Had to post this link to an excellent article by Debra Saunders.  She puts into clear and easily understandable words what I’ve been thinking about our president.

Hi.

Don’t have much to say — super busy right now.  Just thought I should post something “new” — I’ll be back around in the not too distant future.

Just home from the first meeting of the West Brazos Actors’ Guild of the Old School!  We’re thinking this is going to be so much fun — my girl is all ready to make her stage debut and the mister and I are brainstorming ways that we can be of help “in back of” the curtain.  Building sets, painting, costumes, etc.  West BAGOTOS has chosen the production of family-friendly theater as its mission.  I am thrilled.  I loved drama as a teenager, working hard backstage to earn points towards induction in our high school Thespian club.  I’ve been frustrated recently however, because I want to introduce my girl to this wonderful, imaginative world and yet many of the advertisements for local productions warn “Not suitable for younger audiences” across the bottom of the text.

Argh.

West BAGOTOS is like an answer to a prayer — well, maybe not a prayer, but definitely a subconscious hope.  The first play scheduled for production is “Little Women” and it couldn’t be a better choice, as my girl just finished reading the unabridged version of it recently and decided she wanted to read it again, she loved it so much.  I’m hoping that she doesn’t get her hopes up too terribly much — she’s determined to audition and I’m encouraging that.  But I have emphasized that they have to select the people who will be best in each role (she pretty much has her heart set on “Amy”).  She says she understands, so we’ll see.  If she gets it, great!  If not, Mommy and Daddy are here to hold her hand and encourage her to try again.

The Guild will be producing its plays in the old Brazoria Elementary School.  The school was scheduled for demolition until the Brazoria Heritage Foundation came to its rescue.  The Foundation works very hard year-round to raise funds to preserve our local history and to provide fantastic educational and entertaining events for the community.  The Heritage Celebration is just a couple of weeks away and it promises to be a great event with antique dealers, historical reenactments, informational booths (including one for the newly formed Actors Guild), a cattle drive and street dance.  Last year the auction alone raised $48,000.  Not too shabby for a town with a population of a little over 6,000!  Of course, people from all over the county attend, but still — it’s a good party that can draw that kind of crowd!

Anyway, the meeting was held in the theater of the Old School and I must say the Heritage Foundation did a fantastic job with some of the funds it raised last year.  The theater has been restored and even improved with elegant and yet authentic fixtures (imagine dark wood wainscoting with deep gold sheetrock, historically accurate carpeting down the aisles, and beautifully polished veneered theater seating . . . not to mention heavy red stage curtains . . . it’s just beautiful.)  There was a good turnout, for sure, and I am confident with the umbrella of security provided by the Heritage Foundation, we’re off to a good start.  I’ll keep you posted . . .

Dear Prayer Warriors, I went up to the hospital last night to be with Sierra and her parents and I wanted to update you all.  First of all, she is going to be okay…a VERY tough little girl!  Her collarbone is broken.  The radiologists/doctors first said that she had “multiple broken ribs”, but the last update was that they may not be broken – but they have definitely been moved/pulled out of place, etc. One side of her lung was partially collapsed, but the doctors said, this too, should heal without surgery.  Sierra has a huge hoof print on her chest.  I saw it and it was incredible how such a little girl could withstand all of that weight.  It looks like a huge scar/brand on her chest.  She did have a cut on the back of her head, which they stitched up last night after they took the neck brace off…which brings me to the greatest “halleluia”…her neck is NOT broken.  There was some question about that for a while. When they finally took that neck brace off (after hours of her laying on a board. .with a cut open head) we all sighed /cried with relief.  Everything else will heal She may even be home by the end of the weekend.  Her parents thank you so much for their prayers.  Not having any family here, their friends are pretty important! Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow —

I got an update on Sierra’s condition this morning.  She is in the hospital in Houston right now — she suffered a cracked clavicle, possibly some cracked ribs, and a partially collapsed lung.  While these injuries are nothing to sneeze at, it could have been SO much worse.  Please continue to pray for her speedy recovery and also that she wouldn’t be afraid to “get back in the saddle” based on this experience.

Thanks again for all your prayers.

One of the little girls in our homeschool group was thrown from her horse and kicked in the chest earlier this evening.  They are en route to the ER.  She is conscious but having difficulty breathing.  Please keep Sierra in your fervent prayers — she is a precious little girl, about 9 years old.  Thanks.

This comes to you courtesy the inspiration of ChristianFrenzy . . .

FOUR JOBS I’VE HAD
1.  Pharmacy Tech
2.  Archivist/Rare Book Collections Assistant
3.  Legal Secretary
4.  Wife/Mom/Small Business Owner

FOUR MOVIES I CAN WATCH OVER & OVER
1.  Braveheart
2.  Titanic
3.  Armageddon
4.  Searching for Bobby Fisher

FOUR PLACES I’VE LIVED
1.  At home with Mom and Dad 
2.  St. Croix (U. S. Virgin Islands)
3.   Huntsville, Texas
4.   Currently on a .91 acre patch of land in a comfy little fixer upper with my honey and my girl and our two dogs

FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH
1.  Alias (yeah, I know — it’s been canceled and most people complain about the current story lines, but I can’t help myself — gotta’ see the end)
2.  Extreme Makeover – Home Edition
3.  Dancing With the Stars (how much fun is that!?!?!)
4.  Grey’s Anatomy

FOUR PLACES I’VE BEEN ON VACATION
1.  Charlottesville, Virginia
2.  A three-week stay in Everett, Washington with side trips to Vancouver Island, B.C., followed by a cross-country trip in a Renegade Jeep from Everett to Houston, via Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico and on across Texas
3.  Cape Girardeau, Missouri
 4.  San Antonio, Texas

FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY
1.  Yahoo
2.  Xanga
3.  ???
4.  ???

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
1.  Chocolate in any form
2.  A nice steak, medium rare
3.  Coconut shrimp from Joe’s Crab Shack
4.  Boiled crawfish from Benno’s in Galveston

FOUR PLACES I’D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
1.  Cane Bay, St. Croix
2.  San Antonio, Texas
3.  A little bed & breakfast inn somewhere (anywhere!) in the Texas Hill Country
4.  Taking a little snooze on the deck of a sailboat somewhere in the Caribbean

Imagine my delight when a good friend stopped by a couple of days before Christmas to give me this:

The truly amazing thing is that my talented friend MADE this for me.  How sweet is that???  My photo doesn’t do it justice — she is so talented, and of course, modest, too.  I would never have splurged on something like this in a shop — I’m so glad that she made it for me, because carrying it puts a smile on my face.   

Whew.  Busy day.  Spent most of the afternoon helping my honey install some drapery brackets for a gentleman in a nearby community.  It wasn’t that difficult, except that the builders in our area utilize TONS of hurricane strapping and flashing around the windows . . . so it requires self-tapping metal screws, a construction-grade DeWalt power drill, and my honey’s brute strength!  Got the job done, but by then it was too late to head to Foley’s to check out the mattress sale.

So we did what I’d planned on doing from the beginning until I got that paranoid “oh, I’d better check around and make sure I’m not missing out on better quality or a better deal somewhere else” attack.  We went to a locally owned furniture store and purchased a perfectly fine mattress set for our daughter.  Most exciting of all — for $30 it will be delivered tomorrow AND they will haul off the old mattress set.  That alone is thrilling!  Usually my man would throw something like that in the burn pile back of the house, but with the burn ban in effect and it being so dry — no way, Jose.

By the way, on the off chance that any of you reading this smoke — please, please, PLEASE don’t ever lay in bed smoking a cigarette.  On the off chance you drift off and drop the ciggie — it is absolutely amazing and terrifying all at the same time how quickly a mattress burns.  We burned one a few years ago for a neighbor (never know when “large trash day” is and hauling it to the dump (and paying to dump it) is inconvenient, too) — anyway, we burned one for a neighbor and I’ve never seen anything burn so quickly, unless it’s an old Christmas tree.

So, ideally, quit smoking altogether — but in the case that’s not possible, please, please, PLEASE don’t smoke in bed.