A night on the town with T 'n' T

My sister and I planned to go to a movie together. We tried to remember, last night, which movie it was we were wanting to see, but have completely forgotten what it was. It may have been Titanic. She has five sons, you see, and I have five nephews, so it takes some planning, coordination, and determination to get away for a few hours together.


And determined she was, this afternoon, when she said that we should go today. I was surprised and pleased and - I must admit - a little disbelieving. I didn't think it could actually happen, but I was thrilled she wanted to go, and excited at the prospect of spending some time with her.


The thing is, she was thinking of going to a matinee. We used to live in a big city, where it was possible to wander into a movie theatre at any o' clock and be within 45 minutes of catching the next show. However, we now live in a small town where only on special occasions do they open the theatre during the week at all. Needless to say there were no matinees on offer.


Undeterred, and very flexible in our planning, we decided an evening show would be just peachy, provided it didn't run too late (we're not late show people.) We planned to have supper, cleanup from supper, then make a break for it, since we wanted to stop at the lovely store full of big bins of interesting and tasty items you scoop out for yourself, to buy some movie snacks. We had a coupon for 'buy $12 and get $3 off. Perfect! It was meant to be!


Supper was delicious, but near the end, Number Three Nephew decided to become violently ill. In the thoughtful way of children, he did so on the carpet, a mere few inches from easily cleaned linoleum. Perfect! Did it happen because mommy was going out? No doubt! Being an experienced veteran of such things, my sister valiantly soldiered on. After cleaning up the mess, she put on some going out on the town clothes, slapped on some lip gloss, tousled her hair and away we went.

We became a little giddy in the store full of big bins of interesting and tasty items you scoop out for yourself. Forgetting that we needed supplies sufficient only to see us through a two hour movie, we gathered several baggies of tasty morsels. Due to my poor estimating skills (because estimating is math related) I looked at her selection, scoffed, and told her we would need much more than that...we had to spend $12 to get $3 back! She said "Really?" in a very surprised tone, but I set myself up as a seasoned shopper of TSFOBBOIATIYSOFY, I shooed her away to fill up more bags of tempting treats.

I'm sure you know what happened next: we went through the cash, and after only three of many bags were rung up, we were over the $12 requirement. By the time our order was processed, we could have used almost three coupons. Oh well! By this point we had spent so much time filling baggies that we were going to have to bust a move to get to the cinema on time. Being that its just across the road, we thought we'd make it on time, but it must be said that some speed bumps were speeded over.

Our loot was so copious it wouldn't all fit in our respective purses (and I had come prepared with a very large one) so as T drove quickly (I first said 'very fast' but I know our mother reads this so....) I was busy selecting the things we wanted to bring in with us. I was so consumed with this very important task that I neglected to fasten my seatbelt. (It was just across the road, mom!) I was comforting myself with the thought that as it was a Wednesday night, no one else in this city would be thinking of taking in a show, so we had plenty of time to park, get our tickets and find a seat.

Didn't it turn out to be reading week for university students? The parking lot was jam packed, so we spent years circling for a spot, while people streamed into the building. I began to picture us sitting in the very front row - the one about two feet from the screen, where you have to crane your head way back to see the black border at the bottom of the picture.

Meanwhile we were entertaining ourselves with our witty banter. I wished that I had a voice recorder with me, because the material was very good. It could have been fodder for our first podcast. Or the screenplay we keep talking about writing.

We eventually made our way through the ticket line, managed to find excellent seats and settled in with our snacks for a pleasant two hour's diversion. (question: why do people first go to their seat before hitting the concession stand? Amendment: why do people who take an inside seat not go to the concession stand first, rather than cause you to have to gather your coat, purse, and other clobber, and stand up to let them by three times? Why?)

The movie was most enjoyable. Very funny, very entertaining, and full of beautiful kitchens and necklaces. We'd like to do it again sometime, and hopefully before we qualify for senior's day at TSFOBBOIATIYSOFY.