Of Maps and Men...

The dinner out on Sunday turned out nicer than I thought it would. Other than getting lost, of course. Neither my husband nor I had been to this place, so both of us looked at maps on our individual laptops. Each of us had a different map returned on our query, though we used the same software. Neither of us bothered to print the map--secure that we'd find the place. Ri-i-ght.

We began the evening a bit behind because son one of three had an afternoon birthday party. By the time I returned with all of the little people, it was 3:30 pm and none of us had eaten lunch. So I rushed in the door, made sandwiches and got everyone settled. I sat in my rocking chair, blissfully ignoring the clock until reality smacked me upside the head. The party was at 5, it was now 4:30, and while I wasn't looking rough, I wasn't nearly ready either. My husband insisted that I didn't need to dress up because it was just a podunk restaurant in a podunk town. Never trust a man when he's giving fashion advice--unless of course, he knows what he's talking about. My husband's idea of dressing for the evening consisted of slapping a shirt over the dragon t-shirt he'd worn all day. Since his jeans didn't have too many dirt smudges, they were cleared for the party (again him, not me). I asked him if he was serious--especially since I made the kids don their church clothes--to which he replied, staring at a closet rail FULL of clothes, I have nothing to wear.

I didn't have energy to argue with him and hem my skirt and iron my clothes. I know I should have had my things prepared ahead of time. I usually do, and I abhor being late to anything. But at the same time, I was under the impression that this was like every other casual get-together his office has. Boy was I wrong! We got there and the boss' wife looked downright frazzled. I asked her if she was okay, and she explained what transpired at the restaurant while we were making our way. To sum it all up, the restaurant staff wouldn't seat our group until more people showed up. We weren't the only late ones, but until the staff determined a majority of our party had arrived, they made them wait in the lobby. At this point, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that the boss' wife is VERY pregnant and has 2 little ones to chase after. Having lived that side of life, I felt horrible for being late.

We ate, and the time came for an ornament exchange. I'd bought a simple angel. It was beautiful to me. Other people went all out in their quest for the perfect ornament. Mine was so simple that it looked almost grim in comparison to the others. So on top of feeling horrible for a tardy appearance, I felt stupid for not giving the "right" ornament. Could it get any worse? Oh yeah. People started pulling out gifts for everybody. Do you think I had anything to give? No. So today, on top of writing and karate, I'll be making candies for the darling husband to distribute amongst his colleagues. Good thing I opted out of making 4 cheesecakes...