Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 5 Comments

Survivor – Texas Style (a tickle for your funny bone from my MIL)

Due to the popularity of the Survivor shows, Texas is planning to do one entitled, Survivor – Texas Style. 


The contestants will  all start in Dallas , then drive to  Waco , Austin , San Antonio   over to Houston and down to Brownsville.

They will then proceed  up to Del Rio , El  Paso , Odessa/Midland, Lubbock , and Amarillo .

From there, they will  go on to Abilene , Fort  Worth , and finally back to Dallas. 

Each will be driving a  pink Volvo with bumper stickers that read: “I Love the Dixie Chicks,” “Boycott Beef,” “I Voted  for Obama,” “George Strait Sucks,” “Hillary in 2012,”  “Open Borders” and “I’m here to  confiscate your guns.” 
 
The  first one to make it back to Dallas alive wins.

Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 3 Comments

How do I reassure my daughter that ….

marriage can work, can last forever when all around her she sees so few examples of couples sticking it out through the good times and the bad?  Don’t panic — AJ and I are doing fine.  Seventeen years and we are looking forward to many, many more.  I loved the silly card he gave me this time around.  It said, “Why do I put up with you?” on the front.  The inside said, “Oh, yeah … because you put up with me.”  Then he wrote some sweet stuff under it.  But it’s true … it’s not going to be all roses and butterflies all the time.  Sometimes you just want to choke each other, and then some little something reminds you … “oh, yeah … I DO love you.”

Back in January, AJ’s older sister told her husband that she wanted a divorce, after 8 1/2 years of marriage.  This was marriage #3 for her (and #3 for her husband, too).  Truth be told, we weren’t surprised.  They’d been having troubles for quite a while.  I’ve known her soon-to-be ex-husband since I was four years old and he was one year old, and there’s a part of me that would prefer to keep him and cut her loose.  She does not see any of the responsibility she bears for the dissolution of any of her three marriages.  It’s always “the guy,” and she always claims that “the guy” is an “alcoholic,” but guess who starts partying like it’s 1999 whenever she becomes single again?  Yep.

But last week I almost passed out from shock when we found out that AJ’s younger sister, who got married three years ago TODAY, decided that she’s “lost her identity” and “just doesn’t love him anymore” … she has filed for divorce.  Her husband is a wonderful man.  He has supported her through grad school, through a couple of different career moves, taken care of her when she was extremely ill after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.  His family has treated her like their very own, with her father-in-law spending countless hours building beautiful furniture for their new home, and other members inviting them into their homes when the “newlyweds” went to Italy on a belated honeymoon last spring.  I don’t understand it at all.  I’m just more than a little ticked off that she would be so stupid.  I think part of the problem is that she recently began working in the state legislature again and she’s gotten caught up in the adrenaline rush of that environment again (she worked there while an honors student at UT).  She was involved with a lobbyist in Washington who is a confirmed bachelor, and apparently he has re-entered the picture somehow or another … it is breaking my heart that she would throw her marriage away like this. 

And it is breaking my heart that of all the people in my immediate family, on BOTH sides, the only example that my daughter has to follow … the ONLY couple that has only been married once and stayed married, is her parents.  I was thinking earlier of examples in our extended “family” of friends … homeschoolers that have made it to see their children grow up and get married.  I need to be sure that she sees these examples and clings to the knowledge that with God’s help, marriage can be good and can last forever, the first (and only) time around.

Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 3 Comments

No Wonder We Keep Getting Sick

Here’s the 10-day forecast … the temps are all over the place, although not nearly as bad as I’ve seen them at other times.  I don’t do well with these 30 degree swings in less than 24 hours.  It will be in the mid to low 40’s tonight before heading back toward Friday’s projected high of 76.  Things stay fairly warm for a day or so and then we dip back down into the 40’s on Monday.  Sigh.  I prefer the cooler weather and this will probably be the last of it as we head into May and summer.  It is Texas, after all.  Then I will be counting down the days until the first cool front comes through late September, early October.  Of course, my sister, who suffers from a circulatory disorder that affects her body temp LOVES summer.  It’s the only time of year that she’s moderately cool without being popsicle cold.  And I can think of a couple of instances in mid-July when I’ve seen her fingers turn purply-blue because she was … COLD.  Yes.  I know.  It’s strange, isn’t it?

High /
Low (°F)		 Precip. %
Fri
Apr 03		 Sunny 76°/60° 0 %
Sat
Apr 04		 Partly Cloudy 80°/67° 10 %
Sun
Apr 05		 AM Clouds / PM Sun 77°/51° 10 %
Mon
Apr 06		 Partly Cloudy 65°/46° 10 %
Tue
Apr 07		 Partly Cloudy 68°/54° 0 %
Wed
Apr 08		 Partly Cloudy / Wind 74°/64° 0 %
Thu
Apr 09		 Isolated T-Storms 79°/63° 30 %
Fri
Apr 10		 Scattered T-Storms 80°/64° 60 %
Sat
Apr 11		 Scattered T-Storms 82°/64° 60 %
Last Updated Apr 3 12:32 a.m. CT
Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 3 Comments

Profound Thoughts on Laundry

 Why does it seem that no matter how many loads of wash I do, I am never caught up?  Did you ever see the old Star Trek episode (and I mean Star Trek the first time around) called “The Trouble with Tribbles”?  Tribbles were little furry creatures that multiplied to such degree that they made rabbits seem celibate.  Sometimes I think my laundry piles should be renamed Tribble piles.  It seems that the second I think I’ve done the last load, I turn around and *poof*, there’s another pile waiting to be done.

Sigh.

Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 5 Comments

The Bug’s Got Me …

I feel like crud.  Achy all over, stuffy nose … you know the drill.  I will be glad when I feel like normal again.  Just making an effort to post a little more frequently.  When I feel better, I will write something more entertaining for y’all.  🙂

Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 2 Comments

Thanks for your input!

I got your comments and appreciate the input … I will probably keep on keeping on then, since it appears I would be missed.    Not sure that I will keep Premium … have to think about that.  $$$ and all that, you know.

I had a funny thought earlier … I read about the “Earth Hour” that is supposed to take place tonight.  I, personally, think it’s ridiculous.  I think we should turn on every light we have, make sure the washer, dryer, dishwasher, t.v. and stereo are all turned on between 8:30 and 9:30 tonight.  I know … I’m a brat.  But I’m so sick of this “save the earth” garbage.  We are to be good stewards and take care of God’s creation, but this is turning into “earth worship” and that is wrong.

Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 4 Comments

Hello, Stranger …

I have been missing in action for quite a while.  I must admit this is in part the fault of Facebook.  There are quite a few of my homeschooling circle on FB, and so I set up a page and have been having a pretty good time playing with it.  But I have missed Xanga, too.  I’m trying to decide if I want to continue with Xanga, or let it fade off into the sunset.  I see below that I can publish my Xanga entries to my Facebook profile now.  Hmmm…..  I wonder if it just publishes a link back to Xanga or if it actually publishes the Xanga entry like a note?  I may need to try this out and see what happens.   

Testing … 1 … 2 … 3…. testing ….

Is this thing on???

Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 1 Comment

More for my own reference than anything else…

When Your Child Says No to College

I don’t have time to read this article right now, so I linked it here so I can come back to it.

That’s all.

Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 3 Comments

A little movie fun ….

A friend did this on Facebook and I thought I’d post mine here, as well.  Comments welcome!

Copy & paste this list.  Put an ‘X’ next to the Best Pictures that you’ve seen. Count them and post the number you’ve seen at the end of the list. Then post it on your Xanga page, if you’d like. (I’ve added comments after the ones I’ve seen.)

1927-1928 Wings
1928-1929 The Broadway Melody
1929-1930 All Quiet on the Western Front
1930-1931 Cimarron

1931-1932 Grand Hotel X

1932-1933 Cavalcade
1934 It Happened One Night
1935 Mutiny on the Bounty
1936 The Great Ziegfeld
1937 The Life of Emile Zola
1938 You Can’t Take It with You

1939 Gone with the Wind X Like, how many times??? I love this movie!

1940 Rebecca X Another – Laurence Olivier is so mysteriously wounded!

1941 How Green Was My Valley X I just watched this a couple of months ago. Loved it.

1942 Mrs. Miniver X Saw this years ago – I need to rent it again. So very good.

1943 Casablanca X The only movie pairing better than Bogie & Bacall would have to be Bogie & Bergman.

1944 Going My Way

1945 The Lost Weekend X I tripped across this one looking through Blockbuster recommendations. Reminded me of “Days of Wine & Roses,” which I liked better.

1946 The Best Years of Our Lives X I love it when the girl goes to her beau and helps him take off the prosthetics, since he can’t do it himself. She clearly is saying “for better, for worse … forever”…

1947 Gentleman’s Agreement X Gregory Peck … great story, great movie, great actor … of course it won.

1948 Hamlet

1949 All the King’s Men

1950 All About Eve X “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” Bette Davis is incredible, and ohmygoodness, what about that dress designed by Edith Head?

1951 An American in Paris X I love the scene at the very beginning where Gene Kelly is “folding” up his tiny apartment. Instead of moving furniture around, he turns it into a veritable ballet … he was a dancer with a capital “D” and an athlete with a capital “A” … I could watch him dance forever.

1952 The Greatest Show on Earth X There’s never been a movie made that Jimmy Stewart was in that I didn’t love. And to have Charlton Heston, too? What a bonus!

1953 From Here to Eternity X I saw this years ago, and need to rent it again.

1954 On the Waterfront

1955 Marty

1956 Around the World in Eighty Days X I know I’ve seen this, but I’m having a hard time remembering details right now. (wanders off to Blockbuster to add it to my list …)

1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai X One of my favorite war movies. William Holden and Alec Guinness — they just don’t make men like these anymore.

1958 Gigi X

1959 Ben-Hur X Probably my favorite “epic” movie from the early days … I have a 2nd edition printing of this novel by Lew Wallace, inscribed to a “Miss Allie Haines, August 1887” … it is one of my prized possessions.

1960 The Apartment

1961 West Side Story

1962 Lawrence of Arabia

1963 Tom Jones

1964 My Fair Lady X This movie is full of delightful quotes: “Come on, Dover, move yer bloomin’ arse!” and “The French don’t care what they do actually, as long as they pronounce it properly. ” Also, “There even are places where English completely disappears; in America they haven’t used it for years” and

Professor Henry Higgins: By George, she’s got it. By George she’s got it. Where does it rain?
Eliza Doolittle: [sings] On the plain, on the plain.
Professor Henry Higgins: And where’s that sordid plain?
Eliza Doolittle: [sings] In Spain, in Spain.

1965 The Sound of Music X I do not know what it is, but the very beginning of the wedding scene, where you see her train from above, I cannot watch that scene without crying. Is that ridiculous, or what? Julie Andrews was so beautiful in this movie … not in that glamorous movie star way … it was her character, falling in love with a widower and his multitudinous children … making the commitment to love and care for them all.

1966 A Man for All Seasons X I need to watch this again – I know I’ve seen it, but it’s been years.

1967 In the Heat of the Night

1968 Oliver!

1969 Midnight Cowboy

1970 Patton X I LOVE George C. Scott in this movie. And the music in parts is simply haunting.

1971 The French Connection

1972 The Godfather

1973 The Sting

1974 The Godfather Part II

1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest X Jack!

1976 Rocky X Gonna’ fly now!

1977 Annie Hall

1978 The Deer Hunter

1979 Kramer vs. Kramer

1980 Ordinary People X I watched this because Jim Hutton’s son was in it … I think his name is Timothy? LOL

1981 Chariots of Fire

1982 Gandhi X A recent movie for me. Ben Kingsley was incredible, of course.

1983 Terms of Endearment

1984 Amadeus X If I had to pick my very favorite “best picture” movie, this would be in my top five, possibly my top three. Yes, my top three. The acting (F. Murray Abraham is incredible, as well as Tom Hulce … ), the music, and the script … ah, the script:

Salieri: “But they showed no corrections of any kind. Not one. He had simply written down music already finished in his head. Page after page of it as if he were just taking dictation. And music, finished as no music is ever finished. Displace one note and there would be diminishment. Displace one phrase and the structure would fall.”

Salieri: I heard the music of true forgiveness filling the theater, conferring on all who sat there, perfect absolution. God was singing through this little man to all the world, unstoppable, making my defeat more bitter with every passing bar.

1985 Out of Africa X I liked it well enough.

1986 Platoon

1987 The Last Emperor X Ditto – I liked it well enough.

1988 Rain Man X Eh.

1989 Driving Miss Daisy X Great movie. I’m a big Morgan Freeman fan.

1990 Dances with Wolves X Eh.

1991 The Silence of the Lambs X Creepy. Shorty after AJ and I married, we spent the night at his dad’s house in Galveston. We watched this, and later when we’d turned in for the night, he reached over, touched my shoulder and asked me, “Are you a size 14?” I literally screamed. And then hit him. But now we laugh about it.

1992 Unforgiven

1993 Schindler’s List X I’ll never see a red coat the same way again … this movie
should be required viewing for anyone who claims the Holocaust did not happen, or that good people can’t make a difference (like Schindler did) …

1994 Forrest Gump X Great musical score.

1995 Braveheart X This is my number one favorite movie of all time. Followed by Amadeus and Titanic … ’nuff said.

1996- The English Patient X I need to see it again.

1997 Titanic X Wow.

1998 Shakespeare in Love X I enjoyed this movie a great deal, especially the way little lines from Shakespeare’s plays are strewn all throughout the movie … the whole idea of the Bard with writer’s block … I just loved it.

1999 American Beauty X What a waste of my time. Glad I caught it on t.v. and didn’t waste money on renting it.

2000 Gladiator X While this didn’t make my top three, it is definitely in my top five, just like the next one ….

2001 A Beautiful Mind X AJ and I saw this on our 10th anniversary. Not knowing the storyline when we walked in, it was especially meaningful that we saw a movie about a couple who managed to stay together through the overwhelming challenge of mental illness, and that it was a true story.

2002 Chicago X I like Renee Zellweger. The movie was okay.

2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King X This one and its siblings (even though they are not “Oscar Winners”) would round out my top eight, followed by Gone With the Wind, above … I don’t know that I have a #10.

2004 Million Dollar Baby

2005 Crash X I began watching this prepared not to like it. I didn’t like it. But not in the way you think. I’m glad I watched it, but it left me feeling very unsettled. Which sometimes is a good thing.

2006 The Departed
2007 No Country for Old Men
2008 Slumdog Millionaire

Posted on by Laura Jinkins · 3 Comments

Simple words full of wisdom …

One of my friends on Facebook shared this:

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, will prove the end of any nation.

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”

~~~ The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931 to 2005 ~~~