So How Hot is it in Texas ?

Oh Lordy, it's HOT outside ! 

Unbearably hot, uncomfortably hot, makes-me-very-grumpy hot!

People like to make jokes about the intense summer heat in Texas like: 

• The birds have to use pot holders to pull worms out of the ground.
• The potatoes cook underground, and all you have to do to have lunch is to pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
• Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.
• Corn is popping on the stalks
• Green tomatoes fry on the vine,
• You eat jalapenos to cool your tongue

BUT SERIOUSLY, IT’S SO HOT IN TEXAS THAT…

every one of the following statements is true and I speak from personal experience. 

• Hot water now comes from both faucets
• You no longer associate bridges (or rivers) with water.
• You can say 110 degrees without fainting.
• You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
• The temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.
• You discover that it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
• You discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.
• The best parking place is always determined by shade instead of distance.
• In June, July and August, kids are on summer vacation, and the streets and playgrounds are deserted
• It's 5:00 am in June, July and August and there are all kinds of people out walking/running in the dark
• You can actually burn your hand opening the car door.
• You break a sweat the moment you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
• No one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
• Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, “What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?”
• You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
• A/C  runs 24 hours a day 
• All blinds and window coverings in your home are kept shut  for the season
• You can burn the bottoms of your feet just running out to the mailbox if you're not wearing shoes 
• If the temperature drops into the mid 70's  in the early morning, it is considered 'refreshing' 
• The air quality is like breathing vacuum cleaner dust
• You keep twice as much iced tea in the refrigerator as milk 

... AND AS IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, IT’S SO DRY IN TEXAS THAT…

• The cows are giving evaporated milk.
• The trees are whistling for the dogs.
• A sad Texan once prayed, “I wish it would rain – not so much for me, cuz I’ve seen it — but for my 7-year-old.”
• A visitor to Texas once asked, “Does it ever rain out here?” A rancher quickly answered “Yes, it does. Do you remember that part in the Bible where it rained for 40 days and 40 nights?” The visitor replied, “Yes, I’m familiar with Noah’s flood.” “Well, “the rancher puffed up, “we got about two and a half inches of that.

Just kidding of course, but the drought is of real concern to farmers and ranchers alike. Wildfires have broken out across the state and are difficult to get under control. The loss of 1000's of acres of property, livestock and crops is unimaginable.

In my 'planned community', you are required by the HOA to keep the grass green, which means that we must water the lawn regularly. Even so, there are deep, wide cracks appearing in the yard. Because the soil is clay,  it shrinks when too dry and many homeowners end up with serious foundation issues due to the shifting that happens as a result. The slabs become prone to cracking and repairing a cracked foundation can cost a homeowner a bundle. 

Oh the joys perils of living  enduring the long seemingly endless season of summer in Texas.

I've heard it said there are two seasons here - hot and hotter - that pretty much sums it up. 

A national weather commentator  described it this way last week : 

"Summer in Texas is like living inside a hairdryer - non-stop wind and hot." 

Think I'll go and enjoy another big glass of iced tea and dream of October... it just can't come soon enough for this northern girl.

Yielding all I know about me to all I know about Him.

A Change in Direction.....

For the last 3 years I have stayed home and provided daycare for my grandson. This was a promise I made to my daughter before he was born.

However, it was not the 'easy follow through' I thought it would be when the time actually came.

I was an Administrative Assistant to the Upper School principal at a private Christian school for nine years. It was a great job ~ no, not just a great job, it was the best job! I loved getting up in the morning and couldn't wait to head into work every single day.

It was more than just a job, it was a calling, a mission of sorts and it nourished my soul in ways that are hard to put into words. It was a near perfect environment ~ the people I worked with were people of exceptional integrity and character. We shared a common goal and worked for something bigger than ourselves. We were in the business of  providing an academic education for students, but it was so.o.o.o.o.much more than that. We were involved in shaping the hearts and minds of a group of young people in ways that would forever impact their lives. It was an exceptional environment that was safe, professional, nurturing, caring and pure. We were all like-minded in our faith and issues of culture, moral behavior and unity. I truly mourned leaving that job, but the time had come to follow through on a promise I had made years earlier.

I have loved spending 3 years with my little prince .... it humbles me to consider the ways in which my time with him have already influenced his development, thinking and character. He and I have a bond that is unique and very, very special. I love this little boy with ALL my heart and soul. It has been a rewarding, unique season of my life but the time has come to move forward into another season.

There are now two of them, the second little one only being a few months old and as much as I love them, the time has come for me to go back to work. I miss it..... I miss the feeling of accomplishment, I miss the community of being with other grown ups, I miss having an income and insurance benefits. I'm three years older and not sure I have the energy, enthusiasm or desire to deal with 2 young children all day, every day.

My daughter and her husband have offered to pay me generously to re-consider my decision and I have struggled with it some. But I feel a conviction about my position and am standing firm in my decision not to go that route.They have found someone who provides in-home daycare and both boys will go there beginning in August.

I have started job searching in earnest these last few weeks, and so far nothing has really struck my fancy. I just don't know what I want to do or what direction I want to go in. I'm leaving all the options open and trying to think out of the box a little .... I don't offer an incredible array of computer skills, don't have any specialized technical training, I'm certainly not a 20-something, but I'm hoping that experience and a proven track record will trump the academic credentials and youth  offered  by so many job seekers out in the market at the moment. Surely that will be worth something of value to someone.

I'm anxious to get back to being busy, productive and heading out the door early every morning..... a fully functioning grown up back in the workplace.

I'm looking forward to daily visits with those sweet grandchildren from an entirely new and fresh perspective.

Yielding all I know about me to all I know about Him.

A Cowboy Kind of Life

I live in the city.

I lived in a planned community, on a golf course, with private security, walking trails, community parks, and an HOA (Home Owners Association) that has an entire manual of rules that one has to abide by in order to live in this community. The lots are small, the houses tend to be super sized and seems like everyone drives an over sized SUV or some other foreign luxury vehicle.

I don't belong here. Some days, I just want to pack up and leave suburban living in the rear view mirror.

My house is small, I drive a 1996 Accura, yes that's not a typo ~1996! That makes my car 15 years old ~ frankly, I'm surprised the HOA doesn't ticket me for having a car that is not in keeping with the standards of the neighborhood.

The HOA police drive around at least once a week scrutinizing the condition of our homes, our yards, making sure the garbage cans have been parked out of sight, garage doors are closed, that you haven't removed a tree without their permission,  put up a bird house without their approval or changed the color of your house trim without it passing through their committees ... the list goes on and on and on.

I get the whole idea behind the purpose of an HOA. It serves to maintain the integrity of the neighborhood and ensures some sense of continuity and uniformity of the neighborhood's overall appearance. No one is allowed to park an RV or boat out front on the street for months on end. They send you warning notices if you leave a bag of mulch out on your driveway overnight, a bucket on your front porch,  if the grass isn't cut short enough,  if there you have weeds that need to be pulled up, if your landscaping isn't full enough to meet the neighborhood rules or if your home is falling into some state of disrepair.

Sometimes the minutia of all the rules seems to border on assinine, but I really do get it and I really do appreciate their efforts and the expected results ... our neighborhood always looks reasonably appealing and consistent. That helps home values and protects me from having someone next door from painting their trim purple, or parking a trailer in their side yard or putting up a shed that blocks my view etc. etc. When we choose to live in these neighborhoods, it is incumbent that we follow the rules.... period. If you don't like it, then move.... and this is what we pay for in the mandatory HOA dues which are nearly $1000/year.

But, we do live on top of each other and I've never gotten used to that .... I like my privacy and I can NEVER seem to enjoy just a quiet moment outside by myself. Now I guess if you had neighbors that didn't have a pool, didn't have post-teenagers who have a steady stream of friends over day and night and cars parked all over the street, this might not be an issue. But I do, and it becomes annoying to always feel like you have company or are intruding on theirs when you're out in your own yard.  I've learned to choose my moments to go out and garden or just sit outside based on whether the neighbors are out or not. Because we're on the golf course, wooden fences are not permitted and landscaping helps, but it has to stay in proportion to the yard ... when I step out of my kitchen door it's only 4 feet to the property line, so there's limits as to how much shrub screening is effective but still attractive.

I long for a cowboy kind of life..... just a few acres in the country , a decent distance away from people, traffic and corner shopping malls,  lots of trees, a pond or creek, some decent privacy and just plain quietness and real darkness at night .... the kind where you can see the stars.

IF (operative word)  I had the money, I would move out of suburbia and to the country in a heartbeat .... buy the land, build a rustic modest home with a big wrap around porch, plant a big garden , get a couple of country dogs, go for long daily walks through the fields or woods and just enjoy the solitude of simpler, quieter living.

Not going to happen , at least not anytime soon, so I am constantly on the lookout for my own urban oasis of creekbanks and open fields in which to roam with my hiking stick and enjoy some nature.... unfortunately I always have to drive to these places before I can enjoy them.

I love the idea of a cowboy kind of life ~ purer, more honest, simpler, more in touch with nature and the simple beauty of the land ~ so in lieu of what I know I can't have, I went out and bought these this morning. They feel good and fit like a well worn glove. I just love them and will continue to dream about living a cowboy kind of life whenever I put these darlings on my feet. Looking forward to going and finding a nice dirt road and just kicking up a little dust.  

I know without a doubt that I'm a country girl at heart .... at the very least, a small town girl, so no one who knows me well would be surprised as I shudder with indifference to life  in suburbia.

Yielding all I know about me to all I know about Him.

Simplified Renewal .... Really?

My Canadian passport is about to expire.

As a Canadian citizen living in the USA, getting one's passport is not the easiest process in the world if it is not convenient to travel back to Canada to do so. In fact, 5 years ago, it took me close to 4 months and the cost of 3 registered mail packages before they finally renewed mine ..... frustrating, really frustrating!

It was not an application for a new passport, it was simply a renewal. I missed a great travel opportunity because of the multiple delays. The primary stumbling block in this process is getting the photos done.

A simple enough process one would think, but Canada's photo requirements are completely different than almost every other country and it seems to be very difficult to find a US photographer who actually knows how to do it to the satisfaction of the Canadian government. They have a number of restrictions with regards to the actual photo ~ what's permissible and what's not, so I went to the photo shop armed with 4 pages of instructions on how to get the little itty bitty photos just right.

After several attempts, the photographer thought he had it nailed ~ "I dare them to reject these" he boasted confidently ..... we shall see.  I happily paid the man, took my photos which don't look half bad and actually bear some resemblance to my image this time, went home and completed the new  'simplified' paperwork. Providing an applicant meets a number of conditions, one of which is not having let your current passport expire, you qualify for the 'simplified' renewal. There is a lot less paperwork to fill out and no need for finding the proper guarantors and public notary certification ..... that did save considerable amounts of time!

I headed off to the local post office, paid my $20 to have the package registered and sent it off to the Canadian government. That was May 23rd. I've not heard back from them, so I'm taking that as a very good sign. Through the modern technology of on line tracking, I know that it is in their very capable hands and with any kind of luck and good timing, I should have a new passport in hand in the very near future.

Used to be, the Canadian passport was good for 10 years, but now I get to look forward to this process every 5 years ... and the government gets to collect their $125 twice as often. A relatively inexpensive price to pay for the privilege of of being an ex-patriot.

Thinking I'll just go ahead and start planning a little trip.

Yielding all I know about me to all I know about Him.