how time flies

as usual, i have guilty feelings when I take too long to write a new post.

me and my guilt.  we are tight.

anyway.
I have been trying to think of all that has gone on in the past few weeks to write about.  It is all too much.  The days are flying by so quickly I can't keep up with them really.
I am EXTREMELY grateful for all of the wonderful friends in my life who have made this time go quickly.  Nearly every night we have had a friend or two over for dinner and visiting or LOST/movie watching.  It has been great.  We have eaten well, and enjoyed new company at our table.  I sincerely don't know how I would be if it weren't for these awesome folks.  

but the downside, for you, is that i run out of time to type and reflect, at least in a bloggy sort of manner, that is.

speaking of reflection,
I asked God a few weeks back for help with waking up early in the mornings so that I could have time to read the Bible and pray before the boys wake up.  Well, He does answer prayer.  I have been going to bed so late at night, but each morning, i find myself awake between 5:30 and 6:30am.  Does this mean that I actually respond, by getting out of bed to read the Bible and pray?  sometimes.  I suppose that my next prayer should be for the desire and discipline to actually get out of bed once I am awake in the mornings.

One new thing that I am excited about is a Bible reading plan that my friend, Jane, helped me find.  You can see some of the options she sent me, here.  It takes you through the entire Bible in a year if you stick with the plan.  Each day has you reading from 4 different areas of the Bible and I love it.  There is no other way that i will ever just sit and read Ezra and books like the minor prophets without it, which is a shame because those books are so good.
Frankly, I am at a place in my life where i can accept that I am just a guide kind of gal.  I need assignments to keep me on task.  The plan I chose even has little boxes you can check off once you have read the assigned books for the day.  This greatly pleases both my soul and my school-loving nature at the same time.

I have also felt a little swamped by all the books that i am reading.

Do any of the rest of you have these kinds of issues?  too many books to read, plus keeping up with LOST and 24 AND needing to finish nursing CEUs and the taxes.  I am sure that I will never catch up....and then returns the guilt.  Hello, friend.

on a final note:

Last week, we attended the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  Rodeo is really one of my favorite times of year.  not that i want to go everyday...i just like knowing that it is going on every night and that I could go see some cowboys atop briefly tortured animals if i wanted to.  Here is a photo from the daytime activities:

I couldn't believe they would allow frank to feed the lambs. 

Focusing on my strengths

I am continuing to work through my thoughts on fun/beneficial activities that I enjoy with my sons.  (I looked at that last post that I wrote at midnight one evening, and thought how sad it sounded, as if I only enjoy three activities with the boys.)  So here are more.  I am making these lists for myself, mostly, as a reminder for those times when I don't know how to fill and hour or so of time in the day.  I am attempting to be more intentional in our playtimes this week, and to see if this improves everyone's overall behavior (myself included).

Things I enjoy:
looking at maps, and geography stuff
building things with leggos and blocks
comparing and sorting rocks and marbles/ collections
making bad music with our pitiful instruments
coloring books and activitiy books
reading
dressing up
walking outside and looking at stuff
bike riding
talking
cuddling
jumping jacks and races

Things that I don't enjoy:
army men/ pirates/ firemen
smashing cars
sand
sitting with blank paper and crayons
glue
pretend eating of pretend food

 

Here is an example of an activity that I despised.  Valentine's cards.  

I had intended on making many of them, for many of you (aunt betsy, aunt kelly, aunt stephanie, aunt shannon, michelle, etc.) but only 4 cards were completed.  The rest of you did not receive any because it was miserable for me, and i ended up yelling at frank at one point, which resulted in him pouting and sucking his thumb at the table, which I felt ruined the whole "cards made with love" feel of the project. 

Forts

 

 there can never be enough forts when you are young.  Toys that are old become new again in a dark fort.  Flashlights make everything magical.  Pillows and blankets make it cozy for looking at books.  As a mother of boys, there are many things that i do not enjoy doing with my boys.  For instance, super heroes and pirates; I am just not into playing these things.  I will say "argh!" and "ahoy thar mattie!," but I am only pretending to have fun.  

However, I don't have to pretend to have fun in a fort.  I like building them and I like being inside them.  The other day, during Ford's nap, Frank and I watched half of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (original version) on the laptop from inside the fort.  I wanted to show him a boy who has the same hair as him, and the room full of edible plants with a chocolate river.

 

Something I have noticed about a few dads that I know...they do what they enjoy with their kids, and the kids love doing those activities with their dads.  This blows my mind.  They aren't attempting to do activities that are beneficial or healthy and productive, they just do things that they enjoy and they do it with their kids.  I want to embrace more of this in my parenting.  Enjoying it.  Because if mama is relaxed and happy...everybody is more relaxed and happy.  

Now i just have to determine what it is that I enjoy doing with my kids.  

Well, at least I have forts...and bubbles...and hiking...any other suggestions?

My favorite oldest son

 

He learned last week to ride his bike.  He is four years and 3 months old.  I was 21 before I learned to ride mine.  All it took was the balance bike to begin with, a buddy that learned before him, and 30 minutes with a German lady.  I love it.  I'm so happy for him to be so normal.  Praise God he did not get all of my genes. 

 *****

"Its a good thing we aren't sleeping out in the forest at night...because of the hawwgs.  They can teeth you and stuff like that."

*****

santa.  love him/ hate him, it matters not, Frank loves to "play" Santa Claus all year long.  It is a game that he and Isa made up.  We fake sleep and bring each other presents and lay them out while the other person is snoring.  i was cleaning today while frank was playing Santa.  He had his tube sock full of toys for himself and the tupperware container on the floor was Sock Monkey's "stocking."

He asked me what I wanted santa to bring me, and since I couldn't lay down to sleep at this particular moment, i asked him if he could ask santa to give me daddy back from arkansas, a new camera, and some new headphones for my ipod.  He kind of smirked at me and said,
"Mama - i think you are not right.  You can't ask santa to give you daddy back from Arkinsaw... you have to ask Jesus for that.  But he can get your camera and the ipody."

*****

"Mama, what do you think is in heaven?  I think there is nothing in heaven.  Except God and Jesus....and MiMi."

*****

The past week has been a difficult one for my buddy.  In an attempt to help guide him towards behaviors not resulting in discipline and tears, I broke out the grown up Bible the other morning to review the 10 commandments.  When we got to: "You shall not kill."  he said:
"so you can't kill anyone except old people?"...."I mean, old people - they do get killed." 


there is never a dull moment.  not the morning, not the afternoon, not the evening.  Here is something I never thought I would type, but it feels so appropriate: TGIF.

If i were an olympic skater...

i would make sure that the nude netting of my costume and tights match my actual skin color. 

Then, i would watch this video of peggy fleming for inspiration.  no visible sequins or flowing strips of shredded fabric necessary.

Conversely...

As of yesterday, I have decided that all punishments of my son will now be working to my advantage.  whether they fit the crime, or not.

you loose your toothpaste, again?  well - you will brush with water twice a day until i find time to get a new one.

You lie about loosing your toothpaste and blame it on your dad?  well - you are sent to bed at 7:00 after your brother goes to sleep. 

You refuse to follow directions after about 5 times this morning when we are in a hurry to get out the door?  no tv for a week.  Wait, what the crap?  did i say that?  what was I thinking?  why would those words come out of my mouth?  a week?!  at this time in my life?  i can tell you one thing, since frank still doesn't grasp the concept of how many days are in a week, a week may only consist of 4 or 5 days this time, depending on how much, "mama, mama, mama - watch me do this!" I can handle.

letting loose for a day

As discussed here once, being a mom is a job.  and let's just get it out there and say that it is not always fun.  in fact, when you think of your mom, do you think, "fun?"  (not that you aren't fun mother, i am just making a point.)

Mothering involves teaching and training, protecting and guiding.  If we don't turn off the tv, who will?  If we don't enforce some table manners and healthy eating habits, how will they learn them?  We are responsible for ensuring our children are dressed for school, keeping them safe, making meals, monitoring hygiene, and teaching right and wrong....these are decidedly UN-FUN tasks.  at least to me.

It is the grandparents and the maggies who get to take your kids out for ice cream on wednesdays.  It is the daddies who get to wrestle in the evenings and have the iphones with the cool doodle apps.  most moms i know have boring phones.  Even these fellow mom friends are more fun than you, because their homes have cooler toys and they always make their kids share their toys with your kids.    

Even in song, it is the "mamas" who are telling their kids "not to take their guns to town," "and not to grow up to be cowboys."  We are important, but not really fun, and to be honest, i am tired of it.

So today, (actually last friday - i am a bit late in editing) i am instituting the first of what I hope to be a quarterly, if not more frequent, "spoil your kids day"  or "mama says: YES day" or it could be called "mama's not a kermudgen today day."  i am not sure of the title yet.  But I know what I want to convey.  That mama loves her boys and understands just what makes them tick.  I want them to know that I want to have fun with them, too.  and that "NO" is actually not my favorite word.


So on Friday, frank got to eat valentines candy at breakfast.  they got little toys at target.  frank got to eat all the chocolate chips out of the trail mix without being stopped.  we played outside longer than was sensible, and ate a yummy dinner with daddy by candlelight.  perhaps it was not the healthiest of days, but we had fun together.  I know it is not my role to be their best friend, but who doesn't want to let loose and have fun with these guys sometimes:

 

  

  

  

  

  

 

NPR week

As previously mentioned, i listen to Wait Wait each week via podcast.  What a fabulous invention.  Today, i just discovered that you can podcast "StoryCorps" from NPR also!  I love StoryCorps!  as i am sure that many of you do, too.  My news listening is sporatic, so i often miss the storycorps segments and i am so excited to get it via podcast.  You can check it out here.

When i was in the fourth grade, we had to interview one of our grandparents about their life and record it on cassette tape.  I interviewed PaPa Ross.  My Uncle Bob, a journalist, helped me over Christmas break because I was so nervous.  I remember being so shy at the time, because i didn't know what questions to ask.  After Bob helped me think it all through, it was so fun.  I asked PaPa if he ever rode a horse to school....and he did a few times.  He talked all about life as a kid on the farm during the depression.  I treasured that tape for years, and i am so sorry it is not in my posession now - though I am pretty certain that it is somewhere in the boxes, along with that Jem doll, down in my parents basement. 

A few years back, I made Michael do a StoryCorps interview with me on the video camera.  This time we used the NPR suggested questions - because I still can't think of questions to ask.  It was one of the most fun projects we have done together since having kids (at least it was to me, he might have a different definition of fun).  I couldn't recommend it enough...I just looked at the NPR website, and now it seems they have a whole Do-It-Yourself Guide. 

So, if you find yourself home on a Saturday night with someone you care about, have a nice dinner, maybe a glass of wine, and get out the video camera...and interview each other!

It will come in handy - just in case you die...or get older - which you will.  You will look back and see how great you really looked. 

Sorry it has been so long, here is a long story to make it up to you.

So I have two little goals in life.  Well of course I also have big goals relating to family, kids, and God.  But I have two little dreams.  One is, as you know, to someday be an extra on the show Madmen.  Maybe I didn't win the contest, but that doesn't mean that I still don't want it all the same.  The second, is to be a contestant on the NPR radio show: "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me."

I have called and left messages at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT.  I have left so many messages I cannot even tell you how many it has been.  I have sent email.  I even included a photo once.  I want Carl Kasell's voice on my answering machine so badly I can't even stand it.  I listen to the show each week.  I know all the guests and all the games.  It is a highlight of each week for me.

So last fall, when i found out that Wait Wait was coming to Houston to do a Iive taping, I said to myself, "this time you will not be lazy and you WILL buy tickets."  That's what I said.  And that is what I had planned to do.  Until the tickets went on sale and then they were gone...just like that...and i forgot to get them.  Two shows - sold out.  I grieved for a while, and then said that it was for the best, because really - it is a radio show and i didn't really want to see the show, because that may ruin my mental image of Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell up on stage.  

All was well until I heard this week that the shows were going to be on Thursday and Friday.  and then i was sad, so very sad.  But i reminded myself that it was my own fault and that i needed to get over it.

On Friday, michael and i were offered the very greatest of gifts from our friends maggie and george.  a night out with free babysitting!  they said, "take as long as you want, you can even eat dinner and see Avatar!"  (that is some serious love, from some seriously nice people.)

So on Friday afternoon we were trying to decide what to do with our evening.  Looking through the Houston Press, Michael passed a photo of Paula Poundstone.  I ran over and stopped him - "look that's for Wait Wait!...oh yeah......the show is tonight..."  (followed by deflated sigh and pouty face)  After that, he tried with all his internet savvy to find me a ticket.  Craig's list, Ebay, phone calls - nothin.  SOLD OUT.  I was hopeful, then disappointed, but i refused to let my issues ruin our date.

Then, into the house walk the awesome babysitters.  and they came with a gift.  Maggie hands me an autographed program from Thursday night's Wait Wait Don't Tell me.  Signatures from Peter Sagal, Carl Kasell, Paula Poundstone and Tom Bodet.  They went and they met them all!  I was so happy for them!

and then i went to the bathroom and cried.

I didn't mean to cry.  it just sort of happened.  Then Michael walked in and saw me crying while putting on my make-up.  He said, "we're going down there, and we are going to see if we can get some tickets."  I said, "who is going to scalp tickets to an NPR show?"  but I decided that we have a God who sometimes sees fit to give silly gifts to his children, so why not give it a try?

The show started at 7:30, we arrived to the downtown theater district at about 7:10.  We drove past the Wortham.  There was NO ONE standing outside looking like they were wanting to let go of some tickets.  Again, who on earth tries to scalp NPR tickets?  This is not U2, it is a nerd festival that only nerdy people care about. 

Driven, michael decides to park the car and says that we are going inside.  Amazingly, we found a free parking spot. 

We get inside, and there we are, just standing there watching all the other geeks going up the escalator to the show.  We continue to stand there - watching them all smiling and laughing in their snooty public radio loving way.  I get depressed and say that we really should just leave, because this is just too sad.  Michael says, "no, let's just stand here a while longer." 
We make a loop around the lobby, no one is interested in selling tickets.  We end up next to the ticket booth (that is vacant because the show has been sold out for months).  The theater gives the 10 minute warning and people begin moving quickly up the escalator.  I say, "i think it is time to go."  Michael says no.  We wait another 5 minutes or so, when i notice that there are two men who are standing near us just staring and looking kind of like we are.  I wonder if they are pitifully hoping for some tickets, too.  A lady walks in the ticket line and one of the men approaches her and asks if she needs a ticket.  I get excited and we call him over.  He only has one ticket.  Then a man who looks like Santa Claus in a suit and long black trench coat approaches and says that he has two tickets.  He says his wife bought them and then someone else offered them box seats so he came downstairs to see if he could make at least part of their money back.  Two tickets, 65 dollars each, but he would sell both for 65 dollars total.  Orchestra: row K.   

Are you kidding me?  I thank him profusely, tell him he must be from the Lord and ask if I can give him a hug.  He agrees and then escorts us to the ticket scanner just to prove that his online tickets are legit.  He even shows us his badge proving that he works for the sheriffs' office. 

The show was perfect.  I smiled from ear to ear as I saw all my friends on stage and watched them interview ZZ Top.  How cool.  I didn't even know that ZZ Top spoke.

I love little presents like this from God.  I already love Him and believe in him, but its this kind of crazy stuff that reminds me that he is pretty freakin' cool, too. 

James 1:16-18 (The Message)

 ^16-18So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

this that and pancakes

I need to clean my house today.  So therefore, i am limiting this post to just a quick review of 4 recipes that i have tried in the past week. 

the first was AMAZING if you like indian food.  if you don't - i would skip it.  but if you are a fan of aloo gobi, you will be so proud to make it yourself.  it is the Smitten Kitchen's Indian spiced cauliflower and potatoes.  so so good.  i plan to make her yellow dal and chana masala next.  i actually intended to make the chana masala with the cauliflower and potatoes, but i just ran out of time and didn't want to eat dinner at 9:00 at night.  so michael had to eat vegetables and rice for dinner- once again.  i am pretty sure that this will not be the last time, either. 

the next is Joy the baker's Black and White cookie.  I made these for our 4 1/2 mile church hike on saturday.  The hike was awesome, the cookie was - eh.  the icings are really nice, but the cookie is much more of a cake than a cookie, which is weird because you think that you are going to be eating a cookie, but it turns out to be a cupcake top that is flipped over and iced on the smooth side.  i did of course eat many of them, but michael and i both had a real problem with the nomenclature of this recipe. 

The third recipe of the week is the Pioneer Woman's salsa.  Amy said it was good, and it was yummy.  really yummy.  the recipe is for Restaurant Style Salsa, and that is exactly what it tastes like.  it reminds me of shannon's recipe also, but if i refer to this website, i don't have to type out her recipe, which i didn't ask her permission to do, and i hate typing recipes, anyway.  Note: it makes A LOT of salsa, you could half it if it is for just one family.  i have a problem of not thinking things through when i cook, and if i had envisioned just how much a 28 oz can of tomatoes plus 2 cans of rotel would make, i would have halved it.  we'll be eating salsa all week.

at kelly's recommendation, i tried Edna Mae's Sour Cream pancakes.  they rock.  they are from the PW's cookbook, but were featured on the smitten kitchen blog.  doesn't all this recipe sharing from blog to blog seem incestuous?  maybe so, but we are getting good recipes for free, so bring it on! 
The sour cream makes them so different from any other pancake.  My only issue, is that in my home we will always have to double this recipe, because my boys can pack away the pancakes.  (seriously, i made them for frank, ford and me - and i only got one little pancake.  these boys could win a pancake eating contest.) 

I have many pancake recipes that i love, and I will continue to make them all depending on what ingredients are in the house and what we are in the mood for.  i am also crazy about the Pam-cakes that were on the cover of Southern Living 2 months ago.  they are made with buttermilk and are perfect.  My favorite healthy pancakes are from Everyday Food and are made with whole wheat flour, buttermilk, and brown sugar.  And of course - you can never go wrong with the Joy of Cooking's Buttermilk Pancake recipe.  it is just plain good, but you have to look that one up yourself, because i've got laundry to do.     

Erin: 34, Stinkhorns: 17

Frank is officially my stinkhorn spotter.  He finds them, then holds the bag for me while i dig up the eggs and the dirt that is contaminated by their yuck.  We make a good team.

We arrived home today from the zoo to find 4 stinkhorns and 5 eggs in the front bed.  I said, "eeew, Frank, we've got some work to do."

he said, "that's okay mommy, it's just stinkhorn season."

as i was putting Ford to bed, Frank stood outside and really gave the fungus a piece of his mind:

"Stinkhorns: I am NOT going to take your season anymore!"

"My mommy HATES you!"

"I'm going to put up a sign: NO STINKHORNS ALLOWED."

here is the sign that he cut, drew, and then gluesticked to the front door:

 

it may be hard to tell but that is an orange stinkhorn with brown goo, with the standard circle with the line through it.  

I had nothing to do with any of this, other than cleaning the gluestick off the door and replacing it with tape.

Michael came home and said that i have corrupted my son's mind.  I say it's bonding.

Here is me digging up stinkhorns last week

here is frank looking like frank

and here is ford, making the quintessential Ford gesture of greeting and excitement.  forgive the lighting, but i have never been able to capture it in a picture before:

two index fingers pointed at you...as if to say, "Duuude. what's up?"  where could he have learned this from?  yes, that is roman, his most favorite person in the world, behind him.

and here is my most favorite person in the world

 

today he came home early.  he told me not to bake the cookies i had planned on making because it was a nice day and we should get out.  said he needed a new wallet.  we all got in the car, and as we were driving towards the store, he stopped in front of a spa and said i had a 5:00 massage scheduled with Venetia.  

mighty mike.

I am very opinionated this week

A few nights ago, I saw a movie that i loved, Moon, with Sam Rockwell.  Why wasn't he nominated for an academy award?!  I am a little outraged.  Does he have enemies in the academy or something?  He was awesome and unquestionably better than George Clooney.  The movie was made with very little CGI, and the sets were done the old fashioned way, like in Star Wars.  i thought it was great. 

This leads me to a movie that i hated: District 9.  Good heavens i hated this.  it made both michael and i nauseous after about an hour of watching.  we had to turn it off.  disturbing visually and emotionally.  maybe it got better in the last half.

While i am at it, let me just review some good ones from our recent Netflix history:
 -500 days of summer.  so good.  so good.
 
-Public Enemies.  A michael mann film with Johnny Depp as John Dilinger - i loved this so much, i watched it one and a half times in two days.  (i like michael mann.  i really like johnny depp.)  

-Ricky Gervais: Out of england.  if you are a ricky gervais fan, you will like this.  a bit dirty, but he makes me laugh out loud.  i love anything that makes me laugh out loud.

-Julie and Julia.  enough has been said about this one.

-Earth.  we enjoyed watching this with frank.  i was more upset by the lost elephant and hungry polar bear than he was.  He doesn't apply human emotions to the animals like I do.

-Grey Gardens.  i recently re-watched the original documentary.  and while it is not a riveting, edge of your seat thriller kind of film - it is still fascinating to see into those two women's lives.  The daughter had such style despite their circumstances.  i look forward to watching the HBO movie based on them.

-Au Hasard Balthazar.  a very strange and sad french movie from 1966.  not sure if i can recommend...do you like black and white movies about an abused, forlorn girl and her pet donkey?

That's all that is worth mention from my past few months, not very exciting.  But as I scrolled back through the Netflix history, here are the ones worth mentioning from the last few years:

-The Counterfeiters.  this was terrific.  a true story.  
-Eastern Promises
-It Happened One Night
-the Apartment
-Apocalypto
-To Sir, With Love
-John Adams
-The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
-The Butterfly
-The Painted Veil
-Spirited Away

And just for the sake of completion, my most favorites (same as my fb favorites):
-Gone with the Wind
-Rear Window
-Kitchen Stories
-3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada
-The Princess and the Warrior
-Philadelphia Story
-Breakfast at Tiffany's
-Talk to Her
-Harvey
-Babette's Feast
-The Godfather
-Oh Brother Where Art Though?
-Sunset Boulevard
-Home for the Holidays

i would love more recommendations.  i've got some movie watching to do in the next few months.

things you may or may not be interested in

I wanted to do some non-paid advertisements for a few of my favorite things.  I am like oprah, except not at all.  no one gets any money and no one gets anything for free. 

1.  Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day All Pupose Cleaner in Lavender.  I've talked about it before, but i love this big 32 oz. bottle so much, i think it deserves more praise.  i use it to clean my floors, and i make my counter top cleaner out of it.  It only takes 2 Tb. mixed with water in a spray bottle and you have enough cleaner for months.  Saves money, smells good, plus no chemical-induced headaches. 

 

2.  This is the second terrific cupcake that i have made this week.  It is from the pioneer woman.  It is really stinkin' good.  the picture doesn't do it justice, which is why i don't usually take pictures of my food.  i made it for a most special friend and i can only recommend that you save it for your most special, chocolate loving friends, too.  and i will eat one if you have extras. 

 

3.  Maybelline Colossal Volume Express.  

I think this stuff is amazing.  I have sucky eyelashes.  I need mascara.  the lastest mascara i tried smells just like the bat guano that it is very likely made from.  (of i course i still use it in a pinch.)  but - if i can help it, i will buy this stuff because it gives me eyelashes.  i really do think that it is magical.  Here is proof of how it works:

though, now that i see these pictures, i am not sure that i should post them.  can you believe those wrinkles on my forehead between my eyes?  good heavens i must stop frowning. 

4.  The Contigo Auto Seal stainless travel mug.  

 

For all of you who are coffee drinkers/coffee spillers, this mug has revolutionized my life.  it cannot leak or spill.  i can put it in my purse.  i can wash the whole thing in the dishwasher.  it is amazing.  my carpets and my husband are very grateful for this mug.  did i mention it keeps your coffee hot for 4 hours and it doesn't spill?!  i got a two pack at Costco.  Perhaps i should move into a Costco.  

well.  that's all there is time for.  this has proven to take much longer than i envisioned in my mind. 

did you see that?

5 comments on the blog!
I think it is a record.  nothing stirs emotions like a conversation about Texas.  love it.  hate it.  it gets something started.

i love the Lyle Lovett song that Leigh (in the comments) refers to.  you can hear it here.

I would go so far as to say, "that's right you're not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway...and once it gets a hold of you, it will absolutely not let go, so really think about moving here if you were thinking about it, because it is possible that you might not ever leave."

maybe mr. lovett should have put that in the song.
Oh but the Lone Star state has been good to us, and I cannot complain.  Not one bit.

...except about the weather in the summer.  and hurricanes.  and mosquitoes.  and cockroaches.  and traffic.  and what humidity does to your hair.  i can complain about that.  but nothing else.

I am still a Kansan, but...

If you live in Texas long enough, eventually you will have such thoughts as:

"Should i have my own gun?"

"Why don't more people say y'all?" 

"When does the rodeo start?"

"Salsa should always be served warm."

"I wish i could remember the lyrics to 'Deep in the Heart of Texas.'  It sure is catchy."

"Big cars and trucks do come in handy."

"No state income tax...beautiful."

"Shiner is good."

"Humidity feels good on your skin."

Texas friends: did i miss any?