I LOVE THIS PICTURE.....

Judy and Tony

Sept., 1967

Is it any wonder I was head over heels?

(One thing I remember is that he always smelled so darned good!)

MORE ABOUT BORGER.....

before we leave there forever. I know you've all heard of tumbleweed. And they've got it. Everywhere. You see it rolling along the highway, across parking lots and up against the hedges in people's yards. This one below was against Shannon's neighbor's hedge across the street. (It's that dead-lookin' brown thing in front of all the green. No, not the FLAT dead-lookin' brown thing; that's the lawn. The ROUND dead-lookin' brown thing.)

I thought this was a rather interesting billboard. Not strictly something Texan or Borgerish; but, that's where I saw it.

Now, the majority of the homes built in Borger don't have basements. The soil around there is just too rocky for it to be easy to dig one. Borger is ALSO right in the middle of "tornado alley". So, the people there have a dilemma.....what to do when the tornadoes come. And it's not a question of IF but rather WHEN. They WILL come. One of the more inventive business men in the area has come up with a solution. He's marketing septic tanks as storm cellars. Rather appropriate, I'd say. If I saw a tornado coming, I'd probably sh*t myself by the time I got to the storm cellar.

Oh, and Borger even has a place to SKATE!

SEE?

Well, that's pretty much it for Borger. It was a nice place to visit ('cause I had a good reason to visit); but, now it's going to be nice to visit Washington state.

A LITTLE HELP HERE.....

The girls LOVE to play outside. One evening it's in the back with the swing set and bubbles. The next night it might be in the front with the bikes and sidewalk chalk. This particular evening, it was the front. There's a pretty big area of concrete from the garage to the street (double driveway, ya know.....). However.....sometimes the concrete just isn't big enough and they venture into the grass. Now, that's ok if they're playing with a ball or the kid-sized broom and rake. But, if you're on a riding toy, riding out into the grass causes an almost instant halt to the proceedings. (And, believe it or not, training wheels make it even WORSE!) Poor Kristin went out into the grass and got stuck.

She tried to get out on her own but it just wasn't working.

I don't know if she hollered at Hannah or not; but, Hannah went out to check on what was happening. I suspect that Hannah was just being curious (read nosy...lol). Things were not going well, as you can see. There's been no movement for a couple of minutes and Hannah is still surveying the situation.

I didn't hear any of the conversation; but, apparently, it was decided that Hannah would help. You can't see her very well; but, she's back behind the bike. You can just see her little leg sticking out.

Now, Hannah is pretty sturdy and stubborn. (These are NOT bad attributes. Perhaps I should say "determined" rather than stubborn.) She reminds me a little bit of her mother when she was small. I see her leaning into the back of that bike and pushing for all she's worth! If you look closely, you can almost hear her groaning with the effort. And, with both of them working at it, the bike starts to move.

Sometime during all the pushing and shoving and pedaling, someone decided that it might be better if Kristin got off and helped push. Things moved along much faster after that.

And, SUCCESS.....they got the bike back on the concrete!

But, if you remember (scroll back up at this point to refresh your memory), the trike is now out in the grass. So, what happens? Does Kristin go back to riding her bike and let Hannah get her own ride back on the concrete? NOOOOOOOO, she's as good a sister as Hannah is. I didn't hear what was said, but I can imagine.

I'm thinking to myself, "Hang on, Hannah!!!!!" 'Cause Kristin is pushing for all SHE'S worth and she's longer legged and just as determined as Hannah is. But, as they zoomed past, I heard the sound of little girl laughter. It was music to my ears.

One last note.....you might have noticed that there is a LOT of safety equipment being used. It's only natural, I guess.....their dad DOES, after all, have a master's degree in safety (environmental health and safety, to be exact).

LUNCH IN THE PARK.....

Last Saturday, while I was in Texas, the little women and I decided we'd go eat lunch at the Coffee Ranch. (A local coffee shop.....mmmmmmm) They also have sammiches and soup from 11:00-2:00. Unfortunately, they DON'T have sammiches and soup from 11:00-2:00 on SATURDAYS. So, we just got our drinks there.....orange and lemon juliuses ("julians" in Hannah-speak) and some dessert for after. "Girls," I says, "where we gonna get our sammiches?" "SUUBBWWAAAAYYY," they yell from the rear seat. Hmmmmm, wonder where the hell Subway is. "Girls," I says, "where's Subway?" (I'm getting directions from a 3 y/o and a 5 y/o.....this will not end well.) After about 10 minutes of clues like "back where the guys were selling ice cream out of their trucks" (oh, yeah.......the Schwan trucks we passed back there), I figured out where the Subway was and headed there. Parked out in front and got the girls' sammich orders. "Girls," I says, "where we gonna EAT our sammiches? Do we wanna go home? Noooooooo, we don't wanna go home. How about we go to the park?" This suggestion was met with an extremely enthusiastic response from both sides of the rear seat. So we head to Huber Park. A VERY nice little city park. It wasn't very crowded and we got our pick of tables and set about getting our sammiches and drinks out.

After the sammiches were finished, we got the dessert out. It was a much warmer day than I had anticipated and our giant chocolate cookie got too warm and gooey to eat. ("How is that possible?" you ask. "A too-warm-and-gooey chocolate cookie.....no such thing." Trust me.....with a 3 y/o and a 5 y/o it was most DEFINITELY too warm and gooey.)

Luckily we also bought a couple of ginormous rice krispie bars as a back-up. They were delicious and we probably enjoyed them more than we would have the chocolate cookie.

Of course, after we finished eating, we played at the playground for a while. All in all it was an EXCELLENT afternoon

INSIDE V. OUTSIDE.....

One day last week down thar in Texas, me and them little gals went a shoppin'. To Wal-Mart, naturally. We went specifically to get a bubble machine and some bubble juice. Well, there were TWO bubble machines there. The regular old Gazillion Bubble Machine.....and another machine that blew bubbles inside of bubbles. Sooooooooo, I says to the girls, "Girls, how about a bubble machine that blows bubbles inside of bubbles?" Hannah immediately and in a desperate voice says, "No, Nana.....no, Nana........I want a bubble machine that blows bubbles OUTside!" I couldn't argue with that......LOL

BORGER BULLDOGS.....

Those people in Borger really, REALLY love their Bulldogs. This was probably about 1/10 of the ones that I saw.....not to mention the ones that I DIDN'T see.

OH, MAN (a la Swiper).....

I so wish I had a tape recorder in my head. Well, I guess, technically, I do.....but the tape is getting worn out.....ya know what I mean? Words don't stick to it like they used to. When I'm around these little girls, I need a more reliable one. We had such fun last Saturday and Sunday. SOME of the stuff I'll be able to remember; but, not nearly all of it. This morning, on the way to take Kristin to school, those two were sitting way in the back of the van "reminiscing" about trips they had taken by plane. (They are THREE and FIVE for goodness sake. I was 50 before I ever got to go through all that security rigamarole ["A complicated, petty set of procedures" per dictionary.com]) They were remembering where they sat and with whom (Mom or Dad) on a couple of different trips. There was even one trip that Hannah got to take that Kristin didn't. When Tony had the heart attack, Shannon came to Indiana and only brought the two younger kiddos. Kristin had to stay home because of school. And what she remembered about that week was that: KRISTIN "Dad had to fix my hair." NANA "Did he do a pretty good job?" KRISTIN "He used HIS hair brush!" (Oh to have been a fly on the wall THAT week....LOLOL) I most likely could win that 10,000 smackers on AFV if only I had had a video camera attached to my forehead this week. You may assume that I've had a good laugh once or twice while I've been here. When they're playing together, (inside-outside-in the tub) it's a hoot to listen to them when they forget that you're there watching. There is NOTHING like being a grandparent. It defies description.

I JUST REALIZED.....

today would have been my dad's 90th birthday.

I'VE GOT SO MANY PICTURES.....

of people (the ones with whom I've been spending my time) and places here in Borger. Unfortunately, I didn't bring the software to put on Shannon's computer that I need to upload the pictures from my camera. Suffice it to say that I will be blogging quite a bit when I get back home and can get my pictures on the blog. I'm more than half way through my babysitting gig and I'd have to say we've done pretty well. We haven't been late for school, either going or coming; we were on time for ballet class last Thursday and the birthday party on Friday; we did cut it close yesterday when we went to the movie (go see "Nim's Island" if you haven't already.....it's an outstanding film) but who wants to sit in the dark listening to THEIR music while you wait on the show to start.....NOT US.....so we arrived just in the nick of time. There have been no major medical emergencies (thank goodness) and only one minor blood-letting (Hannah got a little over-enthusiastic with her pit-tickling and scratched Kristin's arm). Everyone has been going to bed when I say with only (what I consider to be) normal amounts of whining. Hannah has only asked for her mother once a day, usually around bedtime and mostly to have something to say, I think. It's been good to be here for this length of time with just them. Tony and I don't get to spend as much time with our little Texans as we'd like. I won't be able to call them that much longer. What do you call people from Washington State? Is it badgers? Or is that Wisconsin? I'll have to research that. If you know, write a comment. You know, people from Indiana aren't called Indianans or Indianians.....we're Hoosiers. (And I'll bet you didn't know that in Missouri hoosier = redneck. It's a generic word. I'm almost POSITIVE there are a lot of "hoosiers" living in Missouri.) Well, Kristin is at school and Hannah is asking for a movie. (OH! Another really good movie is "Enchanted".....now THERE is an excellent movie!!) I'd better go see what I can find that will suit her.

I LEARNED A NEW WORD TODAY.....

AUTOMAGICALLY.....I don't know if it was a misspelling or intentional; but, I love it!

ABSOLUTELY THE BEST BOOK.....

I've ever read has got to be "The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks. Get it.....read it.....tell me what you think. Truly.....best book ever. I wrote Mr. Sparks a fan letter. First one I'd ever written to anyone. I promise.....it's a very good book.

MY MAN MITCH (A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT...sorta).....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90llxghZlrc

I guess I should put a little more than just the link. Like, maybe, why the link is here. I happen to like Mitch. I think he's made the best of a VERY bad situation that he had nothing to do with creating. PLUS.....and this is the BIG reason why the link is here.....the President of the Indiana State Police Alliance just happens to be my brother. (And I'm sure my dad is rolling over in his grave every time someone sees his son endorsing a Republican on the public airwaves.)

TEXAS IS SEMI-FAMOUS FOR.....

roadrunners. Did you know that? I think I might have heard that they have them here. But, I actually saw one today. Running down the middle of the road. Go figure.....

Texas is also famous for long-horn cattle. (They don't generally roam the roads.....but I've seen them penned up along side the roads.)

Meet the armadillo. Affectionately referred to by me as the Texas 'possum. They are just as ugly and you more than likely will see them lying in pieces along the side of the road 'cause they're too dumb to recognize death when it's barrelling down on them at 65-70 miles an hour.

Texas also has lots and lots of snakes, scorpions and tarantulas (none of those creepy, crawly, potentially life-threatening .....THINGS deserves a picture. Besides, I'd probably pass out from a severe case of the heebie-jeebies before I could get them uploaded).....yes, I said tarantulas. Ask Shannon about tarantulas sometime. Oh.....and when you do, also ask her about scorpions. Oh.....and SNAKES, too.....LOLOL (Now I'm wondering what kind of icky things live in Washington State.)

But, if I were to ask you what you thought of when I said "Texas", I'm pretty sure you'd say........cowboys (no not the Dallas ones). And, as far as I can tell all the cowboys look pretty much the same. Here are Buster and Bob. (I surfed around a little bit looking for cowboys. That's how I know they all look pretty much the same. Altho, I did find ONE that was a little different than the rest. And I think he looks like MY kind of cowboy.)

Please don't ask how I got from roadrunners to semi-naked cowboys. It even scares ME to think about that.

I HAD A POST ON HERE EARLIER.....

telling all about Borger, TX with aerial pictures from Google Earth. But you couldn't see ANYthing, so I took it off. I will just TELL you about Borger for the time being. It's kind of sad that I'm just now getting around to writing about Borger. Our daughter and her family have lived there for almost 4 years and they are getting ready to move to Washington State. So, for some reason, it hit me to write about Borger. I guess maybe because this is my next to last trip EVER to this small Texas town.

Borger is located almost smack dab in the center of the Texas panhandle.....about 45 miles northeast of Amarillo. (Daughter and her family moved here in 2004 because of her husband's job. He took a position with Conoco Phillips at the Borger Refinery.) And it's right at 1,000 miles from Loogootee. We could drive there in about 16 hours if we had to (or even if we didn't have to and just wanted to get there in a hurry.)

Now, this is the third place in Texas that Shannon and Ryan have lived. They have lived in Houston, Corpus Cristi and Borger. And, of the three, Borger comes closest to being "Texan". (or at least what I thought of as "Texan" before my daughter became one)

All around Borger there are ranches.....real, honest-to-goodness Texas ranches; the kind of ranches whose fences go for miles and miles.....the kind of ranches that are so big that you never see the cattle when you're driving by. I've had REAL Texas barbecue in a little restaurant that began life as a convenience store/gas station and whose cook boasted blue-ribbon-winning barbecue (the proof was right there on the wall). Not much was done in the way of remodeling except to put in a dining counter and some tables and chair. And I ate it properly, too.....with brown beans and cole slaw and the "barbecue sauce" in a bottle on the table. (Apparently, barbecue is a METHOD of cooking rather than a recipe.)

It's late.....more about Borger tomorrow. I'll hurry and finish my travelogue 'cause I KNOW none of you will sleep until you've read it all. Nighty night.

(For the love of John, I wish someone could tell me how to get spaces between ALL the paragraphs!!)

I WAS NEVER ABLE TO WRITE ABOUT IT.....

last year. Willie's motorcycle buddies did something absolutely awesome. They staged a whole weekend of activities to make money for starting a college fund for Tylie. They had a yard sale, a cookout for donations, raffles for goodies that any motorcyclist would have wanted, a 50-50 raffle (I have to add right here that the mother of one of Willie's motorcycle buddies won the 50-50 raffle and she gave back the money that she won. Thank you, Kim.) and a memorial ride. Their goal was to raise $2,000. But they didn't. THEY RAISED OVER $5,800!!!! They raised $2,000 at the yard sale alone. They and their girlfriends and wives and parents worked their behinds off to raise that money. I told them then and I'm saying it again right here. There are no words that can express our thanks and gratitude for their hard work and what they accomplished. The only thing we can do is to make sure that Tylie knows WHAT they have done for her and WHY. They're going to do it again this summer. So far, the only definite thing is the date: Sept. 6-7. But, I have it on good authority that there will be things going on that weekend that lots of people will want to see and do. Check back here often for updates about what's going on. You can also check their website: http://www.1150riders.com They've already added a page for this year's event. Check it out.....sign the guest book.....tell everyone about it.....make plans to come and celebrate Willie's life with his family and friends that weekend. This is a picture of the riders and Tylie at last year's cookout.

GOD BLESS YOUR HEARTS, EVERY ONE OF YOU!

I USUALLY DON'T LIKE.....

anything that Will Farrell is in; but, "Blades of Glory" is a hoot. I heehawed the first time I saw it.

MONEY FOR NUTHIN'.....

They have this program where I work. If an employee recommends a person for a job and that person applies for the job and the company interviews them and then hires them and that person stays at least 30 days, the employee gets some money. SOOOOO.....I did and she did and they did and she did. Now I'm waiting on my moolah!! 350 smackers!!!! YEEHAW!!!!!!!!!! (I hope I get it in time for this TX trip.)

IT'S BEEN NEARLY A YEAR SINCE.....

I first whined about Tab and the fact that it was just downright nasty. Well, the Coca Cola people finally wised up and now we've got REAL Tab again. WOO HOO!!!

WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY.....

The weather was totally awesome. I DO enjoy spring.....and I like summer even better. We spent some time out at the farm today; and we took Tylie with us. She seems to be an outdoor girl.

Maybe I said this before.....maybe I didn't.....our daughter and her family are officially OFFICIALLY moving to Washington state. Somewhere about an hour north of Seattle. Dang near at the Canadian border. They've known for a week or two. Kristin, the oldest granddaughter, is in kindergarten and she was told NOT to tell. Her mother kept reminding her not to spill the beans. Well, last week Kristin couldn't stand it any more and told her mother she was going to "spill the beans and pick up the can." WHERE do they get this stuff?

I'm going to TX next week so daughter and hubby can go house hunting in Washington. I'm sure I'll have a boatload of new pictures of the other three when I get back.

Have a good week everyone!

FOR WILLIE.....

Four Candles for You

The first candle represents our grief. The pain of losing you is still intense. It reminds us of the depth of our love for you.

The second candle represents our courage to confront our sorrow, to comfort each other, to change our lives.

The third candle is lit in your memory for the times we laughed, the times we cried, the times we were angry with each other, the silly things you did.....the caring and joy you gave us.

The fourth candle represents our love. It is lit so that your light will always shine when we enter into any gathering and time of sharing with our family and friends.

We cherish the special place in our hearts that will always be reserved for you. We thank you for the gift your living brought to each of us.

We love you.

We remember you.

We miss you.

PLEASE TELL ME.....

why it is that some companies will spend the price of postage, the cost of the check and the cost of printing and stuffing the check all to send YOU a check for $.09.

OH, MY GOODNESS.....

if time flies when you're having fun, I must be at the freakin' circus. I had no idea that it had been so long since I'd posted. And I've actually got something to talk about.

Today, at work, a fellow came through the drive-thru wearing a Bunny Bread hat. Seeing it took me back quite a few years. I was in Jr. Hi.....probably 7th grade. Or, to be more precise, I think it was the summer between 7th and 8th grades. I don't know how I got roped into it; but, I wore a Bunny Bread bunny outfit (full body) and handed out samples or coupons or something at the grocery store. And got PAID for it.....lol (Apparently, I never DID have good sense.)