Imelda strikes again!

Our wee trip to the local pub last night resulted in a slightly sore head this morning. And possibly, in my stupidity, I said I would phone Mum and Dad at 1230pm their time - 0630 mine! Well, my alarm went off at 0615 and I snoozed it twice, then turned it off, and promptly fell back asleep, fortunately, only for quarter of an hour! I had a lovely chat with them, before going back to sleep, only to wake up at 0800 to skype Stu!! It was my own fault ruining my Sunday lie in! I had actually woken at 0500, boiling. So I got out of bed and set the air con from 78F to 76F - extreme cold for me! Of course, when I woke up at six, I was freezing!!!

I forgot to tell you about the ferocious dog Di and I encountered last night on the way to and from the pub last night. Yup, a chiwawa! This little beast ran up and down the garden barking at us in its high pitched squeak! It was either scared of us or very well trained as it stayed on the lawn and did not come, even one step, on to the road. I couldn't believe it, when it was still there on our return, the poor neighbours must go mad with it! Di managed to get a picture of it with her swanky iPhone. Yes it is really that small :)

Di sent me an email from her bed, this morning, to say 'please can we not go to the gym, and just go to the Egg & I for breakfast!' We got there reasonably early, before the crowds arrive after church. Once again I had eggs Benedict and Di had crab cake Benedict. Both of us started to feel alive, and so headed to TJ Maxx (same as TK Maxx back home - not sure what the reason is for the name change!) I got a little carried away and came away with 2 pairs of designer sunglasses ($10 bucks each), 3 pairs of shoes (nearly 4, but I decided that was just over the top!), a summer dress and a work top. For anyone who hasn't been to this shop, everything is seriously reduced, often designer stuff, that is end of the line or when there is excess stock. It is a pot luck to whether you get something you like. It was my first time visiting this particular TJ Maxx on Memorial, and it was great, because there was barely anyone there and everything was neatly arranged (my pet hate is shopping in mess with millions of others!). My additional purchase of shoes has meant I have had to be more economical with the space in my shoe wardrobe, so I am now placing the shoes in toes in, toes out, toes in etc!

We also went off to Ikea, because Denver doesn't have one. After my big spend, I just helped Di shop, and she came away with a funky rug for her kitchen that is going to have to go in the hold on the plane. We managed to get a plastic cover for it, from one of the other rugs! So it will be fine on the journey. It was very humid, and hot today, so we went straight back to sit by the pool and cool down. It is a hard life! I dropped Di back up at the Woodlands, some 40 miles north of Houston, mid afternoon. This time I took the Sam Houston Tollway, and although it charges you, it is a much better route than I45 all the way north. For some reason, there is more maniacs on I45 than any other freeway I have driven on to date. Some of the tyre marks you see on the road make a shiver up your spine!

Danny had suggested meeting up for something to eat - Mum and Dad will tell me off for too much food and drink again! I picked up Danny, and after looking at the Houston Press (a weekly free newspaper), we picked a Vietnamese place, Nga's, in Midtown. When we got there it looked like it was closed, but it was just very dark windows. We were the only ones there, mind you it was just after 6pm! The food was lovely and authentic, although we ended up with much bigger portions than we both needed! Both of our main courses came on a bed of vermicelli, which I ended up leaving and eating the beef stripes and vegetables. For a place that looked pretty scruffy on the outside, it was well worth a visit. And as with most eating out here, it was very reasonably priced. To finish the evening we went and sat back on Danny's porch in his groovie red deck chairs.