Weekend Update: February 12th ~ 14th

Ah a three day weekend! Well… not so much. Friday morning arrives and we’re off! To the doctor for me, the Fulton County tax office for my new car tag, an oil change for Kellie’s Escape, and somewhere in there grab a bit of lunch. The doctor’s office was actually some good stuff as I found out that I’ve lost another thirty pounds which is always good news. After that we headed back towards Peachtree City to get Kellie’s oil changed, while we waited we sat down to Athena’s which was a great lil’hole in the wall Greek and pizzeria place. The food was cook to order and was fresh and tasty. Service was also very pleasant. Stuffed and satisfied we headed back to Tires Plus @ Peachtree City to pick up the Escape which rolled off the lift just as we literally rounded the corner. Perfect timing! Then we ran to the Fulton County Tax office to get my new car tag where the real fun began. First a line to get a number, then sitting and waiting for your number to be called. Awesome. About two and a half hours later tag in hand we head out into the… snow?! Yep, the snow which we drove through to finally get home and try to stay warm and stay in.

We woke Saturday to a few inches of snow, nothing really stuck to the road but plenty stuck to roofs, trees, and lawns. Georgia was a traditional winter wonderland by way of miracle snow fall at least til about one in the afternoon. We got up and got ready to head to Dad’s house despite, the highly unlikely, road way issues. Dad’s PC die on him and he needed a hand moving data from it to a new one. On the way over we stopped for a quick bite at Dairy Queen by wifely request. Now let me just say that when I usually visit a DQ they are crummy, run down, and well just generally old. This one despite being ten years old look fresh and new, service was friendly, and the food was impressive. I think this DQ may just be the exception to the rule but let me know if you find any other surprising gems along the fast food places I’m sure they are out there!

Once we got to Dad’s we chit-chatted before getting started on his PC. This took longer than expected as Dad’s previous computer and new computer have about ten years of technology growth between them. As the day ran on we tagged along to join Dad & Becky for dinner with Stacy (my sister) and her friend’s son Bryce. So we traveled over to Tokyo Steakhouse, apparently we weren’t the only ones with a Japanese craving as several folks from my company and elsewhere were floating about the place. Everything was delicious with the exception of one lobster tail. Far, far to salty a critter for my tastes. From dinner we headed back to Pop’s to wrap up his PC issue before returning home.

Now Sunday came and here was Valentine’s Day! I awoke to cards, yes cards plural, and gifts. My wife had found a lovely limited edition print titled “Robot Love” on Shanalogic by Lynette May that really just screamed us, which she framed quite nicely. It’s a great piece of art and is now a deeply sentimental piece of my property! Now I’m told Little Ripley found a USS Enterprise on clearance at Wal-mart for me, such a smart unborn shopper! Although I know this is a day dreaded by some and feared by others I still take it upon myself to try and make it a fun and memorable day for Kellie and I plus with the baby coming I’ve now got to do so with a bit more budget in mind. Of course there would be a card, flowers to her office during the week (women love to show off to other women), but I really needed something to do on true Valentine’s Day that would be fun, inexpensive, and memorable. God bless Groupon! Not only did they have a sweet deal it was for something that fit the bill perfectly for fun and memorable!

Which was Whirl Atlanta where we would take a lovely ride in their shiny helicopter!

Raven Heli @ Whirl Atlanta

Now I know Barbara (my mother in-law) is going to kill me, but seeing and hearing Kellie giggle like a five year old is totally worth it! She was completely surprised and much like I had thought completely up for taking a ride into the wild blue yonder! It was a blast to fly over Marietta, across the small Kennesaw Mountain, the edge of Dobbins Air force base, and back! Most of our time was spent staring out the windows or at each other like two kids at Christmas.

We even flew over the Big Chicken, well known Atlanta landmark for sure, which the pilot then used as a reference point on his return flight. Trust me hearing a pilot says “One mile north of the Big Chicken” is much funnier when your a passenger. If you and your significant other are of the adventure-some variety or at the very least like to test the waters once in a while taking a helicopter flight together is a pretty amazing time. I would highly recommend it. Although our day didn’t stop there as we had reservations for Elevation Chophouse right there at the airport! Where we proceeded to try out the Bleu Cheese and Chips (above), some of their home made BBQ pulled pork, Virginia Ham-Hash, Calamari, and other vittles. Everything was delicious, fresh, well seasoned and just a really great treat in general. We watched planes and our helicopter take off while chatting and eating through large windows that gave you full view of the entire air field. It was just fantastic! The best part still being my lovely smiling and laughing without a care. It was a damn good time.

The rest of Sunday was spent driving and visiting a few shops including a Target we spotted on the way up. Where we purchased a few house hold odds and end plus the appropriate number of Transformers to send off for the Mail-in Exclusive they have coming up. A strange and random purchase but awesome none the less. When we got home we realized how tuckered out we were so we settled down to watching some Breaking Bad. Now we’re behind on this but this show is completely off the wall while still being something you could totally see happening to a point. We may be behind now but I see us catching up rather rapidly as Kellie and I both love the show at this point.

The weekend was a blast and this won’t be Valentine’s Day I’ll forget anytime soon. Hope everyone else had a good time in the snow and was safe over the weekend!

“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.”
- Robert A. Heinlein