Just a thought…

I came to a horrible realization earlier. Two of my favorite people had birthdays in March. I forgot both of them. Now I feel really guilty. The first birthday I missed was the first of March….We were in Austin. The second birthday was in the middle of March…We were in Arizona. This must be what happens when we have too many things going on at once. I don’t think I can blame this on getting older! Happy late birthdays to Sue and Arlyna. Speaking of birthdays, for some reason I can never really enjoy my birthday and I know I am not the only one. How many of us when we were little used to cry when we were the center of attention and everyone gathered around singing, “Happy Birthday?” Maybe some of us still do??? Do we not enjoy our birthdays because it means we are getting older? Do we hate being the center of attention? Do we suffer from the extreme fear of being made to stand up in a restaurant (on a chair) while every one sings the dreaded song one more time? The best thing about a birthday is the cake. My sister-in-law, Sue, loves her birthday. She celebrates it all month long and calls it her birthday month! I admire that. Once again I am sorry I missed her “day”, but at least I had the month to make it right!!
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I found the coolest book, Historic Hotels of Texas: A Traveler’s Guide, by Liz Carmack. Wouldn’t it be fun to travel around Texas staying at these hotels. Well, not all of them would be fun. Many of them share bathrooms with multiple rooms and travelers. I don’t think so!!! Jim and I have stayed in only one of the hotels in the book, the Nutt House Historic Hotel in Granbury. It is a beautiful place inside. Every room was really great (with private bathrooms). I bought the book for Sue (see above). She is one of the people I know who will appreciate this. She and my brother, Roy, travel a lot, some of it in their RV. However, she is always looking for the new and the unusual to explore and enjoy. My brother is heavily into the genealogy of the families. They travel extensively around Texas visiting county courthouses looking at public records and visiting cemeteries to look at headstones bearing family names, taking photo records of both the courthouses and the headstones. They have a map of Texas on which they mark every visited courthouse. The goal is to get to all of them in Texas. They began RV’ing years ago, before cell phones and computers. Now they travel with both. The computer is a wireless laptop. I’ll bet they can’t imagine being without them now! They have met so many people on the road including the owner of a café in Oklahoma who saves a piece of chocolate pie for Roy when she knows he is stopping by

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I read a lot. I am guilty of taking my book with me everywhere. I am never bored when I have my book. I can sit in waiting rooms, in traffic and well, just about anywhere and I am very content as long as I can read. I even carry my book to ballgames. Jim has always said that he knew he was over the hill when he looked in the stands and saw me reading at one of his basketball games when he still played City League Ball. I read at games for various reasons. When I am really stressed over the game, it keeps me steady to read during time out, between innings or quarters, and sometimes during the game when I just can’t watch any more. I have told my family to never assume that I am not paying attention or that I don’t know what is going on just because I am reading. It doesn’t mean I don’t care about the game or them. I can even read and watch TV at the same time after all I am capable of multitasking! I try not to appear rude about it just in case anyone is wondering. I don’t read during conversations or when inter-acting with other people, but any other time is fair game. By the way, if I forget my book (horror of all horrors,) I am subject to reading cereal boxes and just about anything else I can find. Umm… maybe I am a little compulsive about it or perhaps am just an escape artist, but I refuse to feel guilty about it!


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Speaking of compulsive, the next best thing to reading is working Sudoku. I love those frustratingly addictive puzzles. I tell myself that it is good for my mind and, of course, it is. Being a former teacher, I can’t resist grading myself on each one I do. A+ when I sail through with few problems all the way down to F- when I have to “cheat” by looking at an answer before I can proceed or when I have to erase the whole darn thing and start over. How is that for compulsive?? I prefer to think of it as being honest with myself so I won't have to feel guilty about taking a tiny peek at the answers.

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I am looking forward to our class reunion, really I am and so is Jim. Las Vegas might not be my favorite place for a visit, but it doesn’t matter. I know we will have a wonderful time to relax and visit beyond the lights and glitter. There are seven months until we meet. How much weight can I lose in seven months?? Not many as long as I keep eating chocolate. Should I feel guilty about having so little self control? Oh well, at this point…

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Speaking of the reunion, I totally understand that for many of us there are plenty of reasons for not wanting to come and be a part and that’s okay. If there is one thing that I am certain of, it is that life is hard. I can not begin to imagine how life has been for our classmates since we left high school in 1963. Of course, most of us have grown beyond life as a teenage Childress Bobcat or at least I hope so. I am well aware that the “good old days” can be an interesting topic for only a short time and then it becomes necessary to find other commonalities and shared interests to carry us through. It is worth the effort?? I am certainly looking forward to giving it a try. By golly, (love that phrase) we can always talk about our grandkids, pets, hobbies, food and all that stuff. All that having been said, it would be awfully good to see you all again.

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Jim and I are looking forward to a small reunion with Phil Tutor and his wife along with Jennifer and Yahn. If you are in the area and want to join us for dinner Wednesday, April 9 in Dallas, let us know. We would love to see you. The more the merrier!

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Jim and I had lunch on Sunday with our former classmate, J.R. Bell and his wife, Jan. J.R. and Jan are in our Sunday morning Adult Bible Fellowship class at our church. That is the new term for Sunday school class or Bible study. While we have seen each other nearly every Sunday, this was our first chance to sit and visit and catch up. Jan is a 1970 graduate of Estelline High School. She was Jan Hudlow and her parents owned the grocery store there. Today Jan is an artist. Her work is remarkable. You can see for yourself at http://www.janbellartist.com/ . They are both looking forward to the Las Vegas reunion.
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The above thought carries my thoughts to the blog. It amazes me when I have so many people tell me that they check in on the blog if not everyday then quite often. I think a lot of Childress people do this as well as our class members and friends. That’s okay. In fact, that’s great! However, it occurs to me that so many people know so much about Jim, our family, and our quirks if you will, and we know so little about everyone else. Sometimes when I write, and I think Jennifer experiences this, too, I feel a huge silence or wall out there even when I know we are being read. Have you noticed the number of visits—over 4000 now!! We must be doing something right and meeting the needs of some people for keeping in touch. Of course, that is not a totally accurate count, but WOW that is a bunch of people. Okay, Okay, I know you all have lives beyond the blog. LOL An email now and then would be nice, too. Guilt trip not intended!
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Recently, I have also begun to realize that I am tired of being told how gross, how unhealthy, how dangerous, how nothing is right with food and drink that we consume. When I got the recently circulated email about lemons and how germ laden they are, I accepted the fact that it is time to throw in the towel. I mean really, what is left????? What’s a girl to do? Thank God for giving us dark chocolate!! (at least for now)
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What constitutes peace of mind? Is it the ability to live life without regrets? Is it never looking back and wishing that one had done things differently? What about guilt and peace of mind? There are 24,500,000 references to guilt on Google including this statement, “There is no emotion so slippery, so controlling, so unshakeable as guilt” Just a thought!
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What is it Barbara Walters used to say on 20/20? “We’re in touch so you’ll be in touch.” That is a worthy goal for our blog so maybe Barbara won’t mind if we borrow the phrase!




Post Script to the Post: Clara has published a great comment to the above post. Additionally she has sent some fantastic pictures that I want to share so I am adding them here as they won't fit into comments. Be sure to read all of her comments in the comments section.

From Clara: Re: old Texas hotels. We just stayed at the Gage Hotel in Marathon, Easter weekend. It was an experience-----a good one. I got the last available room. It was on the second floor of the oldest part of the hotel-----shared bath down the hall. The restaraunt was quite nice----great food, service, and ambience. We grabbed coffee and fried pies the next morning at Shirley's Burnt Biscuit Bakery and heard a few local stories before a couple more customers walked in.

The Gage Courtyard



The Gage Lobby