Thanksgiving 2013

Now that I have had my turkey sandwich on white bread, spread with lots of mayo, Thanksgiving is officially over. Let the Christmas Parade begin!  Well, right after the big diet parade kicks off. Wow, did we ever eat well this past weekend. All the weight that I have been losing has been found. No wonder January is the  month to join the gym. After Thanksgiving and Christmas, I may have to join one too.

So, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with 27 people sitting at tables in my living-room/kitchen.  It is nice to have such a large area.  We fried three turkeys and smoked one. We sent one full turkey home with my brother, but ate most of the other turkeys.  Actually, we had plenty left over for sandwiches all weekend - perfecto!

We took a few family photos. Mom wanted one with all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. There were better ones than this one, but this one was the most fun. It could be a contender for "awkward family photos" blog.

Then we did a reenactment photo. The first one was taken 17 years ago of Mom's grandchildren. Since then, Eric was born, so we added him in - photo bomb :) It was a beautiful day. For some reason, we did not have the usual football game. What's up with that?

Crazy

This is a letter that I sent to my friend Jo. Since I have been missing my blog-buddies, I thought I would post this:

 

Hey,

I went to Wichita Falls yesterday to check on the moms and do some grocery shopping. Mostly, it was a beautiful day with temps in the low 70's. Although it was overcast, it was not windy nor was it cold. The grey sky made a nice backdrop for the fall leaves - very paintable. At 3 PM I stopped by to visit my cousin whose office is near the tamale place - where I was headed to order my Thanksgiving tamales. I came out of my cousin's office before 4 and the wind was howling and the temps were dropping. It was now 59. By the time I got my tamales and headed out of town it was 49. It was 43 when I got home. We were into the 30's as the sun went down. Crazy weather!

 

The mom's were good, if not a bit crazy themselves. But who am I to say anything. Most of the day my shirt was bothering my neck. I kept thinking that I would never wear that shirt again because it was so irritating. It was about 2 PM when I was at Sam's Club that I realized I had my shirt on backwards. It was so much better after I turned it around. 

 

I wanted to go by Hobby Lobby and look at frames, but time got away from me as well as the weather turning nasty. I need to do some framing. I need to do lots of things, but with Thanksgiving coming, art will have to wait. Looks like we are gonna have a house full. My brother called me on Wed to ask if I was getting things ready. I told him, "Na. I am waiting until next week. Then I will work like crazy to get it all done. 

 

Forever the procrastinator,

Lou

Art Girl's Paintings

My art girls have been working on this painting. It is taken from a Canadian artist - a book I bought when visiting Calgary.  I have done this painting before with another class years ago, but I think this class of girls did an exceptional job.  A couple of the paintings are not quite finished. One of the girls took her painting home last week so that I would not make her work on it anymore.It is not pictured. One girl has been absent and has not had a chance to work on hers. I have eight girls in all. So, one of these paintings is mine. 

Sitting in the Sunshine

This is my latest work in progress. It is from a photo taken of my parents sitting outside the restaurant in Chimayo, NM. Mom and Dad loved to make a day trip down the high road towards Santa Fe to Chimayo to eat. Dad always had to smoke a cigarette, so we were sitting outside.

Stucco Thoughts

It cooled off a bit this weekend - temps in the mid-eighties instead of high eighties to nineties. Saturday was actually very nice. And the wind was not howling. It was perfect for doing some much needed stucco on the house. Summers are just too hot for doing stucco - cement dries way too fast for us slowpokes. So, we have waited for cooler weather. With Toby's mom needing more care and company, we have not been able to do as much as we have wanted - weekends being the best time for us to work and the best time for both of us to go to WF. But this weekend we stayed home, and Toby and I got after it. With just the two of us mixing and spreading, it was slow going, but very peaceful. We were in no big hurry. 

I had several thoughts while I was wielding my trowel. One: I love construction work. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.  Seeing your work come together in a concrete (pardon the pun) way is awesome. I feel good that I can do the work - that I know what I am doing - that I can be a help to Toby. It is a busy work that keeps me moving. I've always thought that construction was one of the jobs that I would love to do on a regular basis (the other job I love is teaching).

Two: I've often wondered if my love for construction work came from my dad and maybe his dad. Years ago looking at a 1910 census, I saw that my great-grandfather was a carpenter. I know my dad loved to build things, and we built many things together. Those times were special - memories that I hold in my heart - that I cannot find words to express the joy of working with my dad. Now times are shared with Toby and often my children. I love working construction with family and friends.

There were other thoughts that accompanied these, but were basically spinoffs of those two thoughts. Getting things done on the house is always good. Toby and I are not getting any younger, but we have some good years left.  We were worn out Saturday night. Our fingers and hands were scraped and worn, and our bodies tired, but it was okay. We are able - still. It would be cool to build a house for my kids someday.  We have done lots of work on Bo and Sara's house. But someday, maybe they will want to build. I know Jesse would love to build her own house - and she is pretty capable of doing so.  She will make someone a fine homemaker :) 

Toby and I do more and more with just the two of us - empty-nesters.  The kids are busy with their own lives. They help out when they can, but it seems less and less. I asked Toby if he liked it being just me and him. He said he did like it. I do too. Not that I wouldn't mind the company of family and friends.  Yet, it seems to be a different season. It is a good season.

On a different note, it is raining today - yeha. It has not really cooled off that much, but the rain is very welcome.

Allergy Stories

Yesterday I was drug free, except for the allergy eye-drops. My eyes are having a tough time. Usually it's the spring when my eyes have it bad - odd year. Toby read where the middle of the country was supposed to have a cold winter.Yeah well, I will believe it when I see it. It has been cool enough to have the windows open, but it has been getting warm enough in the day that the air-conditioner has been coming on (77 in the house). Last night we left the windows closed and let the air-conditioner run. It was a good thang, 'cause there was a skunk outside somewhere that graced our home with an unpleasant smell. This "tween" weather is also hard on my hormones. My body reacts by overheating. Such is the life at a certain age, and no one really wants to hear about that.

I started another painting yesterday. It is time to get serious about my painting, again. Focusing on art may mean less computer. I don't really have much to say anyway.  But with my allergies, I was thinking about the past:

Back about ten years ago when we had a working ranch and ran older mama cows, Toby and I were taking a load of cows to Waurika to the sale barn. He was in one truck with a long, goose-neck trailer, and I was in the other truck pulling another goose-neck with a load of cows. Yes, I am capable of driving a pick-up with a 26' trailer full of cows - just don't ask me to back it - in front of a bunch of cowboys. We left the ranch in Commanche and drove to Waurika - about 30 miles. My eyes started itching, and my head clogged up, and my nose started running. When we got to the sale barn, we parked, and Toby came back to my truck to give instruction. He took one look at me and said, "Oh my gosh! I am sorry."  My eyes were swollen and red, and I looked miserable. I felt it too.   At least my allergies are not as bad now as they were then.

And it is not as bad as the time we were moving cattle off wheat in April one year. We had leased a large section of wheat and had to get the cows off and to market. We put Jesse on her horse to help move the cows to the pen and into the truck. There are some stories right there, but my big memory is that neither Jesse nor I could talk - our noses and throats and eyes were so bad with allergies. Jesse filled the hole under the saddle horn full of snotty Kleenex. Nice. The preacher saw our vehicles and stopped to talk. I hid in the truck - not wanting him to see me - I could not talk anyway with my head closed up. 

So I should be thankful that my allergies have gotten better over the years here in OK. Maybe someday the allergies will be gone all together.