Force Feeding a Steak at 4:30...

Perhaps you recall the Seinfeld episode when Jerry visited his parents in Florida. While there Mr. and Mrs. Seinfeld wanted to take Jerry out to eat, the only issue was that the parents wanted to take him at 4:30 so they could get "the early bird special."

Last night the VOR and #s 1, 2, & 3 went out for dinner; specifically we went to Tito's, in our opinion the best Mexican restaurant in the area. Here's the deal though: do we wait and eat at a normal time, put our name on a waiting list, and hope order prevails until after the dinner? Or do we leave early, avoid 5 o'clock traffic, and eat in relative peace in a sparsely crowded restaurant? We choose the latter.

As usual we were not the only ones with this "bright idea;" other families had the same idea. Although I must say I have never seen anything like the time Lori and I took the kids to our favorite pub one evening at 5 o'clock on a Saturday. The place was packed with moms and dads and kids. It was like it was family hour.

After our early dinner we went to a little ice cream shop in Providence. As we exited the establishment the VOR mentioned that I had chocolate ice cream all over my nose but I did not pay much attention for we were going to a park. While at the park a fellow dad and I made eye contact and gave each other a manly nod, yet he included a rather peculiar smile. Peculiar smile? Yes, in Yankeeland people are not naturally polite or nice. Then I remembered the VOR's request for me to clean off my nose. I reached for my nose, I could not see the chocolate but I could feel its stickiness! The other dad was not being friendly, he was simply amused at ol' chocolate faced.