THE MEN WHO ROCK MY WORLD

Men are complicated.  And quite frankly one is enough, but my life is rifled filled with men who absoltuely keep me on a roller coaster of highs and lows.  Let me introduce you to the men who rock my world.

 Complicated as they are, without them, my life would be mundane....really...

At the risk of playing favorites, I will introduce to you my snips and snails and puppy-dog tails alphabetically

ARCHIE:  cement conractor, old friend, tall and skinny.  My foundation... literally...and responsible for making my dream of a curvy sidewalk come true!

B: can you say hubby best friend? Favorite.  He used to my my lover, but these days we are both too tired and sore and fall into bed at night just after dusk and/or Wheel of Fortune.  We share: an aspirin bottle, some tools and a huge vision of our old rock house.  Not to worry, our hands romantically touch as we vie for the remote during insomniatic Law and Order/Property Virgin episodes at 3 am.

CHAD: excontractor extraordinaire only because he got a real job.  He used to drive me crazy but now I do what I like to call "kiss his butt" to get on the list of his increcible talent that 822 so needs.  Not just anyone gets to be on his list since he makes great money in the oilfield and only does this kind of work as a hobby.  This lucky list is short but determined!

CHARLES: #1 son.  He sends me photos of his mimosas, his breakfast, his cucumbers, his roses and  Mission Control Center with the text...Houston, there is not a problem.  He HeyTells me his cardinals singing in his yard.  He has been rocking my world since 1984! And I adore him!

CHARLES:  contractor, Mayor Pro Tem, Citizen of the Year.  Love/HateNot Love

I am always somewhere in between the emotion of warm and fuzzy to pinching his head off between my thumb and forefinger.  I will enjoy what he brings to my life for a very very long time! This photo clearly shows the feelings are mutual.  Love ya Charles!  Where are you?

CHARLES: golf buddy and bff's hubby who had the audacity to die young and leave us all in a state of shock that may never go away...talk about a bad rocking of the world...not over it yet!

COACH BEEN:  the man who is responsible for making baby bo peep the happiest little lady in the world..these days he's pretty far up there on my FAV list

EDDY:  See Kyle.  Kyle may have the license but Eddy has the black tape...in his pocket... along with my heart...he's some kind of cool leaning on my door jam like that

FRANK: carpet man turned felon.. gone to prison for drug dealing.  Why Frank WHY????  You were the best there was and I have at least 2000 more square feet of flooring..could you not have waited until after that to score in the Lowe's parking lot and go down to the low?  

JUSTIN: Peep's ex husband Betty Baby Daddy

JUSTIN: Peep's ex boss helping keep Austin weird

JUSTIN: Peep's co land man baby daddy of #4 by Friday (Catholic)..

(now that's complicated).  They only rock my world vicariously btw

KYLE: Younger than me in school---I never dreamed he would rewire my house someday.  Please see Love/Not Love reference to #2 Charles as I am still lighting my imported Italian stove with a match.....something about a ground wire.  I'd like to give him a wedgie or something immature like that.

TOBE:  In the game of landscaping and Hungry Cowyboy char-burgers...he is the best there is and 

worth the wait!

These men are professional bankers, contractors, city councilmen, land men, licensed professionals, criminals and even a mayor/hubby thrown in.  There have been more in the past and I'm sure more in the future...and I do kind of like that unpredictable thing that's happening each day.

wheeeee!

(You can look forward to Steve the plumber in the very near future.  He's my across the street neighbor so there's no hiding from me when it's drain time.)

Yep...I think about them every day and when my knees hit the floor, they are in my prayers...and speaking of prayers and rocking my world...meet

MY ROCK!

YABBA DABBA DO

While preparing our lawn for sod, we dug up a few treasures under the cedar bush

When 822 was built in 1923, it was called "a country home" and was located out in the country

Today it's in the middle of Barkley Street

I imagine some little boy playing cars under the shade of that cedar

The day before yesterday, our area broke longstanding records for high temperatures

like 103 degrees

H.O.T.

Today...the cement truck comes

Yabba Dabba Do!

to pour the foundation for the new addition which will include an office and art studio upstairs

connecting the house with the efficiency apartment which will soon be the master suite

Archie is the ONLY cement contractor in the area.  You get on his waiting list and we've been waiting on his list since February

As if that weren't enough heaven for me?  

The sod has arrived!

17 pallets

we have had a contract with the landscaper since last November

to his credit, he has about 4 jobs

Hubs and I help lay it all out...I only rested a brief few moments now and then to take photos

it was some gosh dang hard work but I am thankful I am healthy enough to do it

the day was breezy, cloudy and cool

and if that isn't enough heaven for me?

During the night we receive .52" of rain

Oh heavenly day!

YABBA DABBA DO HOO HOO HOO DO!

LITTLE GREEN TABLE

The Vintage Farmhouse

I purchased this little wooden table at an estate sale for $5.  It began as a plain old wood table with interesting legs

I was about to begin an experiment for a wall mural I was going to paint at a Mexican food restaurant in a neighboring town

I like harlequin...actually I love harlequin...sloppy not perfect

This is a lady at a market...kind of impressionism I suppose...

on the walls of the restaurant, I painted it more life-size with more fruit, veggies, flowers and baskets and even more people in the market.  Very colorful!

when we moved to 822, new furniture was not my priority

I wanted to take some time to see what I still liked before I replaced it

I kind of like all the greens in this table to go with my white walls, carpet and couch

this is my zen garden

when I get stressed from trying to think about what I want to do with all my furniture I don't know what to do with yet, I rake this sand....

and re-arrange these rocks.

It takes me miles away

JAY AT THE DESK

One of my all time favorite Brother Scott sermons was concerning Mary at the tomb.

She worried.  All night long.  She worried about how she would handle the body of her Lord, how she would be able to move such a large stone all alone, how would she be able to do this, how would she, how could she, how how how???

But when she arrived the next day, the stone was rolled away and His body was no longer there. Her worries became pointless and were really pointless all along.

95% of what we worry about never happens. We worry and we fret and we worry some more only to find that it was energy so furiously wasted.

So...I have taken to an idea of filing my worries with Jay at the Desk.

Do you know Jay at the Desk?  

No you don't because he's just the man at the desk that 

you don't remember

you can't recall

blends in with his surroundings

makes no noise

causes no commotion

he is

Jay at the Desk

file your worries with Jay at the Desk

and instead do something that does matter...

plant the marigolds that you are able to plant

stain the stair rail when you can

move the rocks that don't hurt your back

hang the sweet babypeep notes somewhere you can see them often

and have a glass of wine with someone you love at the end of the day and

cast your cares.

Trust me...this is easier said than done..but it's worth

a try!

WIND

#1Peep is a Landman

Yes that's right, a landman.  She has been one for about 7 years now and from what I understand, one of the best, most respected and well liked in the area. She is pretty cute if I don't say so myself...and that can't hurt.

What is a landman?  

In these parts where there is lots of oil and gas and old landowners with mineral rights and deeds and documents...she puts on a lot of miles to dig around the courthouses, going back to the late 1800's to find a paper trail of who owns what when.  

You have to have a good repore with the locals because you could come across as a snoop.

So, she moved back home and took a job as a "landman" of another sort.  She was able to get the job of a project developer here because of her experience in oil and gas.  One of her customers early on was a 90 year old codger that kept hanging up on her each time she called to discuss putting his land in the wind project.  When he finally met her, he said to her

"Are you the one I keep hanging up on?"

she said, "yessir"

Today...they go to lunch from time to time and chat about the wind

Last night we drove to Canyon to hear President Clinton speak.

He mentioned that Texas was the #1 state in the nation for developing and producing wind energy.

"It's free and it's green" he said...

and boy does that ever fit this hipster child of mine!

Our county has one of the largest wind fields in the state and she's the PD.  I am so gosh darn proud of that child that I can barely see straight. 

I'm not a huge Clinton fan...so last night...my standing ovation was for her.

Below is a show of our area.  Right now Hansford County is only in the development stage.  Our towers are  a few years down the road..but this is our horizon.

SIMPLE TREASURES

Don't you really like it when your day is just kind of making you grouchy

No one is doing stuff right all the way 

except you 

so you wonder why everyone else just can't

 because your stuff isn't that easy either?

So you step outside to take a breath of fresh Texas air and look down to see

The perfect shade of blue 

for your new master...nevermind when it will be complete

Or that a squirrel has left you a clever joke in your dry birdbath

with a gentle nudge toward the kind of tree you might consider planting

But the end all to end all 

is when you look down the street to see that sweet little sack of sugar

dressed in pink from head to baby toe

Pigtails swinging

walking to your house for a visit

Yeah

I kind of like it like that

ROSE PETAL LIPS

It was an incredibly busy weekend with the shower and all the family coming in.  But sometimes these deadlines are what make me get up and get after it.

My yard has been under construction for so long that I just had to have a little space and I am calling it my rose garden....there are a lot more than roses here....like lots of boards!  And rocks!  And men!

A few weekends ago, I made the space ready and this is what I have added to it so far.

I realize that it will take some time to look like I want it to and these are also amateur photos, so they don't really do it justice...but I have a space in my heart for its inadequacies.

I found this cute little planter at my new favorite hidden in the way back garden nursery called

Uncommon Twists.

Man, I could stay lost in there forever!

So showy in a few weeks!

Garden friend hubs wondered if I knew a sundial was meant for the sun

Betty calls him Mr. Moses

I love JFK...can't quite call all the proper names of what I've planted but I saved the cards

I still have to replace the windows but the sprinkler guy is still working on the system.  Such an improvement.  The old bird bath I found under some shrubs.

I always and I mean ALWAYS get seduced by petunias.

They are so pretty in Taos, but by the end of June this pretty little thing will be burned up by our hot dry wind.  I purchased a very large, (almost 5' tall) glazed pot from Uncommon Twists that I will pick up at the end of the week along with my garden gate.  It goes in the formal garden on the north side of the house.

Maybe I can keep this in some shade out of the harsh wind somewhere.

A few knock out roses and some lavender

I don't have to look far to lose my train of thought

or realize the hill I am climbing this summer...

but.....look at this precious punkin-nanner in my sunny rose garden

When I wanted to wear my grandmother's lipstick, she told me to put a rose petal between my lips instead.  I had to laugh as I shared this trick with Miss Betty.  I just realized today she was trying to keep me from chatting her up!  

It really works!

BRIDAL SHOWERS

Ok...I probably need to clarify for those who haven't known me all my life

Our son Charles married Jena January 15

Our daughter Mattie is marrying Coach Been June 30

You will find both girls in this photo

front row

Jena is 3rd Mattie is 5th

These four precious souls have known each other almost their entire lives

It's small town stuff.  Nothing more cool than all of the graduates in your class being able to sit on a stage and 95% of them chums from K-12, or your daughter having the same 4th grade math teacher as you did, or that your granddaughter will have the same classroom at the same school that her mother did AND her grandmother did...

I think God let's kids get born in towns they need to live in so they can marry the person He has picked for them.  If you have gone off and married someone you met far away from where you grew up then that is just as much a masterful plan.

Jena's shower was a few weeks ago hosted by my bffs

Mattie's shower was April 21 which just so happened to be her late Granddad's birthday

also hosted by my bffs

We live in a town where our children are showered and I mean SHOWERED with gifts, anything and everything they select.  Often times they are asked to come back a time or two to select more.  It's what we do here.  We shower, we honor, we love.

It's old fashioned

It's southern

It's tradition

It's precious

It's unforgettable

It's humbling

I'm telling you what..

there is a whole lot of love swirling around this town, this family

and this heart of mine

My cup runneth over