The Toothpick is Mightier than the Sword

Yes, this is true! I saw it for myself this weekend. On Saturday, Cassi had gotten a better offer than just going to Pa's house for sleepover. I know Pa was sad, but know that he was happy Cassi got to go do something different. She had a sleepover at her girlfriend's house, just a block over from here.

During the day, we went to dad's and Rob had his new scrub pants shortened. Sorry, I may be suburban, but not THAT SUBURBAN! I'm too afraid to damage the pants. So, mom does them.

We came home and figured out what we wanted to do. I told Rob that I had been wanting to go to the Viking Store. The Viking Stove Company has a retail store on the east side of Cleveland, in a shopping center called Legacy Village. We get the mailings for their cooking class schedules. I REALLY wanted to go. So, off we went. First, though we went over and purchased 2 shock/spring units for the rear of Rob's wagon. He figured he could do them himself. (more about this in another post)

We got to the east side and looked in the store. The store is ABSOLUTELY amazing. Can't wait to try one of their cooking classes. But, I was able to purchase a pancake dropper (have wanted one for ages) and a funky finger potato peeler and a set of heart-shaped pancake molds. Of course, I made pancakes on Sunday!

But, after, it was getting late, about 7:30 and we hadn't eaten dinner. As a matter of fact, we'd been so busy during the day, we hadn't eaten at all. Rob asks me which way should we go. If we go back the way we came, we would just head to the highway, but if we went the other way, we would had toward downtown Cleveland. So, we went that way. Once we reached a street named Coventry, I say to him, "If you take the next right, we'll be right down the street from Mongolian Barbeque." Hmm! We had tried to get into that restaurant years ago, but didn't want to wait. This time, we were going. We had no kid and it turned out to be "date night" for us. Yes, Marie, for those of you who get comments from Marie, when she lived in Cleveland, she lived near Coventry. A very unusual place, Cleveland Heights. They have timed meters at EVERY parking space. Nothing is free, or free during off hours. You have to pay the meters 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! But, we had the change and were ready. Get to the restaurant: 2 hour wait! HUH?

But, we decided, what the heck! We'll wait. At some point in our waiting, we get to sit down on some bar chairs that are at the front door. But, the front door doesn't want to stay open. They're so busy they need to keep the door open at all times. So, I see the hostess grab a toothpick. She goes to the door and wedges the toothpick to the door and in the floor mat. WOW! I can't believe she just kept this steel and glass door open with the toothpick!

As you can see, THE TOOTHPICK IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD!

But, it only took an hour to get into the restaurant. The food was AMAZING! If you get the oppportunity to do this type of restaurant, I would say, GO FOR IT! Words just can't describe the experience. You walk through a buffet line, picking your meat, veggies, sauce, and seasonings. Then, you go up to this HUGE cooking surface, where the cooks are walking around the circle, cooking your food right in front of you while you wait!

This nightly experience reminded me that I REALLY enjoyed going out with Rob by ourselves. We got home about 10:30, exhausted. I told Rob yesterday that on his weekends off, I would like to be able to do date nights with him. Since we've celebrated our 10th anniversary, I've been feeling like a newlywed again.

Lots of love to all,
Cathy
8^ )