The folks at Scrapbook 911 (photo 1) hosted a private crop for us -- Patty, Karen, Heather, Amy (photo 2 - l to r). Fun fun fun. I got three pages done.

Best thing right after having a filling done. HA, cavity, we will meet again some day!

Swung by Centerpoint Station for a malt after visiting San Marcos.

Took the morning to head up to New Braunfels and the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. I tried to get a picture of the bongos, Holly, but they refused to some near the fence. It starts out with a petting zoo and cages of things that won't kill you but you shouldn't feed (primates, parrots, giraffes), and then you head out into the park and drive down the road equipped with a bag of feed so as to entice the emu, ostrich, baby zebras (oooh), scimitar-horned oryx, and Gemsbok oryx. The wily zebras are the first thing you run into that's genuinely more interested in the food than scared, and one of them quickly relieved me of that pesky bag of food. Amy -- a trip out here would be a perfect visit for Zoe's graduation. And there are more aoudads than you can shake a stick at, right before you leave the park, so don't forget to save some food if a zebra hasn't taken it all. ;)

Thanks, mlee and sami, for the well-wishes. Here's proof I made it home. An action shot of Mom and Roxy playing with a KitTea catnip toy I got off of Etsy. Sug couldn't care less. Roxy thought it was the best thing since canned tuna.

For those keeping score at home, I just made it to D.C. And a Blue line train just pulled up, so I'm heading out.

Now *this* is the way to spend a layover. Mike and Tim, y'all get this next. The comic book, not the shrimp.

After an 8 1/2 hour flight from San Antonio to Houston, I got off the plane in the terminal that has a Pappasitos. And they made me a Wave, although it's not on their abbreviated menu.

I'm confirmed on the 4:05 to National, which puts me in to National at 8:25, a mere 15 hours after leaving the house. Fortunately I happen to have my copy of Stuck at the Airport with me, so the plan now is to head off to Bubba's Seafood Grill in Terminal C.

We had really bad storms across south Texas last night, and now they're apparently hovering over Houston. So although I left for the airport at 5, it's now 9 and we're back on the ground in San Antonio, refueling to make another go of it when IAH reopens. To Continetal's credit, they boarded us and left slightly early, forseeing issues and hoping to outrun it. I was bumped to First Class, and I'm immensely appreciating it, plus my numerous back issues of The New Yorker I hadn't gotten to yet (awesome Scrabble cover seen here) and the new Sudoku Puzzler v. 2. Did my first last night and I'm already addicted, dammit.

Today is the Battle of Flowers parade down on the Riverwalk, easily the biggest Fiesta event in San Antonio. I'm gonna go watch the replay on OnDemand which means I can fast forward through the commentators' "aren't I witty" banter (Regan's note: not unless you're Tony Perkins) and avoid the crowds. Yaay!