In the mood for pizza

Saturday

Today was the last home football game. Unfortunately it started at 11 a.m. (again) and I had a hair appointment, so I didn’t watch it with the usuals.

John and Kim cancelled--or never scheduled--a tailgate. The morning ones aren’t well attended and are a hassle because of how early they have to get there to set everything up. This week it’s also cold--12 degrees overnight and only rising into the 20s today. And snow was forecasted. Instead of going downtown, the group gathered at a sports bar. I wasn’t disappointed that I wasn’t there until the fourth quarter when a store I was in had the game on and I realized it had become a close one. Ah well.

Mica and I were shopping for something sparkly and related to horses. Lainey’s seventh birthday is coming up and the party is next weekend. At what age is it OK to give gift cards? I’m looking forward to that age.

Once it began snowing in earnest, the streets became slick quickly. I had trouble getting started at stop lights, and of course getting up the slope of my driveway was a challenge. It helped me decide I do want to get new tires, and soon.

Blaine and I were in the mood for pizza. We didn’t want to make our own and we didn’t want carryout. We wanted to go to a proper pizza joint, sit at a heavy dark wood table scarred by generations of diners and lit by a real candle sitting in the bottom of a red glass holder covered by netting.

We ended up at the only place in the city that still serves simple, really good pizza--a bar in a little neighborhood furthest from where either of us live. No candles, but the lighting was dim. There were old tables but ones covered in laminate. The leather barrel chairs, probably from the last remodel circa 1974 were quite comfortable. And for being a bar on a Saturday night it was surprisingly quiet, probably because people didn’t have to speak over loud music. Some garland and Christmas lights already decorated the bar. It was lovely.




Random pieces of conversation include:

• One of the things Blaine did before deciding to ask me out was calculate whether I was old enough to be Allison's mother. "But you asked me out anyway?" I said, feeling pretty good about being that captivating. He answered, "No. You are." Turns out she was born the year I graduated from college. Sheesh. I really need to accept I'm older than I feel. 
• When Blaine showed up at the sports bar alone, someone told him it was good to see him doing things on his own. He replied it wasn't his choice. He seemed chafed by the comment. 
• Next weekend Allison, Ty and Eli will go to Blaine's in the afternoon. They'll make and decorate sugar cookies, have potato soup and then will decorate for Christmas. It's their family tradition and goes back to before Blaine's wife died. He asked if it would be OK with me if we didn't do anything next Saturday. Absolutely OK, I promised. I value traditions and I understand how important this one is to everyone.