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Friday, June 22, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
My Brother
My brother gets married this weekend. It's kind of crazy to think about. Needless to say, I am so happy for him and Cindy. Eight years ago, Ben was my best-man for our wedding. (Wow, he was 17 then!), and I was proud to have him as my best man. I am honored that he has asked me to be his, (although really, I don't think he had a lot of choice in the matter.) Ben is six years younger than me, which is quite a gap for brothers. We have always gotten along just fine, but as he got older, we have been able to be more on a peer level than just an older brother, younger brother thing. But, I guess during these times in our lives, we are supposed to get a little sentimental, so here it goes...
I remember:
...playing countless whiffle ball games in the front yard, each of us mimicking batter stances such as Geno Petralli, Julio Franco, and Mickey Tettleton.
...playing basketball where we "drafted players" and had to play like them during the game. For instance, if you picked Hakeem Olajuwon, you had to take the ball down low to score, but if you picked John Paxson, you could shoot from three-point range (which was behind the hibiscus plant). Also, since I was older and bigger, I wasn't allowed offensive rebounds or blocks. If we played now, the rules would definitely need to be reversed.
...drawing up football plays for the big Thanksgiving cousin football game.
Then Ben grew up. I remember:
...Spring Training in Port Charlotte.
...awesome Maverick play-off games against the Kings.
...the nervous walk to A&M graduation.
...relationship talk.
One of the biggest changes from Ben's youth to adulthood is his feeling toward public displays of affection. Jessica, Ben, and I drove home once from Galveston. We had celebrated Thanksgiving there and for some reason were leaving before everyone else. Ben said he was disgusted by Jessica and I holding hands. Cindy changed that feeling for Ben.
In our wedding program, I put Psalm 1 by Ben's name in the program. He is living up to that Psalm. I am glad Ben is my brother. We wish Cindy and Ben much happiness in marriage, and know that as they remain "trees planted by streams of water" God will strengthen their love for each other for their entire lives.
We are glad to finally be able to call Cindy, Aunt Cindy, for our kids. And we hope that we will be a good aunt and uncle to their children as well one day. Who knows - it could happen in about 9 months now.
I remember:
...playing countless whiffle ball games in the front yard, each of us mimicking batter stances such as Geno Petralli, Julio Franco, and Mickey Tettleton.
...playing basketball where we "drafted players" and had to play like them during the game. For instance, if you picked Hakeem Olajuwon, you had to take the ball down low to score, but if you picked John Paxson, you could shoot from three-point range (which was behind the hibiscus plant). Also, since I was older and bigger, I wasn't allowed offensive rebounds or blocks. If we played now, the rules would definitely need to be reversed.
...drawing up football plays for the big Thanksgiving cousin football game.
Then Ben grew up. I remember:
...Spring Training in Port Charlotte.
...awesome Maverick play-off games against the Kings.
...the nervous walk to A&M graduation.
...relationship talk.
One of the biggest changes from Ben's youth to adulthood is his feeling toward public displays of affection. Jessica, Ben, and I drove home once from Galveston. We had celebrated Thanksgiving there and for some reason were leaving before everyone else. Ben said he was disgusted by Jessica and I holding hands. Cindy changed that feeling for Ben.
In our wedding program, I put Psalm 1 by Ben's name in the program. He is living up to that Psalm. I am glad Ben is my brother. We wish Cindy and Ben much happiness in marriage, and know that as they remain "trees planted by streams of water" God will strengthen their love for each other for their entire lives.
We are glad to finally be able to call Cindy, Aunt Cindy, for our kids. And we hope that we will be a good aunt and uncle to their children as well one day. Who knows - it could happen in about 9 months now.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Camping
On Father's Day eve, Grant and I started a new tradition of camping out in our backyard. We set up the tent, built a fire in an enclosed fire grill, got our coat hangers ready, a
nd cooked hot dogs and roasted marshmallows. Then, as the sun went down, we crawled into the tent, read a book together, and went to sleep. Of course, it took a while to go to sleep. Grant began asking about a thousand questions, of which I knew only about half the answers, but I tried to answer them all. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain, but we stayed dry inside the tent. We were also bug free, which was a plus. It was one of the most fun nights of my life - even thinking about it now makes my heart fill with joy. Grant had such a fun time that he thinks we should camp out every Saturday, only he wants to get a bigger tent so the whole family can camp out too. He was concerned that Claire would be sad that she wasn't camping with us. Anyway, a new tradition began - I can't wait until next year!
nd cooked hot dogs and roasted marshmallows. Then, as the sun went down, we crawled into the tent, read a book together, and went to sleep. Of course, it took a while to go to sleep. Grant began asking about a thousand questions, of which I knew only about half the answers, but I tried to answer them all. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain, but we stayed dry inside the tent. We were also bug free, which was a plus. It was one of the most fun nights of my life - even thinking about it now makes my heart fill with joy. Grant had such a fun time that he thinks we should camp out every Saturday, only he wants to get a bigger tent so the whole family can camp out too. He was concerned that Claire would be sad that she wasn't camping with us. Anyway, a new tradition began - I can't wait until next year!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Arlington Steak House - Stop #2
A week ago, our "Arlington Iconic Dinner Society" or AIDS for short, met again on Division Street for dinner #2 - Arlington Steak House. Growing up, I feel like we went there at least twice a month. The place never changes. It is still the same, although thanks to Arlington's smoking ordinances, it is less smokey. As we perused the menu with our friends, we all knew what we had to order - the chicken fried steak - "Voted best in Arlington." (No year given, and the menus hadn't been re-printed in a while, so who knows if this is an annual award or not.) So all eight of us were set - I don't think anyone ordered anything different on the menu.
While waiting for our meal, we of course were treated to rolls and honey. This is perhaps my favorite part of Arlington Steak House, and the first batch was very good. Here's my theory though with Arlington Steak House and their rolls. The first batch are always good. When a table orders a second batch, they must have a different set of rolls made that aren't as good or fresh so that people won't request a third batch. Sure enough, our second batch of rolls were not as fresh and not nearly as good. I don't know why they do this, but it has always been this way.
Then out came our chicken fried steaks. I had forgotten to remind everyone that the gravy is yellow. It kind of looks like banana pudding. And if you ever go into the restaurant, you will notice that the walls are the same color as the gravy. I was used to this color from childhood, but it caught others off guard. But the food was good. I liked it better than Catfish Sam's.
The decor is old - again, nothing has changed in that place ever. The parking is always bad; however, we were eating late, so it was not much of a problem this time. And then there's the side door. This dirty, green, employees only door that is on the west side of the building is one of the creepiest doors in all of Arlington. I don't want to ever see the other side of that door. It freaks me out a little.
All in all, our second stop on Division Street was a great success. Good company, pretty good food. I would give Arlington Steak House an 9 out of 10. If they can just get that second batch of rolls better, I would be much happier.
While waiting for our meal, we of course were treated to rolls and honey. This is perhaps my favorite part of Arlington Steak House, and the first batch was very good. Here's my theory though with Arlington Steak House and their rolls. The first batch are always good. When a table orders a second batch, they must have a different set of rolls made that aren't as good or fresh so that people won't request a third batch. Sure enough, our second batch of rolls were not as fresh and not nearly as good. I don't know why they do this, but it has always been this way.
Then out came our chicken fried steaks. I had forgotten to remind everyone that the gravy is yellow. It kind of looks like banana pudding. And if you ever go into the restaurant, you will notice that the walls are the same color as the gravy. I was used to this color from childhood, but it caught others off guard. But the food was good. I liked it better than Catfish Sam's.
The decor is old - again, nothing has changed in that place ever. The parking is always bad; however, we were eating late, so it was not much of a problem this time. And then there's the side door. This dirty, green, employees only door that is on the west side of the building is one of the creepiest doors in all of Arlington. I don't want to ever see the other side of that door. It freaks me out a little.
All in all, our second stop on Division Street was a great success. Good company, pretty good food. I would give Arlington Steak House an 9 out of 10. If they can just get that second batch of rolls better, I would be much happier.
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