Life is best when you meet at the dinner table

I love eating. I love talking. I love meeting new people. I love laughing. I love doing them all at the same time.

My (Patrick) family grew up eating dinner together. Some of my most fond memories are of my family eating at the dinner table and my dad laughing at the things we do/ say. My mother is a great cook and my brother and I have the guts to prove it. Eating dinner with the family wasn't really a choice, it was really sort of expected that if other activities weren't keeping you away from the dinner table, you were going to eat with the fam.

Now, the discussions on who was going to do the dishes are a completely different topic. I believe the 8th Amendment protects us from Cruel and Unusual Punishment. My mother and father did not define doing the dishes as Cruel and Unusual Punishment, but to each his own.

This mindset completely reinforces the first paragraph. I have had some good mealtime conversations this week. I had lunch with Chris, dinner with Isaac and Christina, breakfast with Chris (again) and Jon, and now I'm going on a date with my wife.

I love Chris. Chris and I are both nerdy (in the cool way). He is infinitely smarter than me and can always put me in a conversational "hold" that leaves me screaming "Uncle!" like the kid getting his arm twisted in the alley scene of A Christmas Story. However, he usually lets me finish my thought before entirely correcting me in a humble way. Our discussions are as often as they are various. One day we might be discussing emerging technological trends and the next day it might be focused around economic policy. However, you should be warned: I have yet to find a topic upon which Chris is not a foremost knowledge-authority. Converse at your own risk.

As Nadine McCampbell would say: Patrick and Becky Gilgour had dinner Friday night with Isaac Johnson and his girlfriend Christina at Chuy's in Houston. A good time was had by all. We had the longest dinner ever and I think we laughed the whole time. Isaac and Christina are a lot of fun. I think we each told our funniest stories on our first double date, which means our next double date might be filled with repeats. The Funniest Story of the Night goes to Isaac, who is an excellent photographer.

Breakfast with Jon and Chris was also good. We met at House of Pies (or Guys, whatever), where the food is half as good as the conversations and the pie flows like wine. We talked about how some people just don't understand the real issues and that there is a moral obligation to vote beyond two issues (thanks to Chris for this idea).

Well, I'm out to have a meal with my favorite conversation partner, my beautiful wife Becky!