I Went, I Saw, I'm Hooked!.....

 I have lived in Dallas since 1964.  I am a huge football fan from pee-wee to pro. One would think that I had occupied a seat at a Cowboy game multiple times...not so. Last night was

the first...yes, the first time to witness the Dallas Cowboys up close and personal!

The story begins with a generous son that won his six company tickets for the last preseason game.  Thanks for knowing your mom would love to be one of the invited guests!  After a 2 hour and 40 minute trip from driveway to the seat (and we only live 40 miles away) I settled in for the experience. 

The stadium is amazing, incredible, fantastic, ect.  I was awe struck by the massiveness and beauty.  Yes, a football stadium can be beautiful.  Jerry Jones, kudos to you.  Personally, I do not like you at all but you have created a masterpiece. 

Our seats were close...really close.  The kind of seats that cost $580 a piece during the regular season....the seats that regular people really cannot afford to sit in!  Wow...what fun! 
You could see the detail on the cheerleader uniform...and a lot more than the detail if you were interested in that.  I, once again, had boot envy.  I must have an undiagnosed foot fetish because I always find myself loving everyone's footwear!

The starters were not in the game..it was the last test for the rookies before the roster was cut. Not to worry!  If you have the privilege of being on that field in a Cowboy uniform, even if it is only for a moment...I think you are a star!

Jason Garrett, I wish you the best this year!  I hope you can over come the grip of Jerry Jones and create a winning team.  All of Texas would be indebted to you!

It was a great opportunity and I loved every minute of it...but, it is not for those that monitor their spending.  Beers $8.50 each, nachos $10 and water $5!  I believe I will spend Sundays on the patio with the TV on and queso and chips on a platter.  I found myself watching the jumbotron at the stadium the majority of the time anyway.  We will just watch the jumbotron at our house for free...and 

 "MAKE SOME NOISE"!!!!!

Jerry Jones,stay in your box.

Dallas Cowboys go crush the Giants!

Such a Girl!....

Happy Birthday To Me...And Tim!.....

 It is the beginning of birthday season at our house!  With the exception of Jimmy, we all manage to turn one year older in a period of three weeks.  There was a time in the early days of tight budgets that backpacks and school clothes became birthday gifts.  Sometimes one big strategically timed birthday party worked for everyone.  Now that we have reached those "golden years"  we can stretch a birthday celebration to the length of four or five days and enjoy every minute.  Deserved, right?

The party began on Wednesday....with lunch out with a special friend.  A girl has to start early in order to get all the good times in!
Special homemade cookies with sprinkles ....

and time to open presents!

One of the best presents of all came all wrapped up in a hula skirt and pom poms....

The other one with a smile that gives me fuel for days on end.

Next year I will be filling out Medicare paper work.  I have aches and arthritis.  I have gray hair and wrinkles that are not just laugh lines...but I earned it all!  Every year just gets a little bit better.  What lies ahead is just more time to enjoy all of the things I hoped for when I was only 22 and just starting this journey.  You count your blessings daily and try not to get caught up in the mundane things that really do not matter. It is only when you get old that you realize that you no longer have time to waste time.  Every minute of every day is important (even if it is just for reflection)....so I have 365 more days until my next birthday and maybe I will just choose to celebrate number 65 for a whole week!

Right Around The Corner......

 It is that time of year already.  Summer activities are winding down.  Family trips to the store are not for pool toys and picnic supplies....now everyone is in school shopping mode.  I was never a fan of seeing summer end.  I did not dread having the kids at home.  It was a lazy time.  We did not have to juggle multiple schedules and hurried meals.  We stayed up late and slept in.  Our days were filled with...WHATEVER!

 What I do miss is back to school shopping.  I loved picking out those perfect first day outfits for the kids.  New tennis shoes, a few pair of jeans and the mandatory "suspenders"???  I seriously do not remember choosing these!  I am relatively sure that my son was not the only one sporting something besides a belt to hold up his pants....just not sure why that made a statement in fifth grade!

It was a joyous day when we could add hairbows and dresses to our shopping list.  Boys were just so ordinary....with the exception of the suspender era, which I happened to notice in other photos went with the often overlooked season of tight roll jeans.  If only those that think sagging is so fashionable could have witnessed a true fashion statement!

Not to be overlooked was the mission to find the best buys on school supplies.  I am grateful to have missed today's prepackaged supplies.  The thrill of the hunt was personally selecting your folders and crayon boxes.  It was a big day when we graduated from big chief tablets to notebook paper.  I loved it.  It might just have been more fun for me than the kids.  I was and still am a bargain hunter so glue sticks at 10 for a $1 was cause for celebration.  We loaded up for the year and I promise that my children can all tell you the tale of how all excess school supplies were stored in our never used wet bar.  The path to obtain needed supplies..."please walk behind the wing back chair, and do not make tracks on the carpet"!

Ah...the memories.  Tonite I am missing getting ready for school!

Congrats Are In Order!...

It is a promotion....a big promotion for Drew.  After six years with Hill and Wilkinson the company gave him the thumbs up and he is now a Superintendent!  It amazes me.  Drew left Texas Tech with a degree in Ag Education.  The hours he spent in college sudying animal science and ag mechanics in no way prepared him for blueprints and cement pours. He knew that was where his passion was...so he landed a job and worked from the lowest ranks to a very coveted position....and I am a proud mama.  What he knows about commercial construction was learned from the ground up and he mastered the plans.  His work eithic and endless mornings that begin at 3:00 am have not gone unnoticed by those at the top.  An email to the entire company from the President announced the promotion....

We are beaming with pride!

Now What.....

 I am watching the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics.  Oh my, I feel like I am losing a friend.  The time was perfect for the summer Olympics.  After all.... we are all being held hostage inside by this brutal heat so to have a distraction other that horrid summer reruns is perfect. I have laughed, cried, watched in wonder, and said a few not so nice words as I have watched all of this unfold for the last 16 days. 

I had the television on continually and was surprised how many events go practically unacknowledged.  Those that won a medal fencing, rowing, sailing, and biking were surely not front page news like the swimmers and gymnasts. Is their accomplishment any less meaningful...not in their eyes!

Will we ever forget Gabby Douglas "the flying squirrel"?  I know I won't....but then the media has to discredit the awesome spirit of her win but reporting on the fact that her mother has filed for bankruptcy and Gabby does not have to be held financially responsible for the debts she has incurred.  Then let us spend a lot of air time debating the fact that she has nappy hair and someone should help her.  I think the responsible parties should loose their journalism credentials. Need we also debate whether or not Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time?  Yes, he has more opportunities to win medals by virtue of the fact that he swims so many events....yes, he does swim them and he wins them.  Take your medals and be proud Mr. Phelps.  I am on board with your wins.  Usain Bolt please go ahead and be cocky.  Maybe your height works in your favor but you are one amazing athlete and I admire you.

Proctor and Gamble "proud sponsor of moms" I also want to applaud you for the great commercials that highlighted so many mother moments that allowed us to watch the thrill of victory and agony of defeat on your faces.  Though my children are not Olympic athletes, I know what it is like to sit in the stands.  You deserve air time!

And before I close I want it to be duly noted that I once had Olympic aspirations even if I only made it to the Junior Olympics.  Somewhere tucked way in a baggy are a few medals of various colors...none gold... that I was very proud to accept.  You see this is important because I have absolutely no talent.  I cannot sing, dance, draw, play a piano or do anything else I once aspired to do.  I tried out for the drill team twice in high school....FAIL.  My report said "nice smile"...no rhythm!  So, I am thankful for a mom that shoved me out the door at 6:30 am so I could ride my bike to practice.  No danger in cycling three miles back in the day.  I was also fortunate to be trained by Joan Spillane, a 1960 Olympic Gold Medal winner.  I remember it well.  She was awesome and the thing I envied the most were her sandals.  To this day I can visualize clearly how I coveted her shoes.  Maybe I didn't really have my heart in Olympic gold after all.

Thank you Great Britain for hosting.  It was a great sixteen days.

Can It Be?.....

 Finley is seven months old today.  How did that happen?  Weren't we just running to the hospital at midnight to welcome her into the world?  Now she is past the half  year mark and gaining momentum in every way each day.  No longer content to just creep along, she is now into a full crawl. And when she reaches her destination she rises to the top of whatever she can find to pull up on.  

But the most enchanting thing about her (besides just her whole self) are her eyes.  She has no idea the power she will be able to wield someday when she bats those incredibly long eye lashes at some young man and he notices those huge blue eyes. 

I am smitten.  I knew that there would be no way that I could ever have enough love in my heart for another grandbaby.  After all Brooklynn just takes up too much of the love I have.  Oh, I was so wrong.  There is plenty to share...maybe for even more than two!

What Will It Bee?......

 The family is once again waiting for a new member. However, no one knows what it will "bee"...meaning a boy or girl!  That is unique these days.  With all of the technology, few new parents get to delivery without the nursery painted in approprite colors and a pink or blue wardrobe complete for the first three months of life.  Not sure I could resist the temptation to find out what was tucked away in there waiting to meet me.

 Debbie and Chase have two more months until either Luke or Ava arrives.  Excuse me while I get all emotional once again because life is passing me by too quickly!  Our family is not longer expecting babies, they are expecting grandbabies.  I am now looking at life from my mom's perspective and I do not feel like I could possibly be there yet.  I am entering those "golden years"...or sadly I am probably there already.

All of this celebration makes me melancholy....excited for the growing family but a bit sad.  I know if I blink I will be another five years down the road.  For now...cannot wait to find out what it will "BEE"!

Same Story, 2012 Verse.....

HEAT!!!!

 Intense, scorching heat!  I had hoped for a milder summer than 2011 but it is equally miserable, though the number of 100 plus degree days falls short of last year.  When it is 107 degrees outside does it matter if it is 10 days in a row or 15?  My plants are fried once again.

 My geraniums that were picture perfect in June are scorched in August.  Water is not even a fix.  The only cure I can see right now is to plant a flower bed full of cactus and I believe even those would revolt.

 So what to do when the days become ones where venturing far from the house is literally an effort in misery?  Bring the outdoors inside!  Instead of a stroller ride down the sidewalk and around the corner...we traveled around the kitchen and down the hall.

 The new pool toy was floating across the tile with Brooklynn taking all of her babies for a ride.  The pool registers 94 degrees...the temp we set the hot tub on in the winter.  Why even get in the water?

And for lunch, pull out the table, open the umbrella and picnic inside.  It takes being creative and patient as we ride out this heat wave...that comes with no end in sight.  Oh, how I long for October!