If it ain’t one thing, it’s another…

Well, Jane, it just goes to show you, it's always something--if it ain't one thing, it's another...

is how the late great Gild Radner would end her monologue as Roseann Roseannadanna in the early years of  Saturday Night Live. I don’t actually have a Roseann Roseannadanna tale (I mean, I didn't meet a celebrity who did something that made me sick) but yesterday really was one “for the books…”

We were supposed to go to Springfield today, but had decided to take the Divine Ms M with us to see if she would travel well for a longer distance than just a mile to town and back. We are contemplating bringing her along when we drive to California in the fall.

The main objective for the trip was to have lunch at the Macaroni Grill, one of our favorite places to eat in Springfield. One of my family members had sent us a gift card some time ago that we had yet to use and so we figured we would use it.

Richard had pared the stores he needed to shop at to four, and the plan was I would walk the dog around outside while Richard did the shopping. Worked for me. I do not particularly enjoy trudging behind him as he gallops down the aisles. When he goes shopping, he is a man on a mission and moves right along. But it wouldn’t work if it were raining. And the forecast was for rain today (and indeed, it is raining this morning in Springfield).

The plan got changed because the weather yesterday was nice. So we ventured out into the rather uncharted waters of “spontaneity” and headed off for Springfield yesterday morning. About 7 miles down the road Richard realized he had forgotten something rather important – the money to pay any balance due on the gift card – so we turned around and came back and he got the money, and the mobile phone, and the glasses he needed, and we started off again.

And much to our dismay, as we drove past the distinctive Macaroni Grill building, we observed that the restaurant was obviously closed and there was a big FOR LEASE sign out in front. In stunned disbelief – how could a restaurant that good close down!! – we proceeded down the street and stopped at the first restaurant we came to, sort of steak/bbq place, and had lunch, which was expensive and not that great. We did not think it through very well. I mean, we could have gone to Panera, which is another place we enjoy eating at, even if it is fast food.

Aside from that, the rest of the day went well. While we were driving, she curled up in the back seat and went to sleep. We managed to get her through the Pet Smart store without her peeing on the floor or causing too much of a disturbance. She tends to greet people by howling, which I am going to have to stop her from doing.

And when we got home, Richard got out the Macaroni Grill card, thinking we would slip it into an envelope and send it back to California with a note, when he noticed that the card was also good at Chili’s, another place in Springfield that serves decent food. Had we gotten it out and looked at it yesterday we could have eaten there. Like I said, it’s always something…