Catch up post

Well Dinners with Dad have continued, however my blogging has fallen off.  So, I am going to do some catch up all in one entry.

October with Brittany was the Olive Garden.  Fantastic food and we have continued our new trend of NOT being in a hurry which means we talked, talked and talked.  Love it.

 

 

October with Henry took another Henry-ized twist.  His idea this time was take out dinner at home followed by a movie.  His preferences were chicken and The Three Stooges movie.  Well I was able to deliver on both counts after a trip to KFC and Redbox.  We had some great original recipe with some sides of wedges and corn followed by the movie - which I must say was better than I thought it would be.  Great idea Henry.

 

 

 

November with Sara was another first.  We went to one of my favorites - Jose's Blue Sombrero.  Sara and I talked about a lot including the fact that she needs to move AGAIN.  It's her third move this year.  Lots going on in her life right now.

 

 

 November with Brittany was at Chick-fil-a.  Another novel idea that turned out great.  I have not been to a Chick-fil-a in years and it was quite good.  We hung together for quite some time, covered a lot of conversation, solved world problems and I forgot to take a picture - so I am pasting the Chick-fil-a logo here instead.

 

 

November with Henry was at Red Lobster.  Both Henry and Sara have tried to go to Red Lobster before but it was always too busy.  We finally got in this time with no lines and no waiting.  Henry said that he wanted to go there to try some new things.  He knew he liked crab legs and wanted to try other things like crab legs.  So I ordered the "Ultimate Feast" which included crab legs, lobster and two kids of shrimp and he ordered broiled fish.  We shared it all with each other and Henry found out that lobster was ok but not as good as crab legs and breaded shrimp was better than garlic shrimp.  Personally I liked it all a lot but I am partial to seafood and especially (as Lisa calls them) bottom feeders.  Conversation was fun and funny as usual making the evening fly by.

 

 

 

October and November with Joe have been delayed.  We have had trouble matching schedules with him working second shift and us busy on weekends but we have vowed to have dinner in December and do some make up dinners at some point.

 

Well all caught up for now.  More to come.  Oh ya.....Time with Sara, Brittany and Henry = PRICELESS!!!

 

August with Brittany

I have gotten waaaaaay behind on my Dinner with Dad blogging.  So today will be some catch up and then we will be back on track - I hope.

Brit and I went to Georgie Porgie's  restaurant.  I had the gyro dinner - very good and Brit had the chicken pita - I think (I am telling you it has been a while - how many of you remember what you had for dinner last night even?).

I can't tell you any details about the conversation, but one thing that I do know is that after our often rushed dinners, we finally had a nice long conversation and dinner.  We had lots of laughs, hit on some serious subjects and talked about the current events of our life.  It was very nice that neither of us were in a hurry and the time just flew by.

Dinner = $??? (I have given up trying to keep the receipts), Time with Brittany = Priceless!

July with Brittany

Summer in Wisconsin goes by so fast and I certainly don't spend much time on my computer (other than work where I need to) and thus I have fallen way behind on my blogging - sorry about that.

So TWO Thursdays's ago, Brit and I met at Georgie's Porgie's.  After my comments about my dinners with Brit being too fast, we both finally had a night with no hurries.  I actually had no where to go with Lisa and Henry both out of town and Brittany had a rare schedule free night too.

Brittany was very good for dinner and had a salad for dinner and I was not so good and went with the gyro combo - I love gyros.  Brit also mentioned that she was practicing great restraint by resisting her favorite - cheesy fries. 

Given that we had lots of time, our conversation covered just about all that we love to talk about.  Brit asked about my new job and we also talked about some stories from her job.  We talked about the wedding plans, and of course stories of our faith and Christian radio that we listen to.  Brit likes some of the Moody Radio programs and I listen to Relevant Radio.  After quite a while we were on our respective ways

June with Brittany

Got a little behind on my blogging so this is the update from Dinner with Brittany from last Thursday.  As seems to be too often the case, but Brittany and I had a lot going on that night and dinner came and went all too fast.  And for the second time ARGH I fogot to take a picture.

Brit and I met at Noodles & Company.  I was in between work and heading out to Henry's baseball game.  Brittany got there a bit late because she was shopping for a wedding dress and of course saw one that she liked right before she was ready to leave.  Now that the date has been set for July 13, 2013, there is a lot of wedding planning and activities going on and so on top of work and school, Brit has lots more on her platter now.

So we talked about lots of the stuff we usually talk about, work, school, God, quirkiness of this world and so on.  And of course we shared some laughs about who knows what.

All too soon we had to each head off to our next stops.  In my last update I mentioned about how Sara's dinners were definitely the longest ones, Brit and I have had too many quick dinners due to our complicated schedules, so we will have to work on that for the next six Dinners with Dad for the second half of the year.

Ok, now for the sentimental part that I hesitated to put in here, but I think this is important for my kids to know and I would not have been able tell them about this verbally without blubbering.  As I drove from dinner to Henry's baseball game I heard the song Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman on K-Love.  I should have turned the channel instantly because I knew what was about to happen to me but instead I played the whole song and arrived at Henry's game with tears rolling down my face.  I cannot start to explain all the reasons why it choked me up so, but I know that other Dads, Moms, kids and especially MY kids will understand.  I love all four of you with ALL my heart and am so blessed by every minute I get to spend with you!

Dinner = $17  Time with Brittany = Priceless!

May with Brittany

Brittany and I met on the usual Thursday evening timeslot.  However we both had a lot going on that day and so our time was limited and dinner went way too fast.

We went to Red Robin in Kenosha.  This was a very good choice.  I think I had only been to a Red Robin once before but I definitely think I will go there more often.  Brittany had the California Chicken sandwich and I had Guacamole Bacon Burger.  Both very good choices and plenty to eat.

First we talked about both of us being in transitional states.  I am actually in the middle of a week off between jobs.  More importantly Brittany is at the end of year 4 of her 5 year program at MU and just turned in an INCREDIBLE 4.0!!!  This of course is already opening some great doors of opportunity for her and I am sure will continue to do so.  Wedding plans continue and we discussed that a bit too.

With time running out Brit and I got to our favorite subject (our Faith) too late.  It is funny how quite often the theme of what Brit and I have been experiencing or reading or listening to lately often have some strong similarities and it seems that once we start on this subject, we could go on forever.  But alas, we both had time deadlines we had to keep and off we wen on our separate ways.

Dinner = $31.45  Time with Brittany = Priceless!

Also, we were so hurried that I forgot to get a picture :(

April with Brittany

We are on a compact schedule this month it seems.  This is Dinner with Dad #3 in 8 days and due to scheduling conflicts Henry has decided to move his up to Monday next week so that will make it all 4 in 12 days - I love it!

Like Joe, Brittany decided to repeat her choice of March.  We once again went to Chipolte.  And just like I commented with Joe, I am good with this repeat because I definitely do like Chipolte and am happy to come back.  I had a chicken burrito and Brittany had some veggies in a bowl thing.  Also a little hint - their Margaritas are fantastic.

Well since I last had Dinner with Brittany, she has gotten some big news.  Brittany has gotten engaged to her high school sweetheart Vince and I am very happy for the two of them.  So with work, school and now wedding planning going on Brittany is very very busy.  We found out that we have a similarity in that we both appreciate down time and when a week is booked before the week starts it becomes tough.  Both Brit and were in the middle of one of those weeks.

One other thing I noticed about our conversation was that even though she has all this going on in her life, the first thing she asked me about was my life and how my week was going.  As I was driving to our dinner date I was thinking about all things I wanted to ask Brit about regarding her life and then she turns it on me and gets me talking about my life - very nice.

Dinner = $19.92.  Time with Brittany = Priceless!

March with Brittany

Well for a first time ever, we have a Tuesday edition of Dinner with Dad.  Brittany is on Spring Break this week and typical of Brittany, a week with a "break" actually means a very busy week.  She has filled her week with some work, some play, some family, some friends and has a very busy week - all good.

So we met up at Chipolte.  For those of you not familiar, it is kind of like Qdoba but I definitely liked it better.  Brit went with the Vegetarian bowl while I want with the chicken burrito.  The kicker is that they had Margaritas.  So I went with a Margaritaaaaaah (that's what it said on the cup) on the rocks.  It was a slow night and the counter guy let me know that refills are on him (but don't tell anyone) so don't tell anyone.

Brit and I can get into some pretty serious conversations, but this one seemed to be lighter and lots of laughter.  We talked about her busy schedule, me looking for a career change and then went into quarky things about the world around us.  One very strange thing is that we both had a story that we started to tell almost at the same time that both led to telling each other about a movie that we heard about - and it was the same movie!  It is October Baby coming out next Friday.  It sounds really good and a must see, but it looks like it will not be in a theater very close to hear for now.  So I guess you all need to go see the movie and let us know what you think.

The dinner went quick and off we went to the rest of our night and busy weeks.

Dinner = $19.95  Time with Brittany = Priceless!

February with Brittany

Well for the first time, a Dinner with Dad was moved to a Friday evening.  After a long complicated week, Brit and I met at Penara's tonight.  We had originally planned on meeting at 6:30, but then we moved it up to 6:15 because Brit had plans after dinner.  Earlier in the week Brit sent me this text "Do you think you could make it to dinner closer to 6:15?  Just have to be in Kenosha about 7:30 and don't want to be rushed!"  I was thrilled by the fact that Brittany made sure not to cut our time short.

I definitely liked the Friday thing.  I think we both were in a different mode than middle of the week and our conversation revolved more around the quarkiness of life versus the details of the events of our lives.  Brittany and I are definitely on the same page when it comes to our world view, grand philosphy, big picture or what every you want to call it and we love to share how sometimes that makes the world seem a bit strange.

Brittany had the soup and salad deal and I had a Cuban Chicken Hot Pannini.  I liked my sammich and recommend it if you are into the chicken, ham, cheese thing - which I can be.

Time flew and before you knew it, Vince was there to wisk Brit off to the rest of their evening.  It was good to see him too and share a couple of quick laughs.  Now its time to call this week done and enjoy a couple of days off.

Dinner = $19.53. Time with Brittany = Priceless!



 

January with Brittany

Well once again, we moved the Dinner with Dad night from Thursday night to Tuesday night.  One of those mega busy weeks on my behalf.  However this night worked out perfect because once again this ended up being a fund raiser night for Henry's school, this time at Noodle's and Company.

Dinner was very good.  After contemplating ordering buttered noodles and coming to the revelation that when eating out you can't go THAT plain, Brittany went for the Pesto Cavatappi (which is right in line with what I would normally order) .  I felt like something a bit spicey so I went out of my usual Mediterranean Menu comfot zone and went for Japanese Pan Noodles (with shrimp).  It was very good and only slightly spicey - no sweating bald spot tonight (which happens with REALLY spicey food).

It ended up that we picked a good night to get together.  It was Brittany's first day back to school at MU so it was also kind of a back to school celebration.  Funny how it seems like yesterday when back to school meant back to grade school and now she is all growed up.  Not only was it her first day back at school, but she also just got a promotion at work to Student Nurse which is a great accomplishment and puts her in a great spot for the upcoming two years.  After bouncing around a bit, our conversation gravitated to where it often goes with us and that is our faith.  Basically we had two themes to our discussion tonight.  1) Without faith, small things can seem monumental, with faith, small things are kept in perspective (hopefully) and 2) there is great joy to finding out that somehow you helped to increase someone else's faith and thus had a positive affect on their life.  I have no doubt that Brit does that every day!

As we were just about ready to head out, Lisa and Henry walked in to also contribute to the fund raiser night.  Brit headed out as Vince picked her up and I hung with Henry and Lisa - thankfully they have beer at Noodles, so I had "dessert."

Dinner = $14.50.  Time with Brittany = Priceless!