I haven't been blogging much this week because, for a drastic change, I've actually been somewhat busy. Sunday, of course, I had Mass and then we did family stuff. I probably sat around a good bit, I don't remember. However, I do know that I packed my backpack and waxed my legs that evening to go to Houston on Monday.

I got up at five Monday morning and got showered and ready to go before my dad did. We went to Wal-Mart to get the oil changed on his car (and again they forgot to check the air pressure in the tires), and then we set off for his work. It is about a three-hour drive from the Wal-Mart, so it wasn't too bad. Plus, my dad is good company, and so am I. We didn't have to resort to the radio much at all but instead talked and planned on the way. When we got there, I met his coworkers and then was assigned to the back room for which I had been prepared, in order to install software on my dad's new computer (oh, that reminds me of the weekend, so allow me to digress...on Saturday night we went shopping at Fry's to get my dad his laptop, but he only brought his credit card and they didn't take plastic for purchases that large! So he had to go back Sunday morning and get it, which he did. However, he made it to church in plenty of time). It was rough, that first day, as some of you may recall if I happened to IM you that day. I tried to upgrade it from Windows XP Home to Pro about five times, with no success. Finally, I formatted the hard drive and was installing what I thought was Pro, but it turned out to be Home again! I didn't read the menu options right. We ended up leaving the office around six, after most people had left, but not before my dad played a rousing game of ping-pong with someone. We had a light dinner at Macaroni's Grill and then went in search of a hotel. My dad's office (well, out of the house office, because he mainly works from home) is not in the Houston city limits but rather in one of the many surrounding towns. However, we drove into south Houston to a cheap motel and stayed there for the night. Dad got XP working on the laptop, as I knew he would, although it wasn't until the next morning that we had completed installation of the drivers. That night, however, we went to a Fiesta grocery store which, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is geared towards Hispanic customers. It was great! It seemed like we were the only white people in the whole store, which on this Monday night was quite busy. My father explained that he'd been here before and that it is busy every night, probably because of the low prices and festive atmosphere. After finding some raisins, dates, and pineapple juice for snacks, my dad bought me an ice cream cone, just because earlier I had mentioned I wanted one. This was surprising to me, because I know he disagrees with ice cream on principle. Nevertheless, it was a nice, tasty waffle cone filled with super sweet piña colada ice cream, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After brushing my teeth, reading a bit (the beginning bit) of Anna Karenina, and trying to ignore a show my dad had on about the Donner Party, I went to sleep.

The next morning I was up at six--well, even a bit before that, because my dad had gotten up at five to work out kinks in XP. I showered, dressed, put on my bit of makeup, and then helped him install a couple drivers. We went down to the hotel breakfast area, and for some reason I felt compelled to sample everything. Actually, it was not so much compulsion as the knowledge that I would have nothing else to eat until probably around noon or later. I ate a large breakfast, therefore, and then we packed up and left. Installing software and getting around the office Tuesday was a lot better than Monday. I installed Office XP, Visual Studio.NET, and a lot of other little stuff, none of which posed serious problems. I got to read a lot during the installs, and so far I'm loving Anna Karenina. What a well-written book! Anyway, I know I'm not the first to observe that... For lunch, we went to a small, but acceptable, Mexican food restaurant. I'm afraid I did not eat particularly nutritiously at this meal: there was no salad to be found, apart from some jalapeño peppers. Well, my dad got all his meetings done that afternoon, so we left at five exactly, although we did stop at a Subway to get food after passing the bad part of the traffic. The drive home seemed a bit longer than the drive there, but we passed it in mostly the same manner. I turned the radio on toward the end and subjected my dad to "Crazy in Love". I don't know what it is about that song, but I happen to like it. At home, we caught up with mom and the other kids and I ate some of her great homemade bread--chocolate chip bread, which is wonderful! I don't know how late I stayed up chatting (yes, of course I was chatting), but I got to voice chat that evening with more people from Onerock. It was a lot of fun. Oh, I do remember...I got off around 10:30 p.m. and was in bed around 11.

Yesterday, I did not do that much worth noting. I didn't workout, as I haven't yet today. However, I did go to work in my dad's home office. I am doing "real" work for him now, making reports for the program that he is writing. Report-making can be a bit tedious, but I feel sure I have it very easy. I have quite a cushy life. Also yesterday I was back at the voice chat Rosary, but my microphone had problems. Something must have happened to it, with all the kids using this computer. Ah well, I bought a new one Saturday night, which I will set up on my laptop, once I get it. I am going to get my dad's old laptop, as he got a new one for work purposes. Speaking of work, I should probably get to it now, as I think my dad is almost ready for me. Later I think I will go to the river with a friend. I need to get outside more. God bless you all!