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Atlanta is the headquarters of Coca Cola, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go to Coca Cola World. Coca Cola is a vice that I periodically swear off and just as periodically, I start drinking again. One day, when my Pastor was taking a drink of soda, he declared it not evil. Then he hesitated and said, “Well, maybe.” That pretty much sums up my stance on coke. During Abby’s Science Fair, two different students did science projects to convince people that coke was completely unhealthy. One student tried to determine which brand, coke or pepsi, would dissolve a large piece of meat quicker. They came out even. Another student used coke to clean rust off cars. In Australia, the majority of people drink lemonade (a sprite or seven up type drink, not the American version of lemonade). However, they do sell coke in stores and restaurants. To Dales dismay, they do not sell root beer in Australia. At one point we actually imported some root beer and our Aussie friends all declared it disgusting. I grew up in a root beer drinking family. The big treat was to go to the A&W and get a literal frosty mug of root beer. For awhile we went to The Pop Shop and would have bottles filled with orange, grape, and cola soda. I grew up saying pop or soda. Dale, however, grew up calling everything a coke. “Do you want a coke?”, they ask. If you say yes, they will ask you which kind…”Coke, Sprite, Root beer, Dr Pepper?” It’s very confusing. However, the majority of time it is a coke, the favored drink of all Manrys. In Louisiana, the temperature is so hot and humid, the sticky air causes you to melt into your seat once you sit down and you don’t have enough energy to get up and get yourself something to drink. So, throughout the entire visit, everyone is trying to convince their significant other to get up and get them a drink. “Honey, will you fix me a coke?”, they ask. If someone is forced to get up to go to the bathroom or check on the kids, they know that they will be filling coke orders. Dale’s family buys coke in the 2 liter bottles. So, in order to fix a coke, you fill a giant plastic cup with ice and pour the coke on top. The only Manry who drinks coke from a can is Dale’s Daddy and he hides the cans of coke in a cooler in his truck so that everyone won’t drink all his coke. If you ever receive the privilege of being offered one of his cans of coke, you are in high favor indeed. (Just pickin, Sir.) Manry’s begin drinking coke at a very young age. When Dale and I were first married, I watched one of his nephews drinking coke from his baby bottle. (Don’t worry, Tami, I’m sure they’ll never guess that it was your son.) Anyway, Coca Cola World was a must visit location because I heard you could drink coke to your hearts content. Coca Cola world consists of a lot of standing in line or as Aussies say, waiting in the q. We stood in line to purchase tickets, we stood in line to go through security, we stood in line to enter, we stood in line for the movie theater, we stood in line to see the displays, we stood in line to see the bottle works. By the time everyone gets to the tasting station, people are tired of standing in line and it is a bit of a free for all. The first movie they made you watch was dreadful, but the 3D movie of a professor trying to figure out the secret recipe was quite good. The movie took you around the world, snow boarding, had plenty of explosions, and fruit flying at you. You got squirted with water and you seat moved and shook. The bottle works that had an assembly line of robots, gears, and machines that bottle coke was interesting. I imagine Gabe will invent something like that some day. But, the highlight was the tasting station. They had soda machines with all the coke products from around the world. There was one from India that was made from vegetables. Josiah took one drink and poured it out. There was one from Italy that tasted like liquid sugar. The two we liked were Smart Apple and Kiwi Mango. Our shoes stuck to the floor of the room because of all the soda that had been spilled. There was one guy with a mop and bucket trying to clean up some of it, but it was a hopeless cause. They must run a giant floor washing machine over that floor every night. Josiah and I drank coke products until we were sick. On the way out, you can grab a bottle of coke to go. Coca Cola World is imprinted on the bottle. I put the bottles in the fridge for us to bring to the airport and drink at lunch before we flew back. We had only brought carry on luggage and the bottles were greater than 3 oz, so I knew we had to drink them. When we got to the airport, I attempted to twist off the tops and realized we needed a bottle opener. I went to the gift shop for help and the attendant kindly pulled a decorative Atlanta bottle opener off the rack and opened them for me. The other girl who worked there saw her and said, “I had to do that the other day. Everyone wants to keep their coke bottles, but they can’t take them through security with liquid in them.” As I drank my coke out of a glass bottle I remembered something Dale’s Daddy had told me… “There’s nothing better than drinking coke out of a glass bottle.” I’m not certain if I’m the first Manry to make the pilgrimage to Atlanta, but I’m sure I won’t be the last.

Having spent two years in Hawaii and two years in Australia, my children have been informing me that we are well and truly behind in keeping up with American fads. Quite a bit is based on tv programs and movies they have not watched. They have been asking to watch one of the latest shows that I haven’t gotten around to previewing. In my defense, I declared that I let them watch Keenen and Kel. Josiah then informed me, “Mom, that’s from the 90’s!” Oh those 90’s, now so out of date. I decided to further defend myself with the declaration that there must be some kid in Josiah’s class whose parents don’t let him watch all this stuff. He replied, “Ya, I’m him.” Somehow, I’ve become the most conservative parent. So, in an attempt to catch up with the culture, we watched high school musical I & II. Zeke found these shows most interesting. Zeke watched Christmas Cantatas at church throughout the month of December and occasionally joined in uninvited with the singing. On Christmas Eve his encore version of a woman’s solo sent his cousins into fits of giggles. Over the last month and a half, he would periodically find the piano book with “Go Tell it on the Mountain” in it and hold it up, stand straight and bellow the song forth. He even sang it to the preschool principal when he went in for his evaluation. When Gabe told him that Christmas and the time for singing “Go Tell it on the Mountain” was over, he got his Oh My Oh MY Oh Dinosaurs book, opened up to the page where the dinosaurs are singing and burst forth with “Our God is an Awesome God”. At church, when the worship team finishes a song he likes, he will declare “That was a good one!” loud enough for everyone in the church to hear. Last summer, he filled our days singing show tunes he had learned watching the Muppets. Well, high school musical fascinated him. A world where people periodically break out in song and dance seemed wonderful to him. At one point in the show, the sad breakup duet was sung and Zeke was especially moved by this song. He got up off the couch, walked into the kitchen, stood in front of the pantry and looked at the giant box of goldfish crackers. He then began his own sad song which had a mournful tune and lines such as “My goldfish ran away down my shirt.”

*** Update 28 Jan 07 ***

For your listening pleasure, here is Zeke singing a medley of old favorites:

This week was Spirit Week at the kids school. Zeke has been a little disgruntled by the unacceptable clothing worn throughout the week by his siblings. On Monday, when we went to pick them up from school, he looked at all the kids and declared, “It’s not pajama time!” Zeke doesn’t quite understand why you have a pajama day, crazy hat day, and favorite team day. Yesterday for chapel, the high school cheerleaders came to fire up the Stafford campus. They did some stunts and a dance routine and led the classes in the cheer “Hey Eagles are you there?” Abby asked me what I thought about the cheerleaders. Abby’s teacher told her class that she would do away with the sport of cheerleading if she could. I reluctantly had to admit that I had been a cheerleader. I was terrible at basketball, volleyball, and track. I did play softball in the summer, but softball didn’t count as a school varsity sport. I desperately wanted to earn a letter, so I could wear a letterman’s jacket. Cheerleading was the means to the end. Abby asked if I wanted the letterman’s jacket to be cool. I had to admit that was one of my attempts to be cool. I never did quite succeed in being cool, but I did wear a letterman’s jacket. Gabe could not fathom that his mother had been a cheerleader, so I pulled out my old yearbook to show him the pictures. Josiah looked at the pictures and said we all looked like the people in the movie Back to the Future. Zeke looked at my pictures and said, “Mommy, what happened to your hair?” He did not care for the clothes I was wearing either. “What happened to your pants? What happened to your shirt?” Apparently the styles of the 80s don’t appeal to him.

Last Saturday, Josiah was invited to attend a birthday party for a girl in his class.  He would not normally consider such an invitation, but it involved a movie ticket to National Treasure II and free pizza.  He and his buddies (mates) agreed they would all go together thereby making it an acceptable occasion.  The difficult part, of course, was the gift buying.  Abby informed Josiah that the girl liked webkins, and that Josiah could purchase one at Hallmark.  Abby loves Hallmark with all its bric-a brac and girly things.  Josiah was a bit apprehensive when we set out.  We arrived at 0855 and the store opened at 0900.  We sat in the car and began to watch our fellow Hallmark shoppers.  They were all men.  It was the Saturday before Christmas and these men were forced to go out and find a gift for their wives.  My brother-in-law Rich was shopping on Saturday, but had to finish up a few purchases on Christmas Eve.  He didn’t want to break with the tradition of buying the gift and wrapping it on Christmas Eve.  This year, Dale was unable to adhere to this Christmas Eve shopping tradition as a result of his distance away and the speed of the Army postal system.  I received my gift weeks in advance.  I will no longer be able to grumble about him always shopping on Christmas Eve.  Anyway, back to Hallmark…One guy was peering intently in the window with the hopes that he could spot something before hand, so that when the clerk opened the door, he could dash in, purchase it, and make a quick get away.  Another guy, who was clearly military, was walking back and forth not directly in front of the Hallmark as if to fool anyone who happened by that he wasn’t actually waiting to go in.  He threw something away in the rubbish bin down the sidewalk, he wandered around on the street in front, and constantly looked over his shoulder in case a friend happened by to accuse him of Hallmark shopping.  The smart guy stayed in his car and made a quick dash for the door when the clerk finally unlocked it.  Josiah and I went in to join our fellow shoppers.  I began to find various things and hold them up for Josiah to see.  I then noticed a glaze come over his eyes and I thought of Dale.  When in a store like Hallmark, Dale will wander around in a daze.  He can not relate to anything in the store and the choosing becomes a torture to him.  I said to Josiah, “You won’t feel comfortable giving any of these gifts will you?”  He replied, “No.”  To his great relief, I let him escape.  So, down the sidewalk we went to the bookstore where he purchased a day to day calendar and a journal.  He brought the gifts home, wrapped them, and even made a funny card.  When I dropped him off in front of the movie theater, he realized to his dismay that only the birthday girl had arrived.  I left him on the curb and drove away laughing as the dazed look came back over his face.