September South Texas Highlights

It's taken me a while to get this written and posted, but it's finally done!  Here are the highlights:

Miss G being a good little girl on the flight back home

The flight:
On the way there my worst nightmare was realized.  Little Miss G did not nap her usual two hours and she was throwing tantrums.  Let me remind you that she is still a "lap child" so her wailing and flailing around on my lap with our meal on the tray is not a good situation.  My little girl even slapped me!  Ugh, well, at least the flight eventually had to end.
On our way back to Massachusetts she totally made up for the horrible flight over.  She slept most of the way!  Hallelujah!  I think what helped was that we had our own row of three seats to ourselves. Nice :)

The trip:
Our wonderful trip consisted of shopping, family, Hurricane Hermine, Gladys Porter Zoo, friends, portraits, South Padre Island and eating to sum it up in a nutshell!

I was still on a bit of a shopping obsession on my visit since I had recently been given some money from my mom and husband.  My only find was a pair of flat, gray boots for the fall, but I know that when the weather gets cold they will be one of my staples in my wardrobe--especially since I also have two new pair of "jeggings" :)

Grandma and little G playing Chalupa

As for family, I was able to see just about everyone and it usually consisted of food and eventually a game of Chalupa.  My cousin had a party for her son which had some potato salad that tasted a lot like my mom used to make (yum!) and my aunt threw a party for my cousin which had good tortilla chips (from a tortilleria), fajita tacos and ranch style beans (which they don't sell in Mass and I miss sometimes).  Before we flew back, my mom invited the family over to say good-bye and she made a really good carrot cake.

Loving putting sand her new buckets

She warmed up to the water and then didn't want to leave!

It was a little ironic because when we were flying to Texas, there was a threat of a hurricane hitting Boston and we ended up right in the path of another one named Hermine.  It ruined or plans for the island early in the week, but the rain cleared up pretty quickly and we ended up going on the weekend.  It was Miss G's second time at South Padre Island and she really had fun.  Her Pawpaw bought her some beach toys and she liked playing in the sand with those.  She also enjoyed the water more this time around.  Now she understands what a beach is and talks about it so I know she would like to go again.

In the petting zoo

My little girl is at an age where she enjoys going to places like a zoo so I was excited to take her to the one I grew up going to, the Gladys Porter Zoo.  Living in Massachusetts and seeing the zoos they have, I now really appreciate this zoo.  I didn't realize how large it is compared to the ones I've been to in the Boston area.  Miss G, her Grandma and I enjoyed it, but boy was it hot that day!  After 2 1/2 hours we still needed to see the bears, but we left because of the heat and we were tired, too!

I was happy to be able to meet up with some old high school friends at a new restaurant and catch up.  It was the only evening that I left my little girl with her Grandma, but she did well as I knew she would.  She got attached to her very quickly on this trip.  Living so far away, unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of being able to leave Miss G with any family and go out and have fun so I definitely appreciate when I can.

Playing at the portrait studio

Also, Grandma got her wish and had Miss G take some portraits.  When my husband and I have taken her to get portraits she usually was too scared to sit and smile so I didn't have any expectations with this session.  The photographer must have not been around a child as young as her in a while because she thought Miss G would just sit still and pose for her.  I do appreciate her ambition, though.  We got some ok shots and it was great practice for my daughter.

Lastly, was the drop-off at the airport.  I don't know why, but when my mother was walking away after saying good-bye to me and her granddaughter I just lost it.  I started crying uncontrollably for a while.  It wasn't an "ugly cry" as Oprah calls it, but I was a little embarrassed that I could not fight back the tears as the guy at the airport was checking my ticket and ID.  The other guy next to him actually asked me if I was alright.  I must have looked a little pathetic.  I didn't realize how sad I'd be to leave.  I guess seeing how little G bonded to her Grandma so fast and them not being to be able to see each other as much as if we were living in Houston is what made me cry.

I hate rotaries!

I have strongly felt this way before today, but today just proves how dumb the idea of a rotary is.  I was trying to get out of the mall and drive home since I was tired and my little girl was already asleep in her car seat.  I yielded at the entrance to the rotary, then it was my turn to drive into the stupid circle.  I was in the right of way just by driving around it when a mini van side swiped me.  What I don't get is that I was kinda in front of her when she hit me.  How did she not see me?  Did she not yield?  Don't get me started on the drivers here needing to go back to driving school to learn who has the right of way.

Anyway, this strong dislike for rotaries has been recent because in Texas they hardly exist.  I've lived in Massachusetts over a year now and all of the rotaries I've come across have all looked dangerous.  One was especially scary in Boston.  It just doesn't make sense, especially when there is so much congestion.  People literally have to be risky just to drive through it and get where they want to go because it's a free-for-all most of the time.

Ok, I'll step off my soap box now.  If only one small post by me could change the roads...and drivers. 

Another South Texas visit

Just a quick blog to say that Miss G and I will visit my side of the family tomorrow.  We are flying from Massachusetts to Texas.  The flight, including layover, will be about 7 hours!  I will be doing this with a 20-month-old so I am very aprehensive about how she will behave.  Taking some new toys will hopefully keep her entertained enough.  Pray for me.  Anyway, I am excited about seeing family, friends and maybe most of all... eating Mexican food!!  That might be the update blog--what I ate in Texas :)

Taste of Fall

I had already started to lament that the summer was winding down when I recently noticed that when I put little G down to bed the sunlight through her window was disappearing more and more, but last weekend made me more painfully aware that the inevitable fall season is really closer than I thought.
Almost every parking space near our apartment building is under or close to a tree and last weekend I happened to park the car under the only tree that decided to lose its leaves like crazy.  I hardly use the car on the weekends and didn't go out on Monday, so by Tuesday the car was covered with leaves.  Also, it began to rain on Saturday evening and continued practically non-stop until Thursday, bringing with it 60 degree temperatures.
Now, we are back to normal with possible 90 degree temps on Sunday or Monday.  The cool weather was nice, but not enjoyable with the depressing rain.  It made me appreciate the little bit of summer that I have left and I definitely started to think about my fall wardrobe!

Pool time!

The summer has long begun and one thing I've learned about New Englanders and summer is that they love their pools!  I noticed it last year when we moved here in August.  There was a story on the news that the weather was "hot", but the local pool was closed.  It was a big deal to these people!  Since going through a winter here I now appreciate or understand where they are coming from.  But that doesn't change me as a person that really doesn't care to go to a pool very much.  I lived in Houston for about 5 years in several apartments and went to the pool probably a handful of times.  It seems alien to people here when I mention that to them.  I still have only been in a pool once here this whole summer... and I had to buy a new swimsuit because the other ones were over five years old and didn't fit me!  I know I might go at least one more time for the sake of my daughter, which is what motivated me to get in the first time.  Anything (well, almost) for my little girl.  :)

Back from Houston--Sorry I took so long!

It's now July.  No, we didn't stay in Houston for several months.  I don't know what it was--I guess the interruption of what was beginning to be everyday normal life, but I just lost interest to blog for a while.  Sorry!  Anyway, it's been so long that I sort of have forgotten the Houston trip.  I do remember some, which I will call the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. 
The Good, of course, was getting to see family, friends AND eating Mexican and all other food that isn't in Massachusetts!!  We stayed with family so they got to spend time with little G.  I was able to see old friends from college and catch up with them, too.  And one of the main purposes of us going that particular month was that two friends of ours were getting married on the same day so we traveled from one side of the city and back to make it to both.
What I call the Bad really sucked for me.  Background:  I've had back issues before so I am familiar with having to see a chiropractor.  Well, for some particular reason, in the beginning of the trip my back started hurting.  I blame the car I rode in (which used to be my old car before moving to Boston), how I sat it in it (pretty twisted since I sat in the back of a tiny car with a tall man driving so I had no leg room) and how big the city of Houston is, which could have us driving sometimes an hour just to get somewhere.  Combine all that and you get an unhappy back.  It was so bad that I had to see a chiropractor.  I had seen the doc about a couple of times when I hurt my back again by trying to pick up my little girl.  So, I was in Houston for about a week and a half and I ended up seeing the chiropractor at least five times!  Does that give you an idea of how bad it was?  I was in pain!
As painful as my bad back situation was, I wouldn't even call it the Ugly.  That was the hubby getting food poisoning.  One night, he was putting our girl to bed when all I heard was him in the hallway and the sound of a HUGE splatter.  That hallway is at least ten feet long and his vomit was all across it.  That was just the beginning.  I'll spare you the gory details, but it got so bad that he went to the emergency room.
Man, our trip to Houston was kinda tough on us.  That is probably another reason why I haven't posted on here.  Anyway, we are back home and I think back to normalcy.  I should be blogging more consistently now.

Looking forward to our first trip back to Houston

Me and my family are flying to Houston next week.  It will be our first time back.  I wonder how different I will see it--if I do at all.  I've experienced this feeling before when I went away to college and would come back to visit my hometown.  I don't know if it happened on my first visit or after I'd been in college a while.  I do miss a lot of things about Houston and I also have begun to appreciate some things with living here in the Boston area that I took for granted in Texas.  I definitely appreciate the sun more since the weather been warming up from our first long, cold, snowy New England winter.  Anyway, I'll update you all when I get back!