sandfly, for dinner with hermanos!

I should have started doing this earlier this year, or perhaps earlier than that.

Smitty is always so very pleased to have me show up for these meals together!

(smile!)

That isn't to say that the others in attendance aren't welcoming, but...

well, I can tell he's been looking for me, and I can see him relax when I arrive.

That's nice.

Tonight the Smith-Kameron group had two new guests: Tyler and his bouncing baby boy, Theo.

Smitty is the proud grandpa taking his turn at holding the 3-month-old so his daddy can dig into some chips.

I like Theo.

He has such a beaming smile and great disposition!

Not that I'm even tempted to hold him, but...

he's a pretty good kid, for a baby. (smile!)

 

Of course, my abstaining didn't stop Mary and Laura and Betsy from taking turns with him.

I did notice, however, that Tony and Jimmy and Mark didn't express any interest in doing so.

(smile!)

Nice to have choices, isn't it?

Speaking of which, there were two open chairs when I arrived, with one between Smitty and Mark and the other at the end of the table.

That latter is the one I took, as it was easier for me to get in and out of that high-top seat.

That left the other chair for Addison to slip into when she arrived, driving home for this long Labor Day weekend to spend some time with her folks.

Good for her!

And good for me!

By sitting on the end, between the two Kameron brothers, that shifted me into a different conversation stream than I usually flowed with.

Not that Mark talks much, but he did interject a few comments from time to time.

(smile!)

But Jimmy and I had a nice chat about yard work and college costs and all manner of other topics, including "The Big Bang Theory", with some initiated by him.

I tell you, with as much time as I spend in the company for women, it was good to be between two men for a change!

You know what that means, right?

I need to be in some more diverse meetup groups.

The ones I'm in seem to be female-heavy, and, while that's a safe space to be in, there's just not enough testosterone in the air for me.

I grew up in a house full of boys, I've been in male-dominated careers for all of my life, and most of my best friends have been men...

until the past decade.

I'm not saying I'm hunting...

because I'm certainly a purple panther, not a cougar...

but, it would be nice to talk more often to people with deeper voices.

(smile!)