Anti-Climatic

Well Gustav has proved to be gustless, at least as far as east Texas is concerned. I know that Louisiana got slammed. I guess it would be inappropriate to thank them for taking the wind out of his sails. I am thankful nonetheless that it turned out not to be too much for us. House intact. Hubby safely at home in bed, possibly going to work tomorrow. Kids and I spent hours with Memaw Myrtice and Great Aunt Julia playing "Golf" (card game with 9 cards that Lizbeth taught us years ago) and Apples to Apples. There was chocolate. All in all not a bad deal.
I was displaced from my bed for a couple of days. Not growing up in a house of hunters, I laid near the hearth here last night under a deer head and fell asleep worrying about being impaled by the antlers if it fell off the wall in the middle of the night.
I just want to go home. It gives me great compassion for those who are not in their own beds tonight, and won't be "home" for a while to come. I have always wondered why people choose to live in areas that are often ravaged by tropical storms, near fault lines, etc. Now I know - it is because there is no place like home, wherever that may be.
Tropical storm Gustav has not blown through this area yet, but when he does, it is sure to be anti-climatic.

Decadent Dinner Date with Daughter

How is that for the most times anyone has used the letter D in a title? It was a most fabulous evening, and I don't regret one second that I have no clue what happened on LOST. My date with my daughter at the new restaurant where she works was fantabulous - and did I mention FREE? For such a small town this restaurant is really going to make an impression. All the teenagers want to work there, so they had their pick of the cream of the crop. Tonight they had a "mock opening" where the day-shift served the night-shift and then vice-versa. Each person could bring one guest and so my lovely daughter asked me. The best part was that it was all totally free. Nada dinero! We had appetizers, drinks, dinner (thank GOD I got a salad) and dessert - this sinfully delicious thing above is called a Texas Brownie - yep - much bigger than your average brownie, and beautiful too. The restaurant is brand-spanking new and it had the Texas atmosphere going on. I think about that line from the Titanic movie about eating off of dishes that have never been eaten on. You could still smell a slight hint of freshly cut wood. The atmosphere was all Texas too - using wood, stone, and galvanized metal even as the table top. A very fun night. I ate too much - but it was worth it. Here is my date to the left in her uniform. Ain't she cute? If you happen to have her as a waitress, make sure to tip her good - she's saving for college!

Sweet Spring

Now before those of you who are my friends shivering in far away places think I am rubbing this in, please remember this - summer in southeast Texas is the hottest, suckiest state of being known among the living - at least in these United States - alright at least in my experience. It is hot and it is buggy - and the worst part is that it lasts most of the dang year! Ugh.
But the feeling outside today, a steady breeze blowing enough to open the windows and doors and have the fresh air blowing in at the most perfect temperature - not hot or cool - almost, again I say almost makes up for it. The sunshine is out. I threw the kitchen door open and our kitty cats who have been outdoors mostly since birth have been wandering in and out. The sound of the breeze blowing through the trees and brush makes a scrubbing sound and you can hear rustling leaves, cause we don't rake 'em.
Ahh! Yep, it's only January - but it's spring in Texas.
See y'all later - I'm going to sit on the front porch and eat hamburgers with my kids for dinner.
(Pray for Travis - it's feast or famine for him - he started working 7 - 12s today! Poor guy!)

Fall Has Arrived in East Texas

When summer is over, and all sorts of fall activities start, I start craving a change of weather. I want leaves to burst forth in brilliant color and cool crisp winds to blow my way. I want to listen to the Little Women soundtrack, drink apple cider and visit the pumpkin patch. Fall in Texas leaves something to be desired. Thus far the temperatures had not cooled. Occasionally you can see a brown leaf drift slowly and anti-climatically to the ground. But yesterday something wonderful happened..... when we left for co-op in the morning it was downright muggy. Around noon I started to notice trees blowing in the wind outside, followed by a little rain, and there was a major drop in temperatures. Today I would classify as chilly! Woo hoo. A sign of fall at last. The leaves are still brown, but there is a breeze in the air and I'm loving it.
The weather change put me in the mood to do something fall-ish. I stopped by the HEB and picked up some pumpkins, and brought them home for my kids and Michael to carve. We put on a scary sounds CD and carved us up some pumpkins. Kendra and Michael carved Jack and Sally from a Nightmare Before Christmas, and Kullen did Jack as well. Kaitlyn did a creative jack-o-lantern face. They were all pretty cool. I didn't get a picture of Michael's before he took it home, but he promised to send it to me. He lies - I'll never see it!

I never got a picture of Kullen with his pumpkin. He wasn't having a good night. The pumpkin he carved is to the far right in the top picture.

Random Thoughts of a Late Night Blogger

I was thinking earlier that the busier and more full my life is the more I have to blog about - however, the less time I actually have for blogging! Isn't that just the way it is! Sheesh.
Also - Texas may hold hope for my weight loss efforts yet - as the southern accent does something indescribable to the word for my favorite frozen dairy confection - instead of saying "ice cream" it comes out sounding like a slang for Preparation H - say it out loud if your children aren't in the room "ais-craym". Sorry to be shocking - but this is really turning me off. I am sure I will be over it shortly!
Oh yeah - and um I almost kept this under wraps because I am totally hoping to win some of that yummy Canadian chocolate - but I figured that I should share it, because it's only right, and since my friend Fatty asked if there was chocolate involved if she voted for me at TopMomma - I figured if I at least pointed her in that direction, she may consider it! Head on over to Coffee Mom's blog and check out the awesome contest where you could win a chocolate bar.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Whew! It got soooo hot today - mid-80s and it is just now noon. It is also very humid. All the storm windows and inside windows went down. I live in a house of glass - so this is no small feat. (It was one of the things that I LOVED about this house - and my husband hated was the massive amount of large windows!) Most people around here have had their air on for weeks - but we have enjoyed the cool mornings and evenings and endured a few hours of warmth in the afternoons around dinner time. It must be the windows but we seem to have a lot of cross-ventilation that creates a breezy atmosphere, not to mention the ceiling fans on at various speeds different times of the day. I didn't want to close the windows until I knew they would be shut for a while, because of their age and the sheer quantity of them, it is no small feat. This morning I knew I was in trouble when I broke a sweat scrubbing the toilet! So, we are bracing ourselves for the heat. I am thinking that it might be a nice week to take a trip to the gulf coast. What is the weather like where you are? (Don't forget to tell me where you are!)

Texas Spring

I am totally loving the Texas Spring. Everywhere I look there are beautiful things blooming. This is a picture of Wisteria that I saw hanging over the fence at the Chinese restaurant where we ate yesterday. It is so gorgeous, and it seems to be growing everywhere that I look, in bushes, vines, and even large trees - everywhere except my yard. I intend fully to have some in my yard shortly! I have seen it in a lot of Victorian era art but never in person. I think it is just lovely.
Later I will post pictures of the azaleas and possibly bluebonnets. There also seem to be wildflowers growing everywhere! I know that with the heat of summer they will be shortlived, but for now I am really enjoying them.

East Texas Weather

I had complained so much about the large amount of rain we had here in Texas - but then we were blessed with a couple of weeks of sunshiny weather, great temperatures, and the first signs of spring - blooming flowers, tweeting birds, gentle breezes. I have enjoyed it so much.
Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple of hours on my porch swing with a good book. Kullen came out for a while and we read some Shel Silverstein poetry. He cannot get enough of it! The weather was absolutely perfect. It was an idyllic lazy Sunday afternoon. Not even the cars driving by seemed in any hurry.
This morning when I woke, it was not daylight. I would have thought it was just the time change if it hadn't been for my husband calling on his way to work to let me know a serious storm system was headed our way. Now it is almost 9 am and it is PITCH BLACK. There are thunder claps and lightning zaps everywhere. I don't mind the storm as much as the idea of tornadoes. I got online specifically to look up tornado warning signs and found this great website from NOAA weather service. It had a lot of pictures, warning signs, and ideas of how to be prepared and what to do. So here I sit, looking for green clouds! (Did you know that was one of the warning signs of a tornado?)

I'll post our most recent favorite Shel Silverstein poems in another post later!