Helping The Helpers

      Halfway through May! How is that even possible? Oh well, it is. This has been kind of an odd week. Mother’s Day was great. It seemed like we picked the perfect time to have lunch. There was another large group, along with us, and that was about it. I’m sure they were glad for the business. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. With a group of 9, it’s hard to be a part of all the conversations, but we definitely felt like a unit. I tried my best to participate as much as I could, but I mostly just conversated with my parents and sister. We were at one end of a long table, with myself and my wife in the middle. It seemed to work out. I had something outstanding! I don’t know if you ever do this, but when we go out sometimes, especially if we’re trying new things, we kind of take a vote on whose food looked, or tasted, the best. I was the obvious winner. Most of them just ordered typical combos. I’m not sure if I mentioned it was a Mexican restaurant, so, now you know. Lots of beans and rice, and things covered in cheese. My dad got the fajitas. They looked and smelled amazing. I had to keep myself from grabbing one of his shrimps. It was a showstopper. He was next to last, and it seemed to make some of us jealous. Then they brought mine out. People’s mouths were open. None of us had ever seen anything like it before. I noticed it on their “specials” board as we entered. It sounded good, so I got it. It was amazing! It was called Pollo Relleno. It was a chicken breast stuffed with picadillo and cheese, wrapped in bacon, and then covered with more picadillo. When they brought that thing out, every conversation ended. My wife and I go there about once a month for brunch. I hope it makes it to the menu. I would definitely like to have that again. Yum!

     I guess I should back it up a bit. Mother’s Day is kind of in the middle of what I should say. Sorry for not going chronologically. Last Friday, Susan’s sister Emily came into town from Arizona. Well, technically it was Thursday night, but it was late, and we didn’t see them until Friday. Apparently, Emily had to work on Mother’s Day, but still wanted to see her mom, so she visited early. She brought her husband, and two smaller children. I was surprised, her husband almost never makes the trip, but I was glad to see them together. Susan gets off early on Fridays, so we got over to their mom’s house as soon as we could. Technically, as I mentioned earlier, this was for Mother’s Day, but the two sisters wanted to maximize their time together. And, my wife wanted to spend as much time as possible with her nephews. They’re starting to be a little bit more fun, now that they’re getting older. My wife loves being Auntie Sue. And she gets a big kick out of the fact that the older child, Leonard, has taken to calling me Donald. We don’t know where he got that from. He made it up himself, he has never heard anyone call me that. He’s 6 now, and barely verbal, and for some reason, in his mind, I’m Donald. I don’t mind. He can’t be corrected anyway. Plus, my wife really thinks it’s cute for some reason. And, they all get a kick out of the fact that he just took it upon himself to do so. His parents swear they have no idea where he got it from. They also swore that he wouldn’t stop talking about getting to see me. Susan loves the fact that he recognizes us now. We had some pizza, and left around bedtime. Then we went right back over the next morning at 11. We hung out for a bit, had some lunch, and then they got back on the road around 2. Just a quick trip. A 6-hour drive! But I guess family’s worth it.

     We left around the same time. We decided to go to a local brewery that has been having punk rock bands recently. It’s called Burning Beard, and they keep having shows that I think’ll be interesting. However, I had not gone yet. But, since we had time, and we were out, with no other existing plans, we decided to give it a try. I knew some of the guys playing, and thought it would be a good chance to check it out. However, it was the hottest day of the year! In a parking lot! There were a few sunshades, but people were trying to huddle in their shade, luckily it wasn’t too crowded. Plus, the sun was setting right in our faces! It was a nice place. I heard the food was good, but we had just eaten, and I didn’t know they had food. The menu looked awesome! We will definitely be going back to try some of that. I was a little bummed, because the band I wanted to see was going on last, but online, I was led to believe they were starting. So, after 2 bands neither one of us cared for, we were beered out, and decided to make it home safely. The next day was Mother’s Day, which I already told you about. My mother-in-law had foot surgery on Wednesday. She flew her sister in to help take care of things while she recovers. However, come Tuesday, Karen wasn’t sure about David, or her sister, and wanted my wife to come spend the night, and get her to the hospital by 6 am on Wednesday! Then, after they got her home, Karen wanted my wife to stay and help things get organized, because the other “helpers” are old and slow. (Then why were they chosen to help!?) So, basically, I’ve been living the bachelor’s life for the week. I’m glad my wife is in a position to help, it just seemed so “last minute.” It’s made me wonder if there was some issue going on that the rest of us don’t know about.