HAPPY FAT TUESDAY!

My birthday was very nice. Hubby bought me a bouquet of flowers, a Happy Birthday balloon, and a card and we had some friends over for dinner. We had an antipasto appetizer of olives, marinated white beans (YUM!), cheese and salami, then Caesar salad. For the main course hubby fixed his special pasta which was truly spectacular. For dessert, he baked a peach upside down cake with toasted pecans. To drink, we had a lovely Chateau St. Jean merlot. I tried to eat rationally, and I think I succeeded. I ate small portions of everything and only had 2 glasses of wine.

Tonight is my annual foray to Seattle with my girlfriend and her daughter for Mardi Gras. We spend the evening at a bar called The New Orleans; then we stay overnight in a Pioneer Square hotel so that we don’t have to drive home after drinking. We have been doing this for at least 15 years.

Hubby is never too thrilled about me going, because of some of the violence that has occurred in the past during this celebration. In 2001, things really got out of hand and there was rioting in the streets, including one murder and many instances of physical and sexual assault. Since that time, the police have really cracked down on poor behavior, so nowadays it’s all pretty tame. Still, hubby worries that someone is going to jump out of an alley and attack me. In his mind, I’m still this cute, vulnerable girl he met in 1988, and back then I had a proclivity for drinking way too much. Yes, I understand his concern, but I’m not willing to stop this long-standing tradition with a friend. I just do what I can to try to ease his mind. I don’t drink nearly as much as I did back then, and in this age of cell phones, I always call him several times during the evening just to let him know that I’m okay. I usually start to fade about 10 p.m. anyway, so the past few years, I’m in bed in the hotel room by 11 p.m.


So, bloggers, I hope everyone has a great day and I’ll see you all tomorrow.