The Essence

The start of another week...do you ever feel like the only thing you do during the week is countdown to the weekend?

The weekends are almost never relaxingenough either. I'm torn between having fun & doing nothing...I wish there was time for both.

This past weekend was kept busy with lots of fun, the first being that Ernie & Ruth were in town for a couple of days. They flew in Friday afternoon so Ray & I met them for dinner at Pho Quyen. (Look at the picture, it used to be a Steak 'n Ale...does it really look like a Vietnamese restaurant?) I ordered Pho, a favorite dish of mine when I was little when our Vietnamese neighbors would invite us over to eat, except I grew up thinking it was called "fur" because that's how their son pronounced it.

This Pho was pretty good, I hadn't tried it in a couple of years, the only part that kind of grossed me out was the pieces of cow stomach. Ernie likes it, but I thought what I ordered only had strips of beef. Cow stomach looks truly disturbing & I couldn't bring myself to try a piece.

Afterwards we went for coffee & cheesecake at Barnes & Noble. We ran into Henny & his wife there, which was funny because I don't think I'd seen them in over a year (I don't even think they were engaged yet!) & the last time I saw them was when we ran into each other at B&N.

Saturday morning was kept busy with house work & then lunch at California Pizza Kitchen with Ruth, Rach, & Ella. Ella left & the three of us did a little shopping at International Plaza & then went to Ruth's hotel room (the hotel is connected to the mall) & vegged in front of the tv a bit. Her room overlooked the courtyard & we watched the workers setting up for a wedding that appeared to be taking place in the evening. There were lots of white folding chairs & we becamse so excited over the twinle lights in the trees. :)

For dinner the guys joined us & we all went to Rach's & had spaghetti. We also had some cookie dough, baked cookies, apple bread, & strawberry shortcake while watching home shows & What Not to Wear on TLC. It's a good thing I don't get that channel at home, it's addictive!

Yesterday after church Ray & I were invited over to a friends' house, the Carvalho's, for lunch. Our friends are Brazilian (Americans who grew up in Brazil & married Brazilians) so for lunch we had Brazilian steak. Anyone who's had it knows its the best & anyone who hasn't had it doesn't know what they're missing out on. The Carvalho's also had their brother & sister-in-law, the Aitkens, over with their kids. This was great for me because these are two of my favorite families at this church. Yes, with friends I do play favorites & I actually really enjoy these people.

The Aitkens just bought a lot in the same community as the Carvalho's, so after lunch we went & looked at the model of their Villa. It's going to be really cute, with lots of windows & a nice back porch.

We went straight to church after lunch & finally made it home after 8 last night. Only about 7 hours later then when I'd planned on going home yesterday. :)

Today & went to Panera & Starbucks for lunch with Geannie. She owed me $5 so we made it even with the lunch. :) We had a nice time, mostly discussing her boyfriend situation. When she dropped me off at the office she told me how much fun I am. It was really nice, sometimes you just need to hear that.

Anyway, back to the daily grind. Just three hours left....