Sunday - a real day off!

No contractors, no leaking roofs, no phone calls, no waiting, no work! How great is that!
I picked up Mom about 10:30 this morning and we headed for Houston. Nice weather, traffic a bit heavy but we noticed it was much heavier eastbound. I knew the later the day got, the worse it would get. But I'd worry about that when the time came.
We got to John's and Sheridan, my sweet little 10-year-old granddaughter, had already put up their tree and had it looking so cheery and Christmasy. Well, she's not 10 yet -- she will be 10 on the 11th of Dec. My Dimage Z2 had broken while I was staying at John's at the end of the evacuation period, and I had mailed it off from there to be repaired. So, he had received it back and that was part of my excuse to drive over there - to pick up my camera -- and of course, to celebrate a belated Thanksgiving, too, I guess.
Anyway, we all went to eat at a nice Mexican restaurant, had a lovely meal and then went to Target to let Sheridan help us to know what to get her for her birthday and for Christmas. Ever since she was tiny, we would take her to a toy store and let her pick out the things she wants. There would be the "this is for birthday" things, and then the "this is for Christmas" things, and then there is always the "this is an I Love You thing for right now." She always seems to enjoy the little game we've sorta developed with it. So, it was a real pleasure! I don't get to see her nearly as much as I would like. Heck, I would like if she lived next door!! And of course, I even got John a "I Love You" gift too. All the time when he and Robert were home, if we'd go to the mall, I'd make sure to get them either a music tape, then later the CD's and so now it's a DVD. He had chosen "Magnificant Seven" for himself and so I said, "Here, let me give you that as your I Love You present. You're a little overdue!" He's 36, but I still enjoy getting him something! It was fun.
We went back to his house for a cup of coffee and by then it was about 4:15 and we knew we better start back. At first I thought maybe I should take Hwy 90 back because of the traffic, but it didn't seem so bad, so we decided to be brave and stay on I-10. Whoa! Wrong choice! For you local people, it was fine till we got around Jacinto City, and then slow down to 5 and 10 miles an hour. Intermittently I could get up to 30 or 40, then quickly back to 5 and 10. It took us four hours to get home! (should have been two) But we made it, and it was a glorious day. And I guess even the traffic had us feeling like we were taking part in the holiday "festivities" -- that is if you want to call bumper to bumper "festive."
It was a good day.