Holy shit I'm going to church with Counselor this morning. Hey, at least I said 'holy.' Talk about an Easter Parade...
Around 8.00a this morning I sent a text to Counselor asking if he wanted to go to church with me for Easter. I didn't think he'd actually be up that early on a Sunday much less respond right away much less say sure he'd go. Just one of several things that shocked me today. He's Catholic but was a good sport and went to a Presbyterian church instead.
I pull into the parking lot at Green Valley Presbyterian Church and I saw him standing on the sidewalk checking his BlackBerry. I immediately smile. Crisp white dress shirt, pale blue striped tie, black slacks. Perfect. To me there's nothing better than a man in a white dress shirt and tie. I was early and he beat me there. Shocker #2. I thought for sure he'd either be late or wouldn't actually be there at all.
We walked in and took a seat in a pew on the house left side. The church is new, rustic beams in the ceiling but modern. Flatscreens all over too. Very non-traditional but it worked. I was a little worried we would have trouble finding a seat because it's Easter but there were plenty. I like sitting on the end so to the end we went. I like knowing I have an escape route.
As we're sitting there I see one of the arena Rock Docs and her hubby walk by. I say a quick hi. They're the only people I recognize, thankfully. The last thing I need is someone to try and recruit me.
The service was surprisingly smart. I'm used to the boring stories of how Christ rose from the dead, blah blah blah. But the pastor Kenneth Harper was a great speaker and kept my attention with contemporary, intelligent reasoning. No preachy-ness. To me he was more like a college lecturer than a pastor. My kind of God guy. I'll be back. Counselor said he like to come back too. It's actually just down the street from his church so we joked that we could alternate each Sunday going to his church, then mine. I know I'll go again. Him, I doubt it. Maybe but I doubt it. It would be nice to have someone who 'gets me' to go to church with though.
At the service they had a small horn trio and timpani drums along with the choir & handbells. Obviously I'm a big fan of the horns and loved hearing them play. I'm assuming they were only there because it was Easter much like back home at Central Presbyterian at Christmas. But I loved it nonetheless. The choir also sang great classics by Handel & Bach. I was so afraid they'd break out the electric guitars or tambourines in which case I told Counselor, "We're outa here."
Counselor and I both filled out the pew cards and stuffed offering envelopes. I don't know why but I was surprised by this (shocker #3). For some reason I thought he'd pass on that. I was glad he didn't.
The service ended and we walk out to the 75 degree Vegas weather. It really was a beautiful day. The kind of day that makes memories stand out more. We bumped into the Rock Dock again. Counselor is remarkably good at making conversation with people so he and the Rock Doc chatted a bit white I caught up with her hubby and his parents.
Counselor took me out to brunch at Green Valley Ranch after church. We had oysters, martinis and mahi-mahi. He was a bit shocked (this time it was his turn) that I ordered a martini but I wanted one. And I usually get what I want. I've been good for 389 days. I deserve one day to be bad. Oysters were great, mahi-mahi was so so, Sapphire martini was delish. I forgot how much I enjoyed them, and quite frankly, his company.
After lunch we hit the sportsbook to bet some horses. There are only 2 people I play ponies with: Counselor and Brener. I didn't hit anything, he hit on one of the last races at Hollywood. I was emailing Brener for tips. Of course most didn't win. But it's always fun to banter with Brener about horses so I didn't mind losing a couple bucks on his 3-6-9 box.
While Counselor was up at the betting window I make a quick call to my family to wish them a happy Easter. They were all at my parents' house. The phone made the rounds and I ended with my dad poking fun at me for actually going to church. "Did the ceiling crack?" he joked. "Nope, and lightening didn't strike me dead either. And I went with a Catholic." I love my dad. He's fun to joke around with. He's got a dry sense of humor.
Sometime around 3.00p Counselor's friend came to join us. He's a good kid, sober at this point, so it was entertaining to hear about his exploits from the night before. He's a bit out of control because he just broke up with his girlfriend, doesn't have job and is sleeping on his pal's couch but he'll be fine. He just needs to relax, focus and heal. Don't we all.
"Do you smoke cigars," Counselor asked. I do so I took it. It was pretty dried out but it wasn't bad. I love smoking cigars & blowing smoke rings. But that cigar led to cigarettes. I prob had 4 over the course of the late afternoon. Not terrible but unnecessary. I hole-heartedly admit I lost my will power on this one. But 4 cigarettes is not going to kill me so I'm not going to beat myself up about it.
6.00p-ish rolls around and we're hungry so the 3 of us head off to Pumi for sushi. That hit the spot. I could eat sushi every week. The sushi chef recommended "super white tuna" so we tried it. Possibly the most yummy sushi I've ever had. Like butter, creamy. Counselor flipped the bill for dinner too (shocker #4). He's pretty generous now. I just remember the days when he was broke and I paid for everything. It's nice to be taken care of sometimes.
After a bottle of sake and too many pieces of sushi to count we called it a night.
Church, oysters, cigar, martinis, ponies, cigarettes, sake & sushi. It was a great Easter.
Around 8.00a this morning I sent a text to Counselor asking if he wanted to go to church with me for Easter. I didn't think he'd actually be up that early on a Sunday much less respond right away much less say sure he'd go. Just one of several things that shocked me today. He's Catholic but was a good sport and went to a Presbyterian church instead.
I pull into the parking lot at Green Valley Presbyterian Church and I saw him standing on the sidewalk checking his BlackBerry. I immediately smile. Crisp white dress shirt, pale blue striped tie, black slacks. Perfect. To me there's nothing better than a man in a white dress shirt and tie. I was early and he beat me there. Shocker #2. I thought for sure he'd either be late or wouldn't actually be there at all.
We walked in and took a seat in a pew on the house left side. The church is new, rustic beams in the ceiling but modern. Flatscreens all over too. Very non-traditional but it worked. I was a little worried we would have trouble finding a seat because it's Easter but there were plenty. I like sitting on the end so to the end we went. I like knowing I have an escape route.
As we're sitting there I see one of the arena Rock Docs and her hubby walk by. I say a quick hi. They're the only people I recognize, thankfully. The last thing I need is someone to try and recruit me.
The service was surprisingly smart. I'm used to the boring stories of how Christ rose from the dead, blah blah blah. But the pastor Kenneth Harper was a great speaker and kept my attention with contemporary, intelligent reasoning. No preachy-ness. To me he was more like a college lecturer than a pastor. My kind of God guy. I'll be back. Counselor said he like to come back too. It's actually just down the street from his church so we joked that we could alternate each Sunday going to his church, then mine. I know I'll go again. Him, I doubt it. Maybe but I doubt it. It would be nice to have someone who 'gets me' to go to church with though.
At the service they had a small horn trio and timpani drums along with the choir & handbells. Obviously I'm a big fan of the horns and loved hearing them play. I'm assuming they were only there because it was Easter much like back home at Central Presbyterian at Christmas. But I loved it nonetheless. The choir also sang great classics by Handel & Bach. I was so afraid they'd break out the electric guitars or tambourines in which case I told Counselor, "We're outa here."
Counselor and I both filled out the pew cards and stuffed offering envelopes. I don't know why but I was surprised by this (shocker #3). For some reason I thought he'd pass on that. I was glad he didn't.
The service ended and we walk out to the 75 degree Vegas weather. It really was a beautiful day. The kind of day that makes memories stand out more. We bumped into the Rock Dock again. Counselor is remarkably good at making conversation with people so he and the Rock Doc chatted a bit white I caught up with her hubby and his parents.
Counselor took me out to brunch at Green Valley Ranch after church. We had oysters, martinis and mahi-mahi. He was a bit shocked (this time it was his turn) that I ordered a martini but I wanted one. And I usually get what I want. I've been good for 389 days. I deserve one day to be bad. Oysters were great, mahi-mahi was so so, Sapphire martini was delish. I forgot how much I enjoyed them, and quite frankly, his company.
After lunch we hit the sportsbook to bet some horses. There are only 2 people I play ponies with: Counselor and Brener. I didn't hit anything, he hit on one of the last races at Hollywood. I was emailing Brener for tips. Of course most didn't win. But it's always fun to banter with Brener about horses so I didn't mind losing a couple bucks on his 3-6-9 box.
While Counselor was up at the betting window I make a quick call to my family to wish them a happy Easter. They were all at my parents' house. The phone made the rounds and I ended with my dad poking fun at me for actually going to church. "Did the ceiling crack?" he joked. "Nope, and lightening didn't strike me dead either. And I went with a Catholic." I love my dad. He's fun to joke around with. He's got a dry sense of humor.
Sometime around 3.00p Counselor's friend came to join us. He's a good kid, sober at this point, so it was entertaining to hear about his exploits from the night before. He's a bit out of control because he just broke up with his girlfriend, doesn't have job and is sleeping on his pal's couch but he'll be fine. He just needs to relax, focus and heal. Don't we all.
"Do you smoke cigars," Counselor asked. I do so I took it. It was pretty dried out but it wasn't bad. I love smoking cigars & blowing smoke rings. But that cigar led to cigarettes. I prob had 4 over the course of the late afternoon. Not terrible but unnecessary. I hole-heartedly admit I lost my will power on this one. But 4 cigarettes is not going to kill me so I'm not going to beat myself up about it.
6.00p-ish rolls around and we're hungry so the 3 of us head off to Pumi for sushi. That hit the spot. I could eat sushi every week. The sushi chef recommended "super white tuna" so we tried it. Possibly the most yummy sushi I've ever had. Like butter, creamy. Counselor flipped the bill for dinner too (shocker #4). He's pretty generous now. I just remember the days when he was broke and I paid for everything. It's nice to be taken care of sometimes.
After a bottle of sake and too many pieces of sushi to count we called it a night.
Church, oysters, cigar, martinis, ponies, cigarettes, sake & sushi. It was a great Easter.
No comments:
Post a Comment