my friend Megan

I have known my friend Megan since 2nd grade. I am a natural extrovert and very loud, she is too but I doubt very many people know that. We met one fateful afternoon on the Wenonah School playground. She was the new kid in school, sitting on the swings by herself playing shy. I was beating up one of the boys or doing something else that I wasn’t supposed to, our teacher pulled me aside and sent me to go sit on the swings until I could behave. With my inability to sit still and keep quiet, we struck up conversation, I think I got Meg in trouble because I was supposed to be quiet, and so began our lifelong story as friends.

Megan is one of the smartest, funniest, and all-around wonderful people I have ever met. She’s been there for me when I’ve been down, fist-pumped with me in moments of glory and danced alongside me at my wedding. We’ve grown up together and I couldn’t be who I am today without having known her. But enough of the mushy stuff!! As stated, she is one of the funniest people I know; Megan is unintentionally hilarious and I love that about her. She holds 9 of the top 10 funniest moments in my life. This may be hard to understand for those of you that attended high school with us and voted her class angel, but Meg is no angel. Not that she’s a bad seed by any means; I guess you just have to know her to understand … or have lavender soap in your restroom.

Megan and Shannon (my other lifelong friend, whom I’ve known since 5th grade) came to TX to visit for a long weekend last year and I still laugh remembering all the individual moments. We drank outside on a patio in February (which was alien to my NJ friends), went shuffle skating around a honky-tonk, and overall had a fabulous weekend. Valentines’ Day was the best. We started out the day down in the West End having drinks for lunch then touring the grassy knoll and nearly getting killed as both Meg and Shan wanted to take pictures on the X’s in the street, despite the cars speeding through the triple underpass. After visiting the Sixth Floor Museum, we headed over to Grapevine and spent the next few hours drinking fabulous wines and laughing so hard that others started to stare. We met the “happily married woman,” aka the wine guy, and became fast friends. He kept giving us very large pours, which didn’t help our giggles. Meg kept telling us to drink hers, because she’d already had enough to drink, then would immediately take her glass back, telling us “that wasn’t an invitation b*tch” through her laughter. Please keep in mind that Meg rarely drinks, and even more rarely has more than a glass or two.

We wrapped up drinks at the winery and headed home, but not before seeing a random highchair in the middle of the sidewalk and deciding that it needed to go with us. Despite our best efforts, we were not able to fit the highchair into my trunk so we took a few pictures of Meg sitting in it and were off. Back at the house, Dan was such a good sport dealing with the three of us. He offered to drive to dinner (or so I’d like to believe); therefore, I decided to pop open one of the bottles I’d bought at the winery, Meg again telling us she didn’t want a glass but having one regardless. At dinner, Dan realized the hilarity of the situation … he was having dinner with not one but three (fairly tipsy) ladies, on Valentines’ Day. Oh how he wishes he hadn’t likened the situation to Big Love. From that point forward we all called him honey and did our best to embarrass him. After a mango margarita or three, and oh yea some food, the waiter cleared the table and we assessed the damage. We had queso everywhere!! Before closing out the night for good, Meg got lost on her way to the bathroom, had queso all over herself, and fell victim to peer pressure with yet another glass of wine when we got back to the house. We eventually all went to bed, but something happened and to this day we don’t know how … Meg awoke the next morning and came out to the living room and somehow, some way, she had red wine all down the back of her white shirt!!!! Did she take a glass to bed with her? We couldn’t find one in the room. Did she spill on herself earlier? She hadn’t changed for bed until we’d already finished our wine. So they mystery remains, how did Meg get wine all down her back?

So in honor of my friend Meg and her queso experience, here is the recipe for my favorite queso:
•1 can wolf brand chili, no beans – it has to be wolf brand, Hormel does not work!
•3-4 inches of velveeta – I use the kind made with 2% milk

Cube the velveeta into pieces that are about ½ inch by ½ inch or smaller; place in a microwave-safe bowl. Pour the chili over the velveeta and mix gently with a spoon. COVER WITH A PAPER TOWEL OR NAPKIN and microwave for 2 minutes, stir and heat for 2 minutes longer. Keep heating and stirring in 1-2 minute intervals until the velveeta is fully melted and the queso is mostly smooth. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping. (if you don’t cover with a paper towel while microwaving, you will have a lot of cleaning to do when you’re done)