Overheard

It’s been a busy break. Tonight, the kids and I were more than a little overly tired and giddy as I’ve been using Power Tools and Stud Finders and Laser Levels to hang things like shelves and curtains in their rooms. Both spaces having been thoroughly mucked out and straightened over the course of the week.

After I got Victoria’s pink shelf hung tonight, she was sorting and arranging her gee-gaws. I was handing her things. Thad was sitting on her bed alternating between his own world (where he was pondering the meaning of the universe) and the world in which Victoria and I were present (where he was bombing her with his Clark Kent and Superman stuffed Sonic tater tot toys). As a tot flew across the room, I reached into a basket and pulled out a heap of pink and white ribbons all strung together like a wreath.

Victoria said, “I want to keep those, because Mrs. Stephanie made it for me.”

I said, “Mrs. Stephanie from Arkansas?”

“No. Your other friend Mrs. Stephanie. She brought it to me when she and Mrs. Mary Linda came to see you.”

“Mrs. Stephanie made you this???” (Neither Mrs. Stephanie is a pink kind of girl and BOTH have two boys each and two Zanes among the four male offspring. No pink to be seen.)

“Well, whoever stayed in my room made it. She had a Kindle.”

“Oh. . .THAT was Mrs. Mary Linda,” I said as I stared at the array of pink and white ribbons trying to figure out exactly when and where Mary Linda ended up with THIS MUCH pink ribbon.

Actual pile 'o pink ribbons. . .notice the lady bugs?

Then it hit me, “OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. . .THAT explains it–all the Phi Mu lady bugs!!!” I exclaim. (Mary Linda was and is very active in her Phi Mu chapter.)

To which Thad replies, “FIVE MUTE LADY BUGS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!”

Evidently the portal between his universe and ours must not have good acoustics. Either that or he has NO schema for Phi Mu but DOES have some for five and mute. Or he just trolls between the two worlds waiting for something as interesting as five mute lady bugs to catch his attention.

The Sunshine State Part 2

After arriving in Homestead, Florida, Momma got a job as a teacher while Daddy performed his duties as a “nozzle jockey” for the air force. He refueled planes, which basically meant riding up and down tarmacs on fuel tanks that amounted to humongous bombs on wheels–not the way one would prefer to spend their early 20′s. Since Daddy was a good shot, having grown up with guns, he was eventually given the opportunity to be certified to train men in small arms instruction. This meant going BACK to Lackland in San Antonio.

Mom, of course, went with him this time. She told me they rented a tiny efficiency apartment, and she set to work scrubbing and cleaning trying to make it like home. The floor seemed a very difficult task as the more she cleaned the dirtier it got. She eventually realized she was scrubbing the vinyl off the backing. Much like her life of petty crime, that sojourn in San Antonio began and ended her life of housework.

While they were gone there was a hurricane that hit the lower Florida coast. Momma said she was worried to death about. . .her coat. She had visions of their little trailer floating off into the Atlantic Ocean with her lovely black wool, fur-collared coat inside. Why in the world she thought she NEEDED her woolen coat while living along the southern tip of Florida is beyond me, but she HAD bought it with her very own money–her first pay check as a teacher. And it DOES get cold in Florida occasionally. That’s why they have smudge pots, you know. To save the oranges. OR Momma could have just draped her coat over a tree or two.

Either way, they made it back to Homestead eventually to their little trailer (Momma’s coat was safe and sound) and while Daddy busied himself with small arms instruction and Momma busied herself as a kindergarten teacher, together they busied themselves with making a big sister for me. Momma was due at the end of December, and they both wanted to get my sister here in time to count on 1964′s income tax statement. To this end, Daddy did several things. First of all, he kept Momma in banana splits from the Dairy Queen in Florida City. There WAS a Dairy Queen in Homestead, but their banana splits just didn’t taste the same. So to Florida City they would go. Not ONLY did they get plenty of banana splits, but they also got a free baby carrier. Evidently a couple had left a pink baby carrier in a booth, so one day the owners of the Dairy Queen gave it to Momma and Daddy. I spent some time in it myself. I don’t know if my brother, Hal, did or not as it was pink. Luckily all the photographs of him in ANY baby carrier are in black and white, so only Momma knows the truth.

My mother ALSO loved (and still does love) chocolate covered cherries. Someone told her that since she was pregnant, if she ate too many, she would get fat. Poor Momma–she didn’t need to worry about getting fat, but she dutifully ate only ONE chocolate covered cherry per day. She did, however, eat a fair amount of home-made floured French fries. And banana splits. So I doubt if two chocolate covered cherries would have hurt her much. Along with the chocolate covered cherries and bananas and icecream and French fries, Daddy also tried to bring about my sister’s arrival by taking my mother for frequent spins through the Florida Everglades in an air boat.

Something must have worked, because exactly two years and ten days after their wedding, my sister, Suzanne, was born. I have written about her birthday before–she was a New Year’s Eve baby. And had ANOTHER baby not been born shortly after her, she would have been THE New Year’s Baby–which meant lots of diapers and other prizes. Alas, she had to settle for being the daughter of Harold and Glenda Watts–and my big sister. But she DID and DOES get fireworks every year for her birthday.

She was born in the military hospital on the base. Momma was alone when Sissy came as Daddy had to work, and Granny and PawPaw had not made it there yet. Daddy didn’t get to see Sissy until the next day. Momma had already told him he’d better not show up unless he had a dozen red roses. She’s a smart gal, my Momma. That may have been the last dozen roses she got from Daddy as I don’t remember ever seeing any in our house while I was growing up. Where is one to find a dozen red roses in a tiny military town on New Year’s day? Well–Daddy managed to find a florist who was closed but in their shop preparing for a wedding. Bless her heart, the florist listened to his story, then fixed him up a bunch of roses so Momma would let him into the hospital room.

To be continued. . .

Me in a pink baby carrier. Pink sponge curlers in my sister's hair.

Here I am in the Florida City Dairy Queen baby carrier. This photo HAD to have been taken on a Saturday night AFTER my Sister’s bath, or on a Sunday morning before the curlers were extracted for church. If I sniffed hard enough, I might be able to smell the Dippity-do. You can also see her perfectly cut bangs. Momma managed this by putting a piece of Scotch tape across our bangs so that she could cut a straight line even if we moved. I TOLD you she was a smart woman!

The Sunshine State

My parents married at the end of December, 1962. They took off for a honeymoon in Colorado leaving my Granny in tears, because Momma had forgotten her winter coat, and Granny was just SURE she was going to freeze to death. It was a nice coat too–very expensive black wool with a fur collar bought from THE store in a nearby town. They made it to Colorado where Daddy hunted, they experienced their first ever white Christmas, and Momma (much to her own delight) threw caution to the wind and ordered a hamburger for Christmas dinner. It was what she wanted, and there was no one to tell her she couldn’t.

Within two weeks, Momma was back in Wilmot, Arkansas to finish her first year of teaching, and Daddy went into the Air Force. While Momma was teaching 5th grade and renting a room from a someone, Daddy was at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio later moving on to Amarillo. During the course of that (I’m sure long and frustrating) winter and spring, they managed to see each other twice. Daddy was able to fly into Shreveport one weekend. Granny accompanied Momma on the (then) three hour trip–more then likely to make sure she didn’t forget her coat this time–and stayed with her sister, Georgia Bea, while Momma and Daddy holed up in a hotel room. Later on Momma flew to Amarillo–the only time she’s flown in her life–where she also began and ended her life of petty crime by taking the fork from her airline meal. The lady next to her suggested it saying that if Momma put her napkin on her plate when they came to take it away, they’d never miss that fork. I guess they never did. . .but the fork still lived in our silverware drawer when I was kid.

Daddy came home about week before Momma’s school year was done hauling an 8′x40′ trailer with him. He had purchased it in Amarillo with insurance money he’d gotten from his registered quarter horse that had died. As soon as she packed her 5th-graders off for summer, they hooked the trailer up to Daddy’s truck and took off for Homestead, Florida with Daddy’s sister, my Aunt Sue, following behind them in their car. That’s a long trip with a 40′ travel trailer. When they were crossing the Old Mississippi River Bridge which was all of two lanes, they met a tractor trailer rig going the opposite direction. Daddy said the man STOPPED his rig in the middle of the bridge, then covered his face with both hands afraid to look. Evidently there was about a one or two inch clearance. Daddy had to tell Momma about it. She didn’t see that part. She was too busy hanging out the passenger window to make sure they weren’t scraping off the side of the bridge. She probably didn’t tell Granny about that until much, much later–if ever.

Oh. . .and when they GOT to Florida? Trailers JUST LIKE the one Daddy hauled from Amarillo to northeastern Louisiana, then down to the southern tip of Florida–very NEARLY the entire breadth of the country? They had ‘em there for, as Momma says, a dime a dozen.

To be continued. . .

Aren’t they cute? I love this picture. . .which is a photocopy, so Momma, I need a better copy.

What I saw THIS Sunday

Which, by the time you read this, will be yesterday. (And, Sarah, the car was either STOPPED at a red light or PARKED while taking all of these photos.) Last Sunday was sunny and in Texas. . .this Sunday was cloudy and spanned two states. I’m a gypsy, I tell ya!

I ACTUALLY saw this at about 6:15 on Friday evening.

A barn on the Perryville road. I would like to move that oak, and I was too well brought up to scale the fence and trespass to get a better shot.

Plus, this stallion was in the paddock, and though I am not traditionally scared of horse, I think he might have been cussing me out. He was, at the very least, snorting. His mare was nearby.

This does not even do it justice. I will try again this summer. . .it's a lovely curve.

Directives AND Directions from the Louisiana Highways Department

And all of that information is at the border of Morehouse. . .

. . .and Ouachita Parishes. (That is "Wash-ih-taw" –short i in "ih"–for those of you that live in counties.)”

This is BARELY over the border into Texas. I coveted.

Overlooking the gorgeous wisteria, I do believe this house has a story.

Wish I knew what it was.

This particular visit was like good medicine. . .and I missed the kids being with me, but it was nice to have Momma all to myself!!!

It’s a Good Day: New and Improved. Well. At least improved

Last Friday before I set out for school (and I was VERY late, mind you), I posted this. . .post. But my pictures were all CRAMMED together and I didn’t even realize it until I showed it to Momma on Friday night.

It is fixed now. And I had a GREAT time with my Momma!!!!! And also my sister and my brother–hey Brother–hey Sister.
——————————————————————
I am going to see my Momma. I am getting into my car at 1:30 and driving to Louisiana, and I am happy, happy, happy.

Go and read THIS blog. From Sarah. Excellent writing and wonderful sentiment. HILARIOUSLY funny and oh, so true.

And THIS is what I saw last weekend on my Sunday drive.

And, a song. . .the video is not the point. The song is. (Sarah–turn it up.

Road Trip: Louisiana

GINORMOUS oak tree at Nanny and Grandaddy's house where my Daddy grew up and where my sister now lives. I would have to take a panoramic shot to get the whole thing into one photo. It's seriously huge.

I am from Louisiana.

No, I do not:
*speak or cook “cajun”
*care very much about LSU
*hail from the southern half of the state
*celebrate Mardi Gras
*really appreciate jazz

That being said, I DO love my home state. It is lovely and green and chock full ‘o good folks including my family. We go visit at least two times each year–sometimes more–though I DID get “in trouble” from my sister for promising that THIS visit would be longer. . .and it wasn’t. Alas, I told her that I run around trying to please everyone, which is a losing prospect at best, and she agreed. Besides. . .we’d left our Daddy in Texas and kind of missed him.

The time we had there, however, was WONDERFUL. It was full of:

Swimming(at Doc Suze’s house)

Cousins

The younger with Victoria. They are 6 months apart.

The elder with Mawmaw.

Doc Suze (aka: Sissy, aka: my sister, aka: Suzanne)

Front view: The extra set of arms (in blue) behind Victoria (in white) belong to my sister. She is not tall.

Side view: Case in point

She and Thad became fast Phineus and Ferb buddies.

Plus she always has puppies. . .or kittens. . .or both. . .or baby squirrels. . .or skunks. . .or possums. . .no kidding.

And did I mention the pool?

Uncles

Uncle Tommy--Daddy's younger brother--with the kids.

He showed them his homemade, remote controlled airplane. Cool.

Uncle Hal--MY younger brother (1 year and 4 days apart) was not on some rig in the Gulf of Mexico making technological things work so we got to enjoy his company this time around as well.

He took the kids and me over to see, quote, the place, end quote, in Richland Parish. I had never been there. . .and it is lovely.

The old home place built out of cinder blocks that were carried down the river on a boat.

Playing

Walking across the pasture from Doc Suze's house to Mawmaw's house.

MORE birthday presents for Thad.

I made forts with the same wooden chairs. . .

On the swing with Mawmaw

PLUS we went to see “Despicable Me.” (Don’t waste time on the slow-mo in the clip. . .the first 10 seconds give you what you need to know.) (And also, “The physical appearance of the please makes no difference. . .”) Aside from the bathroom humor, it was much funnier and sweeter than I expected.

FOOD

Lemon Cake. . .YUM. . .made by Victoria, and her mother before her, and her mother before her, and her mother before her.

Mawmaw has no established nutrition rules. And she always has plenty of everything you like.

Oh. My. Goodness. Don't EVEN get me started on the Mer Rouge icecream. This sign TOTALLY cracked me up.

And coming back home again

What we drove into and through for most of the day

Victoria's nest

Thad's nest

Oh, dear.

Thad's leftover, melted Mer Rouge icecream dregs and my candle FIND. . .the state of the front passenger seat was appalling. And yes, Sarah, that IS a box of mini Premium crackers.

Just WHO is driving anyway???

Ahhh. . .

. . .even better. . .

It was a really, REALLY good trip. Really.

‘Cause I can

I am STILL embracing my natural schedule. . .which included an afternoon nap, and will include me going to bed here in a minute, but first a project. A CREATIVE project. And it may not be your cup ‘o tea, but I am just thrilled.

Dollar store frames: $4
Can of Krylon Fusion paint: $4
Scrapbooking paper at Hobby Lobby: $2
Embracing my creative side: Priceless

For the wall in the guest half bath. There are three Texans in this household. I gave birth to two.

(This is almost exactly the color they are. . .the frame on the one below leans a little too much toward orange.)

And a nod to my own home state. Tony\'s mom is from Louisiana too, and also married a Texan. And ALSO gave birth to THREE Houstonians.

Yes. The man may love the Grand and Glorious Empire as Texas was, after all, a country once. But when it came time to find a wife, he looked east across the Sabine River and chose one from a place just as infamous and distinguished if not as large. Plus he’s an Eagle Scout, so he cannot begrudge me the fleur de lis.

Just Once in a Very Blue Moon

We drove back from Louisiana yesterday. . .and by the time we got close to home it was very, very dark and very, very foggy. But the moon was working overtime at being bright. It was shining right through the fog and mist. This morning, I was greeted by this article on my Yahoo browser.

Cool.

AND this song is full of wonderful memories for Sarah and for me–though the memories are somewhat different as she listened to it in Abilene while I listened to it in Searcy.

Anyway, she’s the one that introduced me to Nanci Griffith. (The second song she sings is also one of my faves, but they cut it off mid-chorus. “More than a Whisper.”)

Speaking of Sarah. . .we set our own new “record” as we have gotten to see each other TWICE in 3 months this year!!! We were both in Louisiana at the same time, so we met at the old stompin’ grounds to walk and chat and go to Sonic. That was a gift in and of itself.

Enjoy the article and the video and the last day of 2009. And enjoy the Blue Moon wherever you are tonight.

Something to smile about

My daughter is alseep in my grandmother’s bed. (another found draft. . .from three years ago)

*40* Things about Sarah (and some about me too)

(Forgive the whacked out spacing of the pictures. . .they were all there this morning, then I sent them into cyberspace. . .and they were my bane the rest of the day. Enjoy ‘em anyway.)

Sarah and I have been friends for a long time. This is not the first blog entry to start with those words. But it’s true. It’s 34 years worth of true, and today Sarah turns 40.

Sarah's wedding: How we looked.

Sarah's wedding: How we felt.

Sitting atop my 1976 Lincoln Contiental in front of Sarah's house with Michelle

Now, I turned 40 about 6 weeks ago, so this is not a casting of the proverbial stone–or icing flower as the case may be. But I thought I would give you 40 things about Sarah. I may not know her BETTER than anyone else, because there are large chunks of the past 22 years that I’ve not been physically around to see, but I certainly have known her LONGER than any of the people she is in regular contact with other than her parents and brother (hey Kevin). I now give you. . . Sarah. . .

1. loves words. . .all words. . .big ones, little ones, unusual ones, quirky ones, funny ones. Loves ‘em.

2. ate enough banana Laffy Taffy to keep her orthodontist (I ALSO know him. . .and his wife and kids) in business for several years.

3. and I got into REALLY big trouble by staying out until after midnight when we were in high school. We were, actually, sitting in the pitch black parking lot of our high school campus talking about some boys. That makes it no better. It’s just where we were.

4. and I did NOT get into big trouble for jumping the railroad tracks on Finks Hideaway Rd. in her brother’s CRX (sorry Kevin), because God sent his angels to keep us from wrecking it (sorry Mike) so we never got caught.

5. managed to drive said CRX while I changed clothes in the passengers seat (a feat in and of itself mind you) which leads me to

6. is a very, very good driver.

7. can sign (that is S-I-G-N. . .as in “sign language”) entire songs WHILE holding the gear shift of a manual transmission car–such as a Honda (name your model).

8. is also very, very smart. Very. Very.

9. spent several summers working with handicapped kids at a Lion’s camp.

10. climbed a mountain in Colorado MORE than once on Wilderness Trek.

11. is a lifeguard and could save you if you were drowning.

12. spent many hours with me in Mrs. Rosie’s swimming pool in Bastrop getting a tan and talking about those same boys–and others–up in #3.

13. sat by me in band–we both played the clarinet–on occasion when Christy Barker and I would duke it out over who was first chair. NORMALLY it was Christy.

14. served as my “matron” of honor. (I beat her to 40, but she beat me to the altar.) I got to be her “maid.”

15. watched in amazement as I managed to hit myself in the face with the passenger seat of my car.

16. spent a lot of time laughing at me–but not nearly as much as I laughed at myself.

17. was in chorus and wore a “Super Pickle” dress (me too).

18. never played a sport but was manager for the Lady Eagles basketball team.

19. took dance for a really long time.

20. had a cute dog named Rocky who used to clickety-clickety on his clackety toes across the floor.

21. is NOT a morning person despite the fact that she now gets up at the crack of dawn.

22. has lots of really great ideas. (See #8).

23. breaks into spontaneous song–and dance–for no apparent reason.

24. endured/listened to/commiserated with my teenaged/college aged angst.

25. thinks I always look the same–no matter the weight gain or loss, hair cut, clothing items, new wrinkles, or gray hair. This is a sign of true friendship.

26. came with my mother and sister to get me after I had been in Montana for a summer my Jr. year in college. When Momma asked what I wanted her to bring when she came to Searcy to get me I said, “My birthday cake and Sarah.” (I turned 21 the next day.)

27. and I would have REALLY benefited–rather our PARENTS would have benefited–from all of the snazzy calling plans now available. (We DID get in trouble more than once for long distance phone bills.)

28. wrote lots and lots and lots of letters and notes to me–and I wrote back. Still have ‘em–and the ones from Mary Linda too.

29. was the first non-family member I called the night my Daddy died.

30. introduced me to her future husband for the first time when I came to visit her in Abilene. (Hi Troy).

31. let me hold and feed and change and dress her brand new baby girl when she was just a few days old. (Hi Ashley).

32. “accidentally” told me she was expecting her second baby when she one day casually asked me what I thought of the name “Riley.” (Hi Riley).

33. and she did not get mad at me when I told her how jealous I was that she was pregnant and not me.

34. can cut through the garbage of a situation and get to the heart of the matter like no one else I know.

35. attended Ouachita Christian School–all the way from elementary to graduation–and was voted Miss O.C.S. by the student body her senior year.

36. has a thing for baskets. . .and shoes. . .and nail polish. . .and bows.

37. probably developed a twitch when I misspelled several words and called Kevin’s CRX a CRV (we own a CRV NOW) in the first, first post, but would NEVER tell me in a million years and will laugh at me for trying to make this post perfect all stinkin’ day long.

38. loves her family.

39. loves her friends–one of which I am blessed to be.

40. loves her God.

There is much more that the confidentialty contract we sealed long ago with some Diet Coke and a few secrets won’t let me say, but we will get to see each other in two weeks (!!! First time in a year and a half–last time we got to spend all of about one hour together.) and have some Johnny’s pizza and laugh until we’re exhausted. Until then–Happy Birthday, Sayruh. You know I love ya more ‘n my luggage. (And I AM pleasant. . .) And forgive me for some of these pictures. Most of them are WONDERMOUS, but some were necessary for illustration don’t ya know.

We had been pretending to be the leaping reindeer that Sarah's mom had on the wall in the dining room. . .one can only assume Sarah wasn't through being a reindeer.

Same night as the reindeer incident--New Years Eve, 1987. Don't remember what was up with the Post its.

As God would have it, we sat next to each other for our first grade class picture. Peep Sarah's knee socks. I had INSISTED on wearing panty hose that day.

Rerun of us with Timms, May, 1987

Not Sarah BUT Sarah's grandmother, Maxine--my dear, dear friend.

We went on a trip to Pensacola after I graduated from College--Five Flag Motel Cheapest Rates Gulf Side.

We were enamored with the tiki-faced palm tree--the hotel was destroyed in hurricane Ivan.

With our duplex mate Julie in Abilene, 1991

February, 1990 with our friend Brandon

Christmas, 1987 sitting in my Momma's rocking chair in our house at the annual Christmas party.

Bad picture--but there is Sarah to my right, and Christy in 1st chair, and me in the middle.

Jr. year in high school--probably spring?

Graduation night with our (very tall) friend Mark

Sarah and Christy giving me The Look on the way either to or from Nashville.