Preparing for Eat Week...

There is no doubt in my mind that this coming Thanksgiving week will produce increased girth on my waist. If I could only limit stuffing myself with turkey and potatoes and, well, stuffing, perhaps it wouldn't be an issue. I'm one of those who doesn't really pig out plate after plate on Thanksgiving. The problem is, all the ancillary eating we'll be doing now through next weekend.

It started Saturday when we had to run multiple errands in Alamo Ranch. I needed some items from Penny's (love those $10 off coupons they send) and then we had to run into Best Buy (am I the only person who purchases a new printer based strictly on the type of ink cartridges I have at home?) and we also had to run into Home Depot to grab something. By the time all that was over, my wife and I both realized that we had not even had breakfast, and it was already opening time at Logan's Roadhouse.
My wife had some sort of appetizer combo with cheese sticks, chicken tenders and potato skins. I think most of it is sitting in a Styrofoam container in our refrigerator as I type this, but she liked the parts she ate.
I had the catfish, onion petals and a skewer of veggies. That veggie skewer really does taste as though they cooked it on a grill as opposed to popping it in the microwave. My preference though would be to have it cooked for like another ten minutes. I know, not as healthy that way, but I like it. You can read more about Logan's Roadhouse here.
We went to HEB and saw a dog in the back of a pick-up truck that looked a lot like Gracie, just bigger and less like la chupacabras.

Later in the afternoon, we went to the airport to pick up our daughter and her little dogie, Panda. Okay, "little" might be an understatement. The dog is a porker at 20 pounds. If you don't remember Panda, read about her here.
By the way, while we were waiting at the airport, I had to hit the men's room. San Antonio is quickly modernizing things. In fact, check out the new space-age urinal they have. You are completely dry before you ever zip up your pants, though the floor seemed to be wet..

Anyway, I have always wondered if dogs have really long memories, you know, like an elephant or something. I don't know if it had anything to do with memory or not, but Panda seemed to know us right away. And my daughter also knew us! It has been two years since Panda moved to New Jersey and I was really worried about how Gracie might react to seeing her.
When we first walked in the door, Panda seemed happy to see Gracie - either that or she just likes to sniff dogs butts a lot. Gracie on the other hand, was very timid. If we could understand her language, I'm sure she was saying, "Who is this portly little dog who keeps sniffing my butt?"

After a little while, we let them hang out together and we took my daughter to get her fix. How many of you leave San Antonio for a while and come back knowing that the crap people try to pass off as authentic Mexican or worse, Tex-Mex, can only be corrected by going to your favorite San Antonio establishment. My daughter tells me that she went to a place in New Jersey that was supposed to be good and apparently, they felt good was worth $67.00 for two people. The equivalent quantity of tacos, rice and beans and a few lemonades would cost you $12-$15 at any place like Tink-a-Tako or such. And of course, it would taste much better.
We went to ChaCho's over on Bandera and got a half-order of fajita nachos. There is just something about that gooey, gov'ment cheese, melted all over the crispy chips and the chopped up beef fajita meat that says, Welcome Home.
And when we had all stuffed ourselves, there was only one hunk of nacho and one hunk of avocado left - and of course we let Roxanne have the honors.

Our son will arrive this afternoon, and for the first time in a while, we'll have both kids, both dogs and all of us eager to hit some of the regular dining locales. Well, the dogs might be eager, but they won't be coming with. Regardless, if you happen to be out and about this week, you just may see us; we'll be the family with our eatin' pants on.