Had a nice lunch with Marge yesterday, but with some now-funny snags. We went to Horizen Diner in Manahawkin and I ordered a hamburger, emphasizing to the waitress that I wanted it very rare. What she plopped down in front of me was a perfectly round, obviously frozen, quarter-inch high piece of old shoe leather, brownish-gray all through. I protested, she asked if I wanted something else, and I ordered a Reuben (hadn't had one in years). She asked if I wanted corned beef or pastrami on it. Pastrami!?! I never heard of a Reuben with pastrami, so of course ordered corned beef. The waitress comes back in ten minutes with some layers of corned beef between two pieces of dry rye bread! I pointed out that it wasn't a Reuben and finally, after Marge was almost finished eating, I got an actual Reuben--not the best I ever tasted either, but adequate and with the proper ingredients. I tell you, there's a vast conspiracy to keep me from being happy with wait staff anywhere!
Okay, today: Had a lovely little luncheon birthday party for Jen, with J., J., and J., Alison, Pat and me. We had a treasure hunt for Joely which he greatly enjoyed, darling little guy that he is. Served cold cuts, several salads (green, fruit, and two kinds of potato), plus shrimp and rolls. Alison brought a cake, we sang "Happy Birthday" and Jen blew out the candles and opened presents. J. and J. then headed to the movies while Joely has a play date with his cousin, Gabe's. Heavy rain, but who cares? It's sunshiny in my Little Egg Harbor home...