How about them apples?
Mood:
chatty
Topic: Reality
How interesting things are when you reliquish control and just go with it.
Sunday was Mother's Day, the following day was Joey's (our former roommate and Matt's best friend) birthday and thus, we combined the two for dinner and movie like we did in 2008.
Sunday started off slowly. I watched a few episodes of South Park while playing online. We picked Joey up around 2:15pm and headed off to Wichita. We made a bee line for Shoe Carnival and bought Matt some new shoes for work. Then, we headed over to the Warren Theatre on 21st to see "Iron Man 2". I had purchased three adult tickets online while I was surfing the Net earlier, so we didn't have to worry about the show being sold out. We got to the theatre with enough time to spare, and got excellents seats for the 4:15pm show.
Great flick - enjoyed it, and yes, would go see it again.
At the car after the show, Matt spies a gold/brass colored piece of metal, kind of like a nail puncturing my passenger side front tire. I become worried, we debate the merits of changing the tire in the rain or just driving back to Wellington on the tire. I convince Matt and Joey it is best to just wait until we get home.
The guys had chosen Sumo Grill for dinner which I was cool with, and we headed around the northside of Wichita to get to the Eastside and to Sumo Grill. Had I know they wanted Sumo in advance, I would have taken us to see "Iron Man 2" at the Warren right next to Sumo rather than on the west side of town, and I would have made reservations. We show up at Sumo around 7pm-ish, there was not one parking space available and we could see at least a dozen if not more people standing and sitting in the waiting area inside.
Let me just say now, I hate the Eastside of Wichita. It reminds me of the too overly concerned with appearances vibe of West Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Plastic stay at home moms and ladies who lunch with WAY too much make-up, push up bras, and annoying children named Blane or Persphone whom they playfully call Bootsie or Babs. *retch* We pulled into Bradley Faire to eat at Il Vicino and my senses were promptly assulted by such a woman leaning over her polo wearing six year old, cleavage out, leaning down arms akimbo helping to open the cleavage further for all the world to see, hair, nails, and make-up screaming I shop Neiman Marcus or nowhere, telling her litte boy that this was her day and that he was going to eat food she chose for him. She spoke to him in a 'dog voice' like she was talking to her prize Maltese or something.
I looked at Joey and Matt and said, "Yeah, we are SO out of here." We left and headed for the real side of town - south - toward N & J Bakery on Lincoln and Edgemore for some great Greek/Lebonese food. I could just taste the hummus and tabouleh and was planning on ordering the roast lamb kebobs. Well, that turned into a no starter as N & J is closed Sundays. We then headed for Marjaritas Cantina on Douglas. Nope - closed Sundays. Finally, I head to Old Town for Whiskey Creek Saloon. Just as I turned from Douglas into Old Town - my car stalled. Died right in the mid turn and the acceleration out of it.
I turned the car off, put the blinkers on, and sat there a moment. I looked at Matt and said, "I am buying a new car tomorrow." He said, "Okay" and that was our full discussion on the new car situation.
I turned my attention back to the Pathfinder we were still in, turned the key, and blessedly it started. We went straight to Whiskey Creek and had dinner - it was nearly 8pm. The place was empty. Four or five guys at the bar, and maybe a table or two near the back. It was perfect. No noise, no kids, no annoying nouveau riche bitches - I was in heaven. Matt and Joey got steaks, I got a spit roasted chicken breast. It was simple, easy, and relatively inexpensive when compared with Sumo Grill or Il Vicino.
We drove home and finally got into our house at 10:22pm. I wrote Ronda and email and told her I was taking Monday off to buy a new car...which I did.
I was up early and from 6:30am to 10:30am searched all the local dealerships stock online, did price comparisons to similar cars at dealerships in Wichita, and then started researching Consumer Reports, Kelly Blue Book, and various other car reviews. My critera:
- Had to be less than $20,000
- Had to have head and leg room so Matt would feel comfortable either driving or being a passenger
- Had to seat four comfortably - preferrably more
- Had to have good storage space
- Had to be either AWD or 4WD
- Had to have better gas mileage than the Pathfinder
- Could not be red or yellow
Well, I found just that in the 2007 Suzuki XL-7 Luxury model at Countryside Motors in Wellington. We paid Blue Book for the car, I got a $2000 trade in on the 1998 Pathfinder (with 223,000 miles on it). This new (used) car has only 52,000 miles, is Jet Black, has leather interior, a DVD player and plenty of room to stretch out for both the driver and passengers. Oh, and it can seat 7 too! Good storage in the back and on top - it has racks.
Here I am today - a new car, a topic to blog about without consulting my spreadsheet of topics, and a tasty bowl of mushrooms, and a delicious tossed salad for lunch.
OH, and no tornados near us at all last night! It's all good to go!