Today was a day to restore order. To restore balance. To fight the forces of entrophy after a week of neglecting the house. It was also a time to be together as a family in the rhythm of chores. We had a pretty fun day overall.
We breakfasted simply with cereal, but had fun reading the comics with Sara and Laura. Costco’s strawberries are big and beautiful. They were eaten today. We continued the fashion show. As Wayne says, we shopped in our own house. We plumbed the depths of drawers and shelves and boxes looking for warm weather gear. We found almost a laundry basket’s worth of too small clothes. The Goodwill pile grows exponentially. We proved that every member of the household has shorts and shoes and shirts to fit for 7 days in warm, hot weather.
We proceeded on to REI. This is our usual dividend trip. We always hit the 20% off sale. I’m not a “sale” person. I have so little time and such specific windows for when I can shop. But, we seem to hit this one. We needed new hiking shoes for both girls. The shoes from REI are great. They last often over a year. We found two sets for the girls in pink! Laura grew weary of her (God forbid) green sneakers and spent most of the time in crocs or her retired dress shoes. Interestingly, the girls, 3 yrs apart, have met in the middle with their shoe size. They’re about the same size in most things. We’re finding we have to buy doubles of things since there’s not always a hand-me-down option ready from Sara.
The real treat came at lunch. We finished out shopping. Wayne is great at making our shopping targeted and guy like. The kids got to play. We were all getting hungry. We noticed Lunchbox Laboratory! My beloved burger place that moved from Ballard. They were truly in a dump in Ballard. But the place had a fun, funky vibe. As long as you didn’t mind not going to the bathroom, standing very close to other clients, sitting in wobbly chairs, dealing with a scratched together menu with confusing options, facing indifferent staff, and inhaling exhaust from 15th. I didn’t mind. The food drew me there. Years of traveling with Dad finding Roadfoods taught me that odd doesn’t mean bad. It can often mean very, very good. That was the case with LL. So it was pleasure when I saw it so close to REI. That coupled with hunger and free parking at REI, made LL the perfect choice for lunch.
It was like walking in on your grungy best friend of old and they’ve started wearing couture and using hair styling gel. The place is completely different. All the complaints I meekly thought prior were changed. It’s a flashy place, huge, with a printed menu, 5 xs the staff, friendliness, huge artsy paintings, fancy new digs, clean bathrooms! As Sara says, “We don’t have to squeeze anymore.” I had the odd, sinking feeling in all the glitz that there was some lost soul. The shoestring fries came out as pale imitations of times past. The girls ate them up. They weren’t awful, just not great. There were still the 7 types of salt. Now just brought to your table instead of a rude, sniggly detail of your order you had to furiously figure out at the end by a demanding order lady. The prices are higher (they were already high). The burgers are smaller. But they are still the burgers. I got my normal truffle love. And I still love it. I split it with Wayne. He love it too. I might go out on a limb and say it might be the best burger I’ve ever had. I consistently go back and love that burger. We ordered shakes. This time I got my own! No Laura to eat the whole things. Sara and Laura split a chocolate peppermint. Wayne and I split chocolate peanut butter. Both were divine. I could not complain about the shake portions.
So, in conclusion, the food still has it. Now it’s just easier to get to. More accessible if you can swallow the prices. The lunchboxes still have a hallowed place. They’re just much harder to stare at and study. It’s a sad occurrence given that the owner just died. I think the place had his soul. Certainly, the food does.
We napped at home. Then chores. I spent 2 hrs cleaning the kitchen. We had a simple dinner of many things: cheese & crackers, blackberry/pinenut salad, edamame, strawberries, guac and chips. It was a simple dinner to cleanse us from our lunch time treat. I spent another hour cleaning out my veggies drawer and making a soup. Broccoli, chicken, zuchini, quinoa, carrot soup. Dinner for the week.
So, not our normal sabbath, but we needed to get chores done. It was good to be together in our work.