Go To The Light

Today, I had my usual lunch date with customers, and heard the cutest story.

One of my customers was outside with his 7 year old son this past weekend. The son was riding his bike, and father and son were navigating a make-shift agility course. The son was distracted by whatever his father was doing, and suffered a mighty crash.

As the father recounts, the bike, with his son still astride it, crashed forever and ever. Once the bike came to a stop, the son jumped off, and ran into the neighbor’s driveway, screaming.

Son: “Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad! Call an ambulance right now! Call 911!”

Dad, getting to the son: “Son, hang on – you’re okay! Be quiet so I can check you over!”

Son, (I imagined him thrashing about): “Call an ambulance! I’m too young to die! I need to go to the emergency room!”

Dad: “Son, shhhhhh – be still, let me check you out!”

Son: “Dad, please, please, call 911, now!”

Dad: “Why, son? I think you’re going to be fine!”

Son: "Because, Dad, I don’t want to go to the light! Please, Dad, call them, ‘cause I’m too young to go to the light!”

The scratch was about 4 inches long. No stitches. Just antibiotic cream, and a bandage.

No light.

Living on Transition Time

Sorry I’ve not been posting, but this has been one of the craziest weeks in existence for this girl…I have tried to at least read a few of your blogs, but my computer (it’s a work loaner) keys have been sticking, so I was unable to leave comments.

Sunday morning, we flew to Houston, then came back home late Monday night.

Tuesday, meetings all day at work, and then I gave my resignation notice around 5:30 that evening. Late that night, send out notification e-mails to many of my customers about such notice. It’s hard leaving the “family” at my current job, but I’m excited about my new one which starts soon. Still, I covet your prayers for the transition time.

Wednesday morning, leave for Lafayette for a national board meeting (side events, crawfish boil and a Mardi Gras Social – sweet!).

Thursday morning (prior to the meeting), answer about a million e-mails and phone calls from said customers.

Friday morning, board plane to come back home at 10:30 a.m., finally arrive at Midland around 5 p.m. God bless Continental Airlines, they need it. (Some things never change!)

Yup, it’s been a busy week.

"How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You"

Elder Son finally showed up to have Christmas with us, so I can now let the cat out of the bag, as it were…

Want to know how to make your musically-inclined husband and sons jump for joy?

Give them (and thus, yourself) this and, tucked inside the cover, tickets for a family trip to this* for Christmas. Suhweeeeeet.

Music – the gift that keeps on giving (and keeps four equally diverse family members together) even through the summer!

Isn’t it July yet???

*The link is twitching...but it is supposed to take you to the James Taylor concert at Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts. We can hardly wait!!

Almost Stalker Status

As y'all know, it's been really busy in my world lately. I can only describe it as totally crazy. It's hard to get all my work done and still take care of what non-profit works I help. To that end, I received this e-mail today, and it was so cute, I had to share it with y'all.

Hey Janie,

I thought to myself last night, "Maybe Janie is avoiding me and doesn't want to eat lunch with a wonderful person like myself", HMMMM. Then I quickly corrected myself because, although I haven't known you for years, I have seen enough of you to know that you are NOT the passive-aggressive type. So I felt much better. LOL

Anyway, call me before we get to stalker status.

Tamara

It was such a funny e-mail, I answered her call tonight. Creativity and fun gets me every time!

Tamara puts on the Rock Bottom House Shoot. Read here about last year's event. During weekday lunch hours, the Rock Bottom House is a cafe in Odessa. Right after lunch, the place ceases being a café, and turns into a safe place for young people - a Christian place where the younger crowd can be tutored, work on computers, their homework, play ping pong and pool, and just hang out until their parents or guardians come home. Cool, huh?

Yep, I think I'll go save her from attaining stalker status and go to lunch tomorrow. I might even buy.

Election Joke

Electile Dysfunction : the inability to become aroused over any of the choices for president put forth by either party in the 2008 election year.

(Disclaimer: Received via e-mail this morning, thought I'd share...please don't shoot the messenger...)

Life and Death in the Tongue (or What the Heck Happened to my Windshield?)

You know, the Bible says the tongue has the power of life and death. That means our words are powerful.

Therefore, I should probably quit confessing “It’s never boring around here.” But, the truth is, it’s not. Here’s proof!

Pam’s friend Cindy from Nashville came over Thursday night, and we went out to eat. Cindy is working in the Midland area on a contract basis. We came back to the house, and Cindy asked for my contact information so we could get together. I had no business cards in the house, so went out to my truck to get one. It was 10:00 p.m.

Pam needed some things, and I needed film for the Friday hunt, so I went back outside to run to Walmart. It was now 10:15 p.m. I hit “unlock” on my keys to get into my truck. The interior lights came on as I rounded the back of the truck.

To my shock, this is what I saw.

Shattered glass. Not looking good. Upon closer inspection, I found a BB Pellet hole, in my window.

And then, I made the wise move to open my door, so as to better see. The natural vacuum in the truck blew the window wide open when I opened the door.
















Sweet. And MLH is out of town. Two women, a little shocky, in the middle of the dark, dark street. Pam says "We should probably go back inside and call the cops." You think? (The voice of reason always comes forth, thank God.)

I called the police, and they respond immediately. It seems there has been a rash of BB Gun vandalism in our quiet little town. Some arrests had been made prior to my incident, so the police thought “they had their man.” Dudes - I have some fast breaking news for you. Your job is not quite finished.

Younger Son came to help me knock the rest of the glass out, and sweep up the street. Pam, ingenious one that she is, made a pattern of the opposite window, and cut out a cardboard “replacement window”. We taped it to my truck.

We finally got finished right about midnight.

Here’s my new confession: "It is really, positively, in a super good awesome kind of way, boring around here.”

How to Win Friends and Influence People 101a

My friend Pam O is flying in today.

I called her earlier to let her know that I was making alternate arrangements to pick her up from the airport.

Me: Hey, I’ve got a service quality meeting, so Younger Son will be picking you up from the airport.

Pam O: That’s great!

Me: So, call on his mobile when you hit the runway, and he’ll be at the baggage claim when you come down the escalator. Then, he’s going to take you to lunch, and to the house, and I’ll call you when I get loose.

Pam O: All right, that will be good.

Me: Oh, by the way, we’re going hunting in the morning with some of my customers.

Pam O: (silence)

Me: Not really hunting.

Pam O: Oh, good! (sounding very relieved)

Me: Well, we really are going hunting, but we’re not hunting, I’m just going to be taking pictures.

Pam O: Oh.

Me: It will be fun, I promise. (Oh, yeah, I’m selling hard – I’m thinking Pam’s not quite the hunting type.)

Pam O: (hesitantly) Okay.

Me: So, we’ll have an early morning, but the good side is, we’ll get to hang out together all day.

Pam O: (way less enthusiastic than me) Ooooookay.

That Pam, she’s a trooper! Hmmmmm…wonder how she’ll feel about wearing camo and an orange vest?

Welcome to Cathy and Melanie!

Please, please welcome to the Midland Blogosphere – my friends Cathy over at Cat's Page and Melanie at Blonde Mafia and the Godfather.

These ladies are sweet, sweet, sweet – both of them, hard-working moms. I think they blog to debrief, because it’s fun, and they also use it as a great place to showcase their families and the beautiful babies in their lives, and of course, their dogs!

Their blogs are fairly new, so go back to their oldest posts and read forward – they’ll make you laugh!

Go! Enjoy! Blogroll!

Are you tough enough? Road Rage #1

I live in a pretty friendly town, I believe.

But today, I was the recipient of road rage – of a sort. Gas pump rage, I guess you could call it.

I was cruising down the street when I heard a “ding!”…in my Yukon, that means, “Girl, you better fill this monster up!” I swung into HEB, and started pumping gas into the bottomless pit. There were several empty stalls – usually, this gas station is waiting room only, but it was mid-afternoon, and it was virtually deserted. As I waited for my truck to fill, I thumbed through the honkin’ stack of mail I had picked up at the post office. I had the driver door open, so I could hear the gas pump when it shut off. I settled back, and was reading a newsletter when it happened.

“Honk! Hoooooooooooonk!”

I looked up, and nose to nose with my Yukon, in the HEB gas station, was a white Nissan Exterra. I looked at the lady. Uh-oh. I’ve seen that look before. Just not vehicle to vehicle, parked nose to nose.

She mouthed to me, “Move!” as she waved her hands wildly.

I mouthed back, “What?” At this point, I look around – is my truck on fire? What is going on that has her so excited? Nothing is going on, so I look back at her, puzzled.

“Move!”, she said. “Get out of the way! You are finished! Move your truck!”

I look back over my left shoulder at the gas pump. I’m at 17 gallons. Not even full.

I said, “Ma’am, I’m not through yet – this is a big vehicle.”

Repeat the above conversation, all lip synched, one more time.

"Ma'am, try another pump. I am not finished."

Like she can hear me.

She shakes her head, cusses a blue streak, puts her Exterra in reverse, peels backwards, and pulls up to another gas pump. I am in shock, and it has nothing to do with the price of gas my monster truck is sucking down its guzzle.

My gas pump finally shuts off at $75. That's a joke, this puppy isn't even full. I put in my credit card, and go at it again, trying to get the monster satiated.

While fueling attempt #2 is pumping, I walk over to the lady in the Exterra, who has now moved to another pump and is filling up her vehicle. She is a small lady, of Hispanic origin. She still looks pissed.

“Ma’am? Was there a problem over there? Did I offend you in some way?”

She says, “No. Is okay.”

I said, “My truck holds almost 30 gallons. I wasn’t just sitting there – it takes a while to fill it up. It's still filling up, as I speak.”

She says, “Is okay. No problema.” She is still mad, and won’t look me in the eye.

I walked away. I still don’t understand it. I’m not easily spooked – but it kind of unnerved me. I told MLH about it, and he looked at me.

He said, "There's a lot of anger out there."

Sad, that. Makes my heart hurt.

Robert Keen, Robert Keen...

Last Sunday night found us at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, listening to Robert Earl Keen. Fifth row seats – what could be better?

Our sons love his music – one of the first songs Elder Son ever performed for us was Keen’s “That Bucking Song”. I’ll never forget it. Elder Son blew us away with his performance, and that night, we knew he was really serious about his music. Robert Earl Keen did the song at Bass, and blew us away again. The crowd ranged from teens to people in their 70’s…which speaks to the timelessness of Keen’s music. (Of course, being a good old boy from “Texas A&M University” didn’t hurt the attendance one bit – unless, of course, you were a Tech or UT Grad – many of whom were in the audience as well.) Robert Earl Keen is a flat-out entertainer, and one who possesses a great sense of humor.

I’ve heard different songs, over time, by Keen, though I’d not seen him in concert. Sunday night, his performance just rocked. The Bass Performance Hall was sold out and filled to the max. And REK never left the stage – though his band took a break – until the end of the show. He played and sang and entertained for almost 3 hours straight. And then, REK came back for an encore. Then, the show was over – we thought. They all came back, and did an acoustic set – just gathered up at the front of the stage, sans mikes, and got it on. It was simply amazing.

I can’t even say enough about the band – each musician is very accomplished in his own right. So, I’ll just review the one that blew everyone away: the lead guitarist, Rich Brotherton, was simply amazing. Just put a stringed instrument in his hands, and watch him go. In my opinion, Brotherton’s mastery of the guitar rivals that of one of my guitar heroes, Dan Tyminski with AKUS. Brotherton has played professionally since the age of 11, and after receiving his college degree in Music Theory and Composition from Colorado College, went and spent considerable time in Ireland learning from some of that country’s finest traditional musicians. And man, does it show. Brotherton enjoyed several solos (as did every musician in the REK Band) during this performance, and the audience went completely silent – until the end of the song, when they went crazy! Brotherton has also produced two of Keen’s albums, and has a recording studio in Austin.

Anyway – I say all that to say – if you get a chance, a Robert Earl Keen show is worth the money. Go. See. Be amazed. The man is a good ol’ boy entertainer, deluxe. And let me know what you think…but I betcha I already know.

Doggie Meme

The Typist over at Dogblogger threw the meme craving on me, and since it was about meming for your pet, well, you know, I just had to play! Zack the Wonder Dog and Zoie the Wonder Pup are always trying to improve their visibility…so, here goes. I’m not going to tag any of you, but if you’d like to play, please let me know so I can read your pet memes!!!

What is an amusing anecdote about a pet friend in your life (past or present)?

Zoie came into our lives at the advice of a local dog expert. Said expert said bringing a female in would temper the hijinks of Zack the Wonder Dog, and that before long, said female would begin to dominate Zack. After one week of cold shoulder de Zack, Zoie began to win his heart, and Zack started to play with Zoie. One night, we were in our music room, watching TV. Zack started the “I wanna play” stance that is jumping and bowing down to Zoie’s level, and Zoie responded…by running under the couch. She would stick her little head out, and try to nip Zack. We thought it was so very cute – she was already getting him to attend to her every move! And, then, we realized that her little belly was so fat, she was stuck under the couch. Once we finally finished laughing, we rescued her. Really.

What is a gift a pet gave to you when you really needed it?

One of the biggest things MLH always says about Zack is that he makes me laugh. And laughter, as you know, is always healing.

Share a picture of one or more of your pets - extra points for amusing photos.

In this picture, Zack is asking MLH, "Dad, do you think this hat makes my butt look big?"

And we can't leave out Miss Zoie...this one was in her wooing stage...when she was trying to get Zack to play with her (week 1).

Thanks for taggin' us, Typist and Cub! We enjoyed playing! It was fun! And Cub - we are praying for you!

Best Burger in Fort Worth

Tonight, we (MLH, Pam O, Michael O, and myself) went to see Charlie Wilson's War. Afterwards, we were to meet some mutual friends, Totila and Lynn, to experience “the best burger in the Metroplex” at the Love Shack at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

So, off we went to the stockyards. We found the Love Shack. We went in…and quickly realized there was no freakin’ roof…and just a couple of fires in the middle of the eating area by which to keep warm. I quickly called calf rope – “This is NOT going to work for me.” It was very cold, like in the low 40’s, and I’ve been sick. My cohorts quickly agreed the time was ripe to leave – so, off we went to the next “best burger in the Metroplex” at Dutch's Hamburgers, in the TCU district.

Little do you know that in the very recent past, I’ve become a Pappas Burger fan. Pappas serves an amazing burger, people. But I’m a-tellin’ you, folks, Dutch’s beats Pappas all to heck. I could not believe it. Dutch’s hamburger buns were absolutely delightful. Onion rings, old fashioned, piled high in the basket (yup, basket.) French fries, made from scratch. It was great.

We sure enjoyed visiting with our friends – and when we were leaving (as usual, one of the last groups to leave the joint), I catch a glimpse of a guy putting on his jacket*, and crack up. And of course, we have to get him to pose for us. (Thanks, PamO, for having your trusty camera ready!)

So, here’s MLH, goofing around for the camera.

Here, MLH coaxes the Enzyte smile out of the jacket guy. (Somehow, the jacket guy's smile looks more sincere than MLH's, don't ya think?) Michael O’s comment to MLH concerning the entire episode?

“You’re standing next to Viagra and all you can get up is your thumb?”

Such are the days of my life.

*Gwynne- BTW, girl - I get the NASCAR/jacket connection. No explanation necessary.;)

More fun in the Metroplex

I’m in Mansfield, Texas….laying on Pam's floor, laughing at her while she is laughing at your blogs. We’re both logged into our computers, trading addresses of our favorite blogs, so, if you have a new commenter show up named MammaO, you’ll know from whence she came.

And the men in our lives? Are in the living room, playing Wii, having the time of their lives. They are funny. A Wii is absolute proof that you really never have to grow up.

It’s been a great vacation - we saw lots of friends, and made some new ones. MLH and I did our requisite Neiman-Marcus shopping – and before you think we be’s some high-rollin’ folks, we go there for one thing, every 4-5 years. Curious? Wondering what would make us pass through those gold-plated doors in our t-shirts and tennis shoes to hobnob with the ultra-rich? The super-elite? The uber-bourgeoisie?

Only one thing…a humble place setting.

We collect…single place settings. One of everything in the collection, from the charger plate all the way to the cup and saucer. And we did find a cool place setting to add to our collection, and some really rocking goblets (we bought 4 of those)! (Someday, I’ll take pix and show you – as for now, everything breakable is gently stored in bubble wrap outside in the trusty ol’ just crossed 90K miles Yukon XL.) We actually collected another place setting, of some cool Pfaltzgraff pottery, while we were in Terrell, Texas, on Friday. So, we’re two up for this year!

Tomorrow, Pam and I are heading to Hillsboro to meet one of her friends and maybe hit the outlet mall. It’s been great to just hang out and not have to worry (too much) about work. We needed a break.

Oh, yeah…. Lone Chatelaine – Girlfriend, Pam and I went shopping today for your “regionally appropriate” gift! I think you’ll love it…but there’s only one way to know, and that’s for you to send me your address so I can ship it to you!! Hint: it is fragile, so it needs to come to a safe stopping point somewhere!

Happy trails until we meet again!