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!