I'm surprised when Chris didn't leave for tomorrow's concert, he changed plans at the last minute and told the band to go along with out him. At first I was alarmed, wondering if he planned to be a no- show, given his latest reviews. But it seems I was way off base.

I got my first inkling when the doorbell rang and I opened the door to discover Louise Ross standing there, with a big smile on her face. "Babysitter reporting for duty," she announced and Chris brushed past me to escort her into the house.

"Umm, didn't know we needed one," I comment, reminding them that Lily and Connor are with Joe and Pam for the weekend.

"We need one if we're going out for dinner." Chris acts as if I should know exactly what he has up his sleeve. "Are you wearing that?" he asks, eyeing my pajama bottoms and tank top.

I'm instantly defensive. "What's wrong with this? I wear it all the time."

He shrugs. "Suit yourself." Then he turns to a bemused Louise and starts running down Bella's schedule.

"Ugh"! I groan and go upstairs to see what else I can find to wear. Sometimes I love the surprises my husband whips up, but other times, I wish he'd clue me in, especially since I don't know what kind of restaurant we're going to. Do I need to dress up, or will jeans and a sweater do? I suppose I could ask, but right now I just don't want to give him that particular pleasure.

I'll just guess and he'll have to put up with the results.

I'm glad I didn't count on him wanting to go see Clay. Instead we wound up at the new Mexican restaurant. And we weren't alone, Garth and Trisha met us there. It's been a long time since I've seen Garth. But I guess that's understandable. Him and Trisha are newlyweds, having tied the knot at the beginning of December, and I doubt she really wants to spend a lot of time hanging around with Mel' friends.

But tonight was a pleasant exception. We spent a couple hours there telling stories and listening to Chris and Trisha talk about this year's upcoming projects. Garth' s doing a lot of charity work and that's keeping him busy. And of course we talked about the kids. Garth does see Lily quite often, she goes to gymnastics with his kids and Chris brings her over to swim at the pool when he goes over to Garth's to play in the studio.

The food is good and the restaurant seems pretty popular, there's a crowd waiting to be seated and all the tables I can see are full. I have chicken fajitas and Trisha and Chris both have enchiladas, while Garth goes with the steak fajitas. And there's plenty of chips and salsa for everyone.

But the one thing dinner conversation did make me realize. Aside from the kids I don't really have any projects to call my own. And I really need to do something about that.