Life Is Picking Up In Texas

A Sassy Granddaughter

It's later than I thought, 7:41 and I have been up since 6:30.  Rami took Marisa to school a half hour ago, so it's just Beth and me, as Evie and Tyler are still sleeping.  After I got up, I drove off to the shopping area, five minutes and picked up a half dozen bagels at Einsteins, much to Marisa's delight, so it was worth going.  It's nice to see a happy girl in the morning.

My Good Buddy Looking For Crumbs

We did not do anything exciting yesterday as Evie was still suffering from a cold, Beth from lack of a good night's sleep.  So our plans to do some sight seeing have been put off for a couple of days which is fine with me.  We did end up doing some shopping in an area which is quickly developing into a very busy shopping center.  We first hit the local grocery store, Tom Thumb, to pick up the usual groceries, then on to our favorite, Trader Joe's, a new one that just opened.  It was not much different from any of the other Trader Joe's, just somewhat larger.  We got the necessities and some of the extras, like good cheeses and wine.  We  got home around 12:30, just as my grandson, Tyler was getting up.  I remember those days, a long, long time ago.  We both had lunch, the leftover soup and turkey and bacon sandwiches.  Yum.

We then spent the afternoon watching some TV, usually Chopped, occasionally the depressing news of the new conservative appointments, especially Tom Price, Secretary Of Health And Human Services, an avowed and outspoken opponent of Medicare and Social Security.  When I have had enough of the news, my answer is to walk Cody, clear my mind and embrace the moment, the beauty of a fall afternoon in Dallas.  It works.  And later, when Marisa went off to Gymnastics, I walked uptown, to the large shopping area, literally a five minute walk, to all kinds of restaurants, spas, gyms, stores and high rises.  It's always a crowded place because parking is at a premium.  I basically walked for an hour, looking in the windows of all the upscale stores, wondering who has the money to buy the clothes, jewelry, and spa treatments.  It's not quite Chautauqua Mall.

Back From Gymnastics

Finally, Relaxing

When I got home, it was wine time, so we sat down and watched Beth put together our dinner of two spatchcocked chickens roasted on top of potatoes, from the Smitten Kitchen.  It's an easy and good dinner.  Evie cut and roasted the cauliflower, as Marisa and Rami both came home.  Despite Evie and Rami not feeling well, we had a nice dinner, enjoying the food and talking about our day.  Rami had  all day meetings which he somehow managed to attend and participate.

Dinner's Ready

We talked a lot about our favorite movies and TV series and we mentioned to Tyler that we loved the FX series, Fargo.  He had never seen it so the three of us went upstairs and watched the first two episodes while Marisa did her homework ( a good girl) and Beth and Rami watched their show in the bedroom.  Tyler loved the series, so we will no doubt watch more of it tonight.  We went up to bed around 10:30, ready for bed although Tyler was just beginning his evening.

Sick Bay In Dallas

Halle And Girls

Happy Birthday Halle

A Happy Twelfth Birthday to our granddaughter Halle, our youngest grandchild.  We hope you  have a fun day.

It's almost 7:00 and Beth is up making Marisa's breakfast, Marisa is showering, and Rami is getting ready to head into work although he still feels bad.  It looks like a nice day here so I hope everyone starts feeling better.

Yesterday, as my title shows, was not a good day for either Rami or Evie.  Rami stayed in bed most of the day although he tried to go to work but turned around and came home.  Evie stayed in bed after coffee until later afternoon when she started to feel better, having taken a hot shower.  The rest of us had a normal day.  I went with Beth around 7:30 when she took Marisa to her school since they don't have school buses in the Highland Park schools.

A Cathedral Of Oaks

When we got back, I decided to walk up to one of the more popular strip malls, with a Trader Joe's, Starbucks, and perhaps fifty or more small shops, restaurants, etc.  It took me about forty five minutes to get there, through the lovely neighborhood of University Park.  Lots of oak trees line the streets, and every house is different from the next, mostly brick, most probably built in the 1950's and 1960's, with an occasional new house, a result of a tear down.  When I got uptown, I did not feel much like shopping so I hardly stopped in a store but soon headed back home, working up a sweat as the sun came out and warmed the morning.

Typical Spreading Oak In University Park

When I returned home, Evie had gone back to bed and it was just Beth and me the rest of the day until late afternoon.  Tyler was around but he mostly stayed to himself, playing video games, figuring out what to make and eat and late afternoon, going for five mile run.  I even took a nap, tired from my walk and did some reading of my new book BARBARIAN DAYS: A SURFING LIFE, by William Finnegan, a writer for the New Yorker.  His book follows his travels early in life as he tried to find and surf the perfect wave, taking him all over the world.  I am liking it, probably because he mentions a number of the surfing spots I used to surf in Hawaii, like Ala Moana and Queens Surf and the famous Sunset Beach, where I took one big, scary wave and vowed to never return.

Marisa Trying To Study

Marisa was picked up just around 3:00, came in and disappeared for a bit to get some homework done, then came downstairs to get it finished and bother us. When Evie came down, we all settled in and sat around, sipping wine because it was after 5:00, watching Beth make dinner, a special Sopa de Fideo soup, with swiss chard and chicken,  and BLT's, an easy but really good dinner.

Settling In At The Bar

It was nice to see Evie somewhat perky and we spent a good hour and a half just talking, eating, enjoying the early evening with Marisa, Tyler, and Beth.  Sometimes an easy dinner is best (think paella).

Granny And The Grandkids

Marisa wanted to watch more episodes of The Office before going to bed, so the three of us and Tyler watched three or four episodes.  By the end, Evie and Marisa were ready for bed, Beth was with Rami in the bedroom watching TV, so I watched an hour of NFL football before going up to bed as well, early for me but I, too, was tired.

A Paella Sunday, Normal Back To School Monday

Granny And The Boys

Paella

I was up at 6:20, the first one up.  Eventually, Beth and Marisa got up, the rest get to sleep in.  So here I am sitting, listening to Morning Joe talk politics, just as if I were back at the lake.  Only I am not, as Marisa is finishing breakfast, waiting for Beth to drive her to school, only a ten minute drive as long as they leave early enough.

Our Eighth Grader, Ready For School

Yesterday was not your typical Sunday for us, as we did not take a walk (though I walked Cody three times) and we did not have our big breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast.  Instead, we had crepes, for the boys, just as good by the way as the big breakfast.  They used to be a big treat for our kids when we lived in Istanbul.  Around 10:30, the boys, Rami and I drove off to the mall as both needed clothes for school and J. Crew was having a 40% off everything sale.  We got there only to find some of the stores were not yet open but luckily, J. Crew was.  They shopped for a good half hour but had little luck finding their size as most of the sizes they needed were sold out.  I decided on a cool but expensive Corkcicle Artican coozy but it was the only thing in the store not on sale, so I didn't buy it...not a deal.

We then hit another couple of stores without much luck but I found what I thought was a neat cowl neck jacket with pockets, old man looking, no doubt, even professorial, so I bought it...half price.  We then headed up, the boys disappointed in that they only found a few things. When I got home, Evie laughed at my purchase, thinking I suppose it was too grandfatherly, but hey, I like it. And all I need is a pipe to complete the image.  We then spent the next couple of hours debating what to do with the afternoon, whether to go to a movie or not.  Rami decided against it because he was coming down with a cold and spent a good part of the afternoon in bed.

ShoppingAt Central Market With Tyler

Tomato Central

Since Evie had bought a paella pan, we decided that it would be a good dinner to make on a Sunday afternoon, since we were not going anywhere. So Tyler, Evie and I drove off to Central Market, a chain of upscale grocery stores in Dallas.  It's a great store, of course, with everything for a price and we were able to get everything we needed and then some, like a blueberry pie and ice cream for dessert as well as a couple of six packs of beer, Goose 312 Urban Wheat Ale, our current favorite.

Back To School

When we got home, Mitchell's buddy picked him up to take him back to school in Austin.  After about 10 minutes, we realized he had left his Mac Air behind so Marisa called him and fortunately they were not too far away to come back and get it.  Boys! I then took Cody for a walk.

An Enthusiastic Chef

When I got home, we decided it was time to start the paella so Tyler started browning the chicken thighs.  We then had various steps, browning the chorizo, then sauteing the garlic and onion, adding tomatoes and saffron, simmering it, then the rice, simmering it for  a half hour, and towards the end, adding shrimp and cooking the entire paella for another 15 minutes.  We finished it off with parsley and viola, we had a paella, more work then we thought.

Dinner' Almost Ready

We sat down to dinner around 6:30 and had our paella with a salad and buttermilk sourdough bread.  I regret to say the paella was only average, not anything special, just a stew of chorizo, chicken and shrimp on top of rice.  Maybe we did something wrong but the flavors were just not distinct, just average.  We ended the evening with blueberry pie and ice cream, also just average and no where near as good as Portage Pie in Westfield.  And we watched a couple more selected episodes from The Office with Tyler and Marisa before going up to bed early again, around 10:00.

Slurping Ramen At Wabi House In The Greenville Section Of Dallas

A Happy Slurping

Outdoor/Indoor Bar And Restaurant

Ramen With 24 Hour Dipping Sauce

It's the same time up as yesterday, just another day later.  It's overcast, maybe some rain later and both Rami and I are up, sipping coffee, watching the football highlights from yesterday's games on ESPN. Mitchell has to go back to college today, alas, a three hour drive to The University  Of Texas in Austin.  He does not seem too upset.

Mitchell And His Granny

We had a leisurely but fun morning yesterday, starting with early coffee for Rami and me.  Then, the girls got up, and they got to work making chocolate chip cookies, as Marisa wanted to bake something sweet.  While they baked,  I took Cody for a short walk and Rami made egg and sausage burritos for the two of us as no one else was hungry.  The boys did not get up until 11:30 of course and Tyler, who not only loves to eat but also to bake, got out all the makings for Dutch Baby, which he shared with all of us.  It was great, by the way.

Tyler's Dutch Baby

We then spent a good part of yesterday watching football, from 12:00 to almost 2:30 when the Buckeyes pulled it out. It was an intense, nail biting game in where Ohio eked out a win in double overtime.

After the game, the girls took off for Target, Rami and me for REI and both boys went up to the gym to workout.  The girls picked up some clothes as many items were on sale and Rami brought home three different sets up lights to try out but none really seemed to grab the family so he will be taking them back sometime this week.  We sat around the rest of the afternoon with some wine and good cheese,  before we grabbed the always reluctant kids and took some more family pictures until it was time to go out to dinner again, Mitch's choice, Wabi House, as it's his last night before heading back to school

A Grown Up Marisa

With Marisa, Tyler, And Mitch

The Family

After pictures, we jumped into the station wagon and wound our way to Greenville, a section just a mile from downtown Dallas filled with great restaurants and shops.

Our Destination

We had reservations at Wabi House, luckily, and sat down, quickly ordering appetizers, drinks, then ramen.  The appetizers were interesting, breaded and fried shitake mushrooms with bone marrow,  scallops, fried chicken thigh pieces with a spicy dipping sauce,  and the best,  finely grated beets with fried brussel sprouts in a peanut sauce.  Amazingly tasty.  Our ramen was the highlight, however, and I ordered the rich stock, which simmers for 24 hours and is served separate from the noodles.  Others ordered a more mild stock and the noodles were in it.  The ramen comes with pork belly, pickled eggs, scallions, and you could order other toppings like bok choy or shitake mushrooms.  The place was lively and crowded, with steam rising from the huge pots for cooking the ramen.

Beth And Marisa Enjoying Ramen

Beth And Rami

After dinner, we walked around Greenville, browsing in Good Records at Tyler's request.  He spent a good half hour browsing, ended up buying a Charles Mingus album while the rest of us walked around town, stopped and bought a specialty of the area, boutique popsicles at Steel City Pops.  Most of us ordered banana pudding popsicles, a good way to end a ramen dinner.

Good Records

Racks of Records

Mitch, Relaxed

When we got home, we were all exhausted from a day of football, shopping and more shopping and eating out,  so we did little other than kick back, and wait until 10:00 when the adults could go to bed,  Mitch out with friends, Tyler to a video game, Marisa to her iPad, the modern family.

The Many Faces of Tyler

Finally, Mitchell is pledging Phi Delta Theta, my fraternity by the way at Ohio University, and he made these Greek letters, signifying Phil Delta Theta,  as part of being a pledge.  Cool Beans.

Signage by Mitch

A Morning In Southfork, JR, And Bobbie Country

Here Come's Marisa

Where's Mitchell? (Marisa on Tiptoes!)

Up at 6:30 after a fairly good night of sleep; at least I slept in past 6:00.  When I came downstairs, the coffee was brewing, Rami was up, and the Ohio State/Michigan pre game show was already on the TV.  Go Bucks.  It looks like our kind of day here in University Park, a suburb about three miles north of downtown Dallas.  Today's high will be a Chautauqua like fall kind of day, sunny and a high of 64º.

We started our eight plus hour drive yesterday as we wanted, pulling out of Tom's driveway in Lee's Summit at 7:00.  We were not looking forward to another eight hour drive but it ended up not being too bad, especially since our GPS was accurate, predicting we would arrive at 3:30 and we did.  Our drive was easy, not much traffic except when we had to slow down and go through a number of small towns in both Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

On Rt. 66

Around 9:00, Evie was on a new app which tells us what kinds of restaurants, hotels, and gas stations are available at the next crossroads and it mentioned a diner in Carthage, Oklahoma, called Iggy's.  It was supposedly well know because it was on the famous Rt. 66 highway from Chicago to the West Coast.  So we broke our pattern of only stopping at a fast foods restaurant and drove to Iggy's and sat down and enjoyed a breakfast, for Evie of a biscuit and egg sandwich, and I had hash browns and eggs.  It was a good stop, a diner, good food and we talked with the friendly owner who, interestingly, had just bought the restaurant a month ago, his second in Carthage.  We thought he was Greek but he said he was from Macedonia which would have been part of Yugoslavia before the break up after the death of Tito.  He was very friendly, was from Long Island, had spent some time in the snows of Buffalo, and even had his car break down in Slovenia last summer when we told him Evie was of Slovenian heritage.  It was a fun stop.

Elvis's Corner

Enjoying Breakfast, At Iggy's, On The Legendary Rt. 66

The rest of the trip went quickly although it seemed like we would never get through Oklahoma. When we got closer to Dallas, traffic picked up but we were fortunate because traffic traveling north was backed up for miles.  So we arrived on time, in University Park, and were greeted by the entire family and Cody, their dog, did his usual dance of joy when we arrived.  It was great to see Beth and family.  We got big hugs from Tyler, Marisa, and Mitchell and quickly got caught up on their busy lives.

Self Explanatory

Taco Gals Redux

We had enough time to enjoy a beer and some cheese and baguette before going out to dinner to their favorite taco place, now ours. called El Come Taco, a tiny taco bar set in a strip mall, across from at Check Cashing place.  We had been their a year ago, liked it, but after last night, we are ready to go back.  It's serves about 20 different kinds of tacos, with various toppings, but basically it's two small tacos with the meat of your choice, some onions and cilantro, and that's it unless you want any of about ten toppings.

At El Come Taco

Margarita Heaven

For some reason, they are just perfect, whether with more toppings or not. The margaritas helped of course, as did the guacamole and chips.  There was only one family in there besides us as this seems to be a go to place later in the evening, even with lines out the door at that time on weekends.

Late Night Destination

Our Gymnast At Krispy Kremes

As we were driving home, Rami mentioned that a Krispy Kremes had just opened in Dallas which brought back memories of our hitting the Krispy Kreme in Winterpark Florida, in evenings when the kids were in their pajamas.  So we decided if the red light was on, signaling hot donuts, we would stop and, of course, the red light was on.  We walked in, tried to decide what to get, when one the workers gave each one of us a free, hot glazed donut.  What memories that first bite brought back, from Florida to Reserve at the end of third period when there always was a donut sale.  We ended up buying a half dozen and heading home.  A mistake because we knew that enough was enough but we could not resist another donut, pushing us over being comfortable, to where we began to feel sick.

Hot Sugar And Grease, The Best

When we got home, we decided to watched a couple of our favorite episodes from The Office, a series we have watched with both Tyler and Marisa at different times, most recently, last year with Marisa. Our favorite was the dinner party at Michael's and when Michael burns his foot in a George Foreman Grill, both classic episodes.  By the time we were finished watching, it was 10:00 and both Evie and I were really tired from getting up early and our drive so we went up to bed.  Tyler stayed up playing a game, Mitch was still out with buddies, and the rest went to bed soon after.  A good start to our visit.

Riding Off To Texas As The Sun Rises

Marlena With Bella In Her KC Chiefs Jersey

With The Guys

With Granny

Tom Two of His Favorite Girls

We are up at 5:45 because we have an eight to nine our drive to our daughter Beth's home in University Park, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.  We hope to be on our way some time around 7:00 and it looks like we will make that take off time.  We have had great week here in our son Tom's home in Lee's Summit and his new Condo on The Lake Of The Ozarks.  Like us, they have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Mysterious Marlena

Thanksgiving Day morning was a busy one for the gals, as Evie and Mary were up working from 9:00 on, getting the turkey, the dressing, the other sides ready for our big meal as the Thanksgiving Day Parade from New York City played on the TV.  While Nick slept, the gals worked, I walked and Tom and Marlena went to the store to pick up a few items we forgot to buy.  It never fails, does it. After the turkey was in the Weber, everyone helped clean up the kitchen, vacuum the living room, and we even started organizing our car for our trip.  Then it was time for showers, putting on our best for a Thanksgiving day of family, good food, and too much football, the American way.  Nick's buddy, Chris came over for an hour to say hi and then the two of them went outside and shot hoops for awhile.

Tom And His Father In Law, Frank 

Mary And Her Mom, Rose

The Ladies Of The Kitchen

 Mary's Mom and Dad and her brother, Mike, came over around 2:00 and  it was really nice to have both families together, something we do every time we have Thanksgiving or a visit here in Lee's Summit.  Mary is lucky to have her parents live only about a half hour away in Raytown, MO.   Dinner was self serve, from the island, an easy way to do it and people can take what and as much as they want.  The turkey was a hit as was the mushroom green bean casserole and creamy cauliflower with prosciutto.  It was a fun dinner as we sat around table for quite awhile telling stories about the 'good old days' which always makes everyone laugh, especially Marlena and Nick.

Dinner

The Guys, After Dinner

After dinner, the ladies did up the dishes while the lazy guys sat around groaning from over eating and watched football.  After dishes, we had pumpkin pie as well as a banana cream to finish up the night.  After dishes and pie, the girls gave up on the guys, left them to their football, and played a couple of rousing games of Telefunky.  And the guys, finally tired of football, went downstairs and played a couple of games of both ping pong and pool until it was time for the Acurso's to head home, with Bella this time because Tom and Mary are driving to Columbia today to watch the Missouri/Arkansas football game.

Marlena At Rest

With Dad

Because we ate so early, it was strange to have dishes done, pies eaten and it was still just 6:00.  I think many of us guys were ready for a nap if not bed by 7:00.  We made the most of it as I mentioned above, playing games as well as watching football until about 8:30 when everyone went home.  Evie and I did a quick packing for out trip and the rest of the evening we relaxed with the family, talking and occasionally paying attention to the TV.

I came across this quotation by John Muir in a North Face catalog of all places but it perfectly explains my feelings about hiking in the woods:

" Between Two Pines Is A Doorway To A New World."