Home Sweet Home

I can't write my official C'ville/Foxfield entry yet as I am still waiting on people to post pictures from the glorious weekend. That means you, Meredeath! A blog post just isn't the same without pics. But I wanted to give a quick shout-out to my sisters for an unforgettable "welcome back" to the east coast. The flight from Austin to Baltimore was pretty uneventful... the only slightly humorous thing that occurred was having a mysterious person gently lift my head from the middle of the aisle back to my seat. I stirred both times but didn't want to look around to see who had saved my head from a collision with the drink cart. It is impossible for me to sleep sitting up without my head falling to one side. I thought about warning the girl next to me on the flight back to Austin, but I didn't want her to to panic every time she saw my eyes close. So instead I apologized at the end of the flight for waking up on her shoulder... twice. Fly the friendly skies of Awkward Airlines. Anyways, I quickly called my sisters when I landed in Baltimore to let them know that I had arrived. They told me where I could find them outside of the terminal, and I booked it! I wasn't able to spot Dee's car when I first walked out, but then I heard the screams... "WOOOOOOOOO MISS TEXAS!! HERE SHE IS, EVERYBODY!!! IT'S MISS TEXAS!!!!!!" I look to the left and see Nicole and Dee jumping up and down with a bright pink sign that screams "MISS TEXAS" and soon enough the three of us were hugging and jumping together, and before I knew it I was wearing a tiara. That's right, a tiara. People were glancing over at us, obviously... it must have been hard not to. They were either thinking that we were awesome or that the Miss America judges were under the influence when they nominated Miss Texas. Probably both. It was the BEST airport welcome I've ever had and probably ever will have. I was wearing a tiara, reunited with my sisters, and almost home!

Tara and Jaclyn's Austin Adventure: Days 3 and 4

We woke up early on Saturday morning, and the sun was shining bright in Texas. After a quick breakfast at Whole Foods, we were on the road to San Antonio... only an hour's drive from Austin! Our first stop was the Alamo. Unfortunately, we didn't even get inside the Alamo - the line was nearly a mile long! We took a few pictures like good little tourists and we were on our way. P.S. Isn't that the best picture of Tara you've ever seen? She must have found the basement. Sorry, had to throw in a Pee-Wee reference. We spent a few leisurely hours on the Riverwalk... enjoyed a few beers, soaked up the sun, walked a lot. We made a few unusual observations: 1.) The wait staff at one of the restaurants were sticking their bare hands in the olive jar and then proceeding to EAT the olive (and not washing their hands afterward) OR placing the olive in somebody's drink - EW, 2.) There were a LOT of girl/girl couples on the Riverwalk and all around San Antonio, and 3.) It should be illegal for people to walk soooo slow when there's no way around them. Let's talk about number 2. I don't have a problem with it by any means, but after we saw six or so sporty girl couples, Tara and I finally looked at one another and said something along the lines of, "WHAT is up?" We finally got our answer later on in the evening. We met a couple guys from San Antonio, and when we asked one what was drawing all the women to their city this particular weekend he replied, "Four Words: NCAA Women's Basketball Championship". A-ha! After a quick nap in the hotel, we got our tails in gear and hit the town once again! After a long search for somewhere to eat, we ended up at a cute Irish pub and had a delicious dinner on the patio. Great people watching, that's for sure. We continued the night with a flashback to a Thursday night at Mulligans. We danced the night away. I'm not exaggerating when I say we spent a good three hours on the dance floor. We were definitely in the minority, but let me tell you... we kept up with the best of 'em. I harassed the DJ several times and failed miserably at getting him to play "I'm On a Boat". Worth a shot. Tara and I pulled out all of our favorite moves, including the Roger Rabbit and the amazing move Tara does with her knees and her arms where they move in unison. No idea what that's called, but it's awesome. All in all, it was a great night.
We woke up Sunday morning, packed up our bags, and headed out for brunch at a popular Mexican restaurant called Mi Tierra. That's right, Mexican food on Easter Sunday... there's a first time for everything. It was just what we needed before heading back to Austin. We spent the rest of the day walking around SoCo, enjoying the sun, and relaxing. We wrapped up the night with a sushi dinner and hit the sack soon after to prepare for our early morning. Although part of me wanted to "accidentally" turn off both of our cell phone alarms and keep Tara in Austin for at least another day, I resisted the urge and got her to the airport in time. It was a saaaad day. It was so good to have her here, but really hard to see her go. But I'll be with her again in two short months... June can't come soon enough! And that concludes Tara and Jaclyn's Austin Adventure.

Tara and Jaclyn's Austin Adventure: Day 2

Day 2 was by far my favorite day with Tara. It was the perfect mix of eating, drinking, and just sitting together. It started off with a delicious mexican breakfast at Juan in a Million. A friend had sent me a message about an episode of Man vs. Food where he visits Juan in a Million for it's well known "Don Juan" breakfast plate, and since moving here I've only heard incredible things about it. I figured it was the perfect spot to try with Tara since we both love mexican food and together we suffered through four years of eating at La Parota, Farmville's only mexican restaurant... we deserve the good stuff. And let me tell you, the Don Juan burrito is all that it's cracked up to be. And what made it taste even better is that it only cost four bucks. I'm all for a plate of eggs, potatoes, bacon, cheese, and tortilla for less than five dollars. And yes, I felt like a complete dork taking yet another picture of my food, but I did it for all of you. Or at least for Mom, who I know reads this thing. The guy on Man vs. Food was trying to beat the record of eating FOURTEEN Don Juan burritos... the three of us could barely finish one! Food wins again. So I tip my sombrero to Juan in a Million for an incredible breakfast and for coming up with such a clever name for a restaurant.

Following breakfast, we made our way to Mandola winery which is right outside of Austin. It was our plan to head to Driftwood winery but after I got us a bit lost (okay, very lost), we came across Mandola first and decided to do both! Mandola was beautiful and the wine was so, so, so good. Even the rose wine, which Tara and I are both typically not fans of. The people helping us were so friendly and we were both very impressed. I'm looking forward to going back! We headed to Driftwood next... not as impressed with the wine or the service, but the view was amazing! We lucked out with the weather too... it had been drizzling in the morning, but it cleared up and we were able to sit outside with a glass of wine for a couple hours. We even got a little sun on our faces! This was probably my favorite part of the day... just relaxing and catching up.
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After sampling a lot of wine at the two wineries, we were ready for another incredible meal... this time at Salt Lick BBQ! I feel like this is a place that I have to take everyone who visits me to. It's the meal that you write home about. It was probably a bit much combined with the Don Juan and the wine, but it was just as good as the first time. I felt that I could now check three of the necessary things for Tara to experience off the list: sixth street, mexican food, and real barbecue.

It was a full day, and we were exhausted. There had been talk about going out that night, but both of us were very content just curling up on the couch and watching TV. We had a big day ahead of us... in ole' San Antone! More to come....

Tara and Jaclyn's Austin Adventure: Day 1

I have had sufficient time to mourn Tara's departure, although I do wish she could have stayed forever... but lucky for me, we exchange an obscene amount of messages throughout the week that keep us attached and entertained.

I love Tara and I love Austin, so having her here was such a treat. It was fun showing her the little bit of Austin I know, and also experiencing a few new things together. The trip started off a little shaky with Tara missing her flight out of Baltimore. I woke up to a facebook message and e-mail from her Mom (oh, and I forgot to mention that Tara's cell phone was out of commission) letting me know that she had missed her flight and would be landing later in the afternoon than expected. I immediately wrote back letting her know that I would make sure I had my phone on me for when Tara landed and called me from a pay-phone. Thank God those still exist. But as I was blow-drying my hair, I remembered that it was April Fool's Day. I truly thought that Joni the Pony (Tara's Mom) had pulled off a good one. She called me at 8 am to "confirm that I got her message" as she had told me she'd do, and I was just waiting for her to say "APRIL FOOL'S!" and I would laugh out loud and give her the credit she deserved... but three minutes into the conversation, she still hadn't told me she had fooled me. It was true... Tara had missed her flight. I'm proud to have a best friend that trusted a laptop alarm clock to wake her up in place of her malfunctioning cell phone. Love her.

Long story short, she made it! She even got to spend an hour at my job, meet my favorite resident "Roy", and laugh with me when I told her that I had two residents attempt to eat the confetti off the table decorated for our Easter tea. Lesson learned. We made it back to the apartment and got ready for our first night in Austin! Our plan was to head downtown for 80's Ladies Sing Along at the Alamo Drafthouse which sounded awesome... but first we headed to Shady Grove for dinner. That was mine and Kristen's first time there as well, and we were all impressed. Especially by the large outdoor patio and the cheap margatitas - yum! We headed home and started gearing up for 80's night. And by gearing up, I mean Tara made enough room in her suitcase for hot pink fishnets, leg-warmers, mini skirt, and incredibly 80's accessories... and I rocked the cut-off Jesse Spano sweatshirt, leggings, cut-off jean shorts and crimped hair. We were in it to win it. We were brave enough to take the bus downtown (best thing about Austin... people are so diverse here that you can get away with anything) and we finally arrived at the drafthouse. Only to find out.... tickets are SOLD OUT. So disappointing. And at this point it's almost 10 pm. We've taken the bus downtown. We are not going home to change. So you had better believe that the three of us hit up 6th street completely decked out like Pat Benetar. We hit Austin with our best shot. Okay, that was bad. Despite the looks of confusion we got from other bar-goers, we had a blast. We danced the night away... which is definitely something I've missed doing with T. I was glad she got to experience the Chuggin' Monkey in all it's glory. The "stage" has now experienced two of Farmville's finest. After a full night of good drinks, good dancing, and good times (all in 80's garb), we hopped in a cab and hit the sack..... stay tuned for Day 2 of our Austin adventure.

Alert: Cougars on Campus

Reagan and I were wise to start off the week with a Funday Sunday. After both taking it easy Saturday night and then working on Sunday until mid-afternoon, we met up at the Black Sheep Lodge for $3 bloody mary's (spicy, just the way I like 'em) and sangria on the front patio. We enjoyed our beverages, laughed... a lot, watched a couple hippies chase their dog as it darted through traffic, caught up on the past week, and just relaxed. We will hopefully make a tradition out of it!

Fast forward to Tuesday evening. A few of the therapist girls from my work invited me to their "Tuesday Night Dinner" and on this particular Tuesday they were meeting up at Opa, a restaurant I had been wanting to try! Reagan and I enjoyed a delicious Greek appetizer and a ginormous $2 glass of sangria on their awesome patio, complete with a stage for live music, ping pong tables, bocce ball, and.... hula hoops. I wasn't feeling gutsy enough to whip one of those around these hips, but maybe next time. After a good time with the girls from work, we ventured downtown to Reagan's apartment for her skype date with friends from home (C'ville girls: Why have we never thought do to this?) and we thought we'd walk somewhere to grab dinner. Before leaving her apartment (which by the way is very close to the UT campus and Reag calls it a glorified dorm), we decided on Thai food and started walking toward Madam Mam's. On the way, we passed Mellow Mushroom and a sign outside reading, "Trivia Night!". Reagan and I are both big fans of trivia. We walked about 10 feet past it and stopped to debate whether or not we were willing to risk looking like cougars on the prowl or like girls who peaked in college and were wanting to relive it at Tuesday night trivia. We decided it was worth the risk. After going back and forth for a while about what our team name should be, we finally decided on "Too Old To Be Here". The girl leading the trivia had a good laugh when she saw it and told us that she was also too old to be there, which was semi-encouraging. Reagan and I ended up doing much better than we expected and surprised ourselves by how lucky we got with a few of our wild guesses. We ended up bombing our overall score when the entire last round was based on the movie "Young Frankenstein". I mean, seriously? We got one question right, and that's because we not-so-subtly asked our waiter to help us out. So at the end of the game, the girl is announcing all of the scores and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners... and then announces that the BEST team name of the night goes to.... "TOO OLD TO BE HERE"!!!!!!!!!! We won! We won! Unfortunately, Reagan had gotten up from the table at this point, so I clapped and screamed "Woooo!" like a complete dork, sitting by myself and celebrating solo. Heads turned, and I'm sure the college kids were thinking "Yep, too old to be here." But I was too excited about our win to care... and clapped and screamed again with Reagan when she returned. Go team!

Speaking of teams, tomorrow night is our first kickball game! Kristen, Reagan, and I signed up and we're on a team with complete strangers... should be interesting.
Will keep you posted, wish us luck!

Dirty Old Crossword Puzzles

Deirdre informed me via text that people are counting on me, therefore I must update my blog. I promise that I have not abandoned this blogging world I've thrown myself into... it has just been a crazy week.

Here's a quick story to hold you over until tonight...

Setting the scene: Resident "Roy" and I are working on a crossword puzzle together. I am standing in front of his wheelchair at the easel with a blown up crossword puzzle taped to it. I give the clues, and Roy tries to figure out the words. Action!

Jaclyn: Wahoo! Good one. Okay, 9 across, 5 letters, "To Provide" (or something along those lines)... First two letters are E and N....
Roy: En..... dow?
Jaclyn: YES! Impressive. Okay, 9 down, 6 letters....
Roy: Just a minute. Now Jaclyn, what comes to your mind when you first hear the word "endow"?
Jaclyn (trying not to smile and/or turn beat red, as I'm clearly thinking "well endowed", I innocently reply): Hmm.... money?
Roy: Heh heh heh. Often, when a man hears the word endow, he automatically thinks about...
Jaclyn: ROY! I get where you're going, and we're not going there....
Roy: BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. MONEY! BAHAHAHAHA! (for a good 15 seconds)
Jaclyn: Moving on... 9 down, 6 letters...

"Move Back to Virginia"

I got into a fight at the grocery store. Don't worry Nana, no punches thrown. Just a few words.

I was making a right turn into H.E.B. (Austin's finest) when a man coming from the opposite direction tried to make a quick left into the parking lot before me. Normally, I would have slowed down and let him cut in front of me but I didn't have enough time as I was already turning. I said "Woah!" and quickly made it into the lot. He followed quickly behind me and as I glanced in the rearview mirror, I noticed he was giving me the bird. A little dramatic, but whatever. I made a few loops around the parking lot (I've seen one too many scary movies involving road rage) and finally made my way into the grocery store. I turned left towards the produce, dropped a few items in my cart, and made my way to the potatoes.... when all of a sudden....

Jerk: "Are you the lady with the Virgina license plates?"
Me: "Yep."
Jerk: "I don't know why you were SO offended that I was trying to pull into the lot ahead of you."
Me: "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't offended, I was just surprised to see you there."
Jerk: "Well you looked pretty angry!"
Me: "No, I wasn't angry. I just said 'Woah' because I was startled."
Jerk: "I don't know what was SO startling. I was trying not to block traffic behind me." (this is when I should have suggested that he turn at the TRAFFIC LIGHT only 20 feet ahead next time)
Me: "Okay, well sorry. Although I didn't appreciate you flicking me off."
Jerk: "Well, I'm just so tired of you easterners coming in and ruining our city. It used to be so chill before you all showed up."
Me: "Wow. That is an extreme generalization."
Jerk: "You have no idea. People coming from Virginia... and California (I cocked my head at this one, which he apparently observed)... I know it's on the west coast, but I'm just saying... We used to be so chill, and you all brought so much anger here."
Me: "I've never been described as angry before, and you are the first person I've encountered in Austin to share this idea about easterners with me. Everyone has been so friendly. But that's your opinion."
Jerk: "Oh, MOVE BACK TO VIRGINIA!"
Me: "Grow up."
Jerk: "I.. I.. I am grown up."
Me: "You sure aren't acting like it."
Jerk walks away.

Okay, so MAYBE I shouldn't have told him to grow up.... but my heart was racing and I typically back down in these situations, so I felt it was important to be assertive for once. If I had been aggressive and not assertive, I would have thrown a potato at him. I resisted the urge. I don't like being told that I'm an angry person. I work in a nursing home for crying out loud. And I especially don't appreciate him knocking my home state. Since when is Virginia known for it's angry residents?

So anyways, if you're looking for a little action... head to the local grocery store. Perhaps their slogan should read "Here Everyone's Bitter". Oh but wait, that would be making a generalization, and Virginians are above that. I kid, I kid.

On a good note, that's my first negative experience in Austin. After three months here, that's pretty impressive. Still love the city, just not the one scary local.

All In a Week's Work

I'm sure you were expecting my next post to be about Tara's visit to Austin... give me time, I am still in mourning over her departure. But as to be expected, it was an awesome visit and it made my life.

So in the meantime, I thought I'd post a few of the hilarious comments that came straight from residents' mouths this past week. Enjoy...

80 year old male resident wearing jean shorts, t-shirt, and silver chain-link necklace:

• "HEY, HEY YOU, throw a blanket over my legs... I don't want everyone seeing "Old Glory" as they walk by." I shudder at the thought.
• Chain-Link: "You're not married... why not?" Me: "I don't know Chain-Link... still looking for the right one, I suppose." Chain-Link: "Keep looking. Don't marry a drinker, you never know what they're gonna do next." Me: "Thanks for the tip. How'd you meet your wife?" Chain-Link: "I met her working at UT. I worked in the kitchen, she cleaned toilets. I spanked her butt." Me: "I'm sorry, what?" Chain-Link: "I guess she liked it. We've been married 48 years."
• "I see you've got crippled feet like me." No comment.

92 year old female resident with a good sense of humor and moderate dementia

• "Oh no, I forgot my glasses... can you all believe it? I'm 92 years old, and the only thing wrong with me is my eyesight... Oh, and I've got a corn on my toe, but I can live with that."
  

85 year old female resident with silver hair and a devious smile

• I was doing my initial assessment to find out her background, leisure interests, family history, etc... and as we were wrapping up our conversation, I thanked her for chatting with me and started for the door... I was halfway out the room when I heard from behind me, "WHAT, you don't wanna hear about my hooker days?!" Wow wow wow.
  
• Just today, I knocked on her door to invite her to an activity and she said,"Come in, come in! Get in here before I kick your butt out!" She laughs and then opens up her arms, inviting me in for a hug. I lean in and she wraps her arms around me repeating, "You're just precious, you're so lovely"... only to quickly find the center of my back and snap my bra, yelling "GOTCHA!" and laughing even harder.

This is why I get up in the morning.