Home Alone

I'm home alone. And I've wasted a lot of time today on the computer.

Larry and J are at the TNT youth conference. I know they're having fun, because they are tweeting and updating their statuses on Facebook. The group will perform tonight. They did this show back in the spring, and have re-vamped it for this conference---cutting down from 40 cast members to 18. There were a lot of songs re-cast, but J gets to keep his song where he is wearing a dress and singing in falsetto. I think he was excited about getting attention at the conference for such a role. I wish the guys luck!! There are a lot of props for this show, and I hope it goes as smoothly as it did this past weekend when they practiced it before and audience twice.

B is on her own adventure tonight---staying over at Girl Scout camp. They have Day Camp this week, but B gets to spend one night with her age group. This is complicated by the almost 5 inches of rain we got yesterday. There is still a chance of afternoon showers, and if they get heavy, the camping overnight might get cancelled. They had to cancel camp completely yesterday because of the rain. B was so disappointed. I woke yesterday morning with thunder rolling and the rain coming down hard already, enough so that the satellite dish was flipping on and off. Usually that means it's thick clouds overhead. When I checked the radar on the computer, it just looked like it would keep on training over our area all day. The girls had already endured some rain the day before---they pulled out their trash-sack-ponchos. So B was telling me that we should drive over there and see if it was on. I was thinking we should wait until it stopped thundering. About that time we got the call from her leader telling her to stay home. Very sad.

This very well may be my fault. Last week they were predicting the temps to be about 95 to 100, and high humidity so it was going to feel like 110 degrees. I was praying it would cool off for these Girl Scouts! I got my prayer answered, but it involved rain. OOoops!

I think I am going to take my sister's advice and watch a sappy movie and shop for some shorts, which I need. I need to figure out what I want to do for dinner all by myself, though!

Accolades and Promotions

Here's my life in pictures from the last few weeks.

School has come to an end, and with that brought two "promotion ceremonies." I hate to say graduation, but I do think it's significant they were both promoted to a new grade and new school.

J has finished 8th grade and will go to High School next year. J is the one on the far right in a black vest and orange shirt. We never got good pictures that day!Two days later, B had her ceremony. She was in the first group of 5th graders to graduate from that campus---ever!! Here she is shaking her principal's hand. My grandmother visited Texas for the first time in a long time. One weekend I took J to see her. We had 4 generations together. All of us in this picture are oldest children. Disclaimer---Granny was not ready & we made her have her picture made in clothes she did not like. :-)

The next picture is the very next weekend. I took B to see her great-grandmother this weekend. Again, it's 4 generations. I had a great time visiting with my family. The kid who didn't go----he/she was busy at home that weekend. I couldn't figure out how to get us all there at the same time. Disclaimer---I don't like my hair in this photo!!

Notice how much more the snowball bush has bloomed over the week?

This summer I'm getting the kids to plan and make one meal a week. They have to help me make the grocery list and then I will assist them when they're cooking, too. This meal was J's. He had seen a recipe in a magazine when he was taking the TAKS test in April and asked his teacher if he could copy the recipe. It is Sausage Arugula Pizza. We didn't really know what arugula was!! This will be an adventure. :-) This meal was good!

Sunday night was Ovies night for TROUPE. This the Ovation Awards ceremony for the end of the year. This picture is Larry and J presenting awards.

This is J after receiving one of his wards.

These are the awards he got---I'm so proud. :-)

• Most Memorable Character---his Chef Ludmilla from Dear Edwina
• Best Vocal Performance by an Ensemble----"Book Report" from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown!
• Outstanding Backstage Crew Member----during Seussical, Jr.
• Teen/Youth MVP
• All Star Cast
• People's Choice Award
• The Backstage Award (for kids who were understudies & mostly didn't get on stage!)
• And the Best one----The Wanda Daisa "Heart & Soul" Award

This award goes to someone who's got all their Heart and Soul into TROUPE. Which Jamie does. It's named after one of the founders of Troupe who has passed away now. It's a great honor.

Larry also got two awards!! We're proud of him, too. He got the Outstanding Member Award for the "Nostalgics" (the adults who sing and act), and he also got a Director's Choice Award.

We were at the Woimen's Club in Bryan----A great facility!

This is the People's Choice Award recipients. This category was a write in vote for the people who voted. I think this is a wonderful one to win because it's people who the crowd loves to watch on stage. I love to see all these guys!!

Here are the wards Jamie got!

M.A.'s Angels?

B and I are picking up our knitting again! I am starting this washcloth and actually it's 3 times that big now. I might finish tonight or tomorrow! B thought I ought to make a dishcloth to match. I had the same thought. I love the Yarn. It's Sugar'n Cream "American Stripes." Great Memorial Day Project!

Hope you've enjoyed your weekend as I did. we went to some church friends' house and met up with people who've scattered far and near. It's a tradition, and I really love getting together with this group. Food is good, and it feels really comfortable.

Remember the sacrifices made so we all can enjoy our freedoms, not just on Memorial Day, but every day of the year.

Christmas Regrets and . . . what's the opposite of a regret?

I probably shouldn't talk about this so soon, but I have regrets about Christmas. It's the time for Christmas letdown, isn't it? Here's a list a of a few things I regret about Christmas 2008:

• I didn't take enough pictures of family.
• I didn't make a gingerbread house with my own children. (Do I give too much to my class and the scraps of me to my kids?)
• I never did get any Christmas cards mailed. (But I did give some out by hand.) Never mind the Christmas newsletter!
• I didn't get the Christmas lights on the house. The tree does look nice through the window, however! Putting lights on the house is one thing that gives me a lot of holiday joy, and I didn't do it. Sigh.
• I didn't sit with my hubby enough on the couch and watch Christmas movies. I watched his favorite without him---while I was sitting at the computer, no doubt.
• I didn't buy those Christmas music books----one for french horn, one for cello, at least. Maybe next year, when the kids have even more experience under their belts. I think B wasn't ready anyway.
• I didn't make enough Christmas food "goodies" at home.
• We didn't mail packages to Memphis or Michigan. I still might . . .
• I didn't make a popcorn garland. I really enjoy that.
• We didn't do a Christmas countdown calendar or an advent calendar. I did buy one for next year, though, and I LOVE it.

But along with the regrets are the nice things that happened.

We wore our Santa hats for fun times.We attended Christmas music concerts. I was able to go to B's school and help with her Christmas party!!

I enjoyed seeing B in a Christmas play---using her Spanish.

I enjoyed some hot spiced tea mix by the Christmas tree.

I was able to find some presents that really were unexpected and liked. Like this back scrubber for B. She was really eyeing them one time at the store, and I remembered. I also got her a card game called Go Fish for Art----the Renaissance set. She says she'd like all the sets: VanGogh and Friends, Impressionist, and Modern Artists. I also found a pretty hummingbird feeder in the winter for my Dad. I love finding things that people like but they didn't have to ask me for. But isn't that almost impossible sometimes?

We had some time for being silly---even with strep throat!!

Here's a gift Larry had to wait years for. A shirt that says, "Who's your Daddy?" with Darth Vader on it. I finally got it, and he really liked it.

I am glad we got to go to my parents' house. (It was warm when we got there---hence the capris and bare feet!)

So Christmas wasn't a total let-down, of course! I had a great Christmas---despite not being able to do it all. Who can? I think I'm still trying to figure out what's most important to me. This year has been especially challenging since I'm working full time. I'll just be sure to put out my lights on the house right after Thanksgiving next year!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and will enjoy a happy New Year in 2009. Can you believe it's already 2009? Where has this decade gone?

Winter pictures

Sunday I forced the family to dress in coordinating outfits (except Larry!). There's a cute little tree in downtown Bryan I knew would work for our Christmas Card photos. I am still trying to get Christmas cards out despite grand intentions every year and oftentimes failure to make it happen!

As you can see, it was pretty warm. It was a bright blue sky without a cloud anywhere close. Here is the one I'll use for a card (cropped to my liking).

I think J snapped this one of me and B.

B set up this shot.

J being himself

It snowed TWO TIMES yesterday! It was sleeting I think about 4:30 in the morning, and then when we got up, when daylight came, there was a kind of hard crunchy snow on top of the ice. I wonder what the Eskimo (Aleut, is more correct, right?) word for this kind of snow is?
It started snowing again about time for pickup from school. It was really awesome! And since the roads were staying clear, it was really cool! This is our house in the afternoon.

Larry wanted to take the dog in the snow, and B took this shot above. J wanted to make a snow angel, so he did. He came back inside and said that the person who made that up was insane. I think he didn't like getting all wet and cold.

And now today, I am home in my cozy abode. J is sick! He woke up and went in to get a shower and moaned really loud from the bathroom. Larry checked on him, and he was sitting on the floor and said his head hurt so bad he couldn't get up. When he gets a fever, he gets a bad headache. And this was the case---he's got a 101 degree fever.

B was so jealous I was staying home---but it's just what I need to catch up on some things here at home. Yahoo!!! And my principal really made me feel like I was doing the right thing staying home with him. Perfect!

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt, November 8th

This week's theme is together, and I submit two pictures for you---

This first one I took last Saturday of B and her BFFs. They'll be together forever, you know, just like my BFFs from 4th grade. Oh, wait, I have no idea where those friends are now! (I'm a bit too negative, of course.) They'll probably always stay connected because of technology. I connected up with fellow Band friends this week via Facebook. These girls had been at a Girl Scout event about American Girls dolls.


The next one is my hubby and me, circa 1991. We don't look near this cute now! Look how we love to be together at a picnic---so romantic. ;-) We will, of course, be together forever. As of this month, we've been "together" for 18 years and 9 months, and married for 17 years 4 months. I'd still like to eat a lunch just like that---Frito's, Dr. Pepper, sandwich. This was on our honeymoon, at the Chucalissa Indian Village in Memphis, TN.

If you want to see more "together" pictures today, check out TNChick's website. Home of the Photohunt!

Leave me a comment! I'll visit you when I get done with some more online schoolwork. I've done one test and one assignment this morning already. I spent two hours looking for one little statistic---how many low SES students we have in our local school district. Bryan---65.2 %, just so you know. College Station, which borders our town---30.3%. Three more assignments to go this weekend. I CAN DO IT!

Next week's theme is ruin(ed). Could be pretty interesting!

Galveston Pictures

These pictures were taken in 2002. We went camping at Brazos Bend State Park for Father's Day. It's a really great park in Fort Bend county, 28 miles SW of Houston. There is absolutely no getting in the water, though. It has many alligators there. One of our days, we drove from there an hour and a half to the beach in Galveston.

These two pictures are from the trip. J was only 6 and a half and B was 3 and a half.

I did not get a picture of the seawall itself. This was pre-digital-camera, and I had to make the most of my film. But here we are at the base of the wall. Just to the left of this picture was the wall---ten feet tall. Those pictures of the water crashing into the wall in Galveston? That is ten feet---at least---above our heads in this picture. These are the rocks put here to hold back that water---to combat the erosion. I say this for the benefit of my relatives who've never been there. I was compelled to watch the footage of Galveston's destruction because it was so amazing that the water was so high. I think I saw a picture of the Joe's Crab Shack that we've eaten at. I saw the flooded parking lot of Moody Gardens where we went at Christmastime to see the light display. I have seen that Ramada that they keep showing. I know people who've stayed there, even.
It's one thing to see destroyed houses, but another to see places you've been. And a whole other thing entirely to see your own home. I can't even imagine that.

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt, August 23

Today's theme is wrinkled, and my first thought was about the wrinkled faces of people I know. Or maybe my own wrinkles I am getting. I couldn't think of a picture right off the bat that would be flattering enough to not hurt someone's feelings! HeeHee! So I am going back to my archives to some wrinkled people who aren't alive.

I love old photos. I always try to see the real people in those photos---the personalities of those people who lived before me. I wonder what they talked about, what their daily lives were like, how they treated others. I wonder if they hoped and dreamed about things like I do. I wonder if they took joy from the things I do, or if they had unnamed longings, and if they felt like they had done everything they needed to do before they died. I like to see old photos of people I do know as older folks----it makes them seem more like me than I had known before.

This is Larry's family. His grandmother is the third one from the right, and these are her parents. It was an anniversary party. I wonder if those shoes were comfortable?

Next week's theme is beautiful. If you're interested in more wrinkled photos, go to TNChick's website!

Happy Anniversary to Me and Larry!

Yesterday, July 20th, was my 17th anniversary.

We took our kids and 22 other kids from church to Camp Bandina. Larry drove a van with 11 boys and Bess and me. We had another van and another vehicle towing a trailer in our convoy across central Texas. It was a 4 hour trip with lunch in the middle one way.


I had never been there, but Larry's been a counselor and the kids have gone. This was the first year B is going without a parent there!! I am a little nervous for her. But she seemed completely fine in her cabin. Another little girl from our church who's a grade ahead of B is also in her cabin. I am glad, and I had even hoped it would turn out this way. I want them to bond and build a friendship they can carry into their teen years! ;-) (And for those who know, this is A, the girl with three little sisters and a baby brother.)

I wasn't going to show all these pictures, but here they are anyway. Enjoy!

J and Lar

Unloading

Checking in

Larry and B go to her cabin---#2

B on the bunk she chose B with A and an new friend from her cabin, J

J---he's got those hot cheeks!! Much of camp is air-conditioned, but not this room we were in.

We left them, and on the way out, our fellow road warrior had me take her picture. This was where she was baptized one summer at camp. :-)

Bandera is the county seat, so I got one more courthouse picture.
The best (haha) thing about my anniversary? I got to eat out at McDonald's TWO TIMES. We were working on a strict cash-only budget yesterday! ;-)

But really, the best thing about dropping the kids at camp, is that Larry and I are having a quasi-vacation here at home. Larry is actually off the whole week. On Friday, we will go pick B up early (track meet in San Antonio), but the whole week is our own. I am working at Sonshine School on Tuesday. But other than that, it's just us. :-)

Our vacation is a working one, though, and we plan to put down a floor. FINALLY! Yay!!! :-) We spent about $1200 just this afternoon. Details on that are still to come!

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt, July 12th

Today's theme is support. Check out more photo hunters at TNChick. This is a photo from December 2006. For those of you who know J, hasn't he changed?

Here's J supporting his sister. Although they fight a lot now and get on each others' nerves, I know they will support each other as the years go by. Many many years from now, after I'm gone and their daddy is gone, they will need to support each other as the oldest generation of this part of their family.

Someone else's post made me think of this picture, so I added it. This is from 1991, I think, in May right before we got married. We were visiting a children's home in Morrilton, Arkansas, with our college church group. We worked around the facility, doing odd jobs during the day, and when the kids came home from school, we played with them and talked with them. In this picture, Larry is saving me from a heavy rock by supporting it with his bare hands. Right? ;-) This is in a state park somewhere near there. Larry is always a support to me

Next week's theme is "What IS that?" I'll probably take a special picture for that one.