Sunday Dinner

I will say two things about the last week - it has been busy and it has been fun!

Last Friday I went to Galveston for the night with some girlfriends. We drove down in my Jeep Grand Cherokee and I was flooded with memories of driving my high school friends to the beach in my old Mustang convertible. This was much more fun, however, because we got to stay the night at the San Luis without any adult supervision and we had a blast! Heather, Debra/Deb, and Missy have posted great recaps, so I will keep this simple. Our little getaway was such a gift. I just kept saying, "I can't believe we're really doing this! I can't believe it worked out!"

The next morning at church, my dad said, "Are the kids coming over tonight?" in such a tone that I knew that indeed, the kids would be coming over tonight. Not that I was ready for them to leave me since I'd been gone for 24 hours, but I knew my parents were dying to have them. Who am I to argue?

England has been on our minds, perhaps because a few days from now will mark six years since we returned home from our little stint in Thornaby-on-Tees. It was only a 5 month deal but it marked us forever. One thing Curtis and I often reminisce about is the traditional Sunday dinner. There was an amazing family who always invited us to their home after church for a feast of roasted chicken, roast beef, roasted potatoes, peas, mushy peas (shudder!), carrots, and the all important Yorkshire pudding with gravy poured over it. We would practically sell our birthrights to have that meal again. I've known about a British pub here in Houston that serves the Sunday dinner. Pubs are not really our scene, so in all this time we just haven't gotten around to going there. It would be so convenient after church since it's close by, but it's not really a place I would take my kids. All that to say, England was in our thoughts and we had a random Sunday date night, so the Red Lion it was!

When we opened the front doors and stepped in, it totally felt like being in England again. There were some British people there and we enjoyed hearing their accents. We are big, dorky Baptists who were clearly there to eat and not to have a pint, so we ordered our Dr. Peppers that came with ice, giving the evening three strikes against authenticity. Oh well. We are who we are. Soon the waitress brought us two huge plates piled high with all the food we have so longed for. (The only thing missing was mushy peas.) Presiding over the plate in all its gravy and goodness was the Yorkshire pudding! Ahhhhh! At long last!

I did not want to intensify my feelings of Baptist American dorkiness, so I left my good camera at home. I did have my phone camera, from which I offer you these two very poor images.

A feast!



In no way does this picture adequately convey the sheer and utter glee that filled my heart. Curtis felt it too. We both had lumps in our throats, although Curtis Jones will never admit that. I'll never know if it was for the food or for the grand adventure we were reliving.



We left very happy and very full. Our next stop was at the cinema where we watched Inception. Y'all! This movie was so crazy! It made me very claustrophobic and I must admit I had to do some deep breathing to keep myself from running out in a panic.

The rest of the week has been a whirlwind. On Monday night I had bunco. On Tuesday night my Ruth Bible study group had our last meeting. And last night some girls from my Sunday school class got together to pray for our families. (It was awesome. You should definitely think of doing that with your friends.) It's been a great week! And I'm worn out! We have our last night of Metro tonight and that will put a cap on our very busy summer schedule. Curt's parents are coming to visit and he is preaching at our church in two weeks, but other than that we just get to chill a bit until September. I'm forcing myself into activity detox for the next week. And, bless his heart, I owe Curtis some free time in a big way.