Shrimp Feed

When we were in Austin one time we went to a seafood place for lunch and the guy at the counter came out and dumped a steaming bowl full of crawfish, shrimp, crab legs, corn-on-the-cob, and red potatoes right on the table. We'd never seen such a thing! It was incredibly delicious and a tradition I could certainly embrace. We wound up with plates tonight for putting butter on corn and for melon, but we still managed to get a pretty authentic Texas moment. But darn, I should have put on some Bob Wills for atmosphere. A great old-time Texas band used to play on Friday nights at our favorite barbeque restaurant and people used to dance Texas-style--even the little kids knew how to two-step. I never want to live in Houston again, but I do get a bit nostalgic about Texas now and then...

Good Luck Day

Today was one of those days when luck was on our side. First, I was late to pick up M from his Sunday school class because I was helping in A's class, and M got scared and thought we had forgotten him and started to cry. Fortunately, his teachers are the parents of a girl in A's class and they knew where I was, and delivered him to me, pale-faced and teary and very relieved to see me. 

Second, we bought some clothes for the kids after church and I left the bag of new clothes in the mall food court and didn't discover it until we came home (after a stop at OMSI). I rushed back, with no hope of finding it, to discover that some good soul had turned my bag into the lost-and-found. I'm sure the person who turned it in isn't going to read this blog, but if any of you reading this has ever turned something in to lost and found, let me thank you on behalf of everyone who has even benefitted from such kindness!! It was a huge relief to discover that I hadn't just throw the money away that I spent on those clothes. 

Finally, A tried out a new cake recipe for a vanilla cake with chocolate cream cheese icing (thanks for tip, Mariko!) and despite substituting just about every ingredient in some way except for the eggs and cream cheese, it turned out really delicious. As we were eating the cake before bed tonight, A noted that this was one of those days when everything turned out OK, even when you though it wasn't going to.