December, 2016: Texas

1 December -- What a great day!  We had a slow morning in our Days Inn Hotel; Justin and Gemma had a grooming session while I worked on our blog.  We missed breakfast but we all had nice hot showers and got spiffed up to start the day.

On to Springfield to explore Lincoln's home and environs.  We only had time to visit one of the sights so we chose the house where Lincoln lived with his wife and children before going to the White House.  The library and other parts of the historic center call for our next visit. 


We rounded out the day as we pulled into GeorgeAnne's home on the banks of the Mississippi river in St Louis.  Unfortunately, I was under the weather the entire time we were here but Justin did have the opportunity to visit with his cousins. 




We spent most of the month of December with Dellene in Austin.  We took a quick trip to Houston to see Harold and Charlsy and we had the opportunity to go to dinner with Cousin Hal, Chami and Will.  We also got to see Bill and Diana during our short visit. 

Note the tilt of the crate on the truck!

 All too much time was spent fighting with the government to get our household goods from Germany and goods from storage delivered.  The fight was endless and totally avoidable.  I spent hours talking to too many people too many times.  It was perhaps the most frustrating experience of my entire federal career.   Finally, we took delivery of the last shipment 28 December.  We rented a storage unit in Georgetown.  Justin and I worked our way through over 12,000 lbs -- some things to the thrift store, other things to the Quilters' Guild in Sun City.  Most, however, went into the storage unit and yes, I am being held hostage to my stuff.

He is a Real Texan now.  Since Justin got his Texas driver’s license, he is a real Texan now.  We will have Texas as our home-of-record.  No, he wasn’t born in Texas but he got here as soon as he could!  (Ok, he might have a little different take on that, but that’s my story and I am sticking to it.)

We checked on house in Georgetown.  Hopefully the current renters will want to stay for a while.  Nice to know that the house is paid for!  We will need to update the kitchen soon, but we are happy to have renters in there for a few more years.  Justin really wanted to go to swim at the community center and he seems to be warming up to the idea of the community a bit. 

Dellene treated us all to a limo ride to see the Trail of Lights in the Hill Country.  Justin stayed in town to watch a Packer game while Dellene, Don, Kim, Harper, Luke, Betsy and I headed first to Johnson City and then to Marble Falls to see the Christmas lights.  Our driver said that he'd never had car seats in the limo before but we certainly had two for this trip.  It was a great evening!

Justin and I spent way too much time watching HGTV while we were at Dellene's.  I guess we both have vested interest in DIY projects given the task ahead with the Long-House.  On one break from "Fixer Upper "or "Homes on Homes", we ended up watching a Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins episode that featured an Austin destination.  Justin and I decided we needed to go there too.  We celebrated our Christmas dinner a few days early at a trendy new location called "Foreign and Domestic."  Justin had a tricked out burger with crunchy Pastrami belly.  I had a Fall Vegetable Garbure and the signature Pepper Popover.  The dessert "Chocolate Mousse" was topped with "salted caramel and crunchy things."  OH MY goodness!

We visited Lisa and Alan in Golthwaite and we spent Christmas with Dellene and Don, Kim and her kids and Chris and his family.  We hadn't planned on being with family at all for either Thanksgiving or Christmas but it turned out just fine.  Dellene and I prepared a beef tenderloin that was fabulous!  Justin's smashed garlic potatoes were a perfect side-dish. 

We prepared for our travel into Mexico.  We got Mexican insurance for the car, read about driving and staying on toll roads, etc.  We identified a few places to take Gemma to the vet, but since that visit must be within ten day before you cross the border, we can't do that until our plans are in place.  We did tons of reading about where we want to go.  I certainly should have spent more time on improving my language skills.  High school Spanish is all I have for back up plan.