Watching and Waiting on Ike

My family is from south of Houston and I don't know if we ever evacuated for hurricanes when I was growing up. We generally boarded up the house and slept - they tended to come on land overnight.

But since Katrina and then Rita, people from home and my family in particular, take the warnings a bit more seriously.

Today my family is evacuating from the Gulf Coast and headed to Central Texas. Tough to keep my mind on work when I'm thinking of all the things back at my house I'd like to do to be better prepared for the arrival.

As we sit and wait . . .

Tricker Treaters at Our Home

Halloween 2007 has come and gone and I had a chance to wear my senorita costume one more time and this time I added my super fancy feather false eyelashes. Okay, it took my about five times to get the first false eyelash on and I think I'm still picking off the glue. Yuck.

C. thought it would be hilarious to dress up in full camo and facepaint and sit out and spook our guests. See? Yep, even General started barking.

We had a few kiddos approach him, 'cause heck, he was holding the huge bowl of candy. I totally bought too much. But it was our first Halloween in our new neighborhood and I wanted to make sure that we made a good impression. So, the few gobblins that approached walked up very slowly and then C. would make some fast jerky movement and they'd jump. It really was a fun sight.

Of course, he made sure not to startle the smaller kiddos. Didn't want no cryin' babies on our street. No siree!

Oh, and if you're wondering, yes, General was dressed as Zorro. Absolutely drove C. nuts. That's what I live for.

For the Love of Drive-Thru Tex-Mex

OMGoodness. Big news in today's online version of the Austin Business Journal - Taco Bueno, which I frequented often during my days living in the Dallas metroplex is about to start opening locations in Central Texas.

EatDrink LLC will open the first Taco Bueno location in Central Texas on the southeast corner of Wonder World Drive and I-35 in San Marcos later this year. The first Austin store, at the northeast corner of MoPac and Slaughter Lane, is slated to open in the first quarter of 2007. Two locations are currently planned in Round Rock and another in Cedar Park. The company expects to open up to 14 per location.

Click here for the full story: Taco Bueno says "buenos dias" to Central Texas.

My fave is the Mexi-Dip and Chips which comes with a Muchaco (Soft pita filled with ground beef, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes and cheddar cheese. Yum!

Cute New Place

For those of you who haven't seen the place, okay, can't imagine that's many folks, here is the new place. Love it. Love the color. Love the porch. Love the balcony. Love the front and back yard.

It's been raining a ton here lately, every day in fact, which is exceptionally odd for Central Texas in the summer when we're typically under drought conditions. So this morning after the morning showers I donned my silly gardening hat and slathered on my SkinCeuticals sunblock and headed out for some strenuous weed pulling to try and keep it looking as much like this photo as possible. This is the life!