Clapping And Skipping

While we were in New Mexico we actually got to make a small road trip over to Lubbock, Texas with the boys, it was actually Randy’s Birthday and we decided to spend the day with him and do a bit of Birthday shopping for him while we were there, Tim had the day off and went along for the ride.

I knew we were in trouble when before we had even gone a mile everyone was hungry and Tim had that loud comedic ranting he is famous for going on, and Randy was already suggesting bodily harm if Tim didn’t get his hands off of him and back onto his own side of the seat, right then and there I had flashbacks of vacation trips past that both scared the heck out of me and brought a smile to my face at the same time.

Our first stop was at the Mickey Dees on the edge of town and started with Cindy making the mistake of asking “What do you want” it seemed like forty five minutes went by before we finally got a decision from the boys, Tim and Randy had broken into a random conversation about drive up food and what to order and what they most likely didn’t actually serve, we were laughing so hard at them that Cindy had a hard time gaining her composure long enough to place our order, yes we were in the drive through and I hope the people behind us were not in a big hurry because evidently we were not.

We got back on the road and Tim went into telling us where he wanted to stop and what he was needing to buy, I asked him how much money he had brought with him and this simple question brought on the following:

Me: How much money did you bring with you?

Tim: None.

Me: What do you mean none and why do you have no money.

Tim: Because Elisa won’t give me any money.

Me: Elisa has your money and why is that.

Tim: Because Elisa says that I am not responsible; I don’t get to carry any money.

Me: (laughing) and why is that?

Tim: Because I took my paycheck and bought a Big Box of donuts and donut holes, I got a good deal and when I got home I had no where to store them so I sat down and ate most of them before she got home, she told me that wasn’t a good investment. I thought it was a good deal but now I don’t get any money.

You all remember Because She Is My Favorite, well it looks like the tables have turned and she is even more my favorite now.

In Lubbock we made our way through the mall needless to say and also through several other stores, ate lunch at Schlotzsky's which is an excellent sandwich for those of you who have never eaten there, the entertainment was great and we had a lot of laughs here too, funny thing is all the entertainment was from our table, Randy was contemplating moving to Lubbock and joining the police force when he spotted a female officer that came into the shop, we convinced him that she was an officer not just for her looks and that she could probably whoop him, he agreed and went back to his sandwich, after lunch we spent a while looking at computers which we chipped in and helped Randy get himself a good laptop for his Birthday, Tim was there for technical support and between the four of us the salesman had his hands full trying to answer all the questions and figure out which ones were actually serious, Tim had a few technical questions and statements which left the salesman realizing that Tim actually knew what he was talking about so all the BS sales pitches went right out the door, and we ended up with a good computer for a very good price.

We went to a western store after this where I was looking at new straw hats (like I need another straw hat) but settled for a fine new camouflage ball cap that looks like it has already been run through the mill but it sure is comfortable, Tim got himself a couple things with his no money policy and Randy got himself a new hat from Tim for his birthday and a couple shirts, we went next door to Joe’s Crab Shack for supper and if you have never been there it’s worth it if only to sing YMCA with the wait staff, the highlight of this meal was when they were all supposed to come to the table and sing Happy Birthday to Randy, they put a spin on this one I have never seen and Randy was such a good sport for playing along, they escorted him to the front of the room and announced that it was his birthday, gave him two pot lids and continued with the announcement that Randy would be clapping the pot lids together while skipping around the room amongst the tables as they sang Happy Birthday, I figured he would had the lids back to them at this point but he began banging them together and skipping while everyone sang, I was actually proud of the boy because he was having such a good time at his own expense and you just can’t beat being able to do this.

Our day ended with both boys in the back of the van exhausted and partially sleeping on the ride home, our view was the sun setting in the West as we drove toward it on our way back to New Mexico, we had a whole lot of laughs this day filled with tales of donuts, what not to order, pet names the boys were calling each other and the complete satisfaction of spending a whole day of quality time with the little boys we watched grow into the men they are today.