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shit, what was I thinking. yes, we were hungry and didn’t have any plans for the evening but that shouldn’t have meant for us to head over to a chinese buffet restaurant that we weren’t all that familiar with. All I knew about the Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet over on Capital Blvd. was that it’s always busy with tons of families going in and out of that place. It’s located right next to a Sam Ash music store in a strip mall and whenever we had to go to Sam Ash for stuff in the past, I’d always notice how busy the buffet place was.

And if it’s a busy place, it’s gotta be good, right? Obviously not.

This place was disgusting. It’s a windowless, rundown restaurant full of customers there just to fill their face.

The wife and I have been more health conscious over the last year or so and have been losing a lot of weight lately. So, a buffet shouldn’t have been on our radar anyway. But we didn’t feel like going to the same old places tonight so we opted to go to this Buffet and boy are we regretting it now. yuck.

It’s your typical chinese buffet that also offers a hibachi style grill as well as sushi. everything was just “blah” with nothing really special that would explain why this place is packed day in and day out.

I just have to conclude that the average customer there don’t really give a shit about taste and simply wants a stuffed tummy.

My kids really didn’t seem to mind though. As long as they got their ice cream for dessert, they were happy.

whatever.

All I know is that I’m never going to set foot in that place ever again. What a waste of money…

excuse me now while I go throw up…

Took the kids to the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord recently. As expected, the kids had a blast. for the wife and I, it was more or less… meh. But if the kids had fun then that’s all that really matters…

here are just some random thoughts I had about our visit:

- why does the water at the wave pool tastes so salty? yeah, I know I’m NOT supposed to drink it but when the water splashes onto your lips, you’re bound to taste some of it. and it tastes salty.

- a germophobe would probably consider the enclosed water park as a giant petri dish.

- the layout of the GWL at concord is a bit more linear than the one at Williamsburg. with the straightforward gridlike layout, it doesn’t feel as exciting. does that make any sense?

- where was the lazy river or the wave rider? Williamsburg had both of those. (I think the kids prefer the Williamsburg GWL overall)

- we were there in the middle of the week and the place was STILL crowded. when is this place ever not crowded? argh.

- GWL concord is located near Concord Mills (a huge shopping mall) so there’s plenty of place to eat with the kids. it’s a good thing b/c the food at the lodge ain’t all that great.

- the shared stairwell to the waterslides weren’t clearly marked off so it was pretty confusing what you’re standing in line for.

- wish GWL was a cheaper place to visit. a family of 5 can put a good dent in the ol’ wallet.

- overall the place was clean and I liked the swimsuit dryers in the changing rooms, for sure.

- the 4th floor rooms had vaulted ceilings which was nice. but the beds were very uncomfortable.

Thanks to all those that participated in my freschetta giveaway. I’m sure you’re all wondering who won the drawing…

I listed all the entries in a spreadsheet and assigned numbers to each and then selected a number using random.org. .. and so the winner is: Anna!

You’ll be receiving an email from me and once I receive your mailing address, you’ll be getting the two bamboo cutting boards and a coupon for a free Freschetta pizza. congratulations!

Well, I guess I won’t be ever using FTD ever again. Geez. Like a lot of people, I sent my mom (as well as my mother in law) a bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day this past weekend via FTD.com. It’s fast and convenient since the ordering is done online. And as I understand it, FTD utilizes their network of local florists across the nation to fulfill the orders. Well, when I visited my mom at home and saw what was delivered by the florist, I was mortified. WTF. What she received looked nothing like the photo that I ordered from. Not even close. It actually looked like someone just threw together some flowers taken from someone’s front yard. I mean, I could have spent $9.99 at the grocery store and gotten better looking flowers!!! what a waste of money. I should have known. I ran into this sort of quality issue years ago with 1-800-flowers. I suppose florists are inundated with orders on occasions like these but still, online sites like FTD SHOULD have a mechanism in place to stop orders if a particular florist is overbooked and can’t fulfill orders without sacrificing quality. But I guess, FTD and these florists would rather accept the money as it comes in and not worry about the consequences.

and the consequence of course is a nation full of pissed off customers. which in turn, becomes a nation full of EX-customers. I’ve seen a bunch of facebook groups/pages filled with rants and complaints about the crummy flowers they’ve received via FTD over the years. SO I know it’s not just me. It’s not a good way to run a business and I know that I’LL NEVER order from them again. who the hell wants to send their mom half-dead flowers on Mother’s Day???? thanks so much FTD.

I don’t know how other parents do it. I’m absolutely burned out chauffeuring the kids around to their activities every other day. Soccer practice, orchestra rehearsals, swimming lessons, playdates, sleepovers, birthday parties, choir practice… it’s endless, I tell ya. And I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad if these destinations were close by. But, no. driving back and forth across town takes its toll. ugh. Thank God, the spring soccer season is ALMOST over. The DAD needs a break!!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Like most households with kids, we keep a supply of frozen pizzas on hand just for those occasions when you need something quick to keep the kids’ stomachs at bay. And as a parent of three growing boys, this situation happens much more frequently than I’d like. Well, the good folks at Freschetta offered to let the kids and I try out their new line of pizzas called FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™. Free food? what’s not to like!

Freschetta Simply Inspired is an attempt to transcend the ordinary realm of the “frozen pizza”. We’re talking higher quality toppings and more robust flavors. And the Simply Inspired line features a variety of flavors including – Farmers Market Veggie, Hawaiian Style, Harvest Supreme, Southern BBQ, Chicken Bianco and Rustic Pepperoni Pomodoro.

Our family opted to try “Classic Bruschetta” which features a creamy tomato and pesto sauce. I admit the pizza was a bit smaller than I’d like but it tasted great. In fact, it’s definitely better than the typical frozen fare that’s available in the grocery aisle. The kids like it too so I’ll be keeping a stock of these in our freezer from now on. Oh, and I also give a thumbs up to their new packaging which seals in flavor and uses 30% less packaging material.

Now, after reading about the Freschetta pizzas, I’m pretty sure you want to try one. Well, I’ve got a coupon for a free FRESCHETTA Simply Inspired Pizza to give away right here on this blog. Not only that but I also have two brand new Freschetta branded bamboo cutting boards (1 cheese board with a ceramic dish and utensils, and 1 round pizza cutting board with utensils) to give to the winner as well.

Here’s what you have to do to enter:

- head on over to the Freschetta website to check out the different varieties available. Post a comment here on this blog telling me which of the Simply Inspired pizzas you want to try. (be sure to include a legitimate email address so that I can contact you if you win).

you can earn bonus entries by doing the following:

- LIKE Freschetta Simply Inspired on Facebook

- follow @FreschettaSI on Twitter

- subscribe to ThisOldBlog via RSS feed

Be sure to post another comment here on this blog to let me know about the bonus entries!!

all entries need to be submitted by 5pm on May 11th, 2011. Only those residing in the United States are eligible for this drawing. A winner will be chosen at random using the random number generator (random.org). The winner will be notified via email and will have to respond within 48 hours with your complete mailing address. Pizza coupon and bamboo cutting boards are being provided by FRESCHETTA.