Don't Look Back!

Well, we just got home from Memphis, and Patrick's mowing our yard. We had a great day, even though it started out WAY too early--we had a 7:30 a.m. appointment at CarMax to have the rear bumper painted; I didn't know until we got there & Patrick asked if we could have had this done at any CarMax...and yes, we could have. Oh well. It was an excuse to go back to one of our favorite cities. I also wanted to see if they could pop the front bumper back on (again), but they said there wasn't anything they could do--no holes left. Oh well. Then I asked if they could replace the brake light--sure, for $38. I said no...and later on bought a two-pack of bulbs for $4.99 at AutoZone.

After CarMax, we went to Golden India--our favorite Indian restaurant. We had the buffet, which is always great, but on week days they have lamb korma (I think it's korma), and on the weekends (which is usually when we go into Memphis), they have chicken makhani, which I swear they lace with cocaine it's that good. So no chicken makhani, but I have to say...lamb is pretty darn good. I feel bad, since the animals are cute & fuzzy. I pretty much like to think all of my meat comes straight from my grocer's freezer, wrapped up in a tidy package and there was no actual killing of animals. (I know...self deception is a dangerous thing.)

Back to our day...after lunch, we decided to catch Batman Begins (I think that's the name of the movie...I'm so bad with actual movie titles. I catch myself telling Patrick that I want to see a particular movie, and he's continuously telling me that we've already seen it, and no, it wasn't good. I think Mulholland Falls was this way...or was it Mulholland Drive? I can't remember.). Anyway, Batman was playing at the Paradiso Theatre, which is a great theater--I'm not sure why they felt that they had to built a theater that looked like an Italian piazza in Memphis, but there you go. It's purty. The Paradiso boasts an incredibly large screen, and super THX sound. They call it the "Grand Screen"--it's an extra wide 50' tall screen with 60,000 watts of "Digital Stereo THX Surround Sound." (That's according to the ad in the "Memphis Flyer," the local alternative free weekly...oh, how I can't wait to get to a city that has a free weekly alternative paper!!!!) The seats rock & are extra cushy, too. The movie rocked. It wasn't super-brainy, but was appropriately dark, with the right mixture of violence & explosions. I give it a thumbs-up. (By the way, the trailer for Willie Wonka & The Choco Factory looks like it will be amazing. The trailer for Stealth--not so much.)

Then back home...where responsibility rears its ugly head....I need to cut one extra piece of window trim (why is it that no matter how much trim you buy, you're always one piece short???), and like I already mentioned...Patrick's mowing the yard. The garden in general needs some help, but I figure I can work on that while he's in SC, enjoying all the riches that the Greenville area has to offer. (By the way--anyone who comes to visit, we've GOT to go to Tanner's Big Orange--I'm not sure what they do, but their orange drinks are out of this world!!! Patrick said their pimiento [spelling? not sure as I don't like the stuff...at least, I don't think I do.] cheese hamburgers used to be good, too....so I'm sure he'll do a taste test to see if they're still as he remembers them.)

I'm trying not to think too hard on the next couple of weeks--I still have to go to work (why can't they pay me to stay at home?), and do little touch-ups here & there; I may take some stuff to the storage unit if I'm feeling frisky. I'll miss Patrick; I know it's only two weeks, and I know that Mom had to endure a much longer separation from Dad (and while pregnant, birthing me & for the first few months of my life!), so I know that this time apart will be nothing compared to that....I'm just trying not to think about it right now! He'll leave here around noon tomorrow...keep him in your thoughts to help keep him safe!!!

It was sad to leave Memphis today; we've had such great times there!!! We thought when we were ready to leave, we'd do Memphis up right: stay at the Peabody; go to Beale Street; eat once more at The Rendezvous; check out Neely's and Interstate BBQ; ride the Zippin Pippin one last time (we thought about catching a quick ride on the Pippin today, but it just didn't happen); go to Graceland & marvel at all the tacky souvenirs. But, that just didn't happen. I'd like to think we'll come back sometime--maybe our kid(s) can ride the Pippin (hopefully it'll still be in operation...it would be a shame for an old wooden roller coaster that was Elvis' favorite to be taken out of commission.). But you never know what happens, and it's just sad to think that today may have been the last time we would be in Memphis. At least we ended it with a great movie & some tasty food.