A full and happy life......

Some days I am more aware than others of how blessed I am.  Today was a great day and I feel so content with my life.  I recently made friends with two very interesting ladies; one is Mahnin, a Burmese refugee who owns a small Burmese restaurant downtown and the other is Pimpa, an immigrant from Thailand. 

A few days ago I was at Mahnin's restaurant for lunch with my daughter.  As we were finishing lunch, my daughter remembered that she had left her keys at her house just a few blocks away so she went back to get them.  While she was gone, Mahnin, finding herself with a short break from cooking, came over to my table to say hi.  Pimpa said to her, "Oh!  You should see her daughter!  She very beautiful!!"
Mahnin:  "Well, she herself is very beautiful."
Pimpa:  "Yes.  But her daughter much more beautiful!!"

(Side note:  she's right, of course   but I didn't think it needed to be said out loud!)

After which Mahnin went off on some long tangent in Thai and when she was finished, Pimpa kindly translated for me.

Pimpa:  "She said you beautiful; but if you wear little makeup, you much more beautiful.  You face very plain.  You need wear some eye make-up and blush."

(Again..... not necessary to voice this out loud.)

I felt they were trying to be friendly and complimentary, so I smiled and thanked them.  In fact, I got so carried away, I ended up inviting them over for lunch on Tuesday.  Which is today.  Which takes me back to why I feel so happy.

I love to cook.  Mahnin is an excellent cook and as I've mentioned, she owns and operates a restaurant.  She makes the most amazingly delicious noodle dishes, rice dishes, and soups.  She is from Burma but lived for 10 years in Thailand so her restaurant serves food from both of those countries.  I wanted to cook something she would enjoy but it was a bit tricky since almost everything I thought of making, she can make way better than I.

I finally decided on spicy sweet potato soup (my niece's Greek boyfriend once declared this soup "amazing" and said it was the best thing he had ever put in his mouth), teriyaki salmon, spicy peanut noodle salad, and coconut creme brulee (my son's all time favorite dessert.)  Although some things, like the dressing for the salad and the dessert, I made yesterday, I still had to get started early this morning so that everything would be ready by noon, their expected time of arrival.

I marinated the salmon, julienned the carrots and daikon for the salad, pan fried the tofu, boiled the soba noodles, made the sweet potato soup, set the table, lit candles throughout the house....  Then, 15 minutes before noon, my phone rang.  It was Pimpa calling to say her husband had locked himself out of his car and she had to run out to Glenbrook area to pick him up and take him home.  They were going to be late....

table all set and awaiting guests

Actually, this turned out fine because it gave me time to sit and relax a bit before they showed up.  Which they finally did at about 1:00.

Pimpa

Mahnin

Mahnin and Pimpa

Pimpa and Mahnin made all the appropriate comments about the food and ate until they were about to burst.  Afterwards, we sat in the living room and ate dessert.  Pimpa shared an amazing story with me about how an article I'd written about Mahnin's restaurant for an online magazine, caused an old boyfriend she hadn't heard from in over 25 years to track her down.  They have reconnected as friends and she says it's all because of me!  We talked about Thailand and Burma, and life in Fort Wayne.  We talked about husbands and children and traveling to other countries.  We talked about work and school and cooking.  We shared stories and recipes.  (Made much more interesting by the fact that Mahnin's English is very limited.)  We had such a nice time!

After they left, I sat in my living room with Ally (our dog) and Fritz (our cat) and just enjoyed my cozy home and the positive energy I felt lingering in the room.  Having just celebrated Thanksgiving, I'm reminded of how thankful I am for all of my blessings: family, friends, food, my warm house in winter and my cool house in summer, the amazing country I live in, mountains, oceans, farmland, lakes, forests, books, music, pistachios, squirrels, argyle socks, hot bubble baths, diversity, ideas, freedom and the standard of living I've been able to enjoy during my lifetime.  May I never forget!!!





Fritz enjoying the fire