What the Pho???

So Dale and I decided to have a dinner party the other night with some new colleagues. The food was fantastic! We decided to make pho (vietnamese noodle soup), caramel simmered pork riblets and spring rolls. The food was fantastic and our guests very eager to try such adventurous cuisine.

Even though the food was great there seemed to lack conversation. I remember at some point looking at the clock and thinking, "wow, it has only been a half an hour". Certainly our guests must have been feeling the same as they departedly shortly after.

I dont understand! Wine was plenty, however, no one was drinking. Food was plenty. Movies plenty. I dont think more than 30 words were exchanged the whole night, most of them between Dale and I.

In any case, this lack of excitement left us missing our Seattle friends and hoping that we will soon find friends in Missoula to heighten our otherwise boring lives.

My grandmother put a sparkle in my brain as she confessed the disasters of her first dinner party. I never would have guessed the fifty years ago she didnt even know how to boil water. I guess getting married and having kids kicks that habit!

Dale and I watched 'River Runs Through It' today. I must confess that I cried like a baby that got dropped on its head. I cant believe I have lived in Montana and never seen the movie. The movie was filmed in Bozeman and Livingston (my former romping ground) but is about two kids growing up in Missoula. I felt such a connection to the author who left Montana seeking greater adventure only to find that his adventure was here. Needless to say, I cried, weeped, blubbered, and tried to hide my tears. Our lives have been so busy the last couple months I dont think I have stopped to think about feelings and I guess the movie coaxed them all out.

In addition to crying like a baby today, I spent a number of hours perusing a rare seed catalogue. All the seeds carried their own story in their titles alone. I became entranced reading about country gentlemen, mammoth red rock, and early wonders. The hard part of course is reminding myself to start small because I have not yet developed a green thumb and we dont exactly have a large yard. Nonetheless, Dale and I will be starting a garden this year and I hope that many of you will be able to enjoy all the fruits of our labor...literally.