Monday, October 8, 2007

My first real heartbreak. Brace yourself.

[I have some awesome things to say about the weekend...later.]

I was having a pleasant Sunday afternoon walking the mall...notice I said WALKING, not so much SHOPPING...you have to have money to do that. Needless to say, invisible jobs don't pay well. So now let me back up.

Contrary to our air-conditioner's thinking, it is not the middle of winter. But you would think so by the way it insist on blowing out HEAT during these lovely October sweat-fests. The air is set on COOL, somewhere in the upper 60s, yet we get HEAT blown through our vents. The simple solution would seem to be just to cut it OFF. You would think. But the dern blasted thing won't cut off. IT WON'T CUT OFF. We are stewing in our own filth. (Which has the potential to make my friend Katherine gag if she ever reads this because she can't even stand the thought of taking baths and sitting in the dirty water.)
So after church I opted not to take a trip to the burning nunnery (we live on convent ave...it's ok, laugh it up ;) we've decided just to own the hilarity of that) and to spend it in the air conditioning some place where I would have plenty to look at and a place to sit and read for a while. So I happened upon the Mall at Green Hills which conveniently has both. :) My afternoon was full of looking at lovely dress pants and jeans 3 times as expensive as the ones I had on, shirts that wouldn't cover my BIG TOE, and way cute cards at the Papyrus store I have recently fallen in love with. Cutest cards ever. I refrained. And my wallet thanked me. (Until I went to Starbucks of course...I would hope that would just be an understood given though.) Life was good and cool...I was killing time...(ran into 2 of my 3 roommates who were undoubtedly avoiding the same thing I was)...my feet hurt, but I didn't care (I had Starbucks to walk off)...

And then IT happened.

I went to Panera. (Again, choosing to stay out of the house for dinner prolonged another work-out sized sweat job just to pour a bowl of cereal.)
I walked up to the counter.
I asked for a cinnamon crunch bagel. And the unthinkable came out of that sweet girl's mouth.
"I'm sorry we're out".
Politely I tilted my head toward her and said "Hmmm?" (I could not have heard her right.)

"We're out...of cinnamon crunch bagels."

Restrain yourself Abby. It is not her fault. Was the Lord telling me not to eat a bagel? Save my hips the trouble? Surely not.
But this was the day I learned trying to substitute a phony for the real thing is never a good idea. The Lord can not be replaced, and neither can cinnamon crunch bagels.
Mocha-chip is just NOT the same.

20 comments:

Little Steps Of Faith said...

Yes, me and Panera are on a break since the tuscan chicken is no longer existant....:(

ang

Sharon Brumfield said...

I have to comment on this.
May I just say ya'll are blessed and cursed to have Panera?
I love the bagel you were talking about with the hazelnut cream cheese!
Be still my heart-literally.
We don't have this place where I live.
So when we travel-I keep my eye open for them.
I understand your sadness.
And girl you got to have some cool air. Do you have a landlord? If so somebody should be pounding on his/her door.

Erin Ward said...

Out of cinnamon crunch bagels?? Let's hope that never happens here in Springfield. I don't know if I could handle it.
It's just like how our Mcalisters' sometimes run out of baked potatoes. Honestly people!

Fran said...

Having spent many a time at Green Hills I can picture every step you took....and then I became sad with you as I read "I'm sorry we're out." WHAT??!!! I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly?!
You can't be out. Thats not an option.

You didn't lose it Abby and for that I'm proud. I can't wait to hear about your time with Shelly.
We'll need a picture ya know!

Hope that heat/air is fixed. Its gonna be cooler later this week so you might be ok! :)

Hugs and Love,
Fran

Patty said...

I had a similar experience a week ago in Knoxville at our Panera. We had gone to see 3:10 to Yuma,which I accidentally called Zooma, and my son hasn't let me live that down. We had planned on eating dinner at Panera's and I wanted the broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl. So, we head on over to Panera and in the parking lot I see the local news truck and a ton of orange and white balloons and tables with food on them. Maggie Moo's mascot and just a lot of Vol fans and I thought, broccoli cheese soup and a U.T. pep rally, God must really love me? :o) I placed my order and the little girl said, we don't have any? I said, did you quit making it? No, we are out! I had to let other customers go ahead of me because I had to compose myself. We placed our order, paid for it and I asked the girl what was going on outside. She said, Oh, thats a pep rally for the Vols and the band and cheerleaders will be here in a minute. I asked how much it cost to go out there and eat and she said, it's free!! I thought, you don't have my soup and then you tell me the food outside is free. I regrouped and told my son and Georgia, we will go outside and sit under an umbrella and watch the pep rally and maybe I will get on t.v. because surely that was what God had planned all along. We signed up to win a big screen t.v. while we ate and within a few seconds I hear a man say, they are cancelling the pep rally, they are packing up the food, and the news crew is headed to the station because a BAD storm is headed this way. Noooooo. No soup, no t.v., no being on t.v. and no pep rally!! I said all of that to say this, they did have cinnamon crunch bagels left(my favorite) at 6:00 in the evening. Can you believe that? LOL!! Loved this post. The title almost had me in my car headed to Nashville to talk Jesus to the person who broke your heart. LOL!!

Love You,
Patty

The Millsaps said...

Abby-
I wanted to let you know about something my church has on Tuesday nights called Kairos. It is in Brentwood. You may have already heard about it, but I think it is something you would really like!! Shoot me an email at msappy925@charter.net and I can tell you more about it.

Blessings!
Rachel

Jackie said...

oh girl, those are NOT bagels...that is PURE dessert!! sara LOVES those things and we also mourn when they run out...i mean, what are they thinking, they should make DOUBLES of those delicious things!! you are too cute- hope you got over the heartbreak!!

PS- by the way, I tagged you for a meme!!

jennyhope said...

girl friend I had the asagio cheese this morning...I think I will have the cinn. one in honor of you on Thurs! I rotate between the 2! Then I pray that I won't be hungry for the rest of the day so I can eat those things! love you girlfriend!

BethAnne said...

Poor thing!!! You may need counseling after that terrible Panera incident. You are truly making memories that will last a lifetime! hahaha One day you will tell your kids about the burning apartment on convent road.

PS Love the Mall at Green Hills, but not as much as Cool Springs!

Lindsee Lou said...

Cinnamon Crunch Bagels. We are, indeed, twins at heart. :)

Still going to email you...just waiting to sit down and actually write something!

LKE

Unknown said...

We get those things by the ton, FOR FREE. Our church gets all of the leftover Panera on Saturday evenings. It ROCKS! Next time, i will have one in your honor too!

Praise and Coffee said...

How disappointing.
I have to check these bagels out! Sound wonderful!

Hope you have a good week girl!

Sue

Alana said...

That is just sick and wrong. There should ALWAYS be Cinnamon Crunch Bagels...at all times...NO EXCEPTIONS!

I'm so sorry. Hope things cool down for you soon!

connorcolesmom said...

Oh my that is funny. I can see your head tilt now with the look of bewilderment.
Oh and now I am craving a bagel and Starbucks but it is way too late to eat!!
God bless,
Kim

Lisa N Alexander said...

Man I'm praying you get some cool weather AND the AC gets fixed! And I love Panera Bread. My favorite was the Banana Nut Bagel which they don't make anymore!

Patty said...

I tagged you for something. Visit me to see what it is.

Love,
Patty

Unknown said...

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BLOG! SO COLORFUL! I WOULD LOVE IT IF YOU STOPPED BY MY BLOG AND ENTERED MY GIVE-AWAY! STOP BY FOR COFFEE!!!

Anonymous said...

abby... i randomly came across your blog and i must tell you that i understand your heartbreak over panera's cinnamon crunch bagels!! i love them too-a little too much. :)

豚骨拉麵Tiger said...
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lin said...
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