A mouthful of Spring Valley

Earlier this week Zion asked to go get Vietnamese food for dinner. Since he asked this right before dinner we did not indulge him, but I told him we could probably go later in the week (with all it's lovely rice (instead of wheat) Vietnamese is just fine for our Sephardi Pesach rules). Later in the week turned out to be today, and shortly after Robert got home we headed out. We tried a new back roads route, since traffic around here is fairly dreadful from approximately 330-530pm on weekdays. Our new route was longer, but quicker since it was actually quite empty, and we arrived feeling pleased and perhaps a bit smug.

We ordered spring rolls, a couple different beef and noodle dishes, and a chicken and sticky rice dish. About 30 seconds into our meal it became apparent that we hadn't ordered enough chicken. So please, if it looks like I'm going to forget about this the next time we go, help me remember that my kids will chow chicken!

By the end of the meal it had also become apparent that Liel hasn't quite figured out when to stop eating something yet. Both kids had asked to eat chicken "on the bone" and we'd obliged them. Suddenly I looked up from my noodles and noticed that Liel was holding a chicken leg bone that had been striped bare. So bare, in fact, that part of the bone was gone. "Liel", I gasped, "where's the rest of that bone??" I think I was hoping there was some other explanation beyond the obvious. Liel stared at me. "I ate it", she said. The bone was quickly removed from her possession.

Exhibit A.



On the way home the kids ate the orange slices the waitress had brought at the end of the meal. When Liel handed me hers (cause, you know, I love hanging on to sticky, partially eaten oranges for 15 minutes in the car!) I saw that she had, once again, failed to stop eating when most people might.

Exhibit B.



Our drive home produced two other mildly interesting bits. The first was a woman dressed in very tight clothing. Yeah, I know, nothing terribly unusual there, but every time I see something like that I can't help but wonder how the person in question can stand it. Isn't it terribly uncomfortable? I mean, she looked like a sausage stuffed into it's casing- but a sausage doesn't have to move, and she was walking down the street. Robert opined that women's clothing in general appears uncomfortably tight to him, so maybe it's all just a matter of what you are used to.

We also drove by what passes for a health food joint in Spring Valley. Among the menu items painted on the window was "Multi-grain power porridge". Try some today!