tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87817302024-03-18T02:55:46.721-05:00Pine Curtain RefugeeI have escaped from behind the fabled Pine Curtain of northeast Texas.
I have learned much.
Here is my tale...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-85569032372097436392014-12-23T14:23:00.000-06:002014-12-23T14:23:26.257-06:002014 In Review
This past year I...
Spent a long birthday weekend with two of my favorite friends here.
Saw Neutral Milk Hotel, Tool, The National, Justin Timberlake, Steve Martin & Edie Brickell, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Rufus Wainwright, Merle Haggard, and Spoon in concert.
Remodeled our master bathroom.
Redid the floors in our laundry room, half-bath and kids' bathroom.
Got to visit the campus of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-91126239404253936522014-12-08T16:58:00.000-06:002014-12-08T16:58:13.349-06:00I Hope Someday You'll Join UsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-38986841360783194302014-12-03T11:00:00.001-06:002014-12-04T10:27:06.701-06:00The Woman Who Couldn't ApologizeEven when she yelled, "Fuck you! I'm never coming back here! Good luck!" slammed the door and stormed out on Christmas eve, not caring that my 9 year old daughter was watching.
Even when she said to me, "You're mean and hateful. You make everyone around you miserable. You need help."
Even when she said to me, "I feel sorry for your husband and your daughter having to live with you because Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-84715523700359960102014-11-20T10:21:00.000-06:002014-11-20T10:21:40.438-06:00For Kim, On What Would've Been Her 46th Birthday
I thumbed through books filled with the words of others,
hoping to find that perfect couplet
the resonant stanza that couldor wouldperhapsmaybeconvey what it is to losea teacher, a sister, a mother, a daughter,a friend.
But nothing and no onedescribed the way I fell to my knees when I learned you were goneor how we cried in a restaurant while toasting you,not caring what anyone thought,or how Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-64444613300218046282013-07-03T11:42:00.001-05:002014-05-29T13:24:43.900-05:00One Week LaterBirth control pills were approved for contraceptive use
in America when my mother was 14 years old. And Roe v. Wade legalized abortion
in America in 1973. That same year, I turned 4 years old and became part of the first generation of
American girls raised having safe and accessible choices when it came to our
reproductive destiny.
Flash forward 40 years.
It is 11:50pm on a hot Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-2003754106822693842012-10-02T15:48:00.000-05:002012-10-02T15:48:07.753-05:00Words Won't Do it Justice<!-- Use of this widget is subject to the terms stated here: http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/widget_terms.html -->Ireland, September 2012 Slideshow: ’s trip to 6 cities including and Dublin was created with TripAdvisor TripWow!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-91722238511984065482012-06-22T09:53:00.000-05:002012-06-22T09:53:09.005-05:00Hoarder Update!!The shitty Chrysler is GONE!! I'm not sure if they took care of it, or if it got taken care of FOR them, but it's gone. But all its absence has really done has moved focus from it to the front yard, which is still utterly horrible. I'm trying to be patient, but every time I turn the corner on to our street, their junky looking lot and house are all I see.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-84161826308967608462012-06-21T17:00:00.000-05:002012-06-21T17:00:07.079-05:00Our Neighbors Are HoardersThere. I said it. After being in a state of semi-denial while we were preparing to move in to our new home and hoping that maybe the mess I saw was due to the fact that they were also getting ready to move, I am now 100% convinced that the people in the house that is 2-down from us are hoarders.
The evidence:
1. The front yard. It's filled with half dead plants in dozens of pots, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-88683920444834712332012-06-06T22:49:00.001-05:002012-06-06T22:50:42.883-05:00Goodbye/HelloIn the spring of 1990, my dad and I drove from Longview to Shreveport to shop for a car. We'd looked at Subarus and Nissans, but what I REALLY wanted was a Mitsubishi Galant. The car I'd been driving since I'd gotten my driver's license had been purchased, barely used. It was a 1984 Buick Skyhawk, and I loved it to death. But I'd put a ton of miles on it driving around endlessly in high school Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-40734007957985651062012-05-14T14:14:00.000-05:002012-05-14T14:14:06.286-05:00In BetweenerI had no idea that our house would sell so quickly. But it did, and I'm grateful for it. The idea of keeping our house "viewing perfect" with three pets and two kids and real life and shit was not appealing to me. But of course selling so fast of course that meant that we had to jump on the whole looking-for-a-house thing in a serious way Which can be fun. But since we now had a closingUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-45470661263845347382012-04-10T13:30:00.000-05:002012-04-10T13:30:23.119-05:00My Insomniac Mind at 4:38amUnclinch my jaw. I need to remember to tell the team about jury duty. I should throw a load of towels and underwear into the wash before we leave tomorrow. Did BH start the dishwasher? I didn't hear it. Not comfortable. Got to write a check for the cleaning people. What else have I put on my credit card this month besides those tickets and that lunch? Where is that bin in the garage with the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-47758333566305849942012-04-04T17:37:00.002-05:002012-04-04T21:29:58.990-05:00A Perfect StormToday I was catching up on a blog I enjoy, and the post I was reading was mostly photos of a camelia bush...a bird's nest...and some amazingly bright blue robin's eggs in the nest. So simple and perfect. So gorgeous and symbolic of spring. And suddenly, I started crying.
It was kind of like yesterday when I drove myself home early from work in a weird mental haze, feeling drugged without Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-60716743053510726632012-04-03T13:52:00.000-05:002012-04-03T13:52:42.591-05:00The Wild and Wacky World of Adolescence!I would say that, for the most part, I had a pretty good adolescence and teenager-hood. I mean, sure, there were some severely shitty parts. I was goofy and awkward and was worried that my boobs would never grow and no boys would ever ever like me ever. I worried that, because I was utterly mystified by algebraic concepts, that I might actually be stupid and that once this fact about me was Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-40807562190854452432012-03-29T13:16:00.000-05:002012-03-29T13:16:12.756-05:00Things that Have Happened Since I Last PostedBH celebrated his 43rd birthday.
We went on an old-fashioned Sunday drive to see the spring wildflowers that are blooming like crazy right now after months of severe drought followed by a wet winter. It was beautiful and probably quite the opposite of what most people who've never been to Texas picture when they imagine our state.
I began composing my will.
BH's youngest son, F, came to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-64431298772543669932012-03-22T08:37:00.001-05:002012-03-22T08:41:24.310-05:00Talking With My Daughter About PrinceYesterday while I was at work listening to my iTunes on random shuffle, Prince's "Baby I'm a Star" came on. I cranked it up all the way, did some borderline embarrassing chair bopping, and had to restrain myself from bursting into song. "Might not know it now, but baby you'll find out I'm a STAR!" I was already in a pretty good mood, but this musical boost put me over the top.
Later, when I leftUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-4297289257034648942012-03-21T17:47:00.000-05:002012-03-21T17:47:00.270-05:00The Long, Stupid Story of My Lost/Not Lost WalletBack in December, I'd gone grocery shopping one Saturday morning, and while at the store, picked up a few stocking stuffers for Christmas. When I got home, I hurried to my closet to squirrel away said stocking stuffers, away from the eyes of husbands and children, then I headed to the kitchen to unload the rest of my purchases.
It was a fine day, and I was looking forward to a massage and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-28459860032949689782012-03-08T18:37:00.001-06:002012-03-08T18:42:40.068-06:00OdditiesLast night, at the Radiohead show at the Frank Erwin Center, there was a guy in the "floor" section of the arena who decided that the best idea for experiencing they show was to, you know, lie on the nasty horrible uncomfortable ground while gently playing the "drums" on his substantial belly. He did this for about four of five songs and only changed his position (and eventually got up) after Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-22155743255212924552012-02-20T17:19:00.004-06:002012-02-27T20:27:50.877-06:00In PerspectiveYou know how you've got those friends on Facebook--the ones from high school who maybe you weren't all that close with. You knew them, they knew you. Maybe you were in some classes together. Maybe you were both in the band. But you ran in different circles. Nothing mean about it, that's just how it was. But, because your town was small and your high school was small and you pretty much went to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-48012766751873409772012-02-18T13:06:00.000-06:002012-02-18T13:06:54.426-06:00Shit's Getting RealA couple of posts back, I mentioned that we were starting to get serious (finally hallelujah) about putting our house on the market. Well, I'm pleased to say that we're making actual progress in that direction.
First, I researched some real estate companies here in town. I know at least a half a dozen people who are realtors and BH knows a realtor or two as well. But we agreed not to go with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-1490585132722464632012-02-16T09:40:00.004-06:002012-02-17T10:42:01.260-06:00I see what you're doing, Luby's, and I do NOT approve.Much like my love for baby animals, my love of Luby's is well-known. Is the food great? No. Is the atmosphere special? No. Do I get some sort of special deal for publicizing my love of this Texas institution? No. And I've tried to explain my enduring devotion to Luby's to non-Texans, and it just does not compute. But what it boils down to is the comfort factor--I ate there a lot as a kid, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-52852779351706838062012-01-31T22:55:00.000-06:002012-01-31T22:55:00.831-06:00Things I've Never Done (with comments)I refuse to call this a bucket list, despite the fact that yesterday was my 43rd (FORTYFUCKINGTHIRD!!) birthday. These are simply things that I hope to do...at some point...in no particular order...before I croak.
Perform a stand-up comedy set--THAT KILLS--in front of a live audience.
Snorkel in a coral reef.
Hold a baby sloth.
Go to a silent meditation retreat.
See an opera.
Attend an SNL Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-27164271972646949362012-01-16T14:06:00.000-06:002012-01-16T14:06:16.860-06:00Things I've Done Recently (with comments)Ice skated. (Busted my ass on the ice.)
Tried coconut water. (Didn't enjoy it.)
Ate treats cooked in an Easybake Oven. (Not so good.)
Put a TON of old grad school stuff in the recycle bin. (Yes, I still had papers and stuff from grad school. Shut up.)
Tried not one, but two new restaurants within walking distance of our house. (Both were delicious!!)
Found a couch I want at Crate & Barrel Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-84115071636986918822012-01-13T09:58:00.000-06:002012-01-13T09:58:35.198-06:00Girl ProblemsLast weekend, while considering her reflection in the full-length mirror in my bathroom, The Geej asked me innocently, "Am I skinny, Mommy?"
The Geej who has yet to reach 50 lbs.
The Geej who wears size 7 super skinny jeans that have their adjustable waistbands taken all the way in so that they'll stay on her body.
The Geej who is almost always cold because she has zero body fat.
The Geej whoUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-67839612335286503902012-01-05T09:49:00.000-06:002012-01-05T09:49:05.088-06:00Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781730.post-90144547639932425812011-12-23T10:28:00.001-06:002011-12-24T11:01:48.951-06:00How I wish...Monday was the anniversary of my dad's death. Nine years ago. Stomach cancer.
I hadn't really thought about the significance of the date until I was sitting in traffic on my way to work. It was raining and gloomy, and I was listening to my iPod on random shuffle. That period of time when I'm in my car by myself, going to or from work, is really the only regular time I get to listen to whatever IUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3