Happy Anniversary!

Apparently I've used Happy Anniversary as a post title before, because it filled itself in.  I'm not sure who it was intended for in the other post, but this time it's for Edie & Glenn, who invited us, along with two other couples, to celebrate their 13th anniversary.

We met at Scheller's in Glen Flora, one of my favorite places to eat.  After several rounds of drinks, lots of laughs and a good dinner, we left the restaurant just before they had to eject us!  We were there at least an hour past closing time.

The traditional 13th anniversary gift is lace.  Edie told Glenn she would give him something lacy. Thinking fast, Glenn asked a couple of good-looking women who had just stood up to leave, "Are either of you named Lacey?"  Fortunately for Glenn, the answer was "No, sorry."

We had a really great time...thanks for including us at your special celebration!

Christmas at the Bubela's

Wayne woke me up at 7:30 this morning...(what the?)...to see what time I wanted to go to Carolyn and Brent's to take our gifts for the little ones.  "Not this early," I replied.  I was thinking of going about 10:00.  "Why do you have a flashlight?", I asked just before I realized it was his iPhone.  Carolyn had texted him a Merry Christmas greeting and he seemed to want to reply...maybe he didn't remember how to do it.  He's fairly new at having a smartphone.

When I got my new iPhone, the 4G-S, I gave him my old one and suggested that he mess around with it and get familiar with it.  He was long overdue for an upgrade and I thought he might want to consider the iPhone.  He had it for about a month before he decided to upgrade.  I went with him to the AT&T store, but they didn't have one in stock.  He's been on the waiting list for several weeks.  When he checked with them a day or two ago they told him he was in the #3 spot.

Even though he wasn't able to buy a new iPhone at that time, we did have them activate my old one (a 3G-S) for him.  Now he's pretty much like the rest of us smartphone users.  See the photos below for the big age difference in users... Jax at 2 and Wayne at 68.

At a soccer match...I love the look on his face

Surrounded by onlookers

Shortly after this, he got out of the wagon and went to a chair surrounded by adults.  He was tired of the boys hovering over him.

Moving from Carlee's match to Kate's match...he never looked up!

Checking the weather or something

The video below shows the girls in the inflatable Karts we gave them for playing Mario Kart on the Wii.  It was a huge help to them.  The remote fits into the steering wheel of the inflatable and they have better control of the Kart onscreen.  Can't wait to give the boys theirs when we go to the Garner's this afternoon!

But first, here's one more shot of Jax.  They had removed the steering wheel from the Karts while they did other activities in the playroom (dancing, I think).  Jax got a new electronic thingy from us for Christmas and he decided the Kart was the perfect place to lounge while he figured it out.

Christmas Eve

Luckily for me, even though this is Christmas Eve, I don't have to be ready for any activities occurring here tomorrow.  Wayne and I will go to Carolyn & Brent's house, taking some gifts for the children.  Then we will go to Wendy & Kelly's, taking some gifts for their children.  All of them, including Robin and Chad, will come to our house to open more gifts on the day after Christmas.

So, the photo below shows the state of gifts at our house.  Everything has been wrapped, with names written in Sharpie on the bottom of the package, but no ribbons, bows, or nametags have been applied. 

Instead of doing the fancifying (ribbons, bows, nametags), I watched a movie I had recorded some months ago.  Then I took a shower and washed my hair.  When I came downstairs Wayne suggested we go out to eat dinner "since we didn't have anything we needed to do."  I declined the dinner invitation, listing the fancifying that still needed to be done (or not...who cares?)  And he offered to help...big surprise as he's never helped with any of that before.  I'll take him up on it if he ever remembers that he offered.  At the time he was watching the Cowboys on television.  (They must have been losing because he's only interested in watching them lose.)

Meanwhile, I started to make a pecan pie to take to Wendy and Kelly's tomorrow.  They invited us to eat dinner with them.  I had just gotten the crust in the pie plate when there was a knock on the door.  A neighbor, Raul, came with tamales right out of the pot to sell us.  I had been wondering where he was, because he usually comes earlier than Christmas Eve.  I was glad to see him, but due to a lack of freezer space, could only take three dozen.  He went to his truck to get the tamales while Wayne and I scrounged up the money, including quarters, to pay him.  Wayne opened one of the packages of tamales and we ate the whole dozen in just a few minutes.  They were excellent!  Wayne put his on a plate, but I ate mine over the trash can, washing them down with a can of beer. 

I finished making the pie and it's in the oven now...so, I thought this would be a good time to get this post done.  Now, I need to log onto NORAD to see where Santa Claus is right now.  I hope the link works...my connection is a bit slow at the moment and I wasn't able to test it.

Merry Christmas!

They Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Gage and Zane's piano teacher, Mrs. Johnson, arranges for her students to play Christmas music each year for the elderly residents at the Wincrest Assisted Living facility.  Gage, a 3rd grader, has taken lessons for about 2 1/2 years...Zane, a 1st grader, began taking lessons during the past summer.

Zane

Gage

Cousin Christmas

We don't call it Cousin Christmas, although that's actually a pretty good name for it. The seven Wendel/Rioux first cousins (with their families) have been celebrating Christmas together for many, many years... 30 years, to be exact, beginning in 1981.  By that time, most of the children of the first cousins had been born. Only Elliott and Thomas were yet to make their entry into the world.  We have continued having our get together during the Christmas season every year since then, alternating the place where we meet.

The children of the first cousins are second cousins. (Well, that's not entirely accurate...it's a little more complicated than that...but, this isn't the time to explain, other than to suggest I might have used "generation" in place of "cousin".)  Many of them are now married and have children of their own... the third cousins (again, not quite accurate). Currently there are 22 third cousins  with more to come, almost certainly. While some of the second cousins have completed their families, others have not even begun their families.

We never have everyone attend our Christmas get together. It's just too much to hope for with that many people. We are just glad to see the ones who can come.  We meet, we snack, we have dinner, we visit, we sing, and we laugh a lot. Oh, and we drink a little too!  And we really laugh when we're singing... especially when we break into groups and sing the final song "The 12 Days of Christmas", where it's not uncommon to forget what group you belong to and when to sing your part.

But enough of this little prologue. It's time to look at a few photos from yesterday's party.  I'm hopeful that there's a video at the bottom of this post, too...with a song for you.

Special thanks to Virgie and Bo for hosting, and also to Carolyn and Brent for providing the child-friendly venue!

Christy and Carolyn chatting.  Aunt Janie holding Maggie, the youngest 3rd cousin

Tracy and Wendy enjoying the great snacks!

Looks like little boys and their toys.

The big boys chilling outside.

Snacks

Virgie and Maggie

Janet, Virgie and Bo

Thomas and Tom Rioux; me and Anne Rioux

Dinner!

Time to eat!

The songbooks are out...time for carols.

Carolyn, Andy, Jax...Robin and Janie at the end of the table.

There I am!

Hannah and Maggie

Electrifying the Village

I couldn't resist showing this photo I took this afternoon. I found some accessories for the village on the mantle at Walmart this afternoon...little lampposts and people. I think they are soooo cute!  They didn't have very many...at that particular store, but I'm pretty sure that's a good thing...I can picture myself going overboard...because they're just soooo cute!

Curses!

Well, I didn't intend to go to much trouble for the mantle this year, but it looked so plain when I finished the first model that I started dragging out all the boxes of the trains and the villages.

It wasn't fun I can tell you... I started cursing almost immediately. I put it up and I took it down and started over. I'd get it halfway done and then realize I needed something under it, or behind it...and it all had to come down again. 

And I'm still not completely happy with it. I don't think the lighting is good enough. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's okay. Especially when you consider how few people will see it.

Maybe one of these days I can do it without the cussing.  Bah!

Done!

And it's done. Well, the tree, anyway.  I got busy after breakfast this morning and finished putting the decorations on the tree. The photos below show different parts of the tree because it looks better than the tree as a whole.Well, that's not really what I meant to say. I took a picture of the whole, completed tree, but what really stands out are the lights...so much so that you don't see the ornaments. So the best way to look at it, in a photo anyway, is just little bits at a time.

I'm pretty happy with it. I did leave off quite a few small ornaments this year. They were the little wooden ones that I painted so long ago. There's also a box of small ornaments that a neighbor gave me and I usually use those but for some reason I didn't open that box this year.

Next, I need to hang the stockings. There are 13 of them...that's if I don't include pets. I used to include Robin's dog, but now she has three dogs and Wendy has a cat, so no pet stockings this year.

I think I'll keep the mantle a little more simple this year. Last year there were trains, a village , and trees...in addition to all the stockings. We'll see.

The snowman is the first ornament on the tree every year.  Wade brought that home from pre-school our last Christmas with him.  The popcorn ornament said "Wayne" to me.

I bought the leaf ornament while I was at Mirror Lake last year.

It doesn't have to be expensive to look pretty on a Christmas tree.  The green ornament was in a box of 6 for $4.  In this photo you can also see glittery pipecleaners twisted into spirals.

The tractor was also for Wayne.  I made the baby in the sleeper a few years after the Tyrolean characters. Age has not been kind to this ornament...the baby looks like Lizzy Borden has taken an ax to her head!

The santa working on the tire was for Wayne.  I made the grandma in green and the angel in the egg shell.

I bought this Santa in overalls because it reminded me of Wayne.  I made the Tyrolean figure...made about a dozen of them in the early 70's.

Super cool

I've had my new iPhone for two or three weeks now and I just looked up Siri and how to use it on the Internet.

It turns out that I can go to any app that has a keyboard, and I can touch the microphone by the keyboard and start to dictate and it will type it in for me.  It does a pretty good job, but sometimes it gets my words wrong so that I have to edit it.

I'm hoping that pretty soon it will understand me better and not have so many errors. My main problem will be that I can't really think and talk at the same time... although that has never stopped me before. This whole post was dictated with just a few corrections. I actually think it is getting better already.

Very cool!

Ready or not...I begin

I started to put the tree up a few days ago. I went so far as to drag everything out of the closet...except the tree. Then I got distracted and ignored it all for several days.

After breakfast today, however, I got back to it. It only took 30 minutes to get to this point...(tree put together)...and that includes bringing all necessities from all the various storage areas. So, I thought that deserved a quick post and a pat on the back. I was considering a cup of coffee and a cookie, but have decided that's not going to move the process along.

It just started raining...sounds like a good, hard rain. We'll see how long it lasts. I think we got about 14,000 drops earlier this week. It would be great if it rained all day.  (Update on the rain...it lasted about an hour, but it was welcome...)

Update on the tree, too...I worked on it for a little while, then stopped to make hamburgers.  After I ate, I made a cup of coffee and headed upstairs where I got on the computer, uploaded photos from the Pride Build to Flickr, and was busy working a couple of online jigsaw puzzles when I remembered I needed to finish this post.

Guess I'll get back to the Christmas tree a little later.

Thanksgiving-Getting Started

We are having our family Thanksgiving tomorrow...the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  Since I provide the turkey and dressing...along with a few other dishes; gravy, noodles with croutons, pecan pie...it's time for me to get started.

I've already baked the biscuits.  I used to make my own biscuits, then I started using the frozen biscuits.  But for the last couple of years I have used canned biscuits...Pillsbury Grands Homestyle Butter Tastin.  According to the recipe that I faithfully follow, I used 12 grands last year.  So, I baked the same amount this year.  This year I cut the biscuits in half before baking them...more surface to get crusty.  After I took them out of the oven and let them cool a bit, I broke them into quarters and put them back in the oven that I had turned down to 300 and left them for another 10 minutes.  I wanted them to be a bit more crusty.  I will break them up more before I add them to the dressing.  I think I might have used the food processor last year.  Or maybe I didn't...I didn't make a note about using it. 

And now it's time to make the cornbread.  Or Egg Bread, in this case.  It's what my mom always used in her dressing, so it's what I always use.  There's no sugar in this recipe, so there is no vaguely sweet flavor to the dressing.

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 oven

Add hot drippings to cornbread mixture and mix well.  Pour into hot pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes in 450º F oven.


I make a quadruple recipe of dressing, so I make a quadruple recipe of the egg bread.  I bake it in a large (almost 12" X almost 16" X 2") Wilton cake pan.  When I pour the quadrupled recipe in the cake pan, it comes to within about 1/2" of the top.  I'm watching it now as it bakes and it has come level to the top of the pan, but I don't remember it spilling over in the past so I'm assuming that it isn't going to make a mess in the oven.

I've also already made the croutons.  I used half a loaf of white bread, cut into small cubes.  I melted a stick and a half of butter in the big Wilton cake pan  and then dumped the bread cubes in and stirred.  I put it in a 375 oven, stirring every few minutes.  I think it was in there for 20 to 25 minutes. 

Meanwhile, I have been doing battle with a fly in the kitchen.  I saw it just as soon as I started eating my oatmeal.  I've made several attempts to execute it with my battery powered fly swatter, but it has evaded my attacks.  It sits waiting while I approach.  Then it flies away without my being able to touch it with the electrified grid head of the paddle...it looks like a smallish tennis racket.  When it flies away, I'm left standing there with a bewildered expression on my face, trying to locate its new perch.  I've wasted a bit of time during my fly hunt.  All the baked goods are covered with clean dish towels, though, so the fly can't get to them.

The egg bread just came out of the oven.  Of course, I had to test it...a small slice with butter.  I pronounce it "good!"

I might be back later on, when I actually put everything together and create the dressing.  Here's a photo of the biscuits, croutons, and egg bread. Oh, and my rock. It's my favorite rock of all time.  Smooth, a slightly flattened egg-shape.  I love it...don't judge me.

Port Alto Plus

The girl friends and I are always looking for a chance to spend some quality time together.  About mid-September it came together, quickly, and we got to do just that!  Carole came from Concan.  Wanda came from Austin.  Dee and I came from Crescent.  Virgie came from Houston.  Patricia came from Richmond, Janie and Dot were able to come for only one day...but, it was a good day!

The photo below shows how beautiful it was...at the moment the photo was taken, anyway.  The weather did change a bit and we had a wonderful thunderstorm that lasted quite a while, I think.  This all happened about six weeks ago, so I might not get everything exactly right.

A correction might be made at this time concerning the post when I said that I thought I saw a shark in the shallow water down toward the public beach.  During this trip to Port Alto, we saw a dolphin very close to the shore.  It was in and out under Janie's pier and at one point it did the quick swoosh turn that I had seen before.  The water it was in couldn't have been much more than a foot and a half deep!  Since we saw what we knew was a dolphin perform that movement, I have doubts that what I saw before was actually a shark.
Thank goodness!

When I was looking at Facebook one day, I noticed a page for Lavaca Bluffs Vineyard and Winery...at Lolita.  Lolita!!!  I wasn't sure I knew exactly where Lolita was located, but I knew it was fairly near the bay.  So, I did a little research and found out that it was within 20 miles or so of Port Alto.  When we were getting the bay plans together, I suggested we make a trip to the winery for a tasting.  Everyone seemed very happy to try out the little winery in such an unlikely spot.

The tastings occur on Saturday and Sunday or by appointment.  Since we wanted to have our tasting on Monday, I called and talked to Beth, the owner, and she was happy to accommodate us.  That's the day Dot and Janie came.  Patricia wasn't able to stay.  I think she was hosting Mah Jong the next day.

Lavaca Bluffs Vineyard and Winery overlooks the Lavaca River.  The owners, Beth and Doug Reed, met us in the tasting room and explained how they came to be there.  Then Doug started opening wines, describing them and pouring them into our glasses.  They had wonderfully descriptive names and Doug explained them while also giving us snippets of Texas history.  Unfortunately for me, I paid about as much attention as I did when I was taking Texas history...because, I remember very little of what he said.  It was interesting at the time, though.

After the tasting, we each bought at least one bottle of our favorite wine.  We also bought a bottle to enjoy on their deck as the sun was making a dip toward the horizon beyond the river.  We unpacked our cheese, pate, strawberries, etc., and made ourselves at home...expecting to see a great sunset.

Doug said that they grow some varieties of grapes to be used in the wine they make on the premises, but this year they had purchased either six tons, or six thousand pounds (I can't remember now which it was) from other grower.

As it got nearer to sunset a huge bank of clouds moved in, obscuring the exact area where the sun would go down.

We decided to make a run for Port Alto, hoping we would see the last of the sunset.  Once the decision was made, we looked as if we had just robbed the place...tossing all our things in bags as quickly as we could and racing to the car.  We hadn't been on the road for more than a minute when I looked out the back window and saw the most amazingly beautiful sunset!  Oh, ye of little faith!  If only we had stayed.

I don't know why we didn't at least stop the car to admire the sunset and maybe take a photo, but we didn't.  All in all, however, we decided it was a fun excursion and we will probably do it again sometime.  Meanwhile, if you are interested in the winery, perhaps booking your own tasting ($5 per person and you get to keep the glass...such a deal!) click here.

A Blog Makeover

I tried the updated Blogger interface and can't decide whether I like it or not.  Actually, I like it fine, but it looks so different from what I had before that I worried that the two or three of you who look at it would think they were in the wrong place.  So, I tried to change it back.  But, it still looks different.  The only thing that reverted back to the old interface is the area where I type my post before publishing. 

I guess...in that case...the new interface is fine. 

Nothing going on here...just reading.

I have just not had much to write about, so I did you all a favor and didn't force it.  But, today I was inspired by a sight I saw at Walmart.  After picking up a prescription and making a quick run through the bread aisle I headed to the express checkout counter.  On the way there I spotted a man browsing the book department.  His back was toward me...and I'm thanking my lucky stars...because his whole backside was exposed.  His underwear was under his butt and his pants were even further down!  I stopped short and turned around to see if anyone else was nearby and seeing what I was seeing.  Nope.  Only me.  When I turned back around he was pulling up his underwear, so apparently that wasn't a look that he was trying for.  But, in pulling up the undies his pants lost their grip and fell to his ankles.  I started walking again and acted like I hadn't noticed anything.  As far as I know, he wasn't particularly worried that he might have been seen.

I do wonder what he was reading, though.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to Robin & Chad!  Just two years ago we were in the middle of a full day of fun, food, and photos!

Honeymoon feet

Spending time with the grandsons

I got to stay with Jax while the rest of his family went to Houston to watch Kaiti (our great-niece) play volleyball for HBU.  Kaiti, a freshman at HBU, played quite a bit in all three games and did really good, Carolyn said.

After his snack, we went outside.  Jax immediately got on the little electric John Deere tractor that had belonged to Gage and Zane.  The Garners' gave it to Jax this year and he LOVES it!  It has two gears, slow and fast.  He likes it fast.  Carolyn said she put it in 1 (slow) for him to get out of the garage recently since he had to navigate around her car.  But, he put it in 2 (fast) and did a good job at not hitting anything.  He goes down the driveway, makes the loop and comes back up.  Then he circles whatever might be outside the garage and heads back down the driveway again.  Occasionally he will stop and just sit there for a while.  Maybe his foot gets tired, because he does have to keep the foot feed pressed down.

You can't keep from laughing while watching him.  There's no slowing down...it's either going full bore or it's stopped.  When the foot feed is released it's as if a brake is pressed...it skids to a quick stop.  So, he seems to fly around obstacles...laughing at us as he goes by.  I heard the skidding when he was putting the tractor back in the garage.  He went flying in and my eyes widened, thinking he was going to plow into the back wall.  But, no...he lifted his foot just in time.  I heard it skid to a stop without hitting the wall.  Then he looked at me and laughed. 

I laugh every time I watch the video below.  He seems to be a good little driver.  At times he will kind of hunch over the steering wheel as if he's really going to speed up.  I think he just knows he's funny.

After he had made a few loops around the driveway, we walked across the field to visit the Garners.  Kelly was watering trees, but Gage and Zane came outside and the three boys had a good time on the swing set, mostly sliding.

By the time we had been there about an hour, it was getting close to Jax's lunchtime so we headed back across the field.  He was tired and I heard him say nite-nite once while he rested his head on my shoulder as I carried him to the house.

After lunch we went upstairs to his room.  He sat down on the floor and put on a little baseball glove and indicated that I should sit down, too.  He had a soft little ball that he threw to me a couple of times, but then he got in bed.  We read a couple of stories; I kissed him good night and moved to the rocker.  He hugged his Mickey lovey and never moved.  He was asleep in about 5 minutes.  What a little sweetie!

Here are a few pictures of my three grandsons spending time together.

Gage had pushed Jax, so Jax wanted to return the favor

Jax gives Mickey a hug

Sweet dreams!