Cowtown Vacation

What do you do when you have a couple weeks of Summer Vacation left, the need for a change of scenery, but little cash or energy for a glamorous trip?

Head to Fort Worth!


Stay out of the street when the steer pass by, they might sweat on you.


The kids are old enough now that we decided to do some of the "touristy" stuff on this trip to Gramma and Grandad's. So the first day, we went down to the Stockyards to see the cattle drive. The staff wanders up and down the street before the longhorns, giving us all warnings about standing away from the street. Good thing, because those steer looked mighty feisty in the mid morning heatwave. Actually, it was kind of fun, and we went to the gunslinger show and the Cowboy museum afterwards.

Our wonderful hosts

Where is Santa spending August? At the Gunslinger show!

David warned me to keep my hand off this guy's piece

From there, we made was our second visit to the outstanding new museum in Fort Worth, The Modern.



They had a neat show going on that gave all of us lots to talk about. The permanent exhibit had the ladder to the sky that we all loved.



We stayed in Cowtown for four days, and had time for a visit to the Museum of Science and History. David and the kids took in the Star Wars exhibit, and I spent time in the "Attic" exhibit. They are going to pack up the collection during construction of the new, bigger and better museum. So the attic exhibit pulled out old, retired items that I was familiar with from my yearly field trips as a student in the FWISD.

Mighty dinosaur, where are the Cavemen performing brain surgery? Did you eat them?



The kids loved the Water Gardens, but it did get quite warm..... like Hades.

And we had lots of cousin time with Alex and Grace, and my cousin Amy and her baby Anna and my aunt Shorty. I got to see Missy's pretty new house. And we got to shoot bb and pellet guns, make things in the woodshop, watch very good movies, play dominoes, and hang out and relax.


Thanks Mom and Dad!

beautiful poem

I went to a beautiful memorial service yesterday. On the back of the pew sheet, there was a poem printed that I love. I had seen it in the past, and was actually trying to find it again just a few weeks ago without success.

It is by Henry Van Dyke

Gone From My Sight

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone"

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"

And that is dying...

woo hoo

Found this great new site called simpsonizeme.com, and you can see how David and I turned out.

sometimes you just get lucky

http://plaidstallions.blogspot.com

swamp thing

Yesterday was the first time I saw the ground immediately turn to mush right when the rain started.

I'm on the email list for the Soup Peddler (souppeddler.com), and even though I've yet to place my first order I L-O-V-E the little quirky letter he writes when he emails out that week's menu. This week he summed up perfectly the state of Austin after our endless rain. He writes:

"Greetings from soggy South Austin, where front lawns resemble bright green spreads of squishy tundra tussock instead of the crunchy, desiccated fire ant pits that they normally should be. We feel at least partially at fault because of our ceaseless prayers for soup weather... perhaps we have inadvertently bollixed up the weather machinery up there. Alas."

Even if you don't live in Austin, his mailing list is well worth the time it takes to read it.

I'm not sure if we will get more rain today. Probably so....

Sorry no posts lately....

Haiku 1

now, daily thunder
mud in the van endless rain
mosquitos eat us


Haiku 2

Dad's house is for rent
paint it clean it fix it quick
many calls... priced low?


Haiku 3

Stuffy head, sore throat
cranky mom, no cleaning, but...
...read Harry Potter!


Haiku 4

Art camp, gym camp, house
This week was much busier
than rest of summer


Haiku 5

Read Elisa's blog
Read Julie's and Christi's too
I'm not keeping up!


Haiku 6

Enjoy life now
slurpees, swimming, sleep in late
sweet summer kids free

hot mamas

wonderful dinner party last night....
here are the mamas and not-so-little babies

we decided it would be a good idea to get together for girls weekends more often than once a year... so if I can just hold out until december......

thanks Julie Kay for being a great host.

floating

We are pool and house sitting for our neighbors, and tonight we went over for a swim after our late dinner.... I felt guilty having so much fun, but it was very peaceful floating on my back and looking at the stars.

4th of July Report

Hope you had a fun 4th.

Last night, as a fireworks afficianado, I can say that Austin's fireworks were breathtaking. Maybe it was the backdrop of rain clouds that set off the colors of the fireworks. Maybe it was the cool (!!) summer breeze that was blowing on us. Maybe it was because we left the house after 9pm, drove to Austin High School parking lot and had the easiest (zero minute) wait to see the show. Maybe it was that my kids are all old enough to say, "that was my favorite" after every single one. Maybe it was because we had just finished a swim party and bar-b-q at a wonderful neighbor's house. Maybe we were all still glowing from the parade around Bryker Woods earlier in the morning, when I discovered once again that our aging neighborhood has lots of young families moving in with tons of little kids.

Whatever the reason, it was a wonderful 4th for us.

Cousin Camp

Eight cousins: Emma, Alex, Grace, Cole, Austin, Max, Joey and Blake

The girls playing Princess Monopoly, Emma was very popular with the "younger crowd"

Photo ham

The three guys on the left were unseparable. Max and Blake are cousin-twins. I wish they lived right next door.

Breakfast of choice for the kids.

We had a wonderful trip to Port Aransas last week. We were there for nine days. At the middle of the week, when everyone was there, we had 8 kiddos and 8 adults. But there were always people coming and going, field trips to Corpus, fishing, beach and pool.

David and I have an "older" set of kids. My brother has three boys and Julie has a girl and boy, and each of them has a little kid. I really like watching them chase after their youngests while David and I relax (somewhat). Things do get a little easier as the kids get older. Of course, I'll be the first with three teenagers.....

One day was really memorable for me. Mom and Dad and I were sitting on the beach, and we looked out to see that the clouds over the ocean had a little "tail". It was the beginning of a funnel cloud. We watched it get longer and bigger. Pretty soon everyone on the beach was snapping photos, and NOBODY was acting scared except the lifeguards, who were watching on binoculars and making phone calls. It petered out before coming ashore (or even too close), but it looked very cool.

Earlier that same day, David and I had been out boogie boarding, and the man fishing right beside us, pulled out a shark! It was probably 20 inches long, a mini version of a great white --the way I saw it. (Dad said it was a sand shark) The fisherman let it loose in the shallow water and we watched it circle around for a few minutes, with its little Jaws fin sticking up out of the water. Then David was romping back into the surf like nothing happened. All I could think of was that the little shark could still take a quarter cup of my leg with a bite.

Now that we are all to our respective houses. I'm trying to will everyone to move to Austin so that we can put our kids in the same schools and live on the same block. It's nice feeling that way after so much together time last week, but we have a few more golden years until 2017 when all eight are teenagers, then we can split to separate cities again.

Fare Well

Today was Father Bill's last Sunday.

Our whole service was wonderful. It was a series of messages of love, from us to Bill, from him to us. We did it by singing together, saying our liturgy together and hugging each other out the door after the service. Different people cried at different points of the service.

For me it is always the hymns. I'm usually a basket case during times like this. When we left our Seattle parish, they had a tradition of singing a song about God lifting you on eagle's wings. I almost couldn't sit through the service, knowing they would call us up to sing it to us. And sure enough, I blubbered away while they did it.

Bill did great. He even picked one of my favorite hymns... (Lift Every Voice and Sing). He picked the Navy hymn in honor of all the mens' fishing trips which was fun. He picked moving solos from our stellar choir, and lots of hymns with descants.

Bill was the reason we came back for a second week to our wonderful church. We drive past at least three Episcopal churches on the way to St. Marks. But on our first week there, we had little Emma (age 3) and little Max (age 1) at the communion rail. I was brought up in a church that started giving kids communion when they were in school. That first St. Mark's Sunday, we were at the rail, and Max held up his baby hands for a wafer. We'd never practiced with him, so I indicated that he needed a blessing, not wafer. After the service, Bill came up to me and asked if Max had been baptised. I said yes. He then told me that Max was as entitled to receive the sacrament as anyone else who was baptised.

I was so impressed that a priest would give us nice direction on our first visit. So we came back.

I also remember the day I first started telling people I was expecting baby 3. When I told Bill, we'd have a baby in late September, his response was, "Fantastic! an All Saint's Baptism!".

I had the honor of attending many meetings with Bill. I always felt like his Adult Education classes were the most challenging I'd ever attended. But I most loved getting birthday wishes and anniversary wishes via his phone calls for every one of our family's special days. Over our 7 and a half years, that was about 40 phone calls!

And surprising me most today, was the fact that I only ALMOST cried twice. Most of the time I was just happy for our church for having him, and for St. Mark's being such a neat place. My tears got ready to drop, but pulled back right at the last minute each time.

Of course I'm crying typing this.... because I'm happy.

Grade of the Day: A+

this picture is not OF the actual fried pickles at Alamo Village Theater, they are however, REPRESENTATIVE OF fried pickles at Alamo Village Theater



MY TUESDAY:

Woke up, when I was ready.

Everyone was in a pretty good mood.

Took kids to swim team practice, and got to hang out and talk with my good buddy Robbin.

Had a refreshing swim with Robbin and kids.

Ate (using coupon) at Kolache Factory, meaning I didn't have to think of what to make for lunch.

Took a refreshing nap on the couch.

Read the complete paper and found that there is a rare, mid-week estate sale tomorrow.

Took refreshing shower.

David came home early so I could go to see Knocked Up at Alamo with my good buddies Mary and Julie. Laughed with them before the movie, laughed so hard I cried during the movie.

Got to have fried pickles and beer along with dinner during movie.

Made it home and typed "easy to think of" report on blog.

About to hit the hay.

Good night!

The first swim meet!

I'm so proud of Max!

He swam in his first swim meet on Saturday. We have wanted to try out swim team for the last couple of years, but June is typically a very busy month for us. Our church Vacation Bible School is a week, and a Kennemer family trip to the beach is a week. So we already knew we'd miss half the season. But this year, we signed up anyway. And Saturday it all paid off....

Max has been to two of the first nine practices, but luckily for us, one of them was the breaststroke session. When it came time to sign up for swim team events at the first meet, we went for freestyle and breaststroke.

Max was so nervous before the meet started. Understandably since all those days we missed, the kids worked on swim meet skills, but he stuck it out. The first race, he was second from last -- but not last. I had told him just to make it across the pool, and I'd be happy. The second race, breaststroke, he dived in and he was doing it really well. Surprisingly well. His kicks and strokes were synced up, and he was leading the pack of 8 and unders. Then I noticed him stopping at breaths to look toward the other swimmers to see where he ranked, so number two started closing the gap. I think that was what cost Max the race, so it's an easy fix for next week. But most importantly, he was so happy when he finished that race. He was high fiving his teammates. It was really cool.

Our Church....

I am very lucky that my kids feel at home at our church.

We just wrapped up a week of Vacation Bible School. (I was the cooking class teacher)

My kids seem to really love VBS, they have a whole group of kids they know from church. Luckily for us, all those kids will attend the same middle school and high schools as my kids. So I can picture a time when my kids know not only the Elementary friends, but all these other friends that they can use to sit with in the lunch room, or sit next to in class.

It was a busy week, but they all spent time on the playground, taking the pressure off me to take them outside to play. It is really soupy and humid here these days.

We are a week away from Cousin Camp at Port A, another fun week of summer.

Sort of a boring post, but I was feeling guilty for not writing anything recently.

My Scrapbook

I'm not sure this merits a weblog posting, but I'm experiencing a bit of trauma today.

For, oh, about six months, our fridge has been making a clunk sound. It is when the compressor cycles on and off, and at first it was a smallish alarming clunk. Then over time, it grew to a louder alarming clunk. Then the it started going "clunk-clunk". We chose to ignore it, because for a while the appliances all started going out at the same time. So, while I had the stove repair guy in, I asked for a little free diagnosis on the clunk. He was pretty sure it would be a bad compressor.

So I finally called up Sears, took up their offer on a service contract before they came out, hedging my bets it was the end of the line for this unit, and sure enough we got the replacement fridge because the repair was more than $500. (NOTE: If you have a major appliance repair, take Sears up on the service contract, it has got to be losing them tons of money, but hey, if it's out there....)

Anyway, to today. I have to get the fridge ready to go away, and that involves removing all the stuff off our current fridge. And I got to thinking, that since I never have time to put a scrapbook together, that fridge is the record of our lives. It hasn't been stripped and cleaned since we got it, 6+ years ago, and I felt like an archaeologist peeling the layers of spelling tests, photographs, funny magnets, school notices, and everything else. I won't tell you how grimey the whole thing was on the doors, I probably should have cleaned it at least bi-annually.

Anyway, judge for yourself: our beloved fridge, before and after. Ouch.

Emma and Max: First Day/Last Day

Emma: Last Day of the year, with Mrs. Holloway

Emma: First Day of 4th grade

Max: Last day of school

Max: First Day of 2nd Grade

Last soccer game.

Max's Last Soccer Game of the Season

His coach, Joe, was the best we've ever had. He knew the game so well, and really had a positive attitude about teaching the kids. But more importantly he put sportsmanship first. Tonight we had a Wednesday night make up game, on the last school night of the year. Our whole team showed up, but only 5 of the other kids did. We were rotating kids in and out and their five (which dwindled to four) were absolutely worn out and losing 5-0 at the half.

Joe made it very clear how they must be feeling and though he always wanted our guys to do their best, that gloating and cheering wasn't the right thing. By the fourth quarter, he took them all aside and told them that it would be really nice to play for fun, and would any of the kids from our team like to help out the other team. Three of ours did and they all had a blast, it was very hard to tell which of our yellow jersey kids were playing for us or the other team, but the kids really didn't care, and no one took score anyway.

It really touched my heart to have my child coached that way.

Joey and Hugh on the last day of school.

Last Day

Joey and Hugh on the first day of school.
Last day photo will be posted as soon as I take it!

Today is the last day (barring unforseen circumstances!) that I will ever be the parent of a preschooler. Joey graduates from Good Shepherd School today, and after 7 years of volunteering, paying tuition, dropping off, picking up, and substitute teaching, I'm graduating too.

Every year, the final day is devoted to a chapel service where the kids sing their chapel songs, and it is always capped by the graduating Kindergarteners at the school singing a "thank you" song to the parents and teachers. For six years in a row, it has never failed to make me tear up, and that was when I knew that I'd be back in the fall. This year, all bets are off.

Any sadness is, of course, tempered with the knowledge that I have written my LAST TUITION PAYMENT UNTIL COLLEGE. So I'm not all sad.

Joey's best buddy, Hugh, is going to be in his Kindergarten class next year. He will be all set with our wonderful teacher/friend Mrs. Black. And next year the other two kids have awesome teachers. I've been looking forward to the 5th grade/3rd grade/Kinder year for years.

But I'm still taking the kleenix today.

whew.

I'm right back on the treadmill. Right now, I'm worried about an upcoming art sale in Dallas this Friday and Saturday. I'm making some very cool laminated paper purses. I had received one as a gift and when I got it I thought 1) cool!, 2) I can copy this! It will be easy and cute. However, after disecting how it was constructed and learning through trial and error, I'm about to pull my hair out! Someday I will be able to crank them out in a time efficient way, but I'm not there now.

So all the details in getting myself, my good buddy Robbin (also in the sale) and 2/3 of my kids up to Dallas, and setting up my booth by 6pm are a little overwhelming.

I'm also worrying about what I'll do next year for a job. I wish I had a year of just catching my breath. All three kids will be in school, all day. My excuses are just about used up, and if we want to add on to the house, I'm going to have to pitch in. So I'm worrying about jobs, and options, and how many hours to work.

What I'm peaceful about is all the fun I've had with friends lately. I got taken out to lunch by my Godmother and another of my mom's friends yesterday, a birthday lunch. And I get to go to lunch next Monday with my girls from Fort Worth. Can't wait. Seeing my family this weekend in Fort Worth. Last Girl Scout meeting on Thursday, then I'm done until September, yippee. One more volunteer obligation at Bryker Woods next week and then that's all done.

Then it's summer. And I'm not going to work. I'm just going to relax and do fun stuff with the kids. I want to try to be in the moment. Not worrying about stuff... I can't wait.

And I'm very peaceful about next school year which will be here before I know it, just like always, and my kids with three awesome teachers next year. Two that we've had before and one of the two wonderful 5th grade teachers, either of which I'd be very happy to have for Emma.

So if I can make it through the weekend, it is all good.

My Hands Are Bananas

Keep the monkeys away from your hands....

forty two

A good old normal day for celebrating.

Max's soccer game was moved from Saturday to Sunday, so we had nothing on the schedule. I got to wake up whenever, stay in the PJs, and read the whole paper. David and Emma made waffles, later Emma and I went tooting around town, to the Farmer's Market then Central Market and the Stationary store. Then tonight, our favorite sitter came over so David and I could go out to eat. We went to Mrs. B's which has New Orleans/Homestyle cooking.

I got a homemade card from each of the kids, and Max's had each digit from one to forty two written out, a cake with 42 candles, 42 stars, 42 balloons, the equasion 4x10+2=42, just to drive home the point that he thinks I've reached a really big number.

It was a really fun day and I'm very content with my life these days.

I also want to send out a big birthday hug to my little sis. Happy Birthday Julie, you ultimately turned out to be my best birthday gift.

Happy me

I am the luckiest girl I know.

I asked my best buddies to meet me for a girls night out, so I could be thankful for the people I've had in my life this last year. And they surprised me with a surprise party.

I love them (even the ones who were absent!)

My life really gets better each year, and I am very fortunate to have such wonderful friends who make me enjoy my life and laugh so hard.

Chocolate Cake, Blue Bell and a cold Margarita.....yummy!

Queen Verde holds court

A first, close to a sad last...

It has just occured to me that my life is about to take a big change.

I've been fully aware (for years) that next year will change my life. All three kids will finally be in public school, at the same school. I have been looking forward to this because they will all go for full days. I have been looking forward to this because this week I write MY LAST TUITION PAYMENT until college (!!!!!) And I look forward to it because my volunteer efforts, formerly spread between two schools will now firmly reside under one roof. Instead of being a mom who does a bit here and a bit there, without anyone knowing that I've overextended, it all happens under one roof. I see this as a way to cut back, and no one's the wiser.

But just this week, I realized the price for the change. I get to spend a significant amount of time with my little sidekick, Joey. I've been picking him up earlier than the other kids for years, and yesterday, like many, many other days that generally cause me frustration, he had a day off from school that did not coincide with the AISD schedule.

He and I kicked around the house in our PJs, and eventually got dressed to run some errands. By 1:45, while hopping from store to store, I realized we hadn't eaten lunch. The choices, in Joey's eyes, were McDonald's or McDonald's. I hate the smell of McD's and the way my skin feels instantly oily when I walk through the door. So I thought on my feet and offered an inventive alternative..... Chuck E Cheese's!

Let me state for the record, that I have NEVER advocated going there. I hate that place. I have attended so many birthday parties up there and it is just yukky. Very corporate-branded, very loud, very mediocre food, but very NOT McDonald's. But, I was pretty sure they had a salad bar, and you can't mess up pizza, and I am getting so sentimental about my special time with Joey coming to a close. I thought I'd be a great mom for that offer.

Of course, once I got inside, I saw three moms I know from Joey's pre-school (snooty West Austin school) and now they would think I hang out here all the time. Eventually they came over to talk to me, and the conversation started with me explaining I would never choose Chuck E's for lunch but was up North and out of time and options. They countered that they had never chosen to host a birthday party there, and of course they hate the place too. Joey pipes up and says that he hates it, because he only likes McDonald's. Oh well.

So in the end, he and I had a sliver of time to play a video game together. And we had a sketch done at the booth that takes photos and makes them look hand drawn. The lighting is always such that I look quite good in the final image. David says it is because the lighting doesn't show wrinkles. And I have a nice momento of one of my last days to play with Joey while the big kids are away.

My latest letter to the editor.....

Dear Editor:

When our American-Statesman was delivered on April 17 , it was arranged so that the top half of page A1 (first-day coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting) and the bottom half of Life & Arts (a feature on the movie "Hot Fuzz") were the first two things you saw when you flipped the paper over.

The image of the gun-toting Simon Pegg from the movie "Hot Fuzz," with a caption that says "irony is not lost on American audiences," is particularly apt today. It's ironic that newspapers that flash images of men with multiple automatic weapons in the entertainment section will produce splashy front-page coverage when our latest national gun rampage tragedy strikes.

I know all about the argument that guns don't kill, people do, but feeding our society graphically violent images surely has an effect, as well.

KATHY GENET

Austin

Statesman's photo caption from today's letters to the editor page:
The violence at Virginia Tech dominated the cover of the American-Statesman on April 17. If subscribers holding the entire edition of that day's paper flipped it over, they were met with a photo of actor Simon Pegg, armed to the hilt for his role as a cop in the movie 'Hot Fuzz.' The movie was featured in Life & Arts that day.


They even responded to me (and another reader whose letter got published with the same general gripe that I had):

Editor's reply

I certainly understand how readers could have been disturbed by the image of an armed policeman from the movie "Hot Fuzz" in light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech on April 16.

In hindsight, we should have pulled the page back at the last minute and replaced the photo, but further complicating matters was the fact that April 16 was our department's first day using a new computer system, so it was quite a hectic day for us as we learned how to do our jobs in a new way.

This slipped by us, and we do apologize.

Kathy Blackwell

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for such a nice treat. Julie, mom and I got to enjoy a fun evening out together eating the best chicken fried steak and seeing Wicked. I was so happy to see it, since there were no tickets to be had during my New York trip. When Mom told me about the show coming to Dallas Fair Park, I was very excited, and the show was worth the anticipation.

I loved it!

Chris Bell would have been my favorite governor.

I am on various political mailing lists and what is becoming my absolute favorite is a group called Faith in Texas. Chris Bell (or someone in his office) writes essays about different legisation pending in the Texas Capitol Building. Today, I got a wonderfully thoughtful piece about the Marriage Counselling Bill.... I'm reprinting the whole thing because it sums my views up perfectly:

The hidden agenda in marriage proposals
By Chris Bell
The Examiner, Friday, April 20, 2007

All divorcees really needed was a little classroom instruction. Who knew? Apparently, the Republicans, and now they're taking action. Under their proposed legislation, Texas couples who take an eight-hour course in conflict management and communication skills will get their marriage licenses for free while the uneducated will see their license fees doubled to $60.

The goal of the bill is to reduce the need for poverty programs by lowering the divorce rate. It's part of the Texas Conservative Coalition's agenda which also includes lengthening the waiting period before a no-fault divorce can be finalized.

The proposed legislation is painfully simplistic and represents a shallowness of thought that's somewhat breathtaking even for the far right. While marriage counseling is highly advisable and required by many churches before a ceremony will be performed, it's hardly any type of guarantee of a solid union.

A class might offer couples some ideas and skills to draw upon when the going gets tough, but to pretend that's going to result in a greatly reduced poverty rate is pure fantasy.

The bill assumes that it's divorce that could lead someone into poverty, while completely overlooking the fact that perhaps poverty had a large hand in the marital strife to begin with. Nothing causes bigger problems in a marriage than financial challenges, but instead of a willingness to invest in programs that could possibly give people a leg up and provide access to the tools and resources they need to get ahead, the stated goal is to be able to cut back on those very programs in the future.

When will the far right learn that fixing what ails us in Texas is neither simple nor inexpensive? We have one of the highest poverty rates in the entire country. That's not the least bit surprising when one considers the fact that we also have the highest dropout rate.

Education is the only proven poverty prevention program in the world. However, instead of making the necessary investment in public schools and doing everything we can to make sure that young people will have that key to unlock a bright future, we continue to put Band-Aids on gaping wounds and allow the far right to cloud the discussion with ideas like required marriage counseling.

We're fooling ourselves by continuing to take the magic wand approach to governing: A simple change here and a simple change there and poof n the glory days of Texas are back! But we didn't get in the position of competing for last place overnight, and there is no quick fix. We have seen years of conscious indifference to the less fortunate in our state.

Now people are waking up to the fact that it's not just somebody else's problem; poverty comes with a high price tag for us all. We need to take a serious approach to eradicating it. Required marriage counseling is far from a serious approach. In fact, it's borderline ridiculous.

Here is last week's essay about teaching the bible in public school:

Touchy issue of teaching the Bible
By Chris Bell
The Examiner, Friday, April 13, 2007

I wish Warren Chisum was Jewish. Or some other religion. Or maybe just not such a zealot. Then I could possibly have some faith that he's well intentioned. But there's just something about a right-wing Christian Republican representative from Pampa who has been the driving force behind so many far right initiatives in recent years proposing that the Bible be required teaching in public high schools that touches a nerve.

Taken at face value, I have no problem with the proposal. The Bible is fascinating, and there's no question that young people, regardless of faith, could gain much by knowing more about it. I know that from personal experience. However, ironically, the person who taught me the most about the Bible was Jewish.

I had the privilege of visiting Israel a few years ago, and the gentleman who served as our tour guide was a Biblical scholar. Being in that special place with someone who knew so much caused the Bible to come alive.

My concern is not over the separation of church and state. I'm cynical enough to believe the very reason Rep. Chisum is making his proposal is because he would like to see exactly what concerns the critics: Bible courses not designed to educate about the history contained therein but, rather, courses that will attempt to convert students to Christianity. That's called proselytizing, and it has no place in our public school system.

We've already seen what can happen. More than 20 high schools in Texas currently offer Bible courses. The Texas Freedom Network, a nonpartisan group of community and religious leaders which serves as somewhat of a watchdog over the religious right, did a study of those courses and found only three were really sticking to a truly educational format.

One district reportedly went so far as to offer a PowerPoint presentation titled "God's Roadway for Your Life" with slides proclaiming, "Jesus Christ is the one and only way."

Just as in government, being in the religious majority calls for a certain level of responsibility, including respect for the views of others. Some are worried about the lawsuits that could be spawned by Chisum's legislation if passed. And while I'm sure there would be a lot, that's the least of my worries. I'm more concerned by the opportunity the legislation would create to trample on the beliefs and feelings of others.

Imagine how a non-Christian might feel attending or even just hearing about the "God's Roadway for Your Life" presentation. Years ago, I attended a local Jewish organization's luncheon. The blessing was said in Hebrew. I understood none of it, and I felt somewhat out of place. As we sat down, a member of the organization said it should have been said in English as well. Former State Representative Paul Colbert, who is Jewish and extraordinarily bright, was also at the table. He said, "No — that was the whole point." I've never forgotten it.

Needless to say, Warren Chisum wasn't at the table.

You can sign up for these essays here:
http://www.examinernews.com/articles/2007/04/19/opinions/chris_bell/chris01.txt

Best....Spring.....Ever!

OK, am I the only person who is amazed at the wonderful, prolonged Spring we are having this year? Usually, it lasts one week and we are right into Summer, but this year, ooohhh la la. Prettier flowers than ever (the bluebonnets on the way to Possum Kingdom Lake last week were amazing), frequent rain keeping things gloriously green, and the weather so nice and cool. I just smile all the time now.

And it is my favorite time of year, because things are just falling off my job list. Wednesday I pulled off the last of my monthly teachers' luncheons at the kids' school. I help each grade level pull together a pot luck on the third Wednesday of the month. April was Kindergarten's turn, and after some sweating it out, they really came through. So that little task is done until August. Had a fairly successful Girl Scout meeting yesterday, only two to go, yippee.

My birthday/anniversary weekend is coming up on May 5/6. Can't wait, although that weekend is so full of events, I'm not sure if David and I can break away for a meal out, which is really the only thing I can think of that I need. (really need a date!) I could use a sleeping bag this year, a grown up sleeping bag, since I still use the one I got in 2nd grade and last weekend it was cold! And some running shoes, so I guess I do need a few things. We are throwing a baby shower May 6, for my assistant troop leader who is both pregnant and moving her family to Norway in early June, so in the big scheme of things I don't need anything at all compared to her.

And finally, today specifically is the perfect Spring day because it is looking so lovely outside, and Joey got a playdate for after school that should last until after 4pm. Max has soccer until after 4, and I don't pick up Emma until around 3. A whole day..... and Robbin's doing art at home today and invited me over, and tomorrow I head up to Fort Worth to see the musical Wicked with my mom and sister, as an early birthday gift.

Perfect, perfect, perfect Spring! I'll have to file this away for when I'm drowning in the humid heat of mid summer.

Art Camp was Fun

I had a great weekend.

Robbin took Connie and me to her old YMCA summer camp west of Fort Worth at Possum Kingdom Lake. We had a job to do, get a kiln in the art shack up and running, and in exchange we got to use a cabin for free for the weekend.

Robbin showed us all around her girlhood camp. And we had a beautiful, relaxing weekend of f-u-n!


My two comrades in Art (and fun) Connie and Robbin. We stopped en route to Camp Grady Spruce at this lovely garden shop.

Road Trip food in Lampasas!

Art Central, we devoted the cabin's downstairs area to our workshop, and the upstairs to sleeping.

My joyful little houses..

This is my rifle
This is my gun
One is for shooting
One is for fun.

When I told David we shot guns at camp, he corrected me with the poem he learned at Friday Mountain Boys Camp.

Leaving for Camp

I have the best husband in the world. After being gone only a month ago on my girlfriend trip to Waco, he's letting me loose again. This trip was sort of a last minute plan, cooked up by my crazy art producing friend Robbin.

She used to attend a YMCA camp west of Fort Worth as a kid. Today she is a fundraiser for the camp, so she has secured a cabin and an art kiln for the weekend. I'm heading up in about an hour with Robbin, friend Connie, margarita mixings, blender, swimsuit, art projects, books for a fun weekend.

I feel a little more guilty than I did leaving town with the high school friends. Probably because the two trips are a little close together, however I don't think the kids suffer nearly as much as I imagine when I am gone.

I'm hoping to give David a free weekend pretty soon. He deserves it.

Photos when I return!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful day. A dear friend surprised us by bringing the kids Easter Bunny biscuits right after we woke up. (shaped like Easter Bunnies, not made with Easter Bunny meat) That simple gesture was the only thing that got us to church on time today.

We had an egg hunt and service at church where we sang the Handel's Hallelujah Chorus off the cuff and very loud!

I had the added bonus of not having any trouble saving seats for the five of us, which made me happy...

On the way home, David realized he needed to put gas in the car, so he dropped me off at the house to change shoes (wink, wink) while he took his sweet time with the kids.
I made sure the Easter Bunny got all the eggs hid.

This slight of hand takes me straight back to my childhood every year. We had a Sunday routine when I was little. We went to church in Arlington, and on the way home was a Buddies Supermarket. Every week, every single week, we would stop on the way home for mom to pick up milk and stuff, and we would look at the Mad magazines and Wacky Packs and blow our allowance before heading home. On Easter Sunday, strangely enough, we would make the trip straight back home (good idea to me). But Dad would only drop off mom and THEN drive back to the grocery store to get milk. Were Mom and Dad crazy? I still recall the feelings of frustration that my parents could pick the absolute worst day of the year to mess up the routine.

Then one year it finally occurred to me that the Easter Bunny's handwriting looked exactly like Mom's, AND we had the mixed up morning errands... well, that did it.

So, I've been very careful never to reveal the Easter Bunny's handwriting and our Easter Bunny has started putting loose change (one coin per egg) out as a treat, so my kids are inclined to buy in for a couple more years.... I hope.

12 cents! Yippee!

Then, my mother in law came over to celebrate Easter and her birthday with a big ham dinner, cake, pie and relaxing. It was a fun day....

Happy Easter!

Just when the weather is perfect.
The trees start shedding all their pollen.
And I'm too stuffed up to enjoy it.
I feel rotten.

But the weather is glorious.

That's why I haven't posted lately...
sniff, sniff....