Congratulations! Here's A Meatloaf

     On Monday night, I got a text message that simply said, "Baby Time."  I would be willing to bet that everyone in the neighborhood got that same text at 8:40PM.  Our neighbors and good friends Brian and Gina had their baby, their fourth baby actually, and as you can imagine, we are all so happy for them.

      So is it a global tradition or just a local one here amongst our friends and family that when a new baby is born and has come home from the hospital, friends and neighbors prepare a meal for the family as a nice gesture and to lighten the load of the  parents while they adjust to life with a new person in their home?

     My wife, being on top of things like this as she tends to always be, decided last night to make a meatloaf and mashed potatoes with fresh green beans for our dear friends on their first night home from the hospital.

     Everything was going according to plan, green beans cut and steaming on the stove, potatoes boiling in a big pot, and the meatloaf baking in the oven.  What great friends and neighbors we are, wouldn't you agree?

     There was just one problem, one that we didn't see coming, but when it did it hit us like a ton of bricks.  The smell of this meal had begun to permeate throughout our entire home.  It was a glorious aroma and we hadn't actually planned our own meal for the evening.  There was no way that I was going to let this batch of culinary wizardry leave this house.  Baby or no baby, this was my dinner, Gina and Brian would just have to fend for themselves on this night and that was that.

     Not a sliver of guilt, zero remorse and a full belly.  We are terrible neighbors and even worse friends, but when it comes to delicious flavor, good will always takes a back seat.  Congratulations Brian and Gina!