I’ve had lots of “I should put this on the blog” thoughts in the last few days … but clearly, I haven’t followed through. I’ll try not to do a total brain dump, but here are some random bits for y’all on a Friday morning.
– MY BABY BROTHER GRADUATES TODAY!!! That’s right, George gets commenced at DeVry in Kansas City today, and I’m SOOOOO proud of him. Sunday he flies to Vegas for a few days there with Ma Norell & her work buddies. It’s a rite of passage. I just wish I was going to be there to take pictures. 🙂
– I don’t like the Alero. I drove an Oldsmobile Alero as my rental car in Houston, and while I’ve always thought it was a reasonably attractive car from the outside, three days of puttering around in it showed me its true colors. Avoid.
– It’s fun to be nice. At Houston Hobby airport yesterday, it seemed like the entire city of Houston was trying to fly to Dallas — it was just a nightmarishly busy airport and, because of several planes being delayed, the Dallas gates were packed with people. A random woman came and sat next to me at my perch in the gate area (I got to the airport at least two full hours before my plane was supposed to leave, and it was delayed over an hour, so I was sitting for quite some time) and we started talking. She had such a similar sense of humor to mine that I could flash forward 20 years and see myself in this woman’s shoes. We had a great time making fun of all the men running around clutching their beers. It was great. Once I got on the plane, I took the first aisle seat I could find (since Southwest is open seating) and found myself sitting next to a 40-ish-year-old black woman and her mother. I make it a habit never to be the first to start talking to others on airplanes, because chatterboxes when you’re trying to read or relax or sleep are annoying, but when she struck up a conversation, I was all too happy to join in. She was so sweet! I shared my two magazines with her (Oprah and Real Simple — neither of which I’ve had a chance to read myself yet) and opened her peanuts (the bags were EXTREMELY well sealed), and just generally found her to be delightful. And I left Love Field feeling like I had made the stressful day others were having just a touch more enjoyable.
– I don’t like Houston. I’ve given it a fair shake — i.e., I’ve been there four times now — and have yet to leave feeling warm & fuzzy about the city.
– It’s too damned hot in Texas. Temperatures in the mid-90s with a week until Halloween is just WRONG, k?
– I’m giddy with happiness for my friend John. I can’t tell you why. Not here, anyway. 😉
– House hunting continues, and I’m hoping that by the first of November (i.e., in another week or so) the decision will have been made. Which house to rent, I mean.