In Memory of......

So Ryan and I are currently enrolled in the Dave Ramsey "Financial Peace University". It has been great for us to put a big, fat, "Whoa, Nellie!" on our budget-- we rethink every dollar we spend right now as we try to live by these Christian financial-build your wealth-budgeting strategies.

And whenever Ryan and I revisit living on a budget, it always goes with revisiting our diet. When we keep our budget in check, we also keep our diet in check. We don't plan on it that way, but the two seem to go hand in hand. When we overspend with our money, we also overspend with our calories.

I share this with you to create the scene for what I am about to confess. We had saved some of our take-out money and our calories for the week so that we could take the family out to dinner on a recent Saturday night. For those who have visited our area, you know the great pleasure we take in going to an ordinary, run of the mill, large chain restaurant. After our 35 minute drive to "the big city", we debated where to go. We narrowed it down to 3 places, but we had an incessant craving for a 2,710 calorie splurge. A splurge we had not partaken in for months, probably years. A splurge that we overdid when we we were younger and had great metabolisms and no college funds to fund.

The thought of it made our decision for us:

Yes, a Chili's Awesome Blossom. 2,710 calories of pure gluttony. We almost went to Outback for the copycat "Bloomin' Onion", but with three kids in the backseat, we were afraid of the long wait. Little did we know what disappointment awaited us.

As soon as we sat, we quickly spouted our drink orders (those with small kids know that there is no time to dilly-dally when you have three kids whose threshold for proper restaurant behavior can be compared to the timer on the game of "Perfection") and put in our order for the appetizer of choice....

....only to be told that it has been discontinued. Discontinued!? I rechecked the menu because I didn't believe the waitress. I mean, it is not like this is a Vera Bradley purse or Tupperware pattern. How do you discontinue a mainstay of your menu? And, it's not in rotation like the McRib or Blue Bell Peppermint Ice Cream. It has been banished from the menu. Forever.

Maybe all of you knew this. It had been a long time since I had entertained the idea of ordering this . We don't get out much in this part of the country. But we are still coping with the loss. Give us time.