a Sunday story (1)

I've been restless with this blog...been feeling it's in need of some re-vamping. Obviously, you say, why else would it look different every time I visit?! Just keeping things interesting for my many readers...or at least for you, grandkidless in irving and Nana!

So, on one of these stay-up-too-late-to-"work"-on-the-blog sessions, I added some links on the right with the title What We Miss Most about the Places We've Lived and had intentions of explaining one a week. This is the week...let the explaining begin...

Randomly, I am choosing Wayne's in Lawton, Oklahoma.

What is Wayne's, you may wonder? Well, I'll tell you. It is basically an aging Sonic without being a chain restaurant. It is located on Sheridan Road where it intersects with, man I can't think of the name of that road. I used to be on it all the time since the elementary school I taught at was nearby. It doesn't really matter since it is doubtful any of you will be visiting. I have to say Wayne's is better than Sonic. Wayne's is dependable...their tator tots always taste the same and their ice is always crushed perfectly, not too crunchy, not too soft. It wasn't that close to our home, although we lived in Lawton, so nothing was too far away. But, it was right down the road from where I worked. Too easy to stop in on my way home from a long day. I don't know that Bryan ever L-O-V-E-D Wayne's as I did. He doesn't get too excited about perfectly crunchy tots or good ice. And, then there was the incident with his truck. Maybe that is one reason I miss Wayne's...I wrecked Bryan's beloved truck there. It is a place reminiscent of panic and anxiety and, finally how I was able to get the truck fixed without Bryan ever knowing about the mishap.

When Addison was 4 months old, Bryan deployed to Iraq. I was driving a 2-door car and he had a monster truck. Not literally one of those trucks with the gigantic wheels on them, just a big, extended cab Z-71...a good Texas truck! While it didn't have traditional 4 doors, the "doors" to the backseat did open, so it was easier to get an infant car seat in and out of than my little car. I've explained all that to justify the thousands of miles I put on his truck while he was riding around in Humvees. One HOT day, I loaded up baby Addi and set off...probably to the mall - shopping is therapy when your husband is deployed. Wayne's is on the way to the mall, so I thought I'd shoot in for a yummy Dr. Pepper (with good ice). I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the next thing I knew I was scraping the side of his truck down the little tray that sits under the menu (think old Sonics). In fact, Scrape might be a little bit of an understatement as there was an actual dent along with the streaks of missing paint.

Oh, the terror! I sat there for a minute trying to figure out what to do. I couldn't go forward since there was a car in front of me and I couldn't back out without running the side back down the menu tray. I finally did the only thing I could, backed up making the "blemish" even worse. I went straight home in a panic. I called a friend who had recently wrecked her Suburban while at the car wash the night before her husband returned home. Shelly would know what to do! Shelly's advice...NEVER tell him! And, I almost never did. I had the truck fixed and Bryan came home in complete Bliss! Although, I did tell Bryan about the whole thing a year or so ago. He was pretty amazed that I had been able to keep that secret from him for so long.