Entry #19

Entry #19

Tuesday, November 1

10:00 a.m. Halloween was just last night, but you'd never know it, judging by the abundance of Christmas decorations that abound this morning. The shopping areas around here are already fully decorated with Christmas trees, life-size Santa Claus figurines and copper boughs. It’s as though little elves were decorating in the wee hours of the night while everyone was fast asleep, surrounded by piles of candy and discarded costumes. I’ve never seen Christmas arrive so early. No wonder Santa was out and about on Halloween.

Noon: I just noticed a bright pink piece of paper taped to my front door. It’s a notice that our curbs will be painted tomorrow:

Tomorrow from 7 am until 7 pm, new reflective ‘GLASS BEAD’ curb numbers will be made available to every Home on your street Curb numbers are very important. The Police, Fire Department, And Ambulance services look at the curb FIRST for your address, House numbers are hard to see from the street and almost impossible to read after dark. We are offering various styles of curb numbers. Please check which you prefer.

The lack of periods and other punctuation in this announcement worry me, since the person who wrote this is a city official, presumably. In small letters, the flyer notes that this is not a free service, but rather costs $15 for basic numbers. For $25, you can have your address printed with your favorite high school, universty or professional sports team logo. 

There’s also a blank space for “any other design.” Would they really honor this if I requested a non-Texan logo? It might fun, if only for reaction’s sake, to request a Grateful Dead symbol or evolution fish, but I’d rather not shell out $25 for a sidewalk decal. We already have the kids’ names carved in the sidewalk in San Francisco. What more do I need?

5:00 p.m. Aidan and I just finished watching the very final Friday Night Lights episode. We’ve watched every episode from all five seasons in the span of two months. Can you tell our social lives aren’t exactly hopping?

“The last episode is all about stuff that makes people kiss.” –Aidan, while watching the final fifth season episode of FNL

Wednesday, November 2

After having a bizarre reaction to my vitamins this morning (apparently niacin, when taken without food, can make you flushed and your skin feel like it’s being pricked with pins-and-needles), David took the kids to school. Izzie needed a walk, so we roamed around the neighborhood instead of going to the usual hiking trail.

For a change of pace, I decided to cross the street, heading away from our little hood (Chandler Creek) and into Heritage Hill, which I’ve actually never explored before. Little did I know that I’d be entering McMansion Land. Each and every house is enormous, expansive and meticulously landscaped. Many have private electronic gates. Izzie had a great time romping on the grass, especially at one home whose front yard had lush, golf course-type grass. I could’ve rolled in it myself, it was so inviting.

One house in particular looked like a hotel, complete with giant pillars, semi-circular driveway, and an imposing hill. Another one had so many rooms, it could easily have housed an entire generation.

There were two homes for sale around this area, both being represented by a real estate company called The Kink Team. Not exactly a great-sounding name. On the plus side, at least it’s not called The Kinky Team. These are million-plus dollar homes, and while some clients might enjoy esoteric features in their new manse, I don’t think a name like Kinky would really convey the upscale image a buyer would seek. It’s better than Ima Hogg, though, and look how far she went despite her name!

Noon: The kids each have a friend visiting this weekend, and short of taking them out to dinner, swimming, playing basketball and just hanging out, I really don’t know what these boys would enjoy doing. I thought perhaps a boat ride on the Bayou would be fun, but the rides are cancelled until March. Aidan just went to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire yesterday with his class and said it was a blast, but Noah told me that he would’ve loved to do that about five years ago.

So once again, I went onto my trusty computer and Googled events this weekend in Houston. There’s not a whole lot, I must confess, unless they want to go to an art fair, a Christmas open house (it opens this weekend), or one of many museums. There is an aquarium and zoo here, so those are possibilities. There is also a Space Center and the Museum of Natural Sciences. I just don’t know if tween-age and teenage boys would like to do this sort of thing. If we had girls coming, we could take them to the magnanimous Galleria, but my boys aren’t big on shopping, even if there is a skating rink in the middle of this Fourth Largest Mall in America.

While reading about the various museums in Houston, I read about the usual list (history, natural sciences, art), then happened upon The National Museum of Funeral History. Of all the renowned museums in this city, it was named Best Houston Museum 2011. Yes, according to the Best of Houston judges, a museum dedicated to the ritual of burying dead people totally rocks!

Current exhibits include “Coffins and Caskets of the Past,” “Historical Hearses,” “History of Embalming,” “The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” and “Ghana and Fantasy Coffins,” as well as timely Dias de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) exhibit. You can come in any time you like, but you may never leave...

2:30 p.m. The refrigerator repairman just left, having replaced the seal that had worn out. When I opened the front door to let him in, the door scratched against the floor, making an awful screeching sound. Then, because the water filter broke off the other day, water shpritzed all over when the poor man went to wash his hands.

Our neighbor said, “Yep, when you reach that 15-year-mark, the house just starts falling apart.” I guess that’s what happens when you build a house out of paper and glue.

Thursday, November 3

1:30 p.m. I just returned from a very interesting outing at The Hong Kong Market. It’s about 30 minutes away time-wise, but a world away culturally. While its name infers that it’s largely a Chinese market, that’s hardly the case. There’s food from everywhere imaginable—Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, The Phillipines...there’s even a selection of Mexican and Cajun foods!

Much of the produce comes from California, though there are some esoteric selections that I’ve never seen before, like dragonfruit. It’s really quite beautiful looking, though I was told it doesn’t really have much flavor. There was a bounty of persimmons, too, which I haven’t seen in Texas until today. The produce selection was truly expansive.

Some offerings were more appealing than others. There were “pig parts” hanging out behind the meat case that were all too recognizable. There were also mounds of shrimp, separated by those with heads and those without.

I stopped and stared at the inside of an enormous fish carcass. It had the biggest spine I’d ever seen on a fish. At the end of the seafood section were aquariums filled with live catfish, crabs and lobsters. Needless to say, I did not bring home any meat or seafood, as food or pet.

I did, however, find some items I wouldn’t have otherwise found at the local HEB, like Miso paste, genmaicha tea, veggie potstickers, rice noodles, sweet brown rice, and of course, the ever-popular Pocky cookies.

On the drive back, we passed a place called Phat Body Gym. What a great name! I wonder if the owners are Vietnamese or just have a good sense of humor.

7:00 p.m. After work, David stopped at a liquor store called Spec’s and picked up some interesting brews. The one he sampled tonight is called “Clown Shoes Muffin Top,” which cracked us all up. In small print, the label notes that “no muffin tops were harmed in the production of this product.”

 Cheers!