Cheesecake Factory

Asheville doesn't have a Cheesecake Factory. If it did I may not go anyway. I try to eat local when I am home, I don't always but I try (Carraba's has these mussels that are in white wine and butter with garlic, I just can't resist them). Usually when we go out to eat we go to basically one of 4 restaurants: a sushi joint, a burrito joint, an indian joint or a sushi-thai joint, all local. I do not buy grocieries from a local place. I am not cool enough to shop at the Co-op so I shop at 2 supermarkets, both chains. Why am I not cool enough to shop at the Co-op? I don't have as much attitude as the people who ring up my purchases so I don't bother. I am paying for the food, I want people to be nice to me, not over the top, just a simple little checkout courtesy. I know, I am nuts. I live in the south and I want courtesy. When I travel I go to places I don't go at home: Cheesecake Factory, Chipotle, etc.... I go to places that I know what the quality will be and don't have to worry. In fact, I feel like I could write travel guides like the writer in the Accidental Tourist, I keep things so safe. When I was in Norfolk I got a salad from either the Boston Market or Cheesecake Factory Cafe every day. When I am working with people who are at all adventerous we will do a lot of local dining but I won't on my own, I am just too cautious. So last night I had dinner with 2 of the Atlanta Contigent, traded cookies for cupcakes and had a great time. Noodle may come down here in a few weeks and we will stay with one set of cousins for a few days. I will go to work, she will play with her 4 year old cousin (cousin C) , while her mom (cousin k8) reads my blog watches them play. It is a win-win-win for us because I get to see my daughter every night, my cousin k8 has someone to keep her daughter company and our daughters get to play play play. I was telling my cousin k8 that I just spent two weeks at home and didn't get enough of my child. She told me she was thinking about renting a kid (jokingly) to play with her daughter to keep her amused. So if I bring my kid to play with her kid then she has a rent-a-kid and I see my daughter. I think this would be cool. Hubby has to work out getting our bathroom plumbing fixed, the painters in and kitchen ceiling fixed while cousin k8 gets the final approval from her Hubby. We don't need approval from the girls, they more than love eachother. Noodle is cousin k8's daughter's second cousin, once removed. How do I know this? I keep track with powerpoint presentations. Not kidding, here it is: As you can see, Cousin C and Noodle are almost the same age (Noodle is 6 months older than Cousin C and 2 years older than Cousin S). I am a little older than Cousin K8. Her mother, my first cousin, is actually a little older than I am (but just a little), she had k8 when she was like 6 (maybe a bit of an embellishment). So by looking at the chart you can see that Noodle and cousin K8 are second cousins, making Noodle and cousin C second cousins, once removed. Follow that? Good, there will be a test. The black hole over on the right of the powerpoint is not me ignoring that part of the family, they are good people over there but I ran out of room on the powerpoint and they live all over. I am the youngest of my generation, I think Noodle is the youngest of her generation (that right side of the powerpoint can really get me confused so she may not be). Cousin S is the youngest, and will probably stay that way until Cousin E ramps up and multiplies... in at least 10 years....unless one of the cousin L's reproduce again since they are still of child bearing age or if hubby and I adopt or have another accident (no plans on either at this point). While I am in Atlanta there will probably be a lot of family stories since they are all of this town, hopefully I won't bore everyone to tears. Please note in the family tree up there we need no support from here. We are not that kind of family.