Bland lunch, delicious conversation

I won't plan events with my friend Mindy. She's a very sweet woman, but oh! Can she ever be difficult! A former fatty who is now a gorgeous size 6, she adheres strictly and passionately to her diet, which severely limits dining choices. She is also (insanely, IMO) affected by weather. She's cancelled ("rescheduled" in Mindyspeak, which is "cancelled" to everyone else) appointments and gettogethers because of snow or even rain. Then there's her calendar. She really doesn't keep one. She'll say she can meet you, but then she realizes she has to work, or pick one of her (now adult) sons up from a train station or airport. I find this last one especially frustrating. How hard is it to write things down on your calendar and then check it as you speak to This Old Gal?

So I dumped planning our Christmas 2017 holiday gift exchange on my friend John. He ran into all the same issues I did, and we finally had it yesterday. John chose the venue -- Millennium Park Grill, so we could watch the ice skaters.

Mindy and her husband Alan (who is on a medically-mandated special diet) and John (who wasn't hungry) all had salads, which they admitted they really didn't like very much. Mindy even sent hers back (no surprise there!). I had the turkey sandwich, because it was the cheapest thing on the menu. Let's face it: the food was crappy.

Yet we had a great time getting together and catching up. For all my pre-meal exasperation, it was a lovely afternoon. I left feeling happy and loved.