Wednesday I had a morning dentist appointment with Joshua.  He was to have a crown put on, so it was a rather long appointment.  Afterwards, I ended up accompanying my husband and a business acquaintance to a marketing meeting some two hours away.

Thursday I had the opportunity to see Becky, and my three grandbabies.  Rachel had gone to the capital of our state to participate in an opportunity to be a page for the House of Representatives.  I figured this was a good day for Ruthie to be able to go her big sister’s house (which she had been begging to do for months) and stay overnight.  I hadn’t seen the babies (or Becky) in almost 2 weeks, so I was glad to get to do this. Whenever it’s time to leave, it always seems that the time just went by too fast.

When I got back home and finished some school work with Joshua, I had choices for the rest of the day.  We were to go to dinner with business acquaintances at 6:15 p.m., and I had three hours.  Should I go ride horses?  It was a gorgeous day and it’s been a really hard winter.  I stepped outside, smelled the fresh air, and felt the mild climate.  I whispered a prayer, as I often do, “Lord, please direct my steps.  What is the best way to spend the rest of my time?”   I felt really tired and I had travelled hundreds of miles the day before and had gotten to bed really late.  Should I take a nap so I would feel refreshed when it was time to go to dinner?  Or should I ignore my fatigue and get some exercise?  Well, I thought, why don’t I do both.  Take a short nap, then get up and exercise.

I went up to bed – the two boys were playing quietly and sweetly in their bedroom.  As I laid my head on the pillow, I could hear a strong wind that had just begun – I sure was glad that I had decided to not go riding horses.  It didn’t take me long to fall into a sleep.  I woke up an hour later and groggily got out of bed, went downstairs, and decided on what kind of exercise I would do today.  As my custom is, I turned some music on, lit a scented candle, and put a video in.  I did my callanetics, but then I chose a jazz type of dance video that I hadn’t done in ages.  I was reminded how much I love this video.  I exercised up to the very last minute that I could afford (5:30p.m.) and then went and got a bath, and got ready to go. 

I had been looking forward to this dinner.  My husband had told me several weeks ago that we were to go to dinner at a restaurant in town that some potential clients own.  The mayor and his right hand man would be there, with their two wives.  I’ve been to dinner over a dozen times with these two couples and I was looking forward to the good company and the excellent food.  I didn’t worry too much about what I looked like – as my husband was waiting for me at the door, I chose a shirt to go with my blue jeans and off we went.

Now, for two weeks, I’ve had an image in my mind of leisurely sitting at dinner with the wife of the mayor and his right hand man.  When I walked through the door of the restaurant, I recognized right away that this evening was going to be quite different from the one I had imagined.

There were two extra couples sitting at the table – the proprietors of this restaurant.  At course, I understood right away, they are considering coming to our shopping strip, yet, this wasn’t what I had imagined of this evening.  Instead of being seated by the two gals that I would be totally comfortable with, I was placed between multiple people that I’d never met before.  “Not what I was thinking,” is what I was thinking.

The two new gals that I was introduced to looked as if they’d walked out of a scene on Desperate Housewives.   Very attractive women – perfectly coifed hair and a dark tan.  The one woman was wearing a silky leopard print blouse with gold silky dress pants.  The other woman that I sat directly across from had a neckline that plunged as deep as of any true Desperate Housewife. 

As I sat there taking all of this in, I started looking around the restaurant.  I noticed that every woman in this entire place looked like this.  It was as if the women of Hollywood had come here for the night.  It was the restaurant of the Beautiful People – everyone with a perfect tan, perfect hair, perfect straight bright white teeth, and ultra fashionable clothing (like the leopard print coat of one woman that walked by.)  I started remembering how cavalier I had chosen my outfit for the night – giving it a second’s thought just seconds before walking out the door. 

The food was excellent – the meal was “on the house,” – didn’t have to pay for a thing.  All the fancy appetizers one could desire, a salad with a strawberry balsamic dressing (this was my favorite part of the meal), salmon and mashed potatoes, and a plethora of homemade desserts all brought to the table at the end of our main course.  It was amazing.

Although the night was not what I had expected, I ultimately enjoyed myself just the same. The one owner, Matt, that sat to the left of me, was both personable and funny.  Light humor – I like that.  And Beautiful Miss Desperate Housewife across from me – well, she was very open and transparent - a quality I always enjoy the company of.  She has a one year old baby girl with a live-in nanny. 

“How many children do you have?” I was asked.  Oh, I always love this one.  It’s the same thing every time.   After the word, “Six,” comes out of my mouth, it’s the same response always – raised eyebrows, gasp, and the echo, “Six???”   Before I ever say the word, “Six,” I anticipate this, and have come to enjoy it.

Oh, and then when anyone, including the hosts of this dinner party, ask their ages, it’s another gasp and raised eyebrows – 27, 26, 17, 14, 10, and 7.  It’s always that age spread, 27 to 7 that is the big surprise.

Not too long after that, I was asked, “What do you do with your time?”  I guess the assumption here is that my kids are at school all day, so what is it that occupies me while they are gone?  “Golf?”  “Horses?”   I was asked. 

And again, I look forward to this answer.  I turn, and let the words, “I homeschool,” slide effortlessly, confidently, and boldly out from my lips.  And then, as usual, I watch the eyebrows go up even further and the gasp get just a little bit louder, and the question, “HOMESCHOOL?”  

As I had kind of generalized my company as being from the Hollywood jet set, suddenly, I realize I’m probably reminding them of a TV. show, too, but not Desperate Housewife.  Maybe the Discovery Channel?