Wonderful Mother/Daughter Day

The work day seemed to drag but at last, 4:30 arrived and I headed home to grab my things and hit the road to Cedar Falls. I took the Avenue of the Saints down because I was stopping in Janesville to see Justin and Beth's new house and make a NAPA delivery to Justin. I got to Clear Lake and knowing there is next to nothing to eat in between and just kind of having to use the restroom, I decided to stop and get a snack and use the restroom "one last time" before I seriously hit the road. Having had bad experience after bad experience at KFC/Taco Bell, one would think I would have learned my lesson --- NOOOOO! I decided to give them another try, thinking surely they would have improved in the last 5 years. I went inside and used the bathroom and that all came out just fine! I went to order and they were out of popcorn chicken so I opted for a snacker and a small pop. Paid for the meal, got my drink cup and, lo and behold, the diet Pepsi spigot was only clear carbonated water. I went to the counter to tell one of the employees there only to be told, "You're just going to have to wait a while, I don't have time." Yeah, right, hillbilly! (Both counter people were missing teeth and looked as if they were brother/sister or cousins or maybe a little of each!) Sooo, I stood there for about 10 minutes, watching the "busy" employee pace back and forth. Finally one of the other employees came out and fixed the problem. While I was watching, I saw them screw up every person's order in the line behind me. Arrgh! I really have to swear off giving people second, third and fourth chances. Anyway, I got into my car and while I was getting situated, ended up spilling half of my drink that I had waited so long for! This trip was starting off with a real bang!

Once I got on the road, everything went well. I got to Janesville and found Justin and Beth's house, went in for the grand tour and visited with them for a while. After that I texted Gabby to meet me at the hotel and that I was just hitting the road. By the time we got into the room, we both decided we were hungry and went to some sports bar that she had been to before and had a drink and an appetizer. Since it was a Monday it wasn't crowded but somebody was playing some wacky music. We sat and ate and visited and listened to, 'Ring of Fire', 'Oh Lord, It's Hard to Be Humble' and 'Coward of the County'. After such an entertaining evening, we headed back and watched a little tv and went to sleep.

Gabby got up early as she told Paige she would help turn out the horses early in the morning. While she did that, I showered and got ready for the day. After she came back and got ready, Fr. Huber called and we set our lunch "date" for 11. Gabby and I set off to begin our day. My goal was to get the items on my mom's "list": manilla envelopes, nail scissors, nail file, facial hair trimmer and new chair pads for their kitchen chairs. Since we Smiths are all early risers and go-getters in the mornings, nothing much was open. We got the envelopes at Staples but the Bed Bath and Beyond wasn't open yet. We hit the Target and picked up a few more items off her list. By that time it was a little after 10 so we headed to Top Notch Salon which is right across the street from where we were to meet Fr. Huber at 11. Gabby went in and got a haircut and eyebrow wax -- the haircut looked really cute. The stylists working there that day had some kind of accent -- we concluded maybe from Croatia or Slovakia. It was kind of fun to hear them talk. One of them answered the phone and was speaking to the person on the other end in her native tongue. Kinda cool.

Eleven o'clock finally came and I was glad Fr. Huber wanted to meet early for lunch as I was kind of hungry. We ate at Panera and Gabby had a 'classic' salad, Fr. Huber had some kind of panini and I had a Greek salad. The salads were good and even Fr. Huber had something positive to say about his panini. We visited about all the goings on in our parishes and families and then parted as he had annulments to work on and I had shorts to shop for (yuck!). Gabby and I headed off to Younkers and upon entering, we heard a familiar laugh. We looked around and there was Beth! We started looking around and she came and blessed me with a coupon. I ended up finding three pairs of shorts, all on sale! We drifted down to Scheel's and thanks to the clearance rack, our family is ready to hit Fenway park.

After the mall experience, we decided to go to downtown Cedar Falls. We parked the car (noting the time so I would not get a parking ticket again!). Gabby and I made our way up and down the street, stopping and browsing in the quaint little shops. We did go in a couple antique stores. I've got to say, one persons 'antiques' are pretty much my 'junk'. I just don't get into that. Once we had made our way through all the stores, we got a snack and then decided to go to a movie. We went to see Zookeeper. I had no idea what it was even about, but it turned out to be pretty funny. When the movie was done, I decided that I had better hit the road and head home. Probably a good thing, since when I passed the Eldora exit my phone rang. It was Micah asking me if I was "ever going to come home". I guess the guys must miss me after all. It was good to get away and spend a carefree day with my daughter. Will have to do it again sometime.