Seeing old friends

We had dinner tonight with a bunch of people we used to work with, and it was really nice to catch up. It was also really nice to realize that even though we met all of these people through work, nowadays, we think of them as friends instead of former co-workers..

The main reason for the event was because two of our friends who moved from here to Los Angeles a few years ago were back in town for a visit.

If you've ever watched any episodes of "Emergency" or "Adam-12," you'll remember that both shows are set in Los Angeles. So when I told Biscuit that we were having dinner with a bunch of friends, including two who live in Los Angeles, he said, "WHAAAAAAT?! Los Angeles?"

Then we got into one of the real vs. make-believe conversations.

"Mom, Firefighter Ronnie Gage works in Los Angeles," he said. "Is he real?"

"No," I said. "Remember? He's just a character."

"Yeah," Biscuit said, sounding disappointed. "I remember. He's not real."

"But you know what?" I said to him. "The city of Los Angeles IS real. So all the places you see Firefighter Ronnie Gage driving to, those places are real. And I bet my friend has been to some of those same places. If you ask him about it, I bet he'll tell you."

"Whoa!" Biscuit said. "I'll ask him for sure."

Biscuit ate his dinner, which occupied about 20 minutes. Then he got bored.

I gave him my phone, and he played a matching game and a puzzle game. That lasted for another 20 minutes. Then he was done.

"Mom, can we go home now?" he asked.

Jeff took Biscuit home, and I stayed for a while longer.

The party adjourned to the outside of the restaurant, where it started to rain. Everyone stepped under an awning, but lucky me, I had Biscuit's little Spider-Man umbrella. I popped it up and stayed nice and dry. Well, almost. The umbrella is made for a kid, so I was a little damp around the edges.

I got home, and Jeff had given Biscuit a bath and had him ready for bed.

"Biscuit, I know you were bored, but you did a good job at the restaurant tonight," I said.

"Yeah, I did a good job, Mom," Biscuit said.