Doncha Just Hate It When...?

Doncha just hate it when you put money in the soda machine, hit the button for a Grape soda, and then you get a Fruit Punch?

Then, of course that would have been the very last quarter you had left in your purse, and that annoying red light on the machine is blazing and screaming right back at you "exact change only." Even though there's a single crisp George Washington uselessly sitting there in your wallet, you probably wouldn't bother wasting it again in the same machine anyway.

Steal my quarter and keep my grape soda once, shame on me. But, take my dollar, keep the change, and still give me another stupid fruit punch...well, that means war and we already know how Washington would handle cherry fruit punch!

Yet, that twenty-five cents war is not nearly enough of a hassle for me to visit Walmart's customer service center and complain. Thirty minutes later, I may or may not have my quarter back, but by then I would be more parched than a piece of parchment paper and still not have my cool, refreshing grape soda!

There's a bunch of disgruntled drink machine refillers out there just laughing their butts off about this, and I imagine that maybe even a few, after having a particularly crummy day on the job, do this intentionally. They pull a soda switch-a-roo, then rush back and hide in the truck just to watch! Seriously, have you ever clocked just how long some of these trucks appear to sit in the parking lot? They're having loads of laughs, however, they don't have to worry about quarters and they can just open up the truck and pick out whatever they want! Since I don't apparently miss a grape soda for a fruit punch, who's going to miss if they want a cola and have a cola?

And you gotta admit. If you were the one doing that same exact job, doesn't that sound even the slightest bit fun? Pepsi tick you off today? Well there, now take that Coke and shut up! That will teach you a lesson! One morning, I might wake up and decide that I don't like the Sprite in you. You need a Mountain Dew instead, ha! Or I might decide that you've already had more than you share of caffeine for the day, so I'll just cut you back to anything else that's caffeine free! Or hey, did Dr. Pepper give you the news? No! Joke's on you as it's a Fanta, Fanta, who wants a Fanta?

If I had a dollar for every drink machine that I've ever wanted to kick box somewhere into next week, I'm certain I could at least have built and patented my very own miniature soda machine that could dispense Grape soda inside my own car without my ever having to bother with quarters again. Now that's a novel idea that I'd be willing to pay money for. A bright flashing GPS button that stands for GraPe Soda! Yet, the one in my car would have to come with sweet tea too. That way, even if I wanted a grape soda, I could settle for a sweet tea without having a fruit punch induced nervous breakdown.

Yeah, I just hate it.

Did Ya Bring Yer Shovel?

We returned from the shore, though I am still trying to finish laundry, unpacking, and getting rid of the ton of sand that somehow followed us home in toys, swimsuits, and shoes! The weather was beautiful and hot. A bit unbearable a few days as it was over 100* but the breeze from the ocean made it harder to really care about the extreme heat.

Below is my toddler playing at the beach. Yeah, we take shovels everywhere! Did ya bring yers?

This is "Carolina Moon" - absolutely gorgeous and oceanfront! If you're ever in the Holden Beach area this is certainly a lovely vacation home. The children fed seagulls from the upstairs balcony while pelicans flew overhead, ferociously rocked in all the rocking chairs along the porch, and loved the child sized Belize chairs around front!


It was beautiful, but I won't pretend that it wasn't an exhausting week for me. I don't think mothers ever really get a true vacation. Vacation generally just means all the extra work of piling everyone into the car and lugging stuff and yourselves somewhere else to continue your daily responsibilities. Though it is hard to beat looking out at the ocean. It's nice to drift away somewhere where you can just sit and bury your feet in the sand.

For a short while, it was also nice not to worry about the heavy machinery digging in the dirt across our street.

Chicken Noodlin' All the Day - At the Shore

The Chicken Noodles and I are off to the shore! With the car loaded down with enough paraphernalia that will hopefully get us through Friday we are officially headed to the North Carolina shores. Whoever said "Life's a Beach" apparently didn't have two little ones that he was trying to pack up and take there, lol!! Anyway, hope everyone has a great week and I'll post again when we get back.

Thank God for good directions...and Hardee's tea.

Today it was 96 degrees outside in the shade, not to mention humid. It was one of those sweltering muggy days where a person is much happier just sitting inside in the air conditioner. Unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury to sit and soak up the AC.

After being outside much of the hot morning and early afternoon, I happened to drive by Hardee's and read the lettering on the marquee. "32 oz. Sweet Tea - $1" glared at me in large uppercase black letters. Hmm...now that was a thought. However, a quick glance at the long drive-thru line persuaded me to tuck the tired and perspiring dollar bill back into my wallet.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for driving with all four windows rolled down and letting the wind blow through my hair so I really do look like I never brushed my hair this morning, yet sitting in the stale heat in rush hour traffic, motionless? Nah, I had to pass. That tea sure would have been nice and cold though.

As soon as I had I driven by the small ENTER sign, I regretted my hasty decision. The marquee sign seemed to be calling my name, screaming come back, and it instantly felt ten degrees hotter. Then, Billy Currington started singing "Good Directions" on the radio. As I sat at the stoplight, waiting for it to turn green, Billy sang:

" She went way up yonder past the caution light
Don’t know why, but somethin’ felt right
When she stopped in and asked Miss Bell for some of her sweet tea
Mama gave her a big ‘ol glass and sent her right back here to me...."

Yeah. It didn't help.

An hour later, I flipped country music stations only to hear Billy Currington crooning about that big 'ol glass of sweet tea again. Damn it!! The only cloud of dust that I had disappeared into was the one related to cleaning lake houses in the 96 degrees heat and fifteen miles farther away from that sweet tea! I just hate it when I'm more hard-headed than Hollywood!

What seemed like an eternity later, the kids went to grandma's so my husband and I could enjoy our first "date night" in almost four months. He suggested a movie. I told him I'd fall asleep in a dark theater within the first twenty minutes. He suggested a nice dinner and listed off a few choices. I started to laugh. He wanted to know what was so funny about going out to dinner. I tried to explain how a 32 oz sweet tea for $1.00 at Hardee's had been calling my name all day. He reluctantly gave in to my request but he wasn't happy about it.

Since neither of us really wanted to run into anyone we knew in our small town, we actually drove 20 miles to the next town over to have dinner! As we pulled into a completely vacant Hardee's parking lot at 7:30pm on a Saturday night, I started to laugh again. With a buy one, get one free Thickburger coupon in hand, we waltzed into a quiet and empty Hardee's and ordered. Burgers, curly fries, and two big 'ol 32 oz glasses of sweet tea.

We sat down and waited for our order to be brought to our table. We sat there. In silence. Complete silence. For once, I had absolutely nothing to say and I didn't care. I felt so completely giddy on the inside as I waited in anticipation of that big 'ol glass of sweet tea. No children screaming. No laundry to do. No dishes to do. Just silence. And tea.

When the burgers arrived, I didn't even care that somehow the burger maker had screwed up. I laughed hard at my two bottom buns and my husband's two top buns. I joked that the burger guy must have been entirely too busy to know what he was doing particularly since he was so overwhelmed with customers! It didn't matter. I switched him a bottom for one of my top buns and that problem was easily fixed.

We ate in silence. The best $8 and some change that we've spent in months! The only thing that made it better was the 32 oz free refill of sweet tea I stopped to get on the way out!

Thank God for good directions...and Hardee's tea.

An ABC Friendly Dilemma

The three day hiatus also presented a bit of a moral dilemma. What would you do? Comments are certainly welcome.

Friend A and Friend B have been best friends since they were children. Enter Woman 1. Friend A and Woman 1 have a child together but never married. They went their separate ways for a number of years by their own mutual choosing. Out of the blue, Friend B runs into Woman 1 and tells Friend A about it. Friend A then starts talking to Woman 1 again, mainly because she was brought back into his attention by Friend B. Woman 1 plays hard to get with Friend A, while in the meantime sleeps with Friend B. Woman 1 and Friend B mutually decide never to tell Friend A about their "relationship" as it would really hurt him. However, Friend B brags about Woman 1 to friends C, D, and E...who also happen to be friends with Friend A also. If you were friend E, what would you do?

XYZ, PDQ ?