Mortal Sin

A good friend of mine introduced me to Chili's Chicken Crispers. They are so yummy. (Darn you, Cel!) I never really used to like Chili's, but she, Em & I went there for lunch one time, and Cel ordered the Crispers and let me have a taste. Mmmm!! They're chicken fingers that are battered like fish in fish & chips. (I highly doubt they're a healthy choice in the slightest, but that's not the point. ;-) They're served with pretty good seasoned french fries and a really sweet piece of corn on the cob. Like Celia, every once in a while I now crave the Crispers, so Stephen took me & Em to satisfy my craving Friday night.

We were itching to go out because we've all been so sick and miserable the past couple of weeks (and housebound as a result). It was really nice to get out of the house and rejoin the living!

Whenever we go out to eat, we always bring along a (usually dry) snack for Emily to munch on while the food is being prepared. She gets pretty antsy in her highchair while we're waiting for our meals, so we usually keep her occupied with some Cheerios, Goldfish or Fruit Puffs (a.k.a. "Stars"). On this particular occasion (on Friday night), she was sitting in her wooden highchair, happily munching away at her Stars, when all of a sudden, the waiter appeared from the kitchen with a tray full of FOOD. All kinds of FOOD. Hot, steaming, delicious-smelling FOOD. Emily took one look at all this FOOD and started bopping up and down in her chair, squealing in delight. "YAY! The FOOD is here! Rejoice. Rejoice!!"

And then it happened.

The waiter committed a mortal sin.

He served the FOOD to the table NEXT TO US.

Oh...
My...
God.

Emily was horrified. "AAHHHHH!" she shrieked, as if to say, "How DARE you give my FOOD to someone else?! Do you realize what you've just done??!!"

We tried to push some more Stars her way.

But alas, it was too late. She saw the FOOD and there was no turning back. She would not be satisfied until it was placed on HER table (within arm's reach, of course).

And she wasn't. Until the appetizer arrived, that is. (Thank goodness for hors d'oeuvres!!)

Then she was as happy as a clam.

[This story reminds me of the time when Martha took us out to Claim Jumper for Stephen's birthday. She ordered a sampler-type appetizer (and in case you've never been to CJ, their portions are ridiculously ginormous), and when the waiter set the plate down in front of us (piled high with three feet of food), Emily started bopping up and down (her version of jumping) and exclaimed "Eeeeee!!!" at the top of her voice. No one had seen anything like it -- I mean, a 13-month-old baby shouting for joy just because the food is here? -- and we all burst into laughter (especially Martha and her kid brother Andy). Too darn funny.]