wall of jasmine

It has taken about a year, but our wall of jasmine is really filling in.  when we moved in it was just a blank black fence, but we wanted some greenery and privacy.  I'm still trying to thread the jasmine to fill in a few holes, but it looks (and smells) great!

I do not claim to have a green thumb at all, but with this we really just plant it and go -- and try to remember to thread it as it grows....hard to keep up with as its had so much rain this spring....

90s Nostalgia Friends

Good bye April and Hello May!

I know that many in Houston were happy to tear that page off the calendar.  Here's hoping May is not as rainy (a tall order since last year's flooding was in May).

I had a great last day of April, I spent it at a Friends' trivia quiz with my sister put on by Geeks Who Drink.   We met our goal of not coming in last (26 of 36 teams!), that was even our team name - The One Where they try not to come in last - and had a great afternoon of catching up and testing our knowledge of the tv show. We each did some studying (aka binge watching) of the show ahead of time, but got nowhere near getting through all the episodes.    Some we knew as soon as they showed the answers, others I just never knew....it was all for fun, and I'd recommend their quizzes, only $5 to play (plus cost of food and drinks at the venue --- we purchased some food and drinks, gotta keep waitstaff happy since we basically took up a table for 5 hours - couple hours early and 3 hours for the game).

The MC wore a wedding dress the whole afternoon and the 90s music soundtrack they had on breaks just added to the fun!

Now that the quiz is over I don't need to watch more episodes and yet I probably will (psst all the seasons are on netflix!).  

Tax Day Flooding

It was a very hard week for Houston this past week with the flooding, apparently to be called the "Tax Day Flooding".     I was actually out of town (work conference) when most of it occurred, but my mind and heart were very much with my city.

The recovery for many areas will take a long time, and sadly some of those most affected are the very people for which a recovery will be the toughest.  

All the photos and articles out there have summed up the situations better than I ever could.  My favorites are those that show the many ordinary people coming together to help others - people and animals - in need.  Please take time to find ways to help.  I personally plan to donate and also need to make time to go donate blood, not necessarily for this disaster but a good supply is always needed and the local blood center lost 2 days of possible donations with all the closures.

I do love this image, a man rescuing an armadillo, based on a real man's actions during the flooding.

Final Four

Since Final Four is in Houston this weekend there is a LOT going on.

We decided to check out the free concerts at Discovery Green on Saturday.....and boy did we underestimate the set up and turnout!      We  rode our bikes downtown and when we arrived, we saw the park completely fenced in and never-ending lines from the gates, one literally wrapped around a city-block size building and then some.

We took advantage of BikePlan Houston's valet bike service and wandered around to see the spectacle.    We saw so many fans of all 4 teams, love seeing our downtown so busy.

Realizing that we would probably never get into the concert area (and I'd probably have a claustrophia attack if we did) and honestly not caring since we don't follow any of the performers that would be there, we went to Market Square park instead ---- way more our speed!  We had a great afternoon downtown and enjoyed the gorgeous day.  

We even stumbled upon Real World auditions...,,I had no idea the show was still on.   I think real world is real enough, don't need a show following a bunch of 20-somethings to show me what life is like.....

Spring Break

I had a great one day Spring Break.  We went to the beach with Kevin's brother and his family (wife, 3 kids - baby stayed with grandparents).   We had to 'wait and see' all week with the weather, but it turned out to be a great day!     Cloudy in the morning, but cleared off.  The water was chilly but that didn't keep the kids out, they were in it all day.....  we had a great time, and grilled some delicious hot dogs.   I am so glad I had some cash, since an ice cream truck came by and we got each kid a treat.....best way to have dessert - -watch kids eat it, all the fun and none of the calories.  The weather held out for us, and then stormed on us going home -- complete with hail, and its a cool front!  

Great way to spend the day.