My oldest and his beautiful wife are somewhere over the Pacific Ocean right now, traveling to New Zealand with another couple for a trip of a lifetime, one they've dreamed about for years. I would say "the" trip of a lifetime, but these two have already spent Oktoberfest in Munich, honeymooned in Italy, and traveled to Moscow, hitting a lot of other countries and big cities along the way.
They've already had some "trips of a lifetime" and have many more ahead of them, but this will be the only one where my baby celebrates his 30th birthday by bungee-jumping in a foreign country.
(Of course, at the most basic 'mother' level inside of me, that totally freaks me out! But mostly, I'm over-the-top excited for them, and so grateful for Facebook because I'll be able to keep tabs on them and experience the trip virtually, all at the same time.)
The photo above was taken at a surprise party Kirby threw for him last weekend. Somehow, he didn't have a clue beforehand.
Can you believe all of these people (including me) kept their mouths shut about it? I'm still amazed.
I won custody of my grandpuppy Josie while they are away, thank goodness, even from their friends who will be vacationing in Austin and house-sitting for them while they are gone. Josie's in high demand, but grandmas get first dibs!
Tommy met me at Mama's for the pass-off, so she could get a visit in with both of them, too.
Belle enjoys having her here, and Josie is having lots of fun being a country dog.
Last weekend was one birthday celebration after another, beginning with my mom's on Friday night. It was the first time in a long while she was with all of her kids. I was negligent about taking photos that night, but we did manage to get one of all of us together around the birthday cake my sister baked.
Mama asked for fried shrimp for her birthday dinner, and I knew that meant Gulf shrimp, not some teensy popcorn shrimp, so I was worried, because we are no where near the Gulf!
But thanks to Facebook friends, I discovered there are actually several places in Austin that serve good fried Gulf shrimp. Whew! If your Mama wants fried shrimp for her birthday, you want her to have fried shrimp.
After the surprise party on Saturday night, half of the group headed to the Container Bar on Rainey Street to continue the celebration, and I tagged along because, hey, it was my celebration, too, of the 30th anniversary of my becoming a mother!
The Container Bar is just that... a bar that is actually made out of industrial shipping containers! What a great idea!
In true Austin style, we shared a space with a group of guys on a bachelor party weekend, with the groom-to-be dressed as Snow White, for some reason, and his friends dressed as dwarves, with fake beards, pointy hats, and obscure names on the backs of their shirts.
Tommy took me on a tour through the containers, and when I spotted this wall, I had to have a photo, cheesy or not.
In a crowded bar, that was no easy feat, but he did it somehow...
On Monday evening I was back downtown to celebrate Kirby's birthday at the Saxon Pub with a Bob Schneider concert. We had great seats at a table close to the stage, shared with a couple from California who loved Austin and had friends in Colorado who were wanting information on Austin real estate.
Lucky for them I had some business cards handy!
Bob Schneider was excellent, as always...
...and since we were so close to the Highball and it was Motown Monday, how could we not go there and dance to the Nightowls until 1 am? After all, it was Kirby's birthday!
If you ever get a chance to hear them, don't miss it!
It was a wonderful weekend...week...spent celebrating people I love and special events in my life. What could be better?
"Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it."
~ W. Somerset Maugham
