Let it Snow -- NOT!

I am pleased to say that it is not snowing this morning.  I can't tell you how happy that makes me since I have a lengthy commute this a.m. over many bridges and over passes.  It is well above freezing and...it is Friday.

Looking forward to the Cotton Bowl tonight.  We are an Aggie family so this is  a big deal to us -- more to some of us than others -- I will probably be asleep half way through! It should be an exciting game, however, so I will do my best to see it through.

I am currently reading three books which is huge for me.  I don't usually read more than one at a time because I usually get involved in one and sort of abandon the rest.  However, this time, they are three different genres so it is easier.  I am reading the Judi Dench autobiography And Furthermore,  the children's book The Bobbsey Twins, and a novel that I borrowed from my daughter's mother in law -- Birmingham Rose by Annie Murray, a contemporary British author.  It is this Murray novel that is monopolizing my attention right now but I am doing a fair job of splitting my reading time between the three.

Ok, time to pack lunch and head out.  Have a wonderful day!

3 Jan 2013


It is a cold and dark morning here in North Texas.  It is early yet I am up, dressed, fed and gathering my things.  Today my DD goes back to work from her Christmas holiday and I go back to babysitting the Bean.  Neither of them are going to be happy.  My DD misses being a stay at home mom and Bean misses her mommy.  I wish I could do something to make things different but all I can do is help by providing child care.  Everyday I go there I am thankful that I was able to stay home with my children but times were different then, weren't they?

I am hoping the cedar fever attack I have been fighting is winding down although I won't be right until March. From January to March I wish I lived someplace besides Texas.  Any place but Texas.  The mountain cedar is an evil weed which is not useful for anything and we should try to do something about it but nobody even tries.  I am so "lucky" that the builders of the condo behind us paid so close attention to our request that they not plant cedar as we are all quite allergic to it -- they only planted about 150 of the wretched things around the property and lined my back fence with them.  That alone would make me leave my beloved house and search for something a little more cedar free.

I really have nothing for an interesting post.  I look forward to my day with the Bean but I know she isn't going to be happy.  I am glad it is a short week.  She is such a clever little thing.  The other day DD told her that she "loved her to pieces" and Bean looked at her, frowned and said "don't take me apart -- I not a puzzle".  She has a vivid imagination and has started relating her dreams.  They are pretty elaborate but not scary.  She plays so well and has such a long attention span that taking care of her just requires tending to her needs.  She spends a lot of time "reading" her books -- another reading addict in the making.

Well, time to run.  I will check back later.  Have a wonderful day, all!

I Give Up

Ok, the voices in my head can quit shouting at me now!  I give up! I give in!  I have joined the Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge.  I know I said I wouldn't but I have.  I suppose it was meant to be.  I had pretty good luck with the same challenge in 2012 and, even though I didn't meet my goal, I came very close so, this year, I lowered my goal to 20 books.  I am sure that is quite do-able since reading and cross stitching are  about the only things I do anymore! However, between this, the classic children's challenge and babysitting,  I think that is all that I can handle.

I have to say that my decision to join was made  this morning when I was reading JLSHall's blog, A Little Reading.  It seems that she has signed up for twelve -- 12 -- 1-2 -- challenges.  Needless to say I felt quite the underachiever so I decided to forge ahead and sign up for one more.

For those who don't know, JLSHall and I are cousins.  I like to refer to us as sistercousins because were raised more as sisters than cousins and  our  relationship dynamic has always been more sisterly than cousinly.  She is a couple of years older which means she got to experience "life" first.  I found myself following in her footsteps.  Whatever she did, I had to do and my mother used her as sort of a parameter of what I could/could not do.  I was sort of like a puppy following her around and I am sure that became very annoying.  Over the years, however, our differences emerged and we became our own women -- each having strengths and weaknesses that  the other doesn't have.  However, we are more alike than different and I still look to her as a role model and I still follow in her footsteps although not quite so "in her face" as I used to.  That would explain my foray into the book challenges for this year.  Not as committed as she is but, as it has been all my life, if Joy is doing it then it must be a  good thing and I shall do it as well.

So, that coupled with  my opinion that one of the best things that a person can do in life is learn to read and do it was gusto, I will persevere.  I believe that reading is the most basic, most important skill a person can learn because if you can read, you have the world in your hands.  I thank JLSHall for all those reading lessons while playing "school" and for introducing me to the books that I hold dear now (Star Girl will be one of my choices) and, for that matter, writing such compelling reviews now that I go to when looking for new reading material.

With that, off I go, to Lakeport to join the Bobbsey Twins and back to Old Vic with my new BFF Judi!

The Bobbsey Twins

I have decided on my first book for the classic children's books challenge that I signed up for after saying I wouldn't.  I have decided to read the first book in The Bobbsey Twin series which was originally published in 1904.  I won't go through the whole series because there are 72 books and a number of them were originally published after the required date cut-off of 1960.  However, the last Bobbsey Twin book that I ever bought was The Bobbsey Twins Go To London Tower and it was published in 1959 so I will probably re-read it.  I remember when it was purchased.  My mother was Christmas shopping -- for me, I might add-- at Toudouze Market in San Antonio and I found the book and wanted it.  She asked if I wanted it for Christmas or right then  and I remember looking at her as if she were speaking in a foreign tongue -- I wanted it right then and I wanted to read it right then, in the store.  In fact, I had the thing half read before we ever got home from that shopping excursion.  I was a voracious reader at age 9.  I remember enjoying all the Bobbsey Twin books that I read and, so far, I am enjoying this one.

I will return with a review after I am done.  I doubt many of my bloggy friends will be too interested in my reading children's  books but I am such a sucker for them that I really couldn't pass up the challenge.  I read many children's books, on a daily basis, to Bean -- Granddaughter the Second.  None of them fill the challenge requirement because they are too short (must be at least 60 pages) but I do have my favorites and maybe I will start doing reviews on those!

At any rate, this is my first choice.  I have loaded it on my Nook and have already begun to read. If I really like it, I will probably head to my local antique mall and try to find a copy -- they have a huge children's book section so it isn't out of the realm of possibility.   What a contrast -- Judi Dench and The Bobbsey Twins!  Nobody can accuse me of not being diverse.

More later as I progress with this challenge.

What a Way to Start a New Year

Yep, I lied.  I said no more reading challenges yet, as I was reading JLSHall's blog, I learned of the Pre-1960 Classic Children's Books Reading Challenge and I was, well, challenged.  I love children's books, especially the children's books of my childhood.  I have quite a few to choose from and I have no idea where I will start -- more on that later.

So, if anybody would like to join Joy and me as we embark on this challenge, you can find the rules here.  So now I have to decide -- Bobbsey Twins?  Nancy Drew?  Honey Bunch?  Blue Willow or Strawberry Girl?  So many choices and a bit disturbing that I have so many in my personal library! I guess I am a child at heart so I should enjoy this challenge.

Join me?

Happy New Year!

I didn't stay up last night to ring in the new year.  I tried to go to bed early but I got involved in watching the latest episode of "Sister Wives" which I had DVR'd.  I am not sure why I watch that program from time to time but right now I am interested in the houses they are building and completely in awe of how the husband affords to keep four families -- and drive really nice cars! At any rate, I hit the sack about 11:30, fell asleep, and woke up about fifteen minutes later itching.  I have a dry skin issue in the summer and the winter and it really drives me crazy sometimes.  I know, TMI, but while awake, I heard one, lonely little firecracker.  I didn't look outside to see if I could see more.  I just went back to bed hoping I could get back to sleep.  I did and the rest of the night was uneventful.

I hope the first day of the new year is going to be nice as the last several have not been.  Over the last two weeks we have seen unseasonably warm temps, cold temps, rain, sleet, snow, wind, hail and very little sun.  I realize this is Texas and we are well known for our variable weather but this is sort of ridiculous.  We have needed the rain badly so it was welcomed especially with everybody off work but now we need a little normalcy.  The thing that was so good about yesterday, however, was that with the rain, the cedar pollen was grounded and almost not on the chart at all!!! What a nice reprieve.  However, it is back up into the med-high range and I have to go grocery shopping.  Bummer.

The book that I am starting out the year with is one I got as a Christmas gift from Hubs.

I have always, always been a big fan of Judi Dench and have enjoyed seeing her on tv and in movies and have always found her to be such a class act.  If you want to analyze her, it isn't hard to see that she doesn't fit the mold of a typical American actress or celebrity ( I don't think we have many great actresses here anymore -- Meryl Streep is our greatest right now, I think).  She isn't tall, she isn't exotic and she isn't outrageous  I recently watched a you tube video of Dench on a comedy show being "interviewed" by the comedic host -- I am not familiar with who it was as he was British and it was in the 60's and we didn't have much access to British media back then.  She was very Mia Farrow-ish at the time -- small, blond with her signature pixie hair cut and dressed very well -- gorgeous and modest dress.  It was clear she was a stage actress rather than a film actress and she was very on top of her  game.  Her confidence, her comedic timing and her appearance was just so refreshing.  She exudes a sense of confidence and, at the same time, a vulnerability that makes her seem to real to me -- and probably approachable.  I like her enough to have copied her hairstyle!  I am about a quarter of the way through the book and I am totally enjoying the stories she is relating about her time at Old Vic and all the antics of her peers.  It takes me back to a time that is very dear to my heart -- my childhood and teenagehood and it is so interesting to see that time from another point of view much different than my own.

My New Years Day is going to be spent getting back in the groove.  It has been a very relaxing Christmas vacation, despite being sick.  I need to catch up on laundry, grocery shop, finally cook dinner again and try to get back to my usual routine.  The one thing we are going to have to do today is try to deal with our new issue -- ants.  We have ants all over the house and we don't know why.  I guess I will spend some time today trying to figure out a natural solution to the problem -- I have been bitten so many times now and I am a little tired of it.  So, New Year, new challenge -- who knew it would be such an annoying one!

So, with that said, I am off to get back to normal.  Have a wonderful day!

Well, Hello 2013, Glad to Meet You!



Happy New Year to all who might happen by here.  I no longer stay up until midnight to see the new year in so I am doing my well-wishing now.  I hope 2013 brings all of you good health and much happiness -- if you have those two things you have everything!

I am not sure why the idea of a new year is so intriguing -- seriously, I don't expect tomorrow to be vastly different than today but the new year is like a new beginning, a chance to start over, to right wrongs, to ....buy new towels at the January white sales!

I don't do resolutions anymore.  I never keep them and they usually involve sweets and soda and weight loss and, by now, we know that isn't going to happen.  I am usually breaking the resolution as I write it down!  This year I am just thinking in terms of doing things better, being more focused in the things I do, trying to make my little part of the world a better place.  I am also thinking a good deal about how I spend my time.  Over the last several months I have been thinking about being more discerning about doing things I really want to do and not what the world thinks I should do.  These thoughts have also lead me to think about who I am and how I am and how I am fortunate to have gotten to the point that I can pretty much be comfortable with who I am and not feel like I have to meet some sort of society driven expectation of what I should be.  Isn't it a shame that we have to wait until we are old to be happy in our own skin.  I guess that falls under the heading "20-20 Hindsight".  Ah, well, I look forward to the next year being one of contentment.

I have spent a good deal of time in 2012 researching minimalist living and frugal living.  This all began with our rather abrupt retirement a year and a half ago.  I wasn't prepared emotionally for the changes in our life and, as things like this usually do, I was sent into a tail spin.  We made quite a few changes to our life style -- some good that we retained and some not so good that we discarded.

One of these best things we did this year was change our cell phone plan.  We are not "smart phone" people -- I even went back to a basic flip phone -- so when our children decided to go out on their own we decided to give up our "family plan" and opt for pay as your go plans.  Hubs has 1000 minutes that he can keep for up to a year -- whatever is left over can be rolled over as long as he adds to the plan before the 1000 minutes is used.  He isn't a phone user so it will take him a long time to use that 1000 minutes.  His plan is $100 which isn't bad considering his minutes will last him quite a while.  My plan is $30 a month for 1500 minutes and a small amount of data.  It is more than I need and I have it set up to be renewed each month by credit card.  The minutes don't roll over on this plan, however.  All in all, though, we have saved over $100 a month on our cell phone bill which I thought was pretty good.  My next goal is to dissect the cable bill -- I see a Roku in our future.

I still line dry some of our laundry and I still prefer to make my own laundry soap.  I cut my hair into a minimal care "pixie" because of the health of my hair and, as a result, I find I am saving money on product and time spent on messing with my hair.  My hair is looking much better as well even if a "pixie" isn't the most flattering style on me.  Neither is bald so I needed to pick one -- I think I made the right choice.

I have turned off the tv more which has resulted in less electricity spent, less aggravation over the news and more peace -- I have learned to love, even crave, a home that isn't polluted by sound.  Of course, turning off the tv has aided my ability to read much, much more.  I have also learned to enjoy some programming on my computer on sites like Hulu.  That enables me to really choose what I want to watch, not sit zombie-like at a lineup that somebody  else has decided for me.  My, I am becoming a cantankerous old broad, aren't I?

All in all 2013 was a good year.  No major illnesses, minimal family drama, a good deal of time spent just watching the miracle of a child grow (there is nothing like it), waking up realizing that I had survived the retirement and relishing in the fact that we, in fact,  woke up, we are healthy and we are thankful to God for all the blessings, big and small,  that he has bestowed on us.

My plans for 2013 include much the same with more time spent watching, enjoying, "smelling the roses" so to speak, praying, loving and being grateful.

Happy New Year All!

Booking Through Thursday -- December 27, 2012


What are/were your favorite book(s) of the year?  Bonus points if you know how many books you read.

Well, since I participated in the 2012 Reading Challenge, I know how many books I read.  My goal was 25 books and I completed 22 and am still working on 23.  I may or may not get it finished by the end of the year.  I did  better this year than last year but I don't think I will be participating in any more challenges.  I feel like the goal to finish a certain number of books sort of lessens the enjoyment of reading so my goal for the new year will be to read books I really enjoy, take the time to really enjoy them and write some nice reviews.

As far as my favorite books of the year are concerned, I have to say I enjoyed all the books I read.  I really enjoyed getting into the "Aunt Dimity" series and plan to continue with the series this year.  There are fifteen in the series and I am about half done, taking breaks between books to read other things.

I have to say that "The School of Essential Ingredients" was a favorite contemporary work.  The setting drew me in immediately -- I  love being able to visualize where/when a book is set.  If the setting is well developed, I am caught.

I think my favorite "period" novel was "The Forgotten Garden".   For me it was a page turner that I couldn't put down.  I read it on my Nook and then bought a hard copy for my library.  I had never read any of Kate Morton works but several other titles of hers are on my list for 2013.

I enjoyed "The Little Stranger" by Sarah Waters but it wasn't as scary as I was hoping.  It was more sad than scary and when I read it I was in the mood for scary but it was still really good -- I am a big fan of Sarah Waters and hope to read more of her works in the new year.

So, yeah, that's about it!

Random  Thoughts --- AKA Another Boring, Photo-less, Post

Since I am completely engulfed in a severe case of Cedar Fever, I am doing a lot of sitting which is getting really, really boring.  My cabin fever is centered around my chair in front of the tv -- awful.  Anyway, I am sitting here, not feeling like doing  much, but I am thinking about the year to come.  I am not a good one with resolutions.  I don't like making them because I generally forget about them immediately and they aren't very inspiring anyway.  It isn't like I resolve myself to do some good, charitable work or somehow change mankind.  I usually resolve to lose half my body weight -- right after the current cookie! So, I don't do resolutions.

However,  I am thinking about how to do things better this year.  Not big things, just little things and how to make time for the things I love to do but generally let go because of the things I HAVE to do.  Another thing on my list is how to lighten up my stress level.  I don't have a lot of stress.  We are retired and are reasonably secure in that status.  I don't have a lot of pressing things to worry about but I tend to worry a lot about things that I can do nothing about.  I need to work on that.  Maybe some exercise would help with that.  I have to think about it.

The one thing to change that sticks in my mind is joining reading challenges.  I find them stressful.  Last year I joined a couple and found myself rushing to read a certain number of books -- I didn't enjoy the books, it was just an exercise to see if I could meet my goal and see how fast I could read. This year was a bit better even though I didn't make my goal.  I didn't worry about that so much so I enjoyed my reading experience more which tells me that maybe reading challenges aren't my "thing".

Another thing I am going to try to get involved in again is genealogy with the goal of adding more ancestors to my DAR roll.  I have run across a lady in Del Rio -- a cousin -- who has just had one of our relatives approved for the first time and I am looking forward to working with her to add him to my list of ancestors who fought in the American Revolution.

As far as crafts, sewing, etc. go, I haven't had much time for that plus my hands seem to be giving me arthritis problems so quilting and such isn't much fun.  However, I have three quilts promised that I need to work on and a mound of cross stitch patterns to do.  I don't know that I am going to do the cross stitch with any particular project in mind -- just for the joy in doing it.  I do have a couple of bird charts that I would like to do so that I can frame them -- I have a nice place to put them and think they would look good in my house so that will probably be a goal.

So, like I said, this post is just a bunch of random thoughts.  I am just trying to figure out how to be happy, to do what I enjoy and let go of what I don't without guilt!

Yeah.

Merry Christmas All!

Yes, it is Christmas Day, 2012 and a mighty odd one, I might add.  I am glad I have gotten old enough to just accept that things aren't always going to turn out the way you planned and to just get on with it --  the whole lemons/lemonade thing.

I didn't feel good all last week and, actually several days prior to that but I was busy and didn't pay much attention.  Bad move.  I have lived in Texas (aka Mountain Cedar Hell Hole) all my life and all my life I have been a mess from December to March.  Whatever made me think this year would be different?  I usually start looking at pollen charts around Thanksgiving so I can get a heads up on the progress of the little yellow blooming buggers but I failed to do  that this year until day before yesterday when I was hit like  a ton of brick with raging allergy symptoms.  The mountain cedar count was at the very top of the published chart and there I was outside actually breathing! I started with a cough, day before yesterday, and then yesterday I was a complete disaster but went ahead and attended church and went to my daughters for Christmas Eve dinner which was lovely -- our traditional Tex-Mex fare.  However, I was miserable and couldn't wait to get home to swallow some Benadryl and Mucinex and go to bed.

We were supposed to get up early this morning and head to daughter's house to watch Bean open her gifts.  However, that didn't happen.  We were awakened in the night by a thunderstorm complete with severe lightening and hail.  Dear daughter phoned me at 5:45 and said not to come, it was pretty treacherous out there which was fine because it took me three hours to get the allergy symptoms under control.  In that three hours we went from thunderstorms to sleet to snow.  It snowed all afternoon and has finally stopped but the temperature is below freezing so it is now an ice rink outside.  I am just thankful that nobody has to go to work tomorrow.  They were reporting that the sanding trucks and snow plows were ready to go but the first thing that happened was one of the sand trucks turned over.  Let it suffice to say that Texans don't do ice and/or snow well.  At all.

We missed out on Christmas dinner with Dear Daughter tonight.  She  and her British hubby had a traditional British dinner complete with Yorkshire pudding, thanks to her mother-in-law who is visiting.  They enjoyed the traditional crackers and, the last I heard, the new stuffed Mickey Mouse doll was wearing a paper hat out of the cracker!

We had a lovely dinner ourselves, though.  We had grilled steak, baked potatoes and sauteed spinach and mushrooms.  We didn't have any dessert because Hubs did a lot of damage to the Welsh cakes that I made and his blood sugar was just a bit elevated -- a big bit.  So, now we are watching "The Bourne Legacy", the new Bourne movie which he received as a gift in his little gift bag.

I don't like being sick and I really don't like having my plans changed but all in all we had a nice holiday.  I guess the snow was a nice touch and, since I don't feel well, I won't be getting out anyway but a little sunshine would have been nice.  Oh well, they say that will be tomorrow so I plan on a nice sleep and hopefully waking to a less allergy-ridden me.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and look forward to a happy New Year.

There are no words.  There is no reasonable explanation.  I don't know how this was allowed to happen.  God help us all because we certainly don't seem to be able to help ourselves.  This makes me physically ill.