Road Trip!!!

When we first moved to Texas, a little over three years ago, our dream was to go to Tuscany to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary...well, "man plans, and God laughs"...I had to have an operation...and then, my husband lost his job...so, we have yet to get there, but we will......

Thank God my husband has done well consulting, and is about to start a new job...hitting the ground running, on Monday, so we are going to Dallas tomorrow (or maybe the day after)...a small day trip, and it ain't no Tuscany, but we have to make the best of our lives..should be interesting

I enjoy our day trips...This one was to Johnson City..and this is the home of Lyndon and Ladybird Johnson...Ladybird died a bit over a year ago, and had continued to live in the house, so they are just now getting around to getting it ready to open to the public..when we were there, we were only allowed in his office, which turned out to be quite tiny, and a big disapointment.

This swing held a certain fascination for me: There's a pool on the grounds, and the house is located right across from the Pedernalis River, which runs through the property...In fact, Johnson had a car that could convert from the road to water..and he enjoyed driving terrified foreign dignitaries into the river, while shouting, "hold on, it's out of control"...Gotta love Lyndon.

What struck me was I could almose envision Johnson and McNamara, sitting in this swing, discussing if they were willing to send any more young men to their deaths in Viet Nam...

I respect Lyndon Johnson for his Civil Rights Amendment, but the whole Viet Nam thing pretty much squashed him running for a second term. I worked in the amputee ward at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital during the war, and what I saw will forever be seared into my brain...

Lyndon and Lady Bird are planted side-by-side...of course, his is the largest headstone, and her's isn't there yet..Sheesh, it's been over a year, don't you think the kids could spring for one, rather than the bouquet of flowers after all this time?

For our 25th (we celebrated our 26th last March...still no Tuscany), we went to Ft. Worth, and I really enjoyed it...especially, the Kimbal Art Museum, and Bass Hall...This fall, there is a Beethoven weekend, and I am determined to go..but then, I was determined to go to Tuscany, as well.

My husband has been consulting from home for the past eleven months, and I run my business out of my home, so we have been spending a great deal of "quantity time" together, which has not been easy.....So, I am rather looking forward to him leaving every morning, and the house is mine, ALL MINE!!!!!

I have become a bit addicted to reading blogs of late...started out as research, and now I realize I could read twenty-four hours a day, and never get through what's out there, so one has to narrow one's focus...As in some of the design blogs are just too redundent, and I have been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt.....there are a few that rise to the top, and I will return to them.

Now, my goal is to get off my butt, and get some work done...I am designing and sewing a line of clothes, that I like to call, "what to wear until the weight comes off"...I had a dress form, which wasn't cheap, in it's box in the garage for over a year. It is adjustible, and I couldn't face measuring myself, and then, seeing it in reality...that said, I've lost eleven pounds (only 30 more to go!), and I feel much better, thankyou....It's not a sin to be fat, but it's not healthy, so I'm going for it...okay, I am going to go sew, no not Soco...that's next year.

Things I Want to Be When I Grow Up

Putting on my "war paint", as my Mama used to call it, this morning, I thought, "Girl, are you getting old"...and I am...well, getting older, and that's a good thing...think of the alternatives.

Taking a "design blog" hiatus, and just going with whatever comes to me for awhile..why?-why not? I did interior design for over twenty years, and I am moving through that...not sure where I am headed, but that's the exciting part!

I do know this...Life is not always just a bowl of cherries", or as my Czech friend, Vash, would say, "Life ain't no bucket of peaches" (no idea)...but, when one gets "older", one realizes how it all goes by in the blink of an eye, so one should damn well enjoy it...otherwise, one ends up on one's deathbed thinking, I wish I'd done this - or that - or gone there...

This is me - the little, stubby one, who can't reach the pedals - okay, I could reach them, but only on the "upturn"...just kept pushing, and pushing, but not moving forward.

I am tired of "pushing" and not moving forward...and what is "moving forward"? Well, there are things I still want to be when I grow up...novelist - fashion designer - jewelry designer - set designer (okay, I did that, but not on Broadway)....a world traveler - a wildlife photographer -

an accomplished chef - a great singer - I am sure I am leaving some things out here.

Being relatively new to the world of "blog", I have been reading-and-reading blogs..mostly design and fashion, some foodie, a few spiritual...and I see where some have literally thousands of followers, and are "connected" with the "successful ones"...

I often feel discouraged, especially, trying to do design blogs, when I think I've moved on...and I reiterate, not sure where I'm moving to....but, I have the opportunity to explore these options, and I am grateful every day for that.

So, my friends...think about what you want to be when you grow up...whether you are just starting out, or have been around for a very long time...make a wish, blow out the candles, and go for it....

When my husband was in graduate school in Boston for a thousand years, and I was slogging through jobs I hated in order to keep us going...he wrote the most wonderful preface and acknowledgement in his thesis: "For my wife, Jessica, who plowed the fields, while I was out chasing butterflies..."

It's my turn to chase butterflies...

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

Taking a few days off...my honey and I.....then, I am going to be teaching this puppy (that's me in disguise) a few new tricks....