Yesterday, I became distressed that I’d failed to make plans for this weekend. It suddenly seemed unforgivable not to be going to the beach, or the mountains or having a party. [In fact, the 8yo tried to have a party -- she started inviting people without actually telling me. Once I informed her she wouldn't even be here at the time she'd picked for her party, that put an end to that. I think I will have to keep a close eye on this girl. Though I applaud her spirit of hospitality.]
So, mid-afternoon yesterday, I decided to take the 2yo on his first trip to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga today. Reflections on our day:
* The 2yo loves, loves, loves turtles. I had no idea. I think he spotted every single one in the aquarium, usually from 10 or more feet away. Whereupon he’d streak over to the tank, index finger pointing the way, shrieking, "Tuttle! Tuttle! Right dere!!" in his outdoor voice. He was also fascinated by the butterfly garden [really quite magical] and by the sharks.
* I forget how much I love Chattanooga’s downtown. But I really do. You should go next weekend. It’s so walkable, and there are dozens of restaurants, theaters, museums and art galleries. I am especially fond of the outdoor sculpture galleries in the Bluff View Art District, but we didn’t get up there today.
* Because my cell phone mysteriously quit working. The device worked — I could move around in it and look up numbers, etc., but when I tried to dial, nothing happened. So I removed the battery and restarted it, no change. Except now, of course, the phone wouldn’t come back on, either. I thought, surely there is a Sprint store in downtown Chattanooga. [But look, there's not. At least not a repair center.] At any rate, after wandering around for 10 minutes in the car, I figured I should go to the nicest mall. Surely that area would have one. In my atlas, I found a mall near Signal Mountain called "Hamilton Place Mall." That sounded swanky. So I headed straight for it.
I could tell I was in the right area upon exiting the interstate, since I might as well have been in Cool Springs. That’s what I wanted.
Now, let me share a scenario with you. Imagine going to Cool Springs, and you don’t live here. And you say to someone, where’s the closest Starbucks? And they say, It’s over by the Outback. And you say, but what street, and where do I turn? I don’t know where Outback is. And you then proceed to go back and forth for 10 minutes, whereupon you both concede it is impossible to give directions to anywhere in a modern mall environment, unless there is an actual breadcrumb trail to follow.
It took four tries, and getting out of the car twice, but we found the Sprint repair center. Also a Verizon store, two Sprint kiosks at the mall and one Sprint sales store.
Let me throw in: I am addicted enough to my cell phone access to try getting it fixed if it breaks while I’m out of town. I can admit that. But once we didn’t immediately find the store, it ceased to be about phone access and quickly became about the quest itself. I would not have wasted an hour and a half in Chattanooga just to be able to talk on the phone. I don’t use it all that much, anyway. But I gladly spent an hour and a half in Chattanooga to prove to myself that my hunch about finding a Sprint store in that particular mall area was right. As a plus, my phone works and the repair was free. [Yes, all the dude did was take out and re-insert the damn battery. Yes, that's exactly what I tried an hour and a half beforehand.]
* We got home around 5 this afternoon, but the 2yo was too tired to make it to the Vandy game. Understandable. The random, extended shrieking on the way home and at dinner, not so understandable. Someone please send him the English 4.0 upgrade. Otherwise, one of us will not survive much longer. English 2.0 is not sufficient for my purposes.
* If you’ve ever been to my house, this is mildly interesting: I moved the sofa into the den, and the loveseat into the living room. I am going to hit up someone to help me soon by moving the other loveseat from the office into the living room. Only person definitely off the hook: My friend Theron, who has helped me move lots of heavy, awkward stuff. He’s met the lifetime quota; there’s no way I could begin to repay his previous efforts.
* I’m wrapping up the day cheering for the Golden Bears.
