Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Eric's Birthday

A great place to celebrate is Daruma's Steakhouse.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Sunday Morning with Nathan


Every Sunday morning at 7:50 a.m. Nathan and I head for Target. Erica and Dad usually enjoy this morning to sleep in and have some peace and quiet from the “early birds”. Since he has been two he looks forward to the egg sandwich that cost $1.99. I get my usual cup of coffee that I can take shopping looking for the red bargains of the day. As he has grown into a handsome nine year old, he now asks for two egg sandwiches. His friend Maria, a friendly long-term employee of Target, knows exactly how it is to be cooked: toasted white bread without butter, eggs not touching anything, and crunchy bacon on the side. She always serves it with a smile and sometimes throws in an extra piece of bacon. Nathan has grown to appreciate Maria and looks forward to his ritual Sunday visits. No need for Nathan to explain how he wants his breakfast cooked!

For the past couple months we have been working on the house and unable to go to Target. This morning at 7:15 a.m. he tells me that we have 35 minutes until it is time to leave. “Ten more minutes mom! Come on get ready,” says Nate. Finally, we get in the minivan and head North to target. “Buckle your seatbelt, Mom. Mom, where is our list of things we need? Can we look at the toys?” He hooks up the I-Pod and searches for some music. He looks at me with a smile and plays our favorite song by The Frey. For the next hour I watched him in admiration as he is content with our old routine. At Target Maria once again smiles and delivers his perfect order. Nate sits at the table with his six packets of grape jelly lined up perfectly next to his food. He once again asks me to jelly his four pieces of perfectly toasted bread as I sip my coffee. He pushes the cart and looks at the new toys and has learned not to ask for one but enjoy planning for the holidays. On our way home he says “Mom, I love life”.