Updated
Thursday, November 18, 1999
Road Tripin'
We had a really
good time in Baton Rouge over last weekend. We had gone from Houston
to Louisiana to see my dad and family on Katie's side and decided
that since we were going anyway, it might as well be on a good weekend
-- the University of Houston v. LSU football game at Tiger Stadium!
Anyway, we decided
to leave late on Thursday so we could just get there and have Friday
to see everyone we needed to see -- leaving Saturday open for tailgating
or whatever before the game. The ride over was just fine -- we made
good time and only had to stop a couple of times (to feed Jackson
and get gas).
When we got in,
Dad and I went to get some Chinese food for dinner for us all while
Katie fed Jackson. Supposedly, we went to what was voted the 'Best
Chinese Food in Baton Rouge." Well, it was good, but I wouldn't
say it's the 'best' -- I even think that they just dipped servings
out of the buffet for us and packaged them 'to go.'
Well, on Friday,
we tried to get by to see some friends / relatives of Katie's mom
-- Kat and Ed Walter. Carolyn had sent gifts along for them, including
chocolates that she didn't want to melt!! Unfortunately, Kat and Ed
were out. We ended up getting together with them the next day for
a while before going to the game.
After dropping
by there on Friday, we went around the corner -- literally -- to see
Butch and Barbara, Katie's uncle and aunt who live on the family estate.
I have to say it was really a treat seeing them. Big shock: Barbara
would hear nothing of us taking Jackson to Tiger Stadium -- she was
going to keep him while we went to the game!
We really let
the time get away from us in the afternoon just chitchatting, but
we finally decided we should all go to dinner at La Fonda with them
and the rest of the clan.
Later that night,
we got together with them, Suzanne, Bengt, and their kids for what
was an absolutely fantastic evening. We ate at La Fonda Mexican Restaurant
-- the oldest one in Baton Rouge -- and it was quite good. It seems
that Butch and Barbara have been taking the kids there since Suzanne
was a little girl, so it was a treat to be included on such a nice
family tradition.
Anyway, the next
day we got up and went by my aunt Jeanne's home to visit and make
plans for the football game. After several hours there enjoying the
outdoors in her garden, we split up for lunch -- and made plans to
get together at about 5 for the tailgating.
Unfortunately,
one of Jeanne's guests had problems with the tailgating and they couldn't
make it, but we went out anyway for a few minutes before hand and
enjoied ourselves. The Tigers were up early in the game, but when
we left at the half, it was UH 17 to LSU 7 -- the final score ended
up being 20-7. LSU fired their coach the next Monday!
When we got back
to Butch and Barbara's, we found Jackson sound asleep -- and very
content. After listening to the rest of the game on the radio, we
packed everything up and went back to Dad's for the night. KFC was
the 3 course meal for the evening.
On Sunday, Katie
and I got up early and went to see her cousin Bert and his wife Denise
(and their 3 wonderful kids!)
Again, what we
meant to be a short social visit ended up being a wonderful time of
reconnecting -- with the hours just slipping away unnoticed. Until
Jackson started to get hungry!
After that, we
just packed up and started back to Houston. For a short trip, we really
packed in a ton of visits -- and we plan on many more to come!
On a side note,
the Aggie bonfire collapsed today killing at least 4 as I sit here
about mid day. At least 25 students were injured. I'm sure they'll
find more dead as the day goes on. At least that's what the news is
reporting.
Before I had
Jackson, I never really gave things like that much though -- but now,
I take the tragedy to heart.
I was feeding
Jackson while I was watching most of the news reports. He was being
a bit fussy and it was hard to get him to burp. For what seemed like
5 minutes, he just thrashed and cried, but then let out a good one
and went calmly back to feeding. It made me think of all the parents
who went through the tough feedings, the long sleepless nights of
childhood -- raising a kid from infant, to toddler, to teen and off
to college.
Having all that
taken away in an instant at 2:30 in the morning in a freak accident.
I hugged Jax
so tight. By grace of God, never to my children.
