Entry #24

Entry #24

Thursday, November 17

In this morning’s Villager, the front page of the Business section announced that Trader Joe’s is coming to the Woodlands. Hurray! The main feature was entitled, "Da Bomb," profiling a woman who’s becoming known for her signature bath bombs. (Can you guess she was described as “bubbly”?) This is pretty much the extent of local excitement.

I’d say the fact that Trader Joe’s is coming to the shopping area right near my house is really da bomb. A little taste of California is coming our way!

Friday, November 18

Last night, we drove out to Winnie, Texas, the halfway point between The Woodlands and Lake Charles, Louisiana, where our friend, Kristin lives. She kindly offered to take care of Izzie while we were away, and suggested we meet up halfway, since we now live three hours away from each other.

According to my Google search, our dinner choices in the small town of Winnie included Dairy Queen, The Waffle House, Whataburger, Al-T’s Seafood and Steakhouse, and a Chinese restaurant that was rated one star less than Dairy Queen (not a good sign). I suggested Al-Ts, figuring that at least it would be a cultural experience, since it specializes in Cajun cuisine.

At about 5:30 p.m., I was just about to call Kristin to let her know that we were about to pull in to the restaurant parking lot when David spotted her car turning in just before us. We’d both left about an hour and a half before from opposite directions and turned in at EXACTLY the same time. What are the chances?

As we walked in, one side of the entry had shelves bursting with "bedazzled" items for sale. Rhinestones adorned everything from purses to belts, t-shirts to costume jewelry.

Food items were arranged on open shelving around the corner. They included local specialties ranging from Mayhew jam to popcorn rice, and sauces for slathering on virtually anything. Autographed photos of notable visitors to Al-T’s covered the wood-paneled hall, including one of Miss Texas and various country-western singers. Near the cash register was a large alligator head filled with after-dinner mints; a skinned version was mounted on the far wall. 

Kristin, who grew up in Louisiana and is of French-Cajun descent, said that the food was authentic. Offerings included all kinds of fried bits, including alligator, crawfish, frogs’ legs and Boudain balls. Noah was hard-pressed to find anything vegetarian on the menu, so he stuck to red beans, rice and corn bread, which he enjoyed. (I didn’t ask if the beans were cooked with pork and didn’t want to know...). David got the chicken-fried steak, along with a side of red beans, rice, shrimp, and a vat of gravy. Kristin, a true French-Cajun gal, enjoyed a bowl of crawfish étouffée. I wimped out and got grilled chicken.

(Off to Ohio: November 18–26)

Sunday, November 27

Noon: We just returned from our first week away since we moved here last August. Just getting my bearings once again...

Haven’t received the Sunday New York Times for several weeks now, despite writing to the delivery service. This must be where they went (it’s selling on Etsy for $600). 

This faux elk head is made entirely of New York Times newspapers. I know where you can buy a real one for a third of that price. Living in the Land of Taxidermy does have its benefits, if you're into that sorta thing...

Monday, November 28

On the way to school, I heard a Christmas song being played from a large SUV idling next to me at the red light. This made me wonder if there was a radio station dedicated to Christmas songs, now that it was officially "the holiday season." After happening upon countless Spanish-langugage radio stations and some evangelical ones, I found one dedicated 24/7 to Christmas tunes. The first song I heard was “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.” Immediately following was “Jesus is King.” Interesting juxtaposition.

11:00 a.m. After getting Izzie some food, I stopped in to the Hallmark store to look for a birthday card for Noah. While browsing around, I happened upon some gift items for serious LSU and/or Texas A&M fans. How about a logo-laden keyboard or mouse? A canister of maroon-colored hot chocolate?

Tuesday, November 29

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NOAH! I can hardly believe he’s now 14.

8:00 a.m. I went to the local donut place to pick up a dozen-and-a-half donuts for Noah’s class this morning. I ended up getting 20 for $15, plus a free muffin because a man sitting inside the shop recommended them. Very nice. One thing I can say Texas has going for it is the lower cost of living...or at least donuts.

4:00 p.m. Noah returned home to find a slew of Facebook messages wishing him a happy birthday, many of which were from classmates back in California. The “birthday reminder” tab is a brilliant feature of Facebook. My personal “birthday reminder” is my mom, who has written down everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries on a salmon-colored 5 x 7 index card. (Thanks, Mom!)

For Noah’s birthday dinner, he asked me to make him an Asian-style soup with mushroom and miso broth, tofu, veggies and rice noodles, as well as veggie pot stickers. Can you tell he grew up in California? 


For dessert, I made a mountainous ice cream pie, complete with layers of chocolate fudge and fresh whipped cream. Noah said, “I want to cry it’s so good!” (Luckily he didn't see me working on it—the chocolate crust exploded all over the place while I was spreading fudge on it—nothing a few pounds of ice cream couldn't cover.)

Thursday, December 1

1:30 p.m. I just finished a four-hour meeting with a nutrionist as part of a health regime I'm doing. We sat in the café area of the giant HEB, surrounded by saltwater taffy, candy canes and chocolate Santas while talking about healthy eating. After learning about the evils of chemically-altered “frankenfoods,” it felt surreal to walk through aisles filled with technicolor sodas, processed snack foods and nitrite-laden lunch meats.

The nutrionist is a born and raised Texan. Her analogies extended to both cavemen (as in we should eat like the cave men did) and the bible (as in “they never mentioned [your choice of junk food] anywhere in Genesis!”) She did know her stuff, though, and approached her study of food much like a dedicated scientist. I did learn some interesting tidbits, so it was time well spent. Still, I don't think I could eat like a cave woman. I'm not really a big fan of wild ox or mountain goat.