Houston Part 2 - Sunday to Tuesday

SUNDAY -
After sleeping in I had some cinnamon patries with Sarah and Rose. We began cooking for an early Thanksgiving with her in-laws and brother + his family. It seemed as though we cooked non-stop until we ate around 2pm. I was the pie and cake baker. I made two cheesecakes, a pumpkin and a red velvet cake. The in-laws (Sue and husband) were the first to show along with Barton's grandson, who works for Haliburton. Shortly thereafter, Sarah's brother came with wife and their two kids. For dinner, we had a smoked duck, turkey, stuffing/gravy, ambrosia, rolls, cranberry stuff and of course the desserts. OMIGAWD. So much food. I think we could have served another 10 people. After dinner, we hung out at the house. I think we were too full to do anything else.

Brett's dog of 13 years had died a few weeks earlier and he wanted to get another dog. A boxer rescue shelter had one that they saw and liked, but had given it away before they could go back and get it. Still, Brett was undeterred. The woman at the shelter had a few more that might need homes....

MONDAY -
We ate lunch at a nice, big TEXAS BBQ Buffet! It was pretty good. We did some errands and also worked on setting up curtains in the kitchen. We also saw some of the model homes like the house Sarah lives in. They are all HUGE (like everything in Texas.) Though there were a few single story plans, none of them were smaller than a three bedroom, three bath. They all had breakfast nooks, formal dining rooms and dens. Some had nice, big backyards. All had attached garages and decent front yards. Whew. And to think, I could get one of those for $178k! In Los Angeles, you couldn't even find something at that price in the worst neighborhoods. Now that its been a week since I was there, my brain is a little foggy. Nothing with the potential boxer, though there was a potential to get one during the week.


TUESDAY -
We lounged around the house, did a few more errands. By noon, Brett had called the woman at the dog shelter probably about 5 times about getting the dog. He was bothered that she hadn't called him back. He REALLY wanted to get the dog this night. Sarah and I were having a bunch of ladies over for an adult novelty party and thought having a new dog wouldn't be a great idea. Brett was convinced that the dog wouldn't be a problem. Sarah was convinced that it just wasn't a good idea. When the woman called back, Sarah was able to pursuade her to let them come on Wednesday morning ("7am!" Insisted Brett) to get the dog. She agreed. Sarah and I got the house ready for the party.

Now, gentle readers, I will edit details of the contents of the party for those who might be offended. Let's just say it's like a Tupperware, Princess House or Pampered Chef party. There is a hostess, speaker and merchandise. We played a few silly games (even Sarah's mom and a few of her friends joined in.) Had a few laughs. Ate food. There's lots of eating in my week in Houston, you see. We had fun. The sales lady was entertaining and understood her audience, even the more senior ladies. There were about 12 people who came. Sarah has always had a wide range of friends and it was nice to meet so many of them. Brett kindly stayed upstairs so as to not interrupt the proceedings.