I love pulling family together to celebrate life around a dinner table.  In my best dreams, it happens every Saturday night here in my Mesta Park home.  But, in reality, where I gratefully live on mere scraps of my dreams, I rejoice whenever it happens – within those seemingly rare moments of time where competing schedules line up and opposing interests disintegrate.  Ever thankful for these rare times, I still long and hope for more.  So this mother-of-invention has set her sights on a new strategy that — over the next nine months — will move my family beyond the world of Mesta Park to a choice of restaurant spots across the metropolitan area.  As I consider the differing tastes and personalities of individual family members, I can’t wait to see where this dining adventure will take us.   

Last night we enjoyed our first moveable feast, thanks to my future son-in-law Glen.  We convened family around a large table at Benvenutis, a virtual slice of Italy that dwells on Main Street in Norman.  The food that was great was made even better by the company we kept – that circle of familiar faces that love you no matter what.  But the fact that all of this was happening at one of Glen’s favorite spots made it even better, because it was a place he loved enough to share with all of us.

I think I’m going to like family outings almost as much as having my chicks gathered in the nest at home.  But let’s wait until March to find out, because next month is mine.  And I want everyone gathered at home in Mesta Park, where together we’ll celebrate my son Kyle’s twenty-first birthday.    

So now, with the promise of my best dream awaiting me in February, I close my eyes and click my ruby slippers.  There’s no place like home.