Houston...I Think We Have A Stalker

About six weeks ago, we were sitting on the deck enjoying a visit with Glen and Debbie when Glen noticed that our sweet friends had returned from their winter in Mexico.

I quickly went about preparing a cool and refreshing drink for them in hopes that they might possibly hang around until time to head south again. We hung the feeders on the porch of the little trailer so that the hummingbirds can enjoy relief from the sun and we can watch from the deck or the kitchen window.

This past Sunday, Jim called for me to come check out the view.

If you look real close, you will notice that the long "leaf looking thing" in front of the feeder is actually a ruby throated hummingbird enjoying his Sunday brunch. At least that is what I thought Jim called me out to see.

Then he directed my attention to the top of the scene and a little to the left. Do you see her?

That is Bri's cat, Zoe, very casually reclining on the roof of the porch. Or is she?

I think by the look on that face that she may have ulterior motives for hanging out above the hummingbird feeders!

Girls And The Great Outdoors

WARNING: Do NOT read this post if you are a member of PETA or are anti-NRA. I promise, you will be offended by the politically incorrect views held here.

Lest you think from yesterday's post that I have become all hoity toity or something since moving to Texas, let me reassure you that I am still a country girl, born and bred.

As a matter of fact, while in the 'Reading Room' the other day I came across an article in Jim's Texas Fish and Game magazine entitled 'No Daughter Left Behind'. Chester Moore, TF&G's editor, wrote about the adoption of their little girl and the reaction that some people had that he and his wife were not adopting a little boy instead. I guess most people assume that a man who lives and breathes the great outdoors must desire a son to carry on the legacy.

As I finished the article, I considered writing an email to Mr. Moore letting him know that I too grew up in a family where hunting and fishing were not considered a 'man's sport' but rather a family heritage to be passed on to future generations.

It is true that when I was a little girl, the men stayed at the deer camp and the womenfolk and children came out to visit on Sundays. Until the day they tore it down, the camp remained mainly the men's gathering place...but that doesn't mean that there weren't women in the woods with their shotguns or rifles most hunts.

I took my first deer when my second daughter was just days old. My dad had to help me out and it was years later before I harvested my second one...but I never considered that a woman shouldn't be in the deer woods. At least, not until we came to Texas.

All five of our children have spent time on a deer stand. Four of the five have harvested at least one in their lifetime. I was with two of them for their first trophy. Jim was with one and my dad was with the other. One prefers to use a camera to document her 'hunt'. One of our sons may never fire another shot at an animal...and that's okay, too.

As to fishing, I am not a huge fan unless there is something biting...but both of my grandmothers spent almost as much time with a baited hook in the water as my grandfathers did. Both boys enjoy it and two of our daughters. In the other one's defense, she was caught by her brother with a hook in the chin during her impressionable preteen years so she stays FAR away from fishing rods these days.

I really don't get the ''boys club" mentality surrounding hunting and fishing in Texas. I will never forget the first time I told a Ladies Sunday School class that I would be out the following week because I was going to the deer lease. You could see the shock on some of their faces...surely I wasn't going to get on a deer stand WITH A GUN, was I?

So, if you were reading yesterday's post and thinking that we have become too citified with our theater outings to be out with the rest of the family at the Pine Lodge Inn this fall...I will be grabbing my 270 and heading to the 'big timber'...so don't you dare beat me to my stand! Not only will Jim, the kids and I be there, but when they get a little bigger, so will the grandchildren. We are hoping to pass it along.

An Afternoon With The Girls

All three of our girls were involved in fine arts while in junior high and high school. Choir, dance, theatre, chorale...each one had their niche. Jim and I have sat through multiple performances as they acted or sang or danced or worked behind the scenes.

Thankfully, they still have a love of the arts. Otherwise my whole life would consist of sports and the outdoors.

For the last three years the girls have received tickets to a musical as part of their Christmas. It all started four years ago when Meagan gifted me with a pair of tickets for her and I to see The Nutcracker Ballet here in Houston. We had a wonderful afternoon and talked about how much her sisters would have loved it...Kelli, the dancing and Bri, the sets.

I decided then and there that we would make it an annual event to attend a performance of one sort or the other. The first year we saw 'Wicked', preceded by dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Houston. (Rosa and I saw it on Broadway last November and I have to say the Broadway Across America production was just as fabulous as the On Broadway one.) The next year, we traveled to San Antonio to see Bri's favorite musical, "Phantom of the Opera" and stayed on the Riverwalk. The San Antonio theatre is GORGEOUS! It was really like stepping back in time when you enter the Majestic.

Yesterday we attended


Last November, I was searching for the show we would see this year and couldn't find one that excited me. One day, I got online to do some other Christmas shopping and I had an email informing me that I could buy tickets for the TUTS (Theater Under The Stars) production of Rent: The Broadway Tour before they went on sale to the public. On a whim, I went to the website, chose a date and clicked 'Best Available' seats. Would you believe we got second row center orchestra seats?

The seats were absolutely wonderful! Row B turned out to actually be the fourth row in Hobby Center...but still, the view was amazing. We had the best time. Bri was the only one who had seen the movie. Meagan was familiar with some of the songs from her days in Chorale...but had no idea about the play. Plus, there was dancing for Kelli. We had a great time watching a top notch production which included the original cast members who play Roger and Mark.

We ended our day at the Downtown Aquarium where we enjoyed a wonderful seafood dinner complete with appetizers and dessert. (We shared.)

As I told Jim when we were leaving..."Thank you for giving me three girls!" It is so much fun to attend things like this with someone who enjoys it as much, if not more, than you.

Now, if I could just convince him to get us season tickets...or send all four of us to Broadway!