Planes, Automobiles And New Lifelong Friends

Please don't forget to VOTE for Adrienne! She has dropped to second place with only three days left!

I am totally exhausted and completely *spent* but I have a new lifelong friend! No. Actually, she's more like the sister I always wanted...


Tammy, from 'The Color Of Home' blog fame, flew out here to the desert to spend a few days with Mr. Snoots and me. When I picked her up at the airport last Thursday morning, we squealed and hugged one another, and loaded her bags into the 4 Runner. As we drove away from the airport she said, "You said it was flat, but I had no idea!" Yes, it's always a shock to fly into this part of the country because from the air it seems so desolate.

The airport is approximately 20 miles outside of town, but as you enter the city limits you realize that our town is something of an oasis in the middle of nowhere. Tammy was amazed to see that our small city of 100,000 is not desolate at all.

We drove immediately to our house, she chose the room she wanted, we donned our swimsuits & cover-ups and headed to the pool. One of our close *friend couples* is gone to their place in Colorado for a month, so they offered me the use of their pool during their absence. It's a short five minute drive from my house, so Tammy and I were there in no time.

We pulled out the rafts, turned up the music, and proceeded with what would be a *Talk, Giggle, Eat & Sun Fest* that lasted through Sunday evening. It was a total blast! And, although Mr. Snoots doesn't always care for my new friends, he and Tammy became fast friends as well. We both agreed that Tammy is welcome in our home any time. It wasn't just the fact that she offered to make Chicken Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy (although that would have sealed the deal).

The two of us were talking so fast that it was difficult to process everything the other was saying, but we knew we were going to be lifelong friends from the start. As a matter of fact, we were both talking so fast and furiously that we forgot to apply sunscreen, which was not a good thing. We both have good base tans, but mine is the dreaded *golf tan*, so I sunburned the parts that haven't seen much sun, including my scalp. Ouch. Even though I've been slapping on lotion and aloe vera, I am going to peel. I have no doubts. How can a 56 year old woman be so stupid? Well, I was preoccupied with the presence of my new friend. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

We raced back to my house around 5:00 PM and got cleaned up to go to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Bodega. We drank some lovely Margaritas, ate a lovely meal, and then headed back to the house where we sat out on the patio and talked. Mr. Snoots made his normal exit around 9:00PM, but Tammy and I ended up talking until 5:00 AM. As we went to bed, we ran into Mr. Snoots, who was just rising for the day. He chuckled as he said, "You two are going to feel awful today."

It was Friday morning and we both slept until about Noon, then headed back over to the pool, slathered in sunscreen this time. I made a reservation for dinner at one of our favorite dinner spots, Venezia's. We also invited our (former Galveston residents) friends, Dave & Becky, to come with us, so it was a party and we had a wonderful dinner on the patio. It even rained for us just enough to cool things off. After dinner we went to D & B's house for a while, where Dave & I sang a few songs while he played guitar. Unfortunately, after a couple of stiff drinks I can't remember all the words to all the songs, so I had to hum a few of the parts. I'm pretty sure Tammy wasn't impressed at that point, but she said she was anyway. See why I like her? After that, we came back to our house, saying we couldn't stay up until 5:00 AM again and we didn't. We stayed up until 5:15 AM.

After sleeping late on Saturday, we went to get sandwiches and iced tea at McAllister's, I gave her a tour of the area we live in, and then we hit the pool. Again. All day. We yakked again. All day. It was truly more fun than I've had in ages!

Then, Tammy offered to make Chicken Fried Chicken, cream gravy, and mashed potatoes, so off we went to my favorite store, HEB, to buy what she needed to make dinner for Saturday night. Let me just tell you that this woman can cook! It was all I could do to keep from over-stuffing myself. I made grilled green beans to go with, and our meal was as comforting as it gets.

I put Mr. Snoots to bed after dinner, then Tammy & I went to our den to watch movies, saying we would hit the rack early. Uh-Huh. We wound up watching FIVE movies and went to bed around 4:00 AM. An early night, in comparison to the others. Right? We watched:

'Cold Comfort Farm' with Kate Beckinsale
'What Happens In Vegas' with Cameron Diaz & Ashton Kutcher
'Mama Mia' with Meryl Streep
'The Last Supper' with Cameron Diaz
'Saving Grace' with Craig Ferguson & Brenda Blethyn

Needless to say, we slept late on Sunday and never made it to the pool. Like Saturday, it was supposed to be over 100* again. We were both exhausted and sunburned, so we stayed here and talked some more. Her plane was leaving at 6:50 PM, which came much more quickly than I cared for. When I arrived back at home from the airport I told Mr. Snoots, "I'm going to miss her SO MUCH!' He replied, "How could you possibly have anything left to talk about?" All I could say was "Oh, we only touched the tip of the iceberg." Yes, there is still a lot left to talk about. However, we saved it for when I go to see her. Hee hee! I feel like I finally have a sister...

Did I mention that I'm just now recovering? Yes. Sisters can do that to you and get away with it...

Oh, and on Saturday night when we went to dinner at Venezia's, we ran into Adrienne's dad. At that point Adrienne was in First Place for the Karaoke reality show thing. Unfortunately, today Adrienne dropped to second place, so I am begging you to help her once again. Pretty Please! You can vote every day, once a day, for the next three days. You just have to watch the video about half the way through, then you can vote for her. COME ON BLOGGY FRIENDS! LET'S SHOW THEM WE CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE WHEN WE NEED TO!!!!