James and Claire

My father accused me this morning of posting fictitious 'questions of the day'. This is not the case. So far, they have been legitimate questions from my real friends. The subject matter and sophistication of the questions speak volumes about the type of people that are my friends...they are people who care about cheese and stuff.

We got up early and made the 9:00 AM service at First United Methodist Church. Once again, it was a great service and we both left feeling refreshed. After church, we headed back to the hotel for a few minutes before heading out to a restaurant named 'Z Tejas' to meet the McClellan family (Earl, Oneka, and their 3 year old son Parker) for lunch. As we were heading to lunch, I reminded Christy that we were meeting to answer their adoption questions, not sell them on our adoption agency (Christy gets very excited sometimes). As we all sat down, the first sentence out of Oneka's mouth was 'We filled out our application for Gladney last night'.

As Oneka and Christy talked, Earl and I would try to interject witty comments here and there. Meanwhile, their son Parker was putting on a behavior display that was beyond impressive. At three years old, he sat in his chair, drew pictures with crayons, and then ate his pancakes. The only interruption was to tell Earl that he needed to go use the restroom. They are awesome people, and we are really excited that God seems to have used us to connect them with Gladney. By the way, I had pancakes....and they were good.

After lunch, we headed over to the hospital. The doctors and nurses confirmed that James was still on target for a Monday release. His final test was a 12-hour sleep study that they would kick off this evening. We spent some good quality time with James and Claire.

We wanted to make the most out of our final night alone, so we made plans to go to The Oasis. The Oasis sits high on the cliffs of Lake Austin and is supposed to have wonderful sunset views. We were warned by our NICU neighbors that the food was not very good, but Christy really wanted to go. She had what we now know is a false impression that it was an upscale, dressy sort of place. She insisted that I wear long pants and a button down shirt that required me where a plain T-Shirt underneath. Not having a plain T-shirt, I had to turn a gray one with a huge logo inside out. She wore the cool dress she had picked out yesterday at BCBG.

As we arrived, it was a very impressive location. It had all of the makings of a killer restaurant. As we were led out onto the back, which was a series of layered patios with umbrellas and cooling fans, it was immediately obvious that we were over-dressed. Everyone else was in flip-flops and shorts. We sat down at the table and both agreed the view was tremendous. We took a few pictures. After about 7 minutes, we both realized how hot it was. I was starting to sweat with my long pants and double shirt. The inverted t-shirt iron-on decal was beginning to transfer itself from the t-shirt directly onto the skin in the middle of my back. We ordered a few drinks to try to cool down, but the sun was blazing and we were melting. We finally requested to be moved inside, where we had a room all to ourselves.

We asked the waiter what was good and he mainly told us what to stay away from....a bad sign. We ordered and the food was bad...as predicted by our friends. After a while, we headed out towards the car. On the way out, they had a little gift shop. We stopped in to look around. After a few minutes, Christy handed me a Texas Christmas ornament to purchase. It was $4.95, so I quickly headed to the register before she could find anything else. I was not fast enough, as she slid a two-pack of onesies (baby clothes) that each said 'I am the favorite' onto the counter. The girl at the counter said something like, 'that will be fifteen dollars'. I paid for them and left, still feeling like I had gotten out unscathed.

While driving back, Christy pulled the onesies out of the bag and went to open them up. The price tag was very tiny and on the bottom...they were $42.00. We were both shocked. I reached into my pocket to look at the receipt and sure enough, they charged me over $50 for a Christmas ornament and two onesies. The girl at the counter had said 'that will be fifty dollars'. We were too far away to turn around and return them, so I just made Christy promise that the twins will wear them every day until they sleep through the night. And shame on me for not paying closer attention...$42 for two onesies is just stupid.

Today's question comes from Terd Ferguson, who asks: If you built a castle out of ham with a protective moat of cheese, what wildlife would pose the biggest threat to your home?

Another good question. After thinking about this for a while, I think the greatest threat would be posed by a large ham-loving bird.