Monthly Archives: October 2017

And so it begins…

Peggy came to San Antonio this past weekend for us to begin looking at potential places to live. So naturally the kids came, too…

It’s not like they’re a problem. Mike lived here as a child and wanted to show his wife all the things he remembers. I’m not sure how much she cares, but, hey, they were hanging out in San Antonio in beautiful weather. And they got to experience their first flight with a not-quite-two-month-old child.

A few observations from the weekend:

There are definitely some areas of San Antonio in which we would be happy to live. We are narrowing the search to areas within a thirty-minute commute of my office, but that doesn’t narrow the search too much. It is really going to come down to how much we want to spend — doesn’t it always — and what is available when our house in Baton Rouge sells.

Mike’s wife seemed to enjoy San Antonio. She is from a small town in Louisiana, so her first instinct is to dislike/distrust anything that is too large. Or in Texas. So enjoyment is a positive step since we would very much like to see our grandchildren.

LSU whipped up on Ole Miss. That is always fun. Even more fun is getting a picture during the game of my college roommate and my brother-in-law running into each other in Oxford at the football game. They were sitting a few rows from each other without either knowing the other was at the game.

Mid-to-late October is not too late to be in the pool in San Antonio. Getting out of the pool can be a little nippy, but it definitely stays warms enough to enjoy a pool through October. Something to consider for observation number one above. The opportunity to see my wife in a bathing suit for more than half the year is a strong selling point.

Looking at houses this weekend really drove home the point that we are going to be leaving Baton Rouge and moving to San Antonio. This will be the third time in our lives together that I have moved ahead and left Peggy behind to do the job of selling the house. It is not fair, but she says she would rather do that than live in Baton Rouge without me five days a week. Just one of the many reasons I love her.

Baby in an airport
Happy baby!
Surprise photo op selfie at the Ole Miss game

Happy Birthday

I have written before that we have a family tradition of not celebrating birthdays and anniversaries on the actual date. It is a tradition born out of necessity. We’re better at getting the dates right now, but sometimes…

Thursday was my 55th birthday, but I was in San Antonio on Thursday. So we celebrated this weekend. By telling the kids we are moving to San Antonio.

They left the baby with us and embarked on a Bonnie and Clyde spree across South Louisiana. OK, none of that is true. Well, they did leave the baby with us.

LSU played Auburn on Saturday. One of those days that makes you proud to be a college football fan. One of the largest comebacks in LSU history against an opponent ranked number 10 in the country. On an absolutely gorgeous day. Perfect way to celebrate a birthday, even if it was actually on my sister’s birthday.

On Sunday the kids stopped by to tell me “happy birthday”. We told them we are moving. They had come to town to attend a party, so they really did leave the baby with us. We took her out to dinner with us to show her off.

I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow so I will be home for a couple of extra days. We have some things we want to do to the house before we list it. But tonight we just went to dinner at our favorite place and took our granddaughter with us.

I don’t know how many opportunities we are going to have to do this sort of thing. I just know that it was a perfect way to celebrate three days after my birthday.

Showing her off at Superior Grill

Surprise

It has been a few weeks since I have been home. A combination of things has kept me in San Antonio, so it was nice that Peggy came to San Antonio to visit this weekend.

Peggy came during the week for a nice visit. She has a project and has to go to Dallas on Monday, but we were able to enjoy a long weekend together.

On Saturday, Peggy and I took off to visit one of our favorite places. We had not had much time alone with the opportunity to talk over the weekend, so the drive to Marble Falls was as much for the conversation as for the sightseeing. We made the drive to visit the world famous Blue Bonnet Café.

As usual, the Blue Bonnet was outstanding. The conversation was something else.

I promise I am a good husband. Loving, supportive, attentive, communicative.

But every once in a while I whiff big time. Peggy is pretty good about calling strikes when they happen.

When I took the job in San Antonio I made the conscious decision to continue living in Baton Rouge and commute to San Antonio. Peggy and I had a hard time finding a church home when we moved to Baton Rouge, and we now have a wonderful one where we are active and happy. Peggy founded an exercise and training ministry at our church that began this summer. I knew we were about to have our first grandchild and I could not ask Peggy to move to San Antonio and leave her so soon. We love being close to the activities at LSU. And…and…

Peggy let me know today that she is not happy with the arrangement. We got married to be together and she does not like my absence — we have been loving empty-nesting together for more than ten years now. In my defense I told her the same things that I wrote in the paragraph above. She kindly looked at me with pity for my stupidity.

So, when we go back to Baton Rouge next weekend we will begin the process of putting our house on the market. When it sells she will join me in San Antonio. I will be happy to have her with me all the time, but I have to admit I’m still worried about the other stuff.

Here we go!

Beautiful girl on the San Antonio Riverwalk
At the Blue Bonnet, where she set me straight…