POOF! If we don't move we'll turn into a pile of.....

It's the end of a very slow weekend.

Friday night I worked sort of late (5:30, that's 2 hours late!) and when I got home Jody had picked up around the house AND vacuumed! He said Dave, Carol and Lucas were in the area and could be stopping by. His being a home body is really paying off.... I didn't have to pick up all my shoes by the door, he'd already done it!

We decided to meet them at the Wattaburger in McKinney instead. But then when we got there everyone decided to go next door to the Golden Corral. I haven't eaten at a Golden Corral in ages. I didn't know they had completely turned into a Human Feed Lot. I thought they were a steak house with a salad bar. I just knew Jody was going to start Mooing under his breath when they had a long winding line just like the ones at 6 Flags. I used to love going to Furr's or Luby's Cafeteria, but when you haven't been in a LONG time, you see it in a different perspective. It was just like hearding cattle into a slaughter house. All the jostling for position, not knowing what will be at the end of the line once you get there, could be a guy with a bat to knock you in the head and send you off to the meat packer.

I went to the salad section first while Jody went directly to the steak and RED meat area. We both looked at each other with a look of "hope you don't get wacked in the head like a cow at the end of the line." I knew if someone came toward Jody with a bat he'd start mooing loudly for my assistance. This is just a long standing private joke Jody and I have about buffet lines. Don't mind us... go ahead, enjoy your next buffet. Corral.... Feed lot.... think about it.

But seriously, something I never noticed before was the amount of food that was wasted! I actually think we five at our table were the only ones who actually cleaned our plates. We didn't over fill them in the first place and we ate what we got. I looked around the dining room to see people allowing small children to over fill plates with fresh strawberries and cantelope only to not even touch them. I saw adults walking away leaving piles of food on their plates, obviously "their eyes were bigger than their bellies" as my Mom would have said. I saw big barrel chested men, with sweaty red faces, desperately trying to eat plates piled high with food covered in gravy. Eating as if they were in a contest or there would be no food tomorrow. It made me sad and uncomfortable. I hope I don't have to eat there again in the near future. It wasn't as good as I remembered. I wonder what Golden Corral does with all that wasted food? Hope they have a pig farmer they can give it to.

Saturday morning I was sitting out here on the deck and I kept hearing a bird chirping loudly. On one of my trips into the house for coffee I spotted him. He was a baby, hiding in the tall grass just beside the door. Later he ended up in the front yard. Jody watched the mother or adult bird come feed him then they hopped off out of sight.

Then later that night, on our way in from going to Garland we found him up by the front door. My friend Dawn, otherwise known in the animal world as "Are you my Mother?" (you know, the one with the baby bunnies) said if the mother bird showed up to leave him alone, she would take care of him. We just needed to keep an eye out for cats. I guess for this little guy, it was a good weekend to fall from the nest. The neighbors were out of town and their cat was inside the whole time.

We haven't felt the need to leave the house since Saturday night when we went to Garland. I love that feeling. Yeah, I should have gone to Sam's Saturday, but we'll survive. We're low on cream and sugar and completely out of Folger's Coffee (don't tell Jody, he's drinking Starbuck's Morning Blend) but we have a huge Pike's Peak roast left over from yesterday. We'll make it. Jody tells the kids a story about surviving a week on Old Charter Whiskey and Vienna Sausages, so I'm sure we can make it one more day on what we have in the house. We're fresh out of Old Charter..... Just like Jack Johnson says in his song... "we got everything we need right here and everything we need is enough."

I was able to finish the socks I was knitting for a friend. This is why I'm not a teacher. I can teach someone how to do something, but if they get frustrated or they aren't working fast enough I will just take it away from them and do it for them. As in this case.... I told her she shouldn't try to start a pair of socks when she had just learned to knit and didn't have the purl stitch down yet. She got frustrated. I told her I'd finish them. But I get to keep the left over yarn. It's only fair.


I had planned on showing you all a video of Lucas playing in the Texas Flatpicker's Contest. But there were complications. I also had a video of my sister in true form. But for now I'll show you some of the things I got for my birthday.... My card from Jody.... yeah, it's a piece of paper, notice it's folded long ways... that makes it a money card.

The lovely sentiment on the inside. Note to those going "Green" your spouse will hold it against you, "it's a waste of a tree, and pollutes the air to turn it into paper and print a birthday wish on it", so he doesn't buy a card, tells me to go read all the cards down at Walgreens. As always, it contained money (that makes it worth it)... Jody believes in giving the gift that keeps on giving, depending on what YOU spend it on. Some people think money is a impersonal gift.... on the contrary! Usually when someone buys you a gift, it's what they THINK you would like. Unless of course it's from my Mother-In-Law, who really listens and takes notes.

These are the rain boots Nita gave me for my birthday. I love them, and yes Nita listened and took notes. I usually go barefoot if it's raining. They will really come in handy when I have to do curb duty in the rain and I'm sure they'll stop traffic when I'm standing in for the Crossing Guard. Our school is quickly becoming "the school with the spiffy rain gear." I'm going to knit and then felt some liners for them. They are a little big but that will not be a problem with some liners.

I also got a really nice book of poetry from Michael and Di.... I love books! And lots of little things from people at work... Godiva Chocolate!

Time to knit.... I've almost finished this sock that I started yesterday. They will become Di's Christmas gift this year. She picked out the yarn when she was here a few weekends ago. It's got some Angora in it, so they will be sort of fluffy, like a rabbit. I don't know if it's rabbit angora or goat angora. I think rabbit, it's really soft yarn. I also want to start Jane's gift this weekend so I'll have it well on it's way when I go to the Family Reunion. I like having lace patterns well etched into my brain before I take the project on the road. That way there's no need to hassle with patterns or books when I'm traveling.

Hope you all had a great weekend, and if yours wasn't a long Holiday weekend like ours, I hope it felt long. I'm getting used to these short work weeks. I'm going into my third this week! Won't be long until I'm out here full time!