The rest of Sunday (not much rest, it turned out).

After the shooting stopped in Gatesville, Dave and I went into town to get a late lunch. We went to a local BBQ joint and had sandwiches and shared a big basket of onion rings. Mmmmm, good.

They called that a "Family Basket", but we both wondered how ether of us could get enough if any other family members had been there. It was a perfect portion for the two of us though. He had a chipped BBQ beef sandwich and I had BBQ ham. Good stuff. The free refills on the drinks were appreciated, after bein' out in the heat for a few hours.



After that little feast I drove back down south to Killeen, to Denise's place (you remember my AC is on the fritz). She'd been spending her Sunday afternoon going over to my place to see after my cats, doin' some house work and sitting out in her back yard, sunning herself. I tell ya, these Brits are weird when it comes to the sun. I guess they don't get much of it over there.

When her family was visiting here last summer they spent a huge amount of time layin' out, tryin' to get as roasted as they could in a week. When I asked them about it they asked me "Didn't I ever sunbathe?" I said something like "Hell no! 'Round here we get all the sun we need just walkin' to the car and back". Anyway, I got to Denise's place and found out there may be another reason our forefathers used to call her forefathers "Lobsters".



Lord above!

I was soon put to work on some chores that had gone unattended for a while. I replaced a few broken boards in her side fence that some kids had kicked in, and then I got my gas trimmer goin' and finished about half her front yard before the string ran out. That put me blissfully out of the trimmin' business until after the holiday. That's when I went in to clean up and take a shower and found her just about to turn my last Honey Lager into a Lager Shandy. You've seen the shower post, right? If not, scroll down.

Anyway, after gettin' all fresh and showered I started to get dressed to take us out to dinner. I told Denise I'd just put the same pants on I'd worn up to Gatesville but she said "No, I went over to your house and got you some new clothes." I was happy to hear that, till we both realized she'd forgotten to pick me up any fresh undies. We laughed about it, and then I rejected her idea of wearin' the old stinky pair and told her I was just gonna go without."Commando!", I believe it's called. I wouldn't have remembered what to call it if ol' Mushy hadn't taken that plunge a week or so ago.

So we headed off to a Temple to see Mom, go to the movies and go to BJs for dinner, with my boys enjoying more freedom than they've had to swing around in public than I can ever personally remember. Kind of a liberating experience really. I may have to do it more often.

We dropped my to see mom, whose been feelin' bad ever since she got back from Oklahoma. I think she picked up a bug on the trip. She assured us that she was takin' pills for it and would see a doctor if it didn't get better (since then it has). Then we were off to the mall to see "Indiana Jones". I thought it started out very cool, but that the coolness wore off about mid way through and it became silly and stupid. LOVE the idea that the new fascist villains were Russians. It's worth seein'. Enjoy, but don't laugh out loud at the sword fight or the swinging through the trees. Jesus!

We headed over to the restaurant after the flick and had about a 35 minute wait. Not unusual for that place. It's popular and there's not a hell of a lot else around there that people haven't been to a million times. When we got to our table we started out, as usual, with the appetizers. We've gotten into a rut there, always getting the same things. But hell, when you find what you like, why not enjoy it? Life is short.

My favorite appetizer is the Santa Fe Spring rolls (you've seen these before)... "Crispy spring rolls filled with tender chicken, black beans, fire-roasted red peppers, cilantro, sweet corn, jalapeños and Monterey jack cheese. Served with our Santa Fe dressing and avocado cream sauce, then garnished with green onions, fresh red peppers and red cabbage." Very good, particularly when you ask for Honey Mustard to dip them in, though the avocado cream sauce is pretty good too.

Denise is fond of the Tater Skins... "Shredded jack and cheddar cheeses melted over lightly fried potato skins, topped with applewood-smoked bacon bits, served with sour cream dip and topped with green onions". I like them too, so I usually end up gettin' a few bites. They're particularly good with the sour cream sauce that comes with them, but you know anything tastes better dipped in honey mustard.

For dinner, Denise went for the Cuban Burger, which she'd had once before. She and mom had ordered these the last time we brought mom to this place a few weeks ago. It's a beef, ham and cheese burger with slices of pickle in there and these huge seasoned wedge fries. It's a great little burger, but it must be a local thing because they don't list it on their website. At least I can't find it there.

I chose something different, as has been my habit since we started going to this place. I fully intend to make my way through most of the menu before I ever try something for a second time. This time around I chose the Scampi Pasta... "Flavorful, succulent shrimp tossed with delicate angel hair pasta in a light blend of olive oil, butter, garlic, lemon juice and Roma tomatoes. Topped with Parmesan cheese, seasoned bread crumbs and parsley." Mmm, mmm, mmm! It's not as good as the Jambalaya that I had last time, but I'd order it again.

As for drinks, I had a few Harvest Hefeweizens with a slice of orange (I always have to ask for it), and Denise had a Shandy made from a Piranha Pale Ale and a glass of Sierra Mist. I know, eeew! She wanted to have the Brewhouse Blonde, but they were out of it. Shocking! She won't go for the Pale Ale again. I'm not fond of it ether.

It was all wonderful. After that we headed over to have another visit with mom, who's been feeling puny lately. Some kind of bug. She busted out the Chateau Monet and we all had a little after dinner tipple. Then we headed back to Killeen. I discovered on the drive home one of the unexpected advantages of the whole "commando" thing. Somehow that drive just didn't seem to last as long as it usually does.

We stopped at my place for a while, to see about the cats and get some supplies (her cupboard was BARE), and then we headed back to Denise's place. It was about 86 degrees in the house at about 11:30 at night! I sure will be glad when that gets fixed.

Anyway, that was Sunday. Monday turned into the proverbial lost weekend, all in one day. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

Well, that was my weekend. The next one looks like it's gonna be fun. I'll tell ya about that later. You guys take care. Cheers.