Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Three Weeks from Today, Folks

 We attended the Tuesday evening get-together with friends.  Our restaurant of choice is always the same.  And why not?  On Tuesdays all citizens of a certain age are treated to one-third off the menu price of all items thereon displayed.  Typically, while one of us is engaged with the hostess in securing seating, the other checks out the buffet.  Then at table,

"What's on the buffet tonight?"
"Same old, same old."

When we are all present and accounted for, the waitress takes our orders.  She has already placed our drinks in front of us, because she knows exactly that it will be two waters with lemon, a lemonade, and an iced tea.


 There was something new though, but not on the buffet.  The Christmas tree is up!  Shortly before we were finished with our meal and the conversation, Mike and Sally, co-workers of mine in a life long ago, entered and were seated at the table next.  Greetings, pleasantries and a bit of chit-chat.  Then as we were rising from table ready to depart, BBBH said to Sally, "Shopping done yet?"  The look on Sally's face was precious.  You have heard the expression, "Her jaw dropped."  Truth.  Sally's jaw literally dropped.

So I sweetened it a bit by saying, "Such a short time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Can you believe it is only 21 days until Christmas?"

Sally retorted, "I have no idea who was responsible for making that arrangement, but I can tell you one thing.  It was a man."


 We took our leave, and thought to drive through the park to check on the state of Christmas decor there.  We saw these, among many other displays.

 The secular

and the religious symbols of Christmas peacefully co-existing.

Very nice.

8 comments:

Shelly said...

Sally's reaction is much the same as mine! And the beautiful light pictures are an apt metaphor~

Vee said...

Yes, men are responsible for most of the hassles in life. : )

Beautiful Christmas decorations!

Grace said...

Yup the calendar certainly messed things up this year - a shorter hence more stressful lead-up to Christmas...I don't remember the last time I was caught in the craziness - oh wait, yes I do - mid-1990's when I worked retail - Ha!

vanilla said...

Shelly, the arrangement certainly jams things up this year, holiday-wise.

Vee, carry the weight of the world and its responsibilities on our broad shoulders.

Grace, the hustle and bustle compounded by shortness of time. Oh, just enjoy.

JennyMac said...

Those pics reminded me of houses we used to drive to see during the holidays when I was a child. Very nice.

Hope you and yours had a great TG...jaw dropping and all. lol.

vanilla said...

JennyMac, thank you; and may all the Macs have a wonderful holiday season!

Sharkbytes said...

Christmas shopping. Bah humbug.

vanilla said...

Shark, really? (Yeah, that's me, too.)