What We Did This Weekend:
First Kindness Surprise
The highlight of our weekend was our monthly temple trip to St. Louis Saturday. Brookie had a few errands she wanted to run on the way, so we planned some extra time and left earlier than usual. But, as it turned out, we also spent more time in the temple than usual. Our fifth anniversary is Wednesday, so besides our normal temple routine, we wanted to participate in some sealings to commemorate the occasion.
On our way to St. Louis we stopped at a cool antique warehouse just off the interstate, Apple Wagon Antique Mall. Brookie wanted to see if she could find a few things she has been looking for, and I was happy for the chance to try out our new digital camera. We ended up getting a pair of new cameras to replace the two that were stolen. I found both of them online and they both arrived this week. The first to get here came just in time for a quick battery charge before the Royals game on Wednesday. It's a little, but powerful, pocket-sized point-and-shoot, a Panasonic LUMIX FX150. 14 megapixels, and it shoots HD video, so that's cool. It's a fun little camera, and will come in handy when we might want to take pictures, but don't want to haul our other one around. The second camera was delivered on Thursday. I was able to find a factory refurbished Nikon D60 online for just $449. The insurance company gave us $429 to replace our camera, so we pitched in the extra $20 for the upgrade. I've learned two things about this camera so far: 1) It's much nicer than any camera we've ever owned, and 2) we have a lot to learn about taking great shots with it.
After the temple we had lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory.* We both ordered the same thing we always order. Brookie had the ravioli, and I had the Manager's Special with Mizithra and Mushroom Sauce. There was nothing too special about our lunch, except for one little thing...
*And it's a good thing that neither of us had breakfast that morning because I was a little surprised at how many calories were hiding in my spaghetti dinner. I mostly blame the mizithra and browned butter half of my plate. No harm done, however. I just may need to rethink my old standby order at the Spaghetti Factory the next time we go.
Maybe you've heard of the expression, "Fake it 'til you make it." Well, Brookie and I are pretending we're rich. Yeah. I know. Kind of silly. But, we've always talked about how charitable we'll be when we have enough, and then some. And in the past few weeks Brookie came up with an idea: Instead of waiting until we're rich, why not just be nice and help people out now? So we decided that once a month at dinner, we'll zero in on another table at the restaurant and anonymously pitch in $20 for their meal. I liked the idea, and besides, why should rich people have all the fun?
While eating our late lunch in St. Louis, we were both keeping our eyes open for someone to surprise with kindness. Things were looking pretty bleak. There were only a few tables that were occupied and none of them were quite what we had in mind. Then, just before our waiter brought out the spumoni ice cream for dessert, a little family of three was seated near us. Bingo. They had a little girl that was a doll, and they looked like nice people. Brookie and I didn't even need to discuss it. We'd found the recipients of our first official Kindness Surprise.
We finished our lunch and paid for our meal. Brookie got the $20 bill out of her purse that she'd withdrawn for exactly that moment. Their waiter walked by, I asked Brookie for the money and I got up to follow him. After he turned the corner I got his attention, handed him the money, and explained that it was for the table of three in his section that had just placed their order. It felt good.
Actually... It was a little unnerving. I was so worried that we'd be "caught." I got back to our table and saw that Brookie was still nibbling at her spumoni. We didn't want to be there when their waiter told them that most of their meal had already been paid for. And we weren't sure when that would happen. Brookie took a few more bites of her ice cream and left the rest in the bowl as we ran for the door. We felt so sneaky. It was really fun.
Sunday we called our dads (Happy Father's Day again!), and did a little work on Brookie's calling before dinner. And that's what we did this weekend. Life is good.
Go to the board!
On our way to St. Louis we stopped at a cool antique warehouse just off the interstate, Apple Wagon Antique Mall. Brookie wanted to see if she could find a few things she has been looking for, and I was happy for the chance to try out our new digital camera. We ended up getting a pair of new cameras to replace the two that were stolen. I found both of them online and they both arrived this week. The first to get here came just in time for a quick battery charge before the Royals game on Wednesday. It's a little, but powerful, pocket-sized point-and-shoot, a Panasonic LUMIX FX150. 14 megapixels, and it shoots HD video, so that's cool. It's a fun little camera, and will come in handy when we might want to take pictures, but don't want to haul our other one around. The second camera was delivered on Thursday. I was able to find a factory refurbished Nikon D60 online for just $449. The insurance company gave us $429 to replace our camera, so we pitched in the extra $20 for the upgrade. I've learned two things about this camera so far: 1) It's much nicer than any camera we've ever owned, and 2) we have a lot to learn about taking great shots with it.
After the temple we had lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory.* We both ordered the same thing we always order. Brookie had the ravioli, and I had the Manager's Special with Mizithra and Mushroom Sauce. There was nothing too special about our lunch, except for one little thing...
*And it's a good thing that neither of us had breakfast that morning because I was a little surprised at how many calories were hiding in my spaghetti dinner. I mostly blame the mizithra and browned butter half of my plate. No harm done, however. I just may need to rethink my old standby order at the Spaghetti Factory the next time we go.
Maybe you've heard of the expression, "Fake it 'til you make it." Well, Brookie and I are pretending we're rich. Yeah. I know. Kind of silly. But, we've always talked about how charitable we'll be when we have enough, and then some. And in the past few weeks Brookie came up with an idea: Instead of waiting until we're rich, why not just be nice and help people out now? So we decided that once a month at dinner, we'll zero in on another table at the restaurant and anonymously pitch in $20 for their meal. I liked the idea, and besides, why should rich people have all the fun?
While eating our late lunch in St. Louis, we were both keeping our eyes open for someone to surprise with kindness. Things were looking pretty bleak. There were only a few tables that were occupied and none of them were quite what we had in mind. Then, just before our waiter brought out the spumoni ice cream for dessert, a little family of three was seated near us. Bingo. They had a little girl that was a doll, and they looked like nice people. Brookie and I didn't even need to discuss it. We'd found the recipients of our first official Kindness Surprise.
We finished our lunch and paid for our meal. Brookie got the $20 bill out of her purse that she'd withdrawn for exactly that moment. Their waiter walked by, I asked Brookie for the money and I got up to follow him. After he turned the corner I got his attention, handed him the money, and explained that it was for the table of three in his section that had just placed their order. It felt good.
Actually... It was a little unnerving. I was so worried that we'd be "caught." I got back to our table and saw that Brookie was still nibbling at her spumoni. We didn't want to be there when their waiter told them that most of their meal had already been paid for. And we weren't sure when that would happen. Brookie took a few more bites of her ice cream and left the rest in the bowl as we ran for the door. We felt so sneaky. It was really fun.
Sunday we called our dads (Happy Father's Day again!), and did a little work on Brookie's calling before dinner. And that's what we did this weekend. Life is good.
Go to the board!
I LOVE it! You guys are so amazing - I want to be like you someday! Perhaps the next time Phil & I go out, we'll try a kindness suprise... =) And congrats on your upcoming anniversary!
ReplyDeleteI just saw your weekly menu - No way! We're having BLTS on Thursday too! Great minds...
ReplyDeleteThe Kindness Surprise is awesome! And I would love any more feedback on your D60. I really, really want one, but the reviews have been conflicting and I'd love some feedback from real people versus professionals who are probably a lot more picky than I am.
ReplyDeleteI'm very jealous of your new cameras, especially the D60. I really like that one. Were these pictures taken with it or the point and shoot?
ReplyDelete