This past weekend we traveled to Houston for my 20th high school reunion. I’ve already briefly wrote about it. I don’t have much more to expand on. I spoke with some people and enjoyed my conversations with them. I just would’ve prefered a different venue and to be able to hear everyone better. It was nice seeing some old friends. The best part of the night was spending time with Ben, without the kids, away from home. Usually our date nights are a movie at home when the children go to bed. This is for a variety of reasons, the biggest being Brother’s anxiety when I’m away.
Our time at the hotel was fun. We spent a lot of time in the pool.
The best statement was made by Pumpkin. I was not in the pool and she came up to me with, “Mama, you’re not afraid. Come back into the water.”
How could I refuse?
The next day we attended mass at the Co-Cathedral of the Houston-Galveston diocese. The mass was fine but the church itself was so echo-ey that we couldn’t hear very well.
Then we left for our next stop which was a visit with Janette and Tim (I’m talking THE Netsmith!) of 4Real messageboard fame. They have a lovely family. Janette had a wonderful lunch ready for us. The strata was amazing–I’m going to have to get the recipe. Thank you, Tim and Janette for a wonderful visit.
Each time we visit these people I know from the internet, I’m nervous. Nervous because I’m a shy person until you get to know me. Nervous because I’m human and worry that people won’t like me. So, it’s nice to meet these wonderful ladies (and gentleman) and hit it off.
Here’s a picture of Janette and me talking away.
You know when you pay with a credit/debit card and you get to swipe your own card? Why do some of the machines ask me if the total is okay? Often, I just want to say “No”. No, it is not okay that I’m paying $150 for 4 bags of groceries.
I just had my 20 year high school reunion. It was not at all what I expected. I don’t know what it was I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. Why did the planners place it at a bar? Why did the DJ play the music so loud I could barely hear the conversation? Why did some of the women have to dress so skimpily? Ladies, you are in your late 30s–no need to show that much cleavage!
Is it bad that I want Hurricane Dolly headed this way? I want rain. I’m sick of the upper 90s. I’m sick of crunchy dry grass. I guess I could water the lawn more, but that cuts into my book budget.
…that you’ll only run into people you know at the local Wal-Mart when you’re dressed for cleaning the house?
…that all the fun summer water toys are out of stock in the middle of July? People, it’s Texas; the summer lasts through September.
…that school supplies can make me so giddy? Who doesn’t love new school supplies?
My 20 year reunion is coming up this Saturday in Houston. Do you think I can lose all this baby weight before then? I didn’t think so.
I love Usborne Books, don’t you? I have a big wishlist of books from that company. Anyway, I’m hosting an e-show. Go check it out! I don’t know how to do the link to a picture thing just yet. I have the directions somewhere in my inbox, but I don’t have enough time to go look for it. I plan on putting it in my sidebar.
Oh, yeah, it runs until the 31st of July.
This is the next installment of posts on our road trip. I hope I don’t bore you too much.
We spent our night in the swimming pool before heading off to bed. Our hotel room was actually a suite of rooms–a bedroom with 2 queen size beds and a sofa bed. Aaaahhhh….the space was awesome. We’ve had hotels that boasted rooms with 2 queen size beds. I often wondered what their idea of queen size was.
In the morning, we headed to Gettysburg. I’ve been here before and enjoyed the scenery. Ben, of course, loves everything about Gettysburg. THE battle was fought here. My eyes tend to glaze over at this point. I thought I did okay–mostly, I focused on how beautiful the land was. I loved seeing all those rocks poking up from the soil.
We explored Little Round Top for about an hour and then headed to the souvenir shop. I know Ben would’ve loved to spend more time there but we had a schedule to keep.
Michele and her family were waiting for us. We hit a few snags but we weren’t too late. As we were turning the corner onto her street, I recognized her youngest walking with her oldest daughter. I knew we were close and it was exciting. I have a confession to make: I’m really shy. Once you know me, you can’t stop my jabbering but it’s hard to meet people. Anyway, Michele and her family just put me at ease. One of her sons took care of Brother. He felt really comfortable there which is a big plus. We didn’t get as much time as we would’ve liked since we already were behind half a day behind schedule. Michele is a wonderfully warm person. I hope to meet up with her again the next time I’m in the area. Of course, anyone who is traveling near us is more than welcome to pop in for a visit.
We were off to our next hotel stop before our final leg into Massachusetts.
Today, Ben and I took the children to see a movie. This was the first movie theater movie for my girls. Brother had gone with his therapists to help him work on overcoming his sensory issues (Thank you, Kris and Liz) a few months ago. They loved it! The movie was a lot of fun. This also was the first movie I had seen at the theater since August of 1999. A lot has changed since then.
I couldn’t believe the price of tickets. Needless to say, we did not purchase snacks. We did get one large drink to share amongst us. We arrived early so we could snag good seats and all in one row–something we had to consider since we are a, by today’s standards, a big family. I also liked how the theater had booster seats for the little ones. Pumpkin sat in one and could see well and didn’t fold herself up in the seat. My only gripe, and it’s a big one, is they started the movie so late. Fifteen minutes late. That’s the beginning of the previews! If I were out by myself I wouldn’t have worried so much, but I had this fear that all the good behavior was being used up. I thought that by the time the movie started, the children would start acting up and things would slide rapidly downhill. I went to complain and not much later the previews started. Whew!
So, not a bad return to the theater.
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