we went to lake conroe

Mike and I went to Lake Conroe two weeks ago... I know, It's been a while, but I've been busy traveling, recovering from traveling, and traveling again, and recovering again from traveling, and about to travel again in a week... WHEW!  Makes me tired thinking about it!  That's what summers are for and why they pay the me big bucks to be a teacher.

Anyway... Mike and I went to Conroe to see Mike's family.  He's the youngest of 6 siblings and is the cutest in my opinion, next to Edd, and John, and Carol, I could go on, but I married him so he's the cutest!

I took a couple of pics to share.  The weather was nice one day... otherwise really hot.  Actually it's really hot all over Texas... I don't care if it's 95 deg and 100% humidity, or 107 deg and 20% humidity, it's all really hot.  I digress...

Here is Carol.  We went to the pool one day and had some fun.  Love her!  She's a sweetie!

I took this pic of myself 'cause I'm a dork like that.

Carol took this pic of me lounging at the pool.


One morning, We rented a pontoon boat to take for a ride.  It was fun.  We did a home tour for a while until Mikey got bored with that... Oh well.

Here's Edd.  He's such a good brother-in-law!

Here's Carol... she's such a good Sister-in-law!

...And here's my Mikey!  He's such a good husband!

Oh... And... Here's my favorite nephew!  This would be Evin!  I just love him!  I met him when he was wearing floaties and was all of 4 years old!  I've watched him grow up and go to college... I couldn't be prouder!

I certainly didn't get pics of everybody... I just wasn't in the picture taking mood.  But I missed Pauline!  She is the mother of my husband and all of his siblings.  She makes this happen and is the bomb!  Love you Pauline!

We had a great trip!

More travels to come...
-P

my new obsession

I have a new obsession.

Hot Dogs.

Not that I eat them all the time, but they have become my go to junk food snack 'cause I'm sick of grilled chicken sandwiches, cheese burgers are out, and although I sometimes sneak in a hamburger, they are still very fatty and since hotdogs are boiled, they can't have that much fat (I don't want to know).  It's not like I've eaten that many hot dogs, just a couple 3 or 4 since January.

It started with turkey dogs at home.  On Sunday afternoons, after we ate Pho for lunch (seriously, how far does that shit go anyway!) we'd snack on a hotdog.  I've always been a ketchup on a hotdog kinda girl.  Corn dogs too.  Then I discovered Chicago style hotdogs!  YUM! (thanks, Sonic)  The relish is a lot like ketchup.  Kinda sweet.  And the peppers and fresh tomato YUM! The Sam's hotdog is worthy, very worthy.  I even had a bite of Home Depot's hot dog and that was damn good too!

Mikey always gets kraut dogs with mustard.  I've always snubbed my nose at his mustardy sour krautty dog.  He's even brought home single serv baggies of kraut so he can kraut out his turkey dog at la casa.

I tried one.

From Sonic.

OMG!!!!!

This is the 'New York Style' kraut dog from Sonic I got on the way to the Hill Country last week.  It was my first.  I texted the pic to Mikey so he could see I was gonna eat one.  Sour kraut, grilled onions, and mustard.  Good bun, tasty weenie.  It was awesome!  

It was so good, I had to get another on Monday during welding class.  

Speaking of welding class...

This is me after grinding metal in 100+ degree heat. It was HOT, Yo!

... and this is my first ARC welding practice weld lines.

Back to hotdogs... Here are our not hot dogs 'cause they've got AC.

Here is Ruby.  She wiggles a lot so it's sometimes hard to get a focused shot on the fly.

...and here's Luke chillin' in Dad's recliner.

Till next time...
P

...before we went to Conroe...

A couple days before we went to Conroe, a day before Patrice was coming to visit, our AC went out!

Ho NO!  What are we going to do!?!?!

This was at the beginning of our stretch of 100deg plus days... a couple of weeks ago... It was HOT and still is HOT!  So... when said AC unit wouldn't come on this morning when Mikey was getting ready for work... we knew we had a problem... Houston? Houston? We have a problem!

When I wake up,  Mike trying to get some service online with the home maintenance insurance people to no avail.  So, Mike has to leave and I get the job of arranging service via telephone with the said service, as their online link was no help, thank you very much.

After 30 minutes on hold, I get a human to talk to.  I assure it is an emergency and they need to get someone out here 'cause it's gonna be 100 degrees and I have doggies here I'm not leaving alone in the hot house.  Granted it wasn't that hot in the house YET, but baby, it's coming!  Long story long, They can't get anyone out here until the next day.  The silver lining?  They will pay $125.00 towards a hotel room.  BOOYA!  So, I get online and am looking for a hotel that will allow doggies when it occurs to me to call the Belmont Hotel... And they allow dogs in three of their rooms, which one was available!  YAY!

So, we pack our shit (me, bags, two doggies and all their stuff, which ain't easy as the dogs were wired when they figured out they were going!), and head out to the Belmont Hotel around 3 that afternoon at which time the temp in the house is 87.  UGH!

Here is Luke in my rear view mirror... if you look closely, you can see him.

...and Ruby doing what she does in the car, sleep.  No. Matter. What.

So... The Belmont Hotel is an old motor court motel from the '40's that was in poor shape when it was purchased by some smart fellow who re-did it and made it wonderful!  It is on the edge of Oak Cliff on Ft. Worth Avenue, which used to be the only road to Ft. Worth from Dallas before the interstates were built.  It's really, really cool!  We stayed in room # 52.  ... as you can see.

Next to each room is a little patio area.  I guess these used to be little garages?  Cute!

...aaahhhhhh!  Air conditioning!  Sweet air!  Plus fan!  Luke's chilling...

Mike joined me just in time for pool time!  He had to finish work and go home to get his bag before he could come enjoy the sweetness!  Here he is in the pool area...

They have this nice little lawn that overlooks downtown Dallas.  They even do concerts at the pool during the summer, on this very lawn.  Nice...

Here is the pool.  Love it!

These shots are from our walk back from the pool.  It's really pretty, in an old school kinda way, which I love!

They are very green here.  Parking is either valet or off the lot so there are lots of plants (especially hedges of rosemary which is wonderful!).

Here's another shot of our room.  Love the iron work!

So... We headed back to the room to freshen up and go out for drinks and dinner.  YAY!  Our first stop, the Belmont Bar, which also overlooks downtown Dallas.

This is the indoor sitting area.

...and this is the view from the outdoor covered patio bar, which is really AWESOME!

And... here is my babe!

Oh... I got a shot of myself!

Mikey and I!  Good times!

Here's the marquee.  Nice!

So, after a drink, we head to 'Smoke', which is their restaurant on the property.  They specialize in home cooking done fancy.  It was so good... I forgot to take pics of our food when it came out, and I didn't think you'd want to see our pictures of our half eaten food, so long story long, again, here's my family as I checked in for the night...

Sweet dreams!

More later... it's been a wild and crazy summer of travels... got more... BOOYA!

-P

my studio... yo!

Well... after Mother and Sister left a few weeks ago, my next step in the reincarnation of Mikey man cave #2 into Pagiey studio #1 was to really turn it into a functioning studio!  YAY!

First I had to get the wood to make the canvass topper for the desk that resides in the room.  It's solid and well built, just at the right height for me to work, however, I cannot work directly on wood with my clay.  I need canvas, and I didn't want to staple canvas to the desk.  A removable topper works very well.  So, off to Home depot to get the goods.  I wear a cute sundress... just because I like wearing sundresses in the summer when it's blazing hot, like it is in Dallas right now.  I got great service!  They retrieved the wood for me, cut it to my exact measurements (from my head), loaded it in my car, helped me get my car out of the loading dock... I mean, really great service!  Got the goods home, and I had forgotten the measurements.  It's too fucking short!

Whoopsie!  Well, I guess we're donating a $17.00 piece of plywood to the school 'cause I had them cut the wood wrong!  (**nertz!**)

So, in my embarrassment, I go to BLowes to get the plywood cut the correct way.  Really, the service at BLowes is not the same as Home Depot.  Not. at. all!  I mean really???  I asked for help cutting a piece of 8' x 4', 3/8" plywood and the guy says, 'You got the wood?'  Really??? I'm a 40 year old petite woman weighing 125 lbs... I can't carry that on my own!  That's why you help me, Sir!

... Anyway... Here is the finished product.  The wheel is borrowed from school, so it goes back in August.  We'll figure out another alternative when the time comes.  It's working though!

Here's the wheel ready for workin'...

In this shot, you can see my ware cart ready for work, and my nice canvas topper on the desk, ready for work!

Here's another shot!

...And, ladies and gentlemen... here is the fancy, super fancy, swivle chair I got at Big Lots!  It's even got flames coming from the seat!  (Not my flames coming from my seat, thank you very much!)

Finally, Here are my clay balls.  I threw several mugs and a couple experimental vases that I finished last week.  Things have been crazy busy so I haven't thrown much more, but I will!

More to come on my other adventures... It's been interesting!

Stay cool!
-P

korean taco

A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I went to this Korean Taco joint near Harry Hines and Inwood, right by the big Salvation Army store.  We had to check it out.  Really?  Korean taco?  Hmmmmm... could be really good!


Here is Mikey in front of the joint.  It's a drive through kind of thing that also has a counter to order from.  These little drive through thingies are the closest thing we've got to food trucks around here.

Here is a shot of the menu.  You order the kind of meat (or mushrooms) you want, order either tacos, burritos, tortas, or bowls.

...and custom the sides to your liking.  You can get em Mexican style or Korean style with gimchee.  The meat is Korean style though, a little sweet and a little savory with that Asian flair.

After we looked at the menu, Mike thought it would be better to get back in the car and drive through.  The car had all the comforts of air conditioning, which I couldn't argue with him since it was probably 97 to 100 degrees at around noon.

Here's the bag after we drove through and found a shady-ish place to park and eat.

...Me holding the bag.

Me holding Mike's big-ole-burrito.

My chicken tacos, Korean style, of course.

... and let me tell ya,  They were REALLY GOOD! Yo!  Tasty!

-P