Friends, after a bad week

It's amazing how friends can raise your spirits--as can good food. Last night Betty and I had dinner at a new Mediterranean restaurant which shall go unnamed because we weren't much impressed--hummus was bland, not enough garlic, dolma with lamb didn't have much flavor (I couldn't taste lamb at all!), and Betty said her Greek salad didn't have much character. So, even in spite of a good review in the paper and one friend's opinon that the hummus was the best in town, we won't be going back. Still we had a good visit and laughed a lot.
Tonight Jordan, Christian, Jacob and I met friends Elizabeth and Weldon at Chadra, a Lebanese/Italian restaurant down the street from me (the hummus is wonderful), and had a great dinner and lots of fun. Jacob was in an awful mood before we got there, but he decided he liked Elizabeth and Weldon a lot and was charming during dinner. Christian had never eaten at Chadra and was curious, so he had the buffet and loved it--this from the picky eater. I've had the buffet and eaten way too much, so now I'm cautious, but I love some of their lamb dishes. Tonight I split a kid's order of spahettini marinara with Jacob, and we were both more than satisfied.
Besides that, it was fun. Elizabeth is someone I brag about--she was a student worker in our office for about two and a half years some sixteen years ago or more, and we've stayed close. Family and friends were cautious about Weldon at first but have now heartily welcomed him into the family--an evening spent with them is always a delight to me.
It was good to have such an evening, after a week that has been awful. I went to the dentist, gynecologist, and haircut person--who told me I had lice eggs (fortunately not hatched) in the back of my hair, we had a major crisis at TCU Press, and I gained quite a bit of weight last week. So today I felt down and out, ready for the boost of an evening with family and friends. I did buy the special shampoo, wash all the sheets, the dog's bed, etc., and spray everything that couldn't be washed. We inspected Jacob's hair but he is not guilty. Don't know where I picked the critters up, but Rosa, who cuts my hair, said lice love a clean head. Some small comfort.
Sometimes you're just down, when a series of not-so-pleasant things happen.To me, that's the time to draw back, reassess, and not push yourself. I didn't do anything constructive at all today--just read a mystery. I have an essay to write, a class to plan, and a mystery to write. I blew it all off. Tomorrow will be a better day.