On This Memorial Day

For me, it is one of the saddest holidays, and yet it is also filled with joy, knowing that such courage exists, and such sacrifices are made in defense of freedom.

I give thanks to all the men and women who paid the ultimate price so that I could speak, and worship, and complain, and demonstrate. And to do so in English.

May they never be forgotten, nor their sacrifices be in vain.

Best Mom Day, EVAH!!

So, yesterday was Mother’s Day, and the kids and Hubby surprised me with bling and a new Lolita™ wine glass. I think I am getting to be a bit predictable. Anyway, after gratuitous amounts of loving hugs and coffee, we decided to go to the outlet mall to shop for Little One since she had outgrown a ton of clothes, for which Goodwill is grateful. It was a nice day, and I find shopping therapeutic and relaxing.

I do NOT find traffic relaxing, which is why Hubby drove.

Anyway, we decided to have lunch first at a restaurant conveniently located next to Williams-Sonoma™, which is close to kryptonite for me as y’all well know. I had finished eating and figured it couldn’t do any harm to just go look. So off I went, feeling Hubby’s eyes roll as I meandered into the store. Mind you, I wasn’t planning on getting anything, until I rounded the corner and found this:

I had been looking for that size for a while, but was reluctant to pay the $$$ price tag. Seriously, three figures for that small saucepan? No way. So I checked inside for the price in case it was on sale.

$29.97???

Wha……….??

I check everywhere on that pan to see if there is another price tag. Nope, just the $29.97 one. ZOMG!!!! I run over to the checkout and ask if this is the right price and the manager says that usually the current stuff that’s returned to the outlet is priced to move, so yes. AWESOME!!! But if that wasn’t enough, it was an additional 30% off, plus 10% off for military. So my little saucepan cost $20 and change.

And no, this doesn’t mean my Le Creuset™ bargain hunting is over. It just means that I really, really have to downsize a bit more 😉

In Sadness, Joy

Yesterday was a very long day. We buckled down and cleaned and organized the garage, which meant clearing out trash, donating the useful stuff, putting up shelving, unpacking boxes, and finding long lost memories.

Like baby shoes, and photographs, and cigar butts, and school mementos, pressed flowers, and even old love letters from Hubby-before-he-was-Hubby. There were wood blocks, and old tiaras, and some old children’s books. But among all the papers and photos, there was one item that brought me to tears: my grandmother’s last letter to me.

I stood in the kitchen, reading the once-elegant and now spidery writing, thinking of the woman who wrote it. She was a very proper woman, who never went outside without a parasol to protect her from the Sun. She taught me to read and write before I started school. She loved to have us entertain her with songs. She loved red flowers, and always had cafe au lait at 3 o’clock.

I stood in the kitchen, reading her last words to me, and thinking about how much it hurt her to lose her independence those last few months of her life. She could have been bitter, but instead chose to be thankful for the small acts of kindness shown to her, and for her correspondences with her grandchildren. Knowing how we had blossomed and how we had our own families made her very happy. She told me it would be her last letter to me, since she could no longer hold a pen. As I read that my heart broke again, knowing how much she enjoyed to write. She passed away a couple of months after that, when I was pregnant with Little One. Oddly enough, Little One has the same love of writing that my grandmother had, along with her disposition! She would have been 110 years old last April 27th.

Time to plant geraniums in the garden, and enjoy the day 🙂

Blessings to All

For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.– John 3:16

Happy Easter, and may you be showered with blessings 🙂

Reflections on a Friend

Yesterday, I received some really bad news. A friend of mine passed away. We were members of the same blog, and had chatted weekly about all and sundry. I had the great fortune of meeting him a few years back. At the time, he was 29 years old, looked 18, and had the vocabulary of a drunken sailor in Singapore. He was hilarious. And unusual, because he was a person who took living very seriously.

For him, “living” meant “squeezing out every bit of enjoyment”. He didn’t put off going some place or seeing someone for another day. He felt like doing something, he would do it. Once, he decided to go find feral hogs, because he was bored. While he was at DFW on a layover, he ordered three different Mexican meals at the restaurant, because he had the opportunity right then. Ate them all, too! When I told him about the passing of my friend, who wanted PJs at her funeral, he said, “You need to wear them for her. But you need to wear lingerie for the rest of us.”

Uh, no 😀

He was rough when people were looking, and a complete gentleman when they weren’t. He loved his life, he lived it fully, and did more with it than most people do in three lifetimes. In short, he was an everyday hero.

I miss you, my friend. I weep for the loss to this world, and rejoice for the gain in Heaven. And when I see you in the future, I’ll have my comfy PJs and my llama, just so you can laugh at me again.

En Guarde

Yesterday was a glorious day. The high was 86* and the sun was shining and the geese were beginning their flights back to the Great White North.

Weather in Texas is only constant in the Summer. In the Winter, it’s a crap shoot.

Early this morning, I awoke to the sounds of the wind rustling the trees and the screens, which meant a cool front was moving through (it’s a cold front for us when the temperature drops to the 60’s, but for my readers northward, I will just stick with “cool”). Anyway, I get up and begin my rounds of coffee-making, kid-waking, and garbage-gathering, when I hear the wind topple something outside. And that meant the dogs had to bark at it.

WOOF YAP WOOF YAP YAP!!

YAP WOOF YAP YAP WOOF!!

That’s what you and I would hear.

This is what it translates to:

HEY MOM!!

SOMETHING FELL OUTSIDE!

YOU SHOULD CHECK IT.

JUST FYI…

I go over to the backdoor and open it, so they can go make sure things are fine (it was a chair that was blown over). And what do they do?

They stand away from the door, and look up at me as if to say, “MOM, OUR JOB IS TO WARN YOU. YOUR JOB IS TO TAKE CARE OF WHATEVER IS OUT THERE.”

They may not be the greatest guard dogs, but they keep us happy 🙂

Uphill, Both Ways

Today marks the start of Lent.

And if y’all know me, I go all out for it.

So, no libations of the alcoholic kind. No sweets, no fatty foods, and no sodas. In truth, I like testing my will power this way. And in the long run, I do save a few pennies, too.

I bet you’re singing it in your head now, aren’t you??

Hey, if I have to suffer, so do y’all 😉

Fancy Schmancy

I was at an antique store last week, scouring the place for cheap unmatched tea cups, and was amazed at the lovely china available. That made me think of all the lovely china I own. I have a Jones about china, and crystal. I love that stuff. It doesn’t have to match anything, either. Heck, not even my Le Creuset™ matches. My grandmother had different cups and saucer sets for all of the members in her family, and she used them every day for afternoon coffee. Mine was a beautiful Spode™ green cup with a cameo of a couple dancing. But I am always hesitant about using it. What if it chips? What if it gets scratched? What if it breaks?

Courtesy of Tea For Two

What if it stays unused on the shelf until the day I die? Why save the special stuff for special occasions? Every day is a gift, and we should make the effort to enjoy them in that manner.

So today, make sure y’all use the pretty dishes, and the best sheets, and the expensive candles, because every day is a special occasion 😉

Last Day of 2012

And thank goodness it’s over.

This year was hard. Some people would tell me that it only made me stronger. Not really. I found I was able to withstand more, but that doesn’t mean strength, necessarily. But all the bad things made me realize just how truly blessed I am. For the first time in years I don’t find myself looking back at the passing year, but rather looking forward to the coming one. I used to think my glass was half empty, and then I started thinking it was half full.

But the truth is there’s a waiter somewhere who needs to fill it 😀

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

Over the River and Through the Monte

No, not the Full Monty. Monte is what we refer to as the brush country. There are no woods around here.

Anyway, I will be gone from the blogs for a couple of days. I hope y’all have a Merry Christmas, and have a wonderful holiday!

Courtesy of Tiberius!

May the blessings of the Season envelop you throughout the coming year!!