Everybody Loves Raymond (and Hector)

We're back from Houston (as of last night around 11:30). Although we are still fighting a little jet lag, Shaun returned to work, and I am attempting to unpack, get the house back in order, and keep up with Eli, who is also showing his own signs of jet lag. He was a super trooper for the trip, though, even in the midst of cutting a second tooth! And for those of you keeping up, he turned 7 months yesterday!

Now for the Texas scoop (because that's what all of you are wondering, right?): First, here are a couple pictures of our accomodations. Eli was amazed by the red up-and-down arrows and numbers in the elevator. Who needs Elmo when you've got elevators?

The Wyndham lobby...WOWsers!

Another view of the Wyndham

We arrived Friday, and after check-in and a quick lunch at the hotel's yummy pasta bar, Shaun headed to his meeting at ABS, which was conveniently connected to the hotel, and Eli and I headed to the room for a nap. Shaun's meeting went very well, and we decided to have an early dinner at the hotel restaurant and spend the rest of the evening relaxing in the room.

We were eager to begin house hunting on Saturday morning, perhaps slightly more eager than our realtor Raymond, who arrived at the house where we agreed to start at least 30 minutes after us. From the first time we spoke to him, Raymond had not wowed us. From his bewildering pauses in conversation to his random insertion of the phrase "the trees" in his descriptions of The Woodlands, it was evident to us that Raymond, how shall we say, may not have been the hottest bowl of chili in Texas. Alas, Raymond was the realtor provided by ABS, so we didn't have much say in the matter. And Shaun and I agreed, how bad could it be?

Well, for starters, did I mention he was at least a half hour late meeting us at the first house? And we were the ones with the 7-month-old. Just when we thought all hope was lost, we spotted Raymond's maroon Ford F-150 in the distance. He first passed up the street, then backed up and turned around and made his way down to meet us. Raymond later admitted to us that he was, in his words, "directionally challenged." One word: GPS. Well, actually, that's probably three words abbreviated, but you get it. The rest of the day proceeded with MANY U-turns, ending with us leading Raymond through the suburbs of Houston. At least we know we could make it as realtors if we need some extra cash at some point.

"I don't think we're in Texas anymore..."

I think Raymond may have sensed that we had reached our height of amusement way back at the first U-turn. He promised a more with-it day on Sunday, which he delivered on when he beat us to the first house (only by about 3 minutes, however). We explored Kingwood on Sunday and LOVED it. Actually, Shaun mentioned that it was where portions of the Kevin Costner movie Tin Cup were filmed. Definitely lots of golf courses, so if we end up moving there, Shaun will have to get a set of clubs. The entrance sign to the city reads, "Kingwood: A Liveable Forest," and it most certainly fits the description. In all of my visits to Texas when I was younger, I never recall that it was so green. It's really lovely.

We parted ways with Raymond around noon on Sunday and agreed to follow him out to the main highway. Even though Raymond was having a better day, he still managed to lead us out of the Kingwood city limits into the heart of NOWHERE. We followed him for a ways and then decided that Raymond was on his own. Again...GPS, Raymond. We made our way to Skeeter's, a family-friendly grill, to have some lunch. Afterwards, we met up with Octavi and Jen, college friends of Shaun, and then headed to the airport.

It was there that we met Hector. Ah....Hector. As if Raymond had not afforded enough entertainment, there was Hector, about to give us more. Hector arrived on the scene shortly after 4 pm, guzzling a Starbuck's frappuccino and giving off a this-is-the-last-place-in-the-world-I-feel-like-being vibe, advising us that we would have to wait for seat assignments because he had to "log in to the computer." Great. As he typed furiously on the keyboard, we waited patiently (for at least 10 minutes) until finally he said, sans a smile, "How can I help you?" Eli's "ga-ga's" and "goo-goos" were somewhat disarming, and Hector appeared to be softening. We expressed to him our desire to be seated together for obvious reasons (at that time we were seated apart from each other). He took our boarding passes and said he would "see what he could do."

A few minutes later, Hector announced that he was in need of volunteers to give up their tickets in exchange for a $300 ticket voucher, meals, and an overnight hotel stay because the current flight was overbooked. Shaun and I agreed that we should do it and had already begun to plan the vacation we would take using the free vouchers. Hector was grateful and thanked us profusely for volunteering. We waited until everyone had boarded, expecting to be called up to be given details of our overnight accomodations. Instead, Hector announced our names and motioned us to approach the boarding area. Don't let us down, Hector, we thought to ourselves. We've already planned the vacation. Don't let us down. As our thoughts continued to proceed in slow motion, Hector waved us forward more enthusiastically (I think the frappuccino was kicking in). "I'm not going to need you," he said, meaning we would have to take the flight. "I'm really sorry," he said. Begrudgingly, we obliged. He followed us, apologizing, until we got to the door of the plane. He handed us two vouchers for free cocktails (which we took advantage of) and did manage to get the three of us seated together. So, Hector came through for us. But, damn, we could have taken a nice vacation...

The flight home was, for the most part, uneventful. Eli was fussy for a brief period but eventually settled in for the 3-hour flight. And, of course, everyone, ooo-ed and ahh-ed at him and complimented us on how good he was. Eli...ever the charmer. All in all, it was a nice weekend. And now we are faced with decision-making, which, I believe will be fairly easy in most respects. We'll keep everyone posted. In the meantime, we send love from Maryland and hope everyone's summer is drawing to a satisfying close. It has gone by all too quickly for us, but we have enjoyed it nonetheless...

Quack prepares for the trip home...