Just Fine

I wrote the previous post Friday night, minutes before I.T. called down the stairs to the computer nook, where I sat staring at my bleeding hearts background, gulping wine and pounding away on the keyboard,

"Hey Heidi, let's go out to Marie's for dinner!" He's always trying to pep me up. Trying to find the other Heidi, who doesn't mope around waiting for August 27 to arrive.

Marie Catrib's is my favorite. The people who work at Marie's are the most easygoing, free spirited folks serving food anywhere in the city. The server usually just takes a seat with you at the table and goes over the specials like an old friend you invited to your place for Sunday dinner. Here salads have names like "Mother Earth" and "The Fatouch". Their gluten-free, chocolate pudding is so dense it holds your spoon vertical while you sip coffee between bites. The best. I would never turn down an invitation to Marie's.

During dinner we talked. I.T. joked around and made me smile. After dinner we drove around Reeds Lake and then read a book together on a blanket in a park beside the lake. We're still reading through What Did You Expect by Paul David Tripp- savoring the well seasoned advice about how to nourish relationships. Some of the parts made us laugh. And that felt great. We talked about what the book was saying to us. And it was fun. And it was comfortable being there in the park with I.T., the love of my life- my best friend.

It was movie night in the park. Event planners had erected an enormous blow up movie screen at one end and were handing out free glow necklaces, frisbees and t-shirts. Pre-movie activities also included the local bank selling 50 cent ice creams and such out of their carnival cart, while Irish dancers tapped up a storm on a makeshift fold-out stage. So focusing on the reading became impossible. But we enjoyed soaking in the scene of happy kids and parents relaxing on blankets.

We stayed to see the first Jackie Chan stunt from The Spy Next Door, then drove home, picked up the movie from a Redbox and watched the rest from the comfort of our own living room in our pj's.

We were home alone. Like we're going to be every night from August 27th on. And we were having fun. We were enjoying being together. And for the first time in a long time I believed that things really are going to be just fine.