A LOOK AT THE WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF A CONSERVATIVE FREE-SPIRIT

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Pop's Birthday








We celebrated Pop's 83rd birthday last evening. In fact, today is the anniversary of his birth, but last night was the night most people could show up for a shindig. The cake was fantastic--delicious--supreme--sublime and the ice cream was good, too. Nothing is better than Blue Bell. Well, I mean--EVERYONE knows that Blue Bell is the best tasting ice cream in the country, yeah? Pop got a few pairs of pajamas, a jacket and a new red shirt.

I wasn't paying enough attention or I would've gotten more pictures. but we got one of Pop reading a card, one of him and his three kids, one each of his son and daughter by the tree, and one of his grandson being shy. It was a nice night. :)

June Road Trip

I took a trip to DFW/Tyler in June. I had one of those "one-use" cameras to keep a photo record of the fun. I must've forgotten about it cos when I signed up for the Kodak website where you can store your photos, I found 'em! So, here are a few memories of my trip.








Donald!










The top of the Parkers and the flash of my camera in the mirror. Some of them didn't want their photos on the internet, so I tried to honor their wishes. I thought the picture looked cool with the flash.











Donald at the devotional in Carrollton.










Boys and I at the devotional.













The girls at the devotional.













The Brownings and I at Broadway















Mary and I at Broadway















Cody and I at Broadway












Lynn and Mary took me out to lunch after worship. We couldn't resist this delicious dessert. I think we might have all had our own. Yuuummmmmmm!

Lily visits Pop







On their way out of town, Lily and her gang stopped by to visit with Pop for a short while. She is just so adorable!

Mellow Yellow Monday 20DEC10



One lone leaf hanging on for dear life to the bush outside our living room window.

Christmas with the Whiteheads
















Alison and Doug. Alison has made sure she has no "chins" for this shot! She is so silly. I think she gets it from Pop!


















Little Brother showing off the Snowman ornament I made him (and everyone else)



















Lily and her Nonna!





















Alan opening his present--a big box full of candy. His favorite!





























Lily smiling her gorgeous smile! She is such a great kid!



































Alison modeling her new scarf! Tre belle!































Pop being silly! See--Alison does get it from him.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Chick Fil A's Peppermint Chocolate Shake!!!

I spent part of last Tuesday at Chick-Fil-A. I wrote Christmas cards and took care of a few bills and--of course--chatted with a stranger. I can't remember her name, but she was the Unit Marketing Manager. When I arrived at the restaurant, she was sitting in MY BOOTH so I noticed her extra specially. She seemed to be working hard. She had two computers!! Eventually, I asked her what two computers was all about and she told me that she was working on a work project and the store's computer was a little slow, so she'd sometimes bring her own so she could get more done.

She was planning next year's monthly catering specials. They're hoping to get to the point where customers know that there will always be a monthly catering special. So, just for y'all's information--if you live in the South East Texas--that Chick-Fil-A on Dowlen Road will have a monthly catering special next year. So, if you have a work party or a school party or a birthday party, consider having them cater.

And another thing about this Chick-Fil-A--and well, all the Chick-Fil-As prolly--is that they have REALLY FANTASTIC chocolate peppermint shakes. They even--FINALLY--came up with a smaller version of the shake!! Remember how they always used to have only that large 32 ounce shake? It was way too huge for any one person to consume!! Well, now they have a smaller version. I suggest to all my readers to march on down to their local store this week and get that chocolate pepper mint shake THIS WEEK before it disappears. I'm sure it is just a special for the holiday season.

And, just so you can imagine how yummy they are, I've included three pictures--two of which I took and one which is an official Chick-Fil-A photo. Enjoy!

Oh! and here is their link: http://www.cfarestaurant.com/dowlenroad/home


The official shake.


My Shake.




















The bottom of the shake cup. Yum!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Simple Woman's Daybook: 15DEC10

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...a warm-ish southerly wind.
I am thinking...about the fact that today is my 7 month anniversary of being here in South East Texas.
I am thankful for...spiritual and physical family who love me.
From the learning rooms...(please excuse the spelling) "Ich verstaya ein bisshon Deutch"
From the kitchen...scrambled egg sandwiches with mustard on one slice and mayo on the other slice. Yum.
I am wearing...red plaid pajama bottoms and a "Del Sol" t-shirt.
I am creating...nicely wrapped packages and a tiny tree.
I am going...to learn more and more.
I am reading...time magazine--the one with Sarah Palin on the front.
I am hoping...that I can get eight hours of sleep someday soon.
I am hearing..."Tom Dooley" in my head.
Around the house...i have a lot of chores to do.
One of my favorite things...sitting at a restaurant with a glass of tea and reading or writing cards to people I love.
A few plans for the rest of the week: making sugar cookies for our Christmas dealie on Saturday.
Don't forget! I stole the idea from Irene whose blog you can reach if you click here.here

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Things that are cool about Pop, # 26

Pop and I were watching t.v. when one of those skanky Victoria's Secret commercials came on.

Me: Those girls need to put on a few more clothes, don't they, Pop?

Pop: Well, I think they make more money if they take some of 'em off.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Christmas Cookies!!




I made these cookies and the frosting from scratch! Well, I didn't make the red sugar decorations. Marilyn bought them from Brookshire's. But the rest--I made! YAY Me!

Tuba Christmas at the Kemah Boardwalk

















































>Okay, I must apologize before we begin. For whatever reason, I can't seem to get the blog program to work in the way I want. Therefore, y'all--my lovely readers--shall have to wade through all the words and pictures. I'll just write all the descriptions out and they prolly won't be near their pictures. :( I tried! I promise! Anyway--onto the words.

I had an adventure today! My old--as in years I've known him, not his age--friend Bryan (whom I met at a churchofchristsingles.com get-to-gether in Dallas back in 2002) was playing in the Kemah Tuba Christmas dealie. (Which--by the way--I highly recommend! All those brass instruments playing beautiful Christmas songs. WOW!)


Before I began, I had a guitar lesson. Which was fantastic, as always. I wish I could afford to stay with him. His place is called Guitar Lesson Studio. Then a quick lunch at Whataburger. That franchise in Lumberton is always decorated up so well. Look at that tree! Decorated in orange and white. You may have to click on the picture to noticed that some of the ornaments are apple pie containers! They also use some other orange and white WB items to make the garland. In the little window box type planter that separate the ordering area from the eating area, they have inserted several white and red silk flowers. It looks so Christmas-ey there and I always smile as I walk into the restaurant.

The next four are the
four shots I took as I approached and passed under a really neat looking angular bridge. It is kinda hard to explain. It is one of those "on location" type situation. I'll try though. As I passed under the bridge, it almost looked as each section of the bridge kinda 'swallowed' the subsequent sections, one at a time. Too cool!


After the bridge and before I actually reached the boardwalk, I drove through Kemah proper. There is a building on the left hand side which was very unique. It was oddly shaped--kinda like a thin rectangle. Large bells and other items hung from its roof. And the roof itself--WOW! It was entirely covered with large pots filled with palm-ey looking plants. I wonder how they survived Hurricane Ike? On the left hand side, almost from floor to ceiling, there is a large window made of what looks like about 120 smaller panes of varying colors. How cool is that? Actually pretty much everything about the building is cool.
Half-way up, there is a shelf which holds several sculptures. It is such an interesting place. I wish I'd had time to park there and explore. I imagine it is an art studio, yeah?

The next photo is of a small group of trees which are all leaning over to the left. I just liked how they looked!

The boats moored at Kemah.






The old-fashioned police car which sits on the boardwalk.

People having fun on Pharoah's Fury. When I saw it, I was thrilled! This has always been one of my favorite rides. Strike one for getting older, however. After about two or three whips back and forth, I started having a bit of motion sickness. Yikes! Not a good thing to have when you are on a amusement park ride, yeah? I started imagining how angry everyone below me would be if I couldn't control it. I decided to close my eyes and I managed to survive the ride without losing it.
What was kinda cool is that when I told the older guy sitting next to me about my motion sickness, he seemed very concerned. He wanted to know who my people were on the ride and he was going to email me the photos. How sweet! I love it when my faith in the greatness of humanity is reassured!


An odd picture of the Ferris wheel.



Some sail boats practicing for the boat parade that was scheduled for this evening.







A shot of the piers and the roller coast from the sky.









The penguin shirt (you know how I love penguin!) of a young friend who rode the ride in the with his family at the same time I did. They were fun and the dad was full of information about all the things we were seeing. It is nice to hang around with smart people, yeah?


















A photo of the Ferris Wheel, The Inverter, and that Fly-ey thingie from way up at the top of the ride which takes you up about 500 feet or so. It is funny that I never noticed the black and white check design of the ground until I was up in the air. Something about this picture really appeals to me. Can't quite figure out what it is, but--there ya go. It is cool!


On top of the roller coaster, looking out on the Gulf.













Of course, I made a friend--Denver. We had a very fun conversation. :) It is unusual for an 18-year-old to be so well spoken.








































The next two shots are of the shooting fountain. Dunno what it is actually called, but it was so fun to watch the kids run through it, trying to get across the circle before the water shoots up! The parents were having almost as much fun watching their children smile and laugh and shriek. It was just beautiful!


























A neat water-tower.





















The Tuba Christmas band.











An apropos name for something which helps you relax and have fun.




















A shot of the sun going down as I was leaving Kemah.
















The fish tank at Cheddar's in Beaumont. How cool is it? Okay, The End. : )