HOW TO DATE YOUR MATE

Recently, several people have commented on the fact that John and I are acting awfully mushy these days. One woman, who works with her husband, and sees him all day, every day, told me "I think you and John are on to something, with this living in separate cities. Sure wish I got half as excited about seeing my husband, as you do about yours." So, maybe there is some truth behind that old saying "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Now, don't get me wrong, I have no intention of keeping this up long term. But for the time being, it has definitely added a certain, je ne sais quoi, to the relationship. It's almost as if we were dating again!

Last time I was in Houston, we had the best of weekends. It reminded me of my sophomore year in college, when John had already graduated and moved off to Houston. Whenever I could hitch a ride in that direction, I would sneak off to visit him for the weekend, and went through all sorts of subterfuge to keep it a secret from my parents. For instance, if they called the dorm at 7:00 AM, as they were known to do, my roomie was trained to tell them that I was in the shower, and that I'd call them back in a minute. Then she would hurriedly contact me in Houston, to give me a heads up.

The best thing about visiting Houston now, is that neither of us has any chores or projects that need to be done there at the townhouse, so we are free to spend the weekend doing whatever we please. On this particular weekend, we started off with a bang by going to see the new movie Bottle Shock, with Alan Rickman. It's based on the true story of a British wine merchant who was living in Paris, and who came up with the world-altering notion of hosting a blind taste test between French and Californian wines. Up until that point, the entire world was convinced that nobody could compete with France when it came to winemaking. When a Napa Valley wine managed to win first place, it turned the entire industry upside down. Nobody can top Rickman when it comes to playing the supercilious British snob.

The next day, at lunch, we tried a great Mexican restaurant down on Washington Ave., called El Tiempo. I think it's probably one of those that has been around forever. They even have their own little grocery store/take out counter next door, where I was able to nab the Cotija cheese I had been searching everywhere for. (I used it to make Mexican Street Corn - Yuuummmm!!!) Afterwards we just wandered around, looking for places to test out my new video camera. We discovered a wonderful little cul de sac of townhomes that were hidden right in the heart of the city, backing up to Buffalo Bayou. "Oh man, this is such a great street," John said, letting out a huge sigh. "You're not having second thoughts about moving away from the city, are you?" I asked. "No, not really," he replied. "That's the great thing about Wimberley. If we get a hankering for museums, movies, music and funky restaurants, we can just head over to Austin like we did on our anniversary, and stay till we've had our city fix. We'll have the best of both worlds." Come to think of it, having a husband and dating him too? Absolutely the best of both worlds!