3 Pressing Questions and an Essay

Good morning!

Today's post is going to be a little different. I thought I would share my son's essay with you. He is a great writer, just fabulous...of course, he gets it from me...

He had to write an essay for his pre-AP English class about a time when he faced a conflict in his life and how he dealt with it. Being the kind of involved mother that I am, I gave him all sorts of ideas on what he could write about. And he chose to write about how difficult it is to choose which hamburger to order at his favorite hamburger restaurant in Austin. It's hilarious. His teacher, the tough one everyone talks about, said it was her favorite essay of all, that she laughed out loud when she read it, and read it to his class. Nice job, Son!

But, before we get to the essay, I do have 3 questions for you to ponder. Ponder is a word I seem to like these days...

Question #1: Why is it that the one time you go to the grocery store AFTER working out, just because you only need 3 things and don't want to get out again because you're having a party at your house this same night, you run into someone you know? AND, it's usually a MAN you know, who, upon seeing you, says, "Hey," and stops himself just before "Wow," comes out of his mouth?? Why, oh, why, I want to know...

Question #2: Who the heck is Theresa? She apparently is "Under pressure," "Lashing out at her family," then yesterday "Was having a breakdown." I see her face everytime I go to check out at Wal-Mart, Target, or the grocery store and I have no idea who she is. Will someone please help me here? I feel like I'm missing out...

Questions #3: Why is it that my husband, who is 13 years older than me, can eat 5 pieces of cornbread and not gain an ounce? Why? Why? Why? I need to know...

My take: Life is full of questions to ponder, is it not? Here's the essay. Have a great day!!

A Burger to Build a Dream On
The door opens, and an aroma of grease and other assorted fried food fills my nostrils. Men have seated themselves all around, eyes glued to the football game that the television monitors display. Slowly, I enter the establishment. Walking to the waiting area, I glance up to one of the monitors. The Oklahoma-Texas game graces my eyes with joy, bringing pleasure to myself and my father, who love the Longhorns. I casually look around for a waitress to bring us to our table.
The setting? Huts, one of the best burger joints in Austin. Usually when I eat with my father on a Saturday in Austin, we go to Huts to watch the Texas football game. A perfect combination of football, burgers, sweaty (and very loud) men yelling at the game, and the typical weirdness of Austin makes this place great. After about five minutes of waiting, a waitress asks if we need a table for two. Once we get to our table, I realize our ever-so-kind waitress has positioned us directly in front of a television screen. When I point this out to my father, he smiles and nods at my glorious revelation.
As I take my place at the table, the menu fills my eyes. I ignore most of what it has to offer, instead choosing to look at the burger section. Memories flood my mind as I look at the twenty different options. My dad had started taking me Huts about five or six years ago. I had instantly fallen in love with their big, tasty burgers. Also, over the course of time I knew I would consume every single one the joint had to offer. The problem with this would present itself to me after the eleventh or twelfth burger: some of the options just, well, didn’t sound that appetizing. Take the Beachboy’s Favorite, for example; it comes with pineapple. I do not consider myself a huge pineapple fan. Now, why not just take it off? Because Hut’s rule number one (in my book): you must eat the part of the burger that gives it the name. Another example: The Mr. Blue. Mr. Blue gets its name from the blue cheese that you can find melted onto the meat. If I did not eat the blue cheese, then why say I ate Mr. Blue?
And so, the problem unfolded in my brain. It was simple, really: What burger to get? My mouth began to water as I pondered the menu. Too many choices! Everything sounded appetizing. The Sink Burger comes drowned in two different sauces, but the Wolfman Jack is served with diced green chilies and bacon! A glance back at our table and…wait, when did we get our drinks? The internal clock inside my head counts out the minutes until the return of our waiter. The tribunal inside my head heckles each other with reasons and rebuttals as to what hamburger must fall into my stomach. The palms of my hands begin to sweat; the waiter is coming back! The very fabric of life seems like it will unravel if I do not make my choice, and within the next five seconds. Our waiter’s heavy footfalls reach my ears, and time itself seems to slow. Looking around the restaurant, all eyes seem to fix themselves on me, begging me to make a decision. Time is up as the waiter arrives at our table. Franticly, I motion for him to take my father’s order. After all, respect your elders.
“Yes, I’ll have the Dagburger please. Eh, everything except onions. I’d like a side order of fries as well. What’re you having, pal?” he says to me. The waiter turns, ready to write down my order.
The moment of truth; the ticking time bomb in my head is about to go off, and I still have no clue as to what I will be dining on this evening. Texas has the ball, marching down Oklahoma’s field to score, making an even bigger reason for me to hurry it up.
“Yeah, well,” I shakily begin, “…the Fats-Domino Burger sounds great. Dry, please, but leave the New Orleans seasoning on. Thanks!” the waiter nods and walks away, taking our menus. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. At that moment, Texas scored, sending the crowd at the game, as well as in the restaurant cheering at the top of their lungs. Though this applause may support the Texas players, I accept some of it. I had just faced a colossal task, and I had passed with flying colors. While I cannot say it was the biggest decision of my life, it certainly was a tasty one. +

Parody of Errors

I hope you all had a great Columbus Day, I know I did. Honestly, the only reason I knew it was Columbus Day is that when I went to check the mail yesterday, there wasn't any, then I remembered, "Oh, yeah, it's Columbus Day." But, hey, kudos to you, CC, on, you know, finding the new world and all...most impressive. Plus, the low temperature here was 49 overnight!!! Heck, yeah! I even made red beans, rice, and cornbread for dinner last night: full-on fall mode. I may pull my boots out today. Before the temperatures return to high of 85 tomorrow.

Actually, I did have a good day yesterday. A few weeks ago, several of my closest friends and I started a Bible Study together. We're doing the Beth Moore study on James "Mercy Triumphs." I would tell you that it's a fantastic study, but, sorry, fantastic isn't strong enough. It's utterly amazing, wonderful, life-changing...if you're still not feeling like YOU wish you were doing this study, I'm sorry, because, I'm telling you, you'd love it.

What we're doing is we meet each week at a different lady's house. Some of us are kind of spread out home-wise, so we thought it'd be good for each of us to be the one to drive occasionally instead of just one or two people. I was all for that until yesterday, when I was the one having to drive, but fair is fair.

Anyway, two of us were supposed to meet at one friend's house who lives like two minutes from me, then I would drive the three of us and pick up another friend about 15 minutes on the way to the friend's house who was hosting yesterday. It was a fail-proof plan, you might think. Yeah, you'd think that if you still don't know me very well.

The problem happened when I didn't check my phone yesterday morning. Actually, I forgot to even bring my phone when I left the house. Now everyone, just calm down. I am a proud iPhone owner, I text, I talk on the phone, I check the weather, I am normal...in that way at least. But, first of all, I am not a morning person. Secondly, I really don't like to TALK on the phone that much. If I have something to talk about, that's fine, but just to stay on the phone like a teenager, negatory. That's why texting is my friend. Thirdly, if I am at home, I don't carry my phone around on me. I know I probably should, but I just don't. I'm usually busy doing something and lay it down somewhere, then have to have Son call it so I can find it. And, usually it's on vibrate, so everyone has to be super quiet so I can even HEAR it to find it. But, hey, sharpening my hearing, right?

Here's what happened: AC's son got sick and she had to make a doctor's appointment for him yesterday, which meant she couldn't go to Bible study. She sent me a text message saying AG was just going to meet at my house. She also tried to call me. Twice. Then, AG sent me a text to make sure she was just supposed to come to my house. She also tried to call. Twice. So, I leave my house at about 8:25 and think, I guess I should call AC and tell her I'm on my way. That's when I realized that I didn't have my phone. I'm at the stop sign of my edition as I'm pondering this very thing, when AG pulls into my edition as I'm pulling out. Never saw her. I was pondering, I told you. I'm only able to do 2 things at the same time before 10am. Pondering and driving.

I get to AC's house, walk in the door, to her saying, "Uh, apparently you didn't check your phone." Nope, sure didn't. So, AG had already called AC and told her that she had just passed me and that she'd turn around and come to her house. I was pretty embarrassed, but, thankfully, they thought it was funny. That's why they are my friends.

THEN, as if that wasn't enough crazy, we picked up TA in Beaumont, about 15 minutes away. On the way, AG says, how is BG, our other friend who lives in Beaumont, getting there? I say, I don't know, let's text her and see if she wants to meet us. We did, tried to call, but no response. So, after waiting for a few minutes, we get on the freeway to head to Mid-County, and what do you think happens? BG calls and says, "Oh, yes, yes, I want to ride with y'all!" So we tell her to get off at this certain exit and pull into the Chili's parking lot. Great plan. Except for the part where she missed the exit. So, she pulls into some random office building parking lot to wait for us. I have to circle back around and try to find her. It was pretty hilarious!

Anyway, we finally made it to TS's house and really did have a great study. I've never done a Beth Moore study before - yes, I know that's almost blasphemy - and it's SO GOOD!!!

My take: ALWAYS CHECK YOUR PHONE BEFORE NOON!!! There IS life going on in the morning in some people's homes. Just not mine...

Fun Friday: Homecoming Edition

Yes, it's homecoming here in our little town, complete with all that goes with homecoming in a small town.

We had a big community pep rally last night, preceded by all the different organizations setting up a booth of some sort - food, blow-ups, you name it. It was pretty fun, except I was hoping the Band Boosters, of which I am a member, would have their baked potatoes again this year. But they opted for Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and Papa John's pizza. Hmm.

Then the pep rally was really good. After last week's game, with it being kind of a near win, everyone is a little more optomistic about the team, I guess. The stands were full and everybody seemed semi-excited.

After growing up in "high school football mecca," though, I told my friend I'm not sure our community really knows what pep rallies are supposed to be about. I kind of feel sorry for our cheerleaders. Our squad is super! They win all kinds of awards at competitions and everything. But, very few people cheer with them. I do, of course, sometimes to the dismay of those sitting around me. But, what can I say? That's just how I was raised, people: when the cheerleaders say cheer, honey, you cheer!

Then, the evening ended with all the seniors lighting candles on the field, while the fire department lit a big "LHS 2013" sign. That was followed by probably the best homecoming fireworks show I've ever seen. I think the local fireworks stand owner has a senior this year. That helps.

Anyway, it was a fun night and hopefully our team is fired up and will win tonight. Fingers crossed, legs crossed, eyes crossed...just in case.

Son has a date for homecoming. She's one of the drum majors and a senior. I don't know what his preoccupation with older women is, but I'm sure it's only taking a few years off my life. Of course, they are "just friends," and she's a lovely, sweet girl. Son has great taste in women. So far. Fingers crossed, legs crossed, eyes crossed.

And, yes, we had to buy the ever-popular, ever-hideous mum for homecoming. Not sure how these things caught on, but they've been around a long time, so I guess we're stuck with them. The biggest difference is the PRICE!!! HELLO!!! But, hey, in 2.5 years he'll be gone and I'll long for a chance to buy another homecoming mum. Possibly. I'll miss him, let's just say that.

Lastly, I've tried all morning to upload the "Snake Pit" video with no success. Stupid technology!! Oh, well, hopefully before football season is over I can put it on one of my posts.

My take: Go, Raiders! Please win tonight, it's HOMECOMING, for crying out loud!!!

Check out this week's recipe. It's great, but not for dieters. Sorry, people.


Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
8 oz cream cheese
3-3.5 C chicken
13-14 flour tortillas
2-4 C Monterrey Jack cheese
1 pt whipping cream
pinch of paprika

Directions:
1. Saute onions in butter, then add cream cheese
2. Cook and shred chicken, then add to cream cheese and onion; mix well
3. Put about 1 Tbsp of chicken mixture in each tortilla and roll up; place tortilla seam side down in greased casserole dish
4. Top with Monterrey Jack cheese
5. Cover with whipping cream and sprinkle with paprika
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes

The Technology Conspiracy

How many of you have had this happen to you? You sign up for your preferred internet provider or your preferred TV provider and it all goes something like this:

"Because we so appreciate you signing up with us, we're going to reward you with all of those wonderful rebates. Now, your bill is so low, we're almost paying you to be our customer!"

One year later...

Me: "Yes, hello to you in India, hope the weather's fine. Why the heck has my bill doubled since last month?"

Employee from India: "sdoifn siodng wedgis dgfsokdg."

Me:"Sorry, didn't get any of that?"

Employee from India: "You. webates. have. wun. out."

Me: "Seriously? How does that happen exactly?"

And, then, they take you on this carousel ride about why the rebates have run out or why the bill is higher, and the common denominator from all of these calls is that it's somehow my fault. After a while I'm so dizzy from all the talking in circles and have such a headache from straining to try and understand the person I'm listening to, that I just raise the white flag and agree to pay whatever my bill has risen to if they'll just take $10 a month off and promise to go to English language classes.

This little process is so irritating to me! Maybe I am supposed to know that my bill is going to increase after a year, I don't know. I mean, people, it was a year ago. I can't even remember what I had for dinner last night, OK? My other favorite is when they do remember to tell you that your bill will increase in a year, but you can call back and ask for more rebates or specials or whatever after the year. This you do, and they tell you, "Oh, yes ma'am, we can take $10 off your bill for 6 months starting with the next billing cycle." Uh-huh. And now my bill is still $30/month higher and I'm supposed to be happy?

Why can't they just lower their rates by about a third and keep them the same for the length of your contract? I mean, I think they'd make about the same amount of money, right? Plus, I wouldn't be so mad and want to change providers all the time AND I probably wouldn't have migraines.

And, do people in India even know what cable TV is?

My take is this: It's all just a racket, I tell you! What's this world coming to, anyway? I think I'll start collecting can goods and go live in an RV, things are so bad...

There, I feel better now.

What's your take?

Love Laws of Life

Hubby and I went to a really cool thing last night.

He is on the board of our local Better Business Bureau, hereafter known as the BBB. Every now and then we go to some sort of event for them - usually a fund raiser. But, last night was different.

We went to an awards ceremony for this program the BBB sponsors. It's an essay contest called "Laws of Life." Basically, it's for middle school students and their task is to write an essay explaining what they think the most important "laws of life" are and why. I wasn't sure what to think of it, but going meant I didn't have to cook, which is a plus since, remember, I currently don't own a working dishwasher. Off we go.

To my delight, we were there with several old friends, whom we sat with during dinner and caught up on life.

The bulk of the presentation was devoted to the eight essay finalists. Oh, wait, only AFTER Hubby got recognized as a "dignitary" - ha! Of course, he then informed me that I have to be nice to him now because he's a "dignitary." Uh-huh. Anyway, each essay finalist and their supporting teacher received cash prizes AND the students got other prizes, such as gift certificates, etc. Plus, two schools were recognized for having either the most students participate or having the highest percentage of students participate, and they got cash prizes, too. Life lesson: cash is good.

But, by far, my favorite part of the evening was the recognition of the students and their essays. I was amazed, not only by their writing skills, but by what they had already had to rise above and overcome in their young lives and the lessons they'd learned in the process. They recognized each student, awarded prizes, and gave a summary and the title of the student's essay.

Here's how some of them went:

A couple of students wrote about their parents divorcing and how they had to be brave and believe in themselves to get through that. Another very young student wrote about the courage it took after one of his parents went to prison when he was a toddler and the other parent died. He was sent to foster care for a while until his grandparents were able to take him. Then, the 1st and 2nd place winners each spoke about how the deaths of their mothers had taught them to be strong, brave, and presevere through life's difficulties. Wow is all I can say,

When I was their age, the worst thing I had to overcome was getting a zit in the middle of my face. Huh?

I was completely amazed at these students' willingness to write about such deeply personal and difficult things. The top 3 finalists actually read their essays to the audience. Lots of tears were shed. Again, wow.

My take: first of all, I applaud the BBB for sponsoring such an event. So many people have such negative things to say about this generation and are so "worried" about them. It's so fantastic that an organization like the BBB has taken an active role in helping to shape these young people into the citizens they truly want to be and that we need them to be. Bravo, BBB! And, to the students, I say thanks. You showed great maturity, depth, and courage to be able to survive these tramatic events in your few years of life, then to actually stick your necks out and tell the public about them. Keep taking those chances, be brave, be strong. I believe in you. You are our future and, I say, thr future looks bright!

The Almighty Internet

The weather is so amazing today!!! I love it. We were almost cold when Hubby and I walked around the block last night. Woo hoo!! Love ya, fall!

I heard something really interesting on the radio.

I know what you're probably thinking: she's been listening to Talk Radio. No, that would be Hubby. The only time I listen to Talk Radio is when I'm trapped in the car with him.

Actually, I've found a new radio station that I'm really enjoying. I love all kinds of music and we bounce around between FM radio, Billy Joel CD's, Veggie Tales, you name it and you can probably hear it in my car. Anyway, if you need a fresh sound, and you live in these parts, try 103.7. That's my commercial, now on to my regularly scheduled post.

I heard that doctors have confirmed that there is a new addiction: internet addiction. Huh?

Now, here's my disclaimer: I don't want to be insensitive and if you're reading my blog right now and are addicted to the internet...first of all, thanks for reading my blog, second of all, so sorry, I'll pray for you.

But...I don't get it.

I mean, honestly, I don't think my internet service even works well enough or long enough for me to become addicted. Maybe that's a blessing in disguise, but it mostly just makes me want to throw my laptop over the fence.

Said doctors reported that people who are addicted to the internet get shaky hands, start sweating profusely, and have trouble focusing when they leave the computer. Uh-huh, I know, that's what happens to me when I can't get mine to work. I thought it was called ANGER.

Take yesterday. I am involved in a Bible study with some of my closest friends. We are currently studying a series by Beth Moore on the book of James. The problem, however, is that the leader kit costs like $1,000,000 so we just decided to live stream the video lesson each week. OK, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it was expensive.

So, we go to A's for the Bible study yesterday and apparently, after my poor friend tried for half an hour to get the thing to work, we found out the internet service to Lifeway's website was on the blink...won't mention any companies here, but wish I could.

So, back to the internet addiction. Apparently, someone's internet service is much better than mine. So, now, I'm jealous. I mean, I've missed out on the chance to spend enough time on the internet to form an apparent addiction to said internet. Like I said, maybe this is all a blessing in disguise.

My take: listen, I love the internet, OK? I really do. I mean, the internet is the reason I get to talk to you everyday, right? But, honestly, I just don't have time to be on the internet long enough to become addicted. I don't think. Hmmm...

Besides, why become addicted to the internet when you could become addicted to chocolate or shopping? Food for thought, yes?

What's your take?

Scenes from "Camp Rah-Rah" and Beyond

I had a really great weekend.

Seriously, it was one of the best I've had in a long time. Don't get me wrong, I'm exhausted and completely understand why God wanted women to have children while they're young, but everything was great.

"Camp Rah-Rah" was a huge success. We made art projects, rode bikes, drew pictures on the sidewalk, played Play-Doh, dressed up as princesses and a prince, then finished the whole day off by meeting PaPa at Chick-Fil-A. What more can a pre-schooler hope for? My pre-schoolers weren't awake long enough to hope for anything else.

Then, through some supernatural intervention, our football team played very well in their first district game! Really, I'm telling the truth. After scoring only 8 points spanning over the first 3 games, they actually scored 25 points and gave their opponent a run for their money. Not a win, but we're all very encouraged. And hopeful for a Homecoming win this weekend. Plus, here's a picture of "Snake Pit," that extra band group Son is in. I'm trying to find a video I can upload for you all to see. They've added a new part, so tune in later this week to see it. It's pretty cool!

Then, yesterday, we celebrated our daughter's 30th birthday with most of our family before they left for home. Like I said, it was a fantastic weekend.

The only downer was that my dish washer died Saturday night. Now, if you'll remember my posts about our OLD refrigerators, emphasis on "old," you will understand what I mean when I say that this dishwasher was ancient - even older than both of the refrigerators combined, I think...OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it's old. Anyway, I went to turn it on Saturday night, as usual, right before going to bed, (mainly because it sounds like a freight train), and it just wouldn't turn on. Hubby got out of bed and fiddled with it, then, after accusing me of praying that it would die, announced we'd be buying a new one next weekend! NEXT WEEKEND???

Well, if I had prayed that my dish washer would die, and I'm not committing either way, the prayer would have been that it would die AFTER my daughter's birthday dinner, which included about 15 people, NOT before. So, we had to wash all the dishes that were in the dishwasher before church yesterday morning, then had to wash them all again after the lunch.

My mom and mother-in-law thought it was hilarious when I said we had to be "pioneer women" and wash the dishes by hand. They both took us all on a trip down memory lane, before there were dishwashers, clothes washers, indoor plumbing, and even flatware, from the sound of things. Yeah, I was born for such a time as THIS, let me tell you.

After washing all the dishes twice, and putting hand cream on to get rid of my dish-pan hands, I tried to figure out the easiest way for me to cook then clean with no dish washer all week. In other words, how irritated will Hubby be if we eat on paper plates all week? That's when I realized, after looking at the week's schedule, we're only going to be eating at home one night this week!

My take is this: I told you that I'm highly favored!!!