A Beacon in the Night

I never thought that teaching Mission Friends would be detrimental to our health. However, I've come to the conclusion that after four weeks, we might not make it through the year. Yeah, the kids are rowdy but that is the least of our worries. Our problem is that on the way home from church on Wednesday nights, our car passes by four bastions of yummy goodness: Wendy's, Sonic, Dairy Queen and Mrs. Storey's Dairy Barn. So far, we've favored Sonic and Dairy Queen as the score is tied at two apiece for those particular dessert havens but I'm sure the others will get to make a play as the year progresses. We've fallen into a pretty bad habit (and with my new found love of Chick-fil-A's ice dream this really must stop!) but it is easy to be persuaded by the sugary goodness available at all these locations. Plus, it seems like our car just drives there without being told to do so. And as we typically pass these places between 7:30 and 8 p.m., it is prime time for an evening treat!

I knew we were in trouble last week when, as we pulled into the turning lane to make the left turn into Sonic -- bear in mind we hadn't even turned in yet -- Margie Grace gasped in excitement. "Bite! Bite! Bite!" she started yelling as she clapped her hands and kicked her legs. For her, those neon lights and that drive-thru window meant pure bliss. She knows: really nothing tastes better than a cherry limeade with crushed ice after an hour wrangling four-year-olds . . . maybe except for an Oreo Blizzard . . . or a grape slush. Perhaps we should make it our weekly challenge to see if we can drive right by all those places without stopping. The problem is that Wendy's and Mrs. Storey's are clearly already at a disadvantage and I wouldn't want them to feel left out. I guess that makes me an equal-opportunity dessert connoisseur -- it's a title I wear with pride!

Sweet Treat

What's sweeter than a little cutie eating ice cream? I can't think of anything! Last week we took Margie Grace on a post-dinner ice cream run to Chick-fil-A. I don't think I've ever experienced commercially prepared ice cream -- or "ice dream" as those uber-creative marketing geniuses at Chick-fil-A call it -- like that before. Neil said we've had it once at the mall but it obviously didn't make an impression on me like it did last Thursday night. I think I've found a new favorite treat. And this is saying a lot considering I wouldn't ordinarily choose ice cream over, say, chocolate cake or a Snickers bar or anything smoothered in Oreo cookie bits if given a plethora of dessert options. But I can confidently tell you that I would take "ice dream" hands down over anything! And I think Margie Grace loves the stuff too. As you can see from these pictures she was pretty content to eat her portion. Actually, as I'm writing this, Neil just asked if I was in the mood for a treat from Chick-fil-A. I think he was reading my mind!