*sniffle*

Well, here I am back in Raleigh, leaving both my men at home alone for nearly TWO WEEKS (well, not alone -- they have each other!) while I wallow in a tiny bit of self pity about having my Mother's Day cut short. And T-Rob and Ms. McQ dinna make it any easier with their posts.

I will admit that it's hard to be too pitiful when I will have the bed all to myself for more than ten nights. Juj has been pretty good about staying in his new big boy captain's bed, but apparently cracked under the strain of knowing I was leaving and crawled into our bed at one or two o'clock this morning. Which, compounded by my incipient cold (or maybe just bad allergies) meant that it was not the most restful night for me. But I will MISS them both!

So, let me catch up by sharing last Sunday's menu, which we enjoyed with Tia Elsa and Uncle Ron...

• big salad of red lettuce, radishes, avocado and celery
• chicken and brown rice with chorizo from the current issue of Saveur (thanks, Weintribe!)
• fresh strawberries with saba and black pepper (well, J had his with milk)

And this Sunday?

Suffice it to say that I had a lovely meal alone this evening. Mez has good food, a nice bar, is within walking distance of the hotel, and although normally closed Sundays, they happened to be open in honor of Mother's Day. I ate there twice on the last trip, and my hotel wasn't as close (plus I had a car that time, which expanded my options); I'm sure I'll be back for more...