Long Hollow

Tom and I hit the highway last night to experience a Central Texas gem we had no idea even existed until now – the Walburg Restaurant and Biergarten. I was kicking myself (in between dances) that we'd never been before.

Tom danced with me, but while those fast polkas start my toes tapping, he became immune to their allure a long time ago.

WANTED: POLKA DANCER  No specific requirements except
the ability to twirl me around a dance floor when a polka
beat is too fast for my husband.

Pulling into Walburg is like a going back in time 100 years – you round a curve onto a main street lined by a few old storefronts and Victorian homes with glimpses of farmland in all directions.We've only just discovered it now thanks to TG's former high school band director, Les, and our friends, Joe and Mary Kay.

Les is now a Walburg Boy, playing gigs on the weekend after working all week as a high school band director in Austin. It's a return to his roots, in a way: in a previous life, he was a member of two other Austin bands, The Debonaires and Lonesome Dove. Two of the current Walburg Boys were also in Lonesome Dove, and that's how Les came to join them. Ron, the leader of the Boys and owner of the biergarten and restaurant, was a national yodeling champion years ago in Germany.

The music, a wonderful, eclectic mix of German polkas and Texas rock/country favorites, wafts out of a large Oktoberfest-type tent (featuring a slide-smooth concrete dance floor) into the old oaks and rolling countryside. We didn't eat at the restaurant; you can order food and drinks at a take-out window in the biergarten itself, everything from hamburgers to wiener schnitzel and so many different types of beer that I wished I still liked the stuff! Tom and I shared some wiener schnitzel, potato salad (that was to-die-for!) and purple cabbage that even Tom (a non-vegetable-eater) agreed was good.

I had big to-do plans for this weekend, but number 1 on my list was sleeping eight hours. I scratched that off, but since we were out late last night dancing to the Walburg Boys' music, it meant I didn't get an early start on the rest of my to-do's. Here's the status of my list:

My Weekend To-Do List

1. get caught up on laundry
2. work out (I'm trying to fit 5 in a week; Thursday we had a visit from an environmental inspector – I didn't mind skipping that day even though it meant I had to make up for it today.)
3. write 1000 words on my book (I'm determined to get back on track with this!)
4. compose blogs and figure out a way to make money from them (I've always told my kids to do what they love and they'll find a way to make a living at it. It's time to match my actions with my words. You know how kids are – they do what you do, not what you tell them, right?)
5. go to the grocery store (except for quick stops at our tiny local store, I haven't been in about 3 weeks!)
6. change the refrigerator water filter (it's only a few weeks overdue)
7. organize my property issue notes and collect my photos into one file
8. put flea and tick treatment on the dogs (just a little overdue)
9. send out an email about my new business venture
10. upload all of my photos from my Diva weekend to Facebook so my friends can see them
11. send a query to Texas Monthly magazine about an idea I have for an article
12. clean off my desk and pay bills (I swear the paperwork is breeding over there!)
13. clean house. Or at least something in the house, like a mirror or toilet.

You can see I haven't accomplished even half of my list yet!

So what have I been doing today, instead of taking care of the uncrossed-out items above?

1. made blueberry muffins
2. took a walk with Tom and the dogs
3. called each one of my kids AND my mom
4. checked my email and answered a few
5. played with some photos
6. danced (Tom has music streaming from his computer through the house speakers)
7. checked out some photography blogs, including this one that is just amazing: Rayel Photography (check out the vacation video)
8. stayed glued to the television while the Pearland, Texas Little League team played Hawaii 
9. checked up on my Facebook friends (while I watched the game – multitasking!)

If you haven't heard, the Texas boys lost. I know their broken hearts and disappointment blind them to how awesome it is that they made it as far as they did! But it's something they'll remember with pride in a few years, I'm sure.

So somehow Saturday is almost gone! I'm thinking it's time to hang up the list for the day and head to the back deck to enjoy the sunset, then watch a movie with my sweetie. There's still tomorrow… (thank the Lord for Sundays and early Mass!)

Scenes from Walburg…