An update for those of you who wonder what’s happening at the Creek.  (Our little community is named after a creek, and so we call our homeschool “Creekside Academy.”  It’s been handy to have a “name,” since we get educator discount cards at the teacher supply stores, Barnes & Noble and Office Max.)

Saturday we submitted our entries for the county fair.  We love the county fair!  We don’t do the agriculture/livestock thing — it’s not our cup of tea.  However, we do like to go see the animals and we even peek in at the rodeo goings-on.  (A couple of years ago I was affeared that I’d unknowingly given birth to a future PETA member — we went to watch the calf roping and Jami burst into tears thinking that the cowboy was “hurting” the baby cow.  We explained to her a little of the ins-and-outs of ranch life and how ranchers take better care of their animals than one can imagine.  She’s okay with it now.  Whew!)

Now our favorite part of the fair is the exhibition hall.  We love to go and see all the wonderful things that people have crafted for display and competition.  Personally, my girl entered a photograph, a drawing, and a wooden birdhouse in the appropriate divisions.  I entered five photographs.  It’s so exciting to go to the exhibit hall and search out our entries to see if we’ve won anything.  Entries of these types were due in yesterday and I dropped them off with time to spare.  My girl will also be entering the Kitchen Pride Bake Off on October 21.  She entered last year and won a blue ribbon for the bar cookies she made.  I was very proud of her!

Our fair really has a great display of countywide talent and skill.  We will see quilts, needlework, woodcrafts, art in various media, photography, and collections (we have a seashelling club in our area and they always have  a beautiful exhibit of shells their members have collected from their travels) on display.  There’s also the commercial exhibit hall where vendors of different products come to display their wares and hopefully make a sale or two.  One year there was a gentleman doing cooking demonstrations with some very fine cookware — more than we could afford, but it was fun to watch him do his little “infomercial” in real life!

After we’ve scoped out our entries to see if we’ve won anything and then checked out the other entries on display, we’ll wonder over to the food booths where we’ll have to choose between such incredibly rich and decadent yummies like sausage on a stick, gumbo, turkey legs, apple dumplings with ice cream, funnel cakes and fried oreos (yes, you read that right — it’s an oreo dipped in funnel cake batter and deep fried, dusted with powdered sugar . . . so sweet it makes your teeth hurt, and I can hardly wait . . . !)

Then there’s the Midway — flashing bright lights streak through the sky on the Ferris Wheel, the Tilt-a-Whirl, and the Zipper!  Toss a ping-pong ball in a bowl of colored water and win a Fishy!  Pop a balloon with a dart and win a stuffed animal!  Everyone’s a winnah!  (Yeah, right!)  Cotton candy and candied apples, popcorn and soda . . . sticky hands and sticky smiles.  A tired little girl falling asleep on the drive home.  Already talking about “next year” as her little head nods with weariness.

I just love this time of year . . . 

Here are some of my photos — one of them uploaded upside down (I don’t know why and it’s late — I may come back and fix it later, but I need to finish up here for now . . . )

This is a picture of my girl that I took at my sister-in-law’s wedding back on the spring.  I love this photo!  (In fact, I think I may have posted it before, but hey, it’s my blog and I can do what I want to!  LOL)

This is my nephew and my sister at last year’s county fair.  I entitled this one:

“She ain’t goofy, she’s my mama!”

Fortunately, my sister has a good sense of humor (and I asked for permission before entering it in the fair)!

I took this one (“Across the Water”) at a rosery up the road from where we live.  The nursery specializes in antique roses, especially roses developed by Texas A&M that have been designated “Earthkind” roses.  Earthkind roses are put through strenuous testing for hardiness in the least friendly of environments.  Meaning the test roses are stuck in the ground and ignored for three years.  If they thrive, they are awarded the Earthkind label (which in my world translates to:  Idiot-proof)  I really want to get some of these roses for our yard.

This was taken a few weeks ago on our homeschool group’s field trip to see the Elissa at the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston.  I entitled it “Sailing Back in Time.”  The kids had a great time touring the ship and learning about sea travel in the 1800’s.  My girl looks quite at home, dontcha’ think?

I’m sorry this one is upside down!  I’m not sure how to get it to flip over.  :0(  Anyway,  if you have a laptop, I suppose you could turn your screen over . . . ha!  It is one of those inflatable slide things that you see at carnivals, etc.  This happened to be at Opening Day for the Little League Ball club in my nephew’s hometown.  Like I said, I’ll try to get this to upload properly at some later time so you can truly appreciate it in all its glory!  LOL

I did not enter this one in the fair, but I do like it a lot.  I went to a women’s retreat with my church a few weeks ago.  It was held at a Baptist encampment on the bay south of here.  One of the ladies organized a 7:00 a.m. prayer walk — in theory a lovely thing, but I am not a morning person!  They left about 5 minutes before I made it to the common room . . . which was actually fine with me.  I took my Bible, my little notebook, my camera, and headed out on my own “prayer walk.”  I found a perch on the seawall where I settled in to watch the sun rise and have my own talk with God.  I wish I could do this every morning!  (The watching the sun rise over the water thing . . . ) 

It’s been a while, eh?  Well, to catch ya’ll up on what’s going on here — the girl recovered from her little temperature bug.  Yay!  She’s doing great and we’re puttering along with our schoolwork.  SuperMath is her least favorite class, but she prefers it over the curriculum that we used last year.  This past week we learned how to turn fractions into decimals and how to square large numbers ending in the number “5”.  (It’s a pretty neat trick, and works every time!  It would be easier to demonstrate if I could actually “write” it the way the teacher does on the board, but here goes: 

75 squared — write it where the 7 is to the left of a backwards capital “l” and the 5 is to the right.  Square the 7 to get 49.  Then add 7 and 49 together to get 56.  Square 5 and bring it down to the right of the 56.  75 squared = 5,625.  Use your calculator and see if I’m right.

105 squared — write it where the 10 is to the left of a backwards capital “l” and the 5 is to the right.  Square the 10 to get 100.  Then add 10 and 100 together to get 110.  Square 5 and bring it down to the right of the 110.  105 squared = 11,025

Works every time, but only with numbers ending in 5.  No calculator needed.  Wowsers!

She loves anatomy and American History, and while Spanish is a very elementary class (basically just learning lots of vocabulary), she enjoys it, too.  We still struggle with the management of it all, but then again, we struggle with that with life in general.  So what’s so unusual?

Work continues — I had a couple of appointments with potential clients — one of whom I discouraged from ordering from me, because in all honesty, she had beautiful draperies that were perfectly fine and I didn’t think she would be happy with what I had to offer.  I’d rather lose the sale than have her regret buying from me, or worse yet, complain that I gave her bad counsel.  The other potential client asked if I had a particular cording available for my blinds — um, no.  She really liked what she’d seen at her friend’s house and so I encouraged her to do a little more research and then if she still wanted a quote from me, I would come back and measure her windows.  I could tell this cording that I don’t have is very important to her.  I did NOT want to measure 20+ windows, knowing the likelihood of my getting the job is very slim.  I’ll go back if she decides she is still interested, but at least I’ll know that she’s really interested.

Not to mention, she had miniblinds and my allergies are in overdrive right now.  You know, it does not matter how great a housekeeper someone is — blinds are dusty.  And I don’t think I could have handled measuring the windows today anyway.  My chest hurts from coughing — why aggravate it?

Wednesday may turn out to be a very good day for me business-wise.  I hope so, anyway, especially after the above-mentioned appointments.  I received a call from a company that does apartment rehabilitations.  They are spiffying up a 40-unit complex about 90 miles from here and they would like a quote for vertical blinds for all the units.  My guy and I are running up there Wednesday to talk to the project manager and measure a few windows so I can give them a quote.  I’ll be bidding against 4 other companies (nothing new) and so we’ll see.  I’ve done residential and commerical work, and I have good references, so hopefully this one will come through.  It would be a great job to get, and if they like my work, there may be more.  They are Houston-based, so I’m sure there are other apartment complexes in my general vicinity that I could bid on, provided they hire me for this one and like the work I do.

My guy is doing well, although he’s been struggling with some shoulder and arm pain these last several months.  He went for x-rays, a bone scan and bloodwork to see what’s going on there.  The x-rays and bone scan came back negative for any abnormalities.  We hope to hear back on the bloodwork soon.  I’m sure it’s fine — it would just be nice to know why a pulled muscle is taking so long to heal.

On a happier note, our girl received her Christmas present early this year.  She’s been wanting her own puppy — while her daddy has a golden retriever and we’ve been “sharing” a Chihuahua, she wanted her own dog.  So we went out to the breeders’ home where we got our Chihuahua to see what she had and our girl fell in love with the cutest little boy Yorkshire Terrier.  His name is Willie Flynn and he’s a pistol!  He’s 11 weeks old and full of himself for sure.  Our golden and the chihuahua seem to tolerate him pretty well, although sometimes I swear that’s a somewhat disgusted look on their faces.

Well, enough for now.  I will try to post a little more of what’s been happening tomorrow.  Ciao!

I’m pleased to report that “Cleopatra” is doing much better.  Temperature is still hovering around 99.9, but she seems to be feeling fine otherwise.  In addition to watching “The Waltons,” she read a good bit and worked on making beaded bracelets for her friends.  Her throat is a bit red and so I am going to try to get a doctor’s appointment for her tomorrow.  Just to rule out some ugly bugly like strep, or to get antibiotics if necessary.

We are supposed to officially start school tomorrow, but I have a feeling it will be a “light” day.  We’ll probably fill our morning with a couple of Supermath timed quizzes and begin reading “Farmer Boy” aloud.  It’s the first book study in our “Learning Language Arts through Literature” book.  I’m really excited about this curriculum and I think we both will enjoy it greatly.

Have a good one and I’ll see you later!

Please keep my girl in your prayers. We went to church yesterday and all was fine. But later in the afternoon, she began to feel poorly. She started out running a 103.4 degree temp.  I gave her Motrin, followed by Tylenol 4 hours later (per my sister’s, aka “Nurse Poo”, instructions).  The temp went down some, but it’s been holding at about 100.4 all day today.  I’ve not given her any additional meds now that it’s a “reasonable” temp, since temp is the body’s way of fighting off infection.  Her throat is a little red and so I will probably be taking her to the pediatrician tomorrow. 

She’s a pretty agreeable patient though — she’s reclining on the sofa, watching “The Waltons” DVD’s that my sister loaned her.  I hope she doesn’t get too comfortable with this “Cleopatra” gig!  I’ve got to run – she’d like an apple, thinly sliced . . . LOL

I love fonts. I haven’t figured out how to load them onto my computer for the sake of loading them on . . . but sometimes there’s a happy accident, like day before yesterday. I purchased a CD label making kit at Office Max. Came home, loaded the program onto the computer and like *magic* there were more fonts on my machine than before. Yeah! I like this one a lot, although it is a little difficult to read, I suppose. It’s called “NevisonCasD” – whatever that means.

I also like “Juice ITC”. What do you think? It’s a little easier to read, but still has style.

Japanette does not come with quotation marks . . . while I like the font, it bugs me that I do not have all the punctuation that I might need. Hmmm . . .

One of my favorites is “Harrington.” Isn’t it pretty? It’s scroll-y, and yet there’s something still childlike about it. Perhaps because even with its loopy-do’s, it’s still a straight up and down font?

 I think it is interesting how certain fonts and their names so perfectly go together. This is called “Arizona.” And it makes me think of Route 66 and postcards advertising rooms with a/c, television, and a swimming pool.

Well, I have things to do before turning in for the night. Have a good one and I’ll see you on the flip side!

My sister sent me this earlier today.  I’ve seen it before, but it never ceases to make me chuckle, because every bit of it is true!

You know you’re from Houston when…

You can leave your house, head out of town, and an hour later you still haven’t left the city limits. (During rush hour, you haven’t left your neighborhood.)

Spring is not the season, Katy is not the lady, and 1960 is not the year.

The “farm-to-market” roads have seven lanes.

If you want to be a snob about your grocery shopping, you can go to Randall’s Flagship, Rice Epicurean Market or a Kroger’s Signature.

You have to turn on the air conditioning in January, two days after a low of 29 degrees.

When you see your neighbor dancing around the front yard, you know he just stepped in a fire ant bed.

You know that the Astrodome will always be the Eighth Wonder of the World.

You come to work in short-sleeves and walk out at noon to find that a cold front has blown through, and the temperature has dropped 40 degrees In a matter of minutes.

You wander into a section of town where you can’t read the street signs but you don’t care because you can get great prices on fake designer merchandise there.

You go to an art festival on Westheimer and you’re almost run down by two cross-dressers on roller blades, holding hands.

You hear everything but English spoken when you go to the Galleria to window-shop.

You know that “Dad gummit” has nothing to do with your father’s failure to practice good dental hygiene.

You think “Y’all” is perfectly good usage if you’re referring to more than one person.

You’ve never seen I-45 in any condition other than under-construction — and you’ve lived here for 20-30 years.

If the humidity is below 90 percent, it’s a good hair day.

The only real Mexican food is Tex-Mex.

You know that while saving you money, “Mattress Mac” has amassed more than the U.S. Treasury has.

You see nothing unusual about an 80-something former sheriff’s deputy who wears a white toupee and blue sunglasses, mispronounces names, allows televising of his frequent plastic surgeries, seems unnaturally obsessed with slime in the ice machine, and screams, “MAR-VIN ZIND-ler, EYE-witness news” into a television camera every night.

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Houston.

The first night’s performance was FLAWLESS.  Everyone was on their game, perfect line delivery, set changes went smoothly — we received a STANDING OVATION from approximately 250 audience members.  It was simply amazing.

The second night . . .egads.  Dropped lines, and a major set change sounded like a herd of buffaloes behind the curtain.  However, the 150 or so people there seemed oblivious and while there was no standing ovation, applause was good and I think they enjoyed their evening in spite of the not quite as good as the night before performance.

I’ve been told by several theater types, those in the know, you know . . .that the second night is always worse than the first or any subsequent nights.  Basically, the cast and crew are holding their breaths on opening night because they are so nervous and want to get it right.  When all goes well, they relax the second night and then the mayhem begins.  The mayhem shakes them up so badly that they are on their toes again from that point forward. 

I sure do hope so, because Opening Night was so incredible, I really want the last two performances to go so beautifully.

Please, pray for us and for successful nights from here on out!

On a more spiritual note, this morning’s sermon was meant for me.  (I’m sure everyone feels that way to some degree, but I am so glad I got my lazy bum out of bed and made it to church . . . )

Pastor taught on “true worship” — not the 45 – 60 minutes of music before every sermon.  But the kind of worship that you live 24/7.  The “in spirit and in truth” kind of worship.  He asked if anyone knew what that phrase “in spirit and in truth” meant.  He went on to explain that “spirit” is with a small “s” — so the Bible is not talking about the Holy Spirit, but about the spirit in man.  And how we’re supposed to worship in “spirit,” meaning from the very depths of our hearts.  Not just a shallow standing in the pew singing a couple of songs while we’re thinking about what we’re going to have for lunch or the laundry we need to do . . . but the kind of worship that comes from the deepest place in our soul, where our entire focus is on God.

The “truth” part comes from worshipping our heavenly Father because of who He is . . .not because of our circumstances.  Even though we may be struggling in some areas — for example, finances, or health, or whatever . . . we worship in truth because we know that He is our Provider, our Healer, etc.  Our circumstances do not change who God is — it will always be true that He is all those things.  And though we may be going through a rough patch, we worship in truth knowing that He will take care of us, even if circumstances tempt us to think differently.

Anyway, it really hit home with me that everything I say and do can be a form of worship to my heavenly Father.  Living a life that will result in His saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant . . .”  That is true worship.

Dress rehearsal was absolutely beautiful. 

I have to say that I cried through the first half of the play.  Even the funny parts. 

Why, you ask?  I was so incredibly proud.  You have no idea. 

We started with NOTHING.  Zilch, nada. 

And it has come together in the most beautiful way.  The set is beautiful.  The costumes are beautiful, too.  The cast members have become the characters.  The crews work together smoothly, getting every set change, light and sound cue nailed perfectly.

I’m so incredibly proud!  Especially of my guy and my gal.  Sigh.

I will survive . . .

Some things going on around here:

• The production crunch before opening night this coming Friday, which involves




• Wrapping up the play program — it’s gorgeous, considering a very talented graphic artist donated her time and talent to design it for us.  However, there was a bit of a scare — so much information to include, it turned into a veritable memory hog.  Her computer kept freezing up, and although I discovered a few “boo-boo’s” on the last proofing, I’m still not sure that she was able to correct them before taking it to the printer.  Oh, well.  It makes for a funny scrapbook story, I suppose . . .


• Running like a mad woman around the Brazosport area putting up flyers to encourage ticket sales.  This is NOT fun in 98 degree heat with humidity so thick you feel like you need gills in order to breathe . . .


• Coming up with a design for the display case in the foyer of the Old School.  The Heritage Foundation had a lovely assortment of t-shirts, baseball caps, etc.  Not quite in keeping with our genteel Civil War era production . . . so I scrounged up some black velvet and lace from my stash of scraps, one of the silver trays we received as a wedding gift, some silver candlesticks and candles, a pretty beaded purse and a string of pearls, and while I have my daughter’s hardback copy of “Little Women” as a backup, there’s a very good chance we will be loaned an 1880’s edition of “Little Women” for our display.  Now to arrange it all beautifully . . .


• Helping to clean and decorate the room where punch and muffins will be served by the Heritage Foundation on Opening Night.    There is a rather banged up display case in the corner of that room that we’ve covered with purple fabric and white lace swags — I am going to print out the “fun” photos that have been taken during our rehearsals to scatter “artistically” across the fabric.  On a beautiful oak table in the foyer, I am going to display black and white 8×10 portraits of the cast members.


• I’ll be working the box office all four nights, with the provision that the box office closes five minutes before curtain so that I can actually go and watch the play, too . . .


• and MOST importantly, praying that Jami gets over this sniffly sore throat thing she came home with last night. . . . she has been so excited to be a part of the production — she can not, CAN NOT be sick Opening Night.


• Trying to keep my business together — I have clients that I need to take care of, but when, when, WHEN??????


• Reconciling my checkbooks (personal and business) . . . yuck.


• Laundry (it never ends . . . how can three people go through so many clothes in such a short amount of time????)


• Figuring out what to wear to the performances . . . NOTHING in my closet fits . . .

This really isn’t meant to be a “gripe” session . . . I’m actually pretty happy right now.  Just lots to do.

And remember, if you live in the Brazoria area, or even the Houston area, please come on down and see the show . . .

Tuesday evening, several members of the cast performed scenes from the play for the residents of an assisted living facility in Sweeny, Texas.  It’s amazing the difference performing in front of an audience can make for actors.  The cast came alive, their characters were vibrant and so incredibly believable.  During one particular scene, I actually had tears in my eyes, it was so moving.

I encourage anyone who stops by my little Xanga to come see this show, if you are within driving distance.  It’s going to be great!

We were so blessed to have a graphic artist volunteer to design our advertising posters and the play program.  My scan doesn’t do it justice!  There have been countless folks donating their time and talent to this endeavor and with that much heart invested, it can’t help but be good!

Come on down and see the show — if you come to an 8 pm performance, stop in Lake Jackson beforehand for an early dinner at one of the fine restaurants there (The Wursthaus, The Local, Cafe Annice, Johnny Carino’s, Mother Teresa’s, etc.)  You can do the same for the 2 pm matinee on the 26th, either lunch or dinner, whatever your preference.  I’ve eaten at most of these restaurants (except Cafe Annice and Mother Teresa’s) and they are fabulous.  Cafe Annice and Mother Teresa’s have great reputations for delicious food in our area.  It will make for a lovely evening or afternoon.

I hope to see you there!