Arugula Poops

Last night I needed a salad in a bad way. My pipes were clogged and I had to administer some 'natural' Draino on the system before it harded any more. No, not laxitives... I like my asshole where it is, thanks. I decided to get a salad on the way home. At first I was going to be a good girl and get a few ready-made salads at the market. Then I thought about how I really didn't feel like dealing with shopping, which is often the case. Randomly deciding to stop by Melanie's house on the way home quickly destroyed those plans anyway. Some days I like to take the long way home and her house is right in the middle of the route. She's usually not home at the time I drive by, but yesterday her car was there.

Turns out she had a doctor's appointment and got to come home early. So we chatted for about a half an hour, talking about our weekends and such. I didn't let her know I would have liked to have gone camping, as I have to let that shit go. I just suggested we go camping soon, as I'd like to have a pleasant experience this time. It's easy to talk to Melanie, she's always kinda grounded me. It was a relaxing conversation that soon ventured onto the topic of pooping problems. Like women often do, we discussed our ongoing weight battles and the obstacles we face in trying to keep the bulge at bay. We got to talking about salads and Melanie reminded me of a nice Mediterranean/Italian restaurant that's right down the street from my apartment. I'd last gone there with the ex about six years ago and loved their eggplant parmesian. She told me they had a fantastic arugula and goat cheese salad that I should try. Mmm...goat cheese... It wasn't long until my tummy started growling and I headed home.

When I arrived home, I parked in the garage and then hopped out of the car to walk the two blocks to the restaurant. Upon entering I was pleasantly surprised, the place looked like it had been redone. Come to think of it, I think it was actually a different, less fancy Italian restaurant back when I'd last visited. Well, the new owners did a great job. I ordered my food to go, but the environment was so warm and inviting that I wanted to stay and have a glass of wine while waiting for my mushroom soup and arugula salad. It really helped that it was a Tuesday evening and the place was nearly empty.

The host asked if I wanted a glass of water while I was waiting and I took that as I sign and agreed to some water and a glass of wine. Next thing ya know, he's bringing me some bread with my water n' wine. The water's got a lemon in it...tasty... Then I get my food, all boxed up nicely and ready to go. But I'm not done with my wine and I'm enjoying myself now. I finish the delicious bread and decide to just go ahead and eat my food there. The nice host offers to put my salad on a plate, brings me more water, puts my soup in a bowl... Then I order one more glass 'o wine to go with the food. It was so nice and quiet as I sat there grazing on the salad. I felt the stress slowly melting away. A few minutes later an older man came in talking to himself. I thought he had a bluetooth in his ear, but it turns out he was talking to himself. He sat down, ordered and continued on with his in depth conversation.

"Damn cat, always walking on me at 2 and 3 a.m."

"What are they gonna do in those skinny jeans?"

"How well does he know this country?"

"Really, well what do you say I do about these warts?"

Nice entertainment, I must say. I wonder if he was talking to his dead wife. The mind has interesting ways of coping. The host and waiter kept coming by, asking if everything was okay. I realize that they'd succeeded in their plot to make me stay and spend more money, but hell if I didn't enjoy it. I made sure to tell them both that I'd be back with my husband soon. I have to get Ron to join me soon, I think he'd enjoy it very much. We need a new place to go and this place was a pleasant surprise. It's been right around the corner all this time. I love it when I discover things like that. So my meal was twice as much as I'd planned, who cares. I enjoyed it and that's all that matters.

After my glorious meal, I took my leftover soup and walked home. By the time I walked through the door it was about 8:30, too late the let the birdies out to play. Oh well, they need in-cage nights a few times a week. I was suddenly in a Mike Patton mood, so I turned on the poe-puter and checked out some YouTube vids for a while. Aaahhh...

Oh yea, another thing... In all my 25 years or so of aquarium keeping, I've never once bought a test kit to check my water chemistry. Well, as the salt tank ages, it's important for me to start keeping track of these things. Better safe than sorry, especially when I start getting a few of the more expensive corals. So last night I pulled out my newly acquired test kit and checked the four major perameters that need to be kept under control; pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Everything was perfect. The tank is now 15 months old (heh, my "baby" is getting older!) and the 5 gallon weekly water changes have kept things going strong. Yay. I know, the things that are exciting to a fish nerd.

What a nice, random Tuesday night. I'm kinda glad Ron works nights sometimes. It's nice to have the freedom to do whatever random shit I want on any given evening... Tomorrow night I'm going to a musical with the two girls Cathy(ie). It's the Lord of the Rings musical. I never was a fan of LOTR, but I figure a musical on stage should be interesting. Let's see what they do without all that computer animation. Hey, I can make fun of it if all else fails...and it'll be nice to see the Cathy(ie)s again.

Yay for random evenings! And yay for arugula poops in the morning!