Monday, May 8th

Pig Tales was a fun place to visit today.  We spent a good bit of time thinking of a nice restaurant to go and celebrate Mom's birthday, and the weather was just right for a little visit to the lake.  There's this nice restaurant down there that featured some barbecue, which of course Mom loves.  And on top of that, it had nice atmosphere on the lake, overlooking the sailboats and listening to the usual music you'd hear when along a shoreline.  Add to that the surprise of knowing two of the waitresses there from church, and some really good food.  I had my first fish tacos, and they were delicious.  Mom ate some wings and enjoyed them a lot too.  It was a great morning out.  One of mom's gifts for her birthday was a bridge - there's a new ornamental bridge that we'll be building for the back yard soon.  There were other gifts too - a nice purse and a ladybug salt and pepper shaker set.  We gave these tonight at the table, right about the time we were eating some really delicious gluten-free cake and some special ice cream we picked up - tiramisu flavoring that just went with the cake so well.  It was a nice day today.

Maddie did have taekwondo tonight, but while she was doing that I was out grocery shopping, so I missed her practicing and doing all she could to train and lead up to that second degree black belt.  That I won't miss, of course, when she earns and gets her black belt next week.  That'll be great.

Mom and I had our first date on Monday, May 8th, and that's what today is:  Monday, May 8th.  It was one of those dates where we were talking and listening and it just kept going on and on and we both had a really nice time together.  Obviously one thing led to another.  But that was the first date in three years or so where I actually wanted to go out with someone again.  She had left a Newsboys CD with me that day twenty-five years ago, "Take Me To Your Leader."  I've been listening to the Newsboys again lately.  Back then our date was at the 57th Fighter Group, and I had gotten her a rose for the table, one she didn't know about until she arrived at the restaurant.  I got there a little early for that, and wanted to do something nice for her birthday.  Unbeknownst to me, she was quietly praying someone would give her a flower for her birthday.  It was all a big set-up.

Tonight we said our prayers, and we read at bedtime too.  It was a nice and pleasant day, just as it was twenty-five years ago today.