Better Off Jed

It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything on this blog. I’m not really sure why my posts have gotten so infrequent. I guess life is just really busy and nothing has really happened lately that has “inspired” me to write. I have one friend who actually complains to me when I don’t post often enough. He is also the subject of this post, which I’m sure he’ll enjoy.

There are only two friends from college that we make a concerted effort to keep in touch with. Luckily, they are married, which makes it easier, especially since my wife and I are particularly bad at the staying-in-touch game. After we graduated college, we lived about 3 miles from each other and would pretty much hang out all the time. About 12 years ago, they moved to Florida, but somehow we manage to get together once a year or so.

Of course, I was thrilled to get a call last week from our friends. They were making an impromptu drive up the east coast — crazy, right? — to visit family in New Jersey and they wanted to stop by on their drive home. They had a baby since the last time we saw them that we were dying to meet, so we were even more eager than usual to see them.

They came over yesterday and we had a really great visit. Their older son’s age is right between my daughter and my son. My kids had a great time with him: playing on the Wii, playing air hockey, dancing and singing. It’s really a pleasure to see our kids, who don’t see each other that often, get along so well. And, their younger son, who is now about 15 months, was really something. He was running all over the place. You couldn’t help but smile. He’s a really cute kid with a really bright personality. It was just hysterical watching him run from one room to another and explore our house. He even knew not to touch my TV (he called it a “no-no”), so that was an added bonus! And my daughter (who just turned 10 last week!!!) gained some good experience for her babysitting resume by keeping him occupied.

On one of these “hit-and-run” visits, we’ll usually bring in food. Typically, they will arrive, we’ll decide what to eat, and then we’ll go get the food. Our friends are very generous and whenever they visit, they always insist on picking up the check. He’s the kind of guy who will slip the waiter his credit card at the beginning of the meal, so we don’t even have the chance to argue over the bill. His generosity is certainly appreciated, but totally unnecessary.

I outsmarted him this time. About a half-hour before they arrived, they called to tell us they were getting close. We suggested that we get Ledo Pizza for lunch and they were fine with that. So, I quickly ordered the pizza and picked it up before they arrived.

Well, I must have really threw him off his game because he sent me a text message this morning at 6am:

Jed, I feel horrible. It just occurred to me that I did not offer you money for the pizza. Please let me know how much it was. I feel awful that we came to your house ate your appetizers, pizza, and brownies without pitching in. I don’t know where my head was at?

If I were to text him back, this is what I would say:

You did not dine at a restaurant. As our guests, you certainly don’t owe us anything. You brought the fun, we brought the food. No biggie.

I’m not going to send that text. I’m going to tell him to read this blog entry instead. You see, there’s an accessory for my awesome phone, the Motorola Droid, that allows me to use it as my bedside clock. So, when he sent me that text message at 6am, he woke me up…on my day off.

So, please, please, don’t feel bad about not picking up the tab for lunch. We were happy to do so. Instead, feel bad about waking me up at 6am. You don’t owe me money; you owe me about 2 hours of sleep!