Yuck!

Jen's been asking me the last couple days, "have you written it yet? Did you write the post yet?"

Ok, here's the story. The Friday after Christmas, Jen & I were staying at her mom's house & were taking advantage of a very willing babysitter to have a night out.

After sitting at the top of Grandad's Bluff, talking about the roller coaster this holiday season has been without my mom, Jen asked where I'd like to go for dinner. For those of you who know me, my comfort food is Chinese food. My mom & I would occasionally hit area buffets followed by leisurely browsing through the nearest book store. It was one of our "things." The food's not exactly Jen's first choice, but she was game, especially considering my emotional state, so off we went.

Our first warning signal should've been the fact that there were only six other people in the restaurant, at 7pm on a Friday night. Strike two was the limited, unremarkable selection of food in the buffet. Those sauteed green beans had obviously been sitting there for a while.

After finishing our first plates, we sat talking for a few minutes, very softly since no one else in the restaurant was talking. Seriously, Twilight Zone stuff! I was just about to get a small 2nd plate when one of the staff, mopping the floor by the food lines, loudly snorted & cleared his throat like he had a 50lb wad of phlegm in his mouth.

Uh, yeah. I was done. Strike three! Check please?

I had to try so hard not to laugh as we paid our bill & quickly made our way to the exit. Once clear of the door, I lost it. Fearing she'd been scarred for life, I offered with a smile, "for the foreseeable future, I will not ask you to eat at Chinese buffet."

The night wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the book store.