A Saturday Made For Watching Football, Shopping At The Plaza, And Dining Out

Chicken Wings With Family and Friends

Wondering What Costco's Return Policy Is? 

It's 7:00 and like clockwork, I am up to a quiet house, except for Bella, who lies on my lap, my computer occasionally resting comfortably on her back.  Another great day here in the flatlands, a high in the 60's, great football match ups, an afternoon excursion to KC's great shopping venue, The Plaza, and dinner out.  No cooking or prepping for Evie and Mary, a full day to enjoy.

Yesterday late morning and early afternoon was a bore or great day according to whom you talked.  If it was Nick, it was one of the worst days of his life. For Tommy and me, it was not quite that bad. But for Mary, Evie and Marlena, it was delicious outing, a bevy of goods that would tickle the heart of almost any woman shopper.  It was a visit to IKEA, of course, about a half hour from home.  Tom and Nick had never been there, so they did not know what to expect, especially Nick.  Anyways, we spent a very long couple of hours, wading our way through one showroom after another, as the girls browsed, handled, commented, and sometimes bought item after item.  The store is set up so that  to leave, you have to walk through the entire store...there is no easy way out.  And, like a game board, there are arrows on the floor, leading to the exit.  Ikea has almost anything you might want for the home, at seemingly low prices.  And we did get a deal,  twelve wine glasses for $3.96, so cheap that the check out gal did a double take.  We emerged from the first hour of shopping at the cafeteria and everyone needed a break, so we had lunch, Swedish meatballs for Nick and I, vegetarian chili for Mary and Tom, and chicken tenders and double chocolate cake for Marlena.  It's an efficient lunch room, bright and shiny, a nice place for lunch.

Swedish Meatball Lunch At IKEA

We then exited through what turned out to be the second half of the store to Nick's dismay, the Marketplace, where smaller items, the kind you could put in your shopping car, filled the walls, tables and shelves.  Of course, we picked up more things which I cannot remember.  We emerged from the darkness and gloom of shopping heaven  or hell around 1:30.  And where did we go?  To Costco, to pick up chicken wings for dinner, as well as other goodies we did not need.  We finally made it home, after stopping at Target for more stuff for dinner. By the time we got home, Tom needed three Advil...it was that kind of day for most men! Why women love shopping and men don't must be in the DNA.

The Girls: Kelly, Mary, Evie

Tom and Mary asked their good friends, Mike and Kelly Burlingame for dinner, so while Tom and I watched the Kansas basketball game, Evie and Mary prepped for dinner, thawing ten pounds of wings for dinner, and making a bean and avocado dip.  Around 6:30, Tom got out the deep fryer but could not get it to work.  So we jumped in his Jeep, drove to Bed, Bath and Beyond, our fourth store of the day, and bought a new deep fryer.  When we got home, Evie had figured out how to get the old fryer working so our trip was for naught.  The Burlingame's arrived around 7:00, and we sat around the kitchen island, drinking beer, eating appetizers, as Tom deep fried the wings, dipped them in hot sauce and served them, first to the hungry boys, Nick, and two buddies, Peyton and Chris, then the adults.  We got a few.

The Chicken Wing  Guys

We must have sat there for close to two hours, as the wings fried, the beers were downed, and we caught up on each others lives.  We have had dinner with the Burlingames just about every year we have visited so we know them pretty well.  Mike works at USA-800 with Tom and Kelly was Marlena's kindergarten teacher.  Both are fun people.  We then played games with all the kids, Left, Center, Right, then a game the boys like called Mafia (like Clue), where the good liars win the game.  Marlena was the best, as noone thought this cute, smiling little angel could be the liar.  We played until 11:15 when the Burlingames left, leaving their son Peyton behind, to watch Fight Club with Nick, then spend the night.

Marlena And Her Best Friend, Olivia, Enjoying The Quiet

It's 8:15, full sun outside, and Evie and Mary are up, sipping coffee, reading on their Ipads, as the TV newscasters talks, once again, about Ferguson.