The week that was, that was 2 weeks ago
Monday was a lot more lowkey.
It actually took me 20 minutes just now to figure out what we had done on Monday.
It was good too though.
I slept in the for the first time in ages, and had a laid back morning.
I went to the library for a little, then we checked out a place in town called Mima’s for lunch. It was really good. Then we came home and sat in the sun.
Mary and I were supposed to work at the antique store on Monday and Tuesday of this week, but on Sunday night the owner called and said he got back from his hunting trip early, and that we didn’t have to work.
WOO HOO! No work.
As much as we need money, and as easy as the job is, it’s inherent to celebrate when work gets cancelled. It’s like having a snow day in VA. We celebrated.
But, the owner said that we should come by and pick up our money.
That sounded good to me, so after lunch tim and I got in his convertible and cruised down to the store. We also stopped at the liquor store on the way and picked up two bottles of 1800 Tequila. If you haven’t had it, go drink it. That’s what RM made the margaritas out of. Yum. So tim got one bottle for RM, and one for us. Then we went to get paid.
Even though I knew how much we were paid per hour, I couldn’t figure it out in my head how much our actual check would be. My brain was tired. I knew that we hadn’t sold nearly enough to get our bonus, but that’s all. I wasn’t expecting very much. The owner punched in the numbers in the calculator. He asked if I accepted cash. We got over $95----each! Mary and I were rich!
It’s silly. $200 is always nice, but in my previous life it wouldn’t have been that big a deal. Now? Holy crap. I felt like a new man. Seriously. I felt like Billy Crudup in Jesus Son. I really did. I walked a little taller when I left the antique store. I was a working man, and I had money to show for it. And it was good. So we did margarita shots when we got home.
That afternoon we went and explored a place called Blue Hole. It’s apparently closed to the public now, but we went anyway. It was pretty scenic there. We took pictures. Maybe I’ll post them one day.
Then we stopped at the square for ice cream. And the ice cream was great.
We took a picture of us eating ice cream.
That evening we headed back to the square for supper.
We forgot that on Mondays everything is closed in Wimberley. Even the eateries.
Hungry and discouraged, we decided to head down to The Junction to see what food we could find. The Junction was closed to. It was starting to look like we might actually have to cook like normal people. But we decided to head down to San Marcos and see what was open. Everything was open in San Marcos. But nothing looked good. That is, nothing looked good until we found the Allnighter Diner.
Then we hit the jackpot.
Happy Hour at the Diner goes from 2-8 everyday. Everyday. For HH they have half price apps, and $1.25 beers, and $5 pitchers of Lone Star, and $2.25 well drinks, and $2 kamikaze shots. Our mouths started watering. The menu was huge. Before diving into the menu we ordered fried green tomatoes and kamikaze shots and some beer. I ate a good burger for the first time in weeks. It made me so happy. I can’t wait to go back.
Monday night we watched Eternal Sunshine.
Then we went to sleep.
On Tuesday we ate lunch at my former favorite barbeque place, The Salt Lick. It was one of the first real BBQ joints that I experienced in TX many years ago on my first visit. I loved it instantly. In more recent years I would dream about before a visit. It was that good. Sadly, the last time that I ate there before I moved here, it hurt me bad. Really really bad. And things haven’t been the same since then. We ate it the first day that we moved to Wimberley, and it wasn’t that good. We ate it one other time, and it was a little better, but nothing like it used to be. Rudy’s is where it’s at now. I thought we should take our guest there though. Salt Lick is TX. I hoped for the best. I didn’t like it at all. No more Salt Lick for me.
After the Salt Lick we went and explored a place called Blue Hole. It was pretty cool. It was technically closed to the public, but we checked it out anyway. That night Tim and I went to Cheatham Street to see Slaid Cleaves. It was really good.
Wednesday we headed out west. Tim wanted to take a road trip, so he mapped out a trip for us to Del Rio. It was pretty exciting. We went to some nature parks, saw some wild free range mountain goats, saw some really pretty water, ate at the same roadside diner twice, and were 2 miles from Mexico. I wanted to go to Mexico, but the Gus was with us, and I didn’t know what their policy was on letting pugs into the country. Gus didn’t exactly enjoy the convertible. He got pretty stressed out actually. We had to put the top up for a while. But he was a trooper.
By the time we got to the hotel many hours later, we were all pretty exhausted. We stayed at a Hampton Inn in San Antonio. Surprisingly it was much nicer than the Motel 6’s that I usually stay in. it was great. We had cable. Real cable. I hadn’t seen real cable in months. Really only 2.5 months, but it seemed like forever. Sadly there were no Real World or Surreal Life marathons on, but we did get to watch a marathon of Run’s House. Man, I loved Run DMC. RIP Jam Master Jay. Gone but not forgotten.
We drank some rum and cokes at the hotel. We watched 40 year old virgin. I laughed so hard that my face hurt. There were some really dumb parts, but there were some parts that were super funny. We also had some pizza and cheesesticks delivered from a nearby establishment. That was a mistake. The cheesesticks were without a doubt the worst cheesesticks I’ve ever had in my life. The pizza was definitely in the running for worst pizza ever. I once had a Little Caeser’s pizza from the Kmart in Cville that pretty much tasted like cardboard w/ tomato sauce and cheese. It was about the same as that. But we ate it. We were hungry.
I was so tired that I didn’t even worry about all the germs on the blanket. Normally I make sure that no part of the blankets or bedspreads touches any part of me. Only sheets are allowed to touch any part of my body. Hotels change the sheets. They don’t change the bedspreads and blankets. That usually creeps me out. Not after an all day road trip though. I just slept.
The Gus woke me up at 4am. Happy Thanksgiving. That was pretty early. And I had left his dog food out in Tim’s car. So I had to ignore Gus for 3 hours until tim got up. Poor gus. He survived though.
The hotel had a great breakfast spread. We loaded up there and napped and watched some more tv. I showered there. That was perhaps the first time since moving here that I’ve showered 2 consecutive days. I’m bohemian now.
The shower dried out my skin. I have sensitive skin.
Everything was great about the hotel except for one thing. It had really bright lights and mirrors outside the bathroom. I was brushing my teeth and noticed something shiny in my reflection. It was on my head. I put my hand on my head. Holy Crap. I turned my head so that I could see it better. Holy Crap. Gray hairs. Gray hairs everywhere. What in the world?? When did this happen? What the heck? I turn 30 and suddenly I have gray hairs everywhere. All over the place. And it freaks me out. Big time. Apparently, all the lights in the cabin are very dim. Gray hairs don’t sparkle in dim light. I had no idea There’s a billion of them there. I didn’t have a clue. I knew I had a few, and I was okay with that. My longtime hairdresser in Charlottesville even told me that gray hairs are thicker than normal hairs, so I was all for it. I need some thick hairs. But suddenly I have hundreds of them. Hundreds. And it terrifies me. I’ve only recently come to terms with my hair loss. Gray hairs? That’s something new altogether. I asked mary how long they’d been there. she said a little while. I had no idea. It was a seriously terrifying experience. I couldn’t quick looking. They were everywhere. Son of a gun. I hate it. I think being 30 made them show up. I hadn’t once felt 30. now I do. 30 is stupid. But whatever. I’ll deal with it. I’d gladly be gray instead of balding. It sucks to be both.
After I got over my new silver sides, we headed down to the River Walk. We stopped off at the Alamo. Mary was thoroughly unimpressed. Some silly looking security guard Alamo cop tried to cause trouble. Apparently you’re not supposed to bring dogs to the Alamo. He was almost running over to where we were, but I saw him out of the corner of my eye, so Gus and I just crossed the street and sat on a wall looking at the Alamo. The Alamo Cop yelled at some kids leaning on a chain. He needed a different job.
Then we headed down to the River Walk. Gus loved it. People loved Gus. Everyone wanted to touch him. We should have charged them a dollar. Then Gus got worn out. And then we were in trouble. We were out of water, and lots of the vendors were closed for Turkey Day. I had to carry Gus for a while. Its pretty embarrassing carrying a pug around a crowded pedestrian spot. But I had no choice. He was out of breath and really thirsty. We finally found an Irish Pub with outside seating. When we ordered some apps and drinks, I ordered a bowl of water for the pug. The guy said he wasn’t supposed to b/c dogs weren’t allowed, but he’d bring one anyway. He was cool.
San Antonio is apparently not a dog friendly city.
Apps and drinks were good. We left a generous tip for the dog friendly waiter and then headed to my cousins house for the Thanksgiving celebration. It was great fun. I loved it. My great uncle and aunt from OK, who are some of my favorite relatives, were there, as were another cousin of mine and her family. We told stories and listened to stories. We ate great food. It was super. I’d never hung out with these people very much since they live way far away. It was awesome to hang out with them and get to know them better. It was a blast.
And then we headed home and Tim left early the next morning.
It was great having company. And now we needed to rest.
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