Answer for GiGi

GiGi commented on my blog about Justin's mustache. I will answer her here.

Well, what do you think of Lamar's?I never have like facial hair either and then with that bald haircut! Boys will be Boys!One funny about Justin though...Landrie told me about Justin's killing birds and said that God was going to have to help Justin not to want to kill birds anymore! Mmmmm????

I am okay with the facial hair as long as it is neat and trimmed and a goatee. We like to say it adds much needed character. I just don't like the Hulk Hogan look that Justin is wearing. When we go to church or nice restaurants, I feel like people are staring. (I know people are staring because I have seen them). We went to Babe's Fried Chicken the other night and no on gave him a second glance. He fit right in.

I have gotten used to Justin and Lamar's bald look. It does help hide receding hairlines and since Pops part got larger and larger, I decided that it needed to disappear. I really like him bald except that means I have to cut it twice a week.

In answer to the bird comment, that Landrie is hilarious and she doesn't forget ANYTHING. That comment was from September when Justin went dove hunting. She told me, "Lolly, you need to tell your son not to kill birds". She has told me that multiple times.

Last weekend, out of the blue, she asked me why I forgot to give her a carrot for "Chunky Monkey". Chunky Monkey was the horse that came to her 2 Year Old birthday party 2 1/2 years ago. She does not forget anything at all.

My Little Bow Heads

Since the time my 3 girls were babies, they had bows in their hair until they went to college. Jennifer even wore them in college, but I can cut her some slack since she had to wear them for cheerleading.

The first time they brought Janelle to me in the hospital, she had a bow glued in her hair. She was never without one. She tanned very easily, and went to many soccer and t-ball games for her brothers and sisters. When you gave her a bath (the only time the bow came out) she would have a bow "tanned" into her scalp.

Jennifer has followed my style. Landrie and Karsyn are rarely seen without their hair fixed and a bow.

Last weekend, Jennifer went away for a scrapbooking weekend with some of her friends. She was gone from Friday to Sunday. Lamar had a coaching convention in San Antonio, so he and the girls left on Saturday. He dropped them off at GiGi's house on the way.

Jennifer fixed their hair on Friday, but they needed help on Saturday. They had a birthday party to go to and they couldn't go to GiGi's a mess. In perfect Jennifer fashion, she planned earlier in the week for the girls to come to my house to get their hair fixed.

I didn't know what time they would come, but I knew my services were desperately needed.

I got the following email from Lamar on Saturday morning.

I will probably come over around 1230 if that is OK for you to fix the girls hair. I tried to do it myself yesterday and did nothing but make them cry.

I thought that was so funny because I could not even begin to imagine what that scene looked like.



Karsyn was not too happy with me either, but in true sisterly fashion, Landrie tried to console her.



They were much improved when they left my house.

Rise

I don't know how to work my computer keys to get the name exact, so here it is. Rise is a great new restaurant in Dallas. It is located at Lovers and Inwood.

I always love to find a new restaurant that is different and good. Rise proves to be both. The atmosphere is so different than any around. It looks like a country french cottage with several birch tree branches in the center. The specialty of the house is souffles.

The only time that I can ever remember eating a souffle was for dessert at Old Warsaw. Rise serves them for both entrees and desserts.

First off, they only take reservations for large parties, so be prepared to wait. I went for lunch and arrived before noon and had to wait 30 minutes. I had the crab souffle. I also tasted the ham and cheese souffle and they were both delicious and filling. I was surprised that they were so full of flavor.

For the dessert, I had the Creme Brulee. It was great. Next time I want to try one of the dessert souffles.

My only complaint, is that they did not have soft drinks. I ordered the fresh limeade. It had a lot of fresh mint crushed up, but it was very tart. After I added 3 packages of Splenda, it was just right.

This is not a cheap lunch place. Plan on spending at least $40 for a salad, souffle and dessert. The limeade was $4 for a small glass. Great place for a birthday lunch.

England/Scotland - Part 2

At the airport in London, we met up with Tom, Donna, Ben, Jim and Kathy. They left the US a few days ahead of us and went to Switzerland. Since we had already been to Switzerland in 2001 and since I am a 3 night per trip person, we decided to skip that leg of the trip. In London, we boarded the plane for our hour trip to Scotland. When we arrived in Scotland, we were greeted by our drivers. They actually did not drive us, just our luggage. There was not enough room for all of us and our stuff.

From there, we headed to Craigsanquhar, where we would spend our next 5 days.

It was better than I could have ever imagined. The pictures just don't do it justice. The entrance was beautiful and then you headed up the long road to the castle.

The castle has 13 very comfortable rooms along with 2 sitting areas and the restaurant downstairs. Every time I would look out my window, I would see several bunnies hopping around on the lawn.

This is the view from our window. It certainly didn't hurt that it was a perfect 65 degrees outside most of the time.

The weather is like Texas weather, it can change quickly. The only difference is that it changes in a matter of hours. It would be sunny and starting to warm up and next thing you know, it was raining. A few minutes later, you would be cold and then it would be sunny again. Sometimes that happened 3 times a day.

Once we got settled into our rooms, we met downstairs for dinner. What a treat, and the fun part was that we would get to do this several more times over the next few days.

If You Are A Baby Boomer . . .

Be sure and turn up the sound and click here.

If you are not a baby boomer or don't know anyone who is, never mind, you probably won't think it is funny. I am not THAT old (and I hope I don't ever get that old), but I think it is hysterical.

England/Scotland - Part 1

It has taken me a week to recover from the jet lag and whirlwind of activities after I came home. I didn't expect the jet lag to hit me like it did, but it knocked me down big time. It could also be that this week every year does this to me. I try to make a big deal out of my kids birthdays and with Justin and Janelle's being the week of July 4th, it gets a little overwhelming. Those two LOVE their birthdays and have always thought the fireworks were to celebrate their birthday week. Those two are my little firecrackers.

We got home on Tuesday night, and Justin was at our house early Wednesday to get his presents. The week long festivities ended on Monday afternoon when Janelle went back to Abilene and we cooked the fish. On Tuesday morning, I finally felt recovered.

We first went to London. Our flight left at 5:00 at night, so we flew all night. I took some Xanax (my special little flying pills) and Ambien to sleep the night away. I slept off and on but I paid for it the next day. I was dragging. I shared some of my drugs with Pops, so he was dragging too.

We checked into our hotel in Hyde Park about 10:30, but our room was not ready, so we decided to start touring. Our favorite thing to do when we go to a new city is to take the trolly/double decker city tour. They take you around to all of the highlights of the city and you can get on and off. You get to see everything important and you don't have to worry about parking. Don't worry, I would never dream of driving in London. That was CRAZY.

On a side note, walking in London is dangerous! Pops saved me from getting run over several times by yelling and grabbing my arm. They drive on the opposite side of the street and when you are crossing and they are turning left, you are a big target. They do not slow down as they turn and they will not stop for you. I was not accustomed to looking to my right.

We got on the tour bus and headed around town. The weather was perfect. We were on the top deck and quickly got comfortable. So comfortable, that we both started sleeping. Not deep sleeping, but little naps every few minutes. At one point, we got off the bus to take a river tour. Very nice, but we were a little too comfortable again. Off to sleep we went. I think I took about 5 little naps on that segment of the trip.

We grabbed some fish and chips around 3 and got back on the bus. More little naps. We finally got off the bus around 6 to get ready for dinner. It was pretty funny because I started talking about places I didn't see and Pops and I saw different things.

Pops used to work with an really sweet girl who has moved to London. When she found out we were coming, she wanted to be sure and meet up with us. She is now teaching at the University of Brighton. She and her boyfriend Paul took an hour train ride and taxi to meet us for dinner. We walked to a restaurant close to the hotel. It was great to catch up with Maura and meet Paul. Pops has tried very hard to get her to move back to Texas, but since she has met Paul, I think she will stay in England. She is originally from Ireland.

We went back to our room and were knocked out at 9:00. We got up the next morning and had breakfast at the hotel and decided to take the tour again since we missed most of it on Tuesday. English breakfasts are very different. They usually consist of eggs, sausage, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and black pudding. Pops just had a omelet and I had a croissant and 2 coffees, $50.

We toured most of the day and saw places we had never seen before, or at least didn't remember seeing. Pops wanted to go to the Churchill War Museum. I decided to sit outside and people watch since I am not into history.

We went to Harrod's. It was interesting to see, but I expected it to be much more than it was. We got hungry and decided to split a corned beef sandwich at a bar area. I got a side of potato salad, iced tea and lemonade. $60. Jason's deli is way better. I was really shocked at the prices.

We walked to Picadilly Circus for dinner. It was supposed to be like Time Square in New York. Not quite the same.

A few weeks ago, I bought a clock for the kitchen. It has an address on it of "49 Bond Street, London". As we walked to the restaurant, we found Bond Street. It is the Rodeo Drive of London. It was fun to see and when I look at my clock it reminds me of our trip.


We got up Wednesday and went to a bookstore for Pops. Not too exciting. Then we took a cab ride to the airport to head to Scotland. We had been told that Great Brittan was expensive, but I was pretty shocked. The cab ride was $130. The airport was very different from DFW, but we found our way around and were ready for the second part of our trip.

He Got The Big One

On Thursday, Pops, Justin, Billy, Paul and Lamar went on a fishing trip for Justin and Lamar's birthday. They caught 37 fish. Pops got the biggest one.


They really had to work hard. The worst part was leaving the house at 4:00 a.m. to get on the lake by 6:00 a.m. The guide had gathered up the bait the night before and he did everything except hold the pole and real the fish in. He baited the hook, took the fish off the hook, cleaned the fish and handed them 5 bags of ready to eat fish.

This is what we had for dinner last night. It was really good.

Justin marinated the fish over night in ginger ale (per the guides suggestion - to rid the fish of the gamey taste). We cut it in small pieces, coated it in Zataran's fish seasoning and fried it in the Fry Daddy. I am very psycho about food smelling in the house, so we took the fryer to the back porch and cooked it. We took a few of the large pieces and used Grill Mates Seafood rub and cooked them on the grill.

The meal really was pretty expensive when you add up several hundred dollars for the fishing guide, $85 for gas, food on the trip, and groceries for all the fixins.

According the the fishermen, the experience - priceless.

My Baby is 21 Today - Happy Birthday

I can't believe Janelle is 21. I can remember this day 21 years ago just like it was yesterday. She and Jacob have been here since Thursday and we have been celebrating all weekend. It makes me feel really old. All of my children are officially adults.

Since they have to leave today, we had her birthday party yesterday. We went shopping yesterday afternoon to exchange some clothes and shoe I got her and then last night the whole family went to Babe's Fried Chicken and then came back home to have cake.

We are so proud of Janelle. She has done a great job in school. She only has 27 hours left to graduate. Her degree is in Marketing/PR and she is working at job in her area right now and loving it. She has been offered a job in Abilene after graduation, but we will see what happens.

Landrie and Karsyn love their Aunt Janelle and are always excited to see her. We love you Janelle and hope you have a great birthday.