Our plan for Friday night was simple, dinner and then shopping for a Christmas tree.  Or was it shopping for a Christmas tree and then dinner.  No, I’m pretty sure that it was the former and not the later.  Anyway, that’s the way the evening played out, but it is always good to have a plan.

My Muse has many more connections to Maplewood than I can fathom.  This Friday night only served to point that out to me once again.  This Friday night again found us on Manchester in Maplewood, just like last Friday night.  And just like last Friday night we found a large, active and rather exciting school presence on the Maplewood night scene.  Last night we tried out Las Palmas, a new to us Mexican restaurant.  The food was good, but the floor show was too, too excellent.  We arrived after six.  Anne’s colleagues had been there since three.  They were wrapping up their final set of karaoke when we arrived.  Propriety only allows me to say, that they were all having a very good time and that they were all over Anne as soon as she arrived, “Mrs R!”, “Mrs R!”

After dinner we headed over to Ted Drewes, our favorite Christmas tree lot.  I understand that they have a rather unique dessert there too?  After much hemming and hawing, shaking and dancing we found our perfect Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  On the way home I criticized Anne by way of saying that she smelled like a pine tree.  By way of retribution, she began to pun.  Here are a few of her better less worse puns:

• I’m pining for you, dear.
• You’re so sappy.
• Stop needling me!
• Do you want another fresh-cut?

By way of postscript, Anne just called this line out from the couch, “Of all the gin joints on Manchester, she had to walk into mine.”  Monday morning’s teacher conversations ought to be pretty interesting.