Dates and Melons and Things

On Wednesday night, Kev and I went on Date Number 3 of my Mother's Day dates. Daphne was down south, so we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner for two at La Lou, which is probably my favorite restaurant in Leesburg. I had linguini with mushrooms and some really good Italian sausage, and Kev had grilled swordfish. I loved mine, and Kev liked his a lot. For dessert, we each had sorbet. Mine was orange, and Kev's was lemon, and it was served inside a hollowed out orange and lemon, respectively, with some sauce, a strawberry and whipped cream on the side. Delicious and refreshing! I hope more people will go to the restaurant. It's always good, and almost never crowded. The owner/chef knows us and always visits our table. He is an interesting guy. He caught a fly with his bare hands right in the middle of our conversation! I hoped he washed them before he went back to work. He reminds me a little of the chef (played by Tony Shalhoub) in Big Night. Great movie if you haven't seen it. It will make you hungry. And it has a great soundtrack. Anyway, it was a fun night out. Thanks, Kev. Three more dates to go!

Yesterday, I spent the day in Frederick, MD at a seminar. It was like it always is. Long, cold, uncomfortable. The best part was going to lunch by myself. I ate at Bob Evans and read my new book. It was sort of weird going to a different state just for the day. Texas mentality, I guess. It takes forever to get to another state when you're in the middle of Texas.

Last night, I stayed up late and finished reading my book. So, so much for that. I couldn't make it last. A trip to the library is in my near future.

The combination of staying up until 11:00, getting up with Daphne to potty at 2:00 am, and being awakened by an EARTHQUAKE at 5:00 am has left me a little unrested and unsettled this morning. Yes, I said earthquake. In Virginia. The whole house was shaking and I couldn't figure out what was going on. My first half-asleep thought was that for some reason Daphne had gone into the attic and was jumping up and down. But unless she was accompanied by 3 or 4 elephants, that theory was not likely to be true. Then I thought it was an earthquake, but quickly dismissed that idea. Then I thought maybe we'd been bombed. This is not unlikely considering our proximity to DC. But I didn't hear any sirens, so I figured that wasn't it. Eventually, I got up, and the computer confirmed the earthquake theory. It was a 3.6, centered near Gaithersburg, MD. Anyway, that was my first, and hopefully last, earthquake. Nothing was damaged, but stuff definitely moved around on the shelves. It was freaky.

Meanwhile, things are getting exciting in the watermelon patch:

And we have a couple of eggplants unless the critters get to them before they're ready:

And it looks like it's probably about time to make some pesto:

So, things are good in the garden. But it's HOT again. The don't-go-outside kind of hot that makes me lethargic and unproductive. I'm glad we don't really have any big plans this weekend.

OK...off to launch an Iron and Wine station on Pandora while I make some lunch for me and the Peanut. And I think after dinner tonight, I might make milkshakes in honor of our morning wake-up call. Have a good weekend!

PS: If you felt the quake and want to be a good citizen, go here to report what you felt to the USGS for their research. Science is good!