Shreveport

Today we drove to Shreveport.  Yesterday, when the idea was proposed, it seemed like a really nice idea.  Betty assured us it only a 45 minute drive and that the area we were going to visit was "sort of like the Riverwalk in San Antonio".  

I'll begin by saying that it was an hour and a half drive.  We had to drive through three states to get there; Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, and it as NOTHING like the riverwalk in San Antonio.  Essentially it was a mall sitting by a river.  It wasn't all bad.  We did get to spend some time with little James and Reid.  I have no idea when we'll get to see him again, so it was worth it.

We had lunch at The Cheesecake Bistro.  Due to the decor and the menu, I think it's related to The Cheesecake Factory, but the service was terrible and the french fries were cold and soggy.  The Thai Chicken Wrap was really tasty though.

Various Observations from today's drive:

1. I never want to live in rural Arkansas.

2. I never want to live in rural northeast Louisiana.

3. The man who is charged with picking up roadkill in Louisiana has either died or was given an extended vacation.  There was a dead animal every 150 feet or so.... for miles.

Tomorrow we head home.  Yipeeeee.  We miss the dogs.

Opening Presents

Tonight we opened presents with Mark's sister Betty, her boyfriend Big James, her son Little James, and HIS son Reid.

Christmas with Little James

Today we went to have lunch with Mark's dad and cousin Taylor.  Then we went to mall and did some window shopping with Taylor and his girlfriend.

Tonight we're having dinner at Ruby Tuesdays with Mark's sister Betty and her son James, who is being deployed to Afghanistan next month. 

Random observation: The combination of two paper manufacturing plants, and the Sulfer River, the town of Texarkana smells like a big fart.  Not the everyday kind of fart, but the kind you get after eating eggs... yeah..  THAT kind.   Egg farts are the worst kind.  Choose a different vacation spot if you can.

Texarkana

We're on our way!  We just passed through Temple, Texas.  Luckily traffic is really light.  I've never been through Austin without traffic. It was like the twilight zone.

Hanukkah Time !

Happy Hanukkah everyone.  Tonight we opened presents at our house.  I gave mark two sweaters and he gave me tickets to see Reba McIntire at the rodeo in Feb 2009.  I've always wanted to see her live, but so far the closest I've come is watching a drag queen do her.

Soon we're off to Texarkana to visit Mark's family for Christmas. God help us.

Fun With Peanut Butter......

Jack and Jody's Anniversary

Tonight we celebrated Jack and Jody's anniversary. We went to dinner at a swank restaurant called Silo. As usual the food was excellent, as well as the company. Here are a few photos.

Thanksgiving 2008

Howdy Folks.  It's been a long time since my last post, but it's finally here.   Today we had TWO Thanksgiving dinners.  One with Mark's family and one with the Boarnet's.   As you can imagine, we both ate way too much (at least I did), and now I need to go on diet.  Hey Barbara!  Can you give me the name of that doctor you see? just kidding.

Here are some pictures of Thanksgiving at Elisa and Paul's house.

Today was the annual Costume Contest at the San Antonio Pug Meet-up. Jake didn't feel like dressing up this year, but he wanted to go anyways.

There were some great costumes this year so I took lots of pictures. Enjoy.

Dragon
Lady Bug
Skunk
Superman talking to a damsel in distress
Friar Tuck meets the Devil
Baby Elvis
Ballet Folklorico
Ballet Folklorico
Pumpkin
Cowgirl
Friar Tuck
Ladybug
Chicken
Pig

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Happy Birthday

Tonight mom and dad Boarnet had a party celebrating their 70th birthday. Many of the family members came to Myrons Steak House in New Braunfels for a wonderful dinner. I have included a couple of photos, but I have distributed them by email already. If you did not get them, or you want them and you are not on my list, please let me know.

Do we want this man to be President?

Jake's new toy.

There isn't much interesting stuff to report this week.  We've both been working really hard.  I have two new listings.  Two GOOD listings that should sell without alot of trouble.  

Jake found a new toy in the back yard.  Im assuming one of the neighbor girls hit it into our back yard by accident, but they never came to claim it so Jake claimed it.

 

A new experience

As everyone knows, I work in a salon, part time. I was at the salon yesterday and I was chatting with Angela, the facial woman, because we were both sorta slow for the day. As usual I was complaining about something. The topic for Tuesday was my long nose hair. The older I get, the worse it gets. Usually I pull them out with tweezers, and that does the trick. If you just trim them they come back right away. Anyhow, she offers to wax my nose for me. Apparently many women get this done. My initial reaction was to think she was crazy for even considering that I would want her to do this to me. But eventually I caved in and let her. I'M SOLD. I will never trim or tweeze my nose hairs again. It was done in about 3 minutes and it's the greatest thing ever. It was like ripping off a band-aid, slightly uncomfortable but not painful. She's considering offering it for men with hairy ears too, but Petra has not decided whether we will put that on the menu or not.

When any of the Boarnet men come into the salon, I am going to ask if you would like to have this treatment done. I whole-heartedly recommend it.

I will not torture you with close-up photos of my nose.

Jazz'SAlive concert

Tonight we went to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack (thanks mom and dad) and then to the Jazz'SAlive concert downtown. It's a free annual jazz festival which is very popular and always packed. Tonight we saw Dave Brubeck, who looks about 150 years old, but he still sounds fantastic.

Mark enjoying his shrimp!!

Doesn't he look way too happy?

Dave Brubeck (in the white shirt) jammin' with his homies.

This is the view I had for much of the concert. This freakin' a-hole in front of us would not sit down. When the other people around us tried to help us out by hinting to him that he should sit down or move, he got upset and looked like he wanted to start a fight. We decided that it would be easier for us to find a new place to sit (which was NOT easy due to the amount of people there). I will never understand some people. He came all the way downtown and found a place in the middle of the SEATED crowd and decided to stand up and talk to his friends the whole time.

Tonight's experience confirmed some thoughts I've been having for several years now. I truly enjoy working with the public, both in the salon and in real estate. Interacting with people one-on-one or in small groups is very satisfying for me. But dealing with large groups, such as concerts or festivals is getting more and more irritating as I age. I wound up just being pissed off because people are talking and smoking and carrying on when they should be enjoying the performance in front of them. The one a-hole guy who was in front of us was smoking and flicking his ashes into this little girls hair and I was getting madder and madder. If he wasn't drunk and looking for trouble I probably would have said something to him.

THE END. now I'm going to bed

Fall is almost here

Hi everyone.  Not much has been going on around here, hence the lack of a new entry.  I took this cute picture of all the men (except me) taking a nap today.  It's cute how the dogs share a bed sometimes.