Mmmm...Indian Food Without the Buffet

Monkey and I have fallen into a daddy's out of town/it's girls' night out routine on Thursday nights. Generally we head out for pizza and maybe ice cream; although we have been known to hit the Thai place or grab a taco.

Tonight our friends, Bette and Craig called and asked if Monkey and I would join them at a new Indian restaurant in town. I agreed and as the restaurant is just down the road from our favorite shoe store, I figured I could knock out the annual shoe buying for Monkey on our way to dinner. (I'm not going into the fact that Monkey gets all the cool clothes and shoes and I get nothing. I have to get over how cute she looks and make her wear dresses made out of flour sacks so I can shop at BCBG again...)

So as we get into town tonight and I pull into a parking spot I get a flat tire. I've been thinking that maybe the drugs haven't been working so well for my stress lately, but I have to tell you I just shrugged my shoulders and thought, "I'll deal with you later, you little bastard of a tire." And Monkey and I went shopping. Those drugs are good.

Monkey had her heart set on a pair of $80 pink clogs. $80. Pink. Clogs. Who would buy those for a three year old? Even on my old budget I'd be hard pressed to do so. $80. Sheesh. We came to an agreement on a cute little pair of suede mary janes. They are a neutral taupe with small, tasteful pink flowers on the side . And I'm not lying... Monkey said, "These will go with more than those purple ones, Mommy." The child frightens me. Monkey wore her new shoes out of the store and I stared longingly at the racks of women's shoes as we left. Someday I too will have new shoes.

Now back to the flat tire. I wanted to change it, I really did. But there was Monkey and traffic and I was parked on a hill. I decided to wait until after dinner. Craig took over and called AAA, which came and fixed "his" tire while we dined on heavenly samosas and exquisite pakoras. I toasted him with a Flying Horse Beer and Monkey sucked down glasses of ginger ale from the bar.

I sort of judge Indian places by the quality of the lamb vindaloo (my favorite and everyone must have their own standard) and I have to say it was some of the hottest I've had on this continent. Lovely. Monkey plowed through the chicken tikka and we adults shared the vindaloo, a shrimp masala and a veggie dish full of okra. It was quite good. I was pleasantly surprised and will be dragging Big Daddy there as soon as he gets back in town.

Wednesday's Egg Count: 4
Today's Egg Count: 5 (!)

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new layer!