25 Random Thoughts

I really find so many interesting and inspiring blogs out there that it's amazing. Two or Three of the ones I read have been posting a list of 25 random things so I thought I'd jump on the band wagon. They're not thought provoking or life changing but they're my thoughts for the moment when I wrote them down.

1. I could eat Mexican Food almost every day.
2. When I was Younger I wanted to be a teacher. Hmm
3. Plain ole' Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream is my favorite though I might add some chocolate chips or maybe pour OJ over it to make it taste like a dreamcicle
4. Remember Popeye ~He always eats his spinach.. Well so did I as a kid until  I ate a whole can and got really sick. Won't touch the stuff now.

5. As an adult I used to take jazz and flamenco dance classes with Rodriguez Dance Academy and performed in the annual recitals. 
   
6. I continued to dance flamenco into my 9th month of pregnancy and went back to dance after my daughter was born for another 3 years.
7. Diet Coke is my Coffee
8. I hate most of the so called TV reality shows.
9. I enjoy writing my blog but I made a disclaimer on one of my first blogs that I'm not a writer or an English major.
10. And no matter many damn times I re-read an upcoming post I still manage to mis-spell or leave out a word. Of course sometimes I talk that way too. ;0/
11.  I love to take pictures even though I'm not that good at it but I like to save the memory. 
12. I use to get literally sick any time I had to speak in front of a large group.  Now I just tend to stutter or stumble over my words. hmm
13. I like to surround myself with all these talented quilters, crafters and writers hoping some of their motivation and talent will rub off on me.
14. I've been in the same book club for 15 years as of January 19th

15. My daughter is a proud TEXAS A&M Fighting Aggie Grad class of 2010 and will graduate with her 2nd degree from Nursing School this May. So proud!
16. I have never been out of the country unless you count St Croix in the US Virgin Islands
17. I really want to take a road trip along the eastern coast one fall to see all the pretty fall colors
18. My mother was traumatized by a snake while she was pregnant with me.  I have birth mark on my leg that looks like a snake bite. Old Wives tales.
19. I wish I could speak Spanish
20. My goal is to get more quilting/crafting/sewing projects done this year.
21. Uncomfortable in crowds of people I don't know but I try to hide it.
22. I dread the day (like most parents) when their kid(s) actually move out. Hell I cry every time Pam goes back to school. I'm really gonna cry when she moves out to her own place permanently.
23. I love my new home and porch and will soon love the new patio expansion "Adult beverage on the Porch"

24. So lucky to have a husband that can do just about anything from car repairs, household repairs, landscaping to whatever, providing for his family.
25. 90% of the time I like being me. So I'm good for 328.5 days and the other 10% I suck. LOL

Hope you found out something interesting about me or something that made you laugh. Hope you enjoyed.

Until next blog........Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."  ~Albert Einstein~

Baby, Babies and more Babies

It's been some time since I've been to a Baby Shower. At least 4 years ago. I almost forgot how to act but I think there will be a few more in my near future. You see one couple didn’t have a shower but they just had their 3^rd bouncing baby boy, then another couple recently announced they were expecting and the best one is our friends the Bells who are expecting quadruplets. Can you imagine? Four times everything. They are excited and dealing. They’ll do great no question in my mind. I just know I’m making sure I don’t drink out of the same water fountain as these folks. Well I guess I don’t have to worry about that now do I?  My baby factory is closed. LOL ;o)

This past Saturday I went to a baby shower for my friend Lisa K. in the country outside Bellville. The invitation read it was at the Cummins Farm. This farm wasn’t like any farm house I ever lived in and it really was in the country. It was a pleasant drive out there and I was just hoping I wouldn’t get lost once I went thru Bellville. I followed my map I got off Mapquest to Bellville and then switched to the directions on the invitation since it told me landmark to watch for All was going well until I got to the part that said look for the stone columns with wood fence and the gate will be open.  I’m driving along and ‘Oh’ there’s stone columns and another and another now what. I kinda started to panick but I re-read the directions and realized that no way were these homes where I was headed since they were right off the road and I’m suppose to turn into the driveway and go about a mile back to the house. 

So I drive a little further down the road…. Aha… stone entry, gate open and no house in sigh this must be It or at least I hope so! I turn and start driving down the heavily wooded and nicely groomed gravel road but my thought of banjo’s playing(You know Deliverance). Okay I know I’m in Texas not the back woods of

Tennessee but what can I say I’m in the woods. I have a sick mind so there I said it are you happy now?  I continue to drive (for crying out loud it’s only a mile) into the woods and come to a small

clearing with a bridge and little lake on my left and then I see a fence at the top of the incline so I must be getting close.                                                  As I top the incline I see a couple of cars to my right and a building thinking this must be the house but I no this is only a very nice barn and the house is just ahead down the hill.

How could I miss seeing this as I topped the incline? Dummy here was about to pull up to the barn. It’s like walking into a crowded room and you see someone you know and focus on them and don’t see anyone else. I saw a building and cars and that’s where my focus went. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it..


Now I’m still not positive I’m at the right place since there was no physical address at the gate for me to confirm such. I proceeded to park next to some other cars already parked (that was a clue I’m probably in the right place) close to the House as another car pulled up next to me. Oh I think I recognize the girl getting out so that’s a good sign and “YES” she’s carrying a baby gift. I made it!

As we enter the Cummins Farm House the whole back wall is solid windows looking out over a pool and a big lake and lots of land.  Even the owners office/computer area had a whole wall of windows looking out over the lake and land.
I don’t think I’d get much done in there because I’d be starring out the window the whole time.

I walk into the kitchen area and more windows.


 My pictures don’t do
 the home or the views justice. Plus the fact that I realized my camera settings were off when I went in to edit.

Oh well I think you get the picture of how nice it was.



 Lisa makes such a cute Momma To Bee. She was near the front entrance to greet everyone as we came in.

She introduced me to several of the folks but I’ll be darn if I can remember names. I get so nervous when I’m in a room of folks I don’t know.

Lisa’s friends had a prepared a beautiful setting for the baby shower.

There was a fruit tray, a veggie tray,

 some blocks of cheese and crackers , selection of finger sandwiches, and spinach dip with chips.

 And of course I can’t forget the cake. It all looked so pretty and no one was eating. The hostess was getting worried but I think with help from her daughter the ladies started filling their plates.

As with any Baby shower there were the little games played. One of the games played was to name as many songs as you can with the word BABY in the title. How many can YOU name? Crap I don’t remember the titles of songs and could only come up with 3 but someone came up with 16. We won’t mention that she might have cheated a little by using her IPhone. LOL! Then we were given a sheet of paper with the Alphabet printed on it.. Next to each letter you were suppose to list something that pertained to a baby. Like B for bottle, D for diaper, S for sh…oops I’ll keep it clean. 

Another little game they played was guess about big around the Momma to Bee is. 

Then it was time for Lisa to open her gifts.


Some of the ladies were smart and had the bigger gifts shipped to Lisa’s home so she wouldn't have to wrestle them into the car to take home. 







In the pictures you can see Lisa had a cute little helper.

Now don’t fall down for those of you who know me so well I’m actually making a quilt for the baby. Of course it wasn’t ready for the shower don’t be silly, not this slow poke but I did put a couple of items in a gift bag with swatches of the fabric explaining the quilt is a work in progress and I plan on having it done before before her little bundle of joy arrives in late March.


Lisa did get some practice in holding a baby.  She's a natural.

It was a charming afternoon.

So Until the Next Blog…  Remember~~~~~A baby is a bit of stardust blown from the hand of God.  

The fun has begun

Renovation time. Well maybe.  We decided to have a larger patio area for entertaining installed, pour sidewalks, and a new driveway. The porch isn't all that small but it's getting crowded with wood, grill, chairs, table, etc so we decided to expand.
Now sidewalks we really need.                          

As you can see they're non-existent really. The flag stone was just thrown out on top of the dirt which was very had to walk on but with David’s help we can walk on it now.  David leveled the ground and then spread crushed granite and used the flag stone to line the sidewalks and flower beds. Only problem with the granite is it sticks to the bottom of shoes and no matter how much you wipe your feet before entering the house it's still all over the floors especially if it's wet out.    The week before Christmas the workers showed up and started laying out the patio area and framing. Yippee. Then we didn't see them again until after New Years.                                            

David decided to dig the trench for the new drain and water supply connections for the outdoor kitchen we hope to put in one day in the mean time. Well he sorta had help... And I don't mean the dog.  David had called it a night and was putting his tools away and when he came out of the garage  10 minutes later part of the end of the trench was filled with dirt. A gopher was tunneling and tunneled into the trench.  All I could think about was the gopher in the movie Caddy Shack. So far I haven't seen any gophers dancing but they are definitely tunneling around our yard. You can just barely see it in the picture but there was a perfect round hole at the end of the tunnel where the gopher had tunneled.

David dug out that dirt and by the next morning the silly gopher had filled the end of the trench with dirt and covered the hole. When he dug the trench along the garage for the conduit to run water and/or electrical and out popped the gopher. This time David came inside to get Pam and I so we could watch the gopher fill the trench. He popped his head out at least 3 times but very quickly.  He wasn't as cute as the Caddy Shack gopher. Oh well enough about gophers.

Our workers have been very sporadic. They have now poured the patio and have the frame work for the garage expansion and a small area between the porch and the driveway ready for concrete. We weren't sure when they planned on pouring the concrete but can't be soon enough. Apparently they've been trying to finish up another job so they can devote they're full attention to us. Faster boys I'm impatient. Anyway Monday afternoon 2 workers showed up with a trailer with wood and cedar post. What does this mean I'm thinking?...
The construction supervisor said they had finished up the other job and they would be starting our cover Tuesday. YIPPEE........... excitement was short lived. Woke up to Rain but as soon as it cleared up that day the workers demolished the old walkway cover.

Wednesday they set the cedar posts for the columns to hold up the new roof that will cover the new patio area and did some framing.       

When I got home yesterday they had done some more frame work and they poured the concrete in the area at the end of the porch and the garage expansion. I can't wait to see what they complete today. The driveway widening and redo will be the very last thing they do.

One last picture to share and that's a family picture celebrating our 1st Christmas and New Years in our new home.

 

 Until next blog.....Never let yesterday use up too much of today. ~Will Rogers~

2012 - 16 days later - Happy New Year - Catching up like usual

New Years Eve we drove out to Bellville to visit friends Mark and Kathy for the afternoon. Kathy decided it was time for the Fabulous Four with their spouses get together. Can't tell you when the last time we were all

together. So she invited us to the country where they finished building they're home that they plan on retiring to.  I'm always talking about living in the country but these 2 really do live in the country. They couldn’t get electricity ran to their property so they run on a generator and solar power.

They're so far out in the country that even the bath tub is outside.

Okay not really but they did fill this old tub up with water for the deer and other animals since the creeks and ponds were drying up with the drought this past summer and fall. 

Us girls were Phi Mu Sorority Sisters and Lambda Chi Fraternity Little Sisters.

I dubbed us girls in a picture from 1978 as the Fabulous Four.

We were at the Phi Mu Formal.  

  Here we are in 1978 and here we are at the end 2011. 

Kathy, Sheryl, Gigi and Me
We haven't changed much.

Kathy Husband and Gigi Ragan
                                         

This is the country home from the side. Got busy talking and forgot to take more pictures of it. It has a porch all around the house. It's really nice.

We left the country way before midnight so we could see our way out but being with our friends was a great way to end the year. We headed home to have gumbo that David had made the nite before and put in the crock pot to warm up New Years Eve while were gone. We planned on sitting on the porch to watch fireworks and you guested it.. we planned on having an adult beverage or two. The closer we got to home the more it sounded like a war zone. Some of the fireworks shooting up into the sky were just beautiful and it wasn't even midnight and others were just loud. This is one time I'm glad my poor little Dexter is deaf. Fireworks always drove him crazy and we had to tranquilize him.

We got an invite from a friend to come on over  and bring in the New Year with them. So off we went.

Here's to all my Family and my Friends.
Wishing you a New Year filled with Joy, Love, Fullfillment
and over flowing in Abundance.

Flowing in Abundance makes me think our friends "The Bells" who just announced they're pregnant. Okay so she's pregnant and he helped. She and the hubby are very excited. Of course the big shock was not 1 but 4 sweet heart beats. Yep They are having quadruplets. Holy abundance. We're excited for them and they're upcoming bundles of joy.

Until next blog... Don't Worry, Be Happy

Wrapping up 2011.

It's hard to believe 2011 is gone and it's 2012. There were so many ups and downs in 2011 with deaths, pneumonia, broken foot, selling our house, buying a new one, so many different events period so I hope 2012 is a much brighter year.

The last 2 weeks of December were so very busy. I had to power shop since I hadn't done a lick of shopping prior. I just wasn't in the mood to shop by the time I got off work. I think my one New Year's resolution will be to finish my shopping in November for 2012. For 2011 my resolution was to get my Christmas letters and cards out more than a couple of days before Christmas. I did it, well okay to be honest it was only a 2 days earlier than the last 2 years but at least it was earlier and I managed to finish my shopping by the 22nd. Thank goodness.

The Monday night before Christmas we went out driving around to look at Christmas lights. Some areas were very bright and merry and others not so much. We did go back to the house called Kaleidoscope that reminded me of a Dr Seuss house to see the lights and was very disappointed. All the owner did was put a different colored light inside at different windows so it would shine through. No decorations outside. 

Then we found The Gullo House of lights.

One of his many displays was to honor each branch of the service.

Just great I left my camera on the kitchen counter so all I had was my cell phone to capture some pictures. Brillant!

The lights were spectacular. My pictures don't do the light displays justice. But this is all I have.
Can't imagine how long it took to put up all those lights or how long it would take to take them all down.






The only place to park was along the roadside so you could walk through the wonderland of lights on the property but David wasn't sure how safe our car would be. So David would stop just long enough for me to try and capture some of the lights.   None of the other lights decorations came close to wowing us like these did.

Every year on Christmas Eve we go to my Mom and Joe's to open presents but before we could leave we always had to pull out the 1 gallon plastic milk jugs, about 30-40 of them, fill them with sand and place votive candles in them, then one of our neighbors would light them at dusk at our previous home. It was an annual tradition on our cul-de-sac along with gathering in one of our neighbors driveways to share some hot cider, egg nog and a snack.

 I never did get a good picture of of the jugs all lit for one reason or the other but the new Glenway Dr. homeowner, Leilani did. I'm sharing the picture she took here.  Isn't it pretty?   At night it's really pretty but during the day it looks a little weird with all those milk jugs along the curb. 

No special traditions on our street at the new house.

Some Christmas Eve photos



Mom and Joe watching Pam open her Gift
And David is giving Little Lola the yorkie some attention

 Christmas morning arrived, we opened gifts and had some quiet family time before we started the turkey, ham, dressing, and the broccoli rice and cheese casserole and before the rest of the family arrives other tasty morsels. Just prior to everyone’s arrival David started a fire in the wood burning fire place but not without incident. He turned the gas on low but the logs didn’t ignite so he turns up the gas. Big mistake obviously!   Pam and I heard David yell and then silence. When the logs ignited the flames shot out into the den and up toward the ceiling... Holy Crap! Thank God the flames only burned the hair off his  left arm. It could have been so much worse. 
At 1:30 my Mom and Joe; David's sister Glenda with her 2 boys; David's brother Gary, wife Lynn, their 3 kids and Lynn's dad arrived hungry and ready to eat. Small problem the food wasn’t quite ready. Glenda pitched in and helped me finish. She did have alterative motives for helping.  Like EAT. What a feast we had. I was so busy I didn’t have time to even try to snap any pictures of all the tasty food. After dinner the kids were ready to open presents which can almost be boring since they all wanted cash but they were happy little campers. It was a long but a very Merry day to spend with the family!   

A few pictures from the day.

David is showing off his new Aggie Christmas Stocking
And so is Pam along with openings her next present.

I'm showing off a new shirt.
Dexter says he's had enough already ;o)
Then there's my niece with her new dark hair color.

My sister in law Lynn posed
Lynn and her youngest and my neice Kendall
My sister in law Glenda with her 2 sons - Kevin & Phillip

My daughter Pam and her cousing Kevin
My mom Ev
Lynn, her daughter Kendal, her dad Barna and her daughter Shelby

I always wanted to put garland and ribbons on the stairway banister but the home on Glenway didn’t have much of a banister to work with and when I tried it didn’t look right. Now the banister at our new home is plenty long enough for garland and ribbons. It may not be as pretty as some but I’ll work on it again next year. 

Now have you ever heard the story of how the tradition of the angel being on the top of the tree started? No, well let me give you a brief recap. Santa’s angel had been bugging Santa all day about where to put the Christmas tree.. The interruptions were getting to be rather annoying. Santa and the elves were busy making toys for all the good little boys and girls. Finally Santa couldn’t take it. So when the Angel came in asking once again where to put the Christmas tree. Santa had had it and told the angel to put it where the sun .... well you get the idea.  The wine bottle with lights was a gift from my friend Linda in Dallas. She makes such nice gifts and is crafty. 

One Angel did end up on the top of my tree but my second Angel ended up on top a wine bottle in the corner on my kitchen counter. Can you imagine the story I could come up with……..Probably starts with me drinking on my porch...

Pam and I managed to go to lunch with my mom after Christmas was over. Pam wasn't  in the mood to be in the pictures so she snapped this picture mom and me.

Well that's it for now. Maybe I'll get caught up and not always feel like I'm a day late with my news.




Sooooooo
Until next blog....“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that’s all”  ~Oscar Wilde~