(43-129) Double Date

If you've read "The Bumpy Ride" before; then you know that on Friday's when our kids are in school, Luis and I have date day.  Well, a school day it was; and Luis and I had something extra special planned... A double date with our dear friends Mari and Mike.   Mari knew that Luis and I had gone to lunch at Talking Stick Casino a couple of times, and she was interested in checking it out; so it was there that we went.

I fear that it sounds like I go to buffets and casinos A LOT; but the truth is, I typically only go up to the buffet twice, once for food and once for dessert; and I hardly ever gamble.  NOT that there's anything wrong with either of these things (buffets or gambling;) I just hate to sound like I'm sabotaging myself (completely) when I frequently mention my desire (need) to lose weight.

Anyhow; when planning to go to lunch, I explained to Mari that if you go into the buffet before 10, you pay just $9.99 per person and they change from breakfast to lunch at 1030, with lunch being available by 11.  From 1030 to 11 you can't enter the buffet, but if you're already in, you're welcome to stay and if you enter AFTER 11, you pay $12.99 per person for lunch.  We all agreed that we'd go in before 10, have some coffee and enjoy each others company until lunch was available; and that's exactly what we did.  Mari felt slightly awkward about this plan; and I confessed that in the past I had as well; but I knew that we weren't breaking any rule; Queen of FOLLOWING THE RULES, that I am; AND we definitely weren't the only people who had entered at breakfast and stayed for lunch.

Did you ever have a day when EVERYTHING just seemed to go right?  Well, in my experience they're usually few and far between; but today WAS one of those days. The coffee was warm and strong; and the juice was fresh.  The view was outstanding and the company was even better.  We chatted, we joked; and we laughed; A LOT.  Time flew by for us; but I wondered if the wait staff was taking bets on how long we'd stay.  The irony is, that for the amount of time (3 hours) that we were in the buffet; we barely ate.  So I think that it was apparent that we were just having a good time together; and that we weren't greedy, gluttons trying to get two meals for the price of one.

After we left the buffet, we walked around a bit; and decided to do a little gambling.  I informed everyone that for the sake of my blog, I really needed someone to win some money; and good friend that Mari is; she obliged me.  I was watching Luis play $5 Blackjack, and I missed a call on my cell; it was Mari.  I immediately tried to call her back; but she called me and said "come right over; I just won $80."  I wasted no time finding Mari and gave her a big "WOO HOO;" and a high five.  I get excited over ANY win, and to me $80 IS a big deal.  The day had been perfect exactly as it was; but Mari winning some money was just icing on the cake.

Before Jackie came into my life, I really had no extended family to speak of; which is why my friends were / are so very important to me.  I know that I often write about my friendships and how thankful I am for my friends; and I truly believe that gratitude is never wasted.  According to Douglas Pagels, "A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be."   I pride myself on being a good friend; and it is quite evident that Mari and Mike do the same.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING