Little things that make life worth living

We are enjoying babysitting a sweet baby girl who smiles easily and is just starting to "coo".  You've probably noticed I'm not blogging as often, and my Facebook friends probably think I'm sick or mad.  Nope, I'm busy enjoying the baby.  
Today Baby's mom picked her up early after having a terrible day:  She had a blow-out on the way to work and didn't have cell phone service when it happened.  She walked and walked... well, it's a long story, but she didn't get to work at all.  So she was here to pick the baby up at two o'clock.   
So I suggested to Cliff that we run to the bank at Lexington and deposit his tractor money.  I looked at the local supermarket ad first, saw that red grapes were ninety-nine cents a pound, and made a mental note to get some (because they are so affordable when they're on sale, and we love them almost as much as cherries).  
Granddaughter Monica was here for a visit, and I asked if she would like to ride along.  
"No," she answered.  "I have to give all the dogs a bath."  
"But it's Sonic Happy Hour," I said.  
"Oh, then I'm going!"
So at Sonic Cliff ordered two Route 44 Diet Cherry Limeades and one regular one.  There weren't a lot of customers there, but it still seemed to take them quite a while to serve us.  While we waited, we talked about the cherries you get in limeades.  For some reason, it seems like the best part of a Diet Cherry Limeade you get at Sonic is the cherry at the bottom.  One would think that if cherries are so special to me, I'd buy a jar of maraschino cherries at the store and eat all I want... but no, it's the whole thing about drinking your drink and finding that cherry at the bottom.  You know, like back when us old folks were kids and we got a pretty decent surprise in a box of Cracker Jacks.  
We discussed the various Sonic locations while we waited, mentioning that Lexington (where we were sitting) was one of the not-so-great ones.  We won't even patronize the one at Buckner, because we once sat there a half-hour waiting for our order and finally left without it.  
I told Monica, "There is a Sonic that your mom goes to sometimes that gives you FOUR cherries in a Route 44 drink."  
"That's probably the one in Blue Springs," she said.  "That's a great Sonic."  

We finally got our drinks, stopped by the bank, and came on home.  Now, if you are familiar with Sonic, you know the Route 44 drinks are huge.  They are served in styrofoam cups so the ice doesn't melt, and you can spend half a day nursing that drink.  
Three hours later, I finally got to the bottom and, lo and behold, there were FOUR LUSCIOUS CHERRIES!  I was so excited that I posted on Monica's wall on Facebook and told her my good news.  
"Do you suppose the speaker was left on, and they heard our conversation?"  
"I haven't finished mine," she answered, "but I'm excited now!"  
A couple of minutes later she commented, "I have four!"  
I went out to ask Cliff how many cherries he found at the bottom of his drink.  Well, turns out granddaughter Natalie drove by and he gave the rest of his drink to her.  
What do you want to bet she had four cherries too?  

Yep, I think they left the speaker on.  We also had a conversation about whether Sonic servers ought to be tipped:  I say no, Cliff says yes.