Friends

We've spent the last week or so visiting with a number of friends whom we didn't get to see this summer. That's the hard part about moving from one place to another. No matter where we are, when we move we have to leave our friends and family. We feel fortunate that we have such great friends. Our family is stuck with us but our friends make the choice to be with us. We enjoy the experience of sharing food with family and friends.

Since I love to cook, I appreciate the fact that our friends are willing to sit through my experiments with new recipes. For the book club I tried a few Burmese dishes. The first time I've cooked with lemon grass. Such a delightful aroma it has as you pound it before putting it in the dish. Then for another dinner this weekend, I cooked chicken breasts rolled in bread crumbs and topped with apricot perserves, sprinkled with slivered almonds and topped with melted brie. How can you ever go wrong with brie!

By that time we were ready to go out to eat with a couple of friends at Pat Flynn's. One reason I love going there (beside the great service and good, inexpensive food) is because we can sit and visit for a long time without feeling rushed. In the course of the evening conversation, Bernie and I discovered a shared fascination for odd chairs. He sent me a picture of a Christmas tree in Ireland made of chairs. Beats our tree in Chandler, AZ made of tumbleweeds. Terry has almost agreed to drive our Mercedes to Arizona for us this fall. We're hoping that works out.

Tuesday night we entertained at home again and listened as Kerry and James recounted their fine dining experience in Chicago. They went to Schwa's for a nine course dinner. It took a year to get the reservation and they said it was well worth the wait. I didn't even try to compete with Schwa's and fixed chili and cornbread. Shari and Michael were also here to share in the evening.

Since my dishwasher isn't working and we are getting tired of doing dishes, we opted to meet Chris and Carole Horne for dinner at Marco's. They brought along pictures of their house in Madison, IN along the Ohio river. Fascinating. Fortunately the restaurant wasn't busy as we sat for a couple of hours visiting and catching up.

Today I had lunch with my friend Sonnie with whom I used to work. She became a first-time grandmother about the same time the twins were born. So we shared stories. It amazes me how different the three babies are.

It's hard to leave all these people, plus others I haven't even mentioned here. That's not even counting how hard it is to leave the family. But on the other hand, I get an email from Georgianna or Paige or Linda and get eager to see them as well as other friends in Arizona. And we look forward to touching base with friends and family along the way. So given the alternative, no one to care about, I guess this is good that we are so blessed.