Wish I'd thought of that!!

The tall kid has become my newest hero. Everybody went to lunch today at El Chico. All the kids and the girlfriend had the day off from school, so the roommate took the day off, too. Going out for lunch seemed like the thing to do, so off they went. I stayed at home because I don't do Mexican. Plus, the short curly haired girl had spilled milk on the kitchen floor and somebody needed to clean it up.

When the crew returned home, the kid with glasses, the tall kid, and the taller pretty girl all skinned out around the corner to Grandma Roommate's house to play in their yard. The short curly haired girl took a nap, and the baby hung out on the floor of the den and played with her feet. Roommate and girlfriend were in the den, too. They were talking about what had happened at lunch. What I heard made me jealous that I was not as clever as the tall kid. If I had a mere portion of his ingenuity, the short curly haired girl would be no match for me at all!

The standard fare was ordered at lunch: chicken strips for the taller pretty girl, mac n' cheese for the short curly haired girl, enchiladas for the kid with glasses, fajitas for the girlfriend, and a burrito for the roommate. The tall kid branched out, though as he is still getting used to ordering food off of the adult menu. He wound up ordering a combination platter that came with a beef hard shelled taco, beans, rice, and a tamale. The tamale came in the center of the plate with a white queso cheese sauce covering it. On top of the sauce, in the center of the tamale, came a sliced jalapeno pepper.

Everyone dug into their food immediately. As the roommate was getting some salsa, he realized that the taller pretty girl was silently sobbing. Big tears were rolling down her face and she was shaking. It was obvious that something was wrong. "Did you bite your tongue?" "Is your chicken strip too hot?" "What's wrong, honey?" Her mouth was full, though and she was unable to answer. The tall kid was looking over at her with a reserved grin. Quickly, however, he realized that the situation was heading south, so he interjected, "I asked her if she wanted my pickle, and she took it and ate it!"

As the girlfriend handed the taller pretty girl a napkin to spit the "pickle" into, the roommate scolded the tall kid for telling his sister that the jalapeno pepper was a pickle. Of course, the tall kid insisted that he actually thought it was a pickle. He apparently held his own in the argument before he was asked to honestly answer when the last time it was that he had seen a pickle served with Mexican food.

The taller pretty girl was eventually okay, and by the time they all came home, she had forgiven the tall kid for his prank. All was good, but as I sat there and listened to the recap of the lunch outing, I was kind of smiling to myself. Even though the taller pretty girl doesn't give me much grief anymore, I still remember the times that I have woken up from naps with bows in my hair. I remember the times I've been trapped in the bathroom while she forced me to wear make up. I remember when things weren't that great between us - and then I thought about that tall kid giving her a jalapeno passing it off as a pickle.

MAN! I wish I'd thought of that!