Astros Mania (Happy Opening Day!)

As a way to celebrate opening day of the Astros I have to post some pictures from the games last year. Heather, Brandi, Deborah and I made it to a bunch of games last year and each time was great. Although the season wasn't so successful (worst in our division, if not the league) the ballpark is always a fun time.
Had to take a picture of Carlos Lee because I got my (old) glove signed before the game. (In fact, I could have sworn I took a picture of it but I don't have any on my computer...) But he was super nice and when it was his turn to pitch he totally booked it from the bull pen to the field. Loved that!
And Deborah and I love coming to the games on Friday nights when the fireworks go off!
Yay! So beautiful :) I love fireworks...
And Heather, Brandi and I had to go for Heather's birthday to see Hunter Pence, her future husband. Unfortunately, and shockingly, he got traded at the end of the season to the Phillies. He was the only player we had left that got everyone excited that we had some pros on our team. Oh well... the Astros haven't made the best choices lately... not sure this season will be much better. (I'm a huge Rangers fan too so I can always pull for them, lol.)
Heather worked her magic and got us amazing seats so we could star at Hunter's backside all night. :)
We were what? 10th row? And kept getting closer as the night went on...
Heather getting closer and closer :) We should have brought a poster, dang it!
The night was a success. Not many nights that we went did we get to say we saw a WIN! :) But, like I said, going to the Astros games aren't about the win, they're about the ball park and watching one of America's favorite past times and my favorite sport to play: BASEBALL!

Ode to Culinary Goodness

So, I have the flu...Got it at work. It stinks but it can't make a day off bad. Happy Good Friday :) But since I can no longer taste food I thought I'd blog on the next culinary traveling I did after Elgin.
First, I took a picture of my first "fried green tomatoes." Not only were these my first try (which I loved) but it was the first meal my dad had outside the hospital! It was really a great night. Had these at Black Eyed Pea, which isn't a highly acclaimed dining establishment, but is a great place in my book as they use food made from locally grown farmers. Thanks for supporting Texas, BEP!
Then a few weeks after that my dad was really craving meatloaf (gross) and he remembered they had it at Logan's Roadhouse. I had never (remembered) being here so I decided to take pictures so that I could review it.
My dad's favorite part is the buckets of peanuts that you can shell and throw on the floor.
I ordered the grilled chicken and ribs. The chicken was GREAT and the ribs were ok. I love, love, love tomatoes so it was yummy, yummy, yummy.
Then they had these promotional mini-bucket desserts so my mom and I split a brownie sundae one. It was like 4-5 bites and just enough for us.
And, three cheers for my new frozen yogurt obsession! Menchie's is one of those frozen yogurt places where you serve yourself with dozens of flavors, toppings and then pay by the ounce. I spent like 5-10 nights here with students and family and friends. It was the date of choice! My dad loves it and so does everyone else I know who has tried it. And the company is superb! If you email the company they'll send someone out to classrooms, baseball games, etc. Such a great place!!!

And there you have my culinary travels during the first couple of months of school!

Elgin,TX- one last summer getaway!

While my dad was in his final days of recovery in the hospital his family came down so I took the weekend off. I went towards Austin to spend a Groupon for bbq and to see where the road took us.
I got the Groupon from the Austin section since I subscribe to all the cities in Texas, lol. I love Groupon! (Which reminds me I need to look at which ones are expiring soon.) Southside Market is easy to get to, right off 290 from Houston to Austin in Elgin, Texas.
It's a huge place. Very open. When you walk in you go order your food, then find your open seating afterwards.
There is plenty of room to sit and even long tables so you can make lots of new friends, lol. I went around 2-3pm so there wasn't a huge crowd, though.
I ordered the sausage because of its recommendation and the sliced brisket because it's my favorite and it's how I measure a bbq place. The sausage was way too chunky. It was really hard to chew and definitely not for me. But the brisket was awesome, and definitely a treat.
So, at Southside Market they had a few flyers of things to do in Elgin. Since I had never explored Elgin I figured I'd do so since I had nothing else going on. One of the flyers was for this Antiques store.
Reminded me of other antiques stores I had seen in the small Texas towns I've explored.
Thank goodness I have a tiny car because I really wanted this old library catalog furniture. :)
Then I headed towards the historical downtown area.
Went into Ramona's Rendezvous... found a brand new game for my GT kiddos for $3 and a few books for .50 cents.
Then found a used book store whose profits go towards the Lions Club to buy glasses for children who can't afford them. So I had to load up :) Got some amazing books for next to nothing!
Then I headed to Austin to stay at my favorite choice, the Hampton Inn at the Airport.
Got my favorite dinner to go and stayed in all night blogging and reading my new books. The next morning I decided to head home rather than exploring due to finances and my dad was getting out of the hospital after 43 days! It was a great thing...and still feel so blessed to have him today.

Happy Easter yall!!!!!!!!