Thursday, May 15, 2014

Simple Joys

Hello Darlings...

lately I have been taking joy in some things I wanted share with you...some are things that have happened, some are products, some are places...

stuff...

And at the end of the blog there is something I have never done before...I am doing a product give away!  Read on for more details...

These days I am determined to find joy even in things that I might not normally find joy in...

Like today...when I subbed for 5th grade...it was field day...

normally that would not make me joyful...and frankly I feel I still deserved hazard pay because I was standing around where 11 years olds where throwing things like footballs, basketballs, and hula hoops.

But I found joy in watching them get excited and have fun...it was fun watching the tiniest little blonde girl prove that she pretty much is the beast at sports (she never missed a basket and she beat everyone at ring toss with the hula hoop...and then some...)...I found joy in the fact that the weather was PERFECT and I didn't end up with a "farmer's tan"...it was a joyful day...and I got to spend it with some sweet kids and some amazing teachers I look up to.

I"m finding joy as I sit in on casting our shows for next year...like when the biggest kid in the room insisted he get to read for "Tiny Tim" (we are doing "Christmas Carol") or when the super quiet young man got up and had me in tears laughing...or when a child I have known since he was in kindergarten is continually surprising me with his acting...or when I got to sit next to another child I have known since she was in kindergarten and as I realized that she is a grown woman now and off to college I have had the joy of sharing this last year with her (I love you CrewBossCass).

I found joy on mother's day...not just from my children..and they were awesome (The Cutest Boy in the World cooked me breakfast and brought it to me in bed)

but from my ex-husband

um...

but not in the way most would expect (like he did something nice...)

no...it was more surprising and I'm still laughing at it...

basically...

he sent me a text meant for his girlfriend

not kidding

you read that right

he sent ME a text meant for his girlfriend

my joy came from the humor of it

and the fact that I could absolutely care less that he has a girlfriend (other than it chaps me that he found someone before I did)

I knew it because not for me because the text was NICE

not that he isn't nice to me but it was waaaay friendly than I ever get or ever got even when we were married

it was all friendly and happy and even had an exclamation point

not kidding...

once I realized it was NOT for me but rather for someone else

and I stopped laughing my @$$ off

I sent him back at text saying "I don't think you meant to send this text to me lol"

at least it wasn't a "sext"...

and for that I am truly grateful and joyful

(shudder)

I'm taking joy at making homemade goat cheese...I found a recipe and it is delicious and creamy and a bit tangy but not overly so...and you can flavor it however you like...and I use fresh lemon juice as the acid...here's a blog that explains how to do it...

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/02/how-to-make-goat-cheese-recipe.html

Of course I am taking great joy in my new house...and I am almost ready to "show" it to you...but if you are looking for painters, or an electrician, or some carpenters---message me and I will pass along their names...they are awesome...

Lately I find great joy in going to the, for lack of a better term, "latino grocery store".  The one by me is called "La Michoacana" and I love shopping there.  The produce is good and cheap, I get great avocados for less than 50 cents each (sometimes as little as a quarter...they are the small ones but the perfect size), they have great fajitas, and I can get in and out in less than a quarter of the time I spend at HEB.

I am very fond of their "pollo para tacos" and "beef para tacos"...it's meat that is slivered up for you and all you do is throw it in a skillet with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and you have a "street taco" when you add a little green salsa...bueno...

and they have awesome corn tortillas and I am very fond of their La Michoacana brand of "queso quesadilla"

The Cutest Boy in the World and I have taco night almost once a week and it's a no brainer to shop for and put together...

if you want to find one near you here is their website:

http://www.lamichoacanameatmarket.com/en/

If you have any kind of ethnic market near you I urge you to go in there and explore...you might find some great food at great prices that might shake up your usual meals...

and if you want more specifics on how to do your tacos, etc just message me...

Let's see what else...

I take simple joy (actually GREAT joy) in the fact that the two top-selling NFL jerseys post-draft are Johnny Manziel's and Michael Sam's...but that deserves it's own blog...

I find simple joy in some new findings in the way of alcoholic beverages...

I picked up some peach vodka from a Texas vodka producer  (Lonespur Texas Vodka) and it's awesome...I plan to make some fun summer drinks with that one...I tried it with a little blueberry liqueur for a dessert martini...joyful...

I'm not usually a whiskey girl at all but I find that Cooper's Mark honey bourbon whiskey has a smokey, sexy, slightly sweet taste that makes for a delicious occasional nightcap...like at the end of the day when your ex-husband sends you a text meant for his paramour...

And lastly on the alcoholic beverage front I share with you a nice red wine I am enjoying:
Chateau St. Cosme "Les Deux Albion" Cotes du Rhone

yummy...

And the olive bar at Whole Foods has long been a place of simple joy for me but I recently discovered their "sweet" olive blend with almonds and raisins...and yes, it is supper yummy when chopped up and put on top of that homemade goat cheese on a crostini...

I take a lot of simple joy from my cat "Dragon"...he amuses me and is super affectionate and so very sweet...

although last night at 3am when he decided to lodge his "teaser" toy into a chair so he could play with it (it has a bell on it....arrrrgh) I was not taking ANY joy in him...

And now for my unpaid endorsements...but these are things I really love..two are beauty products and one is something my son can't live without...

The Cutest Boy in the World lives in athletic shorts...and his favorite shorts come from a company called "Streaker Sports"...what makes these shorts special is the fact that the fabric is super lightweight and dries quickly and IS NOT MESH but also because THEY HAVE POCKETS...he lives in them...check them out the company is a good old USA company and their stuff just gets better and better with each washing...he loves the t-shirts too...if you have seen my son "out and about" then you have seen him in his Streakers...

http://www.streakersports.com/

Lastly I want to share two beauty products that not only give me simple joy in making me look better but I pretty much use them every single day...

First up is Oscar Blandi Dry Teasing dust...

finally a product that gives me the big hair I love...and it stays...it's the best of the "dusts" I have tried and I am an addict

Here's a link to Sephora:

http://www.sephora.com/product/productDetail.jsp?keyword=OSCAR%20BLANDI%20Dry%20Teasing%20Dust%20P378139&skuId=1510163&productId=P378139&_requestid=137377

but you can get it other places...

My other beauty obsession is my lashes...it's all about the hair and lashes with me...and I have finally found a product that gives me the look of false eyelashes without having to put the falsies on.

It's called Younique Moonstruck 3D fiber lashes...

amazeballs...

you put on your regular mascara and then...when you want to pump up the volume...and add length...

you brush on the gel and then you comb on the fibers (I have contacts and have had no issues) and then you seal it up with the gel...

and then you get supermodel lashes

My friend Jill turned me on to them and she set up a "virtual party" where you can go and buy them...no since I don't believe in using my blog to serve myself in any way other than mental therapy I am going to GIVE AWAY a set of the fiber lashes...

that's right

I'm doing a give away...

the "party" last for 10 days so feel free to go onto the website and buy away..you will be hooked...

but if you leave a comment here on the blog or on my facebook page that you want to be in "in" on the giveaway, simple let me know and on May 25 I will put all of your names in a hat and draw one out and that person will get the lashes...I already have a set to give away...

but I really urge you to shop for yourself...you will love them!  And the price is good...

here's the link:

https://www.youniqueproducts.com/JillWatson/party/199439/view

I swear these are amazing and I get tons of compliments and the best part is I can use them to look naturally pretty or full out glamazon depending on how much I build up with the fibers.  Jill and I total believers  and addicts...you will be addicted too..

Ok so that is all for now with my simple joys...because my next simple joy is watching Gray's Anatomy and going to bed...

Inspiration Song: "Simple joys" from the musical "Pippin"...because GOTT and I are doing Pippin this year...just in case you have missed it from my facebook page..yup the next 9 months are gonna be all about "Pippin" and football and wrestling...and also in honor of the fact that an amazing young man who was in the first show I ever costumed once played "Pippin" in high school and now he is on BROADWAY in Book of Mormon...yes, I finally know someone on Broadway...I die happy....

Bye Darlings...find your simple joys...share them with me...and let me know if you want in on the drawing!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Mama Who Bore Me

Helloooo Darlings....

And Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there...

today is always a bittersweet day for me...I always feel so lucky because I AM a mom and God blessed me with two amazing and talented and wonderful children...but for the past 9 years I have been without my sweet mom and that makes today just a bit sad for me.  I miss her terribly...I miss her every day...and I have this 3 month run where once I month I have to confront the fact she is gone:

She died in April so that is always a crappy day...

And then Mother's Day rolls around a month later and punches me in the gut again...

And then in June her birthday comes along and I no longer have her here to celebrate.

I have many friends who have lost their precious mommies so I am not alone in this struggle of joy and pain...and to all of you who have a special angel in heaven you call "Mom" please know I love you and I send you a hug...

I slept in this morning and then The Cutest Boy in the World brought me breakfast in bed...he got up and made me coffee and biscuits and we opted to eat on the couch in my room rather than in bed because Bad Dragon was a little TOO interested in those biscuits so I had to thwart him a bit...

I've been lazy all day and I am just fine with that...I have things I could do but instead I opted to spend 3 hours watching a documentary on the Eagles (the band, as if I have to tell you people...GREATEST AMERICAN ROCK BAND EVER..that's my opinion and if you want to argue it, well I don't want to hear it...).

Ke$ha Barbie called and wished me happy mother's day.  I really should re-name her but I might confuse some of you so it's gonna stick...sorry beautiful child...she's still up in Boston and I miss her so much...but I am so proud of her and her hard work at school...

I wear the title of "Mom" as my proudest accomplishment.  It is the one thing I truly have loved doing...I loved every minute of raising my babies and I am ever so grateful that I did not mess them up or ruin them...

Now as for my fur babies...well, Dragon is still learning manners so I am sort of a failure when it comes to being a cat mama...

I've received so many sweet texts and messages today...but the ones that touch me the most are those from kids I have taught.  I have literally teared up reading their sweet texts to me...because to have a child who is not your own tell you they love you...well, you just can't beat that...So far I have heard from Sweet Caroline, Alexandra the Great, KuteKass, and MyMary...and frankly I would happily call each of them "daughter"...I love those girls so very much because they have opened their hearts to me and they have given me the gift of their love and friendship.  Precious Precious Precious girls...

And I have sweet girls like SuperSarah who treats me like another mom or a very special aunt...inviting me to graduation and to come to the "before prom" photo time...and her birthday...I will miss her when she goes off to college next year...

because sometimes it's not the mama who bore you...but the mama of your heart that you love as well...

I have some "mamas of the heart" too...My friends SuperShari and JoJo are my mamas all the time...they fuss over me, check on me all the time, worry when I have hurt myself (the latest was a nasty burn from bacon grease when God was trying to tell me I no longer need to cook with bacon), and act as a mom when I need a shoulder to cry on.

My aunt Jane is also like a mom to me...more big sister but there are times she stands in as a mom or grandparent for me or my kids.

I was lucky enough to hear from my sister-in-law today....my WonderfulWendy.  She is no longer married to my brother (in fact she has found a wonderful man and they got married!) but she will ALWAYS be my sister...marriages don't matter when you have a sister for life.

All of this got me thinking about what it means to be a mom...because it's not just about giving birth.  I have two adopted sisters who are my SISTERS.  Period.  I only use the "term" adopted when I explain how they started off in my life.  Adopted or not they are as much my sisters as my "blood" sisters are, and I actually am closer to them than the other sisters.  My mother never thought of them differently and neither do I.  They are my sisters.  End of story...

A few years ago my sister SuSu and her family came to visit.  Her daughter June Bug wanted to sleep with me every night.  She would fall asleep and I would stare at her because she not only was so beautiful but she looked just like my sister and it would take my breath away to look at this precious little creature and be so happy that I got to have that experience with her loving me like that...loving me that she wanted to be next to me.  That's how I feel about my Aunt Jane...

So it's not blood...it's not birth...it's about love...

I have friends who don't have human babies but are moms to fur babies...again, that is all about love...

I have a friend I have loved almost all my life who is gay and is father to two twin boys...I love that he gets to be a parent because he is an amazing dad along with his partner...it's not about being a "mom" it's about being a parent...but mostly it about love...

I have friends who have raised their grandchildren because circumstances prevented their child from raising their own child...again, it's about love...

I have kids from school who call me mama...I don't pay for their tuition, or raise them under my roof, but it means the world to me for them to call me "mama" and I will take it..again, it's about love...

So I want to end this post with something I wrote 9 years ago...it's my mom's eulogy. I'm not going to share the whole thing but the part about the lessons I learned from her.  I was going to share it on the anniversary of her passing but I just couldn't bring myself to bring it up...I was missing her too much but was making it through the day without tears so I decided not to.

But today, I feel strong.  And I want to share the wonderful lessons I learned from my mother and her life.  She was a gorgeous woman who inspired me to do many things. I would not be the woman I am today without her...

So in honor of the amazing Debbie Shelton I share this...and I hope today you will do one of these things for yourself.  When I gave the eulogy I made a top ten things I learned from her so here it is...and I have left the last part of the eulogy in because it gives me comfort:

Number 10---Cook with butter! My mother was a fabulous cook…she learned from her father who was also a great cook. She rarely produced a dish that wasn’t incredible tasting. She ate a healthy diet and enjoyed good food, but when she cooked, she cooked with butter. Most of our holiday meals centered on her delicious food and she didn’t skimp on the good stuff. So when you do anything in life, and not just when you cook…don’t skimp on the good stuff…make everything you do full fat, whole hog, and ignore the calories.

Number 9--- travel first class and see this world. It’s not always feasible to fly first class, but why not give up some of those frequent flyer points and get to your destination in a little more comfort? My mother always tried to do that…and she was always more comfortable for doing so. She loved to travel. She loved to go and see my brother Beto and his family in Africa----it’s a magnificent country and she loved to be there. She loved New York City---we traveled twice there with Camiel but she made many trips there and she never tired of the city. She took ordinary vacations to ordinary places but she also loved to travel to exotic and fun places like Hawaii, Bermuda, Egypt, and Europe. Even when she visited my sister Katie and her family in Fort Worth she turned it into a vacation. She loved to go places---whether she was traveling with her children or with friends. We took so many fabulous trips together and I know that I will miss having her as my favorite traveling companion. So get out there and see this world…and send my mother a postcard in a prayer.

Number 8---Sleep on a lot of soft pillows. My mother’s bed was a soft, safe haven for my children and my sibling’s children…all the grandchildren have slept in Nona’s great big bed, surrounded by all of her soft pillows. Sometimes our entire family would pile into her bed. My mother had guest rooms but my sister Susan would always sleep in her bed when she came to visit because Mom’s bed was the best. Everyone who was at her house at some point would find themself lounging about on my mother’s bed. My mother made bed-making into an art form. Her pillows were soft and plentiful and her sheets were luxurious. But translating that to real life, what she did was to create comfort around herself. We can all honor her by splurging on the creature comforts in our home and create that safe, soft haven that welcomes us. 

Number 7---take more pictures. My mother took more photos than anyone I knew---she also managed to display them all. If you were at the funeral home yesterday you saw just a smidgen of the photos she had. And if you were there yesterday I sincerely hope you saw the marvelous video that my Aunt Gayle put together with some of Mom’s photos. She loved photos of friends and family and usually had her photos to the developer within hours of taking them. Take photos and share them with everyone. There is no greater artwork in this world than the human face.

Number 6---Keep a clean house. I have failed miserably at this…she was such a tidy house keeper and I am nothing but a mess…never dirty, just messy. Her home was ready for “Better Homes and Gardens” to come and photograph it at any moment. When her father died she took on keeping the house to help my grandmother out when she went back to work. I was told a story about her neat-nick ways that makes me laugh. Back in the early 60’s, when my mother and her siblings were young, my Uncle Phil was home relaxing. Suddenly my Uncle Steve ran through the house yelling “Run for your lives!” and raced out of the house. My Uncle John soon followed suit and jumped out the window. The next thing that Phil saw was my mother making a mad dash through the house and she forced Phil, along with Jane, Gayle and the others, out of the house. When my grandmother came home she found 5 of her 6 children waiting on the front porch, locked out of the house. It seems that my mother had done her cleaning and they weren’t allowed back in---no matter what. Her housekeeping skills continued on to her adult life. She had a maid that had absolutely nothing to do. She threw out her clutter and kept things so organized. Her closet is a work of art. She never had to worry that her house wasn’t tidy enough for anyone to drop on by. Speaking of which, that brings up:

Number 5----Throw more parties! My mother was the hostess with the mostest. Martha Stewart had nothing on her. She gave great parties. She was the social director for whatever community she lived in. When I was young I can remember sitting with my sisters and brother and watching all of my Mom and Dad’s friends come in to the parties they gave. They had fabulous parties…costume parties, hunting parties, dancing parties, teas, casino parties, bridge parties and benefit parties. They entertained heads of state and heads of the school. We loved to watch her get dressed for a party and always were amazed that she could look so beautiful each and every time. Our home was the gathering place for the web of friends that she had in Kingsville. I remember Sunday afternoons spent with our family friends coming by---the kids stayed in the pool until we were long past the prune stage, the dads would stand around and drink beer until it was time to watch Peyton cook the burgers, and the moms would lay in their chairs sunning themselves while wearing curlers in the hair covered by a silly cap or bandana. Why those women lounged in the sun in hair curlers is beyond me, but I can still see that group of people at my house as if it was yesterday. She could even turn a hairdressing adventure into a party. In the early 70’s I remember her friends showing up, armed with home “frost your hair” kits, Lancer’s Rose wine, and cigarettes for those who smoked. The would seat themselves around my mother’s long vanity area and pull each other’s hair through the frosting caps…all the while yakking and drinking wine. As the evening wore on my sister Noel and I became hot commodities because we could pull the hair through the caps for them when they got a little too tipsy to do it right. They would emerge a few hours later, full of wine, full of fun, with head’s full of frosted hair---they all looked a little like Bea Arthur in her “Maude” days…and my mother was their queen. Those were some of the greatest times of my life, and I think my siblings will agree. Most of the best times were never a planned thing…it was just that everyone knew that our family and my mother would welcome everyone and no one had to put much thought to it. Have a party---we are, because she would want us to!

Number 4----Support education. It was so important to my mother that we got an education. I know the day my sister Sarita graduated was one of the proudest days of her life. My graduation from A&M was a triumph for both of us because she never went to college. Her siblings went to various universities and she was proud of their accomplishments. She tried to give us the best education possible. While in Kingsville she sent us to an amazing Episcopal school. When the time came to educate my own children I feel so blessed that I too found an amazing Episcopal school for my children. I use what she did for us as a blueprint for how to raise my own children and I was pleased that I can give such a wonderful educational gift to them. My mother loved going to St. Francis and seeing her grandchildren perform, or attending grandparent day, or even just picking them up in the carpool line. She so believed in the school that she participated in the school’s capital campaign and regularly gave to the Annual Giving program. But her dedication to good education didn’t stop with her grandchildren’s school----she gave scholarships to A&M, helped build on to our school when we were children, and she helped out with various projects at Texas A&I when she lived in Kingsville. So give to the school of your choice and support it well, she would really like that.

Number 3--- Drink more water and exercise more. Was there ever a time that we didn’t see her drinking water? She never ordered anything in a restaurant but water. She was a connoisseur of water and she drank it by the gallon. She always had a bottle of water and kept several pitchers of it in her fridge. It’s good for you and won’t interrupt your sleep…so toast her with your next glass and drink it more often. And get out there and work out! My mother loved to exercise…she was in amazing shape and she worked hard at it. She loved to walk with her friends in the morning and she also loved going to the Houstonian to work out. She enjoyed trying all kinds of classes but usually stuck to her walks with friends when the weather was nice. I know that she managed to get many of you out of the house to walk with her and I only wish she had made me do so more often with her---then I might fit into more of her gorgeous clothes! Take care of your health---she would want you to.

Number 2---Go to church. My mother loved coming to St. Michael’s. She loved this church and she loved the Catholic Church. She often walked to mass from her house so that she could exercise both her body and her spirit. She loved her faith and she clung to it. She loved Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and God. She prayed for all of us…so let us all remember her in our prayers and thank God for her life because He did such good work when he created her.

Number 1---love your family, spoil your children, but ridiculously spoil your grandchildren. My mother was the most beautiful and wonderful mother a person could have. She did the best she could after the divorce and I think we all turned out pretty well. But where she really shined was in the “grandmother department’. Nona, as the grandkids call her, was the best grandmother a child could have. She spoiled them rotten and loved them with the fiercest of loves. She taught them so many things and she could spend hours listing their virtues to anyone who would listen. She was devoted to her mother and she loved her brothers and sisters so very much. She was the oldest child and was their second mother since some of them are much younger than she was. Her family, children, siblings, and mother and grandchildren were the light in her life…and she was such a strong light in ours. We will all be a little dimmer without her to shine on.

In closing I want to finish with a story of how all of this got put into perspective for me. Over the last few days I have been told so many things and been given much sympathy and advice. But the true meaning of how I, and those of us who loved her, are to carry on were best expressed by Connally Dull. Connally is the sweet 3 year old daughter of my good friends Christy and John Dull. I left the Dulls, Connally, and her 2 sisters at my house to go and sign the papers to release my mother’s body to the funeral home. The Dulls said they would stay to answer the phone and the door while George and I were gone. When I stepped back into the house I began to cry once again. Connally looked up at me with her beautiful big eyes and opened her sweet mouth and said “Why you crying? Your mommy in HEAVEN!” I couldn’t have said it better myself…Sometimes it takes a child to put things in perspective. 


So there you go...things I learned from the woman who bore me...and I have learned many lessons from the women who did not give birth to me but love me like their child...and from my friends who are all amazing moms...and from the children who love me...

The bottom line is...it's about love...

And I love you all...

Inspiration Song: "Mama Who Bore Me"...from the musical "Spring Awakening"...an incredible musical...

Bye Darlings...love the mamas in your life...and love those kids...and just love love love...