Some things I've learned in September...

1. I was cleaning up the breakfast dishes this (Saturday) morning and Sam came into the kitchen and said, "You must come see this. You must."
 So I was happy to credit him with me not finishing cleaning the kitchen.

Here's what he wanted me to see (which he'd paused on the TV)...

Do you see number 8?
Well, some folks balked at that.... that Baylor would be placed so high.... since we've not played any big games.
Ah, but the games we've played have been PLAYED WELL.
And Clay has placed us number 8!!!

Sam and I are glad for that.

Here's number 2 - of the things I've learned in Sept.
 2.  A favorite person of mine... has had a major upset in his life.
(More on that later.)
(But know this: CHANGE is the only thing in life that is certain.... and IT IS OKAY... if one is trusting in God- who is unchangeable.)

3. The sweet breakfast and lunch diner in Bedford (Harwood and Central), LE PEEP, has closed.   Whoa.  I liked that place.  :(

4.  I had the breakfast burrito with chicken from Chick-Fil-A- this week.
It was yummy.

I don't think it was as good as Le Peep's omelets, but it WAS yummy.

5.  Sam (my husband) got certified in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator this past week.  

Whoa. 

I think it is so important that people know about themselves.  

Sam (my hubby) has known about himself for years (and me, his wife)... but now he is certified in the Myers Briggs thing.... and he was surprised at what he's learned - just this past week!   (about himself and me!) (Whoa.)

6. So life IS interesting:  Never a dull moment.

I'm thinking that at 61 years old - life NEVER gets dull.

And I'm thinking about having a Mission High School reunion in north Texas next summer.... with you folks who are UP HERE..... and who will travel UP HERE. ....  and not just the class of 1970---- but maybe the classes of 1965 through 1975.......   

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Are you willing?

?????!!!!?????

(I'll be in touch more on this.)

(Oh yeah.) 

So those are some things I've learned (and thought about) in September.

    

Fun Friday...

For today's fun I have some pictures of having fun in the tea room...

Here is the Parkwood group who came today....

 

that's from one end of the table...

and now from the other end...

(You can click each picture to make it larger, if you'd like.)
(The young lady on the right is Amy, Parkwood's Activities Director.
She is super.)

You may notice that one Parkwood resident is not in the pictures.

I really missed her (my Mother-Margaret)... but she had a (routine) doctor's appointment,

and I wanted her to go to that instead of come to the tea room.

(She's been to the tea room many times.)

Oh, one of the ladies asked me if Mother made me practice the piano.

I said a hearty "YES!" 

And then I told how my piano teacher (Miss Claprick) had Mother sit in on my practice time so I would do it right.

Needless to say, NOW I am so glad!

So now I can play "Moon River" and "Tennessee Waltz" and other oldies in the tea room,

which I did today for the Parkwood group.

By the way, here is the tea room wait staff, with Claudia (on the left) who runs the register...

and keeps everyone in line....

From left, they're Claudia, Rachel, Charity, Kristen and Emily.

They are wonderful young ladies.... always smiling and ever helpful.

I love them!!

By the way,  I've been playing "Moon River" every day I play lately. 

It calms Claudia's soul.

Mm.

By the way, the tea room is called "Simpliciteas Tea Room"

and it is located inside LoneStar Antiques (5605 Denton Highway, Haltom City,TX).

Mother and I have a booth there, and well, that's FUN!

You may already know this, but the antique mall is not too impressive on the outside....

But the inside is fantastic!

Wednesday Whimsy...

... from LoneStar Antiques (5605 Denton Highway, Haltom City, Tx)...

Oh yeah..... those are fans!

I remember those fans!

Oh, and did you notice all of the pretty quilts?!

Mm.  They are so pretty!

On this very day...

...33 years ago, my nephew, Cap, was born...

 That's my dear twin, Peggy, reading to her son, Cap.

And yes, his name is Cap.

His first name is Captain!

He's Captain Emory Jones IV.

Here he is more recently...

Yes, he is movie-star handsome.

And he's handsome on the inside, too!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAP!!!

I have some new favorite places...

First: Kingwood, Texas!

It's where I got my ESL training.

(I said I went (in my previous post) to Houston, but it was actually Kingwood.)

It's known as "The Livable Forest".
Well, that tells you it has lots of trees, and they're beautiful.

Well, I only traveled on Kingwood Drive while in Kingwood (to get to Woodbridge Baptist Church, where the ESL training was), but when I was driving there I kept thinking, "This is absolutely beautiful.... Who knew?"
What heightened my appreciation of it was that I was playing the Spa station (channel 68) on my XM/Sirius radio.   It makes everything look beautiful (unless they're playing too-weird music, which they play sometimes).

Anyway, I was enjoying that Kingwood Drive in Kingwood.

Then on the way home yesterday I stopped at Buc-ee's in Madisonville.  Whoa.  It was great.

  I had seen billboards of it... but they don't do it justice.

If you're ever driving on I-45 going or coming from Houston, stop by... and allow yourself some time to walk around.

It's impressive.

--------
So now I'm back home, and enjoying the first day of fall!
This weather is fantastic!

And I'm looking forward to going (again) to another favorite place....

Will and Bailey Jo gave Sam a gift certificate for it for his birthday.  And I got to enjoy the gift also.
Mm...

That picture I got online.  We didn't eat the french fries.... but next time- maybe.  Mm.

So today I'm thinking of my favorite places.

Of course I can't forget my most favorite place: HOME.

There is no place like it.

I can wind down here,

which I'm doing on this lazy Sunday afternoon.

Mm.

(And I will put up a new background for this blog... since it is now officially FALL!!!)

Five Things on Friday...

1. I drove to Houston today... in the rain.  (I like road trips by myself - even in the rain.)  

2.  Houston traffic is still horrible. (I don't like that.) (I used to come here a lot in the '80's... for some reason I thought the traffic would be better now.)

3. I'm here (in Houston) for a training to be an ESL (English as second language) teacher.  Bear Valley church is starting an ESL program in January and I am going to be a part of it!!!!   (There were training sessions closer to home, but my schedule didn't work for them.)

4. On Wednesday night we had the Huffmans over to eat with Bailey and Will, who were still staying with us.  They were amazed at how Anna is so talkative now.

 (For my new blog-readers, Bailey and Will have been in Scotland for a year... and you know how little children can really change in a year (especially smart ones like Anna!)

 Different note...
5. In Oklahoma earlier this month we saw a dirty car.... 

Notice the dirt is red.  That's Oklahoma dirt!

Well, it would seem by that dirty car that I'm hard up for blog material. 

Ah, but I have this to tell you, too......

The Bible verse for today on BibleGateway.com  really fits for today.....

Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

Joel 2:23

Gotta love the rain we're having!

I hope you have a great week-end.

Wednesday Wrandom*

Last week Mother had a friend from Canton visit her...

That's Moria on the left, Mother on the right.
(for you new blog-readers)

It seems we all got the black and white memo...

Moria's daughter-in-law brought her to the tea room for lunch then we went to Mother's to show Moria around Parkwood.
Parkwood is very impressive, by the way.
This is what I found online as their website, Parkwood Retirement Community.
The food is good, you don't have to do yard work, there are fun games to play and lots of other activities that you do - or not do.
There's also a beauty shop, a library, church services, a little store where you can buy necessities, and well, I'm ready!

On a different note, my nephew-in-law's grandmother, Alice (known as Coco to her grandchildren and great grandchildren) was telling me about her daturas, which I had never heard about, so she sent me a picture... with her husband in the picture, so as to give perspective....

The daturas are the white flowers by the white bench.
By the way, Jim is a tall fella, which tells you those daturas are big! ... and beautiful, huh?
(Thanks for the picture, Alice!)

Alice also shared with me a blog by her granddaughter Sara who is living in India and helping open a home for young girls who have been rescued from prostitution.   I can't think of a better thing to do.
Sara's blog is ThatOneGirlWho.  It's very interesting.
Here's a picture of Sara and her grandmother, Alice....

Beautiful ladies, huh?

And they're beautiful inside, too.

Oh, Alice has two new great-grandbabies....

Here is my niece Elizabeth holding them.....

That's Clara and Jack.
They're two weeks apart with different mothers and daddies (Elizabeth's brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law).

Here are Clara's parents...

and brothers...

And here are Jack's parents...

and Jack's older brother and sisters...

 

 Precious, precious.

Clara's father is my nephew-in-law's brother

and Jack's mother is my nephew-in-law's sister....

and just to keep you up-to-date,

here's my nephew-in-law John with his beautiful wife (my niece) Elizabeth and their family....

 Yes, they're proud Aggies.

(For new blog readers (of which I know I may have a few): Elizabeth is my dear late twin Peggy's daughter.)

Peggy had two children.

I'll blog about her son on Monday- his birthday!!

And yes, I know you're thinking that I'm surrounded by gorgeous people, because I am.

And they're all gorgeous on the inside, too.

Life is gorgeous.

*That's how I spell 'random' on Wednesdays.

(Thanks for letting me steal those pictures from Facebook.)

Beautiful Bailey Jo's Bountiful Baby Shower...

Here are some pictures...

 

Laura had left before that last picture was taken.... 

but her artwork was in the picture right above it. 

It was a WONDERFUL afternoon!!

(I thought I'd taken pictures with Amanda, Kellee, Marcie, Peggy, Elizabeth, Susan, Molly and others.)