This Reminds Me

When Rachel was born, Keith and I started a small Savings Bond deduction with the idea of doing something really special around the time she started college.  We knew then as we richly understand now – when your kids are in college, they’re only half-yours.
After 16 months of planning – we’ve done that “something really [...]

The purses…..the Talavera…..the dresses…..they were calling to us.   ”C’mere, girls….c’mon…..come back to see us….special price, just for you….best price for you, lady….come in, come in…”
So we answered the call this Spring Break weekend and headed to Progresso, just across the border in the all-important Rio Grande Valley area of South Texas that supplies most of our [...]

We’ve just returned home from a week at the beach – always the highlight of our summer.  This is Julia’s third time for a real vacation, so she knew what to request (sugared cereal), what to bring (crackers for the ferry ride) and what to expect (lots of uninterrupted family time.)

The ferry ride from Galveston [...]

When I’m singing in the shower, I sound just like Linda Ronstadt.  If I were a cleaner person, I could be famous, I’m sure.
(sigh)
Last weekend, I didn’t have to do much singing.  Everyone else was doing it for me.
Our 17-year-old friend Kelley (”Glinda” – the fox in the pink) attends the Texas State School [...]

We took off to Mexico for our annual “purses and earrings” jaunt this weekend.  We used to go to Laredo – l-o-v-e-d Laredo – but the whole drug-lords-with-automatic-weapons thing turned us to the valley crossings near MacAllen.

The girls poked fun at my new. ultra-svelte Sketchers walking shoes, perfectly designed to navigate congested, uneven sidewalks.  Jealous.  [...]

Tonight I was fishing through an envelope of old photos, hunting an appropriate print to scan into a greeting card for a friend.  Rachel peeked over my shoulder and muttered, “Wow.  You used to be good.”

I settled on this one for the card – a yellow rose shot in a neighbor’s yard.
Here are my favorite photos pulled from that envelope….

This [...]

We just got back from our annual week at the beach, courtesy of my good friend Konen who is foolish/gracious/wonderful enough to loan us her famly’s three-bedroom abode on Bolivar Peninsula.  Our time there is the highlight of our year.  I cook and freeze food ahead so neither Keith nor I are unduly burdened by many mundane [...]

Julia and Hannah returned home from Houston with Keith’s parents today.  They were gone eight days, spending seven of those days with my niece, Sarah, and her kiddos (three-year-old) Laura and (Sweet Baby) James.
This was a “first.”  Julia has spent the stray night away from home/parents with Keith’s folks and the neighbor girls, but never [...]

Rachel turned 16 last week – impossible, I know, since she is really just a precious widdle baby girl.

Or at least she was in 1991, as cousin Sarah snatched her up.
Sarah and Judy hosted her Sweet 16 luau-themed party on Saturday at the Junior League of Houston.  No ketchup in packets.  No half-off coupons.  No [...]

While Julia had no family in Russia, she had her classmates at Children’s Home #47. She had Viktor, Katya and their teachers.  She knew how snow crunched under her boots, and how warm she felt in her favorite royal blue jacket.  How her black bread and oatmeal tasted.  She knew which tiny bed among 42 [...]