Ad me to your list of inactive bloggers...temporarily

Contrary to what you might be thinking, I haven't been taking blogging lessons from some relatives (hi Tom, 'sup?). I've just been busy, and that's why I haven't been blogging. Work has been crazy the past several weeks, and isn't going to let up until September is over.

I did have time to go to a dinner theatre event last week. I was the guest at a vendor's customer appreciation event where they hosted their customers (of which I am one) for lunch at a local theatre. The show was pretty funny (called "Church Basement Ladies") and starred William Christopher who played the priest in M.A.S.H. One co-worker had to leave after lunch, and missed the show and dessert. I asked the waitress if I could possibly get a dessert to go to take back to the office (since the dessert was free, paid for by the vendor), I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. When she asked what dessert the co-worker wanted, I suddenly couldn't remember, so she brought all six desserts from the dessert menu! At $6.99 a piece, my jaw dropped. Oh well, I wasn't picking up the tab, and it earned me MAJOR bonus points.

Anyway, gotta run.

Overheard in a movie theater

Last night, my beautiful wife and I were able to go on a date. She wanted to see a movie. It came down to two choices: Bourne Ultimatum or Becoming Jane. Hmmm, let me think about it for a minute. Which would I rather see. Gosh, such a hard choice for a guy. So, of course she got her way and we went to see Becoming Jane at The Rio, a restored art deco theater with one, yes one, screen.

Walked up to the ticket window, which is on the outside of the building, right on the sidewalk. No microphones built into the window or anything. I look at the menu board and say "two for Becoming Jane, please" in a hushed tone so others standing nearby wouldn't hear that I was going to that movie. Jenny blew my cover when she blurted out "they only have ONE MOVIE here! You don't have to tell him which movie you're going to. All these people are here to see that movie."

We got seated plenty early, and the best part was that two "mature" women sat behind us. Here are some snippits of their conversation:

"She just had a baby, but I can't remember what his name is. It's a very strange name, though. I just don't know how she came up with it. Oh, that's right. His name is Davis. Isn't that odd?"

"Did you get your colonoscopy scheduled yet?"

"I had my mamogram the other day. I just don't enjoy those."

I wanted to ask if they've gotten their hearing test scheduled yet, because it was obvious by the volume with which they spoke that that, too, is going bad.

Although nothing blew up in the movie, and there were not car chases, it was [this is where I admit the truth] a good movie. Yes, I do enjoy period chick flicks.

POSTNOTE: I just read Jenny's post. I didn't know she'd already blogged basically the same stuff. At least we're on the same page, and you know I wasn't making up the colonoscopy/mammogram thing.

I'm one of the guys

Remember as a kid when you saw the cool kids huddling and knew they were planning something that was going to be so rad, and how much you wanted to be a part of it, whatever "it" was? I got invited to be part of "it" yesterday by some of the "cool" guys at work.

I got an email inviting me to join/play/something in the Fantasy Football League. It starts TONIGHT at 9:45. Yes, they think I'm tight enough to play or whatever. I was so excited. Then I realized, I don't know what the heck Fantasy Football is. I'm pretty sure I don't even care. But the fact remains, I got invited.

Sushi, Sushi, we all scream for Sushi!

Monday's my 33rd birthday, so to celebrate we went to a sushi restaurant today for lunch (they're closed Monday in honor of my birthday - Labor Day, which according to my mother, is named that on purpose). We sat in the 'traditional' section of the restaurant where the tables are just about two feet off the ground and you sit on zabuton cushions. We ordered yakitori (grilled chicken kabobs) for each of the boys off the appetizer menu since it was cheap and they may not like the more traditional options. They did, however, say they wanted to try some sushi so in addition to my sushi order (maguro tuna and octopus), I ordered Nathan and Eli each a shrimp sushi to try. Once our order arrived, they each tried and loved their ebi (shrimp) sushi.

Curious about what I was eating, they lost interest in their chicken and started asking questions. I wasn't about to let them have my tuna since it's my favorite, but when it came time to eat the octopus, they got quite excited to see the suckers and asked if they could have some. I carefully cut each of them a very, very small piece to try. That was followed by "can we have some more?!" Yes, they loved it and even asked if I could order some octopus takozushi for them. I didn't, but the asked if they'd like to try some of my seaweed salad. "Sure!" Can you believe they loved that, too?

Noteable quotes:
"I love octopus!" - both Nate and Eli
"Let's come here for sushi next time instead of McDonald's!" - Eli
"Dad, can we go eat sushi for MY birthday instead of the train restaurant?" - Nate (mind you, the train restaurant is a family birthday tradition for the boys)

Pics:

Notice the octopus on the left side of the plate which turned out to be the most popular with my seven and four year-old kids. Wait, something about that just doesn't seem right. I'm also wearing the Property of NASA shirt, purchased at the thrift store, that has elicited so much conversation, especially at the K-Mart in Indiana.

Nathan eating his shrimp sushi. His sweet chopstick skills make my heart sing. Jenny and I were joking on the way home about our kids being half Japanese and how this makes me happy to instill in them that part of their "heritage."

Eli with his smorgasbord of Japanese delights including seaweed salad (the green stuff on the right of the plate farthest from him.

Liam enjoying his chicken. This was just before he started goofing around again and flipped the entire plate onto the silk cushion he was sitting on, sauce and all.

One last thing: have you seen the latest from Japan? If you've ever thought about owning a creepy cat, now's your chance to own (dun dun dun) ROBOKITTY.