On Friday my family and I tore ourselves away from the Olympic track events and headed down to Conroe to meet our friends the Giesens at their lake house. Floating in the glassy calm under the stars after a month of dissertation writing was exactly what I needed. And I enjoyed it even more  because that very afternoon I had turned in my dissertation for my advisor to have another look. So right now I can't do any more on it. On top of that, I had left the house only once in two weeks thanks to a horrible respiratory infection, so it felt fantastic to see the world outside of my bedroom again.

    After brunch and a morning swim on Saturday, we packed up and headed down to the Giesens' house in Houston. That night my hubby showed us a bunch of his India and Kenya slides--so many fascinating faces in the world. And some pretty cool animals, too. After downing pineapple, strawberry, and mango smoothies, we called it a night.

   Sunday morning we worshiped at City of Refuge, our church-away-from-home in Houston. It's a multiracial congregation that we always love to join. And afterward Leigh McLeroy joined us all at El Pueblito, a restaurant in the museum district known for its awesome patio. Though a thunderstorm kept us indoors, we enjoyed yummy food. My shrimp tacos on fresh corn tortillas came with generous amounts of grilled goodness.
   
The trip home included great sunset views. The weather has ranged from 95 to 106 degrees, but folks south of us have had enough rain to keep the drive fairly green. And we had the A/C and tunes to keep us happy. Not to mention a can of Cheetos the Giesens gave us as we departed. Good times.