A week after most Americans traditionally have cookouts, my weekend revolved around hamburgers. I am okay with this.
On Saturday my parents and I visited Litton’s Market and Restaurant, home of the best hamburger in Knoxville. In its hiatus from June 30th-July 10th, much has changed. The tables plastered with advertisements older than myself have all been replaced by hunter green and red tables which match the walls. Only in booths in the former smoking section do the old tables remain.
One thing that has not changed is the wall accessories. We sat next to Edwin Eugene Litton’s underwear. Actually, these are the briefs he wore in 1944 when winning a swimming award. While this was a great accomplishment, the ancient briefs are still somewhat disturbing.
Two other important facets had not changed. We had to wait. For the record, the name we used on the list was “Von Erich”. Most importantly, the hamburgers are still superb.
As usual the tranquility of Friday and Saturday was replaced by chaotic moving from one appointment to another on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, Sunday School convened at RAW’s. I brought KJW a book and a Spider-Man ball. Unfortunately, Spider-Man is no longer simply “Man” but "Spider-Man" as she now knows other superheroes. She has also grown out of one of my other favorite bits. She used to call her aunt PWC’s dogs Annie, Bailey and Dog, but now she uses all their names Annine, Bailey, and Cooper. Growing up stinks!
The Sunday School class covered the first portion of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer (John 17:1-5).
Sunday marked Mr. X’s birthday. JTH and I celebrated with a cookout with his family at 5 pm. His brother-in-law JAH cooked. I now refer to him as the Ultimate Male as he is proficient at all things masculine.
We shot a lot of basketball. We shot so long that even I got into a rhythm which should tell you something. No formal games were played though Ms. X demonstrated her patented backwards three-point shot which was impressive. Note: Unfortunately: Ms. X did not bring her dog Hemi. He stayed at her mother’s home.
On a lark, Mr. X added UT basketball players to his Facebook account. Thus far, Jordan Howell, Bobby Maze, J.P. Prince have accepted. He has been threatening his brother-in-law that he will bring his new “friends” over to defeat him. JAH responded simply that he would need them to beat him. As noted, JAH is proficient as all things masculine, including trash talking.
Mr. X's niece, Pyper, played with us. As seen in this picture, she recently got new glasses for the first time. Unfortunately, at her age she struggles to get the ball to the basket, so JTH extended his arms in front of his chest to give her a target. While this proved to be a good idea, we learned a valuable lesson about this concept. It works far better when standing than when sitting. With time and therapy, JTH should be able to have children.
For some unknown reason, I was not at all hungry so passed on the delicious hamburgers, but did eat a birthday cupcake. As only Mr. X would, he blew out the many candles by raising a fan.
JTH’s and my personal celebration with Mr. X will be held at the Uno Chicgao Grill in Maryville on Saturday night.
I went from Mr. X’s cookout to another cookout - this one held by my aunt to honor ALH’s wedding. I will be officiating the ceremony on August 23rd. Invitations to the party were actually distributed at the event they were already attending. That’s how we roll.
My aunt is a great cook but unfortunately I had yet to regain my appetite.
My cousins were full of news:
- HANW will be heading to Louisville, Kentucky, next Sunday to audition for American Idol. Evidently 28 is the age limit and this is the last year she will be eligible. I was shocked to hear this as I had assumed 2006 winner Taylor Hicks was collecting social security.
- HANW’s father will accompany her on the trip. She is allowed only one chaperone or else I would have gone. She will awake early on Monday and even with a wrist bracelet is not assured of audition time. She plans on singing Bonnie Raitt’s 1991 hit “Something to Talk About” for the judges.
As you can tell, I did a horrible job as a photographer (the above photo of the couple was actually my best effort), but fortunately, my cousin was there to pick up the slack. I would like to note that she was not relegated to a camera phone.- HANJ is still in Pensacola, Florida, though her husband has moved to San Antonio in conjunction with the Air Force. She will join him as soon as possible. My mother and I are debating a visit in Florida.
- ACN is well, serving as a counselor at Camp Lenox in Lee, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, her computer is broken and is en route to Tennessee to be fixed. On the plus side, she keeps up with younger sister so that she can check her e-mail.
HLN is also well. She is house sitting often in Knoxville. As usual, we discussed The Beatles. I admitted that as a child that “Yellow Submarine” was a favorite song and she panned this as evidently The Beatles themselves appear only in the closing scene of the film, and their characters in the film were voiced by other actors.
After abstaining from two great hamburgers, I finally regained my appetite. On the way home I finally ate a hamburger...from Sonic.
As noted earlier in the week, Friday marked KGG’s 16th birthday. Congratulations KGG. I suspect I will be driving far less and not just because of gasoline prices...
One final observation, as many of you know I like it cold in my room, especially at night, I often leave a cup of ice water next to the couch where I sleep in the event I wake up thirsty. It is a sign my room is probably too cold when the ice does not melt over night...
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