The day in summary

Last night Roy fixed the waste line pipe. Again. At least temporarily. This saved us a lot of money. At least temporarily. We celebrated with a bonfire and SHOWERS to wash off the smokey smell. You know, when we bought our house the bathroom was my least favorite room. Amazing how you don’t mind a little peeling paint or mildew when all you want is to not smell yourself.

We journeyed to the local library this morning with the boys. Mini-update: I read ALL of the books I checked out two weeks ago, except a Pete Sampras autobiography that I chose not to finish because he, quite honestly, comes across as a sullen spoiled little boy. After 70 pages I decided that I had been right to root for Agassi all along and put it in the return pile. But my completed books included a cookbook written by a popular food blogger, an inside look at the Culinary Institute of America, and a memoir written by a physical therapist from the Walter Reed Medical Center in D.C.

We all found many literary treasures, and we’ll see how I do with my new queue. (Two more Michael Ruhlman books, a Timothy Keller book on prayer, Jill Kelly’s memoir on her son, and another blogger book about interior decorating, a subject I am woefully uneducated on.

As we headed out to the car Roy, feeling flush with cash (ba-dump (a pun within a pun!)-SHA), suggested that maybe we could get lunch out together. We haven’t had a family meal out in months. The cheapskate in me initially balked, but then I looked at the four of us together, enjoying ourselves, and told him it sounded like a good idea. (Also, no cooking…)

Roy suggested the Burger Bar at the Pittsford Wegmans. We had eaten there once before, after an RPO kids concert Roy played before Owen was born. It was yummy, but I didn’t remember much about it. WELL. We were hungry and it struck a perfect chord of quick service, inviting clean atmosphere, friendly staff, reasonable prices, and stunning food. Seriously. This is what I had…

Veggie Grain Burger

Topped with portabella mushrooms, zucchini, peppadew pepper relish (going to find some of that immediately somehow), lemon garlic aioli, toasted whole wheat roll.

Baby Kale & Arugula Salad (Came as a side to my burger)

Baby kale, arugula, walnuts, goat cheese, dried cranberries, honey wheat grain, golden raisin vinaigrette.

Salted Caramel Spiked Shake (Split with Roy—next time I don’t wanna share)

Vanilla ice cream, Da Vinci Caramel Sauce, bourbon, topped with whipped cream, a candied pecan and a sprinkle of black salt.

It was all great tasting--fresh, and bursting with flavor. The best meal I’ve had since Date Night In, and the best meal I’ve had OUT in much longer. 5 star recommendation there.

James seemed to enjoy the outing the most of any of us. He’s been, ahem, exploring the limits of his world a good bit this week. (I am convinced this is because we had a lengthy conversation with my sister in law last Sunday about child discipline and we were saying how easy we’ve had it with James. Just keep your yapper shut Julie. Seriously.) Anyway, I get the feeling our sweet boy hasn’t really cared much for Mommy and Daddy lately and how much they keep shutting down all his fun. But after the library and lunch he seemed to perk up a good bit and interacted with a lot more enthusiasm the rest of the day.

So anyway, it was a good day. Now I’m off to start a new library book. No offense blog, but I’m a little more excited about that than this entry.

Today’s 1%: I took the latest batch of granola out 33% earlier and set the oven for a lower temp. Perfect texture. Not too chewy, and not charcoal.