... and then there was Texas

It's all bigger, and HOTTER, in Texas!!

Last Wednesday, E and I did the usual pre-vacation shpeal - basically staying up late entertaining our friends who were watching Rocco for us, and staying up even later to get packed the night before our flight.
So after about 3 hours of sleep (YES - enough to get a solid TTC temp!!) and at the ASS CRACK of dawn - literally: 3am - we got up and got ready to head to the airport.

Dropped the car, shuttled to the airport, and blearily loaded up on Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and caffeine and what a wise decision on the caffeine.

We landed in Texas and went straight out for margaritas - frozen and salted yummy-ness - before we even dropped our suitcases at the house!

And when we DID get to the house, we barely had time to throw on our swimsuits and head out to the pool for some good-natured *AHEM CUT THROAT* volleyball...

More drinks - plastic martini glasses... There's nothing that screams summer more!

 

And while HOME-home was a cool mid-seventies, home-away-from-home was rarely below 100 degrees after 11am...

We delved into summer memories...
(..."the ORIGINAL ice cream maker was a HAND CRANKED maker! We had to take turns because your arms would get so tired!"
... the price you pay for your dad helping with the motorized ice cream maker...)

















An era with homemade ice cream on your front stoop in summer, with hoop skirts and being pinned by your highschool sweetheart at homecoming, with drive-in movie dates and Bobby Darin on the car radio - I didn't want to leave!

An era that instilled marriage as a holy and lifelong union and commitment.  If you're wondering, this is what 31 years of marriage looks like:








(The second time EVER he has taken off his wedding band.)

(The first time was when he jammed his middle finger - the one all swollen and bent, never properly healed.)

((Stubborness and doctor-avoidance : another remainder of past eras.))

(((ok I'm done with parentheses.)))

We rounded out the trip with multiple volleyball games carried way into the night:

And a cavern exploration - did you KNOW that Texas used to be underwater?!

On the TTCAL side - I'm 10DPO.  *GULP*

That means I'm in testing range...
(We'll see how long I hold out...)