A Date to Remember

My husband took me on a date this weekend. It was Saturday night, the kids were at Grandma's and we had a gift card to the East 40. I should have known it would not go well, considering we've had the gift card for nearly three years, and the couple that gave it to us is now divorced. But, never one to turn down a free meal, I agreed.

Before we went to the restaurant, Brad had a couple of things he wanted to return to Sears. It's not very often we get to the north side of town, so it only made sense. We left Sears about fifteen minutes before it closed for the day. That's when the problems began. The van wouldn't start. I joked with Brad that it wasn't a funny joke, and that's the "oldest trick in the book" that guys play on a date. But it was real. The van was dead. I was so glad Brad was with me, and the children were not. Something tells me Jake wouldn't have been too helpful in this situation.

Turns out it was the battery, which was good luck actually, since we were at Sears. We raced back into the store, rushing to get a battery and tools before they closed. I paid for the battery while Brad looked for the tools he'd need. The battery was $116, the tools $46. He bought a socket set and some screwdrivers...just like the dozens of socket sets and screwdrivers he has at home, on the other side of town.

We returned to the parking lot with our purchases and I thought we were in business. I was wrong. Turns out two of the sockets were metric, and the $35 socket set was not metric. So, I started going through my cell phone, searching for someone to come rescue us. Finally, I got a hold of Jamie and Kai, and while we waited for Kai to bring another socket set, wrench, and pliers I went back into the mall to get one more supply. The battery was so corroded, Brad needed a coke to clean it up (which sparks a new topic.... the many uses of Coca-Cola). Of course, all I had was a five dollar bill and 95-cents in change, not what the pop machine wanted. So, I ended up buying a small coke at the movie theater for $3.70!

$165.70 later, we left the Sears parking lot and finally headed to the East 40. The steaks were ok, the company was great, and the story behind our "date" is one I'll never forget.