Partying with Monkeys

Satchel loves to give me suggestions for new blogs. "How about driving with monkeys?" he'll suggest. "Or, shopping with monkeys!" Last night it was partying with monkeys.

Warren and I took the boys to Minglewood Hall for the Flyer's Best of Memphis party. Dining with Monkeys won second place in the "Best Blog" category. (Yay!) Because there would be no blog without the monkeys, they got special permission to attend the 21+ party.

When I explained to them that they were going to an adult party, they were not excited. "You mean we'll be the only kids?" Satchel complained.

When I explained that they would need to put on clean clothes, they were even less enthusiastic. "I'm not going!" Jiro cried.

"There will be free food and music...it'll be fun!" I exclaimed, hoping to get them excited. Their eyebrows raised. They were hungry. "Memphis Pizza Cafe will be there," I continued. "And there might even be sushi..."

"Yay!" they screamed as they got dressed and headed for the door. This was perfect since everyone knows that if you don't get to the BOM party early, you don't get to eat.

When we arrived I gave the monkeys some final coaching. "When I introduce you to someone I want you to smile, say hello, and make eye contact." At the door, I received a lanyard with "Winner," printed on it. I explained to Satchel that even though I was second, I was a winner.

"Who came in first?" he asked.

"Paul Ryburn's blog," I said.

"What's his blog called?" he asked excitedly.

"Paul Ryburn," I said.

"Oh," he said. "That's not very cool." (Mmmhmm.)

From there we went to stand in line for food. There was a huge line, but I noticed that there were several stations set up, so we went to a much shorter line. We saw Ben Smith dishing out some of my most favorite hot and pungent shrimp. The monkeys were totally stoked to see someone they knew. (Ben's son, Ian, is one of their BFFs.) Warren said, "Ian is hiding behind the curtain." Before they could start tearing up the place I told them Daddy was just joking.

They were disappointed, but then easily distracted by the chicken wings at the next table. Then the Melting Pot loaded them up with chocolate covered goodness. And finally, we got some Memphis Pizza Cafe. Seating was hard to come by, but we did manage to squeeze in at a tall table where Chip was holding court. There were no chairs, it was one of those stand and eat deals. I was worried about the monkeys being able to adapt to this, but they did fine. Soon their happy faces were covered in pizza sauce and wing juice.

Mary came over with news that Bluefin had a table full of sushi set up, so I was sent out on behalf of Team Oster to load up and also get some non-alcoholic beverages. Sadly the sushi was all but gone, but I did score some sausage and cheese at the nearby Rendezvous table. At the bar, where I was hoping to procure water, I saw my Boot Camp instructor, Dexter. We had a nice conversation about eating low cal foods and only having one beer. (He did the talking. I just smiled and told him that my attendance at Thursday morning's session was a long shot.)

Back at the table, the monkeys were fairly sated and had their thirst quenched. Mary showed off some sushi shaped lollipops she found at the Bluefin table. The monkeys' eyes lit up again and another friend was kind enough to offer them each a pop. Then it wasn't long before Satchel, Jiro, and I set off to find the lollipop stash. (We also had a Paul Ryburn sighting, much to Satchel's delight.)

Once we had enough lollipops to get us through a half hour or so, I began introducing the monkeys around, not that they needed introducing. They actually made eye contact, smiled, and uttered hello audibly just like I instructed. I was so proud! And they even posed like good little trained monkeys when my editor at the Flyer snapped our picture. Jiro had a little routine he did where he waved as he said hello and no matter what the next thing someone said was, he replied, "Good." (Usually it was appropriate, as in "How are you?" But it didn't really answer, "Are you having fun?")

The monkeys eventually started clamoring to go home, and Warren, their designated driver, wasn't quite ready to leave. (I don't think he expected the party to be so much fun.) So I took the kids around front to see Goodnight Dark Star, who totally rock. Then we unsuccessfully tried to get more pizza. Finally, we had a bathroom run to the absolute largest bathroom ever. (Despite their being a million people there, not once was there a line for the loo.)

At 7:45pm, Warren finally agreed to take the monkeys home. When I walked them out, Penelope, who works for the Flyer, greeted them like rock stars and gave them their very own "Winner" lanyards.

So yeah, all adult party, not so bad afterall.