Love Creek Pumpkin Patch

Texas' first apple orchard is Love Creek Orchard. It's also the first orchard in the US to harvest apples exclusively from dwarf apple trees.

The day was filled with fun, from the ability to dress up scarecrows, to painting pumpkins, to brushing horses and seeing other animals. There was face painting, tours, music, shows, a short hay maze (or "haze" as I like to think of it) or the kiddos and, of course, pumpkins.

And lots and lots of apple stuff.

For $6.00 each, it was a fun trip, about an hour out of San Antonio. I recommend the trip!

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday:

Lowe's Build (fire truck)
Groceries at H.E.B.
San Antonio Botanical Gardens (with dinosaurs!)

Sunday:

Play at park (play date)
Barnes & Noble
Play game of Life with Kids. Annie took first place, then Kim, then me, then Adam

What a busy weekend!

Lowe's

I'll admit, I've never paid too much attention to hardware stores until I started becoming an adult.  As a teen, my dad would drag me to them at what seemed like every opportunity, and at first I would be fine with it, but as we wandered up and down every single aisle, my attention would diminish.

Quickly.

And there were small projects here and there, I'm sure, but the only ones I remember was my dad giving me three pieces of decorative wood to bolt to the bottom of a wicker tree planter.  The tree was artificial and he thought the wicker basket alone looked pretty tacky and it didn't help that it kept falling over.  So he handed me the pieces and a piece of wood that was to go inside the basket for the new legs to bolt to and set me to the task, confident that I would figure it out.

I did.  I don't mean to brag or anything, but thinking about problems like this and trying to find logical ways out of them is a hobby of mine.  I like the planning just as much as the doing.

But as I became an adult, I realized I needed stuff.  A hammer was first because of pictures, then a level to make the pictures straight, then a stud finder for a heavy mirror, etc. etc.  Everything was buy it as you need it, which makes sense, really.  Tools are expensive, after all.

Then one day fairly recently, I woke up with something like a fever and I wanted - NEEDED - to go to the hardware store.  And at the nearest one (Lowe's), I bought things that house needed, and then got lost walking through the aisles thinking about what I want to do with the house, what I want to do for myself, and all those shiny, powerful tools I can get!

Since then I've gone back several times.  I almost enjoy forgetting things because it means one more trip back there.

I love it.

I was bit by this kind of bug and all I wanted to do was make things and improve things with my hands.  Figuring things out is one thing, but making something that you can sit back and say "I put that together" is something else entirely.  You escape the theoretical and enter into the practical and everything changes either from you realizing you were oh so wrong in your ideas, or that you can now at least LOOK at the thing you saw in your mind.

The first project is certainly educational for me.  A DVD rack was destroyed en route to here and I decided to use the shelves and make a pipe rack for myself.  Using less than the bare minimum of required tools, I figured out as close as possible the measurements, angles, and materials needed and have been slowly collecting for the project.

Lessons were learned almost immediately.  From realizing pretty quickly that a 1/2" hole was not going to work for the base of all pipes, to realizing it's best to measure and cut the top of the top piece of wood (if you call this wood - it's glued wood chips with a pice of wood-looking paper glued to it) because of the ripped up paper that would be exposed otherwise, to figuring out that I was way wrong on the length of my dowel rods because, while the pipe stems would pop out nicely on top and look good, there's not ample enough room to shoehorn the stem INTO the hole.

I'm learning all sorts of things, but it hasn't been HARD, I would say.  I only have enough wood for three of them, so I'm hoping to learn all my lessons on this one, make another one for myself, and then make the third for my best friend.  It's hard to find ideas and plans for pipe racks on the internet, mainly because everyone seems to associate pipes with marijuana and most marijuana is apparently smoked with glass pipes, so no cool display is required like a bunch of tobacco pipes would if you wanted to display then.

Pot smokers.  Jeez.

Anyhoo, my kids have been right there with me every step of the way on this project.  They go to Lowe's with me to get the stuff, they want to be out in the garage, even when it's 100 degrees outside and everyone's sweating balls, and they want to help out as much as possible.

I'm all for it.  I'd like to pass this newfound love on to them as early as possible.

Lowe's is the same way.  Today while buying some eye-hooks, spade bits, and a dowel, I also picked up some safety goggles for the kids and safety glasses for myself because I want to start having rules in the garage.

Rule #1: No running in the garage.

Rule #2: Safety goggles must be worn when sawing/drilling is occurring.

Close-toed shoes is also recommended, but 2/3 of us don't have them in the first place, so for now flip-flops it is and we'll try to avoid heavy things.

Anyway, back to Lowe's.  We were at the checkout counter and Lupe, the helpful cashier, said that the children's clinic is going on right now.  W rushed over and the kids were given free aprons, iron-on merit badges, and a wooden kit that, this week, was the dragon from Shrek.

I took the kids to the work area, which was really the backstock area of Lowe's and, among about two dozen other families sitting at tables or hunched over on the floor, began to work out the two kits for my kids.  Adam, who just turned three, obviously needed a lot of help, so I worked with him the most and made most of the mistakes on his kit and then tried not to repeat them on Annie's.

Annie did really good and just wanted me to start the nails for her and she did the rest.  While she was hammering the nails in (and learning not to look around while hammering or else she'll hit herself), Adam was also hammering random pieces of his dragon to help the project along.

The kids had a blast and it was great fun going home and telling their mom that they did it all for free and they've expressed interest in doing the next project which is the onion carriage from Shrek.  Next month there is a different theme.

I ironed on their little merit badges and thought it's pretty damn cool that they get those too.  Toys and projects disappear.  You forget those little achievements.  I'm lucky in that I have a job where a lot of my professional accomplishments is marked in patches, and I can always look on them and remember that I've done a lot.  A surprising amount, even.  I think any job would greatly improve morale by doing this same thing.

And my kids are stoked about collecting their merit badges, building more things, and going back to Lowe's next time.

I'm excited to bring them back.

Any excuse to go to the hardware store is a good one.  I'm just glad they're excited to go too.

Southern Hospitality

I'll admit, my experience living in the US is less than most peoples'.  With the exception of about a year, maybe a year and a half that I lived in Indiana, for all intensive purposes, I came to America when I was 14 (most of my life that I can remember was spent in other countries before that).

But I've always heard of Southern Hospitality, and counted on it after finding out that living in Hawaii (the first US place I came to at 14) was only great if you were a girl, lived in the tourist part of Oahu, at the very least had a solid tan that could make you look more local, or a combination of the three.  Being  a pale, video-game playing skateboarding male living in the locals-only part of the island is NOT a recipe for success.  When I found out we were moving to Mississippi, I was happy.

So we moved to Mississippi, then I spent some time in Mobile, AL, then I spent time in Pensacola, FL, which is essentially lower Alabama, took a break from the South and moved to Arizona and then about a year later moved to Georgia, where I've been stuck since.

I've heard of Southern Hospitality.  And there are some very nice people in the South, but I'm here to say that the idea that there's a chunk of hospitable country in these United States is true - it's just been warped like a nation-wide version of the telephone game.

See, what people always think of when they think Southern Hospitality - charming folks, lots of smiles, good attitudes, and a fairly safe feeling isn't in the South, but here in Texas.

Never in my life have I been to a place with this many happy people who are willing to go out of their way to help you.  Strangers smile at you, ask how you're doing, and assist with directions or offer valuable opinions.  Employees of big box stores that, in Georgia, gave you the impression that the only thing they're excited about was break-time so they can perhaps clock out and end their existence with a well-placed bullet don't seem to exist here.

Or at least not in the stores I've been to.

Driving is another thing that's a lot better here in Texas.  In Georgia, the traffic wasn't nearly as rough but no one was helpful at all.  It was very much "this is my car, this is my lane, if you want to get around, get around ME," but here, perhaps because there's so much traffic and the risk of accidents so much greater, everyone is looking out for everyone else.

When I was learning to drive my dad told me you don't just drive for you, you drive for everyone else.  "Watch for cues, let people in, speed up so they can get in behind you, basically don't be a pain in the ass."

Here, it seems most people do that.  In Georgia you'll feel like the luckiest person in the world if someone decides to go to the effort of flipping out a finger in order to turn on their turn signal.

Southern Hospitality.  Pshaw.  Texas Hospitality is more like it.

Leon Valley Barber Shop

Warner Robins, GA is lousy for a bunch of things (meaning there is a LOT of them) and just one of those things is barber shops that are staffed with people who struggle with the english language.  

For seven YEARS I put up with horrible haircuts because of lousy translations and it sucked.

So in preparation of moving, I did a little research and the first barbershop that was recommended was Leon Valley Barber Shop, which has been around for a while.  Lead barber, Dan, has been there since 1996 and took the barber shop over from his dad.

The barber shop itself is plastered with Spurs memorabilia, pennants, and pictures.  It smells like barber shops used to.  It smells like my childhood.*  It was filled with men who were watching the summer Olympics and waiting for clients to come in that were requesting them.  There was no pressure (which is nice) if you have a barber in mind.  

The shop!

The customers themselves are sitting comfortable, also watching the Olympics, very relaxed in their posture, just enjoying the day.

Dan came highly recommended so I requested him and he went to work and there an obvious difference in quality right away.  

Barbers do some pretty annoying things sometimes.  They talk to you when you don't want to talk, they ask questions when they have clippers going in your ear so you can only hear half of the question, or they sometimes get in close and breathe their nasty breath on your skin or worse, in your face so you can smell it.  Dan did none of this.  He was quiet until *I* started talking, he didn't ask questions when clippers were going (actually, even if he would have it wouldn't have been an issue because his clippers were REALLY quiet), and he was polite and kept his distance breath-wise.

There was very little moving me around to accommodate him and his work - he did all the moving - and when he was all done, he whipped out the mirror and it was the best haircut I've ever had in my life.

That's really saying something as, for a year and a half I lived with a barber who was as old-school as you can possibly be.  So old school, mind you, that instead of his barber shop smelling like...  Well, a barber shop, it smelled solely of cigarettes.  

The real test came after my haircut though, when he asked if my boy was next.  You bet he was!  Dan pulled out the bench for Adam to sit on, whipped the bib on him and started up the clippers.  Adam is a pretty timid kid and he does NOT like haircuts, mainly because of the strangers.  But here, in this strange place, surrounded by these strange people, he did fine.  He laughed and enjoyed himself, swore up and down that Dan was tickling him with the clippers and brushes, and walked away with the cutest "standard boy haircut."  

Dan sizing up Adam's mop of a head.

Adam thinks the brush is the funniest thing ever.

Brushing off the facial hair.

That's one good-looking kid!

Both haircuts finished, I pulled out my credit card and was informed that they only take cash and checks, but there's an ATM at the gas station down the road.  Dan was very nice about this faux pas of mine and didn't seemed troubled that I could potentially run away (I guess I'm easy enough to remember that if I tried to come back in I'd be in trouble).

At $15.00 per haircut, it's certainly not the cheapest haircut I've ever had, but it is the BEST haircut, so it's still a win and compared with the prices of a certain franchise where my $30.00 bill would have covered me and me alone.  

I've found my barbershop for the time that I'm in San Antonio! 

  

Annie's First Dance Class

Annie is going to her first dance class here in Texas! She's VERY excited to meet new friends and go to this new class.

As always, she's bubbling with excitement!

Kennedy's Chicago Pizza

Chicago gets overlooked far too often when it comes to pizza. Everyone's always prattling on about New York style and how wide slices are better and blah, blah, blah.

Chicago style pizza is where it's at!

Unfortunately, it's also the kind least likely to be in any town I can live in. Until now!

Enter Kennedy's Chicago Pizza. What a great place! I placed my order on the phone, waited the appropriate amount of time and headed down to the location to find that it shares a building with Smash Burger and a donut place I've never heard of (and can't remember right now).

All of them places I would like to eat.

I picked up my pizza, the Italian (which has pepperoni, salami, and Italian sausage), my kids' pizzas (6" cheese and pepperoni), and garlic bread with cheese and rushed home. The box says to keep it level so I did and I'm glad I did because my deep-dish Italian could have made quite the mess! It's deep alright, and it was loaded with huge chunks of meat. The crust was buttery and delicious, and the garlic bread was amazing. It was slightly sweet, which made the garlic all that much better (so its not so bitter), and the cheese topped it off nicely.

I got the 14" pizza, two kid-sized pizza and a whole loaf of garlic bread for about $40.00.

Is it as cheap as Domino's? No. But it is wicked tasty, VERY filling, not prohibitively expensive, and was a short enough drive that I plan to go back often. Perhaps not as often as I'd like to, but often enough.

If you're on the west side of San Antonio, call in and pick up a pie for yourself and you'll see what I mean!