Sewed In

Because I spend most of my waking hours working on the Great American Novel, part 2, I recognize the need to do something--anything--else once in a while. One of the more fun aspects of these projects is that my brother, Darwin, has been texting me quite a bit lately. So, I sent him pictures of my progress. He is floored I learned how to sew. 

This past week, while snowed in, I sewed this for Corona-Jenny's upcoming birthday. She likes red trucks. Jenny, like most of the Coronas, is heading to Mexico next month to hang out with Deb. Where it is warmer. Much warmer.  

I will not be going to Mexico. There are several reasons for this, including our garage door just broke a week after we paid for a new exterior gate and partial fence repair.  

Corona Suzy, who happens to be one of my favorites of the Coronas, has a birthday this week. She is going on the same trip to Mexico. I made this without a pattern and after watching several Youtube videos on how to assemble such a bag. Polly, who also has an upcoming trip (not to Mexico) is now strongly hinting she'd like something like this. 

 

Local Celebrities

This past week, I had two experiences, which showed me how much the locals love their beloved folks who've made it. 

Thursday night, I substituted for a (non-Church of Christ ladies) Bunco, which was held in the back room at one of the local deep-fried hamburger joints on Stateline Road. This was the first time the Bunco group met at this location. When the owner came to check on us, one of the organizers said the location was perfect. She then asked if they could book this place the third Thursday of every month for the remainder of the year. 

The owner replied with, "Well, as long as the Governor doesn't need the room, it's fine with me." 

I piped up, "We will just invite Governor Abbot to join us." 

And then the room went silent. All dice rolling ceased. All eyes were on me. The manager looked at me with pity. Someone cleared her throat then said. "You mean Sarah." Oh yes! I was on the East side of Stateline Road. I hadn't thought about the fact I'd crossed into Arkansas.

Then came all sorts of vetting for the Governor of Arkansas. Someone taught her Sunday school class. Another had her father (and also former Governor) as their preacher back in the day. Someone else was friends with Sarah's mother... and the list went on. By the time the conversation ended, everyone in that room had some sort of one degree of separation from Governor Sanders except me.  

_____

Friday night Corona-Krissy, Corona-Patty and I--along with most of Texarkana, apparently--braved the weather and attended the Temptations concert. The one hundred year old Perot (another local celeb) Theater was sold out. 

You see, one of the city's own, had come back. Otis Williams, the last surviving founding member of the Temptations, is from one of the Texarkanas. I'd point out that he left here (TX? AR?) when he was eleven and spent his formative years in Detroit, but why bother? The day before there was even an unveiling of an Otis Williams mural in the area in his honor. 

I'm pretty sure, given the conversations around us, anyone over a certain age also had a one degree of separation from Mr. Williams. In fact, there was a sweet elderly lady who stood up the entire concert, dancing-ish, who claimed she might have been his third grade teacher. 

By the way, Otis Williams is 82 and can still dance and sing. It was a great concert. Much better than Alabama's "I owe my bookie and need some cash so I need to tour" Tour some of us attended a few months ago. 

A few photos of the mural and the concert below. 

 

Hotel Texarkana

 "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." --Hotel California, The Eagles

The minutes from last week's Ladies Auxiliary meeting came in. I thought it was a mistake they sent it to me, because I'd made it clear I was no longer part of this group. In the event there was a miscommunication, I opened the notes, hoping somewhere in there it might be documented that I wasn't part of this group any more. Instead, I found two bits-o-shenanigans. 

1. Though I said very clearly in September that I would not be the secretary of this group, according to the minutes, I am the group's official secretary. In the event I opt to loose my mind and join them again, I will do such a horrible job they will immediately fire me from the position I DO NOT HOLD NOR AGREED TO HOLD IN THE FIRST PLACE.* 

2. The minutes also read said I was taking a break for a "month or two." 

I'd e-mail the person who is "covering" for me--it said that in the minutes too--and correct the record, but I think I'm just gonna let them be them. It makes for good blog fodder and life it too short to be worked up about their audacity. Revenge will be mine. I'm writing a fiction series about the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Tyler. I think there might need to be a Ladies Auxiliary Club in one of my books.  

*For the record, if I wanted to be part of this group AND they had asked me, I would have happily obliged. It isn't that difficult to take a few notes and read a few letters. 

I'm One of Those

Public Service Announcement

If you are driving in 22 degrees, and you are one of those people who like a pristine windshield, and see a spec of dust on it, do not turn on your automatic windshield washer and then your wipers. And I recommend, if you don't follow the above advice, don't do it while you are turning left in the only busy street in your city. 

By the way, in the event you are curious what could happen, I have it on good authority that the water will freeze and affix to the windshield. It makes visibility zero. 

Bi-Polar Weather

It appears winter is upon us. It also appears I had no earthly idea what "winter" consisted of, while I resided in Arizona. If there's anything I miss about Arizona other than the people I love, it is reasonable January weather. 

I'm still not entirely certain I understand the concept of an East Texas winter. Two years ago, when we moved here, it did not get about 40 degrees for the entire month of January. Last year it did not get below 40 degrees and it isn't an exaggeration when I say it rained all month. 

On a side note, my mother lives in Vermont. My mother loves Vermont and glamorizes the weather. She cannot fathom why I have no desire to live there. But I digress...

Anyway, January 2024 in East Texas has promised to be cold. However, East Texas can't decide if this is normal or not. Lest you think I'm grossly exaggerating: 

• Two days ago we were under a tornado alert (which is finitely more disturbing than the usual "tornado advisory.") We had everything set up, including putting painter's tape on the windows, moving my father's stained glass to safer places, making sure we had drinking water, charging our phones, and drugging our overly-anxious dog, Luna, so she wouldn't freak out when the thunderstorm hit--but she freaked out anyway.
• Today's low was 19 degrees, the high is allegedly 58 degrees (I've felt 58 degrees before. Mother Nature and I will just have to agree to disagree on this.). 
• Tomorrow's low is expected to be 18 degrees and the high is expected to be 25 degrees. 
• Next Thursday's low is expected to be 26 degrees and the high is expected to be high is expected to be 52 degrees. 
• Next Friday's low is expected to be 17 degrees and the high is expected to be high is expected to be 38 degrees. 

You may have noticed I skipped Monday - Wednesday. That was on purpose. On those days, I will be longing for the 25 degree low. In fact, according to the bastion of truth, the Internet, we won't even see 25 degrees. As an added bonus, it's supposed to snow. 

Buckaroo works in a job which requires him to be outdoors for several hours. This past week I went online and bought him two hats and a scarf. Tomorrow he will be buying long underwear. But first, I had to explain to him what long underwear is because he thought I'd made up the term.  

In addition to all that, we have alarms on our phones to remind us to turn on the water faucets before we go to bed. We discovered that water pipes do freeze overnight. Which brings me to this burning question: why is it the conventional norm around here to keep the hot water heater in the garage if it is supposed to freeze for up to two months every year? Speaking of hot water heaters and alarms: we also have an alarm to turn on the space heater in the garage for a couple of hours at night to "heat up" the garage prior to going to bed. The theory being maybe the water heater won't freeze. But experience tells me it probably will. 

Ode to Joy

A friend of mine told me recently to surround myself with people and events which bring me joy. Those words I've taken to heart and it has made a huge difference in my everyday choices. 

Yesterday, I received a group thread text from the Catholic Ladies, saying they were having a meeting this week. Wait! I thought they met on the third Thursday of the month? And crap! I had nothing booked to counter this stupid meeting. Plus, they are going to an expensive restaurant where more than half of the menu consists of shellfish. 

And then I started brewing.  

Originally, I figured I could just fade away and some organized person would drop me from their volunteer list. Given that hadn't happened, I took action. I called the woman who brought me on to this group and told her this wasn't the season for me to be involved. I needed to step back. 

Frankly, I'm sure this isn't news to anyone in this group--if they even think of me at all. And given last time they were looking for volunteers to clean the church nobody signed up to help me, I'm going with nobody is thinking of me.  

Letting this go has made my heart lighter. I'm happier. I am feeling the joy.  

New (to Me) Sewing Chest

I bought this ratty wooden chest at the thrift store for $10. It was dingy brown and falling apart. Now I wish I took a "before" picture or two. Some critter had chewed the legs and top. After a bit of love, I transformed it into my new sewing supplies storage chest. 

Don't look too closely at it. There are a lot of mistakes, but I really needed a storage chest more than I needed perfection. 

Downtown Texarkana (Arkansas)

 

There are times I find my surroundings surreal. Monday night was one of those moments. It was 8 p.m. and I just left the yoga studio in downtown. That's when I realized there was nobody around.

"Downtown" to me means shopping, eating, galleries and events. All of these things do happen in downtown Texarkana. Just not on Monday nights. Anyway, there were two businesses open--the Yoga Studio and a "Mexican" restaurant slightly farther into Arkansas. 

So, I stood in the road and snapped a couple of pictures of the still night. 

Facing Arkansas

Facing Texas

It Snowed Today

Today was Yoga Day. I'm certainly a fan of Yoga Day. I dressed in my leggings and St. Louis Cardinals t-shirt. I put my Arizona Diamondbacks' sweatshirt on over the ensemble and popped out the door. 

By the time I got to the car, I realized the foolishness of my clothing choice. The thermometer read 30 degrees. What I was wearing was Arizona Yoga Day winter clothing. 

Happy 2024

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to Deb, how much fun it would be if she hosted a Corona New Year's party. You know, just like she did last year. 

Now then, there were a few logistics which made this more challenging. First, I was supposed to be out of town until December 31st. And because I suggested such a thing, Deb--who has a way of getting people to do what she wants like nobody but Bonus Mom could ever do--thought I ought to be there. The other logistical challenge: Deb was getting on Texarkana's 6 a.m. flight and heading to Mexico for two months. 

It was easy enough to shift our trip a day. Poor Deb probably didn't get much sleep though, given Tessa (bless her) took her to the airport at 4:30 this morning after being at the party last night. Of course, if the 6 a.m. Texarkana flight was cancelled for any reason (which is about even money with the 6 a.m. flight), Tessa was then on the hook for driving Deb to Dallas to catch the next leg of her flight. 

And guess who was the back-up driver if Tessa didn't wake up this morning?

Our party, like all Corona parties, was a hoot. We rang in the Eastern Time zone New Year. We drank wine  under the cover of darkness, because of the three religions represented*, only the Catholic was "allowed" to drink. And most importantly, we managed to squeeze out 13 rounds of Mexican Train in four hours and make it back to our respective beds by 11:30. 

I am pleased to say I received a text at 7:15 this morning from Deb, wishing us a Happy New Year. She was sitting in Dallas, waiting for her flight. I'm guessing Tessa was sleeping soundly about that time.  

*Catholic, Church of Christ and Southern Baptist (Tessa)