Time to go home

Well its been a great little visit but now it is time to go home.

I have pictures but it will have to wait until I get home to post them.   We spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to work automatic sprinklers so the grass will stay green, and the trees watered.  Who knew they could be so complicated?

Simon is staying down here with his brother and sister in law, so we decided he can be in charge of lawn care.  Yesterday we went to Home Depot to make pick up a cheapo lawn mower, and a few things for the house. I decided to go ahead and apply for a card there, to make purchasing easier.  TC was behind me in line with his own cart of stuff, when the cashier sent me to the service counter with my items to complete my application and pay for my goods.   When we were done, I found TC and he asked if we were all set, I said we were and away we went.  The alarms went off as we exited, but the cashier waved us on.

An hour or 2 later, we came to realize that one of the items we purchased would not work for us. TC asked for the receipt, I asked what he did with "his"receipt.

"I didn't pay for anything, remember, you did."

"Um, I only paid for the items I had in my cart."

We checked my receipt, sure enough, we had walked out without paying for the lawn mower and a few other things.  Whoopsie!

So then came the chore of trying to explain what had happened to the manager, and that we honestly didn't mean to steal those items.   It was kind of hilarious actually and the manager was so happy that we came back, she went ahead and took 50 dollars off our bill!  I guess it does pay to be honest.   I won't say that just keeping our mouths shut didn't cross our minds, but there was just no way I was going to have that bad karma hanging over our heads.  No Way!!!

So I've been here a little over 24 hours and already resorting to a life of crime!

Last night we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  I will not be going back there again.  Not because the food was bad, in fact is was delish, but I cannot stand a restaurant that adds the tip into your bill.  I am generally a pretty generous tipper if my server does a decent job.  I know that waitressing isn't easy, and I respect those women and men who do it and do it well.  BUT I think that what I decide to tip should be my call not theirs.  They decided that 18% was the magic number.  I felt like she had earned a solid 15%, but had no choice but to pay the 18%.  Also if I had not looked closely at the ticket I could have easily tipped her another 15%.  Not cool!

I really love our new neighborhood.  I thought it was wonderful how many people on our street made a point of driving by  very slowly to check out what was going on at a house that they knew was empty.  It could just be that they  were being nosy, but it seemed as though once they realized that we were working on the house, they went on their way.   I like that they are paying attention.

There are so many horses in that area, and it seems like quite a few donkeys too.  Many of them look wonderful! Well bred and well fed.  It is nice to see that.  Although there was one boarding stable in particular that made me sad, some of the horses I saw there were skin and bones.  Then another place I went past has a palomino paint who has some seriously deformed front legs.  He looked relatively well cared for as did the other animals there, but his front legs splay out to both sides so badly he can hardly walk.  He didn't seem to be in a lot of pain, he just walks funny.  I wonder why he is like that?  

 I also am surprised at how many have no shade.   I couldn't even imagine having to stand out in a dry lot with no shade all day every day.  I guess to a lot of people they are just livestock.

I actually think I want to extend my shade for my horses at this new place, because there are times of the day when they will not have any at all. Danny is all about standing around in the shade.

Well it is about time to go get on a plane.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.