Shout out to Mellie!!!!!

Mellie made a very small mention on her blog of being published so I'm doing for her what I'm completely comfortable doing for myself-shouting it out from the mountain tops! Above is the photo in the book of her contribution. How fab is that? The cool shoes on the dresser, I so heart it.

This is the book that her art is in...

...another page of inspiration in the book...

...pic of the credits page and a close up below with her name.

Oops, I was just thinking that maybe she was keeping it legal by not copying this stuff...oh well...someone needs to show this off. Now go to Amazon and buy it.

Happy Birthday Art!!!!!

Last Saturday was Paul's dad, Art's, 90th birthday. We hadn't had a big to-do since his 80th so it was time to celebrate another milestone.Art is hiding behind Matt in the photo; he hid a lot at photo time but he had a great time, as did all, and held court in many different groups. These are all the cousins who came from New York (the whole family current back to way before Art were born and raised in Manhattan) helping us sing over the cake. Art was really in his element. He's so hail and hearty, we should all be so healthy!

Most in attendance were from Paul's grad school, Penn State, where many of Paul's friends embraced Art as a good friend after Paul left Penn State for California. Above are Gynnis and Glenda, friends since grad school.Convoing with Art here are Michael, our great neighbor friend, Donald, Art's nephew, and Gus, another great neighbor friend.

Chui and Chi Dong, also from grad school, flew in from Florida for the day. How sweet is that? They were true blue friends to Art after Paul left and, as you can see, they still are.

More Penn Staters catching up, in the small world of Meteorology.

More science bonding. It was fun to get all these folks together for such a great occasion.

Texans Take Their Football Seriously!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmEAo-nzBgY

Check it out, it's hilarious!!!!! Aggie Linda sent this to me...

Inauguration Day-Surreal Adventure

The night before we drove into Silver Spring and spent the night at Paul's office. Not showing here was that Matt and I shared this LOVE SEAT. To say the least, not much sleep was had that night and up at 5 a.m. on The Big Day.

Paul and Matt on the metro subway at dark-thirty.

And while the Metro was packed it was a very jovial, friendly, happy crowd. So many folks from so many different places; everyone was sharing their stories and happiness.

Hard to see but this is what wall to wall underground looks like...not for the claustrophobic...but I managed by focusing on the reason for the trip.

These two friends were too much fun to miss capturing them on camera; they loved entertaining as much as we loved watching them. Every person was a friend that day. There was just nothing but the feeling of peace, joy, hopefulness, and happiness. The testimony for that is that there was not one single arrest during this event which was estimated at almost 2,000,000 people and in Washington D.C., the crime capital of the U.S., no less. I heard that there were a few kids who got lost from their families but that everyone was returned safely. Also the National Guard and other military officers did a great job, very helpful, friendly, and upbeat-it wasn't exactly Bagdad but it couldn't have been an easy job either and they did it with much grace and dignity-befitting of the event-as if we were all invited guests which we were and, as it turned out, all socially graced.Yep, we were there before daylight and it was a good thing.

Walking around until we could get into the building where we were invited, we found where they had the floats waiting for the parade-here are Matt and I standing in front of the...well you see.

Now this one says USO but I'm pretty sure it was made for me. Unfortunately I didn't have my pretty, pretty princess dress with me so I didn't push the issue about riding in it.

This sign caught my eye and just added to the uplifting feelings of the day.Here's where we were; you can see where we are in relation to the capital building.

But we had plenty of binoculars, telescopes, and, of course, big screen t.v.'s to see it any way we wanted to. I took this while our new president was actually taking oath (or so we thought at the time). And, yes Julia, I did cry. Not boo hoo, but I was certainly moved by the moment and the whole atmosphere of the event...there was a Kleenex involved however.

There was quite a bit of jeering from the crowd when the heli lifted W. off to Tejas...

...and flew by the window. Lots of, "Good riddance to...", stuff. Not that I'm sorry to see him go other than I can no longer tout that I know the president, but he still has to live with himself and we don't, so let him go. All's I got left is kissing Clint Eastwood on the lips...well at least that one will never fly off in a heli. So many wondered how I got the ultra conservative to go with me, the rabid liberal socialist, to the inauguration-hey, he may be dumb but he's not so stupid as to pass up this "godfather" proposition! P.S. Friend and neighbor, Michael, said that the concert last Sunday on the mall was wonderful. I just watched it on HBO; they are showing it now under the title of We Are One and I highly recommend it, amazing artists including Stevie! It really shows the general feeling of how our hearts are renewed with hope for our nation. I am once again, after many years of not, proud to be an American.

Life is good even on a roller coaster

I scared poor Matt yesterday when I opened an email inviting us to see the inauguration from a building directly 1000 yards in front of the podium in front of the capital building as I started to cry. It's not just Texas that can make me cry, it's the dream-come-true, like a visit to Texas, that makes me cry. The special, heart-felt, even small unimagined things in life.This is more than a dream come true, it's beyond my imagination as we have been invited to attend a brunch on the eighth floor of a corporate building facing the capital-yes, INSIDE. We had been making lists of what we needed...long underwear, bullet-proof vests, hand warmers, etc. Now we are going in style but still have to tackle the metro subway, oy. This is just one view, we can go on the roof and see the whole parade, via binoculars, but still, and view from somewhere else. I'm soooooooooooo happy with this. We were going, come whatever but I never expected this. These wonderful surprises are what make getting through the tough times worth it. Ya, I will be post-posting! And this comes on the tail end of what had been a bit of a bummer for me last weekend. Not a brain tumor and not leukemia (as Julia so rightfully says) but in the small scheme of things, a bummer. I'm so proud to be a Texan (I know-shocking revelation, right?) and to drive a true Texan's vehicle, a global warmer, 4 door full size, V-8 Toyota Tundra (okay, it's Japanese but only by heritage, it was made in the U.S. of A.) and am totally at ease with it as my first vehicle and several have been pickups. So when I sideswiped a car last weekend pulling into a parking space I felt my Texas pride get zinged plus I was just bummed that I hit some one's car. So when you pick a car to sideswipe, what do you think of? I think of the car below...a 1987 Ford Escort. But, of course, in reality when it happens, it's a... ...brand new Mercedes!!!! Of course. Matt and I were out looking for dishwashers no less and so we had the guy at the front of the store do a page and we stayed out in the parking lot for a while and no one returned so we left a note. The woman called that evening and she was no happier than me. My bumper got scratched some but a couple of small places are to the metal so I'll have to have some of Jusin's ex-co-workers take care of it. I knew at the time it wasn't a life-altering event but it's not like me to go around playing bumper cars so it just surprised me in a not too good way. But...and here's the will-she-ever-make-a-freaking-point point...a couple of days later here comes this email that I get this unimagined opportunity to see history in the making and aside from the historical aspects it's just a fabulous, wonderful, hopeful change made by a guy that seems so human as to be just like you and me and wants to make the world a better place for his and our children. Tundras and Mercedes come and go but this...this is life-altering.