Today

I enjoyed my weekend break from the computer. Didn't even fire it up. Ahh.

The weekend brought some cooler weather so I did some easy but good cooking. Baked blueberry muffins. Made lamb and couscous last night for the guys. I'm not a big fan of lamb but they love it.

The U.S. Clay Courts tournament was held at the tennis club only about 6 blocks away from my house this weekend, as it is every year. All the big names participate. Agassi won last year before he retired. Andy Roddick, a resident of Austin, had to cancel at the last minute due to injury. So, the traffic was not fun last week around here. Not that it ever is in Houston, but more so in my little area of town. Agassi and his wife Steffi Graf were in town to watch the tournament activity and did some fund raising for a needy school. Somehow Agassi hit Graf with a tennis racquet and busted her lip, requiring stitches. Yeah. Good times.


The husband and I went to Whole Foods yesterday. Together. This rarely happens. The husband is banned from grocery shopping for the family. He's the guy who goes in for something simple, like some favorite fresh vegetables and ends up roaming the aisles tossing in all the tiny jars of stuff with the big prices on them. I try to be as frugal as possible in the grocery store so his style of shopping sets my teeth on edge.

I'm also the one around here turning off lights not being used. Like in empty rooms. It's just my nature.

There's a commercial for a major airline that shows a father taking his little girl on a business trip. It's so sweet. The airline employee asks the little girl where she is off to and she says they are going to a business meeting in London. Too cute. Recently I read an article about the growing trend of the businessmen taking along family members on trips when it's possible. We've done that a bit. It's not so easy when your child is in school, though. I went on a trip with the husband before we were parents and it was to Galveston when we lived in south Louisiana. He was working on an oil drilling rig that was in dry dock in the shipyard there. So, I got to go on a drilling rig as they tested it. I was on it as it 'jacked up' and that was a bit unnerving for me, a first time visitor. But, it was a cool thing.

The best trip, so far, was the one about 3 summers ago when the husband was on assignment in Portland Maine. He was at a shipyard there, too, and the son and I went up for about a month during the end of June and the first of July. Celebrated the 4th of July there. The son and I flew to Boston, spent the night there, then took Amtrak to Portland so the son could experience some train travel. Then we did the reverse route back to Houston. We saw the Blue Man Group in Boston. We visited the New England Aquarium in Boston, too. We saw where the Boston Tea Party happened and some of the historical landmarks. Lots more to see the next time we get to go there, though. Our two stopover days weren't enough. And, lots more fresh lobster to eat, too.

Last year for Spring Break we were able to go to San Antonio with the husband. He had a meeting with some Mexican oil people so we tagged along and made a long weekend of it. We were there for Good Friday and saw the Stations of the Cross re-enacted in a town square there. We stayed on the Riverwalk, one of my favorite places ever, and it was the first time our son visited the Alamo. His first trip to San Antonio was when he was three years old and we went to Sea World, which had just opened there. The first trip I can remember that I made to San Antonio was as a pre-teen and my family went for HemisFair. It was like a Worlds Fair and lots of fun. I remember how very hot and humid the weather was and it was in August.

The husband's company is switching insurance companies so he was filling out the forms Friday. He told the Human Resources person to wait a minute, he had to call me to verify my birth date. It's a running joke we have. My birth date is in June and our wedding anniversary is in July and he tends to get them switched around. The woman asked, "How long have you been married?" Laughter and head shaking occurred as he replied, "almost 24 years!".

Good times.