LESSONS FROM THE POP

Be nice every day

Have the humility to serve the servant and the confidence to dine with the king

**and put your foot down to catch your fall

**hmmmm...that's a pretty good one Poppy!

ROLL CALL

Ikat pillows from Uzbekistan
HERE!

Comfy white sofa with nail heads

HERE!

Playful peacock fabric coffee table

HERE!

Angels, owls and candles

HERE!

Room coming together
HERE!

Mahogany wine tower ordered in February

HERE!  Friday or else!

Taped up photo of wine tower to give hope

HERE!

First shipment of wine from new wine club

HERE!

O yow!

BOULDER THAN LIFE

This week my sister friends each sent a daughter to college.  One the first and one the last.  So did I.  Mine graduated and will now move on to her master program.

On her way back from Boulder, my brother's wife planned to stop by for a visit.  After I had not heard from her all week, I assumed she had changed her mind or forgotten she'd planned on doing it in the first place.   She leads a very busy city life and this would not surprise me.

She texted me to say she was leaving Boulder and would be at my house by 9.  I was delighted and we spent 2 great days together laughing with no silence of either of our voices.

We:

talked, snacked, laughed, played a joke on our brother, ustreamed a hometown parade, watched the owl box, called our other sisters, busted in on peep's house to have wine by her pond, drove to Perryton to get cheese, ate at the DQ, toured the house, watched a little tv and talked and talked and talked.

We most certainly got deep in the Bombay!

She is precious and makes me laugh.  She is from Matador and her family names are like a crazy book, (by the way, she is re-reading Atlus Shrugged.)

Bundy (her dad)

Aunt Dude (who is gay and in the cowgirl hall of fame)

Aunt Briggs

Paka and Pepper

Coke (who died at 35) and there are more that I can't remember.

She talks about them as if I'd known them as long has she has.  She doesn't say, my cousin Paka...she just says Paka....or Coke...or Aunt Dude.

When she left, she came back because she had forgotten her sunglasses.  After she found them she did not realize that she had also forgotten (which I found later) her shoes and the power cord to her IPad. And who knows what I might come across later.

I count myself so very lucky that I not only love my sister, but I love my brother's wives.  We have all been together a very long time.

As she drove off and I watched her until I couldn't see her anymore, I felt sad and I felt like I was a woman on the prairie whose sister had driven a long trail to come see me, untied her bonnet, stepped into my house and entertained me for a few days and then left.

I am lucky to know her and I can't wait to see her again. 

THE POWER OF BODY LANGUAGE

I am sitting here in plain sight at my computer...and yes P.O.

Why?  Well....for the past month we have "taken a rest" from all the construction as we have given ourselves time to:

1.  Graduate peep from college (long trip)

2.  Move peep to new college (not so long Yay!)

3.  Do a few details ourselves which we are not half bad at

4.  Enjoy a few things that we have accomplished

And they are back!

In the past weeks we have plumbed a bathroom, wired a bathroom and are now sheetrocking a bathroom that was gutted to the studs. 

Sheetrocking this 8x10 has taken nearly 3 days.  Why you ask? 

I. DO.NOT.KNOW.

I think I could have done it by now.  And I'm short.

So...I am sitting here in plain sight...did I already say that?..yes I believe I did...and I overhear Man 1 say,

"I'm done...this lady here is pissed off and he is worthless and lazy and I'm leaving.  I'm sick of Man 2."

OK...so what did I DO??

Am I typing meanly?  Am I not saying "bless you" to the sneezes?  Does my back straighten and my jaw clench when I see Man 2 lean against my unfinished wall and watch Man 1 hammer?

Ok...now they are singing some Spanish song...I think they might have been joking.

Booger...I was hoping that jaw clenching was getting me somewhere!

CHI OMEGA

For the life of me I cannot figure what is UP with the owls?  They are everywhere...Urban Outfitters, Hobby Lobby, World Market, YouTube, around my neck and even in my backyard in my trees.

First came the owl in the trees and then peep bought me and her this necklace which I wear often.  Never thought I would turn into a jewelry theme person, but I kind of have.

Lately the owls seem to pop up everywhere!  So much so that I even looked online to see if it was the Chinese Year of the Owl...nope Rabbit.

One cannot go to A&M without visiting the famous Dixie Chicken...beer and burgers and that's it...beer...and beer...but next door is this tiny little place made only for shots...a shot bar...which is very strict, says the bouncer, on I.D.ing.

I don't have my I.D.  I am obviously 50 but he will not let me in, which matters not as I am not taking a shot to save my life...I have graduation at 9 AM.  Yet I (more than once) show him my owl necklace as if it is some sort of identification on a lariat.  Nope...he does not let me in.  I show him again...and again...all my peeps are crowded around and I am hearing "Slippery Buttery Nipples", "YagerMisters" and "Pissed off Japanese Minnow Farmers"...

"Please"?...he walks to the shot tender and comes back and lets me in...in my imagination he says, "see that old nutty lady?  She keeps showing me her owl.  And the shot tender feels pity and says..."let her in!"

So...my owl necklace has afforded me the luxury of some sort of identity and moved me to the front of the line to the shot bar.  Fun.

When I walk back into the Chicken, I once more show my owl necklace and a girl says to me...

"Are you Chi Omega?"

Chi Omega?  I'm guessing she means Alumni Chi Omega.

Nope...just a kookoo bird with an owl necklace.  That rocks!

WHOOP!

I just simply cannot believe it...my baby peep is a college grad...in 3 years...at a hard school...and on her way to more...at a rival school...much closer to home...yay!

She made sure we could see her from a distance and looking on her from up above

She was so tiny in the arena and her big wave up to us reminded me of when she was in grade school and got to hold the flag during the opening ceremony of the track meet...she almost dropped the flag trying to wave to us in the stands...we were so proud!

and like proud hicks from the sticks...her entire fan club stood and waved back

and the ceremony was really about as long and short as her years at A&M...it flew by

and the humidity...well...it just cracked me up...tougher on some!

and as we drove the streets of her town...I got a little sentimental.  These are the streets she drove and the buildings she passed and the direction she was heading when she called me all those times when she was bummed, excited about a class, missing her boyfriend, or homesick.  And now those days are gone.

It seems like yesterday, but it seems like yesterday that she was 5 and today...she is an Aggie Alum through and through and a bride to be. 

Grab that diploma baby peep...and live life!  IT.IS.YOURS!

AND SPEAKING OF THE TIGER

Why is it that you are only a sex addict if you are having sex with someone besides your wife?

If you are a sex addict and keep it home, do monogamy a favor and send a press release about yourself.

It could be bigger news than you know!

ITSY BITSY SPIDER

10 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED THIS SUMMER

As the summer draws to a close for some, I find myself caught up in the reflection of its ending.  The corn is past, the days grow short and another season is around the corner.  What have I learned this summer?

1.  Orange is worth repeating

2.  Sobriety is best appreciated at 7 AM

3.  Barnabas is most likely the author of Hebrews, but we may never know as he forgot to sign it

4.  Dreams really do come true

5.  The happines and sadness of your friends and family belong to you....happy is better

6.  Tiger Woods is shotgun on the karma bus

7.  Flex pipe is the new galvanized pipe.  Replace your pipes you people!

8.  Flex pipe has not been time tested.  Replace with caution!

9.  Sometimes a gut punch that leaves you breathless lurks just around the corner.  So choose to live while you're living.

10.  Bryan-College Station is very very far from Spearman Texas and there are many more "D" names at college graduation than highschool.

OK.....12....I have learned 12 for sure...maybe more, but I will stop at 12 so not to bore you.

11.  Passports expire and cannot be renewed at Hansford County Clerk's office anymore.  Plan Ahea
d

12.  Marigold pie?...well....it's just the best!  And my new favorite pie!

BARKLEY STREET OWLS

Meet the newest family born this spring.  They began (besides eggs) as tiny white fluffs barely peeking over the crook of the tree.  In a few short weeks they could no longer be hidden.

Owls mate for life and live many many years.  The owls have delivered 4 sets of offspring  in this tree located near our house.  For weeks we could hear the parents hooting in our tallest tree around 3 each morning.  We were able to finally understand why when we realized the nest was not big enough for them all.

http://twistedsifter.com/2010/08/10-facts-about-owls/

And now in just the past few weeks we have seen this one in our trees.  We believe he is an offspring because despite how large he looks, he is just an adolescent and more than likely one that hatched this spring coming back to his familiar home.

http://birding.about.com/od/birdprofiles/a/20-Fun-Facts-About-Owls.htm


After googling owl facts, I came upon a live feed of some barn owls.
http://www.ustream.tv/theowlbox
I sent the link to hub and this was his reply: "so that is a live feed and you just sit there and watch the owls all day??? "
My answer:  "well....if you don't have anything else to do...I've watched it quite a bit"
but...let's remember...my job is at a computer...so don't get the idea that I'm just sitting here watching an owl sleep.

Man I love rural life! And watching live owl streams beats posting press releases all day long!

VIOLIN LESSONS RAH RAH

So....mom says....I don't want her to be a cheerleader.  My dream for her is to lean more toward the arts.

She is left handed and walked into the living room today and picked up her mom's violin and knew exactly how to hold it. 

She has been coloring inside the lines with design for a year.

She has memorized the words to many books and movies.

But her babysitter is a cheerleader and today is cheer camp

And how in the world could you resist being cheered on by this little happy face?

My advice? 

DO

IT

ALL

my dream...we will play the cello and violin together...before or after Friday night football

POPPY'S BEAUTY SHOP

What a difference a year can make.  Poppy's Beauty Shop used to mean a fun warm bath, lots of water toys, a warm towel (fresh from the dryer) to snuggle in to, pink baby lotion, Nestle Hair Tonic, baby powder, special lotion for special cheeks that tended to chap, warm cozy jammies and a story about Repunzel.

Today, Poppy is the one sitting in the chair with fingers and toes painted, inlcuding nails, in the color of the day which so happens to be silver...today.

Today, silver is I.T.

DEAR SOFA EVENT DAY

You were an extravaganza.  And a disapointment. 

Why can't a great looking quality sofa cost less than $6000?  And why can't a less than quality sofa look like $3000?

All I'm asking for is something in the middle.

But...I will not give up.  I chose a sofa, the pillows are what sold me, but just after that and while I was still thinking of you, I was informed I needed to re-plumb my downstairs bathroom to get rid of all the old galvanized pipe.  Which I disagree with as it has been here, working just fine since at least the 1970s.

Hmmmm....sofa? pipes?

Wish my vote counted.

WELCOME

on the outside

on the inside

Cleaners:  walk on in no need to ring

Friends:  FYI

To the Tree Spray Salesmen of the world...

yes my car is home, no I didn't hear the doorbell ring, no don't peek inside the door and come on in, no don't get out your ladder and look in my windows...they are too high and your ladder might tip over.  If I am at the right place at the right time and happen to see your car and am in a place where I can get off my ladder to visit with you, I will open the door.

But this doorbell is just like my phone...it is for my convenience to decide who I let into my world.

I think it's kinda cute and might just leave it like this!