Aaron writes a Friday flashback (part 1)

Hi guys. Gather 'round. 

Aaron is going to regale us with the Friday flashback today.

Let's flashback to...

 Last Saturday, December 1...  

We had come home from proctoring the SAT and crashed for a few hours.  Around 5:30pm, the great debate started.

"What should we do for dinner?"

Neither Whitney nor myself had a good answer to that question.  So, we did what most people do when the question comes. We opened the pantry and took inventory.

"Let's see.  There's cereal," I said.   "And some ginger spice.  And we have a can of corn.  We can do something with that, right?"

"No."

"There's some soup."

"I don't want soup.  That's your soup anyway," Whitney reminded me.

On our previous grocery visit, I decided I wanted some soup.  A different kind of chicken noodle soup had caught my eye and Whitney had told me then that she would not partake of it.  There a few areas where Whitney and I differ: toothpaste, soup, and whether or not the toilet paper should hang in front or behind while on the holder.  But, back to the problem at hand.  

The pantry was empty.  The refrigerator would surely have something.

"There's some cheese.  And an egg.  And mustard."

Whitney shrugged as she opened the freezer.  Some ice cream, and frozen pot-stickers shivered inside.

I know at this point, you may think we are poor.  Or that maybe instead of buying Vinylmations and comic books, I should actually put food in my house.  But the truth is, we don't stockpile a lot of food.  It's just the two of us.  So we buy food for the week as we need it.  

"Or we could go to the Olive Garden!" Whitney said.  That was the best idea yet.

Whitney had received a gift card for her birthday and we had yet to use it.  Problem solved.  Except it was Saturday.  And close to 6pm.  The wait was sure to be awful.  So, Whitney called to see if we could do call-ahead seating.  Unfortunately, Olive Garden doesn't do that because they still operate as if it's 1988.  But, no worries.  The hostess told us that the crowd was small.

We hurriedly dressed and drove there.  We found a great parking spot at the corner of the back of the building.  As we rounded the corner to the front of the building, we saw the crowd.  The crowd was on the benches.  The crowd was talking on the curb.  The crowd was inside the doorway.  It continued into the indoor waiting area.  We pushed through the crowd that just 14 minutes prior did not exist.  

"What's the wait for two?"  

45 minutes.  45 minutes of agony.  45 minutes of curbside talking.  Meh.  Another time then.  After a quick discussion, it was decided we should go the grocery store.  We would just grab something easy to make and go home.  So, we went to the Lowe's grocery store.  (Whitney is a Harris Teeter fan all the way, but brave enough for Wal-mart to save some cash.  Lowe's...she loathes.)

"So what will we get for dinner?" I'd like to say that question was an easy one.  I'd like to say that we were able to go in, spend five minutes, and leave.  I'd like to say that.  But I can't.  I can only say that we got a cart.  We would do our weekly grocery shopping now.  

We circled the store about 5 times.  And still had come up with nothing for dinner.  An entire week's worth of dinner was in our cart.  But there was nothing, not one thing, for us to eat that night. We picked up several things.  We tossed around ideas.  Some ended up in the cart.  They all ended back on the shelves.  We couldn't agree.  It was one of those nights.

"Why don't you get stuff, and I will get stuff.  And we will each have what we want.  Deal?"

It was settled.  I was going to have soup and grilled cheese.  (Soup.  What I had originally said to begin with.)  Whitney opted for rice and mushrooms to go with the pot-stickers that were in the freezer at home.  So, after 90 minutes, we ended up eating what we already had at home.  Did you catch that?

As we were checking out, I went to the back of the store to get some cookies.  I really wanted some. We were going to treat ourselves.  We deserved it.  

We loaded the car and went home.  We ate our dinners.  We cleaned up.  We sat down on the couch.  I was going to look up something.  

"Where's my phone?"  I asked.  Whitney always knows.

"I don't know." What?

"Call it," I say.

"It went straight to your voicemail."  Strange.

"I'll use the Find My iPhone app."  Best.  Thing.  Ever.  

I logged in.  It was pinpointing the location of my phone.  It was searching.  Searching. 

OFFLINE.

My phone was gone and had been for two hours...

Stay tuned for part 2 next Friday, folks! Happy weekend!