Grandbury, TX Weekend

Friday was a quest--for cute and unique pens. At work, my pens are getting less and less. And I mean that by ink and quantity. So I somehow convinced Cary (yes, the greatest hubby ever!) to set out in search for pens that I can use in identification that are definitely mine. I am anything but ordinary.

We ended up at Northeast Mall, where we found not one, not 2, but 3 (yes 3!) new pens. 2 are Hello Kitty, which I knew the store would have something cute. Almost too cute. But I am liking them! The third I found at Hallmark, which will clearly be my favorite, and everyone will know why.

I think I have a pen problem. Almost as much as my....other problem. One which you will get to know in a future post. If you don't already know what it is.

While at Hallmark, we met a very nice sales associate who thought that Brylee was the cutest thing ever. Her words (and I'm not exaggerating), "She's so cute. I want to become friends with you just so I can babysit her."

While she cooed over our kid and Cary talked with her (and kept a close eye on our kid), I ran around the store and found several things for Easter. I know it's a little early, and she will never remember her 1st Easter, but I couldn't resist getting her a basket and a few little goodies for this special day. Of course, any candy will have to go to her daddy and me, because she is still a bit young to enjoy that. I know, the pain of it all!

You would think this would be the highlight of our weekend, right? Nope. Not this time.

On Saturday Cary and I had breakfast at Ham N' Eggs with my mom. The place with the gigantic pancakes, which are the size of a table. I'm not kidding. Well, I am exaggerating, but not by much. After this huge meal (in which the 3 of us eating one serving of pancakes only managed to eat 1/2).

After saying goodbye to mom and kissing my little one adieu, Cary and I were out the door. Only to turn around less than 5 minutes later to go retrieve his ipod, which he left in my parents' charger by accident.

We drove out to Grandbury, which is about 1 1/2 hours away, through and away from Ft. Worth. It is a cute little town, and the square is a bit touristy. But we were tourists today, so we parked the car and started out on our little walk, visiting all of the shops that peaked our interests (including Dr. Pepper Beef Jerky!)

There were boutiques, kitchen gadget, ceramic painting, food, wine, books, antiques, and fudge lined up along the square, and we went in to more than half the stores. There were so many that had women's clothing and jewelry, but while some of the jewelry was cute (but costume and gaudy), I am not so sure about the clothing. It was made of this crinkly fabric expands when you wear it, and you are supposed to wash and lay out to dry. No hanging, just toss it into a basket and wear it. It might drive mom nuts, because she loves nicely ironed clothing!

There was also baby clothing, including onsies, hats with the giant flowers, and tutu's...oddly enough, as girly as I am NOT, I do want to put Brylee in a tutu someday...not necessarily through dance, either!

We ate at Rinky Tinks, hamburgers and fries. They boasted the town's best milkshake, which surprisingly, we did not try. But we did go back a little later for ice cream!

After wearing out the joys of the town square, Cary and I explored more of Grandbury and Staples (office supply store). We also attempted to drive to the next town, which lasted about 10 minutes before turning around when we saw nothing.

For the evening treat, Cary took me to the drive-in. This is one of the few drive-in movie theaters left in the nation, so this was pretty cool for us to experience. The movie for the evening was Avatar, which we have seen before (in 3D), so it would be interesting to see it on the big screen again, hopefully follow the plotline better, and enjoy the cool evening air.

We get there and roll down the windows, take some pictures (but of course!), walk to the concession stand to buy popcorn and soda and then sat back in the car to wait for the movie to begin.

I loved watching the little children run around in the front. Instead of seeing fireflies, which is what I think of when we are in a country evening time, the shoes of one of the little kids lit up with ever step she took. If you squinted, you could imagine them as fireflies.

Just before the movie started, we tuned into the radio station that aired the movie, no longer having the box that hooks up to the window. It was neat being able to watch the movie and make comments to each other whenever we wanted to and not worrying about the people around us. Our car seats also lowered down much further than movie theater seats, making for perfect near-napping comfort.

With about 30 minutes left in the movie, our radio had a brief moment of static and just went out. No big deal, we have our windows down. Others will have the same problem; we'll see someone scrambling to get up to the big silver screen in the front to correct the problem. Just wait for it...

Wait...

We hear a car engine start up, run for a few seconds, and then shut off again. Here and there, cars were doing this, but no one seemed frantic for not being able to hear the movie. Cary decided to play with the radio, flipping to other stations we know work:

Classical 101.1

Nothing.

KVRK 89.7

Nothing.

KLUV 98.7

Nothing.

Cary then decides to start up his car.

click click click (the sound of his engine trying to start)...

Then it hit me: The battery is dead! Because we had the car radio and the dashboard lights on (the way his car is made, we could not find a way for them to go off), we had run down the battery.

I was not able to concentrate on the movie much more after this because of the things running through my head:

Battery is dead. Everyone will pack up and leave first thing after the movie ends, and no one will be around for us to jump the car. We'll have to call for a tow service...or a cab. We might not get assistance until too late tonight. It's already past 10 p.m....we'll have to get a hotel to stay...I want a nice, warm shower and a bed...preferably my own. And I miss Brylee!!!

As we stepped out of the car, I grew hopeful. I know we wouldn't be stuck here for the night. What a silly thought. I bet most people keep jumper cables in their cars. But now, there was a mission.

First vehicle we asked if they had jumper cables. No...

It was suggested to check the concession stand. Well, yeah! If anyone had them, they would. You know this has to happen at least once per movie for all those drive-in newbies.

Nope. They stopped carrying them because people were ruining them.

2nd car? No.

3rd? Nuh-uh....

I started placing bets in my head. Even the mechanic that came to the same place for entertainment didn't have any with him.

Back to the thoughts in my head: We're going to have to walk home. We'll freeze to death waiting for a tow truck. Where is the closest (nice) hotel? Brylee will never remember her mommy and daddy!

As the vehicles dwindled down, we headed back to a Toyota 4 Runner that was on the other side of our car.

"Excuse me. Do you have any jumper cables?" (please say yes...please say yes)

"Yes, we do (YES!). My car dies almost every time we come out here (uh....yes?)

It was a nervous moment as the Toyota whirred to life after acting like it was going to take a long nap itself. Trying to hide my excitement and nerves (as I always am when a car has to be jumped) as they hooked up the cables, I turned and talked to the nice lady with her sleeping 2 year old from the vehicle next to us.

Not even 5 minutes later, Cary and I were on the way home, thanks to a young kid and his 4 Runner. I was so glad to get home on Saturday night.

I am very glad to say that the rest of the weekend was not as eventful. And I'm even more proud to say that so far, it is looking good that Brylee will get a chance to remember us.