SPONTANEITY

Before I start, Blogger for some reason or another decided to change my format and it drove me NUTS--I fixed it three times! So, if you're big on keeping things uniform in your blogs, as I am, I apologize that Blogger cannot seem to keep it's grubby, little, digital hands off my impeccably-formatted text. :0)

You know about Hubby's Freddie-phobia.

You've met Children 2, 3, and 5.

You've seen our blog-ad for a Handsome Male, who got a new home this weekend--YAY!

You know my Brother's B-day and you've seen my lovely Sister.

You know about my First official J-O-B.

You admire my Fifteen-Seconds-Of-Fame Father--admit it.

You still don't have a picture of me. Just my choice in hairstyles.

What don't you know about us?

Our Spontaneity:

Today, after Church (around 2PM) and during our "Adult Swim Time," Gerald and I decided that we had a "hankerin' " for some Tennessee-style BBQ. So, we thought where better to go than this little BBQ joint we kept hearing about? Lots of our friends in HSV often take a day-trip and go to eat BBQ at...Sticky Fingers. Mmmm...

Have you heard of it? It's in CHATTANOOGA. That's not so crazy!

We hop out of the pool, tell the kids they have ten minutes to swim and then we take off for Chattanooga.

How far you may ask, is Chattanooga? It's only an hour and a half, people.

I know, gas prices but...

We needed to fill up anyway; so we got cheap-er gas at this one special exit that's about an hour this side of Chattanooga. It's only this ONE special exit and if you miss it, you miss the cheap-er gas (Exit #169 on I-24). That's because this particular, ONE exit happens to sit in Georgia. As a matter of fact, and interesting to boot, the state line changes three or four times between Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, within a two-mile radius on this particular route. Our two youngest had a hard time understanding this--please follow along:

Zac: "What?! I thought we were going to Tenn-we-see, why are we in
Goigia?!?"
Drew: (After I explained it to him) "Zac, there is this little
piece of TN and GA that fit together with Alabama and that's where we
are right now!"
Zac: "Shut up, Drwew, you'rwe NOT the boss! Mom, is Drwew in charwge?!?"

Georgia always has the cheapest gas of any of the states around it--not sure why. You can bet, we always take advantage of it. We found it for $2.98/gal in case you want to stock up :0)

Now, in case you're going to be in the area soon, My Restaurant Review:

How was Sticky Fingers? It was really good. As close to
Kansas City BBQ as
we can get down south. I tried the Memphis Dry Rub
which
I've wanted to try for
a long time. As expected, I thoroughly
enjoyed it.
Gerald had the Carolina Wet
ribs and he thoroughly
enjoyed
them, as well.
The meals come with their homemade
Slaw,
BBQ
Beans and,
of course, Corn
Biscuits. You can substitute the
sides for
others at no
additional
cost.

The kid's meals are
$3.99,
which includes a soft
drink and include:
Shirley
Temples
and Roy
Rogers. Twelve and under
are considered
children and our
kids
were filled up--which means
they are good-sized
meals and
included
ribs and wings for those
kids with more "adult"
tastes.

Adult's menu start with
Appetizers around $5-8;
Sandwiches
with one side,
around $6 and Entree'
Combos from
$10-20.
Beverages run
around $2.
We didn't have
Drinks
or Desserts.
Lunch menu daily
until 3PM. Open daily at
11Am. Didn't pay attention to
closing
times. Chattanooga is
Eastern Time Zone.Where is Sticky Fingers? Off 1-24 in downtown
Chattanooga. A neat little artsy area called "Jake's Alley." At
the
same exit, there is the TN Aquarium which our kids visit in fifth
grade
and it's
always a hit. Haven't been there myself
though.
There
is
also a kid's museum at the same
exit. It's close to
Ruby Falls,
the
Incline Railway and Lookout
Mountain. Now
you have a nice
tourist
destination. I
charge 20% referral fees.
:0)

Would we make another spontaneous drive all
the way to Chattanooga for Sticky
Fingers? Well, we both said probably
not--but that was AFTER our tummies were
full, our craving for BBQ was
satisfied, the after-a-fat-meal sleep was setting
in and the 1 1/2-long trip
loomed before us. If it came down to it again and we
just needed a little
breather from hometown stuff, I think we probably would
make the
drive.

We like to drive, especially when the kids put on their headphones and watch movies. We caught an 80's station out of Chattanooga all the way back to HSV, so Gerald and I car-danced and lip-sync'd all the way home, thanks to the HUGE coffees we bought at the gas station. Gerald also likes to "sing" his special rendition to duets sung by man/woman teams. He sings the woman's part but with his regular voice. This time he sang the part of Crystal Gayle in a duet with Eddie Rabbit; it's always sort of...well, I call it freaky...and it IS.

Later, we turned on an old, Southern Gospel station and sang our own operatic-rendition of whatever Hymn the singer & organist happened to be mutilating together. We have refined our talents over the years when trying to stay awake and alert driving from Florida to Missouri; Alabama to Virginia and often, between Kansas City and St. Louis.

Our kids think we're weird and they think 80's music is lame. We think they're weird and lame and that normality and punctuality are highly overrated.

That's us; you now know more about our crazy family.

The spontaneity makes life fun for our kids, as it can be stressful on Principal's kids...especially considering the politics that go on. It blew our budget for the next eleven days and we'll have to forego groceries for the week but there's only two regular days of school left. It'll be something we'll talk about in the years to come, it keeps Gerald and I young and it's worth the stocked-up leftovers we'll be reheating from the freezer all week.

We're going to Six Flags-Atlanta next week. We do plan some things--five days ago.

The best thing about spontaneity? We planned for three kids, we were given two surprises--some of the best things in life are unplanned!