'Celebratory Dinner'

Emily (left) and Julia got goofy over the malts.

The girls asked me all day what we were going to do after Emily's basketball game. I told them, "eat a celebratory dinner."

"What's a celebratory dinner," Julia asked.

Well, the girls found out tonight after our 25-23 win over St. Philip Neri. We feasted at Petrow's, a family-owned restaurant not far from my apartment. Emily, Julia and I each ordered cheeseburgers (which were huge) while Olivia, Veronica and Lauren had pancakes. Of course there were malts, too – chocolate and cookies and cream.

After St. Mary's beats St. Peter & Paul to end the regular season next month, I think we should do this again.

Speaking of goofy, check out Olivia.

Veronica had a plate full of pancakes.

Veronica (left) and Olivia (who still is being goofy.)

Lauren can't hide her satisfaction with her chocolate malt.

Dad Is Home; Dining At Petrow's

So my dad is home from the hospital. And I am so glad. Although he is not 100 percent (more surgery lies ahead), it's good to have him sleeping in his own bed and home with mom to take care of him.

I went up to the hospital this morning with the intent of being with him all day (I even took my laptop), only to find out he was being released "soon." Well, the "soon" was more like four hours later - but that was OK. It was interesting to meet the doctors and nurses and listen to the things that he will need to do from this point forward.

Stacy (pictured at right) was dad's nurse Wednesday and said he was her "best patient ever." So we took a picture of the two together before leaving. I also remember Sarah, who was his nurse on the Thursday night he was admitted. Bridget and I cracked some pretty funny jokes with her, which lightened what was a pretty tense situation.

As for the picture of Jon (below), the two of us went to eat at Petrow's earlier tonight. I hadn't been there in awhile, and the World-Herald had not given it a favorable review recently. So I wanted to scope things out myself.

As it turned out, the service was terrific, the food was delicious (large portions) and the price was just right. I got the special: turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, salad; Jon got the French Dip (which also came with a salad). Lara was our server and she made quite the impression - calling us "honey" and "dear" and even winking at Jon. And she couldn't have been more than 25 years old. (Note to other servers: this stuff really does result in higher tips. It's a proven fact.)

Anyway, tomorrow I will be picking up the girls from school. Now that the cycling season is over, I have a lot more time on my hands. So it will be great to see them for an extra two hours or so.

Girls: We'll have to save up some money so we can make a stop there this weekend. Jon and I wanted to get malts (they are "buy two, get the third free") but we were stuffed!

Jon pondered who would be picking up the check.