Lots of YMBARNI to catch up on:

The receipt for your car's tune-up is more than two pages long.

The liquor store knows you by your first name.

The weekend was both fun and exciting. Friday night I got to be Mr. Romantic. I'd been planning it for a while, but it was fun to implement. I took my wonderful wife on a surprise picnic for our delayed Valentine's day. I picked up food from Pappadeaux's (her favorite restaurant) that afternoon (OMG shrimp enbrochette is expensive, but I can say that because it was for me not her), and packed in our as yet usused picnic basket. That night I changed clothes at Brian's apartment, and came by and picked her up for our date. Unbeknowst to me, Deussen park closes at 6 (I picked her up at 7:45), so my initial plans were somewhat thwarted. Undaunted we took our grub to a little lakeside picnic table on the green belt in Kingwood. Dinner by the lake followed by chocolate fondue and strawberries has now been classified as the most romantic thing I've ever done. WOOHOO!

Some notes for posterity.

1. Melissa came home early from school and messed up my plans a little. I didn't have time to scout Deussen Park for likely spots, and I didn't have time to change into my usual rags before she saw me. I was going to have on shorts and a t-shirt when she initially saw me so that the black slacks and nice shirt had more of an effect, but that's a small matter.
2. Melissa didn't know it was Pappadeaux's until I put the crawfish bisque in front of her. I'd lessened her expectations some by telling her that I really hoped she liked what I brought, so when it dawned on her what I'd gotten she was really excited.
3. MAD props go to melissa! for finding out exactly what Melissa wanted from Pappadeaux's. I knew it was crawfish something-or-other, but melissa! engaged her in a long food conversation to find out for me. She actually made Melissa really crave the stuff too, so that was even better.
4. The strawberries in chocolate fondue was another surprise. Melissa got to use her new fondue pot for the first time.