Smells, Tastes and Other Memories of Summer

The smell of a chlorine pool and Coppertone

Cold watermelon at a picnic

catching fireflies in mayonnaise jars with holes punched in the lid and watching them light up the jar

The sounds of kids playing hide and seek until after dark or 9:30, whichever came first

Popsicles on the back porch

The sound of the ice cream freezer making homemade peach ice cream

The juice of fresh peaches running down my chin.

Trip to the Beach

I promised Audrey a trip to the beach, but wanted to do something a little different than what we did last year with Galveston and Bolivar beaches. They are good beaches to be so close to home, but they aren't the best beaches to experience. So, I decided to try Port Aransas - there would be places that we could sightsee and there would be a good beach to play on - and hopefully it would be pretty clean.

So Audrey and I headed for Port A on Monday. We drove down Highway 35 instead of going into Houston and taking 59 down. I thought maybe Audrey would enjoy seeing the water sooner. She was really great on the drive down - only asking a couple of times "how much further" Of course it helped that we made a rest stop at Dairy Queen. DQ's are a new experience for Audrey.

As we drove into Port Aransas, the GPS decided to take us on a tour of town to get to the hotel. As we were driving down the street, we saw Woody's, where I knew they booked dolphin trips. So we pulled in to see if they were taking any tours out. As a matter of fact, there was a tour leaving in about 30 minutes, so we hung out. For entertainment, there was a heron sitting on the pier that was obviously pretty tame since he just sat there and posed for pics. Later when we went down to the boat, there he was again. We learned that he was called Harry the Heron. Audrey enjoyed taking pics of him - I had lent her my point & shoot to use on our "vacation".

We took off and did see some dolphins, but the fog rolled in and we only stayed out for about an hour. Audrey really enjoyed playing with the touch tank that they had set up on the boat - she really wasn't all that impressed with the dolphins, unlike Aunt Maggie. Anyway, there was a hermit crab, some shrimp, a starfish and some other crabs.

After checking in, we went to eat at a Mexican Food restaurant - Audrey even picked! And then we drove down to the beach, and went exploring. Audrey had fun picking up seashells and she was fascinated with all the sand dollars.

We went to the beach the next morning. Audrey had a blast!!! We stopped to get a cooler and some snacks, plus a pail and shovel. The day was mostly cloudy, so we were able to stay at the beach for several hours before we both got burned. And yes, I did put sunscreen on both of us, but managed to miss spots on both of us.

There was quite a bit of seaweed on the beach - a problem evidently common to all Texas beaches. At first Audrey was really funny about not wanting to walk on the seaweed, even with her flip-flops on. But by the end of the time at the beach, she was slinging the seaweed out of her way.

In the afternoon, we drove down to Corpus Christi to see the Aquarium. I couldn't convince her that she wanted to go to a baseball game which would have really been easy to do since the stadium was so close to the aquarium. While at the aquarium, we saw a really great dolphin show, and they had a touch tank where we could touch stingrays and a small shark. And then we had to stop at a tacky souvenir shop. First, I had to explain what tacky souvenirs are - but you can't go to a beach town without going to at least one shop. Audrey got a whole sand dollar for her souvenir.

On the way back, we ate seafood - OK, Aunt Maggie ate seafood and Audrey ate chicken tenders. We drove around a little while - just to see what was there. And that was our trip to the beach!

The Weekend Before...

I flew to Atlanta on Friday, April 4. When I originally booked my flights, I thought Kathy was going to be in town so I would be able to spend time with her as well. She and Dag left the day before for a trip to Monaco, Shanghai and Mumbai - halfway around the world and back. But she let me use the house since David and Kristine don't have a guest room set up (5 bedrooms and no guest room -hmmmm).

I got to Atlanta Friday afternoon just about the time Audrey got out of school. So we had a good time visiting. Then Saturday, we went shopping to get Audrey some new things for the trip, including a new swimsuit. Kristine and I got manicures and pedicures, and we let Audrey get her toe nails painted - a really pretty pale pink that was barely noticeable. She is only 8 after all.

Sunday, Audrey and I flew back to "Texas" - she always says Texas instead of Houston. As we were on final approach, we flew past the San Jacinto Monument. I pointed the monument out to her, and her reply was "Oh, the Washington Monument!" Well, no, it has a star on top and is actually a little taller. So then I had to explain why the monument was there and what was the significance of the Battle at the San Jacinto River in Texas history. She really was interested and asked all kinds of questions.

We got to Grandy's house and Audrey immediately wanted to check out Grandy's back yard and see all the flowers. She began playing in the bird bath, building leaf and pecan shell boats to float in the bird bath - ahhhh the simple pleasures!

Bad Maggie!!!!

It's been over 2 months since I last blogged - I can't believe it! And I'm the one that's got the journal prompt chat every 2 weeks?!?!?!?!

I guess I get back into the groove of blogging. So I will begin a series of blogs about when Audrey came for Spring Break (and yes, that was a month ago - again Bad, Aunt Maggie!!!)

When I Was 9

Dear Audrey,

Your mother was born February 27. I turned 9 on March 15, just 16 days later. To me, she was my real live baby doll. Of course, being the oldest and being 9, I thought I was old enough to be the little mother. Mom let me change diapers - back in those days there weren't Pampers or Huggies. I remember having rinse the dirty diaper in the toilet and I accidentally flushed one down the toilet.

We moved to the house in Pearland in April - your Mommy was just 6 weeks old. I remember helping to keep her occupied - she would sleep in her infant seat in a corner in the dining room while Mom cleaned the kitchen and put down shelf paper before the move.

The neighborhood was a new one and they were constantly tying in new houses to the public water system and having to flush the pipes. As a result we had a lot of rust in the water. Mary Lee got colic really bad from the water, and it seemed like it was the worst right as Mom was trying to get dinner on the table. Of course, I was old enough that I could hold Mary Lee and tryi to comfort her, under Mom's direction of course. (You had colic really bad when you were about 3-4 weeks old, but your favorite time to scream and cry was around midnight to about 2 in the morning - poor baby, you had a hard time of it.)

When I was 9 I had to change schools for the second time. I was able to finish out 3rd Grade at my old school because Mom would drive me in the morning, then turn around and drive Kathy to Kindergarten at lunchtime, then turn around and pick us both up in the afternoon. That was 3 trips into Houston every day for almost 2 months. But that fall, I started 4th Grade in a new school. Unfortunately, none of the kids that I had become friends with in the neighborhood were in my grade, so I didn't know anyone. I soon made friends at school, but I still couldn't wait to get home so that I could play with Mary Lee. My new friends thought it was really cool that I had a baby sister

She was my real live baby doll, and she will always be my baby doll in my memory, my baby sister. I miss her.

Love,
Aunt Maggie

High School

Dear Audrey,

Most of my high school memories are around being in Band. I started Band when I was in 6th Grade, playing the clarinet. At the time, all my friends were doing something, Band or Choir, or sports. Well, I couldn't sing and I kept trying out for the Girl's Volleyball team, but wasn't good enough - so Band was it.

We had Marching Band in the fall and Symphonic Band in the spring. We started Marching Band practice around the first of August. Freshmen went for several hours in the morning for a week - learning to march. And we had rehearsals Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evening during the weeks before school started. We would rehearse music, then we would go out and march. We were what was known as a military style of band, with 6 to 5 stride vs. the 8 to 5 stride of "show bands". The stride was how many steps were in 5 yards, so 6 to 5 meant a 30" stride. For a long time afterward, I had a 30" stride - now it's much shorter. Marching Band was brutal during August because of the heat.

My freshman year, I didn't march at halftime, but was one of the sidelines team. Our job was to make sure the yard markers were up and in the correct spot, and then to help get the larger instruments off the field after the show. We did play in the stands with the band, but there were more people in Band than the director wanted to march with - it had to be symmetrical since we were a military style band, and that meant marching in a block.

For the other 3 years I did march every football game except for one. I sprained my ankle on a Friday and couldn't put any weight on the ankle for 48 hours. The band director wouldn't even let me go to the game since it was a couple of weeks until Marching Contest and he wanted me healthy for that.

My best friends in High School were also in Band. Vicky and I both played clarinet; Audrey started out on clarinet but switched to bassoon in 8th Grade; and Susan played flute and oboe. We roomed together on band trips for all 4 years, we hung out together, and we had a lot of classes together, especially Vicky and I. Vicky and I even shared the same last name, although we weren't related.

I took almost all Accelerated classes in High School. That would be equivalent to AP classes now. I took 4 years of Math - Algebra I and II, Geometry and Analytical Geometry. Unfortunately, my school didn't offer pre-Calculus, which kind of put me at a disadvantage in college, but I loved Math. In fact, I was Who's Who in Math my senior year. It was a toss-up whether I was going to get Math or Science, but since I didn't take Biology II, another guy got that award. I did take Biology I, Chemistry I and II and Physics in High School - and I really loved the Physical Sciences - so much so, I majored in Chemistry in college. I also took 4 years (plus 1 quarter) of Literature and English, 4 years of Social Studies, a year of Spanish (Spanish II because I had 2 years of Spanish in Jr. High), Driver's Ed, Homemaking, Band of course - and I even took a year of PE - even though Marching Band counted for my PE requirement. I wanted to take tennis and that's the only way I could.

Because of the time commitment with Band, I wasn't in as many outside organizations as I had been in my younger life. I had been in Girl Scouts through 7th Grade, I had been in 4H for a year - more for the homemaking activities, I had been in Rainbow Girls and stayed in that my freshman year and maybe my sophomore year. But it was hard with Band being 1 or 2 nights a week, at least during marching season. I was in Future Teachers of America (FTA) in High School. And I did join Explorer Scouts my senior year - it was a medical branch of Explorer Scouts. I was a teacher's aide for 2 years and Office Assistant my senior year. So I kept full schedules all 4 years. I was also active in UMYF and Youth Choir at my church. Part of that involved leading the 8:30 service at church and participating in fundraisers and mission trips during the summers.

Again, because of Band, I didn't have a lot of after school jobs. I worked at the Bookstore at church for a couple hours after work for about a year. I would do data entry at the machine shop where Mom worked every once in a while. And I tutored and babysat. I did work at an pizza place for one summer and part of one school year - until they wanted me to work on a Friday night and I had a football game. I got a job after my senior year working at Dairy Queen, but right after I started there, Daddy was able to get me a job where he worked, doing clerical work. So I worked at Fisk Electric during the week and at Dairy Queen weekends and evenings until I went to college.

One of my high school highlights was being chosen to attend CloseUp my senior year. CloseUp is a week long program in Washington, DC, where students get the opportunity to observe the U.S. government up close (hence the name). I went with 7 or 8 students from my school, but there were over 200 students form the Houston area there at the same time.

I had a steady boyfriend, Rusty Bachtel, my junior and senior years. We started dating right around Halloween. It was nice having a steady - I definitely had a date for prom both years, plus he was in Band as well - so we had that in common as well. We did share several classes. I thought he was really cool and the love of my life - and that lasted until I went away to college and I continued to grow up and he wanted someone to stay at home and raise the children, like his mother. I remember him fondly, but realized with time that he wasn't the one for me.

Audrey, I hope that you are able to look back on your high school years with fondness. I hope you have the friendships and the activities to make it a fun time - not just something to get through until you become an adult.

Love,
Aunt Maggie

My Childhood

The third challenge is to scrap about ourselves with at least half the page being journaling. Well, the journaling part is not so hard for me, but the talking about part is harder. I've decided that since Audrey seems interested in what it was like when we were growing up, that I would write a letter to her about my childhood. So here goes:

Dear Audrey,

You have asked questions about what it was like growing up. I know you usually are asking in reference to what it was like for your Mommy, but this letter will be more about what it was like for me.

I'm the oldest, so some of my earliest memories were when Kathy was a baby. We lived in a house in Houston. The house was on a short street that curved into another street. We were the third house on a 3 street house. I had a several friends that I played with on the 2 streets. There was Bob Allen that lived in the house on the corner. There was Janice Williamson that lived 2 doors down the other way. There were twin boys, Brett and Bart - I can't remember if they lived between us and the Williamson's, or further down. Then a couple of houses down was Lana Lee. We would play in each other's driveways or in the yards. I remember we had a large shade tree in our front yard, but there was enough room that we played baseball as well.

Our house growing up was a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath house with a 1 car garage. You walked in the front door and there was a brick planter box that separated the doorway from the living room. The living room was to the left and the doorway to the hall was on the right. In the living room was a sofa that flattened out into a bed - you lifted the bottom and the back fell down then you flattened the seat back down, like a futon. There was also Daddy's platform rocker tucked in next to the planter. There was a console TV under the front windows. Over against the far wall was the maple table that's in Mom's breakfast room now. I remember a large brass tray on the wall above the table and some other brass sconces or something as well. Mom used to sell for World Gift, I think it was a home show type business. Between the sofa and the dining table was a doorway into the kitchen and breakfast nook. I seem to remember another planter box that separated the breakfast nook from the kitchen area. There was a door to the garage off the breakfast area, and a door into the backyard between the breakfast nook and the kitchen. The kitchen was like a galley style with a little L on the end closest to the breakfast nook. The counters were ceramic tile. The sink was on the back wall along with all the cabinets/counters and the pantry, stove and refrigerator were on the opposite wall. At the far end of the kitchen was a door into the hall. Going into the hall, to the left was a Hollywood bath, straight ahead was Mom and Dad's bedroom. Turning right in the hall then going down were the other 2 bedrooms. The middle room was mine and Kathy's and the other room was the guest room. I remember moving into the front bedroom for just a short period of time before we moved to Pearland. The house wasn't centrally air-conditioned, but there was an attic fan in the hall and we had window units in parts of the house.

I was sick a lot when I was really little. I had kidney and bladder problems. I remember being in the hospital a lot when I was 3 or 4 years old, and had surgery when I was 5 or 6. I also had to have my tonsils out, so I spent a lot of time at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. Somewhere in there, I also broke my collarbone. I remember being in a body cast that came down like a short sleeve on the right side and then angling across to my under my left arm. The whole thing went down to my waist - I was wearing a plaster, one-sleeved shirt for several weeks. No one knew for sure how I broke it, Mom thinks I may have fallen off my tricycle. I just remember waking up from a nap, crying because it hurt. I remember trying to color, using my left hand because I couldn't use my right arm much.

Kathy was almost 3 years younger than me, and wanted to do everything that I did. I remember Mom dressed us either alike or in coordinating outfits. I remember red dresses with white lace and buttons down the front. Mom and Dad were going to let me stay up later or stop taking naps, but Kathy wanted to stay up as well - so I still had to go to bed earlier and take naps up until I went to school fulltime.

OK, enough for now - I will be making this a multi-part letter and may rearrange things as I think of new things.

ADSR

I'm participating in the Amazing Digiscrapping Race #3 (ADSR3) with my partner, Fran. Fran is one of my fellow CT members at both DSAG and NDISB. Over the last several months, Fran and I have discovered a lot of things in common - mostly we both act a little crazy at times, and we both try to make people welcome at our sites, and try to act as ambassadors and good CT members (although I haven't been as good as Fran lately - I think I hit a bit of a scrapping slump and not doing as much as I can).

Anyway, we are now starting Week 2 of the 6 week challenge. Since Fran and I both are CT members, we aren't eligible for the Grand Prize, but there are some pretty nice prizes for completing each challenge.

The first challenge was to use a template and scrap about one of our favorite scrapping subjects. Of course, my subject was Audrey, looking at how she's grown through the years:

The second challenge was to scrap a layout with our partner, each of us taking a half. Well, Fran and I got on Hello and started throwing out ideas. Fran's first idea was to split the page vertically with each of us in profile looking toward each side and journaling and whatever on each side. Well before we could even get started, someone had already done that. So I suggested that we use pics of us with our subjects from Challenge 1 - me with Audrey and Fran with her grandkids. Fran didn't have any pics that she liked with her grandkids. I don't remember why, but she threw out some pics of her dressed as a clown. I don't have any of me in Halloween costumes scanned (I'm not sure where those pics even are), but I had one of my days when I used to go "Kicker" dancing - with the jeans and belt buckle and all. We kept throwing out older photos until both of us threw out pics from the 80's where we both had big glasses and wing hairstyles. That was it!!!! Long Lost Twins:

My Mortality

Today is Ash Wednesday - it's a day of reflection of one's mortality and penitance in the Protestant Church as the start of the Lenten season. The imposition of ashes represent mortality (Ashes to ashes; dust to dust - From The Common Book of Prayer based on Gensis 3:19). Ponder your own mortality.

I've been hearing too many instances of people dying quickly lately. And it's gotten me to think about my mortality. Will I have any regrets? Will I leave things undone? Will I leave a mess behind or will I be able to have the opportunity to tie up the loose ends.

Tim McGraw has a song - Live Like You Were Dying - that describes a man that is terminal and how he is living his life after the news - and he went skydiving, Rocky Mountain climbing, 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu.

And now there is a new movie out that I want to see - The Bucket List - a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket. I need to develop my Bucket List.

My Sacrifice for Lent

And first off, no, I'm not Catholic. But I do try to do something for Lent. I think it shows a willingness to follow Christ as he prepared for His ultimate sacrifice.

I have been eating way too much crap lately. I feel like I have to have sugar every day. I'm eating way too much fried foods and too many doughnuts. So for Lent, I'm giving up french fries and doughnuts/breakfast junk.

And I'm going to try to eat better overall during Lent. There are 40 days in Lent, not counting Sundays - that should be enough time to get back in a better eating pattern that I can continue and try to get back being healthier over all.

Blog A Day

OK, I've blown the blog a day thing. It had been a week since I last blogged. I'm getting better at writing. I just don't know if I have enough to say to blog every day. As it is, I know that people aren't really interested in the mundane in my life. Heck, I don't have a "following", so this blog is primarily for me - to record my thoughts and things that I'm doing -- so that I can remember. Occasionally, I go back and read my older posts and I'm glad that I do have written down what I have - I just need to do better - and do it for me!!!

5 Things Around My Computer

List 5 things around my computer - why are they important and what do they say about you?

1) Camera - I usually have one or the other cameras nearby as I'm offloading photos into my laptop. I have been trying to take more pics and improve my skills, and transferring them to the laptop is part of the process.

2) Card Reader - My 2 cameras have different size cards. The P&S uses an SD card and the DSLR uses the Flash Card II. My laptop can read SD cards directly, but not FC. So I have a card reader - but my card reader can read most any format, just in case I ever have a 3rd type of media - you never know. And I had to go buy a new card reader this week because I couldn't find my other one. And I could have gotten one that reads just FC, but no, I had to get one that reads all media. I couldn't believe how lost I felt when I couldn't see the pics I took of Avery. What does that say about me?

3) EHD - Actually I have 3 EHDs around my laptop - the 2 portable ones and the more permanent one. I need to find good homes for them all - they are just laying around the recliner. But they are (at least the one I'm currently using) are my lifeblood - they have most all of my digital pics and all of my layouts (I'm still missing a couple from the hard disk crash 2 years ago :( ). That may be one reason I have so many - but I need to get organized in how I use them for back up. I'm still trying to finish my online backup - then I can worry about on-site backup. Yes, I'm getting anal about it, but I have lost too many pics over the years (mostly the paper kind and that upsets me because at this point they are irreplaceable and chronicle so much of my adult life. I just wish I had been better about taking AND developing pics prior to digital). Notice a recurring theme here? It's about the pics and the memories they represent.

4) Lamp - I have a floor lamp by the recliner. I have to have good light to work. It's that age thing - if I have good light, in most cases, I don't need the cheaters - the reading glasses.

5) TV Remote - Hey, I have to have noise. I may not actually watch TV when I'm actively scrapping, but I have the background - and I do look up from time to time (most shows, that's all it takes). And having control of the remote means I get to watch what I want to, and don't all of a sudden have to put up with the channel surfing. Thank goodness for more than one TV in the house.

My Second "Seven Wonders" Layout

I finished my second "Seven Wonders" layout tonight. I decided that I won't necessarily use the same or even similar kits, but that I would tie the layouts together with the title work - it's all going to be same font, same angle, on each layout.

My Kit Colors

OK - I chose these colors to be the colors of my kit I'm making in the Creating Papers and Elements class. Looking pretty good, huh!

Started New Class

I'm taking a new class at www.dsaguild.com. It's Creating Elements in PS. I've taken a similar class in PSP, but I think I really will enjoy this class since Mary is teaching it. I'm trying to settle on a color palette so that when I'm done with the class, I'll have a cohesive kit. I just about have it narrowed down - and it wasn't even my first choice. I'll post my final choice tomorrow.

Houston Marathon

Today was the Houston Marathon. I volunteered to work as a ham radio operator. This meant getting up at 3:30 to be downtown for check-in. Then work my way to my assignment at a water station. I was on station by 5:15 or so. Of course, the race didn't start until 7:00. But we were next to a coffee house that opened at 6:00. This meant we had restroom facilities and snacks, including hot chocolate.

I got some pictures of the elite half-marathoners as they came past. And I meant to take pics of the "masses", but I forgot. We were where we had runners/walkers going in both directions - north and south on Montrose. The half-marathoners turned around about a mile south of us.

I was done by 10:30 and came home for a nap.

But it got me thinking - do I want to attempt one more half? I know I can do the distance, if the knees let me.

Thunderstorms

Tonight we had a thunderstorm roll through. It was interesting to watch the line of clouds move across the sky. I just hope it keeps rolling right on through as the Houston Marathon is tomorrow. I know from experience that going for long distances in wet running shoes is not comfortable. I hope that the weather is great for them tomorrow - and for me. I'm volunteering as a ham radio operator at one of the water stations. Who knows, maybe next year I'll be back out there walking.

Did It To Myself Again

I applied for a CT and then was really hurt when I didn't get a position, not even a guest position. I think what really upset me is this was one of the designers that I used to CT for, I really love her stuff and really promoted her on forums such as DST and MSA.

Oh well, someday I will learn to not do this to myself.

Seven Wonders In My Life - P. 2

I've created a layout from one of my seven wonders from yesterday's post. I'm thinking that I will be creating a page for each of the seven wonders in my life... ok, the 8 wonders in my life!!!

Credits: Madeleine Page Kit by NinaScraps, Cursive Metal Font by Birgit Kerr

Seven Wonders of My Life...

The Seven Wonders Of My Life

1) My faith and belief that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and that God loves me – even with all the stuff that has gone on with my family, my faith remains. And the knowledge that someday I will see my sister and father again brings me peace.
2) Audrey – How can one little girl that isn’t even my child bring so much love and fulfillment to my life? She is definitely a source of wonder and amazement to me.
3) My sisters – we grew up to be friends as well as sisters. Mary was my best friend, and she was 9 years younger than me. For one thing, she kept me young.
4) My parents – they were married for 47 years and had a loving marriage. They gave us a great upbringing and provided a sound foundation for me to build my life on.
5) My dogs – they love me unconditionally. Yes, they are aggravating at times, but when one comes up and puts it’s snout in my lap and looks at me with those puppy dog eyes – ahhhhh! And they keep me entertained.
6) My extended family – my mom’s brothers and sister and their families have been mainstays in my entire life. They are there for one another and they are fun to be around. Yes, there are squabbles and spats, but they truly love one another and the extended family.
7) The fact that I can have friends from all over the world and can keep up with them through the miracles of modern technology; the internet, e-mail, cell phones, etc.
8) The fact that I’m able to travel freely to just about anywhere I would want to go, and the fact that I can pretty easily get there.

Ok, so that was 8 – shoot me!!!