Favorite Veteran

This handsome man is my Uncle Bob, also known as Rt. Lt. Col. Robert L. Barker. My cousin posted this pic of her dad on FB this morning, and I stole it. I remember this photo at my grandmother's house along with pictures of my dad and my other uncle. But Uncle Bob was always the most handsome. This is what my uncle had to say about the photo:

The picture was taken in Wichita Falls a few days before Mom, Nanny Barker, Mama and Papa Guyton, Cindy and Pam took me to Dallas to catch the plane to Ft. Benning, GA. On Aug. 18, 1965, my battery and all the 3d Brigade, 1st Cav, boarded buses for Charleston Navy Base and boarded the USNS Rose bound for Vietnam.

A few years later, I made that same leg of the trip with my uncle as he went back to Vietnam (he did three tours). We boarded the plane in Wichita Falls and flew to Dallas. My uncle and I boarded the plane first and chose our seats while the enlisted men waited. As a little girl, I was so excited to fly, to be with my uncle, etc. I didn't really understand the emotional side of what was going on. I did understand that Uncle Bob was the coolest!

To all veterans, and especially my friends and family who served, thank you.

Art Students

Recently, I started my little girls art class again. Yesterday was our second class. It went well enough. I can see improvement with several of them. With some, I'm not sure there will ever be improvement unless they get more interested in art. Some of them are just young. They just don't see that something is wrong with their art. We worked on painting color - tones, value, shades, etc. Some get it; some don't. They try, and that is good.

In the past, I let the girls start taking art at age 12. It was just too young. Last year I had decided to not take on any younger students - thinking 16 would be a better age. But then mothers tell me how great their child is at art and how they really want to take art now and that they are serious about their art and how they draw all the time, etc. Usually I say, "Good, let them draw. If they are still interested in a few years, I will let them take art." Unfortunately, I bent. A new student came yesterday - young. I had seen her drawings, and she's good - has definite talent. But I was not wrong. Twelve is very young. By the end of class yesterday, I could see her frustration. Painting and color were very difficult for her. She was a good sport, but she flipped her painting over and started drawing as if to show the older girls she really did have talent. The older girls were encouraging to her - they are some sweet girls. We will see how it goes.

Today is for me. I'm going to paint with the Painted Ladies. Or we might visit a lot and catch up on each others life. Whatever - I'm looking forward to my time with them, and hoping for a painting to share with you.

Hard Work and Hard Sleep

Starting Friday when Toby arrived home from work, we hit it hard on the house. The first thing we did was finish hooking up the new gas fireplace in the bedroom. In order to make it work right, we needed it to be a bit taller, so we made a box and I added some Mexican tile.
Next we worked on the kitchen stove. You may remember that the cabinets were set slightly too close together for the stove to fit into its allotted slot. I thought just taking a bar of soap and rubbing the stove and cabinets would work to squeeze the stove in ( butter might would've worked), but Toby said no. Our plan had been to trim an 8th inch off each cabinet and squeeze the stove in, but that didn't happen. So Friday night we got out the hammer-chisel and dug out the grout from around the cabinet and moved it over. Then we re-grouted. While we were grouting, we grouted some trim in the bathroom. We also did some cleanup work around the house to get ready for a big workday on Saturday. It is amazing how cluttered things get.

Saturday morning Jesse and I made a quick trip to Lawton to the usual Home Depot and Lowes for supplies. Toby had to do a bit of Halliburton work to close the month out. We met back at the house after lunch joined by my son, Bo, but no GGs. This was serious work time. We put Jesse to work on the tile. Bo went to work on the glass half-wall in the bathroom. Toby and I put down some half-inch ply wood on the floor to get it ready for carpet. We are also going to do some tile in the doorway of the bedroom - so we put down more cement board. We Baggetts are quite the team when we wanna be. By supper time, everyone was bushed. Jesse had invited Lindz and Shay over, so we had put on a pork roast in the crock-pot with lots of chili powder. It made for some delicious pork tacos. I threw together some pico de gallo and refried beans. A few bottles of wine and we were all full and fine.

We stayed up to watch the OSU vs Kansas St. football game (switching back and forth to keep up with the LSU vs Alabama game). By 10:30 I could not keep my eyes open another minute and went to bed. I slept as hard as I had worked. And yep, I slept through the earthquake which Jesse said rattled the windows and pictures on the wall. Dang, not even an earthquake could wake me!

We had planned on re-glazing the saltillo tile in the living room/kitchen, but the wind was howling on Saturday making it not a good day for opening windows. If you don't open windows, you could certainly kill brain cells with the mexi-glaze. We saved that for Sunday when the wind had calmed.
Here is the kitchen cabinet all moved and re-grouted, plus you can see the beginning of Jesse's tile work.
Here is the bathroom where we grouted the trim and Bo worked on the glass block, which will be taller eventually.
Here is the ply-wood floor and the cement board in the bedroom. Here is a shot of the shiny re-glazed living area.

A Butterfly Sings The Star Spanged Banner

For your viewing pleasure, I present GBN2 singing the Star Spangled Banner. This version is much tamer than earlier ones, but still fun. You will notice the butterfly wings, which I bought for the GGs today at Wal-Mart - Halloween leftovers!

Dog Circus

We've been dog sitting for Lindz and Shay this past week. Their dogs are very well behaved, but it has been a bit of a dog circus around here lately - with Lindz' Schnauzer and my red heeler vying for clown position. My Great Dane and Lindz' chocolate lab are both sweethearts, but they do not like each other very well - I think it is a "big dog" thang. It took a couple of days for me to relax and not worry about Lindz' dogs running off or being eaten by coyotes, but they are staying close to the house now. At night, I let them in to sleep in the laundry room where I put a couple of chairs in the doorway to keep them out of the living room. I don't mind them in the living room, but it goes back to that circus thang. My spoiled Rat Terrier really does not like sharing my attention. Chaco the cat has been tormenting the Schnauzer, who is still just a pup. Frankie the big cat has had to put the Schnauzer in his place a few times. Does a Schnauzer ever really know his place?

Yesterday morning when I sat down with my first cup of coffee, I told Toby that I smelled a skunk. He said that he smelled nothing. Unbeknownst to me, he put Lindz' dogs outside. I was wondering why the dogs were being so quiet - where they still sleeping? Then I realized they had been outside for quite a while. For whatever reason, this really made me mad. I didn't say anything to Toby, but I was thinking, "Great! Now they will probably come in smelling like skunks. I can't leave them outside while I go to town, because I will worry about them. Dang! What was Toby thinking?" Truly, I was trying to work through my anger - what did I really expect Toby to do with the dogs? I guess I didn't realize that I was wearing my thoughts on my sleeve, when Toby asked me if I was mad at him. Well, yeah, I guess I am. Maybe it was my Mrs. Potato Head Angry Eyes that gave away my thoughts. I need to work on hiding my feelings better.

And yes, the Schnauzer does smell a little skunky.

Dis Is My Favwit Paht

GBN2 is such a performer/comedian/singer, that people are always saying that I should write down her stories. Most people don't know that I blog and tell GGs stories, so I just smile and agree.

At the end of Bo's soccer game the other day, the spectators were all gathering our stuff and milling about visiting with each other. Out of the blue, GBN2 started singing The Star Spangled Banner. She belted it out like a pro. Everyone within hearing distance stopped to listen and then applauded when GBN2 finished the song. It was impressive.

At Jesse's art show the other night, we were all standing in a separate area from the art show. There was plenty of room for the GGs to jump and play while the Grandmas, aunts and other family folk visited. Since GBN2 loves to perform, I asked her to sing The Star Spangled Banner for her aunts and grandmas. GBN2 complied. Once again, she belted out the song, "...and da wockets wed gwa-ah, da bombs buhstin' in a-uh, gave pwoof thew da night, dat ou-ah fwag was still they-uh." Then she stopped. With a delighted little grin she looked up at one of the aunts and said, "Dis is my favwit paht!" Her little voice dropped and she continued the song, " Oh say does dat stah spang-led ban-nah ye-et wave-ave...."

This may be one of those "ya had to have been there, " but it was funny. I had to share it. Maybe I can get it on video sometime, but it may never be the same.