Wednesday, 6/23/2010

Tonight was another night that didn't happen quite like we expected it to. It all started at 1:30. That's when I took the car in for replacement tires. I thought it would be about an hour, but I learned it was an hour for the tire replacement, then another hour for the alignment, and then the clean up, payment, etc. And then, the tires, which were promised to be in stock, were not. The tires were supposedly 1/2 hour away. I agreed to take a loaner car when I was told my car would not be available until 5pm. Ok, fine. The car dealership is in Renton, so I decided to kill some time at Southcenter mall. Katie and I shopped, snacked, and played at the mall.

At 4:45pm I called the dealership for an update. The care was NOT done and wouldn't be done until 6pm. I was asked if I would be ok picking up my car tomorrow morning instead. What was I going to do? I explained very nicely how we had been promised the tires were in stock when the appointment was made. I politely shared my expectation that I would not be paying for any gas the loaner car consumed during my drive back and forth to the dealership. How nice that the gas will be comped.

Since I hadn't been at home all afternoon, I didn't have anything ready for dinner. No problem. We decided to go out for dinner. I left Southcenter Mall at 4:49 and headed downtown to pick up Ben from work. We had plans to attend a concert at our church with Katie at 7pm and thought we would have plenty of time to eat dinner and swing by the house to get Katie into her pajamas. Nope, not enough time.

There was an immigration protest happening downtown that neither Ben nor I knew about. It was happening directly in between the exit I decided to take off of I-5 and Ben's office. An hour later, I finally had Ben in the car and we were headed back to West Seattle. Goodness! There was definitely not enough time to go home and go out to eat. Without any good dinner options ready at home, we chose "out to eat." Thankfully, our first choice for dinner was not busy at all.

We were seated immediately at Eats Market Cafe. Although I didn't catch all the details for sure, Katie's kids meal of pb&j sticks and apple slices was free tonight. Good deal! Ben and I both thoroughly enjoyed their bbq pull pork sandwiches. I must tell you, if you have kids, this is a great place to eat. The staff is very accomodating and aware of the needs of kids and parents. As soon as Katie was in the highchair, the server was giving her a spoon to play with. And, her food came out as soon as it was ready, rather than waiting until our plates were ready too. We were asked if we needed a small cup of water or extra napkins for Katie. I just really appreciate having no stress about having a toddler eating there. AND, there is a changing table in the bathroom! That makes me a very happy momma. KUDOS to Eats Market Cafe!