My Ode to East Texas...

Oh East Texas, how I love thee...let me count the ways...

Marty and I left Thursday after work and got to his parents' around 2 a.m. I got up Friday morning and decided I would run outside around Marty's parents' land. The first mile was ok and then the humidity and hills about did me in...it was only a three mile run, but it felt like I was in a sauna the entire time. When I finished and cooled down I made my way to his parents' porch to stretch and got bitten by fire ants. Those things HURT! I proceeded to tell my husband how I think fire ants should be called piss ants. (Piss ants are little black ants that we have in the panhandle that don't bite.) He said, "no, because fire ants bite you and it feels like fire". I replied, "yeah, but when they bite you, it just pisses you off."

The rest of the day was LOVELY. The weather although, humid was nice and I found so much at Canton I wanted...I always say I am going to take a trailer next time and just fill 'er up! I found some cute accessories, a few dip and drink mixes, Tyke some doggy clothes, my mom a few birthday gifts and my prized find, this entry table.

I'd been looking for something for FOREVER! And all the tables I looked at just weren't exactly "it" and the prices ranged from $250-$700. I got this little jewel for a mere $150 after a little bargaining he came down from what it was marked. See, there is some positive to a recession.

After Friday's running experience I found a 24 hour fitness place to do the rest of my running. It was nice and I fell in love with this machine called The Wave. Have y'all ever seen or tried one? It's like rollerbladding and 10 times better than a stair climber . That afternoon we went to Los Pinos Winery and had lunch with Martys parents and then spent the rest of the afternoon at some friends' house. Marty went to high school with Justin and Robin and we always enjoy catching up with them. Robin recently opened her own chiropractic office and so she adjusted me since we're never around to actually make an appointment.

Here's the hubs and me at the winery.

That night, Marty was coming in the house and let this lovely creature in...it's a wolf spider with about a million babies on her back. Granted, we have wolf spiders at home, but never one like this in the house. Marty sprayed it with bug spray and all the babies fell off her back. I should have gotten a picture of that. THEY WERE EVERYWHERE! (If you look closely you can see her eye glowing. I've always heard that if you shine a flashlight across your yard at night you'll be able to see the spiders because their eyes glow. CrEePy! I don't know if you can tell, but there are some glowing spots on her back too!)

Sunday Jerrye, my mother-in-law, and I went to church (the boys went to a gun show in a nearby town) and afterwards we drove to Pittsburg to Aunt Barbara's Victorian Tea Room where we had the tastiest lunch I've had in East Texas. Peter, the owner is originally from England and moved here a little over a decade ago and opened the tea room. We will definitely be going back there. They even serve afternoon tea and high tea complete with sandwiches, pastries, scones and cake. How adorable is that?

Here's a picture of Jerrye and then of me in front of the tea room it also serves as a bed and breakfast known as The Pecan House. I wish we could have gotten a picture together, but Peter was busy serving other people and we didn't want to interrupt.

It was shortly after that that we stopped at a gas station and I had the pleasure of meeting a good 'ol East Texas hillbilly. I needed some gas and although, it was late in the afternoon, I still had my church attire on. I walked towards the door and heard somone say, "How you doin'?" I look over and it's an older man (older than my parents by quite a bit), missing several front teeth with the biggest goofy grin on his face I've ever seen. I looked at my feet and said, "Fine, thanks." Well, he followed me in the gas station and stood in line behind me a few short seconds before yelling over the other people that were in line, "Y'all take food stamps?" The lady behind the counter told him yes to which he replied, "Great!" and turned and went back out to his truck. I was lucky enough meet him again when exiting and held the door ('cause that's how I was raised) and with the same gap toothed grin, he giddily thanked me. Don't get me wrong, I am not being judgemental at all, he was just a little creepy.

Monday we went to Longview and had lunch with some of Marty's friends from college at David Beard's Catfish Village. Don't laugh, they have the best chocolate pudding in the world...except, I think they changed the recipe because it didn't taste quite as good as last time. It tasted artificial, so I was slightly disappointed, but we still took several tubs home with us. That evening we cooked out with the family.

Here's my sister-in-law, Cristy, niece, Ciara, brother-in-law, Wayne, Marty and our youngest niece, Cadi. I don't know why, but I hardly got any pictures while we were there.

If you're still here at the end of this long post, you deserve an award.

We are off to the high school football game tonight. It's homecoming here in C-town. Question: I haven't been to a high school football game since my freshman year of college. And now that I'm an adult (*lol*) what does one wear to a football game? Mind you, people dress up here more than they do in your average small town, but I'm totally at a loss...HELP?!

Tomorrow I am modeling in a fashion show in a neighboring town. I'm a little nervous. My mom is always there modeling with me and she won't be there this time because she and my dad are in the mountains. I'm sure it will still be fun. I'll try and post pictures Monday!

Have a fabulous weekend!

*Some of the pictures are out of order...what's new blogger?