Friday, January 30, 2009

AARP - Not!

Mr. H got an AARP card in the mail today.

A real one

with his name on it.

He'll turn 50 later this year.

We are so NOT AARP material!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Changed My Mind

I had originally planned on posting today about the Amish Friendship Bread starter I recieved from a friend last week, but I think I'll wait and take pictures of M making it this afternoon.

In the meantime, something caught my eye at the library this morning. I was looking for a copy of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. **not there in the fiction A's.... hmmmm, none of her books are in the fiction section** I went to the computer/card catalog. Sense and Sensibility has the Dewey Decimal System classification of 823.7. 823 is the class for English fiction. American fiction is classed as 813. How long does it take for something to make it from the strictly alphabetical fiction section to the DDS numbered system?

Anyway, I found the book I was looking for in section 823. Naturally, there were other English works closeby: poetry, drama, essays, speeches... As I looked around, this title caught my eye:


I have read a few of Asimov's books: The Foundation Series; I, Robot; The Naked Sun. I liked them all. This one, I had never heard of. I looked it up. My favorite quote from one of the reviews is this one:
"Fans of Asimov's science-fiction generally have little taste for door-stopper books such as Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare or The Shaping of England, and specialists are never happy to see clever outsiders make hay in their fields." (The Tragedy of Isaac Asimov)
I discovered that the book I saw was not the original publication. Here's what it looked like in 1970. And it was published in 2 volumes.

You just never know what you're going to find when you're not looking for it, do you?

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Almost February and Other Stuff

This year has been flying by. Sunday will be February already! Where has the time gone? I've been so busy since we got back from our Christmas vacation, I feel like I haven't taken time to breathe.

Several days ago, I read a post by our pastor called 4 Wonderful Surprises . I didn't read it that day but the following Monday or Tuesday. The day I read it, I got one of those notes he mentioned in #1. Thanks, Mel. You made my day!

Every quarter, Today in Mississippi, has a Picture This photo contest. For the 4th quarter of 2008, the theme was It's Great Being a Girl. My eldest submitted a picture of her 2 sisters and it was published. I submitted one of L on a field trip and L submitted one of her sister's birthday party. All 3 pictures were of girls in trees! (We thought we knew one of the girls in another picture, but it turned out to be a different Macy Thornton. The one in the picture even looks like our Macy!)

Yesterday I took M & L to the doctor. L had a sore throat and with strep running rampant in a nearby school district, I decided to do something to prevent it here. M woke up yesterday with her ear hurting after having the sniffles for a week. I called to see if M could come along on L's existing appointment and they said bring her.

Now they are both on a Z-pac (Zithromax) and M has something to take if the ear drum pressure gets too painful. Hopefully they will be feeling great by Friday, as Mr. H and I have a date night planned. We're cooking gumbo and staying home.

I'm ready for my days to slow down a bit.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

My Last GA Sleepover

Eleven years ago, I went to my first GA Mother/Daughter sleepover. My eldest was in the 3rd grade, M had turned 3 and L was 7 months old. Tonight, all 3 girls are here and it has been great fun. L and I tied with 2 other mother/daughter teams in the mother/daughter game. I knew her favorite restaurant is Olive Garden, her favorite food is chicken pie soup (we had it for dinner last night), her favorite color is yellow, her favorite school subject is band, and the last time we were shopping together was last weekend with Sr. Mrs. H. We got 5 out of 5. It is a miracle! We usually get 2 at the most. Last year she was in tears at the end of the game. This year we rocked.

When they started getting ready for the talent show, she got out her clarinet and asked if she could play it. I said, "Sure! What are you going to play?" "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Can I go in your office to practice?" I was so proud. She didn't win, but I think she should have.

The ladies that put this event together every year are sensational. I don't think any of them have daughters still in GA's. Some are grandmothers and even great grandmothers. Some have infants that won't be in GA's for several years. They do it because they love the Lord and these girls. They come up with games and food and crafts and decorations and photo opportunities that keep these girls busy until 2 a.m. (I suspect some are getting tired and grumpy: I just heard one of them say hotly "You're not the boss of me!" and stomp off --I had to smile.)


Here are a few pics from tonight. This one is my eldest and her buddy since 3rd grade. They are former GA's helping out.

This is M during the singing/devotion time.

This last one is L and Bre. Bre's older sister and M are good buddies, too. Every year there is a photo spot for the girls to take a picture with their mother. One of the things the girls take home with them is a framed picture. If a girl's mom can't come, one of the GA leaders takes a picture with her or she has a friend in the picture. Last year a girl's dad dropped her off, so he got to come in to all the girly pinkness and have a tea party picture made with his daughter. No one is alone in this place.

Now, it is incredibly late and words are starting to blur here. Good night, sweet ladies.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Getting Warm > Being Warm

I learned something about myself yesterday.

First of all, let me tell you something I (and most of my friends) already know about me: I do not like being cold. I have a heater in my office (under my desk, actually) that is on from November through March. At home, where we have stained concrete floors, my bare feet don't touch the floor except during the hottest part of the summer. I have a microwavable heating pad that warms my side of the foot of our bed on really cold nights.

We had one of those really cold nights this week. I took a hot bath before going to bed because I was just freezing. I was nice and toasty warm while I was brushing my teeth. And then I thought about the warmer at the foot of the bed. I love the tingly feeling I get when that warmth finally touches my cold skin. But my feet were already warm.

I realized then that it wasn't actually HAVING warm feet that was so nice. It was putting the COLD feet in a WARM place that was so nice. So I took off my house shoes (unprecedented in January!!) and walked bare foot the short distance to our bed. It did the trick. My feet were cold when I got to the bed and I got that "Aaaahhhh..." feeling when they reached the warm spot at the end of the bed.

In the case of warmth, the journey is better than the destination.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Not Proud of This

Yesterday morning I saw something on my way to work that I was ashamed to see in my community. I don't believe it was a coincidence that I saw this display on Inauguration Day. It was a flagpole flying 2 flags: an American flag and a Rebel flag. Now, it's not unusual to see that combination around here, but this particular arrangement caught my attention. The Rebel flag was above and the American flag was underneath and turned upside down. That, and the poster displayed in the yard with a racist website printed on it (which I will NOT post here) really left no doubt about the intentioned message of the property owner.

I suppose it is BECAUSE we live in a free country that people feel the liberty to be downright ugly. There really is no place for ugliness of that kind. People should have better manners.

And because we DO live in America, where we are free to express our ideas, I guess I'll have to look at it until they decide to take it down.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Letting Go

It had to go.

It had been my favorite, but it was way past its prime.

It was a gift from my eldest, with help from my youngest.

It was beautiful and perfect at one time, but not anymore.

The best purse I ever had was just falling apart at the seams...literally. The beads were leaving a trail everywhere I went. The lining was frayed along one end and so things were disappearing into the black hole, never to be thought of again. It was becoming a liability.

Today, Sr. Mrs. H wanted to go shoe shopping in Mobile. Mr. H was helping a friend move, so us girls headed to the mall. Sr. Mrs. H found the shoes she wanted. I wasn't interested in shoes, but ALL the purses were on sale. I decided to look around. And then I found it. I had seen some like it before, but they were too small. This one was perfect...or should I say purr-fect!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

comfort zones

There is something about being able to see this much of the world at one time that makes me uncomfortable. It seems endless and exposed. This is so different from my usual view of the world, which is full of trees. In my world the trees play footsie with the road and sometimes hold hands over the road. My girls call that a tree tunnel. It feels almost like a tree blanket wrapped around you.

This location also is out of my comfort zone. Look at the size of that rock face! It is huge! All those buildings are snuggled up next to feet of the wall.

This place is incredible. It is the Painted Desert in Arizona. We were there very late in the day, so the shadows played a big part in the view we had. I think what took me out of my comfort zone here was the color. My world is usually green. Even in winter, the pines, live oaks, and magnolias are green. There is not much red in my world.

Traveling is a wonderful thing, but it makes arriving home all the sweeter.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Vacation Image


fluid lines of birds
fold upon themselves above
a vast frozen plain

I've always liked to paint pictures with words and haiku lends itself to that so well.

This image is from early on a very cold Texas morning. I was watching the migrating ducks moving south in lines that reminded me of the way waves move up onto the beach.

When I write the image in words, I can pull it out and go back there whenever I want to or need to.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Legalism Rears Its Head

I have a legalist for a daughter.

She called me this afternoon to complain about her sister. "She wants to make biscuits! Tell her she can't do it. It's 1:30 in the afternoon. You can't make biscuits at 1:30 in the afternoon!!"

I proceeded to inform her to get off the phone so I could make sure her sister knew exactly how to make biscuits!!

Friday, January 2, 2009

A Day in the Magic Kingdom

Last Monday, we went to Disneyland. Mr. H grew up in California, so this was not his first trip. I don't think he remembers much about those early trips, except that the Matterhorn was HUGE. Comparing it to newer roller coasters, times have certainly changed our expectations. This picture is us girls on Thunder Mountain. (click on it to see it larger) L and I are in the back of the first car and M and the eldest are in the front of the 2nd car. Mr. H decided not to risk his lunch. He played photographer instead.

The decorations outside the Haunted Mansion were... interesting.

I got this small picture from the eldest's facebook album. That's her and M wearing the 3-D glasses for "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience." The big picture following it is me and Mr. H in 3-D attire.

Mr. H did not buy this hat! He looks like the offspring of Captain Jack Sparrow and Minnie Pearl.
Sleeping Beauty's castle was decorated for the holidays. They called it Twinkling Joy. It was gorgeous.
This picture also came from the eldest's facebook. We are on the tram headed back to the parking garage: Goofy level 4, by post 7D.

I know that people all over the world come to Disney theme parks every day. (We saw most of them the day we were there). I must have turned into a small town girl when we moved to George County. Yes, I enjoyed taking the girls there, but if I never get to go to Disneyland again or if I never make it to Disney World, I don't think it will bother me. All those people so close together makes it hard for me to breathe. And I was constantly counting heads fearing if I lost sight of one of the girls, they'd be lost forever in Neverland. My favorite ride was the tram back to the car!

Perfect Evening

Monday, after our day in Los Angeles, we went down to the beach again. The sun had already set, but it wasn't dark yet. That is my favorite time of day. Everything seems softer then.

It just amazes me to see this much uninterrupted horizon.
This pier is in front of some mountains that just disappear into the ocean.

L loved playing in the water. This time she wore shorts even though it was cool outside and the water was downright cold.

You can't really tell from this picture, but these are pelicans. On this evening, a whole flock was soaring above the water, looking for fish. They would circle, then fold their wings and dive into the waves.
These little birds liked to run around in the receding water looking for stuff to eat.


The west coast is not someplace that I'd really like to live, but I suppose if I could spend the end of every day like this, I would survive.