tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85045857708305249712024-03-06T22:19:37.485-06:00Sounding ForthRandom Sounds From A Girl Smack-Dab In The Middle of the West Texas OilpatchThat Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.comBlogger624125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-12368298204329924622010-10-03T17:19:00.002-05:002010-10-03T17:23:14.260-05:00Maintenance! What? No!<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Yesterday, I ran some errands in Santa Fe. Wearing sandals that had black rubber foot beds resulted in the bottoms of my feet being…black. I decided to hop into the shower to clean them up, did my pedicure foot scrub, then soaked in the tub afterwards.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m “Kindled” up, reading a good story. ThatManILove is sleep on the bed, trying to catch up from late nights of solid customer meetings and entertainment. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I hear something over and above the movie on the television. I think it’s TMIL talking to me, so I say, “What? Did you say something?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And then I hear, “Maintenance!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And then, “NO!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m all, “WHAT?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“MAINTENANCE!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“NOOO!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“WHAT?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And then I hear TMIL talking…supposedly to the maintenance man. Who had, by the way, transgressed into our hotel room. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Without our permission. The bathroom door was open, but all he could possibly see is my feet. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It seems someone’s tub was flooding the Old House restaurant downstairs. They were trying to Sherlock it out. Still not sure if it was ours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But the manager came up, full of apologies, and comped us wine and cheese.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I would have been happy with a full-out mani/pedi; not to mention a new pair of sandals that don’t turn your feet black.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Just sayin’.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s never boring around here.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-3283240423914851062010-09-23T06:06:00.002-05:002010-09-23T06:06:51.879-05:00Paddywhack, Give a Dog A Bone...<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Another week, another fundraiser - actually, two! My event season is nearly over, and I’m so very glad. Looking forward to breathing for a bit.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Yesterday, I kenneled Zanna in the house for the afternoon. Zack’s pretty trustworthy, so I let him have the run of the house. When I came home, Zack had gone to the bone box, retrieved several bones, and placed them at the door of Zanna’s kennel.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Isn’t that sweet?</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Y’all have a blessed day!</span></span></span></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-73157687415720038702010-09-18T04:22:00.002-05:002010-09-18T23:37:06.937-05:00(Screeching to a stop!) Here I Am!<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It’s been two weeks since I’ve written anything? That’s crazy, but so is mi vida loca. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ThatManILove is pretty much staying non-stop out in the field. He’ll start to complete a well, then get to the end of the completion, which calls for 24-7 out there. It’s not unusual for him to leave on Monday, and not come home until Saturday night. When he does get home, it’s sleep, sleep, sleep. But it’s sure good to see him when he does come home! </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Life is hard in the oilpatch. You have to work when you can, and I’m glad for the work. ThatManILove loves what he does, but it’s very intense, high profile work at times. And it plays hell on our social lives. We can’t plan anything ahead, nor have we been able to for a long time. Sometimes our friends don’t understand, unless they are in the oilfield. Those understand full well. It’s a miracle if ThatManILove and I get to go catch a 1 1/2 hr movie, much less a meal together. I never know when he’s going to get to come home - I just know when he does get home, he needs to rest. I bet he’s averaging less than 20 hours home per week.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And then you add in the ups and downs of my life. Meetings. Travel. Events. As part of my job, I entertain quite frequently, oftentimes at restaurants for dinner dates. And lots of times, my customers and their spouses drink. I’m good with that, because I rarely drink. Don’t like the taste of alcohol, as a whole. Every once in a while, maybe a peach bellini. And that makes for one good designated driver! We do have fun, though, while getting business accomplished. I love my job.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I do miss ThatManILove going on dinner dates with my customers and I. He’s so much fun, and so knowledgeable. And my customers miss him as well. One night a couple of years ago, ThatManILove and I picked up one of my customers at his hotel. I've known this customer for about 4 years, see him weekly, and consider him a friend. He got in the back seat, I introduced him to TMIL, and we trucked on to the restaurant. We were almost at the restaurant when my customer actually realized that TMIL was my husband and not just one of my coworkers. He said, “Oh! You really DO exist!” We all laughed...that’s just the way it is in this season of our lives.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Just spent the week in San Antonio, on the Riverwalk, no less. In meetings. It was fun, got to meet new people, and got a lot of things accomplished. Hot. Humid. But fun.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Flying back, my plane was delayed. That’s the first time in a long time good ol’ Southwest has made me late, so I certainly cannot whine about that. I love me some SWA.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Aside: (My husband’s alarm just went off, and it’s 4:00 a.m. His morning report is due by 5:30 a.m. What does that say about his vida loca? )</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I think I’ll try to catch a couple more hours sleep - I have to go help with a fundraiser event on this beautiful Saturday morning. Y’all have a blessed weekend!</span></span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-78761547075764453802010-09-07T23:44:00.002-05:002010-09-07T23:45:58.164-05:00Kids RockThis past weekend was crazy, but so much fun. <br />
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On Saturday, I ran to Big Spring to attend my grand-niece’s 4th birthday. It was SO much fun! She’s off the wall smart, and so much fun to be around! She’s definitely a girly-girl at heart, so her presents consisted of many different things…but her favorite? A remote controlled…..wait for it…yup, tarantula. Check out the picture. This girly cracks me up.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejCI1hgik8TTNHZJxyU9kR-gSk_C_yXCAtmjq8yDAVEUYxhP4yeJn5m_7WShTqSZtibhveHS_r3BHAAuiOGanm8VxyD254l1t1VQ72FF8_1_uKCrC7CwW8F6y3KTgk4bneroud6xGXvJ_/s1600/IMG_9053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejCI1hgik8TTNHZJxyU9kR-gSk_C_yXCAtmjq8yDAVEUYxhP4yeJn5m_7WShTqSZtibhveHS_r3BHAAuiOGanm8VxyD254l1t1VQ72FF8_1_uKCrC7CwW8F6y3KTgk4bneroud6xGXvJ_/s320/IMG_9053.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>And then, I took "almost 1 year old" pix for a friend of a friend. Isn't this one too sweet?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSnwbifphs0lnkDegZY9FrRKynKYa_83vicpu7jpWXNYv7TeZ496BjIEPZ61LJXQQxAt0JOXw_480JE4Zeh1rQSAhtRxUsFgDUPquPXQhL6_6-PSWtgsNzbMgOtkEmXguNb3pKr8OrTB6F/s1600/IMG_9187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSnwbifphs0lnkDegZY9FrRKynKYa_83vicpu7jpWXNYv7TeZ496BjIEPZ61LJXQQxAt0JOXw_480JE4Zeh1rQSAhtRxUsFgDUPquPXQhL6_6-PSWtgsNzbMgOtkEmXguNb3pKr8OrTB6F/s320/IMG_9187.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Saturday afternoon, our friend and godchild flew in from DFW, and surprised ThatManILove. He was so excited when he opened the car door, ostensibly to “help me haul things in”, and saw baby Ada Jael and her mom, True! (We had the window shades up so he couldn’t see them as he approached the vehicle.)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbonCuo4fgRJgg8yjM3FSI5jeFkJz8GUmFAKbzMOeMuaAl7EWuxWBtDFg0k6hBTQ91mG6Ho0y4dctUgvcN887BdkgUwbMxCDIxvfOC-ys4r6fAToFI4tZz1XMgSU3S4jQm3Omp-9UW-jM/s1600/IMG_9282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbonCuo4fgRJgg8yjM3FSI5jeFkJz8GUmFAKbzMOeMuaAl7EWuxWBtDFg0k6hBTQ91mG6Ho0y4dctUgvcN887BdkgUwbMxCDIxvfOC-ys4r6fAToFI4tZz1XMgSU3S4jQm3Omp-9UW-jM/s320/IMG_9282.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We have had the best time hanging with these two little ladies. True was raised in this area, so we just opened our house up, and friends filled the house. It was a joy to see everyone, and some even brought their own babies and little ones, making the weekend even more of a blessing! Everybody fell in love with Baby Ada, and all of the little munchkins visiting. Like this one...gorgeous!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMb_MZjs0btHt2hasS7CAccaOMNJs0vTsLwUsH-chyphenhyphenZTMuhD4KDgdl5stA2KDrq8fwXmmp7YmOR0UDRAPJolTaVDU2uSNVPB0wLljULpz_0MB9IX3DYRB0ntlu9UpLHPA3Dq7Q9duYtYoi/s1600/IMG_9401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMb_MZjs0btHt2hasS7CAccaOMNJs0vTsLwUsH-chyphenhyphenZTMuhD4KDgdl5stA2KDrq8fwXmmp7YmOR0UDRAPJolTaVDU2uSNVPB0wLljULpz_0MB9IX3DYRB0ntlu9UpLHPA3Dq7Q9duYtYoi/s320/IMG_9401.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7X3RfBkLJ3LGnC1wAfGyNbFNDILt7EedjR4-n58bK_uAcJQvMHf1F_yt6zVctNxjH1w3QroYBgw2DwtJ4-36wQjJstGen61tsrVh6BH5iQFq7om11NWr-f6_68riNq4O5TOoRV6eJNLN/s1600/IMG_9299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7X3RfBkLJ3LGnC1wAfGyNbFNDILt7EedjR4-n58bK_uAcJQvMHf1F_yt6zVctNxjH1w3QroYBgw2DwtJ4-36wQjJstGen61tsrVh6BH5iQFq7om11NWr-f6_68riNq4O5TOoRV6eJNLN/s320/IMG_9299.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And Zack? Well, Zack fell in love with Baby Ada, too.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9A_OTsU6w7eXLbq5oWutldcddvDTERkbELV2C4PYoVD8nS4TwUvrHZ6zYajGf9yRa-uEsI-rwbhnDtNOY80C58AR77rQ24QnMcAriT5Kd77wXWsiNchyphenhyphen4bw6l3060G_s-42PDGuw-LtPr/s1600/IMG_9288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9A_OTsU6w7eXLbq5oWutldcddvDTERkbELV2C4PYoVD8nS4TwUvrHZ6zYajGf9yRa-uEsI-rwbhnDtNOY80C58AR77rQ24QnMcAriT5Kd77wXWsiNchyphenhyphen4bw6l3060G_s-42PDGuw-LtPr/s320/IMG_9288.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-39314892043810333802010-08-23T22:31:00.000-05:002010-08-23T22:31:22.963-05:00Genghis Grill Review...ThatManILove and I tried Genghis Grill tonight. It was crowded, and loud, and we arrived at a later hour. We waited about 15 minutes for a table, but used the wait to visit with some friends.<br />
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We were shown to a table, and introduced to our waitress, Miravelle. She explained the drill to us, and escorted us to the food line, where we picked our veggies, meat, and starch, then dropped it off at the grill for cooking.<br />
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When the bowls arrived at our table, with our cooked food, the taste was delightful. Meanwhile, the clamor had subsided, and we were able to enjoy a great supper. TMIL ordered the white fish, and I stuck with mostly veggies. Good stuff, maynard. Good stuff.<br />
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It wasn’t as quick and efficient as say, PeiWei, or one of those larger chains, but it will do.<br />
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If you go visit, ask for server Miravelle. She’s awesome. And we will return.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-75642664133923372892010-08-22T09:49:00.001-05:002010-08-22T09:49:42.435-05:00Vamos Por La Casa!<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Wanna know what love is?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Love is stopping at a hotel for the night when you’re less than 2 hours away from your house, but you’re too tired to stay awake driving at midnight. And besides that, you know ThatManILove wants you to be safe. Even if you get the last room at the hotel, there is no parking, and the cowboys, their women and their munchkins are still partying in the breakfast room.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And your eldest son is coming through the same town and wants to see you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">At midnight-thirty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And his truck trailer loaded with horses is too big to go around the hotel parking lot, so you have to get in your truck and go meet he and his girlfriend at the closest "big enough to turn that honking sucker around" parking lot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And then you have so much fun visiting with them for thirty minutes that when you get back to the hotel, you’re wide awake.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Awake enough to check out and drive the two hours home at 1:30 a.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But you...don’t. You go back to your hotel room and go to sleep. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Yup. That, people, is love.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-30163415190726707852010-08-18T23:20:00.002-05:002010-08-18T23:21:09.184-05:00Foxy Foxy Foxy....<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Once last week, and twice this week, I’ve spotted a male gray fox in our neighborhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s a sneaky boy, and crosses the street about three doors down (surely you didn't think he'd hang around my house with the Hunter Wonderdogs, did ya?) around 6:40 a.m. each morning. And I'm curious. I want to see where he lives, what he’s doing, and who he’s helping to feed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know there has to be a mommy fox and some babies around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know, because this is a yearly saga at the house of the </span><a href="http://snootyprimadona.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Snooty Primadona</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> where <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the foxes Fernando and Felicia hang out. With all their cute babies, I must say. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I guess I could get one of those infrared body heat cameras that hunters post at their deer feeders.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But then again, no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really don’t wanna know what goes on in my neighborhood after a certain hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just bury my head in the sand, baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And c</span>all me Ostrich.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-20053004276507319912010-08-17T23:53:00.002-05:002010-08-17T23:54:31.940-05:00How Sweet It Is<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">This weekend, we visited a local eatery, <a href="http://www.pizzeriaventi.com/">Pizzeria Venti</a>. We’re friends with the owners, who joined us for supper along with another friend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">When the night was over, we came back to the house, and our friend decided to camp out in our guest bedroom, as she and ThatManILove had been test-driving the wine. I was the designated driver, so all was good, since I rarely imbibe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">This friend of ours is quite musical, and loves to sing. She made some off comment about the guitars, and I said, “If you ask him, he’ll probably play.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">She did.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">And he did.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">We started out with some James Taylor (of course) and progressed into worship music. It was fun, and washing. And what a joy to hear our friend sing. Before the weekend was over, we even broke out my Korg keyboard and amp and let her at it. Sweet stuff.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Simple pleasures, people. Simple pleasures.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-70469753604881244272010-08-10T23:27:00.001-05:002010-08-10T23:28:43.806-05:00Help Me Make It Through The Night<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Monday.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">What a day. My IT department pulled a password change that totally ripped out all my 5K plus contacts and left me whining. Sniveling. Pleading. People, I cannot do business the way I do business without those contacts.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Yes, I have a copy. No, it will not import without a password - never mind that it’s never had a password. So we had to sic the password cracker on it. But he’s in a meeting. And won’t be able to attack it until 7 a.m. tomorrow. And I will be waiting at the office for him to sneak into my computer so we may labor together until my contacts are in their rightful place.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Tuesday</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">I walk in my door, 6 ish, to find my a/c is history. No workie. Hormonal woman, 100 degrees outside, 150 inside. Well, at least, that’s what it feels like. My normal A/C guy can’t come until tomorrow. I call another, who gets to the house at 10:30, opens my A/C, and says - something’s come loose. Your motor’s fried. And off he goes, out the door, with the last hope I have of being anywhere near cool tonight.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">All the hotels are booked. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">My dogs are panting. I’m sweating. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Menopausal women and heat do not mix, people.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">All I can say is “C’mon, 7 a.m. - at least I’ll be in a cool office.”</span></span></span></div><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-68239003543432943752010-08-07T00:16:00.000-05:002010-08-07T00:16:08.410-05:00Shower The People You Love With Love...<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"></span></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Remember the last time I wrote? And said ThatManILove was stuck on a well? He’s still stuck on a well. No sleep. Hasn’t seen a hotel room in a couple of days. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">So instead of telling you all the cool things we’ve experienced together this week, I’ll tell you what I saw today at the 4H Larry Ratheal Memorial Benefit shoot.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">I saw 7 people, me being one of them, shoot together on a squad and have fun. It was hot. There was very little breeze. But people, we had fun.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">I saw two dads work with their respective sons while they shot their shotguns. Both dads were overjoyed at their sons’ successes. This was the first tourney for either boy, and they both rocked the Casbah. Just saying.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">I love seeing young people excel at whatever they pursue.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">It’s very encouraging.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">More than that, I love seeing fathers....be...fathers.</span></span></span></div></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-52335867103948771632010-08-01T22:22:00.000-05:002010-08-01T22:22:50.471-05:00Just A Little More Time<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ThatManILove came home late yesterday afternoon after working 36 hours in the field at one fell swoop. He was exhausted.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He’s been leaving here around 4 a.m. on Monday mornings, and heading 2.5 hours away to work in the oilfield. He’s on location most days by 6:30 or 7, then making it to the hotel around 11 at night. He’s not getting much sleep, after doing reports, etc.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And then, when ThatManILove comes home, there’s always something to do around the house. We’re unable to see our friends much, because we barely have any time together - usually less than two days. We’re close to getting finished with the remodel on the house. Maybe then, he will be able to come home and just rest and relax.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Someday soon.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Someday, soon.</span></span></span></div><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-89784750513176294112010-07-31T10:57:00.000-05:002010-07-31T10:57:29.656-05:00Stop the Insanity Already!<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’ve figured out what I’m going to do the next time Zanna the WonderDog goes into heat.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m getting a new, larger crate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to line it with the best memory foam mattress, and it’s going to be plush.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And then, I’m crawling in, and locking the gate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’m not coming out for Three. Whole. Weeks.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Okay, not really.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We’ve come to the decision that it’s time to spay her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(As Janie does the Happy Dance!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d love to have one of her pups; however, weighing a litter of champion bloodline GSP’s vs. all the rescue dogs needing homes just does not compute.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We love dogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish every rescue dog would find a home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we’re just not going to contribute to the overpopulation issue.</span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Final answer.</span><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-90861188992968792002010-07-28T23:58:00.002-05:002010-07-29T04:46:36.030-05:00Therapist for $200 (Okay, I love SNL)<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sunnnnyyyyyy beeeeeeaaaaaches.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s been one heck of a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even kidding. I could tell you about Elder Son missing the last flight to Wyoming….no. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My breakfast order or 20 people, cancelling on me less than 30 minutes prior to delivery?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, I think I’ll tell you about my contractor subcontractor’s mishap…not even.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My customer lunch and learn cancelling?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just a day in the life, right?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess I’ll expound on the never boring adventures of the WonderDogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This morning, I’m getting ready, out of the shower, about to dry my hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about 6:20 a.m. The dogs ask to go out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As is our norm, I go out to the “almost oasis” of a back yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I love it in the morning!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sit down on the porch, grab a water bottle, settle down to enjoy the beautiful morning, and let them do their business.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m soon to discover that it’s not to be that kind of morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zanna’s in the last stages of her heat cycle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ThatManILove and I have been in some serious discussions this week as to whether or not to breed Zanna, or to get her fixed. Let me take one second to note that TMIL has NOT been in town except on weekends during the last three weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been dealing with this heat cycle, the diapers, the panties, all that drill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s making me crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ThatManILove doesn’t want her stout championed bloodline to end; I, on the other hand, could care less about menstrual cycles any more, much less my Zanna’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever romantic vision I had about being an awesome breeder of champion German Shorthairs has this very week faded away in a fluff of shredded cotton and denim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zanna’s gone through more panty liners, doggie diapers, and puppy panties in three weeks than any woman I’ve ever known (however, that may be because most women I know don’t eat their sanitary products).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m ready to put this madness to an end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zack’s interest in her is at…well, let’s just say he’s peaked this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not worried, though, because 3 years ago, we made him a sports model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yup, we had him fixed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m relaxing, drinking a glass of water, and all of a sudden, Zack starts acting kind of aggressive towards Zanna.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she’s, ummm….letting him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The little wench is even coming on to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s flirting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And before I can say “You don’t have the stuff anymore, cowboy, don’t even think about it!” , Zack has mounted Zanna.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, yes, he has. You’ve heard “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, he’s mounted,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and he can’t get down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or she can’t get loose. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or something.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I scream at him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Totally ineffective.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I run get the water hose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same result.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I call ThatManILove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t answer his cellphone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I do what most warm-blooded over-intelligent females who are seeking answers to such a dilemma do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I run to the door, go inside, shut the back door so I don’t have to watch them do the dirty deed anymore, and go ask Mr. Google what the heck to do.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Turns out the first two things, screaming and water, only make situations such as this, worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Don’t say I never taught you anything.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After I read the article twice, I decide to venture to the back door to peek out and see how things are hanging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whew!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zanna’s giving me that, “Gee thanks, oh you human protector of all four legged things <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– you suck at this” look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, in turn, am glaring at Zack, thinking, “You RAPIST!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hustle them both into the house and kennel Zanna, pronto.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then, and only then, does ThatManILove call.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Hey, babe, did you need something?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Ummm, yeah, well, I did…but it’s all good now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zack mounted Zanna.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“What? He can’t do that.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Oh, yes he can, and he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was an eyewitness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they got stuck.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you sure?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think Zack can do anything.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“I am not even gonna repeat it. Zanna’s been violated. Maybe even drugged.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Silence.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And then I can hear him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s giggling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then he starts laughing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And that just pisses me off more.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“When did we get Zack fixed?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still giggling.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And we figure it out. Two years ago.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And you know what he said to me then?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Don’t worry baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Semen doesn’t have that kind of shelf life.”</span></div><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-14984529989149259312010-07-23T05:49:00.003-05:002010-07-23T05:59:51.979-05:00I Knew You...<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the last week, ThatManILove and I have been not only blessed with a goddaughter, but I also was blessed, and honored, to attend her birth. Mom’s rocking as a new first time mother, and grandmother is right by, fiercely watching over the already strong bond of mother and child. What an absolutely beautiful thing to observe! And yeah, I’d forgotten what joy new babies bring. Just by the very act of holding baby Ada Jael , I am renewed. Refreshed. All is okay in my world, even the funky stuff.</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Why is that? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Whenever I see a new baby, I hear the scripture Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose.” </span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A baby represents many things to me: Promise. Hope, for the times to come, and also, this next generation. A child is open, and full of wonder. Not one bit jaded, and most always delighted. Trusting. Loving. Never judging, just accepting you as you are. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">So should we be.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I beg you - the next time you see a little one, take a second to let that baby envelop you. Let yourself be refreshed. Renewed.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You’ll smile, I promise. You’ll feel the love. And you’ll be more able to give out love, yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Meet Baby Ada Jael. Does the word goddaughter translate to spoiled? If it didn’t before, it will now. And you know, I think her mommy’s totally okay with that.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg5WsND95oC1Y8AsYYrk91W6Ramh8nIsntxdshg_BHABiVkwBkbDp4LWYuN2Ab15G5EF1Gk8Uacbb2mrLYkjLirQHQ0-3zb1qEOIs9yItehaxsskUGvASaET2TeQnkjNPa89vU2EbeO9_W/s1600/071310+Tramaine+and+Ada+Jael+386.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg5WsND95oC1Y8AsYYrk91W6Ramh8nIsntxdshg_BHABiVkwBkbDp4LWYuN2Ab15G5EF1Gk8Uacbb2mrLYkjLirQHQ0-3zb1qEOIs9yItehaxsskUGvASaET2TeQnkjNPa89vU2EbeO9_W/s320/071310+Tramaine+and+Ada+Jael+386.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three Generations of Love (photo by Janie)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-58514126007516034892010-07-05T17:21:00.000-05:002010-07-05T17:21:49.938-05:00The Lackawanna Railroad Has Run Me Over<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I want to write. I’m good at it. It comes naturally.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yet, when push comes to shove, I don’t want to write. I don’t seem to have the energy. Work takes up so much, and events take up so much, and you know, just life takes up so much. (And, you know, you gotta figure in the Facebook factor. I'm on there like twice a day - once early in the morning if I have time, and once late at night. ) What the hell’s up with that? Yet I feel so much better when I write. Maybe I’ll force it, just for today.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My life is good. My man is good. We have faith in God. We have our health. We’re both losing weight. We have very few bills. We both have work. Our kids are okay and one may be actually seriously finding his way, hallelujah! They’re both healthy, happy, and vibrant. They’re both seriously talented. And they’re both funnier than anyone I’ve seen in a long time.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our dogs are hilarious. Time-consuming. Costly. I’ve not taken them hunting since the emergency appendectomy in February, and I’m mad at myself for that.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ThatManILove is busy again, which he loves. The only bad thing about it is that the work is out of town. He leaves around 4 a.m. on Monday and gets home late Friday or Saturday. Work is good. We usually do well, together or apart, because we talk on the phone daily, and you know, life is what it is. However, time apart isn’t necessarily good for us at this exact right now minute, because we have things to do and decisions to make.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our house is still in disarray from the last flood a month ago. And all the things we decide together concerning our house, well, those decisions are probably going to fall to me. We’ve decided that while everything’s torn up that the time is now to install the french doors going out to the courtyard. The courtyard, that for now, anyway, is back to pure dirt since we had to tear it out again to get to the offensive damaged sprinkler pipe that flooded our house.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, if one thing truly leads to another, we have to wait on (1) specially ordered french doors and (2) a new front door and back door and (3) the contractor who’s going to do the work and (4) the adjustment on the ruined rugs and (5) the french door install before we can (6) paint. (And ThatManILove wants to be here when all of this goes down. Hmmm. That translates to: isn’t going to happen anytime soon, Cowgirl.)</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And I don’t even have a clue when the (7) granite that we ordered before the flood will be installed and even if (8) we can raise the cabinets a little bit like I want done and what about (9) the specially made cabinet door that cracked due to the dehumidification of the house that had to happen to dry out the damaged walls from the flood? Much less what are we going to utilize for (10) backsplash, and who’s going to put that in?</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The yard, both front and back, and all the cool flowers Susan and Monica have planted, looks beautiful and gives me tons of peace. Even if the (11) pergola isn’t finished, it’s beautiful at whatever stage. Even in the recent rain, you could find me sitting out there, just breathing in the air and enjoying the scenery. Oh, yeah, baby, it’s gorgeous.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At this point, I could care less about (99) remodeling our bedroom, which was JOB ONE a couple of months ago.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Did I tell you we have to have a new (12) roof, as well? Oh, yes, we do. Frikkedy frakkidy hail storms...</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I might take up the habit of alcohol.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Instead, I think I’ll take the Wonderdogs to the Dog Park. Hope it’s not too muddy...but if it is, we'll deal.</span></span></span></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-56799115035926681832010-06-29T20:30:00.001-05:002010-06-29T20:30:00.113-05:00For The Sake Of Grandchildren<span style="color: black;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">ThatManILove is out of town this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I have our Little Brother and his little brother for the week, as their mom’s gone to a teacher conference in DFW.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After I dropped the boys at their respective venues, I called ThatManILove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s how that conversation went:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>I’m enjoying these boys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I miss when Brody was little, taking him to school, doing the breakfast thing, hanging out.</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">TMIL:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>Well, we could always adopt a couple more kiddos.</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>Right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you’d come in the door one day, and, like you did with Zanna the Wonderpup, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>say, “Jane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you realize we’ve just signed on for a 13 year commitment with this pup?” ; except we know now the commitment would be 30 years plus!</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">TMIL:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <em> </em></span><em>Yeah, I guess you’re right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, babe - look at it this way– we might be a little closer to having grandkids if we went ahead and adopted children now and raised them up.</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>The way our boys are going, you’re probably right!</em></span></div><br />
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<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-55984933406012045352010-06-28T21:03:00.003-05:002010-06-28T23:02:11.459-05:00Not The Talk! ANYTHING But The Talk!!!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This week, Little Brother Geoffrey and his real little brother are staying with me while their mom attends a teacher conference in Fort Worth. So far, so good. </span><br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I say that because kiddos in your house, especially those that aren’t yours, are a different animal entirely. Your own kids are raised <s>and on their own</s> and are out and about. The empty nest syndrome is really, after all, a relief. And then all of a sudden, you have an 11 year old and a 14 year old for the week. And you can't give them back to their mom when she's 5 hours away for a week.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This afternoon brought it all home for me, via a simple text message. I’m heading to pick Geoffrey up from his summer gifted/talented program.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Geoffrey: Guess who got a girlfriend. BTW, the bus is about to leave (Odessa).</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Me: You better be on it, and aloooonnnnnneeeee.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Geoffrey: Ohno I missed it......(then this long drill down of multiple spaces)....JK.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Geoffrey: She lives in Odessa. Yeah, and I don’t think they would allow that.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Then, a pause.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Geoffrey: Are you almost here?</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Me: On the way.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Geoffrey: Am I gonna get "the talk"?</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oh, Lordy, I lost it.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Me, to him: </span></span></span><s><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Not on your best day, son. Not even on your best day.</span></span></s><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Mebbe so.</span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">He cracks me up.</span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-66177358458785262422010-06-09T20:59:00.000-05:002010-06-09T20:59:12.249-05:00Where's That Energizer Bunny When I Need Him?<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It’s been a busy month around our place. The Backyard Project is moving along rather slowly - but it’s looking good. My friends Susan and Monica have already placed new perennials and some annuals in the front flowerbeds, and they look beautiful. I love love love LIVE flowers.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ThatManILove is working out in the field again, and he’s loving it out there. The time off was treasured, as well, because he was able to take care of lots of things we’d been putting off. I enjoyed having him around the house, and he was able to travel with me on business trips. I miss him not being here every day and night.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Our API committee just finished hosting our umpteenth annual Scholarship Golf tournament. (I seriously do not know how long this tournament has been in existence - I do know that this is my 23rd year to work it.) We had 504 players, 2 days, 2 courses, plenty of cookers and game holes, ice cream, and fellowship. Some of our scholarship recipients came and worked the tourney, and were just delightful to be around. On Saturday, we played and worked in 110 degree heat.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I could describe that in a myriad of ways, but let me just say I’m glad it is over, and grateful it was such a success. You have to have a committee, a team, to help dot every i and cross every t and drive that big ol’ bus. There is a ton of delegation, a ton of hugs, a ton of sweat. You gotta have sponsors. You gotta have players. And you have to have support on the course, not only with the golf course staff, but also, in the form of cookers, games, ice cream, water, and beer and all the people that make that stuff magically appear. And it all has to flow seamlessly. We received tons of compliments, and appreciation for all the hard work. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The immediate winners are the students who benefit from the scholarships. Some of them have just graduated high school. Some have left college, started families, and have gone back to college.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The ultimate winners, however, are you and I. We have not had one student fall out. We’ve seen students hit a bump, then get back on the trail. Many of them have graduated with honors, and are now working alongside us in the oil industry. Some of them have gone on to be lawyers - doctors - accountants.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">They are our future. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And these students - each and every one of them - make it all worthwhile.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Even in 110 degree heat.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span></span></div><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-81167002131866813762010-05-29T09:47:00.000-05:002010-05-29T09:47:15.738-05:00Saturday! Saturday! Saturday, Saturday!The long weekend is finally here. Memorial Day. The day we honor those who serve us, and who have served us. I'm so thankful for our military, and for my relatives who have served and honored all of us in the United States. Please remember them this weekend as you trek around.<br />
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It's a good thing it's a long weekend, because I'm exhausted. ThatManILove got home from the field, and that's awesome.<br />
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And this morning, ThatManILove's talking we have to go pick out a new sink (to go with the new granite for the kitchen)....and new outside furniture (to go with all the new backyard remodel). <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: line-through;">Dude!</span> Honey, I have things to do. I have to finish the entries for the mega 540 golf tournament stuff and hand it back over to my friend so we can get on with the rest of the duties to get this 2 day, 2 course extravanganza pulled off next weekend. <br />
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And I have to go run around with my new friend Melissa who's moving in from Tulsa, and looking for houses. And I have to go take pictures for more friends sometime this weekend. We could go to GlenRose and watch Elder Son rope? Nahhhhhh. Too far....<br />
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And, by the way, did I tell you that I promised you'd put that awesome burn on some salmon this weekend for Melissa and her step-mom? We gotta show some of that famous Texas hospitality, even though you've torn half of our countertops down and the rest is still in that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: line-through;">are we ever gonna freakin' finish this remodel</span> slightly undone state. It'll be okay, honey. I promise.<br />
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And honey? Call me after you get your haircut. I'll meet you wherever. It'll be fun!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-68074394172024266252010-05-28T00:03:00.002-05:002010-05-28T05:04:36.331-05:00Update...(Can You Still Put Them Up For Adoption After 20?)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Elder Son is doing better - he's mobilized, he's up and going, and already horseback again. I sent him a text to see what he was doing and here's how it went:</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Me: <i>What are you doing?</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ES: <i>Riding a bronc...he's as hard headed as me.</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Me: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: line-through;">(Oh.My.God.Does.He.Have.A.Working.Brain.Cell.??)</span> <i>And your leg?</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ES: <i>It hurts but what's new?</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Me: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: line-through;">(I swear he's going to drive me to drink.)</span> <i>What about the doc?</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ES: <i>Gonna be Tues or Thurs next week</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I guess we'll know more then. His Nanny got out of the hospital today, and will be recuperating at her daughter's house. Thanks so much for your prayers, they are greatly appreciated.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As to the Younger <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: line-through;">Smartalecjustlikehisfather</span> Son, after his last April Fool's <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: line-through;">joke - prank - I thought his dad was going to kill him</span> Facebook event where he told the world he had just found out he was going to be a father, he is breathing. I swear. I saw him. Yesterday, he changed his FB status to "single". I couldn't resist, I had to do it. I posted: <i> "But what about the BABYYYYY?" </i>Soon after, one of his friends jumped in: "<i>Oh, did your beer break up with you? how sad." </i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How did that song go? <i>"I believe the children are our future...teach them well and they will lead the way..." </i> RUN! RUN!!!!!!</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And now, for an update on the backyard....FINALLY, things are moving along! Artificial turf and sealing of flagstone this week...and then, in come the plants. The pergola is now framed out, and over the next week we'll probably see it come to "be."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy Memorial Day weekend!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpYpIkNRET5tZkYeA8ndUN8SKcAnW2MHsNS-WYJ31U-UMtD8IQcdpgeNgEfgdbSbo_MqTuO22HHFNUdDimWe3YO4UJaxLtpkOSiO0tE0upfrvnP5s04957Svp5h5iYvU2danclPAVT5Sn/s1600/IMG_6474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpYpIkNRET5tZkYeA8ndUN8SKcAnW2MHsNS-WYJ31U-UMtD8IQcdpgeNgEfgdbSbo_MqTuO22HHFNUdDimWe3YO4UJaxLtpkOSiO0tE0upfrvnP5s04957Svp5h5iYvU2danclPAVT5Sn/s320/IMG_6474.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfV7LIfu5bFjP7zINiQgs4mRtbGCyQEHuU3qPWXWFK8A5jXj4JvsJ0xTB3JYSODNf1aWQHel-EIOsV9X3V3GO4AN8_ehJ842Us9pe1glA-gK8TvIdu5-4HOVq7Ny-RrYx7cUngcgj_nXZy/s1600/IMG_6475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfV7LIfu5bFjP7zINiQgs4mRtbGCyQEHuU3qPWXWFK8A5jXj4JvsJ0xTB3JYSODNf1aWQHel-EIOsV9X3V3GO4AN8_ehJ842Us9pe1glA-gK8TvIdu5-4HOVq7Ny-RrYx7cUngcgj_nXZy/s320/IMG_6475.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKqlp_8-Ps3jNLVGuyNT45UTn6Pg0sEVHvxBpftlJewo3R7nywSK8gbJP03uqDlKyQD2JnlrVQsfEw0t8K-JmgwA_Pyjj7JAWlS_PpZaIzlmYd_AHtv1-grU5LrQxIH-eItycHRu8dyVm/s1600/IMG_6477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKqlp_8-Ps3jNLVGuyNT45UTn6Pg0sEVHvxBpftlJewo3R7nywSK8gbJP03uqDlKyQD2JnlrVQsfEw0t8K-JmgwA_Pyjj7JAWlS_PpZaIzlmYd_AHtv1-grU5LrQxIH-eItycHRu8dyVm/s320/IMG_6477.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6Y_6JcFPO5Wgu4JMYCb16hPz6jBbaMDPVCdgAF739Ij2fx4bKu-Cp0ZxzRdrIhmabYXE7A31zrNnZNMeyCZZBPD9teOTOyB8ov4XeqO3aWtr4BZQoZZSW9Y-rCZ4yQ8nL4v0sfAy8EPT/s1600/IMG_6479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6Y_6JcFPO5Wgu4JMYCb16hPz6jBbaMDPVCdgAF739Ij2fx4bKu-Cp0ZxzRdrIhmabYXE7A31zrNnZNMeyCZZBPD9teOTOyB8ov4XeqO3aWtr4BZQoZZSW9Y-rCZ4yQ8nL4v0sfAy8EPT/s320/IMG_6479.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-36224557087551578812010-05-23T09:28:00.002-05:002010-05-23T19:50:18.805-05:00A Life In The Day...<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">ThatManILove and I booked flights to go to Dallas for the day plus an overnight stay. 8am Saturday flights. Which mean we had to be at the airport at 7 a.m. No problem, just an everyday occurrence at the Sounding Forth casa. And then...it happened. Late Friday night, I get a call. My son just arrived home from a long trip to Arkansas. Twenty minutes later, around midnight, Elder Son walks through the door, saying, “Mom. I’m here. Will you look at my leg?”</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Four plus years ago, Elder Son had a serious leg surgery that our good doctor healed with a distal realignment procedure. Sounds easy, but it’s not, by any means. We had problems upon problems - he developed blood clots, lost tons of weight, then the wound would not close because he had lost so much weight the skin wouldn’t stretch, and I could go on. One thing led to another, and it took him 4 months, home health care, and 2 subsequent surgeries before he healed up and got on with his life.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I bet you’re wondering, “Is this the same leg?”</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Yes. Darnit. Dang the luck. Creepers. It’s the same leg.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ThatManILove and I and Elder Son discussed our options. Should we go to the Midland emergency room NOW? The leg is hot. Tripled in size. Hard to the touch. Should we go to the Lubbock emergency room, where Elder Son’s doctor lives and practices, so he could followup? Between the three of us, we can’t get to a firm answer.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I had a thought. I ran to get my iPhone...scrolled through the contacts...and found the good Doctor’s cell number - after all these years, I still had it. Elder Son took a picture of his leg, compared to his other leg. And then, he forwarded the picture, and a short message to his doctor. Amazingly, said doctor calls Elder Son immediately (remember, it’s after midnight!), and they formulate a plan for Elder Son to go to the emergency room during the daylight hours when the ortho doctor is on call.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">By 1:30 a.m., it’s been decided that TMIL and I will go on our trip, but cut it down to a one day trip, with no overnight stay. Elder Son will go with his father to the emergency room and we’ll be back that night to check on him.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We leave for Dallas at 8am, go take care of our business, have lunch with friends, and head back to the airport. I call my son, who doesn’t answer. I call his father, and find out that his mom, my son’s grandmother, has suffered a stroke and they’re all at the emergency room. So, father and son are at the emergency room where they are supposed to be, but for all the wrong reasons...</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We miss our direct flight, and have to fly....from Dallas to Albuquerque, and then to Midland. Yeah. We flew over our town, just to come back 2 hours later.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We fly into Midland, and head straight to the hospital to be with Elder Son, his dad, aunt, and cousin. When we arrive, Nanny has been stabilized to the point that she can be moved into ICU. We all gather in the waiting room, and then, 2 by 2, get to go into her room to see her. She’s awake, and communicating...I’m grateful. We love this woman!</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ThatManILove and I head home, hug the WonderDogs, and hit the sack. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Today will find us at the emergency room, working on Elder Son’s leg. We covet your prayers, for healing for both Elder Son, and his Nanny.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It’s never boring around here. </span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Sunday evening update: The ER Doc drained 120cc (for some reason, that is all he would drain) of fluid from Elder Son's knee; the Doc doesn't think his knee is infected. Nanny seems to be coming around and reports have her sitting up eating a meal this afternoon. Thanks for your prayers!</i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span></span></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-38467695345585025682010-04-18T16:48:00.000-05:002010-04-18T16:48:10.654-05:00We May Be A Little Claustrophobic<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Earlier this week, ThatManILove and I had a movie date. We split salad and lasagna at at Pizzeria Venti, then headed to the movies.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We went to see "Date Night", the comedy with Steve Carell and Tina Fey. The movie had probably been at our theatre 2 days, so we knew that most likely, the theatre would be crowded.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We were the first couple in the theatre, so for once, we sat in the middle of the second row from the top. (We’re usually side seat aficionados.) Our theatres are of decent size, for a mid-size Texas town, so there are plenty of seats.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We were early, and I was talking long distance to an old friend from North Carolina, and having a good time. ThatManILove was playing poker on his crackberry. In about five minutes, a couple came and sat down on our row, about three seats down from me on my right. And five minutes later, another couple came and sat the exact same distance from ThatManILove, on his left.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ThatManILove starts muttering.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Then, six people, who obviously go to the movies together all the time (I’ve seen them) came and sat...directly in front of us.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I’m still on the phone with my friend, and whispering the play by play to her. She’s laughing hysterically, and I’m trying not to do the same. ThatManILove is starting to steam.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">People. The entire theatre was empty. No one was on the side seats, no one was seated in the lower section. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The “Dancing Boxes” (what I call the previews) start, and I get off the phone. But not before 4 people come and sit directly behind us. I kid you not.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ThatManILove was grumbling. I turned to him and asked him, “Did you order those special attractant pheremones from one of those funky 1-800 numbers or something? Because these people are sticking to you like glue, baby. Glue!”</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So...to recap, we were instantly surrounded by 2+2+6+4 people. The theatre didn’t fill up. So, Including ThatManILove and myself, there were now 16 people in the theatre. All smacking on their popcorn, kicking our seats, and talking amongst themselves. Surrounding us. In a theatre that probably seats at least 200 people.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And we were dead smack in the center of the top section of 12 seat rows, totally and irrevocably surrounded. You just can’t get much closer than that.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I think we’ll repair to the side seats next time.</span></span></span></div><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-52626615536745302742010-04-14T21:10:00.006-05:002010-04-15T09:59:44.642-05:00My Back Yard Looks Like a Demilitarized Zone....<div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Wow. It’s gone from clean to scene in about 2 days here por la casa. You see, ThatManILove had a dream. And one of our friends, Doug, is a whiz at drawing out plans...and they're both good at executing said directive. ThatManILove sees a plan, it's Katy Bar That Door...you can consider that puppy faded, put to bed, complete. No ifs, ands, or buts.</span></span></span><br />
</div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The next thing I knew, there are strange men over here digging up our entire backyard. Bringing over slabs of rock for me to pick out colors. Limestone? Flagstone? or Rosa? Or Arizona? Arrrrrrgggghhhh! Digging major holes which are, by the way, driving Zanna the Wonder Girl crazy, since they have filled them with water in order to ready them for cementing. She swears there are birds in those holes, and tries to swipe them out with her paw. We think she sees their reflection in the water. Her high dollar trainers would be so proud of this girly dog.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5H7-oHetYlrVwHSVJlKqIWwvbaYDL5vQL7SDKVEkN16y_L6tYKSBxQxLfb-5qGy-rzQlUxq1_dR-QjHGEiHRU7gG0yvWWpuJitZXI-tMuwi3-gLfdwR6Qir8VNLg8xf2_pKBwYjsYFD0/s1600/IMG_5404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5H7-oHetYlrVwHSVJlKqIWwvbaYDL5vQL7SDKVEkN16y_L6tYKSBxQxLfb-5qGy-rzQlUxq1_dR-QjHGEiHRU7gG0yvWWpuJitZXI-tMuwi3-gLfdwR6Qir8VNLg8xf2_pKBwYjsYFD0/s400/IMG_5404.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">this morning....</div><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzx5chgZVry6gR_Q9Sod47b1zKFSF3TvnJRaV5ckBlWk-obZORn0-T9hBpwxd6TkSQLnu0T51qRspb86_AZ6TEa39dc2FPb90UkCJpBlIJZES5IUJjCKuCGyPaUqfElxxFgkFrxdP_46GL/s1600/IMG_5405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzx5chgZVry6gR_Q9Sod47b1zKFSF3TvnJRaV5ckBlWk-obZORn0-T9hBpwxd6TkSQLnu0T51qRspb86_AZ6TEa39dc2FPb90UkCJpBlIJZES5IUJjCKuCGyPaUqfElxxFgkFrxdP_46GL/s400/IMG_5405.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I digress. Please forgive me.</span><br />
</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I came home this afternoon, and there are these huge pillars of wood sticking up in the air. Trenches dug all over our back yard. Zanna’s pissed about that, too. She looks at us like, “Hey. I get time out when I dig, what the hey? You’re not even scolding those guys.” </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Did I mention the phone line was inadvertently cut? Oh, yeah. Not that we use it, except for dsl. And at the last minute, when our friend had already come by and replaced our ancient gas line, ThatManILove decided he needed yet another tap for the fire pit? Can you say “Cha-ching!” three times in a row, really fast? YIKES. We passed up the DIY budget days ago. And ThatManILove’s talking about a “water feature”. Maybe even a koi pond. I guess Zack and Zanna would be German Shorthair Fishing Dogs. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">That’s right, fire pit - water feature - koi pond. ThatManILove is creating his own little Margaritaville oasis in the back yard. And when he’s on a mission, he’s on one. And Zanna is more than stressed out and acting all weird. There are PEOPLE, Mom, invading HER territory!! And Zack? He’s loving all this activity - because that means ThatManILove is a wee bit distracted. Distracted dad = free Zack. Today, ThatManILove got a phone call from the city. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Do you have a large brown dog?”</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Yes sir.”</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Do you know he’s running free?”</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“No sir.”</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The city employee gave ThatManILove the address, which happened to be 4 houses down from ours, and when TMIL went out to get him, the city employee was holding Zack by the collar. Thank God he didn’t call animal control, we would have had to attend Defensive Doggie and pay a hefty fine. I tell you all that to inform you that Zack is quietly standing by any door that might crack open enough to allow him the slightest chance of sneaking out.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNi1yNJjseQyEmP8nDCMX8Pa9sc5FCKnpGbpQ3Vxfp2fHGdnfLsY8V12ilu-MGeB21cJbt4xg-cgIHhciWbvb1lLKuKVJSfry74rXMRCp_C3rQ1u0-iMItFA5Cdvr3rkFyEQv4h2dpWfR/s1600/IMG_5409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNi1yNJjseQyEmP8nDCMX8Pa9sc5FCKnpGbpQ3Vxfp2fHGdnfLsY8V12ilu-MGeB21cJbt4xg-cgIHhciWbvb1lLKuKVJSfry74rXMRCp_C3rQ1u0-iMItFA5Cdvr3rkFyEQv4h2dpWfR/s400/IMG_5409.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">this afternoon</div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Within a week or so, though, it should all be shaping up. And that will be exciting. Today, ThatManILove said, “I might have rushed this all a bit - our timing may be a little off, but babe, I think it will all be worth it.” Me: “I just want to finish the kitchen and paint.” Him: “Babe, we’ll get lots of use out of this outdoor area - I’m even putting the outlets in so we can pull the musical instruments out if we want.” Me: “I know, but people have to walk through our house to get to this outdoor area.” Him: “We are so going to enjoy this, I promise.” I know, I know, but how long is it gonna take this WonderWorld to develop? Did I tell y'all that it rained today, so none of the workers showed up? And when I say rain, I mean SPRINKLED. Weenies. All of them. Weenies.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yOSZ0jgMPANRhUApjS_ZFHX-qCABwz3GovNi4mJpSeOsflFOaHycnX2iTeo16linDMskIZ-Qp18625DCJ1kwzpyL1PHzOT37UeUlJAOP8HBeyqX06UoGiHD5yIqa8NZFaxGNICJFNpEG/s1600/IMG_5408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yOSZ0jgMPANRhUApjS_ZFHX-qCABwz3GovNi4mJpSeOsflFOaHycnX2iTeo16linDMskIZ-Qp18625DCJ1kwzpyL1PHzOT37UeUlJAOP8HBeyqX06UoGiHD5yIqa8NZFaxGNICJFNpEG/s400/IMG_5408.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What can I say to that "We are so going to enjoy this, I promise?" ? I mean, holy crap, we certainly can’t stop now...but if he starts pricing lions and tigers and bears, oh, MY! Our yard may be paid for, but it's not that freakin' big!</span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Just finish the backyard already...and then, the backsplash in my kitchen and paint, cowboy, and I’ll be one happy camperette. Yes, I will. And honey, you will, too!</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It's never boring around here!</span></span></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px! important; border-left-width: 0px! important; border-right-width: 0px! important; border-top-width: 0px! important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-21956979336721829812010-04-11T14:15:00.000-05:002010-04-11T14:15:02.898-05:00Powered Down and Holding...<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This is the ol’ I’m having trouble getting back to my blog whine. Wah. Okay, I’m done with that post, now on to bigger and better things. (Quickest ever, huh?)</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This is our first weekend por las casa with absolutely no plans. A friend came in to see us, but basically, we’ve done not o</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ne thing but visit, and eat. And visit, and eat. And the guys have played guitars, and I’ve taken some pictures. We’ve gone to the dog park. ThatManILove’s about to put a burn on some salmon a la grill, our boys should make an appearance sometime this afternoon, and play some of their songs for our friend, and then....we’re gonna eat. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It’s been a restful, fun weekend. Powered down, fun, quiet times. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So good.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How about you?</span></span></span></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504585770830524971.post-80848185102572442392010-03-28T11:25:00.002-05:002010-03-28T12:40:04.045-05:00March 2010 in Pictures<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spring's upon us, and I've taken lots of pictures this month. I thought it might be fun to recapture the month in photography. So, enjoy!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVzqjd4z-Jf9eyn1lqW-9otNJoyYAdeqOztfzs8UMvJklOxscplLqj2m0DOuq8kwModcDb-4GEvyLxr7wGXdU7BRWmy_oBMaIAhpOpk41jL4FIwaBM2M2vUJeZgycrSkQqbwvjqNp_WaH/s1600/IMG_5071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVzqjd4z-Jf9eyn1lqW-9otNJoyYAdeqOztfzs8UMvJklOxscplLqj2m0DOuq8kwModcDb-4GEvyLxr7wGXdU7BRWmy_oBMaIAhpOpk41jL4FIwaBM2M2vUJeZgycrSkQqbwvjqNp_WaH/s320/IMG_5071.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKs2kUyqpUF38a7KN38tWAXvtA_aI4A7jgO2bDWwpTlxTQ_0q6AjXF-xrvRixB3uA3CA7pn0sKzQV2tziYM_XrheC5_dDSxcuIclxSLiFJaKXv1ve8GnTLE6ht-GRfqcZXDivSN1goTIAq/s1600/IMG_5086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKs2kUyqpUF38a7KN38tWAXvtA_aI4A7jgO2bDWwpTlxTQ_0q6AjXF-xrvRixB3uA3CA7pn0sKzQV2tziYM_XrheC5_dDSxcuIclxSLiFJaKXv1ve8GnTLE6ht-GRfqcZXDivSN1goTIAq/s320/IMG_5086.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My good friend Connie's dad passed this week, and these kiddos were there to honor their great-grandfather. They brought a lot of laughter to the situation. To me, children always represent hope...and heritage.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Meet Camry and Addison - cousins - who were doing EVERYTHING my friend Tamra told them to do - "Girls, hold your hair up - act like a movie star!"</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_YraIYnZxHWtfireRQYp5rz4OGZZitvIl_KcYao1VA2gw85kmg60u3ojER0CT8EPZ4ZgVGUhkC-zOAQG1TqB3lBmhDL8VzGTVhgD2FjVPhIkyUEM7HmdSzg031AUEuS5n8TY0HJc9LPH/s1600/IMG_5114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_YraIYnZxHWtfireRQYp5rz4OGZZitvIl_KcYao1VA2gw85kmg60u3ojER0CT8EPZ4ZgVGUhkC-zOAQG1TqB3lBmhDL8VzGTVhgD2FjVPhIkyUEM7HmdSzg031AUEuS5n8TY0HJc9LPH/s320/IMG_5114.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qpsDFuh_eAvNMrACLeM2slZH83kQThZHvt1CFKeU62hvmqaCclbSSLlGlv85eYQIHRFwOFidwAjNiavh5lhNq3B31gU8FpcogvPbph8TUUxd8AMhqWgvAIYHCac6nfNOXxKqr3_YHXkG/s1600/IMG_5043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qpsDFuh_eAvNMrACLeM2slZH83kQThZHvt1CFKeU62hvmqaCclbSSLlGlv85eYQIHRFwOFidwAjNiavh5lhNq3B31gU8FpcogvPbph8TUUxd8AMhqWgvAIYHCac6nfNOXxKqr3_YHXkG/s320/IMG_5043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Aren't these girlies too cute? They loved the camera.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsnCZJ710jbvmZYKYtMJsvTpv4CEtZanO7woTeRnbYYGt3JTK0rvVlW1GPmbXKFEHM8508W9uPmWhdb7hN_Eo02upBqd7n2o34iQjPxuT1DiyKf1lsQ248NTvgO9SWv2mw42WwxJKEhf6/s1600/IMG_5065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsnCZJ710jbvmZYKYtMJsvTpv4CEtZanO7woTeRnbYYGt3JTK0rvVlW1GPmbXKFEHM8508W9uPmWhdb7hN_Eo02upBqd7n2o34iQjPxuT1DiyKf1lsQ248NTvgO9SWv2mw42WwxJKEhf6/s320/IMG_5065.JPG" width="214" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And sometimes, the photographer inspires them to act out a little...y'all know I can't resist a sign - or a challenge!! This is Coby, Camry's brother, posing with his sister and cousin. If the cops ask, I had <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: line-through;">everything</span> nothing to do with it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A friend of mine asked me to take Easter pix of her boys. Their dad is a fireman, so we dropped by the station, just as he was coming in from a call. Here, the boys and their mom are watching the truck back into the station. </span> It was so cool to watch the boys run to their dad for hugs once he got out of the truck.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQMXBYDQO7HuArttmdFbqsxdRtPogyBounBLuBjMkSsPHOZXpkwppzmWY4Iu1ehXnzpprWB14-4eAFp7cNsEl0715kFjUHmT7-VC3W0RgiTJwiFMrRXCJ7awI_Jr9AqDMOL96G6qaWCFg/s1600/IMG_4880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQMXBYDQO7HuArttmdFbqsxdRtPogyBounBLuBjMkSsPHOZXpkwppzmWY4Iu1ehXnzpprWB14-4eAFp7cNsEl0715kFjUHmT7-VC3W0RgiTJwiFMrRXCJ7awI_Jr9AqDMOL96G6qaWCFg/s320/IMG_4880.JPG" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6lOX0IdSej4Cz7wOC4d-T2f6XLcEII8wOjON7Y0a4qLsxzmWf-FGq1f1IODbI_0mghEUc5HiIXl8kFZVDnwE0qxLL3Fp2ElUGRSLiHDk0QWQ1GxX20WqsEupIyZXiAuVWBe_GXtcVsY0/s1600/IMG_4882.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6lOX0IdSej4Cz7wOC4d-T2f6XLcEII8wOjON7Y0a4qLsxzmWf-FGq1f1IODbI_0mghEUc5HiIXl8kFZVDnwE0qxLL3Fp2ElUGRSLiHDk0QWQ1GxX20WqsEupIyZXiAuVWBe_GXtcVsY0/s320/IMG_4882.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In this shot, Ayden's teaching little brother Maddux the perfect rock throwing technique.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was so glad I snagged this shot of Ayden giving his mommy some love...it was a crazy windy day, and the boys were tired. We got some great shots, though!</span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirBKuIWTgdPVSli5ykMnhyqjr1yI6Y8AOpdU8bIxT-L0uhVflIHO8M4pBUhe9wBJtkk0BKEkd2FtFREwHd4eHo15fJMMwsx9eJZNUu7xzCi_uxO2UK34ob0fHHueVIpGarEZB8uvtEO5Zk/s1600/IMG_4655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirBKuIWTgdPVSli5ykMnhyqjr1yI6Y8AOpdU8bIxT-L0uhVflIHO8M4pBUhe9wBJtkk0BKEkd2FtFREwHd4eHo15fJMMwsx9eJZNUu7xzCi_uxO2UK34ob0fHHueVIpGarEZB8uvtEO5Zk/s320/IMG_4655.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Below, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Geoffrey, our Little Brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Here, we were at a restaurant, and I loved the light pouring in through the window on this overcast day. Geoffrey's always up for a photo moment - I love that about him!</span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOlGA08JhtZHVDOWZ19a1himroWeEYMGXQPywg1I09PZtpKlXg2nkNnTA-p8nj_m5oNkTK_B9JQL4Fu2L6ljx-vtlw8-Ietlpr65H2yTWDRHsIYBvfkywo6z8lxwVHqRePJH6644KEr3Y4/s1600/IMG_4632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOlGA08JhtZHVDOWZ19a1himroWeEYMGXQPywg1I09PZtpKlXg2nkNnTA-p8nj_m5oNkTK_B9JQL4Fu2L6ljx-vtlw8-Ietlpr65H2yTWDRHsIYBvfkywo6z8lxwVHqRePJH6644KEr3Y4/s320/IMG_4632.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've watched Anna grow up...we had so much fun on this shoot day. She's a card!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhffb1zcV4VNJWng8pIaBceTYmX5yR3XN34zaL1UxT_TTdZWb1yCWfqNuewh_tsHqGfBpPuw9R0Ku8LRVd5k0tW2P8s04tX-kA5L2MoL4DUayjnNcECaqE8mEWvqvZXTcOpejap6N5_nMKq/s1600/IMG_3477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhffb1zcV4VNJWng8pIaBceTYmX5yR3XN34zaL1UxT_TTdZWb1yCWfqNuewh_tsHqGfBpPuw9R0Ku8LRVd5k0tW2P8s04tX-kA5L2MoL4DUayjnNcECaqE8mEWvqvZXTcOpejap6N5_nMKq/s320/IMG_3477.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Happy End of March!!</div><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/43/E4973D426703B6B15DBAC4C86E0D6EB4.png" style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">People sounding forth...</div>That Janie Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17447630124016303483noreply@blogger.com12