honey toast tragedy, sushi time, lemongrass and lime, orange juice, hugging revival

I had this favorite honey toast place Serenade.  It closed, strangely.  I heard it was closed and went through some stages of grief.  No, it's can't be true!  Why did it close?  We were just there!  It seemed fine!

Then I looked up other places to get honey toast in town.  I read about a sushi place called Hanabi.  It's in Summerlin.  It sounded great.  All you can eat sushi is something we had never tried.  Lunch is $20.99.  I looked at the menu online and there are vegetarian options.

So we went there for lunch yesterday and had all you can eat sushi for the first time.

lettuce salad with sesame dressing--boring, skip
cucumber avocado roll--great
tempura veggies--onion, kabocha squash, zucchini, sweet potato--wonderful
corn with butter and cheese--wow!
mushroom tempura roll--extra yummy
fried tofu roll--nice
honey toast--bread wasn't just made, ok only

I had a great time.  The only unpleasant thing was Ming ordering pike mackerel and me having to see it.  They served the fish with the head on.  It looked like a fish, really.  A long, thin, dead fish.  Yuck.  I told Ming I needed a table partition so I didn't have to look at that fish.

They had tennis playing on the tvs, then a show of sports people talking about tennis.  Luckily, the sound was off.  The waitstaff was good, more attentive at the beginning before it got crowded.  Ming ate a ton of food, roll after roll, two whole fish.  He never had dinner last night.

Next time, I want to try the enoki mushrooms, maybe some noodles, and the green tea cheesecake.  I asked Ming if he had a strategy for next time.  His strategy is "eat everything."

Last night friends came over.  I could have sworn they said Tuesday.  I was lying in bed with my feet up--my ankles have been getting swollen.  Ming popped in to say they were here.  "What??" I said.  "I'll be right there."

We bound zines for two hours.  We talked a lot.  I told them a few stories. They are much younger than us.  Their attitudes, company, and help are a joy.  Their beauty is a joy.

I got six hours of sleep, which seems to be my new max.  I bought some lemongrass essential oil yesterday at Whole Foods, and it smells weird.  There's a smell at the beginning that I don't understand, and then there's a good lemongrass smell.  But the smell at the beginning confuses me.  I don't think I'm going to use it, which is a shame because it's a big bottle.  Let me know if you would like it.

The lime essential oil is wonderful.  I put a few drops of it in a small spray bottle and filled the rest with water and shook it.

"What are you doing?" Ming asked.

"Shaking it," I said.  "You wouldn't know about that.  You always have to be told to shake it."  He's the type of guy who doesn't properly shake his orange juice, and then by the time we get to the bottom, it's thick and weird.

But otherwise, he's ok.  I think I'll keep him.  Lately we've been having the best hugs.  It's like we relearned how to hug each other.  I relax and hold on.  I smile, and I usually say, "That feels good."  Then we hug again.