Do any of you remember this song by Rodney Dangerfield, circa 1983? We used to sing it to my dad at the dinner table and thought we were hysterical. Rod was always such a good sport--about everything. So this past week it was fun to honor him for Fathers Day and, more importantly, his 60th birthday! Please forgive the blurry photo--it is a result of my careless photography, not my father's lack of handsomeness, which hasn't diminished a bit over the years! When someone you love has a big b-day, its a nice time to reflect on that person's qualities, and here is a non-inclusive list of my dad's:

p.s. Here is our attempt to take a picture of ourselves. I know...very adolescent, but Rod was a good sport and played along

The highlight of my week was managing to swipe an entire case of Chukar Cherries using my trusty five-finger discount. Have any of you out there experienced Chukar Cherries? They are, in a word, the bomb. (How cool do I sound saying that?) They are an overpriced little treasure of our underappreciated little region, and I don't buy them too often. You can imagine my delight, then, upon seeing the bountiful open tins set as a centerpiece on each table at Derrick's Psuedo-Fancy Business Thingy.

My dinner companions and I munched happily on the tasty morsels before, during and after our meal, commenting on their tasty morselness and how it was a shame they were so pricey. I mentioned how, although we'd given them as gifts, we always failed to buy any for ourselves. The lovely lady on my left (who is now my new best friend), said "Don't worry, I won't tell anybody if you stuff some in your purse on the way out." HA HA! I laughed, a little too loudly.

Later, when I came huffing and puffing back into the ballroom after the Cricket Episode (please see previous post), everyone was leaving and I decided to grab one more Chukar for the road. My New Best Friend picked up the tin (which was still pretty full, to my surprise) and forced them on me--forced them, I tell you!--saying, "Here, just take them. What are they going to do with all these? You know they'll just throw them out." I hemmed and hawed for almost three seconds, then swiped them and ran. Derrick and I gorged the entire way home--cricket in one hand, Chukars in the other--and I'm happy to report that no caloric label could be found anywhere on the tin. I assauged my guilt by making him take the rest of them to work the next morning. I'm sure his fifteen employees enjoyed the four cherries we had left over.

At 9:00 this evening I found myself, in a dress and heels, standing at the counter of Petco ordering One Large Cricket. The boy cashier eyed me skeptically.

So you say there's nothing to do in Kennewick? Well, I'll have you know I went to Rite Aid--yes, the old Rite Aid behind Columbia Center Mall--not once, but twice this weekend. I hadn't been in ages, and then suddenly, it was upon me. And oh, was it good.

Friday night found me at a girls night out (yay!) with some friends of mine who work with Derrick and were kind enough to include me in their fun. We started the evening w/dinner (remind me to post later on the female fascination with Applebees appetizers) and then hit "Baby Mama," which was actually pretty funny (I'll give it 3 1/2 stars).

**As I'm typing this, Derrick just shoved his new, fancy shmancy running socks in my face, forcing me to smell them after he took a long run. He exclaimed, "These socks are amazing! Even after I run in them, they smell like they just came out of the dryer!" Smelly or not, I do not appreciated just-ran-in-socks shoved in my face. And please see my last post on the word "amazing."**

Okay. So after Applebee's and before Baby Mama, we wanted treats for the movie, and why should we pay theater prices when we each had a purse large enough to haul in a package of Oreos and a gallon of milk? So we proceeded, and would you believe me if I told you I spent more on candy than I did on dinner? For real.

Saturday came and D. and I headed out for a blessed night alone. Yummy Thai food and some clothes shopping for Derrick left me with a sweet tooth. We wandered through Fuzziwigs in search of something, but I was too cheap to pay the $4.95 for a handful of Runts. We wanted to spend our last hour out browsing Barnes and Noble and I toyed with the option of a gourmet cookie or cake, but again my humble roots kept me from paying four dollars for a Rice Krispie treat. Well, guess what just happens to sit right across the parking lot of B&N?

Oh, the ecstasy! My second trek to the great RA in less than 24 hours, and just as much money spent on junk. We returned to Barnes and Noble with our booty in tow, and I flipped through a book entitled (I'm not kidding here), The Taste of Sweet: Exploring our Relationship with our Favorite Treats. I plopped down in a comfy chair and inhaled a package of Neccos in approximately one minute while I read about our nations obsession with sugar. D. was off browsing his own books, and we reunited just in time to split a Kit Kat before heading home. It was a great night, a great weekend, and good eats at a very good price.