ladies who lunch (m)

When I worked, I rarely, rarely went out for lunch.  I'd say 90% of the times I did were when I was single, living in the Back Bay of Boston.  I'd grab a friend or two and we'd go to the cafeteria or, occasionally, to a little place near the office.  Once the kids came along, I barely made it to the cafeteria every day, using the time instead to catch up on work to make sure I could get home at a decent hour to be with them.

I still feel guilty about taking time in the middle of the day to sit down and eat.  How decadent.  I often catch myself standing up at the counter in my kitchen rushing through a sandwich of deli flat bread, turkey, lettuce and mustard and swilling it down with a diet Ice Tea.  Sometimes, I eat in the car, waiting for H to finish in the rink.

In this past week alone, I have eaten lunch with people on three separate occasions.  Here are my experiences:

1. Lunch with Mary--venue was Legal Seafoods in Chestnut Hill (where else?).  Mary likes the scene there.  She knows who's who and what they are doing.  All business-related or temple-related.  I am merely the backdrop to her one-act play.  She drives the waiters crazy, listens in on people's conversations, orders for me (e.g."WE will not be having any bread") and always forgets who paid last (usually me but she remembers it as she paid last).  We deliberate over the menu as if we were going to order something new (we don't).  We each get a bucket of steamers (no butter), followed by a salad, low-fat dressing on the side.  No dessert.  Tea.  This ordeal takes 2 hours, costs about $60 (for both because it was my turn...again). 

2. Lunch with old friends--Friday.  Went to get a manicure/pedicure at a nice salon where my friend, M, works.  High-end place.  Our friend, Susan, and her mother were prepping for a trip to St. Thomas.  The rest of us were going nowhere.  After the salon, we went to a nice restaurant for lunch.  The chef made his special Mongolian vegetable stew (jasmine rice, yogurt, stewed vegetables in a low-fat broth).  Another friend, J, joined us.  The company was wonderful.  The food was great.  This, too, took over 2 hours and was $25 per person.

3. Lunch with the Pot Luck Club--this one was a surprise.  Had a meeting in Boston and got a call from Cousin Patty saying she made a banana chocolate chip bread for my family.  I was 15 minutes away so it was an easy trip.  Get to her house and there's a party going on at 1 p.m.  Five women around a table filled with food--shrimp cocktail, salad, tuna fish, cold cut platter with 5 types of meats and 3 types of cheese, pepperoni, cheese and crackers, potato salad, 4 types of breads, 2 Edible Arrangements (fruit in the shape of flowers) and a tray of assorted cookies and a dish of black licorice.  The occasion?  Absolutely nothing.  This group gets together once a month.  I had to pick up Harrison at the rink in 30 minutes so I had the turkey on flat bread with mustard and left with a bag full of food for Harrison (turkey sandwich, quart of Powerade, banana bread, cookies).  Cost: zero.  Time: 15 minutes. 

I called Patty tonight to thank her.   At 9 p.m., the women were still there!  There was laughter in the background.  Patty said the women want me to join them every month.

This is a shock to my system.  As fun as all these luncheons were, I can't get anything done when I spend so much time eating in the middle of the day.  I think I'll stick to my house for a while.