From a basic taco truck to a full-on English double decker bus, I am happy to try them all. How fantastic is it that practically every empty lot in Austin is packed with an amazing variety of mobile eatery? With names like Bananarchy, Coat & Thai, and Me So Hungry? Cheap, fast, kid tolerant, and delicious? It’s like all these hidden nooks of the city contain a mall food court, except without the horror of the mall. And without the horror of mall food.
Okay, it’s not like a mall food court at all.
Thankfully.
Posted in Austin, family |
This is a small gratitude in the scheme of things, but awesome nonetheless: Graham likes going to the grocery store. Consider the alternative. You’ve witnessed the mother/child meltdown at the supermarket. I’ve been that mother on many occasions. So this phase is a welcome relief. It surely won’t last, so I’m appreciating it while I can.
Posted in family, Graham |
For those of you not in Texas, you may be only vaguely aware of First Lady “Ladybird” Johnson. But in Austin, her presence is everywhere. Whatever you may think about LBJ, it’s hard not to like his wife. Not only was she instrumental in launching Headstart, she was an environmentalist, conservationist, and the reason our interstates aren’t completely blanketed in billboards. We think of her most in the spring when the Texas wildflowers bloom along every freeway, easing road-rage for millions. Here in Austin we named the river that runs through downtown after her, and, of course, we have the Wildflower Center. This place is an incredible educational resource and a model for sustainability. The grounds are beautiful and showcase native plants and landscapes. We’ve visited quite a bit,
but last night was the first time we attended Luminations.
Lights, snacks, crafts, carols, puppet shows, and more lights? Yes, please.
Thanks Ladybird.
Posted in Austin, family |
I had some long overdue one-on-one time with Violet today. She must have needed it as much as I did because she turned down a birthday party (aka: cake) in order to have a few hours, just the two of us.
Posted in family, Violet |
Real or paper, they’re amazing, right? I loved growing up in the snowy north, and feel bad the kids have never experienced real snow. But at least they can see flakes here on rare occasions.
Magic.
Posted in family |
I can carry a tune… a little. I can strum a few chords. But that is about the extent of my musical talent. So how did I find myself surrounded by musicians? I can’t believe my luck. Our walls are covered with instruments. Living with Rob is like having a continuous soundtrack to our lives.
He’s got his garage band (sometimes seen outside of a garage)…
….his dad band (sometimes seen in pirate gear)…
…and his bluegrass band (seen all over Central TX).
Violet has been singing with them (at daytime gigs) since she could string a sentence together. Graham has recently gotten up the nerve to stand next to her on stage and quietly warble along. He wants to learn flute and play “classic”. Violet wants to play violin… or fiddle.
My mom plays electric guitar in a rock band.
She comes from a family of musicians. The reunions rival ACL.
We also have a bunch of talented friends who sing…
…or write and produce musical theater.
I am surrounded by so much talent it’s hard not to get jealous sometimes. But the world also needs back-up singers, stage-hands, and groupies. I’m grateful to do my part.
Posted in family, friends |
I have heard some horrendously shocking in-law stories in my time. Plenty. Enough to know how lucky I am to have mine. Despite the fact that this odd girl from the west coast stole away their youngest son, dragged him half-way around the world, married him in a red dress, and didn’t settle down in Long Island, they have never been anything but caring and thoughtful and sweet.
We don’t get to see them enough.
Posted in family |
Today, while sitting on Violet after she punched and kicked a nurse, I took a moment to contemplate my gratitude for modern healthcare. 
That is how I would like to remember what really happened this afternoon, instead of the feral girl shrieking and cowering in the corner of the CVS Minute Clinic while an RN approached her with a dripping needle. My plan to have Graham go first (so Violet could witness his bravery) utterly failed. His scream sent her already nervous brain straight into Lizard Mode. It didn’t matter that he was happily explaining that “it didn’t hurt for long!” just 30 seconds after the shot. She was already out of her head. I had to drag that 53 pound coiled spring of muscle and flailing limbs from the corner into ten minutes of battle in which she screamed so hysterically the poor CVS customers briefly paused in their impulse shopping to consider dialing 911 .
(This is the part where I sit on her.) When the actual shot finally occurred, I heard tell that her shriek shattered glass as far as the Capitol building.
The nurse was completely unruffled, until I burst into tears, at which point she frantically searched for a tissue while awkwardly patting me on the shoulder.
Of course I immediately took them out for Starbucks cocoa with a mountain of whipped cream. And of course it took 20 minutes to make. And they gave us only one cup. And the second cup took 20 minutes. And when I finally set the long awaited treat on the table, of course I spilled the entire cup of steaming liquid down Violet’s front. So I took a moment to contemplate my gratitude for…
Okay, no. First I checked her to see if her skin was still attached. It was. She was just screaming because she was pissed her mother made her get a shot and then she had to wait forever for her freakin hot cocoa only to have her mother spill the entire cup on her.
But! Every customer and employee in the place raced to get me napkins and extra cocoa and check on Violet. And I was grateful. I’m grateful we can get painful shots. I’m grateful Rob’s job has benefits. And I’m grateful that, despite the screwed up insurance situation in this country, we have incredible doctors and scientists and medicine that will likely keep me from suffering in a haze of snot and fever this year.
I’ll also be grateful if Violet doesn’t remember this particular episode.
Posted in family, Graham, Violet |
I’ve spent a long long time being vaguely annoyed and overwhelmed around the holidays. But lately I’ve been better able to ignore the mace-wielding shopper-hordes and focus on the Christmasy things that thrilled me as a kid. This may be a function of my advanced age, or that the kids can remember enough Christmases to piece together a sense of family tradition. It may also be that, as a grown-up, ”holiday spirit” now has an awesome dual meaning.
Whatever the reasons, I’m grateful to have shed my bah-humbug this year.
Posted in family |
