No room at the inn (cheap)

This is the problem with college football towns. Trying to get a hotel room when you want to see your children who just happen to go to the school. Bob and I sat down at dueling laptops last night to try to book hotel rooms in Austin and Fayetteville. Just thought we'd like to see Pam and Becca at their respective schools. We ought to know better than to try to book rooms within a year of a game weekend. With all the hotels in Austin, you'd think there would be a room. Ha. Try again. And if you are lucky enough to find a room, the hotel has jacked up the price for the football weekend. How can the same room be $70 one weekend and $159 the next weekend. It's not like they are placing chocolates on the pillow. This is the same scenario for Fayetteville, only worse. Arkansas doesn't have a pro sports team, so the University of Arkansas Razorbacks are as close to pro as possible. It's a hugely spirited campus and alumni come from far and wide to see the games. Getting a hotel room there is nearly impossible on a game weekend. The best chance you have is one in Bentonville, a good 30-40 minutes away. It's not as if there aren't any hotels in Fayetteville. There are. It's just that they get booked up very early every year. When Becca was playing soccer, Bob would book every weekend in the fall. Then when her schedule came out, he would cancel the weekends she was out of town. But we would have to pay anywhere from $70 to $149 depending on whether it was a football weekend or not. Crazy. Well, after spending a good deal of time last night on the internet, we did manage to get a room for Austin. We were wanting to get down there for Pam's birthday (Sept. 6). Looks like we'll go Labor Day weekend. We wanted to go the following weekend, but like I said, we were too late. Football reigns in Texas. Forget that Austin's the capital. Gotta love the game.

I got a silk robe out of it

It's been a long week. Bob left for his Asia trip early Saturday morning. I always hate it when he has to leave on a weekend. As soon as he left, I went into "tornado mode" and started cleaning the house. We hadn't been home on a weekend without distractions for several weeks and the house had been neglected. By about 5:00 pm I was ready to call it quits. There were many moments that day when I was wishing Bob was home to either help me or take me away from the cleaning. But he was still flying. First stop was Vietnam, then Thailand, then Japan, then finally home yesterday. Lots of flying in just seven days. Needless to say he was very tired when he arrived at DFW. But my husband still felt awake enough to go by Jimmy John's for sandwiches and Chick-Fil-A for sweet tea to surprise me for lunch at school. I missed him. He's been my best friend for 32 years. I don't like it when he's gone so long. The house was too quiet. Mish and Steve were wonderful to stop by and say hello, playing rummikub and all. I love them for caring about me. But I still missed Bob and am very glad he's back home safe.

P.S. Steve and Mish told us we're supposed to get a "cold front" this week. Maybe in the 90's? One can only hope.

Did I hear someone say fall?

I haven't felt like blogging this week...
- it was the first week of school.
- Becca was still at home and packing to leave for Arkansas by the end of the week.
- we just came off a very busy weekend with Pam and John in town to attend a wedding.
- my brain feels fried from trying to assimilate all the info I received during four long days of inservice.
- I haven't been at home on a weekend without distractions since beginning of July
- I think I'm just really tired AND
- IT"S TOO DARN HOT HERE IN TEXAS RIGHT NOW!!!

Sorry, but I think (no, I know) this weather is making me a bit cranky. It zaps any energy I think I might have at the start of the day. I've been in Texas since 1978. Been through alot of hot summers. Thought this transplanted Yankee had pretty much acclimated herself to these Texas summers. Maybe it's the fact that I'm older and am allowed to be cranky. Whatever...this summer hasn't been a picnic in the park. Rather like a chair in the air-conditioned house.

I guess I'm just whining. Hot weather will do that to you. But I'll end this on a positive note. I'm thankful for my air-conditioned house. And thankful for the jobs Bob and I have that can pay for the huge electric bill we get when the temperatures are over 100 for, how many days in a row now?

Come on fall!! You can't come soon enough. Bring on those sweatshirts. I can feel it getting cooler as I type. (actually the a/c just came on...again.)

Stay cool. :)

End of summer, back to school

Summer officially ended for me on Saturday night, August 5th. That's when Bob and I landed back at DFW airport after a week and a half up in the northeast with family. School inservice week began Monday morning, so it's back to school I go.

Our trip to see family was both fun and sad at times. A mixture of emotions. One highlight was getting to celebrate my brother Rob's birthday at our brother Andy's home in Philadelphia. Ten of us sat around a table, feasting on a wonderful meal of barbecue ribs and assorted other dishes my sister-in-law Beth cooked up. The wine was as plentiful as the conversation. It's amazing to see how alike we are, with our certain family quirkiness, though we have lived miles apart for many years. We spent a good deal of the night trying to plan a family reunion. We do miss being with each other. As it turned out, Rob and Kathy and their kids, Kristen and Danny, were able to spend two days with us at the shorehouse. The weather was hot, but we were thankful for an ocean breeze. You definitely need the ocean breeze or else the beach is unbearable. We walked the boardwalk in Ocean City at night and had the usual feast of junk food. The kids rode some amusement rides. Danny, an incoming freshman in high school, had pictures taken of himself with any strange, costumed person outside a store on the boardwalk. To send to all his girlsfriends at home of course. We ended the evening in the fudge and saltwater taffy store, a staple at the shore.

Our visit with Bob's parents was a good one. We went with a purpose of spending some quality time with them and talking about the future. It seems our roles are suddenly reversing. Both Mom and Dad have health issues that will require some help from family members. Change is hard, very hard for people that have lived in the same home for over 40 years. Allowing people to help when you've been very independent all your life is very hard. So it was with a heavy heart that Bob and I sat down and had conversations about what to do in the next year or so. It was not a conversation we looked forward to, yet we knew it had to be done. We prayed much beforehand, and God answered those prayers. We are very glad we went there. It looks like we will be making a trip or two, probably long weekends, to help them clean out some things in both houses. Mom and Dad have done so much for us over the years. We've been very blessed. Now it's our turn. That's what families do.