This week in Review.

I had been so busy at work this past week, that it was impossible for me to post, and as impossible was wrestling the computer away from my son who is 14 years old today. He wanted us to let him take off school tomorrow morning to have breakfast with us. He refuses to invite friends over for a small pizza/ice cream party and a video of his choice tonight. What a geek. But he's been suspended twice from school this week, so the luxury of skipping yet a third day of class is definitely out. The most I will do is brunch when he gets out of school on Friday.

"What is brunch?" he asked.

Fine. He doesn't know all the words in the English language so I told him - "It's breakfast and lunch together."

But what is the excuse for my nearly 22-year-old daughter who asked me this morning "What is a Dalai Lama".

These kids do not read anything except subtitles in videos.

I explained in less than 5 minutes who he was. He is in Israel now for a few days, and I tried to get tickets to his lecture tomorrow a few weeks ago, but it was already sold out. I could camp out like I would have at a Stones concert for any extra tickets from people who can't make it, but Friday is a difficult day for me to travel to Tel Aviv. If I would have a like-minded spiritual partner in Hubby, he would have gladly taken me to Tel Aviv and back after the buses stop running on the Sabbath. But given his stresses these days, I'm not even going to ask.

Hubby and I went out last night - as a 50th birthday gift from my boss - to the luxurious Canela restaurant in Jerusalem. It is fine dining at its best. My boss talked to me about this for weeks now and raved about the place with orders for me.

"You have to ask about their specials before you order"

"You have to have some wine. Which wine do you like?"

This is akin to asking me about cars. I know zippo about either. Hubby always asks me "What car does she drive? What car does he drive?"

"I dunno. It's red/black/white with 4 wheels."

I can tell if it's a 4 seater or a 7 seater, a two-door or a four-door - but that's my limit. The same with wine. I am not a connoisseur. I know there is red wine, white wine and that Merlot is quite popular amongst the red wines for a fancy dinner out. That's the extent of my wine knowledge. Oh yeah, and there are the semi-drys too.

"And you have to try the desserts" was my Boss's last order. He had arranged to pay for the entire meal including the tip.

Far be it from me to stray from his requests. One doesn't want to get fired. He may even call to check to see if I got there in time, and ask what I ordered. No kidding there.

Hubby was a grumpy as whatever grumpy character you can think of (because I can't think of any at the moment, except Scrooge does come to mind), when he came to pick me up from work.

"Can't you be thankful for the gifts you get?" I asked. Even though it was MY gift, he did have an equal share in it.

Fortunately, when we got there, his attitude shifted, as we were pampered by attentive restaurant staff.

We ordered -

Fois Gras
Salmon sashimi with citrus sauce
Entrecote steak
Duck breast in rasperry sauce and chestnut puree
I had Merlot and Hubby had a shot of Chivas Regal.
We shared a sinful chocolate dessert with caramelized bananas.

Hubby also was ignorant in some stuff too.

"What's foie gras"

"That's what you're having for an appetizer." Of course I wanted it too, and he does like liver - after all, eating liver is a very Jewish thing.

"This is the Rolls Royce of livers" I told him, showing off that I knew something about cars - especially luxury cars.

We got to talk over dinner, which most people married over 20 years usually do not do. One of my daughters is dating someone quite seriously. I told Hubby her boyfriend is Tunisian.

"What's a Tunisian"

I rolled my eyes. Why must I always explain these things to all the dimwits in my family? It is perfectly ok to be ignorant in wine and cars, but nothing else.

"He's North African. There are Morrocans, Algerians and Tunisians. He's one of them."

Plus his mother is good to my daughter.

And it felt strange and even more wonderful to walk out of that restaurant without having to pay for that meal. The other patrons, who may have noticed us not getting a bill and not paying and not leaving a tip must have thought we were restaurant reviewers (or criminals??).