In Austin this Weekend

Carol and I are in Austin this weekend. In a way, we stepped out of our own whirlwind into two others! Right now I'm at Macon and Kellsey's house, all by myself. Macon is at work, Aidan is at pre-school, and Kellsey and Carol took Honor to a scheduled doctor's visit. In a few minutes, Walter will pick me up for lunch, and Morgan's mother, Mickie will be there! That will be fun. We just need the Sewells and Mike and Mary and it would be perfect. But it is still very, very good!

Macon picked me up at the airport yesterday and then we drove to meet Kellsey, Aidan, Honor, and Carol at a restaurant named "Fred's". Very, very Austin. Kind of run-down, but not really run-down. Not a bit of glitz. None. The waitresses wore black t-shirts that had messages on the back, such as, for example. "Fred Happens". (Fred must be a character.) It has an indoor restaurant, that looked a little like the outside of Shorties at home, but we ate outdoors under some oak trees and on picnic tables. The area had a big playground thing for the little kids, and there were a lot of them there with their moms and some dads, who were eating lunch too. It made my heart sing to see so many little children. It was a beautiful day, in the low 70s.

Aidan and Honor have grown, of course, since we saw them last. Aidan is three and seems very, very articulate for such a little one. Macon and Kellsey talk to him almost as if he were an adult, and that I think shows. They are pretty firm with him, and he is having growing pains. I admire them for the way they help him discipline himself, but it still breaks my heart to see him unhappy and their having to help him behave propertly. That's the grandparent in me, of course. I am proud of the way they deal with their children, and of course proud of them.

Walter and Morgan came to Macon and Kellsey's house for supper with us last night. They are waiting for the next shoe to fall on their adoption proceedings. Who else but the US government is standing in the way here, courtesy of our immigration "service". Really, really, the people who think the federal government has the answers should get a life. The same view that the "the Federal Government Saves", showing us how by building a nation top down in Iraq, is the same view that states that the main immigration solution is to keep people out, even if they are orphans from Ethiopia heading for middle-class couples in Austin. What puzzles me is how the Democrats, so critical of our involvement in Iraq and with the immigration mess, can turn around and promise that the Federal Government will solve the health care problem, the public education problem, and whatever else ails this country. We know who "saves" and it is not the government, Federal, State, Local.

See, I get time to rant.

Signing off for now.