Yellow Car

There's a new game spreading around Falls town and I thought I'd share......

Name: Yellow Car

Game Play:  When you see a yellow car, you slug the person nearest you and say "yellow car" (much like good old slug bug).

Side note:  In order to get credit for a yellow car, the person you slug must either be able to SEE it, or you must have the picture to prove it!

Things that make this game fun:

School busses,
calling yellow car because you saw one on T.V.
Taxis
Taking pictures of yellow cars on your phone and sending them to people


Help spread the fun!

Scaredy-Dog....

Things Reese is scared of:

The Microwave

Honey (the dog, not the food)

The 'dog' in the fireplace....a.k.a. his reflection

The vacuum cleaner

Dogs barking on the TV

Water hoses

New ringtones on cell phones

Laundry baskets

The swiffer mop


I'm sure there's more, but this is all we've discovered so far....

Hair Care Disaster

I got my hair cut today (yes Uncle Mark, all of them).  The front is very cute...

The back....not so cute...(((sigh)))....

If you see me in the next 10 days I'll be wearing a baseball cap...

Anyone know a good hair dresser in Wichita Falls? 

Wildfires

I'm sure that you all know about the fire at Possom Kingdom lake by now.  I read yesterday that it's the biggest fire in Texas since they started keeping records.  The following link takes you to a picture from today's paper.  It shows two game wardens in a boat.  One of those game wardens is Richard Key, the boyfriend of my friend Andrea.  Please keep him (and all the people working near the fire) in your prayers!

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/photos/2011/apr/20/54504/

What a difference a year makes!

April 5, 2010

April 5, 2011

 

He's such a sweet, silly, accident prone, hyper boy!  I just love him.  Thanks for bring him home Amanda and Andrea....and for putting up with such a crazy first year!

Budget

Just in case you've been living in a hole, I should probably start this by reminding everyone that the state of Texas is projecting a huge budget shortfall for next year.  For Wichita Falls ISD, the estimate is $11 million.

About two weeks ago a budget committee put out a report with some recommended cost saving measures for the school board to review. In that report there was a recommendation to eliminate two of the district's orchestra teachers.  I'm one of only seven orchestra teachers in the district, and the last one hired.  Needless to say, this has caused me some stress.......

I'm writing all this to ask for your prayers.  Not just for me, but for the hundreds of teachers who will lose their job this year.  I know that God has a plan, but it sure is hard to sit and wait until they tell me if I have a job next year!

Meeting Kate

As if my spring break hadn't been exciting enough, to top it all off I got to have dinner in Grapevine on the way home with my cousins Mark and Jen Whittenberg.  Mark is my first cousin (his dad and my mom are siblings).  Since they got married in the late 1990's they have moved all over the country and we have probably only seen each other 3 or4 times in the last ten years. 

In Feburary they moved to Dallas (glad they finally saw the light and came back to God's country)!  I was so excited!!! 

So, on Wednesday I got to have dinner with Mark and Jen and meet precious Kate.  I'm sure I'll have many more pics of Kate in the future but she got shots that day and was a little cranky! 

Mark and Jen, here's to more great times together!

Gabriel

I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Gabriel.  He is my oldest nephew, thanks to my baby brother Blair (well....he is 25 years old but you know what I mean).  Gabriel was born on August 5th but since they live so far away I didn't get to meet him until this week.  I must admit I'm already smitten!  Isn't he adorable?  I feel very lucky that God has blessed me with my nephews!

He just might already be wrapped around my little finger!

Daddy's Boy!

Gabriel with his Great-GREAT Aunt Laura

Gabriel, even though we have just met I love you already.  I'm so lucky to have you as my nephew!  Love, Aunt C

Spring Break Fun

Most years during spring break I try to visit friends who don't live in Wichita Falls.  This year was no exception.  On Sunday afternoon I drove to College Station to visit the Krajca family (Kierstyn, Curtis, Elizabeth, Micah, Benjamin and Timothy).  I've been friends with both Kierstyn and Curtis for a long time and I love their kiddos! 

The first night I was there we played Uno Attack....which I have to say is quite the adventure with these guys!

 

Kierstyn and I often talk about how different her life is from mine and I love the little glimpse into what it is like to be a mother of four young children!  They are all great kids and I just love them.  

Elizabeth will be 7 in June.

Timothy just turned ONE last month.

Micah had his 5th birthday while I was there.

Benjamin will be 4 in May.

I can't wait until summer so I can go see them again!

Stations Of The Cross

For those of you who aren't familiar with the stations of the cross, here's a brief summary:

The Stations of the cross refers to the depiction of the final hours (or passion) of Jesus.  The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death. It has become one of the most popular devotions for Roman Catholics. It may be done at any time, but is most commonly done during the Season of Lent.


Because I grew up in a protestant church, I was not familiar with the stations of the cross until I started playing the organ for Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic church three years ago. 

The whole reason for this blog is to serve as a reminder for me.....you see, two years ago on the first Friday of Lent I received a call from my sweet friend Vinnie who also happens to be one of the cantors at Queen of Peace.  The conversation went something like this:

6:52 p.m.
Me: Hey friend!
Vinnie: Hey....are you on your way?
.....long pause.....
Me: On my way....???
Vinnie: To the church...
.......long pause.....
Vinnie: For stations
Me: Crap!  (that's not actually what I said, but my parents read this blog....)  I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt....I'll be there as soon as I can.
 Vinnie: I don't care what you are wearing....we start in 7 minutes.

As you can guess, this conversation was followed by my acting like a crazy person in an attempt to not look like a slob and get out the door at the same time.   I got to the church at 7:02....

I tell you all of this to say:  If you see me online, get a phone call, or a text from me, or even think about me tomorrow after 6:30 p.m., please make sure I'm ON MY WAY TO CHURCH!!!   And if you are a member of OLQP, I'll see you there!

Pedicures

I'm not completely a "girly girl" but I do like a good pedicure.  So when the roommates, Ali and Kari decided to go for pedicures today I was all in!

Here's just a few of the texts that went back and forth during the pedicure:

*Your lady is the mean one who did my eyebrows the other day.

*Mean eyebrow lady keeps pointing.

*I'm pretty sure she just burned my toe with the electric filer thing.

*She just asked me if I wanted my eyebrows done....ha!

*My lady is mean.

*Kick her!

*My water is really cold but I don't want to be "that girl"!

*Mine was burning hot but the lady pointed so I put my feet in...

*Doesn't it always feel like they are talking about you?

*If I can't walk when she's done will you carry me out of here?

.....Needless to say, I probably won't be frequenting this particular establishment again any time soon!  But....at least it was time spent with good friends!

Like a Good Neighbor (a.k.a......sometimes it pays to watch commercials)

Friday evening in a nutshell:

* Dinner at Cheddars with Andrea and Lacy

* Lacy gets flat tire and parks in the State Farm parking lot

*Andrea teaches Lacy how to change a flat tire

*As Andrea tightens up the last lug nut local insurance agent Darrel Walker pulls into the parking lot

*Mr. Walker informs us that if we had State Farm they would have paid to fix the flat

*Andrea informs Mr. Walker that she wouldn't get to be the hero if we called the insurance company

*Andrea sings the State Farm jingle

*Mr. Walker says "It pays to know the jingle"

* Mr. Walker dishes out $35 to the three of us and says "State Farm is still going to pay for this flat tire"

* Nice conversation with Mr. Walker about insurance, church and music

*All three of us sing the jingle one more time just for kicks (and because the State Farm man had just given us money)

*Everyone gets back in their respective vehicles and proceed with the night as planned

Conclusion: Neighbor or not, State Farm really IS there......

TMEA Bound

Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) hosts a conference every year in San Antonio during the second week in February.  For many of us it is the thread that holds us together between Christmas concert season and UIL! This year's convention starts this coming Thursday. 

Just in case you have been living in a shell for the last week, I'm here to tell you that north Texas has been seeing some pretty crazy weather lately.  FOUR snow days last week, and projected snow for tonight and tomorrow.  SOOO.....I'm getting the heck out of dodge!  None of this waiting around 'to see if it snows business' for me!  By the time the snow is supposed to hit I'll be warm and snuggly in a hotel somewhere south of the Dallas metroplex! 

TMEA really is a great time of learning but for me the highlight is seeing all my friends from days gone by (you know who you are)!  There's no way I'm going to let a little winter storm spoil the fun! 

Just in case you're bored while I'm in sunny San Antonio, here's a link to the TMEA website.

See you all in a few days...enjoy the snow while I'm gone!

Snow DayS

Day 1: February 1, 2011

"It really DID snow!"
"Fun!  What do you want to do today?"
"Southern Maid is open...let's get some donuts."
"Look...snow plows."
"How cute, Zeke has a snow beard"
"It's so fun to watch Tucker and Reese play in the snow"
"Let's make stew!"


Day 2: February 2, 2011
"Look, none of it melted."
"Do you think we should go to the store 'just in case'?"
"We watched everything on the DVR yesterday...hmm..."
"Tucker and Reese still like it...that's cute."
"I'm afraid to shower...what if the rolling blackouts hit in the middle of the shower."
"I wonder if I'll even be able to get my car out if I have to go to school tomorrow"
"I bet we just have a late start..."
"I'm getting a little tired of being in the house."

Day 3: February 3, 2011
"I don't like snow anymore."
"Andrea...will you please get your big car out and take me somewhere...anywhere!"
"The big trip out: Taco Bueno, the vet and the UPS dropbox...woohoo!"
"Seriously....no school tomorrow?"
"What do you mean there's a chance of snow tomorrow?!"
"...and Monday!?"
"What in the world am I going to do tomorrow?"

Day 4: February 4, 2011
"Bye Andrea...have a good day at work....while I'm here all alone."
"There's nothing left to do..."
"I guess I can do laundry and clean house..."


Will there be a day 5?  I sure hope not!

Snowy Suppositions

* When you have to use pizza pans, music stands and dust pans to shovel snow two years in a row it's probably time to buy a snow shovel.

* No matter how bad the roads are, Southern Maid donuts will be open. (yum, yum)

* From Andrea: Sometimes it pays off to be "non-essential personnel".

* I didn't come up with the word 'suppositions' on my own (thanks Andrea).

* Unlike last year, snow plows were actually seen in Wichita Falls within 12 hours of the snow!

* Reese doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in on snow days.

* Even though he made me get up at 6:00 it was fun to watch Reese's first experience with snow. (videos to follow)

American Idol

Be warned...I'm about to get on my soapbox...


As a musician, I have very mixed feelings about American Idol.  On one hand, it does a great thing for talented people.  On the other hand:

* Nobody in the real world uses the word 'pitch-y'.  Say 'not in tune'...

*  It is literally painful when they put some of these people on TV.

*  Why must everyone who sings a song from the Lion King be AWFUL!?

*  Do we really need to encourage people who can't sing?

*  Kids are going to grow up thinking that whenever they audition for something the judges are going to laugh at them.

*  I hate that they change to 'folk-ish' music when someone horrible is about to sing.

All that said, I can't help but watch, and I really like the addition of Stephen Tyler...


Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox now.  Thanks for listening.

Reese's Rebellion

Reese isn't supposed to be on the furniture...not sure what this is all about.

Meaningful Monday (just go with it...)

“A true friend is someone who, upon seeing another friend in pain, would rather be the one experiencing the pain than to have to watch their friend suffer.”

Random thoughts on grief and joy...

Those of you who know me will recall that the last two years have been pretty rough.  Here's a recap:

April 19, 2009 Memaw passed away from lung cancer
November 29, 2009 Becky (the roomie's Mom) passed away after a long battle with kidney disease
January 14, 2010 Grammy passed away from lung cancer

In the midst of these three great losses there was also some other 'yucky stuff' going on that made life even less fun. 

As you can imagine at this time last year I felt like life pretty much sucked....and considering all that I had been through in the previous year, few people were going to disagree with me. 

About a month after Grammy's funeral a precious friend and I had lunch.  It must have been aparent to her how much I was hurting.  She said to me, "Carissa, I know that things are really hard right now but don't let it take away your joy."  I spent a lot of time thinking about this.  At the time of our conversation I wasn't ready to be joyful or rejoice about anything!  Three people I loved had died, several relationships in my life weren't where they should be, I didn't love my job...forget being joyful! 

Psalm 94:19 When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

As time passed, I began to realize that my friend was right.  Although some really crummy things were happening in my life, I had reasons to rejoice.  My two grandmothers and my sweet friend Becky were in HEAVEN, my family was healthy, I had a good job and great friends. As the year progressed I was given even more reason to rejoice when I was blessed with two beautiful nephews. 

So, that brings me to today...the anniversary of the day that Grammy died.  I won't lie and say that I wasn't a little sad today but I was also able to rejoice!  Instead of living in a cancer ridden body here on this earth my Gram is in Heaven.  I have so much to rejoice about knowing that I will someday see my loved ones again. 

On this day, the last of the "one year anniversaries", I'll leave you with a song that Grammy and I sang many, many times:

When you're feeling down

Feeling kinda bluesy,

Just go down to Grammy's house

And jump in her jacuzzi!

Aiden Gaga

It seems that Aiden has been influenced by his mom's taste in music...