Ramblings and Stories

2011-10-02T10:42:00.001-05:00

I forgot to post on our 10th wedding anniversary!!! It was great and I love my husband Chuck even more now than I did in 2001.

2011-10-02T10:36:00.002-05:00

It's a Sunday... last day of weekend... um, not my fav. day but better than Monday. Lots today, make waffles when Chuck wakes up, go to Kroger, do laundry, clean up bedroom, clean bathroom... am I having fun yet??? Waffles are yummy though. Played frontierville (check), sent out some resumes (check), read email (check), posted a few things on facebook (check)... and finally wrote a new blog entry!!! Wow!

The 2010 World Series

2010-11-01T17:23:00.002-05:00

I don't often get excited about baseball. It's something that I do with my husband because he loves baseball. HE LOVES BASEBALL. All caps is the correct way to say it. BUT I'm excited about the Texas Rangers competing for the World Championship of baseball in the World Series. He thinks it's funny that I'm interested in watching on TV, all of a sudden. It matters to me if "we" win. Usually I don't care. I care if I go to see a game in person, either Professional, AAA, AA or A baseball. I love A and AA for how much fun the games are and all the extra activities they have. Going to a Rangers game isn't that much fun because the stadium is HUGE and the seats are uncomfortable and you have to walk a long distance and my husband has trouble walking very far... so we probably won't make it to a baseball game there again. Frisco Roughriders is more approachable with shorted distances to walk. Maybe next season... 'til then I'm a Rangers fan. -x-

Procrastination Is Making Me Wait.... duh duh dumb

2010-03-28T17:11:00.003-05:00

Sort of like that old song. I can't remember the name but it was 60s or 70s. I can hear the melody in my head. It's keeping me waiting... ah ah oh something something something. Yeah, music and I aren't the best of friends. I love to listen but was born with a broken sense of rhythm or whatever you call it. My family and friends always say that I can't carry a tune in a bucket. Oh Yeah!

Anyway, I've been avoiding the basket full of bill copies, income statements, deductions, etc. for the .... taxes... Yeah! Yuck, it's that time again and I've been putting it off. Hoping my husband would suddenly learn TurboTax and say 'Honey, let me do it this year!" Yeah, that's NEVER going to happen. He says he's so bad with money that he won't even use an ATM. Just hands me any checks to deposit. I pay the bills, earn the paycheck etc. He gets Social Security disability finally after having a wait and a law firm and a judge... it's a long story. So he's a semi-retired journalist that can write well and cook well. Tool using that's a NO, Lawn work that's a NO, Financial stuff that's a NO, but he is a very good cook AND folds the laundry, keeps the cat & dog from killing each other and writes columns (for free) for the Dallas Morning News and anyone else that will publish his rather left of center, humourous, chatty columns. He's a GREAT writer and editor.

He knows trivia about sports, music, movies and other stuff that no one should know all there is to know about it. All the names of the high school sports teams in Texas. Not kidding... really. We drive through community XYZ and he says, oh, they are the Fighting Farmers of XYZ High School. It's quite amusing at times and annoying at others. I won't even try to guess the name of a singer or band when hearing a tune anymore because he always knows the answer. Always! And watching old movies is annoying because he says you know who that is.... and he/she was in x, y and z movies or on TV in what series? It's extremely annoying, really!

Oh, well time to sign off here, off Facebook and Farmville (my addiction of the last year) and buckle down to sort out a bushel basket of papers. Organization is not one of my strong suits... I used to be organized until I found out it's easier to do it in one fell swoop before tax time or a couple of times per year. That's it for my financial paper work and bill copies. Just semi-annually at most. No wonder I've got credit card debt, I can't find the checkbook either... Just kidding. No the credit card debt is another long story... for later.

This is your intrepid tax preparer, blogger, SAP configurator, Toastmaster, former Girl Scout, Ford owner, dog herder, human owned by a cat and hopeful eventual rose grower signing off after procrastinating my way through this blog posting.

Stove Top Bisquits

2009-12-27T10:37:00.002-06:00

Post on Suzanne's blog... Chickens In The Road (the best farm blog)

I'll tell you my Dad's secret (he's long gone) for camp cooking bisquits on the stove top. In our case it was on an old two burner butane stove with exposed everything on case iron feet. It was at our antique former World War II quansit hut cabin in the woods, that had electric power but no running water or toliet.... just an outhouse. I'll take a photo of the old outhouse, if I get up there again. The cabin roof is falling in, so I've saved a few items but not the two burner butane stove. Some VANDAL destroyed my Dad's old handmade brick BBQ (it was HUGE with a chimney up the back) made in 1950 something by him, George A. Zoeller, and his best friend, Joe K., a polish bricklayer.

Anyway, he had a two sided omelet pan (plain steel, not cast iron). He put store bought bisquits into one side, squeezed together. Cooked them on top of the stove, as there was no oven in the cabin just the stove and the huge BBQ pit outside. When he thought one side was done, he flipped it over to cook the other side. That might work on a wood stove too.

I think I'll start posting again about my memories of growing up in the 60's and 70's and 80's in San Antonio and spending many weekends at the cabin at Medina Lake (Bandera County). I'm GOING TO DO IT! SOON!

Thanks to many of my favorite bloggers for inspiration: Chickens in the Road (Suzanne McMinn), Svensto (Mrs. G), Daily Coyote (Shreve Stockdon), Dooce (Heather Armstrong), Sweet Juniper, This Fish Needs a Bicycle (Heather Hunter) and many others.

A Really Rambling Story Tonight

2009-08-31T03:35:00.002-05:00

Tonight, I'm unable to sleep. I took 3 risperdal and that hasn't helped. My doctor said to take 2 in the morning and two at night but last night 3 helped me to sleep. Not happening tonight.

I'm listening to my iPod nano. Something that I always find soothing when I'm experiencing a manic episode. My music collection includes Sky Prayer by Alice Gomez. It's native american flute music and more. Very moving and soothing. She went to high school with me at Edison HS in San Antonio.

Alice is an amazing talented woman. I knew her back in the high school days. We were classmates in Mr. Jordan's 10th grade English class. It takes me back to think of Alice. She was a drummer and precussionist back then. Played in the marching band and stage band. And she was great! Her father had organized the Gomez family into a band also. All were gifted musicians.

Alice is now Dr. Gomez at San Antonio College as an assistant professor. I hope to go and see her live when I next visit San Antonio to see my new niece Victoria Lynn.

Family... is there a gene I didn't get?

2009-08-28T00:19:00.002-05:00

Sometimes family can be annoying. Like when they try to tell you that you are wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Those photos, letters, stuff that your Dad left you in his garage that you cleaned out when he had a stroke and left you in charge... well they aren't yours. No they belong to the "family". What about the stuff that those family members' have, do I get to take their stuff? NO. It's a big fat smelly mess. I just wrote a two page letter to my two Aunts who are trying to bully me into giving my family history inheritance away because the letters were from my grandmother to my grandfather and vice versa. So they have more rights to them, even though most people would have tossed that stuff 50 years ago. My Dad didn't, he just put those two old trunks in the garage and they stayed there for 30 plus years. I rescued the stuff from the trash that it could have become. It's MINE! So there!!!! MINE!!!!

I didn't get any inheritance except a couple of trunks, a bit of china, some immediate family memorabilia and photos, my mom's jewelry that my sister hocked once upon a time in 1994, and that's about it. No millions no thousands no hundreds, just lots of bills in 1994. Then I paid for 5 years of many visits to the nursing home with blood, sweat and miles on my Saab. Then I paid for his cremation and burial (in the Sunset mauseleum with my mom). Then I cried alot. That was my inheritance.

My sister... nothing else needs to be said about her... She has been my Chinese obligation from my mother. Take care of your sister she said in 1987 when she was dying. Beckie was 11, I was 22... January 1983. My father became an alcholic and retired to take care of my sister. He lived on SS plus a small IRA, rent house from my grandmother and what I gave him. I bought him a house when my sister was starting high school so that she wouldn't go to high school in the barrio that our neighborhood was turning into. My Jr. High school had knife fights when I went there. My high school had security guards. I grew up in a working class neighborhood that has gone down hill, way down hill.

Is there a family gene that I didn't get? Insanity? Irrationalness? Spite? ??? LOL I'm keeping the f-ing letters, so there!

Our Trip West

2009-07-13T13:26:00.002-05:00

I'm not yet up to writing much more about the trip. If you want to see photos, then take a look at my Facebook page or Chuck's blog http://chuckbloom.blogspot.com. I especially recommend his entries up to the last one http://chuckbloom.blogspot.com/2009/07/day-19-plano-home-is-where-la-z-boy-is.html Home is where the la-z-boy is! It sure is and now I have 1/2 of the pet population back home with us. We picked up BeeGee the cat from the vet a bit ago. She's starved for attention and rubbing my legs as I type. I'm giving her some solo time before I pickup her nemeisis, the dog Seamus, from 4 Paws Inn. The inn is a great dog B&B with A/C for the dogs in individual dog runs, walks 4 times per day, grooming and personal attention to the canine residents.

California Dreamin'

2009-07-09T09:38:00.001-05:00

I wasn’t dreaming of going to California much. It was a few days with my husband, Chuck’s, family, period, end of story. Not prepared to have fun, experience community, feel love, enjoy myself much or have a wonderful time. It was all of that and more.

My husband’s only sister, Vicki, and her 12 year old daughter, Alissa, live in Southern California, in Riverside. Riverside is a wonderful place, especially since it is NOT L.A. I had one visit to L.A. a few years ago, and it was enough to last me for my lifetime. Not that L.A. is bad or anything, it’s just too big, too polluted, too hot in the summer and not very friendly to visitors. Riverside is friendly. Riverside is easy to get around and close to other places including one hour to the beach, if there is no traffic.

Speaking of the beach, I had a lovely afternoon, at Laguna Beach on July 3rd. But the traffic was bumper to bumper when we got within a few miles of it. We travelled there on some rather expensive toll roads, but then had to get on a smaller four lane road that went down to two lanes. Not tourist friendly but it was a beautiful cool day and the beach was full of people enjoying themselves. We did too. Ending the visit with a trip to a cute little ice cream shop. A mango-orange-banana smoothie hit the spot after being in the sun for several hours. I had the sunburn to remember it by.

Speaking of food, we had a memorable meal at The Mission Inn in downtown Riverside. The inn has several restaurants with the best having an inside courtyard which reminded me of Mexico City or being in Europe. The seafood buffet was gourmet quality and the service rivaled the best restaurants that I’ve experienced in the past. Lovely company of Chuck, Vicki and Alissa; incredible food and desserts!; a beautiful evening with cool weather and an almost full moon in the night sky.

Speaking of the night sky, it was of course not too clear it being still near to Los Angeles. We visit three evening minor league baseball fans. Chuck is a die-hard baseball fanatic. Especially for visiting minor league teams on our vacations. He’s attended six games so far… Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga and Lake Elsinore. He has enjoyed every minute of every game. On the 4th of July, we saw the Inland Empire 66ers play and then a wonderful fireworks display. A day full of patriotic symbols that I hold dear. Baseball being one of them, at least as far as Chuck is concerned. It’s almost a religion to him.

Speaking of religion, I had the opportunity to visit a local Riverside church… All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church. I’ve been a practicing UU since 1993 when I joined a local Plano church. It’s a church that believes in community, service to others and being a welcoming place for people of all faiths, those searching for their religious home or just a place to be themselves. It’s a place that like Toastmasters, where I can be true self. The Riverside UU church was a welcoming place full of friendly folks that were happy to have a Texas visitor. I listened to an uplifting service with good music and a diversity that’s nice to find at any church. I hope that they continue to bring a sense of justice, service, love and community to people entering their doors.

I walked through a door to California and found love, community, fun, good food and cool weather. I’ve been California dreaming’ and it was good.

Bright Lights in Sin City

2009-06-30T16:50:00.002-05:00

Seamus Shortcake, Media Darling

2009-06-21T15:42:00.001-05:00

The dog is in the news today! Click the link in the title... Chuck has immortalized him in print in the Dallas Morning News.

We Adopted a GOAT

2009-04-14T19:43:00.001-05:00

Seamus once again lived up to his shelter name today. I came home to find a cardboard box destroyed on the living room floor with styrofoam blocks chewed to bits. He's a goat in dog's clothing. His shelter name was RIGHT. What do we do now???

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T14:08:00.002-05:00

I wish I had some great wisdom to impart. I've been silent for way too long. Seamus is stealing all my spare moments. That and commuting. I can zone out now with the best of them. I take mini-naps on the way to downtown. Then on the way home I look out the window and listen to people or my iPod. I like to look for the funky boxy cliff houses just south of the Forest Lane station. They lean precariously over a cliff looking so out of place. I've got to find out what neighborhood that is and go see their fronts.

Psycho, chewer, whiner DOG

2009-03-16T21:44:00.002-05:00

I'm thinking about a new name for Seamus.... it's PSYCHO, CHEWER, WHINER dog! He has been teething on my possessions. The other day it was my aqua blue genuine Crocs. Today is was my real leather winter gloves that I left at home.

He has a ton of chew toys that I bought him... two rawhide rolls, a cute teething ring with balls on it. a Kong puppy teether, a Kong ball, a pull rope.... BUT NO, he loves my stuff!

To Be Continued...

Are You My Mother?

2009-03-15T04:30:00.002-05:00

Do you remember that beginning readers book? I loved it as a child.

A little bird hatches without it's mother nearby. He wonders off looking for his mother. I think I have a little bird of my own. His name is Seamus Shortcake Bloom. He's a big puppy who lost his mother and think's I'm now it. He follows me everywhere even to the bathroom. I'm pretty sure he's bonded to me and me alone. Chuck calls him and he looks at him like F U, I'm with the dame.

My poor poor cat. She's beside herself. First I bring a medium sized DOG home. Then he tries to catch her and eat her (or at least taste her). Then I lock her out of the bedroom, so that I can keep the dog and cat separated at night. She gets the rest of the house and he gets me & the bedroom. She's been unhappy for a week.

I'm not sure how to get them to kiss and makeup. Can the cat and dog ever be friends? Will the dog always follow me around like I'm his mom? How old is he? He's a rescue dog, the vet thinks he could be 1 year old, so his "birthday" will be his adoption day 3/8. We'll celebrate with some soft dog food next year. Hopefully the cat will be at least in detente with him by then. I miss having a bundle of purr on my shoulder. I guess I should have consulted Chuck and BG before getting the dog, but a cute dog named Goat was too much to pass up. A very stupid name on an adorable mutt with a terrier face and dalmation body.

I've got to read the book I bought about Dalmations. I'm a terrier person, so it's a new type of doggie for me. In the mean time, ARE YOU MY MOTHER? continues...

Rainy Days and Fridays

2009-03-13T22:17:00.002-05:00

This week has been one flood of a week. Wet and cold, immediately following the best weather possible for the North Texas Irish Festival. It's difficult to imagine a bigger change in the weather from Fri/Sat/Sun to this week starting on Tuesday. The RAIN has come down by the bucket full. The backyard is a marsh zone. Good thing the lawn people came to cut it on Monday before the monsoon season began. However, we're still in a drought, as we're behind on annual rainfall for the last couple of years. Don't ask me though, we don't have sprinklers and our grass manages to live through it. We're frugal that way.

Friday was a good day today. My 3rd day at my new job. Following two long days of concentration during orientation. Today was a breeze. Meeting people, meeting more people, finding my way around the building between red, green and blue zone elevators. I am still a bit confused on how to get around, but it's getting better all the time. The Dr. Pepper machine and snack machine are on the 3rd floor. My department is on the 4th floor. Our offices are on the 5th floor near the blue elevators. I exit the building on sub-level 2 near the green elevators into the parking garage through a tunnel then another big parking garage and down a sidewalk to a tunnel to the train station! It's cryptic, but I have it down now. And today I learned how to get to the green elevator from the blue elevator on sub-level 2 (L2). BOY! That was interesting... one more parking garage to navigate.

The dog and cat have not made peace yet. I hope it will come eventually! More later. CIAO!

My 1st Day at Work 3/11 and THE DOG & CAT

2009-03-12T04:11:00.002-05:00

Wednesday 5:30 a.m. - woke up 2 minutes before my alarm. Tried to take the new doggie out but it was raining and he said heck NO. Ate breakfast, had shower, dressed and did makeup. Put on my walking shoes and a coat (forgot my gloves, hat, scarf, but remembered the umbrella). Took a waterproof messenger bag with extra shoes, water, book to read and papers.

7:00 a.m. arrived at Parker Rd. (taken by a sleepy Chuck) and got on the train immediately. It took off pretty quickly, but I sat near a door. It was a bit chilly. At Forest Lane, a nice man named Phil sat down and we talked all the way to downtown. So the book went back in the briefcase.

7:50 a.m. arrived at Convention center train stop. No idea which way to get to the office except I knew which direction. Asked the 1st guy who was waiting to cross street. He works at my new place and was to be my HR instructor for the orientation . He showed me the cryptic path to get to the office without going outside after the first block or two. Mostly under cover of parking garages and not too cold or wet.

8:40 a.m. the orientation started a little late due to the weather. We got a 10 lb (kidding) packet full of forms and policies & procedures. (Must memorize... kidding!). Our group has about 20-25. Usually they have over 50, but there is a hiring "cooling" as they said. Their budget is tight so they are slowing hiring.

Noon - after having writers cramp from filling out forms and some lecture time about new employee stuff, he let us out for lunch. I walked with two new colleagues a couple blocks to a hamburger joint next to Subway. It was windy and cold outside. The cafeteria is out of commission as the contract was terminated recently... They hope to have a new cafeteria provider some time. All the soda machines were Dr. Pepper products.

1:15 p.m. More info to digest on rules and regs, sexual harrassment prevention, workplace violence prevention and avoiding breaking the rules and reg.s ... by playing a odd game of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. A chat about Fair Housing. And various other topics on Wed. afternoon. A few more papers to fill out.

Homework - bring a voided check for direct deposit setup. Decide which health plan that I want... one of their's or stick with a TI plan. I'm eligible for retiree medical but it's expensive. The medical plans are high deductible (3000) and expensive (3-4 times cost of my old plan) and provider isn't as good as BCBS. Chuck and I discuss over some fish at Red Lobster.

11 p.m. past my bedtime, drag dog into rain, he says F U and goes back inside. I decide to let him pee on the carpet! To bed.... perchance to NOT DREAM about the dog and cat trying to kill each other (it's possible).

Thursday 3:45 a.m. got up because I can't sleep any more... too excited about the new job and dog is hogging the bed.

Seamus (Shay-mus) is a puppy definitely. He thinks I'm his new mother.... and can't stand to be in my room without me. He follows me everywhere. Chuck even brought him to the train station to pick me up. He is afraid so far to jump up into the car backseat, but can be persuaded to jump down by pulling his leash. He's a doll except for the BARKING and Growling at the CAT. She's a bit ticked off at us, and is now living in a kitchen cabinet during the day when Seamus is at large in the house. Last night, I put him in my room with Chuck on the computer... and found her. I apologized profusely and told her it was all my fault. She didn't scratch me and is considering being nice to me again... in a year or two. But asked that the dog leave immediately. I told her that the family has one new member now... and she will have to adjust. She gave me the LOOK and turned her back to go to her liter box... More later.

The Zen of Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-02-28T16:57:00.002-06:00

It's been said that nirvana can be found by eatting a hot chocolate chip cookie. How much better will it be if the chips are dark chocolate from Ghiradelli? I'll find out and post a photo of the cookies here soon. Sorry smellovision or smellnet hasn't been invented yet... so I can't add in the lovely warm toasty chocolatey smell of the cookies when I take them out of the oven. WAIT!!! That's not nirvana that's an orgasm. Silly me... confusing the ultimate reality with, WAIT!!! Maybe that IS the ultimate reality. ;-)

This Post Brought To You by Bizarro

2009-02-24T23:10:00.002-06:00

I would like you to read this blog and the comments. http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2009/02/sad-stereotypes.html
I made a comment on it today as I truely believe I do owe my life to prescription medications. Without them, I might be dead. Why? Because I have bipolar disorder. Drugs help me to function. Therapy helps me to function. My friends and dear husband help me to function, but I couldn't handle life without the drugs. What Dan said in his post today is true. Naysayers should have to walk a mile in our mocassins as they do not know what true depression is, if they have never been clinically depressed.

I have Accepted the Offer!

2009-02-23T11:09:00.004-06:00

I just sent off my email to my new supervisor and his manager for the position entitled Programmer Analyst / Project Manager. It's rather vague, but it's actually a SAP Configuration Analyst job. I know that will be GREEK to my readers so here's some definitions.

SAP = a company in Germany that has celebrity spokesperson in ads in the U.S. They have a system which is an enterprise application suite.

Enterprise application suite = everything from financials to sales and distribution to purchasing systems. That's about as simple as I can get it.

Financials is the General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Capital Assets.

Sales supports the functions needed to sell products and services and also to ship products to the customers and/or distributors.

Purchasing supports the functions needed to purchase items or services from vendors (other companies).

Contemplating Employment

2009-02-22T09:47:00.004-06:00

I have a JOB OFFER! I picked up the letter on Friday. I have to have my FINGERPRINTS taken by the Dallas police... a new experience for me (unlike my sister). They will be doing a background check and maybe a credit check. Can my overabundance of debt prevent me from getting a job??? I hope not...

Contemplating commuting. We did a dry run yesterday on DART Light Rail from Plano to the Dallas downtown stop that I would be taking. It look 45 minutes. Add another 20 minutes to walk from the train stop to the office. That's over 1 hour each way. I will have to get up EARLY! And we all know how bright and cheerful I am in the morning. Add to that having 1 working vehicle... so Chuck will have to get up EARLY too and drive me to the train station. FUN!!!

Somehow, it doesn't seem so bad. Unemployment vs. Inconvenience... I'll take the later. I will learn to get up earlier, go to bed earlier and enjoy having myself chauffeured by DART down to my office. I'll load up my iPod with tunes and bring along a book or magazine to read. Talk about having two hours to relax! It will be so much fun.... oh well, maybe not fun, but I'll try to enjoy those 2 hours. And remember I really did have a cushy job... I guess Diane was RIGHT!

The Interview

2009-02-14T06:14:00.008-06:00

Which one? The one I just went on yesterday (Friday 2/13).

The funniest thing about it was the question my sister asked me the day before... "Why did you schedule it on Friday the 13th?" Answer: they scheduled it and invited me to come down at 4 p.m. on Friday. I didn't even think of the date because I was so happy to have the 1st interview of my now almost 3 week job search (since 1/28). Not, "Are you interested in the job being offered?" or "Congratulations and good luck." or "How did you get an interview so fast?". What can I say? My sister and I often don't seem to have sprung from the same gene pool. If she was a stranger, we would never have known each other because we are SO DIFFERENT. Like night and day. Like good kid and bad kid. Like ADD and normal. Like black and tan. Like Miller and Guinness. Like her and me. Yet we did share the same parents. I checked once by asking my mom if I was adopted, after we had gone to see "Annie", the musical live with my sister. She assured me that we were all related and she had given birth to both of us. I always felt like the odd one out at family gatherings and reunions. I was the "smart" one. I was the "book reader" with her head always in a book when not eating or watching TV.

I was the one that finally went to a 4 year university after many generations of my family not ever attending. I am the odd duck in the Zoeller family. But finally the next generation of cousins have all exhibited the intelligence to go to college and graduate and get good jobs mostly. I always send at least $25 for a gift because I really am proud of the kids of my cousins that are getting the bachelors and masters degrees. I have distant cousins that have PhD's in science and one that was an Astronaut for the US and commanded the space shuttle and went to the MIR station (John Blaha). But that was another branch of the Zoeller family... my Dad and his father and back several generations did not go to college because of the cost or the opportunity lost when they were in World War II. My Dad had to drop out of high school after 10th grade to get a job to help his large family of nine kids and parents. He was the 3rd oldest: Harley Francis, Joseph (Joe) Albert, George Albert, Fredrick Louis, Molly Teresa, Edward (Ned), Henry and Alice Mae were all of the children of my father's parents Mary Bauche and Albert Zoeller. The first 6 lived through the great depression. All the men served in World War II except Henry who became a career man in the Coast Guard and Harley who joined the Army before WWII and went to India, but was there during WWII. The rest were Navy men and looked very handsome in the uniforms (from the old photos I inherited from my Dad). I'll write a book someday about the Zoeller family and it's service during WWII as German-American immigrants' descendants.
Any way... enough family history, back to The Interview.

It was my first job interview in TWENTY ONE years. I interviewed for my last job in 12/88 with Thelma Peacock (may she rest in piece). Thelma was pure East Texas twang, tough as nails like Miss Ann, and a died in the wool Longhorn graduate with an accounting degree. I'll write the story of Thelma and me later as it was interesting during my long association with her, but not working with her after the 1st year at the "xyz" corporation ( which shall not be named here). She was tough but fair and hired me in a Chicago minute. About three days after my November interview on the day before Thanksgiving in 1988, the head hunter in Dallas called me in San Antonio where I was living and said, they want you. The salary was comparable to what I made in my prior job for Comp-Data Communications and they were going to pay moving expenses including packing me up to move 300 miles north to Plano TX!!! Two weeks later in December, I started my career at xyz Corp after 8 years in the 80s in a very difficult job market not unlike today but I was twenty years younger and still a lower paid programmer/analyst.

It was a twenty year and two months span of time at my last company. Most of my working life so far. It's difficult to understand the layoff but many many many good people either were laid off or were highly suggested to take early retirement in their early 50s. Some of the people like my friend Sandy were jumping with joy about the offered retirement program as she had been talking about retiring for at least 4 years and planned to leave in 2009 before her daughter graduated from high school in Richardson and goes onto a private university (with an equestrian program). I'll write more about the expectations of the children in Plano and around here of my friends... To put it mildly I would have though their families were rich when I was a kid. I never dreamed of a high school like the quality and diversity of courses available in the locals school district in Plano and other area districts in the northern 'burbs of Dallas.

The INTERVIEW... stop digressing Jodie!!! OK!

It went well. I can't post their name here and never will but a hint is that it involves an area governmental entity job doing similar things that I did in my last job but in a more challenging environment and with more interesting job requirements for what I'll be working on (SAP). Most of the interweb knows nothing about SAP... just pretend it's Microsoft Office that you do know. It's a system that takes care of just about everything a business needs in the way of "enterprise" or company wide systems just like Microsoft Office does for you PC. Sometimes you need Word, sometimes Powerpoint or Excel or Outlook for Email. There are different modules in SAP for accounting, sales, purchasing, etc. Trust me that's the simplest analogy I can make without making Chuck's eyes glaze over with confusion. Because he tells me often that he doesn't have a clue what I do with computers, but just that I'm really good and they like to pay me very well... well not that well, but enough to own a house in Plano and two cars and a cat and maybe a dog when we are employed again. Chuck is a disabled "semi-retired" newspaper writer / editor. He's old school and was poor most of his working life as a journalist working in community news. A story for another day of how we met!

The interview.... my 1st in 21 years. It went very well. It helped that the woman who screened me at the job fair and gave me a 15 minute pre-interview was not an HR recruiter, she is the manager of the department and was in the hour and fifteen minute interview yesterday. E and I had bonded pretty well in 15 minutes. THANK YOU Toastmasters for my improved communications skills. So I was less nervous about talking with her again. The 2nd person interviewing me was new to me, a manager under her named T. Then the hiring manager that I would be reporting to is D. D and I knew each other! He worked as a contractor at the company that I have just left in January. We knew each other semi-OK and he respected my talents and knew that I know my stuff! That just gave me a KNEE in the door that I already had a foot in from the pre-interview. E had said on Tuesday that my resume and what I had told her fit the job they had very well. Like it was almost made for me... well she didn't say that but she was very encouraging on Tuesday. When she finally set the interview for Friday afternoon on Thursday I was so relieved as she had promised to schedule it after the fair on Tuesday and then email and said Wednesday. I was getting nervous.

The questions that they asked me were mostly technical in nature about SAP and what I had previous experience with in my 10 years working with SAP at my last job. I think I answered most of the questions very well because they were smiling and shaking their heads. At the end, I asked if they felt that I was a strong candidate for the position and they ALL DID! Woo Hoo!

No chickens hatching before the eggs though. I've seen the egg but I've got to be patient and wait until they decide next week who they are hiring. I have no idea how many people that they have interviewed for the position. But knowing the hiring manager can not hurt AT ALL. He knows my reputation for good work at xyz corp. and that I was well respected by both the company and his consulting / contracting company that did most of the level 3 technical support work there for SAP. I happen to have worked as a virtual team member with the mostly consulting group and had been on call, done production support, done troubleshooting, configuration, batch job setup, troubleshooting and generally know what I need to know for the release of SAP that we had. They have the newer one, but I've been to a few workshops for the new GL, so it should be OK. Just a small learning curve about the system. A bigger one to find out the business processes at the new place and get acclimated but I've been there and done that several times previously.

So interweb.... start praying, chanting, thinking wonderful thoughts, kneeling, rubbing Buddha's belly, star watching, meditating or whatever you do and do it for me.... Think positive thoughts that Jodie will get a job offer next week and start work in March. That would be the best of all possible worlds. Better than getting my old job back. Way better! Because then we can afford to go on vacation this year. I asked for two weeks off without pay in the summer to take our planned vacation and E said yes at the pre-interview. SO I can get paid my severance for several more months, use the 6K educational benefits, continue to network and help others find a job and take a paid vacation that is paid for by my time bank payout and my severance pay (not all of it!!!). Most of the severance is designated to pay off debts or to go in savings so that we have a nest egg for future unemployment. The career services that we're being provided had a 2 day workshop on job searching. Job changing every 3-4 years is now the norm. Staying somewhere for 20 years is an anomaly. Most people will have 3 careers and 15 jobs in their working life now.

For my next career after I get a good paying job and pay off our debts and then find myself looking for a new job........ I want to be a teacher. In high school, I was the historian of the career club called Future Teachers of America. That was my goal, to teach math and science, until the HS counsellor talked me into looking into Engineering because of my grades and SAT scores in Math & Science. She thought that would be better than teaching. The jobs paid 2 or 3 times as much even starting out in the 80s. So I went to Trinity to major in engineering. I hated my engineering classes and the professors weren't especially supportive of the concept of female engineers. I like my FORTRAN and APL classes for engineering best. I like my Chemistry class the least but I still liked it. Calculus II was not fun and I made a C. Remember I was a straight A student in high school and graduated as 4th in my large class from Edison HS in San Antonio. So not liking a math class? Not, but hating my grade Yes! I made As in the computer classes freshman year. So I went to my counsellor and said I wanted to move into Computer Science. Sophomore year I took the make it or break it class called Assembly Language. I aced it! That sealed the deal and I declared Computing & Information Science as my major during that year and got a better advisor. Dr. Howland was the chairman of the department and several of us had crushes on this man about 20 years old than us. He was our department hottie until Dr. Pitts came along with his body builder body and good looks. Oh well... sorry Dr. H. Most of my old profs have retired now but Dr. H was still there at my 25th college reunion. One of my BFFs Mary Ann and I attended the department reunion. I think we were the oldest graduates at their open house with good appetizers and wine! They are moving up in the world. Now computer science majors can specialize in VR or Gaming or other modern areas of CS. We had a micro computer lab that consisted of one Apple IIe, a Teseract or something like that used Pascal as it's language, a Tectronics green cathode ray tube graphics monitor/computer for advanced graphics work and an other other 6800 based machine. A big PC lab, not! It was before the introduction of the IBM PC in the mid-80s. It was still the computer dark ages compared to now. I started with punching cards for my FORTRAN class. By my sophomore year, they upgraded to a VM mainframe environment with an interactive computer lab setup that we called the "Computer Room". It was filled with students at all hours of the day and night working on homework programming assignments and my friend Marsha smoking her little brown cigarettes that were forbidden in the room. Oh, you radical you!!! She was a little more advanced than me as she was one year older and graduated in 1981. We're still friends.

My boyfriend was one year behind me and was a champion geek winning a video game contest at a local bar when video games came in big standalone type units with color screens that you still see at Dave & Busters. We thought Space Invaders in monochrome on an Apple II was advanced graphics and gaming on a PC back in college. He had a very early serial number Apple II. I'll bet he still has it. He was an Apple groupie before most people had ever hear of Apple. I wish I had bought stock with my meager earnings as a college grad. I would be wealthy and retired by now if I had done that. Oh well! I've always know that they were a cool company... with that rainbow logo apple of the 80's who could doubt it. That was before the rainbow became gay symbol and other groups stopped using a rainbow for a symbol (like my sorority stopped several years back and changed its colors and symbol... that's just WRONG... we picked a rainbow as a symbol of our different backgrounds becoming one in ZX!) Any way, I hung around with a herd of geeks and we liked it that way. I did have groups like Alpha Phi Omega (national co-ed service fraternity) and Zeta Chi (sorority that I helped found) to be near normal people that weren't thinking about computer code 24x7. More about college later... and especially APO and volunteerism.

THIS my longest blog entry EVER. Thanks for reading until the end!!!

The Church of BBQ

2009-02-13T01:42:00.005-06:00

The Church of BBQ
by Jodie Zoeller
Originally written in 1997, revised for a speech given to Toastmasters.
=====================================================
Competent Communicator Project 6: Vocal Variety, 2/12/2009, DFW Tech Talk Toastmasters
International Speech Contest, 2/19/2009, DFW Tech Talk Toastmasters
International Speech Contest, 3/4/2009, Word Wranglers Toasters
=====================================================

Where are you closest to God?

I believe my Daddy was closest to God while sitting in the woods at our lake cabin and cooking BBQ. Not that it was a formal type of worship, he just meditated in the woods while drinking a cold one and cooking his BBQ. He taught me to both enjoy and respect nature and being out in the natural world.

We had a ritual of sorts, here’s how it went in the ‘60s… On Friday evening after he came home from work, we would pack up the car and head out. Stopping by Stella’s hamburger shack for a bag of burgers, dill pickles and fries… this was before the advent of fast food, at least in San Antonio. Stella cooked her burgers the old-fashioned way and we waited patiently for the delicious burgers to be put in tissue paper for our trip to Medina Lake. After a half an hour or so, we would stop in Helotes Texas for a loaf of fresh baked bread to take along and sometimes a new miniature oil lamp for my collection. We processed down the twisty roads to Lakehills Texas in the hill country near Medina Lake, Bandera County Texas.

On our arrival, Daddy would have to check the cabin for invaders like wasps, scorpions and other critters. After he gave us the all clear, Mom and I would get out of our car or van and help unload bags of food, coolers with perishables, clothes and big old metal Army cans full of water. Yes, this was a rural cabin with no running water or modern plumbing. Our bathroom was down the path and called an Outhouse. It came complete with spiders and wasps, along with air freshener and toilet paper. The cabin was a former World War II surplus Quonset hut, converted by my Dad into a rural camping cabin. It did have electricity, so there was an old refrigerator, fans and a big water cooler to help cool us down in the hot South Texas summers. The cabin had one overhead light and a couple of lamps. For heat and cooking, we used bottled butane for small two burner stove. The cabin had been purchased in the early 50s after my parents’ marriage in 1952. Dad bought three 25 foot wide lots for a total of $75 plus $25 for the Quonset hut. His friend, Joe, was a bricklayer, so together they made a brick BBQ pit with chimney to vent the wood smoke. The BBQ pit lasted over 50 years, but recently someone vandalized it which when I visited there reduced me to tears! :(

At that cabin in the woods, I learned about respect for nature, the beauty of the natural world and how God is there all around us. There were MANY stars overhead at night and we could see the Milky Way sometimes without a telescope. Trees surrounded us, mostly cedar and live oaks. In the spring, many flowers bloomed, even though the rocky soil was hard and impenetrable. Every where on my walks I found flowers, flowering butterfly bushes complete with beautiful butterflies, flower cactus plants with tall stalks of blooms and wildlife – rabbits, deer, skunks, lizards and of course my favorites the wasps and Daddy long leg spiders. Did I say that there were flowers? Well there were yellow ones, white ones, palest pink ones, purple verbena and many more. And it was possible to garden a bit in the rocky soil, one year my Dad and I planted some left over pinto beans and tried to come back often enough to see them grow and water the plants. Eventually the deer ate the plants, but it was fun while it lasted… we had a small garden at home in the backyard, so I was never deprived of the garden learning experience.

We spent time up at the lake cabin, talking and hearing family stories, having great food that was made with love and spending time together without schedules or urgent places to be. The food is a wonderful memory – BBQ brisket, sausages and chickens, corn, potatoes and onions all cooked in my Dad’s BBQ pit. Mom used the butane stove to cook a big pot of pinto beans with onions and some salt pork or ham hocks. For breakfast, Daddy would make biscuits using a covered omelet pan, the best ones ever. And lots of eggs and bacon or sausage from the old iron skillets. The food is one of my best memories of that place and time.

Peace and quiet is another memory. Something not often found now, even when you go camping. Now people have DVD players in their vans, bring boom boxes camping and even TVs. Highways aren’t far enough from the campgrounds, so even a night there is some distant noise. That was NOT the case at our Medina Lake cabin. I remember the sound of silence………….. Our cabin was at the end of a very rocky rural street and not many people had houses or cabins near ours. Dad and Mom loved to escape the city life in San Antonio and dragged me along, so that I came to love that place and my memories will always be dear to me of the time we spent together there. At times we had a cabin full, with my parents, my grandparents, me and my sister after ’71… and lots of friends. My Dad never met someone that couldn’t be turned into a friend. :)

Our lake cabin was an oasis in the Texas hill country for peace and quiet reflection, lots of good BBQ and food, parents drinking a few cold ones and just living life at a slower pace. I remember Daddy meditating under the trees by the BBQ pit with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Mom would be in the cabin sitting in front of the water cooler trying to stay cool. I would be swinging on my board and rope swing in between. A little bit of paradise that I didn’t realize! BUT, it’s preserved forever in my heart!

Overcoming My Fear of Public Speaking

2009-02-10T06:58:00.002-06:00

I've completed over three years in Toastmasters. I now belong to two clubs. One is my 1st club at TI that meets on Wednesdays at 11:30-12:30 each week... Word Wranglers Toastmasters. I joined a 2nd club in 2008 to complete my first 10 speeches quicker HAH, DFW Tech Talk Toastmasters.

I'm jumping OFF the pier with out a life jacket this month! I'm doing Speech 6 (Vocal Variety) on Thursday. Next week I'll compete in our DFW Tech Talk contest in Table Topics. The following week or so, I'll compete in the Word Wranglers contest for International Speech. What if I win? Another speech at the area contests. SCARY.

My topic is "The Church of BBQ". I'm doing it this week to practice for the contest as my speech number 6. It's all about my father, BBQ, religion, nature and me. It's my eulogy for my father written several years before he died in 1999, five years after a major stroke that took his limbs and brain but not his soul. May he REST IN PEACE! I love you DADDY!

Dogs Rule ... at least tonight and tomorrow night

2009-02-09T20:55:00.003-06:00

The Westminster Dog Show is hot! So far the Hound group and Terrier group... now the Non-sporting dogs. More later.

The SCOTTY won the terrier group. The SCOTTISH DEER HOUND won the Hound group. The PULLI won... and can't remember the 4th.... will post the results later gater.

2/10 tuesday night

Well the dog that I didn't expect won best in show. The Brittany Spaniel age 10!!! I was so rooting for the Scotty. I LOVE TERRIERS. But I'll take an Irish Wolfhound rescue dog or a puppy terrier like cairn, westie, wired hair fox terrier, aussie terrier, basically any of them except another Jack Russell. I did my time with a wild dog... the young ones are SO high energy that they run circles around you. Even if you're 29 like I was... he was exhausting and so strong and strong willed... and puppy humped everything in sight until I had him neutered. He never forgave me.... but I'm a responsible pet owner that spent probably 5K in medical care on my Blarney JRT and another 1000 on Natchez our 12 yr old German Shepherd adoptee that lived to be 15. NEXT time, I'm buying pet health insurance. DOGS cost lots to keep, feed and keep healthy.

I want a scruffy mutt terrier, a westie, a cairn, a scotty, a wired hair fox terrier or a huge Irish Wolf Hound (couch potato dog). Chuck wants one of everything.... NOT. We will have to settle on one to adopt AFTER I get a new job. That's our goal and we're sticking to it. .... Unless there is a Irish WH to rescue at the North Texas Irish Festival. THEN all bets are off. I hope to have a new job SOON so that I can afford to adopt a puppy and a young dog too. LOVE 'EM. Watch out BeeGee (the cat) here come the DOGS.

Who let the dogs out..... uff uff, who let the dogs out.... uff, uff
(my fav rap song)

Ciao internet and good night!

Job Searching and Networking via Internet tools!

2009-02-08T17:18:00.005-06:00

It's not easy work... Doing a job search takes time, energy, enthusiasm, attention to detail, follow through, follow-ups, note taking, research, communication skills, analysis, reading-reading-reading, connection making, networking and more. Luckily I've cultivated a very large network of friends, family, Toastmasters, co-workers, former bosses, college friends, high school friends etc. I think I can put together a network of 200+ people to help me with my quest for a new job and/or career.

THANK YOU internet!!! Thanks e-mail!!! Thanks to Linked In, Facebook, blogging, web pages that are free from my ISP and more. INTERNET I would like to kiss you today. Also a big round of applause for Microsoft Word, Excel and Internet Explorer. Tools like Yahoo e-mail, calendar, contacts, Google, gmail! They are all terrific. Oh I forgot twitter, bloggers and assorted online only friends!!! Woo Hoo!!

Resume

2009-02-07T22:01:00.000-06:00

Click on the title to display my online resume site.

Resume is almost ready!

2009-02-06T22:04:00.002-06:00

I'll post it here soon so that readers can help find me a new job. I'm also going to setup a new web page for my job search to post my resume without my home address included.

Strange Cat Noises

2009-02-06T21:57:00.002-06:00

My cat likes to sit near me when I'm on a computer, preferably next to the keyboard or on my shoulder. In my home office (spare bedroom) she has to jump up and walk across the printer. Which caused one to break! and so I had to buy a new and better one for less money than the broken laser printer - I got a multi-function printer/fax/copier/scanner from HP. Any way, there's a bed in the room too since it's one of our guest rooms. She likes to sit on the edge of the head of the bed and look out the window which goes almost to the floor. The front bushes cover most of the window but I have raised the blinds about one foot and there is a small area where she can see the world from the window. Tonight she was sitting there and started making a weird growling hissing sort of noise. I looked out of the window and a twin black cat with collar was looking in at her. I guess she wasn't pleased. The visitor cat went on his/her way when I went over to look at it. Cat make strange noises!

Retirement vs. Laid Off - not much difference

2009-02-05T22:51:00.004-06:00

I've got a number of friends who received STRONG suggestions that they take "the company's" early retirement package. These are people in their 50s, who still want and/or need to work. The Turk came to visit them too. But they didn't get a choice: take the package OR wait and see if you win/loose the layoff lottery. Not a good choice any way!

We all knew that "the company" was going to do a layoff. I guessed it last year several months back. I knew that when they announced the early retirement program starting in December, with a deadline of acceptance of January 23rd, that a layoff would follow. I just didn't know THE DATE of it.

Well, the retirees have had a couple of weeks (at least) to say their good-byes. I didn't get an hour to say mine. I really wanted to be able to say good-bye to my dear friends and co-workers at "the company" where I worked for TWENTY years of my life, Dec 1988 to Jan 2009. I got my freaking GOLD badge and parking pass in December 2008. It got ripped away on January 27, 2009. Rather ironic that I really wanted the privelege of having the stupid gold parking pass to park a few rows closer to the building. VERY IRONIC.

"The company" will not be the same place, ever again. Too many GOOD PEOPLE are walking away or were booted out the revolving door. I keep hearing more and I'm starting to be glad that I was shown the door. At least the anxiety and stress of worrying about when the layoff would come is over. So is the stress of the current reorgs at "the company". It's a totally different place.

Yes, I miss my GOLD BADGE. I freaking earned that little piece of plastic. I gave them at least 15 good years and 5 not so great ones. It averages out to a pretty good career there. But so many of the retirees and laid off people were EXCELLENT folks that were put out the door before their time.

PS. I kept the DART pass. F*** them! I deserve it.

PPS. Remind me when their stock goes up. I need to SELL all my stock in "the company" as why be an owner of a company that kicked me to the curb. SELL SELL SELL!!!

When the Turk Comes to See You...

2009-02-01T16:27:00.003-06:00

Here's the excellent article about our layoff that my DH (dear husband) had published in the Dallas Morning News local options section today...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/opinion/stories/east_bloom_0201edi.286ce78.html

Friends are the Best

2009-01-30T17:34:00.004-06:00

I've had some really nice emails and phone calls from my friends. Lots of sympathy about my job loss. Today one of my BFFs bought me lunch. Two friends came to lunch and both wanted details about my "package" and shared info about what was happening at my former office. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. Bits of information keep popping up. The names of people no longer there. The new jobs that people have been slotted into. I'm not sure that I would like working there any more. It seems that people have been haphazardly tossed about into different teams and positions like so many mix and match Legos. The new reality of corporate IT hell. IT wasn't the only area with major cuts. The denizens of bldg 2 who produced a brilliant product that hasn't totally worked out suffered the same or worse cuts than bldg 1. That's just the location that I worked at. There are many more buildings on the sites in Dallas proper.

I'm getting used to being an outsider (to my former company). It's different but the stress and anxiety of wondering what was going to happen and when have all vanished. I'm hopeful that my job situation will work out for the best. I'm not one of those people who say, "Everything happens for a reason." I don't believe in that theory of life. I guess I'm more of the school of chaos theory. There is no such thing as fate or good/bad/mysterious reasons for things to happen. We make our own way in the world. The future happens one day at a time. It's up to me to determine my course of action. I can do it. I'm a survivor and veteran of many crisis' past. So, I'm optimistic that I'll learn some new lessons along the way and somehow things will get better. And I'll be happy that I have friends who care!!!!

Living Through A Historic Day

2009-01-20T12:35:00.003-06:00

I can't believe that this day has come finally. It's one of those moments in history that we'll be reminded of again later. Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. I watched his swearing in and speech.

It's the first time that I've cared enough to find a TV and watch this type of event. What does that say about me? Usually I pass on all political speeches. I did hear Bush's post-9/11 speech sitting in our rental car on our honeymoon in Hawaii. The juxtaposition of being at one of the most beautiful beaches and listening to the President address the nation made it one of my personal historic moments.

Today is different. It's a NATIONAL historic day. Our President is now someone who will stand against torture. Hopefully he will bring our long and agonizing war in the Middle East to an end. We all pray that he and his administration can pull our nation out of this devastating economic crisis. We have HIGH HOPES for the future. I pray that we see those hopes become reality.

Two of these things have something in common: water heater, my left foot, my laptop

2009-01-05T08:31:00.002-06:00

Do you remember those pictures from your childhood? Which of these things belong together? Well my water heater broke last week and so did my laptop (hard drive, yes, backed-up, being restored by an IT professional as we speak). My foot however was judged to be merely sprained yesterday during my two hour visit to Prima-Care near my home. Thank God, for them, otherwise I might still be hobbling around thinking I might have a broken foot bone. It hurt enough sometimes to be broken. But himself said that it wasn't. I decided to let a DOCTOR decide if it is or not. Yeah!!!

I Gotta Hippopotamus for Christmas!

2008-12-25T23:41:00.002-06:00

Story and photos to follow. I just had to POST that line. It was my Hallmark surprise ornament from my dear Chuck. It's darling.

More later about our long and eventful (cooking and cooking) Christmas Day!

'Twas the Day before Christmas

2008-12-24T18:05:00.004-06:00

(With apologies to Clement Moore!)

It 'twas the day before Christmas,
and I was quite panic'd
nothing was wrapped
and not soul had gone manic'd.

The tree and the stockings
were in boxes (in the garage)
and my Dear darling
had hinted quite large!

Off to the wrapping paper
Likes elves I flew
With a twinkle I delt with it
Bows and a few.

Now everything is done
and even the cat is content
so I must stop
for good intent.

Christmas Memories

2008-12-22T16:36:00.004-06:00

Here are some of my random memories of Christmas growing up in the 60's and 70's... and a few of later years.
1. My grandmother's white flocked artificial tree and color wheel.
2. Putting up our silver artificial tree and color wheel. (My mother was allergic to pine trees.)
3. Red glass ornaments on the silver tree.
4. Antique German glass ornaments from my parents early days together in the 50's... I have several of them packed away as they are very fragile.
5. Bubble lights on Aunt Marge & Uncle Jack's tree... I have a few sets collected in the 80's when these lights made a come back. As they heat up, the liquid in a glass cyllinder bubbles. (They were the Aunt & Uncle of my college roommate Jane... I sort of adopted them as an extra Aunt & Uncle. Sadly they both passed away in 2007, but I have great memories of them.)
6. Silver tinsel tossed on a real tree.
7. Coming out on Christmas morning to find the presents from Santa (unwrapped of course) and the wrapped ones from Mom and Dad.
8. Having to wrestle my baby sister to keep her in bed so that Mom & Dad could have a cup of coffee before she attacked the presents under the tree.
9. Collecting special ornaments during my lifetime. These include those made by friends & relatives and special ones received as gifts or purchased to remember some place special.
10. The red felt stocking with sequined animals and tree made lovingly for me by my Great-Aunt Pallie. I also have several wonderful old ornaments made by her. She was the creative one in the family.
11. The small tree of my father's old age that I took him in the nursing home.
12. My hi-tech fiber optic lighted med. size tree... that I need to put up soon.
13. Getting real greenery wreaths from a local Boy Scout.
14. Christmas dinner with my entire childhood family: Mom, Dad, Granny, Pop pop and little sister Beckie. Complete with turkey, corn bread dressing (regular and a special bowl of oyster dressing for me), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, relish trays, pecan pie made by Mom, canned chilled asparagus (I know... yuck!), bake & serve dinner rolls, Mrs. Smith's pies, giblet gravy made with lots of extra giblets.
15. Uncle Harley visiting and bringing me a few more presents. I think he had a silver tree too at one point.
16. Sometimes, we had Christmas at home in the morning, then went across town to my grandparent's house for Christmas dinner. Granny probably cooked more dishes than Mom did for the big dinner.
17. Watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on the color TV.
18. Playing my few Christmas records over and over. One favorite is The Christmas Cowboy with Gene Autry singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
19. Having my washing machine pipe freeze on Christmas night... flooding the apartment below in 1983.
20. Special ornaments given to me by Florence & Dad after I moved to Plano.
21. Getting the flu and having my Dad drive me back to Plano from San Antonio in 1982! (My 1st month on my new job up here.)
22. Going to East Texas to a tree farm to cut down a live tree with Barbara while we were roommates.
23. Egg nog!
24. Hosting wonder Christmas dinners in our home now for friends and family.
25. THE BEST MEMORY of ALL....
The marriage proposal from Chuck to marry him on Christmas in 2000. A James Avery ring with Hebrew writing on it along with a "recipe" for love & marriage. He is SO romantic.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2008-12-17T17:09:00.003-06:00

At least on the next row over from my cube. They decorated and even had a block party today with lots of gooey treats, hot chocolate and hot cider. I've visited three times for chocolate goodies and assorted other sweets. So I've been enjoying this Christmas season.

Last weekend, I wrapped and wrapped like a mad woman to get packages ready for Chicago (Oak Park), Boston (Roslindale) and San Antonio. Chuck had his own set of packages ready to go to Oregon and California. THEN, my friend in Chicago sent me a card asking if we could scale back on Christmas this year!!!

AFTER I had wrapped about 10 gifts for her AND mailed them to her. You see, we both like opening gifts so we buy many assorted things for each other. I love shopping for odds and ends for her, as she's a bit eccentric and finding just the right things can be quite fun. The gifts must include mustard (her favorite spice), something for the kitchen and a quite odd present. The odd present this year was given to me and immediately I saw the regifting opportunity. My BFF would love it. I'll go into details in a post-Christmas blog in case she's reading this, but it does involve doing almost obscene things to a chicken. :-) Use your imagination!

Holiday Carols Sung By The Fire

2008-12-08T17:37:00.002-06:00

Well not exactly! We drove to Houston (Porter specifically) and back home again on Saturday. It's a 4 hour trip each direction. And the music du jour was the new & old Christmas mix CDs created by Chuck from our extensive holiday music collection. We listened and sang our way across Texas. It helped us pass the hours, when we weren't talking. As my friends know, both my husband and I love to talk.
I got to hear a good number of my holiday favorites. I'll need to get out the full CD of some of my all-time favorites to hear the whole thing: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Gene Autry's Christmas Cowboy, The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole. And many more!!!
May the weeks leading up to Christmas, Hannukah and Winter Solstice be merry and bright for all!

Loved the Turkey at 1st Bite

2008-11-28T17:56:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, we had our "adopted" Chinese family over for Thanksgiving. Chuck prepared turkey with all the trimmings. And I helped! Let's see - we had cornbread stuffing (my family recipe), green beans with caramelized onions (my friend's recipe), fresh cranberry sauce, sweet potato puffs with pecans, mushroom casserole with spinach, special waldorf salad with cherries PLUS two kinds of pie (baked apple and a mixed berry tart).

We had to explain that over-eating was required. They loved the turkey; it was their 1st time to have it. Two people from China eating turkey in our kitchen. It was an all American holiday served up just for them. Our friends Carl & Lei brought her parents over plus the two children. We had a full house for the evening. Everyone went home full. Even the three year old... he ate a lot. Including several mouthfuls of Redi-whip, courtesy of Uncle Chuck!

Being Thankful

2008-11-25T11:45:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving isn't supposed to be about the FOOD. It's supposed to be about being thankful. I need to stop and reflect about what I'm thankful for this year. Express some gratitude to people in my life that helped me this year.

I'm thankful that when my husband had his heart attacks in March, he didn't die. I'm thankful that his health has continued to improve so much this year because he's been eating less carbs and less in general PLUS he's been religiously working out 3 times per week. I'm very thankful that he's my husband, a wonderful cook, someone with a great sense of humor, someone who loves me with all my flaws and even calls me beautiful.

I'm thankful for my health. I have plenty of health issues, but heart problems were ruled out this year. I'm thankful for great medical care and insurance to be able to afford it. I'm thankful for my great doctor, who really listens to me and helps me when I'm sick. I'm also thankful for my therapist who has taught me a lot about listening to my body and helping to feel better.

I'm thankful that my dear dog is finally at peace. He was part of my life for 18 years. I'm thankful to have had him around so long. I do miss him and cry when I see photos of little Jack Russell puppies (seem to be all over the place). But I'm thankful that he's at peace and no longer in pain. I'm thankful for his vet, Dr. Ward and his staff who were wonderful this year.

I'm thankful for my friends, spread all over the U.S. I love to hear from them either via phone, email or letters/cards. I know that I can call on them when I need them and they will listen.

I'm thankful for my extended family including my step-children and grand-daughter. Riley lights up our life when we get to see her. She'll be 2 years old in a few days.

Winter Coming

2008-11-20T10:19:00.001-06:00

Here's a depressing thought. Winter may arrive today. It's supposed to get very cold out. I'm thinking bundling up and staying in bed sounds good. But I've gotta be a work. Bummer!

Finally Fall

2008-11-16T12:17:00.003-06:00

I wish I could write poetry. I would write one about fall in Texas. It's not like fall in other places. We don't have many pretty leaves. They usually just turn brown and start falling and filling the yard. I don't rake mine... which probably annoys my neighbors to no end. But I like the randomness of the piles of leaves in the front yard where the trees are and in the back yard where they blow in from other places. My back yard has no trees just some attack bushes. Holly bushes love to attack and scratch you when you attempt to go past them. I haven't been in the back yard much since Blarney died. It makes me a bit sad to go back there. I know I'm rambling here, but that's how fall arrives in Texas. We ramble back and forth between the end of summer (warm weather) and fall (cooler weather). I think the temperatures finally dipped below 30 degrees F last night, so it's definitely fall.

How am I doing? A bit down. Work has been stressful. When I'm home, inertia takes hold and I don't accomplish much. On weekends I manage to get the laundry done and pay the bills. But I generally just lounge in bed reading books. Chuck isn't too demanding that I do anything at all. Inertia is a good way to describe my weekends. But time for cleaning house and company is coming. We have plans to host an "American Thanksgiving" for our friends and their family that is here from China. If you remember my story about shopping with Gia, this is the same family. A big turkey and all the trimmings is being planned by Chuck. I'll be the chef's assistant.

Obamatopia

2008-11-07T14:26:00.003-06:00

I realize I have not yet blogged with glee about the election results. Here it is: GLEE, RELIEF, PRAYERS have been Answered, relief, gladness, happy, joy, joy, disbelief. Yes, the first emotion I had was disbelief that it actually happened. I woke up on Wednesday morning and had to turn on the morning shows. I had to see if it was all a dream, or if Barack Obama was really the President-elect. It's TRUE! So I guess I can now settle in to belief and acceptance.
I know there will be tough times ahead for him and his administration. We're in very tough times in this country and around the world. And people like me, Obama supporters, have HIGH HOPES for him. We hope for an Obamatopia, but realistically I know that's just a fantasy. But let me hold onto my dreams for a few days!

Sweet Memories

2008-11-01T20:33:00.003-05:00

Thanks to a gift from my Aunt Alice, I had some sweet memories come back to me today. Last weekend we went to her house for an extended family gathering. She gave me a pint of pear preserves. I opened them today and memories came back to me. My mother was famous for her annual pear preserves. My father would spread cloths on the ground, then get a ladder and go up and shake our two pear trees. The harvest would be turned into many quart jars of pear preserves. I never learned to can preserves at all. It's something that my mother and grandmother did with food. I was too young to help other than peeling the pears. The gift from my Aunt brought back tender sweet memories of my mother to me. Thanks Aunt Alice!
P.S. The preserves were excellent on sourdough bread toast!

Painting the Country Purple

2008-10-30T21:44:00.003-05:00

A blogger friend of mine (only via email) calls herself the Homesick Texan. She writes a food blog but her current blog hopes for HOPE. She made it out of hoe cakes. A bit loony but it's a gentle political blog sort of, hoping for our future. That whoever is elected will stop being partisan and step up and be the President of the United States of America. Not just the President of the Democrats or the President of the Republicans. I want a MODERATE as President, whether he be Obama or McCain. I think the answer is Obama, but I have listened to both sides before making up my mind intelligently about who reflects my hopes and dreams for America AND who shares my values. That includes respecting the right of women to control their reproductive lives... birth control and having a choice! Since anti-choice is a big plank of the Republican manifesto aka platform, I can't vote for any Republicans. It would be against my conscience.

However, I would vote for painting the country purple! I'm in the minority here in Texas. It's no fun being a Democrat in Collin County Texas... only Republicans run for office, so I never get to select them as I don't vote in their primary. ;-) I think all local/county/school board/judge offices should be REALLY non-partisan, not just lip service to being sort of non-partisan. That's the state of Texas politics in my neck of the woods (prairie).

Stop and Go 75

2008-10-26T19:58:00.003-05:00

Chuck invented a new term today... "stop and go 75". It was ridiculous. The traffic stopped and then started up fast again and then stopped again. Over and over. Such is life on I-35 in Texas, heading north from San Antonio to Dallas today. It was a tiring drive.

We had the good fortune to stop by and have some of Texas' best BBQ at Smitty's in Lockhart, again. We've decided that they are our favorite. A big plus was that they were open. The other famous BBQ joint in Lockhart, Kreutz Market, was closed on Sunday. We got some yummy smoked shoulder beef, an inch thick smoked pork chop and two rings of "hot" (sausage). The sausage is made by Smitty's and is fresh and loosely packed inside the casing. It's the best darn sausage in Texas. :-)

Fall in the Hill Country

2008-10-25T21:53:00.003-05:00

This weekend has been spent in transit. Friday we drove from Plano to San Antonio. Today from San Antonio to Kerrville and back. Tomorrow reverse Friday, detour by Lockhart for some of the best damn BBQ in Texas.

I love the Texas Hill Country. True we don't have beautiful trees with fall colors... wrong state for that. Unless you find the Lost Maples State Natural Area in Bandera County. It's glorious there. But today we saw some of God's country aka the drive to Kerrville on I-10. I love that drive through the hills. It's a beautiful view of the hill country. It brings me back to my paternal family roots. My great-great-grandfather Phillip and gr-gr-grandmother Margaretha were German immigrants to the hill country of Texas. When I'm in this area, I think about them and their lives and those of their children and grandchildren.

My great-grandparents - Helwig & Anna lived in the hill country too. Probably had a "town" house where they lived when in town... the small town of Boerne Texas. My grandfather Albert started the exodus from Boerne as a young man. He went to seek his fortune in Mexico around the turn of the century (1900) at age 20. He didn't marry until 1916. His bride was a young woman born in 1895. They had a Victorian romance in 1915-16 and exchanged love letters between Mexico and Texas when he went home for a visit in 1915. Mary was born to an Irish immigrant mother, a school teacher and principal of a private "french" school in Mexico City. Her father is a mystery. We know his name but his heritage is mostly unknown. His last name, Bauche, is thought to be Bohemian (Czech) or Austrian. His mother was probably Spanish or Mexican. We don't know... too much time has passed and nothing was written down. But I have the love letters. Some day I'll write their love story to share with the world. Today I shared the letters with my cousins and some Aunts who didn't know that they existed. It was a special day in the hill country.

One Day at a Time

2008-10-22T14:02:00.002-05:00

What a cliche, but how true! I'm taking it one day at a time now. I'm still thinking a lot about Blarney's life. My memories of him as a puppy and young dog are especially coming to my mind. He was a little rascal. I remember him chewing on everything! My wooden kitchen chair bore scars on their legs. His "nanny dog", Lady, put up with a lot from him, but she would also teach him how to behave. My friend Barbara said that he's probably in heaven playing with Lady now. I'm visualizing some games of fetch with my Dad also. My Dad is the one that first played fetch with him. Hard rubber balls were about the only toy that would last. All other toys got chewed up quickly. I would buy those little doll shaped fleece toys with a squeeker in them. He would chew on it until there was a hole. Then pull out the squeeker and all the stuffing (all over the floor). He would happily keep the empty toy and chew on it for weeks. Just being Blarney.

Working through my tears

2008-10-21T15:55:00.003-05:00

I've been pretty good today. Haven't had too many tears. Everyone (at work and friends online) have been incredibly nice and supportive of me. It's great that people understand that a pet is an important part of your life. Life does go on. So will I. It's just that there is a very sad place in my heart where Blarney resides. I'm happy that he's out of his pain though. I will work it out and stop crying eventually. Until then, I'll be working through my tears.

A Tribute to Blarney

2008-10-20T22:25:00.001-05:00

Please read this piece by my hubby http://chuckbloom.blogspot.com/2008/10/this-good-dog-goes-to-heaven-1990-2008.html where he write a sweet sweet piece about my dear departed dog Blarney.

Best Endorsement Yet... Colin Powell

2008-10-20T09:51:00.001-05:00

I don't know how to embed a video clip.. so visit my friend Bill's page to see it.
http://12tutufondue.blogspot.com/2008/10/sometimes.html

Palin Flow Chart

2008-10-17T15:11:00.003-05:00

http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2008/10/flowing-fool.html
Check this out. A funny diagram by one of my fav cartoonists - Dan Piraro of Bizarro.

Here's another political one for you... twisted and funny
http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2008/10/hi-treason.html

Good-bye Dear Canine Friend

2008-10-17T14:51:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, our vet, Dr. Ward, said that it's time to say good-bye to my friend... my canine friend. Blarney has been with me since 1990. That's eons in dog years. So why is it so hard to say good-bye. He's been around longer than most of my friends, co-workers and husband. I don't know how to say good-bye to him. It's like loosing my child almost. My dear husband is afraid this will "undo" me in a big way. I think I just need to have a period for my grief to pass. It might be a long time, but I'll get through it. It's not like Blarney is suddenly sick. He's been having problems now for months. I have been dreading this day. Now I have a weekend to come to terms with it and Monday afternoon it will be over. We've given it the good fight. He's had lots of pampering, love and attention over the years. And I'll miss him, even his bad behaviour. Barking in the middle of the night. Peeing and pooping on the floor. Being a bit testy at times, but never biting. I plan to have him cremated and his ashes will join Natchez in our small atrium. Two really good dogs. Both loyal and dear. Good-bye dear friend.

Funny Guys!

2008-10-05T23:29:00.002-05:00

New favorite blogger Dan Piraro, cartoonist of Bizarro fame.
http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com
I've loved his cartoons for a long time, having a semi-twisted sense of humor myself. His work reminds me of my beloved Far Side cartoons that I used to treasure. His blog is funny and shows some insight into his personality. He's also a liberal and posted about his views on the current Presidential race also. Another reason to love his blog.
P.S. If you want to read some anti-Palin stuff click on the Bloom Blog listed in my favorites on the right side of this blog.

Wash On, Wash Off

2008-10-03T12:37:00.002-05:00

I spent a bit of time yesterday uninstalling Internet Explorer 8 Beta. It turned out to get corrupted by some other software that I installed. Plus it was starting to get fatal errors all the time. Sometimes it seemed to be in a loop because it tried to restart automatically when an error occurred. I think I understand why end users without a computer degree get so frustrated with computers. I'm finally in the category. There is more that I don't know than I do.

Lovely Afternoon

2008-09-21T20:41:00.003-05:00

I just spent a lovely afternoon at a Garden Party. It was in a backyard garden, but not just any garden, it was the most excellent garden that I currently know of in Plano. My friend Jo has transformed her backyard into the most wonderful place. It's got a pond, a fountain, numerous trees, lovely blooming plants, roses, shrubs and everything. We had a nice gathering of 20 or so ladies that are all quite super to be around. I think I even enjoyed myself. It's been a bit hard to relax lately. Anxiety has struck and it doesn't seem to matter that I have little to be anxious about. It's just with me. Not exactly depression, although I have been sleeping alot. Last night I think I had 12 hours of sleep if you can believe it. That seems like way too much sleep for a normal person. Another thing to be anxious about.

Can You Imagine?

2008-09-17T15:48:00.003-05:00

I'm still in shock about the damage to the Texas coastal area from our recent hurricane that struck Texas - Ike. My relatives and friends in the Houston area still have no power after several days without. It's hard to imagine. All the food in your frig/freezer and at the grocery store frig/freezers going bad. No TV, no radio, no COMPUTER, no communication unless you have a cell phone with service. We've been worried about our relatives. Found out that the grandbaby and her mom went to stay with family in Center TX, away from the mess. We haven't heard much from my step-son and step-daughter, but they are OK. Thanks to God everyone we know there is OK.

Seven Short Years!

2008-09-14T18:45:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow will mark seven short years of marriage. C & I married 4 days after 9/11. It was an anticlimax to the national disaster. But for us, it was the start of seven years together. I won't say great because we've weathered some big crisis together, but we have weathered them TOGETHER. There's a song that comes to mind but I can't sing... even by keyboard. I'm always off KEY. Why am I so happy? Because love does really grow stronger, at least in our case, as our years together increase. I love him more now than I did on 9/15/2001.
Now, granted, he's no Cary Grant. He doesn't sweep me off my feet but has the capacity to make me LAUGH so hard that I cry. He's a great one to keep around for many more years. I once told him that he better be sure that he wanted to marry me because I didn't intend to get divorced again... I would rather just shoot him if he wanted a divorce. So far it has worked... He's still here and so am I.
Today we shared a pre-anniversary lunch at a big name chain Chinese restaurant. It wasn't a great meal except that we were there together. I think this is what it means to be in love and have a best friend that loves you back.
Happy Anniversary honey!

Number 5, Blogging

2008-09-12T12:25:00.002-05:00

I'm guessing that blogging during lunch would be a no-no here. But heck I'm already breaking her rules so I might as well blog too. Nothing about "here" of course. I work in Dilbert land... a cube farm the size of a big ranch, it seems on some days. Acres and acres of cubes broken up by high wall offices for managers and project managers and some analysts. Not me, I've been cubical my entire work life "here". It's been almost 20 years. Hard to imagine! I've had a variety of work assignments all in IT (Information Technology). IT is the moderately new buzz word title for Information Systems, Computer Department or whatever you call us. "Here" is an office dedicated to IT in the "big here" of the corporation. It is ironic that I'm afraid to mention names of people or companies. But I would rather not be "dooced". If you don't know what "dooce" is go use Google and find out.

4 Things Not to Do at Work

2008-09-09T21:30:00.004-05:00

According to my supervisor this is her list:
1. Don't talk about religion
2. Don't talk about politics
3. Don't talk about some one's children
4. Don't wear anything someone might object to or against policy

I think I usually break 1, 2 and 3 on occasion.
I love to listen to my former conservative boss Rick talk about his views on religion. He's really a minister in corporate jeans. ;-)
I do bait a real right winger on occasion at the office with my liberal views AND I do by-God put on my liberal bumper stickers even if I can't wear the t-shirt(s) to the office.
And I see nothing wrong with discussing children even though I don't have much experience to draw upon... that's the listeners issue not mine.
Our "Diversity" program at work has embraced religion... We have a Muslim initiative, a Christian Values initiative and probably some others. No Jewish one, no Unitarian Universalist one... I do feel left out, but the number of UUs is small. If I was Jewish, I would start one. It's nice to have a group like the Indian's, African American's, Vietnamese, Chinese and other ethnicity/heritage based diversity groups.
I belong to the Women's Initiative and the Hispanic Employees Initiative Forum (HEIF). I'm hispanic by virtue of having a father born in Mexico and growing up in San Antonio... IMHO. My grandmother was Mexican regardless of her ethnicity.
Why can't we have an initiative for liberals? We're an under served minority in my conservative fortune 500 corporation. Would they agree? I think I'll ask... after the election.

More on Palin, Check out Chuck's Blog

2008-09-08T13:57:00.001-05:00

Click the title and go to Chuck's blog....

Is it FALL yet? Not in Texas

2008-09-08T13:50:00.004-05:00

I should take a picture of the green / brown outdoors here and show it to the interweb. When you still have to put up the windshield reflector because the sun is shining (very warmly) then it's not FALL. Even though all the stores, even in Texas automatically change clothing seasons. I can get some great Texas winter clothes now from Lands End, because it is FALL in Wisconsin. We never need real WINTER clothes here, only if we travel or it comes a blue norther. My husband isn't "up" with this practice of buying winter (fall) clothes in September because he's a GUY. Guys don't understand that in January when it's cold here, they won't have any winter clothes left as Spring clothes will be coming into the stores. Fashion... I'm not a fashion person, but I've got to have some clothes to wear that aren't too old. Otherwise, the elastic ages and falls apart.... (a long story about my swimming suit). :-)

Funny Only to Women My Age and Older

2008-09-06T19:22:00.002-05:00

I just got home awhile ago from seeing Menopause the Musical. It was LOL funny. It was hilarious. And I'm not yet in menopause... maybe peri-menopause (the time just before). But I asked my hubby if he wanted to hear about it... He said NO. It was a musical and just for women. He got it. I wonder what the guy in the audience thought. I recommend it if you haven't seen it. If you live here in the Dallas area, go see it at the Eisemann Center. It was fantastic!!!

Bill Maher: Read This Opinion

2008-09-06T18:42:00.002-05:00

This is one hilarious rant. Let's say that I agree.... Obama is smart! We need a smart President for a CHANGE. Yes, We Can!

Totally Awesome Humor

2008-09-05T21:25:00.002-05:00

Tonight I had the privilege of listening to three humorous speeches and three funny tall tales at an "area" Toastmasters speech contest. The speakers rocked.
My favorite tall tale was "How the Rio Grande Was Formed". It had something to do with a flatulant cockroach that grew to seven stories tall eating bean burritos with jalapenos, fajitas with jalapenos and enchiladas with you guessed it... jalapenos. That was one awesome FART. It carved the Rio Grande and the kid who owned the cockroach filled it with his tears. This one came in 2nd place in Tall Tales.
I don't think I can write down the 1st place Humorous speech by the same lady, Irene, because it's too reliant on accents, gestures and facial expressions. You will just have to go to the "division" contest and hear her. She was awesome!!!

Good News! Yes, I'm OK... it's OFFICIAL

2008-09-03T20:47:00.002-05:00

The cardio doc... Dr. B... said I'm OK. My tests were good with no problems "at this time"... guarantee for 1 year or less. She said the same thing that I already know... need to seriously LOOSE WEIGHT and EXERCISE daily if possible. Hello bottled water, good bye to the Real Thing (Coca-Cola) and Dr. Pepper. Hello gym and water aerobics! Good bye sitting on my butt watching the TV or reading tons. Hello hard work... good bye weight! That's the good part. If I do it, the pounds should diminish... I must do it. But 1st for a bit of dark chocolate to celebrate!!!

Passionately Pink for the Cure

2008-09-01T13:53:00.002-05:00

Click my link and donate to the Susan G. Komen foundation via my Passionately Pink for the Cure page. It's fun to wear pink and promote this cause. THANKS in advance.

Meet my parents: George & Dorothy

2008-08-31T20:04:00.002-05:00

I believe this photo was taken in the 1950s prior to the birth of yours truely. They look younger than I remember. I believe this was either taken at my Uncle Harley's house or Dad's parents' house. His mother, Mary, died in 1960 a few months after my birth. His father, Albert, died in 1967. Albert lived with my parents in the early 1960s, but I don't have any memories of it.

My Photo

2008-08-31T09:14:00.002-05:00

The blog photo is one of my childhood photos at a studio, Studer's Photos, San Antonio Texas. It's no longer in business but I have fond memories of photos taken there. My grandmother Anne loved to have photos taken of me. She took me every year for a studio portrait until I was in first grade and the school photographer took my photo. I'll publish some of them later so you can see my photos from childhood. The funny thing is that I have a pose of my mother that is so similar to this one... She's about the same age too. I'll post that later too. They are both 8x10 photos that I framed the same way.

Dog Days of August

2008-08-30T18:13:00.004-05:00

My dog is very old.... very very old. Yesterday we took him to the vet. I was afraid that he would have to be put down as he was only walking on 3 legs. Dr. Mulkey of Spring Creek Animal Clinic came to our rescue. Our usual vet, Dr. Alan Ward, is out of town for the holiday weekend... and can you believe it, there isn't an on-call system for vets. We had a late 5:30 appointment with him. He reminded me of James Herriot. Very old fashioned and serious. He examined Blarney and said he has a torn ACL. Like a sports star. My dog is a sports star. ??? Anyway, we have some super duper pain meds and he's walking like a champ again. Until we can go and see Dr. Ward next week at the Plano Animal Clinic. Dr. Ward is my hero keeping Blarney alive long past his prime. Vets, the unsung heroes of our lives!

Vacation Memories

2008-08-17T12:24:00.004-05:00

My husband loves to plan our vacations. In the last couple of years, we haven't taken a long out of state vacation unfortunately.

Here's the line up of past Bloom productions (you might notice the theme of baseball running through the vacations... well Mr. Bloom is a die hard fan. His goal is to visit all the major league ballparks in America some day.)

2002 - Trip to a conference in Atlanta
Great drive-in (The Varsity, the world's largest such place), great downtown fun (Atlanta Underground), wonderful history (MLK National Memorial), tallest escalator (to the metro), and a great ballpark (Atlanta Braves)
2003 - Texas to New York with many stops along the way.
Tennessee (great Memphis BBQ (Corky's) & Chinese Giant Pandas at the Zoo and Greenville - home of President Andrew Johnson)
Virginia (Manassas battlefield and home of a good friend of mine in Fairfax Co.)
North Carolina (Durham Bulls game and very good peaches)
New York (NYC & Catskills stayed in the homes of a college friend of Chuck's; on 4th of July attended a game of the Hudson Valley Racoons minor league team, the best baseball game I've ever been to, ever!) and Cooperstown, home of the baseball Hall of Fame, and the Hudson Valley, Hyde Park (FDR's home and the Vanderbilt Mansion - both national park sites)
Mongomery, Ala. (visited the Southern Poverty Law Center headquarters and saw the Civil Rights Memorial)
New Orleans, visiting with Chuck's son and wife, and Shreveport.
2004 - Texas to Michigan & Chicago with many stops along the way.
Highlights: Chuck's daughter Kelsey came along; visited Lincoln's birthplace & national historic site; visited Oak Park and Frank Lloyd Wright museum and attended Sunday service at Unity Chapel that he designed; Chuck & Kelsey attended a Cubs game at Wrigley Field; University of Michigan; a great art museum on the campus; Ann Arbor; Detroit; Kentucky (the famed Kentucky Horse Farm); Cincinnati chili and much more; stayed in Oak Park with my BBF and her hubby; Arkansas (home of a good friend of mine and Arkansas Travelers minor league baseball game)
2005 - California & Oregon
Chuck drove from Dallas to California (LAX) to meet me there (saved a few days of vacation time for me); He visited New Mexico and Arizona along the way with Joshua Tree, Saguaro and other national park destinations; San Diego: zoo, water front, famous hotel (Coronado del Rey), Chuck's sister Vicki and her daughter Alissa; Getty Museum in LA; San Francisco: ship museum, Ghiaderelli square, wonderful Dungeness crab; Aquarium under the Bay; Golden Gate Bridge; Muir Woods; Redwood forest; Oregon visiting Jennifer & her little girl; Harry & David factory store; Crater Lake; Ashland home of Lithia water (natural lithium in the water); ZZ Top concert outdoors; Yosemite National Park; Whiskeytown in Redding, Calif.
2006 - The Texas Tour
Gonzales: visited the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery and saw the graves of Dr. John Turner Tinsley and his wife, Nancy Willis. Ancestors on my mother's father's mother's side of the family. Her name was Cordelia Tinsley, daughter of Fountain Gillespie Tinsley who was John Turner Tinsley's son. Dr. John Turner Tinsley was a patriot of the Texas War for Independence.
Bigfoot: my maternal grandmother's home town, visited my great-grandparents graves, John T. and Cornelia Boyd.
San Antonio: family home
New Braunfels: German Texan history
Boerne: Zoeller Family Reunion
2007 - Family Reunion & Austin
Louis Mueller's BBQ in Taylor (one of the top five BBQ places according to Texas Monthly) and Kreuz Market in Lockhart (also in the top 5)
Austin, TX (research at the Texas State Library)
Boerne, TX
2008 - Family Reunion & San Antonio - some highlights of where we visited
Smitty's BBQ in Lockhart (guess what? Also top 5) http://www.smittysmarket.com/
Fredricksburg, TX plus Enchanted Rock, Luckenbach TX (famous due to Waylon Jennings-Willie Nelson song). Passing through Sisterdale & Comfort. These were all German settlements of the mid-1800's like Boerne, TX.
San Antonio Riverwalk & Jazz at Jim Cullum's Landing
Brunch at the Menger Hotel (next to the Alamo)
Luling City Market (great BBQ and the fourth of the top 5; sausage 1 blouse 0)

Homage to BBQ

2008-07-26T13:23:00.004-05:00

I can't really say it any better than Chuck, so follow this link (in title above) to his post about our Texas BBQ travels.
Here's the links to the best BBQ joints in Texas:
Louie Mueller Barbeque (Taylor, TX)
Southside Market (Elgin, TX)
Kreuz Market (Lockhart, TX)
Smitty's Market (Lockhart, TX)
I wish I could send a link to smell-o-net... but it doesn't exist. Maybe someday!
I can't recommend these places enough. We've had some wonderful meals at all of them. And brought home some sausage from Southside Market to cook for ourselves (soon!)

The Missing 2%

2008-07-14T08:07:00.003-05:00

Read the linked article on Salon.com. It makes sense. Even I have friends and family with no land line.... Mostly just younger people. In my case, probably less liberal than me... BUT I live in Texas! Heck, if Verizon keeps charging me so much, I might cancel the land line soon. $4 plus tax, if I don't use any long distance! If the polls read the younger land-line-less voters wrong, then it might be very interesting. VERY INTERESTING. Especially since McCain is a couple generations older than Obama. VERY INTERESTING. (OK, so I'm not a Vulcan, but I can pretend to be logical and objective... just don't increase the magnification, because under it all I'm a liberal with a capital L, Democrat and woman.)

BFF: Barbara... Thanks for 19 great years so far!

2008-07-13T09:24:00.005-05:00

Do you know what BFF means? Best friend forever! She's been my friend since we met in 1989. I advertised in the Plano Star Courier for a roommate to share a house in Plano, because I wanted to get a dog. She wanted a house because she had a dog. Lady, her dog, was a rather macho female dog, part Chow, part Pit-bull, part loyal black lab. Lady was a wonderful dog companion for many years to Barbara.
We found a house together near where I live now. It was a typical rent house with three bedrooms, two baths, a fenced yard. A few surprises were all the rose bushes and fruit trees in the back yard. The leaks in the attic with buckets under them. The other crude repairs made with caulk and/or duct tape around the house. The master bath had 70s wallpaper with silver and brown designs... but I ignored it. Somehow I lucked out and got the biggest bedroom with TWO closets! Room for a sitting area, very neat.
The kitchen was the center of the house. Barb loves to cook and in 1989 she loved to cook mostly vegetarian food. She was slowly becoming a vegetarian, first giving up red meat. Lovely turkey chili. Yummy polish plum dumplings. Red cabbage. Interesting pumpkin pie from scratch. Experiments in the kitchen. That's what I remember the most about cooking with Barbara... it was always fun and an adventure!
In 1990, I located my puppy. Blarney was about eight weeks old, a bundle of spring loaded Jack Russell terrier energy waiting to happen. Barbara's dog, Lady, became his mentor. She watched over him, like a good surrogate mother and taught him all the doggie things like going outside to potty and how to play tug o' war with a rope toy. He loved Barbara and me, but Lady was his first dog friend. She was his "nanny dog".
Later in 1990, we all moved. Blarney and I moved to Richardson to live with a nutsy lady named Anna for six long months. She loved to put him in his kennel at night since I was working late and he liked to bark in the yard. He's a DOG! Anyway we moved as quickly as possible, leaving the deposit behind, to move back to Plano in a two-story townhouse. Barbara had moved with Lady to a neat little duplex over in Carrollton. We got together often along with Barbara's boyfriend David H. David H. worked for a company that was in the telecom business... with her ex-husband Pete. At this point in my life (30), I hadn't yet been married, just was wishing for it and children.
The three of us took trips to East Texas to pick out Christmas trees and visit Grand Saline and the salt palace. We went to Dave's pool and he cooked Chinese for us. It was a good friendship but lopsided since I didn't have a boyfriend for most of the time except when I dated TH, a co-worker of mine who also had worked on the 990 computers. He was a nice guy that was too recently divorced to get involved with. Later I heard that he settled down and remarried. While I had been living at the house of Anna, I answered a personal ad from a guy named DS. DS worked for the same company as I did! It was weird but it's a big company and we didn't cross paths there. Barbara approved of DH so we dated for a long time, eventually living together and contemplating a marriage that didn't happen. He would never commit (you guessed it, previously married and burned by it, he was gun shy). While we lived together, Barbara moved back to Chicago and her family, met and married a great Italian guy named Steve. I was stuck in a rut... dating guys that didn't want to commit to marriage.
I moved to Dallas after completing Leadership Plano. I fled is more like it. Brokeup with DS and Plano simulateously. I lived in a lovely rent house in Lake Highlands with Blarney. We had a chain-link fenced yard full of huge crepe myrtle trees in the back. The house had crank-out windows, wood floors and an antique tiled bathroom... a 3/1/1, it was cozy for me and my dog. I hated living there! Squirels apparently loved the neighborhood. They loved by attic. I thought we had RATS and called the exterminator. After getting to know him too well, he discovered that I had a giant squirrel infestation in the attic. He came over one afternoon and found a "king-sized" squirrel up there. His face was blanched when he told me that, "it was the BIGGEST squirrel" that he had EVER seen. This squirrel infestation evenually drove me to marry the wrong man in order to move back to Plano. Not really but it's a good excuse.
Barbara has stood by me through thick and thin. Friends at a long distance but our hearts never separated. We are sisters without common parents. She was an only child, I was an only child for my 1st 10 years. My sister Beckie is 10.5 years younger than me and has a great deal of room for improvement in the sister business. Barbara is PERFECT (well you know, practically).
When we met, we found at least 6 things in common. We were both the zodiac sign of Cancer, born 20 days apart in 1960. Her father was born on 2/26 exactly 10 years after my father was born on 2/26 in the 20s. Our mother's both smoked like chimneys (my Dad did too). We both loved dogs. We both loved men. We had lots of stuff in common that I can't recall but it was like WOW, are we really sisters that were separated at birth or just cosmicly linked somehow. It's like finding the perfect pair of shoes... they were meant for you. That's me and Barbara. We were meant to be friends and we have been since 1989... 19 years and counting.
Thanks for being my BFF Barbara! I'm looking forward to turning 50 in a couple of years. Hopefully we can find a place that we both want to visit... and celebrate our 50th birthdays together again. It might be Burning Man, it might be Canada or UP Michigan... wherever it is, we'll be there together.

The Perfect Birthday! Thanks Honey!

2008-07-12T21:53:00.005-05:00

I've know for quite a few years that my husband is a "keeper", but this week he has outdone himself. I've been dined and pampered and treated like a princess. His presents were terrific surprises. Hand-crafted chocolates from the chocolatier in Addison - J. Dorian. A beautiful butterfly necklace from James Avery. The mani-pedi gift certificate that I requested. And the Coach wallet from the factory outlet store in Allen (that I picked up!)

Tonight was the piece d'resistance! We dined at Roy's, which is always a treat. I got permission for a glass of wine from my doctor (meds do interact with alcohol)... and had a lovely flute of Perrier Jouet Champagne from France. It was very very dry champagne but went exquisitely with the salad (pears, chevre and arugula). We started with a complementary appetizer. The menu wished me happy birthday personally and the table was strewn with Happy Birthday confetti. C had the lobster pot stickers and I had the shrimp salad rolls (like a Vietnamese spring roll). For the salad course, he had a Maui Wowie salad with Maui onions. Entrees arrived after a decorous space and my salmon with Gorgonzola was lovely served with some asparagus and new potatoes. YUM! C ordered Mahi mahi encrusted with macadamia nuts. Dessert was orgasmic! Chocolate lava souffle with raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. Plus we had two $20 gift cards courtesy of the restaurant to get a good discount on our meal. Plus de meme chose. I don't remember what that means, but it sounds great! Viva le Roy's! Viva le CB! and long live my husband... the dearest in all the land to me.

Reflections on white privilege

2008-07-06T08:23:00.007-05:00

The linked article on Salon is about a website, called Stuff White People Like. Sounds like a sociology book for non-white people. In NOW-speak, talking about whiteness was always linked with acknowledging our unspoken, unacknowledged state of being (if white) called white privilege.

What's white privilege? Well it's the things you take for granted. No unlawful search and seizure when driving through the wrong suburb. Plano used to be like that. See a beat up old car pulled to the side of the road with a police person talking to the non-white (Hispanic, black) driver... just checking to see why they are OUT OF PLACE, because of course Plano has no poor people. Oh wait, that part over the highway...EAST Plano, it might have a FEW poor people, but we do have a QUOTA don't we? And of course no one is ever homeless, abused or hungry in Plano since it's a paradise. OK, what have I been smoking?

There are ACTUALLY people in Plano who think those thoughts! It was pretty alarming to me when I moved here almost 20 years ago. I told people that I moved to Great White America. Coming from San Antonio, the lack of diversity, the lack of anyone of color (other than pale or tanned white people) was a utter SHOCK to me. I had always lived in a place that was diverse. There was a Mexican restaurant 1 block from my childhood home. Hispanic people lived across the street. My friends in school had been white, Hispanic, African-American, Native-American and Asian. PLANO was a shock to my culture radar.

Even in college, at the elite Trinity University, we were not all white... just mostly. Mostly upper middle to upper class, white kids of privilege. I learned a lot about myself and others while at Trinity University. Some of my prejudices and biases were challenged and others were formed. I learned that there are 18 year-olds that drive Jaguars. And there are also others that take the bus because they don't have a car. Both were students at Trinity. One of them was me... living at home my freshman year and riding the West Ave. & Hildebrand bus routes to Trinity's NW corner by the Ewing Halsell building. The building that became home away from home for a Computer Science major.

I met people of different religions and cultures at Trinity. My first close Jewish friend became my 1st boyfriend, after he hit his roommate over me... on an ROTC field trip to Colorado Springs (Dec 1978). Randy was my 1st boyfriend and we played platonic games of kissing and cuddling, listening to Michael Franks sing Popsicle Toes on the (LP) stereo. He introduced me to bagels with cream cheese, the San Antonio Fiesta Israeli festival at a local synagogue... and must more. He was probably my 2nd best friend that was a guy... Ricardo Vela at Edison was my 1st guy best friend in high school. Randy wrote me over the summer and slowly unfolded his desire for his best friend (guy) in Miami. He was discovering that he was gay and came out to me before anyone else. I wasn't too thrilled to loose my 1st boyfriend, but at least it wasn't to another girl... We stayed friends through Trinity and beyond. Now we don't talk much, but he knows where to find me, and I him... he's a bigwig real estate developer in Portland Oregon now. Still guy, still alive!

Some other differences I learned about at Trinity happened in my Sociology 101 class. Dr. Briseno wanted to shock us. He called the class project a "sociological tour of San Antonio". We were to visit certain neighborhoods and put our new eyes that had been reading sociology to work on these places... and report back. I got paired up with another San Antonio girl, Chris. She had a car and I didn't so it worked out.

We started by driving across Hildebrand street into another world. Olmos Park Texas, is OLD money, understated money, very wealthy people. We observed the smaller homes on the edge (formerly a black neighborhood for the servants of the upper crust residents of Olmos Park). We observed the houses, the yards, the people walking, biking, lounging and driving around the beautiful pristine neighborhood. It looked like crime and pollution/trash had taken a holiday... Because like Plano, Olmos Park didn't look like a city for the most part, it looked like a park.

The other neighborhood we visited was on the near west or east side of San Antonio... I don't recall the exact neighborhood, it was either black majority or Hispanic majority but it was poor. Very Poor! We saw cardboard shanties that people actually lived in. (At that point in my life, I didn't know what homelessness was... can you imagine?) We saw houses with yards full of trash and old cars and other junk. We saw mangy dogs, scruffy cats and neglected children roaming. We locked the doors of our car and got the heck out of Dodge!

Both extremes shocked me. A child of San Antonio, I had grown up in a middle class, probably working class actually, neighborhood. All the kids had enough to eat, OK clothes, mom & dad living at home usually, siblings, one or two cars, one or two bathroom, two or three bedroom simple ranch or bungalow style houses (one story), no pools except on certain more upscale streets, "trash" trees like the mesquites with thorns in our yard. I thought I was normal... average.

I learned at Trinity that my family wasn't average, it was working class / poor. My father never made more than $25,000 while I was in college. I was making that salary when I had been out of Trinity about 3 years. I think I learned about white privilege and also about class-ism and a few other -isms at Trinity. That's the price of a college education for a scholarship kids like me. Moving out of your comfort zone... expanding your horizons... learning about change and changing. Isn't that what college is all about?

She Shopped Until I Dropped!

2008-06-30T21:53:00.006-05:00

I did a favor for a friend and went shopping with her sister. Her sister lives in China... the province that had the earthquake. My friend Lei just had a baby girl Caroline a few weeks ago. Her parents had arrived for their first visit to the United States the previous day! Caroline was 16 days early. Lei & Carl are proud parents. Lei's sister Gia came this past week for a 3 week stay. The grandparents are here on a six month tourist visa so they will be here until the end of November 2008.

I did a favor for Lei and took her deprived fashion conscious sister shopping... until I dropped! (almost) Lei & Carl & Charlie & Caroline live in North Frisco, so I started over from East Plano around 12:30 pm to reach their house by 1 pm (our preset time for our shopping expedition). I figured it would be a couple of hours at the factory outlet. NOPE! Four hours later, we finished up when the stores closed at 6pm. Thank heaven for A/C, water bottles and walking shoes. Cell phones and short too. Forgot the sun screen! Oops! I had a small pink glow after all that walking outside between the stores. ;-)

The Allen Outlet Mall is a big place! We parked near two of her destinations... "Tommy" (Hilfiger) and Polo (Ralph Lauren). In between we stopped in Guess, Calvin Klein, Ann Klein and a few more I can't remember. I took frequent breaks in chairs as they were available... and kept my spending to a minimum. $15 designer "Tommy" flip-flops. A $30 beautiful Ann Klein watch. Then I steered her to my favorite shoe store - Cole Hahn. Not to her taste... too old. But I got a terrific deal on some summer mule loafers in tan/taupe suede. Only when it's not raining will those shoes tread pavement. No plus size clothes at the outlet except at Liz Claiborne.

We got back into the HOT car and drove across the parking lot towards BCBG & Coach. Three or four more destinations. I got a new black wallet from Coach as my birthday present from C. (I told him later!) BCBG was fasinating and took at least an hour. Very hip and young, nothing near my size, or that of anyone above a size 10 probably. Very pretty chic stuff. Oh, BTW, she was walking around in heels... I didn't notice that until we were walking towards the Liz store.

We didn't even stop at the chocolate store. She's not into sweets. I guess that and good genes explain her being a size 4. Last of all we visited one of my favorite stores Liz Claiborne. I found a new black fall jacket with hood ($20 originally $200). My friend's sister Gia probably spent $750 easily on clothes, clothes and more clothes, plus a couple watches. She says that designer clothes made in China are less expensive here in America, especially at the outlet. Plus the girl loves her some fashion! She got presents for several friends too. But the lioness' share was all for Gia. I would too if I were 25, size 4 and looked like her. She's married and trying to have her 1st baby. It's their dream she said.

We had no trouble communicating. Shopping is the UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE for women of all nations. Her English is OK... no long conversations about culture, Just easy short sentences. If it got difficult, I was to call her sister. I only had to call once... she didn't understand why the clerk had to take the watch to the register so that we could checkout... after standing in line. I guess they don't steal watches in China.

When I took her home to Frisco, she was SO appreciative. I was invited in and fed cake and cantaloupe plus a large glass of water. A bag of home grown basil, rosemary and other herbs was waiting for me to bring home to C for cooking this week.

Everyone in the Frisco home got to take naps while we were gone except Lei. Her three year old is attached to her by the hip (sort of) and is jealous of all the attention paid to the new baby. So he doesn't let her rest much. She said he's DEFINITELY going to nursery school (3 1/2 days per week) starting in the Fall. She's going back to school to complete her PhD while her mother is here and is minding the baby. Her father is out digging in the backyard. They don't have much grass, just a medium sized garden in the backyard... full of vegetables, roses, flowers and herbs. It smells GOOD.

I did a favor for a friend and made a new one. Guess who's been invited to visit China and have her own personal tour guide? WOO HOO!