Off to the airport.....

My husband and I had to switch cars for today..... my cousins L and A left NY this morning and arrived in Houston in mid-afternoon. Couldn't pick both of them up in my two-seater car, plus the trunk on my car doesn't hold much luggage. So there I was, driving towards the airport in my husband's two-door sedan. No Barry Manilow CDs in his car.... no little stuffed black cat peeking out of the window. I had the radio on for part of the drive to the airport-- such horrible music is on the radio these days, I swear.

I left here super-early, giving myself plenty of time to get to the airport in case I hit traffic when I got near the downtown area. (Certainly no traffic at all on the country roads before you get into the city limits.) I wanted to have time to drive around and around the airport parking lot so I could get a spot closest to the doors, which I was able to do. I brought a book along so I could sit in the lobby and read.... but then I called up one of my other cousins and talked for a bit..... and then my cousin A called me to say their plane landed half an hour early-- she called right after the plane landed on the runway, thinking I might still be en route to the airport.

It's been so many years since anyone in the family has flown to Texas that it was almost surreal to see both L and A walking down the ramp from the arrival gate. So nice to see them, after all this time chatting with one another over the phone or via eMails. They both made the proper ooohs and aaahs as we drove past Houston's skyscrapers..... our downtown skyline is maybe one-tenth the size of NYC's...... so there's no comparison. We also drove past the AstroDome (old baseball stadium) and the Reliant Center (new football stadium). As we got away from the city, we started to drive past endless fields of green....... then as we got into the Hill Country, we drove by farmlands and ranches, cows and horses and donkeys... such pretty views all around. More ooohs and aaahs from my NY cousins.

They both loved the property here...... they fell in love with the guest cottage the minute they walked in the door-- and then they saw grandma's sofa in there (which we had shipped from NY three years ago).... and they said that the sofa looked very much at home here. ("But what happened to the plastic covers?" I took them off, of course. This is Texas-- no plastic sofa covers allowed.... it's a law.) Before we had dinner, I showed them all around the house....... L kept saying she couldn't get over how wonderful it all looked, even better than the photos we had sent her. She understands how we were able to say goodbye to the house we truly loved back in Clear Lake. We never thought we'd move from our "old" house..... and then we found this really old house and it was just love at first sight. For me, anyway....... I think my husband took a little bit longer. Not much, but a bit.

My cousin A brought us fresh bagels from NY.... and cookies from an Italian bakery in her neighborhood. No one has bagels like NY, and no one has bakeries like NY. My cousin A has already been on the phone to her husband, telling him that she got here safely with her mother, and that she will be planning another trip really soon so he and their youngest daughter can come back with her.

Tomorrow morning's breakfast will be fresh eggs from my chickens, and fresh bagels from NY. Life is good.