It was a swell weekend. Nothing weird happened, and for that we can all be grateful. Mrs. Ditchman and I had a lovely time out to dinner, leaving the little one behind with Granny and Great Aunt Barbara. Now that I think of it, just the occasion to go out into the real world without a child was a "weird" experience. Your field of vision takes on a certain tunnel vision when you have a child, for, wherever you go, the kid never leaves your sight. When you ditch the little one, it's as if the Lord God Almighty has reached down out of Heaven and lifted your head by the chin so you can see, for once, that it's a big wide world! "So this is what restaurants are like!" quoted Mrs. Ditchman upon our arrival at the place. 'Going out' was always something we intended to do more before the kid came along, but it was one of the multitude of plans made and dashed along the wayside in the ride of familyhood.

I suppose we originally thought it would be easier to secure a trustworthy babysitter, but truth be told we just enjoy saving money making our own meals and being around the kid in our nice home, so we don't go out much. We went to one of our favorite restaurants (actually, it was only our second time there) and were led to our favorite table, our table (okay, so it was just the table we had last time.) It was wobbly, so I used the butter knife to tighten the screws that held it together. At the table next to us were a middle-age couple, Mr. and Mrs. Bling. She looked to have just filled the bank account of Doctor Breast Augmenter, and her husband was gnawing her knuckles between sips of chardonnay. No, really. The waitress brought me the wrong beer. Mrs. Ditchman had a non-alcoholic Mojito for $9.00. There were dead bugs on the window sill. Also, the table was sticky. The Ditchmans detest restaurants with sticky tables -I guess we're snobby like that. Anyway... so many disappointing restaurants, so little time.

But it was nice. At around 9:15 we couldn't think of anything else to do, so we just went home. Earlier that day we went to the Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and had a pleasant time carousing with the fishes. Scripps currently has an impressive Global Warming exhibit! And by "impressive", I mean impressive in its audacity. I tend to fall on the doubting side of the global climate science. (Sorry!) It's not that I don't think pollution is a problem, it's just that we seemed to have had an Ice Age a few thousand years ago and it's been getting warmer ever since. When they explain the global warming on Mars, I'll pay more attention. I guess I've just been reading too many articles like this. Anyway, the seahorse display was neat! Also enjoyed the whale fountain in the parking lot!

Since we were prepped and in the mood for environmental controversy, we went down and checked out the seals at the "Children's Pool" in La Jolla. I don't have a side in this debate, as both views sound fairly reasonable to me. I must say that downwind it smelled like an upturned PortaJohn, and I feel for the poor multi-millionaires who have houses there. Anyway, the crowds and the traffic are even less tolerable than the stench of the seals, making this blogger appreciate the suburbs all the more. The beaches in La Jolla are nice, but we went to see the seals! The kid liked it, it was a nice day, we easily found a parking place, then home for naps.

This week brings the fateful promise of rain and plenty of work to keep me occupied, lest I become too opinionated in my spare time. I could sit here and type all day, but how could I live with myself when all the aluminum in the world is so long and sits uncut!


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