Annals of Wretched (fun) Excess

Lori called to suggest a Deerfield visit Monday. Everybody was so pooped last week we all stayed close to home, so my laundry was ready and so was I. We had a great little visit-she ran out for a little while and I dog minded. They had fun. After she came home we installed Picasa on her computer. She was angling a little bit to go out to dinner and I was the excuse (reason). Jason was up for it when he came home from work. Lori picked the "Coal Mine" in Royal Palm Plaza. A pizza joint. It is a pizza joint of another stripe: coal fired-it can cook a pizza in 8 minutes. They were pushing a truffle pizza ($40 for a small one, $55 for a large) I immediately looked elsewhere but our Romanian waiter did a little sell job and amongst other delights we had a small one. Truffles, as you may know, are only in season for a short while, come from France mostly, and are mushrooms that grow underground. Trained pigs are used to root them out and the minder then has to wrest them from the pig. They don't stay fresh for very long. Jason accused me of making "bedroom noises" as we ate. It is mighty fine eating. Add french fries cooked in truffle oil, sprinkled with parmesan, excellent salad, and entrees (!) and you have wretched excess. Lori's entree was linguini with meatball (sic). I got the giggles-the meatball was bigger than a baseball, smaller than a softball. It was huge-more like a meatloaf.

Jason insisted the waiter have a slice of the pie. He had to get permission but was grateful and as we asked all the stupid American questions about Romanians (are you a gypsy? are you an acrobat?) he was friendly and patient.

So, I got a good visit, clean undies and a fine dining experience out of the latter part of the day. The kids have two sets of company coming next week so it might be awhile before we play again.

The early part of the day was less than perfect. Honey was desperate to go out about 6 a.m. She broke loose from my grasp and chased a possum out of the screenhouse and over in the neighbor's yard. Me without shoes on yet.

Greg came over- they got banned from the park for next year for switching their registration from Greg to Lew to get more time this year. It is a fine legal point and I can see both sides. It is also a moot point because they will likely be living in a gated community in Boynton with Lew's mom and dad. At age 92 pops is less than steady and mom's mind is slipping. But they are ticked. We still have a month to enjoy this season.