Lunch with Rick

Mich and I shared a fun lunch with our cousin Rick this afternoon at Il Fornaio in downtown Seattle. (Fuscili for me, ravioli for Michele, some kind of salad and a cup of soup for Rick.) It was great to see him, although we all noted how unfair it seemed that Ronelle has become a regular M&M contributor and it was not she but her brother who made it out here to see us.

Rick, who made an appearance in an M&M Thanksgiving post here, lives in New Jersey where he has a consulting business that, from the sound of it, keeps him on the road almost full-time. He was here in Seattle for a couple of days facilitating a big conference for the federal government, and then had stops planned in San Francisco, Iowa and Washington, D.C., before getting back home.

He looked and sounded great, and he insisted on buying our lunch; not necessary but incredibly nice. He's a Maher through and through, which means that like my mom and his dad (my Uncle Ron) when he grabs the check there's not much point in trying to arm-wrestle him for it. That's a little bit of a family trait, I guess -- except for Mich, who has the Maher instinct to treat but then, inevitably, can't find her wallet.

Rick hasn't found this blog yet, even though Ronelle swears she sent him the link. I wrote down the URL for him, so we'll see. He promised to check it out and become a commenter. I hope so.

Ronelle, I wish you had been here! Come out!