Valentine's Day

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and we don't usually make a big deal out of it. But we had an offer from our good friends, John-Paul and Diane, to stay with Luke for a couple of hours while we had a little time to ourselves.

As an aside...Charlie and I ascribe to the "attachment parenting" theory. Basically, we believe that "tough love" is best reserved for unruly teenagers, and that babies need gentle, calm, attentive love. To us that means when Luke cries we pick him up and try to figure out what's wrong. Every time he cries. Day or night. (I know there are nay-sayers out there, and it can be a controversial topic in new-parent circles, but I take the attitude that I know what's best for my little guy, and other parents know what's best for theirs, and we all just have to be okay with that. Very good people have very different parenting styles. To each his own...different strokes for different folks...etc.) John-Paul and Diane ascribe to the same parenting style, so we knew that Luke would be cared for in much the same way that we care for him. And we felt very thankful, even blessed, by the offer of a couple of hours out. So we took it...we nearly jumped at it...

We researched local restaurants for the most Oregon-friendly menu and we found one at Bombs Away Cafe. Charlie had a burrito with local pork, and I ordered lamb from a farm just one county away. Charlie loved his meal and I did too, but the lamb was a bit too "meaty" for me (a recent convert from vegetarianism), so I ordered a side of veggies and ate the mashed potato enchilada and refried beans that came with the lamb for a very nice dinner. The lamb came with Oregon truffle-butter (heavenly!) which I ate with the veggies.

It's interesting to note that the little chunks of tofu in the veggie side were the least traceable food on the table. We could account for nearly every other morsel, but the mainstay of many vegetarian diets is pretty anonymous.

It was a lovely evening out. Luke survived just fine, but was ready to have us home when we arrived. And we were able to say within the all-Oregon diet. Mostly.