Fried rice and the seventh-inning stretch.

Before I forget, here’s a brief message for my brother-in-law David:

Hey, sports fans — the World Series starts tonight! As if we couldn’t be more excited here because the Rangers won the American League pennant, all my favorite Chinese restaurants are offering WORLD SERIES CARRY-OUT DISCOUNTS so a person can eat Mongolian Chicken in her bathrobe and watch TV at the SAME TIME. Seriously, this is so exciting I almost can’t stand it.

Tonight’s game starts at 7. I’m opening the soy sauce at 6:45.

In other news, my very cute mother-in-law (see photo below with Sam) arrives Saturday for an eight-day visit and we’ve been busy trying to put together a fun-packed itinerary for her. So far we’ve got excursions to our new patio, the Choctaw Casino, the Dallas Arboretum and maybe a museum. Our restaurant choices are The Black-eyed Pea, Sunday brunch at Blue Mesa Grill, Smoke, Mariano’s Hacienda, Royal China (home of the original “noodle dude”) and Sammy’s Barbecue in Uptown. Don’t tell anybody, but all of a sudden I’m exceptionally hungry.

We won’t need to do a driving tour of Dallas because this is mom’s third visit and she’s already seen all the high spots — including the famous Book Depository and the ever-popular “grassy knoll.”

Thanks for stopping by.