Plenty o'Stuff to blog

I spent Monday-Wednesday of last week in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, for a conference. It's a cute, small town, and a gorgeous resort hotel. I posted my photos here. I had a few minutes to roam around on Monday afternoon before the meeting officially started, and wouldn't you know it, I found a yarn shop! [I broke down and bought some sock yarn, but I haven't figured out what pattern to use with it.] In the meantime, because you have to fly to Spokane to get to CdA, and you can't get to Spokane directly from Austin, I spent a lot of time in airports and on planes, which gave me ample time to work on mom's socks, thereby avoiding the dreaded "second-sock-itis". :) When I left, I only had the toe done; by the time I got home I was ready to do the heel. Unfortunately, as I got closer to the top of the sock, it occurred to me that I was running out of yarn! I have about 10 rows left... I may cut the ribbing a little short, or find a coordinating color.

Next on my "to-do" list was replacing my cell phone, which cracked when I dropped it on my kitchen floor. So now I have a new (red) phone. I moved all of my phone numbers on my SIM card, so that part was easy enough. But I can't seem to figure out how to set specific ringtones for different people, and I'll have to re-download the ones I want, so I'd better figure it out before I start paying for songs. ARGH. But it's so purty.

Finally, more to report about E. He came up to Austin yesterday (thankfully, the weather was much nicer than last Saturday's cold/drizzle!) and we went to the LBJ Library. I got a huge kick out of seeing the political memorabilia all over the place, but I also learned a lot about LBJ - the list of landmark legislation that was passed during his Presidency was absolutely incredible: Civil Rights, Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA), among others. [I suppose Bryan and I have LBJ to thank for our existence, since our parents met working for VISTA!] While we were there, a girls singing group from Kentucky lined up on the main stairs and sang the national anthem and My Old Kentucky Home (and then, by request, they sang Happy Birthday to a lady in the crowd, and to E, whose b'day is tomorrow.)

After the LBJ Library, we went down to South Congress Ave, to look at the goofy shops, and so I could pop in to Hill Country to see if they had the sock yarn I might need to finish (see above). They didn't have it, and I didn't want to stay in there too long, for fear that I might lose control and walk out with even more yarn. (and E was waiting... I was surprised he was even willing to walk in the door - the only thing he could say was "Oh. My. Gawd.") So we left there and meandered around for a while, stopping at my favorite store, Monkey-see, Monkey-do. Very similar to Archie McPhee in Seattle. :)

After dinner at Chuy's (I forgot that the Saturday special at the Barton Creek one is Hatch Beef Tacos! Yeah!) we came home and watched Ben Affleck in Hollywoodland. I really liked it - a little dark and serious, but Diane Lane, Adrien Brody, and Affleck were all impressive. Made me want to learn more about the life and death of George Reeves.

So, a big ol' Happy Birthday to E tomorrow (and to Dan T., whose b'day was yesterday). My focus for this week will be on making sure my house is clean enough for mom & dad's visit next weekend! ACK! (Of course, they're not coming just to see me, we're having a button show, too.)