It's Back to School Y'all

I can't believe it's back to school already. On my way home Friday I cut through the back of our neighborhood and found myself smack in the middle of a traffic jam. I was sitting in front of the elementary school vehicles lined the streets and parents holding their children's hands as they made their way to the entrance (open house). We do not have children yet so I was completely caught off guard that black Monday was around the corner. My husband and I refer to it as "Black Monday" because it's horrific trying to commute out of the community to the freeway downtown. Poor hubby, he'll have to get up early in the morning to avoid the rush. Once I got around the group of families pouring into the neighborhood streets I couldn't help but think back to when I was a kid. The first memory that came to mind was when I was about 9 years old. I remember that first day of school vividly. My mom dropped me and my older sister off at school in our family's new Jeep Wagoneer. My sister was listening to the Go's Go's. I jumped from the back seat before my mother could kiss me goodbye. After all, I was 9 years old and didn't need my mom embarrassing me. I wore my jean skirt, purple IZOD shirt, side pony, and a Strawberry Short Cake lunchbox. I grew about 2 inches that summer so I was much taller and felt more mature as I towered over the younger kids. I even convinced my mom to let me wear lip gloss. It was bubblegum flavor. I thought I was too cool for school. What is your first day of school memory?




This was our family car during the 80's. Same color and everything.




I had this exact lunchbox. I carried a lot of PB&J in that little box.


I totally had the Debbie Gibson hair. Sometimes I'd wear it in a side pony.

The only make up a 9 year old girl could get away with. My BFF had the Dr. Pepper one.

I think my sister and I listened to this tape a million times. I knew every beat and lyric by heart.

Summer Countdown

Summer is finally coming to an end. I can't believe how quickly it flew by this year. I heard that school starts next week. We don't have children so I have to rely on the news or hear through the grapevine. In a way I'm sad but on the other hand I'm eager for fall. August has been truly a disgustingly hot month down here in the Bayou City. That's what they call Houston "Bayou City." Texas is pretty much always a warm state but August has about killed me. It's hot when I wake up, it's hot during the day, and it's hot when I try to sleep at night. All this heat makes me sleepy and cranky.

My husband asked me what I would like to do this weekend. I told him I would like to drive down to the coast. It's one of the last weekends of summer and I want to spend it on the beach. At least I can feel the cooler breeze of the Gulf of Mexico. I decided I want to head down to Corpus Christi this weekend. I have a new book that I'm itching to crack open.

What is the one thing you would like to do before the end of summer?

Summer

How are y'all spending your summer?

Mystery Meat

I practically fell out of my chair laughing when I came across this picture because it is very similar to what I saw. It's almost like the artist himself drew this specially for me.

Yesterday I had to run a few errands and it took a bit longer than I thought. I called my husband and told him I was running a tad behind and that dinner would be delayed. All I can say is, OH MY GOODNESS!!! Y'all, I knew something was wrong the minute I opened the door that leads from the garage directly smack into our kitchen. The house was smokey and the kitchen counters were layered with cooking powders and sauces. There stood my husband beaming from ear to ear like a little kid. He had attempted to make dinner.

Now I should be very thankful because I hear a lot of women complain that their husbands don't help enough around the house. However, this was not what I wanted to come home to after a full day on my feet and fighting traffic. It was rather cute how he set the table, silverware completely disorganized, paper napkins from our paper towel rack, and mismatching plastic cups he dug out of the miscellaneous section of my pantry.

I didn't know where to begin so I set my bags on the living room floor because my counters were a complete mess. I smiled and pretended to be happily surprised. Well, I was surprised alright but I couldn't go as to say I was actually happy about what I walked in on. He was grinning like a Cheshire cat and quickly began showing off as though he was filming his own cooking show on the Food Network Channel. At this point I was gritting my teeth as I examined the sorry state of my beloved pots and pans. I didn't know if I should cry, run, or start screaming. Confused by the overwhelming mixed of emotions I stood there in complete silence with a silly grin utterly paralyzed.

Finally, after he explained the mystery meat was teriyaki chicken (his own homemade sauce), I picked up my heirloom silver fork from the charcoaled skillet. Tears were stinging my eyes but I choked them back, "honey, where did you get this fork?" He looked bewildered as to why I was asking such an odd question. He told me he found it in that box I have sitting on the large side table in the dining room. He was referring to my silverware chest that holds all of my antique cutlery on top of our buffet. This fork was part of the collection handed down from my grandmother. I nodded slowly ready to scream my head off but looking at how proud he was over his culenary masterpiece I refrained myself. Instead I told him he had done enough (damage) and asked him to pick out some dinner music while I prepared a salad to go along with dinner.

I scraped the poor pitiful burnt meat (lumps and all) from the skillet. Then tried to fight the rice out of the pot. I slid the serving platter and bowl onto the table. It was a total disaster. Then I looked across the table at my husband eagerly waiting to try his teriyaki chicken. It made me laugh as he wrestled with cutting the first peice. Do you remember Clark Griswold on Christmas Vacation eating that burnt turkey that his sister-in-law made? It was sort of like that. He leaned across the table and asked, "How's yours? It's not too dry is it?" I burst out in laughter and looked at him, "Seriously? Hon, you know how much I love jerky but let's leave that to the professionals." He too giggled and we decided to go out for dinner. Once our waitor delivered our meal I leaned over to my husband and begged him to promise me to stay out of my kitchen when I'm gone.

Surf, Sun, and Fun

Last week my husband and I decided to take a mini retreat and get some down time. We went down to Galveston Island. I don't know why but I've always found the beach relaxing. Just hearing the waves and listening to the seagulls is so calming. It's been so hot lately that it was nice to feel the breeze off of the Gulf of Mexico.

At first I didn't know what to expect considering the oil spill. I've been absolutely heart broken over it. We have dear friends and family back in Louisiana and Mississippi that have told us terrible stories of what they've seen. I'm disgusted and want to cry when I think of all the animals and wetlands that have been destroyed by this negligence. We also saw on the local news that they have found tar balls from the spill washed up on Galveston. At first we weren't going to go but then my husband convinced me that the people in Galveston need our business. It's true, the people and businesses along the Gulf need our support through tourism. We went and had a fabulous time. I had so much fun and the beach was fun. I didn't see any oil. We had a great time.

Last night my husband took me out on a date. We were designating Friday nights as date night but things got busy and it sort of fell through the cracks. The other day I mentioned that I missed not dating anymore. Doing house chores, working on the yards, and work has really been taking up all our free time. I think we finally got into a rut. Have you ever been in a rut? Everyday seems to be the same. It's like that old commercial by Dunking Donuts...."gotta get up and make the donuts." Do you remember that commercial? That's how I've been feeling lately.

Well, yesterday my husband called me and received a huge bonus check from one of his projects. He told me to get ready because when he got home he was taking me out on the town. We ended up at a fantastic Indian restaurant. It was delish. Anyone else love Indian food? The restaurant was so relaxing and had excellent service. The staff had bow ties on and it really reminded me of the 1950's. The manager was so sweet and kept checking on us. He kept asking my husband if he liked the food. My husband has a favorite Indian dish that we haven't been able to find at any of the restaurants in Houston. He asked the manager if they could prepare it and they happily whipped it up for him. My husband was in heaven. Then afterwards took the long way home through the city. I love driving in the city at night. I remember we use to drive through San Francisco at night. It's like an entirely different world than during the day.

We had such a nice time that we are back on the track with our Friday date nights. I wonder what we shall do next weekend. Any ideas for a fun date night?

I forgot what I was going to say....

I've been doing a lot of this lately. Yesterday I walked into the room and completely forgot the reason of why I walked in there. I'll start a task and then my mind just turns off. Is it the heat? Am I tired? I don't know. I feel that I haven't been on the ball. My poor dear husband. He has to keep track of everything for me. I'll ask him, "Where are my keys?" "Have you seen my purse?" "What was it that I needed to pick up at the grocerey store?" He's like my personal assistant. He always has the answer. Sometimes he doesn't even respond but will hand me my keys, purse, or list. He's my rock. I can't imagine how bad it's going to be when I'm an old lady. Poor guy.