So far I’ve been getting home on the right days. The week before last I wasn’t home until Friday late but I made it to Freddy’s birthday dinner at Yoshi’s on Saturday. I guess sushi tastes better when your legs are asleep. I love the traditions but my fat ass was not meant to sit on the floor without laying out a little… like Jabba the Hutt. It was nice to see Freddy’s parents again. They are always so nice. I really like them. His brother Justin was there and a girl we hadn’t met before but Teresa, Becca and I all thought of my sister Tammy. She was just like her. Mac and his amazing baby octopi were there. Every time Becca sees an octopus, she mentions Mac. He seems like an interesting cat. I wish saw more of him and got to know him better. Freddy and I had talked about doing some drumming after dinner but I guess he changed his mind. Oh well, another time I guess.
Last week I made Bob and Larry aware that, even if I had to buy a flight out of Birmingham, I would be in Jacksonville by Saturday noon. Becca had her annual Girl Scout ball that night. I was home Thursday evening. Friday we went out to dinner and took Becca to see the Nanny McPhee movie. It was cute, very predictable but it is, after all, a children’s movie. The highlight of the movie for me was seeing that they were doing the Pink Panther with Steve Martin. I’m way behind on the upcoming movies. I used to be on top of everything and knew long before most others what was coming. Now I find out from the movie trailers on my DVDs.
We all got up on Saturday morning and went out. Daddy had to get a haircut for the pictures. I haven’t had any cutting on my hair since March of 2004 and it showed. I looked like the shaggy dog (which they are remaking by the way). While we were there Teresa got a cut as well and it looks nice. Of course she doesn’t think so. We both got our haircut and she got 2 bottles of goo and it cost the same as her regular haircut. Half the cost and none of the proselytizing? We’ll be back.
Becca had a new dress and shoes. I put on my suit and out we went, Father and daughter. We went to our regular spot, Motoga for dinner. We couldn’t go out without stopping in to see our favorite waitress. She was amazed it had already been a year. She says she remembers where we sat the last 2 years we came in. It’s nice to be remembered. We wished her a happy New Year’s eve and Becca (and I) made it through dinner without spilling anything on our clothes.
We arrived at the dance early enough to get our pictures taken without standing in line. Becca was really excited and ready to go. When we went inside, one of the coordinators mentioned Becca’s new shoes. B just looked up at me and said, “See daddy, it was important for me to have new shoes with this dress.” I guess I’ll never get it. She has dozens of pairs of shoes. Teresa has a lot. I wear the same 2 pair all the time. Sneakers or hiking boots. Not that I do much hiking, but that’s what they are called. I also have a pair of steel-capped work boots but they are required (and paid for) by the company for certain sites so they don’t count. Maybe this summer I’ll get a pair of leather sandals, but that’s about it for footwear for me. Becca even has the same shoes in different colors to match whatever she has on. Lada was like that but luckily, Teresa’s not too bad about it. 10 maybe 15 pair. So, her new shoes mentioned, off we went to the dance floor. We had a great time dancing. I actually got out there and danced quite a bit. A sad, white-boy dance, but wasn’t alone in that. All the other fathers looked just as goofy as I did. She loves the ‘organized’ dances. The Chicken Dance, The Electric Slide and that annoying Cha-Cha-Slide. That one drives me nuts. It’s like you’re being ordered around the room by some psychotic that got his hands on a microphone. When I try to imagine him all I can see is an aged Grand Master Flash locking himself into a studio booth, singing “Two jumps this time” while the men with the nice white coats are trying to break down the door so they can take him back home to the hospital. But, Becca loves it so, I guess it’s all subjective and I’ve never been known to be very good about that.
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