Friends and Family

Sometimes, if you are lucky enough, you met people in your life who you call friend. If you are really blessed, they become family. I think that those family members are the most special people in the world, because you were not born into it, you are not stuck with it, but instead you get to choose, and they also get to choose. So, this blog is dedicated to those people I have been blessed to met, who became friends, and many moons ago, crossed that river and became my family.

I have written about Jenny Hunt before. She is the other true girl friend besides Jackie I have known Jennifer to have for a long time. (see previous blog). Jennifer and Jenny became friends first, and then as God would have it, I was blessed with meeting and falling in love with her family. So I took them for my own. And there are no take backs here. This is a picture of when we went to Wimberly for JohnMike's wedding reception. JohnMike is Jenny's little brother. Jenny is 13 weeks pregnant here, but you can not tell. She found out a few weeks after this picture was taken that she is having twins!

Another thing I love about this picture, is if you look closely in the back ground you can see Jenny's mom's Christmas tree. That is right folks! It is a silver, metal tree ( the really old kind) and she even has the multicolored light wheel that shines on it. I love Joyce (Jenny's mom). I suppose the tree is just a reflection of Joyce. I wish there was a pink flamingo as the tree topper! If you ever need a sweet heart to embrace you, just go see Joyce. Her warmth is sent from God above I believe. I love you Joyce.

The other picture is of more of my chosen family. Mia is in the tub with her friend Ali. Ali is about 7 weeks older than Mia. Her mom is Quenby, and Quenby's mom and I went to college together. Becky (the mom) and I have been friends now for almost 30 years! Quenby is Jessica's age. Quenby lived with Catherine and myself for about a year. She is a sweet girl, who would carry a bug outside and set it free before she would squash it!

Becky is a warden at Gatesville Prison (for women). She gets to retire in about 6 months, about the time I have to go to work. Well, Becky deserves it. She has worked hard keeping the prisoners BEHIND bars! I love the idea that Becky and I are chosen family, and Quenby and Jessica are friends, and now, there is Mia and Ali. Three generations of chosen family is pretty special to me. Becky knew me when I was thin, and she thinks I was a snob when we first met, and I was just shy. I thought she a snoot, and come to find out she was just Becky…. Oh, and never ever ask Becky about what a "steady" job is........I love you Becky.

Mud, Mud, and more Mud

Outside is once again the theme here. Forgive me for not keeping this to one picture, but striving for being the model grandmother, I could not pick my favorite!

Flower Power

Mia is most happy when she is outside.

Sweet Big Eyes

This is one of the few pictures that we have of Mia so far that she is being still! Oh my goodness that is one BUSY baby! Her eyes look huge here. I think she reminds me in this picture of an Ewok from Star Wars. Like a big cute cuddley teddy bear!

Thanksgiving in a Trash Can

This is a little out of sequence, but I felt worth posting. What you see is a picture of the turkey that we cooked for Thanksgiving. It was cooked in a trash can (if interested, email me and I will be happy to explain more on that issue). Anyway, Catherine took this picture of the turkey before it was cooked. I thought the sun glasses was a nice touch! And the turkey was delicious!

Mia and "the UT Hat"

Mia has almost always seen her Great Grandparents with hats on. My mom(Memaw) and dad(Grand dad) work outside a lot, and they always wear some sort of head covering. They have a hat tree right by their entry door. Mia now thinks that Memaw and Grand dad should never be without their hat, even inside the house! The first thing she does when entering the house is reach for the hat tree, and grab a hat, and give Memaw hers and Grand dad his. This whole action/reaction is what prompted mom and dad to give her this University of Texas hat for her first birthday!

What exactly is bragging? and is it ever OK?

In case I have not shouted loud enough, or the roof tops been high enough, I would like to proclaim once and for all that my daughter Catherine Denee' Waldrop has been accepted to and will be attending Brown University in Rhode Island in August 2007! She will be the first person I have personally known (not to mention love) to attend and Ivy League college. Catherine applied under the early decision application, and she found out on Thursday, December 14, 2006 that she was accepted.

This is a link to the email letter she received. I do not know if you can open it or not, or even if anyone would care to....its way cool, no matter what!

http://mail.google.com/mail/?realattid=f_evps9wvc&attid=0.1&disp=attd&view=att&th=10f833943f383165

Catherine is a remarkable daughter. She will graduate (unless something awful happens) as Salutatorian of her class. Catherine is an officer for the National Honor Society. She has been the assistant drum major and head drum major, she plays the oboe, and taught herself to play the saxophone, so she could be in jazz band. She has traveled to China with an orchestra for two weeks, and walked on the Great Wall(for her sake, I will not mention what else happened on the Great Wall, but ask me in private and I will tell you). Catherine also won a national essay contest, and won an $8000.00 grant to fix up the Waller City Park. We had over 200 students and town folk show up and help create a park that kids now love to play on and in. There were several entries that won the grant money, but Catherine's project was judged best over all, and with that came a free concert for the community with Diana DeGarmo from American Idol fame. Catherine is also a member of a Venture Scout Crew, and has traveled with them to Arkansas for rock climbing and spelunking.

Now that is sounds like I have written an application letter, I would once again ask, what exactly is bragging, and is it ever ok?

I admit to being a proud mother. So shoot me!

Mother and Daughter

I do not think of myself as one who keeps a whole lot of "stuff." I think mostly because I do not have the room for it. But, one of the few things I have kept, is a little Martha Minature dress that I bought to have Jennifer's one year photo taken in. I kept it around and had Jessica's one year photo taken, and then Catherine's. Well, the dress still exists, and Jennifer was kind enough to let Mia have her one year photo taken in the little dress also. The flowers are not quite as bright, and there are some bows missing, but the gap in the 27 years between Mom and daughter is woven tighter with these bits of fabric.

Happy Birthday

Mia turned one year old on December 6. Jennifer had a little party for her down at mom and dad's. We grilled hot dogs and fresh squash. There was cheetos and chocolate cake. Mia loves being outside, so the idea was to let her have a day outside. We ate on the porch (which was a good idea when it came to clean up!). This is a picture of Mia wearing the remains of cheetos and chocolate cake!

Jennifer and Jackie

Jennifer has had two special friends near and dear to her heart. It is funny, because those friends are, in my opinion, as different as day and night. Jenny is a delightful spirit. Happy with cats, books, non-english speaking adults, and her husband Joel, and it seems to me, the possibility of living in poverty in remote areas in Honduras. And I don't think Jenny ever owned a Kaboodle! I wish I had a recent picture of Jenny and Jennifer together. Maybe the next visit I will remember.

Jackie on the other hand likes to run with a "have a good time" crowd. She dresses to the 9's, works out 1 and 1/ 2 hours per day at the gym, and gets text messages from "Snoop Dog". Like Jennifer, Jackie probably has the equalivent of 10 Kaboodles!

I am not in anyway shape or form saying one is better than the other.....just completely different in their lives. Yet, I know Jennifer loves them both dearly for who they are.

Jackie has flown in from Colorado for the weekend. I think to help Jennifer celebrate her 27th birthday. They have a hotel reservation downtown, and are going to see the sights that Houston has to offer to the young. Jennifer and Jackie are like two peas in a pod. It is almost overwhelming to have the two of them in the same room. They left the house, with a total of 10 pair of shoes and I do not know how many outfits, and a large enough selection of music to listen to for weeks. I inquired as to why so many shoes and outfits and music, for one night out on the town. Apparently, half of the fun to them is trying on clothes, and deciding what to wear, while listening to music.......this must take hours. I guess its like playing dress-up. What girlie girls.

My Three Daughters

Family trees can be confusing to me. It is not so much as who sits on the branch next to you, as to the proper name to call them. My cousin, Katy, has a daughter named Corey. Now since Katy is my first cousin, I think that Corey is my "first cousin, once removed".....some people tell me she is my second cousin. Maybe second cousin is the same thing, just a shorter version....I am not sure, so if anyone knows, please tell me. Now, after that, Corey, be she my first cousin, once removed, or my second cousin, has not seen Jennifer since they were little girls, like 7 or 8 years old, at the most. And she has never met Jessica and Catherine. Corey requested some pics of the girls. I am posting this one, although it is not the most recent, I love this picture. So here are my daughters, from left to right, Jessica, Jennifer, and Catherine( this picture was taken BM.....before Mia)

THE COW AND THE BUNNY

Jennifer's friend from school, Crystal, stays with us during the week. She and her precious baby sleep on my couch. ( I wish I had an extra bedroom!). India is 3 months old. She is very sweet. She went with us trick-or-treating. She was dressed as a bunny. Her suit was too big, but it just added humor to the whole look! I said like with all chocolate bunny's, I just wanted to bite her ears off first! Mia loves India. They spend part of the days just making baby noises at each other. It is very cute! Mia wants to pull on India's little hands and feet. India does not think that is a good idea.

First Candy

HOLY COW!

Mia as a baby cow.........

Trick or Treat!

Mia's first Halloween. I know some folks believe that "celebrating" this "holiday" is a bad thing. I do not want evil in my life or my family's and do not wish to "celebrate" anything that brings a positive spin on a bad thing................BUT..................I do not see Halloween as a celebration of the devil. Honestly, I see it as a time for kids to go and get free candy! Now that I been politically incorrect, let me continue. I was thinking as I was leaving school yesterday, about how excited I was to be taking Mia trick-or treating. Actually, Catherine called "dubs" on taking Mia the minute I think Jennifer told us she was expecting! Anyway, I then continue thinking that really Mia is too little to want candy, or want to get dressed up, or know what is going on at all....and then I realize, that like many other human traits I am not too proud of, there are only two reasons to take an 11 month baby trick-or treating. One is to get free candy without looking gready. They give it to her and then we eat it. The other reason it to show others how cute I think she is! Either way, the motive is not one to boast about! The end result was that both of those goals were met............we got to show her off, and we got to eat her candy. We actually only took her to about 4 houses of people we knew....and she didnt have a lot in her pumpkin........so we made a block in a neighborhood where her great grandmother lives. As Catherine put it, we increased our candy"exponentially" ! Aren't we great role models!

For Jenny and Joel Hunt

I have decided that I like blogs. I had a conversation with a dear friend of mine tonight, and how I see the blogs as a way to not only stay in touch with family and friends, but also the possiblity of getting to know them. Thus, I have been inspired by reading Jenny and Joel Hunt's blog. Yes, Joel, I sometimes read yours, because I do not really know you at all, and yet you are the love of someone that I love and love her family. So, my small attempt at getting to know you is occassionally reading your blog entries. With that ground work laid, the story is this. Jenny posted pictures of books she currently loves, and listed why she loved them. Joel writes with such passion about his school and how he loves learning and when you read his writing, you can just feel that passion, love and excitement for what his future holds, because of his chosen career path. The "ying and yang" of things makes me post this picture. These are the books I have read lately. I hate everyone one of them. Now, that could be the funny part of this, sort of a tongue and cheek reaction to Jenny's sweet entry. The sad part of this blog is that I do not have the passion and love for the educational choice I have made. It bores me. I know this and yet I will complete my degree in this field. My hope is that along the way, I will find something that I can feel the passion that Joel has for his future career.

One Small Step for Man, One Giant Step for Mia

Today, October 25, 2006. Mia walks! Actual steps, taken alone, on purpose, from one person to another! It was awesome. How is it that we take our walking for granted, and can become so excited when a baby learns to walk. It was a wonderful thing. I got all teary eyed. To make it even more special, her mom, her dad and his girlfriend were all here. Everyone witnessed the miracle. Lawerence Hegar is Mia's dad. He has a very special girl in his life named Christina. Mia loves Christina and she loves Mia. It is, I suppose, the next best thing to having a mom and dad married. Mia has two families that love her. How can that be a bad thing. Isn't it wonderful the more people who love us. I think so. I see that sweet baby be glad to see her Dad, and Christina, and all of her dad's family who loves her. I wish I had a picture I could post of her walking. We took videos, and I do not know how or if you can put a video clip on blogspot. You may just have to trust me in saying it was awesome! Tomorrow is another day, and if it is like the rest of her days, Mia will be running!

Two 1/2 teeth and two 1/2 ears!

Here we have two teeth and two 1/4 teeth. As you can notice, there is also enough ear surface area to say the same thing.....I think the 1/4 extra for each ear adds character!

My What Big Eyes You Have My Dear

I love this picture. It is the one that Jennifer has as her desktop.

Catherine, my baby

So, last night, I went with Catherine as she had her Senior pictures made. A little bitter sweet I believe it is safe to say. So it made me all mushy inside, to think my baby is grown and going to be leaving home in less than a year. Off to make her mark in the world. I wish you could all know her like I do. She is a very cleaver person. Witty, and wise, and as hard headed as they come. But, by golly, I love her beyond comprehension. So, getting all mushy, I pulled some old pictures of her out and scanned them. She took some of my favorites and made me a collage with them (in case you have yet to notice, I can not spell...that is collage, "a collection of pictures or other items, put together to make one"...I digress AGAIN........so, here are some pictures. In one picture she is 2 years old and the other is Kindergarden I think. Undeniably a cute face!