It's a long, long way from here!!

The wild, wild  west!!

Had a nice little weekend visit with Austin.

Robert and I left Thursday after school. We decided at the last minute to go ahead and leave on Thursday instead of Friday morning so I searched around for a cheap hotel room for the night. I had already booked a room for Friday and Saturday night. I found a cheap room in Slaton and we didn't get there until about 1 a.m. We got up Friday morning and ran to Target and Walmart and then went to the hotel in Lubbock to see if we could check in early. Hotels.com had booked 2 rooms for 2 nights instead of 1 room for 2 nights so we had to hassle with them about canceling the other room. They said I didn't have a room reserved. Whatever! The hotel personnel in Lubbock were extremely helpful in trying to get that situated and told us to make sure that hotels.com doesn't try to charge us again for that room.


Austin had class on Friday so after that we picked him up at his house and headed to eat lunch. And you do know where we went!!! That's right - my very, very favorite -  Raising Cane's!!! Robert and I have been on a diet and just finished the cycle before we went on the trip so I am telling you - that Cane's chicken was amazing!!!

After that we went to the mall to exchange a shirt I had bought for Austin that didn't fit. We exchanged it for 2 others that did fit.   :)

Then we went back to the hotel to hang out for a while. Robert's cousin lives near Lubbock so he called her to see if we could visit. She and her son were actually in Lubbock so they came to the hotel. It was nice to see Jerrilyn and her son, David. I didn't get any pictures though.

After they left we watched a little TV and then went to eat dinner at the China Star Buffet. It is so good!!! I tried 3 different kinds of chicken - one with jalapenos that so delish!! Actually all 3 were amazing!!  We then went back to the hotel and Austin headed home for the night.

On Saturday morning we went to the Bodies Human exhibit at the mall.

"This unique exhibit is a display of over 100 authentic human specimens, including whole bodies, individual organs and transparent body slices preserved through a special process called plastination. It provides viewers with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to look inside the human body, and to see and understand our own anatomy and physiology. This will provide a new appreciation and respect for the human body and what it means to be human. It's an inside look at the human body and is designed to show how the choices we make affect our overall health." - (from http://www.bodieshuman.com/home.html) We had seen this exhibit on a grander scale in Houston when Kylie was in nursing school. It is pretty amazing. We thought it would be interesting for Austin since he is taking an anatomy class.

Afterwards we went to Olive Garden.

I know you are thinking that we are ruining the progress we have made on the diet!! But it was really good!!

Next stop - Cavender's.

The we took Austin to get him some jeans. He always needs jeans but he never lets me buy him any!! We found some at Cavender's plus a couple of shirts. Afterwords Austin went to take his Olive Garden leftovers to his house and run some errands and Robert took a nap. Britni and I had hit a thrift shop when we were there this summer so I decided to check it out again. I actually went to the thrift shop and a goodwill store and found a couple of things to decorate with. Then I went back to the hotel. Austin came back over and watched a movie on his computer and we played on our cell phones and watched TV.
Later Austin and I ran to get him a few groceries. Austin works at a place called Steak Express.  They use Nolan Ryan's beef!  It is really good.

 After grocery shopping we decided to get dinner from there since we had never eaten there before.  Austin placed the order and we went to pick it up. We got a family meal which included beef tips, grilled chicken breasts, baked potato, salad and chocolate chip cookies. The beef tips just melt in your mouth and the grilled chicken was so good!!! Now I normally don't like chocolate chip cookies unless they are homemade but these were amazing!! I put one in the microwave for about 15 seconds and it was wonderful!!! I also ate one the next day for breakfast and that evening when we got home from Lubbock!!!

We are back home now and eating healthy again! :) We had a great time with Austin!!! It just never seems long enough. I didn't cry this time when we left but when we got to Dallas I really had to fight the tears. It is sooooo far out there and I just hate it when Austin drives it by himself!!! In just a few weeks hopefully he will get to come home for spring break and maybe some of his friends will be coming home too so he won't have to make the trip alone!!