March 23 , 2004 - Dinner with Frank

While I was at it, I also got some more pictures of my sister's other pets, Beaner (her kitty) and Emma (her doggie). Ludo is the white kitty, and Beaner is the tabby.

     

      

I slept in on Sunday until about 8 or 9. My sister's fiancé made us all pancakes before he headed out for work. Afterwards, my sister and I did a little shopping for his birthday at the mall.

We also window shopped in the clothing stores, because neither of us could really afford anything just now.

We got her fiancé a tent and sleeping bag for his birthday, then stopped in a party supply store for wrapping paper. We also looked to see what might be in there that would work for weddings (not much).

On a whim, we stopped in the Pier One in the same plaza and priced things like paper lanterns that she wants for her wedding. She also found out they do, indeed, do a gift registry for weddings (yay!).

I drove back early enough on Sunday to get back for a friend's birthday party. I'll call him the Young One. Even though we have some friends younger than him, such as Batman, we still remember meeting him in college, when he was a freshman and we were all upperclassmen or recent graduates.

The Young One was turning 30, a milestone most of us passed years ago. He was having a birthday celebration at a restaurant called Buca di Beppo, which is the theme park of restaurants.

It's Italian, as you might guess from the name, decorated with a quirky blend of old photos, joke pictures and variations on classical art, such as the Mona Lisa having a wardrobe malfunction.

We were seated in the Frank Sinatra room. There were about 12 of us seated at a long table. The food is served family style, which means you order the food and then share it. Each entree serves several people.

We ordered several different entrees, and once we'd sorted it out we had plenty of food. The problem was it was so darn delicious you just couldn't stop eating it. I should have worn my exercise pants. They stretch.

I was in a silly mood, partially inspired by sleep deprivation. For example, when we were trying to figure out what to have for dessert, I kept saying, "Cheesecake, cheesecake, cheesecake."

"Are you a Pokemon?" one friend (who will henceforward go by the nickname The Cheshire Cat, at his suggestion and because it seems to fit) asked. "Cheesecake, I choose you!"

I had some fun picking on the waiter, especially when he dropped a cake he was bringing to another table. "At least the carpet's already red," I said, which went with the cake's red icing. The waiter didn't seem to mind, since he was already cracking jokes. You have to have a sense of humor to work in a place like that. Plus, you probably get better tips that way.

It was really cold, so afterwards when we all were going out to our cars, we didn't hang out in the parking lot for too long, talking, like we might otherwise have done.

The Gryphon and I went back to my place and watched a couple episodes of "Red Dwarf" before the sleep deprivation finally caught up to me and I fell asleep on the floor.

 

More weekend activities:

March 22, 2004 - Reunion in Name Only

Moral:
You can't start your 30th year off any better than with a blessing from Frank.