Back in the Blog World...or Not???

The shark is from Moody Gardens in Galveston, and the other shots are from around the island. We were there when the surf was up because of one of the tropical storms.

Okay, so I started to post a day or two ago and find that I have forgotten how. I can only assume that my brilliant work did not get saved, because, well,where is it??? The deal is I've got some great pix of recent historic events and feel a need to share. So I signed on and immediately was offered the opportunity to download Picasa which will manage my photos and make sticking them into the blog an almost, dare I say pleasant, experience. Well that took a good bit of time while I experienced angst about how it would work with Kodak EasyShare and Adobe, where lots of pix already are, and where I used to know how to get to them, so what if that knowledge, once I can recall it, is no longer useful?? You can see how a person could start to doubt their wisdom. Well, I wrote a little something about our terrific Austin weekend (just past) and downloaded a picture, then somehow did something to download the exact same picture and could not for the life of me figure out how to delete one of them. And the more I looked, the more I thought I should use another picture entirely. I think that's when I shut her down, thinking, "Tomorrow is another day..."

so what I need to know is how to get the text to wrap around the pictures. I downloaded a few and they are, as you might notice if you are paying attention, all above the words, which came first and it seems like they should come after the words, but oh, well. I have to go to a shower, so I must take my leave, but rest assured there is more.1 We haven't even got to Baby Eden E. Brooks, not to mention Catherine's gala shower and bridal portraits in Austin.

So hang in there, Peeps...the best is yet to come...maybe...

It has been a busy few weeks of late. Most recently Catherine flew in from Tucson and we drove to Austin. Some of her buds were throwing her a shower, so Cath, ever the organizer, decided it would be a great time to meet her friend/photographer Lisa and get those bridal portraits knocked out Saturday morning before the shower. Well, Lisa is also organized and she made Catherine a hair appointment at a fancy little shop in funky downtown Austin, where Cath got her hair done by a sub for the person Lisa had made the appointment with, but wonder of wonders, she was very good at her craft and Cath's hair not only looked good, but was indestructible for the rest of our busy day.

Father's Day Fun

Philip and Trina met us at Pei Wei for lunch. They were a tad late and we had eaten when they got there, but hey, it was still good to watch them eat and celebrate the day with Uncle Jimmy. Phil said he had a note for him but actually never did hand it over that I am aware of...better check into that, I guess...

James did get a card from Cath that she actually had found in my stash when she was here, pilfered it, and mailed it back for Father's Day! I don't know how long I've had it and why I never had bestowed it on the honoree in previous years, but oh, well...He's got it now! And it was timeless in it's cuteness, I must say.

For Father's Day, Lyndsey worked the last day of Fate's Imagination and was suffering with a migraine, but she did come through in a big way for FD and my birthday. She got us tickets to the roadshow of Spamalot which will be here shortly...how great is that!

Trina noticed that I have no photos of Phil on the refrigerator, so I intend to correct that. Check out a few spontaneous shots from the afternoon:

Fabulous San Antonio!

I really enjoy the opportunities to savor the Riverwalk in San Antonio when I get to go with James to the Texas Assn of School Board conferences each year. I basically sat and read awhile then walked awhile, went to the Alamo, went to La Villita, went to Starbucks, sat awhile and read awhile. On our way out of town we stopped at the Guenther House for lunch and some sweet cream waffle mix for Phil and Lyndsey. Veeves and Cath got jewelry from La Villita for their souvenirs. Hard to say who is the luckiest...

Family Fun

The Family Reunion was lots of fun with lots of good food. We got a lot of visiting in on Saturday at the Briar church building, then went to Roger and Ellen's to finish off the evening. After church Sunday we went to Carolyn and Arnold's for leftovers and more visiting. Philip and Trina came but I apparently failed to take any Sunday photos. Rotto!!

Uncle Arnold and his newest great grand child Miranda West, daughter of Jeremy and Marie.

This charming couple is blessed to be parents of Roger Lowe and the in-laws of Ellen!

Julie and Greg in front, Valerie and Craig to the back. Craig is fielding a call, if you are wondering.
Ellen and her sweet m-i-l!
Steve and Denise came from Baytown to enjoy the get-together. They stayed at our house.

You can't tell, but Carolyn and I were filling a few cups with ice.

Lindel and Betty came from Hugoton, Kansas and we are so glad they did!
Cousin Don Cullers and wife Sue of Granbury with Uncle Jimmy.
Uncle Jeff and young grandmother Debbie West with one of her twin grandsons, the children of Jennifer and Brent Russell.


I was amazed when I saw this very confident mother duck leading her flock of eleven through the neighborhood. Her babies were more obedient than mine! I had to take a picture to be sure I was counting them correctly. I wonder if she really sat on all those eggs or if she is in ducky day care....

The other bird was travelling solo, but I wanted to see how close I could get with my camera lens. I got that close....

Invited to a wedding in Jamaica...does it get any better??

The Caribbean as viewed from our villa balcony.
Veeves on the balcony of our villa.
Each villa had a golf cart in which the guests could explore the grounds .
Linda S., me, Veronica and Jeff, and Linda B. at the Rehearsal Beach Party.


Lots has happened, but I haven't blogged in forever, so nobody will ever know! If I can remember how to find the pictures on the computer I will show you some photos of the Denise Thomas-Aaron Mishel wedding in Jamaica at the end of April. Valerie and I had a wonderful time in an absolutely beautiful setting. All the guests who weren't Jamaica residents stayed in villas at the Tryall Golf Club. My daughters are now sold on destination weddings and are lobbying to be adopted by the Thomases.

Summer is here and we are looking forward to the family reunion this weekend. I am cooking a few choice items which will no doubt be the biggest hits of the ball. Just kidding, there are some fabulous cooks in Uncle Jimmy's family, and all I hope for is not to embarrass myself. When the babies were small I got away with corny dogs, but don't have the nerve to try that any more. So far, I have produced a Tortilla Cobbler, and a corn casserole is in the oven. I want to get a few dishes done today and some tomorrow, so Saturday morning won't be stressful.

James's brother Steve and our s-i-l Denise are supposed to arrive here Friday around 5 PM, so that is when I hope to be done cooking, overseeing a spotless home, sweat-free and charming. Is any part of that an attainable goal? I'll let you know.

Thanksgiving past, but Christmas is coming!!

I have pictures from Thanksgiving in Baird to show as well as some of our Christmas house decor. This is mainly for Lyndsey, who won't get to be here in person, but will be with us in spirit, as we will with her.

These were taken right before we left Rocky Ridge Ranch. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving day. James and I with hosts Morton and Suzy Jeffrey who also appear below.




Don't know what I was thinking, but I did not remember my camera for Valerie's graduation on Dec. 15. I took some with her camera, and she has some good shots on her blog, so check that out!

So, chronologically speaking, I started working at the Salvation Army Angel Tree at Valley View Mall on November 10, and only got the one day off for Thanksgiving. (This working all day thing takes some getting used to, but you may know that already...) ...so, Aunt Jan drove up from Houston to join us at the Jeffrey's ranch for the big Thanksgiving day. So Thursday morning James drove Vicki, Valerie and Miss Daisy to Baird!
It was especially sweet because we got to be with Sam and Emille and their precious girls as well as Becky, Tony, and boys, Andy, and "Paw and Precious!" Benjamin is quite the acrobat on the four wheeler. It is hilarious to be around these kids!!Aunt JJ loved spending time with these cute kids, including that smooth talking Payton Brooks!


When Bailey prayed she mentioned everyone but the Goodes and Aunt Jan but then said "...and thank you for Paw and Precious' friends who got to come." After the prayer I told her we were Precious' sisters and that she could call us "the elderly relatives." She looked me straight in the eye and said, "I'll call you 'friends,' " so there you go!

Valerie and Andy went hunting a little before sundown. They saw some deer but didn't bring home the big buck!

We missed Lyndsey, Catherine and Philip, but got to talk to them. Kelly also called in from Benin, West Africa, and Jan got to talk to Matt, so that made it all that much better. Cath and Phil got to see one another in Las Vegas, where they each spent the holiday with the families of their boy/girl friends' families.

We drove back to the Branch Thursday night after the Cowboys game, which I now, post Tony Romo, sort of pay attention to. Jan drove to Lubbock Saturday to be there to see Matt receive his senior ring at Texas Tech and James and I got out the Christmas decorations. He strongly suggested that we toss what we don't use if the Goode kids don't want it...no doubt a good idea, but weeding out is time consuming work, requiring that someone look in every box. We opened one labeled "Mantel Treasures," which turned out to be one I don't think I have ever opened since it has been in our attic. I inherited lots of Momo's stuff when she moved from a house to an apartment years ago. It has a ceramic Santa in a sleigh, 4 pair of reindeer and even a red-nosed Rudolph! I really like it and would have died and gone to heaven without ever laying eyes on it if JB had not insisted that we weed out the inventory! Can't believe I never remember it at Momo's house, but then again, she really went all out on decorating!

Momo had this geode which she had bought I think in Colorado. She could see Santa in it. Can you?

This last week was my last with the Salvation Army and I spent it at the Distribution Center. We saw over 100 families per hour distributing the gifts that had been purchased by Angel Tree "adopters" at the malls and various corporations. This year virtually every angel was adopted, so our work was cut out for us. The Salvation Army has worked out an incredible system using a relatively few employees and many wonderful volunteers. I was a really small cog in a really big machine that is very well run. I got the job because the supervisor who hired me has been a friend for decades through Girl Scouts and was hired by the Salvation Army to oversee the Dallas area mall Angel Trees. She had plenty of help for nights and weekends but needed someone to cover days at Valley View. At the warehouse I got to know a long time volunteer who I finally spent some quality time talking to Thursday morning. As she told me how she became involved with TSA, she mentioned the job she retired from, which had to be the Texas Workforce Commission, which evolved from Tx Employment Commission, where I worked about 30 years ago! We figured out we knew each other "back in the day," and she even came to my wedding, so, "small world," huh?

Life after the election

The election experience weighed heavy on my mind...there was so much to know, so many variations on "the perfect/less than perfect" voter. But we had a very good team and we made it through the day. The election clerks were prepared and competent and worked effectively all day. We got there before 6:00 AM and had everything ready to turn in around 8:30 PM. But the number of ballots used matched the number of voters (616), and it just doesn't get any better than that! I drove it over to the drop off center and was home shortly after 9 PM. Actually there were a few events that made it a unique day, but some stuff you'd best not blog about, I'm thinking. And for all the concern and thought I had put into that day, it went very well, maybe in spite of me, but still...

And the result of the actual elections was a real surprise to me. I had not even looked at the results print out at our precinct! I was too busy trying to get the right stuff into one of four particular envelopes! I really did not expect so many incumbents to be replaced. The radio guys I listen to had me convinced that, yeah, maybe some national races were close, but the "good guys" would pull it out. My heart goes out to the judges who were swept out of office, probably not voted against so much as being not on the side of the most straight ticket voters.

So now I am a mall manager for the Salvation Army Angel tree at Valley View Mall. Training was Wednesday, walk through was Thursday, and Friday was my first full day. It started very well, with my big show biz break! Channel 5 came out to get the SA Major introducing the first day to adopt the angels, and in the background was a dignified matronly lady artfully putting the angel tags on the tree. I had no speaking role, but it only takes one producer with a discerning eye to notice and catapult me to greatness, right?

After the major left, the channel 5 cameraman said, "That was a live feed. Let's get some video now to use on the 5, 6, and 10 news." Well of course I was at work during the 5 and 6 PM broadcasts, so I don't know what the world saw, but James and I watched the 10 o'clock news, and sure enough at about 10:29:30, there was 5 seconds of me talking to a couple of shoppers about the tree! At least, my lips moved...you could only hear the news person say, "...and today is the first day to adopt an angel from the Salvation Army tree," or some such as that.

I am still waiting for some of my people to say they saw me on tv. No calls yet...

Tonight we are going to the Celebrate Metrocrest event that the Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce hosts each year. Addison restaurants are well represented and offer samples of their tastiest dishes so there is plenty of good food to eat. In addition, many items have been donated and are auctioned off, so if one is so inclined, and is the top bidder, they can get lots of shopping done in a night. I always have enjoyed the silent auction part, but now that we are on this austerity kick, brought on by real life, it may be a long night!

Valerie was home for a night (Thursday) and it was good to spend the evening with her. Just a few short days and little Catherine will be in town for Rachel Nelson's wedding! Can't wait to see her. This job thing is kind of inconvenient for airport pick ups, visiting with out of town guests and so on, but we tread on, knowing good things are ahead...