Oh, by the way… (Raquel)
We’re moving in two weeks. James and Theresa have officially signed the paperwork (was there a point when they’d unofficially signed paperwork?), and we have two weeks in which to pack. In theory I suppose we could put it off a week or two past that, but James will be out of town, and then other stuff will be going on… Really, we’ve been waiting long enough that we just want to move. There are several reasons why moving into Peoria is a good thing for us. The one that keeps popping into the forefront of my mind is, “I’ll live closer to Gabrielle!” I might meander off to “James won’t have such a long commute to work–that’s nice.” Or “Hmm, we’ll live pretty close to the Vietnamese restaurant.” But it comes back to “And I’ll live closer to Gabrielle!” We could be spontaneous and go yarn shopping together without a twenty-minute drive. When she drives over just to chat because I’m depressed that I haven’t been out of the house in weeks it will be easier not to feel guilty about the time and gasoline that she’s using. Oh yes, and those other people who happen to live in the Ben-Ezra household will be closer too. But the point really is that I’ll live closer to Gabrielle, isn’t it? 
This is totally new for me. Even leaving aside the fact that Marquette Heights is the closest I’ve ever come to living in the city before, this is new. The idea of living in community has been there for a while, but the closer we come the more I realize that I don’t really know how this is going to work. I know that it will be easier to plan the times we get together, and they could happen more often. I know that it will be easier to be there for each other when life gets rough. I don’t really know what that looks like in everyday life. But I can’t wait to find out.
Glad you mentioned this little fact. Enjoy living closer to Gabrielle!!!! Oh, and do you like Vietnamese food? Can you get spring rolls there?
Raquel whenever I think of y’all moving closer the first thing I think is “Raquel’s moving closer! More Polaris!!” and then “Oh, and everybody else is moving too.” James, Theresa, I love you and I’m glad you’re moving into town, but you don’t play Polaris with us.
Odd. She didn’t mention being closer to One World Cafe. But maybe that’s just a Ben-Ezra oddness.
If the food at this restaurant is a good representative sample, then yes, I do like Vietnamese food. As I recall they do have spring rolls, and some really good curry.
I’ve only been to One World Cafe once and I didn’t have any particular reaction to it. Perhaps it will grow on me–but first you’d have to convince me to try it again, and see, there’s this really good Vietnamese place just down the street…
Yes, but can you buy good coffee at the Vietnamese restaurant?
I thought not.
I rest my case.
Actually, I’ve eaten at the Vietnamese restaurant and rather enjoyed it. However, it does not have any particular ambience that would make me want to sit there for an extended period of time.
Of course, I happen to enjoy One World’s ambience, which would happen to contribute to my opinion of sitting there.
actually, most vietnamese resturants have extremely good coffee. i think even one-world has a vietnamese-emulated coffee, but i dont know how it compares. it usually consists of extremely strong esspresso (i dont know what kind of beans they use), sweetened condensed milk, and ice. that is all. it’s a very strong, sweet coffee.. and better than anything you can find at one world (in my opinion).. but then again, a vietnamese resturant isnt a ‘coffee house’. i’m excited about you guys moving to the city, though. i miss living in the city. it’s really hard, and really rewarding.
Hey, Jon, have you ever thought of buying a house? There’s a HUD repo for sale a couple blocks from our new house.
The Vietnamese restaurant has generic but aged food service decor, excepting the large, glitzy photos of the what are presumably the owners children. The atmosphere is so blah, that perversely, I find it appealing. The coconut curry is fantastic, and the waitstaff always smiles.