Maundy Thursday

We somehow missed stopping at the Mercado (Mexican Market) the day we were at the Alamo, so Peg drove us back downtown on Thursday so we could see it.  Not surprisingly, everything there was “made in Mexico” and it was all very colorful, but not as cheap as actually buying it across the border.  They get a lot of tourists there and the prices show it.  I bought a cool silver star that I somehow felt I couldn’t live without.  There were many other things I would have liked to buy, as the selection was large and it was fun to look around, but we just brought one carry-on piece of luggage so we had no way to get anything home.  I really wanted to buy Texas BBQ sauce or Mexican hot sauce, but even getting liquids on board a plane these days are impossible, so my options became very limited very quickly.  It was still fun to look.

Peg’s favorite Mexican restaurant was calling her name, so we stopped there and had lunch - again, a big challenge for Kory.  Even the black beans were cooked in pork, so there wasn’t a thing on the menu that he could eat.  He ordered the “Taco salad” hold the meat, hold the cheese, hold the sour cream and avocados and hold the dressing and taco shell it came in.  He was given a plate of lettuce with no dressing and charged full price for the Taco Salad – lesson learned there.  They didn’t even have steamed vegetables so he walked away from that lunch good and hungry.  I had the veggie fajitas and they were yummy, but not fat-free.  We’ve just got to figure out how to live with these new diet restrictions because we are gone from home a lot.  Uff da.

Kaleb begged us to take him to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum but I put my foot down.  I reminded him on Tuesday when I wanted him to learn a little about the history of the Alamo and he was being a bit of a pill and intentionally NOT wanting to listen to any of it, he sealed his fate.  I wasn’t interested in doing something only he wanted to do when he wasn’t interested in doing what I wanted him to do – and part of the reason we made the trip to San Antonio in the first place.  Turnabouts fair play.  I also reminded him that he’s free to choose how he behaves, but he’s never free from the consequences of his choice, and not going to Ripley’s was his consequence.

Peg volunteers every Thursday afternoon at a local no-kill animal shelter so we tagged along with her after lunch to work down there.  It was a big treat for Kaleb to be able to play with the puppies and walk the older dogs.  I love dog walking, but that afternoon it was in the high 90s and so hot that even the dogs didn’t want to leave their kennels.  We made about three different runs before our faces all turned red as tomatoes and had to call it quits.  There were many more dogs to walk but I was worried we’d all have heat stroke. 

Kory at an extra large dinner that night at Peg’s house.  I made roasted veggie pizza using pita bread as the crust, ketchup and salsa as the sauce and BBQ roasted veggies on top.  He ate three of them and they were yummy.  Kaleb and Peg shared a full fat Hawaiian pizza with lots of cheese on top.  Those were the days.

Peg’s church had a cool Maundy Thursday service we attended with her.  They set up huge tables in the front of the church leaning down from the top step to the bottom.  They were fashioned in the shape of a giant cross and there were over a hundred candles perched on them.  They turned out all the lights in the church and had the pastor and his wife behind a wall reading scriptures intermixed with the congregation singing songs.  The scriptures followed along with the creation of the world, the fall of man and on up to Jesus being born.  Two women slowly lit the candles one by one as the story was unfolding and when Jesus was born, the whole cross was glowing with the “light of the world.”  Then the story turned and began to tell of Jesus’ arrest and path to his crucifixtion.  The candles began to be snuffed out one by one and when the last candle went dark the voice proclaimed “It is finished.”  It was a very moving experience and every one left the church without saying a word.  It was a great way to feel the power of Jesus’ death.  Then Easter morning of course, the joy returns as they celebrate the resurrected Christ.

Back at Peg’s house Don brought out his gem collection, which captured Kaleb’s interest right away.  Kaleb loves rocks and gems and we’d already purchased the Texas state gem – Palm wood – when we were in Gruene.  Kaleb likes collecting the state gem from every state he visits.  Don has the precious gems all cut and polished so his collection looked a little more refined that the one Kaleb has at home.  But it was fun to hear the two of them yacking away about different gems and rocks and how they are formed.  Don is a member of Mensa so he had an answer for every one of Kaleb’s questions.  He even gave Kaleb a few of his gems to take home.  I thought that was a bit too generous of him, but he insisted.  Kaleb’s face just lit up.   Lucky boy.

Actually, we all felt lucky as it was a great day.  We had another laugh on Peg again today when we were on the freeway and some guy went zipping past us at an unsafe speed.  Peg yelled out a quick prayer, “Lord protect that person and everyone he comes in contact with.”  Kaleb caught the irony of that statement right away – obviously Peg was praying a prayer so he WOULDN’T come in contact with anyone, but the way she said it just cracked us up.  She is one funny woman.