It's Christmas In My Heart -or - It's Ray J's not AJ's

I've been having a hard time entering the Christmas spirit. Not that I don't love the season and all the trappings it brings, but I've been kind of full of myself. Kinda grumpy, kinda worried about money, kinda not joyful if you know what I mean. BUT I have now been reborn! I have started appreciating things again. And, I will share with you the journey. However, since there is NOTHING on TV, I sense that this may be a tad wordy I'm giving you Chapters to choose from. Chapter one, Sunday night Agape Group; Chapter Two, Monday girls night out; Chapter Three, I still can smell his aftershave; Chapter Four, Restaurant Reviews of Babalu's and Ray J's.

Chapter One - Sunday night Agape Group. I had ran out and bought (paid too much) my REAL Christmas tree, set it in the stand mostly straight and yep, that's right, the stand leaked. It leaked a lot. No time to do anything but try to minimize the mess. I went on to the Bible study. Not joyful. There I am with a small group of women reading the Old Testament and me in the middle. We were on Leviticus, Numbers and Dueteronomy. A modern woman can read those books and wonder how God could let his daughters be treated so poorly; I know, I have been one of them. But by the time we wrapped up our evening after having eyes looking for God's care in such a harsh time of the history of mankind, we walked away with no doubt that we ARE His daughters, loved and cared for and rescued from a barbaric past.

So I'm getting closer to Christmas in My Heart and I LOVE the smell of the tree.

Chapter Two - Monday Girl's Night Out. For a Christmas/Birthday gift to my two sisters I bought them tickets to the new Guthrie for the Blind Boys of Alabama. I had heard one of their Christmas gospel songs and that's it. But I felt compelled to go and I invited the girls from Sunday Night Agape group and out of it Amy and Angie came along. I picked up my sisters after really rushing to get ready, with a new route to Minneapolis... pressure. May I add that my sisters are not what you would say shy about expressing disappointment if they so feel so... pressure. My one sister commented not really liking the one song she heard of them and hopefully the concert would be better... pressure. We are going to a Cuban and pricey restaurant with real chefs that use real ingredients, not mixes... pressure. I'm driving to a city I am somewhat familiar with and will take the risk to just go for it and could use some help, but they are not at all familiar with it... pressure. We get there lickity split... relief. My friends Amy and Angie are there with smiles on their faces and looking forward to the show... relief. My dinner was great... relief. The drive to the new Guthrie and parking was smooth as silk... relief. Rocking black gospel music from 4 old blind men and their accompanists with no shame of singing old time Jesus music and belting it out... oil to a parched soul. Blessed by holy words of hope. And it DIDN'T FEEL LIKE CHURCH!

I walked away with Christmas in my heart.

Chapter Three - I Can Still Smell His Aftershave. Tuesday night dinner was a reunion of a divorce recovery group. We meet about once a month. This time we met at Ray J's, which I had called AJ's. But the error was caught before confusion and no one ended up circling Woodbury looking for a restaurant that does not exist. We met at 6:30. The group still likes to talk about where they are, share new battle scars and visit old ones. I don't blame them, it does take awhile to recover, that is if you ever do. Then the discussion usually moves on to dating; of course we also talk about kids and other life stuff. I haven't dated in a long time. I think I want to, but I don't want to do the work. So, do I really want to? I'm pretty content. Well, after our several hour dinner and discussion, we leave and on the way out we exchange hugs. It is nice hugging guys other than your son. They are friends and not dates, but they are guys. My face touched Jim and Todd's face. As I left the restaurant, I could smell Todd's aftershave. It's been awhile, you know? It was nice.

Chapter Four - Restaurant Reviews, Babalu's and Ray J's.
Babalu's
See the link on the heading of this post to go to Babalu's web site. It is located on Washington in Minneapolis. The theme is Cuban, Carribean food. Nick the waiter was one of the best wait staff I've ever experienced. I dropped $63. What that got me was one of the best Mojitos I've ever had, they softened the punch as I was driving and I'm glad they did. Full strength would put me in the happy happy place. I also ordered the Empandillas as an appetizer. Puff pastry stuffed with chicken or beef or Oaxaca cheese. They were tasty and the sauces were good. could have been a bit more tender as I've cooked with puff pastry myself. I also tried the calamari and it was wonderful. Very tender, not rubbery, and again the dipping sauce was great. My entre was Rodaballo something. Sea Bass broiled on a bed of green stuff (peppers and such) that tasted pickled. This was all in a fish broth that knocked my socks off. I had to stop "mmmmmm-ing". Surrounding this was steamed muscles. Heaven!!! Comfortable chairs, fun restroom. Drink 9.25; Appetizer 9.95; Entre 28.95 tax and tip(20%) came to 62.70 Yummy!

Ray J's,
Woodbury formerly Awada's and Decoys. I've done another review of this place, but here goes again. I spent $20 and that got me a great brandy Manhatan, only one or would have been to that happy happy place. I had the chicken club, whole chicken breast with thick sliced bacon, an herbed mayonaaise on a roll. Tasty. I had the fries. Not bad, they came hot and salty, what could be bad about that? Comfortable booth, good place to meet friends. Kinda smokey near the bar side, I asked for a spot away from the smoke and it wasn't too bad.