Dinner

Riley asked for my beef stew for dinner. It all was going so well with the browning of the meat. I made the mistake of walking away from the kitchen just for a moment. I hear Riley yell "MOM", the smell hits me. I have burned the meat. I add water to see if it is salvageable. I also add spices in order to cover up the taste. If you don't smell it , it is still edible.

I was disappointed in myself since Riley is so thin. His pants slide right off his hipless body. Trevor on the other hand is now a 38 waist line. He is too big for his father's pants. Both boys very politely tried to eat the stew, but there were no second helpings this time. The dog loved it.

To make up to them for the burnt dinner the night before, I came home from the house viewing and long drive and offered to take them out to dinner. It was already 6:30, they had been home since 3:00. They jumped at the opportunity to eat out. What they didn't tell me is that they had been snacking on cereal and other foods.

I wanted Chinese, but Riley had had Chinese for lunch. I didn't want Dennie's. I wanted something a little nicer. KFC was passed on. The end result was we all agreed on the local pub. The atmosphere is great and the food also. We passed one of Trevor's teachers on the way in to the restaurant. Trevor said hello, she waved.

Riley orders root beer and Trevor orders the bottomless pop. Trevor orders his usual double hamburger. Riley orders a Rubin sandwich. I have a lovely stuffed sole. The boys barely touch their food. They are too full from snacking. We end up boxing most of our dinners and snacking on them at home later.

At the dinner table, Riley starts a philosophical discussion on God and Satan and the Bible. If God made us all perfect including Satan then how could we sin. Where was the logic if we are perfect. What made Satin sin. I answered free will, free choice. Trevor found the discussion not at all interesting so it didn't last. But I loved being able to discuss with Riley. I asked him to bring it up at Bible study. He said sometimes they don't have the answers fully. We may need to bring in an older member to the Bible discussions soon. I can't expect other young students to want to delve into these questions as Riley does or have the answers. He enjoys stumping people. But I also know he is comfortable with his peers, where he may not feel free to question adults.

Riley was invited to sit with a group of older students the other day at lunch. I asked if he knew
them. He said he recognized them from school and middle school. I asked if he was already at the table. He said no they called out his name to him as he walked by and invited him to join them.

I think he has some followers in his classes. He must talk in class and bring up discussions and questions that others wish they had. Some times you don't know the question to ask until you hear someone else ask it. Riley is one of those that does ask and work at understanding the answer. His questions are sharp and pointed. He wont let you gloss over a bad answer.

The boys are still playing chess in the mornings. I set the table up for a game when ever I see the pieces not in their place. I am afraid pieces will go missing unless I confirm them all to be there. The game belonged to my Father and his Mother before him. I would be really upset if something happened to it. As a result the boys have been playing often.

As I sit here and type, I try to place myself in the big house. I am thinking the sun room needs to be our office area. It is just off the kitchen and is bright and sunny, which is what I like. I also like the idea of the boys being in a public area when they use the computers. I walked in on Trevor after 11:00pm last night. He was supposed to be going to sleep. He was watching netflix on my old computer. I confiscated the computer in good humor and hid it.

I am having a hard time placing all our things from our various rooms into that house. The game room for Tom is a no brainer. But he also needs his business office. I am thinking the boys want the downstairs that I somehow have to connect to the house easily. Tom wants me to ignore the basement. But I see it as an incredible opportunity.

In this house the pool table is in the living room coexisting as adult game room and company room. The guest room is combined with the boys game room. My office I share with Tom. The big house has big spaces but the nooks and little rooms are missing for the offices and sitting room. My sitting room may also be my office. 4 bedrooms, but one is smaller than my office. It does have a closet which we are thinking of confiscating for another master closet and having Riley be downstairs.

I think we need to put in the stairs to the basement from the house. I think we do need the space. It will only add value to the house in the long run to have that as finished space. I see it as a great positive. Though stairs are expensive to install or retro fit. I think the sun room is the best place to install them, which shrinks my office/sitting room. Though I could take the small middle bedroom as an office, though the view is not nearly as nice.

That basement looks more appealing the longer I muse. The boys need to see the house. They may have ideas that would work. I tried to discuss the house at dinner, but without having seen the house themselves, there was not a lot of useful impute.