In the city.... the city of Houston... we keep it rockin

OK, here’s the weekend in review: Erin’s b-day was March 2nd…… she is now 23. Coincidentally, so am I. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, I committed a major violation of family tradition on Erin’s b-day…. Which I have to admit is both bogus and sad.

For b-days…… one usually receives a pancake with a candle in it upon waking up. This thought escaped me until Thursday when I was asking Robyn about her birthday traditions (Happy b-day Robyn - March 5)….. so that’s pretty weak. Anyway I was trying to get together a birthday shindig for Erin Saturday night at PF Changs which turned out to be quite the ordeal….. PF Changs gave us the shaft… so before our guests arrived Erin and I walked to Macaroni Grill and Café Pierpont and got on the waiting lists... then we decided we’d just wait it out at PF Changs….. so after guests arrived and I was sufficiently frustrated by the 2 hr wait… I left to return the little buzzer thingys. Outside of Macaroni Grill there was a young kid with a sign that read – Abused Teen – Cold, Need Help. I walked by to turn in the buzzer thingy and when I walked out I had to talk to him. So he and I walked over to Carl’s Jr where he pounded the Gourmet Burger…. His name is Mike. He’s been on the run from his abusive father with his twin brother and mom (who is severely hearing impaired) for several years. Mike is 15, and hasn’t been to school since 4th grade (He should be in 9th or 10th by now…). He’s been staying at shelters and the whole situation really grieved me that there are kids like this that slip through the cracks. I couldn’t believe that there wasn’t a social worker on his case or somebody helping him out at the shelter to get into school. I was really moved by that situation, and I hope that the Holy Spirit is changing me….. As the elders of the church in Jerusalem encouraged Paul: “All they asked was that I continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”

Erin and I are off to Houston this weekend to do some house hunting etc. I think I’m staying with my good friend Hieu! Hieu really helped me through a tough adjustment when I was in Seattle. He was one of the first people on our ministry team to really reach out to me, and he’s been a consistent friend and encouragement since. Hieu moved to Houston the summer I was working there, so he and I were church hopping companions for the summer. The main thing I’m looking forward to doing with Hieu is going to Don Araki’s (or something like that.) It’s our favorite ‘authentic’ Mexican restaurant where you are served by actual Mexicans. The restaurant rules because at night they have the mariachi band serenading people, and there is always Mexican soccer on which is objectively sweet! Also, I think our favorite waiter Hielio has been promoted!

I’m also looking forward to going to Chewie’s (perhaps Justin and Lauren Stone will join us…. Justin was my first friend when I moved to Houston, we spent a couple weekends in Dallas-Ft. Worth visiting his fiancée (now wife – Lauren) while I was there, and I was encouraged that Dallas was not as humid and has 7-11s, which will be sorely missed.

So my itinerary for the weekend is as follows:
Thursday – Erin leaves for Houston
Friday Morning: 4:25 ish…. I will retrieve Ethan from the Salt Co house, attempt to wake him up, and probably let him sleep in the back seat or something. 4:45 arrive at airport, (coffee must be acquire en route) hope Ethan is awake enough to drive home….
Fly to Houston.

After I get in I’m meeting with our realtor… we’ll probably grab some lunch and look at downtown properties. Sometime on Saturday Erin and I are going to head out to the ‘burbs and look at more properties…. Maybe review some downtown properties that I liked from Friday. Sunday – get our church on – maybe some snake charming (not really) – might hit the Galleria….Monday morning – review properties we really liked, head back to the SLC.

See you when we get back.