Feed-the-Preacher Night

Every Friday (almost) we have our friend Tony over for supper. You've heard me talk about Tony. He's our minister, but also a close friend. I like to joke that Tony is the other 12-year-old I never had. When he is here, he gets Taylor riled up and they both take turns keeping us in stitches most of the night.

We sit around the supper table and talk about nothing most of the time. Tony tells jokes, we all tease him about how bad they are, and usually Nate, Taylor, or Mensa Boy introduce some speculative science thing that I don't understand. One night it was about geosynchronous orbit and wouldn't it be cool if we could have things in orbit around the earth that would be only a yard or so off the ground?

I usually just sit and watch it all happen. As my friend Jenny says, "It's like a train wreck. You just can't take your eyes away from it."

A few times this summer we've also invited my neighbor Nannette and last week she brought her niece, 7-year-old Jordin.

So the balance of power between the boys and girls evened out just a little last Friday.

Friday night dinner is usually a big affair. A large meal with dessert most of the time. I don't do that just to impress Tony. I like to relax by cooking and having a guest just gives me an excuse to whomp up something with several steps. And besides...Tony eats ANYTHING. I love having non-picky eaters at my house.

Last Friday, however, was a boy-friendly meal. Tacos. And for dessert we made our own sundaes. Nannette's niece is a little shy, so we gave her the lead on that, taking her to the grocery store with a list so that she could get all the ingredients we need for some really good sundaes. As I'm prone to do, I made up all kinds of stuff to pull her leg. "Pickles, Jordin? What about the pickles? You can't have a sundae without pickles! The best ones I know have ice cream, pickles, baked beans, tabasco sauce, chocolate chips, sprinkles, chocolate sauce..."

It was when she decided I was crazy that she relaxed, I think. That and the camera. She walked around with my camera and took photos most of the night. The little girl took a lot of photos of my house, including the messy parts.

But when we took her out to my neighbor's garden, I found that she has a pretty good knack for framing and macro photography:

It was a great night. And no one ever did put any pickles or baked beans on their sundae, so I don't need to put those items on next week's grocery list..