Congratulations Dinner

Our plan of eating out at Emilio's was squashed when someone from the restaurant called - the day of our reservation - to say they were remodeling and wouldn't be offering dinner. Was this a recent plan we wondered? Oh well, we quickly regrouped and made a reservation at the last place Casey worked as a buser; Chandler's Steakhouse. None of us had eaten there so we were looking forward to a change of scenery.



We started our dinner off with two appetizers; Shrimp Scampi and Mediterranean Mussels.
Both were delicious.































Chandler's wine list includes over 300 wines. We went with Bodegas Trapiche, Broquel '05 and followed that with Magari, Ca'Marcanda, Gaja '05.








Vanessa, Chris and I ordered the Prix Fixe Menu which at $27 includes soup or salad, entrée and dessert. Seemed like a bargain, and it was. Chris and Vanessa both went with the Pork Tenderloin (Herb encrusted tenderloin of pork with roasted garlic mashed potatoes finished with a peppercorn sauce).

I chose the one vegetarian option, the Vegetarian Torte (Phyllo-filled with roasted eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, mushrooms, ricotta cheese, wild rice and basil on a bed of fresh spinach with roasted garlic sage butter and fresh chanterelles).

Kim ordered the Alaskan King Salmon (Pan-seared filet of fresh wild king salmon set on garlic mashed potatoes with roasted shallots, wild mushrooms and a pinot-noir sauce).

We were all thrilled with our choices. Definitely delicious.




























































Dessert was Fresh Fruit Cobbler, Grand Marnier Chocolate Mousse and Butterscotch Crème brûlée.
































Kim, probably trying to explain some esoteric financial philosophy.




The "graduate" (Bachelor's degree in accounting), with boyfriend Chris.



And with Mom.




Kim and I.





And the whole group.
We were only missing Casey who is out on a fire in Utah.





So proud of our graduate.




Oh, and the bill; not bad.





We'll be happy to return to Chandler's. Great food, good service, nice atmosphere, and the live music was also appreciated.

Camping

With my new work schedule Kim and I managed to go camping this past week. It was great.

Short version:

Hiking.





Flowers.




































Hot Springs.




And, if you're interested, the longer version:

And the winner was........

Most people liked couch number 4 the best. (see previous post) And we chose the one voted for least. Number 1 is the couch we bought.



The price was right, at $631.

We also liked the leather but it was just too expensive. Couch number 4 was the next runner up for us.

We also decided to replace this....



with this....



Now we need to replace our one last couch. Any suggestions?

Shopping!

This week we decided to go couch shopping. We had begun a furniture fund while I was still making good money at my old job and with our first tax refund in years we decided it was time to start looking. Also, since my son, his dog, girlfriend, and girlfriend's dog (whew!) moved out this past January, and our old couch developed wild springs.....it's time.

Old Couch:



We bought this couch used, replaced some cushions, and it served us well, especially while we were into the African theme decor.......





But we've moved on.......



Here are some couches we considered. Which one do you think we decided on?

Finally.............a job!

I was just hired today! I'm so thrilled. I can finally stop looking for work. And we can stop pulling money out of our savings. And, big plus, it's a job I've actually been wanting; at the Boise Co-op.




It's not in their wine shop, but that could happen eventually.

And......it means no more of this.....



I've been selling plasma twice a week. At first it was to pay for any extras, like wine tastings, presents, etc. Now it is for gas money, food, etc. But now......oh joy.......it's going bye-bye!

My new job starts next week. I've already bought my required work clothes (black slacks and white button-down shirt). So I'm ready to go and excited to start. I've never been off work this long (seven months) since I started working at 16 years old. At times the time off was nice, but I never really felt like I could enjoy it since I was always concerned about my next job. So, I'm happy, relieved, and ready to go back to work.

Red Letter Day

A red letter day (sometimes hyphenated as red-letter day) is any day of special significance.

The term originates from Medieval church calendars. Illuminated manuscripts often marked initial capitals and highlighted words in red ink, known as rubrics. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 decreed the saint's days, feasts and other holy days, which came to be printed on church calendars in red. The term came into wider usage with the appearance in 1549 of the first Book of Common Prayer in which the calendar showed special holy days in red ink.

Many current calendars have special dates and holidays such as Sundays, Christmas Day and Midsummer Day rendered in red colour instead of black.

On red letter days, judges of the English High Court (Queen's Bench Division) wear, at sittings of the Court of Law, their scarlet robes (See court dress). Also in the United Kingdom, other civil dates have been added to the original religious dates. These include anniversaries of the Monarch's birthday, official birthday, accession and coronation.

The term "red letter day" is colloquially used to indicate any date of personal significance.

Oh, today is definitely a day of personal significance!
Look familiar?
Empty nest?





Our son Casey, his girlfriend Cassie and their TWO BIG DOGS moved out today!




They leased a house across town. No more sharing our small house with too many people and too many dogs. Now our dog and cat can roam free. And so can we!!!
I wish them many happy times in their new home. And also the same to Kim and I!