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I knocked two things of my "baseball bucket list" this week. I got to see a Cubs/Cards game at Wrigley (I saw one at the old Busch Stadium a while back) and I went to a weekday day game at Wrigley. It was super fun. We lucked out and it was sunny for the game and didn't rain until later in the evening. Even better, the tickets were free and our seats were in the shade.
It was a long, hot day, but was a lot of fun. The game went pretty quick. We didn't get there until the middle of the 2nd inning. It was a great game and the Cubs beat the Cards 5 to 0. Not bad, considering the Cards are currently in 1st place in the NL Central.
Yesterday, I walked the Bix with my friend Tim. His wife (also my friend) Jada ran it. It was pouring down rain. I'm talking cats and dogs. For those that don't know, the Bix is a 7 mile race with some pretty big hills. The start of the race is straight up Brady Street which is a 1/2 mile hill that's steep enough I always have to downshift in the bug to climb it. Tim and I made pretty good time. We finished at 1 hour, 49 minutes. This included a stop for Tim to tie his shoe, to contemplate going down the slip n slide someone had set up in their yard at the turn around, to get a couple Twinkies from the Hostess truck, for Tim to grab a Miller High Life off the water table, me to slap the hands of all the little kids along the road and just in general having fun. Tim and I did not go down the slip n slide. Jada did. Tim and I are still kicking ourselves for not doing the slip n slide.
All that aside, it was super fun. I think Jada and I have started a tradition now of having a bloody mary after a race. We did it after the Bridge Run in March and we did it again yesterday. Here's a photo of us at Mac's Tavern in Davenport. You can't see it, but we are still soaking wet. We are all fired up for the Bridge Run next year.
Just when I am thinking I'm going to have a crappy stretch of time between leaving Houston and going back to work on Monday, my friends do some amazing things.
Shawna and Payton picked me up from the airport. I love it when someone meets me in baggage claim! That hardly ever happens anymore.
Today, it was a triple great day. 1) My mail hold ended and I got 3 more Christmas cards from friends in WA, TX, and MO. The one from Larry and Missy was my favorite. Anthony is so cute!
2) My friend Jada (a native Texan and founder of the Displaced Texans) was in town. She came over and we hung out, chatted, caught up and had Whitey's ice cream for dinner!
3) Best of all: This morning, a FedEx truck pulled up and I am thinking to myself, I didn't order anything...I got a super special package from Quinn. My very own baggie full of the little tiny wreath cookies that Mama Quinn makes that I love so very much!
Yes, I have pink counter tops...so what?!
It's pretty darn cold in Houston today. It started getting colder yesterday. It's still not below freezing, but cold enough.
My aunt Margaret passed away Thursday night. I'm really sad and it really sucks. My uncle Ed asked me to say a few words at the funeral tomorrow. I have an idea of what I will say, just not sure I'll be able to say it all. Plus, it's hard to find the right words.
Mom and I took Owen to the mall yesterday. We rode the carousel at the mall and then went to mickey d's for lunch. Owen had chicken nuggets and a chocolate shake. Mom and I discussed how the greatest thing ever would be to have a whopper jr. and fries from mickey d's...their fries are fantastic.
So what if it's 51 days before I go to Houston for Christmas. So what if I am skipping thinking about Thanksgiving all together. I am already making my mental list of what I want to do while there (in no particular order):
- Meet Marcus
- Take Owen to the zoo or something equally as cool, with just Auntie Amy. No Mommy, Daddy, Nona or Papi. Maybe Uncle Brian can go.
- Go to Jazzercise with Mom
- See Kelli, Steph, Trevor, and Kyle. Especially want to see Steph's new place
- Play poker, Settlers and possibly Risk
- Do Washington Post crossword puzzles with Erin and Brian
- Eat greasy Tex-Mex (preferably Tia's enchiladas) and have a margarita
- Costco
- See my Granny
- See a movie with Erin, Brian and John
- Make meatballs, stuffed artichokes and bushaluna with Erin and Mom
- Convince Daddy to make roast, rice and gravy with the "fine I-talian vegetable - butter bread"
- Read something not for school
- See live music
Can you tell I'm a little homesick?
Now that Holly has connected IKE and IKEA, that's all I can think of. Damn, you, Holly!
Mom called at 2 PM yesterday and let me know they were OK. I was glad she did, because I was pretty worried. Lots of branches in their yard, no trees on the house, no broken windows, but without power.
Dad called this evening to give me an update. Overnight they got another 6+ inches and water was within 2 feet of coming into the house. That's the LAST thing that they need (they're almost done paying off the repairs from Tropical Storm Allison in 2001). Luckily it stopped raining and Dad said the water drained off really quickly. He did report that his okra crop is decimated. Which is really a bummer, okra is so yummy...link added to explain okra to my midwestern friends that may not know.
I had a nice long weekend in TX. I flew into Houston on Wednesday night. Thursday my mom, dad and I drove to Austin for my cousin Kelli's wedding. It was a 3 day party! So much fun. There was a rehearsal dinner on Thursday, the wedding was Friday night and a brunch on Saturday. She and Nick got married at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. It was so beautiful and Kelli looked so pretty. I got to see lots of other cousins and aunts and uncles. We had a good time. The food was awesome, chocolate cake and dancing until late.
I was also able to get a good tex-mex fix with several mornings of breakfast tacos and lunch on South Congress with Holly. Yumm! Then last night, Mom, Linda and I went to Fuzzy's Pizza in Houston for dinner. We ordered a great pizza with the unfortunate name of "President Bush's Pizza" named for George H. W. Bush who is buddies with Fuzzy (the owner). We told the kid at the counter that we were celebrating Jenna Bush's wedding. He looked at us like we were nuts. But it was awesome pizza with artichoke hearts, pepperoni, sausage, canadian bacon, onion, mushrooms, black olives and green peppers. SO GOOD!
Things I miss about TX: family, food, all things pretty and green
Things I don't miss about TX: heat, humidity, traffic
