Dia d'elmor

Happy Valentines Day to all of our friends and family back in the united states of the Uniteds States of America! The whole fam had a grand old time here in Saipan. Landy spent much of the day in his favorite place: McDonald's! He likes to hide, and the employees never seem to even notice that he's there. But if something went wrong, he knows what number to dial. The Grandma's. 4-1-9 something something something. I don't have it right here in front of me. But Landy knows it. He sings it as he falls asleep. It's the most precious thing.

Anyhow, while Landy frolicked with his friends in burger-world, Lori and I had the best date we've had since before we met and were dating other people. We went to the classiest restaurant on-island: the Nauru Tower. It's located in the revolving dish atop the mighty Nauru building in Susupe, and they are known for their scintillating steaks and their super-rare chicken steaks. I don't even know where they find these chickens that the steaks come from, 'cause they don't taste like what I normally think of when I think of chicken, but my God... delicious. Lori had a more difficult time deciding than I did, but she eventually decided on a side dish of a baked potato because it "was the only"... "dish that didn't leave streaks of blood on the chef's hands." She's such a crack-up. You have to love her; everyone says so. Everyone really makes a point of saying that. It's because she's deeply loveable.

We had a nice time there, and we had a panoramic view of the island the whole time. We must have completed fifty revolutions before our food even arrived. Actually, we completed exactly fifty-three. I was counting. It was moving a little faster than usual, if memory serves me correctly, because by the time we were supposed to have dessert, Lori and I were both feeling a little dizzy, and nauseated. And we both vomited, actually. I hadn't put it all together at the time, but now that I'm typing, you know how it is.... yes. It was probably that rate that the restaurant was spinning. Because the waiter actually fell down a few times over the course of the meal, come to think of it. But he told us he was epileptic, so we didn't really think much of it. But then, when I tried to put a chopstick in his mouth to keep him from biting his tongue off, one of the times he fell down, he tried to hit me. Well, he tried to hit me in the face, but he only succeeded in hitting me in the calf. And that's doing much better now, thanks for the card, Mom. Love and kisses.

It was really an enchanted evening, despite everything. So quiet. Just the two of us again. It felt like the good old days. We joked about just leaving Landy in the McDonald's forever. He'd be so happy, we joked, and he would have a steady source of food and employment. It's probably where he'll end up working anyway. They're considered one of the better employers in Saipan. I saw a list of the top ten employers, I'm trying to remember. I think it goes: Government Job, Private Schools, McDonald's. I can't remember the rest; it drops off pretty quickly after that. In a place where minimum wage is $3.05 an hour, it seems as if people almost invent jobs just to see what other people from Third World countries will do for that small amount of money. There's this one guy I know who hired a man to follow behind him carrying a banner that just says "Special Dude". Everywhere he goes, this employee has to follow behind him so that everyone knows: here comes a "Special Dude." It's pretty cool.

Wow, this has been a long one, but we just want everyone to know that we're doing great and we hope you're all doing great too. A Happy Valentine's Day to all the Fam from our Fam!