At Considerable Cost

Emmeline had a piece displayed in the district art show this year. Hers is the "E," top center:

Here in our part of Texas, when spring rolls around, you'll see cars pulled over on the sides of interstates and highways.   Whole families will be wearing meticulously coordinated outfits and babies will be red-faced by their attempts to tell parents how displeased they are with the present situation.   Cameras are at the ready and parents will either climb into a vehicle with a satisfied smile or with an exasperated sigh, depending upon the results on their cameras.   It's all part of bluebonnet season and as an outsider, a Texas newbie even after sixteen years (16 years?!?), I still get excited by the sudden explosion of brilliant blues and vibrant red and oranges that blanket pastures and roadsides.   Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush are in bloom!   Grab a camera!   Find a good patch of blooms!   Everyone smile and look happy, darn it! We were a little late, so the blooms were starting to fade. ...

Remember how much energy Tom Sawyer had to spend in order to manipulate his friends so they would beg, even pay, for the opportunity to do his fence-painting chore for him?   Well, I never imagined that I could ever one-up one of my childhood heroes, but I managed to do it.   Thanks to The Big Event , a one-day service project hosted by Texas A & M University as a "thank you" to the community, I was able to watch as our entire backyard privacy fence was painted.   Oh, the day those fences go up, they are so pretty.   A few months later, they're still pretty, but after a year or so, they settle into a weathered grey state, made worse by the marks of sprinkler system spray patterns.  Before I looked on-line for pictures of painted fences for color inspiration so I could find a color that was cheerful and one I would not tire from too quickly.     Purple: goes GRAPE with everything Blue and green wer...

"Don't get it." "Waste of money." "Not worth it." Read through on-line buying guides written by, well, some guy or gal with a computer and internet access, and the above advice is what you're likely to find when it comes to store's additional warranties.   I've always followed that advice until we bought our last laptop in 2011.   I'm so glad I bucked the traditional advice.   As the salesperson explained, Office Depot would repair or replace the laptop even if it was damaged by human error, like spilling coffee all over it or leaving it on a thick bed comforter where it overheated.   One employee told me how her dog damaged hers and the plan still covered the damage.   Last summer the laptop began to have major problems and some days I could not use it at all.   I called Office Depot and they sent me a box and paid shipping label so I could send it to their repair center.   When the laptop return...

Thomas and I were able to go to Mother-Son Night at Chick-fil-A and we had such a nice evening.

Last year, I discovered The Bitter Southerner, a literary magazine on-line .   They publish a new story every Tuesday morning to share stories of people, places, and activities which represent the new south, the south that seeks to right wrongs and look to the future.   I've looked forward to my Bitter Tuesday mornings.   Today's feature, the beautifully written "Feed," by author Susan Rebecca White , has been on my mind all day, through the breakfast dishes, the fitting for a temporary crown (always the dental patient, never the Queen), and the afternoon routines of school pick-up, homework, and dinner.   I scribbled a bit on my notepad and now I sit to try to write about all those thoughts so I can figure out what I think of "Feed."     As a Born-and-Raised Anti-Catholic   I've written before of my un-churched upbringing .   My dear mama was raised in the Church of Christ, a denomination where e...

Catch-up Post!   We had a fun, but low-key Mardi Gras season and Fat Tuesday this year.   We didn't try any get-togethers.   On Fat Tuesday, we were fortunate to have gumbo in the freezer, so all I had to cook was a decadent dessert before the Lenten season would commence at midnight.   Even though King Cake is a traditional Mardi Gars food, it's not what we wanted.   We wanted a homemade key lime pie and it was delicious!   The fleur-de-lis was an after-Christmas find at Kirklands.   If you don't have beads, you can find them at Dollar Tree.   My masks, as well as the gold balls in the hurricane glass, came from King Dollar: This little tree was our Dr. Suess tree at Christmas.   On Epiphany, it became our Mardi Gras tree.   The garland on the mantle was a new find this year from Kirkland's after Christmas, for just $3.00.  I threaded clearance Christmas ribbon thr...