Valeska's Birthday
For her birthday today Valeska invited people to join her for both brunch and to see the movie Coraline in 3-D. Bo didn't really care to go see the movie so he opted out of going. I decided to take my daughter with me then instead. On a whim her friend Danielle also joined us. (Danielle stayed the night last night and my daughter didn't want her to go home just yet, plus she wanted to see the movie too).
Since brunch was set for 12:30 we headed out around 11am. It turned out to be a good thing too because we ended up getting stuck at the intersection of Tennant way and Oregon way due to what can only be described as a very large white tube stuck in the road. It was almost as tall as the streetlights, but on the a trailer of a semi truck that was hauling it. We arrived fairly close to the end of the intersection ordeal but it still took about 10 minutes for them to clear the intersection so vehicles could pass through it again.
After that we headed out of town. I put on some TMBG to listen to and once we finished that rotation I gave Danielle the control of the stereo. She has pretty good music taste so I am usually fine with whatever she puts on. We started out with MSI and that took up the last of the travel time.
Brunch
We arrived at 12:15 and apparently made it before everyone else. I was going to call Valeska on her cell phone but then I saw her and Chris getting ready to cross the street and decided to go back in and wait. That's when I found out that one of Valeska's other friends had been waiting there too. ^_^
I noticed that as they walked through the parking lot Alan, Pia, Tom and Sarah had arrived and were getting out of their vehicles. I introduced Danielle to everyone and Valeska introduced he friend (whose name I can't remember now). I gave Valeska the first part of my birthday gift to her, a pink Domo Kun. :D The set up our table and we were soon seated.
I decided to go with the cream cheese stuffed French Toast and it was a GOOD decision. Though the side of eggs was a little sad. My daughter ordered a burger without the sauce on it and apparently with a new menu and system they had in place the order didn't get processed correctly in the kitchen. The waitress was so focused on trying to fix that problem that she forgot to take Katie's order (another friend of Valeska's that arrived later) until it was almost too late to get anything. It ended up ok, Katie got a slice of pie.
Tickets
We headed over to the theater around 1:20 to pick up our tickets for the 2:20 showing and hopefully get in line for seats. I decided to drive my car over, even though it was across the street, because I didn't want to leave it in the parking lot of the restaurant all day. The parking garage was free anyway so it was a good idea. We ended up parked on the top floor but that wasn't too bad. We even took the stairs down instead of the elevator just for the heck of it (the parking garage is only 4 levels so it wasn't like 20 flights of stairs).
We found our way to the theater and found Chris standing in line. That's when we found out the bad news. The matinee at 2:20 was already sold out. I guess we didn't count on it being so popular (having been filmed in Hillsboro and all). After a bunch of conversing (and Danielle calling her step dad for approval) we decided to stick around with the rest of them to see the 4:50 showing. So I got back in line to get the tickets.
Interim Time
After we got the tickets we got together to decide what to do in the mean time. The consensus was to go our own ways for the period in between and meet back up to line up at 3:45. I didn't like the idea because I had driven a long ways and now I was going to be on my own for a couple of hours. I didn't complain or anything but was kind of sad to be left to myself (even with the girls).
The girls needed the restroom so we found the closest one and I waited outside for them. When they returned we decided to head over to Borders. I decided this might be a good time to look for the other half of Valeska's gift. I wanted to get her the first season of The Big Bang Theory but I hadn't had time before the gathering. The problem I had at Borders was that I would go to the TV section and my coughing would start up. I didn't have my water with me so I had to walk quickly to the restrooms (thankfully on the same floor) and get a drink of water. Then as I made my way back to the TV section the same thing would happen and I would have head back to the restroom. After a couple of rounds of this I decided it was time to just go find some cough drops.
Whole Foods Adventure
I found the girls in the manga section and told them I would be downstairs for a bit and would meet them right in this section when I was done. Then I got a drink of water from the fountain and headed downstairs to the coffee shop to get a bottled water (at $2 a piece! -_-). I asked the lady at the counter where I could find some cough drops. She pointed out the Whole Foods store that was "across the street". I thanked her and headed out the door.
I looked around for the store and realized that sure it was relatively across the street but that meant walking around the parking lot (because there were no stairs to get up the hill), up the hill, and cross the intersection (kiddy corner) to get to the store. So I headed up the hill. I did find a beautiful waterfall in front of the Bridgeport Village sign and tried to get a picture before being reminded of why I was out there in the first place. _~_
I continued up the hill and across the street only to find that the store entrance was on the other side of the building. Once I got inside it was an even bigger maze and I had no idea where something like cough drops would be in natural foods store. After crossing the store twice I found them (thankfully they didn't cost much). They were only 1.99 for the package and because Oregon has no tax the guy gave me a penny for change. Well the penny rolled off the counter and I went to pick it up. He apologized for being so hasty with it and said he had another one. I thanked him and gave him both penny's back (as my two cents). ^_^ He was pretty nice so that helped out a lot.
I made my way back to the intersection and instead of going around the parking lot the way I came in I went down the road and around behind Borders for my return route. They were essentially the same but the change of scenery
The Return to Borders
I was very glad to have the cough drops however bad they tasted because they kept me from having the fits of coughing. I think I went through half the bag by the time I got home. Anyway I went back upstairs to look for the TV series and it wasn't there. I settled for telling her I would give it to her next time.
I found the girls right where I had left them. Danielle showed me some books she had found that were amusing. One about Chuck Norris and one about Chinese signs. The one that I found really amusing though was a book titled "101 things no on should know". It included ways to scam things like e-bay auctions and such. The last on the list was how to get on the government's watch list (the answer was to buy the book). The only thing I ever thought might be worth trying though has to do with elevators.
Apparently if you get in an elevator where people have selected floors below yours you can hit the "close door" button and your floor button simultaneously and the elevator will bypass the other floors putting you first. I somehow doubt it will work but I want to try it out sometime. Of course I will do it when I am in the elevator alone just to see. ^_^ Not all elevators do this but it will still be interesting to find out.
After putting the book back on the shelf Tom had mysteriously appeared in the isle and showed me a book called "Kawaii not". It was an amusing set of cute comics with not so cute text. :D
I was done looking through the bookstore after that, but my daughter begged for a How to Draw Manga book so I picked it up for (mostly because I wanted it too). We headed downstairs to check out.
Pudding on the Rice
After Borders we weren't sure what to do. We looked over the area map and decided to try a few places out. The first was the Sweet Factory. It was $12/lbs for anything and nothing looked that good anyway so we moved on. We caught up with Tom and Sarah coming out of an Italian coffee shop (I think that's what it was) with some Gelato. I considered getting some but the line was pretty long. So instead I decided to try a place called Pudding on the Rice.
As the name implies it's primarily rice pudding in different flavors. I am not a fan of rice pudding so I was a little leery but up for trying it. Thankfully they gave out samples. ^_^ I tried the Che's Cake flavor which was delicious and so I got a "bite" size of it. My daughter got the peanut butter and Danielle got vanilla.
It was getting close to the time for us to line up so we took the pudding to go and sat outside the theater across the road and ate our pudding. While we were sitting there Alan and Pia showed up and visited with us for a bit. Once we had finished our food we headed over to theater to line up for the movie.
In Line
Chris, Valeska and Katie had already found a place in line. We lined up behind them and waited for the movie. Given that we weren't at the front of the line it was obvious that other people wanted to get good seats too. Pia and Alan followed us inside and I spent the bulk of our wait talking with Pia and Valeska.
I always find it fun to talk with Pia. She talks about how quirky Alan can been and how it miffs her. She asked me for ideas on gifts for him for Valentines day. That through me for a loop and made me kind of sad (for my own reasons) at the same time. Having no real frame of reference for the event I gave ideas as I could; based on birthdays and Christmas. It bothered me because it reminded me that Bo never does anything for me on Valentines Day. :( Two years ago I had to not hint but out right tell him that I wanted a valentines card before he got the hint. I also mentioned it for two weeks straight. Last year he went back to doing nothing even though I mentioned that I wanted him to do something. :(
Anyway back to the today. I had Danielle and my daughter pick up sodas for us during the movie. I probably wouldn't have bought one but I figured I might need some extra help to keep from coughing. It cost a mint but lasted through the movie.
As soon as the previous showing was out and the theater cleaned they let us in. We found the perfect seats dead center and took up nearly all of the row. I was hoping to sit next to Pia for the movie but she and Alan moved to the other side of the row. Alan asked me to hold seats for Tom and Sarah at our end. I was going to put them actually at the end but decided that it would be best to put my daughter and her friend there so they didn't bother anyone. So I left the seats for Tom and Sarah to my left. It was nice to have Sarah sitting next to me as I got talk a little with her before the movie and during previews.
Coraline
The movie was much better than I expected. I am by no means a fan of stop motion or claymation animation styles. The story is what sold me on it in the end. I think that is because Neil Gaiman wrote it. I don't know that I would have picked him to be a favorite author but so far I have liked what I have seen/read. There were some disturbing parts (like the nearly naked well endowed lady or the stuffed dead dogs on the wall) but I guess that also comes from the author.
All this being said I liked it. The 3-D was a nice touch too. I also liked the song that the dad made up for Coraline (written and performed by TMBG). I can also say that this is the first time ever that I have been in a theater with people who worked on the movie production. The only reason I knew they worked on it is because they cheered for the credits. ^_^ Then Valeska got into a discussion with them about the knitting of the mittens for the movie.
After the Movie
We all gathered outside in the hall, conversed a bit about the movie and then decided it was time to go our separate ways. I gave Valeska a hug and another happy birthday before we left. As they all headed out I hit the restroom.
I found my daughter and Danielle outside when I was done. Neither wanted to leave just yet so, at my daughter's suggestion, we headed over to Urban Outfitters to look around. The store didn't really interest me but I went in anyway. The entire first ¾ of the store is clothing and the like (just like any other clothing store). Most of it over priced and not that impressive. I didn't' find anything of interest until I got to the back of the store. On the other side of a shelf of stuff there happened to be a bunch of things in a "sale" like series of shelves.
I found such amusing things as the USB fan and vacuum. I also found Star Wars nesting dolls (I would have bought one for Bo but it was just the robots and I could already see him saying that they weren't that impressive). Then, of all things, I found a My Little Pony. It's all black (including the eyes) with blue print and blue hair. I LOVE it!
After purchasing the MLP we decided that it was essential that we stop by the Pudding on the Rice store again before leaving. I really wanted to try the Strawberry Fields flavor and the others were interested in trying new flavors as well (not to mention the little sample spoons are cute!).
I tried the strawberry and the raspberry and ended up with the latter. Danielle got the strawberry and my daughter got the cookies and cream. With our second round of rice pudding in hand we headed back to the car.
The Act
We walked up the stairs again instead of taking the elevator. It was tempting so that I could try out the trick I had just learned, but also not quite worth it for a four story garage. When we got to the car Danielle called her step father to see if she could stay over night again. At first I thought she was going to cry because he was going to hang up on her. After a lot of discussion he asked her to call back in a little while because he had to do something. When she got off the phone she started laughing. Apparently she was playing him (and pretty well too because she had me going). Ultimately she won him over and we were free to stay longer in town.
Dinner
After the green light to stay longer I decided that Fudruckers was just too close to pass up and we headed over for dinner. I was amused because Danielle told me she wasn't sure how to order her food and I told her just to give him the idea of what she wanted and they would know what to order. Then when I realized that I hadn't clearly told him that I wanted a meal for myself I mused that I was the one not being clear. ^_^
Because it was getting late and because I still wanted to attempt a trip to Uwajimaya's we made dinner a quick trip and weren't there for more than half an hour. Danielle was really impressed with the food there and the build your own burger options. ^_^
Uwajimaya
The reason I still wanted to go to Uwajimaya even though it was now nearly 8:30 was because I wanted pick up a bottle of this hot sauce that my son discovered that he loves. It was also Danielle's first time there, and even though we wouldn't be able to go to Kinokunia (because of the time) she loved it.
I started by picking up 4 of the One Piece figure boxes and the sauce for my son. Then I showed Danielle around the store. The origami and paper stars section of the store impressed her. She spent all her money on the paper stars. ^_^ She also marveled at how odd it was to see a place that looked so much like a regular grocery store but was full of foreign food.
The guy at the check out stand was really fun too. Danielle put her stuff on the belt behind mine with the divider between them. She commented that it shouldn't say "please" on the divider just "put this bar between your groceries". He joked that it should say "put this bar between your groceries idiot". About this time I mistakenly took the signature sheet for my card mistaking it for the receipt. When he pointed that out I joked that it should say "sign this idiot". :D
My daughter was still somewhere in store looking around so I opened up the figures I had just bought to see what I got. I joked with Danielle that all four would be duplicates of the two I had already bought (the first two would be duplicates and then the second two would be duplicates again). Well I opened up the first two and they weren't duplicates. I got Nami and Zoro (two of the ones I wanted most). Only Robin was left. As predicted though the next two were Brook and Chopper. -_- I was half right.
I went back and grabbed two more from exactly the same box I had picked up the first four (hoping to avoid duplicates again). This time I got Robin and another Zoro. I was happy with those odds. Even 50/50 we better than my usual run of luck. However in the end I got all of the ones I really wanted. So Tom if you're reading this I will give you the duplicates of Chopper and Brook. You don't have to worry about trading me for Luffy as we had previously talked about.
At this point I was just waiting to leave. Danielle didn't know where my daughter was. We were still standing at the check stand for the guy who was joking with us and he offered to use the PA system to locate her. We gave him her name and to my surprise she was listening because she came right up front. ^_^ We thanked him and headed out.
The End to a Good Day
We got out into the car and I mused that perhaps we should call Dustin to see if he was in town and what he was up to. Danielle was excited about it so I gave him a call. He didn't answer his phone so I left it at that and we headed out of town with the time now around 9:10.
On the way back home I was feeling a little tired so I had Danielle runt he music selection with the only stipulation that it had to be up beat music (nothing that might put me to sleep). We listened to stuff all over the map and it was enough to keep me awake for the journey home.
I asked Danielle what she thought about the day. She was so so about the movie, loved the food at all the places and the shops we went to, and mentioned that she thought Tom was cool. I was surprised at that last comment. She thought they were all nice but for some reason Tom stood out to her. Though she was also amused by Pia.
Due to the short night last night I was more than tired when we got home. I got ready for and headed straight to bed. I was happy with the day and the girls were happy too. My daughter had behaved herself for most of the day (with the small exception of an attitude during brunch). The movie was good and I was glad that we stayed and got to attend the later showing. It ended up being more expensive than I had planned but I was more than happy to spend the money because the three of us had such a good time.
Since brunch was set for 12:30 we headed out around 11am. It turned out to be a good thing too because we ended up getting stuck at the intersection of Tennant way and Oregon way due to what can only be described as a very large white tube stuck in the road. It was almost as tall as the streetlights, but on the a trailer of a semi truck that was hauling it. We arrived fairly close to the end of the intersection ordeal but it still took about 10 minutes for them to clear the intersection so vehicles could pass through it again.
After that we headed out of town. I put on some TMBG to listen to and once we finished that rotation I gave Danielle the control of the stereo. She has pretty good music taste so I am usually fine with whatever she puts on. We started out with MSI and that took up the last of the travel time.
Brunch
We arrived at 12:15 and apparently made it before everyone else. I was going to call Valeska on her cell phone but then I saw her and Chris getting ready to cross the street and decided to go back in and wait. That's when I found out that one of Valeska's other friends had been waiting there too. ^_^
I noticed that as they walked through the parking lot Alan, Pia, Tom and Sarah had arrived and were getting out of their vehicles. I introduced Danielle to everyone and Valeska introduced he friend (whose name I can't remember now). I gave Valeska the first part of my birthday gift to her, a pink Domo Kun. :D The set up our table and we were soon seated.
I decided to go with the cream cheese stuffed French Toast and it was a GOOD decision. Though the side of eggs was a little sad. My daughter ordered a burger without the sauce on it and apparently with a new menu and system they had in place the order didn't get processed correctly in the kitchen. The waitress was so focused on trying to fix that problem that she forgot to take Katie's order (another friend of Valeska's that arrived later) until it was almost too late to get anything. It ended up ok, Katie got a slice of pie.
Tickets
We headed over to the theater around 1:20 to pick up our tickets for the 2:20 showing and hopefully get in line for seats. I decided to drive my car over, even though it was across the street, because I didn't want to leave it in the parking lot of the restaurant all day. The parking garage was free anyway so it was a good idea. We ended up parked on the top floor but that wasn't too bad. We even took the stairs down instead of the elevator just for the heck of it (the parking garage is only 4 levels so it wasn't like 20 flights of stairs).
We found our way to the theater and found Chris standing in line. That's when we found out the bad news. The matinee at 2:20 was already sold out. I guess we didn't count on it being so popular (having been filmed in Hillsboro and all). After a bunch of conversing (and Danielle calling her step dad for approval) we decided to stick around with the rest of them to see the 4:50 showing. So I got back in line to get the tickets.
Interim Time
After we got the tickets we got together to decide what to do in the mean time. The consensus was to go our own ways for the period in between and meet back up to line up at 3:45. I didn't like the idea because I had driven a long ways and now I was going to be on my own for a couple of hours. I didn't complain or anything but was kind of sad to be left to myself (even with the girls).
The girls needed the restroom so we found the closest one and I waited outside for them. When they returned we decided to head over to Borders. I decided this might be a good time to look for the other half of Valeska's gift. I wanted to get her the first season of The Big Bang Theory but I hadn't had time before the gathering. The problem I had at Borders was that I would go to the TV section and my coughing would start up. I didn't have my water with me so I had to walk quickly to the restrooms (thankfully on the same floor) and get a drink of water. Then as I made my way back to the TV section the same thing would happen and I would have head back to the restroom. After a couple of rounds of this I decided it was time to just go find some cough drops.
Whole Foods Adventure
I found the girls in the manga section and told them I would be downstairs for a bit and would meet them right in this section when I was done. Then I got a drink of water from the fountain and headed downstairs to the coffee shop to get a bottled water (at $2 a piece! -_-). I asked the lady at the counter where I could find some cough drops. She pointed out the Whole Foods store that was "across the street". I thanked her and headed out the door.
I looked around for the store and realized that sure it was relatively across the street but that meant walking around the parking lot (because there were no stairs to get up the hill), up the hill, and cross the intersection (kiddy corner) to get to the store. So I headed up the hill. I did find a beautiful waterfall in front of the Bridgeport Village sign and tried to get a picture before being reminded of why I was out there in the first place. _~_
I continued up the hill and across the street only to find that the store entrance was on the other side of the building. Once I got inside it was an even bigger maze and I had no idea where something like cough drops would be in natural foods store. After crossing the store twice I found them (thankfully they didn't cost much). They were only 1.99 for the package and because Oregon has no tax the guy gave me a penny for change. Well the penny rolled off the counter and I went to pick it up. He apologized for being so hasty with it and said he had another one. I thanked him and gave him both penny's back (as my two cents). ^_^ He was pretty nice so that helped out a lot.
I made my way back to the intersection and instead of going around the parking lot the way I came in I went down the road and around behind Borders for my return route. They were essentially the same but the change of scenery
The Return to Borders
I was very glad to have the cough drops however bad they tasted because they kept me from having the fits of coughing. I think I went through half the bag by the time I got home. Anyway I went back upstairs to look for the TV series and it wasn't there. I settled for telling her I would give it to her next time.
I found the girls right where I had left them. Danielle showed me some books she had found that were amusing. One about Chuck Norris and one about Chinese signs. The one that I found really amusing though was a book titled "101 things no on should know". It included ways to scam things like e-bay auctions and such. The last on the list was how to get on the government's watch list (the answer was to buy the book). The only thing I ever thought might be worth trying though has to do with elevators.
Apparently if you get in an elevator where people have selected floors below yours you can hit the "close door" button and your floor button simultaneously and the elevator will bypass the other floors putting you first. I somehow doubt it will work but I want to try it out sometime. Of course I will do it when I am in the elevator alone just to see. ^_^ Not all elevators do this but it will still be interesting to find out.
After putting the book back on the shelf Tom had mysteriously appeared in the isle and showed me a book called "Kawaii not". It was an amusing set of cute comics with not so cute text. :D
I was done looking through the bookstore after that, but my daughter begged for a How to Draw Manga book so I picked it up for (mostly because I wanted it too). We headed downstairs to check out.
Pudding on the Rice
After Borders we weren't sure what to do. We looked over the area map and decided to try a few places out. The first was the Sweet Factory. It was $12/lbs for anything and nothing looked that good anyway so we moved on. We caught up with Tom and Sarah coming out of an Italian coffee shop (I think that's what it was) with some Gelato. I considered getting some but the line was pretty long. So instead I decided to try a place called Pudding on the Rice.
As the name implies it's primarily rice pudding in different flavors. I am not a fan of rice pudding so I was a little leery but up for trying it. Thankfully they gave out samples. ^_^ I tried the Che's Cake flavor which was delicious and so I got a "bite" size of it. My daughter got the peanut butter and Danielle got vanilla.
It was getting close to the time for us to line up so we took the pudding to go and sat outside the theater across the road and ate our pudding. While we were sitting there Alan and Pia showed up and visited with us for a bit. Once we had finished our food we headed over to theater to line up for the movie.
In Line
Chris, Valeska and Katie had already found a place in line. We lined up behind them and waited for the movie. Given that we weren't at the front of the line it was obvious that other people wanted to get good seats too. Pia and Alan followed us inside and I spent the bulk of our wait talking with Pia and Valeska.
I always find it fun to talk with Pia. She talks about how quirky Alan can been and how it miffs her. She asked me for ideas on gifts for him for Valentines day. That through me for a loop and made me kind of sad (for my own reasons) at the same time. Having no real frame of reference for the event I gave ideas as I could; based on birthdays and Christmas. It bothered me because it reminded me that Bo never does anything for me on Valentines Day. :( Two years ago I had to not hint but out right tell him that I wanted a valentines card before he got the hint. I also mentioned it for two weeks straight. Last year he went back to doing nothing even though I mentioned that I wanted him to do something. :(
Anyway back to the today. I had Danielle and my daughter pick up sodas for us during the movie. I probably wouldn't have bought one but I figured I might need some extra help to keep from coughing. It cost a mint but lasted through the movie.
As soon as the previous showing was out and the theater cleaned they let us in. We found the perfect seats dead center and took up nearly all of the row. I was hoping to sit next to Pia for the movie but she and Alan moved to the other side of the row. Alan asked me to hold seats for Tom and Sarah at our end. I was going to put them actually at the end but decided that it would be best to put my daughter and her friend there so they didn't bother anyone. So I left the seats for Tom and Sarah to my left. It was nice to have Sarah sitting next to me as I got talk a little with her before the movie and during previews.
Coraline
The movie was much better than I expected. I am by no means a fan of stop motion or claymation animation styles. The story is what sold me on it in the end. I think that is because Neil Gaiman wrote it. I don't know that I would have picked him to be a favorite author but so far I have liked what I have seen/read. There were some disturbing parts (like the nearly naked well endowed lady or the stuffed dead dogs on the wall) but I guess that also comes from the author.
All this being said I liked it. The 3-D was a nice touch too. I also liked the song that the dad made up for Coraline (written and performed by TMBG). I can also say that this is the first time ever that I have been in a theater with people who worked on the movie production. The only reason I knew they worked on it is because they cheered for the credits. ^_^ Then Valeska got into a discussion with them about the knitting of the mittens for the movie.
After the Movie
We all gathered outside in the hall, conversed a bit about the movie and then decided it was time to go our separate ways. I gave Valeska a hug and another happy birthday before we left. As they all headed out I hit the restroom.
I found my daughter and Danielle outside when I was done. Neither wanted to leave just yet so, at my daughter's suggestion, we headed over to Urban Outfitters to look around. The store didn't really interest me but I went in anyway. The entire first ¾ of the store is clothing and the like (just like any other clothing store). Most of it over priced and not that impressive. I didn't' find anything of interest until I got to the back of the store. On the other side of a shelf of stuff there happened to be a bunch of things in a "sale" like series of shelves.
I found such amusing things as the USB fan and vacuum. I also found Star Wars nesting dolls (I would have bought one for Bo but it was just the robots and I could already see him saying that they weren't that impressive). Then, of all things, I found a My Little Pony. It's all black (including the eyes) with blue print and blue hair. I LOVE it!
After purchasing the MLP we decided that it was essential that we stop by the Pudding on the Rice store again before leaving. I really wanted to try the Strawberry Fields flavor and the others were interested in trying new flavors as well (not to mention the little sample spoons are cute!).
I tried the strawberry and the raspberry and ended up with the latter. Danielle got the strawberry and my daughter got the cookies and cream. With our second round of rice pudding in hand we headed back to the car.
The Act
We walked up the stairs again instead of taking the elevator. It was tempting so that I could try out the trick I had just learned, but also not quite worth it for a four story garage. When we got to the car Danielle called her step father to see if she could stay over night again. At first I thought she was going to cry because he was going to hang up on her. After a lot of discussion he asked her to call back in a little while because he had to do something. When she got off the phone she started laughing. Apparently she was playing him (and pretty well too because she had me going). Ultimately she won him over and we were free to stay longer in town.
Dinner
After the green light to stay longer I decided that Fudruckers was just too close to pass up and we headed over for dinner. I was amused because Danielle told me she wasn't sure how to order her food and I told her just to give him the idea of what she wanted and they would know what to order. Then when I realized that I hadn't clearly told him that I wanted a meal for myself I mused that I was the one not being clear. ^_^
Because it was getting late and because I still wanted to attempt a trip to Uwajimaya's we made dinner a quick trip and weren't there for more than half an hour. Danielle was really impressed with the food there and the build your own burger options. ^_^
Uwajimaya
The reason I still wanted to go to Uwajimaya even though it was now nearly 8:30 was because I wanted pick up a bottle of this hot sauce that my son discovered that he loves. It was also Danielle's first time there, and even though we wouldn't be able to go to Kinokunia (because of the time) she loved it.
I started by picking up 4 of the One Piece figure boxes and the sauce for my son. Then I showed Danielle around the store. The origami and paper stars section of the store impressed her. She spent all her money on the paper stars. ^_^ She also marveled at how odd it was to see a place that looked so much like a regular grocery store but was full of foreign food.
The guy at the check out stand was really fun too. Danielle put her stuff on the belt behind mine with the divider between them. She commented that it shouldn't say "please" on the divider just "put this bar between your groceries". He joked that it should say "put this bar between your groceries idiot". About this time I mistakenly took the signature sheet for my card mistaking it for the receipt. When he pointed that out I joked that it should say "sign this idiot". :D
My daughter was still somewhere in store looking around so I opened up the figures I had just bought to see what I got. I joked with Danielle that all four would be duplicates of the two I had already bought (the first two would be duplicates and then the second two would be duplicates again). Well I opened up the first two and they weren't duplicates. I got Nami and Zoro (two of the ones I wanted most). Only Robin was left. As predicted though the next two were Brook and Chopper. -_- I was half right.
I went back and grabbed two more from exactly the same box I had picked up the first four (hoping to avoid duplicates again). This time I got Robin and another Zoro. I was happy with those odds. Even 50/50 we better than my usual run of luck. However in the end I got all of the ones I really wanted. So Tom if you're reading this I will give you the duplicates of Chopper and Brook. You don't have to worry about trading me for Luffy as we had previously talked about.
At this point I was just waiting to leave. Danielle didn't know where my daughter was. We were still standing at the check stand for the guy who was joking with us and he offered to use the PA system to locate her. We gave him her name and to my surprise she was listening because she came right up front. ^_^ We thanked him and headed out.
The End to a Good Day
We got out into the car and I mused that perhaps we should call Dustin to see if he was in town and what he was up to. Danielle was excited about it so I gave him a call. He didn't answer his phone so I left it at that and we headed out of town with the time now around 9:10.
On the way back home I was feeling a little tired so I had Danielle runt he music selection with the only stipulation that it had to be up beat music (nothing that might put me to sleep). We listened to stuff all over the map and it was enough to keep me awake for the journey home.
I asked Danielle what she thought about the day. She was so so about the movie, loved the food at all the places and the shops we went to, and mentioned that she thought Tom was cool. I was surprised at that last comment. She thought they were all nice but for some reason Tom stood out to her. Though she was also amused by Pia.
Due to the short night last night I was more than tired when we got home. I got ready for and headed straight to bed. I was happy with the day and the girls were happy too. My daughter had behaved herself for most of the day (with the small exception of an attitude during brunch). The movie was good and I was glad that we stayed and got to attend the later showing. It ended up being more expensive than I had planned but I was more than happy to spend the money because the three of us had such a good time.