Justin's Family Email- 9/28/07 (New Car, Wynton Marsalis)

We bought a second car last Saturday, an ’06 Toyota Corolla. Not too exciting, but practical, and just what we need (reliable, affordable, good mileage). I still hope to ride the train a couple of times a week, depending on what time I leave in the morning. The problem is, it saves me time in the morning but costs me time in the evening. I don’t leave until after traffic dies down, so it only takes me 30 minutes to get home. I’m sure you’re all very interested.

Last Thursday I saw in the paper the Wynton Marsalis was playing that night at the symphony hall in Dallas. He is probably the most famous jazz musician alive today, and Kelsey really likes him. So I got us some tickets and surprised her. The cheapest seats in the house were in the choir box right on the stage. We had to look at the back of the bands heads throughout the performance, but the sound was great. It was a lot of fun, and the band was really, really good.

Friday night we went to the Plano Hot Air Balloon Festival. It was cool to go at night, because you get to see the balloons light up, but they don’t lift off the ground. Dallan and Bethany, Emily and Christian, and Audrey (who is visiting) all went to the festival at 7am on Saturday, and got to see 80 balloons take off. I think we’ll do it that way next year. Afterwards they all came over to our house for breakfast. Kelsey’s friend Sybil came too.

Wednesday this week Spencer and Donna flew in for a conference Spencer had for work. They are staying through this weekend to help repaint the bathroom. I feel bad that I am at work while they’re painting. They are good workers and know a lot more about it than we do. We’re grateful for their help. We were going to do something fun with them (the art museums are free on Thursday nights, and the state fair started today and there was a parade) but they have been so busy with the bathroom that we haven’t done anything.

I did end up going to the parade and getting a slice of pizza with Dallan. It's fun having him work just two blocks away. We commiserate when work gets boring, and when it gets really boring we skip out on work and meet outside for an ice cream cone- not much has changed since we were kids.