A Rose by Any Other Name...

I am not really the frilly type of woman, if I have a choice between a frill and a straight seam, I'll almost always go for the straight seam (except with costumes, but that's a story for another time!).  One of my few girly girl indulgences is bubble baths and scented lotions.  And I'm very particular about them...no patchouli or musk for me, light floral scents all the way! 

Bath and Body Works has been a favorite in the past, starting with Absolute Tulip, through to the original Honeysuckle, then Gardenia, then Water Blossom Ivy.  You may notice a trend here....they are all gone from the stores now.  It seems as though I no sooner settle on a new scent than it's being retired.

As though that weren't enough, now Crabtree and Evelyn, that stalwart of refined scents, has retired my favorite of their scents: Lily of the Valley.  Great.  I've gobbled up as much as I can of the shower gel and lotion that a local store has, but when it's gone, I have no idea what I'm going to do, because their new lily scent, "imaginatively" titled "Lily", is nowhere near as good as the Lily of the Valley.  And none of the new Bath and Body Works scents are worth the price. 

I am now boycotting Bath and Body Works.  They are the ultimate teasers...they get you hooked on a scent and then make it impossible to get.  I'm sure they are trembling in their collective corporate boots just praying that I don't go public with my dismissal of their wares! 

From the Heart.

I am using this space for the letter I would like to give to 'she who must not be named', but know she would find far too mawkish to be believed. 

My darling child, you are our middle child, the hardest position to be in.  From the moment you entered this world 5 weeks early and screaming at the top of your lungs, you made it evident that you would be a force to be reconed with.  There were many times when you were young that I wasn't sure either one of us would survive to see you graduate from high school....but we both did. 

And now I look at the wonderful, confident, strong young woman you have become, and I know that something very precious is about to leave my every day life.  There won't be anyone playing the piano at 2 or 3 in the morning, or crashing chords from a viola echoing through the house at midnight.  No more dance recitals, orchestra concerts, pointe shoes or physics groups. 

From the moment you were born we have had this moment in mind, each step along the way carefully planned so that when you did leave our home, you would be able to go forward without fear, prepared for an independent life.  I think you're ready, but my mother's heart isn't ready for the change.  You see, I don't particularly care for change.  So I will smile, and wave, and do all the things that Mom's should do when their children leave for college, and then you and Poppy will drive away from me.  You should pity your poor brother for having to deal with the emotional wreck left behind!

So there you have it.  No words of motherly wisdom, you've heard them all a million times before, and you don't really need them.  Boston will never know what hit them when you arrive on campus, but they should know how lucky they are to have you....and I know how lucky I've been to have had you for eighteen years.

Love,
Your Momma.

My Kingdom for a Bookstore

There are many wonderful things about living in a small town.  Especially when you are raising children.  There are some drawbacks to it, though, and I ran face first into one of them tonight.  Those who know me well know that I find book stores to be nigh unto irresistible (and I don't try to resist very hard!).  My mother in law gave me a sweatshirt a few years ago with the saying "Lead Me Not Into Temptation, Deliver Me From Bookstores." and I think it's about the best thing she's ever gotten me.  But I digress.  One of my daughters wants "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis.  A fairly famous author and one of his more famous works.  Our local library branch didn't have a copy, and she's leaving on Sunday for college, so I decided to slip over to our local 'bookstore' - and I use the term loosely - to pick up a copy for her. 

Now I'm pretty savvy when it comes to locating books.  So I headed for the "Classics" section.  Not there.  OK, maybe "Christian Fiction?"  No joy.  At this point I was perplexed.  Was I looking in the wrong place or did they not have any copies?  I finally broke down and cornered one of the young men who works at the store.  And encountered an unexpected problem.  He had no idea who C. S. Lewis was, and had never heard of either Narnia or Screwtape Letters.  I spent a few minutes explaining the premise of the story to him....and ended up in the Science Fiction section.  Once again, no luck.  So finally he gave up and sent me to the person with a computer who could look it up.  Finally some useful help!  (This person also had never heard of the book or the author, I had to spell it for her because she kept typing it in wrong). The book was finally located (in Christian Living) and purchased, but the whole situation reinforced my feeling that this community desperately needs a real bookstore, not a coffee shop pretending to be a bookstore.   

Guided Misiles, the Natural Way

Let me start off by saying that it is a false assumption that South Gulf Coast Texas has only two seasons: "hot and hotter."  There are a multitude of seasons here, they just aren't the same as the rest of the country's!  For example, we are sliding down toward the end of 'skeeter season, hitting the height of hurricane season, and just entering the pecan season.  Pecan season?  Yep.  This area of Texas has lots of pecan trees, and they are dropping their nuts everywhere.  How could that be a problem you may ask?  After all, there are many delicious items that can be made with pecans!  Ah, but have you ever considered how hard the shell of a pecan is, and how tall the trees are?  I walked out in the back yard last night and not only did my feet find the pointy bits of shell the squirrels left on the ground, the trees started pelting me with ripe nuts.  My husband's hard hat is looking like a pretty good addition to my wardrobe right about now!

We are bound by the secrets we share.

When I was in college - way too many years ago to count - people talked to me.  That's not to say they don't talk to me now, but at that point in time I was extremely shy and quiet, which made it easy to talk to me, I was more inclined to listen than to talk.  I have a feeling that those who know me now might be surprised at this, I've since found my voice.  Story for another time, however. 

Lately my ears have been getting an unaccustomed workout.  It seems that every time I turn around I'm being told some new 'secret' or about a new situation that calls for discretion.  This is all well and good, I'm more than happy to listen, but I really don't feel qualified to be of much help in any of these situations except to sit and listen and offer a comforting shoulder or a word of encouragement.  And assurance that the information will go no further.  Which it won't. 

I just wish I could do more.  :(

What goes around...

My very favorite actor of all time is Alan Rickman.  The delicious voice, the tall, lean body, the fantastic hair, did I mention the  velvet voice?  He was in a show called "Seminar" this fall, and I got permission from my hubby (it's not an inconsiderable amount of money and time) to go with a friend to NYC and see it.  It would have been my first time to see Alan Rickman, and I was really looking forward to it.  At the same time hubby was looking for a new job that would keep us in Texas instead of having to move to Arizona.  He found a fantastic job, although it was a bit of a mixed blessing....I realized pretty quickly that the time I was planning on flying back east was the same time that he would be switching jobs, and that we would be a bit shorter on cash than usual.  So I willingly gave up my plans to go see Seminar.

Fast forward to today.  Several friends are seeing Kristin Chenoweth, one of my favorite singers in the big city to our north.  In the past few years several of my favorite artists have come through the area, and I've not been able to see any of them, much to my disgust.  Ok, lets be honest, I couldn't justify spending that kind of money on myself when we have three kids etc. etc.  Well, I took a look at another one of my favorite artists, Idina Menzel, and realized she was going to be in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas in the next few weeks.  Y'all I've given up a lot in the name of my family in the last oh so many years, but I'm tired of never getting to see the people I want to see.  So I sweet talked hubby into taking me to San Antonio June 12th to see Idina Menzel in concert there.  Shhhhhh, I already bought the tickets...the only possible problem is that I have rehearsal for Camelot that night.  I'm hoping the Maestro will forgive my absence, this is too good to miss!

Well this is a pretty to do.  I am a public school employee here in muggy, hot, mosquito ridden, Gulf Coast Texas.  (The land of big hair-frizz is inevitable; big trucks, and sometimes even bigger egos!)  We are fortunate enough to be in our last week of school (Finally!) and unfortunately that means bringing paperwork home to figure percentages and get ready to do progress reports.  A friend recommended a perfectly lovely movie to me, "De Lovely".  Heaven only knows how I've missed this one, but it was the perfect accompaniment to grading.  Until the end....when I cried me a river right here on the bed.  He warned me, but I don't think I quite believed him, I should have had more tissues at the ready.  Anyway, if you like Cole Porter music, I highly recommend this movie.

I was already pretty much of an emotional mess from De Lovely when I opened an email from my mother regarding an aunt of mine that has been ill.  She's been fighting cancer now for over a year, and it's not looking good.  This aunt is only 12 years older than I am, she turns sixty in July, and there is some doubt as to whether she will make it.  In the last week or so she's started telling the family that she hopes to make it to September so that she can sit on the beach in the warm sand.  The implied meaning is that she wants to do this one more time before she dies.  There are no words for the amount of sadness I feel.  When I was growing up, as an only child, she was the closest thing to an older sister I had, she was there with advice, always available to talk or two listen.  The pain of her going, and going in such a fashion is heartbreaking. 

My mother will in all likelihood be flying back to her home town very soon, she and her other sister were going to wait until my Aunt's birthday in July to go back and visit, they are afraid if they wait they may not get to see her at all. 

As trite as it is, treasure your moments together, they are fleeting and pass all too quickly.