Shipoopi

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Shipoopi- Buddy Hackett/ Seth MacFarlane

Sammy and I met up to check out apartments today. It was Sammy's day off, so I got off as soon as possible to meet her. We ruled out her apartment complex in Arlington just because it was too far out for me. Dallas and Fort Worth are the major cities. A lot of smaller cities and suburbs comprise the rest of the Metroplex. Arlington is a city close to Fort Worth. The apartments were cheaper and it is where the Cowboys Stadium, Rangers Ballpark, (yes, I know they have new names. I don't care whose sponsoring them now) and Six Flags are located. But Sammy and I work in Dallas. And I really don't wanna be that far from my friends and family. Trevor and Cam both live in Plano, a city close to Dallas; Rocky's house is in North Dallas; and Ethan lives in Carrollton, a suburb of Dallas. So we decided to look for apartments close to Dallas instead.

We narrowed it down to the city of Addison. It's right in the middle of everyone. It's a cool city that has a little bit of everything. Upscale shopping and living, and a great night life scene; but it also has parks and beautiful residential communities. I think it's a perfect location for us, and thankfully Sammy agrees.

The first apartments we looked at are luxurious apartments in Addison Circle. Most the festivals and events that happen in Addison take place in Addison Circle. The complex itself is surrounded by office spaces, small businesses, and shops. The amenities are out of this world. Renting the apartment comes with full access to 2 fitness centers, resort style pools, a private theater, and a game loft. It's expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for. The apartment itself is pretty awesome. I has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an upgraded kitchen. They have a waiting list, but assured us they should have apartments available in October.

The second one we ruled out. It's nice, but tiny. The one that's available only has 1.5 bathrooms. Neither one of us wants to compromise on that. And there are no washer/dryer connections. That's not a problem for Sammy. She doesn't have a washer and dryer anyway. But I'm used to being able to wash at home. I planned to buy a washer and a dryer for wherever we moved to.

The 3rd is a townhome located near a city park. For the same price of the first apartment, we get a two story apartment, both bedrooms on the top floor (with their own bathrooms!), with 2 living areas, a large patio, a fireplace and a two car garage. And full size washer/dryer connections! It doesn't have the same amenities as the first apartment, but it has a pool with a sun deck, tennis courts, and picnic and bbq areas.

I'm in love with it. I think it's perfect. The only thing that gave me pause was the bedrooms being so close together. I remembered Rocky's comment about looking forward to hearing Sammy have sex. But I guess that's what ear plugs are for.

Sammy likes the amenities and the location of the first one better. The leasing agent informs us that the townhome will be ready first thing in July and they have a tendency to rent fast. That sells it for Sammy. She doesn't want to wait til October. So we go ahead and fill out an application.

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After that, I went home. I was surprised to see Brandon, Rocky and EJ playing outside. Apparently, Megan had an appointment so Brandon was babysitting until Ethan came to pick him up. I went inside, changed my clothes, and joined them outside with a cut up watermelon. I took it outside and set it on the patio table. EJ came running over and inhaled a piece before asking for another. After he devoured that one, he ran back to grab the football. We all watched him in amazement.

"If anyone ever questions his blackness because of his skin tone, just put a watermelon in front of him..." Brandon jokes.

Rocky and I laughed. We all continued to play catch with the football. Brandon threw a long pass to EJ. He caught it and ran to the fence.

"All right! Touchdown!!!" We cheered for him.

"Oh yeah!!" EJ celebrated, throwing down the football and shaking his shoulders in a wild dance.

"That's right homie. Shake 'em off." Brandon laughed at him, joining in the dance.

"That's horrible!" Rocky laughed.

"Yeah, your touchdown dance needs work." I commented, smiling at them.

"Would you rather him dance to Shipoopi?"

I turned around to see Ethan at the gate entrance of the backyard. "OMG, did Ethan Carter just reference Family Guy?!?!" I exclaimed, in a valley girl accent. "I can totally die happy right now! Like, you learned something from me!" I grinned.

Ethan smiled as he entered the backyard with us. "What's Family Guy?" EJ asked.

"A show for grown ups." Ethan answered him.

"What episode was that?" Brandon asked.

"When Peter joins the New England Patriots. And he scores a touchdown. They all dance to Shipoopi. Do the dance with me Rocky!" I said, excitedly.

"I will not."

"You will. Or I will call Trevor and we will upload the footage of you doing it." I threatened. In college, we watched the episode together. Then Rocky got drunk one night at a party and busted it out. Bilal put it on Facebook until Rocky sobered up and saw it. She threatened us all bodily harm if we didn't delete it.

"Good luck with that. I made sure to watch y'all delete it."

"You watched one copy of it being deleted...." I replied.

"I hate you." Rocky said, but she got up and did it with me. We were all laughing by the end of it.

We decided to have dinner together. Brandon left to go pick something up. Things were a little tense when Rocky said she wanted to go with Brandon. Brandon made a comment about not needing her help to bring home food. I was waiting for Rocky to snap back, but she just said, "Whatever" and went in the house and Brandon left.

Me and Ethan just looked at each other. What the fuck was that?

EJ then went inside to use the bathroom.

"It's good to see you. I feel like it's been forever." I said, when EJ went inside.

"I know. You've been keeping busy. I never got to ask you about your trip."

"Yeah, it was good. Nice to kinda physically get away from everything. It put things in perspective."

"And what's your perspective?" Ethan asked me.

"Hmmmm, still working on that. But I did talk to my brother. We are working on it."

"That's good to hear."

EJ then came back outside and ate more watermelon. He started talking to us about his birthday party coming up.

"We got the invitations yesterday. I invited the whole soccer team, even though I don't like Caleb and Miguel. And I invited my friends from school."

"Am I going to get an invitation?" I asked him, smiling.

"Yes! You've never been to my birthday party before. It's going to be fun!" EJ promised.

"I've been to your party before, you don't remember?" I asked him. He looks at his dad for confirmation. In that moment, I instantly regretted that I even brought it up.

"Yes. Your 5th birthday. We had it at home. It was a Cars Party." Ethan said, looking at EJ only. I can't tell if it's because he doesn't want to remember that memory either.

"Oh yeah." EJ nodded his head.

"Do you know what you want for your birthday?" I asked, desperate for a subject change. He lists off games and toys he wants while Ethan watches me. I focus on EJ. I don't want him to know I'm thinking about that day. I don't even want to think about it.

Thankfully, Brandon returned with dinner. We went inside and managed to have a pleasant dinner together, despite the weirdness with Brandon and Rocky. And without me putting my foot in my mouth.


*****Wednesday's post will be a flashback.*****