I Knew I Could Rock - Now I Know I Can Roll

I love to party! I love adventure! I love trying new things! But, I almost lost my mind this past week when I tried to take one 90 year old (Daddy) and two 8 year olds (Maya and Joy) to lunch at Piccadilly and then to the movies to see Shrek. Trust me, one of those "events" would have been sufficient to meet the crazy quota for one day, but noooooo, I had to shoot for the moon.

Piccadilly is one of Dad's fave spots. He ALWAYS get the same thing - 18 fried shrimp, carrot souffle (shhh, don't tell his nurse!), whole kernel corn (you can tell her about that), cornbread and tea. They are so familiar with us at Piccadilly that I shout out when I'm entering "Please drop me 18 fried shrimp!" Yeah, I say "drop" - but hey, that's what they say. The important thing is that they "drop" it and it's ready by the time and I scoot up and get the veggies ordered. Got that routine down pat, but the girls threw a monkey wrench in it. First, I had to almost FIGHT them to get them past the salads, jellos and desserts, then, there was the long, drawn out decision before they chose the things they always eat at home. Good news is that we finally got the food, got seated and finished up.

Think we are headed to the movies? Not quite. We have to make a stop at WalGreen's to get "movie candy". I wasn't prepared to take out a second mortgage to be able to make a purchase at the movie concession stand, so off we go to WalGreen's. Oh, they were mesmerized by the variety and I was thrilled with the price! We made our choices - SnoCaps for Maya, Swedish Fish for Joy, Lorna Doone crackers and cashews for dad. Don't worry, I had also previously frozen 3 small bottles of water and had those stashed in my purse! NOW, we are ready for the movies!

OK, we go through the adventure of finding a parking spot (at Phipps Plaza!) only to find that the 3-D version of Shrek is almost 45 minutes away! Off we go to Chick-Fil-A for ice cream (shhh, don't tell Dad's nurse). By the time, we get this purchased and consumed (choosing a table took 15 minutes of debate), we were finally ready for the movie. $39 dollars later, we were in the movies and I was passing out all the contraband (candy and water) from my purse. Only then did I realize that I didn't have anything for myself!

Off I go to the snack bar and $12.25 later, I was in possession of a large popcorn and a large fruit punch. I go back, sit in my seat and start to watch the movie. I was so ticked at having spent $12 on popcorn that I took the bag from WalGreen and emptied the large bag of popcorn into it and headed back to the snack bar to get my "free" refill. What I didn't count on was (1) the darkness of the theater and (2) dad's feet being stuck out in the aisle. As I attempted to step over where his feet SHOULD have been, I came down on where they ACTUALLY were. I didn't want to step on Daddy's feet, so I went into a forward roll. I SWEAR! I rolled onto my back -- (cue slow-motion), and as I was rolling, all I was thinking was (1) don't let all this crap come out of my purse and (2) where is my empty popcorn bag.

Good News! I stuck the dismount and landed on my bottom (the cushiest part!). More good news - my purse was still filled with crap and my empty popcorn bag was in my hand. I proceeded to the snack bar and thrust my empty bag toward the snack bar attendant. She looked at me strangely, but she obediently re-filled my bar and I proudly went back to my seat with my "free" refill. I didn't realize til I returned to my seat that I had worn my 3D glasses at the snack bar (hence the strange look).

The lesson is that I ALWAYS knew I could rock but I now know that (when I need to), I can also roll!