Whaaaa????

I have been traveling quite a bit lately for work but iIt had been a really long time since I took a road trip, just me, myself and I when I drove to OKC a few weeks ago. Well, half of it was with me, myself and I - the other half was with my sweet friend Angela. She rode with me to OKC, then I made my way back to New Braunfels solitaire, stopping half way in Fort Worth for a Randy Rogers Band show and a great dinner with my aunt and uncle. The miles and time flew by too fast almost - and I realized how much I missed just driving. I listened to what I wanted, thought about what I wanted, and stopped when I wanted. Please, don't think I don't love traveling with others...it's just that I used to spend many many days and nights driving by myself, either to and from college or hauling horses somewhere. I did a lot of soul searching in those days. And it felt good to do it again...

But once again, I have strayed from the point of this post...

While I was cruising along somewhere between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, I was listening to one of the comedy channels on XM. The comedian mentioned a carpet rake...A CARPET RAKE...my mind raced back in time (imagine the technique used in movies where it appears as though the camera is traveling at warp speed down a hall filled with all the items representing things in your past and screeching to a stop on one...brown...carpet rake). I hadn't thought of raking carpet in years. It used to be "my chore." We had lime green carpet in one of our houses and LOTS of it...my job was to rake it in between vacuuming. Rake downstairs, rake upstairs, rake the stairs...why didn't we just vacuum? So I texted my mom. "Why did we rake our carpet?" Her reply was that the lovely green shag was so long that we were afraid of what had been lost in it. So I looked up carpet rakes online. I was surprised to learn that they are alive and well on most happy homemaker sites...



I bet you're surprised to learn that we (okay, I) don't own one.

TARP YOUR TRUCKS, PEOPLE!

 Notice the snaps snapped and the tarp tarpped. This is the proper way for a gravel truck to fly down I-35 at 80 miles per hour. 

Notice the visible piles of dirt, pebbles and rocks. This is NOT the proper way for a gravel truck to fly down I-35 at 80 miles per hour. (Please disregard the large quantities of snow - this photo is being used for "improper gravel hauling on I-35" purposes only.)

The best sushi I never thought I'd try...

Friday was Shannon's birthday so all the girls got together for dinner at Sushi Zushi and went to Helotes to see Adam Carroll and Todd Snider. We had a BLAST! Maybe it was because it had been so long since all of us had a chance to be together and focus on each other and catch UP with each other...maybe because it was a beautiful night to be at Floore's Country Store...maybe it was the sushi. Whatever it was, it was sooooo appreciated and needed. 

Keeping with the spirited spirit of the night, I vowed to try something new at Sushi Zushi. I caught a glimpse of our neighbor's plate (which I have to admit appealed to me because it looked like watermelon and avocado mixed together - strange in and of itself) and decided that no matter what it was, I was going to try it. 

Come to find out, it was Tuna Tar Tar. Now, growing up with a cattleman of a dad, I have a super duper adversity to the phrase "tar tar" and all that it entails. Not to mention the fact that when I asked the waiter about it, he described it like this: 

"It's raw tuna, tenderized and diced, served with sliced avocado and topped with the eggs of four different types of flying fish."

The ONLY thing that rang yummy to my ears was "avocado." And I know, some of you are rolling over (or your stomachs are) at the thought of the rest of that dish - as did, quite honestly, mine. But I have tried and loved tuna - seared, rare, in sushi, out of sushi...so how bad could it be. 

IT WAS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER PUT IN MY MOUTH. I almost asked for a fork because my desire to get it into my mouth far exceeded my chopstick deftness. So I refrained, and instead slowly savored every bit of it. 

The moral of the story is that I have been reminded - by a simple but scrumptious culinary dish - that there are grand rewards in being brave, and that new things may sound scary and "fishy," but end up being...well, delicious. 

My tidbit for you? Be brave today.