fresh choice excursion

okay, 

when i was little getting shots was actually exciting

not the actual shot part (i'm fairly good at getting shots but it still sucks)

what was exciting was that after we got shots my grandfather would take my entire family out to lunch/dinner at Fresh Choice.  ever since i can remember i've always made the same special salad at fresh choice -- it starts with the grated carrot, a large pile for the base.  next comes the peas and corn (they're always right next to each other so order doesn't really matter) then comes the broccoli (yeah, it used to be one of my favorite foods.  now i just drown it in dressing so i can't taste it.)  then comes the pickles (the sour kind; i've accidentally put the sweet kind on before -- no bueno).  after that i drench the whole pile in ranch dressing, and top it off with plain/italian crunchies (they're actually called croutons, but i call them crunchies.).  Finally, the defining feature of my special lunch is a miniature martinellie's apple cider.  occasionally i'll add a slice of cheese pizza and/or new england clam chowder; hence why i always leave with a stomach ache

the point of this story is that it's a once a year thing that reminds me of when my grandfather was alive.  the food's good, but more than that it's a ritual.  this time though, i was faced with blows of change.  i slid my platter down the counter and was quite distressed to discover there was absolutely no grated carrot.  the foundation of my magnificent salad was missing.  i continued to find broccoli in a box before the peas and corn, and that the plain crunchies were replaced with a mixture.  To top it all off, they had no martinellies.  My world was spinning.  

it seems so ridiculous, except to me it's not silly at all.  this is how it's always been -- i go to fresh choice and i get my salad that i made up when i was little.  period.  it feels like... there are some things i just never expected would change.  something that would always remain steady.

*sigh*

there goes my happy innocent bubble

i'm still trying to accept that all things change

*snort*

fat chance of that happening anytime soon

well, at least the salad wasn't too bad without carrot.

ps. we spent several hours at borders and i bought two books with my gift cards.  mom did something very unusual and spent 100+ dollars on stuffs. most of it was early christmas/birthday shopping.

oh, and george lucas was ahead of us in line.  just thought you'd think that was cool nathan