After even MORE packing, Eugene and I ventured out on our last day together until she returns from Paris. I can hardly type that without tearing up.  I’ll have to make some jokes to cheer myself up.

Surprise, surprise, we ended up at the mall!

Well, first we went to Sonic and spent $1.62 between the two of us.

I’m serious.

Yes, I’m talking about a day in 2012, not 1912.

I love happy hour at Sonic.

Anyway, as we made our way to the mall, there were some serious storms moving in.

And I mean seeeeeeerious.

We could hear the loud booms of thunder as we wandered around the mall.  The higher powers of shopping were looking out for us and the rain stopped as we were leaving the mall.

After physically surviving the storms and financially surviving the mall, we headed out to a nice dinner at the Merrick Inn.

I neglected to pack anything appropriate to wear for such an occasion so I had to borrow a dress from Eugene.  She offered me a dress from the “maybe” pile.   My guess is that this gave her the opportunity to stare at it for a few hours and decide if it would make the cut.

Dressed like Eugene, I ordered the halibut, which came over a parmesan polenta cake and a vegetable stew of sorts.  It was pretty tasty.

Eugene ordered the fried chicken.  Tasty as well, but nothing for Grandmother to be concerned about.

Our waitress was quite chatty and after discovering that Eugene was off to Paris, she stuck a celebratory candle in her dessert.  Nice touch.

Almost painfully full, Eugene and I headed back to her apartment for me to collect my things and drive back home.  The sky and I had mixed emotions.

Before I left, I needed gas.  I have a thing about going to gas stations by myself at night so I asked Eugene to go with me.  She completely understands my feelings about gas stations at certain hours and was happy to join.

As I was taking this photo of the sky, I noticed that there were some men hanging around outside a car, but didn’t think much of it.  When I got in my car after I finished pumping my gas, Eugene was looking back through the windshield at the men who were standing around.  About that time, a little jalopy drove up and the men standing around, who turned out to be undercover cops, went over to talk to the men in the beat up car.  I was putting away my wallet when Eugene informed me that we had just witnessed a drug bust of sorts.

I guess I have good reason to have a thing about gas stations at certain hours.

On that note, Eugene and I hugged 47 times, swore to skype once a week, send each other copious facebook messages, and told each other to be careful and that we love each other 62 times.

I told her I was proud of her for going and that she will have a fabulous time, which I know she will.

Waaaaaahhhhhh.

Y’all be careful,

Sugarlump