And off we go!!

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 01:07 am
auntbijou: (Default)
The Husbandly One is whisking yours truly and the kids for a few days at the beach. We're headed for Rockport again, but minus the visit to the Mold Hotel.

This time, we're staying at Holiday Inn Express. It may not be picturesque, but it'll be clean, and I can breathe, two very important requirements in Auntie's Vacation Book. Maybe after we get to know Rockport better, we can try a beach house, and get away from the corporate stuff. I have very good memories of my Aunt Maud's beach house in Crystal Beach, Texas, which was washed away when Ike hit back in 2008. It wasn't ornate or overly full of conveniences. It was built at a time when "modern conveniences" meant a stove, a fridge, running water, and an indoor toilet.

It had an outdoor shower.

There was no ground floor, except for that shower, and an under-house patio of sorts where there were picnic tables and hammocks strung to catch the breeze. The second floor was one large central room, which had the kitchen, with a small table (because you mostly ate outside), and a "living area" that was mostly twin beds disguised to look like couches. And there was a small bathroom and shower just off the kitchen, and a large pantry that held not only food, but an endless supply of beach towels and blankets for the sand.

And on three sides of that main room was a deep, screened in balcony/porch. About two and a half feet up from the floor was wall, and then the rest of the way up to the ceiling was screen. There were canvas flaps rolled up everywhere to let down if there was rain, because... there were no bedrooms. You slept on that porch. That porch had nearly ten beds at intervals, mostly twins, but there were two full sized beds, and everyone slept on the porch with only the lightest of covers, because there was no air conditioning. You stayed cool by being out on the sleeping porch or out in the water. That was it.

Wow, I didn't mean this to turn into a stroll down memory lane! Anyhow, the basic gist of this is, we'll be gone for a few days, so... I'll be lucky if I get so much as a peep at the f-list!

See you when I get back!!

Toodle-oo!!

Auntie
auntbijou: (Default)
So here, as promised last night, photos from yesterday...

ExpandThere are only three... )
auntbijou: (Default)
Well, it's been a very long and tiring birthday. THO woke me up... the BEST way (and what that was never you mind!), and then let me find my present, which was a new iPod shuffle to replace the OLD iPod shuffle. YAY!!

Then, after a bout of nerves, we got everybody cleaned up, dressed, and loaded into the minivan for the trip to Houston.

First thing I have to say about THO when going on a road trip is... he hates to make "unscheduled" stops (meaning any stop that isn't on his mental road trip plan), which makes me alternately want to laugh, or grab him by the throat and shake him. Because, really, dude, when you have kids, frequent stops is a reality, especially if you have a little boy who has apparently inherited his Grand-Daddy's small bladder.

I will say the Buckees just outside of Luling is astonishing. The women's restroom is HUGE and... I dunno why, but for some reason, it made me think of a living room. *is puzzled and disturbed*

Anyhow, we only made it as far as Flatonia before THO decided we needed to eat, then after that, we made pretty good time. THO managed to get past the Impossible Son's asking, "Where are we?" and "Are we there yet?" by getting him to read the mileage signs every single time they popped up. "Look, Little Man, what does that sign say?"

"Ummmm... Houston... 95 miles!"

Twenty minutes later. "There's another one, Bubba, what does it say?"

Impossible Son, getting a little annoyed: "It says Houston, 91 miles. And I don't want to read those signs any more, Papa."

Twenty minutes later. "Hey look, Mr. Manzie! What does that sign say?"

Frowning. "It SAYS Houston 84 miles... can I stop reading the signs now?"

(by the way, the miles and timespans are guesstimates off the top of my sleepy head)

THO made him read them ALL!! And you can just bet the trip home was MUCH quieter! At least on that aspect!

Houston was... interesting. Lots of broken trees, patched windows, tile stripped off roofs, etc. What really hit me was when we got past downtown Houston and were heading south on I-45, especially as we got close to the University of Houston. I kept frowning at the concrete barriers that line the freeway there, thinking maybe my glasses were dirty or something. But when I took them off, the smudgy, spotty marks were still on the barriers and it dawned on me what they were. The barriers are a little taller than normal in that section, and the bridges there that lead to the contraflow lanes, as well as exits to the University, etc, all make the freeway narrower and almost tunnel-like in places. The marks I saw were... SCOUR marks, where the hurricane force winds had picked up sand and grit, and in the wind tunnel created by the bridges and barriers, had SCOURED the finish off the concrete barriers, as well a portion of the road we were on. Stunning, no?

My folk's neighborhood lost a lot of trees, and there were some really big, really old trees there. My mom looked good, though tired. The Practical Sister looked drained, but. they both looked more cheerful than I had expected, and I soon found out why. Dad went in for a procedure on Friday where the doctors basically went in and treated the nerves leading to the areas where he was hurting the most and chemically blocked them off. In other words, they can't fire off pain signals to his brain anymore. It should last for two or three months, at which time they can do it again. He's feeling so much better! And was much perkier and alert than I've seen him in a long time. That was almost as good as a birthday present right there!!

He has lost a great deal of weight, though. He's about 138 pounds, which is the thinnest I've ever seen him. And I have to confess, when I went to his room to wake him up, I had to stand there for a moment as I looked down at him, and fight for my composure. He looks so... frail, so...light around the edges.

It was a good visit with everyone. I did some hand-sewing and repair for Mom that she can't do for herself, while THO joined the other husbands to trim back broken branches, retrieve lawn furniture and broken pots, and then climbed up on the roof to seal some leaks.

I'll post some pics later, but now, I just want to go to bed.

You know, it didn't occur to me until just now that I didn't get a birthday cake. Oh well.

*yawns* Sleepytime, over and out!

May 2020

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