What a weekend! I took a comp day on Friday and we spent the weekend in Oklahoma... first item on the agenda was a lunch date with Braums! One of many culinary delights that hasn't made it this far south of the Red River - along with Taco Mayo, Del Rancho, and Hideaway Pizza! We also wanted to hit Meers and say hi to our favorite waitress, but it just didn't work out... oh well, there will be another time :)
Once we made it to OKC, Paula and I split up - she and Tammie went to do their shopping, and I took the dogs with me to do mine... Paula scored lots of new clothes, with the help of Tammie - I think Paula is finally learning that it is okay to spend money on herself :) and I picked up a great little ham rado for the pickup. At 6pm, we all met at NorthPark Mall in the Village to have dinner at The Shogun Japanese Steakhouse - a tradition for us going back many many years; I love the food and atmosphere... though I'd probably kill someone if I tried to sling those utensils around like they do :)
After dinner, goodbyes were said and then it was off to Cooperton Valley... As we drove in, Justin and I were able to talk farther than ever; we were able to start talking just inside the Kiowa county line, although I was able to hear him before that - his radio / antenna combo rocks! Stayed up till 2am talking with Dad, since he was working the 3-11 shift, and so wouldn't be awake for a lot of the time we were there. Dad and I both like Cowboy Bebop, so we watched Ep 1 on my laptop since he had not seen it. Saturday was spent helping Justin with his new PC and reviving some old skills playing Sub Command - he isn't too rusty; after a short command tutorial, he proceeded to hunt down and sink Yours Truly in very short order!
Mom is doing well, and she is actually learning to be a computer geek :) I am amazed at all she has learned to do in such a short time! She also is going to be moving to the Grand Piano at her church, since the Harmons are moving to Carnegie - it is so bizarre to see the gym that I sweated and bled and played in for so many years at school turned into the First Baptist Church building! :) Dad will be going to the specialist Tuesday to have some tests done so they can find out how best to help him. They are both losing weight, since they have been on their diet... it's tough sometimes (how do you live without potatoes?) but they are champs - we love you both!!!
The trip back started out well enough - we saw some elk and wild turkeys in the Refuge - but what should have been a 6 hour trip turned into 9 1/2 hours thanks to all the Spring Break traffic on I-35 between Fort Worth/Dallas and Austin - all the students from Baylor, A&M and UT-Austin seemed to be on the road with us, and no one wanted to give an inch, so during one stretch it took 1 1/2 hours to travel 15 miles - what fun! Killed our gas mileage for that leg :) Speaking of which, the truck sure likes it better when she has clean plugs :)
