Dance Preformance

Lindsay is beginning her 6th year of dance class. She is participating in Pre-Team Dance this year, which means that her dance class will be participating in all recitals, plus competing in at least 2 competitions. This past Monday the parents had the opportunity to watch them practice in their costumes for the first time and I was able to record it. I've posted it on www.YouTube.com. Do a search for LittleTownJackson (all one word) and it should come up as Lindsay's Cars Dance. (I will not be responsible for any accidental misclicking on your part, so be careful!)

Thursday she's preforming Joy to the World in a piano recital and I plan on recording it and posting it on YouTube also. If you have any problems finding it, let me know -- otherwise, enjoy.

Not My Time of Year

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. All the usual reasons -- family is together, lots to eat, lots to drink, lots of football, and, most importantly, NO STRESS, NO PRESENTS TO BUY, AND NO DECORATIONS!

B.L. (that's Before Lindsay) I could get away with ignoring the Christmas season for the most part, but A.L. (that's After Lindsay for those not able to keep up) it's not so easy to do anymore. I reluctantly brought home the decorations from storage a couple of weeks ago and basically just turned it all over to an overly enthusiastic Lindsay. Imagine this (I know it will be hard for most of you) but she wanted to DO IT ALL BY HERSELF! And you know what ... I let her. And you know what else ... we were both very happy. It was totally unorganized and the tree had maybe 10 decorations on it, but she thought it looked great. And for a week I was just very happy that I wasn't the one who had to get everything out. I let it look that way for a week and then I couldn't take it anymore -- I rearranged everything so there was some semblance of order.

So now that the decorations are out and about, and I've got the presents bought and wrapped, I can't wait for Jolly Ole' St. Nick to come and go. I have a few hopes and wishes for the remainder of 2008, and one of them is that Lindsay will be just as enthusiastic about putting up all of those decorations up as she was with getting them out.

Parade, Football Playoff Game, Carnival, Birthday Party

As you can see from the title of this post we had a busy weekend!

Lindsay's Brownie troop was walking in the annual Budafest parade and I figured we'd freeze our butts off, but it turned out to be a parade-perfect day!

As soon as the parade was over and we could get back to our car, Murr, Lindsay and I booked it to Georgetown to watch the JHS football boys play Mart in the semi-finals playoff. Plans had been in the making all week for a group of friends to meet up at the game in our letterjackets. My letterjacket seems to have shrunk somewhat over the last 20 years, and I didn't get to wear it long at the game since we were enjoying a Texas December and it was at least 80 degrees with the sun beating down on our side of the field. Unfortunately our Little Town team lost, but I had the time of my life watching the game and catching up with old friends. R.K. and I hadn't seen each other in years but it didn't take long for us to catch up! I'm looking forward to seeing her again over Christmas -- we've got a lot of years to catch up on.

Since we had to leave Budafest after the parade on Saturday and Lindsay didn't get a chance to ride any of the carnival rides, I took her back to Budafest on Sunday morning. Even though those carny people looked like they had had a rough Saturday night, we paid them $25 to scare us on their rides.

After a quick trip to the grocery store, we headed to a b-day party for Tommy G., who is turning 6 in a day or two.

It was a busy weekend but it was so much fun. Since I spent so much time playing I only have a few chores to catch up on -- which will probably take up most of this coming week.

Early New Year's Resolution

During my trip into Little Town yesterday I had to make a stop at the liquor store (yes, my family is driving me to drink already) and I ran into the parents of a high school classmate. Now admittedly I definitely need to lose about 30 or 40 pounds, and I'm certainly 60 pounds heavier than I was when they last saw me when their son and I graduated from JHS in 1985, but did she have to point it out to me in our conversation? I can't remember the exact conversation, but it went something like this. At this point she's looking me up and down and says, "I see you've gotten to be like M.B. (her son)." I catch her meaning and say in response, "Oh, has M.B. gained some weight?" She says, "OMG, yes, he's HUGE!" The only thing I could think of to say was, "Yes, I've enjoyed life to the fullest the last several years." She responds with, "Too bad you didn't take after your mom and stay skinny." Since I didn't want to start calling her names, all I said was, "I like to believe I'm much happier than skinny people that starve themselves all the time!" I realize she probably didn't mean anything by it, she was just being honest and spoke before she thought about what it was she was saying, but it certainly made me admit to myself what I've been denying for the last several years -- I need to lose some weight. I know that I can do it if I just start exercising in some way or another and being more careful about what I feed my face with, so I think I'm going to put that at the top of my to-do list after the first of the year. I see no sense trying to do anything about the situation until after the holidays, especially since as soon as I publish this post I'm going to go load my plate with lots of turkey and dressing and then plop in front of the TV watching football! ;)

With a Broom in Her Hand

Our mom's sister, Aunt Jackie, passed away November 23, 2008, at the age of 85.

By Sandra: I always thought of her as the Energizer Bunny with a broom. At the cabins she was always fighting the losing battle with the oak leaves. And when she wasn't doing that, she never seemed to be still -- she was always busy doing something.

I have vague memories of spending time at her house when I was very young. The two things I remember best is that silly little bird that was filled with liquid that dipped his head in the water over and over again, and one Christmas Kelly Don got one of those football games with the magnetic men that vibrated across the field to make a touchdown. The main thing I remember is being well loved, well fed, and well taken care of when I was in her care.

By Brenda: I remember her broom. Oh my, how she loved to sweep. I realize that now in my older years, it was a form of therapy. My memory of spending time at her house as a young child is vague also. I can still picture Kelly Don sitting in her lap when we were younger with his hand on her ear playing with her ear and earrings. I was always fascinated by that for some reason. I had the honor of living in the same town with her for the last 22 years and even though I didn't stop by often, you were always welcomed with open arms and an offer of whatever she had cooked for the day. As my son, Travis, grew up she always had a special Halloween treat ready for him at her house when I would bring him by to "trick or treat". She was a special lady and she will be missed.

By Bethany: I stayed with Aunt Jackie when I was young and Dad and Mom both worked. I remember Kaptain Kangroo in front of the TV. Always having something good to eat. And some of those crazy Chandler girls putting mayonaise on red beans and some of those Chandler girls putting sugar on those good ole' red beans. I remember taking an ice pick and poking one hole in the middle of the metal Dr Pepper cap and sucking out the sweet liquid. I guess I am dating myself since some of you will not remember the metal lids. She was a smart lady, I bet it took us 5 times as long to finish a Dr Pepper that way. I also have memories of dropping peanuts down into those bottles when we did pop the lids off with a bottle opener. The only time I remember getting into any trouble with Aunt Jackie is when we drove Gay-Gay or Kelly Don crazy. (many times over I'm sure) My cousin Jack and I are the same age and always close. Well, he will tell you he is older by a few months than me. I never got into trouble with him because he still thinks or I should say knows that I am perfect. In those rare cases of when I did get into trouble with Aunt Jackie, she always threatened me with a wet fly swatter. Of course, she never really used it on me. It was the wet part that always made me behave. I also remember also all the craft projects she and I did together and separately. Oh what fun!!!! Aunt Jackie will be loved and missed by all but her loving memories will always be close to my heart.

By Lisa: I shouldn't have let my sisters go before me. Most of my best memories from childhood are the same as theirs. I know that I don't remember any kid ever getting in trouble while they were at her house. She was just like my Granny Erna (her mother) in that regard.
My most recent memories of her are some of my favorites though. She owned the cabin next to ours out at Telegraph. And during the years that we spent alot of time out there, she was usually aways there also. Our cabins are under huge old oak trees, so you know how many leaves fall from them in the spring. So, yes, I also will never think about her without seeing her with her broom in her hand. Even during the last couple of years when she wasn't at her cabin when we were out there, I could look down the sidewalk that connected the two, and I swear I could see her sweeping. I'm sure I always will. And after she got her big deck and porch swept off, she would head down the sidewalk towards our cabin, sweeping all the way. She wouldn't stop until she also had ours all swept clean, too. And like Brenda said, I now realize this was probably a form of stress relief. Better than yoga now that I think about it, because you had accomplished something when you were through. Neal reminded me last night about something Lily said when she was little. Lily was probably 3 or so, and we were at the cabin but Aunt Jackie wasn't out at hers and Lily asked, "Where's the sweeping lady?" She also made the best peach cobbler of all times when we were all at the cabins. I have never eaten any better, especially the crust. And lastly, I'll never forget sitting out on the deck at the cabin with Aunt Jackie and my mother. It was highly entertaining to listen to them talk. You'll notice I didn't say converse because they mostly didn't. They both talked constantly, and I mean non-stop, at the same time without even listening to what the other one was saying. But they both were happy regardless. They had a great time spending time with each other, even before they opened their Mogan David wine. And they both left feeling that they were all caught up with each other I guess. We'll miss you, Aunt Jackie. It makes me feel good to think about you being back together with Granny Erna, Colie and Aunt T.

Once Upon A Time ...

... somewhere on or about February 14, 2001 -- (I know you're saying to yourself, "HFS" -- if you can't figure it out, you'll have to ask me to interpret) -- my life was suddenly not my own. That was OK with me since by that time I'd pretty much had 34 years to do what I pleased and when I pleased. On November 20, 2001, I was blessed with a baby girl, whom we named Lindsay Ellen. She turned 7 years old today. She is so much my mini-me that it scares me! There is NO DOUBT that I'll be paying for my raisin' for many years to come.

I had the pleasure of delivering birthday cupcakes to her classroom this afternoon and spending about 30 minutes in the room, and it was very interesting watching the classroom dynamics; i.e., her classmates and how they act, and how her teacher responded to their antics! He's very laid back, but when he needs to lay down the law he has no problem doing so, and the kids respond to that. My awe and respect for TEACHERS is 500 million billion times more than it was before Miss Lindsay came along.

It's very scary to think that in only 10 short years Miss Lindsay will be 17 years old!!!!!! As my best friend's mom used to say: "Ye Gads!"

Birthday Party Weekend & A Tidy Tilly Visit

We had Lindsay's b-day party Saturday and I think it was a success. It was at her dance studio and I thought it was great because I just turned the 13 little 7-year-old girls over to her dance teacher and pretty much didn't have to do anything! Nice. Lily came home with us after the party because she didn't want to go watch her sister Sarah's choir performance, and then Brenda, Beth, and Neal stopped by to pick her up after watching Sarah's performance.

Now I'll admit that I'm not a housekeeper and I think I come by that naturally. I want everything picked up and not have clutter everywhere, but I just don't worry about dusting and scrubbing so much if it's not something that I'm going to be eating off of! Well, Tidy Tilly (aka my sweet sister Brenda) was very disturbed to see the condition of the drainage tray of my dish drainer. When she pointed it out to me in horror I was, like, "Yeah, I should clean that, but my dishes aren't touching it so what difference does it make?" She just shook her head in disgrace and insisted that cleaning it was not going to be good enough, that I must buy a new one immediately! Well, I've never been one to mind very well, so I did not rush out and buy a new one as ordered by T.T., but I am happy to report that it has been cleaned. I'm really glad she did not go in my bedroom and see my dust collection!

4 Star General

Just saw on CNN that the Army has just promoted the first female to the rank of a 4 Star General. The lady receiving that honor has only been serving her country for 33 years -- wonder what took them so long?

New Car

I got a wild hair last week and went and traded my Pacifica in for a Dodge Journey. It's basically just a smaller version of my old one but less miles and still has that new car smell!

We're getting ready for Lindsay's b-day party w/ her friends tomorrow, and then we'll have a family party for her and Lily down in Junction over the Thanksgiving holiday.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, but I would just as soon put Christmas off for a while. When I was out buying Lindsay's b-day present I went ahead and started on her Christmas list. I really should have planned better and had her in June or July! Oh, well, a little late to be thinking about that now!

My Halloweens

When I mentioned to Mom on the phone this morning that she must not have ever taken me trick or treating because I couldn't remember it I got a "Sandra Denise Randle" in response. She quickly followed that by explaining that we always stopped by several family member's houses and then went to the Halloween Carnival that the school always held on the old high school tennis courts. If you read angelic Brenda's comment from my last post you will see that she concurs with this.

Once Mom reminded me about the Halloween Carnival some of those memories came back to me. I now can remember there was always a go-fishing booth, a cake walk, and a haunted house where we stuck our fingers in guts (cooked spaghetti) and eyeballs (grapes) and who knows what else!

When I asked Mom which one of us girls was dressed up as a devil she said probably all of us since the costumes got handed down every year!

It disturbs me a little bit that I couldn't pull those memories up on my own, but it's nice to know that they're still there in some little forgotten corner of my brain!

Twrick or Twreet

The title of the post is not misspelled. Lindsay has a New Jersey accent when she says words with the letter "R" in them. Her teacher and I both thought we should have the school's speech therapist observe her. Ms. Hataway did this and said there's nothing to worry about. She said that developmentally they don't worry about things like this until 3rd grade. She also said that while she was doing her observation that Lindsay self-corrected herself several times after pronouncing some "R" words wrong. Her opinion was that Lindsay knows how these words need to be pronounced, she just needs to be reminded when she's rushing through them and says them wrong!

Halloween evidently is forbidden in Lindsay's school system, so they had "storybook character day" today at LEJ's school. She went as Pocahontas to school, but after I picked her up we had to make the transformation into a "Rhinestone Princess"! She looked beautiful.

After getting her costume, hair, and accessories perfect we were off to her piano lesson, then to Fred & Annie's house (where they not only had twreets for Lindsay but for me too), then to Ms. Marguerite's party, and then off twrick or twreeting with her best friend, Cassandra, in Plum Creek. They had a great time and their candy bags were overflowing! Even after all the sugar she ingested it wasn't long after we got home that she was fast asleep.

Need my sisters' help here to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't EVER remember going trick or treating. My only "small child" Halloween memory is either me or Brenda dressed up as the devil (I'm sure it had to have been Brenda since it was the most appropriate costume for her and not me) at Granny Erna's house on (??can't remember the name of the street??) in Junction. My "bigger kid" Halloween memories are of "raiding" on Halloween night, and since I'm not sure the statute of limitations has run out yet, I'm not admitting to anything!

Happy Halloween 2008!

Dancer, Softball Player & Pinewood Derby Racer

Lindsay earned all of those titles this Saturday and Sunday!

Saturday I took her to a fall festival at one of the local elementary schools that her dance class was practicing their routine which they will take to competition in March and April of next year. She LOVES getting up on the stage and preforming in front of an audience! I am SO glad she didn't follow in my footsteps in this regard. The mere thought of getting up in front of people and doing ANYTHING gives me the shakes!

As soon as she got off the stage we were off to her last softball game. She changed out of her dance clothes and into her softball uniform in the car on the way. When we pulled up at the fields we had about 3 minutes until the game started! She got to play pitcher and had a good game. This was our first time at "coach pitch" softball and it was definitely a learning experience. The Fall League is definitely not as organized and active as the Spring League, but it was a good opportunity to hone her skills!

Sunday afternoon we're off to the Powderpuff Pinewood Derby for the Girl Scouts! (Yes, I did let Lindsay paint "her" car Saturday night, but she got bored with the whole process after the second coat of paint, so unfortunately I had to finish it the way I wanted it!) The race event was supposed to be from 2 - 4 . We got there at 1:30 and after weighing in had to add some more weights to the car. I knew it was too light when we left home! We got registered and then had to wait ... and wait ... while everyone else got registered. There was a total of 140 cars entered and they didn't start the races until 3:00. They decided to only race 2 cars at a time, and once they began the timekeeping technology didn't work so I have no idea how fast our car was. I only know that out of our troop group of 4 who we raced against that Lindsay won 2 heats out of 3!

I lived through this week (all 7 days) in which Lindsay had an activity, and thankfully our schedule should get much better.

Pinewood Derby

In case you didn't know, Pinewood Derbies are no longer just for Boy Bcouts. Last year the Girl Scout Council in our area held the first one and this year Lindsay's Brownie Troop is going to have a few entries! This means I'm trying to frantically finish Lindsay's car before Sunday!

I took out the block of wood and started carving "her" car with one of my sharpest kitchen knives on Sunday evening. Monday night I asked Murr if I could use one of his pocket knives since he has at least 50 or 60. I whittled on that hunk of wood Tuesday afternoon at work until my fingers hurt. That night I inquired if he might not have a sharper knife I could use. His comment was, "Oh, you wanted a sharp knife?" He's lucky I didn't hack away at him with that dull one he had given me. Equipped with a very sharp knife I made good progress on "her" car. Wednesday evening when Murr saw what I was doing, and after I was almost finished with it, he offers to finish it for me. At this point I have a lot of time invested in it and there was no way I was going to turn it over to him because he might not do it right!

I've got it looking sort of like a car. Today I got it sanded down and "we" need to get it primed and painted. Now when I started on this I had the intention of letting Lindsay paint it however she wanted, but the perfectionist in me is screaming, "No, she won't do it right and it won't look pretty." I'm going to do my best to not listen to those inside voices of mine and let her do it, but it is sure going to be hard.

Regardless of who gets to paint it I will post a picture of the finished product. The big race is on Sunday afternoon, and hopefully my -- I mean Lindsay's car will be FAST!

Murr's Pain in His Butt

AND NO IT'S NOT ME THIS TIME!

On Saturday of last week when he could hardly walk because of some pain he was having in his butt, I had the joyful task of doing an inspection to see if I could diagnose what the problem was. My initial diagnosis after the inspection was that he had a hemerroid. He decided it was a tumor that was growing down there and it was somehow attached to his spine because every time he coughed (which was often because he was trying to get over bronchitis) it nearly brought him to his knees. I offered to take him to the ER but he declined.

By Monday morning he was ready for me to make an appointment somewhere, anywhere to get him some relief. So off to the proctologist we go Monday afternoon. Did you know you could get an infected/abcessed rectal gland? Neither did I. That's what the butt doctor decided it was and he lanced it there in the office. It evidently was as painful as it sounds. He claims that I hit every bump in the road in between the doctor's office and the house. I'm pretty sure I missed a few because they were too far apart to hit both of them at once!

I'm still the lucky one that is doing the post-lancing inspections to make sure everything is healing nicely, and I'm happy to report that his butt seems to be doing just fine. I'm sure he'll be happy when it's back to being just me that is his only pain in the butt, and I'll certainly be happy when I can hang up my inspection badge!

BBQ Cookoffs

This weekend was Kyle's Fair and Music Festival, which also hosts a BBQ cookoff. Every year I help Judge Warner, who is in charge of (natch) the judges. This was the 8th year for this event and by far the biggest yet. We used to hold it around the square in downtown Kyle, but last year they moved us into an open field because we had outgrown the square! I think we started this we had about 15 cook teams when we were at the square, and this weekend we had 42 cook teams!

Cook teams are a special bunch of people to say the least. I'm pretty sure they all descended from the original redneck, whomever that might have been. They pretty much keep the beer companies in stock, also. Thank goodness they do because when Lindsay and I showed up there on Thursday to drop off supplies I neglected to pack myself an ice chest because I was positive my friend, and the guy in charge of the cook teams, David, would have some iced down for me. Since he didn't I walked over to two friendly gentleman cooks with beers in their hands who were setting up their camp for the event and asked to bum one. They gladly supplied me with an ice-cold Milwaukee's Best Light to which I gratefully accepted, and even though it's not my brand, it was the best beer I'd ever tasted after carrying in a butt-load of supplies. Did I mention that cook team members are a friendly bunch? Those two kept checking in with me all weekend to make sure I had a beer supply!

Funny comment from Lindsay during this process. I mentioned David, who is in charge of the cook teams. I've known David for the 21 years I've been here in San Marcos. He used to be a Deputy Sheriff and now he's Constable in one of the precincts here in Hays County. Lindsay has also met David several times in the past. David is African American. When I told Lindsay we were meeting David to drop off supplies she said, and I quote, "Isn't he the brown one?" I explained to her that, yes, that was the one we were meeting, and he was African American and not "the brown one". And, yes, I told David her comment and he had a good laugh about it!

Anyway, another reminder I'm getting old -- this event nearly did me in. I was on my feet on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and I could barely move on Sunday. Oh, well, I'll be back doing the same thing next year!

Back to the Real (non-beach) World

Unfortunately our stay at the beach had to draw to a close. As far as Mom and I are concerned, we could stay there indefinitely -- everyone else seemed to think that more than a week would be a bit much. (I still plan on being a beach bum when I grow up!)

It made Mom very happy that we could all be together at her favorite spot, the beach. I think we came to a unanimous decision that we would mark it on our calendars and come back every year on Columbus Day weekend. (There is probably an appropriate analogy that could be made here, but it escapes me.)

Needless to say as I sat in court today I was hearing in my mind the sounds of the surf instead of the drone of attorneys sparring!

Early Morning Walks

For the last 3 mornings Brenda, Tommy and I have gone for a seashell hunt at 6:30 a.m. One of the sunrise pictures is from our first morning outing.

We haven't had much success with finding many shells but the walks and the views have been great. My greatest find has been seabeans. If you've never heard of them they're really seed pods that wash up on the sea shores from far away places. I've found 2 brown hamburgers and 1 seaheart. I will post photos of them soon.

We've had an awesome time so far. The weather has been perfect. It sprinkled on us yesterday morning, but we were already wet anyway so it didn't slow us down any. We go to the beach every morning, come in for lunch, some nap, and then go back to the beach in the afternoon.

I've decided I must have been deprived as a child and never had a sandbox because my favorite activity has been building sandcastles. Uncle Tommy has been helping me with that and I've got some photos already posted of them. The first one we built wasn't that great, but the one we built yesterday I was very proud of. Unfortunately the tide got up real high last night and washed most of it away. I should be upset that I have to start all over, but I'm not.

We went sand crabbing last night and made quite a spectacle of ourselves. All 15 of us had on those neon glow necklaces and bracelets and our flashlights. Once you find one with your flashlight they start running real fast so you have to try to keep your light on them and chase them with a butterfly net. I think we managed to scoop up about 20 of them. Miss G and Lisa stayed on the balcony and watched and laughed at us.

I've got to go and get my swimsuit on and hit the beach. I've got a design floating around in my mind for my new sandcastle, so I've gotta go before I forget it!

Disclaimer

We, the family of Sandra Jackson, would like to state that all blog entries are the opinion of Sandra Jackson and Sandra Jackson only!! She is sometimes delusional and one can not depend on her views alone!!
We love her anyways!!
Signed--her family!!

Tarps and Husbands

I realize that men don't have a uterus and that sometimes renders them incapable of doing things right, and I also realize that that is a generalization that doesn't apply to many of their species, however, the one I'm married to is NOT an exception to that rule.

I carried all of our beach paraphernalia out to the truck and he was responsible for loading it. He decided to use a tarp to cover everything in case we need it on the way back if it rained. We picked up Lindsay early at school and headed got on the road at 12:30. Within 5 minutes of getting on the Interstate the tarp starts trying to dislodge itself from the bungee cords and by the time we stopped 10 minutes later it was just hanging on by a thread. So over we pull and he gets out to "fix" it. Of course, if he had done it right in the first place he wouldn't be having to fix anything, but I tried to keep my mouth shut and let him handle it. Needless to say it didn't take it long to come undone once we got started again and so I obsessed for 20 miles about it flying off. Once we got to Seguin I couldn't stand it any more and I made him stop and I got out to fix it. It at lease lasted an hour before it started coming loose again, which wasn't my fault because if it had been done properly in the first place we wouldn't have had to ever worry about it. Anyway, by that time he was tired of driving and we stopped again to get gas and switch drivers and I again tried to fix it.

To make a long story short, we had to stop an additional 3 times before we ever made it to the beach. But we did finally make it. Mom & Dad and Uncle Tommy were waiting on us and we got unloaded. I'm not sure that Mom left anything at her house judging from what all we unloaded of hers! Kara and Aunt B arrived shortly after we did. And sucking the hind tit was Brem-Brem, Larry, Travis and Miss G. After getting somewhat settled we hit the sand and got our toes wet!

Waiting on Tomorrow

There's a whole group of Randles (and those-stuck-with-a-Randle) who are waiting for tomorrow to hurry up and get here because that is when the whole herd heads to the beach! When Mom was getting her stint put in she made us promise we would all go on a family trip to the beach and, of course, we agreed. So the planned trip has finally arrived and it couldn't have come at a better time. We should be an amusing show for those strangers who will be watching our antics. I will try to update the blog with our exploits and post as many pictures as I can, so stay tuned.

A Better Day

There is something to be said about taking your aggressions out on little clay discs flying through the sky. Ya'll can probably guess if you read my last two posts who all I was thinking of when I made the shot! I'm happy to report that I hit more than I missed!

I'm also happy to report that Lindsay made it to her b-day party and had a good time, so it appears that I didn't need to save that one shell after all!

Tomorrow is going to be laundry day. OH, JOY. Lindsay is in a phase where she thinks she needs to change clothes at least 3 times a day, and it doesn't matter if the clothes she just took off that she only wore for maybe an hour are dirty or not, they're going to go (sometimes) in the dirty clothes pile that I am constantly working on.

Tomorrow I'm also going to start gathering items to take with us to the beach!!! I can't wait to get some sand between my ... toes!

Little Bump Says ...

... I can't believe that "they" are trying to pass something that is going to cost us 700 billion dollars
and they have the audacity to "tack" on pork to it!!!! Rum & Arrows???? Seriously???? WTF are they thinking?

Studying History and Government wasn't a priority for me in High School, along with most of the other subjects they subjected us to, but "Riddle me this, Batman." Why is it that we have a term limit on our President but not for all of those other buffoons in Washington D.C.? And I realize Hillary didn't make it this time (so sad), but why don't we have some restriction against 1 or 2 families being able to "lead" us for the last 19 years? (Note to self -- look up definition of a monarchy)

Quiet Night

After taking Lindsay to her piano lesson and then softball practice I dropped her off at one of her BFF's for a sleepover. My other baby, AKA Murr, went to bed early, so I'm just sitting back enjoying the peace and solitude.

Murr has been a #18 for the last month. (you get extra points if you can figure out what the 18 stands for) He's had to work out of town in La Grange for the last couple of weeks, and although he didn't enjoy it very much, Lindsay and I sure did!!! I'm not saying we didn't miss him, because we did, but there's a lot to say about having the house to ourselves! If we wanted to eat cereal or PBJ's for supper, that was perfectly fine with us. If we didn't want to watch "cooking channels" or "sports" on the big screen Hi-Def TV, we didn't!!! And the best part of him working out of town was I didn't have to listen to him b#@%h about work and being tired, and so on and so forth. I'm hoping the beach trip will revive him and his attitude because if it doesn't ... well, I don't want to write anything down that might be used as evidence against me later. ;-)

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to going to a friend's annual "Skeet Shoot" in Seguin. Murr and I went 2 years ago and it was the first time for me to shoot at skeet and it was so much fun. It's definitely a sport that you need a lot of practice, or luck, to be proficient! Needless to say, there's no need for them skeet to be scared of me tomorrow! Surprisingly Murr is not going. He's just so "overworked" and "tired" that he just wants to stay home with Lindsay. If he thinks I'm disappointed that he isn't joining me, or that maybe I wouldn't go if he didn't go, then he's got another think coming!

One of his parental responsibilities for tomorrow is to get Lindsay to a friend's b-day party from 2:00 - 3:30. When I was informing him of this "chore" you would have thought that I was asking him to walk across the whole State of Texas with only worms to eat! (I'm going to save one shell just in case he doesn't accomplish his "chore" -- oh, wait, forget I said that!) I mean, give me a break, I taxi her to school all week long, dance on Monday, softball games on Tuesday, Brownie Scout meetings every other Thursday (which I have to help plan because I'm assistant leader), and piano and softball practice on Fridays, and he's giving me attitude about a b-day party?

If you haven't surmised from the previous paragraphs, I'm a little fed up with Mr. #18 AKA Murr Jackson. DO YOU THINK MY NOT HAVING HAD A CIGARETTE FOR THE LAST 28 DAYS MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH HOW I'M REACTING? I didn't think so either.

There are a few other "Murr rants" I could make you guys read about but I won't. As most of you know we celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary this year and I love him to death, but GD sometimes .... he just really drives me crazy (~ier)!

Thanks for hearing me out. I feel much better now!

Getting Old

I have to ask: When did I blink and get so OLD and everyone around me get so YOUNG?!?

I went to a new family/general practitioner doctor so I could get my blood pressure medication renewed, and I swear if he was over 25 years old then I'm a Monkey's Uncle! He sure was cute though!

I'm also getting cynical (sp?) and fed up with the Prosecutors we're dealing with at the office because they're all about the age range of 25 - 30 and they're newbies and are willing to take any "dog" case (hard to prove) to trial just to get the "Experience" in the courtroom. Well, you know what, I've now had 21 years of courtroom "Experience" and I don't NEED or WANT anymore!

Another example I have to exemplify that I'm OLD has to do with the Presidential Election and/or our crappy economy.: I'M WATCHING THE NEWS CHANNELS AND YELLING AT THE TELEVISION!

I'll be looking where to sign up for AARP tomorrow -- if you have any suggestions, you just let me know -- if you can remember to tell me!

Brenda Says ....

.... that I'm not posting enough blogs. My Aunt Cindy said the same thing ...... about 2 months ago which I'm just now responding to!

Who says I'm slow?

I say that "comments" to my blog might spur my creative juices and let me know that my blogs aren't just floating away somewhere along the Infinite Super Highyway of the Internet!

Day 18

I've just about completed day 18 without a cigarette! And, yes, Murr and Lindsay are still alive and well, thank you.

When Mom had her stint put in and they informed her she HAD to stop smoking I made that brave proclamation one day over the phone to her that if she had to quit smoking then I would quit too. I believe she's into her second month now without a cigarette and I'm lagging behind a little at 18 days. I've decided that she has much more willpower than I do, however. She informed me a couple of days ago that she "guessed" she should get rid of all of the packs and cartons of cigarettes that she had stockpiled in the house and the car and her purse and her coat pockets, etc., etc., since she wasn't smoking them anymore. I can guarantee you that if I had that much of an inventory to pick from in the last 18 days that I'd be doing my best to get rid of it, and I don't mean via the trash!

It's a horrible habit and I'm glad to be rid of it, but I will not become one of those "reformed smokers" who think it is their life's calling to convert (or condemn) every smoker out there into a non-smoker. I've always loved that phrase, which you may or may not have heard of: "Smoke 'em if you've got 'em!" I think it was probably alluding to something else entirely, but for this non-smoker it speaks volumes.

September 11

I remember walking into work on that fateful day as big as a boat with over a month before delivery and finding a bunch of co-workers surrounding a TV. After I saw the replays of those planes crashing into the towers I touched my belly and wondered what kind of a world I was bringing an innocent life into. My co-workers and I later watched as those towers fell.

A few days later Judge Warner put a sign on our door. It's a picture of the American Flag and underneath it says, "We will never forget September 11, 2001." Seven years and several pieces of Scotch tape later, that sign is still up.

I had the honor last year of accompanying my dear friend Annie to her grandson's homecoming from Iraq. It was cold and we traveled from Kyle to Ft. Hood to watch them come home. We waited and waited, and then here they come marching across the field at long last. I was just a bystander but I was moved to tears. The raw emotion from that ceremony will last me a lifetime. It didn't matter if I was for or against the War in Iraq, I was just thankful that these young men and women marching towards me were willing to put their lives on the line for all of us, and I was watching their families welcome them back home.

Survived the First Week

Well, we survived the first week of 1st grade. We're slowly getting used to our new schedule with only a few bumps. Most of those bumps occurred with Murr and not Lindsay and me. He can't seem to comprehend that Lindsay has a specific bedtime now, and he misses her sleeping with us in our bed.

Lindsay seems to really like her teacher, which is always a good thing. His name is Mr. Mika and it's his first year to teach. He student taught at Lindsay's school last year and helped out a lot in PE so Lindsay was already familiar with him. He provided a little bio, which included the fact that he graduated from Texas State University. Since I have access to a county computer I decided to run a quick check on him to see if he had managed to stay out of trouble while attending our "party school". The results indicate that I won't be allowing him to drive Lindsay around any time soon. He was arrested for a racing charge, which is a misdemeanor, but it was dismissed for lack of evidence. I probably ran into him when he came to court a couple of times, but he doesn't stand out from the throng of "wrongly accused" that we see on a daily basis.

Anyway, like I said Lindsay seems to like him. All this week she has regaled me with stories of who got put on the "conduct board" and for what offenses. She's also emphasized those stories with the fact that she wasn't one of them -- yet. Upon questioning, because she doesn't volunteer anything but the conduct board stuff, I learned that she was raising her hand and answering questions that Mr. Mika had for the class. The first couple of days she let me know that he picked her and she knew the answer. I think it was Wednesday that she let me know that at some point during the day Mr. Mika asked a question and she raised her hand and he said, "Yes, Lindsay, I know you know the answer, but let's see if anyone else does." I knew the apple wouldn't fall too far from the tree! (stop laughing!)

First Days in First Grade

Well, so far (and I realize it's only been 2 days) Lindsay loves 1st grade and loves her teacher. She loves to tell me who has had to put their name on the "conduct board" and what they did to get it there. So far her name has not been one of the ones to get put up there, but I'm sure they day will come.

The Morning After

I managed to convince the girls at 10:00 that it was time to turn off the TV and go to sleep, and I'm sure it was the authoritative way that I said it that caused them to comply. Never heard a peep out of them until 7:00 when they started waking up. What happened to sleeping in on the weekends?

Anyway, they immediately started playing in her room. After several minutes I went to survey the further damage and discovered them putting stickers all over their bellies. I didn't question why they were doing this because it was keeping them occupied. (It also kept me occupied an hour or so later when I was picking up all those belly stickers from one end of the house to the other after they decided they didn't want them stuck to their bellies anymore.) While they were doing the stickers I started picking up the million little Barbie shoes and accessories, and other than the sticker business her room looked pretty good. I cooked them pancakes and they ate and watched cartoons and then painted their finger and toe nails. Then they decided it was time for another Barbie session. ARGGG. Why did I even bother to pick it up in the first place?

Managed to get them all packed up and headed to the bowling alley before too much more damage could be done. I'm one of those bowlers that if I get above 90 I'm having a good game, but I have to brag a little -- I demolished my competitors today!!!!!! Okay, I realize it was probably because I was playing against 6 year olds, and probably the bumpers helped me a LITTLE bit, but my final score was 117. Damn I'm good! The girls had a great time for about 45 minutes and then they grew a little bored having to wait for their turn to get there, and they were getting a little hungry. So we ordered hamburgers and hot dogs there and ate and then played a couple of more frames.

Since I still had some time before I had to deliver the girls to their respective homes, and since I had still not gotten Lindsay a pack to school outfit, I made the silly decision to take them to a "girly" place at the outlet mall. I fully explained to them on the ride over that we were only going to get Lindsay an outfit and if they saw something that they liked they would have to get their moms to take them to get it. (quit laughing) We arrived and they pretty much ran through the store exclaiming: "This is cute!" "I want this!" "I love this!" "I HAVE to have this!" And here I am trying to do some serious shopping for at least one BTS outfit, trying to keep my eyes on all three of them so some psycho doesn't snatch them, and following behind them trying to fold up and hang up the clothes that they're plowing through. They all fell in love w/ these cute monkey t-shirts, but they were 2 for $9 so I agreed that they could each pick out one. And then they discovered the little nook of cheap and not-so-cheap toys and decided they'd rather have that crap rather than a useful and less expensive t-shirt. And, of course, they had to spend at least 20 minutes picking out said crap. All in all I did manage to get out of there with 2 new BTS outfits for LEJ, all 3 girls, and 3 pieces of crappy toys that surprisingly cost less than the 3 t-shirts would have.

We delivered both girls back to their houses and came home. I popped the top of a cold one and picked up all the Barbie stuff again, finished straightening up her room, and now doing the first of at least 20 loads of clothes. I know you're jealous of my life, but you'll get over it.

Lindsay's Slumber Party

Lindsay's two best friends are Maren and Cassandra. She has spent the night with both of them a couple of times in the last year. I knew the time would come when it would be their turn to spend the night with us, but the fear kept me from committing to it. I mean how was I supposed to corral 3 girls AND Murr all under the same roof. At the beginning of the summer I promised Lindsay, as well as her BFF's, that it would happen soon. And then June turned into July, and then July into August, and I realized I better live up to my promise.

So, best laid plans, right? Today is 8-22-08 and Lindsay was to have an outdoor Summer Fun piano recital with jumping castles and games and trains, etc, so I decided to jump in with both feet and plan to have her BFF's over for a slumber party. I mean I had all the things needed to wear 3 girls out for a couple of hours and then head home to bed without destroying her room too badly ... Right? I didn't count on Mother Nature to give us some more "much needed" rain and cancel those plans. Oh, well, it hasn't been THAT bad. They did manage to dump out all the dress up clothes, and upend a few other things in her room, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. After I picked that up while they were eating and got the room looking presentable again, they decided it was time to get out all the Barbies, and of course Kens, which means I have itty-bitty shoes and other accessories all over her floor to be picked up at some point. Oh well, it's keeping them busy, right?

Anyway, when I made these plans I didn't know that the Cowboys were going to be playing -- big sin, I know. So Murr is holed up in our room watching them and I'm trying to convince the girls it's about time to quiet down.

Tomorrow morning we're going to go bowling and then eat lunch somewhere and then I'll drop them off at their homes.

Once I get through this first one I'll be prepared for all the rest yet to come I'm sure. (stop laughing)

My Friend Rosanna

She's doing good but the docs say it's a day to day thing until she hits the 14th day mark. She's able to talk and is recognizing everyone. Her right side is weak but functioning. One of her eyes is droopy but she can open and close it. They think she might have suffered a mild stroke. They will still have to go back in at some point and repair the other one. Did ya'll know they don't have to cut into the skull any more to repair these? They go through the groin like they do when they're putting in stents. To me that's amazing. She's got a long, hard road ahead of her, but she's a fighter and I now she'll make it.

A Horrible Reminder

My friend, Rosanna, who will be 41 on August 29th was rushed to the hospital with 2 brain aneurysms yesterday. They did surgery on the worst one, which was leaking, and now we're just waiting day to day to see how she's going to be. What a horrible reminder to not take life for granted and to live every day like it's your last. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.

I want to be a beach bum

Today was one of those days when I wish I had no other worries than a cold beer, eternal waves, sand in every crevice, and no responsibilities. If you can't find me tomorrow, at least now you know where to look!

Lindsay's rite of passage

On Tuesday I took Lindsay to get her ears pierced. She was very excited to do it .... until we got to the parking lot of Claire's. As I parked she said she had changed her mind. I reminded her how excited she was about getting them pierced and how beautiful they'd look, so she said okay. We get inside and they sit her in the chair and get me started on the paperwork and they started cleaning the instruments, etc., which took a little while. Lindsay sat in the chair with a look of horror on her face and clenching my fingers and kept saying, no, let's not do this. We all kept reassuring her that it was going to be fine and not hurt (much) at all. I had them do both ears at once and it was over in a jiffy. She agreed it didn't hurt all that bad and when they held the mirror up for her to look at her ears she just beamed! Once we got in the car and she kept looking at her ears in the mirror I asked her if she was glad I didn't let her "chicken out". After I explained to her what that meant she said yes.

The next day in the car on the way to daycare she started asking me why people got their noses pierced and their lips and other parts that she's seen the "freaks" wear. My reply was that I had no idea why people pierce anything other than their ears because it was not very pretty to look at those types of piercings. I went on and on about how ugly those piercings were hoping to brainwash her into my way of thinking in years ahead.

I made many proclamations about parenting before ever having Lindsay that my co-workers love to remind me of. I seem to recall one being that if my child ever came home with a piercing (other than her ears) that I'd rip 'em right out. I hope I don't have to try to live up to that one!

Team Building Weekend

We closed down the office on Friday the 18th and headed to the cabins. We've had a sign posted for the last couple of weeks stating that we were going to be closed on that day and everyone kept questioning us as to our plans, so we decided to tell everyone we were going on a Team Building Retreat, and we weren't really lying. Judge Rodriguez has been doing double duty for the last 6 months since Judge Warner has been out of the office battling throat cancer and is exhausted to say the least. As for the rest of us it's been 6 months of worrying about him and working hard since we haven't replaced Rosanna yet in the office. Needless to say we all needed a much deserved break.

So Judge Rodriguez w/ her 2 boys (14 & 20), Rene w/ her 2 boys (5 & 14), and Lindsay & I all met there Friday morning. When we first starting planning this weekend thing it started out being a Mom & kids weekend, but then I decided we better invite Murr along so he could help entertain the kids and take them fishing, and he could also help us cook, etc. He ended up getting out there Friday afternoon.

The water was beautiful and clear and cool, and really the temperature wasn't that bad. The evenings were nice and cool and the mornings were too. We swam, the boys kiyacked (sp?), we fished for perch for the trot line, took a float down to the crossing, knocked back a few cold ones, and just sat on the deck watching the river go by. We ended up catching 6 catfish on the trot lines in the 4 to 6 pound range.

It was a perfect weekend and it went by way too fast. We're already talking about doing another one soon.

Sisters Revisited

When I posted my last blog about appreciating my sisters I was feeling a little guilty that I have cheated my daughter out of having that same support whenever she has to take care of us in later (much later I hope) years. So to all of her cousins out there, you've got to promise that you'll be there to help her when she needs you.

I'm also in trouble for posting that picture from years ago. Maybe this poem will make up for it.

"Sister"

She is your mirror, shining back at you
with a world of possibilities.

She is your partner in crime;
your midnight companion.

She is someone who knows when
you are smiling, even in the dark.

She is your teacher, your defense attorney,
your personal press agent, even your shrink.

She is your witness who sees you at your worst,
and best, and loves you anyway.

She is your sister.

--------
Love to you all.

Sisters

Thank God I have them. I can't imagine what I would have done without them these past 2 days. We're a good tag team even if do look like the "Bodines"!

Mom's Heart Adventure

By the time Mom arrived at the place where they were going to do the cath test she had worked herself into an absolute nervous wreck. She was still insisting that all those chest and back pains were nothing but gas and she really didn't need to go through all of this nonsense. As soon as she got there they gave her a valium to try to calm down. It worked somewhat after an hour or so. Brenda and Beth deserve some gold stars in their crown for having to deal with BOTH Mom & Dad. She got through the cath procedure fine and that cardiologist said she would need two stints. She had to lay completely still for an hour and that was pure torture for her. She says she never lays flat out on her back because it hurts to lie that way. They let her eat lunch but said that would be it until the stints. She was still drugged up quite a bit and was ready to just get it over with.

From there we headed over to the new heart hospital, TexSan, with the procedure scheduled for 5:00. She napped for a while and we just waited around. The drugs started wearing off and she started to get anxious again but they said they had to wait until the procedure to give her anything. Well, 5:00 came and went, and so did 6:00. By this time if she could have found an escape route she would have been long gone. At 7:00 they assured us that it would be soon. They had a back up and that was the reason for the delay.

Finally around 7:15 they took her down. We were told it was only a 45 to hour procedure. By 8:30 we're wondering what's happening. By 9:00 we were all starting to worry. Finally at 9:30 the doctor came out. This was a different cardiologist from the one who did the cath test. He said he disagreed w/ the first doc's assessment and determined that all she needed was one stint. The reason it took so long was because it was very hard to get to and he had to work his butt off getting that stint in there. He said she has to quit smoking because he didn't work his butt off just have her continue smoking.

She got back in her room and was told she had to lay flat and still until 10:00 the next morning and that someone was going to have to stay with her all night to make sure she did that. Beth and Lisa went to the hotel to get some sleep and Brenda and I stayed and took turns w/ dad helping to watch her through the night. At 3:00 Beth came and took over for Brenda and I and we went to the hotel to sleep.

Mom didn't get hardly any sleep despite the pain meds they were giving her.

Got back at 7:30 that morning and Mom was not having a good time. Her back was killing her from lying flat and still and she begged us to just let her move or roll over or get up. Finally it came time that she was able to get up. She was very weak and was nauseous from some pain killers they had given her. She's very sensitive to most of them. She was able to walk a little and was at least able to at least sit up. Then she threw up a little and laid back down and slept for 2 hours. Catching up on all of that sleep we were all hoping she'd get during the night I guess.

It's 2:00 and they're fixing to get her up again to walk and make sure she doesn't get sick this time. I guess if she doesn't they going to spring her. I'm not sure what their plan is if she does get sick again, or if they even have a plan. It's not that it's a bad hospital, but we're not real impressed with it. Considering it's a heart hospital they're not very hands on and attentive. It seems they pretty much rely on family members to take care of the patients after the procedure. And the cafeteria definitely leaves much to be desired.

Hopefully this will be all she'll ever need to have done because she told me this morning she was pretty much done with doctor's appointments and that once she got back to the creek she wasn't leaving it. I can't blame her on the last one -- I want to be back on the creek myself.

Fences, Dogs, ETC

I think Murr and I bought this place in Kyle in 1996 but don't hold me to that date. It seems the years go by too fast and I suffer from CRS so that's close but may not be exact. We have a little over 2 acres and when we bought the place it was pretty much in the country. Never did we realize that we were soon to be surrounded by huge subdivisions. But I digress.

When we bought there was no fencing around our property except for two houses that butt up to the sides of our property, but that wasn't a problem because our first baby, Penny, was already pretty old and was used to being on a chain when outside. (She was a dog so don't call CPS!) After the first year or so of being here we noticed that our back-d0or neighbors had several children, which had several friends, who used our yard as a short cut back and forth to each other's houses. This probably wouldn't have bothered me too much if these kids had any manners. I could be out in my garden, which is right next to the path they chose to use as their shortcut, and they would walk by and not say a single thing to me even when I said hello to them. I considered this rude behavior on their part, but pretty much ignored it and tried to get them to at least talk to me on their daily excursions. Sometimes they did, but most of the time they did not. I guess I was one of those "strangers" they weren't supposed to talk to even though they were on MY property. This went on for about a year and then the property was sold and the kids were gone.

By this time I'm thinking to myself good riddance. Then one day the new neighbors decided to use the same kid's shortcut with his truck and left deep tire ruts in the yard. Shortly after discovering the ruts I walked over to their back window and gave them a "one-finger salute" and got on the phone with a fencing company. Very shortly after that I had a new 8 foot fence between me and that offending neighbor, and a ranch-style fence around the rest of the property. Very shortly after the new fence we had a new baby girl, Lindsay, lost Penny to old age, and then a couple of years after that thought Lindsay needed to have a dog in her life so we got PJ, which we completely relied on the fence to keep him in. He's one of those dogs that sees an opening in the fence or gate and runs right out and you can't call him back in. Please don't ask Murr about this problem because despite all the time and money I went through in obedience training with PJ this is the one thing I couldn't teach him and it's quite a little sore spot between us.

To make a long story short, that 8 foot fence is now falling down and is in need of major repairs, but that's not the problem of the hour.

As I said, when we bought here there were only two fences already in place. One of those fences is holding up nicely, but the other one we've had to wire up a couple of times in the last year or so to try to keep it up. When we first had to do a wire job on it I called the neighbor and her son helped Murr wire it back together. Just a patch job I should say. About 6 months ago we had to do another patch job on it and I called the neighbor and left a message about maybe getting together and splitting the cost of replacing the fence. Needless to say I never heard from her.

This afternoon I didn't get home until 7 p.m. because of jury trial in my court (and Murr had a full day in court too -- he got picked for jury duty in district court -- hee-hee, welcome to my world, Murr -- I will report on that later) and I discovered that I had an extra dog in my yard. It looked like the dog that belonged behind that broken down fence so I went to check it out and sure enough another section has blown totally down. I have left another message for the woman, but haven't heard from her and it was too late to go knocking at her door.

I don't have time to deal with this. Tomorrow is Mom's heart catheterization (sp?sorry I'm brain dead at the moment) test to check for blockage. My plan was to pack a bag and go to San Antonio early in the morning, and depending on what they decide to do either come home or spend the night.

Poor PJ will just have to be left tied up in the yard all day or left in his inside or outside kennel, I guess. Can you guess what I'll be spending my stimulus check from Mr. Bush on?

4th in Telegraph

We started loading up for our 3-day 4th of July trip to the cabins in Telegraph at around 8:00 Friday morning. I wasn't in the best of moods but we got everyone and everything loaded up by 8:30. We stopped at the Wally-world in Fredericksburg to pick up provisions. While Lindsay and her dad were in the fishing department selecting items they couldn't live without, I was busy walking PJ and getting him back in his kennel. I then set out on picking up what we would need for the weekend as far as food items. Once I met them back at the pickup he reminded me that I had forgotten beer and ice. So back into Wally-world I go. Made it to Junction but had to stop for worms before we headed to the cabins. (When I retire to Junction I'm going to enhance my retirement fund by selling worms.)

We finally made it to the cabins and had a very welcome hello from Mom & Dad and Lisa's crew. After about an hour of unloading it was time to visit a little. Before too long it was time for a dip in the river to get cool. The temperature there was better than I've ever experienced at that time of year. It was very uncommonly mild. Mind you, it was still hot, but not as hot as it has been in past years.

We started on our perch project next and eventually had enough for Murr to bait his "trot line". While Murr and I were baiting out the line the rest of the crew went into town to eat at Brem-Brem's and then go down to watch the fireworks. After we got the line baited I left Murr in perferct solitude at the cabins and headed into town for the fireworks. After waiting about 2 hours in the park the fireworks finally began and for such a small little town they were pretty impressive.

Early Saturday morning we took a 4 pound yellow cat off the trot line. Makes all the work worth it. Spent the day visiting, in the river, catching perch -- basically all the things I'd do full time if I didn't have to have a full-time job. The river is beautiful and I wish I could spend every day there. One of these days when I grow up I'm going to be a beach and/or river bum.

4th of July in Little Town

Wasn't planning on a trip to Junction for the 4th, but with Mom's situation decided we'd better head down there.

Speaking of Mom, she had her appointment w/ the cardiologist and he told her to keep resting and do nothing strenuous. She's going to go in on the 9th and have a cath/blood dye test (??) to see where the blockage is. We're all hoping it will be something they can fix with stints and will probably happen as soon as the cath test is finished. From what my sisters tell me, which went with her to the appointment, that is pretty much the preferred scenario. Otherwise it will be some type of surgery which none of us want to happen.

Since we waited until the last minute to make the decision to go to Junction there was no place to board PJ, so he gets to go with us. Yee-haw. I'm not looking forward to that. I'm much more willing to just pay someone to take care of him, but everyone was booked. We'll get through I'm sure, it's just a hassle I'd rather not deal with. By the way, we've been bombarded with an unusual amount of begger's lice this year. Anyone else having a problem with it?

I'm looking forward to seeing again Junction's version of the 4th of July fireworks display. I think the last time I saw it Lindsay was just an infant. I'll try to get some pics of it for ya'll.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

A Sight for Sore Eyes

Judge Warner made a surprise visit to the office yesterday and it was great to see him back where he belongs.

I'll backtrack a little for the few of those who won't realize what a momentous occasion this was.

Judge Warner, who I've worked for for the last 20 years (will be 21 in September) and is my boss, best friend, and dad all rolled into one, was diagnosed with throat cancer at the end of January. He started then on his journey to recovery with radiation and chemotherapy and it pretty much kicked his butt. But he's so far cancer free as of the last PET scan and is slowly building back up his strength. Wednesday was his first time back in the building and let me tell you word spread fast that he was back and he had lots of visitors.

I had a surprise for him too. His hair hasn't grown all the way back in (right now he's in the CHIA Pet stage) so I bought him one of those powdered wigs that judges wore back in the day and presented it to him when he got there. Thank goodness he has his since of humor back. He actually put it on and let us take a picture!!!!

He stayed for a couple of hours and just visited, spent a little time cleaning up his desk, and took some work home with him. He's planning on coming back to work just a couple of afternoons a week starting the 21st. Words can't tell you how happy we'll all be to have him back!!!!!

Old Dog vs. New Software

I decided a couple of months ago to invest big $$$ in new court reporting software. I was worried that my old software was outdated with new things on the market, and I was worried that my old laptop was about crater at any moment and I'd be left without any options.

When it arrived several weeks ago I was in the midst of planning the RV Road Trip and worrying about Judge Warner. Took it out of the box and played with it for a couple of hours and realized it was going to need more of my time and attention than I had to give at the time.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I knew were going to be slow because Judge Rodriguez decided to take a well earned break. I decided it was time to tackle the new software. Monday morning I started working on setting up my Master Transcript Format since I'd need to have that in place before I could move on to anything else. After a couple of hours of trial and error I was still no where close to it being what it was supposed to look like. I called a fellow reporter in the building who I knew used the same software and she gave me some settings to start with. Another couple of hours later and I was close but no cigar. Decided to give up for the day because I was brain dead.

Tuesday morning after about another hours worth of working on the format I was just one problem away from getting it exactly how I wanted it. And then I fucked it all up to the way it was when I started yesterday. So it was back to the drawing board. By noon I had gotten it back to where I wanted it save and except for that one little thing, which wouldn't have made a difference to anyone who isn't as OCD as I am. I dutifully saved all the settings and about 30 minutes later to take the plunge and try to fix what I conceived as unacceptable. Thankfully I was able to manage to get it changed without messing anything up again. At that point I was done and I switched over to some other tasks that need my attention that didn't involve much thought.

Tomorrow I'll tackle learning more about the new software and how to use it to its potential. Maybe an old dog can learn new tricks.

Lindsay's new hairdo

Lindsay wanted to cut her hair short and so we did. Took about 5 inches off and it looks cute. She looks older to me somehow.

Horse camp

Lindsay finished up a week at horse camp and loved it. Her only complaint was that the horses were all lazy and didn't like to go fast. They did a demonstration of all they've learned for the parents on Friday and it was great. She looked so tiny standing next to her horse grooming him, and then even more so sitting up on top of him. I'm having so much fun living vicariously through her!

Stubborn Old Woman update

Well, she has an appointment with a cardiologist on the 3rd. She is being compliant and taking the meds Dr. M prescribed to her. Maybe she'll also be compliant in whatever the cardiologist will recommend. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

I Come by it Naturally

As I've long suspected I come by stubborn streak naturally thanks to Mom & Dad, et al.

Growing up I always assumed that Bump-Bump, which is what we called my paternal grandfather, was hard to live with and felt sorry for Granny Nora that she had to put up with him. I soon came to the realization after he died a number of years ago that my sympathies were misplaced.

I now return to my Mom & Dad. I'm 41 y.o. and I always felt sorry for my Mom that she had to live with my Dad. I knew that he was hard-headed, stubborn, prejudiced, and set in his ways. I never had that same opinion when it came to my Mom. Oh, I knew I didn't want to piss her off because she can hold a grudge for ages, but for the most part she was accommodating especially with respect to her children and grandchildren. As the last couple of days (or months and/or years depending on how you're looking at it) have unfolded I've come to find out that my Mom is nothing but a "stubborn old woman"! (and I say that with all the love in my heart for her -- and don't think I'm saying something I wouldn't say to her -- I said just that phrase last night when I spoke with her)

Let me take you back to the Christmas holidays that I was spending with them on Cedar Creek just last year. Mom and I were sitting on the front porch enjoying a smoke (and yes I realize this is a filthy habit that is contributing to her problem) and she almost freezes up with sharp pains in her shoulder/back area. I recognize these as symptoms of a potential heart attack and tell her she should get them checked out. She assures me it's nothing more than a muscle strain that she's suffered that visits her from time to time. When I mention her symptoms to Dad he tells me he's tired of "wasting his breath trying to get her to go to a doctor".

Evidently the last several weeks she's had more of the pains and is starting to feel worse and worse. Brenda insisted that she go to the family doctor there in Little Town on Monday morning even though Mom is insisting that the pains have gone away. The preliminary EKG indicates she's had a mild heart attack some time previously. The doc orders blood samples and a chest x-ray and tells her to come back on Wednesday, which I'm sure he'll give her the results of all the tests and send her on her way to a cardiologist.

When I talked to Mom Monday afternoon and informed her that she WOULD do whatever the doctor told her to do from here on out, she informed me that she'd listen to what he had to say and then do what she wanted to do. When I reminded her that I had told her those back pain symptoms she had in December were indications of a heart attack, she informed me that she'd been having them for a year and she knew exactly what they were but decided to do nothing about them.

That is my definition of a "stubborn old woman" ......... and I realize that I'm following in her footsteps in more ways than one. All I can say to Lindsay is .... I'm sorry, but it's hereditary!

Home, Sweet Home

We all made it home alive thankfully. I couldn't believe the state of our yard -- very dry and dead. It must be June in Texas, right? At least the garden and patio plants were alive thanks to Bode tending to them while we were gone.

I told myself that the unpacking could wait, as could the washing, but that didn't last long. Started on it but didn't finish it. In fact, the house looks like a tornado came through it, but I'll worry about that tomorrow.

Was very glad to be back at work and have some time to myself even if it meant having to sit through voir dire, which I detest. Ten days of "togetherness" in close quarters was certainly an adventure. Went to see Judge HSW during my lunch hour and he looks great. You can tell he's feeling so much better also. I miss him so much it hurts.

Picked up PJ this afternoon during the correct business hours and the "lady that made me cry" was very nice. She had only good things to say about PJ and his stay with them. I'm really sorry that I pissed her off in the first place by not understanding their hours. I hope that I can use them again in the future, with the understanding, of course, that I won't drop off after hours!!! PJ and I then went and picked up Lindsay and they were very happy to see each other.

Instead of cleaning and getting the house in order, I've been readjusting to life at home. (ie, relaxing w/ a ML or 2) Maybe tomorrow I'll worry about the mess and the clutter that everyone but me in this house can ignore.

Togetherness

I'm very close to killing Murr this morning and I don't care whether it's Father's Day or not. He nearly bought it last night, but I decided to give him one more chance. He's about out of chances by now.

We're at the the airport waiting to head to Texas. All of us are more than ready to get HOME! Once I get there I'm locking myself up in my smoking room with a case of Miller Lite and a carton of cigs and I'm not coming out until morning! Be ready for me to be tired, hung over and coughing and cranky in the morning, LAR, Rene, Kelli & Ed! And I hope all the trials crapped out, but I probably won't be that lucky!

See ya soon.

Baltimore, Maryland

We've checked into our hotel in Baltimore and it's about noon here. Lindsay and Murr are already headed down to the pool.

When we turned in the POS RV the Cruise America people there agreed that it was a POS and couldn't believe they rented it to us in San Antonio in that condition. When I told them all the problems we had with it and that we spent about 5 hours on repairs, they offered to give us back a day, which was $90 off the tab. We went over our miles by about 300 miles or $96 worth and they agreed to forego that extra also. And we ended up getting our $300 deposit back. We saw the ones they were renting out there and they were in much better condition than the one we got. The guy there said they were going to be calling headquarters and reporting the San Antonio office. All of that appeased Murr and he's no longer talking about going back and beating that guy up in San Antonio who rented it to us in the first place like he has been talking about for the last 7 or so days.

Thank you all for coming along with us on our journey. It's been a great trip and I hope you enjoyed it. I've enjoyed this blogging thing so much that I'm going to follow in Rana's footsteps (scary thought) and continue on with it even once we get back home, so check back in from time to time -- you never know what you might miss if you don't!

The Jackson 3

Monticello

After a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel, Theresa, Lindsay and I headed out for the Monticello visit. It was great and it was beautiful. Will be posting some pics tonite of the grounds. I was disappointed that they don't allow pics inside the house during the tour. Oh, well.

After breakfast and before we left they drove us by a plantation called Belle Grove, which is pretty much in their back yard. I was sorry I didn't have enough time to do it, too. We'll have to do it next time we come for a visit which we plan to do -- it just isn't going to include an RV journey to get here.

Howard's dad fortunately didn't have to have surgery today, so when us girls got back home they had deer meat chili waiting for us. They had friends over and the guys shot pool. They had a granddaughter there visiting that was Lindsay's age, and then one of the guys from work had an 8 year old, so Lindsay had fun playing with them while we all sat around and played pool, drank beer, and BS'd.

Tomorrow it's turn in the POS RV in Mannassas, and then on to Baltimore to stay in a motel for the nite, and then it's back to Texas on Sunday morning. It's been great, but I'm ready to be back in Texas in my own bed.

The Miles Covered

Saturday to Thursday = 1578 miles. It's been an adventure, but if I had it do over again I wouldn't be so ambitious to do so many miles in so few days. But we did what we did with the time that we had and I'd have to say that we'll have some memories, good or bad, after this vacation. Lindsay loved it. I had a grand time. I don't think Murr liked it much, but he's just lucky he got to go along for the ride without getting kicked out somewhere along the way.

Total $ for gas = $678.72. Total gallons used = 173.52. The $ amount for gas was 3.85 per gallon at all places except it was 3.96 in Chilhowie, VA, and 3.93 in Flatonia, Tx. It seems we got pretty good gas mileage out of the old POS RV after all. We have to return it to Manassas, VA, on Saturday and that's about 60 miles away from here and it needs to have 3/4 of a tank in it, so we may have to add a little more, but I had budgeted between $800 - $1,000 just for gas and I'm very pleased it's going to be at or below that.

My plan to visit Monticello on the way to Howard's house didn't happen because we stayed an extra day at the last campground, but Lindsay and I and Theresa are going to do that tomorrow. Howard got a phone call before we went to eat saying that his elderly dad had fallen and so he had to take off to the hospital to be with him, and unfortunately his dad is going to have to have surgery tomorrow. Hopefully all will go well for him and his family.

I know I've said it several times in the last few posts, but I miss you guys!

We Finally Made It

We're in Strasburg, VA, finally. Pulled in to our friends Howard's house at around 3:00. It's a gorgeous place and the scenery is beautiful. We're so glad to finally be here. We kind of (meaning me & Lindsay) unpacked the camper and I got to take a glorious hot shower in a real tub and then we went and ate the best steak I've had in a long time. Theresa, Howard's wife, drove us through Strasburg after dinner and it's a neat little town that you can tell has been around a long time. I'll have to look up the history of it. We're now relaxing and Lindsay and Murr are playing pool. I'm ready for an early night. Will try to get back to you tomorrow.

Yes, Internet Service

It's Thursday morning here in Virginia. We pulled out of Hillsville around 9:00 and went down this little windy road for about 40 miles (and it took about an hour and a half) to get back to the I-81, but it sure was beautiful. Made us all a little seasick though -- or maybe it's because we're starving, or maybe it's the altitude up here - or maybe all of the above. We're sitting right now in a Cracker Barrel in Christiansburg, VA, waiting for our order. It should take us about 3 hours from here to get to Strasburg, VA, and to Howard's house.

I'm not going to do a long post, because I think our food is fixing to come, but the Lake View RV Resort was a lot of fun. We all had a good time. Lindsay loved the water slide and pool and we did that for about 3 hours. We also rented a golf cart for the day because it was a big place and we tooled around on that for several hours.

We're all ready to get off the road and out of this POS RV. The next time I come up w/ one of these hare-brained ideas, tie me up and remind me of this trip until I change my mind.

Miss you guys, and once I get to Howard's I'll try to post some pics and fill you in on what all we've done. I know I'm tired of going uphill, that's all we've been doing since we got into Mississippi. We're bound to be on top of the world by now!

Finally Virginia

But not phone or internet service. I'm having w/drawals from not being able to blog. Evidently there's only Verizon service and I have Cingular/AT&T, and Murr too.

But we are safe and sound at a beautiful RV Resort next to Hillsville, VA. We were about 30 min. from arrival yesterday afternoon when the heavens opened up w/ a Thunderstorm. We crept into the park about 5:30 ready to kill each other and Lindsay crying that she wouldn't be able to go swimming. Then I found out that I had not service and I wanted to cry to.

We've decided to stay another nite here because we are tired of being on the road and this place has swimming pools, paddle boats, fishing, miniture golf, game rooms. It's really neat. So we're going to take off in the morning for Howard's house in Strasburg and probably not get there until late afternoon. I think it's about 200 miles away.

Will blog again when we get there. Love you all and miss you and Texas.

Cave Tour

Well, we did Raccoon Mt. Caverns and it was pretty good. Not near as good as Natural Bridge Caverns that Lindsay and I went through a couple of months ago. I also expected it to be as hot and humid as NBC, but it was cool -- about 65 degrees. Lindsay froze in her shorts and t-shirt, but it only took about 40 mins. to go through it. Surprising to me it was Murr's first time through one, so his cherry has been popped now!

We're on the road almost to Knoxville. Should get to our destination by 4:30 or 5:00 we hope.

Thanks to Rana

.... you can now see my photos. She has an explanation of how to use if you can't figure it out on your on under comments of On the Road Again blog.

On the Road Again

I just can't WAIT to be on the road again! NOT. But onward through the fog we go. But not till around noon after we do the cave. Will report on whether it was a good one or not.

Route today will take us through Knoxville, and yes Neal we'll look out for "THE" stadium and give it a wave from you, and then on to Bristol and then on to a campground in or around Hillsville, VA. Yes, we'll finally make it to Virginia today! Thank goodness there's not much further to go!

Catching Up on Comments

I'm so glad you all are right along w/ me on this adventure. It helps me unwind at the end of the day knowing that I can tell you all what's been happening and knowing that I'll have a few comments to read to keep me going.

Nanny, her finger is FINE. Stop worrying about that and start getting nervious about all these mountain roads we've been on and will be on! They're beautiful but I keep thinking, "If we go off the road we're going to keep going for a while!", and we're not even into mountainous country yet I don't think.

Neal and Lisa, we'll be on the lookout for "THE" stadium. Is it on the right or the left going through Noxville? Also, can I expect Noxville to be about like Birmingham? It wasn't near as bad as Houston, but it was a pretty big city and kind of scary to be going through w/ this POS RV! I managed okay, but I had the death grip going. See, Nanny, something else to worry about besides her finger! Murr was disappointed that we wouldn't be passing Talladega, evidently it's on I-20 and we went I-59. Also, Lisa, how's the foot? And, Neal, how's the shingles?

And by the way, he's not a good GPS. My directions I had plainly written down said we are to go IH-24 East, from IH-59 North, but as he's looking at the map he says that IH-24 only goes one way!!!!! And it may from looking at the map, but the signs clearly said East or West. I ignored his warning that I was to go West and went East as I remembered I had written down, and guess which one of us was right? And he can' only sit still in his seat for about 5 minutes at a time (think ADD here)! He's constantly looking for a squeeck or a rattle somewhere and fixing it, and then the next bad bit of road we hit (and there are many, remember I said these IH's are for the birds along here) and then they start up again and he's then he's up again. Remember, this has routine has been going on for 3 days now and it's getting a little tiresome!!!!

And, yes, Tom and Rene, he has reminded me quite a few times that this is supposed to be "HIS" vacation and all he is required to do is "relax". He's gotten quite good at "that"!

Kelli, when are you going to learn to quit messing w/ that goat? Silly girl. Certainly makes me rethink my plan to use them as lawn mowers if all I'm going to get out of it is a bad back!

Fred, I didn't get to talk to you tonight because my cell battery went dead and I had to wait to get to the CG to charge her up once we hooked up. I tried calling on Murr's cell back to you, but you must have been in the bathroom? Or was it because you were waiting on Miss Annie hand-and-foot like you always do? (Tongue in check here to both of you!) For your map of where I am, the CG is listed as Chattanooga, but it's really on the outskirts of it on IH-24. I'll get my phone charged, Fred, and will be looking forward to talking to you tomorrow.

And if there's anything else going on in the world that we should know about, please let us know. I'm going through a newspaper withdrawal here -- haven't looked at one since Friday!

Tomorrow we're headed to the Bristol, TN, area. Murr has already asked why I didn't plan this trip for when there was a race going on there, or in Talledega which we didn't get to pass and wave to. Oh, well, maybe he can plan the next trip and deal w/ all the worries!

I miss you all! Keep in touch so I don't feel as far away from Texas as I am!

Beautiful Tennessee

Well, we finally made it to the campground, everyone is still alive, and the POS RV is still in one piece (keep your fingers crossed that it stays that way).

We're sitting at the Raccoon Mountain RV Campground and Murr has been wondering all day what kind of coons we're going to be seeing. I know it's politically incorrect, but we're from Junction remember, and so far it's been neither kind. We're sitting at the base of the mountains and it's gorgeous. It's got the Raccoon Mountain Caverns next door as I said this morning and we're going to go through them before we hit the road again.

Unfortunately I don't have any funny "Murr gets sprayed w/ sewage stories". Hook up so far was uneventful. It's 7:30 our time and Murr's putting supper on the BBQ pit. Looks like cajun sausage and chicken we picked up a Wal-Mart in Mississippi. Brenda, you'll be happy to know that we've stopped at a Wally World in Texas, Louisiana & Mississippi. Alabama Wal-Marts missed out having us as a customer, and so did the little slice of Georgia we went through, maybe the Tennessee one's will get lucky and get us for a dollar or two.

I need to go wash clothes and work on my check book. I haven't totaled up the gas and groceries yet and I need to do that to see if I'm over or under budget. My debit card has gotten hot it's been swiped so many times.

By the way, I've posted just a couple of pictures on Flickr, but I haven't figured out how to get a link onto this blog. Maybe Rana will give me some more helpful advice. But if you have a Yahoo account you can log into Flickr w/ your id and do a search, I guess? My ID is littlerandle.

Well, my battery is going dead on my laptop, time to give it some juice. Will be back later.

Chattanooga Bound

This morning's problem before we left w/ the POS RV was the circuit breakers tripped. The manager of the CG helped us and was very nice. He suggested we get it checked out just in case. So we called the traveler assistant people and they told us to stop at a place in Meridian, MS, to have it looked at. The good 'ole Mississippi boy that looked at it thought we were crazy to be worried about it. Just said there was a probably a power surge that tripped it and when we tried to reset it it was still hot and not cooled off and that was why it continued to trip. Hope he was right. Guess we'll find out tonight when we plug in.

I started out driving this morning because Murr was being a butt and refused to drive the POS RV. After we stopped in Meridian I reminded him I drove all day yesterday and was tired and wanted to rest. He agreed to drive a couple of hours, which was a good thing for him because he was fixing to get something upside his head if he didn't. We're all getting a little wore out if you can't read between the lines. Well, except Lindsay. She's just been so great on this trip. My sisters keep telling me I didn't deserve such a good child, but I beg to differ.


So we're fixing to pass through Tuscaloosa, AL, on to and through Birmingham, AL, and then end up at the CG in Chattanooga, TN, at around 6:30. We're staying at a Campground that is right by Raccoon Mountain Caverns and I've promised Lindsay we'll get up and go through it before we hit the road again tomorrow at around noon, so she's happy and looking forward to it.

See ya later.

Monday morning in Mississippi

Woke up to a beautiful morning and started planning where to go next. Was going to go to Tupelo on the Natchez Trace Parkway, and then on up to Lewisburg, TN to where Judge Warner's son & daughter live, but I'm rethinking the plan and the timespan. Thinking about heading into Alabama instead and then on up to Chattanooga. Will let you know when I know!

Mississippi River

I forgot to mention in my earlier blog that Lindsay and Murr enjoyed the view while crossing the Mississippi River over that HUGE bridge in Baton Rouge while I had a death grip on the steering wheel. It certainly made that "little" bridge that I went around this morning look like a fire ant mound! Nanny, she kept asking me if it was making me "nervoius" and I wanted to say "hell yes", but managed w/ a "yes, Lindsay."

Me & Yogi are Best Friends

Oh, what a day. Oh, what the correct tire pressure has to do w/ handling this thing, and, oh, what sorry excuses for interstates they have in Louisiana. (Murr told the guy when we picked it up that he thought the rear outside tire looked low. They guy assured him it was just sitting on a slope and it was fine, that they had already checked them. Evidently Murr was right because the inside one was taking all the weight and eventually gave out! Murr has threatened about 100 times of going back and taking it out on the man!) Once we finally got on the road we did pretty good until we got to I-12 -- that was the worst road I have ever been on in my entire life and it's an Interstate for God's sake. When I say terrible I mean bumpy and pot-holes, and it went on like that for 30 or 40 miles (seemed like 130)!!!! I'm surprised the POS RV still has windows in it we were jarred so bad in a couple of places. Top speed was 50 and that was pushing it in this thing even though everyone else was whizzing past us at 80. I will never say another bad thing about Texas roads or all the construction we have going on them. I would place a bet that the ones in LA haven't been touched in 20 years!!!!

And then we crossed into Mississippi. Those roads were beautiful ...... until we got closer and closer to Jackson, and then they were just as bad as those in LA. But the scenery in MS is very pretty. I swear we just kept on driving up a hill, and then up another hill, and then up another .... you get the picture. And huge, tall pine trees everywhere.

All very relaxing despite the fact that Lindsay was ready to go swimming at 11:00 after we fixed the flat, and that Murr was ready for a beer about that same time. So he drank, Lindsay asked how much further, and I drove. As you can well imagine, at about 5:00 when we're still at least an hour away from our campground my nerves were FRIED. And that's when a little bit of yelling happened -- at BOTH Lindsay and Murr as I contined to drive down the road. You can't say I'm not a multi-tasker!

We finally pull into the Jellystone Campground in Pelahatchie, MS, (about 20 miles East of Jackson) w/ none other than Yogi Bear on the sign. Lindsay recognized him right off. I recognized my chance for a beer getting closer. The place looked very busy and as Lindsay and I stood in line I contemplated what I was going to do if the lady told me they had no room for us -- all of the ideas I came up w/ were going to end in bloodshed to someone! Luckily for everyone they had a spot for us, and it is beautiful. I'm sitting here posting this blog looking at, I guess, Lake Pelahatchie. It's gorgeous and I'm going to take some pictures and with Rana's help I might figure out how to let you all see them.

Funny incident occurred while Murr was trying to get the sewer & gray water drain hooked up. I think it had something to do w/ him turning on the water pump before he did the hook up, but I didn't mention that to him until after the incident. He goes to uncap the shitter -- sorry, there's no other word for it -- and it spews all over him. Thank goodness Lindsay and I were out of range. I'm pretty sure the other campers learned some new cuss words and were laughing at us. I know Lindsay and I were laughing at Murr. Got everything set up, and then after Lindsay closed her finger in the door we got to put use the first aid kit I had bought. Pretty handy. There was no blood, it just got smushed pretty good. Murr took her swimming and here I sit looking at the lake and talking to you all.

They've just returned and are in the shower so I'll sign off for now.

Until next time ......

Fixing Flat & Uploading photos

The flat guy just got here and he's working on it now. I guess we waited an hour and a half or so. Lindsay is getting bored. Murr, too, for that matter. This whole time I've been trying to upload photos and it tries but never finishes. Will try again when I get a chance.

Flat Tire

We got on the road around 8:45 and went the back way so I wouldn't have to drive across that huge bridge on I-10. We noticed it was shimming and a shaking a little more than it had yesterday, but in this rattle trap it was hard to tell a difference. About 20 miles from Lake Charles it starts shaking like the whole thing is going to fall apart and Murr declares we have a flat tire. A few cuss words and a mile later we pull off the interstate into an Exxon parking lot and call the Roadside assistance number. They're supposed to call us and let us know someone is on the way, but it's been 15 minutes and haven't heard from them yet. We'll probably burn a tank of gas just to keep the thing running so we can have some AC. Ah, the joys of traveling in a rented POS RV!!!!

Since we seem to have some time on our hands, I'm going to take some pictures of this lovely vehicle and the Exxon we're parked outside of (not much scenery here to see) and see if I can figure out how to post them for ya'll.

Sunday Morning In Louisiana

Woke at 6:00 to the sound of rain. It was nice, but then I started worrying about driving this POS in the rain. Got up and checked the weather and was relieved to find out their not forecasting rain all day, just an occasional shower here and tere. Now I'm sitting here drinking coffee waiting for my traveling partners to drag their lazy butts out of bed.

Game plan today is to go to Jackson, MS, and stop there at a Jellystone campground. It's only about 5 hours, but if we went on to Tupelo it'd be a total of 9 or more hours for the day and that would be pushing it. Plus, up around Tupelo I can't find a campground w/ a swimming pool, and the one in Jackson has one. I had to pinky-promise Lindsay last night that she could swim today, and even though her pinky-promises to me sometimes never pan out, she expects mine to.

So the Jacksons are headed to Jackson. Talk to ya there!

Lake Charles, Louisiana

Wow, what a day! We actually made it to the campground in Lake Charles at 7:30 without incident. I had my doubts going through downtown Houston though.

Let me back up a little and let me first say that I am not a good passenger. I prefer to be in the driver's seat and in control. I realize that statement probably doesn't surprise any of you. Let me also amend my earlier comment about the RV being okay and how it drives and rides like a tank. It doesn't drive down the road, it walks. If any of you have ever pulled a trailer that walks you will know what I'm talking about. The steering is horrible and it takes all your might to just keep it in your lane. You can't see anything out the rearview mirror, and your side mirrors are pretty useless. This made the trip through downtown Houston very ........ terrifying. And Murr at this point is tired of fighting the RV and is dying for a beer.

Our next adventure down this path was a stop on the outskirts of Houston at a Wal-Mart at about 4:00. We only saw 2 other people in the store that had the same skin color as ours. The isles were only big enough for 1 cart and the layout of the store must have been done by a mentally challenged person on drugs. We got the very bare minimum, the most important on the list being some Miller Lite.

I took over the driving at this time (finally) and Murr started popping tops at a rate faster than Big Brown on the track today. I felt more in control behind the wheel and driving the thing was as bad as he'd been telling me, but needless to say I was better at it.

Lindsay's favorite question on the trip wasn't when will we get there, it was, "Are we out of Texas yet?" We finally got to answer her w/ a yes. The campground is nice and the people who run it are very nice and helpful. They made sure we got hooked up properly. The only bad thing about it is it doesn't have a swimming pool, which Lindsay pouted about for about 5 minutes. I thought when I was researching campgrounds that I picked the ones that did, but I obviously didn't. She was a very good traveler. Except for the Texas question she was very patient. Mom, you'll be happy to know that she is enthralled by the toilet and how it works and the fact that she can use it while we're on the road. She has gone "potty" more in the last 8 hours than she usually does in 2 days!

I'm now relaxing w/ a cold one and Lindsay and Murr are preparing hot dogs.

Tomorrow our adventure takes us through Baton Rouge and we'll cross into Mississippi and go up to Jackson. I'd like to think we'll make it to the Tupelo area, but we've agreed that we're only going to drive 8 hours each day. If we do make it to Tupelo, I'll be sure to tell Elvis hello for ya'll.

Finally On the Road

We left our house at 8:30 this morning and I only wanted to hurt Murr once -- well, okay, twice before we left. After being on the road for only 30 minutes Lindsay asked how much further!!!! I'm going to really get tired of that question I bet. I guess I can always use the duct tape that I brought on her mouth, right?

Picked up the RV around 10:00 and then we had to go to Retama, which was NOT on my itinerary. Murr had gone to Retama yesterday to place his and Daddy's bets so we wouldn't have to do it today. That was a grand idea until he found out this morning that one of the horses they bet on had scratched. So after getting the bets changed and then driving around San Antonio for about 30 minutes (or a quarter tank of gas is how I'm looking at it) because he didn't listen to me and took a wrong turn, we're finally on I-10 heading to Lake Charles!!!!

The RV is okay. You can tell it's a rental. Murr says it drives like a tank. I know it sure as hell rides like one. He's going to drive until 3:30 and then it's my turn. I hope we're through Houston by that time.

Catch ya'll later.