Great Weekend!

This weekend the kids went to their dad's house so things were a bit calmer around here. Rodney and I had some time to ourselves and he ended up being off work today! Yippee!

Yesterday while Rodney worked, I met Shinobu and Cathy at Magic Closet. This is an old tradition of ours but since Shinobu moved to Abilene, we don't get to do it very often any more. If you're unfamiliar with Magic Closet, it is THE best consignment shop I've ever been to. Not only do they carry nice clothes, they also periodically have a "stuff-a-bag" sale which means certain clothes are on sale for $10 a bag, as much as you can stuff! The next big sale will be January 3rd and they open at 10:30 a.m. but I'd get there early just in case the doors open.

Shinobu and Cathy's husbands also joined us and very patiently waited while we shopped. From Magic Closet we made our way around the very busy Longview Loop and ate at Red Lobster. It was so nice to talk and laugh and catch up with Shinobu and Shawn. I miss them so much.

Today, Rodney and I braved the Longview Loop once again and met his daughter Kayti and her boyfriend Justin at Texas Roadhouse. We had a great lunch together too.

I also got some cute pictures of Fuzzy this weekend. Ah, the life of a cat! :)

Internet Safety

My friend Mike shared this video with me from School Tube. I thought some of you moms of younger children would like it.

The Twelve Days of Christmas - TSTC Style

Today was our TSTC Holiday luncheon and Cathy and I were responsible for it. Cathy truly did the bulk of the work and it turned out great! Last year, we had a gift exchange and I read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with a left-right game built in. This year, due to the economy, we didn't exchange gifts but brought food for the dorm pantry instead. So I had to come up with a new activity. I ended up writing my own version of the The Twelve Days of Christmas and "led the congregation" in singing it today. The really cool part was - everybody sang! It was really full and loud and people were laughing and having a great time! Mission accomplished! Here are my lyrics. (Oh, and the tamale line is an inside joke. We have a student who comes by every Wednesday and sells packages of six homemade tamales!!)

On the first day of Christmas my student gave to me – a parking sticker that I could see
On the second day of Christmas my student gave to me – 2 hovering parents
On the third day of Christmas my student gave to me – 3 drop forms
On the fourth day of Christmas my student gave to me – 4 used books
On the fifth day of Christmas my student gave to me – 5 housing fees
On the sixth day of Christmas my student gave to me – 6 tamales
On the seventh day of Christmas my student gave to me – 7 missing pool cues
On the eighth day of Christmas my student gave to me – 8 lame excuses
On the ninth day of Christmas my student gave to me – 9 attempts to re-test
On the tenth day of Christmas my student gave to me – 10 late assignments
On the eleventh day of Christmas my student gave to me – 11 bounced back e-mails
On the twelfth day of Christmas my student gave to me – 12 more transcripts

Beautiful Smile

The beautiful card sent to me by Lalo's sister. So happy to see him smiling. I know he was proud to finish his doctorate.

The Year In Review

(I started this post a few weeks ago and figured I'd better get it posted!!)

Today I looked at all the pictures I've taken throughout the year and was surprised to realize how many big things happened in my family in 2008. God has truly blessed our lives and I thank him! So what all happened for the McIntosh/Langford crew in '08? Just take a look:

January - I guess January was slow...I can't remember anything happening. I do know that at some point this year, I was promoted from Coordinator of Recruitment to Director so I'll stick it here. Yay!

February - Alyssa turned 18!

March - Victoria makes a leap by trying out for cheerleading and makes the squad! I'm proud of her for going after something she wants! Rodney reaches "44"!

April - Promenade makes its way to Harleton and my girls are transformed into princesses! I think it was April when Alyssa performed in her last high school play...my memory is not the best :)

May - Alyssa graduated from high school! Hurray Alyssa for reaching this major milestone! Mamaw turns a young 78 on the 23rd. Rodney's daughter Kayti also graduates from high school, gets an apartment in Longview and prepares to start Kilgore College. I am honored to receive the TSTC Chancellor's Award for Excellence and the National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Award for Excellence. I traveled to Austin to accept this award.

June - My awesome sisters and sister-in-law hosted a senior party for Alyssa. Seven friends showed up at Camelia's house for swimming and fun. Uncle Hubert's children throw him a HUGE 85th birthday bash complete with tons of fun and pounds and pounds of catfish! A trip to Waco was in the cards for me! "LEAP" was a great gathering of innovative-thinking colleagues. Devin started working this summer for his Uncle Bill and our neighbor Jimmy. He proves to be a hard worker and usually has more money in his pocket than me!

July - Sweet sixteen was the theme of the month for Victoria! Sweet "38" was the magic number for Debra! Rodney and Debra celebrate their 7 year anniversary! We take a week off and travel to Fredericksburg for some sight-seeing. On the way back, we stop off in Dripping Springs and spend time with my childhood best friend. When we get back home, Rodney puts me to work and together we build a tractor shed and put in a couple of flower beds.

August - My first little bird spreads her wings and flies out of the nest. Alyssa moves into her on-campus apartment and begins classes at TSTC majoring in Multimedia Publishing. She worked at Joe Bucks Coffee Shop for a good while. Victoria "jumps" into 11th grade and Devin "tackles" 7th.

September - My little boy turned thirteen this month. My how time flies! We celebrated with a family party at home. Football season officially kicks off, team spirit soars and schedules get chaotic. We have a 7th grade player this year, two band members and a cheerleader; and Victoria's boyfriend Spencer plays on the Varsity Wildcat team. My 20 year high school reunion occurs in Marshall. Yea, I intended to lose weight and I didn't but I still had a great time.

October - Football football football! And Alyssa makes her campus debut by planning, organizing and decorating a campus event! She pulls off a Modern Miracle concert on campus that brought TSTC and ETBU students together worshiping God in music. How proud I am of her! Not sure when, but Alyssa starts working at Porkys. At some point this fall, Rodney spends two weeks teaching at TSTC! I'm so proud of him! After his class ends, he begins working at ETS (Electrical Testing Specialists). What a blessing for him to be able to get a full-time job so quickly!

November - And more football football football! It's Texas. What can I say? Thank goodness I get to sneak off to Corpus this month for the annual TACRAO (Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) Conference. I conclude football season by going on a girlfriend's retreat with friends Patty and Kim and the Texarkana girls. Victoria passes her written driving exam and Rodney picks up a used Honda for her to earn. And over the Thanksgiving holidays, me and Hildi get together and talk about "the good old days". We had a great time but man, I'm feeling old! During deer season, Devin kills two deer, one of which feeds us through the winter! Thanks Devin! He also becomes quite the duck hunter!!

December - I joined a gym! The Townlin Reunion is a great success! I got to see lots of relatives I hadn't seen in awhile. It felt like an old-time Townlin Christmas Reunion :) My family gathers at Camelia's on Christmas day for a wonderful time! As always, there was lots of laughter. This Christmas, we started something new - the ladies all exchanged homemade/handcrafted gifts. The guys played a hilarious left-right game and exchanged gift cards. Rodney and I got ourselves a beautiful new bed and I got a digital photo frame for home and work so I can enjoy all my family pictures. The last two weeks of the year were quiet around my house because the kids stayed with their dad. Rodney and I enjoyed lots of time together and I actually got some house cleaning done! On New Year's Eve, we went to bed about 9:30 pm (because we're real partiers!). 2008 was a blessed year. Now on to 2009....

In Memory of a Friend

According to dictionary.com, the word closure is defined as a bringing to an end; a conclusion. The custom of having funeral ceremonies, which truly are for the living, helps people to achieve closure after losing a loved one. I think that's what sucks so hard about what happened to me Thursday night. I decided to "google" the name of a friend who I haven't talked to in years. I truly didn't expect to find anything. The last time I had talked to this friend, he was conflicted, depressed and had no clear vision of where he was headed. He was even a bit distrustful of me, thinking I had been disloyal to him, which I never was. I guess all these years, I had imagined that he had accepted defeat, settled into a different career and was somewhere leading a quiet, uneventful life.

But instead of finding nothing, I found something. I found his obituary.

My friend, Eulalio Garza, known as Lalo, was killed in a car wreck in May of this year. He is gone and I will never get to talk to him again. I will never get to see his beautiful smile, hear his laughter, tolerate his teasing, comfort him when he's depressed or reassure him when his confidence falters. I'll never get to tell him I treasure our friendship or that everything will be allright. And I'll never get to tell him goodbye. Not even at the funeral.

It's left me in a quandry for sure; I've been able to think of little else. In an effort to find some semblance of closure, I contacted his sister Elizabeth, "Liz" as he always called her. Thank goodness she had posted her email address on one of the tribute websites back in May. We have already exchanged correspondence and I can tell that her pain is still as fresh as the day it happened. She did share with me a letter that Lalo had sent her in 2005 that was read at the funeral. I have to admit, it sounds nothing like the Lalo I knew. In the letter, Lalo is thanking Liz for taking him into her home when he was homeless. He is also telling her how very close he's become to God and he tells her that he prays for her and her children every day and hopes that she will give God a chance because something may happen one day to cause her to need Him. How very prophetic.

I shared with Liz that Lalo is the reason I am working at TSTC today. We worked together at Texas A&M Texarkana in Jefferson until that location was dissolved. Lalo was then hired at TSTC as an Associate Dean and brought me in as his secretary. He used to say to me, "Maybe that's why I was put here Deb., to get you a job." He was from Corpus and had ties in Austin and San Antonio, so he could go anywhere, but he knew I had needed a job close to home. And now look, 6 years after being hired as his secretary (from a temp agency, no less), I am Director of Recruiting. Maybe you were right Lalo.

And I can't help believe that Lalo didn't have something to do with me not finding out about his death until now. He knew his sister would be struggling through this first holiday without him and he knew me well enough to know I'd contact her. Seven months later, when others have forgotten and gone on with their lives, I am able to grieve with her as if it had just happened. And I hope that by sharing my memories of Lalo with her, she will find comfort. I hope I will find comfort too.

http://www.theeagle.com/local/Prairie-View--professor-killed--in-2-car-wreck

It's Not On The Test

Last week I went to an education summit and this song was played. It makes me so sad. Because I attended a private school until 7th grade, I had so many more advantages than most public school children. We had small classes and teachers who cared about whether or not we were learning, not just whether we had memorized enough material to pass a test. And when I entered 7th grade, I was placed in R2D2 classes for critical thinking. Those classes were probably the best ones I had throughout my educational career. But are students getting to take classes like that now? Probably not. So how will they solve the problems they face? How will they be the thought leaders of their generation? Scary thoughts.

Boy Have I Been Busy!

I've been neglecting you, oh blog of mine! The TACRAO conference in Corpus was such a blast but before I could even unpack, I was headed to a Girlfriend's Retreat in Jefferson.

East Texas TACRAO week began last Monday. This is the big recruiting week for our region and all of my staff, self included, traveled to different high schools every day. Thursday night I squeezed in time for a hair appointment and Friday was CLARA in Plano. Friday night, Devin & I watched the Harleton Wildcats play their last game this year against Daingerfield.

Yesterday, Rodney and I returned to the Dallas area to get Victoria a car. By the time we got home, Rodney had gotten sick and has not felt well since. Today, we went grocery shopping and then Victoria and I went winter clothes shopping. Devin went hunting and bagged a 6 point buck! So we've all been busy! See, blog, I wouldn't neglect you without cause! Here's some pics from the last few days:

Girls Retreat in Jefferson

Victoria's New Car
Pics from last football game 2008

Starting CLARA

I'm excited to have been chosen to be a member of CLARA (Consortium Leadership and Renewal Academy) this year. A lot of people try to dodge being chosen for things like this but I have just the right personality defects to enjoy it. Basically, once a month for a year, I'll meet with CLARA members from other higher education institutions and listen to experts in our field, network, and complete an individual project.

So yesterday was my first CLARA day and it was held in Ft. Worth at what is currently the Radio Shack corporate office complex. The cool thing is that by this time next year, it won't be Radio Shack any more. Tarrant County Community College has purchased the campus and it will be called TCCC Trinity River Campus. We were given a tour of the facilities by the President. It's a five building complex (1 million sq. ft), costing TCCC 238 million dollars, and another 80 million to remodel. It includes a cafeteria, a parking garage, all of the furniture and modern art that Radio Shack purchased for the building, and a very plush workout facility. It is a beautiful facility now and I can't wait to see it once it's converted to a college campus.

I also got to meet new people from various disciplines, departments and colleges and look forward to getting to know them better over the next year. Next month, our meeting takes place in Plano at Colin County Community College and I'm already excited about it, thus confirming my nerdiness.

I'll be leaving this Sunday for my annual TACRAO (Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) Conference, this year in Corpus. I'll be helping TSTC West Texas present a session about Second Life and also facilitating a session. We'll be flying from Dallas to Corpus so keep me in your prayers.

Tailgate Party

This is my first attempt at using Picasa 3. These are shots from Tailgate Party Day. I can tell already that I'm going to love Picasa!!

Just For Fun!

Ok, one night I was REALLY bored and found this website - www.yearbookyourself.com. I had so much fun with these. They are all made from the same original photo, which had to be one where she was looking right into the camera. You just have to twist it to make it fit best into each pose.

Rah Rah Rah!

Some of my favorite pictures from football season so far:

Victoria at the Tailgate Party
Some of the squad being interviewed on KMHT @ Tailgate Party

The mini cheerleaders performed with the big girls after a week of practice
The adorable little red-head is my cousin's daughter

Here she is again

This is always one of my favorite parts of the game!

The littlest Wildcat cheerleader! Isn't she precious? Her older siblings are in college and 12th grade!
Victoria & Spencer

My Blooming Artist

I am so proud of Alyssa. She is in her first semester of college as a multimedia publishing major and has already learned so much! She is already creating custom MySpace layouts for friends, flyers for special events, the cover for Modern Miracle's debut c.d. and she's been hired to create logos for musicians and Christmas cards for Porky's restaurant. Not to mention the professional-looking photo shoots she's done for Modern Miracle and has already gotten a request for a baby session. And just as important as knowing the software, she is also proving to have a great eye for creative. I cannot imagine how good she's going to be when she graduates.

If you would like to talk to her about creating something for you, she has a website set up and you'll feel good to know that the money she earns is donated to Modern Miracle, a local Christian rock band that's trying to expand their ministry.

Here's her website and below are some samples of her work: http://www.alyssabeth.blackapplehost.com/web2.html

I Thought It Might Come In Handy

I just read my friend Athene's blog post entitled, "The Best Things In Life Are Random". In it, she talks about how getting a gift for no reason is often times better than getting forced gifts, such as during the holidays. I am in total agreement with her.

Take today for example. I went to pick up Mother for the 110th Homecoming at Simmons Hill Baptist Church, a tradition we never miss, and when I walk in the door, we say hello, she gets out of her chair and goes to her bedroom. When she returns, she is carrying something rolled up, hands it to me and asks, "Can you wear these?" I looked down and saw it to be one new pair of white cotton panties, still rolled and taped, right out of the package. I answered honestly, "I don't know. But I will try them." She says, "Well if you can't wear them, I can." This is so funny to me but I don't dare laugh. I respond with, "Well do you want them?" and she says, "Well I've got some. I wanted to give these to you." And so I take them and say, "I want them" and although they are still rolled into the shape of the package, I assure her that yes, I believe they will fit.

Back to Athene's blog, the random gift thing. Today, when I woke up, I had no idea I would be getting a new pair of undies. I didn't have to go to the store, I didn't have to choose what style, I didn't even have to pay for them. I got them because someone thought about me when they bought a multi-pack of white underwear. It's not that she couldn't use them for herself, it was that she wanted me to have them.

Aren't moms grand? The most random of gifts can be special because they come from the heart. Even though I definitely see the humor in this story, I don't think I really have the right to laugh. You see, the last time I visited my daughter's apartment, I took her 6 packages of Ramen noodles. The time before that, I took her a stack of All You magazines for her and her roommates to read. Why? Because they might be bored. In fact, almost weekly, I'm bringing her something that she probably never knew she needed but every time I ask her, "Do you want this? I thought it might come in handy", she always appeases me with an enthusiastic, "Sure!" Mothers are a special breed, that's for sure. Whether our children are 18 or 38, they are always on our minds and in our hearts and we try to help them any way we can, even in the smallest of gestures. There are probably some really complicated definitions of love out there, but when you break it down, it's that right there. It's ramen noodles and second-hand magazines and a touchlight for when the lights go out and a $15 tv from goodwill for your living room to get you & your roommates interacting....

So yep, that's love allright, still rolled and taped up, right out of the package.

Pole Dancing

I was looking at MySpace tonight and found the sites of some of Rodney's students. Here's a picture they took of him while he was teaching them how to climb. I'm so proud of him for stepping out and trying something he's never done before. I think the students learned a lot from him and I think he enjoyed the experience. He told me today several of them started calling him Pops. He just smiled when he told me that and I know it's because his dad was always called Pops. The whole circle of life thing is pretty cool.

A Touch of Class

Last weekend was my 20 year class reunion. This event brought out a wide range of emotions in me. I went back and forth from dreading it, to looking forward to it, to dreading it and then looking forward to it.

The fun started on Friday night with a downtown wine tasting event with live music. I ran into lots of old friends - Shawn Phillips, Kathy Thompson, Jon Hesser, Toyia Fonville, Angie VanDyke, Shana Woods, Lisa Harber..just to name a few. My husband was with me and was tired so we didn't stay long.

Saturday, we had a family picnic at the City Park with barbque and the fixin's. The only family member I had available was Victoria so I drug her along. Everyone oo'd and ah'd over how beautiful she is. The next event was at the Michelson-Reeves art museum where we had wine and cheese. I got to catch up with some really dear friends like Claire Spangler, Jane Ellen Sanders, Amy Key...and the list goes on. It was so surreal looking into the faces of people that I started kindergarten with and hadn't seen in 20 years. Now we're having a glass of wine together and looking very grown up.

For the big finale, we met at the Visual Arts Center for dinner, dancing and prizes. Let me tell you, this was a BLAST! Del Fugler, a friend from choir, flew in from Florida. We laughed about the theme being A Touch of Class (same as our prom) and yet we were eating off of styrofoam plates with plastic cutlery. I saw so many friends there's no way to list them all. I finally remembered to bring a camera to the last event so here are the pictures I got:

Del Fugler (in black) & his partner, Christopher
Tessa Lefler & Shana Woods
Chad Simms, David Harber & Wife
Michelle Shankle, Carin McCrary and Bonnie Havron, who decided to wear prom attire
Susan Stokes & Marni Williams
Heidy McWhorter & Joseph Whelan
Christi Page (former Ms. Louisiana) & Husband
Thanavat Bhucharoen & Girlfriend
The Trinity Bunch
Jane Ellen Sanders, Jamie Bates (don't think she went to Trinity though), Me, Susan Stokes, Thanavat Bhucharoen, Amy Key, Scott Yappen, Claire Spangler, Shannon Sharpe...Denver Langley & Stephen Duck were at the reunion too
Straight goofin'

Seeing the Trinity people was extra special because I went Kindergarten-Sixth Grade with this small group of about 14 friends. We laughed this weekend about how traumatic it was for us to transfer to Marshall Junior High where there were hundreds of kids. But it looks like we've survived and came out pretty good! Jane Ellen & Amy live in Boerne, Than is in San Francisco, Scott is in New Jersey, Susan & Claire are near Dallas and Shannon in Longview. I missed Hildi, Kelly, Shawn, Carol, all my girlies!

My husband is a teacher

Life is certainly never boring around our house. A little over a week ago, my husband quit his job. Even though we were scared about our financial future, we both felt it was a good decision for him and for us. Well God didn't wait very long to bless us. This past Monday, Rodney began work at TSTC Marshall as an adjunct instructor for our new Lineman degree. He has 8 students in his class. It was perfect timing for us and the school. The class he is teaching now (climbing skills) is only two weeks but there is the chance for him to go full-time in the Spring as long as he signs a contract that stipulates he has 3 years to get his Associate degree. So you just never know!

In the meantime, I'm sure getting a kick out of hearing his stories about his teaching techniques. If you know my husband, you can imagine, I'm sure.

Hurricane Delois

I just happened to be home today because TSTC is still closed due to Hurricane Ike. To my surprise, I had a surprise visit from my Aunt Delois Baker who lives down in Lumberton. She was forced to evacuate due to the hurricane and was up driving around the Baker Farm with her brother, Jim Ramsey. I'm so glad she stopped in. I hadn't seen her in years. Her son, Bubba, stayed behind because he raises German Shepherds and he reports that her trailer is still standing.

Aunt Delois has always been fiesty, and nothing has changed about that. Although she has had a stroke and admits that her brain and her tongue have trouble working together, she had no trouble fussing at her brother, fussing at Rodney when they first drove up ("No you can't help me. I own that land right there. Do you know who I am?"), insisting to go up and down my steps by herself, and fussing about all the Baker relatives who failed to send her a Christmas card last year (myself included!). She asked about everybody. I told her she needed to come stay with me for awhile and her brother said she won't even travel to visit him in Nacogdoches unless a hurricane forces her too. Yep, same 'ol Aunt Delois.


I told her to smile and say, "Hurricane". She said, "I'll make you think hurricane!" Somehow, I know she could!