"He went to Jared!"

Well, I don't know if he went to Jared, but Chad did surprise Robin with a dachshund puppy sporting an engagement ring on his little collar on Christmas morning! Chad has had the ring for about a month...probably trying to come up with the perfect proposal. We are all so happy to welcome Chad into our family!

More photos from Family Christmas

To enlarge a photo, just click on it. Use the browser back key to return to the post. X-ing out will...well, X you out.

Family Christmas in Texas

Our annual Wendel/Rioux Family Christmas was hosted by the Waters family and held at Carolyn and Brent's home. Almost everyone was able to attend this year, including Jason, who had sent the feeble excuse that he was in Guatemala. A. J. and Natalie actually came and brought little Mallie who was barely two weeks old. Judy had to work, so she wasn't able to come. Elliott wasn't able to attend either...I think it had something to do with finals. Of course, we wish that Jamie, Ginia, Thea and Nate could be with us, but that's pretty unlikely...especially with the little ones approaching school age.

The weather was very nice so the kids were able to play outside. In fact, it was so bright that sunglasses were needed to keep from being blinded by the sun. We gathered under the carport when it was time to sing carols and the video above shows that in all the years we have been meeting...27 years, I think...we haven't improved much, although we've certainly added many new voices. By my quick calculations, Arleene and Bill and Virginia and A.J. are responsible for a total of 7 children, 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren with 2 more great-grandchildren on the way. I hope I didn't leave anyone out!

Our final song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas," continues to be imperfect. Since the year that Virgie, Patricia, Janie and I teamed up to sing "five golden rings," (and were so terrible) we've been very deliberate in sitting well away from each other. I just wish we had a video of that year! When it was our turn to sing we stood up proudly and each of us loudly sang in a different key. I think that was the funniest rendition of the finale during all the years.

Still an evacuee

My cousin Virgie called on Tuesday morning. At that time she had been at the bay for over a week, an evacuee after Hurricane Ike blew through Galveston, Houston, and other lesser known little towns. She called because she's stir crazy...and, of course, she wanted to visit. I urged her to make the one hour drive and she was here in about an hour and 5 minutes. I took her up to the computer so she could check emails. I also encouraged her to read her daughter's blog, which is always entertaining and informative...not "out there" like mine can be sometimes.

We eventually drove into Wharton where Janie met us and we ate lunch at Pat-A-Cake, a cute little restaurant on the courthouse square. Virgie, as is natural for her, chatted with the owner, a British guy, questioning how he came to own a restaurant in Wharton, Texas. He told her, but I guess I wasn't really listening, because I don't remember.

After lunch, we went inside the courthouse, which has recently been renovated. The outside looks wonderful. Utilitarian wings, which had been added to increase interior space, were removed during the renovation, restoring the building to its original beauty. We briefly looked around inside, but other than the courtroom, an office is an office. We didn't go to the second floor. Most of the departments that are usually found in a courthouse are now housed in other (way less glamorous) buildings that were formerly clothing, variety, grocery, and hardware stores. I hope the folks that decided to spend the enormous amount of money on the courthouse are happy with that (while lovely) insufficient symbol of the past.

We then walked the blocks surrounding the courthouse square, wandering around in the many antique shops that exist in buildings that once housed other retail stores. Didn't find anything we wanted to buy, but recognized a lot of things that we considered way too young to be an antique. Shouldn't antiques be at least 100 years old?

I called Virgie just a little while ago. She is still at the bay...still without power at her home in Houston after 13 days. After visiting me (and the Wharton County courthouse) on Tuesday, she drove to Goliad on Wednesday to tour their courthouse. She pronounced our the "winner." On Thursday she drove to (I think) Port Aransas and also visited with her sister-in-law. When I talked to her today, she was with a friend from Port Alto, but I didn't catch where they were. If anyone can make lemonade out of lemons, it's Virgie!

Upgraded

After our facials, Carolyn and I went to the AT&T store looking at cell phones. Carolyn said her RAZR had been dropped so many times on her concrete floors that she worried that it wouldn't last much longer. I've had my cell phone for a really long time, and it looks like it. I've dropped it in a puddle once. After it dried out it was fine. I used it in the shower recently...I didn't get it in the water, but the conversation went on for quite a while, so the steamy atmosphere made it quite working until I took it apart and let it dry out. Anyway, I've been considering a new phone for about a year, but just didn't see what I wanted at my usual stores...Walmart, Best Buy, etc. I've never actually looked in the AT&T store before.

I wasn't going to look today, but decided to go on in after a few minutes. The sales associate was showing Carolyn an IPhone3G. I don't need all those features, but it was really cool. I looked at a few others with QWERTY keyboards, but, geez, the keys are small. And the IPhone is really cool. I decided I would just think about it for a while. About a minute later, before I knew what was happening, I heard myself say, "I want that phone!" So, I bought it. Along with a Jawbone Bluetooth thingy, a car charger and a gel case. It's really cool. But, I don't know much about what I'm doing. I was trying to use the Bluetooth while I talked to Robin and hung up on her at least 3 times.

The last phone I got didn't even have a camera, but the manual was about 1/2 inch thick. It told you EVERYTHING. This phone does internet and email and GPS, you can watch movies and television (just what I need, another screen to watch!) and download ITunes. It's really packed with goodies. One little booklet which has a few pages and teeny tiny type warns you about using it in explosive atmospheres, etc. The other little (booklet is to generous to describe it) pamphlet has bigger type and pictures of the screens and tells you what you can do, but is too polite to actually tell you how to do it. I suspect it's fairly user-friendly, but it looks like this user is going to need a couple of weeks to get acquainted before we get friendly.

Carolyn ended up buying one, too, and has been texting me madly. The texting is similar to instant messaging. I finally told her I was working in Quicken and to leave me alone. She had already set up her email account and downloaded some email and looked up an address for Brent. The last I talked to her, she was downloading music.

I need a tutorial. But, it's really cool! Can't wait to get to an internet page and turn the phone sideways to get a wide view. How cool is that!

Soft as a baby's butt

I've had a busy day. Carolyn and I went to Rosenburg this morning where she treated me to a facial. This is the first one I have ever had in my life. Wow! I intend to have more of them. My face feels soft and healthy and I don't see any dead skin cells...even when I use my 10X mirror.

About 10X mirrors...if you don't have one, don't get one. Nobody needs to see themself so close up. A 10X mirror is guaranteed to lead you to the dark side. Every time you pick it up you will see new tiny hairs growing out of your face. You will see nasty places on your face that you can't see without the aid of the 10X mirror. You will tweeze to a fare thee well. Why do we want to see those things? I was totally happy with my face before I got that stinking mirror. And now I can't live without it...it's like visual crack.

But, back to the facial. It was really nice. Carolyn and I are going back in 8 weeks.

Help is on the way!

Kelly's mom and step-father live in Cleveland, Texas. Until a year or so ago they lived outside of Cleveland, in the country. Hurricane Rita, in 2005, left them without power for about 2 weeks. So, they had a large generator installed, one that would run the whole house, I think. Last year, they decided that taking care of everything in the country had become a little more than they wanted to handle, so they found the home in town and sold the one in the country.

Here comes Hurricane Ike and knocks out their power. No generator at this house. It might be two weeks before power is restored. Maybe less, maybe more. Who knows? Wayne's brother Bobby bought a brand new generator a while back. Since he doesn't need the generator, Wayne asked if he would let Kathy and John use it. Of course, he said yes. Wayne picked it up Sunday and they loaded it into Kelly's truck this morning. He stopped by to pick up the cake I was sending...wouldn't you want a cake?...and I saw that in addition to the generator the back of the truck was filled to capacity with coolers of ice and containers of gasoline. Kelly said his hope was that if he got into an accident the melting ice would put out the gasoline fire.

There were multiple calls between me and Wendy and Kelly and Kathy to determine what else they could use. I offered flashlights (with batteries,) water, instant coffee, crackers, chips, cans of vienna sausages, peanut butter, and other things that escape my memory now. They really didn't need any of that, but Kathy needed Diet Coke. I understand that completely. When Kelly stopped by here, he put a diet coke in one of the coolers so his mom could have an icy one as soon as he got there.

I talked to Wendy at 12:30; she hadn't heard from Kelly, but she had been in class. He should have been there by then. I know they were happy to see him. We offered the bay house to them, but the logistics of moving themselves, Kathy's mom Shorty, 2 dogs and 2 parrots in addition to clothes and supplies seemed pretty daunting. They're riding it out in Cleveland.

Mii Bowling and the Bad Guy

My reward for spending 50 to 60 minutes doing the Wii Fit exercises is to go Wii Bowling. You do it just like alley bowling, using the arrows on the alley to aim your ball...adjusting as necessary. I've gradually gotten better and Thursday night I actually threw 8 strikes in a row, bowling a 256 and then a 247, bowling 7 strikes in a row in that game.

Before I bowled those two games we had a little excitement in the neighborhood. Someone came flying down our road and turned onto the road where Carolyn and Wendy live. He (I'm guessing "he") turned into each of their driveways and then apparently abandoned his car there on the road. A short while later, a cop car started patrolling their area, looking for the bad guy. A little while after that a second cop car joined the hunt. Carolyn and Wendy talked on the phone and then Carolyn called me (about a mile away) to let me know what was going on. They had already called the neighbors and wanted me to call Dee and Gary and let them know. This was after 10, maybe close to 11. This was also after Wayne had spent most of the day boarding up our house and then going to the bay to get the golf cart and the red dog table. Chris had already picked up the little red stools. If you aren't a member of the Wendel/Rioux family, you won't know what the heck I'm talking about. The table and the stools were in the bay house that got swept away in Hurricane Carla. Those were some of the very few items that we were able to find after that hurricane.

Anyway, by the time he got back, unloaded and cleaned up it was after Carolyn had called about the bad guy. I went outside to get the keys out of Wayne's new truck and noticed a fire down in the fields. I pointed it out to Wayne, so he thought he'd better go check it out. I told him not to stop and pick up anyone, because we had a bad guy in the area. So, off he drives. About that time Robin called (she was in town staying at Chad's mom's house) and I told her about what was happening. I stood out on the driveway, looking toward Wendy's and Carolyn's, seeing the cop cars driving around. I could see Wayne's truck driving into the field and shortly afterward I realized there were more cars out there...the cop cars. There was a lot of driving around, but eventually, lights flashing, the cops managed to box Wayne in. I was still talking to Robin, telling her what was going on in the field. I said, "the cops have Dad surrounded." After 5 to 10 minutes they turned off their lights and left the farm and went back to the other area. I guess the bad guy just had to bide his time, because Carolyn told me that his car was gone by a little after 3.

After all this excitement was when I bowled the two great games. I texted Robin telling her my score. The next day she told me she was expecting that my text was going to be about the bad guy. She laughed when she saw it was about my excellent bowling.

Excellent bowling indeed! Got my reality check this morning when Carolyn and Kate came over and bowled with me. Never mind what Carolyn and I bowled...Kate (3 years old the end of July) bowled a 93! She didn't know what she was doing, of course, which makes it look even worse for me. They came back this afternoon and she didn't so well. She just couldn't get in the groove. Must have been beginner's luck this morning.

I went out late this afternoon and mowed while Wayne, Kelly, and Brent took down the boards on the first floor windows. It's nice to be able to see out again. All's right with the world!

Good Riddance, Ike!

We boarded up and moved things out of the yard so that they wouldn't become projectiles. I had hurricane supplies set out on the dining room table and put new batteries in some of the tap lights I have had for years. The lights started flickering about 10 PM, so from then on, I carried a mini-lantern, a crank-type flashlight and my cell phone everywhere I went in the house. I wore a forehead light (bought because it seemed like a great light for reading if we lost power.) I thought you might like a photo of how I looked traipsing from room to room. I found an old phone that doesn't require an electrical connection and a long cord to plug it into a jack. I put it down somewhere during all the flickering and spent the next 15 or 20 minutes trying to find it. Not that it was dark...the power would flicker off and immediately come back on...I had placed it on top of a cooler near the kitchen door and I just didn't see it. I should mention that every time the power flicked off, either the microwave or the oven would emit a high-pitched squeal. Very annoying. After about the 15th or 20th flicker, I decided to shut off both A/C systems. Of course, as soon as I did that, the power stayed on, but I waited about an hour and a half before I turned them on again.

I read a while and then I watched a movie that I had recorded a couple of weeks ago, although I could have watched DishNet. We never lost our satellite reception either. Decided to go to bed about 1 AM. I put my ear plugs in so I wouldn't hear anything and went right to sleep.

I went outside about 8 this morning and saw that an oak tree in the side yard had been blown down. Went I got to the tree, I saw that it had no roots on the exposed side. That is a low area in the yard and when we were having a lot of rain a year or so ago it stayed soggy there. I guess the roots rotted, although you couldn't tell it from the leaves. I guess that's one less tree to have to mow around. We need to trim some of the other trees, though.

I'm ready to get the boards off the windows. Maybe I can help Wayne do that. He's already been to the fairgrounds and brought Dusty back. Speaking of transporting animals, a friend sent me a series of photos depicting an Oklahoma dude transporting a bull. I thought I ought to post those here. Amazing!

Hurricane Ike Preparations

We’ve been getting ready for Ike for a couple of days. I finally went to town on Thursday (without a list) to gather some supplies and run some other errands. I didn’t even have a cup of coffee, I was in such a rush to get to town early enough to score some Vienna sausages, etc.

I stopped at Sutherland’s where I found that they had lots of flashlights (some with batteries included) in stock…so I bought some even though I have quite a few of them at home. You can’t have too many flashlights, right? I bought batteries randomly, (this is cool…I misspelled randomly and it didn’t even give me an option about changing the spelling…it just changed it while I was typing the next word…cool!) not remembering what type battery I needed. You can always use C’s and AAA’s and AA’s, can’t you. I did manage to get some D’s, as well…a real coup. They still had OSB plyboard available. I should have bought some, even though Wayne told me we had enough when I called to ask. You never have enough. A couple of our windows look like something Pa Kettle would put together.

I had to insist that Wayne not get on the ladder to cover the 2nd floor windows. They were getting covered, but not by him. We finished them up today. Robin and I helped him. Then Robin and Chad took Dusty to the fairgrounds since our “barn” will probably disintegrate. Dusty is over 30 years old, so we are reluctant to do much to improve his stall…he’ll be out on the roof before too long.

Wayne finally finished everything that he was going to do and came in about 3 and showered and ate lunch. He’s been napping ever since. He even slept through a shopping excursion that Carolyn and Kate made over here.

So, I guess after he goes to the fairgrounds to feed Dusty, we’ll be hunkering down to wait for the big winds.

Cornbread Dressing

I made a double batch of cornbread dressing on Saturday.

The way it started was I was going to the grocery store. On the way I decided to add a roasted chicken to my very organized Excel spreadsheet list. (Mentally added it, I was driving.) Realizing that we usually finish only half of the chicken (unless I think to ask one of the girls if they want half of it,) I decided I would take half of it to Dee and Gary who had just gotten home from more than a month in the hospital. Once I decided that, I thought, "Ooh, I should make some dressing to go with the chicken." So, at the store I remembered to add all the items I needed to carry out my plan.

At home I made a double recipe of Egg Bread. This is the cornbread my mother always used for her dressing recipe. As a special treat when I was a kid, my mom would make this Egg Bread and then cook some Little Smokie sausages. She baked the egg bread in a jelly roll pan, I think, which made it turn out not so high...about an inch or so. The batter was fairly thin and the top would get nice and crusty from the 2 cups of buttermilk, an egg and the shortening in the mix. A square of that, spread with margarine and then stuffed with a little smokie or two...omigosh! I can taste it now! I'll put the recipe in here somewhere.

I wanted to use my new Cuisinart food processor that I had purchased a few days earlier. Of course, that meant I had to remove it from the box and packing, figure out how to take it apart, wash and dry it and then read the manual to figure out how to put it back together and use it. It actually came with a DVD, but I didn't have time for that...maybe someday. Finally, I got my onions and celery finely chopped. (If I had just used my mini-prep chopper, or even my 25 or 30 year old GE food processor that sounds vaguely like a helicopter, it would have been much faster and easier, but nooooo, I went the whole 9 yards.

I guess my point here is that this was another project (like cake decorating) that sounds like such a good idea at first but about half way through is not much fun anymore. Really, making the dressing is not hard at all, it was just the food processor activity that made it drag on.

The double recipe makes a boat load of dressing, well over a gallon. I split it up, then got the chicken and halved it, grabbed the bag of fresh spinach I also got for them and headed to their house. Gary was at the kitchen table and we visited a while before Dee took me to see how their bedroom looks. She's been wanting to redecorate in there for years and had finally ordered new bedding just before Gary went into the hospital. Since the contractors were working there on other things, she got them to paint the bedroom. It looks lovely. She's very happy with the new look.

Egg Bread

Sift together:
1 1/2 cups white corn meal
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda

Add:
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk

Mix until blended. Meanwhile melt
2 tablespoons shortening in hot (450F) oven

Add hot drippings to cornbread mixture and mix well. Pour into hot pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes.

(In the good old nutritionally ignorant days, we used bacon grease instead of shortening. Ooooh!)
Just in case you think the recipe is missing something, there is no sugar or baking powder in it.

I cooked a (pie)pan of dressing for Wayne and I on Saturday. Then on Monday, I cooked a (pie)pan of dressing for Wendy and for Carolyn and another small batch for Wayne and I. As I said, it makes a boatload of dressing. I only doubled the recipe this time. At Christmas and Thanksgiving I quadruple it! Got to have leftovers, right?

Mii and my Wii

Robin won a Wii at a drawing a while back. So, we started having a Game Night every now and then. Wendy, Carolyn and I go to Robin's little house and play games. We started out with the games that came with the Wii...sports like tennis, bowling, golf, boxing and baseball. I actually do okay with most of them. The game tells us when we need to rest. You can get quite winded in some of them.

A person can rent games at video rental businesses, so Robin rented one or two to see what game was enough fun to actually buy. A favorite was Mario Kart. A steering wheel that the game controller fits into is available so that you kind of feel that you are really driving. The steering wheel isn't necessary, but we now have four of them! Some of the games (for instance, boxing) require an additional controller, called a nunchuk. You hold a controller in one hand and the nunchuk in the other so that you can throw a punch with either hand. We all box like girls, but I assume we'd get better if we boxed more often.

Once we had Mario Kart, that's about all we played. Lots of different vehicles to choose from as well as many different circuits with various tracks in each circuit. Some are more fun than others. One is in the sky and I always get sweaty palms when we do that one. When there is only one player, the whole screen is devoted to that player. With two players, the screen is divided in half, and so on. You really need a bigger screen when four players are driving. Especially when two of the players are near-sighted. Sometimes we lose focus and then realize that the car we thought we were driving (and doing really well!) was actually someone else's and our car has been spinning it's wheels against a boulder.

At first, we all had to stand to drive...don't ask me why, we just felt like we needed to stand. I imagine it would have been very entertaining to watch us from behind...lots of english employed to make it around curves and through tight spaces. But now we're able to sit and feel like we know what we're doing.

I must say that our language has suffered somewhat. We probably would not want the little ones around while we play Mario Kart. The room is punctuated with many shouts of "Crap!", "Damn it!!!" and worse as our carts or bikes crash or get blown up by each other or one of the other characters that Wii has inserted in the race.

Mii's are our individual profiles. If I log in under my Mii, I can play in new areas that I have earned by performing well in existing areas. My Mii looks kind of like me. I was able to choose from many different eyes, noses, hair, etc. You can change the color, make features wider or narrower, move them up or down, add glasses and even freckles. Sort of like a sketch artist at the police department! The Wii knows how much I weigh...but, you have to tell it how tall you are. With 20/20 hindsight I realized I should have told it I was a lot taller!

We met for Game Night last night. Wendy couldn't come because they've changed text books again and she is updating her lectures once more.

This time we did Wii Fit. This game is designed to improve one's fitness. It comes with a unit that looks rather like a double-wide scale. It weighs you, calculates your BMI and after a few balance tests gives you what it considers your fitness age. My fitness age the first time was 75! Yikes, I'm 63! I didn't do very well in the balance tests, but was able to do okay in some of the balance games...skiing and hula hoops. There were others, but I can't remember what they were. There are other parts to Wii Fit...yoga, strength training, and aerobics. You are able to set a goal and a deadline for that goal. The balance games are the most fun...obviously, because they're games, while the other (yoga, aerobics, etc.) are actually a workout.

I enjoyed it enough to purchase my own Wii, Mario Kart and Wii Fit. The only one I've actually done at home is the Wii Fit. My second session had me at a fitness age of 55. The bad score on the first attempt was more a result of inexperience. Wii keeps track of the minutes you train in each session and rewards you with new balance games (Yay!) or more difficult moves or more reps. Yay?

A fun way to improve balance and posture. I guess the housework will have to remain in last place.

Me and my bat

I don't drive anywhere without my old wooden bat in the back of my GMC Yukon. Not for protection...imagine me saying to a bad guy, "Uh, could you just wait here a minute while I get something out of the back?" No, I use my bat for mechanicking. I know, no such word, unless you're from around here.

A few years ago a friend told Wayne that there is some bug (flaw, whatever) in the fuel tank area of the GMC SUVs. The bat is my only mechanicking knowledge, so I can't tell you what the problem is...only how you might be able to fix it. Since Chevrolet Tahoes supposedly roll off the same assembly line as the Yukons, this might apply to them, as well.

Here's what happens. You get all your stuff together: purse, grocery list, recyclables, water, library books, and hop behind the wheel. You stick the key in and turn it. It sounds like it's going to start, but it doesn't. After a very brief couple of seconds, you try again. Again, it doesn't start. Okay, one more time. Same result. Crap! Luckily for me, before this ever occurred for the first time, our friend had told Wayne about his experience. Evidently, after taking his truck to the (real) mechanic a time or two, he was told about the bug (flaw) and it was suggested that he get down on the ground near the gas tank, reach under and give the gas tank a whack. Whatever the bug is, apparently the whack takes care of it and the engine will now turn over.

For some reason I remembered this story that Wayne had gotten from our friend. So, I got down by the gas tank, but didn't feel like I could apply the whack with the proper intensity. What with the running board, the gas tank was a bit too far from the edge of the car. Looking around our garage, I saw the bat. I got back down so I could see where the gas tank was, stuck the bat under the car and using only one hand (really, how could I have used both hands?) and just the force from a wrist flex, I gave it a couple of whacks. Got in the car, turned the key and it started right up! That's when I put the bat in the back of the car. I can't remember if it has ever happened anywhere other than the garage or not. If it did, I'm sure I only had one knee on the ground to steady myself and did not look like I was taking a pee in the parking lot.

It just happened again, in the garage, as I was heading over to Carolyn's house to retrieve my glasses. And, once again, the bat did the trick. I would guess that this has occurred about 5 times in the last several years. A couple of whacks with the bat and I'm on my way again.

I just realized it's more likely that the first time it happened, I called Wayne. I'm guessing he came to the house and HE remembered the story. But, it's been all me ever since.

Nothing much to tell

Five and a half months since my last post. Tsk, tsk! Well, what can I say? The cows quit trying to rest by my house.

The only reason I started a blog in the first place was to keep everyone up to date on Wayne's condition during his surgery and recovery. Then, I started putting in things about the grandchildren. Well, now I have a blog for the Garners and I just started one for the Bubela's. It's ready to post, that is. I haven't actually put anything on it yet. I have links to those two blogs somewhere over to the right. I know, it makes no sense to start two more blogs...but I thought that the grands other grandparents would enjoy just the stories, photos and videos of the little ones without having to suffer through my other silliness. Cow conversations...really!

Cow conversations

I inadvertently eavesdropped on the conversation among a group of cows that had settled down with their calves for a little cud chewing and a “bull” session next door to us. The cows belong to our neighbors, Doris and Steve. I guess the mamoos wanted the calves to rest a bit. But then, here I came on my big, noisy Land Pride riding lawn mower. They didn’t seem too bothered when I mowed the far side of the yard, or the front yard , or the front part across the driveway and next to the road. They started to take notice, however, when I started on the side yard just feet from their spot across the fence. Of course, I picked this up through ESP, because the mower is too loud to allow regular conversation.

Brown cow #1 (Bossy): “Omigod! Is it that time of the year already?”

Brown cow #2 (Bessie): “It seems to come around sooner every year.”

Brown cow #3 (Maybelle): “The first really pretty day in a while and we have to listen to that junk!”

Black cow #1 (Lois): “It doesn’t even have a beat! And it’s so loud! You know she’ll ruin her hearing. I just don’t get what she likes about it.”

Bossy: “What I don’t get is why she just goes round and round on that noisy thing. It doesn’t even look like fun.”

Maybelle: “And just when we got the little ones to settle down. Now they’ll be up, running and jumping all over the place!”

Bessie: “It’s always the same, as soon as the grass gets tall enough for a nice graze, she runs around on that noisemaker till it’s too short to get your teeth into it.”

Lois: “I’ve heard stories for years about her. Do you know that one time instead of chopping the hay out of her flowerbeds, she set fire to it? Wouldn’t have taken a minute to pack it up and toss it over the fence to us instead.”

Bessie: “My grandmoo saw her picking dewberries with our Doris one time. Grandmoo said she actually jumped over a ditch full of water because she thought the ones on the other side looked bigger.”

Maybelle: “What would folks say if we did the same kind of thing? Imagine if we tried to crawl through a fence just because the grass looked greener on the other side? We’d never hear the end of it!”

A little while after I finished mowing, I thought I’d take the camera out to get a photo of the group. I tried to be non-intrusive, but this is what I heard them say.

Maybelle: “Now, what’s she doing? Skulking behind those bushes and looking at us!”

Bessie: “What’s that thing she pointing at us?”

Maybelle: “I’ve had enough! I’m outta here.”

She gets up and walks away. Two or three of the other cows and their calves line up after her and leave, also.

Lois: “See you on the other side of the pasture, girls.”

Bessie and Bossy watch Lois walk away.

Bossy: “Would you look at the rump on her?”

Bessie: “Well, I know some folks like a little junk in the trunk.”

Bossy: “I’m just saying.”

Bessie: “Whatever…let’s get going before they step all over the hay.”

And they left…single file.

The Big 4-3

Yesterday Wayne and I celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary! We went out to dinner...by ourselves and enjoyed a nice meal at Greek Brothers. Amazingly, I don't think we talked about the kids or grandkids once, although we talked the entire time. Guess what subject dominated our conversation....you guessed it! Health, or the lack of it...ours and friends. We spoke of the many people we had recently learned had cancer, where they were being treated and how it was going. What a sad thing to have to admit. We ended this date with a quick trip through the grocery store.

Here's one of the photos from our wedding album. It's after the ceremony at Taiton and we're being driven to the Magnolia Tea Room in El Campo for the reception. My dad and mom and Aunt Ludene are in the front seat of the family car. The reception, by the way, set my dad back the grand sum of $300. Such a deal!

Carlee on the move

Just ten days ago I said that Carlee could only roll to reach her destinations. What a change since that time! Now she's almost manic in her attempts to traverse the distance from one place to another. At this point, it's still the military crawl..."She walks, she talks, she caaarrrawls on her belly like a reptile," but she manages to cover a lot of ground, with a lot of vocalizations as she's doing it. In this video, she sounds like she's saying, "I got it! I got it!" about a ball that she got, lost, got again and then abandoned on her way to my foot.

Sweet Carlee

Carlee is 9 months old now. How time has flown! She can sit by herself, but only after someone has helped into that position. She hasn't figured out how to crawl. Instead, she rolls. She has an idea of where she wants to go and rolls back and forth, adjusting as needed, until she gets there. She also hasn't tried to pull herself up. Until last week, if you tried to get her to stand, she would slowly lift her legs into a sitting position...while being held in mid-air. She must have some fabulous abs!

This video looks like she's doing a little sleight of hand with the balls that come out of this "gumball" machine. She handles them so effortlessly.

She loves the pumpernickel bread song on one of the Barney shows and watches intently whenever we play it for her. We can always get her to smile when we sing it to her. Carlee loves her big sister, Kate. Kate is very sweet with her and is very good at making her laugh.

It seems like I'm always talking about the bigger kids, so that's why I wanted to let you know a little about our sweet Carlee.