A Big Family Dinner

My first day back at work was a pain. I just get so BORED. I was surprised at how well I remembered all the register functions after being gone for more than a week. Even with helping to stock candy in the front of the registers, I still get bored and I'm still tired of listening to people fuss.

I made a quick stop at America's Best to set up a follow-up appointment for my contacts (it's Saturday after work), then went home and spent most of the rest of the afternoon working on stuff on and offline. I'm hoping to get this month's Monkees role-play story up tonight. We'll see how long I can stay awake.

Rose picked me up at quarter after 5 for dinner with Mom, Keefe, Anny, Skylar, and Anny's boyfriend Mike. We ate at the Applebee's at the Cumberland Mall in Vineland, which we thought was a somewhere we could all get to easily. Everyone admired my new contacts and slimmer look. Mom had the cutest bobbed hairstyle. Anny's very much pregnant now. She'll be having a boy sometime between Thanksgiving and early December. (The doctors say December 12th, but Skylar was three weeks early.) Speaking of my nephew, he's getting SOOO big! He can talk so well now. For all of Mom's fussing, he was fairly well-behaved. He only threw one tantrum, and it was a mild one (for him) that resulted in a short time-out. He was fine after that. In fact, he was adorable after that, chattering and showing off his new Transformer to the table.

I wish I could say the same for his uncle. My brother Keefe is very much 15 now - rude, crude, and addicted to caffeine, video games, and eating like a very big horse. He ate Skylar's French fries, nibbled off the other appetizer plates, then had more fries, Applebee's "Endless" Pork Ribs, and topped it all off with Chocolate Mousse. I hope he didn't really lose all that going home. My mother loves her car.

I loved my Smothered Grilled Chicken, steamed broccoli, and heavenly Cheese Smashed Red Potatoes. (I need to figure out how to make those at home.) Mom had Lime Tilapia. I forget what Rose had - I think she had the Lime Grilled Chicken. Skylar had mini-cheeseburgers. (When the waiter asked Sky what he wanted, he knew right away - "I wanna cheeseburger!") Anny and Mike had bowls of teryaki chicken, rice, and vegetables. Unlike the rest of us, they ended up bring most of theirs home. Those "bowls" were big enough for me to make bread in.

And when Rose and I were ready to leave...Skylar came up to me and gave me a very big hug. He gave me one after I arrived, too. He's a good little hugger.