Baylor played a good game Saturday...

... we were ahead in the first half...
... but, as I think Vince Lombardi once said, "We didn't lose, we just ran out of time."

We were all wowed by the new Cowboys' stadium. AND we were wowed that it felt so full. 72,000 people were there and it's supposed to seat 100,000 or more, I heard.

Anyway, it was exciting watching Baylor play Tech. We had thought we might be leaving early because of the slaughter Tech was going to perform. ... ah, but the Bears were giving the Raiders a run for their money. Sic em!

Here are some pics... (For once I will put the captions UNDER the pictures.)

The pregame Baylor Golden Wave Band performing. Wave! Josh is down there playing his trombone!


Me and Sam


From left, Laura, Ryan, Bailey, Will


Steve and Lorie


From left, Lorie's aunt, Lorie's mom, and Lorie's sister Melanie with her daughters Summer and Sunni.
(Edit: actually Lorie's aunt is behind her mom in this picture. Technically Lorie's mom is the first from the left.)


Rob and his brother-in-law, Chason.

From the car, leaving the stadium.


Oops. I forgot to take a picture of the game.

Oh, and I missed the Rosses. Ah, but click HERE to see some great new pictures of them on Marian's blog.

Right now....

... I'm sitting in the den all dressed and ready for the Baylor/Tech game at the new Cowboy stadium. Yes, my green and gold is (are?) on. Sic em, Bears!

With this time on my hands I thought I'd find a different background for this blog. The previous one - which lasted one full day - was, well, too 'busy'.
The reason I've picked THIS one is that it's called "Calm Christmas". Boy, do I need that.

This time of year is usually my most hectic. It's fun... but hectic.

Soooooo, this year I'm making it a 'calm Christmas'.
Remind me of that when you see me, okay?

In closing I'll leave you with a picture I took at a stoplight.
I think it's funny...

Thanksgiving 2009...

.....Look closely... you'll see they (we) were ready to dig in...


After the meal Ryan and Will (and Shiloh) were trying for the turkey wishbone prize...


Ryan, with the winning part. I don't remember what he won. Oh, since it was a wishbone, I guess that his wish would come true...


The next picture is of Shiloh watching Grandmother putting away the leftover turkey... I think maybe Shiloh was lucky here...


Sam said, "Hurry! Take this picture of me, cleaning the kitchen... for once!" (I grabbed my camera!)...."


Here I am with my sweet Laura...

And here's Laura with sweet Shiloh...

Shiloh loves all holidays.

As do I.

I'm thankful...

... for many things...

- my husband is my husband.
- my two kids are my two kids.
- my mom is my mom.
- my dad was my dad.
- my dog is my dog.
- my extended family is my extended family.
(etc., etc.)

and
- I live here, now.

Life is so good.

Thank you, Lord.

Levi came to see me!!

This past Saturday I was so blessed to have a visit from little Levi, his mom - Jenny, his aunt - Whitney, and his grandmother - Cheryl! They surprised me in the tea room! Needless to say, I was overjoyed.The best part of their visit was dessert time. I got to hold sweet sleeping Levi while the ladies enjoyed THEIR sweets.
Oh, did I tell you that Levi turned one month old yesterday? See Jenny's blog to read all about it.

On a different note, Sam is preaching this Sunday (Nov. 29). His topic: Creation, Dinosaurs, and the Bible: How Do They Fit? He's preached on this some time ago, but I think this sermon will be even better. Our service times are at 9:45 and 11:15. We're Bear Valley Community Church, 7900 Precinct Line Road, Colleyville, TX. Click HERE for map. (Just north is Keller, and just south is Hurst, so don't be confused when you think, "this isn't Colleyville!" It is.)

So day after tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Gee. Seems like it was just Halloween.
Oh, I guess it was.

If you're coming to my house for turkey (which my mother will cook) be prepared to tell what you are thankful for, okay? ...You WILL be quizzed.
...ah, but there are no wrong answers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday afternoon...

... feelin' relaxed.

... peaceful.

... mm.

For your enjoyment I'm posting some pictures that little Caroline (NOT the photographer Caroline C.), but little Caroline H. took the other day with my camera. I do believe she's gonna give Caroline C. - the professional photographer, a run for her money!!

Look!







I'm serious: she took those pictures. !!!

Now here's a picture of her sweetness:


And here's an older picture of precious photographer Caroline C. with up-and-coming precious photographer Caroline H...
Pretty special, huh?

Oh, our great nephew, Finn, is three years old TODAY!! TODAY!!!

Oh, I forgot to tell you that the gorgeous blonde that is in the back row in the picture below (the Christmas card picture) (previous post) has had the swine flu! Pray for her (Lindsey-lady) ... for complete recovery!
COMPLETE RECOVERY!
YES!
We love her!!

Sam's in!

Sam finally made it to the Christmas picture party!
I've had three people in line to do the photoshopping: Will, Elizabeth (waiting in the wings if needed), and Lorrie... and Lorrie did it, in spite of her busy-busy schedule. Thanks Lorrie!!!!


That's Lorrie on the left.
(I stole her facebook pic.)

Oh, that family picture is just the rough draft. Lorrie said she might take the 'noise' out.
(Hmm. I don't hear anything.)

Last night...

... we had our last Bible study group meeting. It was a ten week study, and it was VERY interesting.
We read THE SHACK by William P. Young and discussed it each week - with an intense look at a passage of Scripture that related to that week's reading.

Here are some pictures from last night...Above, from left, Karin, Kay, Charlie.



Mother-Margaret and Andy
(Whoa. That's weird. My dad's name was Andy.... (Mm. That's still hard to say in the past tense).



Laura, Doug and Jim.
Hmm. Doug and Jim didn't get the smile memo.



Doug, Shiloh and Laura.



Karin and Shiloh.

Don't ask me why I don't have a picture of Sam, the leader.

Lots were absent. Amanda was at a Stars game (she got free Platinum tickets!), Mrs. Graves was in Frisco visiting a very sick granddaughter (pray for Kristen); Traci and Erich were out of town, I think; Mark (Kay's husband) had to work late, I think. Let's see, if you're in the group and I totally didn't mention your name, well, chalk it up to ... forgetfulness.

In closing, here's a picture of our kitchen... just because it's like that one in the previous post (below)... on HGTV Rate My Space...

I think they look alike, don't you?
(Oh, I didn't get a picture of our kitchen table and chairs... that are almost exactly like those in that below picture.)

For today...

Whose kitchen does this look like?
If you've been in mine, you'd say MINE! (Well, not yours, mine.)
I was doing my HGTV Rate-My-Space-looking when I saw this picture.
Whoa!
'Course my first thought: this is blog-worthy!

If you look close you can tell that the room directly in the back of that kitchen is a dining room. In our house it is our (cluttered) laundry room/pantry.
[I need to take a picture of our kitchen.
When I get home I will.]

Right now I'm in COLD (and windy) Oklahoma City. Brrr. I brought my heavy coat AND my light-weight coat. I HATE being cold.

Speaking of that makes me think of the coldest I have EVER been... which translates into the MOST MISERABLE I have ever been...
I was 22 years old, teaching English and Speech in Mission Junior High (Go Eaglets). I was also a volunteer with the McAllen High School's Campus Life organization. (Similar to Young Life.) Anyway, I got a chance to go - for free- on a ski trip as a sponsor with that group. I had enough money to buy a ski parka and ski boots. THEN my car needed to be worked on, so that money had to go to my car.
Not to worry. I had been told how to dress to ski without ski clothes. You just take jeans, warm sweaters, a coat (which was kind of light-weight, since I lived in the lower Rio Grande Valley and no one wears a heavy coat down there) and Scotch Guard them (that's spray stuff you can put on cloth furniture to keep liquids from soaking in.) So I took the Scotch Guard spray with me on the trip.
Oh, another thing you need is long underwear. I didn't want to waste my money on that when I had pajamas with feet in them.
For shoes I just wore my regular ones.

At that point in my life I didn't care if I didn't look like a skier.

I didn't.

We go to the ski place (near Santa Fe) and I have sprayed myself completely and think I am ready to go. It was Jan. 3, 1975. (Surely that was the coldest day on record in that area.)
Anyway, we had to wait for 2 hours outside - to rent our skis.
I thought my feet were going to freeze completely off.

Oh, did I tell you I had never skied before? Well, once we got the skis and took the beginner's class, I found out that I was not a born skier. I fell and fell and fell and fell, and was absolutely miserable. That Scotch Guard quit working after the first fall.

Then, one of our teens had altitude sickness and needed a sponsor to stay with her - inside- the rest of the trip. My lucky break! I volunteered.

That was the last time (and only time) I've skied. EVER. I've been on ski trips...many.... and I always enjoy a good book, and lots of hot chocolate.

Sorry if this is a longer post than usual.
I'm sitting here waiting for folks to get out of a meeting so we can go eat out. .... and well, why not record that episode of my life?
AND it makes me not feel so cold up here in Oklahoma.

Sam is better!

Sam is better!
... and no longer contagious!
... so I've moved back into the master bedroom!
(It's all about me.)

Hurray!
Hoorah!

Did he have the swine flu?
Or regular flu? (for which he and I DID get a vaccine several weeks ago.)
Who knows.

In honor of the swine flu here's this:

[Thank you for your prayers.]

Going on eleven days....

Sam has had a fever for almost eleven days now. It hasn't been very high... and that's the reason he hasn't gone to the doctor.

Hmm.

I'm thinking it's doctor time now.

It's gone on long enough.

And...
I miss him!

This guest room is getting lonely.

Ah, but I did have fun tonight at Bear Valley's Thanksgiving Banquet.
My date was my mom.
Fun.

.... but I DID miss my honey.

[Pray for him, will you?]

Here we are in the photobooth at Justin and Amber's fun wedding last month...

[I just LOVE those pictures!]

[Don't forget to pray for him.]

Yum...

I got my Gloria's fix today!
Beth and I did our usual: we split the "Nancy's Favorite" platter. (Yes, it IS aptly named "Nancy's Favorite" (but only on the lunch menu).)

We left a generous tip... for two reasons: 1) we split the meal, and 2) we stayed so long (though not as long as sometimes).

That makes me want to tell folks that when you stay at a restaurant a long time, leave a big tip. I mean, some folks come to the tea room and stay three hours (yes, three hours) and leave a dollar tip. Hello?! The waiters refill your drinks every so often, and well, you're holding up that table. Grr.

Oh, I recently read on Facebook (by an angry FB friend) that because of the economy Oprah was suggesting folks just leave a 10% tip at restaurants. Boy that made me mad at her. Ah, but then I read that that Oprah 'tip' was just a rumor. So don't be mad at Oprah for something she didn't do (say).

In closing - and having nothing to do with tipping... here's a picture I like...One reason I like this picture so much is that Caroline looks EXACTLY like Elizabeth did at that age.

Uncanny.

And so sweet. mm.

I've had a crazy few days, so...

....today I tried to take it easy.

Well, the day's not over. There's still hope.

Part of my idea of taking it easy was driving to Dallas to meet my sweet daughter-Laura to give her some time-sensitive mail that I'd forgotten to give her Friday night. (She was meeting her precious friend Linh for lunch, and I wanted an excuse to 'take it easy' by going to Dallas and meeting her at the Barnes and Noble across from North Park Mall (my favorite B&N in the whole world.)

Hmm.
Was I thinking driving to and from - and in Dallas would be relaxing? I guess so.

I was wrong.

And, now I'm having to recover.

And for sure I'm thinking that Fort Worth has safer and more sane drivers than Dallas!
Yes, I'm thinking that for sure. FOR SURE.

Well, I guess you can see that there is not much to blog about today.

That is a good thing.

In closing, here's a picture of Laura and her boyfriend, the wonderful Ryan...Laura beat Ryan, by the way, in this chess game.
[Didn't there used to be a rule about girls not beating boys?]
['Course Laura's liberated.]
[Let's just hope Ryan is, too.]
Well, he looks pretty liberated.

Christmas card preview!

Friday night Mother and her grandkids, great grandkids, and I posed for some pictures, one of which Mother will use for her Christmas cards this year.
Bailey (Will's girlfriend) used my little camera, and Ryan (Laura's boyfriend) used Will's 'professional' camera. I haven't seen the professional ones but was really impressed with Bailey's 'amateur' pics.
Here is one...(From back row left: John, Elizabeth's husband; Cap (my twin Peggy's firstborn) and his wife Lindsey. Middle row: Elizabeth (Peggy's second born) holding Andrew.
First row: Caroline (Elizabeth's oldest); my mother; Laura (my second born); me; Will (my firstborn).
Have you noticed who is missing in these pictures? ????
Well, Sam-the-man was in the bedroom... not wanting to expose the rest of us to whatever he had (still has). The plan is - this very week - to get him photo-shopped in - right next to Lindsey in the back row.

The next picture was taken right before the above picture. I really like it. Notice the three females in the middle. They're having their own special little time together...I think that's sweet.

In closing, here is a quick pic of my mother. I took this before anybody else came. She was decorating the Christmas tree. (We had just taken the autumn stuff off, to get it ready for our Christmas picture-taking fun.)One classy lady, huh?

And yes, this is the absolute earliest I've ever put my Christmas tree up....

And no, I haven't done ANY Christmas-gift shopping yet at all.

One. thing. at. a. time.

Some of you....

..... (like Laura) may be expecting some other pics....
Patience. Patience.
(Don't you just love when your mother lectures.)

I DO have this wonderful picture...
Isn't that gorgeous? That was a recent gift from Susan...Elizabeth's mother-in-law, and mother of one of my most favorite fellas in the whole world: Elizabeth's husband, John.

THANK YOU, SUSAN!! (for the ornament(s) AND for John!)

Here's the slice of pumpkin pie that you (Susan) gave me last year...

And this beautiful pumpkin, too...(You can't tell it, but in 'person' those 3 ornaments are all about the same size.)

Susan gave them to me for our holiday tree...

As you may (or may not) know I've been keeping our tree up the last few years... and decorating it for birthdays and other times of the year. It's fun... and it beats having to put that thing up after Christmas. !!!

Oh, here's a picture (taken in May, 2007) of Susan with Caroline, her oldest grandchild.I know what you're thinking: Susan looks too young to be a 'Mimi' to Caroline. Well, now she (Susan) has 5 grandchildren... all under three years of age! -- That will keep her young, .... or... well, old -- ha.)

Again, thanks, Susan, for making our tree really nice!!
(The next time I see you I'm going to take your picture.)

Everything goes along pretty fine . . .

... and then something happens like yesterday down at Fort Hood.

How do we make sense of it?

Well, I don't think we can. And maybe aren't meant to.

A few months back my aunt (Helen (Ruth)) sent me a link to some daily devotionals. They're from her former pastor in Dallas. They are really good... and extremely timely.
Well, today's was WONDERFUL. It's about that horrific shooting. Click HERE to read it. I hope you do. (It's not long at all.)
(I thought it was so good that I linked it on facebook a few minutes ago.)

In other completely different news, did you hear about the New York Yankees manager being a Good Samaritan? It happened on his way home from winning the World Series. Click HERE for the great story. I mean, it is GREAT... and it sounds like he even put himself in danger to do it.

In still other COMPLETELY DIFFERENT news, did you know this year marks SESAME STREET's 40th anniversary? Whoa. That makes me feel old. I mean, I was seventeen year's old when it started. That tells you it was never part of my childhood.... ah, but I bet most of you don't know who Captain Kangaroo is (was)! Got you there!!

I hope you have a great weekend... and don't forget to pray for the families affected by that terrible shooting.

Whoa...

Whoa...there may be a new ocean in the world.  It's happening in the desert of Ethiopia. Click HERE for the article. And get this, "The same rift activity is slowly parting the Red Sea, too." That's a quote from the article.

In other news, Sam and I voted today. We are about 1% of Colleyville residents that are supposedly voting today.   I'm proud of us. We often don't vote in anything but the BIG elections.  Well, I guess that depends on what you (we) would describe as big.  We found out (from our homeowners' association) that if Proposition 2 gets passed we'll not only have to pay county tax on our homesite, but state tax as well.  That got us down to the voting booth.... because this IS a BIG election!  Go 'NO'!!!

In other news, my mother, my daughter, and maybe my husband (who just voted with me- and then came home and took his temperature- and, indeed has some fever) are sick!!
I know: What kind of mother, daughter, and wife am I that I put this news so far down in this post?  I should have made this the headline of my entire blog.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Well, I better go take care of somebody.

'Course I don't want to get near them....

but ....

well, I DO love them.

Hmm.

On Halloween morning . . .

. . . I told Sam, "No matter what, I've got to find out where Caroline and Andrew go trick or treating tonight, and I've got to go see them!!!

And I did!

I met them at the Trunk or Treat Festival at First Baptist Church, Grapevine, TX.
Whoa! That church's festival would rival any fall festival anywhere! ANYWHERE!
(I'll put up some pics on facebook, but, just so you know, none of my pictures do it justice.)

Ah, but I did get some sweet pictures of Caroline and Andrew...

Here's Caroline seeing one of her friends...
And then...How sweet is that?
(Oh, if you didn't know, Caroline is Belle from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and her friend, Kendall (sp?) is, I think, Cinderella.

And here's the cowboy, Andrew...
He really, really, REALLY wanted that balloon!So his big sister wanted one, too. (See left in that same photo.)

Here I am with Caroline, who at that very moment may have wanted to go to a different car trunk. Hmm...

Here's John (on the left) manning the Dart Throw booth (he narrowly escaped injury a few times - well, maybe)...

Here are Elizabeth and Andrew with the wonderful children's director at FBC-Grapevine, D'Ann...

What a fun festival. They even had hayrides... and we hayrode!!

Oh, earlier that day I played in the tea room.
Here I am with two of my favorite people there...
First with Jennifer (my 'boss')...
And then with Heather (notice her beautiful ring that I made her show off)...

Fun people.

Fun times.