Week Two of The Summer of Lunch

This past week we visited two new restaurants for lunch.  We had been wanting to give the first place a try for several weeks, and we went on Tuesday.  It recently opened in Birkdale Village and is called Bad Daddy's Burger Bar.  Since it's known for its burgers, that's what Jay and I both ordered.  I reviewed the online menu before going and noticed that A.1. Steaksauce was not listed among the many options for condiments.  Given that A.1. really is a must for me when eating a burger, I must admit that I took a small container with me and added the A.1. to my burger after our server left the table.  Although the prices were a bit high for burgers and fries, the food was really good.  Bad Daddy's serves breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays, so we'll likely visit again on a Saturday morning (and this time I won't have to "brown bag" any items).

For our second lunch spot, we had planned to eat at The Flying Biscuit Cafe in Charlotte because we were going to be in the Queen City on Thursday; however, we changed our plans at the last minute.  My copy of Southern Living arrived in the mail, and Jay decided to peruse it while I was doing something on the computer.  This month's copy includes a page about "Charlotte's Best Cheap Eats," and one of the places listed is The Diamond Restaurant.  After looking at the menu online, we decided to go there and save The Flying Biscuit Cafe for some other time (especially since this would not have been Jay's first visit to The Flying Biscuit).  We were not disappointed by our change of plans.  Jay loved the squash soup at The Diamond, and I thought the fried chicken was really tasty.  It's somewhat of a dive atmosphere, which brings me to my second reason for being happy that we chose to eat there last week.  It turns out that The Diamond is just down the street from two restaurants that have been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives: The Penguin and The Dish.  When we saw them, we realized that we needed to add them to our list of places to try this summer.  I'm especially looking forward to going to The Dish.

It's The Summer of Lunch!

Well, it's official.  Jay and I have declared this to be The Summer of Lunch for The Wills Household.  Even though summer does not officially begin until June 20, we kicked off The Summer of Lunch earlier this week at Bobbee O's Barbecue in Charlotte and then visited The Egg Cafe in Davidson earlier today.  There are many restaurants in Charlotte, Huntersville, Cornelius, and Davidson that we have not yet tried, and we decided that this is the summer to do so.  In addition, we figured that an early lunch might be our best option for a couple of reasons: (1) lunch prices are usually much better than dinner prices and (2) early lunch fits better into Henley's routine than dinner.  Our goal is to do lunch at two (or more) new places a week (eventually revisiting our favorites).  We'll see how it goes.  So far, we know that Bobbee O's Barbecue will not get a second visit.  The food was just okay.  We'll probably eat at The Egg Cafe in Davidson again.  The food was pretty good, and we have a card to get 15% off there each time we dine with them for the rest of the year.  I should mention that I added Just Baked Cupcakes in Cornelius to today's outing.  Although the stop technically wasn't part of our lunch, I have been wanting to try their cupcakes for a while.  Thus, in the spirit of The Summer of Lunch, I asked Jay to stop at the bakery on our way home from Davidson.  We shared a chocolate cupcake and an Oreo cookie cupcake, and both were very tasty.  The actual cupcakes were plenty moist, and the icing was light.

The Truth Value of Statements

One of the topics I love to discuss in mathematics classes is the truth value of a statement.  Lately, it seems that people have been creating lots of power point slides to post to Facebook that include statements that are accompanied by some picture.  It is evident that the slides have been created to provide comfort to the one creating them or to someone else.  It's interesting to see the same slides show up in my News Feed multiple times.  The problem, of course, is that the statements on the slides often are fundamentally false.  A statement should not automatically be considered true simply because someone else (possibly famous) made the statement.  In addition, including the statement with a pretty picture or typing it with a creative font does not affect its truth value.  Further, we should not be tempted to accept a statement as true simply because it makes us feel better about something going on in our lives.  There have been occasions when I have wanted to include a comment below a posted slide to let my Facebook friend know that the statement on the slide is false.  So far, I haven't felt comfortable enough to actually go through with typing the comment and then pressing enter.  This post will have to do for now.

Holding Hands and "Good Night" Routine

Henley, Jay, and I made a trip to the mall yesterday afternoon.  While I was busy shopping for a new swimsuit, Jay strolled Henley around to keep her entertained.  I also spent several minutes away from them while trying to decide on which soaps to purchase from Bath & Body Works.  By the time I was finished doing both of these things, Henley was quite ready to spend some time with me again.  As we walked through the mall with Jay pushing Henley's stroller, she held her hand up and indicated that she wanted me to hold it.  So, of course, I did.  Since she didn't want me to let go, we continued walking through the mall with me holding Henley's hand while she was sitting in the stroller.  It was a rather sweet couple of minutes.

For many months, Henley has enjoyed patting other people's heads and saying, "Pat, pat," while doing so.  She even does it to herself.  I think she must have picked it up from reading Mommy Hugs because the mommy monkey hugs her baby with a pat (and I always do a "Pat, pat, pat" while reading the book to Henley).  A few weeks ago, I was getting ready to read Henley a few bedtime stories while rocking her, and Jay was leaving her room for the evening.  We always make a big deal about Daddy leaving and make sure we tell him Good Night.  Well, that night, Henley held out her hand with her fingers balled up into a fist and indicated that she wanted Jay to kiss her hand.  He did, so she kept holding out her fist for him to kiss it over and over until he left her room.  It now is part of her "Good Night" routine with Daddy.  Like the "Pat, pat," I think Henley must have picked this up from Daddy Kisses because there's a part where the daddy squirrel gives his pup a kiss on the paw.  Henley also usually asks about Daddy after he leaves the room, so I'll ask her what he's doing, and she'll reply, "Chores."  During the day when she asks about Jay, I ask her where Daddy is, and she says, "Work."

It's really true that children change so quickly and learn so much during their second year of life.  It's so much fun to watch Henley grow.  I love to hear her talk and to watch her take pride in her accomplishments as she learns new things.  I know that years from now I won't be able to remember everything she does at this point in her life.  I hope that by writing about a few of the things, I'll be able to capture those memories for a lifetime.