It's Summertime In Texas

How do I know?

Well, it is hotter than blazes by 10:30 am and it doesn't cool down until after 6 pm.

I think I may need to grow gills in order to keep breathing around here.

And we are experiencing freak downpours in the middle of the afternoon!

I left the office today having to run to my car trying not to get soaked by a storm that came out of nowhere. By the time I turned off the freeway, I needed my sunglasses!

That's what I love about Texas, if you don't like the weather...just stick around for a few minutes because it will change!

A Little Something Extra

A friend of mine wrote a post yesterday on "lagniappe" and it got me to thinking. Lagniappe is a word taken from Spanish yet most commonly used in Louisiana French which broadly means 'an extra or unexpected gift or benefit'. It was originally used to describe a small gift presented by a shop owner to a customer with the customer's purchase; like a baker's dozen of rolls. It is used most often in Southern Louisiana and Mississippi, especially in the New Orleans area.

My first experience with lagniappe was by way of a local restaurant by that name in the early 90's. It was a Cajun French eatery that heavily favored the French side. The servings were tiny...and if you have ever been seated at a real Cajun's table, you know that the food is plenteous! Every time I see that credit card commercial where the couple is finally able to go to dinner at the fancy new restaurant only to storm the convenience store afterwards because they are still hungry, I think of this place.

The next time I saw the word was in Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook. There are bits of information at the end of some of the recipes that give a little better explanation of ingredients or shortcuts. In the definitions area, Chef Paul describes lagniappe as 'a popular term in south Louisiana...means "a little something extra" - as a gift or a show of appreciation'.

Well, I was the unexpected recipient of 'lagniappe' yesterday. I received a telephone call from my sister just before noon asking me to meet her to do a little shopping. She and her husband were in town for a business meeting and she had some extra time on her hands. I quickly finished my work so that I could leave right after lunch. We had the best time, mostly window shopping. Even though we get to see each other four or five times a year (and I just saw her two weekends ago) we rarely get to spend time one on one.

We ate a light lunch at Cheesecake Factory and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the Galleria. Later we met up with our husbands for a late dinner at Sullivan's Steakhouse and visited a little longer in their hotel room before heading home at 12:40 AM!!!! It was a wonderful 'little something extra' that I had not planned on, but enjoyed immensely.

So, here is wishing you a little 'lagniappe' in your life today!

Where The Sun Shines Brightly...

and the relaxing gulf breeze blows. That is where we have spent the last three days. Thanks to a dear friend, we were blessed to spend our anniversary with a wonderful view of the Gulf of Mexico at her beach house. We had the most amazing time doing absolutely nothing! We did a little fishing, we laid on the beach, we sat on the deck and we enjoyed the peace and quiet!

When we arrived Friday evening, we took the fishing poles down to the beach and spent some time fishing in the surf. Jim caught a gafftopsail while I chilled in the beach chair. (I did more than my share of fishing last weekend at the river.) We stayed out on the beach until after dark. I was surprised how cool it got when the sun went down.

We slept in Saturday morning. No early morning telephone calls!!! How awesome it felt! We went in to Lake Jackson (The City of Enchantment) for a late breakfast at IHOP. Strawberry French Toast, yummm! We spent most of the afternoon and early evening at the jetties. I tried to fish, but after being brushed by a jelly fish, I hightailed it out of the water! I spent the rest of the time taking pictures of the wildlife that surrounded us. We saw porpoises, pelicans, hermit crabs, sea gulls and a beautiful white heron that decided to prance and preen for us. After lots of sun, we returned to the house to get ready for dinner. After sitting on the deck and watching the tide roll out for a little while, we decided to eat in instead.

Sunday morning we had planned to do a little more fishing before heading home, but Jim had gotten his quota of sun on Saturday. Instead we went to the local seafood restaurant for lunch before heading back to Waller.

It was an amazingly relaxing weekend...and relaxing is just what we needed. Jim and I have been so busy this year that it was wonderful to spend a weekend doing absolutely nothing unless we wanted to! I am trying to talk him into buying me a beach house on the bay side. No luck yet...but one can always dream, right?