Independence Day Tea Party

My family attended the Tea Party today in Big Spring, Texas at the courthouse.

I was disappointed that not quite as many showed up this time. There were about 200 at the last Tea Party of which our wonderful local newspaper disparaged by showing a very misleading photograph and saying that about 70 attended.

This time there was about 125 and from what I understand, the Big Spring Herald refused to even cover it.

I guess the local citizens who attended weren't worth their time. Well, of course not, we ARE astroturf, right-wing extremists, and low level terrorists.




I was trying to get a picture of the white flag in the center. It says "Come and take it." With a cannon in the center of it. Our speaker explained that it was the flag flown at Goliad.
This sign said, "United and ignited.com"



"The sleeping giant has awoken. We will take back our freedom"
This young lady was passing around a petition to send to the Glenn Beck program. You can read and sign the petition at Glenn Becks' website . This is an open letter to our nation's Leadership citing 12 principles.
"If you don't listen, what do you think we'll do next"


We had a good time and met some more people who feel the same as we do, that our great country is being systematically destroyed. We have to get out there and do something if we want to save what we have. We cannot sit at home and just go on with our lives. Our ancestors would not have put up with the things that Obama is doing and neither can we. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Joe Biden, and the rest of the clowns in Washington will not hear you if you do not speak up. Write them, call them, email them, attend the tea parties. Do anything. Just don't sit there and let them keep taking our freedom away!

So I Drive People Insane and Make Them Go Blind?

Josh and Amber came over today to BBQ for us for Father's Day.

We were all sitting around laughing and talking at the Dinner table. I got onto Josh for flirting with girls (other than his wife) and he expressed confusion. I told him he was just like his Dad to which Jeff expressed confusion.

I don't know whether they are deliberately obtuse or if they really don't realize that what they are doing is flirting. I tried to educate them and let them know that even if they don't know, the girls certainly do. I asked Jeff, "Why do you think you get great rooms when you travel? Or rooms with refrigerators? Or refrigerators already stocked with your favorite water?" He does it even when I'm with him. He thinks he's just being friendly.

Then I found out about the cake one girl left in his room. Homemade.

He said he bought roses one day in the parking lot and gave one to each of the girls at the front desk at one hotel. (He travels A LOT)

And one left a cake in his room. Yeah. Flirting.

But he was too dumb to know that I was flirting with him when we met too.

Then I brought up a long held sore point for me. He used to have a secretary. He used to call her "Sunshine". I found it out when he took me to his office once to pick up papers he had forgotten. He had written a note on his chalkboard to "Sunshine." I've met her, she really is very nice.

He calls ME "Dumpling". I've told him 50 million times not to call me that because dumplings are fat and round and every time he calls me that, I resemble one a little more.

Ryan piped up, "But Mom, face it. You aren't a "Sunshine." You're more like a "Moonshine."

Thanks a lot. So I drive people crazy and make them go blind.

Jeff already told me last week that I was vain. And I asked Ryan for help one night to make a cartoon of myself. He asked why I was doing it and I said I thought it would just be fun and I might put it on my facebook page. He looked at my photograph and said, "I can see why." I asked was wrong with my photo. He laughed and said, "Nothing, I was just picking on your obvious insecurities."

My family is mean.

It's all good. We've all decided that Jeff's name for when he becomes a Grandfather is going to be "Grumpa".

Comparing One Book Shelf to Barnes and Nobles

That is like comparing the HEB in Big Spring to the HEB in Midland.

I've heard the legends. I finally had to see for myself. I had to be in Midland today anyway. So Ryan and I pulled up in front of the Store spoken about with such breathless awe. It was big. So big that I forgot my camera in the car. Or maybe I just forgot it because I'm getting old and I sometimes forget what I went in the other room for.

We grabbed a basket and oohed and aahed over the fact that it was made for giants. We found out that the real reason it's so big is because they have so much in the store that you won't be able to help yourself and you'll keep piling more and more in the basket.

Ryan had to drag me from the makeup aisle. Those who know me know that I love makeup. Ryan tries to help me. I could spend all day in the makeup aisles. That's almost as good as going to a book store or a coffee shop.

The stories were right! The HEB in Midland was gigantic and had everything! Everything but the low carb macaroni that I was looking for. And the muffin top pan that I haven't been able to find in Big Spring. They did have the yogurt that I've been longing to try and that's what we had for lunch in the car after loading all of our groceries. It was delicious. All in all, we had a good time.

I'm planning to stick to the low carb diet as I'm greatly enjoying it AND I've lost 12 pounds AND my cholesterol levels went from 215 to 169 in 6 weeks.

Laziness Abounds

Jeff is home on vacation all of this week and I guess Smokey is starting the week off right. This is what she was doing while I was laboring to figure the checkbook and pay the bills.



She doesn't have a care in the world except for the fight each day to see who gets to sit in my lap first to be petted. She doesn't like it when Garfield gets there first. The look she gives him is the exact one that is meant by the saying, "If looks could kill...".

Wouldn't it be nice to relax like this?

We don't plan on going anywhere for the week. I have planned a vacation for late September for Six Flags hoping that it will be cool enough for Jeff to handle. I never have liked heat much and Josh and Amber both get heat sick really easy. But now Jeff has joined the club. Because of his MS, heat can really take a toll on him. One summer, he had to wear a cooling vest every day. I think all Jeff plans to do this week is play Final Fantasy XI. Which mean, I probably won't get much done because I'll most likely be playing with him.

Cenus Data

I know, I know, I've been loafing too much and not writing enough. Jeff has been home for the last four days and went back to work today. Before that he was gone and Ryan and I partied like it was 1999. Jeff called one night and we were watching movies. He said, "You always wait until I'm gone and then do fun things with him, he'll never want me to come home!" Sorry, Sweetheart.

I heard on Fox news today that the Census workers are asking some really weird questions, like What time do you leave for work every day. I can't imagine why they would ask stupid things like that.

I've said before that I love working on my genealogy. One of my favorite things is looking at the old census data. That is, if I can read it. Sometimes it's just impossible to read because a pencil was used and it's faded or because of the handwriting of the census worker.

I love searching and finding a census and seeing the names of people that were my ancestors. Some of the information you can find is their names, ages, birth places, birth places of their parents, and years they were born.

Sometimes I'll find a family one census year, then 10 years later at the taking of the next census I can't find them anywhere, then find them again 10 years after that. I've often wondered if sometimes people didn't want to be found. I can see all of my family getting together and saying something like, "The gosh darn governments stickin it's nose in our business again. Don't tell em anything!" then hiding when the census takers came.

Here's some information I copied from the 1900 Hamilton County Texas Census for one of my ancestors:
1900 Hamilton County Texas Census Precinct 6, Sheet 12a
189, 192, Leonard, George W, Head, W, M, July 1863, 36, W'd, TX, TN, TX, Farmer
Mary E, Daughter, W, F, Aug 1883, 16, S, TX, TX, AR
Emily E, Daughter, W, F, Feb 1885, 15, S, TX, TX, AR
George A, Son, W, M, Jan 1888, 12, S, TX, TX, AR, Farm Laborer
Annie, Daughter, W, F, Feb 1889, 11, S, TX, TX, AR
Bertha, Daughter, W, F, Sep 1890, 9, S, TX, TX, AR
Robert, Son, W, M, Nov 1893, 6, S, TX, TX, AR
Trout, Paralee, mother in law, W, F, Nov? 1844, 54, W'd, Ar, AR, AR



George Washington Leonard was married to Bell Zora Trout. As you can see by the W'd, by 1900 poor George was widowed. He and his children and Mother-in-law were found living in the same household, sheet 12A of Precinct 6. He was the head of the family, white, a male, born July 1863, 36 years old, widowed, born in Texas, his father was born in Tennessee and his mother was born in Texas. He was a farmer and his son, George was a farm laborer.

In 1880, George was in Hamilton in the household of his parents, John and Nancy.
In 1890, He was in his own household.
In 1900, he was widowed and living with his children and Mother-in-law.
In 1910, he was remarried and living with his second wife and son Albert.

His first wife died in 1893, his second in 1911. His Mother-in-law lived until 1935 and George himself lived until 1945.

Isn't it amazing how you can kind of trace a family in the past like that? It's much easier when they stayed pretty much in one place. Jeff's family had to be very unhelpful and move around a lot and happen to not be anywhere when it was a census year. Oh well, I'm as stubborn as they were.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all of you Mother's are having a wonderful day today!

I got a beautiful bouquet of roses from Jeff and Ryan Friday and today Josh and Amber came to cook hamburgers on the grill. I had a very nice Mother's Day. Poor Jeff had to work all day and missed all of it. My brother offered to buy lunch but I didn't get that message until late because Ryan and I stayed up half the night watching movies and we slept the day away.
I had a great day and I hope you all did too!

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

How does your garden grow?
I love my garden. I've never enjoyed it much before, mainly because weeds abound. Square Foot Gardening is the way to go. I tried my best to use companion planting. One year Jeff and I planted jalapenos next to our tomatoes. Don't do that, we had hot tomatoes.
Jeff hasn't had a chance to make the covers for two of the boxes but temporarily wrapped chicken wire around them because something was already digging in one of them.




Squash, Bell Peppers, Cucumbers and Zucchini. You can't see the poor pepper plants because the sun has completely scorched off the leaves. I just have little twigs sticking up.
Corn, Beets, Cabbage, Lettuce with some parsley and dill

Beans, Carrots (very tiny), radishes, spinach with some chives
Tomatoes, Basil, Onions, Swiss Chard, and peas
I sure wish we'd been able to start earlier but we just couldn't swing it.

This song was on my mind today!

I Come to the Garden Alone

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear,
Falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me,
and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.