Overlooking Lake LBJI finally made it! After two and a half months of packing, moving day was June 8th. My son Matthew and his good friend and neighbor, Chris, drove to Ballinger the night before to assist me with last minute "guy things" like disconnecting appliances and packing the computer and heavy items I couldn't manage alone. After a fun night of good Mexican food at Alejandra's, a little beer and wine, and lots of good conversation and laughter, we called it a night and got up early the next morning, planning to take our time finishing the packing. Were we ever surprised when the movers showed up an hour earlier than we expected! After about two and a half hours of steady work, the guys had it all loaded, and we followed the moving truck in a caravan to my "new" little 50s style house in Burnet. My dear friend, Jane, was waiting for us with food and cold drinks!
Jane and Joe picked out the perfect little three bedroom house for me! Jane is not happy at all with some of the colors the previous owner chose -- starting with the exterior, which she calls "baby poop yellow"! I told her that I think I can live with that for awhile. The bathrooms are painted in what I describe as puce...Jane calls the color "puke". You can tell the sense of humor this lady possesses. She has been over frequently the past couple of months to help me settle in. Her energy level is amazing! She's landscaping the back yard with some wonderful easy care, drought resistant plants to try to hide the neighbors' yard on one side of me. As she's been working on the yard, I have made myself at home inside the house. It suits me to a "T", and I look forward to many happy years here.
The house has lots of trees surrounding it, but unfortunately they are deciduous. We will eventually have more evergreen plants and shrubs if Jane has her way. She's already put in some small palm trees in the back yard. There are big pecan trees in the front and back yards. Across the street there is a magnificent old oak tree that I will soon photograph up close. Then there's the view from my breakfast table where I like to sit and read, watch the birds, or just daydream.
I'm finding that I like to do that a lot lately. The months of preparing, packing, and planning this move; and then, the grueling work of unpacking over 200 boxes and making everything "work" in my new home left me drained of energy to do much other than the absolute necessities of daily chores! Besides, there is the record heat wave and drought this part of Texas has been suffering! It's not conducive to a lot of outdoor activities. I am looking forward to cool fall weather to familiarize myself with the beauty of the hill country and the historic little town of Burnet as well as the surrounding towns. There will be lots of photo ops. In the meantime, as Emerson said, "..the mornings are too precious to be out and about", so I take advantage of the time to soak up nature from my window and catch up on some reading.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The end of school in May presented some special achievements by a couple of my grandchildren.
Hannah, who had her ninth birthday in June, had the good fortune to land one of the five openings at the Dallas School for the Gifted and Talented. She scored the highest marks in the third grade classes at her school this past year. She will remain in the school through the eighth grade, at which time she will be eligible for entrance into the Dallas Gifted and Talented High School which is rated the number one high school in the United States. As you can see, she is also a real beauty. Her dad, Craig, tells me she has a good singing voice, too. She may follow in her big brother Cameron's footsteps. 
This is my grandson Tanner receiving his award as spelling bee champion at his school in Amarillo. He also made perfect scores (100 on math, reading, and writing) on the TAKS test. This summer he is taking tennis lessons, and appears to be extremely talented in that area, too. This he gets from his Papaw Bob, who played on the tennis team in high school. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I checked in with the oldest two of my grandchildren to see how their summer has been going. 
Audrey (Tanner's big sis), who lives in Amarillo and attends SMU, decided to do some serious studying this summer. Here's what she wrote:
She continues: "As for next year, the hard work continues. I'll be taking Physics II, Calc II, Bio I, Environmental Science Seminar, and Animal Rights. The science classes are requirements for my major, Environmental Science. I've taken two philosophy classes since my start at SMU and fell in love with the subject; so, I decided to make it my minor! (The animal rights class is actually a philosophy class)! I made a big step last semester in deciding that I want to go to law school to be an animal law attorney. I am confident this is a good decision, as my passion for animals and will to defend them has increased exponentially throughout the past six years of my life."
WAY TO GO, AUDREY! It is such a joy to see this young woman grow up into such a remarkable human being. This was a "preemie" baby who weighed less than 4 pounds (that's a sack of sugar!) when they brought her home from the hospital nineteen years ago. She had a huge personality even then! Those big eyes that followed me everywhere made me suspect she is a very old soul.
Audrey has more to say about the animal rights group she belongs to that I will share in future posts.
Cameron, who attends LSU, was home for the summer and was overjoyed at getting to spend so much time with sweet Sarah, who will attend college this fall in a different state from his. He spent as much time with her as possible, and performed with a community theater group one weekend. Mostly, he worked at the School for the Deaf in Dallas. Here's what he had to say about his employment:
"Instead of your run-of-the-mill retail job people my age usually get, I've been blessed to have a job working as a part-time preschool teacher. Getting to spend time with 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds every day is beyond enriching. The kids bring me to life, and help me become more lighthearted. Not only that, but they make me shape up my act because I know that anything I say or do can and will affect them in some manner. Most of all, they have a lot of love to give. So, though it hasn't been one of the most eventful summers for me (no vacations, no big activities), it's been one of the most meaningful. And it'll change how I approach things for the coming school year."
(I was thinking these children were deaf, so I wrote back and asked him if he had to learn sign language.)
"Part of it is a school for the deaf, but the deaf kids aren't there during the summer. Essentially, it is the UT Southwestern Medical Center daycare... so they're the kids of the employees there. The kids are a blast. Working with them keeps me in touch with my own childhood, and they keep me aware that I am a role model for them. And in all honesty, the conversations I have with little kids are by far better than the ones I have with adults. They tell it like it is... and oftentimes what they say will leave you on the floor laughing. It's really a fun job."
Cameron, you know, I'll bet those little ones are having a blast having you for their teacher this summer. Little ones just seem to gravitate to you. And I know they love you like I do!
She continues: "As for next year, the hard work continues. I'll be taking Physics II, Calc II, Bio I, Environmental Science Seminar, and Animal Rights. The science classes are requirements for my major, Environmental Science. I've taken two philosophy classes since my start at SMU and fell in love with the subject; so, I decided to make it my minor! (The animal rights class is actually a philosophy class)! I made a big step last semester in deciding that I want to go to law school to be an animal law attorney. I am confident this is a good decision, as my passion for animals and will to defend them has increased exponentially throughout the past six years of my life."
WAY TO GO, AUDREY! It is such a joy to see this young woman grow up into such a remarkable human being. This was a "preemie" baby who weighed less than 4 pounds (that's a sack of sugar!) when they brought her home from the hospital nineteen years ago. She had a huge personality even then! Those big eyes that followed me everywhere made me suspect she is a very old soul.
Audrey has more to say about the animal rights group she belongs to that I will share in future posts.
Cameron, who attends LSU, was home for the summer and was overjoyed at getting to spend so much time with sweet Sarah, who will attend college this fall in a different state from his. He spent as much time with her as possible, and performed with a community theater group one weekend. Mostly, he worked at the School for the Deaf in Dallas. Here's what he had to say about his employment:"Instead of your run-of-the-mill retail job people my age usually get, I've been blessed to have a job working as a part-time preschool teacher. Getting to spend time with 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds every day is beyond enriching. The kids bring me to life, and help me become more lighthearted. Not only that, but they make me shape up my act because I know that anything I say or do can and will affect them in some manner. Most of all, they have a lot of love to give. So, though it hasn't been one of the most eventful summers for me (no vacations, no big activities), it's been one of the most meaningful. And it'll change how I approach things for the coming school year."
(I was thinking these children were deaf, so I wrote back and asked him if he had to learn sign language.)
"Part of it is a school for the deaf, but the deaf kids aren't there during the summer. Essentially, it is the UT Southwestern Medical Center daycare... so they're the kids of the employees there. The kids are a blast. Working with them keeps me in touch with my own childhood, and they keep me aware that I am a role model for them. And in all honesty, the conversations I have with little kids are by far better than the ones I have with adults. They tell it like it is... and oftentimes what they say will leave you on the floor laughing. It's really a fun job."
Cameron, you know, I'll bet those little ones are having a blast having you for their teacher this summer. Little ones just seem to gravitate to you. And I know they love you like I do!
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LORDY! LORDY! MY "BABY'S" 40!!
Nothing can make one feel old faster than seeing the "baby" of the family turn 40 years of age! However, nothing can make one prouder than to attend a surprise birthday party for that 40-year old and have people come up to you and thank you for giving them such a man to share in their lives! This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Others told me how amazing he is, and that they consider him a "people magnet". My answer to that was that I knew that when he was two and a half years old and started tooling around the neighborhood on his tricycle, meeting all the neighbors, and coming home to tell me about it. He never met a stranger from that time on.
Matthew was totally surprised by the wonderful birthday bash his wife Amy threw for him.
His sister Carajean flew in from Amarillo, but big brother Craig was unable to make it. (He did send a text message during the party.) Friends from the Dallas area came to help him celebrate as well. The highlight of the evening was a wonderful DVD presentation Matthew and Amy's next-door neighbor made with pictures from Matthew's scrapbook of his growing up years interspersed with photos of his life with Amy and their adorable children, Travis and Kelly. Many of us had tears in our eyes at this beautiful, moving presentation complete with music. "Over the Rainbow" was so perfect for parts of it! Their friend Katy did such a superb job. (Makes me want to try it.)
(Mom, Matt, and CJ) There were many good photos and a few videos that I threatened to put on YouTube, but too many to put on this blog. Instead, you may go to my Picasa Web Album and view all the stills I took at the party:
http://picasaweb.google.com/marilyn.moragne/LORDYLORDYMATTHEWS40#
Matthew, you are a well-loved man, and we are all blessed to have you in our lives.
Nothing can make one feel old faster than seeing the "baby" of the family turn 40 years of age! However, nothing can make one prouder than to attend a surprise birthday party for that 40-year old and have people come up to you and thank you for giving them such a man to share in their lives! This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Others told me how amazing he is, and that they consider him a "people magnet". My answer to that was that I knew that when he was two and a half years old and started tooling around the neighborhood on his tricycle, meeting all the neighbors, and coming home to tell me about it. He never met a stranger from that time on.Matthew was totally surprised by the wonderful birthday bash his wife Amy threw for him.
His sister Carajean flew in from Amarillo, but big brother Craig was unable to make it. (He did send a text message during the party.) Friends from the Dallas area came to help him celebrate as well. The highlight of the evening was a wonderful DVD presentation Matthew and Amy's next-door neighbor made with pictures from Matthew's scrapbook of his growing up years interspersed with photos of his life with Amy and their adorable children, Travis and Kelly. Many of us had tears in our eyes at this beautiful, moving presentation complete with music. "Over the Rainbow" was so perfect for parts of it! Their friend Katy did such a superb job. (Makes me want to try it.)
(Mom, Matt, and CJ) There were many good photos and a few videos that I threatened to put on YouTube, but too many to put on this blog. Instead, you may go to my Picasa Web Album and view all the stills I took at the party:http://picasaweb.google.com/marilyn.moragne/LORDYLORDYMATTHEWS40#
Matthew, you are a well-loved man, and we are all blessed to have you in our lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has been a lengthy blog post, but I had so much joy in my heart I just had to share it all. My life is wonderful, mostly because of all the loving family and friends I have.
Just one more thing before I close. It's late and the day is almost over. It is a very significant day in history. 64 years ago the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. As a child of twelve I read a short book detailing the effects the bomb had on the city of Hiroshima...and I cried. Today I read of the memorials held in that city and I cried again. May we never ever again witness such an event on this beautiful planet of ours.
Peace and love,
Marilyn
Just one more thing before I close. It's late and the day is almost over. It is a very significant day in history. 64 years ago the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. As a child of twelve I read a short book detailing the effects the bomb had on the city of Hiroshima...and I cried. Today I read of the memorials held in that city and I cried again. May we never ever again witness such an event on this beautiful planet of ours.
Peace and love,
Marilyn
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