Weekend Update

On Friday night, Team Alley, Team Chockley, S.A.M. & Miss M (do I really need to link these people at this point?) and the infamous Gretchen all gathered at my house for pizza and mojitos on the back deck. Because I am extra pitiful when Warren is out of town, I didn't have to do anything but unlock the front door. Chip & Richard arrived with four large pizzas and two six packs, Kristy came with all the mojito supplies, S.A.M. brought homemade ice cream (cinnamon roll swirl), and Gretchen made rotel. (She even loaded the dish washer later that night!)

The kids ran en masse through the backyard, the front yard, and even the field across the street, decked out in various superhero costumes, before settling down in the livingroom to watch "The Neverending Story" and throw shoes at each other. GK was the star of the evening, hanging out and laughing as though almost being one and being surrounded by bloggers with their buzz on was the best thing in the whole wide world.

Everyone seemed to have exciting plans on Saturday. ("Everyone" being all the mamas whose husbands were not digging for twelve days in the Mark Twain National Forest.) S.A.M. was off to Oxford for a weekend alone before birthing #2, Kristy and Steph each had their own Girls' Night Out planned. Satchel had been invited to spend the night with his friend down the street, so Jiro and I were on our own. Since Chip only had Connor and we had official Rock-n-Romp business (location scouting) to attend to, we decided to spend Saturday evening together.

Because I have never actually been to the Chockley abode, I agreed to leave the safety of the I-40 loop and venture East. Jiro fell asleep on the drive, so after a quick tour, Connor and Chip got in my car to head back to the inner I-40 circle to scout the July 21st RnR host. (I made Chip drive, of course.)

Our scouting mission was uneventful--Chip and I were rendered speechless by the vast expanses of green and the playground that rivaled the one at Peabody Park. Jiro, now barely awake, and Connor were determined to maintain full body contact with their only parent and refused to acknowledge the wonderland before them. After providing the host with sufficient details on the upcoming show, we loaded up the CRV and went in search of food.

I had hoped to go to The Emerald, a yummy Thai restaurant on Mt. Moriah. (It's usually impossible to talk Warren into eating Thai food.) Plus, I figured it would provide Chip and I a new venue to review on Dining with Monkeys. However, since we were just off of Summer Avenue and Chip was at the wheel, he got his pick: Edo. I really couldn't turn down an opportunity to eat Japanese food and the fact that Edo had already been reviewed eliminated me having to actually pay attention while eating.

We pulled in to find the parking lot almost entirely full. Whether Edo, Charlie's Meat Market, or the Mediterranean Market was the cause, we couldn't tell. Chip tried to park next to a dumpster in front of an empty storefront full of gas cans about 300 feet away from the restaurant. I protested and he went back in search of a closer spot. Luckily a family was pulling out and after a short wait, we got a spot right in front.

As Chip put the car in park, we heard a disturbing gurgling noise in the back. I turned around to find Jiro puking his brains (okay it was McDonald's) out. Before I knew it, he and his carseat were covered in vomit. I quickly surveyed the front seat and found some spare clothes. I removed Jiro from the car and cleaned him off the best I could while Chip silently thanked the gods for allowing this to happen in my car rather than his and Connor secretly hoped this would lead to dinner at Wendy's rather than Edo.

There wasn't much I could do to the carseat other than dismantle it (with Chip's assistance) and throw the nasty bits in a plastic bag with Jiro's dirty clothes.

"So much for dinner," I said as I gave Chip a squirt of hand sanitizer and we headed back east.

We tried to see the silver lining.

"Good thing I complained about the parking spot, otherwise he would have barfed in the restaurant," I said.

"At least he didn't do it during the RnR scouting mission," Chip said.

We dropped off Chip and and somewhat traumatized Connor, who (I assume) went to Wendy's. Jiro and I went home. We watched "The Neverending Story" again, "The Holiday," and ate leftover pizza. Jiro continued to throw up every hour on the hour (usually on me) for the next four hours. Thanks to a large stack of towels, the damage was minimal.

Even though it was her night off, I called Kristy for advice. (Team Alley had the pukes the week prior.) She assured me it would only last five hours tops and that Jiro would be fine in the morning. (Then she happily said, "Well, I'm drunk, so I'll talk to you later!" and hung up.)

On Sunday, Jiro did seem fine. (Satchel has remained unscathed, as have I.) When I told Warren about our adventure on the phone, I could tell that he was happy, just for a minute, to be in a hotel room far, far away.