MERRY CHRISTMAS

Good morning and Merry Christmas!

Hope your day is a good one where ever you may be.  Enjoy the day.  

Thinking of those no longer with us with joy and some sadness too.  

M*E*R*R*Y   C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S !!!!

ICEAPOCALYPSE/ICEMAGEDDON aka winter storm Cleon

these pictures are from yesterday Saturday 12/7

Jim Bob didn't get fired only because his primary job is to scare the rats and mice away.  He will have a new job description when his contract expires.

Desert Willow - bending not broken yet

Crape Myrtle ok but Bird of Paradise tree took a hit

Volunteer Desert Willow - by the way, that is all ice not snow

Texas Red Oak is usually much taller when it isn't weighed down with ice

Yikes, the Oleander is completely bent over and the little gazebo? well, this was taken right before the weight of the ice collapsed it

poor pansies

It's all ice from the sleet - no snow here at all.  Since we won't get above freezing until Monday (maybe), damage won't be apparent for a while. 

The good news is that I have a gas fireplace and gas usually isn't a problem here.  The bad news is the short power outages and thankfully, they've all been 5 minutes or less.

Sure glad I have battery candles.

Updated title as some think ICEMAGEDDON was last year?

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a save and happy Thanksgiving Day!

Veteran's Day

A big warm Thank You to all our veterans that served our country.  Your courage and sacrifices do not go unnoticed. You are thought of and prayed for often.

Here are my two veterans:

 

  This is my dad. 

He had PTSD although the term wasn't really used back then.  Dad was in the Army and later the Air Force.

He was in several battles during WWII and injured a few times. 

My brother was also in Army.  

 

He was in some of the world turmoils, just at a different time.

They both were in Germany at one time or another.  The photo in the header was where my brother was in Germany.  I remember him telling stories of putting Coke bottles in the snow so they would have cold drinks.

Many of my dad's siblings also served in the military - brothers and sisters.  Mom's brother died in WWII.

Thank you to every Veteran who served our country. 

Sibling Saturday & Sunday

Really nice weather for company today.  My sister and brother-in-law came by to pick up some outdoor stuff they left here after moving from their home into an apartment.  Their house sold quickly and they had very little time to pack and leave.  They are staying in an apartment while deciding where to go.  They have a nice little balcony too.   I'm hoping they forget about the big pots they brought over.  Well, they can take the green one but I think the blue ones should stay here. 

While they were here, my brother from Arkansas came by to pick up a tv stand.  This is one of the large tv stands where the tv goes up and then down into the shelf unit.  It was heavy and they had a hard time getting it out the door, down the steps and into the trailer.  He brought his friend from high school.  It's been too long since I've seen him too.  Hard to believe he has 1 daughter who is a senior in college and the younger daughter who is a senior in high school.  

Nice to see everyone.  And funny to hear my brother talk about traffic.  LOL.  He lives in northwest Arkansas and complains about their 'traffic' all the time.   He sounds like Mom talking about traffic in Denison (yes, she says 5 cars on the road is heavy traffic!). 

Wheeeee!  I was with my other brother and sis-in-law and we went to Denison to visit with Mom.   So that is all my siblings in a single weekend.  

Buzy Bee

Time flies whether you are having fun or not!  Since I posted last, we've had summer, winter, fall and spring.  And of course, the weather people don't have a clue.  I think they need to step outside once in a while

 

I'm catching up on Duck Dynasty.   I enjoy that show.

Stayed home to work today so the heat and a/c could have the winter check.  Asked about the master bedroom being so much colder in the winter and since I've already added a heat register, another outlet is in order.   So they will be back next week.  While testing, he turned up the heat and it was really nice and warm in the office.

We've done our job at work so well, that my department is dissolving.  We (there are 4 of us) came in to add some processes to an organization that expands through acquisition and they never learned how to wean away from all the various applications.

My sister and I went to Milsap over the weekend.  We still had some of dad's ashes to put with his second wife who is buried in Milsap.  A very peaceful old cemetery.  On the way back, we stopped at Riscky's and oh my my my.   This was the one in the old stockyards.  The aroma was absolutely stupendous.  It's one of the new bbq places where the meat is wonderful without adding sauce.  And the Texas Fries (they add grilled onions and jalapenos) were wonderful.  I had to bring about half of the fries home.  I used the grilled onions and jalapenos in the soup I made later in the day.

It's weird but going to Ft Worth is always like going home.  I was born there of course.  Fort Worth is where the west begins!  I'm thankful to be a real live native Texan (my sister and the oldest brother were born in Kansas - boo hoo for them I say) and my youngest brother and I are natives.    It was funny when my niece was in preschool or kindergarten and loved the Wizard of Oz - she was so excited that her dad was born in Kansas. 

I think my cats have already gone through the time change.  They are driving me nuts as they exclaim all the time that I am not feeding them on time!

The dangers of street walking......

 Yes!  We had rain.  Not  enough but still, it was rain and it was wet. 

We are in stage 3 drought and only allowed to water once a week.  My day is Sunday.  My sprinkler system is turned off except when I need to run it manually.  The silly control box can't keep track of the days and time so I can't even set it to run just on Sunday or it will run during the 10am-6pm time when we can't use sprinklers.

It was nice and cloudy yesterday and rained in spurts.  Gee, I sure would like a nice loud thunderstorm.  I've forgotten what that is like.....

Apparently, it only rained at a few houses on my street because many houses had their sprinkler systems on this morning.  That's one reason why I walk in the street. (I bet you thought by now that I wasn't going to mention the topic of the week!)

The other reason I walk in the street is for safety.  Yes, safety.  The sidewalks aren't really smooth and I can trip over dust.  This way I can look ahead cause that's good exercise for my neck (it's all that iPhone reading on the train!).

We won't talk about the texting while walking incident.

Hazard and Good Stuff

See that little bump in the yard?  Well, there are many of them in the back yard.  How, you ask, do I find them?  I trip over them.  What are they?  They are the knees from Bald Cypress when they are around water.  Oh, you say, you didn't realize I lived near water.  I don't. 

The neighbors Bald Cypress drown and the roots come up for air in my yard.  So I'm about to put hazard warning signs on the outside of my fence.  I'm afraid I will trip and hurt my brand new knee so sometime, when it gets cooler (yes, I know that won't be until Christmas time if we are lucky) and cut them out again.  I'm also afraid they will reach the foundation as now, they are only a few feet from the house.  

The good news is that they cut down the 2 in between our houses about a year after I moved here.  These two are in their back yard by the alley.  And I can't help it, but they really look stupid now that they have been undercut.  They undercut the bottom half of the trees.

Now for some good news!  look at my tomato crop.  It's the best I've ever had and there are more green ones out there and lots of blooms.  Yea!!

Happy Labor Day!!

What a day so far....

I had to cut my walk short (only .75 mile) due to the rain.  Yes, you heard correctly r.a.i.n.  wahoooo!!!  not much but the street was getting slick as it had sprinkled earlier.    I saw some lightning too.

Jackson has kitties and a dog.  This kitty looks like Sam.

Here's his puppy.  No, don't ask why Jackson is eating a sock.  He's following in his grandpa's footsteps (who tried to eat a wooden banana - multiple times).

Hope you have a great and wonderful holiday!

I never thought I'd watch....

Duck Dynasty!  However, once I saw that there was some controversy over their prayers, of course, I had to watch it.  and I must say, I like it.

I love the way they talk about family and God.  Besides, they are also funny.  I couldn't help but laugh when the grandgirls went fishing and caught a catfish.  Or when they took the teenage daughter rifle shooting - and she enjoyed it but she only got to shoot 3 times.  Or taking the wives hunting.  Or teaching the grandkids patience.   LOL

nice show.  pleasant change.

Yikes! Summer came back

  

For about 2 weeks, we have cooler weather - under 100 degrees!  And at 5:30 in the morning, it's been under 80 so I could walk in the mornings.  I knew something was up when it was 81 at 5:30 yesterday.  Sure enough, we're at 100 today and it isn't the hottest part of the day yet.  

The cats go outside for about 5 minutes before they turn around and wait at the back door to go inside where it is cooler.  The hot weather makes the cats and I take a nap....ok... who am I kidding?  The cats nap all the time.

I've still got some flowers blooming but the grass has taken a real hit from the heat.  I didn't realize the power outage reset the sprinkler control box and the grass wasn't being watered as long as I thought it was.  

In the back yard, the grass is suffering from the sun since the neighbor butchered the two bald cypress (they really are bald now).  When I was outside earlier this morning, I noticed the fern hanging basket that has been out in the corner for at least 2-3 years is now dead because it is in the sun now. 

NO - this is only fern left

Still Thinking About that Brisket ......

Man, that brisket was good!

A brief update on my brand spanking new knee!  I've been walking more and this morning I walked .95 miles!   WAHOO! UPDATE TUESDAY 8/20:  MAKE THAT 1.1 MILES!!!!

Then went grocery shopping at Wal*Mart and walked another .39 miles.  Imagine that!  I was getting more exercise than I thought!

We got some nice rain yesterday and it cooled down.  When I went walking this morning, it was 66.  I haven't seen it in the sixties for a long time.  In fact, the coolest it has been at 5am is the mid 70's.  

Going to celebrate by eating a very late breakfast at our new Cracker Barrel.  Very late, as in the middle of the afternoon.  My friend wants to try it out so we'll meet later.   Gotta get all those errands done first.

have a great weekend!

Another Wedding

Well, my nephew got married yesterday.  Outside.  It is h.o.t here.  At least it wasn't 100 and they had a tent with a misting fan and a few other fans.  And some wonderful brisket from Riscky's.  The sausage and potato salad were good too but that brisket didn't need any bbq sauce at all.  mmmm

oh wait, the wedding.   This was my youngest nephew - the other one got married a month ago (and his sister got married a few years ago, she's Jackson's mom). 

Anyway,  they are a cute couple.  And he inherited 3 kids too!  Pretty good deal.  He and his bride are both police people for Fort Worth.  

Got to see some people I hadn't seen in a long long time.  Wow, times sure flies doesn't it.  

The grooms grandmothers

I went early yesterday to pick up Mom (the farthest I've driven with the new knee).  Yikes!  I think it got stuck too.  We went to get manicures - I got a pedicure too but wouldn't allow them to use any cutting tools.  I got sparkles - yes, that may sound funny but my nephew's new little one likes sparkles - she's a girly girl.  Sure felt good to have my leg massaged instead of being pulled, stretched or bent at physical therapy!

My brother, sister-in-law and their son (the one that just got married - his wife is a flight attendant and was working) came over and we all rode together.   Good thing.  that was an long hour and half ride and my knee really was frozen by then.

It was a very casual wedding.  Lots of jeans and some shorts. And the kids made the cupcakes! mmmmm

The trip home was fun and went more quickly since the roads weren't all torn up.  I took my nephew to my brothers house to get his truck then I came home, put on clean sheets and dove into bed.  My brother and sister-in-law took Mom back to Denison.  I was soooo glad they could do that.  

Good families are just good and I'm thankful I have one.

Trimming Trees and blocking alleys

A Friday morning meeting runs late so I dashed out of the house, into the car and backed into the alley only to discover I was blocked.  From both directions.  Called the physical therapist who was not happy at all and since he can hurt me (really, I am serious, he does it every single time I go), I ran back out and asked them to move one way or another.  The utility workers were great but the other guys were just not going to move.  I had to point to the lovely scar on my knee but they finally agreed but they weren't all working together to get it done.  

Finally, they pulled one long set of trucks up and guided me out.  Whew!   Physical therapy done!

I parked in the front when I got home so I didn't have to mess with them.  

So when I went walking on Saturday morning, it was dark and there were lots of small wood pieces in the alley.  hmmmm  that's really strange.  

Later, I drove off to the store for something that turned out to be a disaster and parked in the back.  I discovered that one set of those trucks was a tree trimming company (this was the set of trucks that would not move).  My next door neighbor from the north that wanted to live in a forest, planted a bazillion trees (some with those lovely knees that are in my yard and I trip over them) and love to water their weeds all year long until the city forced everyone to water one day a week.... oh dear.  Anyway, they cut down 5 of their 6 tree crepe myrtles that lined their back fence leaving the lone crepe myrtle undercut to the point that it looks funny.  Not crepe murder but it really looks bad.  Then they also had their 2 bald cypress' undercut .... a lot.  And they had some trees removed from their front yard.  They must be getting ready to move.  Their back yard must be going into shock about now. Parts of their yard haven't seen the sun since before I moved here 14.5 years ago!!!!!

Interesting.

Maybe my oleander will be able to stand up tall instead of having to lean to get some sun?

What a Face!

So little grand-nephew has beaten his dad!  Just look at that little face.  While it goes with the photo, it doesn't go with his normal funny giggling little boy.

so cute!