Flatlander

We are at Sister's house for the Thanksgiving holiday.  One of my favorite things about her house has always been sitting on the back veranda watching the sun rise in the distance.  A beautiful nighttime view of the city lights on the horizon was a treat for my eyes.  No more!  The cotton field that backed their property is no longer a field but a developing sub-division.  Oh my! My holiday may be ruined.   In the name of progress cities must grow and bring new residents, but I still suffer from the "Not in My Backyard!" slogan...and I'll pass it along to Sister.  Sunrise over the rooftop behind was no thrill at all.

Not a Fan of Chaos

No matter how busy the day planned may be, I must have a few minutes to sit and contemplate my own existence.  Without those minutes my day is pretty much chaos.  In a few minutes I will start the pre-travel ritual.  When I pack, I have a routine that always gets me where I am going with all the things I need.  Ol' Abner, in earlier days, found this very frustrating.  He always packed the night before and preferred to roll out of bed and travel.  Men can do that, I can not! Today, he has learned to relax until he sees me go into "out the door" mode.  Our departures are much more peaceful and on-time now. 

Not exactly newsworthy

It's cold outside, very cold for these hills.  My warm jammies feel so good and my bed was a nice nest this morning when the four legged critter decided twas time to awaken.  She likes to eat at five and again at five.  That has been her schedule since we discontinued the three per day feedings when she advanced from puppy chow.  Ol' Abner usually is awake in time for her breakfast, even though he crawls into his sleeping chair, turns on the TV and proceeds to snore away.  For some reason this morning, she seemed to think he would benefit from additional time between the sheets.  It didn't change her plan that breakfast was due, so here I sit with a warm cup of brew and a dog sleeping on my feet.

This would have been a great day to sleep late.  I was up well after midnight washing sheets for the room where Pappy will sleep while he is here and catching up on recorded episodes of some of my favorite shows.  The paper is out on the sidewalk and I'm wondering why we didn't teach this Laborador Retriever to retrieve the newspaper.  Oh well, I think someone told me not so long ago (referring to herself) "Suck it Up, Buttercup"!  I guess I'll suck it up and go retrieve my own daily news.

A Wandering Mind

Trivial memories float into my mind at the strangest times.  Today is the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination.  With the news coverage, each story provokes a unique trail of memories for me.  On the front page of the Austin newspaper a story highlighted the impact of the news as it soaked in within the Texas Capitol.  One storyline caught my eye: "The excitement was such that Superintendent Irby Carruth announced that Austin schools would close at 2:30 p.m. so students could see the motorcade". (Austin American-Statesman) The story itself was not remarkable, but the superintendent's name jumped out at me.  

Years after the Dallas tragedy, one of my college roommates came back from a visit to her hometown to announce that her parent's close friend had recently remarried and she had an opportunity to be charmed by the new wife.  Superintendent Irby Carruth was that friend.  The new Mrs. Carruth was none other than my favorite high school English teacher.  Even more exciting, she remembered me! Now there's a happy memory in the midst of all this sadness! 

Always a Texan

A few months ago I visited Seattle for the first time.  I loved every minute of my time there and understand why it's one of the favorite cities for living.  That's a tough thing for any Texan to admit.  At the same time I was in town, a young friend was being recruited as a new employee by one of the big companies based there.  We texted our locations and activities but never actually connected in person.  Still, we had a sense of sharing the trip.

Young friend was there on a lark...or so we thought.  Why not enjoy a few days in the beautiful exciting city and allow one of the most successful American enterprises a chance to wine and dine you?  She and her family were perfectly happy living in San Antonio.  True, however, to the theory of a "test drive", the ensuing offer was so very attractive that they found themselves moving to Seattle just over a month later.

We enjoyed dinner with young friend, her mother and her daughter tonight.  She is leading a team of recruiters to raid Texas for quality talent.  She has an understanding of the difficulty in choosing to leave the Lone Star State, but believes the opportunities she accepted will be inviting to a few fine ambitious Texans.  She accepted delivery of cowboy hats for the recruiters to wear during the presentations.  She can get away with it, she's from here!

Changing Scene

Home improvements seem to be the present fashion in our neighborhood.  A new pool has been completed across the street and the fence of it's house is properly upgraded.  Next door a retaining wall is in progress to hold river rock to replace the drought damaged grass in the front yard.  Drought tolerant succulents and shrubs will be added to soften the look.  On the street behind us the retaining walls are complete and plantings for winter are being added atop a healthy supply of mulch and additional topsoil.  We seem to be stirring up more commotion than most.  Our house boasts a new steel roof and a rather large garage is rising above concrete behind us.  It has been fun to watch and I know the extra space will certainly provide some relief to our cramped household.  Stone setters are working to give the garage a cohesive appearance with the house.  It's coming together nicely but the slope to the garage door on the house side is going to be much steeper than I expected...why am I the only one surprised?  I will occupy my thoughts with the shrubs and flowers that will need to be planted around the building!

Right now I just want to envision the pretty neighborhood when all this digging and pounding and rumbling ends!

In Focus

It's amazing how a cloudy, misty, dreary day spent moping inside the house can bring life back into focus.  A planned tee-off on my favorite course was postponed, then cancelled due to a light intermittent rain.  The ringing phone brought unwelcome news of a young friend's illness. Ol' Abner's grumpiness was only exceeded by my own unrest.  Frustration over my surrender to sugar cravings, over and over and over again, cursing holiday treats and a new phobia of the scales topped off my morning!  A quick listen to an on-line inspiration from my favorite clergy and my day shifted into focus.  

Plans are in place to deliver a meal to friends preparing for a Wednesday morning surgery and meet family visiting from out of town to support them.  I must mail photo discs from a recent event and get something done with my shaggy nails.  Laundry must be caught up and bags packed for a trip South.  I'll leave Wednesday to spend a night with a much loved cousin. Dancing Girl and Guitar Man will return the same day to Houston from a weeklong visit with daughter.  Thursday, we'll have a fun girls day at the Nutcracker Market.  Ol' Abner assures me he can take himself to the dentist, and daughter-in-law says she knows others can be there for those in need while I am absent.  My Thursday golf buddy thinks it may rain that day and we can catch up next week.  

My spirit is revived and I've had no sugar since noon.  It's a start!

Quiet Please

I'm feeling a sense of unrest.  Much needs to be accomplished in the coming weeks, yet I have no control over most of the events occurring.  Planning isn't coming naturally and other players seem to be absent.  Changing dates for travel and additional events inserted amid current happenings are making my brain feel like crawling mush!  A busy holiday season is erupting all around and I have the urge to hide inside my house with the lights turned off.  

Season of.....

These are the months of comfort food indulgence spiked with occasional binges of pure junk!  Maybe that's why Halloween is such fun.  Dress to hide the lumps of flab and you can be right in style, or if working out has allowed for success...sport that sexy new physique.  Either way, it's fun to see the creative and not-so-imaginative costumes on All-Hallows-Eve.

Creative?  and a black widow

Anyone recognize this one?

Poison Ivy with Grim Ghoull

Two Old Men disguised as Scary Old Men

Batman and Anybody's Guess

Only recognizable costume here is
A Sharpie...

Staying warm in a bear suit!