Semi-Super 8

For Joe, TripAdvisor.com is his travel bible. Hotel? Restaurant? Things to do? We make no moves until we consult with TA. So when booking our room for the Austin part of our trip, we booked at the #2 hotel in Austin, the Super 8 Austin Airport, South.

It had been years since we last stayed at a Super 8 and it's not usually high on our list of preferred accommodations but considering the reviews and the price ($220 all-inclusive for 3 nights), we decided to go for it. After a quick search, I even found a coupon for a free upgrade that landed us in the "Business Suite."

The location was fine. It wasn't right in the thick of the action, but it wasn't too far away. It was near a major highway so downtown was very accessible. The rooms weren't necessarily luxurious but they were clean, functioning, and safe. Every morning, a nice little breakfast buffet (as long as someone doesn't eat all the bacon before you wander downstairs) and each evening, chocolate chip (coconut-free) cookies!

But on the first morning, the bedside alarm went off at 6am. I'm not sure if this was an alarm the previous guest had set and house keeping did not UNset, or if this was an unadvertised "amenity" in the business suite. Either way, I managed to throw the clock across the room silence the alarm and go back to sleep for a bit.

Due to the low rates, it's possible that the hotel did not pay their electric bill. Or maybe there was a murderer on the loose. One dark and stormy quiet evening as we prepared to watch a little tv on the laptop before bed, the power went out. At Motel 6, they'll leave the light on for you. At Super 8? Not guaranteed. "No worries," said the front desk. Also, no ETA on power restoration. I brushed my teeth by the glow of candlelight iPad and called it a night.

The only other odd thing I noticed about the hotel was that they located the "business suite" right next door to the "family suite" - in what world does that make any sense? Also, don't those children EVER sleep? And are there about forty of them over there, judging by the noise?  Or maybe a herd of obese hyenas?

Overall, it wasn't a bad hotel. I don't know if we'd stay there on a return trip, but nobody stabbed me to death in the shower so I consider it a win.

The Bad Handshake

I'm going to start sharing some stories from our recent trip to Texas. I met a million of Joe's cousins and their kids plus a friend of mine in Houston, then we met another friend in Austin and just did some random wandering around. By the time I run out of Texas stories, I should be back from a trip to see our families in NY/PA and hopefully I'll have tales to tell from that trip. If we're lucky, these stories will not involve breaking any babies.

They say you can tell a lot about a person by their handshake. I've always been very proud of mine - I think it's firm and shows that I am not some weak little girl. After spending years working in IT and in government, I liked to think that my handshake at least gave me a fighting chance of establishing myself as someone who would not be walked all over.

Then, in Texas, I met a bunch of Joe's cousins. It was a bit overwhelming for little old me with the whole travel anxiety and stranger anxiety and crowd anxiety and my deeply held belief that "family" is the ultimate F-word. Still, I kicked ass and did you all proud. There was no vomiting, no shaking, no sticking my foot too far into my mouth.

Upon introductions, some of the family hugged. Some shook hands. Some knocked over wine glasses with their tales (ok, that might've been the dog). But I hugged and shook and tipped back glasses of wine with the best of them.

Except the ONE cousin. It was like the worst handshake ever. Somehow my thumb ended up inside the handshake with all my other fingers and it was just weird. Not her fault. Not mine. Just a missed handshake. A week later, it's still on my mind. My handshake is awesome, I swear! But now, I'm "strange handshake girl".

Or, maybe I'm just "paranoid girl" or "over-thinking girl" and she didn't even notice. Yeah, entirely possible. But you can be sure that if our paths cross again? She is getting the best handshake EVER!

What's on Draft? A Link-Up

I'll start by confessing that for years I asked what beers a bar had on draft. Thank goodness for homophones so they didn't realize I'm a moron. But when I saw "draught", I thought that was pronounced drought.

But this post isn't really about beer. At least, it wasn't supposed to be. It's supposed to be about the infamous draft folder we all have tucked away in our blogs. That place where great ideas never quite got off the ground. A holding cell for the posts we aren't brave enough to publish. Every so often I like to go through and remove a bunch that I don't think are worth keeping. Like recently, this happened:



No, I have no idea what I was thinking when I punched "new post" and typed that in. There wasn't even any content beyond the title. It's like when you scribble yourself a really important note but then when you find it again later you can't remember what it was about.

I was thinking how fun it might be to take a sneak peak into your draft folders. If a million people anyone is interested, I can set this up as a linky in a few days - just let me know in the comments.

Regardless, I'll post my draft folder soon. It's an interesting place sometimes, inside my head.

The What's on Draft? link-up will happen on May 20th! Come back that day to share and poke around some draft folders!

P.S.And now I see that both draught AND draft are acceptable when referring to beers. So I've confessed to being stupid with no real purpose.
P.P.S. And also Joe has informed me that it makes more sense all around to ask what's on tap. Brilliant.
P.P.P.S I swear I was sober when I wrote this post.

Six Word Saturday

Texas was awesome, going "home" next

I'm just catching my breath between trips. Joe's currently in FL and next weekend we'll be visiting family back "home" in NY and PA.  

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Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing. I love seeing what everyone does with their entries.

Each week (probably on Sunday or Monday), I use random.org to select a bunch of entries to visit.  Or I visit everyone. Depends on what's going on that week.  In addition, please visit the person ahead of you on the list (or visit everyone if you like!). That way everyone receives at least one visit!

If you play along in your blog, please add a link to the Mr. Linky. I appreciate a link back (shiny code below if you like!). Otherwise, you're welcome to leave your six words in this post as a comment.

Please be sure to link either to your main page or (preferably) directly to the 6WS post. Links to blogs that do not contain a 6WS entry will be removed (sorry, just the button in the sidebar doesn't count as participating).

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I'm Back!

Oh, blog and bloggy friends, how I have missed you!!! I've returned from an amazing trip to Texas and I have so many adventures to share. Pages and pages of notes for random crap inspired stories.

Just give me a chance to catch my breath and I promise lots of new posts next week. Maybe one tomorrow. Plus, technically today is First Fursday and it's possible that the fur-freaks have queued up a post while I was away.

So glad to be back!

P.S. REWARD OFFERED! If anyone caught the description and/or plate number of the allergy truck that ran me over in the Houston airport yesterday, I will send you seven hundred forty-six MEELION dollars all the cat hair you can eat.

P.P.S. A girl goes away for a few days and Blogger changes stuff. Why are my labels on the left? What's this "location" thing? My location is undisclosed, psychos!

P.P.P.S. Anyone know where I can buy a kid-sized pink or purple bandana?

P.P.P.P.S To the person who left a comment about grabbing a drink in Houston: I just saw your message now. Dammit!