Oktoberfest

We are finally having some fall weather! It was so nice, we just knew we had to spend Saturday outside. We've been wanting to go to an Oktoberfest and a google dive a few weeks ago told us there was one going on in town on Saturday.

Its only the second annual and was held in the parking lot of a mall so we weren't sure what to expect.   We got there right at opening time (2pm) and did good by not buying tickets ahead of time since the cash ticket option sent us to a general admission tent and we were able to go in through a gap in the fence rather than wait in line with the pre-sale tickets.   I'm still not sure why we got in so much sooner than the main entrance line, but took advantage of it.   We also made sure to get food and drinks before it got too busy - very glad we did since there was a HUGE turnout of people (and lines for food and drink after not too long).

There were several food options, we had a hard time deciding but we knew we had to get something German and so we tried a 'saussibon', it didn't look very appealing in the photo - the way the sausage is rolled it reminds me of a cinnamon roll, but looks can be deceiving because it was quite tasty - the sausage was not greasy at all, it was served on a pretzel roll  and it came with homemade potato salad (again we went German rather than trading it out for chips).   We split one sandwich (just in case we didn't like it).   First time I've had a pretzel roll....won't be my last.

We got settled at a table -- bordering sun and shade since the wind actually made the shade kind of chilly and this way we had the best of both worlds.  We got a pitcher of Oktoberfest beer from Austin (live oak I think) and enjoyed the surroundings.  There was some recorded music playing (some German, some remixes), lots of costumes, and great people watching.    

Craziest moment of the day  - the guy next to Kevin getting a bunch of beer dumped on him by his "friend" as punishment for taking a pour from his pitcher of beer.  oh, early 20-something logic...

Boss' Day

I had a great boss' day! I knew my staff was planning something and they STILL surprised me. There was a sign on my door - it was there when I walked in - impressive since I'm the first one to arrive.   They'd also brought in breakfast to share, gave me a wonderful card they'd all signed and the perfect gift for this time of year - caffeine and chocolate!!   

I am lucky to have great staff members and felt very appreciated, my favorite part was definitely their kind words.   Being a boss isn't easy, and its good to hear feedback that I'm doing well at it.

To all the bosses out there, hope you had a great day!  

I like my brother's take on it, he replied to my post about happy boss' day that it should be 'happy bosses' day (a day when bosses have to be happy), so true.

I blame my lack of posting on the fact that its my busy time of year with work :)

NNO

We participated in "National Night Out " with our neighborhood yesterday.   Our small section was having a get-together and we participated, though we were skeptical if anyone would show up.  We walked down to the little park near our house with our fold up chairs, a small cooler with waters and a box of cookies (thank you Sam's!). We didn't see anyone at the park but walked up to it and a woman and her daughter were there -- putting up signs to show it moved to a nearby cul-de-sac. Good decision, since the park was wet and had lots of mosquitoes.

Once we got to the right location, we met lots of neighbors!!  We enjoyed visiting with everyone and the cookies were gobbled up.   We'd have stayed longer but it was so humid and mosquitoes started eating me up after the sun went down.  Our cold front came through overnight, too bad it didn't come one day earlier -- the NNO would've been even better!

This weekend was also decision time about the tree I'd won during my streak of winning things. We really tried to find a place for a tree in our yard, but just couldn't find a spot.  I spoke to the HOA on Saturday and found a great solution - we donated it to the neighborhood to replace a tree lost in the drought.  I'll never know which tree is 'our' tree, but I'm so glad it can be put to good use, i felt like such a scrooge saying no to a tree!

We went to see the movie "Gravity" this weekend, I was not really interested in seeing it, but am glad that K insisted -- WOW, I have no idea how they filmed it, I really thought we were watching people in space!   We saw it in 3D, not sure it was necessary but was a fun way to see it!

It was a weekend of meeting people, on Friday I met my dear friend Delena's baby girl for the first time, and silly me I forgot to take any photos.  She is a cutie! 

NFL

NFL week 1 is finally here!   Our tv has been tuned to NFL red zone all day and Kevin is a very happy guy!   He had to call Comcast to get red zone working -- all their lines were busy, wonder how many other people had to do the same thing.   You can tell that its back in the grocery ads and what people are wearing at the store -- lots of jerseys...

Its a fun time of year.  

The football season really starts for us tomorrow since the Texans play their first game as the Monday Night Football game.  Its on the west coast and a late kick-off so I already know I'll be a sleepy girl on Tuesday.  Hopefully and happy sleepy girl :)

I've been enjoying the countdown the Texans post on their facebook so i grabbed the latest one, each time I saw it they had the player with the # to match how many days out --- starting way back with 99 (Watt).

Whoever you root for, enjoy football being back!

We also saw Book of Mormon this weekend -- I was more excited about that then I was for football.  Its a pretty rare musical I can convince K to go to with me, and this one was right up his alley.  Very irreverent and not for delicate ears, it was hilarious.  He was wondering if they'd say the f word.....yes, front and center and more time than I could count......If you'd told me when I first saw South Park that one day there would be a musical by these same guys I wouldn't have believed you.....

Staycation

I know I say this every month recently -- but really, how is it already September?!?!?!

I'm happy to say good bye to the summer months, though September still means summer weather in Houston...but cannot believe how fast this year is flying by.

The first week of classes went well for both of us and we were both glad to have a long weekend -- I think me more than K since with his class schedule he's at home on Mondays anyway.

We took advantage of the extra day by taking a day trip to Brenham on Saturday.   It took about an hour and a half to get there and we visited the Pleasant Hill winery.   The winery is almost only a wine making place, not a grape growing place - though I did see vines outside and they do buy Texas grapes,   We were able to join up with a tour already in progress -- they start at half past the hour - and saw everything we wanted to see -- including a cellar built into the hill.   Our main purpose was to taste the wine, and we enjoyed it.  They even had different tasting tracks for dry vs sweet, perfect for us since K likes the dry and I prefer the sweet.  After our tasting we each bought a glass and sat in the front room of the store area to enjoy it.   We  chatted with some other folks who were splitting a bottle and got some ideas for other day trips - there are several wineries within a short drive of Houston.

My favorite wines: Collina Bianca and Sweet Collina Rossa (both sweet), K's favorite: Sangiovese.

We'd hoped to also tour the Blue Bell Creamery.  We weren't able to since they're only open for tours during the week - another trip.  We could've gone and bought ice cream but decided against it -- we can buy it at the store and have it at home instead (we did just that on Sunday - Dutch Chocolate - while we watched Breaking Bad).

After the winery, we went to get something to eat.  We'd hoped to try an Italian place the owners recommended, Volare, but were very disappointed to see we'd missed their lunch hours (til 2) and were too early for dinner (reopens at 5).    We will have to go back to try it -- it looks like a house from the outside.   Instead we found a nearby 'saloon' (BT Longhorn Steakhouse) and sat at the 1880s bar and had  sandwich/burger.

After dinner we headed home.  Day trips are the best of both worlds -- a little get away and no worries about finding someone to watch our dog, reservations, packing.   We'll definitely be doing more this fall.