I Suck At The Tinker's Son

Tonight, Karen and I decided to be spontaneous and dine out. Sadly, Karen and I haven't gone out to eat at a restaurant together in quite some time, perhaps because we have a two year old daughter (Briana) and a two month old (Bridget) who don't exactly like to sit still for extended periods of time. In our act of spontaneity, I decided to take the family to the Tinker's Son located in Norwell.

Now, I suck at the Tinker's Son. Truth be told, I do enjoy the food there. Karen seemed equally excited when I suggested that we dine out at the Tinker's Son. After all, she enjoys the food there as well. So needless to say we were both looking forward to dining there tonight.

Unfortunately, I hate to say it but the experience at the Tinker's Son tonight was memorable for all the wrong reasons. And the irony was... my two daughters were extremely well behaved during the entire dinner. They were great considering the fact that they had to wait almost an entire hour for the food to arrive.

Interestingly enough, my family was not the only party that had to wait quite a long time for food. The other two parties that were seated within the same time frame that we were seated were lucky enough to wait an extended period of time for their food as well.

The worst part, for me, is that there was no communication from the waitstaff. Had the waitperson set the expectation that the food would take a while, then I would not have minded (and consequently have this feeling of how terrible the night at the Tinker's Son was). Sadly, there was nothing. I think waitperson purposely avoided us because she knew it was taking a long time herself. Don't get me wrong. Our waitstaff was very nice. I just wished she communicated to us that there was an issue.

Based on the fact that multiple parties had to wait an extended period of time, I can only assume that something happened in the kitchen to cause the delay. Again, I don't really know because nothing was ever told to us while we waited... and waited... and waited. When our food finally arrived, we were told that the influx of people caused the delay, which only annoys me more. It's a Saturday night. Restaurants get busy, especially on the weekend, and should be able to handle a lot of people coming in. It did not make sense.

Like I said, thankfully Briana and Bridget were well behaved. I could tell Briana was hungry while we waited because she kept asking for the macaroni and cheese that she ordered. What do you tell a starving child when the food they ordered an hour ago hasn't arrived yet? "It's coming shortly" can only last for so long before it reaches an hour. It was awful.

The funny thing is... the food at the Tinker's Son is delicious. Both Karen and I were excited to go there tonight. And when the food did arrive, the food was delicious. I just wished the service did not put a blemish on things. Heck, I think if something was even compensated I would have felt better. Sadly, there was nothing... Needless to say, as much as it pains me to say it, I will definitely have to rethink going back to the Tinker's Son again for a meal... especially on a Saturday night if they can't handle an influx of people.

I Suck At Ultrasounds

Yesterday, I attended one of Karen's routine appointments with the maternal fetal medicine department at South Shore Hospital. Unlike the other routine appointments during Karen's pregnancy that I have attended thus far, this appointment was longer because more measurements of the baby had to be taken during the ultrasound.

Unfortunately, I suck at ultrasounds. Whenever the technician moves the ultrasound around, I initially have trouble making out the black and white blotches that appear on the screen. It is not until the technician identifies what is on the screen that I can make it out. Although I must say, I am getting better. I can at least make out the black and white blotches of the baby's head, face, arms, hands, legs, feet, spine, and heart. It's really the other black and white blotches that I have trouble with.

Anyway, I think it's truly amazing how the miracles of modern science can provide an in-depth view of the baby during pregnancy. I sometimes wonder what it was like when things like ultrasounds did not exist.

Regardless, yesterday was quite the thrill. The technician actually provided us with a three-dimensional view of the baby. It was the first time I had ever seen a three-dimensional ultrasound. I had heard of them before, but to actually see one with your own baby is quite remarkable.

(The picture below is a three-dimensional ultrasound of our little baby.)


Needless to say, I was quite excited about the baby... and quite stressed at the same time. I will probably feel less stressed in five months when the baby is due. As it is, in a little over a month the baby will be at the same point where our son (Braden) was born. Hopefully, the baby can make it past that point. Baby steps... literally.

Following the appointment, my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and my friend (Gretchen) stopped by. They had heard about the ultrasound and wanted to see the baby. It was fun hanging with them. I'm glad they stopped by.

Anyway, as Karen and I were both excited about the ultrasound, we decided to go out for dinner. I guess you could say it was a celebration of sorts. With the holiday season approaching, I have been thinking a lot about Braden. I still miss him. Last year there wasn't much to celebrate, but with Karen's pregnancy this year, it's making things a little easier. So it was nice to be excited about something.

We decided to go out to dinner at The Tinker's Son, which is located in Norwell. In fact, the restaurant is where the old Aerosmith restaurant known as Mount Blue used to be. The Tinker's Son is a relatively new place, having opened a little over a month ago. For anyone curious, the place is an Irish pub and restaurant. And for those who know me, they would know that I love all things Irish.

It was the first time that Karen or I had been to the Tinker's Son. We had heard about the place via an article about the chef opening the Irish restaurant. So we figured that we would give it a try.

The menu selection was small, but the food was good. I had the staple fish and chips dinner. It was quite delicious. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) It was a good time. Had we stayed longer, we could have participated in trivia night which happens every Monday night. The other nights are booked with bands and whatnot.

And for anyone curious, one of the songs that was played at the Tinker's Son was Fairytale of New York by the Pogues. The song was played in the background, which I thought was pretty cool. It's a catchy tune. Plus, I believe the song happens to my friend's (Marc) favorite Christmas tune.

(The video below is the video for the Fairytale of New York.)


Anyway, it was a good day yesterday. I would go back to the Tinker's Son.