I went in to town around 4:00 on Friday, like I always do, and also because we had plans to go to Strawn that night with Jason, have dinner at Mary's, and go to the Strawn vs. Gordon football game. I came in the side door, which takes me right past Jason's office as I go into Jesse's. As I was walking past, Jason called me into his office and was cracking up laughing. Apparently Ryan had been trying incredibly hard to invite himself along with us to go to the football game, and Jesse wasn't hearing it. "So....you guys are going to a football game tonight? Will there be girls there? So...where's this football game at? Do you think I could just ride with y'all?" (He probably didn't say "y'all", but that was Jason's version of the conversation) "Jesse didn't even let him finish the sentence! 'No!' He just turned around, 'No!'" Jason was highly amused by the fact that Jesse was refusing to let Ryan tag along, and he wanted to see it continue to play out. So he told me that when Jesse got off work, I had to tell him that I had seen Ryan in the hallway, or the parking lot, or whatever, and casually mention that he asked to ride with us to Strawn and that I had said it was ok.
Well I have the most fantastic poker face, of course....not. So I had my doubts as to whether I could pull it off, but I'm not one to kill a joke (when I understand it), so I agreed to do my best. Thankfully, when Jesse got off, he went into Jason's office, so he was just around the corner and couldn't see my face. Jason helped things along...
"Oh hey, Rianna and I were just talking...Did you tell him who you ran into?"
"Oh...yeah, I was talking to Ryan."
"What did he want?"
"He asked if he could come with us to the football game."
".....what did you tell him?"
"Oh I kinda figured it would be fine."
And for that I got a pair of safety glasses thrown at me as he stomped off, probably to yell at Ryan, so I told him that I was just kidding, and Jason said that I gave it away too soon. "Yeah, but I didn't want him to hit me!" Probably not the best thing to say to people that don't know me, or understand the relationship that I have with my husband...We did all agree that it's totally something that Ryan would have done, though, and everyone got a laugh out of it.
Anyway, we followed Jason out to Strawn, and met his family, including his daughter's husky named Neo, who is obsessed with eating a little white stray cat that has recently showed up at his in-laws' house. Jason and his family are staying there right now because he is currently in the process of remodeling their house, and apparently half of the other houses in the neighborhood. Their house is going to be pretty cool when it's done, complete with a haunted chicken coop and a backyard for football and baseball.
We showed up at Mary's a little before 6, and it was packed, but Jason said that since the line wasn't going out the door, it was slow. Apparently Mary's is the place to be. If you can fit in the door and if you can hear to talk to the person across from you, it's practically dead. The kids (Jason's two daughters, their cousin whose brother was playing at the game, and Jason's nephews Keaton and Kyler) were sitting at the table over from us (Jesse and myself, Jason, his wife, and his sister) and provided us with much entertainment as they rattled the ice in their empty cups at the waiter, guzzling down can after can of root beer and coke. I think the final tally was 13, but it may have been more.
Mary's famous for their giant chicken fried steak, so Jesse and I were told that we had to split a large, and that we would be lucky if we could finish it together. "You haven't seen the way my wife eats!" Why is that always what people say about me? I do try to eat like a normal person and not like a vacuum....Oh well. We finished it, but it was definitely filling.
Strawn and Gordon are about 8 miles apart, and major rivals. Apparently a while ago the kids from Gordon broke in and burned a huge "G" on Strawn's football field. They play 6-man football because there only 200 kids in the entire district. They all say it's more interesting than "real football", but I still don't understand it. I spent most of the time watching the cheerleaders or talking with Keaton and Kyler. But I'm pretty sure most of us spent most of our time talking with them. Those kids are hilarious. Keaton is only 6, and his favorite thing seems to be repeating everything that Kyler says, but with his own twist. We were telling jokes, and Jesse asked "What do you call a flying skunk?" The answer is "a smell-icopter" and Keaton thought it was great, so he asked Jesse to tell him what the joke was, turned to the guy in front of him (Jason's counsin's fiancee, I believe), and said "What do you call a flying squirrel?" We all tried to tell him it was supposed to be a skunk, but he wanted it to be different, so he stuck to the squirrel. Kyler is in 3rd grade and plays football with 6th and 7th graders. Jesse asked him if he had a nickname and he said it was White Lightning, because he's so white. when asked if people will still call him that in highschool he said matter-of-factly "Oh yeah. Unless I spray tan."
He says that everything he says he learned from Jason, and that Jason taught him to play football with video games. He was a kick in the pants. After the game they all had to race (Jesse and Ryan included), and when racing with his brother or cousins he was kind (or cocky) enough to run backwards. They threw the football around for almost an hour and we didn't make it home till after 11, but it was a good time. It was nice to meet Jason's family, and they all seem pretty cool; I'm glad we went. Plus, Strawn HS's colors are red, black and white, which are the same as Oregon City AND David Douglas, so I think it's fate that we end up moving there someday and I work for the district. I mean, it's obviously a sign.
Chicken fried steak sounds yummy now...
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty fantastic, but apparently I'm a obvious outsider because I don't eat it with gravy =P
ReplyDelete