Holiday Weekend

We have had a nice holiday weekend, so far. We spent yesterday hanging around the house. We did get out during the afternoon to drive around, just to see what all was open around town. Burger King was the only fast-food restaurant open. The Waffle Houses (all three of them) were open (of course). A couple of grocery stores and Blockbuster, along with a few other things.


We woke up and had a marvelous breakfast--french toast casserole. Sorry the pic is sideways--just turn your head:
Lunch was incredible. The picture does not do justice. Turkey stuffed with dressing--unbelievable. Asparagus with ham. Lauren's family's tradition--Irish Potato Casserole. A meal to remember for a while:

A Dallas Cowboys win topped the day off just right. Has been quite a sports weekend, so far. Mavs won. 'Boys set a record, going to 10-1. Right now, though, things do not look that great for the Longhorns. The pesky Aggies are up 10-0 and driving early in the second quarter. That would be just like A & M--they're not having that great of a year, win or lose they will probably make some sorry bowl. Texas has an outside chance to still make the Big 12 Championship--and A & M will probably go on to beat them now. Stinkin' A & M (isn't that right, Janet?). And I've just about given up on Colt McCoy--great as a freshman, he can't remember what sport he is playing as a sophmore--he better shape up before next year (or everyone will be wondering where Jevan Sneed is).

This morning, we woke up early and went shopping for a little bit--here in Carrollton, then over in Newnan. This was my first experience with the Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopping deal. Not too bad. There really were some good deals out there. The amount of people was incredible. Even Carrollton's parking lots were full before 7:00 a.m.

What amazed me most was how inconsiderate people were. That, and how much stores stock their aisles full so that no one can walk down them, when the stores are full. People on cell phones walking around in parking lots, walking in front of cars . . . people walking around department stores with HUGE shopping carts, completely clogging aisles up. People just don't care. Something's wrong with that.

Newnan is really cool. There is a cool stretch of shopping on one of the major roads. Saw a Mazzio's Pizza place that looked to be shut down--but still, been a while since I have seen one of those. We had some breakfast at another Chick-Fil-A Dwarf House. They had a breakfast buffet (which we regret not eating at)--looked incredible--but we did not have a whole lot of time to mess around with Lauren needing to get back to work--so we just went to the fast-food part. Also said the breakfast buffet is on Wednesday night--that's awesome.

Newnan has a really cool downtown; and a pretty good barbeque place. Sprayberry's. Lauren had a barbeque sandwich that she liked. I had ribs (pork, of course--they have not discovered what good beef bbq is here) and brunswick stew. The ribs were pretty good. This stew stuff is everywhere--but we had not had any before today. It was actually pretty good. Seems like they just put some different scraps together and make a stew--pretty good. The bbq sauce was good--different from what we're used to (as is all bbq here--we just had to come to that realization today--it is just different, but good in its own way)--the sauce was vinegar-based. Here is a pic:

Well the sports weekend still has a ways to go, even if the Horns can't come back (this comeback junk is going to catch up to them before too long)--all kinds of good high school football tonight, then some good college football tomorrow--Georgia/Georgia Tech, Kansas/Missouri, etc.

--be

The Leaves, They Are A Changing

We are enjoying fall in the southeast. We believe the best colors of the leaves has probably passed us--but we have a good route to take next year in October to get a good view of the leaves. Here are some pictures from the State Park, just outside of Carrollton:

Below is a picture that disturbed me. As if Christmas means that we must pawn things so that we can buy gifts. I don't really think that is what it is all about. Signs have become very interesting to us here of late. There is one at the bottom this post. It does not really need any description.

Thought you might want to see a little something that we are going to enjoy tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Bourbon Pecan Pie with Chocolate Drizzle. Ah . . . yeah. I hope to post some pics of our T-giving food tomorrow.

This is what we had for tonight. Pizza roll. Yes, it was as good as it looks.

Like I said--needs no description.

We are looking forward to a nice, peaceful Thanksgiving holiday. Turkey with dressing stuffed in it (how? I don't know--Lauren is amazing), Irish Potato Casserole, Asparagus with Bacon, Yeast Rolls, and probably other stuff I cannot remember. Of course, if we can get a Cowboys victory tomorrow, that will make it quite a nice T-giving.

Quite a sports weekend--Mavs tonight (just watched them pull of a 17-point deficit for a win over the pompous Houston Rockets--I cannot stand that Tracy McGrady. Ah, yeah). Tomorrow-'Boys. Friday-Carrollton Trojans host a second-round playoff game, UT-A&M game, and the Hamilton Bulldogs take on Corrigan-Camden (congrats to them on one of the greatest upsets I have ever witnessed last week over Mart--sort of, I took it in on the internet radio--but I know it was amazing), Saturday-Kansas-Missouri game, not to mention the Georgia-Georgia Tech game, among others. Wow, I'm excited just to type it all out. Go Mavs. What a comeback, especially after their 24-point comeback last night. What a way to start the holiday off!

Lauren and I went to the Atlanta Thrashers game Monday night. The Phillips Arena is very cool. The concourse is extremely wide, with all sorts of different food eateries--pizza speciality place, hot dog speciality place, a salad and wraps place, burritos, along with tons of other stuff. The arena itself is really cool, too. The luxury suites (not that we got to see one or anything) look amazing.

I guess there is a reason hockey is a northern sport. It was freezing in there. I guess I should have thought about that more before we entered--but it was more warm outside at night than inside. The game was pretty neat to see. Hockey is like soccer--like Lauren says, they score so few goals that it makes it not nearly as interesting as more fast-paced sports--or even baseball. Baseball is peaceful and serene--but still exciting. We were going to take the camera to take some pics--but it did not fit into our pockets--and I did not really feel like taking it on the subway with us, just carrying it around.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours wherever you may be this holiday weekend!

--be

Catching Up

No real news or any big happenings to report. I was going to head to the Alabama mountains to play at a beautiful golf course today--but that did not work out. So, I guess this is sort of a boring report.

We are in the middle of football season in these parts. The regular season of high school football just ended this past weekend, as it did in Texas. The Carrollton Trojans won their region (similar to districts in Texas). They will probably host a few games at home, if they are able to keep winning. They will face their toughtest test of the season in the third week of the playoffs, should they advance that far. They will place Carver-Columbus, the team that knocked them out last year--and I hear it will be there, so that should be difficult.

College football is in full swing, to say the least. We are holding our own for the Texas Longhorns--everyone knows where our allegiances lie. And even though NFL football is not big here, seeing as how the Falcons are lousy, people know of our passion for the Cowboys. Speaking of the Cowboys, How 'Bout Them Cowboys?

We are glad the NBA season is upon us. I expect people will soon learn of our passion for the Mavs. We have gotten to see a couple of their games, so far, as many of their games will be on national TV this year. We are thinking about getting NBA League Pass, so we can see all of their games. But if we do that, we will probably wait until later in the season--when it is cheaper, plus I do not know if I could keep up with all of that basketball. Their games come on so stinkin' late here. The other night, they were on TNT--against Golden State--but it did not come on until 10:30 p.m. here. 10:30 p.m.!

The leaves are beautiful here. Fall is spectacular. We expect spring to be, as well.


--be

The Lone Star Nation of Texas

I travelled to the great nation of Texas this past weekend. Flew out of Birmingham, into Houston, then to Dallas Love Field on Thursday night. Then a straight shot back to B-ham on Saturday. I think my new favorite airport (since I have such a wide ranging repertoire to choose from!) is Houston Hobby Airport. They have a Pappas Burger restaurant, a Pappasito's food stand, and a lot of other restaurants. Small enough to be cozy and not hard to get around--and not too big.

I got to see family and friends over the weekend--it was really nice. Got to see mom, dad, Jana, and Jake the dog, along with lots of other family, youth, and friends. It was so good to see you all. We just hung out, for the most part; and I made a few quick trips around town. I saw the Hamilton Bulldogs defeat one of their rivals, the Clifton Cubs, in one of the greatest high school games I have ever seen. It was awesome. We had a goal-line stand as time expired. So much drama. And I got to see some of my former youth get the victory. Now they have to win this week and get a little help to make it into the playoffs.

Was very nice. On the way back to the airport, we stopped at Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth. Got to see our old stomping grounds and ate at one of our favorite FW restaurants--Uno Pizzeria. Mmmm. Sauceless pizza. I also got some good beef brisket during my TX stay. I cannot tell you how much I have missed that beef brisket goodness--thank you, Texas, thank you for beef brisket drowned in sauce.

Lauren is in the midst of what seems to be a horribly, extremely (any other adjectives?) difficult take-home test. She worked all weekend while I was away in the nation of Texas. She registered for her spring classes today--has the exact same schedule as this semester, just different classes. So that is great. She did not have class today-so she was able to stay at home all day, working.


--be