First Free Weekend

This was our first totally free weekend in Austin. No Bar Exam to study for, no boxes to unpack, and no traveling anywhere for weddings or other gatherings - we barely knew what to do with ourselves Saturday morning.

So we drove to New Braunfels. My parents (well, really my mother) decided to adopt another puppy from the same rescue organization where we got our two dogs and they got their first puppy, and they were going to meet the puppy's foster mom in New Braunfels at 11:00. So they drove over from Houston (with Shadow, puppy #1, so he could approve of his new brother) very early in the morning. My sister and brother had already decided to meet them, so they headed over from San Marcos and San Antonio respectively. We were faced with an empty morning (the evening was booked with a dinner out with JP's business school study group) so we piled Landon, Rosie, and Tex into the car to join in the fun.

After witnessing the formal adoption ceremony in the Home Depot parking lot at the intersection of I-35 and Hwy-46, we got sandwiches at Quiznos and ate a picnic lunch in Landa Park. It's a beautiful park with crystal clear creeks, giant hundred year old trees, and lots of room for the dogs to play. We managed to get the whole group together - 7 humans, 4 dogs - for a big family picture and really had a nice time. One big benefit of living in Texas again is impromptu family gatherings like that one. I know if we were still in Chicago my mom would call me on the way home to tell me about the new dog and I'd be thinking I really wished I could have been there. Now my family has four dogs from SNIPSA, and now SNIPSA can go rescue four more wonderful pets that would otherwise be euthanized in San Antonio pounds.

(The motley crew, before we got them all pointing the same way)

Then today, after carefully avoiding Lowe's and Home Depot for over a month, we decided it was necessary to return. Our credit card cried a little on the drive over, but the deck needs to be power washed and stained and our kitchen table needs refinishing (we inherited my parent's old table, which I love, but the top needs some TLC). Two hours and $300 later we have a rented power washer, 10 gallons of "redwood" deck stain, and a pile of supplies for my kitchen table project. JP has been doing the power-washing for about four hours and is only 3/4 done- and that's just the first step. He has Orientation tomorrow morning at 9 AM, so he needs to finish tonight. I'm helping by keeping him full of chicken nuggets and red Powerade. The dogs have been most distressed by all the noise out the back door and I think Tex is about thirty minutes away from attempting to break through the window to save his beloved master from the big scary water machine.

I did finally take some pictures of the house (remember when I promised to share those back in June?) and am working on a post with them - expect it maybe tomorrow, assuming Landon's evil molars cooperate and allow him to take a freaking nap.

And now Landon and I are going to go lend JP some moral support which will consist of lying and telling him he's "almost there" - kind of like what he said to me when I was in labor. It's important to return favors. And I'll have freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in hand, just in case he sees through the "almost there" thing.