Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009 - 8:32 a.m.

Yesterday wasn't so bad. Thai lunch, followed my coming home solo to make meat pies with leftover roast beef, then a nap, then a couple more hours alone before dinner out. The in-laws came over after dinner for a bit, but that I can handle. They're leaving this morning. I've just been praying I don't go into labor while they're still here (it can, they have impressed on me, occur at any time now) or it'll be another 2 weeks of them, overlapping with my mother, with no breaks. Sounds a lot like hell to me. I just need me some alone time before the next onslaught.

Hah-- that dinner. We ate at this Italian place that J and I have been meaning to try for some time. First evidence that the place is struggling: J calls to make sure they're open, hangs up without leaving a message, but they call him back to leave a message for him in hopeful tones that they are in fact open, and would he like to make reservations? Also, they're open New Year's Eve too! If he'd like to make reservations for then!

Ok, so we go there-- I'm assuming they weren't expecting many (any?) people there on a Wednesday night, because there was one polite-if-not-fully-trained teenager running the show. I am not making this up: "What's the fish today?", "Um, I'm not sure. It's, um, white..." "Well, could you ask the chef?" "I am the chef, the manager's out right now so I'll be taking care of everything." "I'd like the sun-dried tomato salad." "Um, we're out of the dried tomatoes, is it ok if we use regular ones?" Egads. We braced ourselves for a long wait. But I think the manager returned (I saw a managerial-looking woman, perhaps the boy's mother, disappear into the back after adjusting lighting and putting on some music), and the food turned out to be reasonably good (admittedly, none of us had dared the mystery fish). He brought us the check without trying to sell us on dessert, and sent us on our way.

Adequate, yet worrying. Haven't decided whether I'll give them a second try. They weren't bad, but, as I said...worrying.

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