weekend update

Lizzy and I went to Texas this past weekend. We took a quick trip -- flew out Friday morning, flew back Sunday night. The itinerary was devised before I decided I'd be taking her -- it was a bit more rigorous than I would've ideally chosen to put her through. But it all worked out well. Thanks in large part to Continental, which unexpectedly came through with four on-time flights. Yay Continental! We had to wait for 20 minutes the first time because the flight crew slept in, but United has re-set my standards for airlines to such low levels that I was just thrilled and happy to make all connections and be able to sit with my daughter on all flights. Really, airlines -- I don't ask much.

I'll probably wait 'til later to pontificate on weddings -- I've been wanting to do that -- but suffice to say, my cousin had one -- the oldest child of my dad's brother -- and it was short, but nice. A quick wedding doesn't surprise me, but the two-hour reception was a little odd. Still, to each his or her own.

My parents were there, too -- it was great to be able to see them without flying all the way to Alaska. (which is a way cool state. just harder to get to.) We drove around Austin a bit; ate in a few restaurants; swam in a couple of hotel pools. Lizzy has now decided that SHE LOVES swimming. As recently as last summer, she was afraid of water. Go figure. So we splashed around the hotel pool one morning at 7:30 a.m., trying not to wake up the other hotel-staying folks. An hour, a few dozen splashes to the face and a couple knees to the sternum later, I was resorting to begging and threats to her to get out of the water.

I'll probably get in trouble for this, but I have to say: If any of you can tell me what's so special about Texas, I'd love to hear it. I love my aunt, uncle and cousins, and love to visit them, but after three trips to the Houston area and now one to Austin, I haven't found that much to write home about. Obviously, the weather is wretched. Goes without saying. The people do seem nice. But there's just nothing ... terribly winning about it, for me. I remember San Antonio's River Walk being incredibly cool when I was 8. So there's that. But Texas as a whole is pretty far down on my 'states that are cool' list. Though they are possibly No. 1 in state pride, and absolutely atop the list of 'states in which you can find products the shape of their state.' No doubt about that one.