Saturday Night (by Kat)

Saturday Night

Those two words once were filled with exciting connotations. Anything could happen! Saturday night meant hanging at the Tav, shooting pool, drinking beer, and the long walk back to the apartment. It meant friends, food, drink, and a general release from the week behind us.

Then we became parents....

Then we became "old."

Saturday night, or at least this particular Saturday night, finds me in our office. Woo hoo! The excitement of it all!

I finally had a chance to work on last Sunday's New York Times crossword puzzle. I almost finished it! Four blank spaces are left on the page, taunting me. Not exactly the same as four balls left on the table, with a stack of quarters signifying a stack of challengers, but that's okay.

See the green bowl? Comfort food! My mom called it chipped beef. My husband uses another description, supposedly from the military (though he never served, which leads me to wonder where he heard the term--you see, the mystery hasn't left our marriage after all these years). In case you're not familiar with it, chipped beef is essentially a white sauce with minced pressed beef in it, served over toast. Not exactly the Tav's nachos, but not bad, either.

Cloudy, our gentle tabby, seems to enjoy this type of Saturday night, too. He wants me to believe he knows the answers to the missing spaces on the puzzle. But more than that, he wants me to skooch my chair back so he can claim my lap. He believes that the power of his charming good looks will win girls over. Just like the guys at the Tav.

Hmmmm, maybe times haven't changed quite as much as I thought.