This Reminds Me

Archive for the ‘San Antonio’ Category

So we’re not dashing through the snow – the temperature has been hanging in the mid-80′s.  But it’s still Christmas in San Antonio.

Ruffians on the River Walk, where we’d hoped to ride a barge under the 200,000+ twinkly lights strung in the treetops.  After seeing the line with its 2+ hour wait…ummm….no.  Instead we walked along the river and four of us enjoyed River Center mall.  You’ll have to guess which four.

Hot chocolate at Whole Foods after church, where we stopped so I could buy whole cashews and filberts to make caramel corn later this week. I finally found Julia two new long-sleeved church dresses online at Kohl’s this month after a search of:  Target (online and three stores), Wal-Mart (online and store), Penneys (online), Land’s End (online), Tuesday Morning (store), Kohl’s (store), Sam’s (store), Costco (store), Old Navy (online and two stores) and Steinmart (store.)  Can someone please tell me why church dresses for little girls are so hard to find?  I mean just simple cotton dresses.  All children’s clothing seem to come in three styles now:  1.  Shorts or pants for school – many of which fit into the next category, which is…..  2.  Trashy.  3.  And – during the holidays - Ridiculous (dry clean.)   I long for the days at Target when you could buy nice little cotton dresses reasonably-priced, instead of hurriedly flipping through racks of low-cut, too-tight, entirely inappropriate styles, designed for what my grandmother would have deemed a “strumpet.”

It’s a gingerbread Alamo at Whole Foods!  Reminded me of how we posed in front of this Texas shrine for our Christmas cards in 2000, after our first full year in San Antonio – “Remember the Woodworths.”

Rachel was 9; Lois and Hannah had just turned 7 and 5.  Julia was less than a year old and 5,617 mi. away.

Stay tuned for more hanging around San Antonio during the holidays….

It’s raining.  Again.  Really unbelievable for Texas in August.  Hannah  and Julia – stuck indoors all day  - applied their artistic talents to “after the rain” and “during the rain” colorful creations which will soon grace my AT&T cubby wall.

Daddy’s old shirts prove most excellent painting attire….

Rain….It’s Grrreeattttttttttt!  Of course, Tony was himself dry inside Wal-Mart tonight, where we went during a lull to break the monotony.

Lake Woodworth with grass islands in our front yard….

Three of the girls – including these two drizzly pups- have been to the doctor with sinus infections in the last 10 days.  If my cremated mother had a grave, she’d been turning over in it, seeing them all wet after carrying in groceries.

Raindrops keep falling on my head

But being the Mom who never seems to get to bed

There’s a lot to do

So

Come grab some bags and just keep on a’goin’

Groceries aren’t free

Don’t complain to me.

We just put away the cooler, table and chairs from Neighbor’s Night Out, a happy annual tradition you know had to have been started by someone up north.  I’m thinking most Texans would vote for Neighbor’s Night Out in winter, not sultry August with mosquitoes as uninvited guests.

You can see that our yard is continuing to grow in.  Our neighbor Denise – an Air Force pathologist – is explaining, “You give me a corpse.  I’ll tell you why it’s a corpse.” Her dip was a hit, too.

(Some of) Da kids in da hood – or at least our cul-de-sac.  The dogs received a lot of leash-driven attention.  Lois (the show off) made hot chocolate chip cookies to complement the Oreos I so thoughtfully served.  Rachel went to a friend’s house a couple of blocks over – “better snacks.”

I like Neighbor’s Night Out.  It’s a great excuse to share neighborhood gossip, bash the local politicians and share recipes, as well as catch up on everybody.  We’ve got Pam, who just started a post-retirement career at Home Depot – and loves it.  The woman now knows her countertops, baby.  We’ve got Colin the computer guy with his wife Keri, who were nice enough to invite Julia and Hannah to their backyard bible club last week.  We’ve got Kim, a sweet child in an adult’s body who is always so anxious to help.  We’ve got an assortment of kids ranging from age 2 to 16.  I like to look at them.  This is America and – praise God – we don’t all have to look or act alike, but thankfully, they are all pretty good to each other (excluding their own siblings.)  The girls next door quit knocking months ago.

Please won’t you be our neighbor?  There’s a house for sale at the end of the block and we all want to see it sold soon.