I’ve never really been accused of being spontaneous. I mean, I’m not necessarily opposed to making spur of the moment decisions as long as I have time to compile a lengthy list of all the various pros and cons of the aforementioned impulsive action.
So when we decided to go down to William and Erin’s ranch on Thursday night, as opposed to Friday afternoon as originally planned, it was bold move. Especially considering that the weather forecast called for a 105% chance of rain and thunderstorms. But what do weathermen know?
Apparently, they knew A LOT.
Due to all the torrential rain and lightning, we didn’t end up doing much fishing. However, there was a lot of this.
That’s Caroline running back and forth between the barn and the house in the pouring rain. Before the day was over she was on her fifth change of clothes. One pair of jeans was so muddy that I was tempted to just burn them in effigy.
Anyway, we had a great time but our weekend was far from over. Caroline and I left the ranch on Friday night around 6:30 in the evening because I wanted to get home before dark, even though it meant I had to miss out on the big crawfish boil that was taking place that evening. I can’t think about it for too long or I’ll cry at the thought of all the spicy crawfish I didn’t get to eat.
On Saturday morning, Gulley and I loaded up the kids and headed to College Station to take them to an Aggie baseball game that evening. We almost let the ominous clouds steal our joy but we are optimists at heart so we forged on, fortified by occasional glimpses of sunshine and a multitude of Diet Cokes.
Even though at one point Gulley had to threaten the backseat with the fact that we know plenty of babysitters in the Bryan/College Station area who could stay home with whoever decided to keep whining and fighting.
When we arrived at Honey and Big’s house, we were greeted with a huge tray of sandwiches and some hot crab dip that may have changed my life and definitely had an impact on my hips. Best of all, Nena was there to join us for lunch and I could sit and listen to Nena for hours.
At one point during lunch, Nena made a comment about how beautiful Caroline’s teeth are and how much she values good teeth. I told her I hoped they’d stay that way because I already spent all our allotted orthodontia money on myself. Then Nena said, “Honey, listen, I hate to speak ill of the dead, but my mother-in-law had the worst teeth I’ve ever seen.”
And it made me feel that all the trauma, pain and expense of my adult orthodontia was worth it because I’d hate to think people would be talking about my teeth even after I’m dead and buried.
Later that evening, we went to Olsen Field to watch the Aggies play Nebraska. There is honestly not another place I’d rather be on a Saturday evening in the spring. It’s magic and hasn’t really changed in the last twenty years, except that I’m now old enough to be the mother of the baseball players which is really depressing.
Granted, I’d have had to be a teen mother, but still the math works without it being any kind of qualification for the Guiness Book of World Records.
Also, I don’t recognize a lot of the songs they play at the field because some of them are that new rap music the kids are so fond of these days.
Not to mention that the popcorn gets stuck in my dentures.
Caroline and Jackson were so excited for the game to start.
Will was just excited for the cotton candy and the kettle corn which is where he was when the picture was taken.
The Aggies won 10-1, but the real winner was the concession stand who made untold amounts of money through our eating efforts. I’ll just go on record and say I had the best hotdog I’ve had in years. Even Caroline ate an entire hot dog by herself which is more than she’s eaten for the last three weeks combined.
When we woke up Sunday morning, Big had gone to Shipley’s for a kolache and chocolate donut run. Breakfast of champions. Breakfast of champions with high cholesterol and arteriosclerosis.
Gulley and I began to talk about what time we should hit the road for the trip back to San Antonio. We decided it would probably be best to leave around noon so we could get home with plenty of time to unwind and get ready for the week. That was the wise and sensible thing to do.
Look where we found ourselves instead.
We experienced a complete fit of uncharacteristic spontaneity and decided it would be fun to stay in town and go to the last game in the series at 1:00.
It was so fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants and devil-may-care that I felt like we were in college again, except we traded the beer for three kids, two husbands, and a couple of thirty-year mortgages.
We packed up the car, went back to the baseball field and watched the Aggies beat Nebraska 10-1 AGAIN. It was about the most glorious weather you can imagine and I celebrated with another hot dog because apparently I am trying to kill myself with a steady diet of processed pork with a side of cotton candy.
Totally worth it.
I also may have eaten some peanuts as evidenced by the cuff of my jeans.
I didn’t use the cuff as a peanut shell receptacle on purpose. I also didn’t intend for my sunglasses to sit totally crooked on my face. Gulley pointed it out to me because she couldn’t take anything I said seriously. Instead of looking like Tammy Taylor from “Friday Night Lights” in my Ray-Ban knock-offs, I looked like Harry Caray.
Actually, I looked more like Will Ferrell playing Harry Caray.
We were all so happy to be there. Even Caroline and Will were totally in love yesterday.
And when it was all said and done, the kids got to run the bases.
I just wish we could do it again tomorrow.
Our plan to brainwash them into becoming future Aggies is working beautifully.
