Fish Tales

The men in my life were at High Adventure last week.  Tropical Storm Bill threatened to put a damper on the fun, but they were out on the Coast fishing by Thursday.  Jonathan left with his leaders on Monday morning and by that evening he was in Austin having the best time ever swimming at McKinney Falls State Park.  The next morning, they had to move out due to the bad weather.

Fred was super excited, because he and his friend were going to meet them on the Coast for some fishing.  If you know anything about Fred, then you know he loves to fish.  He was so excited for this day.  The plan was for Fred and his friend to drive down on Wednesday.  The boys were having trouble finding a campsite on Wednesday due to all the flooding.  The leaders posted this picture on Wednesday.  Our tent is the blue one on the right.  It looks like it is going to take flight at any moment.

Fred started taking boys out fishing on Thursday.  He had so much fun and so did the boys.  To Fred, there is nothing better than fishing.  There was a time in our lives that we truly lived that Brad Paisley song I'm Gonna Miss Her.  The first time I heard that song, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, because it hit way too close to home.  I can't tell you how many family functions Fred missed to go fishing.  We like the new and improved Fred, but I know that he misses fishing!  I have a feeling he caught the fishing bug while he was out there with the boys.

I know that Jonathan had the time of his life fishing with his dad.  It will be a special memory that he can carry with him always.  Fred was gone Wednesday - Saturday last week with Jonathan and then he will be gone Monday - Saturday of this week for Scout Camp.  We miss him, but to see Jonathan's awkward smile with this fish is completely worth it!

I Heart Willie and You Should, Too

This is my PSA to you, because we must surely be friends or family, if you are reading this.  Don't walk, run to your iPhone (or other device) and download Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard's album, Django and Jimmie.  I have been listening to it since the beginning of June, when it came out, and I just LOVE it.  I love every song on the album and that is rare for me. 

Which songs are my absolute favorites, you ask?  (So, you didn't really ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway.) 

Unfair Weather Friend 

(Don't you just love a good song about friends?)

Missing Ol' Johnny Cash

(Who doesn't love and miss Johnny Cash?)

Live this Long

(Wouldn't we all take better care of ourselves if we knew better?)

Okay, really I just love them all!

So, go!  Download it or buy the CD-- if you're old school.  You'll thank me for it.

The Perils of Vanity

So, Fred left this morning at 3:45 a.m. to take 7 boys to Scout Camp!  He will be doing Scoutmaster stuff until Saturday.  In honor of his week at Scout Camp, I wanted to post this story, because it made me laugh really hard.  I thought it was so funny that I read it to Fred.  When I read it the second time, I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.  Fred was laughing, but I'm not sure if he was laughing, because I was tickled or if he really thought the story was that funny.

There is an author/blogger that I like.  Her name is Sophie Hudson and she lives in Birmingham, Alabama.  I was reading this story about her son, Alex, going off to Scout Camp for the first time.  It made me laugh so hard that I practically cried.  Mostly, because it is funny and also because it reminded me of this time that my friend, Ruth and I accompanied our guys to a BBQ dinner for all of the Wood Badge participants.  Let's just say that our experience was very similar to Sophie's Family Night experience at Scout Camp.  I thought we were going to a nice BBQ dinner and it was nothing like that at all.  We didn't have to hike to our dinner.  However, like Sophie, we were definitely overdressed.  Maybe, I'll write a post about it.

Here is Sophie's story.  I hope you think it is as funny as I did:

Alex has been at camp all this week. It's his first time to stay a week at overnight camp, so I spent most of last Friday and Saturday going through the packing list and running to the store and trying to make sure he had everything he needed for the week. This is why I will forever refer to last weekend as THAT TIME TARGET TOOK ALL OF OUR MONEY.

So I got the boy packed, and after our usual Sunday routine of church and Chuy's, we took him to the drop-off spot and said our good-byes. I was determined to keep everything LIGHT and BREEZY and FULL-O-CHEER, but I really shouldn't have worried because he wasn't even a little bit upset about leaving us. He was excited about being with his buddies and fired up about an adventure run / mud obstacle course that they were doing on Monday. So, you know, BYE FELICIA.

Last night (Wednesday) was Family Night at camp, so David came home from work early and we left the house around 3:30 in the hopes that we'd be at camp by 5. I knew it was going to be hot because so far the month of June DOES NOT PLAY, so I wore some super-thin / comfy palazzo pants and the thinnest tunic-style t-shirt I could find in my closet. I mean, yes, it's hot, but I wanted to look cute-ish for the family dinner, and IN MY HEAD I thought that we would be at some sort of picnic shelter located mere seconds from our car.

Why did I think that? Well, I have no idea. It was just the mental image I'd created when David first mentioned Family Night, and I may have also envisioned lots of lights strung through the trees sort of like what you see in the Bravermans' backyard on Parenthood.

Well, we were about 45 minutes into our drive when David mentioned that he didn't know whether Alex would be with us on the hike or not, and I promise you that my head whipped around and I said, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HIKE? I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH THIS TERM." 

He said, "Didn't you read the email? We have to hike to the campsite."

I stared at him for several seconds before I said, "No. No, I didn't read the email. The email was very long and I'm not sure if you've noticed but I'M WEARING WEDGES."

Then I pointed to my shoes for emphasis.

He asked where I thought we'd be having our picnic, and I calmly explained DUH, AT A PICNIC SHELTER, LIKE AT THE PARK, and then I pointed to my shoes again and he got very tickled.

Well.

As soon as we got to the campground, Alex and his buddies were walking through the parking area, and he looked so happy and was so quick to tell us how much fun he was having. Then he said, "Hey! I can hike with y'all to the campsite!" and I looked at David and Alex looked at me and I pointed to my shoes and then I kid you not it started to rain.

Thankfully the rain didn't last long at all - just enough to stir up some good steam - and we started our hike. THROUGH THE WOODS. While I was wearing palazzo pants and a tunic. Sporting some serious statement earrings. Carrying my sassy little Noonday tote bag and the 7-layer salad I'd made for the festivities. 

I texted Melanie later and told her that I felt a little bit like Mrs. Howell on Gilligan's Island. I mean, I certainly don't relate to the Howells on a cash money level or anything like that, but I was really just a hair shy of carrying a clutch bag and wearing pearls.

In other words, I looked absolutely ridiculous.

By the time we made it to the campground 14 or 42 minutes later, I was drenched in sweat. It was like I'd arrived on the Survivor island in my street clothes and the first item of business was an elimination challenge featuring a relay race that culminated in a wood-chopping contest. 

Eventually, though, I started to cool down, and we set up our chairs and visited with some of the other families. Alex showed us his tent (I may or may not have seized his battery-operated fan to help me cool down a bit), he told us about everything they'd been doing, and my mama heart was so relieved that he was having a blast and totally in his element that I was able to ignore the fact that my hair looked like I'd just finished up at the shampoo bowl at Truvy's Salon. 

After dinner and some more time catching up and talking, David said it was probably time for us to head back home. We gathered up all our stuff, hugged our boy good-bye, and then I remembered that if I'd had to hike to the campsite, I was going to have to hike back to the car. And honestly, it wasn't *that* far - maybe 1/2 mile - but the wedges on dirt and clay and hills and gravel? NOT THE BEST OPTION.

Finally - mercifully - I made it back to the car, and I hadn't even sat down in my seat before I cranked the A/C all the way up to FREEZE & STUN. I tried to pull my hair off of my face but was unfortunately without a clippy, so I just held the wet, soggy mess off of my neck and let the A/C work its magic. And make no mistake: the time at camp was so worth it because it did our hearts a world of good to see Alex thriving in that environment. However, I've already decided that when we go back for Family Night next year, I will be wearing a ventilated fishing shirt, shorts, and some shoes that are suitable for hiking. BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO HIKE, YOU SEE.

Silver lining? I probably lost six pounds.

So, what do you think?  Was it as funny as I promised it would be?

Father's Day Tribute

Happy Father's Day to all the sweet men in our lives!  How blessed we are to have strong, amazing men around us that love us so much.

We love our Scoutmaster Fred.  He is the best husband and dad around. He spent Wednesday through Saturday of last week in Galveston with our young men (14-18) from church helping them to have a fun fishing adventure.  He came home excited with lots of tales about the boys.  He had a day and a half to recuperate and then he leaves at 3:45 a.m. tomorrow morning for Scout Camp with our 12 and 13 year old boys.  We'll say goodbye to him tonight and then we'll see him on Saturday. The boys just loaded up their gear and they are excited about camp.  Fred enjoys working with those boys so much!  I am so thankful that Jonathan has been able to share his Scout experiences with Fred.  I also love that Fred continues to love the boys and love Scouts even though Jonathan has moved on up to the next group. 

I love my dad and the kids love their Grady.  When I was growing up, I remember thinking that I had the smartest dad in the whole wide world.  I would get him to help me with math, because lets face it, I am math deficient.  He would walk me through the problems and then I would go to school where I would see my teacher working them a completely different way.  Thinking that my dad must surely be smarter, I would raise my hand in class and declare, "But, that's not the way MY dad showed me how to do it."  I think my very favorite teacher, Mrs. Hannon had a talk with my mom and told her that it would be best if Dad no longer help me with my homework.  I also thought that Dad could fix or build anything.  He built us a multi-level playhouse, for Pete's sake, complete with a sand box and a slide. He fixed my car often.  I also knew that he would help me out of any scrapes.  In college, he drove to Denton when my Ford Tempo died (and, I mean died) on Eagle Dr., and some sweet, greasy men towed me to a gas station and kept my car overnight.  I don't think people really do that anymore. Lastly, he is the king of silly sayings or Dadisms, as I call them.  They don't make sense to anyone, but him.  For instance, I have migraines and I often say, my head hurts.  His reply is always, "A head like that ought to hurt."  Why does he say that to his sick daughter?  (I mean, he has been saying that since I was a little girl.)  I have no idea, but I wouldn't trade him for the world.   

I love my brother and I am so proud of the father that he has become.  He has the cutest 5 year old little girl, Lainey.  They are pregnant with their 2nd daughter.  He is such a fun uncle.  My kids adore him and he is an amazing father.  He tells bad jokes that are in no way funny.  So much of who he is, he inherited from my dad.  His upstanding character and his dumb jokes.

I love these special men in my family!  I hope they have had a wonderful day.  These are just a few of the special men in our lives -- the ones that I happen to share a last name with (or my maiden name).  We hope all of our family and friends had a wonderful Father's Day today.

Twenty and Counting

This picture was taken at a company event just a few short weeks after I started

Today is my twentieth anniversary at Nouveau.  My how time flies.  Don't start doing the math, but here is how it all stacks up.  I had been out of college exactly one year when I started at Nouveau.  One month after I hired on here, I celebrated my first wedding anniversary.  Fourteen months after I started, I had my first child.

I pretty much experienced every one of my firsts right here at Nouveau!  My first time to take a trip on an airplane.  You guessed it.  Headed to Bentonville.  By myself.  I remember being so worried about finding the right gate that I forgot to be worried about the flight itself.  Turns out that I'm not a nervous flyer.  Just one that suffers from a little nausea.  The entire flight I prayed that I wouldn't throw up.

My first time to pass out?  Trip to Atlanta for a Walmart meeting.  We were waiting for our table at dinner and I apparently lost consciousness for a few minutes.  I had a real Steel Magnolias moment, because one of the ladies we were traveling with advised that they have me drink orange juice.  Only, I am not diabetic and I wasn't going all Shelby on them.  I was just sitting there calmly trying to figure out how I ended up on the floor.  I was also checking to make sure that I was not wearing a dress, because that would be so embarrassing.  My co-workers were hungry.  When our table was ready, they just pulled me up off the floor and walked me to the table and fed me some steak.  No visit to the doctor.  They did call my room periodically to make sure that I was still alive.  Oh, and they made me call Fred and tell him what happen.  His response?  "So?  What am I supposed to do?"  I love that man.  He really tells it like it is on most days.

I developed and broke a hard core Coke habit while working here.  We're talking HARD CORE.  I lived for my Cokes.  I don't even know how many I drank a day.  Cokes are a quarter a piece at this amazing company.  They were a quarter on the day that I walked into the old building on Chennault 20 years ago and they are still a quarter today.  Do you know what that means?  One dollar and I have FOUR Cokes, people!  Years ago, I decided to break the habit, because I drank so many it was ridiculous.  Now, I only have an Excedrin habit.   I feel you judging me.  Please don't.

I have seen my babies grow up.  One is about to be 19 and the other is 15.  I have seen my co-workers' babies grow up.  I have seen sweet friends pass away and the family members of friends pass away.

I've said goodbye to so many good, good friends as they've moved on to new adventures.  That is always so hard.  I miss so many of the people that I've worked with through the years, but I know that they are doing bigger and better things.  I am grateful for their friendship and for all the time that we worked together.  I am grateful for all that they taught me.

I said goodbye to Pat and Evan.  The amazing couple that founded Nouveau.  They taught me so many things.  I enjoyed working with Pat and learning from her.  Most everything I know, I feel that I learned from her.  I owe so much to her.

I am so thankful for where Nouveau is today.  For the wonderful people that I work with and the fun projects that I get to work on each and everyday.  I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to have spent the last 20 years right here.

Cutting Edge

I was getting my nails done a couple of months ago and noticed that two teenagers came in and asked for white nail polish.  The next day a couple of our girls at church had white polish on their nails.  So, I asked them if white is the in-thing.  They told me that EVERYBODY gets white.  To which I replied that I didn't think I could rock the white.  It's just a bit, well, white.  They were very encouraging and assured me that I could totally get my nails done in white.  Every couple of weeks they would check my nails and they were always a very boring color, except for the time I let the nail lady paint my toes orange.  I just did that because I never have my toes exposed and I was proving a point to Jessie that I can be adventurous.

Well, I wanted to be super cool for camp, so I went with white finger and toe nails.  It doesn't get more cutting edge than that.  Me and about three of the Mia Maids (the 14-15 year old girls at church) have white nails, so I'm feeling pretty good about myself.  I'm such a follower.  Don't be a follower, girls!

And, I Rejoiced

Last Friday, I rejoiced because it was the last day that I had to get up early and take the boy to seminary.  This morning, I rejoiced that I only have one more breakfast and one more lunch to make before school is out.  Next Friday, I will rejoice that Driver's Ed is over (only I will have spent much of my week at Girls' Camp) except for the drive times.  The girl is helping out with summer school at TSAS all month.  I will be rejoicing at the end of June that I no longer have to cart her around.

I feel like a poor excuse of a parent for all of this rejoicing.

And, I really feel like a poor excuse of a parent when I realized that all the boy expects or wants for breakfast is a cup of chocolate milk and 3 little donuts.  Therefore, why would one rejoice that she gets a summer long break from preparing breakfast?  I don't really know and I don't care.  I'm just tired.  So, judge me. Mock me.  I'm excited to have a break!  I will be rejoicing.