Dinner for Two (Just Two)

Yes, my husband sometimes requests Filet-o-Fish sandwiches for lunch, but he enjoys fine dining as well. Saturday night Minh surprised me with a babysitter and dinner reservations at a grown-up restaurant.

Amazingly, he actually kept the secret all week and pulled off the surprise. He only "blew it" about 90 minutes before the babysitter was due to arrive and I was thankful for the notice so I could vacuum the house and change out of my sweatpants.

Having only done this a few times before, we barraged the babysitter with way too much information about the house, the pets, the baby, etc., and contingency plans for at least 6 possible scenarios. I like to think our over-explanations are endearing. But she probably thought we were neurotic.

After convincing the sitter that we are certifiably nuts, we headed out and only briefly broke out singing a catchy children's song in the car before we caught ourselves. Dinner was amazingly delicious, the pace was leisurely, and the conversation was "grown-up". The real mark of a big night out? I had two glasses of wine with dinner. Livin' it up, baby. Livin' it up.

Love Nuggets

It's Valentine's Day. And that means McNuggets.

Minh and don't really celebrate Valentine's Day, but we have been going out to lunch on Thursdays. And this week he requested that we go to McDonalds so he can take advantage of their during-lent-sale on Filet-O-Fish Sandwiches (2 for $3).

I, myself, do not enjoy the Filet-O-Fish, but am loking forward to a feast of McNuggets. Can you smell the romance in the air? Or is that just the french fries?

How Hillary Won Massachusetts

Minh and I did not vote in Super Tuesday's primary. A serires of unfortunate events precluded us from getting to the polls and casting our votes for Barack Obama. It's all Tai's fault.

After standing idly by as Tai got more and more sick all weekend, we finally took him to the doctor on Monday morning. We went to their "walk-in hours" and the sign on the door indicated that those hours are only for "acutely ill" patients. As we walked in I thought, "well, I don't know if he's acutely ill." Forty-five minutes later, we were escorted out those same doors and into an ambulance by paramedics.

OK, I guess he was acutely ill.

Tai has RSV, which caused bronchiolitis. The big rush to get to the hospital was because he was having trouble breathing and very dehydrated. After 3 treatments with a nebulizer, 6 hours in the ER, one overnight in the hospital, and an IV full of lots of good stuff, we were discharged. This got us home around 6pm Tuesday night. (OK, the polls don't technically close until 8pm, but come on!)

Minh has speculated that Tai was not actually as sick as they led us to believe, but that the doctors were all Hillary fans and they pegged us as Obama supporters when we walked in. So they "needed" to keep Tai overnight "for observation" just to ensure that Obama did not win Massachusetts. The worst part is, Obama only lost Massachusetts by 2 votes! (OK, not really but it was a close race.)

I myself have a couple alternative theories as to why all this happened (apart from the obvious one that Tai picked up the virus at daycare and his overly-laid-back parents did not get him to the doctor soon enough.)

(1) It was all just a ploy on Tai's part to be allowed to suck on his pacifier all day long and watch unlimited cartoons. If it was all an act, he had everyone fooled. And he did indeed get to "nuk" and watch TV to his little heart's content.

(2) Minh somehow caused the whole ruckus in order to replenish his stash of stolen medical supplies. We now have a decade's worth of medical tape in the house. (Side note: remember all those prenatal visits he went to, playing the role of supportive husband?...He really only came along to steal latex gloves. When that supply runs out, I'll know it's time to get pregnant again.)

Whatever the reason, we did indeed have a crazy week and Obama never got our two votes. But Tai is nearly back to his old self, as evidenced by his re-discovered love of chasing the cats around the house. Here's hoping for a relaxing weekend....