Grayson Oxford visit McAllen, TX

As part of my McAllen visit, today I managed to spend time with Grayson Oxford. I had a great time visiting with him and his new wife Terry. We ate at their favorite Mexican restaurant; I fail to recall the name, but it's on 11th Street I think and apparently owned by one of his friends. I have fond memories of Grayson and myself playing tennis against each other. We also played doubles together. It was a riot.

To my dismay, Grayson hasn't played tennis in years and wasn't up to the challenge of hitting the courts. We did however manage to talk some Dallas Cowboys football. I also got some insight on Grayson's wedding proposal to Terry. Apparently, it was at half-time during a football game that Grayson got on his knees and proposed to Terry. The romantic act symbolized his fanatacism with football. Even knowing how crazy we Texans can be about the Cowboys, Terry Reyna ethusiastically accepted Grayson's marriage proposal. I'm happy to report that despite briefly getting to know Terry (in my flawless judgment), she seems a perfect match for Grayson. I foresee a stork visit in the future.

Brian Burns visit McAllen, TX

I spent the late afternoon and early evening with Pastor Brian Burns. Yes, Brian, my childhood friend since the second grade has not only been ordained, but is also planning a mission to the Philippines (http://www.heartforasia.org/). He and his wife, Gloria Burns, accompanied by his two boys, will be leaving sometime in Summer '08. Brian has the kindest of hearts, and is the most caring of friends. It's no wonder that I've managed to have his friendship for 28+ years. Join me in wishing Brian the very best as he undertakes God's work.

Book Review

"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," by Dave Eggers

For years the aforementioned book has been one of Alicia's favorites. Alicia and I don't normally share the same interests when it comes to books, but after years of being harassed to give the book a try, I finally caved in. I'm sorry that I did.

I spent some time on a recent flight and was bored with the book at about page 15. I kept going since I had already read all the interesting articles on the in-flight SkyWest magazine. Further, there was nothing that I found alluring in the in-flight shopping magazine. I took a break several minutes later at page 28 to stuff my face with a small bag of Hanover pretzels handed to me by the flight attendant. Unsatisfied, I asked for a second bag. I saved the eight ounce bottle of water for later.

I reopened the book thinking that it might get better. I got to page 69 after learning more than I cared to learn about Dave Eggers' family saga. That's where I finally laid the book down. Although there were some humorous passages in his "Rules and Suggestions for Enjoyment of This Book" and the Preface, the rest of the pages were anti-climatic.

I'm at best a novice critic, so please feel free to check out a copy of the book at the library. Or, if you happen to find it at a thrift store, it's well worth $.25 (will help you light the fireplace in Winter). Sorry Alicia, I gave it a good try, but I just didn't dig it. I did however give the SkyWest magazine another go-round...

Annoyed at the Airport

I’m sitting at United’s gate 82 in LAX, quite annoyed at the fact that there are some significant events transpiring today, both of which I’m likely to miss owning a DVR and being able to record them. It is the true opening of the NFL season (Colts vs. Saints last Thursday night was just a teaser). I will be missing the U.S. Open’s men’s final (Federer vs. Djokovic; #1 vs. #3 respectively). I’ll be cheering for the young Serb, joining Dragan Djordjevic in spirit (my Serbian college roommate). Federer is unbelievable/awesome, and it is increasingly difficult to argue that he isn’t the best tennis player ever.

Before I return to the subject of football. I’d like to interject at this point another incident that has added to my existing mood. For those that haven’t travelled with me. I always wear appropriate clothing when I fly (long sleeves, jeans, shoes fully laced). I watched some “Dateline NBC” show detailing ways to survive an air accident. I’m compulsive about heeding their expert advice. I also like to fly close to the emergency exit row if not be seated in it altogether. As the flight attendant gave her emergency speech, the gentleman in the emergency exit row was distracted by something else. I became upset that a man who potential held my life in his hands was reading some sort of manuscript instead of listening to the flight attendant. I also noticed that he didn’t once read the emergency exit procedures. I soothed myself hoping that the middle-age man was a frequent traveler and knew how to open the door and assist others in exiting a smoke-filled plane. I then realized that there were so many types of airplanes (models and sizes) and that he couldn’t possibly be an expert on all of them. I became incensed. My guess is that he was a professor of architecture at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo since something to that effect was written on the cover of his manuscript. It’s amazing how much someone can deduce by just glancing for a few seconds. He was tall, slender, with receding brown hair. In fact, he had a bald spot on the top of his head. If I’ve just described your architecture professor and you attend or have attended Cal Poly, let me know who this guy is. I’ll send him a polite email.

Now back to football. I’m travelling on the day that marks the beginning of the Cowboys’ season. I’m dreading any possible connection delays as missing the game or any part of it would indeed be catastrophic. Just thinking of that horrible possibility is driving me mad. I’m hoping to catch the game with a friend of mine (Art Romo) when I land in San Antonio. I’ll keep you posted on the outcome.

So, I’m missing the U.S. Open which is likely to be a thriller. I’m unnerved.
My life is being endangered by a man who carelessly goes about reading a thesis versus emergency procedures. I’m upset.
I might miss out on the Cowboys’ opening drive. I am peeved to no end.
I’ll have a Whataburger when I land. I’m drooling.

Labor Day 2007

The kids had a great time camping in the backyard. We spent the entire night in the tent, and although the occasional sounds of coyotes kept me awake, the kids slept right through the yelping.

The weather was kind. There was no rain, not even an occasional patch of cold rolling fog. It was your typical evening with the temperature in the upper 50's/low 60's.

I asked the kids to peek out of the tent in the morning so I could snap a picture. Grayson started doing some weird morning stretches while Chase just wanted to go back to sleep.

We kept the tent up through the day and even managed an afternoon nap. All in all, it was a fun-filled Labor Day for the Harris household.