What A Day!

Today was one of those "get up early and meet the deadline" type of days. My Mom had an appointment with her eye doctor for a routine checkup. The problem was...the appointment was for 10:30am and the doctor is in Houston. That's roughly 130 miles away which translates to about 2-1/2 hours of driving. Since I like driving, it's no biggie. It also didn't hurt that we've developed a tradition for every trip we make to their doctors in Houston. The appointments usually end around lunch time, so we stop at Pappas BBQ on the way back home. More about them in a minute, but first, let me tell you about some of the people I got to know in the waiting room at the doctor's office.

I'm a people person and I love watching how others interact. I also love hearing about their lives! Mind you, I didn't actually talk directly to these people, but that didn't matter. The room was small and they were loud, and I soon found out more about them than they realized. One lady that really stood out was older and had a noticeable accent. I thought it sounded German, and I soon found out I was right! She sat down next to a gentleman and began to pour out some of her history. Her husband died 2 years ago and she moved back to the U.S.A. from Berlin. I also know that she has "2 dogs that act worse than 2 ten-year-old children." The poor man looked fairly uncomfortable with the conversation and he quickly found a way to escape to another waiting area. His seat was filled by a younger lady that I can only assume was her daughter. I'm basing the assumption on the fact that they were both talking about things like storing family heirlooms and how not walking regularly can take its toll on your muscles when you try to take a stroll in the country. I wasn't eavesdropping! Like I said, the room was small and they were loud. The next time you're in public, remember...others can hear you! Enough of the chit-chat about chit-chat. Let's get to the BBQ!

If you like great BBQ and you live in the Houston area, or if you ever visit, you have got to try Pappas. They are part of a company that have restaurants for several different types of food. They have Mexican, Cajun, Seafood and BBQ covered and the amazing thing is -- they do them all extremely well! That's my humble opinion, of course. OK, I've gotta stop talking about them or I'm gonna have to go back tomorrow! Anyway, after we finished stuffing ourselves with some REALLY awesome smoked turkey, we decided to do a little shopping. We made a stop at the Tandy Leather Store then headed for the mall.

Let me toss this thought out to you here. When you're in public, not only can people hear you but they can also see you. Before you say, "Duh," let me remind you that I observe people. This time of year brings out the joy in some, and they have a wonderful glow on their faces! Sadly enough, there are others who look like they were force-fed one of those commercial sized jars of mustard. Their facial expressions look absolutely sour. We met 3 of those type of people when were getting on the elevator to come back down to the first floor of the mall. While we were waiting for them to get off of the elevator so we could get on, I noticed that they looked like they were being forced to shop at gunpoint. I decided to try to lighten things a little by saying something to cheer them up. The first thing that popped into my head was, "Welcome to the second floor!" I smiled and said it. They walked away and I never could see their faces so I don't know if it helped them or not. At least Becky and Jaden got a laugh out of it.

All in all it was a great day! Hopefully, I've helped remind you of a couple of points like: (A) People can see you and hear you when you're in public so talk and act accordingly. And (B) if you ever see me and you have an unhappy look on your face, there's a pretty good chance I'm going to say something dumb...so brace yourself! (So much for talking and acting properly in public! Oh well!)