Busy Day

After a misty walk around Fort Sam Houston we headed to the Market in downtown San Antonio so Ta Yah could find some souvenirs to take home. What's a trip without taking back 'stuff', usually somewhat tacky stuff?! Before shopping though it was eating at Mi Tierra at the Market...

Bob, Ta Yah and Ellen

And dessert! Fried ice cream was totally new for Ta Yah....

Fried ice cream

After shopping, which got NO photos, we headed by the Alamo. How could we pass up the most visited spot in Texas? Only Ta Yah and I braved the rain. She got the fastest tour of the Alamo on record!!

Rain at the Alamo! We got soaked!

After returning home and drying out a bit we headed over to Michele's. She cuts my hair and agreed to give Ellen and Ta Yah both a trim. We all had a fun time visiting and playing with the two dogs, Shiloh and Scooter.

I like it!

Then back home to Ta Yah's first ever meal in an American home. Wow! Bob did a fine job feeding us!!

Dinner at the Kiser's!

What a privilege to have Ta Yah in our home. Talking with her about her life has certainly made us much more aware of all that we have. It's good to be reminded of so much that we take for granted every day.

Blessings,

gk

Ta Yah's First Day On Fort Sam

Ta Yah has been in the US for 4 years. She had never been in a car and now she is driving. She didn't speak English before and now she speaks English very well. She works hard to care for her family and her community. I am so impressed by her. What an amazing young lady!

We had miserable rainy and overcast weather but we went out for a walk anyway. 

Ta Yah and Ellen on Staff Post

 

 

 

Posing by the biggest house on the street

Ellen cannot resist any bug-like critter.

 

Ta Yah is a star! (That's a tank back there.)

Silliness around the big guns

 

Posing with the copter (Notice we are not climbing on it!)

The experience of an ordinary walk in the neighborhood becomes extraordinary when you are with family and friends!

Blessings,

gk

Airport Pick-up

We woke up to a damp, chilly, overcast day. Bleah! But I'm warm inside because about noon a flight arrived with these two on board!

Ta Yah and Ellen

Kid #3 showed up with a friend, Ta Yah. They have not admitted to bringing the nasty weather but it's great to see them anyway. Ta Yah and Ellen work together at Catholic Charities in Jacksonville, FL. Ta Yah is Karen (an ethnic group from the country of Burma) but was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. It's so interesting and fun to meet someone with such a different background than our own. I never get tired of that!! Off to enjoy.....

Blessings,
gk

About the House

Everyone keeps asking about the house and why I have not posted it on the blog. I confess I feel a bit cautious about doing that as I really have no way to know who all is looking at the blog. I can track how many looks I get in each country and you'd be amazed! But I've decided to post some of my favorite things about this house. Keep in mind that our present home was built in 1880 and has some issues!

First of all I LOVE that the laundry room is IN the house and not out on the back porch! Also, this room is not a pass through to the garage. No worries about having clothes on the floor or hanging up. As you can see there is room for an extra refrigerator and a freezer too. Great for when we have a party or lots of company. We go through LOTS of Diet Coke! 8^)

Next, there is a huge master bathroom!

That's Dora, our realtor. What a great help she has been. I highly recommend her! This is only about half the space in there. There's another sink and a fairly long counter to the left. The open space behind the shower is the closet. There's a window in there and the opening at the top lets light shine into the whole room. We may actually be able to get ALL our clothes in this one closet!

The back yard is pretty small with NO grass to mow. There's only a small bit of grass out front. Woo hoo!!! This is about half area seen from an upstairs window. The present owners have a bunch of bird feeders out and there were all manner of squirrels and birds around. I love watching such creatures. And I'm thinking that corner over there might be just the spot for a hot tub. Hmmmm!

The leaded front door is just beautiful! And I just so happen to have some art work that will fit in that niche and the matching one out of range of the photo....

Lastly, lots of big windows letting in tons of light. This is important to me as I do not do well in a dark home. Seasonal Affective Disorder is REAL!

So there you have it.....a bit about the house which is not really ours yet. Hopefully all will be signed and sealed by mid-April. I'm hoping to make a few changes before we move in and then life becomes a giant 3-D puzzle for a while as everything finds a spot in the new place!

Blessings,

gk

What's This??!

This might help a bit.....

 

When I went to bed last night this was attached to a tree in front of our house.

 Sadly, it is now on the ground. I think this tree may be done for soon!

 

We had gusty winds but no more so than on many other nights. I'm just glad nothing was under there at the time. That would have been in the really bad box!

I spent four and one half hours today with a crew of inspectors for the house we want to buy. They were VERY thorough to say the least. My head was reeling with information before it was all done. Sheesh. The house is in overall great shape but like any building of about 20 years there are a few issues. Most I can live with but a couple of things need to be addressed before a sale finalizes. We'll see! 

I did meet the current owner. They are retired Air Force and they also have four daughters. How about that? 

I'm wipe out!!

Blessings,

gk

Lunch in New Braunfels

Life has been flying along at warp speed lately. We now know that Bob is retiring so we made an offer on a house here in San Antonio. Closing will be sometime in mid-April if all goes well. I'm not totally sure when we'll move as we might have some changes made before we move. We'll see!

Meanwhile, I was very happy to be invited to lunch with my friend Julissa. We elected to check out New Braunfels, TX which is only about 30 minutes away. Julissa is one of those people who really hates to be in photos but it turns out she has been itching to get hold of my camera so I let her play with it!

Huisache Grill

Of course, I had to check out the meaning of such an unusual word as 'huisache'. Turns out it is a North American tropical tree in the acacia family. Mimosas are in there too but huisache has thorns. It also has yellow flowers and it is sometimes used in perfumery. Cool.

And my salmon salad was yummy! I would definitely recommend this restaurant but it's a little hard to find. It sits back behind another building and is _right_ by the railroad track. Don't go for a quiet meal!!

New Braunfels is an old town so there are historical markers all over. Here's a site with a bit of the local history: http://ci.new-braunfels.tx.us/index.aspx?nid=823 Here are some things that caught my eye.....

Railroad Museum

Louis Henne Building-1893

Tin ceiling

Brick sidewalks

Old tile entry to building

The original Comal County courthouse, built in New Braunfels in 1859, no longer exists. They now have this 'new' building that was built in 1899. There is a move to restore historic county courthouses in Texas ( http://www.thc.state.tx.us/courthouses/chthcpp.shtml ). Obviously, Comal County is on the list because the court house on the side of the town square is covered in scaffolding. Maybe I can return in a few years and see how it looks then!

Comal County Courthouse

Blessings,
gk

Next Step

We got official word yesterday that Bob will be retiring this year. Even though we were really expecting to hear this it was still a bittersweet moment. We've been a Navy family for almost 38 years! It's a little scary to step out into the unknown, the next phase of our life. Retirement clenches the fact that we are getting old, not that my body has not already figured that fact out on its own!

Nevertheless, we have been preparing for this event and had already been out looking at houses. I really liked this one, he liked that one, etc. But there was one that we both liked. When this happens you have to go with it for sure, so we made an offer on that house today. Now for more waiting to see what they think of the offer.

After leaving the realtor's office (Dora has been just great, BTW!) we drove around a bit and found out some more about the neighborhood. Here are some of the things we found.....

Not one but......

TWO Starbucks!

Breakfast place for Bob

Navy Federal Credit Union...it's a sign surely!

But the best thing we came across today, without a doubt, was 

Pasha Mediterranean Grill!!!

A grand chandelier....

.....great food......

......and great company!

 

A GOOD day!

Blessings,
gk