Sunday, August 14, 2016

The Pony Farewell Tour

Over the past week, we have been having a lot of lasts.

"Pony! This is the last time we'll watch the live eviction on Big Brother together!"
"Pony! This is the last time we'll do the Walmart shopping together!"
"Pony! This is the last time you'll take the trash up to the end of the driveway!"
"Pony! This is the last time you'll put gas in T-Hoe!"
"Pony! This is the last time we"ll have lunch at Imo's together!"

As you might imagine, I'm a little more hyped about these lasts than The Pony.

After we bought his phone Saturday, The Pony suggested we stop for lunch. He is the one who suggested Imo's. You either like their pizza or you don't. I happen to like it. A lot. The Pony detests it. So he was doing this just for me. Woevn thoug I jbwv ge  Excuse me...I had something in my eye again. Even though I knew he would prefer Steak n Shake. I offered. But he insisted on Imo's. "Come on. I really like their breadsticks!" So in we went, with me ordering the sausage pizza lunch special, and The Pony having the toasted ravioli lunch special. And an order of breadsticks.

We don't eat at the Imo's adjacent to Backroads. No siree, Bob! It is staffed almost entirely by former students of Val, and the manager they all complained about. But the one in Phone Town has been a favorite of ours since before Hick and I were even married. We used to shop for $17,000 house accoutrements at Hoods or a Central Hardware in a plaza nearby. And would stop in to have pizza and salad and perhaps an adult beverage. Ah, the salad days. Literally. We always got the special with pizza and that large salad, and split it. Sometimes we had Hick's older boys, ours being just a twinkle in Hick's (good) eye back then. Those boys loved playing the golf video game. And Ms. Pac-Man. That's how long ago. Then our own boys joined in the tradition, with Genius pulling a chair over for The Pony to stand on and play golf. That place is not known for updating their dining room.

Anyhoo...The Pony and I got two dollars worth of change in quarters, so we could play the coin-pusher game. Which didn't take long. "Mom. Did you see the name of that game? It's called Bonus Hole!" I won't even go into that one. The Pony was in rare form on this day. Perhaps some of his words of horsy wisdom will show up over the next few days as we ship him off to Oklahoma. But here's what I wanted to show you from our last Imo's luncheon:


True to form, The Pony had picked up a fork for me, and somehow, he got one that was damaged, and somehow, it ended up at my place setting, and somehow, neither one of us noticed until I asked to see his fork for comparison. It was like eating with the tip of a ski. Or a sleigh runner. Or the toe of an elf shoe.

It's the last fork The Pony will ever get for me at Imo's!

12 comments:

  1. He will be home on holidays won't he? There will be more damaged forks in your future.

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    1. It's an 8-9 hour drive. Won't be much commuting. But I am SURE there will be more damaged forks.

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  2. The last fork? Sounds like a good title for a diet book.

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    1. Don't bring me down! We will not discuss The Pony's departure, and a departure from culinary treats such as Imo's, at the same time.

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  3. I am sure he will come back for holidays, and perhaps even for the summer. It's so sad when they leave--full of teary good-byes--but you don't want him living with you until he's 45, do you?

    No balls (the meat kind) available at Imo's, right?

    The "bonus hole"? I don't even want to contemplate what he was thinking with that comment.

    Grab a box of facial tissue as The Pony gallops to a new pasture, knowing that he'll come back to his home field soon for short periods of grazing...

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    1. Funny you should mention The Pony's balls, Madam.

      On the way out the door, I gave him a dollar to play a grabber machine (he did not expound upon the name of this one), and he won a nubby purple rubber hollow ball. He handed it to me as he fished his car keys out of his pocket.

      "I don't want to hold your ball!"

      "Yet you had no trouble holding my balls in Little Caesar's several years ago!"

      That Pony has a smart mouth.

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  4. Our college sophpmore grandson came home to tell us he won't be coming home because he's taking an internship. The cruise was a fond farewell. It's rough till you realize how much you save on groceries and fast food.

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    1. Yes, the fast food bill will certainly decline. Genius spent three summers interning. Don't know what the future holds for The Pony.

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  5. Maybe some things you won't miss.

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    1. I don't think I'll miss holding The Pony's balls too terribly much...

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  6. Sioux is right, you know. You really don't want him still at home when he is 45. Just ask my sister, hers is still living with her and he is 46 ...... he brought his daughter with him and he still charges his fuel to her at the local station. All the joys of parenthood FOREVER!

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    1. Ack! He would be like that lady's ugly "Bill" on the DISH commercial!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v702okVbNkU

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