Friday, November 30, 2007

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!

6 comments:

mich said...

I even came prepared with money this time!

Thanks, Rick, for treating. And Ronelle, we sure did miss you. Make a trip out here and I promise to bring my wallet to lunch!

Rick said...

I said I'd chime in and here I am! So happy you guys found time to meet today ... enjoyed every minute (although I'm not too happy the "mad blogger" posted that pix!:). Mich - for the record, I never saw that wallet (lol), but I wasn't going to let you use it anyway!

I'm really enjoying your fair city .. but mostly seeing both of you.

Ronelle ... eat your heart out!

Rick (rookie blogger)

mich said...

Yea! It's great to see you here, Rick! Now we need to get Aunt Chickie.

Ronelle said...

Well...so much to say, too little space. First, I am so happy that you guys had a nice time together today and I thought about you all afternoon. Secondly, I am just a little - okay really really jealous that I was not there too. I do NOT appreciate my brother's gloating either. Michele and Mark, put your wallets away, we'll make Rick pay when I get out there (he owes me for his lack of compassion) ha! I am definitely going to look into trying to get out there. Since we have so much fun on this blog - I think a face to face is a must. Finally, I will see what I can do to turn the ziti baking matriarch into a blogger.

I am glad to know that there was a Maher East meets West today - even though I could not be apart of it.

Rick -have a safe trip, see you when you get home.

oh and one last thing...I ABSOLUTELY sent Rick the blog url through e-mail, don't believe any other stories you may hear. RIck, I am glad you are here too.

Rick said...

OK, OK, I'll come clean. Ronelle DID send me the URL ... I'm sure it's buried somewhere in my over-flowing inbox. And, there is no way around the fact that it IS unfair that I got the lunch while she's stuck with the blog. Life is like that, but she paid her dues and should have been the one with the "some kind of salad" and cup of soup in Seattle. OK? Happy now? I said it ... and I'm feeling a bit better about myself now. (I will confess that I'm much better at gloating than being nice -- so don't get too use to this!)

"The Rookie"

Ronelle said...

Wow! I am left without words by your honesty, your compassion, and kindness. I didn't mean ONE thing I said about you in any earlier comment. (I learned the difference between a post and a comment - thanks Mark!)

Does this have anything to do with the fact that Aunt Rita is watching over this blog? Hmmmm.

Nope - you are always all of those good things.

But - I am still jealoous and will be for a long time.