A very Good Friday indeed

Yes, I know there are two inherent problems with this post.

1. It isn't Good Friday, or any Friday for that matter. It's Monday.

2. I posted another post before this one, thus getting me out of sync and possibly ripping a hole in the space-time continuum.

(Or maybe just opening up the Pandorica. Yep, Dr. Who started a new season this weekend! Huzzah!)

But, it was such a good, Good Friday, I felt it needed to be documented. And since I didn't take a single, solitary photo all day, I'm having to rely on the kindness of strangers.

And Flickr.

Like this one:



This, my friends, is The Soul Fish Cafe.

mmmmmm

You see, I had the day off on Friday, for the first time in, oh, about nine years. And Anna Marie had school on Good Friday for the first time in her whole life, thanks to the massive number of snow days this year. The closer it got to Friday, the more resentful I became of the thought that I was going to have to get up early on my DAY OFF to get her to school. And since it was just a 60% day, I hatched a plan.

We played hooky. Don't tell anyone, m'kay?

I have never, ever asked her to stay home from school - and she did take some convincing. But when I told her we could spend the day with Aunt Manda, and spend the Burke's Books gift certificate Aunt Manda had gotten her, well, that was all the reason she needed to skip school.

(Editor's note: She has not missed a single day of school this year, except for getting checked out early in February when my dad was having open heart surgery. She said we had already messed up her perfect attendance streak with that one.)

We met Amanda and her friend Clark at Soul Fish, and I guess I don't have to tell you what type of food a place with a name like that has.

Slap yo mama food, that's what.

And for dessert - oh, for dessert we introduced Jason to one of the wonders of the modern world. YoLo.

(OOOH. I guess I told a story. I did take one picture on Friday.)



YoLo is one of those really dangerous places, because they weigh the yogurt after you self-serve. No good can ever come of someone with a scale and my food. I'm just sayin.

And you don't even want to know how much Anna Marie's yogurt cost. Trust me.

And then, we went to Burke's Books and let her browse. She spent a wee bit more than her certificate, but she was able to successfully talk Jason into fronting her a few more dollars.

(It didn't hurt that he bought himself a book, either. Seems he can't get the Kindle App to work on his phone, so he has to do things the old-fashioned way.)

We took Amanda back to Soul Fish, where she'd left her van, and took a little side trip to Lit, a local restaurant supply store. And who should appear? Why Amanda, of course! I had no idea, but apparently she'd told Jason she was coming. I think I liked being surprised better!

I don't even think I can put into words what a perfect day it was turning out to be. The weather was PERFECT. And then, you know how sometimes you go into a store, and the music is totally offensive and you want to get out of there as fast as possible?

They were playing soul music in Lit! I don't know if it was our local soul station (because we're in Memphis, so of course we have one) or a subscription service, but when I heard Al Green - man, I could have stayed in that store all day! It just totally set the mood for the kind of day we were having, running errands to special, Memphis-centric places.

Just. Perfect.

Unfortunately, we did have to leave and make our way back home. We stopped at JC Penney, and ran into about half a dozen families from our church - including our Senior Pastors. I love my church peeps, and it makes me happy to run into them in public!

We totally were taking over that Penny's store.

I felt so blessed by the time we got home. I haven't had a day like that in a long, long time - or maybe, ever. It reminded me how much I love springtime, and MEMPHIS, and hanging out with Jason, AM, and Amanda.


Overwhelmingly blessed.

He's a bad motha

Shut yo' mouth!

I pondered many titles for this post, like:

"He's a complicated man, and no one understands him but Tom Cruise"

or,

"Who is the man, who was on TV yesterday talkin' bout Bernie Mac?"

How unreal is that? Just Saturday, Isaac Hayes was on our local (Memphis) news stations talking about Bernie Mac, who had died that day. And then, Jason gets online yesterday and exclaims, "Isaac Hayes has died!"

(And I'm pretty sure Jason only knows who that is because we moved to this area, and Isaac Hayes used to operate an eponymous restaurant at one of the malls here. Hot buttered soul, indeed!)

And then last night, we were at our small group meeting, and my phone (which I usually switch to silent at such events) rings, and it's my mom, asking if Isaac Hayes is really dead.

Because when you pick up the tail end of a photo montage on a news cast, that's the first thing you assume, right?

And living in this area, I'm pretty sure I'll have the theme to Shaft running through my head for like, the next week or so.

Just like last year when I mused that it was completely awesome that James Brown, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, had to work hard even after death - multiple funerals, multiple costume changes, and a several-month delay in being interred - I think that Isaac Hayes needs an equally-awesome sendoff.

Like, they need to bury him in that get-up from the Oscars that year that the theme from Shaft was nominated - gold chains and all - in a solid-gold coffin. Maybe with a red-velvet interior, and some diamond-shaped windows.

And a rag top.

That would be awesome.

Can you dig it?

Why did no one tell me?

Hmm?

Why did no one tell me how completely overwhelming that Archiver's can be?

Maybe it's no big deal to those of you who have scrapbook stores in your area, but we have none at all in our county. We're relegated to Walmart and Dollar Tree, and occasionally Dollar General.

But today - man, today was a different story.

We went to visit Amanda, and mom wanted to try Ross because she'd been given a Visa gift card. As we pulled into the parking lot, there it was.

Archivers.

Right next door was a Justice store (clothing for girls) so I took Anna Marie in there first. We picked up a few little trinkets, and I thought that would keep her appeased so I could shop the scrapbook store.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, as my uncle is known to say.

I basically had to run through the store, because she kept trying to pull me away from what I needed to be looking at - namely, supplies for a zoo page - and ask me for totally unecessary stuff.

(Stickers? Really? If I'm buying her stickers, they WON'T be Jolee's. They'll be from the Dollar Tree.)

Finally, I just gave up.

I did, however, talk my mom out of skipping the trip to the mall, and get to visit Sephora!

I didn't buy anything, but I did try bunches of stuff on while Anna Marie "made over" her Gramma. So fun!

And I deserved a bit of fun, because I'd just spent way, way too much of my time with The Kid in Build-A-Bear trying to teach her the importance of budgeting as she tried to get the most out of a $10 gift certificate we'd earned.

I am so not used to having a kid when I shop! Well, I take that back. We do our main grocery shopping on Sunday, but Jason is with me and generally keeps her occupied so I can concentrate.

Otherwise, it takes me three times as long to go through my list.

I told her yesterday, as we walked through Walmart and I'd heard about the 1,000th request for junk, that I wasn't going back to the store until she started back to school.

"I won't have anything to eat!" she protested.

Well, maybe not, but at least I can shop in peace again!

Let's see if I can blow Blogger's mind

I knew I took lots of pictures today at the zoo, but when I sat down to edit them, I saw the full scale of my shutterbugness.

(Shutterbugness? Is that even a word? Guess it is now. Somebody call Webster's - I have an addition to their next dictionary!)

(Also - why did no one, including my shutterbug of a sister, tell me that when you upload photos to Flickr, they put them in reverse order of how you uploaded them? Very annoying.)

Yes, after a several-month hiatus, I have once again uploaded my photos to my Flickr account. Mainly because I needed to upload lots of pictures, and I didn't want to have to wrestle with Blogger.

You might want to take a potty break and grab a glass of tea. This could take awhile.

Oh what fun we had today! There were enough chaparones that I only had to be responsible for Anna Marie. Plus, everyone was on their own, free to roam the zoo until the appointed meet-up time. I had checked Anna Marie out before we left the school, so she got to ride home with me.

Amanda said she wished she'd been there, because it sounded "delightful." And it was! It was sunny, but there was a surprising amount of shade around. We had our lunches, so we got to stop whenever we wanted and eat. Thankfully I also had some cash, because we also needed other refreshments during our three-hour tour.

(A three-hour tour!)



The front entrance. I haven't actually been to the zoo (I think) since my cousin Shawn had his birthday party there, when he was like, five, and he's going to be 26 this summer. That's a long time, y'all!



There are all these really cool animal statues at the front entrance.



We procured a map (from a guy who tried to charge us $10!) and Anna Marie quickly became a Map Nazi. And yes, that's a random piece of yarn around her hand. She got off the bus with it, and I have no idea where it came from. She took it off soon thereafter.



Tigers! That water looked so cool and inviting, I wanted to brave the big cats and jump in. Obviously, I didn't.



I don't remember if they had meerkats before The Lion King and Meerkat Manor came along or not.



The snake house. Of course, the interior did not lend itself to photography, but rest assured that the future herpatologist that shares my last name was EXTREMELY excited to get here.



I suppose that in order to get two pandas, Memphis had to promise to make a big tribute to China. That's the only way I could think they could justify the scale of this exhibit. There was this bell . . .



And this statue (which Anna Marie thought was the dog with its baby, but I'm not so sure this is a loving pose), and, finally . . .



The pandas. They were in separate enclosures, each having lunch. There were lots and lots of other things in the panda's pavilion, but I didn't want to go, you know, overboard with the pictures.



I need a sign like this hung around my head at all times.

(Hey! We're halfway done!)



There was a baby giraffe. I wish I'd have gotten a picture of what happened next - a giant door opened and the giraffes walked through. Guess they must've been hungry, which got us hungry, so we headed to a pavilion to eat.



Anna Marie had a sack lunch from the school. I was going to be all "hip" and bring my beloved couscous and vegetables, but I ran out of time. So when I ran to get gas this morning, I picked up an apple and a banana and threw them into my tote bag.

(Well, I paid for them first. The point is, that's what I had for lunch. I was STARVING when we got finished, but thankfully this was an auction day so we swung by for something from the cafeteria. We got there just as the line was being taken down!)

Anyway. Back to the zoo.

Anna Marie was also excited about the monkeys. Unfortunately, the orangutans couldn't be bothered.



How rude! The penguins were much more obliging.



This is the original zoo entrance, from when I was a kid. Also, probably from when my parents were kids. I'd actually forgotten about it until today.



It was starting to get hot by this point, but fortunately there was a concession stand nearby where Anna Marie could get a fudge pop and I could get a bottle of water.







(We're in the home stretch now!)



The Egyptian theme continues throughout the park. You know, since Memphis is named after an Egyptian city and all. Very original.



She even talked me into putting a penny (and two quarters!) into the penny-squishing machine.



And then she had the gall to be upset that it was bent! When I was a kid, there was this machine that dispensed animals (plastic? wax? I don't remember) for a small fee. I didn't see any of those, which disappointed me. I also didn't see the peacocks that used to roam freely. I guess they attacked one too many visitors.

She fell asleep on the way to the auction, and then woke up enough to eat something and help wipe down a couple of tables. We went to Gordman's on the way home where I picked up a couple of nice tank tops to layer under shirts. I'd also promised her a trip to a "real" bookstore, so we went across the parking lot to Books-a-Million where she got a chocolate milk and a book on snakes, and I got a skim milk latte.

Tomorrow is the last day of school, y'all! And not a moment too soon - Anna Marie's doctor is setting her up with a specialist so we can get to the bottom of these respiratory problems that keep cropping up. It'll be nice not to have to worry about missing school for a while.

She's still coughing some, but not nearly as much. She's taking about four different medicines, but tomorrow is the last day for the Prednisone. The hives are still cropping up here and there, but she's still taking Benadryl and I'm using hydrocortisone creme when it itches. I have read, though that it's common for hives to do that after a severe allergic reaction.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers and good thoughts during this time - and please keep remembering us! I'm just exhausted with all this, but I'm also thankful because I know there are some much sicker kids out there whose parents have to go through much, much more.

I need to get off here and let Blogger cool down get to bed. In addition to being off today, we're on a short deadline because of Memorial Day, and I have to get her from school tomorrow!

Jason and Melissa's excellent adventure

Of a whole week ago!

I would've done this post sooner, but the pictures were on my new phone, and I don't have a memory card for it yet, so I have to use the software and a USB cable to get them off, and I can only do that at home, and I'm just not home all that much.

Anyway.

Last Saturday, Jason and I dropped Anna Marie off with my mom (her choice, to be sure) and trekked to Memphis to one of our favorite places:



A fabulous kitchen supply store called Lit!

It doesn't look like much from the outside, but just take a peek at the plethora of professional kitchen stuff inside:





And, in the back, they have bulk items like plates and flatware.

We got some stuff for the auction kitchen, and for us a couple of new whisks and a stainless steel container we're using to store our cooking utensils on the stove.

Oh, and for Amanda, a cake knife like a real, live chef would use. She's legit now, y'all!

Across the street is a store that I figured out is unique to Memphis (I think):



In case you can't read that signage, it's called the "New York SUIT Exchange!" Isn't that a clever name for a clothing store? Jason bought the suit he wore to his sister's wedding there last year, because they usually have a great deal going: buy a suit (of surprisingly good quality) for $100, and they throw in a shirt, a tie, a belt, and a pair of socks FOR FREE. He also got a nice pair of shoes for an extra $33.

And sometimes, if you spend $200 on a suit, they throw in three shirts, three ties, and three belts. I don't know how they do it, but it sure was the deal we were looking for last summer.

We had to get to Lit pretty early, because they close at noon on Saturdays. We stopped at Abners on the way home - now officially my favorite chicken finger place. Grilled, y'all! They have grilled chicken fingers! And baked potatoes! The best baked potato I think I've ever eaten!

(And no, I haven't registered my complaint with Zaxby's yet. For one, I'm still trying to locate an address so I can mail them a letter, and for two, I was waiting to go to Abner's, since that's their main competition down here, to see what kind of healthy options they have.)

Today, we aren't so much into excellent adventures - unless you count me walking 10 minutes to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things so I could get more exercise and conserve gas. Today we're more into doing some stuff around the house - Jason and Anna Marie are outside doing yard work, and when she comes in we're finally going to use the cookie baking set my mother got her for Valentines's Day.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Guess what we finally got around to doing?

Taking our Christmas card picture!

We've been so busy these past few weeks - I was afraid we wouldn't get it done at all, just like 2004. Complicating the matter was the fact that Amanda no longer resides a stones-throw from me, but has moved an hour away.

Yesterday, I woke up with a plan. Well, actually I'd been planning it for a few days, ever since I woke up last Sunday in a panic about the whole process.

I knew Amanda would be in Downtown Memphis feeding homeless people, because that's whas she does most every Saturday. I also knew we has a first birthday party for my cousin Cheree's exceedingly cute daughter Amelia, just across the river from Memphis in Arkansas.

I asked Amanda to meet us downtown after her homeless feeding duities were over. And she did!

I likewise knew that it would be 4 p.m. or after before any of us could get down there, so outdoor pictures would be out of the question. We parked in our favorite free-parking spot, and walked a couple of blocks to the Peabody Place Mall and their ginormous Christmas tree.

Someone in our group was being less-than-cooperative, and kept asking for pizza. And after she was threatened within an inch of her life to never ride the choir bus again, we finally got a usable shot.

I stayed up pretty late last night working on these, and they should be waiting on me at Wal Mart when church gets out.

Now, comes the fun part - finding the addresses, because neither my ultra-organized husband nor I appear smart enough to save them from year to year.

Get a glass of tea.

This could be a long post. Sorry this has taken me a while to get up.

But -

Monday was Pink Palace day, and Tuesday we went to the auction to have lunch with Jason, and yesterday I participated in a mock-emergency exercise at the local college.

So here I am. The one that you love.

And here are the Pink Palace pictures.



No, I didn't take this one - I couldn't get this close to the mansion. Can you see the pink marble? It's really beautiful. This is the "old" part of the museum. I didn't get a picture of the front entrance in the newer part. It's just boring brown brick.



Contrary to what I'd expected, Jason sprung for us to see an IMAX film - Deep Sea. Since I couldn't take pictures during the film, you'll have to take my word for it that it was spectacular. Here, Anna Marie is barely able to contain her excitement before the movie starts.



Anna Marie looks into a microscope for the first time. I figure this must be what it was like for Einstein.



It's a mastadon! How funny is it that Anna Marie turned to me and said, "Mom, you've got to get a picture of that!"



The faceless mannequins! The very ones that scared me as a preschooler! Can't you just feel the creepy? And I just noticed - that one on the right has a sleeve missing! Maybe if I'd noticed it at the museum, there would've been some explination close by. I think I was too distracted by the creepy.

They didn't seem to bother Anna Marie much. Maybe if I'd seen them for the first time when I was six instead of three, things would've gone better. The really, really bad one is around the corner, in the Yellow Fever exhibit. She's apparently a widow, all dressed in black, in a corner display case. I've never actually gotten close enough to read her story. She's almost as bad as the lead - yes, I said LEAD - coffin in that same area. It's in an alcove to itself, with a weird purple light shining on it. It looks just like a Pharoh's coffin, because it's in the shape of a person.



Turn-of-the-century toys. Anna Marie noticed the blocks right away, because they're almost exactly like some she has.

Moving on.



This is a huge, very detailed scale model of a circus. It's supposed to move, but right now it's under renovations by students from the physics department at the University of Memphis. Why physics? I have no idea.



Did you know that the founder of Holiday Inn, Kemmons Wilson, was from Memphis? And that the very first Holiday Inn was here? And how many of you remember these old signs?





Since the founder of Piggly Wiggly, the first "modern" grocery store, was the same guy who built the mansion, there is naturally a replica of the first Piggly Wiggly inside the museum.



Clarence Saunders, who built the house (and the Piggly Wiggly) died pennyless before he finished the mansion. I think it had something to do with the stock market crash.

Speaking of the mansion, its exhibit space is mainly dedicated to life in the 1920's and 1930's, when the house was being constructed. Talk about suffering for beauty's sake!



Did anyone really think this would help?

(Oh, and notice the lack of faces. It's like a theme or something.)





And these are costumes from the Cotton Carnival. It's a celebration held every January in Memphis. It used to signify the end of the cotton harvest (and that everything sold for a good price). Now, it's mainly a charity focus. There are "secret societies" that host parties all month long, with club names like the "Crewe of Hathor" and other mythological-sounding titles. These costumes are from the 1950's and 1960's, and I think they rock!

Whew! I'm tired, aren't you?

And now, I look forward to the next couple days off - whenever that might be.

All I want is a couple days off!

With apologies to Huey Lewis, of course.

And guess what - I seem to be set up to get them!

I've actually taken two whole days off from work - in a row! I'm so excited!

Anna Marie is having fall break on Monday and Tuesday, and instead of trying to find someone to watch her on Tuesday while Jason is at the auction, I decided to give myself a bit of a fall break too.

Because, dang it, I deserve it! Elections and magazines and lawsuits, oh my!

I've just been giddy thinking about it.

And as hard as last week was, with all my meetings, I just kept thinking, I get two days off next week. If I can just survive and put this paper to bed on Friday, I get two whole days off!

It's almost unreal. And that's sad, folks, that I get this excited over two days off in a row.

Little AM spent the night with Gramma tonight. She looked like a little street urchin, because she'd been playing outside in the dirt and had some on her nose, and I hadn't gotten around to washing her face yet.

Tomorrow we're headed to the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis. Jason also wants to hit the IMAX theater there. Anna Marie's never been to an IMAX movie, and the one that's playing is one of those "under the sea" jobbers, so I think she'll be suitably impressed.

I know I was, when we saw a similar film in Chattanooga on our honeymoon. And so was the little boy sitting next to me that day, about six years old or so, whose dad kept telling him that the sharks were going to get him.

I don't think I'll take that tack with Anna Marie. If she has nightmares about sharks, guess whose side of the bed she'll end up on.

Yeah. Mine.

Hopefully, she won't be as freaked out about the faceless mannequins as I was when I was a kid.

Just a couple days. . .