Baby Foster Update

Hello to everyone, family, friends, fellow bloggers out there. I come to you today with exciting news. Jason and Jessie (see my last post) had their first sonogram yesterday. I've never heard my brother so excited about anything before in my life or his for that matter, considering he's about to be a father that's a really cool thing. He's going to make an incredible dad. My mom is so happy about being a grandma, from here on out I will affectionately refer to her as Granny!

So here's what Jason said on the phone. The official due date is May 21st. I think Granny has already booked a flight! The doctor "didn't see anything" so as far as they can tell it's a girl! At least now Granny can stop buying yellow and green stuff and start getting lots of pink stuff. Jason and Jessie decided on her name...Haylee Marie Foster. I love my brother for that one. Before Grandpa Hayles passed away, he told me if I ever had a little girl to name her, Haylee Marie, a play on his last name and Marie is my mom's middle name. Several years ago I found out that kids would be difficult for me and recently out of the question. I told Jason that if it was a girl to please consider Grandpa's wish for me. I love Jason and Jessie, they have made his wish come true. My brother is the greatest brother in the world. I'm a very lucky woman to have a brother and sister-in-law so kind as to consider my feelings and our grandpa's during a time when they could easily put their own desires first and be totally justified, it is their child on the way. They are such good people, they are so good together and they will make awesome parents!

So...that's about it on my end. It's no longer baby Foster, but a baby girl named Haylee. I love this. I can't wait until May! I feel a bit like Pinocchio, now I'm going to be a real aunt. A real, live Aunt Gigi! Congratulations Jason, Jessie and Haylee!

Warm Hearts and Freezing Temperatures: A Wedding in Idaho

I'm baaaaack!! I got home yesterday from my brother's wedding in the frozen tundra of Idaho. It took 12 hours, but I have thawed out now. I'm so glad to be back home and to see that it's in the 60s here, when I left it was 10 degrees at 5:30 in the morning. Needless to say I was not a happy camper Friday morning when I left Texas, but I was even more unhappy when I landed in Pocatello, Idaho, and it was 1 degree. That's not a typo, it was really 1 degree at noon!! I'm not really sure why anyone would put up with that, but apparently a lot of people do. So the wedding went off without a hitch...correction--the wedding went off with a hitch! Jason and Jessie got married and it was beautiful. Her folks are the greatest people I've met in a long time. It's really cool when you meet one person and think, "Wow, they're great, they can't all be this great." Then you stand corrected, again and again. Jessie is a wonderful woman, I'm so lucky to have such a cool sister-in-law. Then I met her parents and realized where she gets it, they are such loving and accepting people. Then I met her sisters and grandparents and nieces and nephews, I'm telling you guys that the whole dadgum family is wonderful and sweet. I'm amazed. It was fantastic to travel from a warm climate to such a bitterly cold place, only to get around a family that was so loving, they just warmed us up inside and out. It made me aspire to be such a loving person, to be less judgmental. For a family of potato farmers from the country to accept a nose-pierced, tattooed city girl from Texas is inspiring. I love them. My brother is the luckiest man on Earth. Here are some pictures from the big day...






And one of the Best Man, Isaac Brewer, with the groom's sister...

Texas Rarities: Graffiti, Gators and Galveston

In Texas, it's illegal to put graffiti on someone else's cow.

In Corpus Christi, it is illegal to raise alligators in your home.

In Galveston, it is illegal to have a camel run loose in the street

The Real Goings-on

I know it's been a really long time since I've posted anything, much less anything of substance. So here's what's going on with me. Some of you know that Alan (my husband) and I are in the process of getting divorced. If you didn't know, Alan and I are getting divorced...it ended in October...yes, I'm ok...no, I really don't want to talk about it. Ok, now that's out of the way, what else has been happening in my exciting life. Jason (my brother) was here this week and it was really great to see and hang out with him. He and Jessie are getting married this weekend but due to the inclement weather, we aren't sure if we'll be able to make it to freaking Idaho. Who in their right mind gets married in Idaho in December anyway? So, depending on what happens with the rain, sleet, ice, snow event we are supposed to be experiencing tomorrow, we may or may not go to his wedding. I have to admit that I was really looking forward to meeting my new sister-in-law and seeing my little brother again, but the thought of seeing my father was freaking me out a little since I haven't seen him in so long I can't remember when. Not that that means a whole hell of a lot since I can't remember how long the chipped, red polish has been on my toes, but I do know that I had my pedicure at some point this summer and I haven't seen my father in at least a couple of years. Apologies to all those Table & Fire folks who might be reading this...but I guess if you were able to get past the divorce part, you probably aren't too shocked. Speaking of T&F, there's something that I've wanted to get off my chest about an old post about drinking in public and being a Christian or a minister. Someone on there posted something about how it's not a good thing and how a pastor should be held to a higher standard and that if they were to see one of our pastors at a bar they would be offended (paraphrased). My question is...if drinking bothers a person that much, why would they be in a bar in the first place? I mean if I'm down on Greenville Avenue, upstairs at the Cavern on Sunday night after bible study, drinking a Boddington's and someone from church walks in and is appalled that I'm sitting at the bar knocking one back, why are they there in the first place? I certainly wouldn't be offended if someone from IBC decided to go out for a beer or just to hear the awesome musical stylings of Ricki Derek (he sounds exactly like Sinatra). Anyway, I just had to get that out and since T&F is down, I thought I'd shoot my mouth off here on my blog. So there, nah! By the way, I'm totally aware of the fact that part of my drinking tirade sounded like an old joke. So a pastor, a rabbi and a priest walk into a bar...

Fives List

Five Things to Do Before I Die

• Travel somewhere outside of North America
• Become a Literature professor - which includes finishing my BA, MA and PhD
• Wade in the Dead Sea
• Buy back my Grandpa's lake house in East Texas (or build one that looks just like it)
• Meet at least some of the Table and Fire gang

Five Things I Cannot Do

• Sing (although I do sing to the radio in my truck with the windows down because I don't care if someone hears me because I won't see them again)
• Play an instrument
• Keep my feelings to myself
• Win at freecell more than 3 times in a row
• Stop buying shoes

Five People I Would Most Like to Hang Out With For a Day

• Toni Morrison
• Kinky Friedman
• Laura Bush
• Willie Nelson
• Bono

Five Favorite Books

• The Bluest Eye
• Mere Christianity
• Blue Like Jazz
• The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
• All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Five Movies That I Would Watch Over and Over Again.

• The Ref
• Home for the Holidays
• Office Space
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Dogma

Five Songs That Are Currently Playing On My Computer

• Good Times - Charlie Robison
• Cover of the Rolling Stone - Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
• Bad Habit - Cross Canadian Ragweed
• Ball and Chain - Social Distortion
• The Letter - The Box Tops

Long Time, No Posts

It's pretty sad when you spend the time setting up a blog so that you can keep everyone in your life abreast of all the goings on in your life only to realize that you are the most mind-numbingly boring person on the planet. So after months of no excitement, I have news. Now I'm sure that some of you will be aggravated with me for not posting the long awaited recipes I promised or another installment of Texas Rarities, but you'll have to get over it because I have exciting news.

Jason finally sent us a photo of his girlfriend Jessie. I scanned it and cropped it and I'm posting it to the blog. She's coming down for Christmas with Jason, we can't wait to meet her. Looks like it might be serious, I think it's about time he settled down with a nice girl who can cook. That's not me sending women's rights back a couple generations, Jessie is a chef. I think it's particularly humorous that Jason finally meets a woman who could keep him from starving after he's already learned to cook his own dinner! Go figure. Well, I couldn't be happier for Jason and Jessie. I've never talked to her but I hear she's got a great sense of humor, if her incredible smile is any indication I'm sure that's true!

Texas Rarities: Milk Cows, Buffalo Assassination, Leash Laws and Roadkill

It is illegal to milk another person's cow.
(Is it because you'd be stealing milk or touching another man's udders?)

For $150 you can become a licensed dead animal hauler in Texas.
(You mean to tell me you have to actually pay to scrape roadkill off the highway?)

It is illegal to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel.
(So if Lee Harvey got the kill from the Book Depository it's a crime, but if the "lone gunman" on the grassy knoll bagged him it's not? Sounds like a conspiracy to me!)

In Jasper, dogs must be on a leash at ALL times or suffer a fine of $100.
("ALL" times?? What about when he's in the yard or the house, what about it then, huh? You gotta love my alma mater.)

Jason Update

About Jason...
He graduated from Cowboy Camp and is working on the ranch in Wyoming as a trip cook. That's right "trip cook", the same guy we all know and love who could barely boil water to make mac and cheese is cooking on an open fire for people and is apparently really good at it! Who knew he had that talent in him? So we can all call him "Cookie" from now on. I love it, this is so rich! As soon as the ranch he works for posts the 2005 staff photo to their website I will post it here for your viewing enjoyment.

Finally Hooked Up The Camera

For those of you who have never seen my beautiful baby girl here are a few photos of her. The first is pre-makeover and the other is after her makeover.




This last one is of my sleeping beauty... she is so totally spoiled!

Texas Rarities: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles…So there…

In Richardson, it is illegal to do "U-Turns".

In Galveston, it is illegal to drive a motor car down Broadway before noon on Sundays.

It is illegal to drive without windshield wipers. You don't need a windshield, but you must have the wipers.

In Galveston, landing an airplane on the beach is illegal.

When two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop, and neither shall proceed until the other has gone.

In Galveston, no person shall throw trash from an airplane.

In Harker Heights, drivers of city vehicles must respect all traffic rules just like the rest of us.

Texas Rarities: Bodily Functions and Respect for the Dead

In San Antonio, it is illegal to urinate on the Alamo.
(Thanks, Ozzy)

In Texas, it is illegal to indecently expose oneself to a corpse.
(I don't even want to know why this is on the books)

In Port Arthur, obnoxious odors may not be emitted while in an elevator.
(Port Arthur! The whole town smells like an elevator fart, who would ever know the difference!)

It is illegal to spit on the sidewalk.
(Who cares? If you wait a minute, it will either be so hot as to evaporate the spit or it will rain and wash the spit away!)

In Texas, it is illegal to curse in front of a corpse.
(Again, who would ever know the difference?)

Texas Rarities...

I've been thinking lately about what makes Texas and Texans so different from other states and their inhabitants. Everyone I've ever met from another part of this great country says that Texans have a certain way about them, a bravado. Although I agree with this assessment of our character, I think it's the oddness of this Great State of Texas that keeps other states guessing. So for as long as I can come up with them, which is likely to be a long while, I am offering y'all installments of Texas Rarities: A Collection of Facts, Oddities, and Actual Laws...

• The Amarillo airport has the 3rd largest runway in the world and is designated as an alternate landing site for the space shuttle.
  
• In Texas, pharmacists can't be registered members of the Communist Party.
  
• A recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed.

Cowboy Jason in Montana

Feeling like the red-headed stepchild

Well, Matt...what about 3rd place? Apparently the 2nd loser doesn't even get mentioned. Don't you love family?

So here's the scoop as I see it now...

Jason's in Wyoming at "Cowboy Camp" (that's what I'm calling it now) and he loves it. He wears a straw hat, pearl snap shirts, and can now pack a mule! I feel like such a loser, I can pack a dishwasher or a car but not a mule. Seriously though, he's enjoying himself and I'm so happy to hear that. I'm really proud of my horse-ridin', hunt-guidin', hay-tossin', mule-packin' cowboy brother. He's really awesome! I just hope he doesn't forget what the square root of pi, divided by the circumference of the moon cubed is. He's also a Math major.

I have found the joy of Gran Turismo 4. It's the first PS2 game I actually love to play. My favorite thing about it? Racing Honda Odyssey minivans on a dirt track. Pure unadulterated joy. This coming from a woman whose last video game love affair was with a Tetris game cartridge and a regular Nintendo in 1989.

Well that's it for now....we are such boring people.

Keeping up with the Jacksons

I understand that my cousin was compelled to keep up with her brother by starting her own blog. And now I feel the need to keep up with both of them or else look like the slacker grandchild, no one wants to be the slacker of the family....uhhhh, Tim, better shake a leg buddy or it's gonna be really hard to shake "slacker" from your title. *laugh*

We're great, hopefully we'll have more info later and some pictures once I figure out how to hook the camera to the computer. Later y'all!