Susie's Birthday Pictures

On Friday, March 20, Susie's school had a big family carnival, but Susie considered it her birthday party. All day she received birthday cards and treats. Here are some pictures of the treats she got. But not all she got.

On Sat. Amy, JR, Bob, Lucy, and Susie celebrated Susie's birthday by going to a hamburger joint and going shopping at a very nice outdoor shopping mall. Here are some pictures.

Susie and Amy know how to enjoy a great hamburger!!!!

Wake up JR!!! Time to party.

Great Bargains at Macy's. Susie bought some warm sweaters to wear when she takes her cruise to Alaska this summer.

Birthday Ice Cream Break.

St. Patrick's Day March 17, 2009

Today was St. Patrick's Day. Patsy sent St. Patrick's Day and Birthday (for Susie) chocolate covered strawberries. So we ate them. MMMmmmm Good!!!

Looks irresistible!!!

Life doesn't get much better than this.

Also today was the "red carpet" premiere showing of the video introducing the nominees for the Texas Bluebonnet Book Award. This video featured students from Susie's school district. Librarians pick the nominee books and then Texas students vote for the winning book. This is for next year's award. So we dressed up and attended the affair, and then we went to a Mexican food restaurant and had dinner with Susie's librarian friends.

Notice the bluebonnets on the dress on the left. Also notice Susie's boa. Fancy, huh?

Spring Break Sat. March 14

Sat. Bob, Susie, Amy, and I braved the horrific traffic in Austin to visit James, my sister, Nancy's, son. He is there from Portland, OR for a big music and media conference. We went to a big home store called the IKEA. Maybe people know what that is, but it was a new store for Bob and me. We just goofed off there, then ate at TGIF, and took James back to the Hyatt so he could attend a session in the afternoon. It was fun to for all of us to visit.

Where we picked up and dropped off James.

Amy and James sitting on couch at IKEA.

Nothing yet. We really didn't buy much, but it was fun to look.

Susie talking to Nancy, James's mom, because she was in NJ instead of Austin.

Amy, James, Bob

Susie using the interrogation lamp on Amy. Did she break or not?

Checking out the merchandise.

To have some fun we had the chair contest. What can you do with this chair?

THE CHAIR

Bob and Lucy and THE CHAIR

Amy and Susie and THE CHAIR

James and THE CHAIR

We ate well at TGIF's even though it was Sat.

Notice we are huddling because it was cold, but not raining. I know, some of you don't feel sorry for us.

Spring Break Thurs. and Fri. March 12 and 13

Thurs. was a slow day. Susie visited with some friends and graded a lot of her court reporting papers she had from her second job as a reader at SAC. Bob and I went to Sam's Club, went for a walk in a nearby park (almost in the rain), and went to the movie, "Twilight".

Friday - oh I hope no one has triskadecaphobia? I think I spelled that right. Susie visited with friends and graded papers again today. Bob and I found a fitness club that was offering a free 7 day trial so we went there, worked out on some of the machines and went swimming. It felt really good. It was really cold and rainy out. I know 40's doesn't sound cold, but it is!!!!!! Then we went out to eat at Panera's. Then Susie, Bob and I played Yahtzee. But the most fun was making and eating a Boston Cream Pie. Susie and I had wanted one the other day, and it's been on my mind ever since so I bought the ingredients and made it. MMMMMmmmmm good!!!!

Spring Break Wed. March 11, 2009

Today Bob, Susie, Amy(Susie's daughter and my niece), and I went to Fredricksburg. It was cold and rainy. Cold is in the 40's, and rain is very rare in TX these days so it was very welcomed by most. We hopped from shop to shop trying to stay dry and warm, and we were successful. I found my favorite scent of my favorite lotion which I haven't been able to find anywhere for a couple of years. Yea!!! We visited several shops and ate at a German restaurant. Bob went off by himself and reported he had fun visiting with other tourists/snowbirds, etc. Susie, Amy, and I shopped together and had fun times just being together and trying to stay warm. Here are some pictures.

We had fun tasting wine at this winery, not a hospital, just an old building that used to be a hospital.

Shopping

Eating at German restaurant. In first picture notice the fireplace in the background which helped warm us up, and in the second picture notice the coo-coo clocks on the back wall.

Texas Blubonnets, the state flower. Susie taking time to smell the blubonnets.

Rain gutter in Fredricksburg where rain is very rare so this is a very rare picture.

Susie and Amy huddling to keep warm.

At one of the shops there were these stoneware cookie molds by an artist named Lucy something. She signed and numbered the little cookbook that goes with the mold. All of this for only $100. So instead of buying it, I just took a picture.

Spring Break Tues. March 10, 2009

Today after Susie's appt. to get out her stitches, we went downtown to the market. I think we saw just about every shop, and we did buy some things. It's hard to resist. Then we ate at Mi Tierra which is a very nice Mexican restaurant in the market square. We sat outside and listened to some musicians playing very nice pipe flute like music. Here are a couple of pictures to show a little of what it was like.

Market Square

I guess Boone is famous all over. This was one of the shops in the market building.

Spring Break Mon. March 9, 2009

Today we went to Gruene, TX which is on the Guadalupe River just north of San Antonio by New Braunfels. It is a quaint village with lots of unique shops. We relaxed and had a nice meal at the Gristmill which is a restaurant built around and incorporating the ruins of a mill that operated along the river. It made me think that Frank Loyd Wright may have helped with the architecture of this restaurant. It was very nicely done and peaceful. We visited just about every shop and bought a few things. Susie and I sampled wine at the winery, but Bob was the designated driver so he didn't join us. I even found my favorite kind of hand cream which is hard to find anywhere. Yea!!!

Here are some pictures:

The Gristmill entrance.

Notice the scenery inside the restaurant in the pictures below.

My favorite shop even though it was closed. Guess why? Swans is the answer. My favorite.

Down by the River, the Guadalupe River.

Spring Break Sat. March 7, 2009

Spring Break started this weekend and goes through March 16 when we return to work at school. Of course I'm only a volunteer so it's optional for me to go back, but I will since I'm having so much fun there too.

Sat. we went to a craft/flea market at a town called Wimberly. They have just about everything there including food, samples, entertainment, and arts and crafts. We bought T-shirts for $2 each and a booth was going out of business and Susie and I got lots of stuff for about $.25 each. I even got a neat dress for $.50. As soon as we got there I noticed I was missing my cell phone so I went back to the car to find it and I did, but meanwhile Susie roamed the area without me. Then when it was time to find each other she had to use a map, and I just went to JR's mother's booth thinking Susie would show up sooner or later there. She did after finally calling me. Oh she didn't answer her cell phone when I called her because I guess she was too busy looking at the map as seen here in this picture.