Innocent Diversions

Boring narrative of my day:

Today was just absolutely beautiful. After several days of rain, cold, flurrying snow, and me being physically sick with some sort of bug, the warmth and sunshine that was the order of the day made the wait for it all worthwhile. It makes me yearn for the warmer days that are ahead and the camping and the swimming and the fun that comes with it all.

I started the day out early, sort of against my will. My son (Little T) woke up before sunrise. 5:45 a.m. to be exact. What possessed him to wake up that early is beyond me. He asked me, “Daddy, where is the sun?” I told him it was sleeping, just like we should be. He then asked if Movie Gallery was open. You see, our local franchise is closing its doors and is selling off all movies and games, and even the shelves that hold said media. I have bought my kids several DVDs and games during this reduction sale, and he was eager to get some more. He specifically wanted Spiderman 2. It was all he could talk about all morning. “Daddy, is Movie Gallery open now? How long until Movie Gallery opens?” I don’t think he grasped what I was trying to tell him when I said that they wouldn’t be open for several hours. In his mind, they should be open whenever he wanted them to be.

We never made it to Movie Gallery, but we did make it to an even better place. Back up to before. Before breakfast. Before getting in Oscar and driving down the road. Dawnia (who, for the sake of brevity, shall be called “D” here through the end of this writing) called me just to see what was going on. I told her I was going to have coffee, make some pancakes for the kids, load up Oscar with recyclables (the same ones that pile up in my garage for weeks at a time) to take to the recycling center, eat lunch, go to the park, and culminate the day at the movies to see The Spiderwick Chronicles. This better place I speak of is the one place that I can look for what I want and see what I want at the same time. This place is a book/CD/DVD store. I had planned on being there for D’s lunch break at high noon, but me, as I am, forever being the fashionably late one, ended up arriving around 12:20. I am NOT always late for everything, but to me, living on Southern Time means having a leeway…an “ish” time, if you will. I can be on time, especially for things that really matter, like an appearance at court, doctor’s appointments (where I usually have to wait even if I’m early), or any other thing where being late will make you suffer consequences. Anyway, we (the kids and I) get there and start looking for, you guessed it, Spiderman 2. D painstakingly looks wherever employees look for “hidden” copies of movies and comes back with an extended, director’s cut, double disc, extra-extra special copy of the movie. Little T is happy. Well, at least he is until he finds a VHS copy that has a different cover than what is on the DVD. He then has to have the DVD with the same cover that he has just found on VHS. So, we look again through the new releases and, lo and behold, there is a copy on DVD that has the same cover as the VHS…and all is good. Not to mention that it is about $5 cheaper as well.

Before we leave there, a mention is made about maybe, just maybe joining us for the movie later on. I leave there with that hope in my mind. We go to the recycling center, where my daughter (Big T) turns into a helping hand. She’s all about this recycling stuff. I hope she stays excited about it. We unload and separate and dump the stuff and head out. We realize we are hungry, so we go to Ooltewah for lunch at Burger King, the place where a kid can be a kid. It is discovered too late that some kid had puked in the playground. Little T ends up getting some on his shirt... Ewww…his shirt with a spider on it…did I mention he loves Spiderman? So off comes the shirt and into a bag it goes. We end up leaving to see about getting a new shirt before going to the park. Go home, get new shirt, go to park. What’s at the park that has the attention of boys and girls alike? Puppies. Someone is giving away puppies. Cute puppies. I got all the “Daddy can we?” and “Please?” trying to persuade me to take home a “free-for-now” future slobbering, money-eating canine. No was the answer.

Off to the movies! I thought that The Spiderwick Chronicles would be ok to see with my kids. For the most part it was, but there were some loud scenes of snarling goblins, transforming ogres, and snapping trolls that would have probably put bad dreams in my head if I were a little kid. But it was also filled with beautiful fairies and sprites that made you go “Awww…how cute!” Going by what someone else told me about taking their small child to see it, I figured it would be ok with me there. Little T ended up in my lap for part of the movie. “Awww…how cute!”

Afterwards, we went to Captain D’s for some dessert, but ended up eating fish and shrimp along with the cheesecake bites, brownie bites, and creamy cheesecakes. I have to admit that it was my first time (that I can remember) ever eating there. I was clueless of what to get off of a limited menu. Yes, I was that confused. I finally chose the fish and fries dinner. Will I eat there again? Maybe. It wasn’t as bad as I imagined a fast-food seafood place could be. But then again, maybe not.

It was a good day. I got to be with my kids. I got to see D and do things with her. I started writing this when I got home and fell asleep. Anytime you fall asleep while trying to do something you love, you have to be tired. I suppose I was. I needed to catch up on some sleep anyway. That’s something I haven’t been getting enough of lately. Who am I kidding? Sleep? I’ll get enough of that when I’m taking a dirt nap.

Til later,
GoBusGo!