I remember when. . .

Phil and I actually got a night out together on Friday. it was all very spur-of-the-moment, which is normally difficult to do when you have children and have to get a babysitter. Luckily we have a live-in babysitter, in the form of Brett. He's the man who lives in our garage. Confused? It's a loooong story. Basically he's a friend of my husband's who needed somewhere to live awhile back. He made an apartment in our garage and is living happily there. He pays some rent and babysits the kids whenever we ask. It's kinda nice having someone around to help with the kids. But I digress.

So we went out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We had a giftcard from Christmas to spend. Yummy food!! I had a teriyaki sirloin that was fabulous. Of course I can't even think about how many calories were in the steak, loaded baked potato, salad and bread. I hate to spoil the memory of such a perfect meal with the depressing reality that I ingested well over 1000 calories in one meal.

So after we were done overeating, we went to Blockbuster to use a giftcard my husband received for Christmas. One advantage to working for the school system is that he will ocasionally receive gift cards as a Christmas thank you from grateful teachers he has helped throughout the year. So we were walking around Blockbuster browsing. I haven't been in Blockbuster in years and years. And I was struck by how different it was. I remember the olden days (7 or 8 years ago probably) when the whole store was nothing but VHS tapes. Then there was a small section of DVDs added;the latest in movie technology at that time. Now the whole store is DVDs with nary a VHS anywhere. And the DVDs aren't even lined up neatly. They are stacked one on top of another so you have to turn your head sideways to read the titles. Back in the day, the VHS tapes were all standing up facing you so it was easy to walk and browse the available selection. And now there are more than just DVDs. There is a section for Blu-Ray DVDs. I admit to being technology-stupid and having no idea what the difference is between these DVDs and the regular ones such as those that we own. There are shelves and shelves of video games available to rent; Wii, Playstation, Nintendo and more.

But the most depressing discovery I made was the absence of a section for musicals. I LOVE watchng musicals and wanted to see how many they had. Back in the day there was a section labeled "Musicals." I walked around the store 3 different times looking for such a section. Alas, my search was in vain. When I asked a Blockbuster employee about this, he said that the few musicals they had were scattered throughout different sections of the store. How sad!!! Am I the only one who appreciates the great Rogers & Hammerstein musicals of the past?

We did find a few movies to rent; 1 for us grownups and 2 or 3 for the kids. I enjoyed seeing the new movies that are out there now. But I was sad at the loss of my favorite section. I must be getting old if a simple trip to the video store starts me reminiscing about "the way it used to be." Can I even call it a "video" store anymore if there are no actual videos anywhere in the store? maybe I should call it a DVD Store? Or a DVD and Video Game Store? Or a DVD and Video Game and Fattening, Junky Snacks Store? But I digress. . .