Long Hollow

"The Best Laid Schemes..." (What happened to Monday and Tuesday?)

According to my calendar, I'm in Galveston right now, visiting my friend Ann, finally getting to see the cute little Victorian house she's fixing up and browsing through some wonderful eclectic shops.

Things don't always go according to plan, though, do they?

Instead of strolling the tourist-free beaches and staying up late talking and laughing with my dear friend, I've spent the past two days glued to this old computer, spending hours and hours on projects that should have only taken half the time.

(I'm beginning to wonder if shoveling coal into it might make it go any faster. I don't think it could hurt!)

Ann's free days evaporated, too, anyway, complicated by family schedules. We're going to try again in the next month or two. Why are our lives still so complicated?

I'm grateful for the work that's keeping me glued to the computer, though. One is a photo shoot from a couple of weeks ago that forced me to learn Lightoom. I'm by no means an expert, but I've learned so much, thanks to tutorials and photography friends (thank you, Beth!) and learning something new is so much fun! (And frustrating. And agonizing.)

Unfortunately, one thing I've learned is that my E: drive on my computer has gone kaputz. Nothing like a few hurdles in your path to keep you on your toes, right?

The second project was a review for BlogHer with a quick turnaround, as in, I learned about it yesterday and the deadline was this morning. And I (pretty much) turned it in on time. Ahem.

It wasn't a typical product review... more of a personal essay on health and aging and menopause, so I was happy I was chosen for the project.

I can't believe it's already Wednesday, though. Here are a few highlights from the past few days...

 

My mother turned 80! Middle-son Daniel went with me for the celebration at my parents' house. I enjoy road trips with Daniel - he helps me find good radio stations and doesn't mind me singing along loudly, even when I don't really know the words. 

It was a quick visit with family, highlighted by fried Gulf shrimp, birthday cake, breakfast by Daddy, plenty of coffee, Mexican food, and my mother in a birthday sombrero... 

...which matches this one of my dad from last month...

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Oldest-son Tommy ran his first full marathon! If you knew all the nights I stayed up with him while he struggled to breathe with his asthma, you'd really understand how very proud I am! And how relieved I was that he crossed that line, safe and sound and breathing!

This photo was snapped by his sweetheart, Kirby. She completed her second half-marathon that day. 

Yay, Tommy and Kirby!

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I won a blog drawing!! This cute cup featuring a 'doodle' by Cyndee at Eloise's Collage arrived in my mailbox Friday. I love it! Thank you, Cyndee! 

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Remember the Thanksgiving Comes First campaign? Thanks to Suldog, I found out about a petition to "Tell Target to Save Thanksgiving". If you want to add your name, click HERE.

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It rained yesterday! I mean, really and truly rained!

Well, not enough to capture a photo of the actual rain, but I did get one this morning of a dew-covered wildflower...

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Last but not least, Hilary at the Smitten Image awarded me a Post of the Week for As if I were beside you... Thank you, Hilary!

(Click the icon below to go read the other POTW and see her wonderful photography.)

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I hope you're having a wonderful week, even if your plans went agley like mine!

(At least I wasn't left with "nought but grief an' pain"...)

 

...The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

~from To a Mouse by Robert Burnes

Smiles (and Friday's Favorite Photos)

Oh, I had big plans for yesterday, all spelled out in a realistic and do-able list of things to accomplish on my day off.

Besides the usual - my morning walk with the dogs, their breakfast on the back porch and my work-out which I always dread and want to get out of the way as soon as possible - I was eager to activate my new iPhone. I'm finally entering the "iWorld", although still a bit behind everyone else with a 3G because they're cheap and 4Gs aren't.

Once I had my new phone up and running, I would tackle the rest of my list: pick up a few groceries, try out a new recipe, clear the mound of paperwork from my desk, pay some bills, work on my book and blogs and photos ... until it was time to shuttle TG to her summer class at the community college.

However, I forgot about Murphy's Law. To activate the phone, I had to install iTunes on my computer and that turned into an all day ordeal, involving downloads and uninstalls and phone calls to Apple.

Sooo... I'm still using my old phone today. Sigh. The pretty, new, shiny iPhone is back in its box waiting for my next day off to be brought to life.

But this morning I'm still smiling, inside and out, and here's why...

Belle greeted me, all wiggles and grins and squeals of delight, as soon as I stepped out the door.

 

How could you see this face and not smile?

Then Max pranced around the corner and even though Belle bit his ankles all the way up the walkway, he kept grinning - he puts up with the pain and irritation (to a certain extent, anyway) out of love and appreciation for her playfulness. Seeing him smile makes me smile.

But there's more...

I know we need rain and I would welcome stormy skies, but in all honesty, a blue sky stretching cloudless from one rose-kissed horizon to the other makes my heart soar.

My bougainvillea continues to bloom, brightening the browns and grays with splashes of deep fuschia.

Bird tracks zig-zag and criss-cross the dirt in several spots along our road. Perhaps a roadrunner or the goofy doves that cluster in that area, but they remind me of my Frankie-bird and that makes me smile.

I received a text yesterday from someone very dear to me, someone whose heart suffered deep loss just a few years ago, someone who I feared would never rediscover the joy in life, letting me know he'd found love again. He's happy. That didn't just make me smile - it made me cry with joy!

Even if I didn't have all of these things to smile about, I'd find a way to smile anyway because of this Japanese proverb I came across yesterday...

 

‎"We do not smile because something good has happened;

rather something good happens because we smile." 

So find a way to smile today, somehow, someway!

And now here's my Favorite Photo of the Week...

This just says "Texas" to me, because where but Texas will you find a cactus growing beside a vineyard? 

Maybe there are other places, but we Texans always like to think we're unique. Being a Texan makes me smile - as well as getting to work where I can see cactus growing beside a vineyard.

 

Happy Friday! Tell me what makes you smile these days.

Rambling on a Monday in May

Before I was fully awake this morning, I started the coffee brewing and switched on the television.

Up popped the devastation in Joplin, Missouri - that hospital with blown windows surrounded by mangled vehicles, toothpick trees and piles of rubbish ... the videos, the woman's voice praying "Help us, Jesus..."

After saying a prayer for all of those affected, I vowed never to complain about the weather here again.  

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 May is almost over and I'm feeling paranoid. 

The past two Mays have given me belated birthday presents that I wouldn't re-gift to my worst enemy.

For my 50th birthday, May gave me a case of shingles which came with an MRI because of the headaches that heralded its arrival and steroid drops for my eyes so I wouldn't go blind.

Last year I guess May felt it had to top the previous one. First, it gave me the worst urinary tract infection of my life. (It was actually only my second ever, but the first one, thirty years ago, was so bad I took every precaution to avoid another.)

I thought that was it (thank you so much!), but then just a week or so later my heart went crazy, pounding and racing so hard and fast that it woke me up. I thought it was going to fly out of my chest! Follow up tests concluded it was  SVT, or Supraventricular Tachycardia, basically an electrical short circuit in my heart that causes it to pound and race. 

I haven't had another episode, or any other health scares, but then, May isn't over yet, is it? I'm just hoping this "Welcome to your 50's" initiation phase is over.

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My book review for A Jane Austen Education went live on BlogHer this evening (along with several others, if you want more than one opinion!)

I've been thinking about the book again today, mostly thinking it's a shame Jane Austen isn't required reading for everyone. Some people learn the lessons about life on their own that William Deresiewicz, the author, learned from the books, but I know quite a few people who have never learned them, such as the one he learned from Pride and Prejudice: we aren't born perfect and there are some lessons we have to learn on our own in order to grow. We can't learn them from other people. We have to experience our own failure.

I know this was certainly true for me when I was young (and maybe it's still true!). I wish it hadn't been - I wish I'd had the sense to take the advice of those older and more experienced than I was. I hope I have a teeny bit of that sense myself now.

Which reminds me... I saw a blurb on the news today that some state is considering holding parents responsible when their child gets a bad grade. Huh? Maybe I heard it wrong, but if it's true, don't they realize they're just giving parents more reason to do their kids' work for them or encourage them to cheat or that we'd be keeping kids from learning life lessons they need later on? Don't they realize no one is born perfect and everyone has a different path to follow? A different time line?

Where are these people coming from?  Why do some people think their way is the only way? 

Oops. Sorry.

Anyway, click HERE to read my review on BlogHer... and go read some Jane Austen!

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 As far as Mondays go, this hasn't been a great one. Okay, it truly sucked in places (and I don't use that 's' word lightly.)

But I'm still keeping my eyes open for those Sweet! moments and keeping my feet moving forward, even though I don't know what's ahead of me.

These quotes help, so I'm going to add them here in case one of you needs a little 'faith reminder'. (I need them a lot - that's why I collect these quotes!)

"Suppose you plant a garden, and after a few days, you don't see results. Do you dig it up again? No, because you know that a lot of things are going on that you can't see. It's the same with God."

~ Charles Stanley, American Baptist preacher

"Patience with others is love, patience with self is hope, patience with God is faith." 

~ADEL BESTAVROS Egyptian deacon and lawyer

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

~Proverbs 3:5-6

 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

~Jeremiah 29:11

"God often closes a door before opening a new one. Between those doors, don't worry. Wait, worship and watch! It's a test of faith. Colossians 4:3"

- Rick Warren

"Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods."

~C.S. Lewis

 "Hope is wishing for something to come true. Faith is belief that it will come true. Believe that for every problem God gives you, He will also provide you with a solution."

Anyone know who said that? I love it!

But this is my favorite, and the one that truly keeps me going...

Everything works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out yet, it's not the end.

~Author Unknown

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And for me, this is proof of that nugget of truth... the path might be tough, but if you keep going, you just might get fireworks in your honor! (The last of my graduation photos, I promise. Here, anyway. I'll post the rest on "Confessions".) 

 

Sweet! #7 and then some

Some days it's tough to think of a Sweet! and this is one of them.

I'm tired. It's way past my bedtime.

I've started a dozen things this evening but haven't finished a single one.

I have a deadline looming.

Tom's birthday is coming up and I'm not ready.

Facebook is acting up on loading pictures, the restaurant I wanted to reserve for after Daniel's graduation is already booked, and I found out my brother-in-law's 87-year-old mother is in the hospital with pneumonia. I know my sister Brenda is very worried.

But...

...I slept all night without waking a single time. (All of you other menopausal women can appreciate that one!)

...it rained again. Lots of thick drops, the kind that soak into the ground and do some good.

...Daniel and TG feel they did pretty good on their finals today.

...I took a break from work for a walk this afternoon and the wind and sun felt fabulous on my face.

...on our morning walk, Belle stayed sitting beside me when our neighbor drove past in his truck; I didn't have to pull her back by the collar to keep her from chasing him like I usually do.

...my oldest volunteered to help me find a restaurant for after graduation.

...Tom fixed my jumprope I've been using for 34 years that decided to come apart this morning.

All pretty Sweet!-worthy on their own, I guess.

Now I'm going to bed.

Hope you had at least one Sweet! today!

(This photo is technically an accident, but I really like it. One more Sweet!)

 

 

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!

 

 

 

Long Hollow Updates and my Friday Favorite Photo

I watched her glide from one end of the hollow to the other, riding the gusty wind currents like a surfer rides a wave, shifting ever so slightly to stay in the drift. She went all the way from my left to my far right without a single flap of her wings. Beautiful.

I don't have a photo - I didn't want to take my eyes off of her.

I love the feel of the wind in my hair and on my face. I love the sound of it talking to me, whooshing through the tree branches, making them dance. For me, it's the feeling and sound of joy and renewal, invigorating and energizing.

Except danger, in the form of fire, can ride the wind just like this morning's hawk. When it does, the trees don't dance ... they burn, along with everything else. They're burning in west Texas already.

We need rain.

I love the sun and the wind, but we need rain.

This used to be our pond.

It's down to the original creekbed now. (Yes, that's the d*&% dam in the background.)

As long as there's at least a puddle of water, though, Max is happy. Just enough to get his belly wet - that's all he needs. See him smiling after a quick dip? 

We might be investing in a plastic kids' pool soon.

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Remember the centipede that terrorized our home a few days ago? I'm happy (very happy!) to report that it's dead.

I discovered it stretched out, beautifully straight and still, on the floor downstairs yesterday morning. I took advantage of the situation and snapped several photos of it, including this one, so you can see how long it is.

It's actually a small one! Any larger and the Raid we sprayed around its fortress couch wouldn't have even slowed it down.

Oh, and thanks so much to all of you who mentioned the possibilities of babies, by the way.

Ahem.

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Aspirin is really and truly a miracle drug! Remember not too long ago I thought Max was going downhill fast and would be lame soon? Well that boy is like a puppy again, now that he gets 500 mg of aspirin twice a day. He prances, pounces on lizards (okay, tries to), wrestles with Belle, and runs again. Really runs! 

The difference is amazing! I'm happy.

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My sister Brenda is out of the hospital again and getting stronger by the minute. She is even beginning to walk with her walker (farther than just to her wheelchair!) But please continue to pray - she's got three months to go with no pressure on that hip. Thank you!

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My favorite photo this week has nothing to do with any of that - I just like it. I'm loving the flowers while they last, which won't be long, if this drought continues. (I found out from a blog friend this is called Blue-Eyed Grass. Perfect! Thanks, Gail!) 

We need rain!

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.

~Saint Basil

 

 

Not again! Dang dogs (and birds!) and "Johnny Baby" revisited

I knew it. I could see it on their faces yesterday when we tried to get them into the van. 

Yep, it's true. They love Ginger more than me.

Or at least Ginger's yard. Or dogs. Or driveway.

Something up there is irresistible to my dogs - worth the trek through the valley and up the hill.

Maybe Max is in love?

At any rate, Ginger called this afternoon to let me know my dogs were hanging out at her house again.

(How embarrassing! I feel so rejected!) 

I had to take off work and head back up there in the old mini-van (the only vehicle we have they'll both fit into. I'm glad we haven't sold it yet. I'd hate to have to squeeze them into my Elantra!)

I let Max know my cut in pay this week was coming out of his allowance. No more expensive joint-therapy food and supplements for him, if this is the thanks I get!

(Not really. Totally empty threat. But don't tell him that.)

Once we were back on our dirt road, within a hundred yards of our house, I made them get out and walk. I'm not sure what that taught them, but it made me feel better for some reason. (I used to do that with the kids when they were younger and fighting or just being rowdy and not listening in the van - once we were on the dirt road, out they'd go! hehehe)

My point with the dogs was, I didn't want them to think they could walk up there to Ginger's, have a good time, and then expect a cushy ride home from me. Oh, no! You only get a cushy ride for the dangerous sections, and then, out you go! Take that and don't forget it!

Dang dogs.

So guess what we did with them this afternoon?

Yeah, that's right. We took them for a long walk. It was a gorgeous afternoon - how could we not take them for a walk?

Dang dogs.

Now Tom has some work ahead of him. Either string up one of those electric fences in a small area and put one of those shock collars on Belle (I worry about putting one on Max with his heart issues) or build two runs in the woods. They'd have to be sturdy for these two dogs, anchored in concrete a mile deep! And do they even make harnesses large enough for Max?

Dang dogs. Like we don't have enough projects around here...

While Tom's working on that, I'm going to be busy stalking birds.

Spring is moving into the Hollow even as we speak, and the birds are all atwitter about it. But they're all atwitter from a distance, and they're irritatingly camera shy. Even when they're fifty yards away and up in the tops of the willows - so far away I know whatever shot I take isn't going to be clear and sharp but I want to try anyway - at the first movement of my camera, SWOOSH, they're off in beautiful synchronized flight. 

I think they're taunting me.

But the game is on. The stakes have risen higher, because Jillsy has a new challenge this month - bird photography. And she has sweetened the deal by promising "a little something" from her - most likely some of her beautiful cards.

And that's why I'll be stalking birds while Tom figures out how to corral our adventurous puppies.

If you want to play along on "Tweets Around the World", click the image below for the details. I'm also posting it in my sidebar for future reference (so I can see how I'm doing!) and adding the blog hop Linky to the bottom of this post.

 

While I'm rambling, I need to give a shout-out Happy Birthday to my youngest brother-in-law, John. His birthday was actually last week, but that's how it is these days, behind on everything. (Tom just made his happy birthday call. We are birds of a procrastinating feather, that's for sure...)

So happy birthday, John! (Click HERE to see my really good "Happy Birthday, John" post from last year. He's an amazing guy, a Phoenix policeman who coaxed a confession out of a murderer, so if you missed it last year, you really should read it. I used to be so good at these things...)

Nests, Webs, and Blue Drumsticks

These arrived on our doorstep a few days ago...

I have no idea who sent them. Tom says it wasn't him ... he thought I ordered them for myself.

I swear when I said "will someone send me some blue drumsticks?" I never expected anyone to actually do it! From now on, I know to be careful what I say on here!

But to you, my Mystery Friend, right now I say thank you very much! They are beautiful, as you can see - a rich, royal blue - and when I'm banging away with them, I'll remember you!

...whoever you are...

(I hope you come out from hiding so I can thank you personally.)

 I had another sweet surprise this week - Hilary of The Smitten Image recognized Winter's Breath on my Confessions blog as a "Post of the Week". Each Wednesday she highlights several blog posts in different categories on her blog, and I am truly honored that she chose one of mine! 

I urge you to click on the badge below to see all of her choices from this past Wednesday - better yet, once there, click on the links you find there for some wonderful reading.

Thank you again, Hilary!

And speaking of Wednesdays (sort of), all week I've been pondering this quote... 

It's Jillsy's latest prompt for Prompt Me Wednesday. (Fortunately, we have a week to ponder and post.)

This quote has been in the back of my mind as events of the week unfolded, trying to figure out what it means to me.

I've pondered the drumsticks, the Post of the Week award, and especially my friend Carl's passing in relation to these words, and this is what came from all my pondering...

Like birds, humans have nests, cozy homes for our families. Like spiders, humans toil to gather food and produce beautiful works of art. But unlike birds and spiders, humans have a larger network beyond the nest and web - a support system for those times when our loved ones leave us alone in our nest, or when we're no longer able to gather food for ourselves or our passion for our art has been lost.

The bird a nest, the spider a web...

Man friendship. 

Our shelter, our safety net, our inspiration.

What does the quote mean to you?

Share in a comment or link up your own blog post below (you have till Tuesday!) Next week's prompt is "A Treasured Gift".

 

 

Cool TV and other Random Thursday Thoughts

I remember when MTV first aired. (That's how old I am.)

I would just watch and watch and watch, one music video after another, mesmerized. Even when I was forced to leave the room for some reason - to eat or sleep or take a potty break, for instance- I would keep it on just to hear the music. 

When I was pregnant with my firstborn, we bought a foreclosed house and moved. We opted not to connect to cable in our new home; Tom was a returning college student, so we were down to a single income and wanted to save money where we could - we were about to become a family! And all that stuff they showed on cable - lord have mercy, we didn't want our kids watching that!

I missed those music videos, though, so you can imagine how excited I was when Tom recently discovered Cool TV! It's just like the old-time MTV, airing one music video after another, including some of the old ones we watched almost 30 years ago - except it's on network television! It's free! 

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The next best thing to having your own work published or promoted is seeing your friends succeed, and this weekend I get to witness the work of my friend Amory Casto come alive on the stage of Salvage Vanguard Theater. Yay! Congratulations, Amory!

Check out the promo... and if you're in the Austin area, come see it!

Small town love isn't as simple as it should be. Charlotte is a quiet girl, who wants nothing more than to simply love and be loved by her boyfriend Gabe, a recent jailbird who wants nothing more than to walk a straight line. Charlotte soon discovers that he has returned a different man than the one she fell in love with. Heartache turns to fear when she decides one day to meet Finley, a wondering optimist in an open field.

Tickets are $12 and can be reserved online at www.hydeparktheatre.org. Once on the HPT website, click on "See full Long Fringe schedule". Scroll down the page--What You Touch is Gold is second from the bottom. Then reserve them tickets!! (All tickets must be paid for in cash/check at the box office before the show)

What You Touch Is Gold, a new play
Written & Produced by Amory Elizabeth Casto
Directed by Lindsey Sikes

Starring:
Erica Heidepriem
William Buchanan
Dane Seth Hurlburt
Megan Minto
Alexander Hilary
and Charles Devany

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My eyes are itching. Click HERE to find out why.

Damn juniper, cedar, whatever you want to call it...

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The past few mornings our walks have swung down to our pond. We've had a visitor lately and I'm trying to capture him/her with my camera. But it is just too dang sly and fast for me...

Can you see it hiding from me in the weeds? When I took this, it was in the gray of dawn and I was standing pretty far away. I could barely spot its eye through the weeds and just hoped when I snapped the shot that I was capturing something in the frame.

Here... I'll zoom in a little more for you...

About this time, Belle and Max spotted it and headed closer. The jig was up and the heron decided to scram... I started snapping and, considering I was yelling "No Belle! No Max!", and it was still dark, and I was moving and still pretty far away, these didn't turn out half bad...

Dang heron. I'll get a good photo of you yet...

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If you had ten extra free hours a week, what would you do with them?

Thanks to the economy I've had to wrestle with this issue this past week (much better than having to wrestle with the issue of No Job At All, that's for sure!)

This is what I've packed into my two extra hours per day:

• slept longer
• banged on my drums
• made a little progress on my book
• caught up on laundry
• kept my desk cleaned off
• took longer walks with the puppies
• wrote a Confessions post for the first time in weeks

And that's it. But that looks like a lot to me. Right now I'm kind of enjoying that extra time and I'll try to remember this tingly feeling when I take a look at my paycheck tomorrow...

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All this time I thought I had a Facebook page, and it turns out it was just some sort of Insights Page. (Why?) Anyway, now I have a Real Facebook page, so if you're on Facebook, and you're so inclined, look me up! (Long Hollow website)

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I came across this video on Recommended Daily Dose and it cracked me up because I love ridiculous stuff like this. I had to share it in honor of my friend Mary Kay, even though she never reads my blog. She's a huge Josh Groban fan (he touched her hand once at a concert and she didn't wash it for a week! She's also in love with Matthew McConaughey, but that's another story...)

Happy Thursday!

 

A Nose Update, No Sleep, and other Thursday Tidbits

The Nose

I can't imagine - don't want to imagine - how it feels to have big chunks of plastic shoved up your nose filling up the entire space so that you need to breathe through your mouth but your throat is in red, raw agony from the trach tube shoved down it a week ago and every breath you take hurts like hell...

...So when Tom's blowing and snorting and getting up and down wakes me every hour or so, all night long, I remember how miserable he must feel right now. I don't even think of complaining. 

(Well, there was that one night when I went, sssshhhhhh....)

(But that was just one time, one night, and other than that, I've been really sympathetic. Really.)

Poor Tom.

The stents come out tomorrow - hallelujah!! We're both looking forward to getting some sleep this weekend.

The Lens

Tom bought some special glue a week or so ago, intending to glue that broken piece back onto my injured lens. He had stored the teensy, tiny black piece of plastic between the lens and the lens cap. Somehow, sometime between the breaking and the intended fixing, the piece disappeared.

I thought that was it - no hope of using that lens ever again. So I got creative with my zoom and discovered I could actually do a lot with it.  I would just make do with it until (way, way off in the distant future) we could afford a new mid-range lens.

But guess what? It turns out you can order a whole new mounting piece - that's the part that chipped upon impact with the concrete floor. (If you don't know that heartbreaking, I mean, lensbreaking story, click HERE.)

Tom placed the order two days ago, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed the lens arrives before the weekend, when I'll be reconnecting with lots and lots of faces from my past. If it doesn't, I'll just make due with the zoom again. 

One thing's for sure, ... either way, I'll be snapping lots of photos!

 

Early Morning

During the week, I head out to walk the dogs as soon as it's light enough to see my feet. That way, I time it just right to catch something like this...

And this is really how it looked one morning this week, too - no color saturation or playing with tones, light, shadows or anything. 

It almost makes it worth getting up that early... almost.

(I posted several more "Fire in the Sky" shots on Confessions last night. If you want to see them, click HERE.)

 

When I have time to read...

I started reading a new book last week. Well, it's actually an old book, and I've read it two or three times already, but you know what I mean.

I'm not sure why I started it - I'm already in the middle of a handful of nonfiction and fiction books, including Cold Mountain, which I just can't seem to get into, despite loving the movie. I'm just plodding along through it, not eager at all to read the next page. And I have stacks - no, boxes - of books I've collected with the very real intention of reading them someday. Just a week or so ago, TG and I hit the book sale room at our local library and I left with 15 books ($1 a piece, and the funds go to Friends of the Library - how could I resist?)

Anyway, it was pure impulse that made me search my bookshelves for C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy - "Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra", "That Hideous Strength" - and dive head-first into volume one. 

The first time I read them, I was dubious. I didn't think I cared for science fiction. (I have no idea why I thought that -  I saw "Star Wars" 5 or 6 times the first week it was out in 1977! This was only a few years later!)

But Paula, a woman I worked with at the chemical plant, could not believe I'd never read them. She insisted I give them a chance, loaned me her copies, and assured me I would love them.

She was right. 

I eventually found my own well-worn copies in a Goodwill or at a garage sale or somewhere, and even convinced one of my kids to read them, despite the cheesy '60's style paperback artwork. And he liked them, too. When he saw my nose in Out of the Silent Planet this weekend, he told me he wants to read them again when I'm finished.

But anyway, what I wanted to say is, I recommend these books ... even if you don't think you like science fiction or fantasy, I think these are worth reading. They're really very thought-provoking - the kind of book that sticks in your brain for years.

If you try them, let me know what you think.

Besides C.S. Lewis, I read some wonderful blog posts this week. Two stood out enough that I want to mention them here, even though they are by bloggers I wasn't familiar with until now. If you have a few minutes,  I recommend reading these, too.

The first I came across on BlogHer - "The Red Underwear: Gifts and Giving". Every woman should read this one.

(I mean it. Do it. Now. You'll thank me.)

The second is one of the most beautiful posts I've ever read: The Gift, by Bossy Betty. I think both men and women will be touched by this one.

I was directed to it by Hilary at The Smitten Image. I don't know how she does it, but every week she scours the blog world for the best posts and photographs, and lists them for the rest of us on her Wednesday Posts of the Week feature. I still haven't even had time to read all that she listed this week. But thank you, Hilary!

 

A Good Quote

I came across this one today, and it took me by surprise, in that weird way like when you feel someone has read your mind, because I had been thinking of all the books I've read in my life, and how even the ones I didn't care for had affected me in some way, and gee, can't that apply to the places I've been and the people I've met as well? 

Thomas Wolfe said it much better than I did just now, though: 

I am a part of all that I have touched and all that has touched me.

And that includes you. Happy Thursday!

Pink Skies, Random Thoughts

Pink clouds, pink skies have greeted my ascension to the dirt road the past two mornings ... a nice change from the woolen grays and mist that have been waiting up there for me lately.

I've noticed that a pink sky or one filled with clouds that look dipped in pink-orange paint lighten my heart and make me feel like anything at all is possible that day, and even if the day doesn't turn out quite as great as I thought it would, the memory of that sunrise gets me through it.

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"The King's Speech" is an awesome movie! If I had ten thumbs, they'd all be UP! You'd think a movie about a speech therapist and his patient would be boring, but this one kept me hooked the whole time.

There are no glitches in the screenplay whatsoever - it flows so smoothly you forget it's a movie! The acting , photography, dialogue, everything ... flawless!  

Add a pre-movie dinner with dear friends, a bag of fresh movie popcorn and a few pieces of chocolate, and you've got yourself one fantastic Wednesday night!

Well, I had myself one fantastic Wednesday night, anyway...

 

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Hubby's having surgery for a deviated septum tomorrow morning - the result of his accident back in '98 wherein his face was split open and this amazing plastic surgeon welded his nose back together.

We're hoping the surgery helps with Tom's headaches. Please say a prayer for him.

 

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Life is unfair. I already knew this, of course, but I had a fresh course in the lesson today. Briefly... a couple of years ago a dump truck slammed into my sister's car. I mean slammed, as in he wasn't paying attention and didn't see that she'd had to stop and he didn't apply any brakes at all.

Miraculously and thankfully, she wasn't hurt. But instead of checking to see if she was okay or apologizing, he immediately started trying to squirm out of the blame - his business was at risk, after all.

Well, thank goodness witnesses were around and he had to pay for the damages, etc.

His trial finally came around today, but the prosecutor (a volunteer! have you ever heard of that?) didn't present the accident report or bring up the fact that the driver's insurance had paid for my sister's car. He didn't have any evidence ready at all - he just used my sister's photographs!

To the jury it was a "he said - she said" case, so I can't really blame them for finding the guy not guilty, I guess. But shame on the driver and shame on the prosecutor. And let this be a warning to all of you in Houston that thanks to the prosecutor and the jury, this guy is still out on the road. It makes me wonder how many other cases go through the court system like this, where a volunteer prosecutor doesn't feel a case is worth the time it takes to do it right.

 

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Remember Mam-ma's piano?

It turns out my mother isn't that eager to get rid of it - she just wants it out of her livingroom, but didn't want to impose on anyone by asking us to move it back into Mam-ma's room. (deep sigh.)

So next time we're there, we're moving it. And I've asked my mom to make a list of everything else she would like done - I think I've convinced her we'd love to do whatever we can and help out however we can and it would make us happy and we won't feel imposed upon at all.

But I might have to come out with a "you never let me...!" to get my way. (It always worked when I was growing up!)

 

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Okay, what the heck is up with mascara these days? Is it just me? I have tried every brand, every type (within my budget, that is) and no matter how much they proclaim not to clump or flake, I can't find one single tube of mascara that doesn't do one or the other or both. This latest one I bought makes me look like Liza Minnelli, for goodness sake, it's so thick and clumpy, despite promises on the package to do neither. Any suggestions out there? 

 

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Today is my sweet friend Darla's birthday - Darla, my Secret Santa from last year, deserving star of "Late Love is from Heaven" and gracious hostess of my best birthday party ever, and I missed celebrating with her tonight because of another obligation I had to fulfill - attending a city council meeting, of all things.

Yes, instead of toasting my friend with a yummy margarita, I was sitting in a small room listening to small town politicians twist facts, but at least ultimately (thanks to an important clear-headed few and the democratic process) the vote went our way, which made me feel a teensy bit better about missing the celebration.  

And the margarita.

But just a teensy bit.

Happy birthday, Darla! I'll celebrate with you soon! (When you're over 50, it's okay to keep celebrating all year long...)

 

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And now here are a couple of videos I feel the need to share. The first is "Phoenix Burn" by Alpha Rev, a group from Austin. It's just the lyrics set to music - I couldn't find a real video. Sorry! But the song has been haunting me for a few weeks - thank goodness it always lifts me up! But I love these lines: 

I wanna push through the undiscovered
Find my answers, leave them uncovered
I wanna speak out what I believe in
That love will heal us, give us our freedom
I wanna see what's on the horizon
Change directions, stop the fightin
I need to find a way of letting it go
When everything falls apart...

 

 

And this is one Tom just showed to me - it's a single dad and his daughter. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face! 

No Red Moonbeams for Me ... A Long Hollow Update

"It's starting to feel more like Christmas to me. The temps are staying low, there's the smell of wood smoke in the air, my tree is up and decorated, cards are trickling in, and TG is home."

I wrote this several days ago - just one of many posts that wither on the vine because I run out of time to finish them before they're outdated. Those low temps are a mere memory for me now ... today might have been the first day of the winter solstice, but it felt like shorts and flip-flop season here again.

Even so, I do feel Christmas with all of the twinkling lights, the Merry Christmas wishes everywhere, get-togethers with friends, and the anticipation of having all of my kids back in the nest in just a few days...

And though it's not much, I've gathered a few gifts for others - just thinking of giving helps bring on the Christmas spirit, doesn't it? 

I think it's the power of the Christmas spirit that has kept me from caring too much about my camera lens or worrying about replacing it or being too upset about all the cloud cover that kept me from witnessing red moonbeams last night during the lunar eclipse.

I captured a few okay photos of the moon, some before the eclipse started and a half dozen during the partial, but during the total eclipse, the paparazzi clouds crowded around so close I couldn't even get a glimpse! I'll post the ones I snapped on Confessions later - and I'll resist tinting them. (Well, I might play with one or two, but I'll 'fess up about it.)

Meanwhile, here's a quick Long Hollow update:

....We're officially in a drought again - the bill has arrived for all of those beautiful, sunny days we've been blessed with the last few weeks, I guess. It's hard to believe just a few months ago the creek and ponds were flooding, and now they're drying up by feet a day.

In the mornings on the back deck, I can still hear the little waterfall, but it's barely a dribble now and will soon be gone. There's no promise of any significant rain for months.

....Rocks have appeared on the side of the damn dam - not just piles of rocks, but orderly rocks, reminding me of the old stone bridges in Virginia. If the stonework is continued all down the side, it wouldn't be such a sore sight. Still not as beautiful as the pond we had before, but not quite the scar we've had on the edge of our property, either.

....There are still a few small flowers blooming along the road...or at least there were a couple of weeks ago when I took these. I've been walking in the dark lately!

....The bad news is, these vicious burs are also growing, in the field where Belle and Max like to chase mice. We pulled dozens and dozens out of Max's fur a few weeks ago - like velcro on velcro!

....We're heading into Cedar Fever and Major Allergy Attack Season here in Austin. Juniper berries are ripe, waiting for the pollen explosions that look like a tree has caught on fire - poof! These warm temperatures just feather that love nest along.

My challenge this year is to capture one of those explosions on my camera. Tough to do! You never know which one is about to blow! And part of the challenge will be keeping my camera focused while I'm sneezing!

....The rest of this week I'm just focused on Christmas, though - on the simplicity of love and of giving, exemplified by the birth of Jesus so many years ago. I'm going to send cards out to those who I know look forward to them (and will forgive me if they arrive a day or two after Christmas Day), wrap up a few gifts that I hope will bring smiles to faces I love, and tomorrow I get to visit Hope House again, witnessing and recording the youth of our church bringing smiles to the faces of others - of strangers - with pizza, gifts, a few off-key carols, but mostly with the proof that someone cares.

I hope you have a beautiful Christmas week, simple and full of love.

 

 

Timing - my Friday Favorites

I hoped to put my morning walk off until later, when the sun was higher (better light, better photos) and I had finished my work-out (the longer I put it off, the less likely I am to do it! It's better to catch myself before I'm fully awake!)

But Belle spotted me through the window; immediately her face lit up and her excitement erupted into a full body wiggle (she is the wiggling-est dog I've ever known - like she's made of a Slinky!)

Could anyone resist that? I dropped what I was doing, grabbed my camera, and headed out the door. 

And I'm glad I did, because otherwise I wouldn't have been on the road, at the right place, at the right time, to witness Belle's first encounter with a tarantula.

Poor little thing was just minding its own business, trying to cross, and suddenly had to deal with crowds and paparazzi!

(No dogs or tarantulas were injured during this photo session, I promise!)

P.S. Jillsy Girl Studio Cards

My friend Jillsy, photographer and blogger extraordinaire, has spent the past three months developing Jillsy Girl Studio Cards, a beautiful collection of cards for every occasion featuring her amazing photography. Click on the badge below to go to her site and take a look for yourself!

It's Monday - can you feel it, too?

I'm not going to make any excuses for this draggy, Monday-blah feeling I have. It's my own fault. I know it. I'm trying to do too much, but I have no regrets, despite the lack of sleep, and I refuse to cut anything out. Yet.

So this is a Monday post - kind of a hodge-podge of things that I need/want to get out here.

First, if any of you are eager to win that $100 Visa gift card at the end of the month that BlogHer and Crystal Light are sponsoring, you have another chance to enter. I have a new post up on Long Hollow Reviews so head there and leave a comment by clicking here: "What's Your Style?"

Oh, but wait till you finish reading this post!

Second, (and this is for the midlife and up people out there) grab a teenager and take this test. If you're like me, you'll soon be cussing Ted Nugent (or at least those seats so close to the stage - and speakers - that you loved 40 years ago) and powerful turbine-driven engines and motors and loud machinery and your husband's table saw and driving down the highway with the windows rolled down and the car radio blaring...

The Teenager Audio Test

Tell me how you did! I failed miserably, needless to say, because of all of the previously mentioned experiences...

Third, I'm humbled, honored and heartbroken to be helping a friend right now. She asked me to critique an early draft of her memoir, the story of her son and his addiction. This friend was my inspiration to do good in school, the Smart Girl... so you can imagine how powerful her writing already is. Reading her story breaks my heart. Please take time to pray for this son of hers that she loves and fears for so desperately.

While you're praying, please include another friend from my school days who has autoimmune hepatitiswhich has caused cirrhosis of the liver. Yeah, part of me realizes we're over 50, and our bodies are becoming undependable, rebellious strangers, but the other part of me is still walking the halls of my junior high with this girl, still just a teenager in my mind, and way, way too young to be dealing with this.

Now I'm off to finish up this Monday with a bang - ignoring everything on my list to spend a long overdue evening watching a movie, eating, drinking and catching up with three friends. It took a whole day of emails before we could find a day we were all available.

Hope you have all had a wonderful Monday that leads to an even better week.

(Now you can go click on that link and leave your comment!)

 

Truths

I've been busy all afternoon, taming the piles of laundry and bills that were taking over the house. I'd much rather have spent the afternoon writing or watching movies with the kids or taking the dogs for a walk, but even procrastinators have limits of what they can ignore.

Tom is laid out flat on our bed - he pulled something in his back during a team-building exercise for work on Friday: bowling! Thank goodness his back waited until the end of his last game to rebel. At least he had a little fun!

I thought I'd take a break from bills and laundry to share this, though. I'm not sure who originally wrote it -  my friend Cliff emailed it to me... he's kept me laughing since our first DuPont days - but I thought it was too funny and true not to pass on. Hope you enjoy it!

 

                                            TRUTHS FOR MATURE ADULTS
 
- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
- Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realise you're wrong.
- I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
- There is great need for a sarcasm font.
- How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? (actually, if you're not sure, watch the video I included below.)
- Was learning cursive really necessary?
- Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighbourhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
- I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
- Bad decisions make good stories.
- You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
- Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection... again.
- I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.
- I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
- I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
- I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
- I disagree with Kay Jewellers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
- I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
- Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realise I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.
- I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
- The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!
- Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
- Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber and dumber every year?
- There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.
- Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
- Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

Now, for those of you who don't know how to fold a fitted sheet... watch and learn! 

Sandy's Double Gator Adventure (or "No Pond Envy This Time!")

A snapping turtle chased Tom out here one time. We've spotted several in and around our pond at different times over the years. Snapping turtles aren't cute and slow, like Franklin the Turtle, let me tell you! They can snap off a finger in a... well, a snap! Wikipedia even uses the term "vicious" to describe them. 

And we have a whole herd of red crawdads in the little pond. It's not really fair to compare them to snapping turtles, but I'd still hate to get pinched by one of them!

But after hearing what my friend Sandy in Louisiana spotted in her pond this week while she was mowing the grass, I'm grateful snapping turtles and crawdads are the only snappers we have to worry about here! 

Take a look at her visitor...

 Needless to say, her lawn work came to a halt. She scooted inside to make some phone calls. Gator, the man in the pictures (yes, that's his name!) and his son arrived - "as Cajun as they come" - and Gator just "fished that 'gator right out of the water, then held him down with his foot." Turns out the alligator was "only" four feet long - he looked a lot bigger to her in the water!

Personally, I think four feet of alligator is plenty to be concerned about!

This might be the only 'gator she's found in her pond after 14 years in Louisiana, but she's keeping Gator's phone number handy...little 'gator's Mama might come looking for him!

"Bad 'gator! You behave around this lady, ya hear?"  Who knew slapping a 'gator's belly would quiet it down? (I hope this is information I never need to put into practice!) 

For those of you concerned about the 'gator's safety and well-being, he'll be released again... far, far away from Sandy's house, to her relief!

Loose Ends, Apologies and Clarifications

I owe my kids an apology. I implied in XOXO Nina Barbara that they were slackers in the Mother's Day department. I didn't intend to, but nonetheless, reading back over it now, I understand why my sweet Tommy slipped a pressed flower into the card he sent me with a note explaining "I couldn't let Nicole out-do me, so here's a flower."

It's a pretty little flower, but the gesture was totally unnecessary; he, Daniel and the Girl chipped in for something I've been yearning for ... another pair of Chaco sandals. I splurged on a pair in Gruene two years ago (our anniversary served as the excuse that time) and have practically worn them out. Chaco Flips don't look like anything special, but they fit and support these old aching feet of mine perfectly ... and match my wardrobe! If you have plantar fasciitis, you need to try a pair. Trust me.

Thank you, sweet kids!

I also felt, after writing yesterday's post  about the hospital time warp, that I should mention all of the wonderful caretakers we met there ... the nurse who scrounged up a pair of scrubs pants to make my dear one more comfortable ... the emergency room doctor who thought outside the box when test results weren't fitting together ... the admitting surgeon who did all he could to avoid surgery, covered all the bases and seemed reluctant to let us go without knowing for sure what it was ... the "mother nurse" who came by to visit, to answer questions and put my dear one at ease about the potential surgery and ended up inspiring both of us with her story: she suffered a stroke several years ago - wasn't supposed to even be able to walk again - and decided life was too short to not go after a passion. She took a class in making jewelry and started a business.  Scrambling for a name for her new business, the perfect one hit her: MySCAL (My Second Chance at Life). She wore an example - a beautiful fused glass pin. 

Some other loose ends ...

*At the Texas Music Awards in Marshall last weekend the Shake Russell Trio won Vocal Group of the Year. I still believe Shake should have also won Entertainer of the Year, but I'm happy the group was at least recognized. Click here to see all of the recipients.

*My sister sent me this link about Guinea Fowl after my last post about Frankie and his strange behavior. If you're a Frankie fan, you should read it. It turns out, they mate for life and can die of broken hearts. Poor Frankie.

*Don't forget BlogHer has these fantastic give-aways where, just by commenting on a post, you're entered into a random drawing for hundreds of dollars in gift cards. I have one on my reviews/contest blog right now! Click here and tell me who in your life is the yin to your yang for a chance at a $100 Visa gift card. The contest ends June 3.

*As if taking care of my family, working, blogging, writing a book and practicing my drums weren't enough to fill my spare time, I've joined a Flickr group - "The Blog Camp 365 in 2010 Project."

What that means is I'm taking photographs, playing around with the editing, and uploading one to the group page every day. Oh, and I'm looking at everyone else's photos, commenting on them and learning tons and tons about photography while I'm at it. I'm trying to figure out how to add a link to my "One-A-Days" on this blog, but for some reason, I just haven't had time to do it yet. Keep an eye out for it, but in the meantime, I'll just post a few of mine here ... 

  

 

*The latest edition of my missionary friend Jeannie's newsletter arrived this week. In it she writes "...without electricity I eat cold food, take cold showers, have no internet or TV - in short, nothing in my house works but my cell phone, which I keep charged up, just in case. I also shower at night if I have electricity, to avoid a possible cold shower in the morning if there's no power. I've learned to do things at a slower pace and to adjust to a life with uncertainty." She goes on to say "... we're in what's called a false winter here. That means the weather is acting like the rainy season, even though it's a month early. Farmers have to decide whether to plant now or at the traditional time. They're both risky, but they have to make a decision. Many are out of food provisions for the year and an early start means they will have food sooner, if the rain keeps on. If it doesn't, the newly sprouted corn will dry up and die and they will lose this year's crop..."

I've tried getting her to convert her newsletter into a blog format, but she has too many she needs to mail it to. Plus, she's kinda busy ... So I'm trying to figure out a way to post her newsletter on my blog, just to help get the word out about her work. Keep an eye out for it, too!

*And last but not least, I spotted this on the news this week - a 94-year-old woman earned her college degree. That means there's still hope for me!

     

Slowing it back down ...

"An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day."

  ~Henry David Thoreau

"Lovely flowers are the smiles of God's goodness."

~William Wilberforce

      

"Love all God's creation, the whole Earth and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light ... If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things."

~The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevesky

Just hanging out with a Friend

Candles flicker, casting shadows. The lights are dimmed and I sit near the back, watching the flames. It's quiet - so quiet I hear the ringing in my ears over the distant sounds of cars passing the church. 

I almost talked myself into just staying home. I feel so tired ... what if I fall asleep? It's been such a long week - Monday felt like it should be Friday! Not a good way to start...

But this is Holy Week, the end of Lent, the build-up to Easter. I craved this moment of quiet and calm. A chance to be still and listen. To keep watch. And if I fall asleep ... well, even though Peter was chastised for falling asleep, he was no doubt forgiven. 

Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

A woman a few rows up is reading - I can't see what, I can only hear the pages turning. A family - mom and dad anchoring their teenage son - sit on the front row. A married couple I bumped into in Walmart earlier tonight are just in front of me. Two couples head up the aisle beside me and sit together ... a double date.

I hear Father Joe whisper a thank-you and good-bye to Deacon Terry behind me. People rise and leave; others enter and kneel.

Over it all hangs silence. Through it all I pray ... I think ... my mind wanders ... I pull it back.

I've been carrying this gray, tangled mess of thoughts around with me lately; the weight of it is dragging me down. I'm ready to get rid of it.

In the stillness, it's easier to set the mess down and take a closer look at it, see what it is that's pulling at my heart.

There's this issue of pets and money ... when Max was a puppy he was diagnosed with a type of canine elbow dysplasia. To keep him from going lame, we spend beaucoups of money every month on special food and supplements, but his poor elbow has taken a toll lately with Belle around. I contacted our vet to get an anti-inflammatory for him ... $50 for 14 one-a-day tablets! Word (on the Internet) is it's likely he'll need to be on these more and more as he ages, but there's no way we can afford another $100 per month on his care. What were we thinking, getting a puppy? Why didn't we anticipate this?

But the joy on his face having Belle around is plain to see. Most of the time, anyway. He ignores the pain to pounce and play with her. And, oh my gosh, what a precious little thing she is - watching her just makes me smile! I don't begrudge the time I've had to take from writing to care for her one bit. Puppy-hood doesn't last that long.

Friends and friendship have been on my mind a lot lately, too. What does it mean to be a friend ... to have a friend ... ?

Friendships are tricky ... slippery ... taking shape and disappearing again, like mirages, making you wonder if what you're seeing (feeling) is real or just your imagination. 

"Friends are like a beautiful garden. They require regular care."

I try to give my friendships regular care. I know I fail at times. But friendship is a two-way thing. You have a garden and you are simultaneously in someone else's garden. You hope, that is. What happens if you're taking care of your garden, but the other person is forgetting to water you? (It's funny how you can always sense when that's happening when you're the "flower", but not always when you're the gardener.) How long do you make excuses for them before you accept the fact that some friendships finally fade? Before you just let go?

"A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often just to keep it from drying out completely." ~ Pam Brown

I see some other heavy items tangled up in this mess - worries about my Mama's health, emotional and physical pains of my friends and other family members, political issues tearing our country apart - again, things I can do nothing much about except pray. And when I pray, I need to believe, need to have faith, need to let them go.

It's getting late. I haven't finished sorting, but the mess is a little looser, a little lighter. Some bright spots shine through now - I get to celebrate Easter with my kids and friends ... little Belle (nothing but brightness there) ... and yesterday the Jobs4Autism website I've spent the last year working on, promoting, writing for, finally took off after it was mentioned in an article on CNN.com. There was such a huge response that the site temporarily crashed! It was awesome!

I slip quietly out of the church into the night, relishing the frisky spring wind. I didn't fall asleep, after all. I'm glad I came. When things are troubling you, there's nothing like spending time with a Friend to clarify things, ease your mind, lighten your load.

Look What I Found!

I enjoy cleaning days because it makes me stop and look at things I normally walk past, glaze-eyed; I rediscover things I've forgotten, things that are sentimental, things that I just enjoy looking at, thinking about... 

(The dangerous part about cleaning days, though, is that I have a split personality - one half collects things, likes looking at them, thinking about them...the other half wants to get rid of it all. In the past, when the "get rid of it all" personality took charge, I lost my diaries (ages 8 to 19), my collection of Liddle Kiddles, and my collectible dolls like Pebbles and Bam-Bam that would probably be worth something now. But, by golly, I still have almost all of my stuffed animals!)

Never mind all that...the point of this rambling is that, while sorting through a box of sheets this weekend, I came across this hand towel, a garage sale find. I had forgotten all about it and decided I needed to either find a place for it or get rid of it (I'm forcing the two sides to work together now...)

So I draped it on the window sill in the front bathroom...technically the "guest" bathroom.

Then, while dusting some bookshelves, I came across the Deputy Marshall badge. I have no idea where it came from, but I like it and decided it needed a more prominent place. I don't think any normal human being would put the two together, but for some reason the combination appeals to me...

Tom had fun cleaning, too. He discovered the cord that connected Tommy's guitar to the amplifier (it had disappeared, but somehow miraculously reappeared, the way things do when you have a houseful of kids...) Mostly he had fun making a really, annoying, high-pitched noise that triggered an annoyed, pinched, pleading, warning look on my face. 

He is such a little boy sometimes. 

(Still) Taming the Beast

Sigh. I feel better. The monster isn't tamed by any means, but he's a lot smaller and not nearly as menacing. Somehow I managed to stay focused on the biggest fun-suckers, like cleaning my house - the part of the monster that was casting the biggest shadow on everything else. Even when Rick Steves came on, I folded clothes, clipped coupons...I just kept snipping at the beast while keeping one eye and an ear on Rick (we traveled to Iran...pretty interesting!)

The house isn't completely cleaned - and I don't even have all of the coupons clipped! But at least I got started. I'll keep working on it this week and (I know I've said this before) I won't let it get that out-of-hand again.

Today, however, there will be a much-needed trip to the grocery store, some desk work and a trek downtown to retrieve one of my children. It's Spring Break! Tom will bring the other one home tomorrow. The washing machine will be doing double-time!

I did manage to squeeze some fun into the weekend yesterday. I mixed some dancing in with my dusting (even cleaning house is fun when you're listening to music!)... we watched an old movie last night ("10 Things I Hate About You" - kind of a silly high school version of "The Taming of the Shrew" with a few really funny parts and a young Heath Ledger)...and we took the boys for a long morning walk through the woods with a stop at the "neighborhood pool"...evidence of spring was all around us...

 

    

 

How was your Saturday?

Busted!

When Mama's away, the boys will play!

Look what I discovered in the house Friday afternoon when I got home from work ...

 
And Tom says I'm the softy in the family...

Who's that knocking at my door?

Yep, it's the weekend! And, man, am I glad to see him....her...it. Whatever. I'm just glad it's Friday!

I'm playing hooky from work (with permission) to attack my to-do lists and try to perform miracles. Yeah, yeah, I know I was off Wednesday because of the snow, but it kept me so mesmerized that I didn't accomplish much more than take lots and lots of photos. Actually, I did write for several hours, too, but today is not a stay-home-to-write day. I would love one of those, but my life has become like a clogged up creek: it's time for me to slip on some gloves and start clearing the brush out of the way so it can flow again. I've already cleared quite a bit; it was time for a little coffee/blogging break.

I tricked myself this morning when the alarm went off...I pretended I was still going to work. Otherwise, knowing I had the whole day off, I would have just rolled over and snoozed a bit more. I'm wise to myself, though, and have learned how to get around some of my worst habits.

This past week kept us hopping...I wonder what the next one holds!

Here are some highlights from the last 7 days...

A surprise 50th birthday party for a dear friend, Rhonda...

Shorts-weather on Sunday, helping our friend Tom D. (I snapped this as I drove away, skipping out to head to the grocery store...Tom D.'s wife Berniece, my Tom and neighbor John. I'm such a slacker!)

I've already posted snow day pictures, but here are a couple from my walk with the critters on the day after...

I spotted several snowmen on my way to work, hanging on despite the sunshine (they were still there yesterday morning, defiantly standing their ground in the middle of grassy yards!)

I'd Like to Thank...

I'm kind of an award-aholic, as anyone who knew me in high school will tell you. Unfortunately, I don't think I've won any awards since "Miss Deer Park High School 1977"...until this week, that is! Now I'm the proud recipient of the Kreativ Blogger Award, thanks to Jill at Elemental, my dear. Thank you, Jill!

I really do feel honored - there are some very, very creative blogs out there (including Jill's...you need to check it out!)

As part of this award, I'm supposed to reveal seven not-so-well-known things about Me...a bit of a challenge because I think I've already told way more about myself than anyone really wants to know!

But with the help of my man Tom, I've managed to come up with seven that I might not have shouted out to the world yet. Although I probably have. Here goes, anyway (drum roll, please)...

1. Even though I'm technically right-handed, I deal cards left-handed.
2. I've been to London, Paris, Rome, Venice, Florence, Innsbruck, Saltzburg and Madrid...but not Los Angeles or New York City.
3. I've never broken a bone...never experienced wearing a cast covered in colorful signatures and smartass comments.
4. I have an ancestor who fought in the Battle of Hastings in 1066 (this one sentence reveals I'm a genealogy nut and a history nerd.)
5. I have a license to drive a forklift (long expired, of course.)
6. I have eaten on a tugboat.
7. I love full moons and the smell of campfire smoke.

And now here's a bonus trivial fact about me...I have college credit in Fire Fighting! Here I am way back in March 1979 at the Lamar University Fire Training School in Beaumont (I know...we all look alike. I'm the one on the nozzle.)

Now I'm going to pass the award along to four creative blogger friends who I enjoy reading regularly...their blogs never fail to inspire me, challenge me, make me think or make me laugh...

Annie Lockhart

Gina Calvert

Lynn Lowrie

Pete Grassow

Tag, you're all it! Spread the love!

Ew. Yuck. Ew.

I did NOT want to know about this, but now that I do, I have to share it. Misery loves company, you know. But that's not the only reason I'm passing this information on...there may be a few more of you out there that were like me...just sticking your heads in the ground, not wanting to think about this. Because now that I know it, I realize it should have been pretty obvious. At least some of it.

I'm talking about the results of an investigation by Good Morning America on new clothing; they purchased 14 different pieces from three popular chain clothing stores, high-end and low-end, and gave them to microbiologist Dr. Philip Tierno from New York University to test for germs.

Talk about being a fun-sucker. Clearance racks will never hold the same allure for me after hearing the results of his report...

Tierno discovered bacteria, or "flora", on several items. He found "representation of respiratory secretions, skin flora, and some fecal flora" on one blouse; tests on a jacket revealed evidence of feces, skin flora and "respiratory secretions" in the armpit and even "close to the buttocks"; on a silk blouse he found vaginal organisms, yeast and more fecal evidence.

Ugh. Ew. Yuck.

According to the report, you can actually get sick from some of this bacteria. To protect yourself, Tierno recommends washing your new clothes before wearing them or at least running them through a cycle in a hot dryer. Of course, he says to wash your hands after shopping...and he also recommends wearing clothes BENEATH your clothes when trying them on...somehow that kind of makes trying them on useless, doesn't it? You'd end up buying everything too big! Maybe someone will invent a "shopping bodysuit"...

I have a feeling I'll be saving quite a bit of money this year; now it will be hard for me not to wonder who has been in the clothes I'm trying on...and what they were doing in them.

Read Good Morning America's full yucky report here.  

Saturday Snippets...the End of a Week

Ah, we're such bad "parents"...here we are on the coldest morning since 1996 - it got down in the teens last night - and we had barely a spoonful of seed left for Frankie's breakfast. I gave him a couple of nuggets from Max's canned dog food to tide him over - he loves those! He attacks them like big bugs...so fun to watch!

Daniel brought seed home on his lunch break from the hardware store where he works and we'll try to do a better job keeping a full seed jar for the poor guinea from now on.

The wave of winter actually washed over us early yesterday morning...the wind whipped into my face during our morning walk and the sun was a mere bleach spot on a gray flannel sky.

But this morning the wind disappeared and the sun shone bright...by lunchtime it was already back in the thirties - warm enough for our Saturday walk and, without the wind, even too warm for my knit cap and gloves!

*********************************

Our oldest son Tommy is here for the weekend. We won't get to see much of him - he's here to attend a friend's wedding (a friend from high school and his first college roommate...it took awhile, but I'm finally getting used to the idea that they are old enough to get married...)

Last night we had a little bit of time with him, watching movies and visiting, and I'm pretty sure we'll have time with him again tonight. I'll take whatever I can get. We've seen him more the past two months than we had the rest of the year combined, but I can't think of anything else on the calendar-horizon to bring him our way for quite awhile.

**********************************

The first step in a project is always the toughest, isn't it? One of my goals for the next two months is to Sort, Clear and Organize, inside and out of this house; I've been thinking the best place to start is the laundry room, where all kinds of junk landed when we moved in for want of anywhere else to put it. Usually just the thought of it all exhausts me, but I woke up determined to get started.

My determination probably would have flitted away with the day, but I happened to mention it to Tom. Lo and behold, he had been thinking it was a good time to finish that room himself - as in the walls needed to be sanded, texture applied and then painted. So we teamed up and cleared out the junk! It wasn't as dramatic as I hoped...essentially we just moved the wire shelving from the laundry room to the middle of the hallway between the boys' rooms and the television room downstairs...I couldn't part with much of the stuff and still don't know where else to put any of it, so the shelves are filled with the same junk, more or less. Still, at least I went through it and reminded myself of what's down there. It's a start...

*********************************

Thursday night was all football...Longhorns vs. Alabama. It didn't end the way I hoped or expected, of course, and I feel so bad for Colt McCoy (click here to watch his post-game interview...he shows a lot of class in response to a ridiculous question from a reporter...I mean, come on...how do you think he felt?)

We did our best to support the team...we ate Tex-Mex (fajitas, courtesy of our friends who came over to help us cheer them on)...Conni and I covered ourselves in burnt orange and Longhorn bling...but it just wasn't enough, I guess. Next year...

***********************************

It's always a bit of an adjustment having the kids home from school...more laundry, more cooking, more noise. But I can honestly say I'm still enjoying it and I think I'll miss them when they head back to school in a week or so.

When their classes start, mine does, too: Novel Writing Part II. I'm ready to jump back into my great-great grandfather's story and finish fleshing it out on paper. My primary goal is to get the first draft finished, but I'm optimistic that once I finish it, it won't take long to run through it a second time. I think at that point I'll feel confident enough to start sending out the first three chapters to agents, editors, publishers...accompanied by lots of prayer!

First things first, though. I've had a request for King Ranch Chicken casserole for dinner tonight and I better get started on it...Mom and Wife first, Writer second. Always.

Just Hovering (also...Secret Santa Revealed and Hook 'em Horns!)

It's a scary thing, watching a surgical team whisk your child's gurney through those double doors, even if it's for a minor, non-emergency operation. A quick kiss on the forehead and Kendall was gone yesterday morning, leaving me with snippets of a recent conversation running through my head: a friend's son almost died following minor surgery this past year when the removal of his breathing tube caused his trachea to spasm and close. He had to be resuscitated and spent a day or two in ICU.

I chased those thoughts away (what good were they to me?) reminding myself of all of the prayers being said for her that morning, thanks to our friends and family (thank you!) Finding a seat in the waiting room, I finished praying the Rosary I started while she was being prepped...just in time to watch the Ellen Degeneres Show. Nothing like prayer and laughter to chase away your worries!

Before too long, the doctor found me to let me know the surgery was over, it had gone well and that she was in recovery...and soon they allowed me to go back to her. Right away I was scared again..."Mom, I'm having an asthma attack!"  I found my albuterol inhaler, but, still groggy from the anesthesia, she had a hard time breathing in the medicine in the first puff. I gave her two more and, whew, that seemed to do the trick. No more wheezing. We'll have to remember that for the next time she has surgery.

It hurts, seeing your child hurt. And I've never seen her in this much pain. I sat there beside her on my plastic chair, ready with a cup of water...a tissue...lip balm. Just sat there waiting and wanting to help, gazing at the colorful curtain "walls" surrounding us, at her blinking vital sign numbers, and at her. Grateful.

I thought of my parents and friends who have gone through the pain of losing a child - especially one who unexpectedly lost her daughter earlier this week. I remembered another whose young granddaughter is in the hospital right now with pneumonia.

Having a child is such a gamble, isn't it? They come with no guarantees of health or happiness. You're just painting a target on your heart for pain when you have one. But it's worth it. No doubt about it.

I knew she was on the "up" side of the surgery when Independence returned. She has always been my most independent child - determined to out-do her brothers, I guess. So I've stepped from my role as Active Caregiver to Hoverer - still sticking close and watching, ready to jump forward and help, but trying my best to hang back a little.

Before heading to the hospital, I made sure I wished my sweet friend Darla a happy birthday (click here for a bit of back history on our friendship.) This is how sweet she is...she was my New Year's Eve Secret Santa...my Angel of the white towels. She had been my first guess, because it's just the kind of thoughtful thing she does all the time. One of my resolutions for 2010 is to be more like her. I hope she had a special day. Several of us are getting together with her this Sunday to celebrate a little more.

Tonight we'll be planted in front of the television downstairs with friends, cheering and coaching the Longhorns on to victory over Alabama. I won't use the word "hope" or the term "crossing my fingers"...I'm positive the Longhorns will be the BCS National Champions!

Hmmm...should I even let Kendall watch the game? She's not supposed to be yelling or exerting herself in any way, and I'm sure this game will be a "yeller".

But then...is there really a way I can stop her? I doubt it. So please continue to keep her in your prayers. And Hook'em!

P.S. I love comments...share your thoughts with me!

From a Certain Perspective

We had two Christmas parties this weekend. Saturday night was so much fun and we stayed up so late, though, that it was hard to work up enthusiasm for our annual church dinner/dance Sunday night. None of our closest friends planned to attend and I couldn't help but wish we had bought tickets to the Daughtry concert instead. But we had tickets to the dinner (prime rib!) so we dressed ourselves up and went. We could always skip out right after dinner if we wanted to...

As it turned out, we were among the last to leave. The clean-up crew was blowing out candles and gathering up tablecloths while we took a final two-step around the dancefloor. The food was delicious, we made new friends with the couples at our table... faces we had exchanged smiles with at church, but never really gotten to know...and we danced! Tom made it all the way through the Cotton-Eyed Joe AND the Schottiche this time, and I represented my generation in several line dances.

Daughtry who?

Isn't it funny how your perspective about something can change so completely?

I've been pouring out my words and thoughts here on Long Hollow for almost a year and a half. That's so hard for me to believe! I wasn't sure what to expect when I started. It was a little scary - throwing them out here for anyone to read...very similar to how it felt reading my weekly compositions aloud so many years ago in my first creative writing class.

From the very beginning I was undecided about the "ads" issue on blogs - I avoided giving in to them, afraid they would be intrusive or look tacky...because, let's face it, sometimes they are and they do. But I also had to face the fact that if there was a way to make some money from my blog...even a few pennies...I needed to try. So I was very excited when the email came last week letting me know my blog was accepted into the Blogher network. I have no illusions of quitting my job anytime soon because of my blog income, but if I can make anything at all on this legal addiction of mine, I'll feel really good about it.

Perspective.

A friend sent me an e-mail yesterday about perspective. It was one of those that has made its rounds numerous times,  kinda corny and wrapped up a little too neatly, about a wealthy father who takes his son out to the country "with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live". Upon their return home, the father asks his son what he has learned. The boy replies...

"I saw that we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them....Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

Perspective.

I have friends who, in traditional ways, are wealthier than we are. Yesterday I found out they were having to say goodbye to their old puppy, but where we had the opportunity to be with Charly, to hug him and hold him so that the last thing he saw on this earth were our tear-streaked faces and the last thing he heard was "we love you", they had to say a quick good-bye and rush off to the hospital for a family emergency - a kind that they are all too familiar with. In that moment, I felt very rich, very blessed, very grateful.

Perspective.

Procrastinator's Creed

I just hung up from talking to Tommy, my oldest that lives and works near Dallas. I rarely get to see him or talk to him. He's never been much of a phone-talker, but now, as a transportation broker, he has to spend hours on the phone at work. So I hesitate to call him - I know the last thing he wants to do when he gets home is talk on the phone...to his mother...but I had a question for him about an upcoming family wedding. He ended up talking quite a bit, telling me about work...his weekend...his upcoming plans.

I had other things I planned to do before heading to bed, but cleared them from my mind, reminding myself that a phone conversation with Tommy doesn't come around very often.

This little verse I first heard when he was a baby keeps running through my head. I think it still applies...

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow, for...<insert one of the following or make up your own>

 

...<babies grow up>
 ...<grown sons don't talk on the phone very often>
 ...<college kids don't like to come home>
 ...<parents grow older>
 ...<friends/family live out of town and we hardly get to see them>
 ...<we've gotten too busy and haven't seen our local friends in a long time>

 

...we've learned to our sorrow. So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I'm...

 

...<rocking my baby>
...<talking to my grown son>
...<spending time with my college kids>
...<visiting my parents>
...<getting together with out-of-town friends/family>
...<getting together with local friends>

 

and babies...grown sons...college kids...parents...friends...family don't keep.

 

 

 

A Week of My Favorite Things...

...birthdays, seeing my kids (2 out of 3, anyway), beautiful sunsets, yellow and purple flowers, sunshine, ping-pong, Dirty Dancing and sore muscles...

Yes, sore muscles. I've been wanting to rev up my work-out, but couldn't afford a personal trainer. Thanks to Self.com, I started a new, more intense, work-out this week, and for the first time in two years, I'm SORE! I'm even thinking about climbing into our jacuzzi tub tonight - we've had it four years but I've never even been in it! I've never had the time. But I think I'm going to make the time tonight!

Birthdays...Of course, Daniel turned 21 on Tuesday. But October 13 is a very popular day for birthdays. I also sent out wishes to my beautiful Montana sister-in-law Kim and two young cousins, Ashley and Kayce, and my blogging friend Pete, a minister in South Africa (I recommend his blog, Rock in the Grass  - he writes very interesting, thought-provoking posts.) 

Today is my precious niece/goddaughter Nicole's 5th birthday. I'm a terrible aunt/godmother, though - her card isn't getting in the mail until tomorrow and I didn't even call. Obviously, I need to slow down. (Happy Birthday, Nicole!)

Tomorrow would have been my oldest brother Buster's 62nd birthday. I have started to write so much about that, but my words get jumbled up and I just delete them...It's just hard for me to imagine I'm now almost the same age my mother was when he died.

Wednesday morning I stepped out of my house into a summer morning in Houston...well, not really, but the humidity was thick and steamy and the mosquitoes attacked so fiercely that if I had closed my eyes, I could have imagined I was back in LaPorte.

This morning had all the appearances of a crisp Central Texas fall...the sky was crystal blue, no clouds...but it was still hot, humid, and the mosquitoes were worse than yesterday! They didn't ruin my walk, though - I let the sunshine wash over my skin while I admired the flowers blooming all along the road. There are mostly yellow patches, but I'm happy to report my purple flowers are popping up at the bend in the road...lots and lots of little colonies. I'm not surprised they held on through the drought.

Frankie even joined us again this morning. True, my walks are much more peaceful without him and his chattering, but I enjoy his company. I wonder why he's been reluctant to join us and what changed? Funny little bird.

This morning was my Saturday - it's going to be a busy weekend, so I took advantage of Tom being home and slept in until 8am! It felt so good!

The down side of sleeping that late was I didn't have time for my new work-out before leaving the house, so I had to fit it in tonight, which put me in a quandary - I'm such a creature of routine, and in the mornings I just watch the Today Show - no thinking required. Tonight I had to decide what to watch while I exercised. My choice? Dirty Dancing. I had been intending to watch it ever since the death of Patrick Swayze but, of course, never had time. I tell you what...it's a pretty good movie to watch when you're working out. I had that elliptical moving during the scene of Baby and Johnny after their first dance...sigh...

But...before that, Tom challenged me to a "game" of ping-pong. I use the word game lightly, because we don't keep score and our main incentive is to keep the ball in play so that we don't have to go chase it down and pick it up. We're getting old and have to take care of our backs! But it's so much fun playing out on the porch...Stoney LaRue singing to us through the speakers...playing off the house and cedar posts or whatever...dodging dogs and guineas that want attention until you step on them.

Yes, it's been a good week that will continue into a good weekend. I get to meet up with some wonderful friends...another mini-high school reunion on Friday and Saturday nights with Brad and Byron, plus some, and a gathering at our house Saturday to watch the University of Texas kick some Oklahoma University butt...good thing I rested up this morning!

Now, exuse me...I'm off to get acquainted with my jacuzzi tub and ease these aching old muscles...

More favorites...a beautiful sunset...me and my baby boy...

On your mark, get set, GO!

It's a soft morning...muted sunshine, a sky swirling in faded blues, pinks and grays, a whispering breeze that's not too warm, not too cold. My walk was quiet - just light birdsong, puppies panting and our mingled footsteps padding along the wet sand of our road. (Frankie has opted out of our morning walks lately - he skitters up to the road with us, but then just parades around the parked cars, guarding the house until we return.) 

The softness and quiet are deceiving - this day is going to bust loose like a bronco out of the gate in just a few minutes. First, there's work. I'll be out for a few days and there is a lot that needs to be done. But I leave early to head downtown to Michael's house - a respite from the busy day - then on to "Mom" duties with Kendall and Daniel.

Home again this evening, I'll turn my focus to packing for a weekend that shines like a beacon the rest of the year - my annual girls' trip to the coast.

So...I have to take this minute to wish one of my dearest friends a happy birthday, because I know the day will get away from me and my mind will soon be running in a million different directions. Happy birthday, Patti! I'm so grateful for the circle our friendship has taken, for paths that led us back to one another. I'm grateful for our memories and look forward to making many more. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Sunshine and Sprouts

The sun came out this afternoon. It drew me out to the porch, where I scratched puppy dogs' ears, admired the blue sky peeking through the oak tree branches, marveled at the greenness around me and at how quickly things had sprouted in our little front yard.

I spend most of my day inside, in front of a computer. Some days my brain feels like it's in its own little drought - but give me a porch swing, sunshine and fresh air, and I can feel little sprouts of thoughts popping up in my head...

"The privilege of a lifetime is to be yourself." (Joseph Campbell)

I've been thinking about this one for awhile. It sounds so simple, and yet, if you toss it around a few times, you see it's a bit more complicated than you first thought. What does it mean to be yourself? Don't we spend a lifetime trying to figure that out?

That reminded me of "Shirley Valentine", a movie Tom and I watched this weekend....my sister Brenda and I don't think alike about everything, but most things we do, so I should have known I'd love the movies she recommended and loaned to me almost a year ago. In my defense, I couldn't get anyone to watch them with me until now, and I had forgotten about them. Tom is the one that pulled Shirley off the shelf this past weekend. It's a perfect movie for me to watch right now, about a woman peeling back layers of life that have accumulated over the years and happily discovering she's still in there. It's funny, sensitive, and surprising.

Brenda had to remind me about "Cinema Paradiso" - oh, I hate that I went so long without seeing this one! It's in Italian, but within minutes, I didn't even notice the subtitles. It's about friendship, how it can pop up in the weirdest places, support you for a lifetime, and inspire you to be yourself. One minute I was laughing and the next I was reaching past Tom for a Kleenex.

Speaking of friendship, we spent Sunday afternoon with our gang of my ex-high school classmates, and even some of their kids in their twenties joined us (not mine, though.) We sang Happy Birthday to Darla's daughter, and to another friend that was celebrating in Houston, but that's not why we got together. It's that friendship thing. They are part of what makes me "me", and I've neglected that part long enough. Life is short.

Patrick Swayze. Although it wasn't unexpected, it makes me sad knowing he's gone. Graceful, macho, sensitive, sexy, talented...

I bet, by the end, he understood what Joseph Campbell meant...

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

 

Taggin' Along and Catchin' Up

My friend Darla's daughter finished up two weeks of summer camp in East Texas today. Another friend, Patti, offered to let her spend last night at her lakehouse near the camp so she wouldn't have to make such a long drive first thing this morning. Darla invited me to go along just for fun.

Heck, yes! Road trip!

Never mind that I'm always complaining about not having enough time in the day to get everything done and that I'm quick to use "no time" as an excuse that the laundry is piling up or the refrigerator is empty or my book isn't written.  Life's just too short to pass up a chance for a change of scenery...hours yakking with dear friends...sipping margaritas as the sun sets on a beautiful lake...witnessing first hand the reunion between a mother and daughter who have been separated for two weeks...and, to be honest, catching a glimpse of what a real "Parent Trap" camp looks like.

So what if I'm sitting at the end of another "not much accomplished" weekend - I have no regrets at all. For one thing, at the end of last week I zoomed around getting things done just so I could go without too much guilt - I was whooped! I needed a break!

 Here's a quick update of the end of last week... 

Thursday...our anniversary. We had a wonderful dinner at Outback Steakhouse (free, thanks to a gift card someone special gave us.) And even though my car was supposed to be my our anniversary gift, he surprised me with a Windberg print of an old barn he discovered on Craig's List (I've been a fan for thirty years) and a beautiful, sweet card - a good thing, because of the video he sent me via email earlier in the week, entitled "The Perfect Marriage" (see it below.)

 My gift to him? I settled on only one card instead of buying three like I usually do and I'm not taking a class this semester. (I know...pretty lame...but he really is impossible to shop for! And these things really do make him happy!)

Friday...TG's last day at work. Our bosses took us both to lunch at a new place in town (new for all of us, anyway.) I'm going to miss having her nearby all day long.

After dinner we shopped - I think we scoured every clearance rack in Kohl's and finished up just before the lights went out - and laughed till we cried listening to comedy channels on my free-for-now XM Radio. It's hard to believe that this time next week she'll be settling into life as a college freshman, and Tom and I will really and truly be empty-nesters!

Below...a taste of lake life with dear friends...a sign from the camp (I want one for my house!)...the "funny" email Tom sent me...

  

Life Lessons (by Charly)

Keep doing what you enjoy as long as you are able.

Hang out with a younger crowd sometimes - they won't let you get too settled.

Be patient and tolerant with that younger crowd even when you're tired and grumpy.

Be curious and eager.

Lead by example.

Take naps.

Show affection.

Receive affection.

Be compassionate and share your blessings.

Don't roam too far from home, or at least remember the way back.

Accept treats and show gratitude.

Have a sense of humor.

Accept other species - look beyond your differences and find common ground.

Be bold and brave.

Be loyal.

Trust.

Look for adventure every day.

Don't be afraid to get dirty, but be careful you don't wade in too deep.

Enjoy the sun in your face and the wind in your fur.

If you stumble, just catch yourself and keep moving forward. Run if you can, but walking is good, too.

Never Again Fear Drinking Red Wine While Wearing White...

I've come across something amazing but to share it I have to admit to extreme stupidity. It is so amazing...too amazing to keep to myself...so I'll just have do it. Please have mercy and don't laugh at me too much...

It all started when I spotted Tom relaxing on the back deck one evening with a beer, listening to music. I had been rushing around but had stopped to eat a banana. I decided, what the heck, I'll pour a glass of wine and join him for a little while. (You can already see where this is headed, right?)

I settled into the chair closest to his - one of those double canvas fold-up chairs. I was still peeling my banana so (yes, I really did) I set my wine glass in the chair's cup holder. A second later, the chair shifted, the glass tilted, and I was SITTING in a glass of cabernet sauvignon. While wearing my favorite white shorts. (I told you it was a case of extreme stupidity!)

I was tempted to just throw the shorts away - they were soaked! But I just couldn't without at least trying to remove the stain. (They were my favorite shorts!) I rinsed them in cold water. I doused them in white wine and club soda. No luck. I turned to Google for help and discovered an article about using hydrogen peroxide mixed with dish soap. For the next week, my shorts were the subject of a science experiment in my bathroom. I kept them soaking in a plastic tub, every day pouring a fresh mixture of peroxide and dish soap on the continuously shrinking stained areas.  One pocket stubbornly clung to the dull yellow residual stain, but I refused to give up, and eventually, it worked! (see the 'after' picture below - I was too upset to take a 'before' picture!) 

Meanwhile, I had experimented with ratios and discovered it only takes a few drops of dish soap per 8 ounces or so of peroxide to lift the stain. That makes it much easier to rinse out before finally tossing in the washing machine. I went through about a gallon of peroxide, but that's still a lot cheaper than a pair of new white shorts!

What did I ever do without Google?

(Sure there are a couple of light spots, but you should have seen it before!)

Fifi, Harley, and Mundo - if the name fits...

    More from this past weekend in Houston...

    First...my parents are kitten-sitting! Fifi is my nephew's kitten (his girlfriend named it.) While he's in Montana working, Fifi's hanging out with Mama and Daddy. It only took a few 'here kitty-kitty"s for her to venture from her hiding place and check me out. Before too long, I was scratching under her chin and she was purring. I miss kittens! (I would have to choose between a kitten and our allergist - the allergist wins.) Fifi fits that delicate, blue-eyed face (I suspect a touch of Siamese in there somewhere.)

    Second...Donnie has a new Harley...and it's LOADED! CD player...fan...you-name-it. It only took two pictures for him to smile for me. He's learning! He's planning to 'easy-rider' it out to Vegas to visit a friend. Was there ever really a Harley Davidson? Did he look like the motorcycles - big and burly?

    Third...there was a celebrity, a real Texas legend, at my friend Chris' party last Saturday. Tom and I are both going deaf, so we couldn't catch his name that night. Just that he was a successful songwriter from the '80's. Chris told me later who it was: Mundo Earwood. It's one of those names that has gotten buried under the piles of years, but when I heard it, it drifted up, surrounded by images of Gilley's...Kenny Stabler's Diamondback Saloon...Hello, Texas...cowboys, boots, and longnecks. A name like Mundo Earwood can't be totally forgotten.

Wednesdays...WHOOSHdays...and updates

    Between now (getting home from work, sipping on a warmed-up cup of coffee to see me through the evening and counter the effects of all the antihistamine I'm having to take for the cedar) and when I need to leave for class, I have about an hour...

    That's an hour to start dinner (only start - I'll get it in the oven and Tom or Kendall will have to take it out), move the laundry around (we've somehow run out of clean wash cloths even though I swear I just did towels), get my bank deposit slip and electric bills ready (ours and the Boy Scouts') for multiple stops on my to the college (I also have to get gas and drop the last Netflix movie in the mailbox.) Oh, and get the DVD recorder set up to record Lost...

    This is a template for every Wednesday for the next three months...rush, rush, rush...but maybe at the end I'll have a semblance of a screenplay to show for it.

Updates...

Yay! Charly is eating again! He's back to normal.

Boo! Forecasters say we're in for another month or so of "cedar fever".

Ah, man! Tom has a couple more tricks to try on Tommy's car, but he strongly suspects we're going to have to just get a new engine (that brings the score to 2 new engines we need - maybe we'll find a special somewhere! Two for the price of one?)

    

Facing the Weekend

    It's another Friday night, another wide-open weekend ahead of me. Tonight there's a cribbage game in the kitchen, a fire in the woodburning stove, and music in the air. I'll probably watch a movie later. But I have so much I need to do, and want to do, by Sunday evening! I know in a blink the weekend will be gone, like all the others, with most of those things still undone...  

    First, there's the house to clean - my class starts Wednesday, so I'm determined to get this place cleaned up before I get going again on my screenplay. It will be too easy to ignore after that. Then I brought some "work" work home, which is good. I also need to fit a trip to the grocery store in there. After that, my mind goes blank, which is why I keep lists. And lists. And lists. I have them all scattered in one area of the kitchen counter, next to the calendar. My lists + my calendar = my brain.

    Tom makes fun of me. Hence, this latest list I found amid my others this week...

    I wished this morning that I had my camera on my morning walk with the critters (easier to say than "the dogs and the bird").  Max and Charly had zagged off the road into the woods, following a narrow deer trail up the hill beside the road. And so Frankie zagged onto the trail right after them, trotting along behind Charly. Just one of the boys.

    He's part of the family routine now. If he's not in the front yard when it's time to walk, I call him (he knows his name) and he comes swooping and skittering up the hill to join us. Something so oddly special, yet now just part of the routine. Isn't it funny how quickly we can start taking things for granted? (The world will never starve from want of wonders, but only from want of wonder. ~ G.K. Chesterton)

    He also likes to slip into the house before we can shut the door. Charly and Max just stare in with confused expressions on their faces, like "What the heck is going on...?" while Frankie trots around like a nosy neighbor, investigating and inspecting, stretching his neck up to see what books are on the bookshelf, admiring the kids' pictures on the side table, and trying to explore the bedroom before I decide his visit is over and shoo him back out the door.

Day 2 - Rambling

    How quickly resolutions can dissolve once the real world - like work - makes its appearance. I won't go through a boring list of what I did or didn't get done today. Let's just say it's a good thing I resolved to be flexible and not stress about it...too much, anyway. Work is both a necessity and a blessing, so I'm not about to whine or complain about it...

    Kendall was watching "Schindler's List" when I got home, and I sat and watched a little of it with her. It illustrates both ends of the human spectrum - that we're capable of so much evil AND so much good. I love the end of it, when the actual people whose lives Schindler saved honor his memory by placing stones on his grave - such a great image of the impact his actions had on so many lives.   

    Good news, though...if you're feeling depressed because you've already broken your New Year's Resolutions, eat a banana! Seriously! Among other benefits, they are supposed to help you think happier thoughts, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz of Real Age. Read about the happy banana here.

    Ah, tomorrow is Saturday...I have a long to-do list which includes a trip to the grocery store, packing up the Christmas colors, and registering for the spring semester. And Kendall wants to get started on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) - UGH! It's something I tend to put at the top of my procrastination list, despite its importance, so I'm glad she's full of zeal about it. I just wish she could do it by herself!

    

Anyone Have Some Cheese to Go With My Whine?

    I totally apologize for my last post. Sometimes I drive myself crazy!

    The truth is, I talked to Tommy on the phone about his new job for almost an hour two nights ago. I've talked to my mom at least twice this week, my sister a couple of times, and three or four friends.

    ...I'm working more hours, but not as many as most people, so I can fit in a college class. I'm able to continue working at the computer while I eat lunch, and my commute is wonderful, so that saves me even more time. And I'm learning interesting stuff, like how to shoot videos and post them on the web, all while getting paid. I've figured out how to put together professional photography lamps and learning how to use them, all on the job.

    ...I'm all caught up on reading my 'real conversation' emails (as opposed to the forwards which are at the bottom of my list), although I admit I haven't answered all of them.

    ...Last night I spent several hours shopping with Kendall, drinking coffee, talking, and night before last Daniel and I started discussing some current social issue (I can't even remember what it was) that led to a discussion about my great-great grandfather (the one I'm writing about), so we googled some historical subjects, including him, which led to the discovery of a post on a blog about him and his memoir! (I emailed the author but he/she hasn't responded yet. I'm VERY curious who this could be...a cousin? a random stranger? I'm suspecting someone that works in the UT library. If they ever respond, I'll let you know.)

    ...I have time to walk the dogs (almost) every morning, and on foggy mornings like this one, when the fog closes in, creating my own little timeless world, that's a double blessing.

    ...I blog here almost every day (sometimes twice in one day!), even though I might let the laundry or mail pile up a little.

    The truth is, I have time, and I'm ashamed about complaining about ANYTHING! I have enough time that I have choices to make on how to use it, rather than have those decision made for me, by others or circumstances or life in general.  All I can do is try to use it wisely - and be grateful for the chance to choose.

The Odd Couple in My Kitchen

    I don't claim to be a decorator. My house is filled with an odd assortment of things...things that I just like, sometimes for sentimental reasons (LOTS of photos and souvenirs), but sometimes, just because. Think extreme eclectic.

    On my kitchen window sill I've lined up some things I just like to look at...handpainted Easter eggs from my mother, a handpainted bottle from my friend Cheryl, a gnome lady I bought somewhere thirty years ago in my Elves, Gnomes, and Wizards stage, some antique teacups my wonderful mother-in-law gave me. And then there are garage-sale treasures like you'll see below...something about them caught my eye and I had to have them. I just thought I'd share them and see if anyone else sees what I see in them...

    My little French wino and his cat corkscrew and bottle opener set - for one thing, it's just so kitschy! But he has such a joyous expression on his face! He reminds me to relax and enjoy life. I think I found him at the Lion's Club garage sale for a quarter several years ago. I snatched him up right away. I didn't even drink wine back then!

    This Mary and Baby Jesus flower pot is "new" - I bought her last month at our church Oktoberfest garage sale for a dime (everything is so cheap at our church garage sales!) I actually passed her up the first time - I'm trying to break my "junk" habit - but I had to go back and get her. Her face is so peaceful. And I loved the soft colors and lines. But what to do with that holder thing in the back? I'm not one for flowers in the house - fake ones are...fake, and real ones die too soon. Then it hit me - what a perfect place for Frankie's feathers!

Lighting Candles for More Than Birthdays

    Monday after work I made a beeline to the church to light a candle. I normally light one after Mass every Sunday, but this past Sunday I was at Mama and Daddy's Baptist church.  No candles.

    I like the Catholic tradition of lighting prayer candles - the idea of a continuous flame pointing up to God, carrying my prayers to him 24/7, even when I get busy or distracted or fall asleep. And by lighting a candle, I recruit the whole congregation to pray with me for whatever is in my heart - sorrow, worry, or gratitude. It seems the older I get, the more there is to pray about. Perhaps I'm just finally learning to turn to God for everything.

    It would have been easy to just skip this week...but on Monday morning I learned that a friend's son had been rushed to the hospital over the weekend with necrotizing fasciitis - flesh-eating bacteria. He was in really bad shape. Then I learned that another friend's cancer had returned.

    There were some up moments, too...lots of birthdays. I couldn't be with my mother on hers, but I'm grateful I got to spend time with her on Sunday, and see her again on Thanksgiving. There was my friend Howard's, which made me think about and give thanks for those friendships from the plant that I've been able to hang on to for so long.

    My thoughts about those friendships must have sent out some kind of wavelength - I heard from two more of those guys this week. Larry sent me Halloween photos of his granddaughter Sophie. I do hear from him pretty often. But the other one, Cliff, I haven't heard from in years. He sent me pictures of his family, their new house, and his 'mid-life crisis' car - a 2007 blue Mustang. Cliff is one of the funniest guys I've ever known - deadpan delivery and perfect timing.  

    Another friend celebrated her 81st birthday this week...Jean was my 8th grade English teacher. I learned so much from her about writing that year - she took the time to offer real critiques and comments - encouragement rather than discouragement. I still have the papers! She goes to church with my mom, and that's how we were able to become friends after all this time. Life is funny! I got to see her this past Sunday, too. 

    One of my high school friends turned 50 - he is living my dream - after years of working at a chemical plant, he went back to college and got a double degree in English and  History, and now he's a graduate student working in a Creative Writing program. He totally surprised everyone! I don't begrudge him - I'm glad someone is able to fulfill my dream! And it inspires me that I'm not too old to keep trying.

    I had some more sad news last night, though. One of my high school friends lost their mom this week. I feel so bad for him, and even more grateful and fortunate that I still have mine with me.

    I haven't heard any more about my friend with cancer - but every day my other friend continually reported good news about his son. He finally made it out of intensive care before this weekend.

    Last night I went shopping with Kendall and we shared spinach quesadillas at a Mexican food restaurant - good relaxed time together that we don't have very often anymore, just the two of us. And this morning I woke to a beautiful autumn day - brilliant blue sky and tons of sunshine. I'm sure this coming week will have its share of worry and sorrow, but today I'm optimistic.

    I'll still be lighting a candle tomorrow.

    

Dirty Vans, Red Skies, and Wildflowers - bits of my life

     No one can resist a dirty van window. Every day I've noticed a new message scrawled in the dust. This morning a big smiley face greeted us, proclaiming "I (heart) dirt!" I hate to deprive people of this creative outlet, but, alas, I've decided that Monday afternoon I'll swing by the car wash between my stint working at the church and picking up Kendall from school. I'll have thirty minutes - I should be able to get most of the dirt off...I'll do my best, anyway. Then it begins again...

     You know when you're swimming and you feel those currents of warm water splicing through the cold? (No, I'm not talking about when someone upstream of you relieved themselves, but natural temperature differences...) Well, this morning I felt air currents like that when I was walking the dogs...a cool breeze, then a swirl of warmth, like I was in the middle of a battle between summer and autumn. Yesterday I was actually cold on my walk - I zipped my hoodie all the way up, stuffed my hands deep into the pockets, huddled over, and walked fast. Summer made a small comeback this morning - it's fighting hard, trying to hang on - but we know how this story turns out.

    The youth retreat starts tomorrow - I'm really excited about it now; everything is falling into place. The challenge will be staying up all night Saturday as a chaperone. I have plenty of homework and writing to catch up on and other chaperones to talk to, but I am REALLY tired! I have "SLEEP" written on my calendar for Sunday. I'll try to channel my inner fourteen-year-old that had no problem staying up all night at slumber parties. How did I do it when I worked twelve-hour night shifts at the chemical plant? I think the trick was to spread out my work, take a walk through my area once an hour, and bring lots of busy work - that's when I worked on genealogy, read books, wrote letters. (I used to get a lot accomplished when I was a working mom!) I think the other secret was food - we ate a lot! Sunflower seeds, grapes, and lots of popcorn...food that keeps you busy. But if I remember right, about 4 am, my body would suddenly feel like it weighed 1000 pounds, from my eyelids down to my toes, and it was a battle staying awake until shift change at 6 am. Wish me luck!!

     Here are some glimpses from nature's portfolio from the last couple of weeks...a breathtaking sunset (again, I'm not skilled enough at photography to really capture it), some strange new purple flowers that sprang up on the side of our road, and some dainty yellow ones that I couldn't resist  photographing...

 

 

Ike Was Here

     One of my friends, Chris Santiago, sent these photos he took of some of the damage on Spencer Highway in LaPorte, just a few miles from my brother's house and our old neighborhood...it could have been much worse, I guess...

  

    

Yike! Ike! or "Hunker Down, Houston!"

    I owe an apology to the Houston/Galveston area. You see, every year I escape with a group of women to Port Aransas, near Corpus Christi, for a much anticipated, very necessary, retreat from our normal routines. We're scheduled to go next weekend, so when it looked like Hurricane Ike was steering straight for our high-rise condo, we started praying that it would fizzle out...or...perhaps...go somewhere else.

    (You gotta understand...we NEED this weekend!)

   Never underestimate the power of prayer, especially from a handful of desperate, frazzled, multi-tasking women. Ike has turned a bit and is now heading for Houston/Galveston. Our weekend appears safe. Even my sister Brenda, who lives in the new path just outside of Houston, is relieved that Port A is spared.

   But I feel guilty - now I'm worried about everyone in the path, including Brenda, my parents, brother, and many friends. I'll keep praying that Ike just runs out of steam. In the meantime, as Brenda told me she heard on the radio this morning..."Hunker down, Houston!"

Thinking of a "Bucket List"

     Tom and I finally got around to watching "The Bucket List" Saturday night. Yeah, I know we're a little behind the times, but that's nothing new.

     I thought the movie was a tad contrived, predictable, and corny in places, but the overall theme is a good one to set you thinking about what you would like to do before you "kick the bucket." 

     A season or two ago Ellen DeGeneres promoted "life lists" - more or less the same thing, but with an optimistic spin to it that I like ("life" versus "kick the bucket" - don't you agree?) She inspired me to jot a few things down; I had forgotten about my list until I watched this movie, and had to dig through several folders on my computer to find it.

    I was actually able to scratch a few things off!  What a great feeling because day after day I feel like I'm running as fast as I can without getting anywhere. Seeing a handful crossed out makes me hopeful that I can cross off a few more before I kick the bucket in my lifetime.

     So here's my list...I've added a few things to it; I don't include things like "laugh till I cry", "make a difference in someone's life," or "witness something spectacular" like the list in the movie - those are daily goals for me, not life goals...

     Wish me luck, and good luck on your own list!

1. start back to college
2. get a set of drums  (Happy Anniversary from Tom a few years ago)
3. learn to play the drums
4. have varicose vein surgery (a birthday present to myself)
5. get my Bachelor's degree
6. visit Stonehenge
7. go back to Venice and ride in a gondola
8. visit Ireland, England, and Germany with Tom (where the Shallue's came from, where Tom was born, and where he lived until he was about seven)
9. go to Disneyworld (I'm one of only a handful of adults who have never been!)
10. trace each family line out of America and write their stories
11. finish writing my book Winston and have it published
12. see the Giant Redwood Forest
13. visit New York City (I've been in London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Innsbruck and Madrid...but not NYC!)
14. help each of our kids get through college (Tommy, Daniel, Kendall)
15. finish our house
16. visit a pyramid
17. go to Hawaii
18. visit Kodiak, Alaska (and the rest of it while we're there) with Tom (he was stationed there in the Coast Guard in the late '70's)
19. ride the Hill Country Flyer  (Happy Birthday from Tom last year)
20. write my screenplays (two ideas I have so far)
21. become an expert on (or at least learn more about) my Nikon camera
22. see my book collection filling bookshelves rather than boxes

Nickels and Dimes

     It has begun...I just wrote a check for $21.65 for Kendall's band photos. That's the basic package. I've already sent in the $100 for the new band "Fair Share" fund where parents help with things school districts used to pay for years ago. (In the past I've donated more than that over the marching season for one thing or another, so I'll probably come out ahead this way, though.) Soccer went up to $200 - ouch! That's just for recreational - how do people afford select soccer, which I've heard can run into the thousands?

     I also need to order her senior portraits...then there will be college application fees...the yearbook...prom...graduation announcements...graduation cap and gown...okay, that's all I want to think about right now.

     I'm late for work...

All I can say is...

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." (Henry James, American writer, 19th century)

It's obvious Henry didn't spend his Augusts in Texas...

Famous people on walking...

Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.  ~Raymond Inmon

Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.  ~Henry David Thoreau

Thoughts come clearly while one walks.  ~Thomas Mann

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk.  Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness.  I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.  ~Soren Kierkegaard


Walks.  The body advances, while the mind flutters around it like a bird.  ~Jules Renard

Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas.  ~J.K. Rowling, "The Egg and The Eye," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, spoken by the character Mad-Eye Moody

The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.  ~Jacqueline Schiff

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.  ~Henry David Thoreau


A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some people can be persuaded to go for a walk.  ~O.A. Battista

Walking is good for solving problems - it's like the feet are little psychiatrists.  ~Pepper Giardino

If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish.  ~Charles Dickens

What really helps motivate me to walk are my dogs, who are my best pals.  They keep you honest about walking because when it's time to go, you can't disappoint those little faces.  ~Wendie Malick


Walking gets the feet moving, the blood moving, the mind moving.  And movement is life.  ~Carrie Latet

The true charm of pedestrianism does not lie in the walking, or in the scenery, but in the talking.  The walking is good to time the movement of the tongue by, and to keep the blood and the brain stirred up and active; the scenery and the woodsy smells are good to bear in upon a man an unconscious and unobtrusive charm and solace to eye and soul and sense; but the supreme pleasure comes from the talk.  ~Mark Twain

The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand.  ~Frederick L. Knowles

‘I always say the world’s a better place because of the people who go for long walks.’
(G. Riley)

(This is my favorite...)

My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty.  She's ninety-three today and we don't know where the hell she is.  ~Ellen DeGeneres

Sunlight, ice crystals, rainbow magic in the sky

At sunset last night...reported on the news that it had something to do with ice crystals and sunlight...but whatever caused it, the colors were gorgeous and so unusual - I've never seen a rainbow in the clouds like this. I'm glad I looked up at the right moment...