All the Taco Trucks

Alternate Title: Defying the law of diminishing returns

I received the most amazing assignment ever--rank all of the taco trucks in Memphis. Since I can only eat so many tacos, I enlisted the help of my firstborn. He had to be bribed with a promise to visit the Apple Store along the way, but then he was totally on board. It was actually quite amazing to pick him up from his dad's house on Saturday and not only have him be dressed and ready to go, but to also seem excited.

I explained the law of diminishing returns to him and we discussed different criteria we might use to rank the trucks and it was all quite civilized.

I don't want to ruin my upcoming Thrillist piece, but I will say a few things about our FIVE HOUR TACO EATING ADVENTURE just to build some anticipation.



I love the El Burrito truck on Jackson. It was our first stop, so you know the whole diminishing returns might come into play, but they had a great selection and the owner was a doll.



He had the best salsa of the day too--it was a creamy avocado based sauce. And I now know that a taco is not complete without a pickled carrot.



Satchel Snapchatted along the way. I have no idea what he said.



Across from El Burrito is Jalapeno's, which may or may not be affiliated with this little place just a few feet away.



I was tempted to try it, but worried about not having enough room for all of the other tacos in my future.

On Summer Avenue, we discovered this RV Pupuseria. Tacos are more of an afterthought here, but still tasty. We need to go back and eat a pupusa.



The Los Jarochos truck was closed due to the owner being on vacation, so we were forced to go into the ice cream side. It's like a little La Michoacana. Great pops and ice cream, and my favorite--chocolate covered bananas. With sprinkles!



Next, we came across this truck on White Station, but it had started raining and no one was inside despite the "Open" sign being lit up.



And then we searched and searched, but the famed Chili Verde with the strawberry salsa was nowhere to be found. (Anyone know where it is now?)

We headed toward Hickory Hill and that's where we found the Los Compadres truck. I don't *think* it's affiliated with the restaurant. (I asked but didn't get a straight answer due to my inability to speak Spanish.) At first I thought it might be filling up it's tank, but it is fully operational right between the BP pumps.



There was a cooler full of jumbo Mexican Cokes and I couldn't resist. I think it was my first Coke in three years, maybe?



Yep frozen treats, a Coke, and more tacos than I could count all in one day! Decadence!

One of the coolest parts of our adventure was collecting all of the different salsas. As far as I could tell they were all homemade.



After eating at seven taco trucks and one ice cream place, we spent a grand total of $25. Satchel insisted on a $5 order of tamales at La Guadalupana, otherwise I never would have broken my second $20 bill.

We were both full, but not dying--though I didn't eat again until Sunday. When I emerged from my room Sunday morning, Satchel said, "I want more tacos."

Of course by then, I'd had numerous people mention trucks we never found, so I seriously considered it...for a minute. They'll have to wait for the update or part 2. I definitely think it was one of my funnest assignments ever. I'm so glad Satchel was with me.

October!

I just went an entire month without a single post. I guess that means I've been busy! Here's a recap, for the record.

Jiro got to spend a week at the beach for Fall Break thanks to the incredibly generous and amazing Edwards family.



He went last year too. How lucky is he? Last year he got pretty homesick and I got a ton of late night "I can't sleep" texts. This year, I barely heard a peep. He had a great time.



We had to celebrate Warren's 49th (!!) birthday without him. Satchel and I took Warren to the Beauty Shop for a fancy brunch that included cake.



If you are thinking that Satchel looks huge in the picture, it's because he is. He's officially taller than both Warren and I (though only one of us will admit it) and his feet are definitely bigger. It's an amazing thing to watch your baby grow taller than you!



Wait, I thought I just said Satchel is taller?



Someone just got busted on his tippy toes!

Let's see, what else? I am still amazing the children with my culinary skills. I made potato soup for the first time and Satchel said it was better than Warren's. (Shhh!)



Satchel saved up enough money to buy a Swegway. It's pretty awesome.



It's actually making him want to leave the house, which is great.

Jiro has been learning to play bass now that he's in the band.



He's VERY shy about it.

On Halloween we had our very last Rock-n-Romp ever. Ever! It rained so hard that we almost cancelled, which would have been a first, but the awesome owners of Memphis Made let us move it inside. Good thing, since original DC founder, Debbie Lee, came all the way to Memphis for the show!



It ended up being really awesome, and it was great hanging out with Debbie! Mean ol' Satchel refused to attend.

After RnR, Warren and Jiro dressed up for Halloween and went to a party.



That's Jiro in the monkey mask. He's a Black Ops 2 character called Lui Calibre.



Guess who Warren was?



Alex from a Clockwork Orange!



I don't play Black Ops 2 and I haven't seen A Clockwork Orange, so I'm a little out of the loop on how awesome or not awesome these costumes are.

And that was October! At least what I can remember of it!

Updatey Like

I feel like nothing is happening, but also that a lot is happening. A scroll through my phone pictures left me with the following updates:

Jiro played for idlewild this Spring. I think he only got to play in three games because of rain, rain, and more rain. He also missed one because of Rock-n-Romp and one because of a field trip. But, trust me, when he was there he was an absolute beast!



Speaking of field trips, Jiro went on his first ever out of town field trip to the Corvette factory & museum in Kentucky. He was SO excited. On the long bus ride, he filled his Instagram account with a gazillion selfies. It was cute.



We had some furniture rearranging in the apartment. Satchel slept on the floor on the new rug I got them for two or three weeks straight. I thought he just really liked the rug. He complained his bed was uncomfortable. Finally, he admitted that he didn't like sleeping on the top bunk. And finally, I realzied that just because beds can be bunks, they don't have to be. He was so happy to have his first ever bed on the floor.



Jiro is handling the change just fine.



There's been some cooking at the apartment, but not much. I still excel at breakfast and we have a few basic dinners we enjoy. Satchel tried his hand at making mashed potatoes from scratch.



And Jiro has helped make brownies and cookies, in addition to his Japanese candy kits.



Satchel's arm is still broken. He is on cast number 3. They change it every two weeks. Somehow I haven't gotten a photo.

School ends tomorrow. Both kids did well at the awards ceremonies. They prefer that I don't attend, and I don't argue. A friend sent this picture.



Satchel got the Outstanding Student Award in Art and P.E. which cracks me up. At least the P.E. part. He is a pretty amazing little artist.

That's it for now. We are looking forward to a relaxing summer break. The boys only have a couple of camps this year, but they have three road trips. And lots of free ranging!

13

Yesterday, Satchel became a teenager. He's been acting like one for quite a while, but now it's official.

On Saturday, we had an early celebration. He wanted to invite his three best buds over, eat a bunch of crap, play soccer at the Kroc, have a FIFA tournament at my place and then have everyone spend the night.

At Kroger, I let him pick out his supplies.



We actually had to procure the Takis at Mapco. They were essential as the loser of the FIFA tournament was going to have to snort a crushed one. (I wasn't going to let that actually happen.)

Then, he insisted that I make the pasta that my friend, Mary, gave me as a gag gift on my birthday.



After we picked everyone up, we came to my apartment and I served it up.



Within thirty seconds there was intense giggling, and everyone but Jack ate it. (Later they all asked for more.)



Around 6:00pm they headed over to the Kroc to play soccer. Jiro and I were chilling at the apartment thinking we had a nice two hours to relax. At 6:30pm, I got a teary phone call from Satchel. "I think I dislocated my wrist," he said. "Can you come pick me up?"

Satchel is the king of minor injuries, so I was pretty calm. On my way out, Jiro said, "He might be pranking you."

I pulled in front of the Kroc expecting them all to be lined up and ready to play Xbox, but no one was there. I parked and went inside to discover a very pale and teary Satchel hunched over on a bench icing his wrist. I could tell it was serious, so I instructed the other boys to stay and continue playing while I took him to Minor Med. If we were lucky we could be in and out before the Kroc closed and continue with the party.

Thanks to the awesome people at Minor Med, my plan basically worked. The boys walked back to the apartment and a newly splinted & medicated Satchel and I met them there shortly after with pizza.



The party continued with Satchel mostly spectating. (After awhile he did attempt to play one handed.)



The FIFA tournament was anti-climactic since Satchel didn't win. Jack, who lost, ended up taking a sip of some gross drink the boys made from almond milk, sriracha, cheese, soy sauce and who knows what else, instead of snorting a Taki.

Around midnight I got the boys to turn on a movie, and Satchel was soon sacked out from his meds. That allwoed Jiro, who was originally supposed to lock himself in my room all night, to hang with the big dogs. I finally got them to sleep by 3:30am. Then, they were back at it by 8:30am.



I was sent for donuts, then I took everyone home. Satchel immediately started negotiating for a "do over" once he got his cast off, but I told him that 4 boys was too many to have at my place and to talk to his dad!

On Monday, I took him to get a real cast and it helped his overall pain tremendously. And he got to miss school, which always makes him happy.



Tuesday, the actual day, was much better and we got up early so he could have a latte before school. (I know, right?)



AFter school we went to the Snowden v White Station soccer game to see all of our friends play. It was super exciting and went to a shoot out. Then we ended the birthday celebration with a family dinner at Sekisui.



This is what I posted on Facebook yesterday:

Celebrating 13 years of motherhood with this dude. Those assholes who tell you, "it goes by so fast," do not lie! He went to school with a caramel macchiato and a pocket full of Sharpies. I asked that he please not let his friends draw penises on his cast. He's excited about going to the Snowden v White Station game tonight and then getting to stuff himself with sushi at Sekisui. I love him so much. Even when he acts like a punk. Happy Birthday, Satchel!

Edited to add:
I just found this list I was keeping on my phone of Satchel's birthday requests he made throughout the year:

Rent a pink Hummer limo and drive to Lamberts

Phone with service

$250 headphones

Go to Kroc without Jiro

Sekisui

Take all friends to Moe's

Apartment all to himself

GTA5

A monitor

Satchel, Age 12

I have a freaking 12 year old! he's been acting like it for awhile so that mitigates it a bit. He is very much 12 and I will say that 12 is not my favorite. He still has moments of utter sweetness and delight, but wow, yeah. Puberty. Not ready!



We started his birthday a bit early since we all had Good Friday off. He really wanted to go to Flight and try the molten cake. As a bonus, he also had this giant hamburger featuring a brick of fried mozarella cheese.



I love that he is a foodie. He described the molten cake as "life changing."



The best thing to come out of the meal (for me) is his now regular use of the word "charcuterie."

After lunch I dragged him and Jiro to the Brooks for the Dali exhibit. I don't think he wanted to admit that he enjoyed it.



Saturday he was super grumpy and had to be sent home from the opening of the awesome new bike gate in Overton Park. Thankfully, Jiro was a trooper.



Before he left, I showed him my Christmas gift to the family. His response, "OMG that is SO embarrassing. Can you get my name taken off?"



Warren and Jiro continued on to a party and Satchel took a nap. When he woke up, the two of us had a lovely afternoon that included lunch at Swanky's and a shopping trip to Sports Authority. Despite not being too sporty, that is where he prefers to do his shopping. The uniform of choice for 12 year olds? Anything Nike on top, Under Armour shorts and Nike "elites" (which are socks), and Nike shoes. (Not sure how Under Armour dethroned Nike in the shorts department? The tween/teen girls/women are ALL about the Nike shorts.)

He wanted a new hoodie, but we couldn't find one in an acceptable brand. I was so like that at age 12.

I have to say, he looks pretty cute.



As you can see above, we spent Sunday with family, celebrating his birthday with a little egg hunting. Then he was FINALLY allowed to go to Game Stop and spend his birthday money AND the Christmas money he's been saving on an XBox. His life is now complete! (Or so he says.)



Oh, and there is nothing wrong with his knee. He wears that to cover up his birthmark.

We attempted a nice family dinner on Monday, his actual birthday, to culminate the festivities, but it was a total fail.

It's just going to be one day at a time around here for awhile.

Happy birthday to my beautiful boy. I'm going to do my best to weather the puberty storm along with him!

The Monkeys

Playing catch up on the monkey action...

Satchel went to his middle school dance. I suggested having some friends come over so they could go together. It was super cute watching them get ready. Satchel would not take any advice from his parents and said, "I'm not getting styled by people who lived in the 1900's." So he wore what he always wears when het gets dressed up. (He did wait to debut his new shoes at the dance.)



Even though he went with friends, he did officially have a date. And now he officially has a girlfriend. (As far as I can tell, they talk at school and text each other in a group text and post on each other's Instagram feeds. Pretty innocent.) He even went so far as to get her Valentine's candy. He was too embarrassed to actually enter to pink aisles at Target so Jiro and I had to do his bidding.



Even though Satch has a girlfriend, Jiro says I'm still his girl. If Satsuki sits too close to me, he will come in and say, "Move over, that's my girl." I love it.

But as you can see, Jiro & Satsuki definitely have their own thing going on.



Cute, right?



We also survived our first science project. It was one day late, which meant it didn't actually get entered into the Science Fair. That didn't suck at all. Nope.



Oh, and Satchel also started eating spaghetti tacos. I thought he made it up, but he says it is from iCarly!



And that's about it on my cute little monkeys.