

dinner for two

This is the first dinner we’ve shared, just the two of us. At least, it’s the first that we’ve both sat at the table for.

Ryan is working late, and so it’s just us.

I was tempted to just eat crackers and apples and popcorn and whatever else I happened to grab. But no, I knew we should sit and have dinner.

So here I am, having one of those moments when I feel like a Real Mom.

I lit a candle — little man’s favorite thing — and set it on the table. I set our places: eggs and toast on my plate, cheez-its in a little bowl at his place. We sat down and prayed; he held my hand, like he knows to do. Since there is no conversation, we fill the silence with “Mmmm!” after every bite.

He wants to slam his bowl on the table, but I ask him not to. We’re having a candlelit dinner, after all. Certain decorum is in order.

Nat King Cole is crooning in the background, and paper snowflakes fall in our window.

And I remember a hundred dinners, just us and Mom, with plastic cups set properly, napkins folded and tucked under our forks, eating our fruit slices and sandwiches as though it were King’s fare. What wonderful memories.

I’m so glad I decided to do dinner the right way tonight. Hopefully it’s the making of a wonderful memory for someone else.

waiting for redemption

I would have loved to have been there. Even from 3,000 miles away, my heart aches and groans with theirs. And from 3,000 miles away, I am ministered to by the same words of hope.

And I hear Him whispering over and over, in the sorrowful places of my soul, with eyes of love and fire, “Behold, I make all things new.”

*****

When death, like a gypsy
comes to steal what I love
I will still look to the heavens
I will still seek Your face…

I will sing of Your mercy
that leads me through
valleys of sorrow
to rivers of joy ( — jars of clay)

warning: hugely photo-heavy update ahead.

This week with my mother in law has been lots and lots of fun. We’ve done fun things every day, but in a very relaxing way. That’s what makes week-long visits the best — there’s time to slow down and enjoy just being together.

A large part of the week’s entertainment was photographing Jameson. Shocked? I’m not. I mean, come on:

(Please note the 21st-century-multi-tasking going on here:)

In San Francisco yesterday — the cutest little pair you’ve ever seen:

We had a nice lunch:

Best of all (according to Jameson) was this treat:

And moving on to today.

First, I donned an apron and got pie crust made and the turkey in the oven (with help from the expert hands of my mother in law. Can you believe I’ve never even watched my mother prep a turkey — at least that I can remember? I mean, I love to learn, but there’s no way I was going to be up at 3:20 AM Thanksgiving morning, or whatever crazy time our 86 lb. turkey had to go in the oven.)

Anyway, those things done, I put Jameson down for a nap and — Ryan and I split! Yes, we went on a little date, just the two of us!

We were so excited, I even decided we needed to photo-document it. Just so we can point back five years from now and say, “Hey, look, we actually went out once!”

See? Don’t we look excited?

And where did we go? Nowhere terribly special, except that it was JUST THE TWO OF US! (Did I already mention that?)

Our loot (is food loot?):

Silliness:

(FYI: Ryan didn’t drink coffee. He doesn’t drink it anymore, you know. Or tea. Or chocolate. Or, wow, anything except water and the occasional steamed milk. Which is what he had.)

We dropped by the playground on the way home, where Ryan found Nana and Jameson playing hard. (I continued on home to finish the pie, keep the turkey moving along, and otherwise make progress on the meal.)

Now. For the food, family, and fun.

Yes, we ate quite well. I actually couldn’t believe how quickly everything came together. I’ll tell you what, chopping sweet potatoes for three is a whole different thing than chopping sweet potatoes for the 67 people in my family. (Okay, okay, 67 is sort of over the top…) The strangest (and saddest) thing was making ONE PIE. One. That was it.

*sigh*

But it was a good pie, at least.

After dinner was done, we watched Amazing Grace, which we enjoyed, and then played more Pass the Pigs — all with candles lit and popcorn popped and second servings of pie. My mother in law won. Soundly.

And thus concludes a week of visiting and day of thankfulness.

Thanks for reading.

[And for those who just can’t get enough of these pictures, there are more!]