Opa!

We have had lots of fun things going on in our lives this last week- Zachary is playing recognizable songs on the trumpet- way to go Zach!! Eli can spend hours upon hours playing Lego's with friends or by himself. Kaija aced a test in science, though we were in NY during the actual unit study. Isabella has found that moving to a new school is not such a bad thing, and she has found long lost friends and delights in her wonderful teacher! We also have our dear Jeannette staying with us a couple of days a week, she is a delight to have in our home! This goes as a reminder that everyone is welcome- especially if you want to be awakened by Joseph practicing the piano at 6am, sorry Jeannette!

Yesterday we had a wonderful visit with some of our friends who previously lived here in the Burg- always wishing for more time to visit. But, that is the beauty of friendship; it is ever present, even though time has passed and distance makes gathering infrequent. You can just pick up right where you left off and rejoice in the goodness of life experiences.

On Friday night we went with some other friends to Tasso's Greek Restaurant in Waldo Missouri. Where is Waldo, you might ask- well it is located in the south part of Kansas City-who knew! Admittedly it was a lengthy supper and we got to experience the full gamut of excitement that they have to offer.

There was a greasy old guy there with belt cinched around his ribs and a waxed mustache, taking every one's photo and printing them up for you on a Tasso's card- (this is where they make the big bucks!) The man would hand you this photo of you and your loved one which we looked at and sort of put to the side and went on talking, but he would not leave. He remained resolute, examining the photo over our shoulder, then followed with his well rehearsed line " ...you like... that will be $5" then he just stood there waiting! So Joseph being the non- confrontational guy that he is, gave him the money to get him away from us! It really became quite funny to watch as he did this to the remainder of the patrons. So now we have a super photo memory of the night! What ever! You know it makes me wonder what they do with their copy of all those photo's, do they delete them at the end of the day? or are you black listed if you didn't pay the 5 bucks?? I wonder........

There was a guy there playing very loud music, just loud enough that you could barely speak and hardly hear any piece of conversation from the person sitting next to you, let alone from across the table. He played some peppy Greek tunes and quite a lot of Neil Diamond- he really sounded just like him. It was definitely lively- I read one review that stated that if you were looking for a nice quiet romantic evening, you probably don't want to go to Tasso's!

The food was tasty enough- very good dressing for the salad; though it did take nearly an eternity to make it through the meal. There was an interesting version of the plate toss tradition- sort of anti-climatic if you ask me, and we couldn't escape before the belly dancer participated on the program. Gratefully we didn't have to endure the full act; only a minor chair bumping incident, that was majorly funny. Baklava for everyone and a run for the door summed up the exciting evening. So to all of you Greek buffs, "Opa!" and all other happy salutations to each of you!