In Eckleburg's Eyes - 12/1/2008, Part 5

After worshiping at St. Mark United Methodist Church, JTH, ALK, and I met some of ALK’s friends and family at the food court at West Town Mall. I had not eaten there in some time. It is evidently the place to be as a strong contingency from my church was there including the Campbell, Hickey, Major, Roberts, and Wishart families. I ate my Sbarro next to the youth minister’s beautiful daughter, Grace. Though I failed in my attempts to get her to talk, I did elicit several smiles.

Afterwards, JTH, ALK, and I shopped at K Mart and the Wal-Mart in Oak Ridge before heading to JTH’s grandmother’s home. There, I sampled JTH’s mother KTH’s famous dessert, Death by Chocolate. This does not look particularly appetizing, but I assure you it may be the best dessert on the face of the planet. When KTH arrived she noted that she thought she might add peppermint to the recipe for Christmas. Why? You cannot improve on perfection. Would you let Ellen Page have plastic surgery?

Afterwards, JTH and I deposited ALK at Bearden United Methodist Church for her handbell practice. Amazingly, we were on time. ALK was rehearsing for Christmas programs that will be performed on December 10th and 14th. If anyone wants to tag along, just let us know. The best part of us dropping ALK off and picking her up was getting to see the director’s children Ben and Ainsley.

While we waited on ALK, we stopped at K Mart and Target. Yes, we went back to K-Mart. JTH had finally to decided to make a purchase. We also got to see several people we know at Target, bumping into MJ, AJCC, and ACC. More important is the fact that for the first time we ran into someone we know at K-Mart. I noticed that one of the employees looked familiar. It was Roy G’Fellers (RHG)’s granddaughter Sheila whom I had not seen in years. She told us that her grandfather is still playing ball. It was good to know that somewhere out there, G’Fellers is pointing and throwing behind the back passes.

After picking up ALK, we ordered pizza from Papa John’s and settled in for a night of television. While we waiting on the Tennessee basketball game to start, we watched the trick shot pool championships on ESPN, including among others Jeanette Lee. ALK was not amused. Why do they have referees? That seems to be the most pointless job ever. Where do I apply?

We then watched the Vols lose their first basketball game of the season in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic. Tennessee lost to a great Gonzaga team, 83-74. To the two teams will play a rematch in Knoxville on January 7th. We were not too disappointed but I was surprised at how vocal ALK gets during games.

After engaging in some banter with my mother, we watched Elf at the request of ALK. She really likes this movie and I had never seen it before. In fact, it and White Christmas are her all-time favorite holiday movies. I did not hate the film but did not find especially funny either. On the plus side, with this kind of taste in movies, she is perfect for JTH.

The most important news from Sunday was that the Tennessee volleyball team learned that they would be playing on Friday, December 6th, in the NCAA tournament at Clemson. Unfortunately, the Vols play the host team in the opening round.