Old Hotels, Red Mojitos and Thanksgiving

We're BA-A-A-CK!

And we had a wonderful time. Good friends and my brother joined us for the Sunflower Ceremony and dinner afterwards at Portia's favorite restaurant in Austin.

Highlights (other than the ceremony and the dinner) included:

-- the hotel where we stayed. It's between the UT campus and the State Capitol building. An old home that is on the National Register, it has the most awesome wrap-around porches complete with chairs to lounge in and enjoy the great weather we had.
--the red mojitos at the hotel. They're red because pomegranate juice is added to them. Yee-Hah!
--visiting the new art museum that just opened on campus. Although its collection is a bit sketchy ( very minor works by major artists, or major works by minor artists, or even unfinished drafts and reproductions) the gallery space is spectacular so it will be able to display some great traveling shows. Over time I'm sure the permanent collection will improve.
-- the drive over where we stopped in Ellinger (city motto: where time stopped in 1930) and had great BBQ sandwiches.
--the drive back where we stopped in La Grange at a German bakery and bought bread and kolaches. El Jefe nearly swooned with delight over the cinnamon rolls

We were puzzled by the speaker at the Sunflower Ceremony. She is a state senator whose son was graduating. She is known as a big supporter of the university in the Legislature--no doubt two good reasons why she was asked to speak. But she kept emphasizing how as future lawyers the graduates would "make life or death decisions" and how important that was.

Say what? She made it clear she wasn't talking about the death penalty, but about medical ethics and legislation related to it. Huh? Afterwards we decided she must have brushed up an old commencement speech she gave to a medical school, because it sure didn't fit this occasion. Oh, well!

This weekend was truly a blessing for our whole family. Our girl Portia has completed her formal education with flying colors and has the security of knowing she will begin work in September back home in Houston with one of the best firms in the state. Truly, truly our cup runneth over. Thank you, Lord.