La Grange Road Trip

We took a trip out to the Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery historical sites in La Grange this weekend. The view from Monument Hill is GORGEOUS-  straight down to the big ol' Colorado River and overlooking the town of La Grange. Just wow!

There is a tall, pretty monument and a tomb containing the remains of Texian militia killed in Dawson's Massacre and The Black Bean Death Lottery there on the hill.

Near the memorial is the Kreische home, built in the mid-1800's, which has tours, which I didn't know and really wish I had been able to do!! GAH. Anyhoo... Around the bend from the house is a ravine, where the ruins of Texas' first commercial brewery, the Kreische Brewery, are found. You can tour that as well, but we just observed it from the overlook.

All very interesting and a must-see if you're traveling between San Antonio, Houston and/or Austin. They have a Trail of Lights there in December, which sounds like a neat event.

We also met a little friend!

We stopped at the Berdoll pecan store on Hwy 71 on the way home, which we've never done in all our travels through that piece of road. Got some sausage and a famous Berdoll Pecan Pie, well, actually chocolate pecan, because... chocolate. It is almost ALL pecan (and chocolate) pieces, with very minimal "goo," for those of us who don't enjoy pecan pie goo. There's barely enough goo to hold the nuts together, which is perfect!

Read more...

Happy Friday! It's the Saturday 9!

Adam is leaving The Voice??!! WHAAAAAAT?

Bummer, dude.

The only good thing about it is that maybe there will be less experimental hairstyles/colors and facial hair in his future. Hee.

Cannot wait to see Songland! What a genius idea for a show. Yes!!


Saturday 9: God Bless America
Unfamiliar with Deanna Durbin's rendition of week's tune? Hear it here.
Memorial Day is the federal holiday designated to honor American service people who died in battle.

1) Memorial Day was introduced after the Civil War. Originally called Decoration Day, this is when memorials, as well as the graves of veterans, are to be decorated with flags and flowers on this day to show our appreciation. Is there a war memorial in your neighborhood?
Not in my 'hood specifically, but there are monuments for several wars, including the Korean War, WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War on the grounds of the state capitol.

2) Andrew Johnson, our 17th President, was in office the first time Memorial/Decoration Day was celebrated. Have you ever met one of our 45 Presidents?
No. George H. W. Bush spoke at our A&M graduation, although not at the engineering school's "session." That's the closest I've been. We visited his gravesite when we were in College Station a few weeks ago:

3) According to the AAA, more than 30 million Americans will hit the road this weekend and drive more than 50 miles. Will you be traveling far from home this weekend?
Staying here!

4) Memorial Day kicks off the summer season. What's your favorite picnic food?
watermelon

5) As you answer these questions, is there an air conditioner or fan on?
Hell yes. This is Texas, y'all.

6) Though she's belting out one of America's best loved patriotic songs, Deanna Durbin was born in Canada. Is there anyone in your family or circle of friends who wasn't born in the USA?
I was born in Germany. My aunt was born in England. My dad's whole family is in Germany.

7) No longer a household name, Ms. Durbin was once one of the biggest stars in the country. One of her most popular films was 1937's One Hundred Men and a Girl, which was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Recommend a movie that you really like, but don't think many Saturday 9ers have seen.
I can't think of a movie I love that few have seen. I like popular movies I can talk about with other film fans, but I do have a couple of TERRIBLE movies to recommend, that you may not have seen! The #1 worst, most horrifying and disgusting film I've ever ever ever seen is The Human Centipede (now available on iTunes and other streaming services!). My #2 least favorite all-time movie: Boxing Helena.

8) Back in 1938, Deanna Durbin had her handprints cemented in front of the TCL Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. Have you ever visited that Los Angeles tourist attraction?
No, but I would love to someday, if I get over my earthquake phobia. Thanks a lot, California.

9) Random question: What food did you hate as a child, but enjoy now?
Brussels sprouts

Read more...

Name Your Teachers K-5

Jeff and I went to Jeremy Piven's standup show at Cap City Comedy last weekend. Loved it! The two openers were hilarious as well. I didn't realize Piven hadn't done stand-up before. Well done!

That night, we were wondering about the reason behind the two-drink minimum at comedy clubs. Patrons pay for tickets, so they could make easier guaranteed money from that, and also, most everyone is going to have at least one drink during the show anyway (or far more). Why this annoying requirement?

Mother's Day we went to DFW to my brother-in-law's place for an afternoon with the fam. The four moms all got massages at a spa, which was very relaxing!

Finally, on an unrelated note... Mary Faye asks who can name their teachers from K-5th grade. Easy!

K- Mrs. Brown
1- Mrs. Cacioppo
2- Miss Greenland
3- Mrs. Walker
4- Mrs. Upchurch
5- Mr. Jackson

Ta da!

Read more...

Parade of Homes 'n Stuff

Do I think NSYNC should tour without JT? Uh, YES. I'd rather them tour with him, for the sake of completeness, but without is fine as well. They do have another lead singer, yes? :p

So J and I went to College Station for the weekend last weekend, just for funzies. Stayed at The Stella. Always lovely.

We did to the Brazos Valley Builders Association Parade of Homes, which was really fun! Very different from the high-brow Greater Austin Parade of Homes, where you tour multi-million dollar homes wearing hospital booties over your shoes. In College Station, it was model homes and spec homes ranging from like $150,000 to $750,000, all over town and the surrounding areas. We liked so many of them.

The biggest current building trend is the utility room off the master closet, in a

master bedroom>bathroom>giant closet>utility room 

arrangement. So you just walk from your closet through a door into the utility room to do laundry! NICE. Several homes even had a laundry door in the closet, so you can just dump dirty clothes through a little flap, directly into a laundry basket or hamper in the utility room on the other side of the wall. No need to walk all the way into the utility room from the closet. (#firstworldproblems)

OMG. I'm making mojo sauce for the first time and there wasn't a warning that the entire house would smell like garlic. WOW-WEE. *cough*

Anyhoo... I went with Scott-n-Kerstin to a storage locker auction on Tuesday! Very interesting. It was the fastest 25 minutes ever. Walked to a locker, had about 30 seconds to look into it, then a brief auction, then moved on to the next one. Zippity-zee. You could tell there was a group of regulars, and a few of us newbies. One of the Texas Storage Wars guys was there, although I don't watch that show, so I didn't know him. Lockers went from $5 to $500. Keep an eye on your local newspaper for the next locker sale in your area.

Read more...