WHAT A DIFFERENCE

One day, a few good men, absent one with an opinion and 4 ice cold beers makes. 

Seriously.

BEFORE:

No wonder the HPO has suffered

Not quite the "AFTER"  I'm looking for but getting close!

WHERE ARE MY BADGES?

In a recent conversation with bff and fellow girl scout, I vowed to myself to find one of the few photos taken of me.

I'm pretty sure this photo was taken of me by my sister with my Brownie camera that I got for Christmas when I was a Brownie.

This outfit I got for Christmas when I was graduated to being a girl scout.

It's the kind of present you get when you're one of five children from a modest income family. If I remember correctly, I was very excited to have my whole outfit and ready to earn my badges to fill that sash!


My kids would cringe if they got something like this for Christmas.  Kind of like the old "I walked to school 2 miles in the snow...barefoot"...(dad). 

Not quite like an Ipod or a few new outfits from Old Navy...but to me...it was the B.E.S.T.

And if my legs were still this skinny I would:

1.  Rejoice
2.  Turn a cartwheel
3.  Wear black tights
4.  Stand in a different pose

Thanks girl scout friend for making me find this picture of me so I could be reminded of when I was so happy to be part of the Juliette Gordon Lowe crowd...and proud of it!

Wish I hadn't of eaten all those cookies!

THE BOYS ARE BACK

That is...the bees are back.

Last summer while in the process of purchasing 822...we came across a huge beehive that had been there for over 4 years...so Jason the Bee Man told us.

The wild bees went along with my dream of having bees and making lavendar honey.  Such a happy dream.

I was really sad to see Jason the Bee Man wrap up my wild hive and take it to Mobeetie.  He assured me when we got ready, he would bring me a queen and set me up with a domestic hive.  But they couldn't wait...or some of them couldn't ...or new ones couldn't...because they have found a new place to live...or new ones have found a new place to live.

They are right....we have a honey of a place to dwell...for birds and bees and flowers and trees, the moon up above and yes....a thing called love.

Thank goodness A&M peep took a bee class her last semester of college.  She tried to sell me her books, but I reminded her that I had purchased them brand new and well....I traded her an Old Navy dress..nwt.

Guess that lavendar honey isn't going to be so far in the future after all.  Hope someone gets me a bee suit for my birthday.

MY BACKYARD IS

Pretty fancy!

SPECIAL ALRIGHT

Today.


This was in my stack of mail.
My current bible study is about the challenges, failures, but victories of David.
And mostly the mercy of God.

As usual, at just the perfect moment, I looked at this photo.

Take a moment to look at each and every face, but more importantly the body language captured within the photo.

Whoa!

Those precious souls who we might believe to be challenged or failures in this life are one of the best examples I can imagine to illustrate the victory and mercy of God.

It would be my prayer for myself...to be more like them.

They are close to the heavens and shine with simple unsullied be happy attitudes!

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

BE THE BALL

As I prepare to participate in our very first golf tournament of the season, I realize more than anything...

it's a mental game.

Thank goodness my golf buddy is not only an alligator whisperer, but he is also one fine driver, chipper and putter.

Be aware all you opponents!

AGGIE THROUGH AND THROUGH--GO RAIDERS!

3 years at Texas A&M to graduate....lots of happy folks in this proud family!

Off to Texas Tech (really?) for a Masters!

NO WIN

Los Angeles Times reporters Ruben Vives, right, and Jeff Gottlieb celebrate after learning that the paper had been awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for stories about corruption in the city of Bell, Calif. (photo by Katie Falkenberg)

I found out the hard way. 

I was getting the feeling that any moment the Pulitzer Prize committee would be calling me to let me know that I'd won in the category of "online breaking news coverage using other means of reporting"....

I even had the secret hope that the recent Washington DC trip was planned not for a banker's legislative blitz, but rather a surprise for me to receive my award at the annual luncheon.

Hubby does things like that.

The intrigue was too great....so I looked online and this photo of a celebration cut like a knife!

While there was not a winner selected in my category, which was of some comfort, I couldn't help but feel slightly dejected that I had not won and no one bothered to tell me.

It's kind of like the feeling when you're living with random electricity (aka a few necessary plugs) for months and you drive by and see YOUR electrician at the new house being built.

Like. A. Knife.

Booger!

METRO LIFE PLANNER

Do you  know where you're going?

Is your life marked with an X that says "YOU ARE HERE"?

Sometimes...we know right where we want to be and get on the metro and go right there.

Sometimes we are so busy planning and looking and studying that we just get on the train and just go where we're supposed to be.

B.O.R.I.N.G.

I find it rather fun to know where I'm supposed to be only...I mess up...and I get off the train at the wrong time and discover I'm not where I'm supposed to be but instead a very cool place.

If you don't wander off in the wrong direction from time to time...you might never discover things like the two story Safeway in L'Enfante or have a chance to purchase an appropriate compass necklace at Outfitters in Foggy Bottom.

Or.

Eat shrimp tacos with a fine mojito...just on the edge of Chinatown.

DEAR POTTERY BARN CATALOG

http://www.potterybarn.com/

I love you.  I am obsessed with your glossy pages and incredible vignettes.

If my sister and I were looking at you like we used to look at the Sears catalog in the back seat of the car...and I got what was on the left and she got what was on the right...(green + belong to me!)

I would never be disappointed.

I love everything in you.

I love the way you smell.

I love the way you feel in my hands.

I love the way you are with me where.ever. I. go.

I love the way your name appears on my credit card....we have a good thing going on here PBC...

Keep up the good work!

THANK YOU CARLOS

For saying in a song what I don't have the guts to say to Eddy face to face....

My house is dark and my pots are cold

 You're hanging round...Eddy...with Hansford Feed Yard...baby....

 I'm getting tired of waiting and freezin in the dark...

 A light bulb that doesn't work makes me feel like a clown....

 This can't go on....

Eddy....come back....I miss you Eddy!

THOU SHALT NOT COVET

But I just can’t help it.

I love stuff and I am constantly seduced by floral chintz and the latest issue of Pottery Barn.

Let me just say…it’s been a long winter. A long winter of intermittent no heat, no water, no kitchen sink, and all my stuff stacked in the garage and/or other bedrooms getting covered with a new dusting of whatever is falling from above that day.

But as I have nestled in front of my hearth with only my simple needs….(a comfy chair, a warm blanket, a good book or two, my bible study, a nice glass of wine…in front of a blazing fire and football)….I realize that I can and enjoy living without much fuss. Or stuff.

In fact, maybe I have discovered who I really am and want to be more of.

I want to grow my own vegetables and hang them on my wall to eat the next day, I want to feed the backyard creatures and walk inside with a butterfly on my jeans.

And then…and then…..the earth tilts…the dreary winter is coming to an end….the cabinets are in, the flooring is in, the china cabinet is in…and the Pottery Barn catalog is in…and I am seduced all over again.

I want I want I want I want…the mercury lights would look so good in our new kitchen. And that lumbar pillow with a hand painted ocean floor is just the right shade of blue. And how am I expected to live without that cute little basket that holds your spoons?

So…here I go again…maybe I can have a spectacular garage sale on the porch and make enough money to buy this cute little mirror that needs to have these to die for candles sitting near!

I STILL DO

It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but right down the middle is a split.  Where I cut it in half one day.  And then...we changed our minds and so I taped us back together with gray duct tape.

Funny thing...that taped together tear is probably the strongest part of this picture.

Start each day with gratitude and compassion for each other, and unconditional love will follow. Believe in each other, support each other's dreams.  Remember to dream together too.  Always give more than you think the other needs.  Say "I love you" and "thank you" every day.  Trust, respect and appreciate each other.  Be spontaneous, be fun, be romantic.  Stand together, but let there be space in your togetherness.  Know when to listen, to talk, to let your heart feel.  Apologize.  Forgive and forget.  Work together.  Play together.  Pray together.  Allow God to be your foundation.  You have been chosen for each other.  It is HIS plan.  With each passing year you will grow closer together, drawing strength from one another.  And you will become one.  You will be blessed with great happiness in life to love and be loved.

Bonnie L. Mohr