Suburban Odyssey

It’s Early! | May 15, 2009

Upon arrival at Grandma’s, the ladies head to the park, and I head to the liquor store to grab a bottle of champagne for the big Mother’s Day celebration (it isn’t Mother’s Day without Mimosas, of course).  I also sneak over to the Hallmark store to grab some Mother’s Day cards.  Not a good idea at 4pm on the Saturday before Mother’s Day.  But it had to be done.  I spend a solid 20 minutes in line.  Ugh.

I get home and Michele presents Beth with a special early Mother’s Day gift.  Her very own bottle of Firefly!

Grandma has a Chili’s right around the corner from her house.  Our family loves Chili’s.  A lot.  I make the executive decision that we’re going to Chili’s for dinner.  Of course, I ignore the advice of my beautiful (and smart) wife to call ahead and get our names on the waiting list for a table. “It’s early,” I say.  It’s 5 p.m. on a Saturday night…the night before Mother’s Day.  Yeah.  Early.  Sure.

We get to Chili’s at around 5:30, and there are people waiting outside.  Not good.  We are placed at the bottom of the waiting list: 25 minutes.  Not terrible.  We use the time for some photos:

Beth braids Cady’s hair:

Note the logo on the teddy bear that Cady is doting on. Just sayin’.

Finally, we’re seated, Presidente margaritas & beers are served, and all is right with the world.

Again, note that Cady is wearing her favorite VT sweatshirt. Dad is clearly teaching her well

We order some chips & salsa for the table, and they bring us two bowls.  One is placed between Beth and me, and the other is placed in front of Michele, Grandma, and Cady. You decide which one is which after about 15 minutes.  Again, recall that one of these is just inches from my fingers. These pictures were taken at the same time.

Our waitress is on top of things.  She gives Juju an empty cup to play with, which frees up Mom and Dad for maximum eating & drinking. Needless to say, her tip reflects this.

Dinner is served, and the camera is put away.  It goes without saying that  there are 6 happy people, and at least one (me) who eats WAY too much.  Did I mention how much I (we) love Chili’s?

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