Well, I don’t have any pictures of our night at the Astros-Rangers Game, but here are some of the ups and downs of the evening.

Up - Great deal on tickets. We got 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 20 oz cokes, and 2 Astros hats for $48. Face Value on the tickets was $48 so the hot dogs, cokes & hats were basically free (actual cost- Hot Dog – $4, Coke-$4, Hat-at least $10). It is not many times that you go to a sporting event and feel like you got a good value.

Down – About 10 minutes into the game about 5 or 6 Rangers’ fans sat down behind us. At first, I thought that it would be cool to root for the Rangers together. Then, it turned ugly. They started slinging cuss words all over the place, insulting everything about the Astros, and pretty much being obnoxious. I told/asked them to stop with the language which they did until they got a few more beers in them and then it started again. They almost got into a fight with some guys behind them. Then, some guy from a couple rows back came up and threatened to fight them. Valerie had moved away by this time and she went and turned them in to security. Security didn’t do much except argue with them. The whole thing definately was a downer.

Up – It was great watching a ball game with my boys. They were totally into it and we talked strategy and had a great time.

Down – Kendall wasn’t feeling well earlier in the day and as we walked up to the stadium she got very sick. She struggled through the game and was very sick for 2 more days. No fun!

Up – They had fireworks after the game which were great!! Also, because of the fireworks, they had to open the retractable roof of the stadium. I had been there three times and never seen the roof open. I like the place much better with the roof open (although it isn’t worth it in 95 degree heat).

Down- The Rangers lost. Roy Oswalt (Houston’s pitcher) totally shut them down. They hit back-to-back homers in the 7th inning, but it was too little too late.

Overall, I enjoyed the evening, but it wasn’t the birthday celebration that Valerie hoped for between the obnoxious fans and a sick daughter.

Today is my wife, Valerie’s, birthday!! She is 37 (I don’t think she minds if I tell you)!

I’m blessed to have such a wonderful friend to share the adventures of life with.

Leave a comment here to wish her Happy Birthday!! We are going to the Astros-Rangers game tonight to celebrate. Yes, this was her idea!! No, I had nothing to do with it. Really! She wants to go!! I promise! Just ask her! . . . .

Last night we watched game 7 of the NBA Finals. Our older three kids stayed up and watched it with us and I realized that if we lived in the US, then this wouldn’t be such a big deal to them. They looked forward to it all day and all 3 of them were glued to the set until the final buzzer. I started switching channels at halftime and they kept telling me to turn it back for fear that they might miss something. They were very upset and yelled at the TV everytime the Pistons scored (even in the 1st quarter.)

It also helped that it was the Spurs in the game. They are a Texas team, from a city the kids had been to, and they are only 150 miles away. This made it seem even more exciting to the kids.

We had a great time and everyone was happy with the Spurs victory. Although I am always aware of how much I miss US sports, the kids enjoyed their little taste of it.

Tonight we are going to the Rangers-Astros game in Houston!!! I’ll try to get a picture up here soon.

Perini’s Ranch Steakhouse
Originally uploaded by Budapest Tom.

We have spent the week in Abilene Texas with Valerie’s family at Valerie’s older sisters house. Her older sister has 7 kids and her younger has 1 so in all there were 20 of us together.

We ate dinner at Perini’s Ranch Steakhouse and it was unbelievable. We can’t get a good steak in Hungary so this was incredible. I’m ready to go back and get another one.

Our kids had a wonderful time together too. There is never a dull moment with 12 kids.

Valerie and I went to see Mr. & Mrs. Smith last night. It was a great movie!! It had great potential to be corny, but it was clever and very entertaining. Valerie commented that there was a little too much shooting and I questioned whether it was possible to have too much shooting.

Here’s a little comparison of our movie experience here versus in Budapest:

US: No reserved seating (have to show up early to get a good seat)
Budapest: Reserved seats (you can walk in 30 seconds before the movie starts, and most people do)

US: Commericals before the official start of the movie
Budapest: Commericals when the movie is supposed to start

US: I understood every commerical and preview
Budapest: Most commericals and trailers are in Hungarian so we are lost until the movie starts

US: Comfortable stadium seating
Budapest: Even more comfortable stadium seating (carpeted floors and chairs are much more plush)

US: No subtitles
Budapest: Hungarian subtitles (I use these to practice my Hungarian during slow parts of the movie. Mr. & Mrs. Smith didn’t have too many slow parts so it was okay)

US: $6 for matinee, $8 for nighttime
Budapest: $5.50 anytime

US: Coke – $4 Popcorn – $4
Budapest: Coke – $2, Popcorn $2

OVERALL: Not too different. The theatres look the same and feel the same. The experiences are very similar. This isn’t one of the things that we do without in living in Budapest

Two Days in the US . . . Two rounds of Golf

I love this country!!!!

In getting ready to travel to the US, I haven’t had much time to blog lately. I caught up on the last week this morning. Be sure to read down to catch up on the latest!!!

After 2 years, are now back on American soil. It felt good to step off the plane and be able to read all of the signs. Then, we stepped up to the counter at Passport Control and the guy started up a conversation with us. We talked about living in Hungary and all the things that we were looking forward to doing while we were home. It was so nice to be able to talk with total strangers. Also, we were blown away that a Border Guard would be nice. I’ve never had a border guard in Eastern Europe even have a pleasant look on their face, more less smile, more less have a conversation with me. It’s good to be home.

On the way to Valerie’s parents house, we went to CVS Phamarcy to pick up a few things, then to the bank, then to Taco Bell (our kids’ top choice!!!!). We discuss how different these three errands would have been in Hungary. They would have taken most of the day in Budpaest (not to mention a translator for the bank) and in Houston they took us less than hour. It’s good to be home.

I watched baseball (Astros-Mets) last night and the Today show this morning. It’s good to be home!!

On the bus to our hotel in Paris, we began talking with a young couple from Romania. They had also missed the connection from the Budapest flight to the Houston flight just like us. They told us that the husband, Elidad, had won a lottery to get a green card to move to the US and eventually become a US citizen. Since they are married, his wife Raloca was able to come with him. So, they were moving to the US, the land of opportunity. They were Christians and were familiar with Campus Crusade in Romania which is called Alege Viata. We thought it was funny that the Americans were going to the US to visit and the Romanians were moving there. They were coming home and we were just visiting.

Spears Kids
Originally uploaded by Budapest Tom.

After realizing that we were going to spend the day and night in Paris, our thoughts went immediately to our friends, the Spears, that have lived there for about a year. We lived just a 1/2 mile from each other in Orlando.

We jumped on the train and went to their house for a visit. The kids had a great time renewing old friendships and the adults enjoyed catching up. I was there only 2 weeks ago, which helped because I knew how to get there.

The older kids had a good time comparing stories of the challenges of living overseas. It is good to find someone that understands a little of what you are going through.