Socializing

Our daughter received a party invitation (for this evening) at school today scrawled on a purple post-it note.  I called the phone number listed, and discovered Mom does not speak Spanish.  Phone was handed off through a couple people - not sure whether I spoke with Dad or an older brother but he said he's an international chef and he invited our whole family over for dinner this evening (I declined as graciously as I could, explaining that I already had food cooking).  I am letting A go after for about an hour, though.  She really likes this girl and apparently there were 2 other girls who also received the purple post-it.  I continue to be baffled by social interactions in the Valley. Update: It was Dad I spoke to; he's much easier to understand in person than on the phone. He's a chef at our local Japanese steakhouse, and he went to culinary school in Minnesota.  Daughter had a ball and is looking forward to seeing her friend again!

On a more mundane note, I met with my "coffee ladies" this morning - we started out as a book study with about 7 members last fall, and now have a core of 4 that have done a couple books with a sort of emphasis on healthy living.  We took a break over the summer, and this was our 2nd coffee chat since school started back up.  Oh, how I'd missed them!  I happen to be the youngest, and it is such a blessing to chat with those a bit further down their life's path and glean a bit of their wisdom (when my stubbornness allows ;)  We are going to be working out way through the book Trim Healthy Mama, which is kind of a diet plan (glycemic index, carb management, "real" food), but that's a whole 'nother post and and of itself.