nichtszusagen

• So here I thought I was going to start catching up, and last weekend I didn't have a chance to update at all. *sigh* Where was I? This summer we went back home to San Antonio for a month to get Curran settled. He's staying in our house there now with Dagny while he goes to , which is just a few miles down the road.
  
  
• All we could send him from here was 350 pounds worth of stuff, and no furniture. It was good that it was summer and we planned on buying some clothes there anyway, because we took the minimum amount of clothes for Carl, Camden, and me, and stuffed all the suitcases we were allowed to bring with as many of Curran's clothes and videogames as would fit.
  
  
• So not only did we have to buy him a car, but we had to buy him furniture as well. We started out thinking of getting him something nice that would last a while, but the summer's expenses were rapidly piling up, so we settled for good-enough-for-a-college-student stuff, which was nonetheless better than what Carl and I had when we were college students, so we didn't feel too bad. At least it's new and not horrible. We also ended up buying him a computer, and buying a futon and a TV for the two of them to share. And then we bought him a weight bench and a set of weights, which I put together the day before we left: .
  
  
• And we got everybody some clothes, though not as many as I'd hoped. Of course, I went to , which I love, and the mall, which is just painful. And we went to the flea market twice, and I ended up getting some nice depression glass, and a Mexican decorated plate for Carl's mom. Camden got himself and Curran authentic Mexican wrestling masks. They're very cool. We were so tempted to buy an antique Victrola like this one: . It was in excellent condition, and we just fell in love with it, but we finally came to our senses and realized that a) we didn't have room to transport it in Curran's car, b) we wouldn't be able to see it for the next three years, and c) we'd already been spending a heck of a lot of money. So instead, we bought these , which we thought were cool, but which Curran and Dagny are probably hoping will get stolen off the front porch.
  
  
• During our trip to Texas, we spent a lot of time working on the house and the yard. It was a bit of a shock when we first got there, as the yard was a mess. Old leaves from fall yet in the driveway, the hedges overgrown, the grass growing out into the driveway, and when Dagny had complained about the vines eating the house, she wasn't kidding. They were. They were also eating the trees and the yard.
  
  So that was my self-appointed task. Every morning, I went out and spent an hour on the yard. I started with the driveway, sweeping up the leaves and edging. Then I tackled the hedges, which was a little more involved than just trimming them--I also cut out all the dead branches inside the hedges, which was a big PIA. Finally, I started on the vines. They were growing out into the yard, killing the grass, which we have trouble growing anyway.
  
  There's probably a better way of taking care of them, but I took hedging shears and edged a border, then yanked out all the vines outside of that area. I ended up killing the first pair of hedging shears.
  
  I wish I'd taken before pictures, but at a rate of an hour a day, that's all I got finished--and only in the front yard--in the entire month we were there. Between that and having some guys come in and trim the trees, though, the front yard ended up looking pretty decent by the time we left: (this is the day we left--that's the rental car we took to the airport--a definite land yacht, but at least all our suitcases fit in it). I also ended up with a pretty decent tan from all that time working outside.
  
  
• Carl spent a lot of time repairing the ceiling in the loft, and I cleaned the stuff out of cupboards and closets that we'd just left there four years before. Seven years' accumulation, and then four years just sitting there--we had a lot of junk. Worst was the closet where Sage liked to hide out. Not only was it full of junk, but the junk was covered in cat hair.
  
  
• Speaking of Sage, even though Dagny had warned us, it was still a bit of a shock. She's so skinny! She's 19 years old, and the vet said that's just because of her age, but she weighs next to nothing, and when you pet her, you can feel her bones. Still, her fur is extremely soft and plentiful (she sheds terribly!), she's very affectionate, and she's still quite active.
  
  
• Then there's Burnsie, who's such a character: . She's spoiled rotten, but when you come in the door, she races to greet you and flops over onto her back for belly rubs. If you don't comply quickly enough, she'll jump up and give you a "surprise kissy" to get your attention, then flop back down on her back.
  
  
• And the fish. Carl had left behind his nice aquarium and three freshwater fish--don't ask me what kind, but they've gotten big enough to have for dinner. Shortly after we got there, the aquarium sprang a leak. The caulking around the bottom edge gave way, soaked the living room carpeting, and ruined the wood piece directly under the glass. Fortunately, the aquarium cabinet was fine. It took Carl almost a week to fix it. We put the fish in a big plastic bin with their filter and bubbler in the meantime, which fascinated the heck out of Sage. All's well now, though.
  
  
• Because we were so busy all day, we went out to eat almost every night, and a lot of times for lunch, too. Also because there were so many places to eat that we'd missed and wanted to go back to. We rarely went anywhere more than twice. There was , , , , , , , etc. I can't even remember everywhere we went. Sadly, Casey's, our favorite barbecue restaurant, was gone--all three branches. So we went to which took its place, and while the meat was still good, and the style and feel of the place were the same, and the menu was all but identical, the barbecue sauce that made Casey's outstanding was missing. Grady's sauce is kind of like ketchup. Bland, tomatoey, and boring. *sigh* I was so hoping to be able to get a half gallon of Casey's BBQ sauce to bring back.
  
  
• We did have time to have a little fun, though we didn't do nearly as much as we'd thought we would. We saw a heck of a lot of movies--I've reviewed most of them by now. Even though the Embassy has military rates, we still had a shock at the ticket window. Prices were about 2/3 more than we pay at AAFES theaters--of course, the Embassy also shows movies more than once or twice each, too. The concessions were the real shocker. $4 for a small drink? And when they were out of small cups and gave you child-sized cups instead, those were $4, too. Good grief. Still wasn't as expensive as German theaters, but it was getting there.
  
  
• And we went up to Canyon Lake twice--partly to give Curran driving experience on the 40-minute drive, and partly just to go swimming. We used to park our trailer at the campground there for a month at a time and go up on weekends, or stay for a week or so. Being on vacation, we went up during the week, and it was surprisingly empty. I'd have expected some people to be taking advantage of the campgrounds and the renovated cabins, but there weren't very many. We had a very nice time, although the water level was so low we couldn't rent a boat.
  
  
• My mom flew down for a week just before we left, and gave us an excuse to take a couple of days off and go down to the coast. We made the mistake of staying at the Motel6 in North Padre Island because we just wanted a place to shower and crash for the night, but it was just nasty--avoid it like the plague if you're in the area. The beach, on the other hand, was a heck of a lot of fun. We took Burnsie on the beach, and while she absolutely loved the sand, the water freaked her out. She did not like it. As with Canyon Lake, we went during the week, and as you can see, it was empty. Middle of summer, empty beaches. Doesn't anyone take vacation in the summer anymore?
  
  
• This was actually the best visit I've ever had with my mom. There weren't any dramatic scenes, she didn't read into anyone's snark or tone of voice and get all upset, and she didn't start getting ready to go someplace after we were ready to leave. We just all had a nice time together. Dagny's boyfriend came over while she was there, and we introduced both of them to , and Andrew made everyone frozen margaritas (virgin ones for Camden), and that was a very fun but low-key evening. I got the impression that Andrew didn't know what to make of us.
  
  
• Something else that was a huge mess was our patio. Everything was just grimy. Carl was ready to throw out the patio furniture--that we'd just bought before we moved, so it's hardly ever been used--argh. But I pointed out that it was just dirty, which gave him an excuse to buy a new power tool--a power washer. He didn't end up using it, though, my mom took possession of it and spent a long time cleaning the furniture and the patio. You can see the power washer in the bottom left corner of the picture. I'm thinking of getting her one of her own for Christmas. LOL
  
  
• I think that's about it for our trip to the States. I'll catch up on what happened once we got back here next week.
  
  

Labels: about me, weekend update

// posted by Darla @ 10/18/2008 12:24:00 PM