Unexpectedly sweet

So, my friend called me late this afternoon and said she thought it was time to go out and have margaritas to celebrate the end of a very long week. She had the week from hell at work, her 21 year old son moved back in with her today, and she is facing surgery on Monday. Time to just forget all the woes of the world. The lad was also invited, she said.

I mentioned it to the lad. He was somewhat ambivalent about going out with two middle aged ladies intent on sucking down margaritas. And, besides, Becca was coming over.

Then he decided that maybe he and Becca would come along with us. But that didn’t work out. Becca had to go babysit for her cousin this evening. She said she’d be back over later tonight. So, the lad decided he’d go with us. Better than staying home and foraging.

We went to Applebee’s, mainly for their Perfect Margaritas. The food was incidental, but we rose to the occasion. Steak all around.

The lad was amused by our conversation. Even more amused when we struck up conversation with the two women seated across the aisle from us. They’d just come off of a shopping trip and had all their loot on the floor surrounding their booth. We oohed and ahhed over the sweetest little lambie sets...lambswool pillows, lamb-faced sleep masks, booties, and lotion. The lad thought he’d die of amusement.

He was joined in his thinking that he would die of amusement by a middle-aged fellow and small son sitting in a booth behind the two ladies. He and the lad made frequent eye contact and rolled their eyes and even laughed out loud. We rolled our eyes and laughed out loud, saying...how typically male. Not in a serious way, mind you. But they amused us as much as we amused them.

Then the lad discovered that two of the waiters were old high school chums. One was the cross country coach’s son. The young man didn’t recognize the lad—he has changed that much. The lad asked our waitress if the young man was so-and-so. She said, “Yes, he is. Can I tell him your name?” The lad told her his nickname and she went off to deliver the message.

A couple of seconds later he came over and hugged the lad, saying, “Oh my God, I didn’t recognize you. You’ve changed so much! You look just like your dad now!!!” Well, what a way to make a fella feel thrilled to death. ‘Cuz, by anyone’s estimation, the Dad is a really good looking guy. Then another girl came over and we learned that she was also a former classmate who had changed dramatically. Simply beautiful. Stunning, even. More hugs and exclamations all around. The people around us thought this was just all quite marvelous.

We had a happenin’ corner going on this evening. Applebee’s hasn’t had that much fun in a while, I’ll bet.

So, now the lad knows what two middle aged ladies talk about when they go out on the town. He decided that we’re rather a lot of fun. He said he though it would be a blast if we’d take him out on his 21st birthday. And we decided that was a really nice idea. Only 8 months to go.

Anyway. We’re back home and Becca has returned. She felt as if she had missed out on something special. I wish she could have gone along. Oh well.

Sometimes, the simplest things turn out to be so much fun. We had such a delightful evening.