In which i voted for Mexican

Written a couple of weeks ago.  So sue me!

 

The other day, my nephews from Vermont texted us to let us know they would be dropping by.  Now remember, I live in North Carolina.  As it turns out, my nephew James was graduating from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia and before he and his brother Michael returned home to Vermont, they decided to have a little road trip.

 

Kevin was out of town but we all decided this would be fun as James is the same age as Keely and Michael, two years older, had spent the summer living with us a few years ago.  Now James and Michael consider waking up at 2:00 pm to be an early wake-up call so we weren’t expecting an early arrival.

 

We weren’t particularly surprised when they showed up at 5:30.  As I said, Kevin was out of town and Keely was down at Duke having a farewell dinner with friends so it was just Andie, Daniel and I along with the two boys.  After sitting around for a little bit, the conversation naturally turned to dinner.

 

Since I had spent the day moving Keely back from Duke to home, I hadn’t prepared anything for dinner.  Oh, let’s just be honest here.  I rarely prepare anything for dinner.  So we had the following conversation:

 

Andie:             so mom, what’s for dinner?

 

Me:                  well, I didn’t make anything

 

Andie:             that’s a shock

 

Me:                  I was busy all day.  What the hell were you doing?

 

Andie:             studying for MCAT’s

 

Me:                  how about you Daniel?

 

Daniel:            taking an AP exam and then working as a fireman

 

(NOTE TO READER:  this is what he’s doing on his senior project.  Working at the fire station)

 

Me:                  well, we have a number of choices.  We can either go out to eat at the Pizza place, the Mexican restaurant or the Thai place OR we can bring in the Pizza or Thai food

 

Andie:             that’s a lot of choices

 

Me:                  I’ve just decided to get rid of bringing in food because then I’ll have to clean up

 

Daniel:            so what are our choices?

 

Me:                  going to Pieworks, the Mexican place or Thai

 

Michael:          those sound good

 

Me:                  we’ll do this democratically.  We can all have a vote and there are five of us.  I vote for Mexican

 

Daniel:            I vote for pizza

 

Michael:          I vote for Thai

 

Me:                  I really want chips and guacamole, I’m just saying

 

Andie:             I thought this was democratically

 

Me:                  it is.  Daniel. State your case for pizza and make it compelling

 

Daniel:            I’m in the mood for pizza

 

Me:                  James, what do you want?

 

James:             I don’t want pizza.  We had that last night.

 

Me:                  all right.  No pizza so Thai or Mexican.

 

Daniel:            I change my vote to Thai then

 

Me:                  did I mention that I really want Mexican?

 

Andie:             mom … are you being fair?

 

Me:                  Ok, we’ve ruled out pizza.  Michael: state your case for Thai

 

So Michael starts explaining he hasn’t had Thai in a really long time and goes on and on and then I interrupt.

 

Me:                  you are all aware that I’m paying for this meal right?

 

Andie:             what’s that mom, a threat?

 

Me:                  no, I’m just saying that Michael made a strong case for Thai but unfortunately for you guys, I’m going to Mexican

 

Michael:          what about my case?

 

Me:                  it was well stated so feel free to go to Thai but I’m going to Mexican

 

Andie:             so is this how a democracy works?

 

Me:                  well, let’s face it.  How can it be a democracy if I’m the one who’s paying?

 

Daniel:            you’re unbelievable!

 

Me:                  I’ll take that as a compliment!

 

Andie:             MOM!

 

Me:                  so, who’s going with me?

 

And I got ready to go and guess what?  I had a full car and we all went to the Mexican restaurant and lived happily ever after.  They can have Thai another day.