Deliciousness

If you have ever driven down Main Street in Duncanville, you've probably noticed a cute little drug store called Ben Franklin Apothecary. We drove past it every Sunday for 2 years on the way to and from church. Finally, one Friday this summer, Phil and I met with our pastor on a weekday to discuss FPU, and after the meeting we decided to go in for lunch at the little deli inside the drugstore. It's called Kitchen's Deli and it is now on the list of my top favorite local restaurants. We went there for lunch yesterday and split a cherry vanilla ice cream soda - YUMM. 

What other places are on my list, you ask? Drum roll please.... here they are:

1. The Commissary - Germantown, TN (best barbeque in the world)

2. Kitchens Deli - Duncanville, TX (everything is amazing, especially their old-fashioned ice cream sodas)

3. Sam's Pizza & Pasta - Cedar Hill, TX (best house salad dressing I've ever tasted)

4. Cafe Etc. - Cordova, TN (what really puts this place on my list is the fried dill pickles)

5. Veracruz - Duncanville, TX (especially when they have live music!)

As you can see, to be included on the above list you must be a local place. No chains allowed!

Tour des Fleurs 10k

This morning we ran a 10-k near White Rock Lake. It was a beautiful morning and the weather was nice and cool! 

My most recent Grocery Game success

10 boxes of cereal, after sale price, coupons, store promotion, and mail-in rebate... 50¢ each!

If anyone's having a cereal potluck, give me a call.

It's cold in Texas

We have been enjoying some nice cool nights with temperatures in the 50s and 60s! We turned the A/C off and opened the windows. Dora thinks it's too cold, though... you can tell by the way she tucks her front legs under her chest!

Fighting over Fido

As seen on MSN.com... cuuuuute! Don't worry, Ruby and Dora. Your parents' marriage is rock solid.

The next movie I plan to see

Downtown Dallas Farmer's Market

Grilled corn... yummmmm.

This one's for Meg

Meg had a funny post on her blog recently about unnecessary quotation marks. This photo was taken at the grocery store.

I get so annoyed with signs that are printed with incorrect spelling or punctuation. Near our old house in Cedar Park, there was a high school with a "Busses Only" traffic sign by one entrance. Also, one of my favorite restaurants in Cedar Hill, Sam's, has a big neon sign advertising their expressos. Ugh!

Financial Peace update

On Sunday, we had our first class for Financial Peace University at our church, First United Methodist Duncanville. We had a full classroom with 19 people attending! We have been so blessed since we started following Dave Ramsey's principles about personal finance, and it means so much to us that our pastor Dr. Jim Bowden was supportive of our plans to bring FPU to FUMCD.

Traveling Pug

Dora doesn't like it when we pack for a trip. The other night, I think she thought Phil's gym bag meant that we were going somewhere. So she packed herself along for the ride.

Running group

I've been training for the White Rock Half Marathon which will take place on December 14 here in Dallas. I knew I couldn't stick to a training plan on my own (tried it last year...) so I invited some friends to create a running group. The group includes my sister Brittany, my sister-in-law Kelsey, Chelsea - a friend of masters' swimming, and two of Chelsea's friends, Steph and Kat. We all do our mid-week runs on our own, and we get together on Saturdays for the long runs. This picture was taken after our first group run where we started at 3 miles. Since then, we had two consecutive Saturdays at 4 miles and two more Saturdays at 5 miles. This Saturday (9/20) several of us are running the Tour des Fleurs 10k... I'll try to remember to bring my camera and get a group picture!

Dirty Jobs Revelation

I just got to Dayton and settled into the hotel. I happened to turn on "Dirty Jobs" on Discovery where they are at a pig farm. During the show they mentioned the well-known nursery rhyme "this little pig went to market..." and for the first time in my life, I realized that the lyrics aren't referring to a pig going grocery shopping. I always pictured the momma pig dressing up in high heels and pearls and going shopping at, say, the Piggly Wiggly :)

I can't believe it took me two decades to figure that out.