The weather for the month of January has been surprisingly mild…and sometimes rather warm. On the first day of classes, students were wearing shorts. As the good weather extended into the weekends, I decided to go out and do a little geocaching. Ruben and others like Glenn don’t share my enthusiasm for the hobby. When neither Ruben nor Glenn was willing to go, I found myself introducing the art of geocaching to Brian. If anyone wants to go geocaching with me, just let me know! By the end of the month I reached a milestone by finding my 300th cache.
In the middle of the month, Liz and Vann drove up from Houston to spend the day with us and drop-off Liz’s dog, Kyro. For the next few week, Ruben and I agreed to keep this little guy for Liz while she’ll be away on an extended business trip. Before returning to Houston, the four of us enjoyed an evening of bowling. Since none of us are very skilled bowlers, our games were evenly matched. Later that evening, I showed Liz and Vann how to make miniature trees. It’s easy, quick, and fun. I’ve made it a tradition to ask guest to do this. Eventually, these little trees will become part of my model train layout. I know….geek moment!
Ruben and I were so lazy during the final week of 2011. We spent most of it curled up on the couch with the dogs, watching episodes of ‘Community’ on Hulu. If you haven’t seen that show, watch it. My friend Catherine got us hooked on it. Anyway, we attended one final holiday event at Mike and Tom’s place along with Brian and Chris. It was a nice, relaxing evening spent with friends. A few days later, Ruben and I drove down to Houston to count down the final seconds of 2011 with Liz, Vann, Elsa, and Travis. Let’s hope 2012 is a much better year for us all.
As soon as the last day of final exams came to an end, Aggieland turned into a ghost town (it happens every year). It’s nice at first, but it doesn’t take me long to miss the students. During this little quiet time, Ruben and I did much of nothing. This in-between-time was pleasantly interrupted by a visit from an old friend. Brian (TAMU graduate and mutual friend with Glenn) was back in town interviewing for a job on campus. He came by the house a couple of times to cook and celebrate Christmas with Glenn, Ruben, and myself.
Saturday afternoon Elsa, Travis, Liz and Vann drove up from Houston. Together the six of us had an informal Christmas celebration along with a few Dance Central dance-offs via the Xbox Kinect. Later that evening we headed South of College Station to enjoy the sights and sounds of Santa’s Wonderland. This local holiday-attraction features lots of live-music, food, and a hayride through it’s Christmas light display.
After Esteban and Kelly’s party, Ruben and I drove to a little Karaoke place called Ginji to meet Elsa, Travis, Liz and Vann for a few drinks, laughs…and some poor but valiant
attempts at singing. We’ll never appear on “The Next American Idol”, but we definitely had fun and enjoyed some good Japanese cuisine.
October 30, 2011 Ruben and I met Liz, Vann, Elsa, and Travis at the 37th annual Texas Renaissance Festival. The weather was perfect and there were plenty of costumed patrons for me to photograph. The 53-acre complex near Plantersville is the largest Renaissance theme park in the nation. We spent most of our day admiring [...]
October 22, 2011 It starts to feel like fall in Texas when the A/C doesn’t have to run all night long and being outside during the day is tolerable. From a visual standpoint, it starts to look like fall when I see the Aggie Habitat for Humanity Pumpkin Patch suddenly appear on the grounds of [...]
