Lufkin, Texas is not for us

Marshall and I drove to Lufkin, Texas yesterday (I'm blogging from our hotel room while he sleeps) to check out the town and get away from Austin and our normal routine. We also wanted to take our first extended road trip in my new car, Donny, but find a drive where we could see lots of wildflowers along the road because this time of year is gorgeous.

I got a great deal on the nicest hotel here, a Courtyard Marriott, through Priceline.com. We left the house around 10:30 and made it to Crockett, Texas at 2pm. We had lunch at the Moosehead Cafe. Marshall had the patty melt with homemade onion rings, which were delicious, and pickled green tomatoes. I had a cheeseburger with fries. The burger had excellent flavor but the fries not so much. We drove through the Davey Crockett National Forest and then came upon a town called Diboll. This was the first town where buildings were spread out from each other and had some level of civilization about it. They had a gated community with a golf course. Could we still be in the heart of podunk Texas?

Diboll is a suburb of Lufkin, a town of 35,000, which is the size of my home town. The newer parts of Lufkin such as along the main highway seemed nice and I thought, "ok, this doesn't look as bad as the nearby towns." We found our hotel (we bought a new GPS Thursday night), and unloaded in our room. I browsed through a "Welcome to Lufkin" magazine, which did a great job promoting the city. Marshall and I wanted to get a massage. Ooops, they are all closed by 5pm. We also learned that everything closes on Sunday as well. Bummer. "How about go-karts? Do they have go-karts here at all?" I asked. Google showed us King Tut Park on the east side of town that had go-karts and put-put golf. We plugged in the address and headed that way.

What...a...bust! You could totally blink and miss this place. The go-kart "track" was an un-mowed field about 30x50 yards big. The put-put golf set-up looked like planks of plywood with green felt on them. It was "roped" off by orange plastic tape. The front of the "park" was overgrown, and we could barely see from the road because the grass was so tall. I burst out laughing! Imagine if someone taking you to this place on your first date! Only in Lufkin! Marshall was speechless and flabbergasted. He started laughing too. Wow, that would have been super romantic. We decided to check out downtown Lufkin instead.

Downtown was even more depressing. It was a little after 5pm and everything was closed (on a Saturday night) except for the Standpipe Coffee Shop. We went in so Marshall could refuel with a cup of joe. We asked two nice young ladies who worked there of a nice hole-in-the-wall restaurant. They recommended Manhattan's Restaurant, which was up a block and to the left. It was the most expensive restaurant in town. We asked if there was a dress code, and they agreed there wasn't one. They tried pulling up a menu online, but didn't have any luck. They had been there before, and we asked what the price range was like. "I think I had chicken alfredo there once, and it was $8.50. Maybe." Marshall and I just looked at each other. Austin has spoiled us. Marshall was thinking expensive meant $35-45 an entree. When he told the ladies this, they waved their hands and said, "no way. Nobody in this town would pay that much." Again, Marshall and I looked at each other. After we left the Standpipe, we walked 90 seconds to Manhattan's and found their menu. It leaned more to the Italian palette. The steaks were $15-$30. Sure, we decided to give it a try later because we were still so full from lunch. Other than a bridal store and multiple antique shops on the main strip of downtown, there were boarded up buildings for rent and nobody walking around.

Next Marshall took me to where Lufkin Industries was. It's a massive facility, and I know Marshall could  learn a lot if he got an internship there this summer. We had to go through the surrounding residential neighborhood, and it was rather depressing. I would not buy a house here. No way! In my mind, it would be a complete waste of money. Marshall asked, "Do you want to look at other neighborhoods?" My response, "No, I just want to go back to the hotel." On our way back, I told him I could not live here.

Back at the hotel, I turned on the TV and came across Bridesmaids on HBO. Around 8pm we went to the car to head to the restaurant downtown, when I changed my mind. "How about we go to the Walmart over there, pick up a bottle of wine, have the bartender at the hotel open it for us, swipe some cups from somewhere and order pizza to our room instead?" Marshall was all over it! We opted not for wine but Shiner Wild Hare pale ale beer for him and green apple Smirnoff Ice for me. We ordered a supreme pizza from Papa Johns, which only took 20 minutes to get to the hotel (I was quite pleased). We finished the movie and then just had a good, fun time by ourselves being silly and joking around. My 2 drinks did me in and made me sleepy. I was asleep by 10:30. Definitely not a night owl.

While we were at Walmart, I was completely taken aback at how unhealthy and unfit the local people are. Then it dawned on me how much Austin has spoiled us because we live in such an active city. I'm alway seeing people walking or running with their dogs, roads being closed due to a race of some kind, people rowing or kayaking on the lake and gangs of bicyclists taking up an entire lane on the road. Austin is one of the top ten most fit cities, and until my visit to the Lufkin Walmart, I didn't realize how much I value what that status meant. Our next home has to have lots of outdoor activities and people taking advantage of them, that's for sure.

Marshall is still sleeping right now, but I'm getting hungry, so I'll probably wake him up so we can get breakfast. I have a nice April Fools joke planned. He knows I don't like coffee, won't even touch it. I'm guessing he'll order some with breakfast, and when it's cooled a bit I'll ask if I can try some. He'll willingly give me the cup, and I'll take a sip, ponder it for a split second then say, "Well, it's not as bad as I thought. Maybe I even like it a little bit." Of course he'll be excited and say, "Really?!" Then I will say, "nope, sorry. April Fools!" muahahhahahahah

I Want a Vacation!

We haven't been anywhere since Christmas when we drove to spend part of the weekend with Marshall's parents in Houston. Shortly thereafter he had to work on his car, my car broke and we bought Donny, then his classes started, following by him getting his part-time job and logging the majority of his hours over the weekends. We still want to take a trip to Utah/Wyoming this summer, but can't commit until we confirm his internship schedule, which is non-existent right now. My grandparents have invited us to come to Jacksonville to visit whenever we can, and that may be a nice getaway for a few days, especially before it becomes Africa-hot again here in Texas.

I guess I need to think more on where I really want to go to get away for a spell.

Disc Golf

Last weekend we went to a nearby park we had not visited before because they had a disc golf range there. We borrowed 2 discs from our neighbor and went to try something new together. I wasn't feeling all that well that day, and wanted to practice before taking on the course. I learned a very important lesson. I suck at throwing a frisbee and have no aim whatsoever.

Marshall and I decided we would try the course another time, and instead we just chased after each other's frisbees. I was about 25 minutes, then it started to drizzle, and we went home. We had fun just being outdoors together. I think I'm going to go to Academy, a local sporting goods store, and pick up a decent frisbee or 2 that we can use to do that again. :D

DIY Inklings

My brother's child is due in mid-August. I was finally able to talk to my brother since the end of December because he had been deployed. He's doing great, and he and his girlfriend aren't going to start buying anything for their baby until the baby shower in June, which is in Phoenix. I won't be able to attend; however, I do intend on sending them some baby clothes and accessories. I have an inkling to make the following: 

I also have an easy pattern to make bibs too! 

If Marshall is away all summer doing an internship, and it is 100,000 degrees outside again for three months straight like last year, I'm going to stay inside in the A/C and pump out a whole mess of these cute baby items!

Early March

March has started off very well all around for both of us. We've received lots of rain, so our yard is once again green with weeds. I'm in the middle of adding new plants to the front yard right in front of the foundation. My boss gave me a $25 gift card for doing so well with one of our bigger customers at the end of February, so I decided to use it towards gardening supplies at Home Depot. I won another $25 gift card today for a contest at work. Hopefully I can finish it up this weekend now!

My youngest brother turns 17 tomorrow. Next year I'm want to do something really cool for his birthday. On my 18th birthday I got the Beatles CD I wanted and $60. Shouldn't be too hard to beat that!!

Marshall is officially on spring break. He's going to be doing his computer programmer work Friday and the weekend, then tackle his car (Natasha) during the week. I'm praying like a nun that Natasha is functional again by next week. I still have my Christmas decorations up because I can't get to the attic to bring down the containers everything goes in. Plus, it would be really nice after 3 months to no longer be a 1 car family.

This Sunday morning we have a tentative date to go play disk golf together. I've never done it, but I think it would be good exercise. May turn into our new favorite outdoors activity to do together.

My Girl Scouts event on February 25th was a huge success. We had 400 scouts and adults participate, and everything went so well. This upcoming year I've volunteered to help organize fundraising events for the Girl Scouts, and I already have a few in mind. :)

I started watching a new series (new to me at least) on Netflix from Showtime called The Tudors. I like historical based dramas, and although they don't have the history exactly correct, it's still interesting. The actors do a pretty good job as well. I'm also watching a 6 part documentary on the UK Monarchy from the Romans to present day.

Marshall's parents are planning on riding their motorcycles up to Austin Easter weekend, and we're looking forward to spending time with them. April looks to be a busy month for Marshall with lots of foundry conferences and another visit to Lufkin Industries. No official word yet on his summer internship, but it appears that the powers that be are unfortunately focusing more on the short term than the long term, and just haven't put much effort into making decisions about their summer internship program yet. We're still optimistic an opportunity will pull through for us.

Marshall's part-time job is going amazingly well. He can work up to 30 hours per week, which he's been reaching quite easily. This is a wonderful opportunity for him and our family. I'm really glad he has this positive purpose to focus on since he is half way through his college career, at a time when it is so easy to get distracted and lose sight of the finish line. We talked about this this morning, and both feel very blessed for this opportunity.

My niece/nephew Thiele will become gender specific on March 21st, so less than 2 weeks away now. My brother returned safely home yesterday from his 10 week deployment. Hurray!

New Opportunity

By the end of January, Marshall's management professor Chris emailed his class and other audiences a part-time computer programming internship opportunity at the successful small business he manages. The paid internship would be March 1 to May 31st with 20-25 hours per week. Chad is their sole computer programmer and has a mounting pile of to-do projects, thus, the need for some part-time help. 

Marshall decided that with his computer programming background, he would apply. The offer included that they would be flexible around students' school schedules. Why not take a stab in the dark? A few days after submission, Chris contacted him for more details. Shortly thereafter, Marshall had a great phone interview with Chad. He had a face-to-face interview on February 10th, along with other candidates. Sunday night he received the acceptance confirmation in an email from Chad, and they would like him to start the following Friday the 17th, which was nearly 2 weeks early! 

Turns out Marshall was the only candidate they selected although they would have hired more if they would have been competent in computer programming; turns out they were not. Marshall had a successful first day and got along splendidly with Chad and everyone else he was introduced to. He's been set up with all the information he needs to begin telecommuting from home or school as well. 

I'm having to do some adjustments of my own because with his homework, torn apart car in the garage, and now new job, his responsibilities will mean less time for me. I really do need a hobby to keep me occupied and entertained while he is busy. I think it also may be necessary for us to designate a particular evening during the weekend to be just for us together so that we remember that we comply with our crazy schedules for our ultimate goals together. 

I'm very proud of him, and I know he's going to do fantastic at his new job!

Fondue Fever

Sunday the 12th was my February Fondue Fiesta that I was hosting at my house for my girlfriends from work and Meetup. Of the 9 ladies who RSVP'd, 2 showed up on time, and 1 had told me she was coming late because she had a previous commitment that was going to interfere. 2 other girls later told me about their unforeseen circumstances on their absence, and I understood, moreover, I really appreciated them letting me know that they just didn't blow me off.

I prepared enough fondue for 12 people although I only cooked up enough for us 4 who got to enjoy it. I'm able to use all the left overs, but now I have 4 milk chocolate bars in my baking cabinet that I need to make sure I do not tap in to out of boredom or cravings.

I was envisioning a vibrant party with lots of laughter, conversation, delicious food and wine. I was sad it didn't turn out that way even though my three guests all said they had a good time. I think I'm going to take a break from party planning for a while.