Family

Four sisters named Margaret, Suzie, Janice and Arlene.  By the end of this year we will be 78, 74, 68 and 60.  We have become the Granny, Grammy, Grandma and Nana to a wide range of girls and boys, several who are now women and men.  In the middle between being daughters and grandmothers we were sweethearts, cheerleaders, drill team members, singers performing on the local radio, wives, mothers and various occupations as members of the work force.

My mom made his coat.  Such a beautiful family.

Three of the sisters have two sons and one daughter.  I have one son, period.  Yesterday, Saturday June 28 we celebrated a couple of days early the birth of the first of the children.  Oldest Nephew turns 58 on Monday, June 30.  We shared memories of the joy of him as a child.  How excited he would be to see us stop by the garage apartment in McKinney.  He was just crawling and would be waiting at the top of the stairs, smiling the beautiful smile.

A few months later his folks move to a rent house.  As I remember it was close to his first birthday.  Chiffon pies were big that summer.  Chiffon pies were dissolved Jello folded into whipped cream poured into a baked pie crust.  The flavor depended on the flavor of Jello.  Oldest Nephew was sitting in the high chair in the kitchen of the house just off Waddill St.  He put a piece of the pie in his mouth only to begin searching for the food in his lap.  The chiffon pie was so light he thought he had dropped it.  The semi-circle of people watching the apple of our eyes, Oldest Nephew/Grandson, broke into laughter as we realized what had happened.  Then he smiled that beautiful smile.

Yesterday I sat at a table with my sisters and one niece, sister of the birthday boy/man, just visiting.  The niece was discussing her twin sons entering their senior year in high school and trying to decide on colleges.  The twins frowned every time we looked at them.  We aunts and Mom discussed menopause issues with this niece.  Oldest Nephew's brother arrived to join in the celebration of the his brother's birthday.  This nephew was discussing the progress of building a new church building for the church he pastors.  Two of Oldest nephew's sons and daughters along with four of his grandchildren were in attendance.  The family matriarch was there giving us five generations in attendance.

The faces of the family surrounding Oldest Nephew as he unwrapped his gifts have changed.  Gone are his Dad, both grandfathers, Granny Mozelle and Great Granny Chandler.  The faces of those still alive show the 57 years of living since that first birthday.  The birthday man/boy is showing the years, too.  Oldest Nephew has cirrhosis of the liver.  Treatments are very limited and pain is ever present on his face.  So this was a melancholy party as we sang the traditional song.

Rather than dwell on the sight of a person very ill with liver failure I choose to think of these images.

Gettin' My Summer On!

It is vacation, Smile!!

Living in the central part of Texas is a new experience for me.  Being a Texas born and raised, fourth generation, has little bearing on living in the central part of the state.  When Alaska melts due to climate change, Texas will regain its rightful title as the largest state in the Union.  Well, that is if the melted Alaska ice does not flood most of the coastal plains of Big Texas.  Yet again, I digress.

In many ways the blackland farms of North Texas are like a different state than this area of Texas. There are real hills in this area.  There is farmland but much more grazing areas for cattle.  This area is in one of the worst droughts in recent history.  A string of record highs last year with record lows in the fall and winter left me not trusting the weather.  The weather predictions to seem to be leveling out into the mid to high 90's for the foreseeable future.

To help get me in the mood to get my summer on I dug out some of the old vacation photos from my childhood.  As you look over the photos know that Mom made most of the clothing worn by my sisters and me as well as her's and Aunt Opal's clothing.  She would be sewing for weeks in between plowing, hoeing or hauling crops to market.  Going into summer or going on vacation always meant new clothing.  This tradition continues.

Guess it is now summer till sometime in November here in Texas.  Probably past time to get my summer on!  I have a new swim suit, a two piece along with several new blouses and knee knockers.  I am, also, sporting 10 additional pounds this summer.  What that means is one more inch of gunk squeezed from the tube of factor 90 sunblock.  The sun is closer to me down here and burns my fair skin too quickly.  Flipflops (I still call them thongs cause it is fun to watch young shoe salesmen when I ask for thongs) have been dug out of hiding.

Modeling new two piece suits while
standing in the hay field.  And
Sports Illustrated thought they
were doing something new.

One always needs a beach towel either to cover as much body on the way to the edge of the pool or to actually dry off with after a dip.  Then recover the body for the walk back to the apartment.  A beach bag to carry the sunblock for reapplications.  The bag is in our closet with all the beach towels neatly folded for storage.  I need a book in the bag to read while 'sunbathing', AKA jan-a-cueing.  A nice icy Pina Colada.  I know it is 'not in style' but I then I do not mind getting caught in the rain.  Maybe I would like an umbrella, though.  No, I have my new wide brimmed summer hat.

• Swim suit, check
• Sunblock, check
• Flipflops, check
• Beach towels, check
• Beach bag, check
• New Jane Evanovich book, to be purchased 
• Pina Colada mix, TBP
• Umbrella, retrieve from auto
• Wide brimmed summer hat, check

Looks like I am ready for some fun in the sun by the pool now.  As for other times, like going out for museum visits on the day they are closed I need cool clothing for the extra walking.  Several weeks ago all dark colored or heavier weight clothing was rotated to the back edges of the closet.  Only sleeveless and short sleeved shirts till November.  New canvas shoes instead of the heavier laceup New Balance walkers make me a little more summer fashionable as I find my way around.  

Farmers on vacation.

Whites and light colored clothing and autos preferably for summers in Texas.  When purchasing the new auto we were very specific about light interior in as many areas as possible.  Better add a window shade for auto to the above list.  Oh, no!  I just realized the new swim suit is black and white.  I am gonna be mistaken for a beached killer whale!  Being harpooned or rescued by whale huggers might not be pleasant.  Sigh, maybe I should just stay in the air conditioned apartment writing blogs this summer.

But if you want to read about some really exciting summer plans head on over to The Spin Cycle hosted by Ginny Marie and Gretchen.

Have a great summer and thanks for stopping by and helping me organize my summer needs!

Grandsons pool time last week.

No butts about it, these two were ready for Summer and some fun!

In Memory of ACD

Friends we had

Joys we shared

We surely had fun.

Those times are done.

Today some time was spent helping organize a list about former employees of a company.  I spent 20+ years of my life working there.  Others in the group on Facebook worked 30 and almost 40 years for the firm.  The list is a sad list.  It is the list of departed coworkers.  Seems to be such a large number lost to cancer. Was it their lifestyle or the caustic chemicals and fiberglass dust that filled the air of the plant for so many of those years?  It would be hard to say since folks worked with a lit cigarette in an ashtray at their workstation.  

Whatever the reason, there have been several folks die in their fifties.  Some heart attacks, several cancer and a few accidents.  They are missed enough by those of us still here that we started a list in memorial to the folks.  A morbid task in some ways but a way to reconnect to folks with a shared experience in life, earning a living at a firm named Litton ACD.  A firm that is likewise deceased.

Advanced Circuitry Division

May she rest in peace.  May she remain in the memory of her employees and the families she fed, clothed and to which she helped provide health care and education funding.

Neighbors Of Our Life

Currently we are living in an apartment complex that is billed as a loft apartments.  We have lived here almost 9 months.  We have met 4 persons in the complex.  Could have met more if we had gone joined the book club.  That would require a commitment. We are not ready for commitments other than assisting with grandsons' support and occasional care.  We are good with the arrangement for now.  Apartment lifestyles are a little too mobile to develop the neighbor to borrow a cup of sugar in a pinch.

We live within walking distance to probably 10 restaurants, a supercenter, World Market, card shops and so many other places we have not even been in 1/4 of the stores.  While the apartments talk of this being in the neighborhood, I tend to think of neighborhoods as the three areas where we have owned homes.

Our sweet baby boy about 2 months old.

Collinwood Acres was a newly developed area out in 'the country'.  The lots were 1 to 5 acres.  By the time we sold our home to move, we had developed some wonderful relationships in this small secluded area.  The road was tree lined with areas of trees along a wet weather creek.  One of my best friends and her husband built a house on the same street.  Two folks that my husband knew from TI purchased the lot next to ours.  We will occasionally drive out to that area and drop in on these friends.  The area is no longer secluded though the dead end streets make it quite area.  Chuck and Billie will invite us in for a drink.  We pick up on conversations from years ago.  Billie had taught me to make coconut cream pie.  They always say they wish we had never moved.  This was the neighborhood we lived in when our child was born.  The neighbor ladies had a baby shower for us.  Our son was two when we move from there.  It was supposed to have been our forever home.

Dewgie and great grandson.

Sisters and great nephew

Our home in Aurora, MO was the home in which we raised our only child.  Our next door neighbors were older than our parents.  Most others were 10 to 20 years our senior.  We became friends with the elderly 'spinster' sisters and their widowed brother.  They introduced us to their granddaughter, Donna.  She and I became very good friends with our sons growing up together.  But we did not party with the folks that were our immediate neighbors.  We did help change light bulbs, pick up more than once one of the elderly sisters (she was about 97 the last time I picked her up in 1992) and enjoyed their stories of teaching school in the Ozark Mountains around Branson.  I would borrow or lend anything to Sis, Hazel and Dewgie.  Salt of the earth.

Ten year old Son being pleased with boom box gift.

One O Two is our son's childhood home. A few months after we moved, he drove to the house, knocked on the door and explained that it was where he grew up.  The new owners kindly invited him in and he checked out what they had done to his room.  There were almost no changes at that time.  Most all the neighbors have long since passed and the area is undergoing the changes usually made by new owners.

The home from which we just moved is the last home we choose to own in any neighborhood.  The area was just developing when we bought the incomplete spec house in 1992.  After we moved into the completed home in February of 1993, 78 houses were built over the next 12 months.  It was a nice, middle class neighborhood with kids playing, school buses running and a scattering of folks like us, empty nesters.  We had neighborhood or joint garage sales.  The street was used to shoot fireworks on July 4.  We all lined up in our drives to watch the sight.  One family did not do it as they were certain it was going to set their house on fire.  Never did set the house on fire.

The kids at the end of the street fed and walked the dog and cat (did not walk the cat) when we would make short trips to Texas.  Those boys have long since grown up.  One served several tours of duty in the Middle East wars.  The other lives in California and is in 'the business of movies'.  The neighborhood had a fairly stable core group with some of the younger folks needing to move into bigger properties.  I never hesitated to ask Sharon, Robin or any one of the next door neighbors for an egg, sugar or even vanilla if I needed it.  More than once I filled a cup or a bag for them.

Drive used for chair races

Hubby and Neighbor That Watched the Neighborhood had a rolling chair race down our sloped drive.  It did not end well for Neighbor whose chair balked and ungracefully dumped him on the concrete.  Hubby had only a week or so before tripped and fell on the drive.  He skinned himself pretty badly but saved the steaks he had grilled for the Neighbor and Wife.  These two guys played tricks on each other and could be an handful at times.  Hubby misses the fun these days.  Wife and I decided they should not play together as they always got in trouble.  Wife held a neighborhood farewell party for us last fall.  Those were really good neighbors and friends.

Before the building was there a trampoline entertained
young girls and my husband.  

A couple or three of the homes in the last neighborhood were used by the developer as lease homes.  He had taken them in trade for bigger houses.  We saw a large variety of people come and go in those houses.  There were the twentysomething young women who put a trampoline in the back yard next to our yard.  I would find Hubby standing at the window admiring the jumping skills of the bikini clad young ladies.  At least that is what he said he was doing.  

There were the neighbors who decided to park all sorts of cars on the street and in the yard.  I am a live and let live person most of the time so I just looked the other way.  When the cars drove up, walked to the door, exchanged something then drove away I continued to look the other way.  The day they pulled a travel trailer into the drive, ran an extension cord and decorated with Christmas lights in the middle of summer I had to inquire.  The plan was for their son to live in it.  Permanently.  In the Driveway across from my house.  This was one of the houses being leased from the developer.  The trailer was against covenants.  I called the subdivision developer who was the landlord.  The same subdivision developer that required us to modify our back fence to have boards on both sides.  My message was short and sweet.  This is against the same covenants you quoted to me.  I expect the same regard from you that you expected from me.  The trailer was gone within two days.  The family moved within a month since the neighbors were so uppity.  The folks blamed The Neighbor That Watched The Neighborhood for calling the landlord.  I never told them differently.

My family visiting neighbors who moved away.
I am the squirt in the cowgirl hat.

Neighbors can be the best part of life. Neighbors can be a challenge.  Neighbors can be nosey and demanding.  My experience has been that for the most part neighbors are as good as I treat them.

For some great stories about other neighborhoods, please, visit The Spin Cycle for neighborhood week.  Gretchen has some wonderful seafood dishes prepared and Ginny Marie's girls have made lemonade. They'll be as glad to see you as I have been.

Afterglow

The trail of light left by a passing car reminds me 

of the glow of human's influence after death.
The body is gone but the light remains in the
lives of family, friends and others touched along the way.

Daddy

My daddy was born 100 years ago this year.  As a child I remember him as being tall.  Turns out he was 5'10", 1.78 meters.  Meters make things seem small in my head.  Daddy spent most of his life in Collin County, TX.  When he was only four years old his mother, paternal grandparents, baby sister and an uncle died during a 7 day span in the influenza pandemic of the 1917-1919.  He was cared for by his aunts and father until PawPaw remarried when Daddy was about 12 years old.

Teenager Arleigh

Daddy was educated through the 11th grade where he graduated as valedictorian.  Daddy remained at home working with his Papa (my PawPaw).  The family were mostly farmers.  Daddy's deceased mother's family, the Jones family, were more mechanics and merchants than farmers.  Daddy took after that side of the family.  He loved to tinker with machines much more than working the land.  Eventually he gave up farming and put in an auto repair shop.  The repair shop was later replaced as a vocation with repair of home appliances.  Daddy worked in that business until around his 84th birthday.

That is my oldest sister Daddy is holding.
Daddy was 23, Mom was 18.

As the saying goes in Texas, Arleigh was strong as an ox.  At his funeral the pastor recalled how my Dad could lay on the floor and with one arm push a large refrigerator away from the wall.  Mom loves to tell how my nephew bought a compound bow for hunting.  Don, who was, also, strong an an ox, could hardly pull the bow to the shooting position.  Daddy came home from work and with no problem maxed the bow out on its bend.  Daddy was in his 70's at that time.  Once I asked Daddy how he became so strong.  "Well, Kid, (he called me Kid most of my adult life) I had an old Model T down by the barn.  Every day I would go down there an pull on the bumper.  Eventually I was able to pick the front of the car off the ground."  Guess you could call that country boy weight training.

Daddy had the capability to spin a yarn or poem almost on command.  When bringing our son back to Missouri from a visit Daddy made up stories about almost every town along the way.  Usually the story involved how the town was named.  Last summer when travelling some of the same route with the now grown son, he recounted the stories to his sons.  And example is Sarcoxie was a result of some one carrying a sack of rocks she had drops.  I do not remember all the story but my 40+ year old son surely does.

Daddy was a gentle and caring man.  Mom was very demanding on our grades.  All four of us girls knew anything less than a straight A report card would carry Daddy's signature.  Daddy's grandchildren adored him.  They rode in the back of pickups Daddy drove at breakneck speeds.  Daddy took them fishing, to buy 'doughknuckles' (Arleighism for doughnuts) and pickup Grandy's fried chicken.  He would buy my son an extra half dozen rolls just for him to eat on the way home from Grandy's.  I learned not to scold our son for not eating anything for the meal on those days. 

Daddy had a pickup equipped with the tool chests of a tradesman.  The tools of his trade were repeatedly strewn out in his pickup bed or car trunk by grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Daddy would patiently pick the tools up rather than bother "the babies" with the job of picking up.  I suspect he was really just putting the things back where he could find them.  Every grandson received one of the tools from Granddaddy tool chest.

Daddy was very respected and beloved by all who knew him.  His sense of humor combined with his honest to a fault business practices were key factors in the respect and love.  In Daddy's last few years of life he began to lose his memory.  Dementia took its toll on the smart mind.  Mommy found him crying over his tools because he did not know how to use them anymore.  Yet just days before his death he won in Mexican Train dominoes against Mom, my sisters and their husbands.

I will end this tribute to my Dad with a few of his sayings that can still be heard on the lips of his prodigy.

Aw, sometimes you talk too much. (Mostly to my Mom when she was gossiping)

Kwitcherbelliakin (Stop complaining, again, usually to Mom)

Goat Roping (gathering of people with food)

Rat Killing (a gathering of people)

Goat butt!  (an expletive of disgust)

Doughknuckles (doughnuts)

Highfalutin' (high society)

Bohunckus (buttocks

Bellican like a Pelican (pot belly)

Long Fingered Hussy (one of his daughters trying to discipline a grandchild in his presence) 

Daddy died 10 years ago surrounded by many of his family.  We miss him, his laugh and the glint in his eyes when he was ready to pull a joke on someone.

This is a goat butt situation from the looks on his face.

Early to mid 1940's, Daddy and his girls

Daddy and I in 1950

Daddy and a friend looking over the cotton crop.

Daddy is the second man to the right of center in the back row.

Daddy and a grandson doing some remodeling, 1980.

Daddy visiting with family on his patio.  Happiest when surrounded by family.

Daddy sitting next to the hand rails his four daughters gave him for Father's Day.  Probably 82 yrs. old here.

For more people remembering Fathers, Husbands as Fathers or Father Figures visit Gretchen or Ginnie Marie, hosts of The Spin Cycle.  Thanks for dropping by my little blog for a visit.  I enjoy your comments and words of wisdom.

Bougainvillea

The blossoms seem to smile as 

They dance with the breeze

While bringing color to my life.

Let's Have Some Fun!

Life can be dull in the later years.  Mobility issues and just plain not wanting to do anything is a daily challenge.  Some folks will do word puzzles.  Other are glued to TV mindless shows.  What starts out as a time to just relax for a bit turns into hours looking at stuff on a computer screen.  Those sentences describe me at this time in my life.  Not so much the mobility issues.  Occasionally my left hind foot complains about bending when I walk.  I am deciding to just get over it!

Yesterday I spent time attempting to calculate the distance of the arc of a parabola.  The distance was needed to buy enough pole material for Youngest's bunk bed fort project.  Literally hours were spent trying to do get the answer.  It had been decades since I did that much trig.  Just now I popped over to a new tab and found a site I can plug in the height and width.  Oh, well, at least I exercised my brain cells yesterday.  Today the cells are sore from the exercise.

Recently I have been thinking about how to become acquainted with folks in our area that have what? You see, we are not sure what we are loking for at this point.  We are acquainted with several of the folks our son knows.  We enjoy being around the younger minds.  It feels like we are needing to get to know some folks closer to our own age.  Hubs needs a coffee bud.  We need time apart.  800 sq. ft. keeps us in close proximity. All The.Time.  Thank goodness we at least have separate sinks in the bathroom.

Back to the subject of getting acquainted.  Ways to meet folks could be either church or the sorority group to which I belonged.  Those both carry commitments beyond a cup of coffee.  We do not think we are ready for that quite yet.  I put an idea out there for a coffee group for newer retirees.  I thought about a name of either, huh, what was it?  Shoot!  I forgot what I was gonna call it.  Just a second let me check out that post of facebook.  I wrote it down there.

It is now two hours later.  I have read all sorts of posts and responded.  Checked out a couple of blog posts and the newest awesome Google shots.  I looked up the 99 cent movie of the day on Vudu.  Decided to stop that and get back to my blog.  Shoot!!!  I forgot to get the possible names of the coffee group.  Okay, I'm back.  The name choices are Old Java Buds or Cup 'o Farts.  Now I need you to vote on the name.  So far I have one vote for Cup 'o Farts.

What I really need is to program a button for visitors to just click a vote.  Looks like I am off to cyberspace to figure that out.  No telling when I will be back, so don't hang around.  Go on about your day.  But thanks for stopping by and visiting for a while.  If you leave a comment it feels more like a visit!

I wasted used unproductively several hours searching for the button counter solution to use with blogger.  If I wait to post this till I know how to do the counter, it will never happen.  Just leave a comment or call and we will drink a cup while visiting.

Movie Memories

These days seeing a movie is not such a big deal for a child.  In my childhood it was an enormously big deal.  Well, for me it was.  I lived on a farm.  The roads were dirt roads, some had gravel.  We had electric lights put in the year I was born.  Think "A Painted House" and you have my childhood setting.  So that may set the scene for why this was a big deal.  Please, join me as I relive the eventful night of my first remembered movie.

Aunt Opal lived in Big D.  That's Dallas, TX, for anyone that does not know the moniker.  Aunt Opal was a directory assistant/telephone operator for Southwestern Bell and single.  She shared rooms with girlfriends near downtown Dallas.  Granny and I were visiting Aunt Opal for a few days that summer of 1953.  That was always such a treat for this little farm girl.  Aunt Opal was so cosmopolitan beautiful I thought.  She even had painted nails!

The big night that we went to the movie I seem to remember things going like this.  Aunt Opal came home from work.  Granny and I were all gussied up ready to head out for dinner and the movie.  We climbed aboard the trolley car and headed back to downtown.  What an adventure to ride those trolleys.

We reached our first destination, The Pulley Bone.  We went there cause Aunt Opal knew I loved fried chicken.  And Aunt Opal loved me as much as I loved her.  We indulged in wonderfully crusty, greasy, deep fried chicken delivered to the table.  Yummy, yummy, yummy.  There was probably gravy and mashed potatoes but I do not remember.  I may have had a Dr. Pepper.

The next part of the adventure was the walk to the theater.  We saw three nuns.  I had never been that close to a nun.  In full habit.  As a matter of fact, I might never have even seen a nun before then except possibly at the State Fair.  One of the nuns dropped a bottle of fluid and it splattered on our feet.  I was afraid as we walked away because Aunt Opal jokingly said no telling what was in the bottle.  I kept looking at my shoes and socks to see if they were dissolving. I was six years old and very impressionable. 

I do not remember the name of the theater.  My eyes were dazzled by all the lights and people.  Yes, I had been to Dallas shopping before.  To the Sears Roebuck store on Ross Ave. in the daytime.  But that was nothing like this area.  And it was just Aunt Opal, Granny and me.  A very special night indeed for this young, country child.

The movie was billed as the "sensation of the summer", a 3-D movie about a rodeo.  I remember very little other than the 3 - D glasses and a bull "jumping" off the screen into the theater.  Aunt Opal and Granny protected me from the mean, Brahma bull.  I do not even like pictures of that breed of cattle to this day.

This evening I surfed around the internet using '1950's 3-D rodeo movie' in the search bar.  It took a little searching but I found the name of the movie, Arena.   I was pleased to find a picture of the poster. Click here for a synopsis of the movie.  Arena was one of the first 3D movies.  A little further searching found a clip of the movie on YouTube.  It happens to include the scene where the bull came out of the screen at my terrified 6 year old self.  Not nearly so scary to a 67 year old watching on a computer screen in her lap.

Thanks for coming along with me to the movies!  Sorry I did not have a bowl of popcorn and some soda for you.  I'll try to have it the next time you drop by for a visit.

For more movie magic memories visit Gretchen and Ginny Marie over at The Spin Cycle.  Join in some reel fun and spin up your movie memory!

Sunday Sensation

I have been working for a month or so on a fort for Middle grandson.  Today I did a fitting of the fort and was begged asked if it could be left in place for a friend to see in a sleep over tonight.  There was no problem saying yes to Middle.  He had already hugged and thanked me numerous times before the request.  After the yes there were ear to ear smiles.

There is already a request for an addition to the fort at ground level.  That will require more plumbing pipe and brain storming.  Youngest grandson has requested the fort have a second story made to cover his upper bunk.  "Mostly red with black and green, with a ladder, windows and a door, please, Grandma," said the sweet freckled, seriously blue eyed Youngest.  This grandma could not refuse this request!

After watching soccer playing on the Wii for a while, it was time for us to come home.  It surely is fun to just pop over for a few hugs, some jokes and the pleasure of being with our little family.  And it does not hurt to bring a little something that creates a Sunday sensation!

Morning

Temporarily hung the new curtains in our bedroom last evening.  Much happier with this choice of materials.  Decided to go with just two panels that can be closed at night.  Sure enough, no sun in my eyes at 6 AM.  Unfortunately that meant I did not pull my lard out of bed till 9:30 this morning.  I decided I did not care.  We had kept ourselves and Icie busy yesterday.

Groupons can be addictive.  The deals do make the cost of doing fun things a little less expensive.  Husband had mentioned to the folks at the frame shop (used livingsocial discount) he was wanting to visit a museum.  He has been having problems with cabin fever.  I call it faunching at the bits.  Maybe I should just move his chair so he looks out the window.  No, the furniture does not fit that way.  Behold, a Groupon for a visit to Blanton Museum on the UT campus for half price admission!  One was purchased Sunday evening without Husband's knowledge.

In cleaning out Mom's place last year, I inherited a large tub of material.  Most of the material was not something I would wear.  I was not sure how to use it.  Opportunity presented itself in the form of Center Stage, a theater group Youngest grandson acts in a few times a year.  Remembering the days of the Aurora theater group scrounging for costumes, the material was offered back in early spring.  Last week we received a call saying, "Yes!"  Now to get it delivered to the location about 12 miles away.

Youngest as Andre the Giant, April, 2014

Youngest has requested a fort for his part of the bed in red, black and green.  Sunday I went through the tub of material and found black and green, no suitable red though.  After arising at 7 due to the aforementioned sun in eyes effect, we enjoyed some freshly brewed coffee.  Breakfast, emails and some online business.  Hubs was getting faunchy again.  I told him to get dressed, we were going to deliver the material then visit a museum.  There were other errands to be done, too.

After dressing in something besides sit around the house clothes, gathering the ever present coupons and Groupons we were ready.   We headed out the door by 11:30 AM and Monday became the day to get 'er done.  First, deliver the material.  Forgot to bring the address for the theater so just programmed Lucy, Icie's route friend, for the airport.  I knew the turn off from that route to get to the theater.  Hubby was surprised that I remember these turns.  Guess he thought I was not watching when we went there previously.  Material was graciously accepted along with the tub.  9 cubic feet of space in our place available for us now, probably 100 yards of materials for the theater.  Win Win.


Next to the Blanton Museum.  Had the address, Lucy's mother, the overseer of all voice commands in Icie, must have needed new batteries in her hearing aid.  She kept trying to send us to Houston.  Austin and Houston sounded alike to her.  So we spelled it and were finally programmed for the route.  It was less than two miles to the museum.  I failed to see the parking building next to the museum.  (By the way I am driving if we are in Icie.  My car, I drive.)  Hubs is learning to be navigator.  Hub's sense of directions are way off down here.  Oh, well.  we managed to get us into the parking garage next to the museum, parked and back down to ground level.

It is heating up but the walk was pleasant with the large trees along the walkway.  Lots of squirrels so accustomed to humans they almost trip us as we walk.  We casually stroll up to the door.  Upon seeing the hours of operation sign, I think to myself, "Stupid Dragon, museums are usually closed on Monday."  The thought happens as Hubs bumps his nose on the door trying to push through it.  Oops.  At least you are not in the apartment I reminded him. You are out walking around, learning the city, tripping over squirrels and running into doors.  That did not improve his mood.

We headed on to other errands like looking for the red material for fort #2 at a couple of stores, 50% off coupon in hand.  Next over to Fry's for a fiber optic audio cable to connect the TV to the sound system, no coupon.  Then it was to Logan's Roadhouse for dinner, it is two for $14.95 night.  With no more coupons, we returned to the apartment complex.  We stopped by the office and picked up the new drapes (bought online with cash back from ebates and % off code).  We made it back to the apartment at about 6 PM.  That is a long day for a couple of old folks.  We managed to slide the drapes on the window in the bedroom, wrinkles and all.

But who knows how much longer we would have kept going had there been more Groupons, Living Social deals or coupons.  Maybe I need a sticker for Icie:

HAVE COUPONS

WILL SHOP