Yes, Virginia, It Is a Wonderful Life!

Well, I might as well tell you, I am a "closet, wimpy, sappy, sucker-for-a-happy-ending, hopeful romantic"...there, now you know.  I say hopeful, because, I really believe, to my core, that good will always conquer evil; that love will always find a way; and that if the sensationalists media were to somehow disappear, we'd all find ourselves much more tolerant and much less judgmental. But, again, I've gotten a bit ahead of myself...

This past week, one of the television networks, broadcast a version of the story, "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Clause." So, being the "closet, wimpy, sappy, sucker-for-a-happy-ending, hopeful romantic", I watched it.... At the conclusion, I thought WOW, wouldn't it be miraculously fabulous if news outlets could not print, say, broadcast, etc. anything that wasn't true? I mean, where would we be without the half-truths, suppositions, innuendos, and mis-direction that are too commonly found today? Of course, any self-respecting, "closet, wimpy, sappy, sucker-for-a-happy-ending, hopeful romantic" would not have missed the bigger story of hope and faith and, I confess, I might have had to wipe a joy-filled tear, but the idea of an "only report the truth" quickly made it to the top of my Christmas Wish List!

 

Then, speaking of stories of hope and faith and joy, Mom, one of her girlfriends; Mallory and her mom and grandmother; and I all went to see a musical version of the Christmas Classic, "It's a Wonderful Life" which was performed at our local theater by local actors. It was beautifully done. Maybe its the season, (we are actually celebrating the first day of Advent today), but the voices in my head are telling me to slow down. They are saying that we should pay more attention to finding the good, to giving what we can--maybe especially more of ourselves and our time and our talents to those friends and family and neighbors who need it. Near the end of the musical, when George learns how his life had had such a profound impact on others, the "closet, wimpy, sappy, sucker-for-a-happy-ending, hopeful romantic", once again thought of what a wonderful gift we could give to those we love if we gave more of ourselves...

 

I know, I'm being a bit of a "Polly Anna" here but you must admit...it would indeed be a "Wonderful World" if we were all just a little nicer, and a little more understanding, and a little more tolerant...

 

As the busyness of the year begins, please accept our heartfelt wishes, from our family to yours, for a most Blessed and Merry Christmas.

 

 

 

TTFN,

 

Lois



Time Keeps On Slipping, Slipping, Slipping Into the Future...

WOW, did I do a fine job dating myself with that title/song lyric reference! (OK, be honest, how many of you actually had to Google the lyric? Never mind, I really don't want to know). At any rate my life, the past couple of months has been a bit crazier than normal and it just "BLOWS MY MIND" that November is this weekend.

The early fall is generally busy for us, we are season ticket holders for Texas Aggie football so most of our Saturdays between late August through Mid-November are spent at Kyle Field Cathedral. In addition, this year we traveled to two "away games." Sadly, my Aggies were outscored too many times this year but, they are still MY AGGIES and my maroon blood just warms every time I get near the hallowed ground where four generations of my family have walked.

It's ironic for me when I think about the fall. It is easily one of my favorite times of the year. Cooler weather,  (though this year, cooler slipped quickly to FREAKISHLY COLD!), Texas A&M football, Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas all coming together. Seriously, I love fall. Unfortunately, it seems to get cluttered with errands, "to-do" lists, shopping, cleaning, and just old fashioned busyness. Of course all of these things must be done but they are time-suckers! This morning, as I finished updating the checkbook and checked and responded to emails and brought order back to a couple of rooms, I found that I have nothing penciled into my calendar for this entire week! WHAT?! I was nearly giddy with excitement! For me, that means that I get to do some things that bring me joy!

So this week will be spent in the shop, working on a piece of furniture that I've been thinking about for Carter to store his toys and "treasures" at our house. Right now, they are mostly kept in a large "toy sack" that my niece, Sarah, made a few years ago for our gift exchange at my mom's. It's a great size and it has worked well. Unfortunately, as my time slips away, (at an exponentially accelerated rate, I might add), I have become more comfortable with order in my life. I've found that I like things put away and categorized so that places in our home appear more tailored and organized. (Now, if you visit our home, and you are always welcome here, you may look around and find that I have not accomplished that goal. You'd be correct, but I' working on it and that's what counts, right?)

I'll also start checking out recipes and suggestions for side dishes for Thanksgiving. I'm hosting it this year. I'm both excited and a little saddened by this. You see, my mother has hosted our family Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember. Her dressing is legendary, (and she'll be making it again this year). As we've all grown, we've all pitched in more and more but it has always been done at mom's house and under her close scrutiny. This year, she decided that she is just not up to the fuss and informed us all that dinner, lunch really, will be at my house. I love to entertain so I'm happy to host but as the torch passes, I can't help but feel like another important part of my youth has slipped away.

Speaking of passing torches...Chip shot a HUMONGOUS buck this year. I mean GINORMOUSLY HUMONGOUS! The torch here refers to hunting. I think I've written before how I have no brothers. Instead, I have four sisters, yes, my dad loved his girls. My father, as I know I've mentioned previously, was an outdoorsman. As a result, I, possibly because I was the "first born," (I really like that term over "oldest"), learned to hunt with and from my dad. I'll never forget shooting my first buck and all the emotions that went along with that. I'll also never forget shooting my last buck, I was about 5 months pregnant with Chip.

Anyway, time slips away for us all. So as we get ever closer to our national holiday that is meant to remind us to stop and take stock of all the blessings in our lives and to remember to offer thanks for all we have been given, we want to wish all of you a very Happy and Safe and Blessed Thanksgiving.

TTFN.

Lois

 

The Dad He Didn't Have To Be...

I've been considering writing topics and discarding them for several weeks. The past few months have become filled with details related to some volunteer projects that I've either agreed to take on, or have reluctantly fallen into. The "worker bee" part of my being is actually thrilled with these tasks which range from mundane to challenging depending on the hour of the day and the project of the moment.

Last night, I settled on a topic that is actually quite timely and perhaps a bit overdue. Haime's birthday is on Wednesday. This is a significant one...of course, Haime will tell you that every birthday past the 35th one is significant, he's probably right. Anyway, with this anniversary of his debut, he is seeming to change his normally maudlin view of September 17. In fact, he informed me that he wanted to go to dinner for his birthday rather than quietly enduring a small "celebration" at home with family.

 I've never written much about Haime nor about our relationship. In short, if you put our individual characteristics on paper, most people would never imagine that our relationship would work... In many respects, we are POLAR opposites! We typically vote for people from different parties, we listen to different music, we even like different types of dogs, LOL!  I suffer from horrible bouts of Wanderlust and Haime is happy being a home-body. I am spontaneous and am always up for an adventure while Haime likes to know what's going to happen, but not more than about a week prior to the event, more than that and he has too much time to worry and fret about the unknowns that might crop up.  I have a wicked sense of humor, I tell jokes and sarcasm is my favorite tool against the evils of logic and cold hard facts.  While he has a sense of humor, Haime does not tell jokes well and has been known to unintentially hurt feelings when he tries to do so. I love to work with my hands, woodworking/furniture making, gardening, and building. Haime likes to play golf and gamble, video poker and astronomy. I read and Haime watches television.

 

However, in spite of our differences, we have a fabulous relationship! Haime and I have been together for about twenty-three years. Like most successful relationships, we check a lot of boxes for each other, we are friends, lovers, critics and cheerleaders for each other. We enjoying being together but we allow each other the space to pursue our individual hobbies and interests. Haime is an amazing individual. He sees the good in nearly everyone. He does not speak badly of others and considers people forever friends.

 

When we started dating, Haime was concerned about my young sons. His own children were raised with a step-father and he felt that the step-dad took too much of Haime's place in his children's world. He was concerned about doing that to another father. As our relationship grew, Haime soon realized that while my sons have a father, they did not have a dad. Haime became their dad. He loves them, supports them, and has given them opportunities to grow to be the men they are today. He made them his own. He takes pride in speaking about them and refers them as "our sons" or as "my sons." Mallory and Chelsea, the loves of my sons' lives, are always amazed about how much each of my son's sound and act like Haime. He continues to be a role model, now for the next generation in the family, our grandson, Carter. He is the doting grandfather and is always looking for the next opportunity for us to have a "sleepover" with Carter, (of course maybe that's because he knows his chances of getting ice cream improve greatly when Carter is with us!)

 

So, on paper, we might not work, but in real life, we definitely do!

 

Felize cumpleanos Haime, te amo mucho mi vida, ...

 

Lois

 

 

 

 

 

OZ, the REST of the Story...

In my last post I told you all about meeting our cousins in Wichita, KS. What I didn't tell you is that the "National American Miss" competitors for the State of Kansas were also at our hotel. I thought something looked odd when we arrived at the hotel and saw several little girls milling around the hotel with matching pink shirts with "NAM" printed on them. Now, I am a child of the late 60s and 70s so my immediate thought was that perhaps these were grandchildren of Vietnam Vets who were here to support their grandfathers at some Vietnam veterans function...silly me!

These cute-pink t-shirted-YOUNG girls were competitors in the "National American Miss" state competition. WHAT-THE-HECK?

I was momentarily speechless! These little girls were YOUNG, I'm not kidding. Some of them looked to be prekindergarten. I just couldn't believe it. Then someone reminded me of a commercial I had seen for a "reality" television show called something like "Toddlers in Tiaras." (I just don't watch much television and if that show actually exists, it is not something that I would be interested in...). Of course, silly me, I had to respond, "yes, but I didn't think it was a real thing!" 

too young to work

I should remind you that I do not have daughters. However, I have nieces. They are all beautiful, talented, intelligent young ladies whom I love dearly and fully support. This isn't about the "contestants," rather, as my 11 year old niece Hannah pointed out, "that contest is really about the moms," (and some of the dads, I must add). We encountered the little contestants being "schooled" in the hallways of each hall we visited, on the terraces outside the lobby, in the lobby, and in the elevators etc. Unfortunately, most of the "schooling/coaching" sounded a lot more like "scolding." "I told you to smile more," "I told you not to tug on your jacket," "I told you...". 

too young to flirt

Frankly, it made me SICK! I don't watch the "sensationalist 'news'" networks that only report spin-stories...in other words, I don't watch very much "news" on television. One thing I have noticed, however, in several reports and advertisements and movies etc is the seemingly ever increasing focus on increasing sex-appeal using children. Then, one day, while I was "walking off the pounds" at the gym, having left my Kindle at home, I was watching "The Talk" on the built in television on my treadmill. Whoopie Goldberg made a similar observation. Hers, however, (in typical Whoopie style--I love her!), suggested that the obsession with bikini waxing is further proof that we are becoming too focused on "prepubescent" sexiness. She clarified by saying that she agreed that trimming was in order but her point was that the complete wax was of cause for concern.   

Some of our group discussed the "pageant" was clearly a "no win" situation for these girls. Rather than, as the logo boasts, "Growing Confidence," what happens to these little girls, who can begin competing at the age of 4! How do we explain to them that all though you did your best and we, your family, believe you are the cutest, most amazingly talented and poised four year old on the planet, you just aren't good enough to be the winner. Someone explain how that works to grow confidence.

Then there are the siblings, mostly the brothers...they walked around the hotel like zombies. Mostly heads down, feet dragging, and resigned to the fact that they could not be outside, running around being little boys. They were expected to be completely quiet and stay in the background while their sisters were primped, styled, made up, and dressed like miniature women.

Really, is it any wonder we were usually found in the bar?

OK, this is the end of my current rant.

TTFN

  Lois 

     

OZ...Revisited???

I have a few questions, thematic ponderings, if you will:

• So, is OZ really the antithesis of Kansas?
• Of all the places Dorothy could have been from, why Kansas?
• Do the Oz-onians represent the opposing the alter-ego of the rural "solid mid-westerners"?

These are questions and hypothesizes that must be asked...why my seemingly sudden interest in the tornado-driven visit to the munchkins and the creatures, great and small, who had neither brain, heart nor courage? Well, I'm currently in the middle of Kansas. Yep, I'm neck deep in the land that brought us Auntie M, Dorothy, and Toto too. Again, WHY? you ask, well, its like this:

My dad was the 5th of 6 children born to Charles Wesley and Rosa. The family lived in rural Kansas, (mostly near Wichita). Of his siblings, my aunt Dorothy was by far Daddy's favorite, and definitely my favorite as well. (Don't get ahead of me here, yes, I had an Aunt Dorothy from Kansas...we'll make the other connections soon enough.) Well, Aunt Dorothy (and Uncle Howard, who's real name was George--I can't explain it other than to say that I've found it extremely common for people around here to be called by some name other than the one on their birth certificate, it's quite peculiar and extremely confusing if everyone doesn't call them by the same name, whether the "official" one or the "stage?" one) had three sons. And, as I've told you before, I have four sisters so we sort of found it handy to "adopt" the Locke boys as our special cousins. ANYWAY, some of us started talking about the fact that we hadn't seen all three of the Locke boys in decades. So, a phone call and several emails back and forth and a reunion was planned.

This would be a good time to introduce you to each of the brothers:

Duane, the eldest, is about 10ish years older than I. We have seen him more frequently over the last several years than either of the other two, but that is still not very often. Duane is married to Carol and they are wonderful people. Duane bears a striking resemblance to my dad, both in physical appearance and in personality. Both have/had wonderful senses of humor, which ranged from the generally funny, to the intelligently sarcastic, to the ultra dry-"are they really serious or is this a joke?" varieties. 

Jay Dee, Doug, Duane

Jay Dee reminds me more of his dad. He is also humorous and likes to tell tales. He is married to Julie, one of the most laid-back, fun women you'd ever meet. They are a great couple and complement each other well.

Doug is the youngest brother, by more than 10 years and is married to Leesa. He looks a lot like his mom, especially when he smiles. He and Duane have very similar personalities and you are never sure what is going to be said, what tales are going to be told and how much of the tale is fact and how much is embellishment, however, I promise you that you will enjoy the telling.  

Together, they are HILARIOUS! They all have children and grandchildren and at least one great-grandchild. They live hundreds of miles away from each other and still, when they are together, it is obvious that they genuinely like being in each other's company and we loved it as well!

Getting back to the Kansas-connection...during the planning stages, we soon realized that Wichita was a good "middle ground" for all of us to travel and it was symbolically a good reunion location as well. Our parents, as I mentioned earlier, lived in this area, though most of us knew very little about Wichita. Even for a couple who had visited more recently than the rest of us, there were huge changes that had taken place over the intervening years.

We've spent the last few days reminiscing, remembering, getting reacquainted and realizing that we all really like each other. I think some of our personalities are enough like our respective deceased parent, that we are getting to spend time with their spirits as well. For me, I have had an extraordinarily fun time "hanging" with these guys and sharing jokes and stories and just being together, sharing space. We've all agreed that we MUST schedule these events much more frequently. The idea of a family cruise vacation has been tossed around...OH MY, lets just hope it's not just a "3-hour tour..."

TTFN and safe travels all,

Lois

Gas Station Angel?

I noticed her as soon as I pulled into the gas station. She was remarkable, only in her "ordinariness." I can't make any kind of educated guess about her age, she could have been 50 or 70. Her clothes were clean, as was her hair which was combed straight back and held away from her eyes with a metal barrette. She held her face in a grim, determined "scowl" while she scrubbed at highway dirt and bug remains on her car's windows with the station's squeegee. There was just something about her that pulled at my heart and made me want to give her a smile and wish her a great day.

 

Let me back up, I'm getting ahead of myself, AGAIN!

 

This weekend's Gospel at mass was about the man who sowed seeds on all kinds of soil and how, depending on where it landed, it either took root, or it didn't. I've heard that reading at least a gazillion times. One difference this time was the homily that followed. We are incredibly blessed in our parish to have two wonderful men serve as priests. They are remarkable men of faith who shepherd us by walking beside us on our faith's journey. Fr. Greg, our Vicar, is also one of the most gifted homilists that I've ever heard. He was a way of taking the Gospel teachings that we have all heard over and over and over, and twisting them in such a way that their message is new and fresh and pointedly relevant to our lives. This week was no exception. He spoke of our call to be evangelists and sowers of the seeds of God's Grace. Let me be PERFECTLY clear...I am not an evangelist. At best, I am a "struggling" Catholic. I tend to keep my faith as a deeply personal thing and my conversations with God are held in the quiet recesses of my heart.

 

When I first spoke to the woman at the gas station, she didn't seem to hear me nor notice me, she was so concentrated on her "washing" task. Then that little voice that only I hear, told me to speak to her again. So, after putting the nozzle in the tank, I spoke again, louder this time and was rewarded with an amazing smile. Her face became radiant! Never mind that she was missing a couple of teeth and that the lines in her face multiplied as she smiled, she honestly lighted from within!

 

By the time I was replacing the gas nozzle, I had already shifted my thoughts to my next moves. I was getting ready to drive to Round Rock and was debating whether I should travel via the 130 toll road or the interstate. The woman next to me spoke to me saying that she had had five children and that they had all spent time at the Medina Children's Home. (Uh oh, I thought, what was this all about?) She explained that they had become too much for her to handle alone when they were teenagers and she had been in no shape to try and care for them. She went on to say that when they did come back to her, they taught her a little saying: "Find a penny, give it away and you'll never want, another day." At that, she handed me a penny. While this was a cute, simple thing to do, the feeling I kept getting from my encounters with this woman was that I was being given the opportunity to spend time in the company of an angel. I can't explain the feeling, in fact, I really can't begin to believe that I'm sharing this experience with you. I just keep thinking about the whole experience and weighing it against the homily that touched me this weekend...either way, I have to say, I was profoundly touched by both.

 

TTFN

 

Lois 

 

 

 

 

My Friend, My Sister...

"the sistas"

Bob, Troy (Candee and Bob's
son), and Haime

If you are lucky enough to have a friend who touches your soul, you are truly blessed. I am extremely blessed, because I have about four such friends. These are the people that you choose to be a part of your family. You may not see them much, or often, but you know that you can count on them to "just be there" for you, or to provide some much needed help, (or bail money...just saying), and when you do see or speak to them after some time, you just pick up where you left off, as if no time has passed. As you probably surmised, Candee is one of those friends for me and getting to see her, and her hubby, Bob, really feels like getting to spend time with beloved family.

Candee retired after nearly 40 years of teaching the children of California, and Bob was throwing her a "retirement bash." That "bash" was the impetus for our trip west. It was great seeing old friends and coworkers and getting to know some of the "non-education" people who are important to Candee.

It's funny, when you don't see people for an extended period of time, their image is frozen in your brain from your last encounter. To be honest, most of the attendees, that I knew, hadn't changed much AT ALL!

Oh, sure, there were, in some cases a few more, or fewer pounds that had "taken residence;" or a couple of additional "silver threads." Of course, as is normal, the ones that had changed the most were the younger attendees. The children of some coworkers who came to wish Candee well as she starts this next phase of her life. These "kids" were definitely no longer kids! They were married, one with a CUTIE little girl and the other, with "one on the way."  

It was so much fun getting to reconnect and catch up with what is happening in each other's lives. Thanks, Bob for organizing this "affair-to-remember!" I can't wait to spend parts of the "next chapter" with both of you.

BOB

TTFN

Lois