Two Trips To Texas.......

in one weekend.

Saturday we decided to go across the bridge and up I-45 to League City. We wanted to shop for our Valentines Day dinner at HEB and also to pick up our monthly supply of coffee beans at Nana's. Nana's is a little shop across the street from the park that carries about two dozen different flavors of coffee beans. We stumbled across it when we were up there for the Christmas parade.  We have a grind and brew pot and love the flavor from fresh ground beans. Our absolute favorite is Blue Mountain coffee from Jamaica but at forty dollars a pound it's only for special treats.

As long as we were there we decided to see how Jackie and Dana were coming along on their painting and updating of the kitchen. Their house is only about five years old and is in great shape but they decided to refinish the kitchen cabinets and add some fancy trim to them. They also tore out the island and replaced it with a bigger one. Of course this led to repainting the whole downstairs, adding crown moulding, a new fireplace mantle and a built-in entertainment center in the master bedroom. The dog even got a built-in doghouse in the laundry room which was redone with new cabinets and lockers for the kids. Once Dana gets started on a project he can't seem to stop expanding it and Jackie just hangs on for the ride. I think she figured out a long time ago that if she can get him started on a little project she'll get what she really has in mind without asking. I'm sure he wonders about me and my method of poor-boying things. I tell him my budget isn't as big as his. I'll post some pictures when it is complete.

While we were there we found out Megan had a softball tournement starting that afternoon. Those things run two days and lots of games. We would have liked to have gone but we had other things to do and it was too cold to sit in those bleachers for hours. We'll go to some other ones when it warms up a bit. I want to take some action shots of her playing. Chase doesn't like to go so we told him he could come home with us and spend the night.

Before returning to Galveston we went to Noah's Ark for lunch. Connie was worried about bringing Chase to a bar. The place is both a bar and a resturant so I convinced her we wouldn't be bad grandparents if we took him and sat in the dinning area farthest from the bar. When we walked in there were about six other kids younger than him in the place so I don't think anybody is going to call CPS on us. Connie had a shrimp plate which she said was good. Chase and I had hamburgers which were huge but I've had better meat than what they use. They weren't bad, just not real good burgers. Chase was not traumatized by the place and we had fun talking and joking around.

When we got back home we just hung out until the olympics came on. We ate some of Connie's taco soup and watched the games until about 11:00 then turned in.

Sunday we got up and had breakfast. I read the paper while Connie & Chase hung out on the deck feeding seagulls. They talked and came up with an idea to surprise Jackie & Dana. The painters were coming first thing Monday to prep for re-finishing the cabinets so they had to be emptied out. Jackie and Dana would have to do it Sunday night after spending all day at the softball games. We stopped at Home Depot for some storage bins and headed across the bridge for our second trip to Texas in two days. I was all in favor of this because Connie's Valntines Day gift from me was money. The plan was for her and Jackie to spend Monday having a girls day out at the spa and shopping. Jackie had to be free to be able to take her mom.

We got everything packed up in a couple of hours. Jackie was very surprised and happy when she got there to pick up Chase.  Connie and I headed back to Galveston and Jackie and Chase went back to the softball tournement. On our way home we got a text from Dana thanking us for packing the kitchen so I know he appreciated it.

Upon arriving home we exchanged cards. Hers had a wad of cash and instructions for spending it the next day with Jackie. Connie doesn't like to spend money on herself and she was reluctant at first but I thought I had talked her into it. The next day she called me and came up with a dozen excuses for not going. I don't know what she is going to do with the money but I do know that next year I will be better prepared. I feel bad about it but what could I do. Sometimes people should just do what they are told.

We cooked lobster tails and filet mignon for our dinner along with garlic mashed potatoes and a salad. It was delicious and we were both stuffed afterwards. I couldn't breathe I was so full but I did manage to get a piece of strawberry cake down while we watched the olympics later on.

The work week started for me on Monday and Connie on Tuesday and was pretty uneventful for both of us. I did get a haircut to end all haircuts on Wednesday. I hate getting haircuts. I don't mind the actual haircut I hate waiting in the shop for an hour to get it. I've been wearing my hair long since I was a teenager except for when I was in the Army. In the past few years I've kept it shorter like a business cut. This time I got a buzz cut like when Uncle Sam was ordering me around. It's about 3/8" long all over. I think Connie was shocked when I walked in. She has never seen me with super short hair. She kind of stuttered and then said she thought she liked it. I don't know if I'll keep it like this or not but the good thing about haircuts is they grow out.

Have a great weekend everyone and remember.....

Enjoy the day and adios for now.
Rod