Paintings of the Week

These watercolors were done on Yupo paper that Michael Fay mentioned on his site. The paper is plastic so the water pools rather than soaking into the paper. It is just pretty wild. The first painting was purely experimental. The second two paintings were smaller and maybe a little more what I wanted to happen. I think my students will love this stuff.

Prince's Island

Last night Toby and I went to the Eau Claire Market to eat and look around. We ate at a place called Barley Mill Eatery and Pub. This is Toby doing his best pirate impression. It is amazing, but we saw a Texas Aggie there. Hadn't seen any t-sips - must be embarrassed to wear the orange and white.

After nachos and beer, we went for a walk over to Prince's Island. It is a small island in the Bow River with walking paths and park areas. The flowers hanging from these lightposts are beautiful. There were flower gardens everywhere - I was impressed considering I can't keep any plants alive for long. It was very nice to have such a beautiful park in the middle of city. The walking paths follow the river - much nicer than walking on busy streets. Calgary is a very modern, beautiful city, but I sure like the peace of the river and parks. Although there were quite a few people out walking, biking, rollerblading, etc, it was not crowded. It made for a nice evening.

Photos from Kensington

The first two photos were taken in the Kensinton shopping area. Take a look at these little ones crossing the street and how they are attached to each other. Notice how young they are and how cute they are with their little hats.

The photo of the house is just one of many that I took - there are several streets of these funky old homes. If you like, I will post more house pictures.

Sisters

Thirty-seven years ago today, I could hear my father running through the house about 4AM. He came into my room and said that he was taking Mom to the hospital to have the baby and would call me when it was born. Back in those days, no one knew the gender of the baby until it came. Mom said that Dad went running into the hospital yelling, "She has them fast!" About an hour later, Dad called to say that I had a baby sister. I woke my brothers to tell them. We were all pretty excited. After school that day, I walked to the hospital (well over a mile) to see Mom and my new baby sister. She was not all that I had hoped. Her hair was gooky and she had Uncle Eli's upper lip - scary. She was long and thin like a snake. I told Mom that she was not very pretty. What does a twelve year old know? My parents let me name her Kathryn Lee, because I had been pulling for a sister for a long time. She turned out beautiful and still is. As most of you know, it is a game between my brothers and sister to call each other on our birthdays trying to be the first caller. This morning while I was planning this post, my sister called me (I had told her that it was expensive to call my cell phone while in Canada). She said that she was not going to let me get away with not talking to her on her birthday. Pete was the first to call this morning - he wins again. I wish I could pull out an old photo of us - like the one where I am standing with my date to some formal event when I was sixteen and my date is holding Kathy. I thought she was a pest, but what does a sixteen year old know - she turned out pretty well. You can see last years old photo of us in the August 2006 archives. Happy birthday, Kathy!

Pics of Calgary

The first photo is just a shot of downtown Calgary. Notice that it was taken the first day here while it was still raining. The second photo was taken this morning while I walked to Kensington Area. I crossed over the Bow River from the downtown area. It is the same area where we did our grocery shopping at Safeway. I found the Kensington Art Supply store. The lady who worked there was fun. She told me that she was from Ontario and found the grocery prices very high here. I agreed. I paid $1.89 per lb. for apples. In fact the whole cost of living is much higher here. Kevin, from Halliburton who just moved here, has recently bought a new home after looking all summer. Lower end homes go for $400,000 to $500.000 with nicer homes going up to $750,000. There is a housing shortage and high-rise apartments are going up like crazy. When we bought groceries (only enough for us to carry back to the hotel - certainly not what I would buy at Wal-Mart for the week in Duncan) it cost us $104.00. I'm glad Halliburton is picking up Toby's half of the groceries. How do people afford things here? I wonder if it is the same everywhere in Canada.

Still, I am having fun exploring the city. Toby and I ate out this evening and then walked for awhile. There seemed to be lots of young people out eating and socializing - kind of a loud crowd. I found some art galleries to explore tomorrow. I hope my legs hold up.

Walking Calgary

On my first full day in Calgary, I walked my short legs to nubs. Although it was raining, I searched the map of the city centre to see where I wanted to go. I found that the city has a series of indoor skywalks from building to building - I believe it is called 15+. After walking a block in the rain with Toby's umbrella, which is a piece of junk that kept folding up on my head, I entered a building and found the skywalk. I walked to the Eau Claire Market which I was told was a great little shopping area. It was pretty much a disappointment. So I went back into the skywalk and headed for Toby's office. I wondered through the maze of buildings - kind of the long way around - until I came to his building. I actually walked a block too far and had to backtrack on the street, but it had quit raining and being outside was more pleasant than the 15+. Toby and I ate at a little sandwich shop - he had the Shepperd's pie and I had the tuna. We walked around to kill time before he had to go back to work. Then I headed for Art Central which according to the brochure was an area of art galleries. There is a lightrail train that runs through the downtown area. It is free in the city centre, but cost money if you get off of 7th Ave. I did not take the train, but walked. Art Central was another disappointment. Most of the art was very modern and uninteresting to me. What was interesting was the building. It was chopped up into small rooms for artist to show their work and to have a little studio. People can visit the artist while they work. There were no artist working while I was visiting, but I like the concept. I know lots of artist that would love to have a little space to work and show their work - my mind is clicking. On the walk back to the hotel, I found the Gainsborough (sp?) gallery. It was much more to my taste and was enjoyable. I made it back to the hotel with tired feet and put them up for a while, watched a silly movie on TCM, sketched, and waited for Toby. When he got home, we headed for the lightrail and rode it to the end of 7th Ave. The sun was out and beautiful at 6 pm. Then we walked to the Kennsington Area to a Safeway store. The store was packed with people - mostly young. After we bought groceries, we chose to walk back to the hotel. My legs were give out (Okie talk).We heated up a pizza for supper. It was pretty late for us old folks, but we read a little before bed. We are still not on Calagary time, and we are waking up way before the alarm goes off.

The Kennsington area is an older area with little shops and funky little houses. It is just across the Bow River with a beautiful walking trail and bridge. Being a city, there is lots of high-rise apartment type buildings - the architecture is great. He older buildings are even better. I have taken some photos. Hopefully I can share them by putting them on Toby's laptop. Right now I am in the lobby again. Today, I want to explore Kennsington more. There is an art supply store...I may do some painting too.

One of my big impressions of Canada so far - wow the men are gorgeous. There are just lots of young people who seem really good-looking, fit, and hip. Is it just Canada, or is it because this is a city? I have been teasing Jesse that she should be coming here rather than San Francisco (she leaves on her CA trip next week). I know she will enjoy CA, but this is where the men are!

Bogging from the Lobby

The Regency Suites has a computer in the lobby - Heehaw! They don't mind me sitting here and blogging - Toby paid for it. He has to take his laptop to work - I really think I need a laptop. Then, I would be really cool. It is raining here in Calgary, but is suppose to clear up later this morning. It kind of reminds me of our trip to Italy a few years ago. It rained the whole first week we were in Ravenna. Jesse and I just got where we went out anyway to see the mosaics. Tomorrow it may frost.

Toby and I went out for coffee and a muffin early this morning since our little kitchen cupboard is bare. I plan on getting again shortly. Jesse has forwarded my email (the hughes.neet account) since I do not seem to be able to get my email. I am able to use my hotmail account which is ed_iver@hotmail.com .

So far so good.

We Are Here

The trip to Canada was smooth and without incident. Some people just live right, eh? On the first leg of the trip, which was to Houston from OKC, I did not get to sit with Toby. I sat with a young man whom I assumed to be an American Indian, but when I tried to talk to him, he did not speak English. He took out his airplane ticket and pointed out "New York" as if that was where he is from. Does that seem odd? Our trip started at 5am yesterday. We arrived in Houston about 8 am, grabbed some coffee and a bagel and boarded our next flight to Calgary. It was a bit squished. I will be dreaming I am a sardine for nights. Toby had the aisle seat. The guy across the aisle was a large young man wearing some sort of beanie hat (Jewish maybe?). He had headphones, a thick book on MLK Jr., and he could not sit still. He was constantly getting up and just standing. Of course his bottom came to about Toby's face. Toby got the bum in the face through out the trip. If you have ever seen "Men in Black", think of the guy whom the bug inhabitied, and you will get the picture of the guy Toby sat by. Toby was also wondering, didn't there use to be some sort of rule about how wide the stewardess could be. He got quite jostled by one of the stewardesses every time she walked down the aisle. I told him that I did not think the airline companies could discriminate against size. Toby thinks it is a necessity.

We landed in Calgary about 2 pm and then set our clocks back to Mountain time. We are in Calgary centre in a resident hotel. It is nice with a little living-room and kitchen. We took a nap, unpacked, and did the usual organizing. I chatted with Jes and Bo to let them know we are okay. Jes asked if we could understand the language:) Kevin, from Halliburton, took us out to eat at a brewery. He was full of information, but has only been in Canada since April. He said there is a large homeless population that bothers people for money, but that there is no unemployment. Odd. Today, I will hit the sites around the hotel and see what I can find out. Apparently, lots of people here walk - I like that. I will also take the camera and get back with you soon.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

Zoe dog woke me up this morning about 6:00 AM with her puppy dreams. My mind clicked on thinking of all I had to do and where we were going. My eyes popped open. Toby seemed to be stirring too - so I asked if it was Christmas yet. He has always laughed at me because I do not sleep well on Christmas Eve - too much excitement.


We had our first cup of coffee together, but then I sat down at the computer to blog. Wrong! Toby had other plans for me. Yesterday, he managed to weed-eat to death a tarp covering some ply wood, and this morning he needed me to help him move the lumber to the barn. He knows how I hate spiders and snakes and all things creepy crawly that live in old lumber. It meant putting on my grubby clothes before I showered and put on my not-quite- as-grubby clothes and then change back later. It meant me having to worry about spiders and snakes. Okay, I put on my big-girl panties and did it. This time there were no snakes or mice, but plenty of spiders and cockroaches - yuck enough. There were only seven 3/4 inch ply boards to be moved - wearing gloves made it not so bad. A few years ago, Toby had me moving some boards in the barn and a mouse did a hickory-dickory - ran up one board and jumped on me and ran down. I'm not really scared of mice, but I don't really want them on me either.


So, we are off to a great morning. Toby wanted to finish the weed-eating around the house before we left for Canada. He did quite a bit last night. Usually, he starts weed-eating where ever he starts the weed-eater. Last night I mentioned that he should start with the front of the house in case the weed-eater died before he finished. He accused me of telling him how to weed-eat. Well, yeah! Sure enough, the weed-eater won't start this morning, and he still needs to do more around the front of the house. No, there is no need for an "I told you so". He is irritated enough with out that.


Good news!
Last night my brother called me. I had been hearing some rumors that he had popped the question to Catherine. Since Catherine has not spilled her guts on this topic, I was waiting to see what they had to say. Sure 'nuff, they are engaged. Come on, Catherine, tell us the whole story! I could not be happier for my brother. He deserves someone to love him and I believe that Catherine does. The real up-side to this union is that I get a new sister out of it - one that is fun, beautiful, smart, and sensitive - Heehaw!

Painting of the Week

I have been having some problems posting on my computer. This morning, I am using Jesse's computer, and it is doing fine. Life has been very busy the last few days and will probably get busier. Getting ready for this trip and trying to leave the house/farm in reasonable shape is eating my lunch. Yesterday, I ran several errands in town, but did not make good use of my time. Several things did not turn out as I wanted them - oh well. Today, I am going back to town and try again. Last night we kept GBN1 which was a treat. She was wound up and talking. We sent her home dirty and tired. She loved swimming with Aunt Jes and the dogs (notice Ranger and Rita the cow dog). Today, I will pick her up and take her with me to run my errands giving her mother a little time to work on their new house. The house is just about ready for the big move-in this weekend. Our plan, right now, is to go to OKC with them on Saturday with the truck and horse trailer (moving van), help them load up their belongings, and send them home to unload while we stay in The City to fly out Sunday morning - early. Toby sent me the website of our hotel in Calgary. It does have internet access - so I will be blogging from up north. Right now, I need to be gettin' around.

Good News

The trip to Lubbock went well. Toby's sister, Jan, was there with her husband. Jan's son and his family were also in Lubbock to move their daughter into TTU. It made for a nice little family reunion. Monday was spent at the heart hospital waiting on the angiogram. More family showed up, and Toby's family can certainly be interesting. I felt like my job was to run interference (keeping some family members away from my mother-in-law) until the whole process was over. Toby's Aunt Ruth (better known as Uncle Ruth) has a new husband. He is a great guy as far as I can tell, but he has a lot of wind - he likes to talk. Maybe I was fresh meat for his stories. I did my best to listen, but I drifted several times (eyes glazed over) and got a bit lost in his stories. One thing that was interesting was that he talked with a little cigar in the corner of his mouth causing his words to have to form around the cigar. One of his stories was about someone who wanted to "bar a will-bar". I focused in on this part of the story. Another fascinating part of the story had to do with someone being in the USAF and worked "on one of them tires." Turned out "bar a will bar" is "borrow a wheel barrow" and a "tire" is a "control tower".

Toby's mom was a trooper as usual and got a good report from the doctor - no blockage - all is well. It was a real relief to everyone. We got to just visit and relax after that. Toby spent most of Tuesday putting a new radiator in his mom's car. I did a little shopping to get ready for our upcoming trip to Canada. Yes, we will be going to Canada. We leave this Sunday for four weeks up North. I am very excited to be going with Toby on this trip. The only draw-back is leaving the Grand Babies. I finally get them moved to Duncan and off I go. Today, when I saw GBN1, she burst out the door of her house, dodged Toby, and ran straight to me. She leaped into my arms and gave me a big kiss. I'm tellin' ya, it just doesn't get any better than that.

On the way home from Lubbock, Toby and I stopped in WF to see my mom. She was great - plum silly. She had been to Dallas to a reception and visited her little brother, my Uncle Danny, and all my cousins on that side of the family. She had lots of family stories, too. Uncle Danny was an engineer for Texas Instruments before breaking out and starting his own computer company that does some sort of work for pharmacies. He employs just about all of his children in his new company, and he has a lot of kids. Danny is currently involved in some sort of lawsuit, and has hired my brother, Craig, to represent him as his lawyer. Apparently, the other man involved in the lawsuit told Craig, that the biggest problem with Danny's company was that Danny employs too many relatives. Then the man asked Craig how he came to know Danny. Of course, Craig took great pleasure in telling the man that Danny was his uncle.

I love that story. It reminded me of the time that I filled in for Toby's secretary when she went on vacation. While Toby was out of the office, some man called asking questions that I could not answer. I explained that I was not the regular secretary, I could not answer his questions, but I would be glad to have Toby call him back. The man was very nice to me, but later when Toby called him back, he proceeded to tell Toby what a stupid secretary I was. Toby thought of all sorts of things that he wanted to reply to the man. Things like, "Yeah, I'm kind of worried about our kids..." But he kept quiet. I thought of a few things I could have said to the man...

It may take me a few days to catch up on my blog reading. Plus, I need to be getting ready for Canada. Heehaw! I'm excited.

Gone to Lubbock

Toby and I are headed to Lubbock today. We will probably be there for a few days. I doubt I will have any computer access. Here are some photos to enjoy while I am gone. Jesse with the killer key-hole saw. GBN1 and 2 in a box. See you soon.

Painting of the Week

This is one of Kris' photos that she recently posted on her blog. She has some great photos and has been very generous to let me paint them.

The house painting is going well. I just wish I was younger and in better shape. All this bending, stretching, stepping, painting, etc, is hard on me, but good for me. Jesse did the taping and bedding in the bathroom last night. I'm tellin' ya boys, she's a doozy!

Bo made a trip to Home Depot for the usual building supplies. We were all standing around looking at his purchases. Ooh! Ahh! He was digging through a box to show us the bathroom faucet he had bought. Then he pulled some part out of the box that none of knew what it was. Like Larry, Darryl and Darryl, we all stood there passing it around discussing what it was. Then Bo figured it out and pointed to the box which advertised a free toilet paper holder with purchase. Ooh! Ahh! The part we were holding was one arm of the holder. So Bo dug through the box and found the other parts to the holder. Unfortunately, half of the bar which holds the t-paper was missing. Once again, we all stood there looking at it and discussing how to fix it. Toby said, "Look at the bright side, you can save lots of money by cutting your toilet paper roll in half."

Site Meter Reminder

I love my site meter. Today it reminded me of one of my favorite “Jesse” moments. Since we have been doing some house painting together recently, I was thinking about this post, and had been meaning to find it again. Sure enough someone from Kansas found it for me. Here is the site meter info. If you want to read the post, it is pretty funny. I hope the person searching found what he was looking for.

Referring URL http://www.google.co... from madras&spell=1
Search Engine google.com
Search Words there once was a lass from madras
Visit Entry Page http://bagwag.blogsp...recious-moments.html
Visit Exit Page http://bagwag.blogsp...recious-moments.html

Gone to the Dogs

My father once said that if there is such a thing as reincarnation, he wanted to come back as one of my dogs. When Jesse was younger she thought the saying was, "It is a doggie dog world" instead of a "dog eat dog" world. In this house, she was right.

Truly I try to make my bed first thing in the morning, but not today. Things have been kind of busy taking around here and my house has gone to the dogs.

What you see, is what you get

It is funny what each person reads and notices in a blog. Sometimes I write something and think that it will get lots of feedback. Instead, nothing. Then when I am least expecting feedback, BAM! I get lots. I'm not complaining - just observing. On the "Mudder and Daughter" photo, Jesse is wearing her "Tail-hook" T-shirt. I showed a better photo of it last year here. It was a memento from my Las Vegas trip back in 1987, and I thought you might notice it. No one mentioned the license plate that Lindsay is pointing to - I liked it and so did she. Unkawill noticed my "large ankles" and got a kick out it. TFNP always pins me down on something - usually something I hoped everyone would skim over. Thanks, Jay. Keep me honest. Buck always finds something to say, and for that, I love him. Catherine finds the good in us all, and has something interesting to add of her own - she needs to blog too. Even on other's blogs, I love to see what each person commented on - all are different, but sometimes we follow the leader. I guess we all just think and see differently, but it keeps us all interesting.

I'm off to paint the kids' house. Heehaw!

I love Jesse rather than Lucy

Since it is Jesse's work anniversary I thought I would share some emails that I got from her office today - in the order in which they were sent:

Elizabeth: Hello all…
It was suggested we play volleyball this Thursday around 7pm…any thoughts??

Jesse: I personally can't make it tonight, and if I can't play no one can play!

Gary: Hey Jesse, is today Thursday?

Jesse: And I was going to show up tonight and surprise everyone!

Worker B's

Today is Jesse's one year anniversary at Halliburton. This is the picture that I took of her that first day with her little lunch box. I should have taken a new picture this morning, but I'm a bad mother sometimes. Halliburton will have a little party for her today - she looked very nice as she went to work this morning. Congrats, Jesse!

While going back to find the picture of Jes, I also realized that I had passed another anniversary - I have been posting my "Paintings of the Week" for a year now - Aug. 11th was the first. Yeha! Or as GBN1 says, "heehaw!" I set out to post a painting a week for a year, and I did it. I think I will continue for now, but I may not be as diligent. I was worried about our upcoming trip to Canada - would I be able to post a photo as easily there - would I have the right equipment? I think I could manage. As of right now, it looks like we will go to Lubbock next weekend to check on Toby's mom. She has an angiogram on Monday morning. Toby wants to be there with her for that and find out the results. He thinks we will still go to Canada, but we will be a few days or a week later. That is okay with me. I was beginning to feel some pressure trying to get lots done for the trip - this will give me a little more time.

We are still working on B&S' new home. Last night Toby, Bo, and I were all in the bathroom working - I was scraping old wall-paper (there is a reason that I hate that stuff!) while Bo and Toby tore out old sheet-rock that had had tile at one time. Old homes are amazing with their many layers of decoration. When we pulled off the sheet-rock behind the sink, there were thousands of old razor blades. Bo was amazed - why were they there? I explained and showed him the slot in the medicine cabinet where generations of people disposed of razor blades through the slot thinking that no one would ever see them again - like razor blade heaven. It was a bit yucky. Working with Toby and Bo was lots of fun. Although it was work, it reminded me of the times we have worked together in the past. At one point, Bo was using a crow-bar to tear out the sheet-rock. About the time I said, "Careful, you are going to tear out the part that you want to keep." Bo said, "Oops! I already did." Then he gave me that silly Bo giggle which made me giggle. It reminded me of times past when Toby would yell instructions to us, we would look at each other and say, "What did he just say?" And then he would do the silly Bo giggle - usually we were in trouble already. Several times last night we did our Three Stooges (or maybe our Larry, Darryl and Darryl) impression - Sara came to check on us and noticed something in the floor. "Is that glass?" she asked. Toby bent down and picked it up, looked it over and said that it was metal. He handed it to Bo, who looked it over and handed it to me. I looked it over and said sure enough it was metal. Then we all got tickled. Sara just shook her head and said that she wished she had a camera because Toby and Bo were wearing their dust masks on their heads and looked like they were some sort of cone-head knock-offs. Maybe you had to be there, but it is really great that we can enjoy each other in the midst of dirty, hard work. Once again, I am very grateful to have S&B here in Duncan. Tonight, Jesse will join us. I hope Sara brings the camera.

Speaking of cameras - I took the Kazakhstan film to WM, but their machine that does that sort of film was down, and they had no idea when it would be fixed.

Busy B's

Toby missed his flight from Houston to OKC, probably because he had been up and traveling for over 24 hours. It was not really a problem for me, because I was stuck in a traffic jam in OKC. Here is the age old question: When two lanes of a freeway are at a standstill why do people try to switch lanes when they have no clue what the hold-up is? Another question: When everyone figures out that they must be in the right-hand lane and they are melding together nicely, why does some a-hole zip past all of the cars, rush down the single line of cars, and expect to be let into traffic again? Last question: Why does anyone let the a-hole in?

Toby arrived in OKC about 10:30 pm. We had to locate his luggage since it had been on an earlier flight, but it was not really a problem - just time consuming. It was really nice to get him home. It is kind of funny that he had the same cold that I had although we had been a few continents apart for 4 weeks (maybe you really can pass a virus through the computer:). We had planned on kicking around OKC for the day, but new information surfaced to change that plan. It seems that Toby may be leaving for Calgary, Alberta, for another 4 weeks of auditing. This time, I can go with him (lots of if, ands, and buts to work through). When I told Toby about all that needed to be done around the house before he went anywhere, we decided to head back to Duncan. We still killed some time stopping at all of the motorcycle shops along the way.

Most of Saturday was spent recouping, but Toby also got the lawnmower working so that we could get the grass mowed. The weed-eater needs professional help. After church on Sunday, we spent the rest of the day working on Bo and Sara's new house. They have bought their first home. It is very cute, but it does need some work. For some reason one bedroom had been covered in dark paneling. This came off pretty easily - Bo called me the best de-construction worker around. While the men-folk continued to tear things out in other areas of the house, I textured the walls in the bedroom that we had pulled the paneling out of - because I am the mudder! We worked on their little house until 9:30 last night. Man, I am out of shape. Construction work just takes lots of bending, stepping, arm raising, etc. I had plaster from my head to my toes. Jesse came and helped. Besides being a great worker, she is comic relief. She did a few "I Love Lucy" moves that had me laughing.

Mudder and Daughter - taken two years ago when we were working on our house.

In typical Baggett style, we need to figure out the whole Canada issue - are we going, when, how, etc. We have a week to get this figured and get things stableized here at home. We will also continue to work on B&S's new house. This could be a busy week.

Painting of the Week

Jesse said this picture was "nice" but not "exciting". That happens sometimes. I did another painting this week, but sometimes, things just don't turn out like you want them at all.

Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrow's the day my man's gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair!

Lyrics by Bob Dylan



Actually, Toby is coming home tonight! I pick him up at the airport in OKC this evening - yeha or as GBN1 says - Heehaw! Thirty years of marriage and he still makes me happy. This morning I was reminded how precious and fragile marriage can be when I read Sean’s recent posts at Docinthebox. My heart goes out to him, but I am not sure any words can be comforting.

Last night, Jesse and I grabbed a bite to eat with the Faughts (Lindsay’s family) and then went to see “Ratatouille” at the cheap show. It was very well done and lots of fun. If you have not seen this movie and you like animation, you will like this.


Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

At dinner, I got more of the scoop on Jesse’s latest adventure. The girls started off slow at dinner - probably because they had just had a long day at work. But before dinner was over, they were wound up and telling stories. Their trip to NY was not as exciting as they would have liked. They had lots of plans that fell through, and they did not get to do all that they wanted to do. Their host disappeared for most of Saturday without explanation after promising to take them to Canada for the day. So they sat around and waited on their host to come home only to be told that the Canada plan was not happening - no reason given. Later that evening they went to a drive-in movie. When you have high expectations, and those expectations get dashed, it can be hard. I was proud that they put on their big-girl panties and dealt with it well. These girls are just pretty good at making their own fun - no matter what. They made friends where ever they went. I am sure they made others happy with their mere presence.

A Few Pics from the NY Trip

They rode the powerboat and the ferry at Niagara Falls. Jesse said she could definitely go back and do more exploring there.

They ate at the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto - I already posted pics of the Blue Jay's game.

Besides eating well, they had lots of fun.

Another Tag

A few weeks back, Becky tagged me. Those tagged must list 7 random facts about themselves - not previously known. They also need to write in their blogs the rules of the game, which are pretty simple--you list your 7 facts, then list 7 people you are tagging. Then you leave them comments letting them know they've been tagged.

Because I am a very open person who tells all, I have had trouble coming up with 7 facts, but here they are. Now you know all.

1. I buy make-up or fingernail polish when I want to treat myself, although I do not wear much of either. When Toby and I were first married, we had very little money, and we were both in school at TTU. One day while walking to school, I broke down and cried. Toby was very concerned asking me what was wrong. I told him that I just wanted to be able to buy the things I wanted to buy. Dumbfounded, he asked, “So what is it that you want to buy?” I cried, “Fingernail polish!” Of course, he did not understand. To me, we were so poor that I would not spend money on something so frivolous as nail polish. He thought I should just go buy it. Years later a friend of mine opened my fridge and saw on one shelf many bottles of nail polish (they last longer if kept in a cool, dry place). My friend looked at me and said, “Lou, you are the most normal person I know, but that is weird.” I answered, “No, that is prosperity.”

2.A few years ago, I wore Invisalign Braces to straighten my teeth. Although my teeth were perfectly straight when I was younger, my senior year in high school they began to lap over. The dentist said my wisdom teeth were growing in sideways and were pushing my teeth together. He said that if I pulled my wisdom teeth, all would be well. He lied. By the end of my freshman year in college, my teeth were severely lapping over each other. They just got worse as years went on. It was something that I hated. After “Lord of the Rings” came out, I told Toby that I did not want “Orc” teeth any more. I had seen Invisaligners advertised, and I asked my dentist about them. Now my teeth are not perfect, but they are straight.

3. I have large ankles, but my grandmother, whom I look like, said I should just be glad that I have ankles.

4. Besides hating my large ankles, I hate my double chin. I told Toby that I would love to have my neck liposuctioned. If I could just have my neck sucked I would be happy. He told me that he would love to suck my neck…

5. My first vehicle was a 63’ Chevy pick-up - red and white, long bed, three on the tree - given to me by my grandfather. I was hot stuff in that truck.

6. Although I started out as a blonde, my hair would now be dark brown/gray if I did not lighten it.

7. Because of the decisions that we have made in raising our children differently (home school, courtship rather than dating, etc.) people accuse us of being part of a cult. Funny how people are scared of what they don’t understand. Rather than discuss things rationally, they throw out accusations unjustly. They can see that I have a wonderful, peaceful, loving home with children who have done exceptionally well so far in life, and yet, they point and snicker, and get angry and hateful. Their loss.

Okay, I do not know seven people to tag since Becky and Kris have already been tagged. So I tag TFNP.

If the Name Fits...

TFNP has wonderful kids. I spent the day watching "Shark Tale" and coloring. I fixed mac and cheese with weenies for lunch, and the kids ate like it was gourmet cooking - easy keepers. They went down easily for a nap, and so did I. It was a good think that I rested because my next stop was Wal-Mart. If there is one place on this earth that can make a person crazy, it is Wally World. I only needed a few things, but I happen to buy some wine coolers. The young lady at the check-out was too young to check me out. So we all got to wait until some older manager-type person came and rang up my wine coolers and checked my ID. Now days at WM, before they hand over your receipt, they highlight any groceries that are not sacked. I had some dog food and a Diet Pepsi. Usually, no one pays much attention to you as you walk out with your groceries especially if you are carrying your receipt in your hand. But no, today after waiting for a while in the quick check-out line, I get stopped, and the lady says, "May I check your receipt?" The ornery person that I can be almost answered, "Nope!" It just makes me irritable to be treated like I stole dog food. When you read the next part of this post, you will be in agreement with me on my name.


Kris tagged me with this little name thing. Since my day has been rather slow, it was a good thing to post.

My name is: Lou Ella

LOU [Pronunciation - loo]
It means: Fame and War (I have seen it also as War Maiden)
Its origin: Germanic

ELLA [Pronunciation - El a]
It means: torch, bright
Its origin: Greek

I have always thought the Lou - war maiden - fit perfectly. The Ella part of my name reminds me of my grandmother, whom I was named after. She went by the full Lou Ella and it always seemed so lady-like and feminine on her.

I am off to babysit for TFNP this morning. I will post later this afternoon.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

The whirlwind blew through this morning - Jes is home. After some flight delays in NY and being routed through DC, she got home at 2:00AM. She was up by 6:30 this morning to get ready for work and gone by 7:30. I did not get any great adventure stories - yet. I snatched a few photos from her camera, but not all that I wanted. In fact, I did not even get to view all of them. I meant to get a pic from the Niagara photos, but she rushed me, and I only got two photos from the baseball game. They went to see the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. Guess who they played. The Texas Rangers! Pretty funny! Although I have never been to a professional baseball game, it is on my list of things to do before I die. Jes brought me a Blue Jay's baseball as a souvenir. I'll wear it proudly.

One year, Toby was in Chicago on a business trip. The company he worked for (Allied Waste) had box seats to see the White Sox. Chicago, White Sox, third base box seats - I was so jealous. The next spring, I was able to go to Chicago with him. Wouldn't you know that was the year of the strike. A friend took me to see Oprah, but it was just not the same.

Jes said the trip home was pretty wild. They only had 20 minutes to change planes in DC. She said they were running through the airport, catching a shuttle, and snapping pictures of what monuments they could see - those ought to be interesting. When they went through security, they were pulled aside and scanned - Either they looked like serious threats or the guards like pretty girls. Jes said she pointed out the place where Jeff jumped over the railing. Have you heard that story?

The first time we flew into DC for my uncle's Ia Drang reunion, we had a friend pick us up at the airport. Our friend was USAF Captain Jeff Donnithorne whom I have blogged about many times. We were waiting on our luggage when I spotted Jeff. I pointed him out to Jesse who started towards him. He was on the other side of a railing when he spotted her. He neatly jumped the railing and gave her a big hug. I was watching from a short distance as was some girl next to me. She gave me a look and said, "Nice!" It was very impressive, but then that is Jeff for you. For those of you who wonder, Jeff and Jesse were just good friends. He is happily married now and training pilots in Florida. And Jesse is still setting a pretty high standard.

Positive News from Iraq

I have been reading some very positive things happening inIraq. Things, that despite our media coverage, show that life is improving for the Iraqis, and our troops are prevailing. Here is another excerpt from an email from Cousin Jim:

Gang,

Recent article about Ramadi. COL Charlton is my boss here; i.e. reviews my FITREP.

U.S. Cites Drop In Ramadi Attacks As Sign Of Turnaround By Rowan Scarborough, The Examiner WASHINGTON - A U.S. military commander on Friday reported a dramatic decline in violence in the troubled Iraqi city of Ramadi, saying attacks have dropped from an average of 35 a day to one a day over the past eight months.
"We have experienced entire weeks with zero attacks in our area and have a total of more than 80 days with no attacks in the city," said Army Col. John Charlton, the top commander in Ramadi.
The Bush administration has held up Ramadi, in Anbar Province west of Baghdad, as an example of a turnaround in Iraq. The province was once infested by al Qaeda cells and given up as lost by military intelligence officers.
Sunni sheiks have ended an alliance with terrorists and urged tribal members to join the Iraqi security forces, which they have done in droves, U.S. military officers said.
No area of Anbar was more violent than its capital, Ramadi, with entire sections controlled by al Qaeda and other Sunni guerrillas. But on a recent tour of Iraq, members of Congress visited the city and were able to walk its streets.
As in Baghdad, the main focus of a six-month-old troop surge to defeat insurgents, Charlton's 18,000 Iraqi and American troops have set up joint security stations to ensure al Qaeda terrorists do not return to cleared neighborhoods.
Military officials say many al Qaeda operatives fled Anbar and set up operations north of Baghdad in Baquba, where they were met in June and July with a major U.S. counterinsurgency offensive.
Charlton, speaking to Pentagon reporters via a teleconference from Ramadi, said his forces recently blunted a planned attack by 70 "well-equipped and well-trained terrorists."
He said intelligence detected the enemy moving in two trucks. Ground and air forces struck the convoy, "resulting in the destruction of that force," he said.
"We successfully defeated their attack, but we know that they will try again in the future

And here is an excerpt from Michael Yon which appears in the New York Daily News:

Anyone who says Al Qaeda is not one of the primary problems in Iraq is simply ignorant of the facts.I, like everyone else, will have to wait for September's report from Gen. Petraeus before making more definitive judgments. But I know for certain that three things are different in Iraq now from any other time I've seen it.
1. Iraqis are uniting across sectarian lines to drive Al Qaeda in all its disguises out of Iraq, and they are empowered by the success they are having, each one creating a ripple effect of active citizenship.
2. The Iraqi Army is much more capable now than it was in 2005. It is not ready to go it alone, but if we keep working, that day will come.
3. Gen. Petraeus is running the show. Petraeus may well prove to be to counterinsurgency warfare what Patton was to tank battles with Rommel, or what Churchill was to the Nazis.And yes, in case there is any room for question, Al Qaeda still is a serious problem in Iraq, one that can be defeated. Until we do, real and lasting security will elude both the Iraqis and us.

You can read more of Michael Yon's dispatch here.

Update on Cousin Jim

Janice came over for dinner. We had pasta with shrimp, salad, Italian bread and a slice of Edward's key lime pie. We sat around just catching up and drinking coffee. Janice has also had a summer cold like me - so we whined together. After Janice left, I watched "Deja Vu" with Denzel Washington - another time-warp movie. (hmm, did that sound like I watched the movie with Denzel? I wish!) This time it did not mess with my head as much as "Lake House." In fact, I liked the movie. Then I read a bit before falling asleep. I am not sure how I will fill my Saturday, but I think I will have supper with the Grand Girls and family.

I will leave you today on a good note - a little email excerpt from my Marine cousin who will be home at the end of Sept. Here is what he had to say on how the troops are doing:

The IAs are doing great. 1st Bn opened the Ramadi soccer stadium and started a 2 week soccer tournament. The stadium hasn't been opened in over 4 years because of enemy control of that area. I wasn't able to go, but Ryan said there were over 500 people there. Of course, Iraqi soccer is huge right now. Not sure if you saw, but the Iraqi national team won the Asia Cup over rivals Saudi Arabia. Huge, huge, huge win. The country went bananas. I saw grown Iraqi officers bawling - the kind of joyful tears that could only stem from a joy that has so long been supressed. It was so cool to watch - something wonderful coming to this country that's been devoid of it for so long. One of the highlights of the year. After the game, hundreds of jundis rushed the Bde headquarters and pulled Gen Abdullah out into the courtyard to help lead cheers and songs. It was incredible. It wasn't that long ago that national athletes were punished for losing games and fans were shipped to games at the ends of weapons to "put on a good face" for national media - that was under the Sadaam regime.

Painting of the Week

On Tuesday I had an "older ladies" art class. We chose a print from which to do a painting together. The first photo is how my painting turned out. The second painting is smaller and done with my regular Thursday art class.

Booboo's Busy Day

A children's story - sort of:
Booboo woke up early so that she could enter the Cyber Kingdom and chat with her handsome prince in the kingdom across the sea. All was well with the handsome prince, but then Booboo’s day took a turn for the worse when the Giant Dog, Zoe, peed on her bed causing Booboo to have to change the sheets and do laundry. This made Booboo pretty mad. Then her good friend Kara called and wanted Booboo to come to the rodeo arena and give pointers on how to run barrels. Booboo was more than happy to get out of her small kingdom and away from the Giant Dog. Before Booboo left for the arena, she looked for the bell boots to loan Kara to protect her horse. Booboo looked all through her small kingdom for the bell boots. She looked in the barn and through the junk on the carport. She dug through the container of bridles and halters. She drew the line at looking under the tarp that covers the saddles because it seemed to be covered with wicked spiders. All of her searching was for naught. The bell boots were nowhere to be found. Booboo was now sweating profusely and late getting to the arena which did not make Boobo happy. But all went well at the arena in the Kingdom of Velma until it got hot and Booboo drank too much tea and needed to pee. Rodeo port-o-potties are worse than a pea under a stack of mattresses. So, Booboo excused herself and headed home. It was a good thing, because she needed to ready her small kingdom for the young Art princesses to have art class. Art class went well, and all of the Art princesses were gone by 4:30 - in time for Booboo to post a comment on Buck’s blog and head for the Kingdom of Grandbabies to baby-sit while the king and queen went out on the town. Once there, she loaded up the tiny princesses into the magic mini-van and took them to visit the Piper Kingdom and his young princesses. The Friendly Neighborhood Piper fixed a meal fit for queens. After supper the Piper took the young princesses for a dip in the royal pool. The young ladies were having a grand time. Then the tiniest princesses threw the biggest fit. She was tired and ready for bed. The Piper had to help Booboo gather her princess-stuff quickly and load it into the magic mini-van. Booboo broke a sweat for the second time that day. The tiny princess was asleep before the magic van went two blocks. Booboo made it safely back to the Grandbaby Kingdom, but she was worn out and thinking she really needed to lose weight to keep up with Grand-princesses. The king and queen arrived shortly from their night out on the town. Booboo was able to drag her tired butt home and chat with her handsome prince across the sea. Then she climbed into her clean sheets and slept soundly.

Only the Lonely

With Toby in Kazakhstan and Jesse in NY, it could get lonely around here. My first night alone was not so bad. At church I sat with Jan and Adam (Jesse's boys) rather than GBN1. It was much more peaceable, and I only had to pinch Adam once for fidgeting - just kidding. Having new people at church, especially young men, always draws a crowd. So, after church there was a pretty good group of young people visiting with me and the boys. GBN1 demanded my attention, though, and I had to step out of the circle to play with her (like that was a problem :). I chatted with Toby before bed, which is always a nice. The dogs did bark at some unknown thing outside - I hate that when I am alone. So I got my pistol out like any good Okie. It just makes me feel better. Then I slept well.

This morning I chatted with Toby again. We say "good morning-goodnight" to each other. I got the whole pot of coffee to myself, and lots of time to read my favorite blogs. Duty in the Desert made me laugh with this video. TFNP made me cry with his very sweet memories of the birth of his daughter.

The Velma Picnic, a hometown rodeo, is this weekend. One of my art girls is running barrels with her new horse. I may get to work with her and her horse today. I also have art this afternoon. Being busy is good. It keeps me from wearing socks on my ears and singing a sad song.

Charity for Charities

VAJoe will be donating $2,000 to military charities. It is called Charity for Charities . Vote for your favorite charitable military organization from August 5–20. Nominate your favorite charitable military organization now or anytime after the voting begins. Joe will donate $2,000 to the charities with the most votes. You must be a VAJoe member to vote or nominate, but joining VAJoe is free, easy and quick.

Today

During the summer months I like to join NetFlix so that I can easily get movies and return them without having to drive to town. I hate to watch re-runs, and I love movies. It gives me a chance to catch up on the movie scene from the comfort of my living room. Last night I watched "Lake House". The story was romantic, but the time - past and future thing - messed with my mind. The guy, Keenau Reeves, is two years behind the girl, Sandra Bullock, yet they write letters to each other. It was like watching a movie and trying to do algebra in my head. I just could not get my mind wrapped around the time thing. I had the same problem with all of the "Back to the Future" movies, but they were much more exciting.

My girl just drove off for work. She will leave after work and drive to Dallas to stay with friends overnight. Then she will fly out early Thursday morning. With both her and Toby gone, it could get a bit lonely here, although I am sure I can find someone to party with - Lindsay's mom.

I am headed to WF today to see Mom and get my hair trimmed and colored. You won't notice a thing when I get back. Only my hairdresser knows. Bo and Sara may drive over to WF a little later and have lunch with Great Gram or as GBN1 says, "Gwam Gwawm". It is funny that she can pronounce words like delicious, indicators, Consuela without tripping up, but Great Gram throws her.