Hey, Y'all... it's snowing (and Happy Birthday to my other BFF)

Last night was our first "snow" of the season. I'm using quotes when I say snow because it's Texas snow. The kind that causes the whole city to freak out and drive like complete idiots, even though the ground is far too warm for it to actually stick, and far too warm for ice to form. It'd be amusing if it wasn't life-threatening. It's rare for snow to happen in Austin, so we're ill-prepared for it, unlike the northern parts of the country.

Last night we went out for Michelle's birthday, anyone who knows Michelle will also know that on her birthday, more so than the rest of the year, she is the Queen and her every wish should be granted. And as her friends we all rally around to make this happen. And what fun we had. We started off with dinner at Azul Tequila, which was infused with margaritas and colourful dinner conversation, most if which should not be repeated in a public forum, but I can assure you that the restaurant mysteriously cleared out. Coincidence? I think not.
After dinner we went to Warehouse saloon for a bit of Karaoke. Now let me tell you, karaoke in the presence of a number of very well respected Austin musicians is rather an intimidating prospect. There were 4 of said well respected musicians in our group and as I took the stage for my rendition of Evanescence's "Bring me to life" I had a major case of stage fright, which I pushed through and sung my lungs out, accompanied by the fabulous Robert Wagner (of Suede fame, among other things), and Brian (Lee, not Bauman - who is musically challenged) belted out an amazing rendition of a Dio song that prompted a standing ovation from some neighbouring tables. Brian and Andrea were "nominated" to sing a duet together, and for neither of them really knowing the song, they did a damn fine job, and Andrea and I did Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't go breaking my heart", which I thoughoughly enjoyed singing with her. Michelle looked like she had a fun birthday, surrounded by great friends.

When we left to go out for the evening, the weather was not looking like it would produce snow and I was skeptical as we dropped Trent off at Aunt Tara's house when she said that the forecast predicted sleet. But as we left the bar it was, indeed, snowing. Driving home Brian and I observed that it was like experiencing warp speed as depicted on Star Trek (I'm a huge Trekkie). Tara reported that Trent was an absolute angel for her. He played and impressed her and Uncle Mike (via phone) with his mad skills with the flash cards. They cuddled for a while, and Trent curled up and went to sleep. What a good boy he is. We're so proud of him. Trent woke up during the transition from house to car and we got to introduce him to snow. He pointed out of the car window and said something that sounded like "whasat?". I said "snow" and he said "noo?" and I repeated "Snow" and then he started signing "bird". It occurred to me that bird is really the only thing he knows that floats around in the sky so maybe to him he was thinking the snowflakes were a massive flock of very tiny birds.

When I awoke this morning I was greeted by a Texas winter wonderland where all the houses had snow on the roofs, and any cars out in driveways had a nice layer of snow on them, but the rest of the world was relatively snow-free. It's funny that we can go from a high of 78 degrees to snowing on the same day. Ah the joys of living in Texas. I wouldn't change it for anything :-)