Little Pleasures

Life's little pleasures...
Different pleasures for different people.
My little pleasures?
Hum...smiles, dark chocolate, family, textile textures: crisp fabric, smooth wood, food...oh yes, food!, flowers, autumn leaves.  Not necessarily in that order.
Snow, sun, wind, rain...not all at the same time.
Also, having the family all together, and wood fires, and new recipes, hot cocoa with fresh whipped cream.  I could go on and on and on.
Wait, I am going on and on.

So what brought up the little pleasures was an errand trip to town.
Daughter and Son-in-law are here for the holiday and we ran into town. 
A little spazzing happened when we found Jimmy John's in the neighborhood shopping center.  Evidently there are no Jimmy John's in Rhode Island and there has been a five month period of craving.
S-I-L little pleasures?
Fresh Jimmy John sandwiches, Starbuck Chi-Latte, new BlackBerry apps.
Daughters' little pleasures?
frolicking, mindless computer games, little Christmas gifts, trying new French recipes.  (her words, not mine- frolicking?)
Sweetie said:  Food.  Yep, that's him.
OK, this list makes us all sound a little weird.  And we are a little weird in our own ways.  That's family for you!

But I think that it's the little things that count.   
Little Pleasures. 

Then we went out for a sandwich after another day of morning errands.
We stopped in a little local hole in the wall near downtown Columbus.
This little sandwich place happened to have been reviewed on Man Vs. Food on the Food Network Channel.  So, Saturday morning before noon there was no parking.  Good sign, that means the food is good.  So we parked and walked a ways.  Still o.k., the temp was about 17 degrees.  We all like the snow, so no problem.  There was a small waiting area packed with people who had their name on a waiting list.  There was over an hour wait. Still o.k., we're not in a hurry, and just talking away.   Oh, and I almost forgot, it was cold in the waiting area, we thought because the door kept opening and closing.  After an hour of waiting and talking and laughing, our name was called.  We were seated up near the front of the small restuarant in a booth by the plate glass windows.  Really cold area.  We order our drinks and food.  We get our drinks.  My first born says he has been here before, and just relax and chat, 'cause the service is not known for being fast.  OK, we drink our drinks - all iced:  sodas and waters.  We realize that it may be colder here at the table than where we were sitting in the waiting area, packed in with others.  Yep, sure enough,  the owner comes by and checks our drinks and there is NO HEAT.  Sorry for yelling, but there was no heat!!  They worked on it the night before and the new part needed for making heat would not be in until Monday.  So, only 17 degrees outside, maybe 50 degrees inside?!  You couldn't see your breath most of the time.  Only if you were drinking coffee.  I don't drink coffee.
Anyway, after an hour and a half sitting with our cold drinks, we got our food orders.  Made to order burgers and hand cut fries.  YUM  YUM YUMMY.
We didn't try the Man-versus-Food burger.  That was Gi-Normous, and had a challenge and time limit.  No, instead, we ordered the regular burgers that were only 3/4 pound burgers.  Way...Too...Big!!  And Worth the wait.  I can usually eat with the best of them, but I could only eat half or so.  And that was not eating the bun that it was on. 
But Sweetie, now Sweetie took it as his personal challenge to clean his plate. 
He ordered the Thurmanator...

still only a 3/4 pound burger, but add ham, cheese, bacon, grilled onions, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, mayo.  Seven inches tall and skewered to keep it half standing.  And a burger this big you can't just wolf down.  It takes time.  It takes cutting.  It takes shish-kabob skewers to hold it together in it's stacked gi-normousness.   Chips and pickle on the side in case you have a small place in your gut that isn't packed with food. 
(Notice that he is wearing his ski coat as he pulls out the shish-kabob skewer- yep, that cold in there.)
He did clean his plate.  He did share a small wedge he cut off and splatted on someone else's plate.  But he did clean his plate.  Very slowly.
So we had a three and a half hour plus lunch that day.  And portable heaters came the same time we got our check.  We will go back.  When we are VERY hungry and have at least 3 or 4 hours of time to use for lunch.  And this sandwich would be a big little pleasure!