closing down the Waffle House

Stop the press! I was out after dark. I know... it's crazy... so unlike me. After my last line of my last entry... that I was needing a hug from the fabulous Mr. Drake... he made the journey to the far northern suburbs of Atlanta... and I made the journey south into civilization... and we shared a few wonderful hours of conversation with each other... and Austin and Devin.

Well. The thing is... it's not a great idea to leave those two alone together. So... they tagged along and entertained us and annoyed us.

My friend was kind enough to come bearing gifts from the big city - a real newspaper, the same day edition of the New York Times! A muffin from a real bakery (the amish bakery here is closed for the winter)... some reportedly amazing chocolate... some chocolate from Lebanon, complete with Arabic writing... and some beverages *wink, wink*.

It's been three years since my last encounter with Mr. Drake and he has gotten better with age... and I got that hug that I had wanted. Life is good.

From the "life in a small town - a degree and a half of separation" files, Robert reminded me of the one other person he knows in Cleveland. He had sent us an email introduction before... but when he brought her up tonight I said, "who are her people?" Because everyone who lives here either came here for college and liked it.. or has family here. It turns out her people - her parents - are my landlords.

Also from the "life in a small town" file... we "closed down" the Books-A-Million, which amused my Austin, whose mother rarely ventures out after dark except for Sunday nights and Wednesday nights at church. We asked someone in the parking lot where we might find a place to eat "late" (10pm) at night. He said, "Atlanta". No kidding. They roll up the sidewalks! We ended up at the Waffle House for a late night snack for me and the boys... dinner for Robert. Austin said, "what if we close down the Waffle House?" Poor trick. Doesn't get out much.

It was definitely worth a "late night" drive... which reminded me that it's time to get my eyes checked. The boys were on "deer patrol". It was, I'm happy to report, a safe journey and absolutely worth it.

On the ride home we joked about the Circle M gas station. In the musical Avenue Q there is a line about starting out at Avenue A and not being able to afford it... and ending up at Avenue Q. So the joke with the Circle M is that it's for the people who can't afford Circle K (a chain gas station around here). I thought Devin wouldn't get mine and Austin's goofy Broadway reference. Turned out that Devin knew of one song from Avenue Q - the internet is for porn. I mean... he's 16. Devin was surprised to find out that I had the cd... he had heard a friend's mp3 version of just that song. I said, "Um... it's on Broadway... it's showtunes". Funny how kids don't know how cool showtunes can be. He was relieved, I think, to hear something other than my contemporary Christian praise music.

Ok... it's late for me... gnight y'all. Love and hugs!