Well, that was fun!

I'm back from my mini-vacation and old friend immersion time. Damn, that was a good time!

Thursday night, Chuck drove up from his conference in San Antonio just to see lil' ol me. So cool! (He was even a featured presenter, not just a lowly attendee.) He came over t'the Mags household, met the kids, and chatted a bit with the husband (who was of course relegated to full-on child-rearing duty all weekend. Thanks, honey!)

Then, we were off to El Chile for dinner and margaritas. (Bill Clinton ate there last week, too, though sadly not at the same time as Chuck and me. Probably a good thing. Though I'd hate myself afterwards, if I ever meet him, I know I'll at least make out with him.) The conversation was great; it's amazing how quickly people who I've truly loved over my life never seem to be completely removed from me, no matter how long it's been since I've seen them. We re-bonded over so-so guacamole, great salsa, a decent chile relleno, and two margaritas.


Then, later that same night, Connie arrived. After a late-night arrival and subsequent midnight snack trip to H.E.B. for some warm whole-wheat flour tortillas, we hit the sack. (And there weren't even any substances involved; just hunger and middle-aged sensitive tummies.)

The next morning, we got up early to drive to Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg, for those not in the know about cute little German Texas towns, is just that; a cute little German Texas town, albeit one that has aggressively pursued the tourist/B&B/boutiquey shops demographic in recent years. We drove slowly out there, taking in Wild Seed Farms and the beef jerky place, and had a nice lunch at Engel's Deli. After that, obscene shopping commenced; I got the aforementioned Keen Mary Janes (I lurrrrve them...) and Connie got some way sexy red Born cowboy boots and a fabulous, black gauze over white satin, grownup fancy dress. She was smokin', let me tell you. That night, we had a nice fish taco dinner, and collapsed in a shopped-out drooling heap that evening.


The next day, after a nice fattening B&B hot breakfast, we wound our way back to Austin, and wandered South Congress (but not in the old kind of way, nudge nudge wink wink). I was too broke to buy anything by then, but there's still a lot of awesome crap to be viewed down there. We had lunch at Enoteca Vespaio, previously mentioned in these pages, and just as damned good as it was last time. After that, we came home, actually saw the chillens for a bit, went back out to Barton Creek Mall, realized that we could not actually shop for one more second, and then headed out to Central Market for a sweaty outdoor dinner with kids and playscapes.

As Connie was headed out at the godforsaken hour of six a.m. the next morning, our debauchery that evening was kept to a minimum. This was about the extent of our drunken escapades:
Thanks, guys. I'm so glad you came. I feel very refreshed and happy! (And broke. But it's a good broke.)

Oh, I feel like writing all night. I haven't even made a Mark Foley joke yet! But, sadly, this ass is not going to exercise itself off in the morning. I know; I've tried that. So I shall put this aside until tomorrow.

Must. Wake. Up. At. 5:15. This. Time.