Long Hollow

Mary Poppins and other Sweet!s of the week

I would lie on the wooden floor for hours... or at least it seemed like hours... listening to my Mary Poppins soundtrack album, over and over. Asthma held my lungs hostage - each breath was a major accomplishment - so lying there listening to "Step in Time" and "Feed the Birds" was about all I could do and the songs are ingrained in my memory.

It was, and still is, my favorite Disney movie. I don't remember the first time I saw it, but I remember going back as a teen with my sister, imagining strange looks from everyone else in line because we were the only ones who didn't have someone under the age of 5 with us.

Thanks to the miracle of recorded movies a la Beta, VHS, and DVD, I've watched it hundreds of times, with and without my children at various ages.

And that's why my heart skipped a beat when my dear friends let me know they were taking me to the stage performance for my birthday. 

We went Thursday night, first stopping for dinner at Hyde Park Grill. The stage production is a teensy bit different than the movie, but I could still sing along with most of the songs and the sets and actors' performances were amazing. 

A very sweet! night, thanks to some very sweet friends. Thank you Mary Kay, Karen, and Conni! 

Conni's not pictured... she's going Sunday with her twenty-something daughter, but we made sure to get her one of these bracelets! We've formed a new club!

Now I'm already halfway through a sweet! weekend. Two-thirds of the kids are home for the second weekend in a row, just because they wanted to. I like that.

And as if those aren't enough, here are a few other sweet! moments from the past week...

 

Sunday: Easter Mass; all the kids home; dinner with friends; watching kids on an Easter egg hunt; a call from your mama

Monday: new flowers popping up; watching your puppies hunt for lizards and swim in the creek 

Tuesday: shampoos by Clint (bittersweet... he's retiring from shampoos); a new cut and color by Michael; Panda Express fortune cookie fortunes

Wednesday: kids of all ages blowing bubbles; taking photos of a sweet friend and her family

Thursday: shoes on your feet and insect spray close by when you spot a 6-inch centipede swishing across your kitchen floor; the imaginations of 4th graders; watching kids swinging and playing a rowdy game of kickball on a school playground; dinner and Mary Poppins with dear friends

Friday: Friday the 13ths; spending the day with your sweetie; watching another episode of "The Game of Thrones" with 2/3 of your kids; discovering you won a "Post of the Week" from Hilary at The Smitten Image (Thanks again, Hilary!)

Saturday: spring mornings; your son and his dad working together on his "new" car

I hope you've all had a week full of sweets and the next one plain overflows with them!

 

An evening walk... and other sweet!s of the week

Tom and I have gotten into the habit of an afternoon walk down to our pond and along our little creek. The blue skies, golden light and exploding colors are irresistible.

First, Max wades into the pond up to his neck, letting the water penetrate his thick fur and cool him down. Belle ventures to the water's edge for a drink, but prefers to wallow in the sand of the road.

(Strange dog.)

Once Max is back on dry land, and dutifully shakes to share the pond with us, we cross the dam dotted with prairie verbena and fleabane, watching for poison ivy and blackberries, checking to see what trees are returning and which ones didn't survive the drought. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the slender ones with the beautiful bark that line the creek. So far I haven't spotted any buds, but maybe they're late bloomers...

It's possible, right?

We head up the hill a bit, then cross over to the little cemetery where Jake and Maggie and Char and Sylvia and Sylvester and Spanky are buried, marked with small iron crosses. (That's two dogs, one Siamese cat, two gerbils and a tiger salamander, if you're wondering. All beloved pets.)

We pass the old, twisted cedars and scramble down a small slope to a path that runs along the creek, following it back up to the little waterfall where we search for minnows and tadpoles before crossing the little rock dam.

The water is rising a little every day and you can't cross without getting your feet wet now, but we don't mind. We aim for two large limestone slabs resting on the bank of the creek just a bit downstream, where we sit and talk about our days. Max wades back in, but Belle gives us kisses and lets us pet her before they both scratch out cool spots in the earth under a rock overhang near us and nap until we decide it's time to head back to the house.

I imagine heaven to be very similar. 

At any rate, it's a sweet way to greet the evening.

Every spring is the only spring — a perpetual astonishment.

Ellis Peters

 

Here are a few other sweet! moments from my past week...

Saturday: sitting on a rock near a running creek with your dogs and husband, watching tadpoles scurry under the surface 

Sunday: a spring morning that makes you hear Cat Stevens singing "Morning Has Broken" in your mind

Monday: watching a great documentary on the 50's and 60's... and getting paid for it!; an overdue phone call that settles the Mama Worries growing in your heart; a drive down to the lake with your sweetie

Tuesday: progress on your book; homemade migas for lunch, with enough left over for tomorrow's breakfast; playing the drums for the first time in two or three weeks; hearing happiness and relief in your babies' voices 

Wednesday: playing the drums for the second day in a row; a new book in the mailbox

Thursday: long phone conversations with a dear friend; spending time with your daughter; tortilla soup from Santa Rita; a walk near a creek at dusk

Friday: living in a small town where, everywhere you go, you run into someone you know; butterflies; Catholic Church fish fries, followed by Stations of the Cross; Belle's grin when you come back home

I hope your past week was full of sweet! moments... and the next will have even more! Share your favorites here!

Getting Happy

 

I played my drums today.

That makes two days in a row after several weeks of merely dusting them. A friend shared with me some basic beats he learned in his drum class and I've been wanting to practice them for days, but just had too many important things I needed to do. 

Playing the drums isn't important. Or at least I didn't think it was until today. Not until the rain that wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow showed up a day early, forcing me to postpone a family photo shoot I had scheduled with a friend this afternoon.

We've had a tough time meshing our calendars. I had already postponed the shoot once to go to a meeting I had forgotten about.  Now it will be another two weeks before we can meet up.

Disappointed and discouraged, I picked up the sticks and banged away for a little while, not in the mood to do anything else.

It didn't make me any money. I couldn't cross it off of my long to-do list. But I felt better. A few rays of mental sunshine broke through the rainclouds that had somehow rolled into my head. 

It made me think of BlogHer's Life Well Lived question for this week:  How do you put yourself first? How does taking time for yourself help make you happier?

Almost every morning I take my puppies for a walk. That makes me happy, but as much as I love my walks, the joy in their faces is contagious and makes my heart soar.

In fact, most of my happiness is triggered by doing things for others. I truly believe that's the secret to happiness.

But there's a need for balance. Even Jesus took breaks from the crowds, heading off into the mountains or across the sea to be by himself. If he needed breaks, how much more so do we, to keep ourselves from becoming burned out or resentful?

Playing the drums makes me happy. Slipping off for a lunch... or a weekend... with my friends (or my husband) makes me happy. Having my hair cut by someone who knows how to cut my hair makes me happy.

That first cup of coffee in a quiet house... stepping away from the computer into the early afternoon sunshine... taking photographs of flowers and full moons... writing... reading... these all make me happy.

And that happiness is like a big deep breath, a surge of energy coursing through my body, revitalizing me, giving me what I need to help others.

What about you? How do you put yourself first? (Do you?)

And how does taking time for yourself help make you happier? 

Visit the main Life Well Lived post on BlogHer and don't forget to enter the Sweepstakes. You could win a Kindle Fire and a $50 Amazon gift certificate to go with it!

 

 

Texas and other Sweet!s

I spent this glorious spring day with Tom and dear friends Shari and Robert driving through the hill country... ooh-ing and ah-ing at fields of bluebonnets, hiking up Enchanted Rock, and eating in Fredericksburg. I'm sunburned and dog-tired, but happily so. (Pictures to follow... you can probably imagine how many I took!)

I have to give Tom credit for spotting this single Bluebonnet growing right in front of our house. For some reason, bluebonnets are rare down in the Hollow. One year we tried to plant some, but as I told a friend, the birds must have eaten the seeds and pooped them out elsewhere.

Thank you to whatever bird planted this bluebonnet standing so tall and proud, like a true Texan...

I just love it!

..."Proud Texan" leads me to this next photo that some guy named Steve Redman posted on Facebook. It's spreading like wildfire... at least among my Texan friends. I have no idea where he got it, but I love it, too.

Yes, we do think like this. But we also laugh at ourselves for thinking like this. Does that help make us a little less obnoxious?

"I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that.  It is a mystique closely approximating a religion.  And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox.  But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing.  For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America.  Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study and the passionate possession of all Texans." -John Steinbeck, 1962

"If a man’s from Texas, he’ll tell you. If he’s not, why embarrass him by asking?" - Travel writer John Gunther, The Best of Texas.

 

And now for more sweet! moments of the past week...

 

Saturday: your Mama's tuna fish salad; watching basketball with your Daddy; bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes on a hillside at sunset; the smiles on your puppies' faces when you arrive home after a road trip

Sunday: driving empty highways at 4am to retrieve your daughter from a 22-hour bus trip; a great sermon; a red-tailed hawk, soaring through the hollow; watching movies with your daughter before she heads back to college

Monday: a bluebonnet growing in the Hollow; ducks gliding across a pond; four-year-olds discovering patterns and pretending to be airplanes and kitty cats; walking familiar halls after years of absence

Tuesday: knowing your puppies are indoors, safe and sound, on a stormy morning; a glimpse of more ducks through the trees, even though they fly before you can snap their picture; a call from your father-in-law, letting you know he's out of the hospital 

Wednesday: a walk before dawn, the Big Dipper ahead of you and a glimmer of sunrise behind; no line at the post office

Thursday: lunch with friends; coming up with a good excuse to drive downtown for a daughter hug; watching ducks fly away from you, even though you didn't have time to snap their photo (again!)

Friday: reading Othello aloud with high school seniors; a (mostly) clean house, just in time for the arrival of sweet friends; sitting around a bonfire with friends under a sky full of stars, talking and listening to a rushing creek

Saturday: fields of Texas wildflowers; sharing the view from the top of Enchanted Rock with friends; real German Reuben sandwiches

What were some sweet! moments of your week?

A Celestial Evening (Celeste Krenz and Harley's Angels)

Friday night, Tom and I joined 38 other sets of ears in our friends' living room to listen to Celeste Krenz, an singer/songwriter we'd never heard of before, even though her amazing voice has been singing for audiences for a couple of decades.

Her songs are unique, yet familiar somehow... her voice lyrical, soothing, and angelic... even when she's singing "If I Had a Gun"... 

And nothing beats listening to music like that in the intimacy of a home concert.

These particular friends, Bob and Lisa, have hosted several concerts in their home, including the Shake Russell concert a few years ago that inspired us to have our own (because we couldn't make it to theirs!)

Two years ago Bob and Lisa decided to add a purpose beyond entertainment to the concerts. Each artist who performed in their home signed a a Venture V3 acoustic/electric guitar that was later auctioned off. Last year it went for $2000 in a live auction at the Flight Against Breast Cancer fundraiser.

The fundraiser benefited Harley's Angels, a non-profit organization comprised of a group of "women motorcycle enthusiasts dedicated to promoting breast cancer awareness, research and education." 

Bob, a motorcycle enthusiast himself, lost his sister Karen to breast cancer a few years ago. This is his way of celebrating her life and helping to fight the disease that took her life.

The Shake Russell Trio and Michael Hearne will be the featured performers again this year at the third annual Flight Against Breast Cancer fundraiser on September 29.

Celeste Krenz kicked off this year's concert series and fundraising: a portion of her CD sales went to Harley's Angels.

Susan Gibson plays in May. I'm not sure who else Bob has lined up this year, but I'm sure he'll gather some other great musician/artists. Last year's guitar was signed by Tavana, Chuck Cannon, Klaus Oglesby, Jeff Senour, Joe McGinnity, Shake Russell, Doug Floyd, Mike Roberts and Michael Hearne.

As you can tell, Bob isn't one of those people who sits around wishing other people would do something. He just does it.

Bob holds the guitar steady while Celeste signs her name.

Celeste with representatives of Harley's Angels.

 

Celeste with hosts, Bob and Lisa.

 

I just love this pic of Bob and my sweetie! They've been friends since their Coast Guard days. 

If you're interested in learning more about the Flight Against Breast Cancer concert series and auction, let me know and I'll be sure to keep you posted on the details.

Spring Fever

This afternoon I sat on a sun-warmed rock beside our pond, watching tadpoles scurry about just under the surface. A finger of wind traced ripples, sending drops of sparkling sunshine scattering like shooting stars in front of me.

Butterflies flirted with flowers. Dragonflies flirted with each other. 

Max and Belle waded, drank, relished the cold and hot on their bodies.

And I just sat there in silence, caught in Spring's spell... oozing gratitude out of every pore in my body... 

 

"It's spring fever. 

That is what the name of it is. 

And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want,

but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!" 

 ~Mark Twain

 

Fiction, Fires, Family... and other sweet things

Bonfire sparks drifted up to the sky where clouds parted like curtains and stars crowded the stage, accompanied by the singing creek beside us. No moon softened the darkness - the pitch wall of night rose just beyond the reach of the firelight. 

There was a time not too long ago when I would have feared the darkness, imagining all sorts of danger lurking where my eyes couldn't see. But last night I hugged my jacket around me, craned my neck up to stare at the stars and felt nothing but awe at the beauty of the night and amazement that I ever felt fear standing in its darkness.

I had spent the past day and a half immersed in the world of children's books, listening to authors, agents and editors sharing their stories and experience, offering advice and encouragement to those of us still only dreaming of publication.

Standing there watching the stars break through the clouds, hearing the sizzle and pop of the fire, the trickle of the creek, the frogs singing in the distance... it all just added to the impression that this is a magical world where dreams can come true...

...Especially the small ones like sleeping in for the first time in weeks and meeting my cousin Pat for lunch after two years of trying to match our schedules (which is just ridiculous because she only lives an hour away!)

Pat's a genealogy addict like me, except she's still actively researching. I've had to put myself on a 12-step-program, otherwise I'd get nothing else accomplished!

A few years ago we spent a Saturday tracking down family cemeteries and visiting the Bell County Museum, where we discovered a photo of 'the oldest house in Bell County' hanging on the wall. 

According to writing on the photo, it was built by one of our ancestors. She sent off for a copy of it and today presented me with a framed canvas copy, along with copies of other family mementoes and letters she knew I'd treasure. 

 

 

Well, she's the true treasure! But I was enjoying our time together so much, I completely forgot about getting a photo of us together as I'd planned.

Next time... and by golly, we won't wait another two years for it.

"Our most treasured family heirlooms are our sweet family memories."

~ Unknown

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And now, here are a few Sweet! moments from the past week I remembered to record...

Monday: puppies, stretched out warm and cozy in the laundry room on a rainy, cold morning; making Valentine cyclops cookies with your Valentine

Tuesday: sharing Valentine cookies with your middle son and heart-shaped chocolates with your daughter; a "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom" call from your oldest; searching for fossilized hearts with your sweetie beside a lake, followed by dinner by candlelight and a funny, romantic movie 

Wednesday: a chicken quesadilla for lunch, shared with your honey who decided to take the day off; a little bird outside the window posing for your camera; a job that lets you eat pizza, play with jewelry, sip wine, and catch up with friends while you 'work'

 

 

Thursday: a rare day spent totally at home; a puppy's face in the window reminding you to take a break from the computer

Friday: the sound of raindrops on your umbrella; familiar faces in a roomful of strangers

Saturday: the rain stopping just as you leave the house; a day spent listening and learning from authors, agents and editors; watching the clouds give way to stars; bonfires on a crisp night 

Sunday: late Mass so you can sleep in a bit; a glimpse of a huge red-tailed hawk flying past; a long-overdue lunch with a dear cousin/friend

Hoping you had a week full of sweet!s and are blessed with even more in the week to come! (Share some of yours here!)

Team Valentine (Who needs a dozen roses...?)

Valentine's Day Eve...

Tom made the cookie dough.

I peeled the wrappers off the milk chocolate hearts.

He formed the balls, rolled them in sugar and placed them on the cookie sheets I lined with foil.

He kept an eye on their baking, but together we topped each cookie with a heart and popped them in our mouths...

...over and over and over again. 

When there's someone, one someone who makes your days brighter,

makes your joys greater,

makes your heart lighter,

 

Valentine's Day...

Tom was in the Suzuki, pulling out of the driveway just as I drove up. 
"I'm going to get one more load of rock. Want to go with me?" he asked. Of course I did!

He cleared the dirty gloves and tools off the passenger seat, brushed as much loose dirt aside as he could, and I climbed in.  He drove to a spot near the lake where construction crews are laying new water pipe. The foreman gave Tom permission to gather up all the flat rock he wants - he's collecting them to use as paving stones for our future driveway, or as I like to call it, Hernia #5. Or maybe it's #6. I've lost count.

I helped him load the rock, then he showed me the mother lode of fossils he discovered. We spent the next half hour scouring the exposed lake bed for fossils, finding one stone heart after another, until the setting sun reminded us to head home.

That's when he discovered the flat in the right front tire. He drove the Suzuki as far as the top of our dirt road, then hopped out to lessen the weight on the tire. I drove it the last mile home with him following on foot.

Someone, one someone you want so to share with,

do everything with,

go everywhere with,

 

Valentine's Day Night...

Cards filled with love and sweetness. Candlelight. Grilled T-Bone steaks, Texas toast, fresh salad. A glass of pinot noir for me, a beer for him. A couple of cookies and "When Harry Met Sally".

Could there possibly be a better way to celebrate Valentine's Day? I can't imagine it.

Someone, one someone you want to live for--

you have that something called Love.

~ Karen Ravn 

 

"Girl...We SO Crazy" (a Diva weekend in Long Hollow)

 

This tiny naked baby, arms opened wide for a hug, sits on my kitchen window sill, a sweet reminder that just two weeks ago my kitchen was overflowing in love and friendship and hugs from women who have known me almost forever.

 

 

 

The baby came hidden in an authentic King Cake, carted all the way from Louisiana (along with some genuine boudin sausages) by my friend Sandy.

I'm not sure who found the baby in their piece of cake, but I love that they plopped him down where I would spot him and be reminded of them every day.

The Diva weekend started on a Friday night, two weeks ago tomorrow, when half of the women braved my dirt road in the dark of night just to get together with friends they've known since high school. 

The rest rolled in on Saturday.

The beauty of these get-togethers, though, is that we weren't all friends in high school. It took a few decades, but we're grabbing this chance to connect in ways that are impossible when you're a teenager. 

I didn't start snapping photos until Saturday morning, though, when some of us ventured out on a walk to wake up my husband who had escaped to his tent across the creek soon after grilling us a delicious fajita dinner the night before.

 

 

What a sweetheart! 

We thought about jumping in on him, then realized he might be as naked as that King Cake baby, so we just talked to him through the canvas, instead. 

 

Look! I wasn't the only one swinging a big camera that weekend! 

Love this one of Rae and Max, just chillin' by the creek...

Max and Belle love Rae - she always brings them treats. 

This time she brought puppy Valentines, of course...

After a morning spent hanging out on the porch talking and eating more fajitas, we piled into SUVs and headed to Flat Creek Estate for a wine tasting and tour. 

It was fun being a customer for a change!

We even talked Chef Sean into posing for a photo...

Back at the house, we continued the celebration of our friendship with tons of food, including the King Cake below...

...and a toast (I knew that one day all of those souvenir shot glasses I collected would come in handy!)

And that's why I feel this photo says it all...

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let’s face it: Friends make life a lot more fun.

~ Charles R. Swindoll

The Privilege of a Lifetime

"The privilege of a lifetime is to be yourself."

 ~ Joseph Campbell

 

A big pot of chicken soup is simmering on the stove. From where I sit across the room I can hear the little bubbles playing on the surface and the aroma is making my stomach growl.

I made it for myself, because I'm sick. I don't cook often these days, and when I do, it's usually to whip up some favorite of one of my kids or my husband, although he's gotten quite good at cooking whatever he wants himself.

You see, there are tons of other things I'd rather do with my time besides cook. That's just me, the way I am, and I'm okay with it. Thank goodness my husband is, too.

I thought about this as I chopped up vegetables for the soup earlier, because BlogHer's latest question for their Life Well Lived Getting Happy series is: How do you practice self-acceptance and find unconditional love for yourself? (Part 2 of the question is: How does practicing love first help you attract more love and happiness in your life?)

Well, not cooking if I don't feel like it is one way I practice self-acceptance.

I spent years trying on cooking and crafting and gardening and sewing, and while I enjoyed each one to a certain extent, none of them fit me exactly right. 

Today I'm cooking because I care about myself. I want to get well.

It took years to shed the 'Mommy-Martyr' mentality that made me think everyone else's needs were more important than my own. It's still a trick mirror though... one big incentive to take care of myself is so I can take care of those I love who depend on me. To be healthy if they need me or to just set a good example.

When I eat right, when I run, when I make sure I get enough sleep or play my drums or take time to read or write or take photos or laugh with friends or go dancing with my husband... it's for them as much as it is for myself.

 

Turning 50 was a huge turning point in my self-attitude, like standing before a mirror, evaluating where I'd been, where I still wanted to go and whether or not I was heading in the right direction to get there. Trying to figure out what fit and what should be tossed. I was able to recognize and appreciate the strengths that got me this far, as well as the quirks that make me unique.

Love your neighbor as yourself. ~ Mark 12:31

I forgave myself mistakes made along the way, accepted myself as human, flaws and all, and by doing so, discovered how easy it is to do the same for other people. The key to loving your imperfect neighbor "as yourself" is first loving your imperfect self.

How do you start? Ponder this...

 Where there is no love, put love and there will be love.

~ St. John of the Cross

 

 

So how do you practice self-acceptance and find unconditional love for yourself?

And how does practicing love first help you attract more love and happiness in your life?

Leave your answer here, but also at the main post on BlogHer where you can see other answers. And be sure to enter the sweepstakes for a chance at a Kindle Fire and $50 Amazon Gift Card HERE.

What Was I Thinking? (and my weekly Sweet! list)

It seemed like a good idea at the time, volunteering to host a weekend gathering of Deer Park Divas. My friends Patti and Rae started it, saying something about needing to come to Austin. We had so much fun the last time we gathered here to celebrate a friend's birthday and I've been wanting to do it again anyway.

But what was I thinking? Here I am all revved up on writing my children's book, involved in a critique group, which means reading and critiquing other people's pages besides writing my own. I'm trying to get two businesses started, plus keep up with my blog and blog friends.

I'm also in the middle of sorting through clothes, books, movies, odds and ends... what to keep (and where to keep it) and what to sell. My house is filled with cardboard boxes and housekeeping in other forms has been sorely neglected. I had to scramble to get bedrooms and bathrooms ready for a dozen overnight guests.

What, oh what, was I thinking?

I'll tell you exactly what I was thinking...

...that life is too short and friendships like these are too precious not to gather as often as possible. All the rest can wait.  I don't regret it at all.

(a few Divas at our last gathering this summer at Rae's)

And now for my Sweet! list...

Monday: a spring-like morning in January; the joy that oozes from frisky puppies; surprising ducks on a pond; crossing off a to-do that had begun growing roots on your list

Tuesday: the flock of ducks lingering for a photo shoot; laughing with your daughter; shampoos by Clint and color/cuts by Michael; money in your pocket for some old clothes; dinner with your son and honey

Wednesday: a night of much-needed rain; singing frogs; running creeks; a laugh from a friend, just when you need it

Thursday: sunshine returning; lunch with sweet friends; finally (finally!) sorting through piles and getting your office organized; discovering a pair of earrings you overlooked in a door prize giveaway from a week ago; perfect guacamole a la your husband

Friday: the blues, pinks and golds of a morning sky; finishing cleaning your house before your guests arrive!; slumber parties with high school girlfriends when you're 52 

Saturday: I'm just guessing, because I'm writing this Friday night as I wait for the first wave of women to arrive... but I'm thinking that it's awfully sweet spending the morning with these women of my childhood. Hope you're having a sweet morning, too!

Ripped Apart and other Sweet!s of the Week

A collection of colorful bags and pieces of luggage grows beside me. Today's the day I take TG back to campus to start the spring semester. Wasn't it just a few days ago that we carried all of those bags down from the car?

Christmas break went by so fast. At the beginning of it I had two kids at home; soon it will be just me and Tom again. Sweet, yet bittersweet.

Sweet because, luckily, Tom and I enjoy being together - we easily fall back into our pre-kids selves. Bittersweet because I enjoy having the kids around, too, and not only for all the help they give us with dishes, dog care, laundry... although I do miss that, too.

This might have been the last long break TG spends with us. By this time next year, she'll be living in an apartment, probably working near campus through the break, coming home for a weekend every now and then. Sigh.

I'll take it a semester at a time, though, and right now I just pray this one will be the best ever for her.

Well, while I wait for her to finish packing, I'll tell you a little about my day yesterday, spent in the World of Writers.

I finally made it to a meeting of the Austin Chapter of the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators) held at BookPeople, a wonderful independent book store in downtown Austin. I don't think I've every met a friendlier group of strangers in my life - the support and encouragement was palpable!

I sat in the only open chair I spotted,  After introductions, I discovered the woman beside me, as well as the two directly behind me, all live just a few miles from me and are eager to form a writer's critique group.Talk about serendipity!

The first session of the meeting was a presentation by author Brian Yansky on plot, character and structure of your story. Some of it was knew to me... some I already know but don't necessarily put into practice... and that's why I need reminders like this, especially from successful authors who are willing to share what has worked for them. Judging by the others who were scribbling notes, I'm not the only one!

Next, a few of us went to the third floor for the open critique group... the part I had been most eager for! I passed out copies of my first two pages, cleared my throat, took a deep breath and read out loud while they followed along.

When I finished, I could see they were hesitant, not sure if I wanted brutal honesty or encouraging pats-on-the-back.

"Rip it apart!" I told them. I've read too many books lately that began with seeds of great stories, but because of neglected pruning, had grown into huge distracting messes. I don't want mine to end up that way!

So with my blessing they ripped it apart, so to speak. Some of what they mentioned I had already wondered about myself, but needed another opinion... which is why I was eager for the critique group. Other things were surprises, and so even more helpful.

A critique can be painful if you take it personally, but I look at it as a really good workout... tough to get through but so invigorating and energizing when it's all over... and the only way to get stronger.

We took turns reading and critiquing, everyone offering concrete constructive comments. Writer heaven!

After a quick break (I walked to Whole Foods and enjoyed a cup of tomato basil soup at a small table outside, great for people-watching!) we gathered on the third floor again. Two of the members had attended a recent Story Masters Workshop where they took pages and pages of notes, all of which they shared with us. 

Spending a day with such a great group of talented writers (many published authors in the group) who encourage and support each other... very sweet!

And now for some other sweet! moments of the past week... 

 

Monday: a fire in the woodburning stove on a cold, rainy day; cedar pollen that's been attacking your nose and making you want to scratch our your eyes washed from the air by the rain; finally meeting a previously only 'online' friend in person; loose ends neatly tied up; joining a writer's group, at long last, to help you with your book 

Tuesday: the moment when dark clouds break apart to reveal blue sky; frogs singing in the distance, grateful for the recent rain; watching "The 10th Kingdom" with your daughter; cell phones that allow you to talk to your mom and your dear friend, despite the miles between you

 

 

Wednesday: $300 worth of free jewelry, thanks to your party!; a Post of the Week award from Hilary for one of your photography posts; that sparkling-clean-teeth feeling you get after a trip to the dentist; a jingle-jangle in your pocket for stuff you didn't want anymore anyway  

Thursday: getting word that a sweet kid you know was found before you even knew he was missing; scratching things off of your list; finally fulfilling a months-old promise to a friend

Friday: a "Happy Anniversary" first thing in the morning from you sweetie before you even realize it's Friday the 13th; puppies stretched out comfy and warm on the laundry room floor on a below-freezing morning; shopping with your baby girl; getting $17 for from a local resale shop for things you were going to toss out; any Ryan Reynolds movie

Saturday: a day spent with writers; getting honest feedback and suggestions on your children's book-in-progress; tomato and basil soup outdoors on a gorgeous day; a walk at dusk beside a running brook; home-brewed beer; watching Harry Potter movies with your daughter

Sunday: a friend thinking of you when a job comes open; watching more Harry Potter movies with your daughter; a call from your mom

What were some of your sweet! moments in the past week? (I know you can come up with at least one!) Please share them here!

Kids, Jewelry, Birthdays, Weddings and other (belated) Sweet!s

A rumble of thunder and whisper of rain woke me in the night. It continues today, another steady, soaking rain falling from a colorless sky. We've had enough rain in the past few weeks that I almost take it for granted, despite the months of drought.

Almost, but not quite. Waking to the sound of rain is still a sweet sound, especially when I can roll over, snuggle deeper into my covers, and go back to sleep.

I would also almost start complaining about the soggy weather... the mud that gets tracked in, the slippery roads... despite those months of drought, but in between our frequent rainy days, we've had warm days with crisp blue skies (Saturday) and cool days with skies of rainless clouds (yesterday.)

I love it when things balance out that way! Very sweet!

Yes, I realize I'm running late with this post. I've been keeping up with my sweet!s this week... but my photos, not so much.

Well, I've been taking plenty, but all of them from the past week were still stashed on my camera until last night. I didn't have a chance until now to tidy my sweet! list and glance through my photos - it was one of those on-the-run weekends that I love, but that leave me breathless!

First, Daniel came home for a visit this weekend. His face is always a sweet sight, but I hadn't seen him since last year, when he moved out to his own place just after Christmas!

So you can imagine how happy I was to see him!

We spent Friday evening talking and watching a movie, just hanging out and relaxing. I was hosting my own Silpada jewelry party (one of my other "hats") the next afternoon, but thought I would have plenty of time Saturday morning to get everything done.

But after letting myself sleep in and then mentally comparing what I had left to do with how much time I had in which to do it, I realized I was wrong!

My kids were lifesavers, though, bless them... they pitched in and helped me pack up the last of our Christmas decorations away, tidy up the house in preparation and followed whatever other orders I barked at them. Such sweet kids!

Consequently, it was a relaxed open house. And what a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon... sitting around a table, sipping wine, munching on yummy snacks, talking to friends and looking at beautiful jewelry!

Tom and I headed out right after the party to help my dear friend Darla celebrate her birthday at Z'Tejas. (It was my first time there, and oh my gosh, it was soooo good! Great twists on traditional Tex Mex... I got the Wild Mushroom Enchiladas.)

(Again, my kids were lifesavers... they helped clean up from the party for me! I just hope Daniel will come home again some day... I don't think he was counting on all the extra chores!) 

Just getting together with these longtime friends from high school is a sweet way to spend a Saturday night, but we were joined by a face none of us had seen since graduation day. We reconnected with Wayne via Facebook and discovered he'd been living in the Austin area for the past fifteen years or so, too. We've probably passed him on the highway a zillion times...

After church Sunday morning, I met my future daughter-in-law in town for another day of wedding venue sightseeing. There are so many possibilities, it's mind-boggling! I'm glad I'm just a tag along and not the one having to make the decision!

I can have fun snapping photos...

And now for my belated list of Sweet! moments from the past week...

Monday: walking at sunrise; checking out wedding venues with your son, his future bride and her family (photos HERE and HERE); one of your blog posts listed on Pioneer Woman's sidebar links

Tuesday: frost sparkling in the caliche road like tiny diamonds; working on your book for hours, even if it doesn't feel like you made much progress

Wednesday: almost getting caught up on your email; a friend pinning a link to your blog on Pinterest; not burning the chicken legs on the grill even though you were distracted with writing; catching a movie with friends; extra-sweet... the movie starred George Clooney and was set in Hawaii ("The Descendants")

Thursday: the excitement and joy of puppies on a morning walk; words flowing onto the page without effort, for a change; a phone call from your sister; your kids helping you take down the Christmas decorations

Friday: fresh morning sunlight; bumping into a friend at the grocery store; the Epiphany; photos of your husband's aunt ziplining in Costa Rica in honor of her 74th birthday!; the sight of your middle son for the first time in two weeks

Saturday: your kids pitching in to get your house ready for your jewelry party; finding out one of your photos was chosen for FlickR's Explore; friends gathered around your table, chatting; a friend putting in an order for jewelry even though she sells it herself, just in hopes you have a good party; celebrating a dear friend's birthday and reconnecting with a friend from long ago

Sunday: kneeling and praying next to your sweetie in church; checking out more wedding venues with your future daughter-in-law; hearing from your oldest, letting you know he made it safely to Arizona for a business trip

(Monday: I didn't plan to add Monday on here, but first thing this morning, I received a message from a friend I've been praying for that he's met 'someone'. It made me smile, inside and out, so I had to add it here.)

I hope you had tons of sweet moments this past week, too. I confess, there are days when I have to think really hard to find one, but I always manage to... and often it triggers recollection of a few more. If you haven't tried it yet, I encourage you to!

 

"Hey Lady! You forgot FUN!"

Oh my gosh, I did! Thank you, Squirrel!

I can't believe in my list of important 'F' words, I forgot one of the most important ones:

FUN!.

It wouldn't be much of a year without that one, would it?

So, let's recap...

(from my previous post...)

In 2012, I'm going to put up Fences to structure my time... I'm going to corral those thoughts and Focus on one project at a time so I can experience Finishing something. 

I bet that's an amazing feeling.

My other 'F' words for 2012... Faith, Fitness, Friendship, Frugality and Financial Freedom. 

Oh, and Forgiveness... another awesome 'F' word...

And woven in and out and around all of it, I'm going to have Fun.

(How could I forget that one? Gosh, I'm such an airhead...)

Okay, sorry for the interruption. Carry on...

 

Sweets On Christmas Eve Eve

Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion.

~The Talmud

Dishes overflow the kitchen sink.

Fudge waits in a lined pan to be cut into squares and shared.

Three twenty-something kids and I huddle around a laptop within the glow of Christmas tree lights, laughing at You-Tube videos.

Favorite cookies fill gold and silver tins, tumble off of plates and cool on a metal rack on the kitchen counter... Chocolate Chip, courtesy of TG, while I made a last minute dash to the grocery store, and peanut butter Cyclops Cookies by me, assisted by Daniel.

I haven't taken one single photograph. The one above was taken earlier this week.

There are no gifts piled under the tree... the cookies are our gift. Our laughter is our gift. We are our gift.

I'm headed out in the morning with my kids, leaving Tom behind to care for the puppies... his gift to me. For the first time in decades, I'll wake Christmas morning in my childhood home and enjoy Christmas dinner with my parents. What better gift could I receive? 

 

And now for a few my sweet! moments of the past week. I hope you've gathered a nice, shiny collection yourself!

 

Sunday: placing your gifts under the church Giving Tree, imagining the faces of two 9-year-old boys when they open the gifts you bought for them; recovering treasured ornaments you thought were lost forever; fresh tamales and guacamole; your son's rants about the commercialization of Christmas

Monday: rainy days (good for writing); getting back to work on a dusty project; forgiving scales after a week of peanut butter and chocolate bars

Tuesday: tangerine sunrises framed in a window; brisk mornings and frisky dogs; listening to your daddy's stories; your pop-in-law finally released from the hospital; Pinterest, at last!; chili so spicy it makes your brow sweat on a cold night

Wednesday: your husband and daughter home with you, but quiet enough that you can still write; your college student child getting the official report of good grades for her past (really tough!) semester

Thursday: walking along a fog-shrouded country road; driving on a two-lane highway that zigs, zags, rises and falls over and through the hills; a surprise Christmas bonus; Lammes dark chocolate pecan and caramel Longhorns; a glass of wine and a movie with your son after seven nonstop hours on your feet

Friday: warm chocolate chip cookies baked by your daughter; your son helping you bake his favorite cookies; the mailroom scene in Elf; all three of your kids home, laughing over You-Tube videos and watching movies

Saturday: traveling with all three of your kids; Christmas Eve spent with your parents for the first time in decades

Another very special sweet... Kamana of Journalling Through Photos recently posted a series of "Six Question" interviews with women bloggers. I was honored and humbled that she asked me to participate.

Go HERE to read the interview, but be sure to stay there awhile... meet the other bloggers she interviewed and also take a stroll through Kamana's beautiful poetry and photographs. Thank you again, Kamana!

I wish all of you a blessed Christmas, filled with peace and joy, love and laughter...

I'm also joining Otto at Münchow's Creative Photo Blog in challenging each of you to use Christmas to make a difference in someone's life who, instead of love and joy during these holidays, feels despair or sadness. Perhaps they've lost a job or a loved one or have just forgotten the meaning of the season. Even if all you do is smile at a stranger, try to do something. ("...it might be the only sunshine they see.")

I'm challenging myself as well.

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.

~Janice Maeditere

A Birthday, a Graduation and Texas Heaven...

We let Max sleep inside the past two nights. Belle, too, of course, although it was more for Max's sake than hers. They have a large dog house, nestled up against the house and the hill, protected from the elements, but even though temperatures were just in the low forties Sunday night, it was bone-chilling damp and he's an old dog with sore joints.

So I found an old comforter and Daniel spread it in on the floor of the laundry room. Comfy cozy and warm.

Then yesterday morning I discovered Max isn't the only one with old achy, slow-moving bones and joints. The winter chill seems to be affecting my computer, too! (You thought I was going to say it was me, didn't you?)

Tom asked me to scan and email him some documents for our health insurance... would you believe it took me over 40 minutes to scan three photos!

Forty minutes to scan 3 photos!!

My old computer was moving so slow I knew I had to do something, so instead of finishing up the editing of my last photo shoot, as I'd planned, plus catching up on my blog reading, blog writing, book writing, personal history transcribing, etc. etc, I went down the list of installed programs, files and folders with a virtual pair of scissors, Googling the ones I wasn't sure about and getting rid of everything I didn't absolutely need.

Six hours and a couple of defrags later, I gained 3% of my free space back. It was still as slow as ever, but I still felt like I had accomplished something, like that feeling you get when you finally clean out your kitchen junk drawer.

You know, if you keep a computer long enough, and your entire family uses it, it essentially does resemble a junk drawer or storage closet... a repository of all kinds of odds and ends no one needs or uses anymore.

Anyway, I also finished up the editing of my last photo shoot and emailed them to my friend/client so she could get her Christmas cards ordered, although I had to stay up really late to finish it. It was worth it just to help her out... and also for that awesome feeling of finishing something!

It's a rare thing for me; I hope to get more acquainted with it!

The only thing I accomplished this past weekend was spending lots of time with friends and family... even though it means I'm behind on everything else, it was another awesome feeling! 

First came the celebration of my first baby Tommy's 26th birthday. It was just like his birthday parties in the old days: lots of pizza... ice cream cake... singing Happy Birthday off-key... kids sleeping over, staying up all night playing video games and watching movies...

...except this time the "kids" were drinking wine and beer, not just soda. My how time flies!

Me and my sweet boy.

After working at the Bistro Saturday, I rushed home, changed clothes and met Daniel and Tom downtown for Daniel's friend Austin's graduation from UT...

Here, let me zoom in a little more.

See how happy he is?

Afterwards, we joined Austin's parents and some of the boys' friends at Asti (above) for a scrumptious Italian dinner. We arrived a little early, so I filled the time strolling down the street, snapping photos.

Look, someone knitted scarfs for the street posts! (To see more of these scarves, plus other night street scenes, go HERE.)

 

 

Sunday night Tom and I went to our church Christmas party. I look forward to it every year... we get yummy Rudy's Bar-B-Q and a wide open dance floor.

My idea of Texas heaven!

With the busy weekend, I neglected to check and charge my camera battery before we left. Of course it died before I could get any photos of the great dancers, but I did manage to get this one.

I want one of these shirts!

I smudged their name tags to protect the innocent. (You're welcome, Joan and Sherry!)

It was a wonderful weekend, and I think I appreciated it even more because through it all I was praying for a friend who underwent surgery for cancer on Friday, a friend who lost his mother on Saturday, a high school classmate who died on Friday, and fellow parishioners who rushed from the Christmas party Sunday evening when they got word their house was on fire. It burned to the ground; they didn't just lose all of their belongings, but also their dog. Just breaks my heart. Please say a prayer for each of them.

So I hope you had a wonderful weekend, too... but mostly I hope you didn't take a single second of it for granted. 

Returning to Me

With the birth of my first child, my ego, dreams, and most other aspects of Me as I knew Me sloughed off like a snake skin, forgotten. I was a Mother now! That tiny little being depended on me and by golly, that's all that mattered.

Within a few years, I had two more little beings depending on me. Throughout my thirties and most of my forties, I was just Mom. Busy, practical and unselfish.

Oh, I toyed with my old dreams. Took a few classes at the community college. Had some essays published. Met my girlfriends for dinner and a movie every once in a while. Worked some part-time jobs.

For years I held onto enough ego to battle my body over the same 15 pounds, but when semi-daily walks with my dogs, periodic lifting of light weights and eating healthy-ish didn't make a difference, I finally gave up and accepted my body as it was.

I was way too mature and sensible to care that the varicose veins on my right leg were so bad a new friend asked if I'd been in a car wreck, thinking they were horrible scars. I cringed a bit myself when I looked at them, but I hated to be so vain and selfish as to undergo the pain and expense of surgery. There were so many other things we needed.

Then my oldest son left for college.

Oh, my heart ached! For days I would suddenly burst into tears over the pain; it hurt so badly! One day I realized my tears weren't falling just because I missed my son; that's what triggered them, but my tears fell because I could suddenly feel Life, as I knew it, changing. Soon, my two youngest would follow their big brother out of the nest.

I would always be a mother, but I knew the end of my days as Mom was just a few years away. It made me feel...old. And I wondered, if I'm not Mom anymore, what will I be? Who will I be?

Some might call what happened next a case of the MidLife Crazies. I just call it Returning to Me.

You can be anything you want to be. I had told my kids that over and over because I believed it, and now was my chance to act on it. I would be Me. The best Me possible, for as long as possible. I wasn't ready to be old.

I took bits from each of my previous selves: the spoiled youngest child, the tomboy, the homecoming queen, the scholar, the thinker, the independent woman, the dancer, the newlywed, the mother, the daughter, friend, the volunteer, the writer, the photographer, and even, thanks to my husband, the wanna-be drummer.

Dusting off my dreams, I signed up for college classes, one per semester. Over the next few years, I started a blog and began teaching myself digital photography. I wrote a screenplay, polished up one book, and started another.

I reconnected with friends, other women who were going through the same changes I was experiencing, including friends I'd known since childhood, before any of us were wives or mothers. They helped me rediscover the Me I was back then.

I made my own health a priority, scheduling time every day for a workout. I began running again for the first time in years. Part of my motivation was ego, I admit, but I knew others still depended on me; I needed to be in the best shape possible so I could take care of them. Heart disease runs in my family. I wanted to be a good example to my kids, who carry the same genes.

My hair was thinning at an alarming rate, so I educated myself about nutrition and made huge changes in my diet. It didn't have any affect on my hair, but between those changes and my stepped-up physical work-outs, I finally dropped those 15 pounds I'd given up on. What a great surprise!

With my ego fully out of the closet, I treated myself to varicose vein surgery for my 47th birthday, deciding I was too young to wear nothing but ankle-length dresses the rest of my life.

All of these changes acted as defensive armor just in the nick of time, preparing me for the assault of menopause. I've experienced a few hot flashes, but not the mood swings, weight gain, severe sweats, or disrupted sleep some of my friends complain about.

My kids have all flown the nest now; but instead of crying, I feel like I'm flying with them.

The people at Pfizer are interested in helping all of us find our wings and keep flying through these strange, trying, wonderful midlife years and hope to accomplish that through their "Return to You" program, a program aimed at helping women return to their best selves.

Have YOU had a Return to You moment? Please share it with me in the comments; I'd love to hear your story!

Visit the Pfizer Return to You page on BlogHer.com for more blogger stories and prepare to be inspired!

Dancing, friendship, butterflies and the Jake Carr Band...

Tom and I ventured into enemy territory Friday night: we went dancing in College Station.

Considering we have one University of Texas graduate and one still in attendance, that's tantamount to treason around here. (College Station is the home of Texas A&M... UT's arch-rival.)

But we had a good reason to go there! We went to hear our friends' son play... he's the drummer in the Jake Carr Band, an up-and-coming country-ish musical group full of talented kids. They opened for another band (JB and the Moonshine Band) at a Bryan/College Station landmark: the Texas Hall of Fame. 

I call it a landmark because it's been there since 1978. It only took a few minutes for Tom to realize he had been there before.

"Did you come here with Debbie?"

"Yep."

Hmmm.

I know all about Debbie. Tom even called me "Debbie" once when we first started dating.

Needless to say, I made sure we got out on that dancefloor. He owed me! Plus, the Hall has one of the best dancefloors I've ever seen - I think the best since Gilley's in the days of our youth. Huge! No danger of bumping into anyone else, no matter how wild they get with their elbows and their twirling.

But back to why we were there...

The Jake Carr Band is really good. Sam Duncan, on the drums, is really, really good. Remember that name!

Plus he's so dang cute! Here he is with his beautiful Momma, Shari...

And here are some shots of the band... I bet we'll be hearing them on the radio before too long.

College Station was just the first stop on our weekend away. The true destination was our friends' place, nestled in the tall pines northwest of Houston.

Did you know that when the wind plays in those giant trees, its laughter sounds like rushing water? I had never noticed it before - perhaps it's because I miss the sound of our little waterfall so much.

That's the kind of weekend we had - slow and relaxing, where you have time to listen to the wind playing in the trees. Just the kind of weekend we needed.

We went for walks in nearby Tomball, full of great antique shops, where I was very, very tempted to buy this...

...because I've always wanted one and it was a great price.

But even a great price is too much these days, especially when I have no idea where I'd put it or what I'd do with it. That used to never stop me, but in these days when I'm dying to de-clutter, function trumps everything else.

We also took a long walk beside a nearby river, where my drought-weary eyes found colorful relief in the form of purple morning glories, clumps of red, white and yellow wildflowers, and even the butterflies I've missed so much this year, like this beauty... 

An old stable, buried under vines by the side of the road, caught our eye. We stopped to explore, not realizing until we were telling it goodbye that some of the vines were poison ivy... (Yikes! Where's the Benadryl?)

But we still used it as a "couples" photo backdrop before leaving (stepping up a few feet, of course!) 

Our sweet hosts, Robert and Shari...Thank you both for such a wonderful weekend!!

 

 

 

On November (and my Sweet! Report)

Today is the fifth of November. How can that be?

Does anyone else feel the swoosh of time flying by?  If I'm not careful, with just a blink it will be December Eve.

November is full of writing challenges - novel writing, nonfiction writing, blogging...

Why? Who decided this was a month to focus on writing? A month dotted with important holidays in between two other big holiday months... a month of beautiful weather that begs you to drop your pen or leave your keyboard to come outside and soak it up (at least here in Austin.)

I won't be joining any challenges. Well, okay, maybe the blogging one because blogging is therapy... plus there are prizes, and I love prizes. I'll spend a few hours a week on my book, but I won't log the hours or daily words anywhere. The encouragement from other writers would be great, but right now, that's just extra time spent away from writing.

And every minute is gold right now. Yesterday morning, like a curious puppy on a leash, my brain dashed forward through the days of this month and all of the exciting events - visiting friends, celebrating my mother's 80th birthday, Thanksgiving - then I remembered the everyday demands, like editing photos from my first-ever paid photo shoot, writing, transcribing... laundry, groceries, bill-paying... morning walks, dog duties, working out...

How am I going to fit it all in?

Right away, I pushed the retract button on the leash, reeled in that frisky puppy-thought and made up my mind to keep it on a tight leash, allowing myself to stand in just one square of this month at a time as much as possible. I want to appreciate each day, accomplish what I can and not stress about the rest. (Why am I always having to remind myself of this?)

Already this month I waved my son off on his first post-graduation job, attended Mass in honor of All Saints Day, and said extra prayers for the souls of my friends and family who have passed on in honor of All Soul's Day. I came across these quotes and started writing a post including them, but ran out of time.

But they're great, so I'll still share them with you...

God creates out of nothing. … but He does what is still more wonderful: He makes saints out of sinners.~ Søren Kierkegaard

Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.~ Oscar Wilde

 

I've also survived my first paid photo shoot gig (from what I've seen of the photos, I think it was a success!) and helped ease a friend into a new decade of life with a surprise celebration of his 60th birthday. 

(As promised, Dan!)

And at the moment this post is published, Tom and I will be off visiting dear friends.

{Last night (Friday) we enjoyed (I'm sure!) listening to their son's band play, and today (Saturday) we're either off exploring garage sales and flea markets or, if we're too tired from last night, we're just hanging out on the back porch. Either way, we're having fun!}

It's only the fifth of November, but the rest of the month promises to be just as packed. I'm determined to savor each day, slowly and deliciously, as if it came from a box of assorted rich chocolates. 

Because these days of our lives are precious, aren't they?

And now on to the rest of my sweet moments from this past week... Hope your week was filled with them, too!

Saturday: a surprise visit from a friend at the Bistro; winning a coin toss; autumn days in a vineyard; home from work early enough to watch a movie with your sweetie

Sunday: catching up with a dear friend after church; sharing a yummy cheesesteak sandwich with the one you love; five minutes with, and a hug from, your oldest, on his way from Dallas to San Antonio; cleaning house while listening to The Best of U2, 1990 to 2000 and the Beatles #1 hits 

Monday: Haley, the neighbor puppy who was hit by a truck just a few weeks ago, joining you and your puppies for your morning walk; making a little headway on learning Photoshop Elements

Tuesday: seeing your son off on his first day of a new job; support and advice from photographer friends; almost forgetting, but then arriving early for All Saint's Day Mass

Wednesday: cotton candy clouds; meeting Fancy, a leggy Doberman puppy; surviving your first ever 'real' photo shoot; a call from your sister; a now-routine weekly lunch with wonderful friends; helping a friend celebrate his 60th birthday (and spending time with friends you never get to see anymore) 

Thursday: seeing your "baby" girl; homemade chili on a chilly night; laughing with your son at the Modern Family episode you missed via Hulu

Friday: joining other bloggers worldwide for the Blog Blast for Peace; Belle peering in at the window beside you, in hopes you'll come out and visit; taking a break from the computer and visiting with your wiggly, joyful, full-of-kisses puppy; finding out you won a blog drawing for a cup with a friend's beautiful original artwork on it!

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend. Don't forget...

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." - Robert Brault

P.S. Please keep my father-in-law in your prayers. He had to go into the hospital this week and be given blood for a recurring problem with anemia. So far, they haven't figured out what's causing it. Thank you! 

Halloween Memories and other Sweet!s

My Friday drifted away from me. I had a tight grip on it but then next thing I knew it was gone. 

It was one of those impulsive days... the kind where I start one thing and in the middle veer off onto something completely different... where I get a lot of little things done but nothing much accomplished to speak of.

Despite the overall feeling of being stuck in Wonderland, there were two side trips I'm happy I made:

1. I played the drums. Only 15 minutes or so, but it's been weeks since I picked up my drumsticks. Again. I still sound like a little kid pretending to be a drummer, but it is soooo much fun.

2. I changed out my "Kids Pictures". There's this little Duncan Phyfe side table near the front door where I keep 7 or 8 snapshots of my kids when they were little in whatever season it happens to be... for instance, up until today, they were all holding brand new lunchboxes and looking spiffy in their favorite "first-day-of-school" clothes. Now they're all looking out at me so precious in their Halloween costumes, making me feel wistful and melancholy over how fast the years went by (conveniently forgetting how stressful it was trying to help everyone "be" who they wanted to be.)   Sigh.

 

See what I mean? Just so dang cute! And so cuddly-little!

Years ago, when I first started changing seasons, photographically-speaking, on the side table, seeing these little faces reminded me that the teenagers I lived with at the time used to be sweet and lovable munchkins who liked to snuggle up with me while I read to them.

Now, some seasons, I actually slip in a few photos of them as teenagers because it reminds me of all the fun we had... because they really always have been fun kids. Well, mostly.

Sigh. 

Anyway... now I'm headed off for a long shift at the Bistro, but before I go, I want to share some other Sweet! moments of my past week... 

Sunday: finally making it to Barton Creek Mall; an afternoon with your daughter; shopping for hours and somehow managing not to buy anything; crawling in bed when you're really, really tired

Monday: a sunrise walk with your puppies; thinking of a sweet friend on her birthday; catching up on email - sort of; a clean bathroom and empty laundry hamper; knowing your sister made it home safely from a long road trip

Tuesday: joyful puppies; fluffs of pink-orange morning clouds; no lines at the post office; finding a package from a friend in the mailbox; finally making it to the grocery store!; a son who helps carry in groceries and put them away; jalapeno/swiss cheese hamburgers; listening to a cd of Peter Frampton's recent live concert while you work

Wednesday: more and more yellow flowers popping up along the road; lunch with two dear friends for the second week in a row; portobello mushroom tacos; finding tutorial videos on Photoshop Elements and actually learning a little bit; Modern Family's Halloween episode, even if it's a repeat

Thursday: getting $4 at Buffalo Exchange for a pair of shorts you paid 50 cents for years ago; finally getting the chance to take photos of the nuns on top of Toy Joy; a much needed haircut and re-blonding; thrift store Halloween costume shopping with your daughter; your son introducing you to another funny cable show (now on Netflix!); sticking to your guns about something; watching a teensy part of the World Series next to your sweetie

Friday: autumn temperatures that stick around all day; beautiful skies; Belle grinning; a RealAge.com age 4.5 years younger than your real age; playing the drums; glancing through old photos of your oh-so-small-and-cute Halloween-costumed kids; getting rewarded (sort of) for sticking to your guns

Saturday: sleeping in; walking with your sweetie and the puppies on a brisk autumn morning; connecting on Facebook with one of your husband's distant Australian cousins who has the same name as your son

 

Hope you all have a beautiful Saturday!

First thing in the morning...

...even before my eyes pop open, I pray... giving thanks, asking for guidance, and for the needs of my loved ones.

That done, I stumble to the bathroom, splash water on my face, brush my teeth, "take care of business", and then head to the kitchen and start my coffee brewing.

I need a bit of quiet time over my coffee and cereal to gather my thoughts. I usually read something inspirational while I eat - currently "Hope for Each Day" by Billy Graham. 

As the sun rises, I head outside for a walk with my camera and my puppies, paying attention to God's handiwork and continuing my prayers, asking specifically for strength for whatever the day brings.

So, tell me... What do you do to get your day going on an upbeat, positive note?

Share your answer here and in the comment section of BlogHer's Life Well Lived Blog Post and you'll be entered for a $250 Sweepstakes!

(P.S. If you have trouble feeling upbeat in the morning, you might want to watch the "Happiness Prescription" video by Dr. Aymee... click HERE)

Retreat to the Sea

 For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),

 It's always our self we find in the sea.

~e.e. cummings

 

For the past few weeks, I've felt like a jumping bean, hopping from one project to the next, never quite finishing one before moving on to another, mentally filling to overflowing a shelf labeled "Later".

I had lost my balance, knocking it aside somewhere in my zeal to conquer my dreams, get organized, and make money, all at the same time. No matter how hard I tried to breathe, to focus on each moment, I couldn't stop that little hyper bean inside of me that couldn't just enjoy the present but had to continually jump ahead, or sideways, or backwards.

Then Thursday afternoon I stepped onto Mustang Island.

One look at the waves rolling in, rolling out... one deep breath of the salty air...one note of the symphony of crashing waves and cries of seagulls...

That's all it took for the stillness to return, as if the waves and the air loosened the knots and cleansed my spirit. The symphony soothed me... a lullaby chasing away the helter-skelter bits of thought in my brain.

I find myself at the extremity of a long beach.  How gladly does the spirit leap forth, and suddenly enlarge its sense of being to the full extent of the broad, blue, sunny deep!  A greeting and a homage to the Sea!  I descend over its margin, and dip my hand into the wave that meets me, and bathe my brow.  That far-resounding roar is the Ocean's voice of welcome.  His salt breath brings a blessing along with it.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Foot-prints on the Sea-shore"

That's why my friends and I run away every year to the sea. This was our 12th annual retreat, a time to reconnect with these friends, but also with myself.

To think of nothing, but to see and experience everything.

Year before last, we encountered Laura Bush on the beach and discovered Stoney LaRue. Last year my high school Divas joined us, and although the numbers made it tougher for me to spend time with everyone as much as I hoped, priceless memories were made.

This year I had no expectations, especially considering the highs of the past two. I only craved simplicity and silence. I hoped for sun, but would have smiled at raindrops.

But it didn't rain. Thursday afternoon's storm clouds cleared out and blue skies ruled the rest of the weekend. Thanks to this year's drought, there were no mosquitos. And on our one night of dancing, we had plenty of dance partners for a change, including some who knew how to spin me around country-style.

This year, I didn't worry about running every morning or about waking at the crack of dawn to photograph the sunrise each day, although I did manage each of them once.

This year I read. I wandered with my camera. I prayed. I met an artist, Marilyn Lindholm, who asked for one of my photographs of a rainbow umbrella and invited me along on a photo-staging of wine glasses and driftwood.

I spent hours listening to the waves, watching porpoises, seagulls and cute little seabirds, drinking Bloody Mary's and talking about life with fifteen other wonderful women, including my sweet sister Brenda, healed enough from her hip surgery six months ago to drive herself to the coast. She even made it down to the beach and the swimming pool. (Thank you for all your prayers for her.)

Hanging on to the stillness will be a challenge, I know. I felt that restlessness waking up with me Monday morning with just one glance at my to-do list. But if I close my eyes I can hear the waves, reaching in, pulling out, reminding me to hang on to the rhythm of life, and leave the rest behind.

It helps to have some photos. I haven't finished going through the ones I took, but here are a few...

A magical moment... My friend Cheryl spotted this little Yellow Warbler cowering in a corner of the boardwalk. He hopped on her finger and stayed put for an extended photo shoot. She thought he was injured and was trying to decide how to take care of him when suddenly, whoosh! he was gone, flying out over the dunes. 

Such a sweet little thing. And what a model!

Schools of fish teamed just offshore, so the pelicans and seagulls (and even a few porpoises) were going nuts. 

There's always at least one woman who feels a need to give everyone something - this year it was Mary Kay and her niece, Tiffany. I've given up protesting.

How could you protest something like this, anyway?

We always treat ourselves to dinner out one night - can't beat fresh seafood straight from the gulf! 

A table for 16, please...

Me and my sweet sister... (note the 'character scar' on my nose, my souvenir from our little wreck a couple of weeks ago.)

Where I lived for two full days...

In my normal life I can barely sit still through a movie, yet I had no problem lying for hours on a hard plastic lounge chair. Go figure.

Mary Kay, the University of Texas Longhorns #1 Fan! (We stomped Iowa State!)

These precious little girls kept us all sighing over their cuteness on Saturday. I took dozens of photos and I don't even know them!

You can imagine how many photos of sea birds I took - I'll post most of them on Confessions later (uh-oh... "later" is already popping up.)

There were almost as many dogs as birds at the beach this time! Total exaggeration, of course, but there were a lot. I loved this trio of ladies... Lucy, and, um, ah, I can't remember the other two but they started with 'L's. 

Our traditional photo of the whole group just before final hugs and heading back to the real world, mostly in different directions. 

Spotted this sign in the restroom of the restaurant and ran back with my camera, ignoring the stares. I think it pretty much sums up our weekend.

From the Port Aransas "Secret Files" (and a week's worth of Sweet!s)

For twelve years now I've trekked to the coast with friends for a much-needed respite from "routine".

Two years ago, a beautiful weekend was made unforgettable: Laura Bush spent the night at the same condos we were staying in.

I wrote about it (HERE), but didn't post the photos my friend Donna took with my camera of Laura walking on the beach with her friend, surrounded by Secret Service guys dressed as 'normal' people. Like us, she was just trying to have a relaxing evening at the beach.

Donna took the photos because I ran out to the beach with some of the other women, hoping to "casually" bump into Laura as she returned from her walk (can you say "paparazzi"?)

When we passed her on the beach, Laura was gracious and friendly. The Secret Service guys we met were good sports, too, joking around and letting us take their photos.

It was a magical weekend, the perfect way to commemorate 10 years of a special friendship.

For some reason, we decided we shouldn't post the photos of Laura. I'm not sure why... she gets her photo taken all the time!

I decided enough time had passed to post a couple of them.

Beautiful, isn't she? 

Laura's not here this weekend, but we're still having a beautiful, magical time, full of sunshine, the surf, plenty of food, friendship, dancing...

Sweet!

Here are a few of my other sweet! moments of the week...

Saturday: the only evidence of a rear-end collision being a few scratches, even if one is on your nose just before a reunion; recognizing and remembering faces you haven't seen in twenty years or more; spending overdue hours with dear friends and vowing not to let so much time pass again without another visit; friends who take care of your grandpuppy as well as your own menagerie while you're away

Sunday: breakfast with your parents; face-to-face time with your sister, her husband, your parents, your brother's kids and capturing more photos of his precious granddaughter; picking up your son from the airport after his European adventure and hearing some of his stories; 2/3 of your kids at home for dinner; remembering a first dance 30 years ago that changed your life; getting word that your oldest made it home to Dallas, safe and sound

Monday: spotting a few patches of yellow and purple wildflowers popping up along the roadside; looking through photos and videos of your son's trip to Munich and Prague; spending a few hours with your daughter; sharing dinner, conversation, memories and cheesecake with longtime friends; lightning flashing in the distance on a night drive home

Tuesday: an invitation to become a contributor to an online blog for over-50 women; dark clouds in intricate patterns, thunder and lightning seen from the protection of a wide porch overlooking the Hollow; rain spray carried into the porch by the wind to splash on my face

Wednesday: jacket-cool mornings with pink clouds; a drive through the Texas Hill Country at sunset; reuniting your grandpuppy with her mom; souvenirs from Germany and Prague

Thursday: road trips; Reuben sandwiches; the first sight of the coast in a year; pink and blue beachhouses; reuniting with friends on a balcony overlooking the beach

Friday: running on the beach; flocks of pelicans; a long phone conversation with a friend; a glimpse of porpoises leaping from the water; strangers offering to help your hip-surgery-recovering sister down the boardwalk; twirling on a dance floor with friends for hours

Saturday: having an artist you met during a walk on the beach ask for one of your photos; a thirsty beach puppy drinking from your hand (and reminding its parents that beach puppies need water!); Bloody Mary's on the beach; a call from a friend checking on you after reading about your car accident; reading on the beach until sunset; singing "Happy Birthday" to a special friend

I hope all of you are having a beautiful weekend, too... a grand finale to a week full of sweets!

Share yours with me!

 

Summer Sweet and Summer Sour

Monday morning I knew autumn had arrived, riding the tail of a brisk breeze from the north that dropped temperatures nearly twenty degrees. Robe wrapped tight and relishing the chill, I sipped coffee in my pajamas rocking on the deck of a log cabin nestled in the woods above a dry creek bed.

We were at a rental lake house, guests of my oldest son's girlfriend's dad, along with his mom, his girls, their friends, my boys and Tommy's friend Ryan. It was just the change of scenery I needed after being on my feet eleven hours on Saturday and six on Sunday: fajitas, wine, a hot tub, my first game of beer pong... (Tom and I lost, of course. How could we compete against college kids?)

One of the college girls is a San Antonio Spurs Cheerleader; it took awhile but we finally convinced her to teach us part of the audition dance. ("Us" included my boys. I was one proud mom! That took guts - and resulted in lots of laughs!)

We kept one eye on the television, though. Unfortunately, the dry, brisk breeze that brought such beautiful weather also helped stir up and spread wildfires all over Central Texas Sunday afternoon.

I worried about my puppies, but my neighbors promised to let us know if the Hollow was threatened with fire danger, so before heading home we all drove to a beautiful picnic area on the banks of the Colorado River.

A rope swing beckoned. It took awhile to get up my nerve (and Tom had to mention "Bucket List") but I finally took my turn, swinging out over the river and splashing down into its cool depths.

Ah, such summer sweetness! 

It was truly a glorious day with blue skies and perfect temperatures, but driving home, seeing the towers of smoke from wildfires to our south and east, we prayed for rain instead. 

 A few hours later, I noticed the blue sky over the Hollow had turned a hazy gray. I stepped outside and the smell of smoke hit my nose. I envisioned a wall of fire just over the next hill, racing toward us. 

With a blue sky above you, it's easy to feel detached from the danger even while you pray for those affected and  worry about it coming close to you. When smoke fills the sky and your nose, detached uneasiness can flare into full-fledged panic. At least that's the way it affected me.

I searched the sky in all directions, but thank goodness no distinct columns of smoke, black or white, rose above our surrounding hills. That helped douse the panic, but I had to make sure nothing was sneaking up on us, so I grabbed my keys and drove to a nearby hill where I had a 360 view. That hazy gray smoke wafted toward us from across the lake, obscuring the horizon and washing out the blue sky, but no fires burned near us. 

Yesterday, the winds were calm. The sky above us stayed blue. I kept an eye on the horizon but no smoke drifted our way, although I knew the fires are still burning around us, both old and new. But the potential remained. I knew it could be us just as easily as it has been Bastrop, Spicewood, Steiner Ranch, Pflugerville, Leander... and what would I do if fire turned our way? 

Lists ground me, making me feel I have some control, even if it's an illusion, so I made an "Evacuation List", a reminder to me of things I need to grab if fire chases us out of our home.   

The puppies, my purse, plus some items I can fit in a backpack:  my external hard drive, my phone and charger, my camera and charger, a list of accounts and passwords, our medicine, a bottle of water...

No extra clothes or toiletries... they're replaceable. No books, family mementoes, heirloom quilts, wedding photos... I'd hate to leave them behind, potentially lose them, but they aren't crucial. 

So tell me, what's on your Evacuation List? 

Please join me in praying for the evacuees, for the firefighters and especially, for rain. Fires are also popping up near Houston. Over 3.6 million acres of Texas have burned since December - reportedly the size of Connecticut if you lump them all together.

If you would like to help the victims and firefighters, click HERE for the Central Texas Red Cross website and HERE for a list of other organizations and locations to drop donations.

Hair, or the lack thereof

Not wanting to be seen by anyone I knew, I ducked into a store quite a distance from our house, heading straight for the product I sought. I had been eyeing it for years, but until this moment, couldn't rouse the courage to actually buy it. 

Tucking the box under my arm so the name wasn't obvious, I grabbed a few more items to further hide it and headed to check-out, trying to act nonchalant about my purchase...

Tom was cutting my hair. He would touch a section with scissors and then pull back, comb another section, let it fall. I sensed his frustration. "What is it?"

"Your hair just keeps getting thinner and thinner! But don't worry," he added, seeing the forlorn look on my face, "I'll love you and think you're beautiful even if you're completely bald." 

Sigh.

My grandmother wore her hair short, in soft curls maintained with regular perms and a nightly hair-rolling ritual. When she combed the curls out, spreading them across her scalp, it helped disguise the fact that she was slowly but surely going bald.

The illusion of thickness. That's what it's all about when you're dealt thin, and thinner-by-the-minute, hair. 

I always had baby fine hair, but didn't realize I'd inherited Grandmother's thinning-hair gene until ten years ago or so. I wish I'd inherited her ample bosom, or at least her gardening and sewing skills, along with it.

As my hair continued to thin - and to require shorter and shorter cuts - I began researching the problem, refusing to just give in and start wearing my hair in Grandmother's curls.

I tried an internal solution... eating healthier (lots of Omega 3), exercising (increased circulation to the scalp) and adding supplements like Flaxseed Oil, Vitamin E and Biotin that were rumored to help. I ultimately dropped 15 pounds I had given up on losing, but didn't notice a change in my hair at all.

I voiced my concerns to my doctor. At my request, he checked my thyroid function (twice!) but everything was normal. He just blamed menopause - I was in the beginning phases of peri-menopause at the time.

I'm sure menopause is a big factor, but the thing is, I remember way back when I was pregnant and taking prenatal vitamins that I never got the noticeable hair and nail growth most women experience. I suspected there was something blocking the absorption of whatever made them grow, but had no idea how to find out what it was.

Hitting that dead end, I focused instead on the illusion of thickness. I refused to perm my hair or roll it up each night on tiny rollers like Grandmother, but through my research discovered other tricks, like

1) Getting highlights in three slightly different tones for the illusion of depth

2) A "modified bob" cut with just the right amount of layers. Too many and it lies flat. Too few and, well, it lies flat.

3) An angled side part, so at least you don't have to see how wide it's getting and how much scalp is showing.

4) Tucking it behind your ears (unless you're skilled with a round brush and a can of hairspray, which I'm not.)

5) Volumizers and products made specifically for thin hair

I found a hairstylist who understood thin hair, but he didn't come cheap. Feeling guilty over the expense, I "broke up" with him and played the field for a year or so with other talented hairdressers, but could never find another one who just knew what to do with my hair.

So I've returned to Michael. I'll cut corners with cheap makeup and thrift store clothing... perhaps sell one of my children... but I'm going to stick with him as long as possible.

Just kidding about the children, of course.

Ah, vanity. Some people fight aging with Botox injections, breast implants or tummy tucks. I can ignore my wrinkles, can live with my small breasts and my "mommy" roll - the pain and expense of surgery just aren't worth it for me. But I'd prefer not to see my scalp when I look in the mirror.

My friend Ann called a few weeks ago to tell me about a shop in Galveston that has beautiful wigs. She knows I expect to get one eventually. Ann has luscious thick hair. I know it annoys her when I voice envy, but she tolerates it, reminding me how thick hair presents its own problems, like taking forever to dry. I believe she'd share hers with me if she could.

But a wig is a last resort. Just thinking of wearing one makes my head feel hot and itchy. I don't want to give in without grabbing every last straw and that's why I visited an internist yesterday. She discovered my gynecologist didn't run a full thyroid test, so she ordered one plus some other blood tests.   

Turns out, they're all normal. I'm grateful to be healthy, of course, but it means whatever is causing my hair to thin will remain a mystery. It could simply be genetics; it could be working thirteen years in a hard hat; it could be three pregnancies, medications I've taken, or just menopause. It could be all of them or none of them, as far as anyone knows, it seems.

I guess next time I visit Ann in Galveston, I'll run over to that wig shop and have a look. Maybe try some on. I wonder if they have any that are highlighted in three tones of blonde, cut in a modified bob and styled behind the ears? No long flowing manes for me - when and if the time comes, I don't think I want anyone to know and that would be a dead giveaway. 

Well, maybe one long blonde one, just for fun. Because blabbermouth that I am, I'll tell everyone I'm wearing a wig anyway.

In the meantime, I'm following one of the internist's suggestions...

Not wanting to be seen by anyone I knew, I ducked into a store quite a distance from our house, heading straight for the product I sought. I had been eyeing it for years, but until this moment, couldn't rouse the courage to actually buy it. 

Did you guess? I'm trying Rogaine.

Oh, I hate to even say it. It feels like I'm in one of those before and after commercials with the men smiling into a mirror, admiring themselves. It sounds so desperate and last resort-ish.

But between yesterday and today I decided, why the heck should I be ashamed or try to hide it? I am desperate. I am down to last resorts. And obviously there are other desperate women trying to figure out what to do about their own thinning hair so I might as well share my experience and perhaps help someone else. I only wish I'd started it sooner. 

I know I'll never have hair like Ann's (I never did!) but this should at least stop the thinning and perhaps even help a little grow back.

Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted!

(If you have thinning hair, share your success and failure stories with me. I'm still open to suggestions!)

An Ode to Texas Summers

Max stood still, letting the pond water soak through his thick fur. I watched him from a patch of shade on the hill above and marveled at the miracle of this pond.

Rain is a distant memory, the lake has become a river, triple digit temperatures and blue skies seem neverending, and area wells are drying up ... yet here this small bit of water remains, nestled in the hills above the curve in our road. 

We made a beeline for it this morning. I hadn't walked with the dogs since Thursday. Daniel filled in for me these past few mornings when I just didn't have time, but the puppies seemed happy that I was joining them again.

Even in a drought, even when the flowers are fading into memory and few of the photos I take are worth sharing, my morning walks feel like an indulgence, a quick retreat from the world where I can sort through my thoughts, pray and breathe. 

I've missed them.

I've missed the quiet and the sunshine and the morning breeze and the dogs racing into the woods after imaginary prey or rough-housing on the road. I've missed stopping to snap photos of them running ahead of me or the clouds above me or sunshine splashing on everything...

..or flowers, what's left of them, like the ones below. 

The Mexican Hats have lost their hats...

Mornings are the only time to walk these days. The heat lingers well after sunset. 

Which reminds me of this little poem...

 

Ode to Texas The devil wanted a place on earth Sort of a summer home A place to spend his vacation Whenever he wanted to roam. So he picked out Texas. A place both wretched and rough Where the climate was to his liking And the cowboys hardened and tough. He dried up the streams in the canyons And ordered no rain to fall He dried up the lakes in the valleys Then baked and scorched it all. Then over his barren country He transplanted shrubs from hell. The cactus,thistle and prickly pear The climate suited them well. Now the home was much to his liking But animal life, he had none. So he created crawling creatures That all mankind would shun. First he made the rattlesnake With it's forked poisonous tongue. Taught it to strike and rattle And how to swallow it's young. Then he made scorpions and lizards And the ugly old horned toad. He placed spiders of every description Under rocks by the side of the road. Then he ordered the sun to shine hotter,  Hotter and hotter still. Until even the cactus wilted And the old horned lizard took ill. Then he gazed on his earthly kingdom As any creator would He chuckled a little up his sleeve And admitted that it was good. 'Twas summer now and Satan lay By a prickly pear to rest. The sweat rolled off his swarthy brow So he took off his coat and vest. "By Golly," he finally panted, "I did my job too well, I'm going back to where I came from, Texas is hotter than Hell."     Coy D. Martin

 

My brother-in-law sent that to me. (Thank you, Ralph!) 

As a Texan, I found it rather offensive in some parts (Texas is heaven, not hell!) but the last two paragraphs describe our summer weather so well that I found my sense of humor and felt I should post it. 

Plus, I just happened to have a recent photo of a prickly pear... 

 

 Have a great week and stay cool!

 P.S. I just had a call from my mom - Daddy has been released from the hospital! Yay! The doctors still aren't sure what was wrong, but whatever it was, it's all better now and he's been thoroughly checked out and given a stamp of approval. Thank you for all of your prayers and good thoughts!

Saying my own prayers of thanksgiving now!

Where did the week go? Heck, where did the years go? (plus my Saturday Sweet Report)

I totally lost track of this week. Until this weekend, nothing extraordinary happened, but even so, it felt crazy and I was exhausted without knowing exactly why!

Our empty nest isn't so empty right now - TG is still home for the summer, along with the contents of her dorm room, currently in Transition-Limbo, tucked into random places. And as of this past Saturday, Daniel and the stuff from his apartment are back home in Transition-Limbo, as well.

Tom helped move him home then they both took off for several days of sun and fishing on the coast, leaving a maze of boxes and stuffed trash bags full of household items and clothes overflowing from Daniel's room.

While they were gone I had to cover for Tom, which meant making sure TG and I had something to eat and pulling the evening puppy duty as well as the morning one. Okay, it doesn't sound like much, but it felt like a lot and I was pooped. 

They rolled back in Thursday night, just in time to unpack, re-pack and head to Dallas (all of us) for a wedding.

See that cute chubby-cheeked boy in red below?

That's Quentin, one of Tommy's friends. They went through Boy Scouts together and helped each other earn their Eagle Scout ranks. Along with his dad and brothers, Quentin helped us build our house.

Somehow, he's old enough to get married now. How did that happen?

The photo above was taken at Tommy's 12th birthday party, when all it took to entertain those boys was pizza, video games, movies, boxing gloves and some kind of rowdy wrestling game that, if I remember correctly, involved jumping from trees and forced me to come inside before I started screaming "Be careful!" and embarrassing my children.

Ah, boys. Those were the days.

In just a blink or two from when this photo was snapped, Quentin graduated salutatorian from high school, graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M and then decided to teach high school math and science. A pretty good decision because that's where he met Kristen, the high school Spanish teacher who is now his wife.

Funny how we somehow get to where we need to be, even though the path seems to zig-zag a bit.

These days, I believe Quentin finds Kristen much more entertaining than pizza and video games.

It was fun seeing those kids, all grown up. A bonus to the trip was having all of my kids together. TG and Daniel stayed at Tommy's house, while Tom and I snuck away to our very own hotel room - all by ourselves! It was kind of an early anniversary celebration - next week will be 29 years.

Talk about time passing in a blink of the eye!

This morning we enjoyed a wonderful Mexican food breakfast all together before zooming back home, where I changed clothes and headed to work for the First Saturday Dinner at the Bistro. Each month the Three Course Wine Lunch menu changes and they feature some of the new items at this special night event. Getting to see - and taste - some of the new items... definitely sweet!

Here are some other sweets from the week...

Sunday: seeing your son and husband heading off for a few days of coastal adventure; watching a movie with your daughter instead of tackling your to-do list.

Monday: a surprise call from a dear friend; a text from your son letting you know they made it to the coast okay; hearing that your sister is feeling better after being very sick... again.

Tuesday: finally making the decision to buy a lens you've been wanting and getting a surprise discount on it; a glorious blue and orange striped sunset.

Wednesday: a glimpse of a mama quail, babies parading behind her, making it safely across a busy road; trio of baby deer finally out in the sunshine where you could snap their photo.

Thursday: pink mornings; your husband and son straggling in safe and only slightly burnt from days of fun at the coast.

Friday: witnessing a wedding, being reminded of love that lasts a lifetime; catching up with long-time friends; dancing.

Saturday: sharing breakfast with your husband and all of your babies; arriving home safely from a road trip; a new book to review waiting for you in the mailbox; Banana Crumble with a glass of Mistella; moonlight on a vineyard.

Hope you took time to notice the sweet moments in your week!

 

 

 

"I hope." ~ Red, Shawshank Redemption

"Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things,

and no good thing ever dies."

~ Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption

I've seen Shawshank Redemption a zillion times.  And last night I had two zillion things to do. So when TG started watching it, I tried to ignore it and focus on what I needed to do.

Along about the second half, I quit trying. Instead, I poured a glass of wine, plopped into the recliner beside her and forgot about my to-do's. This is why:

1. She'll be heading back to school soon and there won't be many more opportunities just to hang out at home like that, watching a movie together. Especially with the boys gone!

2. I love the movie.

3. That's all it took. I didn't need a #3.

I wasn't trying to analyze why I love Shawshank Redemption last night while I watched. But I kept thinking about it today and had to gather the thoughts, of course. Here they are (spoiler alert, in case there's actually someone who hasn't seen this movie!):

Hope... Andy holds on to hope despite life's best efforts to smash it out of him. Talk about bad luck! His hope is contagious; he and Red get to begin their lives over at middle-age because they dared to hope and believe that one day it would be possible. According to the movie - and I believe it whole-heartedly - it's never too late to live out a dream.

Integrity... I love how the movie illustrates what integrity is - the twist on how the criminals can have more integrity than the warden or the guards. And I love how Andy holds on tight to his integrity and inspires others to rise higher than they thought possible, to be better than they thought possible. To find the good in themselves.

Justice... Good overcomes evil, justice prevails and hope is justified.

Nothing says it better than Red at the end...

"I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.

I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.

I hope."

 

Why, Thank You! (and my Friday Favorite Photo!)

Thank you to everyone who said a prayer, crossed their fingers or in some way tried to steer Tropical Storm Don more to the north, providing us with a better chance of rain to ease this drought.

However, I just saw this post by my weatherman on Facebook...

Dear Don,
Thanks for nothing.
Sincerely,
Central Texas.
p.s. Emily...we're counting on you.

It seems pretty official that Don left us in the dust. Literally.

But, I know God knows what he's doing, so I guess South Texas and Mexico needed the rain more than we did right now. Perhaps this "Emily" is the answer to our prayer, so please keep 'em coming!

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Did you read my Face in the Mirror post a few days ago? 

When my my blogger friend Suldog read it, he was inspired to write his own Ode to his Face.

Hop over to his site and take a look HERE. (Warning - his version is definitely rated at least PG-13. Maybe even R.)

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. ~ Charles Caleb Colton

... and I'm sure that includes parody. So thank you, Jim!

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Glancing at my stats the other day, I noticed several hits from a site called Best Posts of the Week. It seems someone nominated my Week of Moons post on my photography blog as a 'best post'. 

 I have no idea who it was, but who ever you are, thank you!

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Last year I spent a few days with my creative friend Ann in Galveston. I fell in love with an antique frame she had turned into an earring holder.

A few months later I came across a different version of the idea in a magazine and alerted my friends to be on the lookout for old photo frames so I could make my own.

My friend Mary Kay, as usual, wasn't satisfied with just finding me a frame - she went on to create this wonderful earring holder/display for me, as well as two others to use for my jewelry business. 

One thing is obvious - I need more earrings!

No, that's not it. What's obvious is Mary Kay is amazing - and an amazing friend!

Thank you, Mary Kay!

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I took the day off for some junking/photography fun today. Along with Mary Kay (see above), her friend Claudia visiting from Colorado and TG, I spent the day enjoying old Georgetown... 

...and kicking myself, because I can't even count the number of times I've been in Georgetown over the past 15 years for soccer games, college visits, doctor visits, eating out, visiting friends... and never took the time to explore the wonderful town square, full of eclectic shops and beautiful architecture. 

Thanks again to Mary Kay for finally getting me there and to Claudia for lunch at the Monument Cafe. It was a wonderful day.

 

Look at this bench made to look like a book, sitting outside of a bookstore - I LOVE it! That's Claudia and Mary Kay just a little ways down...

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But that's not my favorite photo of the week. I picked this one of the purple flower because it's no longer there - the drought was too much for it.

But in this photo, it looks like it's dancing, doesn't it? It had fun - truly blossomed - while it was here.

(It's also posted HERE on my photography blog along with other flowers that defied the drought and bloomed anyway, at least for a little while.)

I also love this photo because it's such a tiny flower that you can't even see its beauty unless you get up this close - and that's such a great lesson about true beauty and paying attention, isn't it? It's often worth taking a closer look at things that it would be easy to ignore. 

Hope you had a wonderful Friday and didn't miss a thing!

 

 

If mornings could last forever...

Max has finished eating and lies still at my feet. We both stare out into the Hollow. 

Cicadas hum. Birds chatter back and forth. Heat hasn't yet white-washed the cloudless sky - its crisp blue stretches like a fresh-washed sheet from horizon to horizon.

A cardinal whooshes from one tree to another, just a flash of red in the corner of my eye. 

It will be unbearably hot here later when the afternoon sun turns its face this way, but right now, a soft breeze tumbles along the covered deck where I sit, ruffling my hair. In this morning moment, it's a perfect summer "aaahh".

Belle still munches from her bowl; once again, she balked about even starting on her food until Max was almost finished.

Part of me is impatient. I'm already running behind! I slept in a little because I stayed up late writing, but was still up early enough to walk before the sun took control of the road.

The light was perfect for snapping photos of the tiny buds defying the drought. I knelt in weeds, snapping away at a fresh Mexican hat, until Belle nudged me, waking me from my trance and reminding me we needed to move along.

I suppose I'll give her a break now and swallow the scolding on my lips. 

Max finally stands for his treats then ambles off around the corner, probably headed back to the cool doghouse. A tiny wren lands on the edge of the deck, just a few feet away from Belle's bowl. He cocks his head, surprised to see us, and high tails it down to the backhoe, landing on the steering wheel, where he proceeds to sing and sing and sing.

(Probably 'fuss, fuss, fuss' would be more accurate, but I prefer to think he's singing to me. And it does sound lovely.) 

Meanwhile, Belle licks her bowl clean, takes her treats and stretches out behind my rocker.

Still, I sit. 

A squirrel climbs to the top of a tree, just beyond the deck; shaking limbs mark its progress. Another breeze whispers past me.

Belle sighs.

I sigh.

I could sit here all day...

...if only mornings could last forever.

 

 

 

When work doesn't feel like work.... and Saturday's "Sweet!" Report

Never, ever did I dream of being a waitress. And yet, here I am, spending a Saturday dressed in black, small apron neatly tied around my waist, order pad in hand...

Life is so funny.

I've stumbled into a job that feels like a hobby.

Don't get me wrong... I work at it!  I sweat from being on the move the whole time... besides waiting tables, I also bus and wipe them, clean windows, do laundry. I even cleaned a toilet one day. And electronic cash registers can be tricky, especially when you have split tickets. So much to learn!

But I'm not complaining. For some reason, I love it! Mostly the learning and social parts, but even the cleaning.

How could I not? After a drive through the hill country, I arrive at this... (taken through my windshield, but I think you can get the feel of it.)

And then there are the random samplings of smoked duck, fresh polenta, chocolate torte and tastes of estate wines...

How did I get so lucky?

It's not a full time job, but it's a wonderful weekend break, even if you're working there. Dining there would be even better.  I urge you to visit if you're in the area: Flat Creek Estate. (You won't regret it - people have actually told me they were tempted to lick their plates. It's that good!)

And now for a few of my Sweet! moments of the week...

Monday: a red-tailed hawk swooping silently above your head; soft mornings; chocolate cake for dinner; calling a friend you haven't talked to in a year to wish her a happy birthday

Tuesday: revising two chapters of your book; Mexican hats beginning to blossom again when you thought they were all dead.

Wednesday: discovering a new purple blossom along the road; a call from your oldest son; grilling chicken breasts to perfection, despite forgetting about them a couple of times.

Thursday: Belle lying calm and still enough to rub her tummy (in other words, without her twisting and kicking and gnawing affectionately on your arm.); revising another chapter in your book and finally getting around to posting photos of the old truck you took weeks ago.

Friday: HP x 2 (Harry Potter and Half Price Books with your kids!)

Saturday: a soft morning breeze blowing down the deck; work that doesn't feel like work; fresh polenta, carne guisada, and watermelon from the chef's garden; a good ending to a movie when you keep expecting something to go wrong.

 

I hope you had a week packed full of sweet moments!

"The End" of an Era (and my Friday Favorite Photo)

This is the book that was the beginning of the end.

Each evening for years and years, Daniel, TG and I would huddle around a book on the couch, taking the adventure together, a chapter at a time. I would read out loud, relishing the warmth of my two little ones cuddled up against me.  

Tommy had broken away on his own when he discovered the Goosebumps series in 3rd grade, devouring them one after another as fast as he could. Speed is addictive: he couldn't slow back down to our pace, savoring bites of the story, a little every day.

TG, Daniel and I were usually each reading something else as well on our own. But every night we'd come together for a special book. We'd take turns choosing it. This is when I introduced them to the Lord of the Rings, Call of the Wild, Black Beauty, Tarzan, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, the Wizard of Oz series... 

And then Daniel won a drawing in the school book fair. He got to pick any book he wanted, up to $15 value. We hadn't heard of the one above, but it looked promising. It had a cute cover, interesting-enough story line, and the kid on the front even looked a little like Daniel to me.

I didn't expect much from it, but I hadn't gotten through the first chapter before I felt jealous of the writing. The kids were irritated when I would stop reading in the middle of a critical scene to comment on some gem of a phrase or description. 

That, plus they didn't want to wait 24 hours to know what happened next. It was mutiny on the couch. What could I do?

They drew straws to see who got to read it first. Within a couple of days all three kids had finished it and I finally got my turn. I'm sure I was through it within a day or two, also.

There was no going back after that. We tried to rendezvous over a book a few more times, but they'd had their taste of independence: our Reading Hour fizzled to an end.

All because of Harry Potter.

With each new HP book, the scenario repeated itself... drawing straws, all-night reading sessions, keeping your lips sealed until everyone had read the book. (You could hear the sigh of relief after I closed the book - I was always last.)

Meanwhile, my kids grew and grew and grew. HP movies were made and we'd dutifully buy our tickets and watch them, but we were never satisfied. Admittedly, I always enjoyed them because I've never been able to remember details of books as well as my kids - they're harsh critics, let me tell you! I raised a fine litter of critical reader-geeks!

With that in mind, we didn't rush to be the first in line to see the final HP movie. It was one excuse, at least. Can you guess my other excuse? I hated to say goodbye. 

Yes, the book was finished long ago. I shed my tears back then, said goodbye to the characters, but I knew this movie was really the final goodbye to that era - an era of faces buried deep into books and kids who were shorter than me... of long summer days full of discussions about plot and character, good and evil. 

But I couldn't resist any longer - today I sat with my two twenty-something-year-old kids who'd known Harry and company half their lives... who'd grown up with Harry and Hermione and Ron... munching tons of popcorn and Milk Duds, reliving the last decade while watching the end unfold before me... the end of an era.

(Guess what we did after the movie? Dropped into Half-Price Books, of course!)

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And now, my Friday Favorite Photo, totally unrelated to Harry Potter. My crape myrtle is getting closer and closer to blossoming... I feared it had changed its mind due to lack of rain, but then I noticed this bud... I think it's going to make it!

 Hope you had a wonderful, magical Friday!

 

 

 

Divas ... Then and Now

More than two weeks have already passed since my Deer Park Diva Weekend, but I'm just now getting the photos uploaded to Facebook and I've barely mentioned it on here.

(Or have I? I can't remember!)

But on these hectic, over-packed days I find myself in lately, I just have to flip a page in my mind to take myself back there beside Rae's pool, surrounded by ladies who have known me most of my life (plus a few Divas-in-Training) and ahhh, the stress just melts away in the warmth of the memory.

Friendship and sunshine. They can cure almost anything - or at least help you get through anything.

Who are the Divas? We're just girls, um, women who used to be girls who attended high school together. Many of us attended junior high and even elementary school together, too. Some are married to the guys who attended high school with the rest of us and that makes them honorary Divas.

We didn't necessarily hang around each other back then or share the same interests or hobbies or classes.

Some of us were best friends in junior high then drifted apart in the bigger sea of high school. 

 

Some became best friends in high school and have somehow hung on through all the ups and downs of the years. 

 

 

But the important thing is we're friends now, with so much in common, connected by bonds we never realized were there, more than thirty years after graduation.

In their faces, I see all the ages we've been. We didn't spend them all together - there have been gaps in our closeness during those times when our lives led in different directions.

But what a blessing that our paths have once again converged because when I look at these women, I also see survivors.  Divorce... deaths of children, husbands, siblings, parents... cancer... the fear of children at war overseas and children battling addiction...

You name it and one of us has lived through it.

I see women who keep going despite it all, who still find plenty to laugh about. Women who love life.

But Patti describes a Diva Weekend much better than I can...

 

Ode to the Deer Park Divas

So we’re all in our fifties, but none of us care

We’re all just so happy to have us all there.

We talk about husbands, the jobs that we’ve had,

We talk about kids, the good and the bad.

We drink margaritas and hang in Rae’s pool

And remember the days when we were all cool.

We play “who was....?” but mostly don’t know

Which makes us laugh harder at these brains that are slow.

We are 13 again as long as we’re together

And with a little luck, we’ll do this forever.

We’re sisters for life, let the story be told -

We’re the Deer Park Divas and we’ll never grow old!

~ Patti (Stringer) McPeek

Friends Forever!

He Knows Me So Well (and Saturday's Week of Sweet!s)

Tom's email read "I saw this and thought of you," with a hyperlink under the message.

My heart fluttered - he thought of me while he was at work? How sweet! Tom never emails me unless it's a two-word response to something I've sent him.

I clicked the link and laughed when the page popped up describing (and showing images of) a 557-square-foot House of Shelves in Japan that can hold 10 tons of books.

Be still my heart!

Yes, Tom knows me well. I'd have shelves on every wall in our house if he'd let me.

Click HERE to see the House of Shelves and read more about it.

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My brother Donnie also knows me well - he sent me a link to something he knew I'd love to read about... a 7-year-old drummer named Jonah. Check him out! So cute! (He's 5 in this video - amazing!)

 

 

Now I'm fired up to squeeze 'playing my drums' back into my schedule somehow. They've gotten a little dusty lately. (Go to Jonah Rocks to find out more about Jonah.)

 

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And now for my Sweet! Moments of the Week...

Sunday: witnessing more than a dozen teenagers receiving the sacrament of Confirmation

Monday: the contrast of cool lake water and hot sunshine on your body

Tuesday: a dusty rose dawn; finding a beautiful shirt on a clearance rack for $7!

Wednesday: a sky full of storm clouds and a few drops of rain on your dusty dry land

Thursday: a text message from your big brother telling you he's in love again

Friday: unwinding on a shady porch after work with a glass of Super Texan; watching "Where the Heart Is" with your honey (what a sweet movie!)

Saturday: Having friends drop in to support you at your new job; Sean's duck and Tom's slow-smoked beef ribs - double yum! Getting word that Shake Russell was finally recognized as "Entertainer of the Year" at the Texas Music Awards! (Congratulations, Shake!)

Hope you find plenty of Sweet! moments in this coming week. Remember...

‎"All things pass; God never changes."

~ St. Teresa of Avila

Saturday's "Sweet!"s on Sunday

Years and years ago, I worked weekends, the natural consequence of rotating twelve hour shifts. First one weekend of nights, then one weekend of days and finally! two weekends free.

I hated it. Once I quit, I never, ever wanted to tie up my weekends like that again, but here I am, twenty years later, trying out another weekend job.

And so far, surprise! I'm really enjoying it!

Isn't it funny how time can make such a difference?

Of course, now I'm working just six to seven hours, not twelve. 

With twelve hour shifts, there's no time for anything but work, eat, sleep. Now I still have time in the morning to walk, workout or go to Sunday Mass, and in the evening there's time to write, watch a movie, or meet friends for dinner and dancing, which is exactly what I did last night.

Plus, once my other job completely dries up, I'll have big chunks of time during the week to write and work on developing my business in a quiet, empty house.

But my enjoyment despite exhaustion, throbbing feet and aching back is such a mystery to me that I've tried to analyze it. This is what I figured out..

...I like being around people. I like helping them and making sure they're happy. I also enjoy staying busy, being part of a team, moving as opposed to sitting still, and working with upbeat, interesting, diverse characters. It helps to be in a beautiful place where I can sample wonderful food and wine (only so I can share my opinion with our customers, of course.)

Have you guessed? I'm working in a winery restaurant. It's like traveling to Tuscany every day (and the closest I'll get to the real thing for a long time, that's for sure!)

I don't think of it as a career, not the end of my road. But I think I'll enjoy the scenery along this section of it.

Speaking of roads, I treated myself to some Panda Express Orange Chicken this week and listen to this fortune in my cookie...

"Your road to glory will be rocky, but fulfilling."

Fulfilling. Can we ask for more? I hope this one comes true.

I love Panda Express fortunes!

Here's another one I got that day (a two-cookie visit!)...

"Chances of glamour and excitement are coming to you."

Well, I won't hold my breath on that one, but I'll keep you posted!

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And now, here are my sweet! moments of the week. I hope I'm never too busy to take notice of these!

Saturday: sun, water, friends, mimosas, photography, margaritas, barbecue, sunsets, wine (don't judge me - I was with my girlfriends!)

Sunday: listening to your parents' stories in their own words and capturing those words in their own voices

Monday: switching radio stations just in time to hear one of your favorite songs (in my case, Ted Nugent's Stranglehold. Oh, those drums in the beginning!)

Tuesday: watching a great blue heron fly in a circle around you just so you can snap some photos (I'm sure that's what it was doing!); finding out the little green bird you saw last week was a female painted bunting!; helping your son plan his trip to Germany (next best thing to planning a trip for yourself!)

Wednesday: spotting a roadrunner in a tree (alas, no time for a photo); a tiny fawn skittering across the road to safety in front of you (alas... no camera); finally installing the Photoshop Elements your friends gave you for your birthday 2 months ago, despite missing all these great shots

Thursday: a call from a sweet friend; helping your son shop for a new suit; Panda Express fortunes

Friday:  new yellow and white flowers popping up in the woods and along the road, despite the drought; a sweet puppy staring in through the French doors in the hopes of catching a glimpse of you; making it through the first day of a new job without totally blowing it

Saturday: sharing a wonderful meal, a dance floor and a subtle, yet striking, Texas Hill Country sunset with friends

Hope you've had a wonderful weekend! And if you go out to eat, don't forget to tell your waiter thank you and cut 'em some slack! They might just be in training!

 

The Problem with Fun Weekends...

 

You circle the date on the calendar. You count the days until you can leave. You just can't wait for that special date to arrive!

And then (you probably guessed it because it happens to you, too) ... the time flies and that special weekend is over way too fast. 

This was one to remember, though. I'd get an 'A' in "Uses time wisely" if I still got report cards... catching up with friends, visiting with my parents, hanging out by a pool, taking lots of photographs... that was my weekend. 

So today, even as I stepped back into the swift stream of life, I'm playing catch-up on everything else - laundry, photos, blogs (both writing and reading)...

That's another problem with fun weekends, all that catching up afterwards.

But I'll be back with more, soon...

Hostess Rae and me in the pool...Thank you again, Rae!!

 

 

 

 

A Sweet Saturday on a Diva Weekend

While you sit where ever you sit on Saturday mornings, reading this, I'm soaking my drought-dusty body in the cool water of a friend's backyard pool, frozen margarita in hand.

This is a Diva weekend, when girls I grew up with congregrate to catch up on each other's lives in a way that Facebook and emails just can't compare to... face-to-face with music, food and margaritas (or wine or soda or whatever...) and a whole weekend of talking, talking, talking.

It's purely therapeutic, of course. 

Here are a few of us last year, deep into one of our therapy sessions.

I hope you're have a sweet Diva weekend of your own!

Now for my Sweet!s of the Week:

Saturday: meeting a writing deadline (whew!)

Sunday: being able to pick up a phone and hear your Daddy's voice

Monday: a hug from your oldest child after a month of only calls or emails

Tuesday: being Chairperson of a committee full of go-getting, "tell me what I can do to help" people.

Wednesday: waking to the sweet sound of rain on the roof that went on and on and on...

Thursday: shopping with your daughter

Friday: finally meeting someone face-to-face who you've only known, up until that moment, through typed words and shared photographs

Saturday: floating in a sun-kissed swimming pool surrounded by friends who have known you forever (and still like you most of the time!)

 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend filled with love and friendship!

 

 

Puppy Dog Mornings (and a week of sweets)

I follow a certain ritual almost every morning, finding a spiritual, mental and physical balance that goes completely out of whack the rest of the day...

I begin at the kitchen table, enjoying a first cup of coffee and my healthy cereal (topped with blueberries and Greek yogurt) while reading something inspirational.

Right now it's Hope For Each Day by Billy Graham, a small book of daily readings I snagged at a garage sale.

As night's shadow lifts, I can make out Belle's silhouette through the French doors, full of hope, waiting patiently for our walk to begin. As soon as it's light enough to see the road, I give in.

On my way out the door, I grab my camera to get my daily photography fix, usually repeats of the same old shots... puppy dogs, dirt roads, fence posts, dusty flowers, clouds, bugs... mostly puppy dogs... just captured from a different angle, in a different season...

While walking and snapping photos, I pray the Rosary.

...Multitasking at its best.

Back home, I trade the camera for the dogs' food bowls and meet them on the back porch. While they eat their breakfast, I rock in my chair, sip on another cup of coffee, and gaze at the Hollow, savoring the quiet of the morning a bit more before the rush of the day begins.

Either before or after our walk, and before I can talk myself out of it, I squeeze in a physical work out, alternating cardio and free weights.... very important (I stress to myself when I protest) because the rest of the day I sit (sit, sit, sit, hour after hour...) in front of a computer. 

Is it any wonder that mornings are my favorite part of the day?

What are your mornings like?

Share! Share!

And now for my week of Sweet! moments...

Saturday: Manual labor ... muscles straining, sweating dripping from your nose - a wonderful change from sitting, sitting, sitting in front of a computer.

(Yes, I really do enjoy it! Every once in a while, anyway. Tom, Daniel and I spent a few hours clearing the brush out of the dry creek. They cut and sawed while I dragged and tossed. Belle and Haley supervised from spots in the shade. Max hid in the cool doghouse.)

Sunday: Celebrating a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice with barbecue and a slideshow depicting scenes from 80+ years.

(Our priest, Father Joe, is retiring this month. At 84, he deserves the break, but it's still bittersweet for me.);  

Sunday Sweet! #2: Rescuing a Blotched Water Snake. 

(Well, Tom rescued it by yelling at Max to drop it before he "played" with it to death. It had a small cut, so we kept it in a terrarium for a few days, then he released it down by the creekbed.)

Monday: A walk at dusk, first into a blue and pink pastel sunset, then back along an empty dirt road glowing from moonlight (blogged here.)

Tuesday: Your sister released to walk again three months after her hip surgery (#2) Sitting on the back deck near the splash of a full moon, listening to music with loved ones and sipping a glass of pinot noir.  

Wednesday: Glancing out the kitchen window just in time to see two great blue herons fly past. 

Thursday: Standing in a small clearing before the sun strikes full force... just you, a towering granddaddy oak and the melody of birdsong. And goofy dogs, of course.

Friday: A breeze so strong on the back deck that when you close your eyes, you can imagine you're sitting on a condo balcony above the beach in Port Aransas instead of above a dry creek in drought-cursed Central Texas.

What was your favorite Sweet! moment this week?

(This post is my contribution to the Focus52 linkup at TwoScoopz - the theme this week is "Morning.")

Never Give Up (and Another Sweet Saturday)

My bougainvilla is blooming.

It might not seem like a big deal, but in this dry hollow where the wildflowers are fading, I longed for a blast of color.

I thought it was too late, thought I'd been too neglectful. The original blossoms were long gone; it wasn't dead, but it was down to mere green foliage. But I thought, what the heck? I can at least try!

So I moved it to a sunnier spot, remembered to water it every day.... and hoped.

Look what happened...

 

And now for this week's Sweet! moments...

Saturday: Witnessing the fireworks and excitement of a UT commencement - from an air-conditioned birds' eye view.

Sunday: Breakfast with friends...lunch with family. Out-of-town guests making it back home safely.

Monday: Still having your mom just a phone call away when you really, really need to talk.

Tuesday: A walk at dusk, the trees silhouetted against a salmon-pink sky, the wind whispering in my ear.

Wednesday: Marshmallow clouds full of silent lightning. Good customer service.

Thursday: Drinking coffee and yakking with your son at his kitchen table. A quiet place and a big chunk of time, just for writing.

Friday: Movie Night! Plus Friday is just Sweet! all by itself!

 

What were your Sweet! moments this week?

Hope you're having a Sweet! Saturday!

I'm off to enjoy the sun instead of complaining there's not any rain.

Close to Heaven (well, Writing Heaven, anyway)

It's quiet in here... just the hum of an air conditioner and the soft, sporadic click, click, tap of computer keys... the three of us spread out in this spacious computer room each drifting in our own little world.

TG is home for the summer, taking a class at the local community college. We have an extra car for her to drive, but it's been a year and a half since she's sat behind a wheel, and her last experience ended with her lying in shattered glass, the car flipped on its side, strangers reaching in to help her out and a policeman giving her a ticket.

Understandably, she's a little nervous about slipping back into that driver's seat. We'll get some practice time in before turning her loose alone on these wild roads again. (Although I dread it - I don't think the air conditioning works in the van. I'm menopausal and hot-flashy and we're already hitting triple digits in the shade here! Where's my mist-fan?) 

But for now, I'm Head Chauffeur, and I don't mind one bit! I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this block of time away from home, sitting in a quiet room... empty hours of no distractions, no chores, no to-do lists... hours just waiting to be filled with writing.

My great-great grandfather's memoir sits nearby, along with the flashdrive containing my book-in-progress, waiting patiently for me to get back to work on it. I'm sure it's missed me as much as I've missed it!

So here I go, diving back into the past, moving a little closer to the end of this dream. Wish me luck and progress! I hope you've made progress on your dream today, too!

The moon, my honey and Los Lonely Boys...

Saturday night, a Texas moon smiling down on me and Tom by my side, I had one of those Aha! moments.

I realized I was finally experiencing Austin with all five senses in a way I hadn't yet in the nearly sixteen years we've lived here.

I could feel it in the just-cool-enough breeze blowing through the courtyard of Stubb's Bar-B-Q, taste it in my jalapeno brisket taco, hear it in the music of Willie Nelson's son, Lukas, and his band, Promise of the Real and then even more in Los Lonely Boys, those sons of San Angelo, see it in trees and old stone buildings bordering the courtyard and in the diversity of the other fans ... young, old, straight, gay, preppy, hippie, Austin Weird, every race and color imaginable ... and even smell it in the air, an intermittent wafting of barbecue with a hint of... is that marijuana?

Yeah, that's Austin.

Stubb's doesn't allow detachable lenses (discrimination!) and I don't own a point-and-shoot or an iPhone, so I don't have any photos from Saturday night, just these images impressed on my mind.

But here are some photos from the rest of the birthday boy's weekend...

A happy breakfast a la me and Daniel for the birthday boy

Walking with the boys, Kirby and...

...the goofy dogs.

The boys spotted this beetle (just like old times!) Anyone know what it is? 

Ping-pong!!

Cheesecake!

A birthday wish...

...and a nap.

Not bad for #54.

Shake-in' it up ... Deep in the Hollow with Shake Russell. Again!

Music is a puppeteer pulling my strings, making me laugh, cry, sing, dance. There are songs that whisk me into the past, songs that soothe my fears, songs that lift my spirits, songs that inspire me, encourage me, give me hope.

I'm just a feather blown this way and that by the melodies and words.

Saturday night I was lucky enough to have two singer/songwriter/musicians in my house who have written the kind of songs that reach into me, wrap themselves around my soul and become a part of me.

Shake Russell's songs have been a part of me since the '70's when I heard Deep in the West for the first time. He has been writing and performing for four decades ...a true musical living legend, but still alive and well and just as wonderful as ever.

Regretfully, I've only just discovered Michael Hearne, although he's been busy writing and performing those soul-stirring songs almost just as long, it seems.

There's just something extra special about listening to their music in our own home, surrounded by friends and family who feel the same way about their music. After listening to the Shake Russell Trio in the comfort of our living room last year, how could we resist doing it again? Michael joining them this year was a sweet surprise.  

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done

 

THE Shake Russell, singing in MY living room!

Michael Hearne and Doug Floyd

Mike Roberts

Shake and Michael

Mike, Michael, Shake and Doug

Sitting on the front row, just two feet from the band, is amazing - but it limits you on photos. Thank goodness many of our guests brought their own cameras and have shared their photos with me.

One guest, Lexie, went a step further, playing around with the photos on picjoke.com (I had never even heard of it!) This is just one example, but it's my favorite...

Isn't this amazing? Thank you, Lexie!

Craig's List ... Sweet! #3 (and my Friday Favorite Photo)

Finding just what you've been looking for at a price you can afford on Craig's List.

Tom must have realized I was never going to give up on my dream of a library.

I'm sure he was just as tired of seeing dozens of boxes of books lining the downstairs walls as I was frustrated that all my books were still in boxes.

I think he also realized he would never have the time or money to build custom shelves from scratch, as he had planned. 

Guess what he found on Craig's List this week?

It's just a start, but oh, isn't it a lovely start?

Eventually they'll go all the way to the ceiling and perhaps be painted white (they're all different types of wood), and if we can figure out how, I'd like to turn two stained glass windows we've had stored for ages into cabinet doors. 

But even just as it is, I'm in book-lover heaven.

Finding just what you've been looking for at a price you can afford on Craig's List.

Sweet!

What treasures have you found on Craig's List, or at garage sales, or flea markets... ?

Spring Fever Frenzy and Sweet! #1

Frenzy is my word of the week, (where's my copy of Pearl Jam's song Just Breathe?) so please forgive me if this post seems a little harried and unorganized. If it jumps around a bit, it's just a reflection of my life right now, hopscotching from one project to the next in haphazard order.

Tom and I have two Major Events coming up this month - another Shake Russell home concert and Daniel's graduation - just the kind of matches we need to light fires under our butts and get us moving on projects we should have tackled months ago.

Why, oh why do we procrastinate?

You would be amazed by how much Tom and I can ignore around our house - he always has half a dozen projects in various stages going on simultaneously and after almost 30 years together, I've learned to ignore random tools and pieces of equipment left lying in odd places. 

One reason I ignore it all is because, if he dares say anything about my own piles of unorganized junk or projects-in-progress, I have ammunition. We've learned to be very accepting of each other's idiosyncrasies.

When Major Events appear on the calendar, though, that helps us see our home from a visitor's point of view and YIKES, our priorities shift. I haven't even gotten to the 'cleaning' part - for some reason, I've got it in my head I need to sort through boxes, clean up my office-to-be, my closet, cabinets... 

It's not that I think anyone will care, but I have to use this rare fever while I have it.

So, what I didn't do this past weekend: 

• Work on my book.
• Dance, play ping-pong or my drums.
• Load Photoshop Elements on my computer. (I'm hesitating because, from experience with my computer, I know it won't be as easy as clicking a few buttons. I need a chunk of time to work on this.)
• Finalize the name for my new venture. If I get any chunks of time, this is what I've been spending them on. Even though I work for a naming company, I had no idea it would take me this long to pick one. I'm really afraid I'm overthinking it. I've narrowed it down to three, though, and now have to figure out how to register it. There are so many things involved in starting a business - yikes!
• Attend my friend Jacque's college graduation Saturday morning. I fully intended to - I got up early, showered, dressed and was ready to head out the door, but stopped to double check directions to where I thought it was being held Turns out, it was on a totally different highway than she told me in her graduation-eve excitement, much farther than I realized. I should have googled it the night before and gotten up earlier. There was no way I could make it there in time.

What I did accomplish, outside of the normal routine:

• Unloaded a ton of stuff at Goodwill. I was going to stop after the graduation ceremony, anyway. Tom and I had already loaded up my car with bags and boxes of things to donate.
• Treated myself to a pedicure and manicure. Unusual for someone in a frenzy, I know, but the salon is next door to Goodwill. I'm 52, but I can count the number of pedicures I've had in my life on one hand - I think this was number 5 - and this was only the second manicure I've ever had. The other one was part of a spa day gift from Tom in honor of my 30th birthday. (What is wrong with me?)
• Promised myself I won't wait another year for a pedicure, or another 22 years for a manicure.
• Made a few baby steps of progress on starting my business. No, I didn't finalize the name, but I made progress. That's what I have to focus on.
• Sorted through several boxes of stuff and weeded out more stuff to give away. I'm a hoarder collector, but I'm started to have pity on my kids when they have to go through my things later. (Of course, if Tom's still around, it'll be easy on them. He'll just dump it all or burn it.)
• Paid bills and made a dent in the laundry. (No explanation needed here - these things never wait patiently.) 

Tom spent most of Saturday on a Habitat-for-Humanity type project. It's not HFH, but a similar program his company partners with a few times a year. He loves using his carpentry skills to help people.

On his way home he picked up a new (to us) elliptical trainer and stationary bike he found on Craig's List. We have our own little gym again, for less than the cost of a gym membership. Yay, Tom! 

He's putting his Craig's List truck to good use!

On the Today Show this week, I found out about something that apparently everyone else already knows about - 1000 Awesome Things.

How did I miss this? Especially as a blogger? (If you, like me, have had your head in the ground lately and haven't heard about this, click on that link above and take a look - but then come back!)

Actually, what I want to know, is why didn't I think of this myself?

Even though I didn't, I'm going to blatantly steal borrow Neil Pasricha's premise and start looking on the bright side of things every day. Considering my current frenzied state, I think it will do me some good.

I also want to set a good example for my kids and prove to them that no matter how bad things get in a day, it's possible to find one little "sweet!" moment. I honestly believe that.

I apologize in advance because this means I might have two posts in a single day right here on Long Hollow, plus another one on Confessions. I forgive you if you don't always read them or comment, but I would like to hear about your "sweet!" moments too, if you have the time to share them. From here on out, I'll write them as separate posts and keep them in the Sweet! category so I can go back and remember little rays of sunshine on those dark days.

 So here we go with Sweet #1 (drumroll please)...

... Getting an email from my son just to say he loves me - and to tell me he has no cavities. When your grown children take charge of their lives, it can be so hard to let go, especially in those health care areas. After years of intensive, organized, methodical mothering and worrying over their health - doctor and dentist check-ups, prescriptions, etc. - you watch them fly out of the nest to other regions with unknown doctors and dentists and you can only pray they continue to take care of themselves. 

It took the suspicion of a cavity, but he did it. Sweet!

 

 

 

Thank you, BlogHer!

I think I've mentioned this before - I'm a book addict. I have boxes and boxes of books stacked in the boys' rooms downstairs, waiting for the library Tom has promised me  (and promised me... and promised me...)

(Okay, in his defense, he built this whole house ... even finished out my closet while he barely has a rod to hang his shirts on, so I understand a proper home for my beloved books isn't high on the priority list. Really I do. Sigh.) 

Anyway, back to my addiction...

Books fill windowsills and mismatched bookshelves that are scattered around the house. Books are stacked on tables, fill cabinets... you get the picture. I just can't throw a book away or resist "adopting" a homeless one (for the right price, anyway.)

But I think I've also already mentioned that I don't take time to read anymore - not books, anyway. Not often. I have good intentions and dream of reading all of the books I adopt, but the reality is they sit waiting, neglected, while I spend my hours trying to make money and chase the dreams I've put off for so long.

I miss reading a good book. There's nothing like it, getting sucked into the pages, caught up in the lives of the characters, becoming oblivious to everything around you, laughing, crying, getting mad.

Growing up I spent hours reading, and when the kids were younger we shared dozens of books over the years, 30 minutes at a time, every single night. When they got older, summers would find me next to the pool with a book in my hand while they splashed around with their friends.

Now they're grown up and I'm too busy trying to make money.

And that's why I'm so grateful to BlogHer - they started a Book Club and asked for reviewers. Immediately, I raised my hand. Not only would I be sent a book (for free!) but I'd be paid to read and write a review. Not much, mind you, but any little bit was enough justification to me.

The first book I read for the Book Club, Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, is a historical fiction, a genre I love, but it's been awhile since I read one I enjoyed this much. It was tough to put it down! It's about the first Native American to attend Harvard, although for me it was more of a coming-of-age story about a young girl named Bethia who befriends him.

If you're interested, click HERE to read my review and others on BlogHer. (But if you decide to buy it, please come back here and click on my link!)

Now (thanks to BlogHer) I'm reading a memoir - A Jane Austen Education, by William Deresiewicz. After my adventure with Caleb's Crossing, I was tempted to jump into another novel, but this one called to me for some reason, and I'm glad I picked it. Stay tuned for my review later this month.

Besides giving me an excuse to read, BlogHer also recently gave me a chance to try some new dog food (well, for Belle to try some new dog food) and to give readers a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card.  I won't give any of the details away here, though ... if you're interested, click HERE to read my review on Purina Pro Plan Selects and see how to win.

Okay, I'll tell you this much - all you have to do is leave a comment on my review blog (not here) to be entered to win. (Although I love reading your comments, here, too!)

You'll also get to read a little about me and my dogs and see some cute pictures of them. And also find out how to increase your chances of winning!

Good luck, and I hope you're having a great week!

Book'em Danno!

 

What do you get when you mix a Hootenanny with a 50th birthday party?

A Hawaii-Hootenanny 5-0!

And Saturday night Tom and I were lucky enough to attend one for Liane,

Ms. Hootenanny, herself.

What's a Hootenanny? Here's the official description from its Meet-Up site:

"These open jam sessions are open to all musicians at our outdoor woodsy stage. We keep it mainly acoustic, but we can hookup to some amps occasionally. We do our thing every Friday night and have a great time playing and enjoying newcomer talent. Not much of an audience yet, but we like it just fine! The core band is Linton Mancilla. Our style is a mixture of many, so we can play along with your songs, whatever they may be. We usually have guitar players, a keyboard setup, a mandolin player, a flautist, and some type of percussion (no trap sets yet please!) We start at about 7:00, and people just gradually show up. If this would interest you, please call for directions and such. We are on myspace, search for Linton Mancilla, and at www.sonicbids.com/LintonMancilla"

Ever wonder what a Texas-style Luau would be like?

Come along with me and I'll show you...

You have Big John frying catfish.

Eric grilling salmon.

Cute couples dressing Island-style.

Party decorations. Ahem.

Arrival of the Birthday Girl.

Cupcakes by Karen, Queen of Desserts

Friends, Family and Food

Surfing...

Boots and fancy jeans...

Instruments and musicians waiting patiently for...

Music.

And the full moon watching over it all.

The end.

Wining and Dining, Texas Style (my birthday part 2 - and my Friday/Saturday Favorite Photos)

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.  ~Voltaire

 

Texas has a lot of vineyards and wineries. I bet some of you didn't know that! We noticed one outside of Wimberley named Driftwood and decided to drop in on our way to the Salt Lick.

When I say "we" I mean  "me". Tom doesn't care for wine, but hey, it was my birthday!

And it was also Rachel's birthday! Her 21st! She was there with her parents. So of course we had to have a picture together. 

 

(My hair doesn't look too bad, does it, considering it was just released from a zipline helmet and it was at least 120 degrees in that room? Thank you, Michael!)

(This is what Tom wants for his birthday.)

Driftwood is actually a little town... the location of The Salt Lick Bar-b-que (the original). I had never been to the Salt Lick, although it seemed everyone else had been, so I used my birthday as an excuse to get Tom to take me. I was so tired of hearing everyone else rave about it!

(Tom wasn't waiting on me to finish snapping pics - he was hungry!)

Let me tell you... it lived up to it's reputation.

And let me tell you something else... Wednesday afternoons at 4pm is the time to go. No one else is there. From what I've heard, if you go on a weekend, expect to wait in a long line!

But I understand why now - it's divine!

Tom's brisket is this good or better, which is saying a lot because this was damn-good, but Salt Lick's ribs, turkey, sausage were melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and the potato salad and cole slaw were the best I've ever eaten. 

(Sorry, Mama.)

 

 (This lasted me two days - Wednesday's dinner and Thursday's lunch - yum!)

The oak trees and picnic tables called to me, so we tarried a little outside, and guess what? We discovered a winery next door...

Since I was hitting legendery Austin places, how could I not stop at Poodie's Hilltop Bar & Grill when I spotted it on our way home? Poodie Locke was Willie Nelson's stage manager for three decades - he ran the bar on the side ... it's one of those unpresuming spots where big names drop in unannounced.

Very unpresuming.

We didn't recognize anyone famous, so we took our drinks outside to a deck overlooking the western horizon, imagining how beautiful the sunset must be from that vantage, and wondering about Peggy... 

A long drive home, through Marble Falls, along twisty, turning hill country roads faced us, so we didn't wait around for sunset on the deck. 

We made it home just at twilight, in time for a quick walk with the dogs.

And then, another surprise from Tom... a beautiful card and cheesecake! 

Now that's the way to welcome 52.

 Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. – Mark Twain

 

P.S. Update on my sister - she's much better and was released from the hospital this afternoon. She's weak and still on antibiotics, but able to eat again. Yay! Thank you for your prayers and please keep them coming! There's still that hip surgery she needs to recover from... !

Zippity-Do-Dah (my birthday, part 1)

I wanted to be Tarzan when I was little.

I'd sit in the livingroom on Saturday afternoons watching Johnny Weismuller swing from tree to tree on those vines, and then poof! I was in that jungle myself, way up in a tree, grabbing hold of a vine and swinging high above the ground to the next limb. A green blur surrounded me and the wind whistled in my ear...

And then there were the dreams of flying through my neighborhood - not too high, not too fast, just soaring above the treetops.

Well, imagine a combination of the two, and that's what riding the zipline felt like to me yesterday; there was that stepping off into nothing feeling and that swinging feeling (holding onto a lanyard instead of a vine) and that soaring feeling as I glided above the treetops.

I confess I was a little nervous at first. Thank goodness they make you zip on a practice line before they let you go hundreds of feet in the air, because I failed and had to do it again.

Sure, I looked like I knew what I was doing...

...but when it was time to brake, even though I knew I was supposed to press down flathanded on the cable behind me, I clamped down instead, gripping it, and that's a big NO-NO! If I did that up on the real zipline, going 30 mph, my arm would be ripped out and left dangling from the cable, or fall to the ground to be some coyote or vulture's dinner...

Ugh.

Lesson learned. I didn't forget again! (Classroom humiliation really works! That's also how I learned to read the word "something" in first grade, but that's another story...)

Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself...

My wonderful birthday-day started by sleeping beyond sunrise. Yes, I took the day off from work. What better reason could there be but to celebrate life, or more specifically, celebrate another year of your life? Tom took it off, too, just to make me happy.

Then there was coffee - not just any coffee, but some freshly brewed Texas Pecan that my friend Bo sent me. It was leftover from their coffee house that unfortunately couldn't compete with a nearby Starbucks. I was so bummed when I heard it was closing before I even had a chance to visit, so he offered a bit of his leftover "stock" - coincidentally, it arrived just before my birthday!

While I fed the dogs and sipped on my cup of Texas Pecan on the back deck, Tom whipped up a delicious heart-attack breakfast of fried eggs and sausage. Yum!

Thus fortified, we headed off to to Wimberley Zipline Adventures, almost two hours away, where we were issued our helmets, harnesses, lanyards, pulleys, water bottles and "brakes" (leather gloves) and sent over to the practice line, where I failed. 

Okay, I'm all caught up.

After we all (finally) passed the practice zipline, we piled into four-wheel drive trucks for a trip up the hill. Then on foot we climbed and climbed and climbed up to the first platform. You start at the highest spot, of course, then criss-cross the valley/ravine along 8 different lines almost to the bottom.

In between, our guide Andrew filled us in on local history and information on native plants that we didn't know (his great-grandfather was Buck Winn, an artist who bought the property back in the 1930's and pretty much established Wimberley as an artist colony.) 

I'll explain the rest through photos...

This is taking off (it isn't me, but you get the idea.)

This is me...

Notice the look of concentration as I press the cable flat-handed... "Don't grip! Don't grip!"

Ah, good job, Barbara.

Tom's turn. He's a natural. (show-off!)

He was coming in fast!

We had to take a few posed shots...

Just some random shots to give you an idea of what the heck we were doing!

Look, I'm smiling now! Nothin' to it...

This is FUN!

One of our great guides, Andrew (all of them were wonderful and made it a lot of fun!)

So guess what we did next?

The answer and more tomorrow in "Birthday, Part 2"!

(thanks to my friend Debbie for the idea of "Zippity" in the title, by the way!)

Weekend Arrivals

After a rowdy, adventurous beginning, Spring Break opted to slow things down with a hammock-napping final weekend. (Just a figure of speech - our hammock met its demise, with the help of Belle, last spring or so. I need to remind Tom to put that on his Craig's List, um, list.)

So we didn't actually nap in the hammock, but we did rock on the porches, play lazy ping-pong, take lots of walks with the dogs, and watch tons of movies. A perfect weekend! (I've listed all the movies we watched at the bottom, if you're interested.)

Besides Daniel and TG, look what else made an appearance in the Hollow this weekend...

Crape Myrtle buds, colorful promises...

...beautiful Blue Gilia...

...the kids' collections of porcelain, handpainted Easter Eggs, treasured gifts from my mother ...she didn't paint them, but for more than 21 years tracked down artists who would...

...and the Super Moon, like a bright orange cherry smack dab on top of this perfect weekend (more super moon photos HERE at Confessions.)

And now, the movies...

Thursday night , we watched "Zombieland" ... definitely not for weak stomachs (it's about zombies, after all) but creative and my kind of goofy-funny spoof ... which is why I can't figure out why it triggered the first nightmare I've had in years!

Friday night I snoozed through "Lord of War", a depressing Nicholas Cage movie. (He's an arms dealer, depressing enough, but I felt the end had a mixed message.)

We watched a few gems though. Have you seen "City Island" with Andy Garcia? According to IMDb it came out in 2009, but I don't remember hearing anything about it. I thought it was sweet and funny. We watched that Saturday night, then I stayed up with Daniel and TG to watch Kurt Russell battle "The Thing" (TG had never seen it.)

Okay, I confess I snoozed a little through it, too, but stayed wide awake all the way through the next feature (a triple feature night!) - "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" with Neil Patrick Harris. (Among other things, this is what I love about my kids, how they introduce me to funny stuff I'd never know about without them!)

If you haven't yet seen Dr. Horrible - and you like creative, slightly silly stuff - you need to watch it. It's short, only about 45 minutes. In fact, it's so short, we sat through it one more time Sunday night, after watching "Time Bandits". (Dr. Horrible is much better and a third as long. No offense, Time Bandits groupies.)

 

 

Fame is the Scentless Sunflower...

While I sit here typing away on my computer, throngs of people are converging on city streets (including Austin's) eating, drinking, and getting all of that rowdy, overindulgent behavior out of their systems, because tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and for the next 6 weeks they'll be pure as hermit monks...  

(Do I detect some cynicism out there? Shame on you!)

I'm not out there in Fat Tuesday revelry because I pretty much celebrated Fat Tuesday all weekend long! It started Thursday night with the arrival of my sweet, longtime friend, Rae. Longtime, as in "since 5th grade"!

She surprised me with this plate, because that's the way she is...

 "...fame is the scentless sunflower...but friendship is the breathing rose..." I just love that!

(By the way... happy birthday, Oliver Wendell Holmes!)

Tom fixed us his famous hot wings, and then we sat on the back porch listening to music, petting puppies, sipping red wine and playing catch-up until the chill chased us in.

The next day I took her on a long tour of the Hollow, up and down the hills, along the creek bed, everywhere! Then we headed up the highway for lunch and a few hours of shopping in Salado before coming back to the house, spiffying ourselves up, grabbing Tom and meeting other friends for more wonderful food (and more wonderful wine) at Steiner Ranch Steakhouse, one of our favorite hangouts (especially on these gorgeous spring nights!)

One of my favorite singer/songwriters, Drew Womack, serenaded us, and then Tom and I lingered longer than the rest to listen and dance. (Rae house-hopped to our friend Darla's. We share, as good friends do.)

Eight representatives of DPHS Class of '77, and one beautiful daughter.

Drew Womack, singer/songwriter

The next morning my eyes popped open too early, mind racing, filled with all I needed to do before hitting the highway for a quick trip to my parents' house near Houston. Tom had to stay home to tend to our gypsy-dogs, but Daniel tagged along, and I enjoyed having that time with him on the road.

We barely had twenty-four hours with my parents, but it was fun, feeding the squirrels peanuts, snapping photos of the birds on the feeder, watching the kids in an adjoining backyard tumble about on their trampoline. My sister came by for a good visit, and my brother and niece dropped in after work to help us move my grandmother's piano from the livingroom back into her room - a pretty major ordeal, but we did it! Mama's happy. And she promised not to worry about imposing on us when there's something they need help with. (Did I ever explain that she just wanted the piano out of the livingroom, not necessarily gone, but she didn't want to "impose" on us? sigh...)

The next morning, Daddy, aka "The Breakfast King", fixed us bacon and eggs!

Between that and the pizza we had for dinner the night before, Daniel and I decided we better take at least a short walk through the neighborhood before sitting for hours in the car ... again.

Well, Daniel mostly rode his long board... and I mostly snapped photos...

After our walk, we enjoyed yet another huge meal - Mexican food with Mama and Daddy -  and then boom! it was time to hit the road back to Austin.

But not until I grabbed some more photos, of course. You can never have too many photos of your kids or your mom and dad, you know.

And that was my Fat Tuesday weekend. Perhaps you can understand why part of my focus during this Lent is to get back on track taking care of myself - I tend to go overboard way too often. 

I'll touch on Lent a little more tomorrow - but tonight I need to hit the Publish button on this and go to bed. (Getting enough sleep is going to be another Lenten focus ... starting tomorrow.)

Are you doing anything special for Lent? Giving anything up? Adding anything to your routine?