tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6567030986389389962012-02-04T14:58:23.185-06:00Welcome to Erin's Home, where her family and friends follow her example of living with gusto every day. What verb do you choose?Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.comBlogger6031100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-18787068636633869392012-02-04T10:48:00.003-06:002012-02-04T13:10:56.097-06:00

February 4, 2012 Have you missed me?  I have totally been lolly gagging around.  You know--eating bon bons and drinking champagne, crafting astoundingly detailed replications of famous ancient structures (visualize a Mayan temple or the Hanging Garden of Babylon) out of Ivory soap, and in general, wasting more time than you can shake a stick at.  My dereliction to posting is in no way caused by

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-84204872741805365322012-01-23T13:23:00.003-06:002012-01-23T13:29:41.144-06:00

January 23, 2012 Davis picked out a gift for his dad and chose express shipping.  Thanks to the efficiencies of modern logistics management, his gift is seeing more of the country than many of my students have seen in their lives: Memphis, TN, United States

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-33271968629533896332012-01-19T17:17:00.000-06:002012-01-19T17:17:11.930-06:00

January 19, 2012 Walter grew up think that his birthday was a holiday.  Fort Stockton schools dismissed for Robert E. Lee's and Jefferson Davis's birthday, which happened to beWLB's birthday as well (Unfortunately, in 1973, the Texas legislature combine the previously official state holidays honoring those two specific men, who Walter didn't mind sharing a birthday with, into a single "

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-17463407705255604062012-01-09T14:08:00.000-06:002012-01-09T14:08:19.172-06:00

January 8, 2012 Classify this under first world problems. Walter and I like cabbage, both as slaw and steamed.  With the right kind of prep, we could probably eat a whole head of cabbage over a few meals if we made it into slaw.  But.  Those store-bought bags of shredded cabbage with both purple and green varieties and some bits of carrot added for color are a lot easier than starting from

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-10716219910979702472011-12-29T10:10:00.000-06:002011-12-29T10:10:01.804-06:00

December 29, 2011 I had an appalling realization last week.  Finding myself with a bit of extra time on my hands, I started some heavy-duty cleaning, including in one of my three attics (and don't you think owning three attics in the same house is a little outrageous? Perhaps even decadent?).  Anyway, one of the things I found was a rather large basket of rags and leftover clothes and sheets

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-90307420873310904402011-12-24T11:10:00.003-06:002011-12-24T11:14:27.361-06:00

December 24, 2011 Erin's First Christmas Eve--14 Years Ago I have a friend who has suffered some gut-wrenching losses.  She's pretty far from friends and family and pulling the oars towards finishing her dissertation.  There are so many people I know who can identify with her words to me:    "so, this death thing seems to get worse, or at least it has for me. I guess it was the whole shock

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-81662807532287440442011-12-13T17:13:00.003-06:002011-12-13T17:31:52.214-06:00

December 13, 2011 I'm a day ahead of my usual schedule.   Ordinarily, I turn my grades in on the Wednesday of finals week and G.T.H.O.O.D (Get The Hell Out Of Dodge) so that I don't become a wheedle magnet for students looking for a mullet who might change their grade for no other reason than they have  a sad story and a compelling look on their face.  I turned all my grades in this morning and

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-6484475478496700072011-12-05T21:52:00.002-06:002011-12-06T11:07:30.016-06:00

December 5, 2011 Many weeks and months have passed since I gave a straight narrative of the Buenger activities (don't you feel boredom coming on, just anticipating a recital of "we went _______" then "we ate ______" and "saw ________").  Well, if your friends can't give you a little boredom and a chance to snooze at the screen this hectic, fast-paced, and stressful time of year, then what are

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-28999161745088192502011-11-28T15:16:00.002-06:002011-11-28T15:21:27.805-06:00

November 28, 2011 I know we have a boatload of things to be thankful for this year.  We are a lot closer to the top of the 99% than the bottom of the 99%.  We have had nothing but routine encounters with the American Healthcare System this year (although I did field a call late one evening from Davis asking how he might tell if his collarbone was broken. . . I described. . . he self-diagnosed

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-5576209728954826392011-11-21T16:42:00.000-06:002011-11-21T16:42:10.201-06:00

November 21, 2011 I am posting this cartoon from PhD Comics last week in honor of the Young Prince who will return to the castle on Thursday for a brief sojourn: Notice the subtle eyebrow action that reveals the true underlying energy and emotion in each one?  I'm betting he is leaving at least one prof who looks like this behind in Columbus, when he boards the plane. Walter and I have been

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-67761553349861136122011-11-10T12:24:00.000-06:002011-11-10T12:24:11.151-06:00

November 10, 2011 I have another 70 40 15 (but who's counting?) minutes of office hours and two more classes before I rocket out of the microplex on the way to Galveston, Moody Gardens, and the annual meeting of the Texas Art Education Association.     You are right, I am neither an artist nor an art educator, but Erin's Dream Lanyards was chosen as the TAEA's Art and Soul philanthropic

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-76226422155833208112011-11-03T16:36:00.003-05:002011-11-03T18:45:03.115-05:00

November 3, 2011 My first audio book experience came in the early-to-mid 90s in the form of John Erickson's Hank the Cowdog series. Davis was mad about Hank!  We bought a bunch of books from Producers Co-op, but given Hank's jinky syntax and his insatiable need to conflate his intelligence by tossing around incredibly long, bastardized words, they were much beyond Davis's reading skills.  Then

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-74202709816218723792011-10-28T15:59:00.002-05:002011-10-29T09:10:22.617-05:00

October 28, 2011 I actually don't know a huge amount about chaos theory, and I don't spend too much of my time thinking about dynamism, randomness, or the importance of initial conditions.  If I did, I would drive myself crazy imagining what all that would mean for Erin and her cancer.  Instead, I want to talk about green shorts and the butterfly effect (from chaos theory--the illustrative

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-1275678156811318562011-10-21T09:54:00.000-05:002011-10-21T09:54:17.481-05:00

October 21, 2011  If you look on the left column of the page, you will see I have put the Australian clock back in place.  <div align="center" style="width:140px;border:1px solid #ccc;background:#FF5 ;color: #FF5 ;font-weight:bold"><a style="padding:2px 1px;margin:2px 1px;font-size:13px;line-height:16px;font-family:arial;text-decoration:none;color:#000080 ;" href="http://

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-11055198524719003142011-10-18T17:00:00.000-05:002011-10-18T17:00:31.056-05:00

October 18, 2011 Sometimes things just break your way.  Last weekend was a case in point.  A number of months ago, Bridget Maloney the Children's Minister at Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church in Plano contacted me and invited me to do a lanyard workshop at her church.  How could I refuse when she told me she had read Erin's blog for years, and it would be just like having a rock star stop by the

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-76078870767044126562011-10-11T09:20:00.004-05:002011-10-11T09:20:41.226-05:00

October 11, 2011 The post title today is more of a request than an admonition.  Have you ever thought about this?   Both Davis and Erin went through phases where I couldn't pry them from the bathtub.  The water would lose its heat and eventually become downright chilly, but they would just slosh around and delay getting out (too many cool bath toys, I think).  I always wondered why their

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-13437642579062953692011-10-04T19:16:00.001-05:002011-10-04T19:16:35.360-05:00

October 4, 2011 Some things smack of unfairness and other things are just tough to explain.  Here's something that is both: Really, Uma has been on the green bean diet for TEN AND A HALF MONTHS!  It started well over 300 cans ago.  I don't know why she still looks like a dually (is that what non-Texans also call those heavy duty trucks with four-wheels in the back?).    I don't

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-84902360118241500252011-09-23T17:19:00.001-05:002011-09-23T19:07:33.339-05:00

September 23, 2011 Earlier this summer, I told Walter I wanted to go to Washington DC this week for a buffet of childhood cancer awareness activities and I wanted him to go, too.  I can't say he jumped up and down with joy or rapture.  When he priced our hotel and discovered that it would cost us PLENTY [I'm not even going to write the amount or the range of the amount because I would be

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-32741912611587959872011-09-15T20:33:00.000-05:002011-09-15T20:39:21.029-05:00

An internet friend I made after Erin had died was talking about her (the friend's) Irish nature and how it sometimes just kicked in.  I was looking through photos to send her one of Erin to demonstrate that she didn't have to explain, that I understood how that fiery nature sometimes reveals itself.  When I opened the photo album, this was the first shot I saw!  Erin, re-creating

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-62160101617468858002011-09-15T17:12:00.000-05:002011-09-15T17:14:07.364-05:00

September 15, 2011 I have wanted to post multiple times lately.   At one point I had something interesting to say about the piece from The Economist that had this graphic:   I've forgotten what it was. I was also quite pumped about this Seuss-like explanation of the connection between jobs and health care. But I couldn't think of anything creative to add. I have also

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-59806492213015882242011-09-02T14:17:00.000-05:002011-09-02T14:17:02.887-05:00

September 2, 2011 You probably expect something really witty or clever or at least profound today.  Why?  For one, I have gone way longer between posts than usual, and for the other, yesterday kicked off National Childhood Cancer Awareness month, which is obviously something worth writing about.   I think you might just have to keep expecting because I'm not feeling it. In fact, I have put off

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-35397057825246629582011-08-16T14:31:00.000-05:002011-08-16T14:31:20.763-05:00

August 16, 2011 I had to knock down the dust in Erin's room some yesterday.  I actually spend a lot of time in there and the major surfaces were okay, but some of the shelves don't get a lot of practical cleaning. Okay, so beyond the I-don't-deep-clean-my-house-regularly confession, there is the other bereaved-parent confession coming.  Twenty-eight months later, and I haven't actually done

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-11512839271485332862011-08-10T11:29:00.001-05:002011-08-10T11:32:07.184-05:00

August 10, 2011 I was going to write about the three books I read on vacation, but I will put that off a day or two.  This photo (with the explanation behind it) came across my news feed, and it was too cool not to share.  Once you look at the photo, click here and read about what you are seeing.  Isn't science/the natural world wonderful and endlessly fascinating?

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-18502984344991991752011-08-06T11:25:00.001-05:002011-08-06T11:57:19.719-05:00

August 6, 2011 Walter and I spent the week in Taos at an ecolodge called El Monte Sagrado, but instead of having body polishes, hot towel infusions, and seaweed wraps, we opted for thigh burner hikes.  We did the Devisadero Loop Trail which took us up to the peak of Devisadero and then along the ridgeline, which may be the only expert trail I have ever hiked.  We managed the six miles and 1100

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-46976829709643901682011-07-31T12:23:00.003-05:002011-08-04T17:02:47.837-05:00

July 31, 2011 If you wanted you could travel the world and inspect the Seven Wonders of the World (which you will realize, if you click the link, that there are actually 28, which would probably take a very long time to see.  I have viewed three in person in my first fifty years, which is a nice trifecta, but doesn't bode well for clearing the table.). If instead, you work on the list of "Makes

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-13545158470804221582011-07-30T16:56:00.000-05:002011-07-30T16:56:14.047-05:00

July 30, 2011 Walter and I went on the Southfork trail in the White Mountain Wilderness of the Lincoln National Forest this morning and went further up the trail than we have ever gone. On the way back down the trail we came across a big dog party.  I took their picture because they looked like they were having so much fun.  I'm sure Teddy, Willie, and Uma are having just as much fun.  They

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-54054673717682766292011-07-29T08:07:00.000-05:002011-07-29T08:07:21.627-05:00

July 29, 2011 File under things that make me say hmmmmm: We past several 50-wheelers on I10 yesterday.  Seriously.  I counted the tractor trailer wheels and there were, 50 total wheels on the ground, not 18.  I couldn't even find a Google image to illustrate for you.  And they were so long and moving so fast (The speed limit was 80 mph) I didn't get a photo myself. I drove with both hands on the

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-25094077515458183222011-07-26T15:03:00.002-05:002011-07-26T17:29:34.415-05:00

July 26, 2011 About six weeks ago, I spotted some unfamiliar water birds on my morning walk around the lake.  When I say unfamiliar, I don't mean to imply that I can't tell the difference between herons, ibis, ducks, and geese (these were definitely geese), but rather they were new on the lake.  Of course, migratory birds fly through and stop over with some frequency, but they usually leave

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-68501106023305232552011-07-18T18:38:00.003-05:002011-07-19T07:36:04.165-05:00

July 18, 2011 I felt a blog post coming on yesterday.  You may want to watch this video before reading further (I write, knowing most of you will skip right over the video when you notice that I have requested nine and a half minutes of your time, plus whatever few ticks of the clock it will take you to read my mighty exposition of it), and be forewarned that there may be more than the usual

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-11543847169649009562011-07-08T17:04:00.002-05:002011-07-09T09:33:17.308-05:00

July 8, 2011 Monday will mark the 45th anniversary of the premier of Bob Eubank's The Newlywed Game.  Add bonus points if you knew that it was the last commercial U.S. network series to premier in black and white. Why do I mention this? I didn't watch The Newlywed Game too often and probably didn't know what making whoopie was, but I do remember thinking how dumb the couples were.  I

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-47459536623072810312011-07-06T21:03:00.000-05:002011-07-06T21:03:05.867-05:00

July 6, 2011 All I can say is that I believe this video was staged, because I just don't believe corgis would have the incentive to do this unless food were involved.

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-89623783296110885782011-07-02T09:38:00.000-05:002011-07-02T09:38:58.956-05:00

July 2, 2011 After I finish this post, I'm going to squeeze into the closet where I keep Erin's American flag (the one that flew over the capital on her birthday in 2006) and put it out to start the holiday weekend. Yesterday, I watched this TED video talk by Matt Cutts, called Try Something New for 30 Days.  I have seen people do thirty day challenges on Facebook--giving up sugar or taking

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-81496308104286299142011-06-29T21:04:00.003-05:002011-06-30T07:30:43.716-05:00

June 29, 2011 OOPS!  I forgot when I posted last night:   First Presbyterian is collecting garage sale items for its big community Garage Sale on July 9.  Let me know if you have items to donate, and I will do a pick up between now and next Wednesday.  For those of you who shop, we already have a lot of really good items and enough great items that we will have a boutique inside the garage

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-57956209754476554102011-06-20T16:57:00.000-05:002011-06-20T16:57:45.558-05:00

June 20, 2011 Sometimes the calendar conspires against you and compresses things so you don't have time to work through them before you have to move on to the next thing.  That happened over the last several days, as we burned through first my mom's birthday, Davis's departure back to Ohio, a roadtrip, PPR Day, Father's Day, and today, Erin's fourteenth birthday. My sister and I celebrated the

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-78333803995535266412011-06-18T15:29:00.000-05:002011-06-18T15:29:26.870-05:00

June 18, 2011 I've loved Ella Fitzgerald for a long time, but my love solidified in 1977 with a New Yorker cartoon that had two guys looking at a bird in a birdcage.  The bird was dressed up in a long evening gown and had a trademark Ella Fitzgerald wig.  The caption read:  "Funny, she doesn't sound that much like Ella Fitzgerald to me." Walter and I are going to an out-of-town concert in a

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-43839021438534946152011-06-07T10:47:00.002-05:002011-06-07T10:57:46.119-05:00

June 7, 2011 My compressed calendar has unwound a bit, though I still have miles to go before I sleep.  When it has to do with advocating and supporting childhood cancer research, my first inclination is to say "Yes" then figure out how to do whatever it is that the requester has asked.  This is my Erin's Dream Lanyards mantra and it carries over into my world of public policy advocacy.  

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-14936646986618775422011-06-02T14:37:00.002-05:002011-06-02T15:38:30.314-05:00

June 2, 2011 I drove back from Mo Ranch this morning, staring into the rising sun, chatting with Jimmie (thanks for the deft assist at everything we did!), and pondering this: What would anyone born almost anyplace in the world at almost any other time in the history of man think about a culture and society that spends so much money renting ugly spaces to store our extra stuff in?   Really? 

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-35756285326070503052011-05-25T14:08:00.002-05:002011-05-25T14:08:32.736-05:00

May 25, 2011 A few years ago to celebrate the end of school, Erin, my mom, and I went with the Tjoelkers down the road to the Little Brazos River to wade around, look for fossils, and hang out.   We picked some seed pods off a wild hibiscus we found and planted them in the flower bed outside Erin's bedroom.  When I came around from the dog walk this morning, I noticed the plant that came up had

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-86382469375624294682011-05-19T19:27:00.001-05:002011-05-19T20:07:48.140-05:00

May 19, 2011 The one thing about the possible rapture on Saturday (not that I'm going anywhere or anything), but there could be a radically lower number of kiddos attending summer camp at Mo Ranch and Flaming Arrow, and my mission to count out 1800 bags of beads (one for each proposed lanyard) might magically melt away. Two-thirds of a million beads. I no longer count sheep at night.  

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-6007578385447737012011-05-12T11:16:00.000-05:002011-05-13T15:52:40.694-05:00

May 12, 2011 So I have balanced my MacBook on my Rubbermaid kitchen step stool and put them both on the kitchen counter so that I can avoid dying.  According to this New York Times article Is Sitting a Lethal Activity? (which you can read for free here even if you have already burned through your free access to the Times this month already and can't get past the paywall) suggests that you don't

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-52060482633505710142011-05-05T15:26:00.000-05:002011-05-05T15:26:06.892-05:00

May 5, 2011 Happy Cinco de Mayo! Allow me to present Phylicia Taylor, the 2011 Erin Buenger Scholarship recipient!  She is interested in biomedical science, music, and neuroscience and aspires to be a surgeon.

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-90398829472997307652011-05-03T22:24:00.005-05:002011-05-03T22:31:29.718-05:00

May 3, 2011 Announcements on top.  Fun below. If you live within a fifteen mile radius of my house and want to donate items to the Erin Buenger Memorial Scholarship Fund garage sale Taking place this Saturday (May 7) from 8-2 in the gym at Jane Long Middle School, please give me a message, text, email,  phone call, or smoke signal, and I will swing by your place and pick up your stuff.   If

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-50437467548155847762011-04-22T13:49:00.001-05:002011-04-22T13:53:39.992-05:00

April 22, 2011 My friend Lisa met me for lunch today and asked me, "How are things?" I replied, "Oh, things are fine.  There are just so many of them." And that's the truth.  There are just so many things these days.  Loads of things. I am beaving along, though, knocking through the things one by one.  If I owe you an email, you will get one eventually.  If I owe you a work package, you'll

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-76542863188337696672011-04-14T17:32:00.000-05:002011-04-14T17:32:37.752-05:00

April 14, 2011 Rarely, does spending a couple of hours hard at work, feel so good.  At First Presbyterian Church-Bryan last night, about 130 folks of all ages pulled together to assemble, weigh, seal, pack, and load 20,002 nutritious meals for shipment to hungry people around the world.  I had three jobs.  The first started soon after I arrived.  The director of the evening, who had flown in

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-90802579602193170772011-04-11T13:48:00.001-05:002011-04-11T14:08:19.701-05:00

April 11, 2011 Someone has a birthday today (#23), and I can't resist sharing: 

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-7353583853071986272011-04-09T12:08:00.001-05:002011-04-09T12:12:08.435-05:00

April 9, 2011 I didn't know that friend was a verb until Erin.   I'm not talking about the Facebook action where you make a connection and agree to give access to your wall, photos, and comments to someone you love, interact with regularly, just met, or never met but have some reason to want to interact with socially (but electronically). I'm not talking about the concept of befriending,

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-3887373736978168352011-04-08T15:29:00.001-05:002011-04-08T15:44:59.192-05:00

April 8, 2010 We all have our own reasons why we would prefer the government not shut down at midnight tonight (which probably means that while we don't all love everything the government does, we all do love some, if not many, of its involvements).   For me, the fact that medical research at the NIH Clinical Center will shut down matters.  New studies (seven are scheduled to kick off next

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-34284448227624896932011-04-07T09:15:00.001-05:002011-04-07T09:28:47.390-05:00

April 7, 2011 I signed up for Word of the Day at SpanishDict.com.  I figured I could supplement my Rosetta Stone efforts and expand my vocabulary incrementally, doing something I do every day:  read my email.  Little did I know that somewhere, embedded in the terms of agreement, I gave permission for the company to explore my subconscious and harness my brain so that they could customize my

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-63875501950212044472011-04-04T10:46:00.001-05:002011-04-04T11:13:18.079-05:00

April 4, 2011 I started the day not firing on all cylinders.  Perhaps I was emotionally exhausted from watching the Lady Aggies come-from-behind, final-seconds victory over Stanford in the Women's NCAA semifinal basketball match up last night.  Maybe I should blame Teddy, who commuted around the bed continually during the night as she got too hot then too cold then too hot again.  I also dreamed

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-77784989171514874262011-04-01T17:41:00.008-05:002011-04-01T17:50:52.841-05:00

April 1, 2011 I guess my April Fools Day joke is to turn the noun "verb" into an actual verb.  Not that funny. Anyway, I have been struck with the number of emails and other encounters I have had lately with people celebrating the way that Erin inspires them.  At least four of my friends (Jennifer, Brooke, Spencer, and Kathryn) are celebrating their Relays for Life with Erin in mind.  Thank you

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-53904530247126075432011-03-29T08:39:00.003-05:002011-03-29T08:50:52.941-05:00

March 29, 2011 Thanks to everyone for reaching out to us with such kind words after my last post.  You all have a right to be angry and sad and frustrated.  Right now, the person is only accused of crimes and not yet convicted, so we should probably remain patient.  That is why I offer the following, much lighter post today: Quick.  Name the first three hymns that come to your mind.  Maybe

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-52088807386149602732011-03-24T15:18:00.004-05:002011-03-24T16:07:15.726-05:00

March 24, 2011 Odd Friday Lanyard Workshop is with the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Blinn College tomorrow at noon! The semester piled back on me as soon as I got back from DC.  It has me by a choke hold and will not let up for several more weeks, even if I say uncle. Which makes my trip to DC last week even sweeter. Believe it or not, we got all 46 attendees and three organizers of

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-31199647494284223202011-03-16T21:53:00.004-05:002011-03-16T21:54:24.183-05:00

Heading to Washington DC at 7:00 Thursday morning to lobby my Congressman for the Creating Hope Act and to meet with people like myself to figure out how we can cooperate, coordinate, collaborate, and learn from each other. Thanks PAC2! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-goodman/post_1833_b_836270.html?ref=fb&src=sp

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-4500911391326025212011-03-15T18:54:00.003-05:002011-03-15T23:05:20.318-05:00

March 16, 2011 I shipped sixty-five lanyards, a dozen eyeglasses chains, twenty keychains, and a pair of necklaces out on behalf of Erin's Dream Lanyards  to Buffalo, New York (for the Cure Me!  I'm Irish! fund raising event sponsored by Melina's White Light and Friends, to Cape Canaveral, Florida (soon to be living on a Carnival Cruise Line Ship), to Denton, Texas, and to Las Cruces, New Mexico

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-53953654994074136472011-03-10T17:28:00.002-06:002011-03-11T09:15:21.069-06:00

March 10, 2011 And so we begin the trudge through Lent.   When we hit Mardi Gras, 2009 and rolled into Lent, Erin had just scored her first ever perfect attendance for a six weeks grading period and was honing her Wii skills, whomping everyone at bowling, tennis, and cow racing.  By Maundy Thursday, she had run out of miracles.   Last year, I struggled during Lent, wondering why I had to

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-46910926141730611882011-03-04T11:50:00.000-06:002011-03-04T11:50:46.948-06:00

March 4, 2011 Does this make you smile? How about this? Do I have to pull out the big guns? The bigger guns? I hope you are smiling now because I'm trying to save your life and improve its quality.  According to LeaAnne Harker and Dacher Keltner, of UC, Berkley, smiling is a winning strategy.  They measured yearbook smiles, then tracked down the folks they measured.  Larger

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-27336615976132723382011-02-25T09:43:00.002-06:002011-02-25T09:45:39.011-06:00

February 25, 2011 No Odd-Friday Lanyards today.  I have to go up to Bryan High around 8:00 to set up the lanyard table/booth for the Color Guard Competition in the morning.  You can stop by the usual time (early evening) if you have the interest and skill set to help me sort the 25+ pounds of beads currently forming a bead stew in the bead room.  This beautiful, but randomized assortment, came

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-17673084331883648932011-02-23T17:25:00.002-06:002011-02-24T07:22:20.497-06:00

February 23, 2011 So, Ezra Klein, referenced this graphic in his blog yesterday.  It was derived by a couple business school professors.  This is a shocking disparity between actuality and perception (not to mention the ideal).  It made me start wondering how much of the world we actual get wrong when we think we have it right. Is my estimate of how many people enjoy my class this skewed?

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-32307489885048214722011-02-19T15:35:00.002-06:002011-02-19T15:39:52.075-06:00

February 19, 2011 Why it took almost a month after Walter's actual milestone birthday to celebrate with the Tjoelkers at Madden's last night, I can not explain.  Mark's trip to Australia; Elaine's mandatory chauffeur role in the Tjoelker boys' fun-and action-filled schedules;  Walter's many, many late nights at work; my own quick-filling dance card.  I can say with no hesitation that we all

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-13426116401007431022011-02-13T18:39:00.001-06:002011-02-13T19:47:25.948-06:00

February 13, 2011 If your dentist has his fingers in your mouth, that last thing you want him to mutter is, "Classic!"  When that happened to me on Friday morning the first thing I thought was "I hope he's not thinking of buying a classic/vintage auto based on the fees he sees looking in my mouth."  The second thing I thought was "Wake up, Vickie.  You must be having one of those dreams where

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-60157072264787480402011-02-06T20:55:00.001-06:002011-02-06T21:03:13.365-06:00

February 6, 2011 If you are keeping track, this Friday is an Odd Friday and that means Party!  I am pretty sure that we are expecting more cold weather midweek (that's Texas cold, not Minnesota cold), but if you wear gloves, sit on your hands, or keep them tucked in your armpits on Wednesday and Thursday, then they will probably be okay to hold wire and pick up tiny beads by Friday afternoon.  I

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-78771556979837040982011-01-30T14:48:00.000-06:002011-01-30T14:48:27.944-06:00

January 30, 2011 Art Linkletter, who died last year at 97, parlayed a career in radio and early television into something remarkable by focusing on children and their take on the world. I have a five-year-old friend.  She and her mom had passed some winter germs back and forth, and yesterday was the mother's day to feel poorly.  The little girl had told her dad about her mom's illness on the

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-77940817139012142382011-01-28T10:15:00.002-06:002011-01-28T10:46:40.849-06:00

January 28, 2011 I have a new "Something Distinctive" about myself.  Walter gave me the gloves I wear (cashmere lined, no less) as my Valentine's gift the February before we got married.  I suppose numerous people my age have gloves significantly older than their children.  Mine (my gloves, not my kids) will celebrate their 27th birthday in a couple of weeks.  But that's not what sets my

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-20731114895229467312011-01-26T14:01:00.002-06:002011-01-26T15:57:31.765-06:00

January 26, 2011 So here I sit, one week after Walter's birthday, having not even mentioned it.  We celebrated quietly, but effectively, and will probably go on celebrating for several more weeks.  We have managed to get the year and the semester started, and no doubt it will all be a mad rush to Christmas and New Years, but we will gladly take you along for the ride for another year in the life

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-77925723724303783102011-01-21T14:53:00.002-06:002011-01-21T15:11:41.343-06:00

January 21, 2011 What would you do with 51 cans of Del Monte French Style No Salt Added green beans? We feed them to Uma. You can see Uma under Walter's right arm in this (pre-Teddy) family photo: From WELCOME TO ERIN'S HOME Don't you think it's a shame for a dog to have so many chins? (I'm going to add a video here if I can find it that demonstrate her true proportions, so you may

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-77770819102046295602011-01-17T08:12:00.000-06:002011-01-17T08:12:32.639-06:00

January 17, 2011 If it is January 17, it must be time for your annual reminder of the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I did't have to do this regularly until a couple of years ago, when the local paper stopped running the text of the speech in the paper. Here, for example, is one of my favoritely titled posts of all time:  Don't Lean In.  I didn't have to focus on MLK that day because we

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-69535335055436971142011-01-14T16:30:00.003-06:002011-01-14T16:36:09.608-06:00

January 14, 2011 I began the day wondering if I was still a virgin. I looked it up on the internet, and I am.  Walter on the other hand, needs to come out of the closet.  After living under DADT for his entire life, pretending to be something he was not, I discovered today that he was a Sagittarius, not a Capricorn.  I needed to learn what I had gotten myself  into now that Walter's true and

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-22744253592717367582011-01-13T17:05:00.003-06:002011-01-13T17:33:09.784-06:00

January 13, 2011 With only two of five runways open at Logan and scenes like this, I can say with enthusiasm that I'm glad we flew to Boston last Thursday rather than today (Funny how this photo just blends right in the Let's Do It! wallpaper). In fact, practically everywhere in the country (except here and also where the Tjoelkers are vacationing) has snow.   I guess it doesn't really matter

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-613175521945429072011-01-09T09:40:00.001-06:002011-01-09T10:21:20.520-06:00

January 9, 2010 Walter's Aunt Martha and Uncle Herman did not start out as native English speakers (German on the one hand, Polish on the other), but they caught on well and I never had any trouble understanding anything either one of them said.  I remember the first time they drove over the couple of hours from Taylor to meet the infant Davis.  They had never had children, but had proudly

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-60467430267992434902011-01-05T17:53:00.002-06:002011-01-05T17:58:03.589-06:00

January 5, 2010 I read in the paper this morning that Americans waste 160 billion pounds of food each year.  Some comes (I imagine) from those trays of foods the cafeteria ladies dump into the trash after the kids have eaten the roll and picked the bits of meat off the faux pizza slice.  I figure another pretty big amount comes from supermarkets disposing of regulated products that pass their

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-35542129179735920702010-12-31T17:00:00.000-06:002010-12-31T17:00:59.060-06:00

December 31, 2010 I should probably wax poetic about the end of the year, my lessons learned, my hopes for 2011.  I may fall into that trap tomorrow.  Today I want to tell you about my trip to the meat market.   Until breakfast this morning, Walter and I were undecided about whether to cook New Year's Day dinner or take the fam to eat out.  We finally decided on eating in, so that we could

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-57176669651325626262010-12-28T09:51:00.004-06:002010-12-28T11:53:02.369-06:00

December 28, 2010 Merry Christmas! I accidentally decided to take a Christmas hiatus.  Over the last week, I considered posting.  Who wouldn't have wanted to read my sassy description of Davis bringing his pots and pans home for Christmas SO THAT HIS MOM AND DAD COULD HELP HIM SCRUB THEIR OIL ENCRUSTED BOTTOMS? Adam definitely asked me to do a post about the Christmas day concert that he

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-64583389000493354752010-12-22T16:28:00.002-06:002010-12-22T16:31:49.037-06:00

December 22, 2010 I can't figure out why some people can't view the long and the short version of the two C-SPAN videos r when I post them within the same entry.  Here is the short (Erin) version.  The longer version and the explanation is in the original entry below:

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-66721979745589415592010-12-22T10:17:00.004-06:002010-12-22T16:24:59.248-06:00

December 22, 2010 I had planned a journal entry for today that involved a youtube video and wind.  I can save it.   Instead, I'm going to exercise a point of personal privilege this morning, much as Congressman Chet Edwards did on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives last night.  I encourage you to watch the entire twenty-five minutes if you have the time as he talks about what is

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-80450085700728234752010-12-16T10:13:00.002-06:002010-12-16T12:17:51.579-06:00

December 16, 2010 Cleaning up at the end of the semester gives me a brilliant, liberating feeling.  It goes beyond clearing my office desk and credenza.  I tackled the desk in Erin's room this morning.  I work in Erin's room almost every day.  I check my mail on the laptop at her desk.  We have all the beading activity in her room.  As you know, any flat surface accumulates stuff, and her desk is

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-76075593467942515742010-12-12T20:00:00.004-06:002010-12-13T08:04:35.452-06:00

December 12, 2010 At first, Davis was going to stay a few days in Columbus after he finished taking and grading finals.  I figured he had earned a little time to blow off steam and hang out without responsibilities or even having to explain to his (very understanding) mother why he was awake when he should be sleeping and vice versa. Friday night he called for travel advice:  should he try to

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-61060075624700456442010-12-09T19:07:00.000-06:002010-12-09T19:07:45.234-06:00

December 9, 2010 Home today.  Sent home by the IT people at work.  Sick office computer.  I can't tell how sick, but I took it as a bad sign that I could not open any programs besides my browser and my automatic weather feed.  I think that means it has mono. Germs do spread. I left for lunch at 11:30 (to meet Tracy and find out  she had had all the luck with lanyards this week--$500 on

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-82190168936007180412010-12-02T16:21:00.006-06:002010-12-02T21:15:30.861-06:00

December 2, 2010 After teetering and stumbling along all semester, I bumped into the last class day of the semester today.  I'm not completely done yet--various grading opportunities remain. . . and of course finals (Yes, I do have the next-to-last one scheduled:  Wednesday December 15, 1-3), but I no longer have to worry about whether to dress for a class day or a classless day (those who know

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-36900995769774747902010-11-28T09:37:00.005-06:002010-11-28T09:41:40.444-06:00

November 28, 2010 Three Four Five things: Davis took over The Dahvee Repore last night.  It had languished since he left for Ohio in August, appropriately, I think.  It borders on creepy/obsessive/fiction for a mom to continue to blog about her son in graduate school who lives 1000 miles away.  Really, Davis needed to grab his eponymous blog by the horns, which he has done.  Maybe he will invite

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-36316246184834041472010-11-25T11:55:00.000-06:002010-11-25T11:55:25.640-06:00

November 25, 2010 I figured we would spend at least part of the evening last night discussing the merits of pat down versus FBS as we enjoyed a beer and the prospect of someone else cooking and cleaning for Thanksgiving for a change.  It didn't turn out that way.  I don't even know which one Davis chose. We do have him home from Ohio for the holiday, which we anticipated and now appreciate.

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-81548840055415289702010-11-21T22:39:00.003-06:002010-11-24T09:01:36.136-06:00

November 21, 2010 Update:   Walter will guest on Biased Transmissions tonight (Wednesday) at 6 p.m. on 89.1 FM, KEOS.  The topics include:  the use of history and memory in politics and the misrepresentation of history in political rhetoric and the white washing of history. My mom sent me an email from work last week, asking:  "I didn't know Walter was profiled in Wikipedia, did you?"  I filed

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-92178838836361024372010-11-18T17:07:00.001-06:002010-11-18T17:09:03.322-06:00

November 18, 2010 Tomorrow is an Odd Friday, but most of my usuals may not want to come to Odd Friday Lanyard Workshop.  I will hold it at Seguin High School, which is only a two hour and forty-five minute drive from here. I am thrilled to get the invitation to share the lanyard project with the Health Science students in Seguin.  I'll tell you all about it when I return.  In the meantime, what

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-84520217392652106992010-11-15T11:29:00.005-06:002010-11-16T15:45:17.346-06:00

November 15, 2010 I hope to climb out of the grading well before next weekend arrives. Right now, I'm mired in mid-term papers (41 of them. . .each 7-10 pages). Here's a hint: If you circle all the forms of the "to be" verbs in any ten consecutive sentences of your paper, your paper shouldn't look like it has the measles. The twenty little circles pictured here far exceeds expectations. A

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-30257900920079345792010-11-12T20:30:00.010-06:002010-11-12T20:56:52.871-06:00

November 12, 2010I've changed. After 50 years.Last year, I experimented.This year I went all in.Socks.I have worn Goldtoe socks for as long as I have been aware of them, and something quite similar before that (this does not apply to athletic socks, when I wear Thorlo). I am not a flip flop girl, I have a narrow foot and almost always wear lace up shoes. Except when I wear my Keens with

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-6107994249716358482010-11-11T14:48:00.004-06:002010-11-11T16:56:41.042-06:00

November 11, 2010The little brown sliver to the top and far left of the photo is the door to my office suite. The food extends on the other side of that door and down the hall in the other direction. Every fall, students in MGMT 209, 211, and increasingly other courses collect food for our local food bank and its hungriest citizens.I don't mind walking around canned corn to get into my office!

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-45186854876921096792010-11-08T13:57:00.005-06:002010-11-08T18:44:32.424-06:00

November 8, 2010I appreciated the extra hour of sleep on Saturday night (which actually allowed me to finish my Sunday school lesson before breakfast. . .and on a side note, allowed Walter to get even more than that done, since he didn't fall back. Instead, he ginned around doing chores wondering why he had such a layabout slacker for a wife.), but I'm not that gung ho about the change. My

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-26340704108918621302010-11-04T11:42:00.013-05:002010-11-06T09:35:05.020-05:00

November 4, 2010My friends have either avoided me or tip-toed around me or sent gentle (real and metaphorical) hugs towards me in the wake of the election on Tuesday. They have perhaps forgotten that this is the way I view the world (with credit to original artist, Selin Jessa): Okay, I admit the results on Tuesday broke my heart, but it didn't change my outlook. In the last year, I have gotten

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-36004056563451188802010-10-26T13:23:00.004-05:002010-10-26T15:53:02.538-05:00

October 26, 2010As if you weren't already sick of reading Let's Do It! and finding links to campaign ads, early voting schedules, and reasons to vote for Chet Edwards, along I come with even more political-y stuff.That's right, Davis had to get in on the act. Here is his letter to the Ohio State University school newspaper, The Lantern, that appeared on Sunday, admonishing his fellow students to

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-63320046507916273112010-10-24T18:52:00.003-05:002010-10-24T19:08:14.972-05:00

October 24, 2010One of Erin's dearest friends, Clayton Sue Benson, spent the weekend at one of the Happiest Places in the World--Mo Ranch. She just sent some photos of the pavers she added to the sidewalk that the two of them loved to stroll down when they shared time at summer camp and at the Mo Ranch Family Retreat every spring. I'm so glad they shared their love for Mo Ranch and that Clayton

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-88976086701074853692010-10-23T16:21:00.000-05:002010-10-23T16:24:36.028-05:00

October 23, 2010Because Becky Smith asked so nicely to see my "casual eyes" and smooth skin.

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-23067725197615499912010-10-22T13:56:00.002-05:002010-10-22T14:14:03.185-05:00

October 22, 2010Here is Walter's letter to the editor in The Eagle this morning:A good man who has done a fine jobChet Edwards deserves the vote of every citizen of the 17th Congressional District - not because of how he did or did not vote on the high-profile issues that received so much play in the media, but for the multitude of steps he has taken on behalf of all of us in the district.Here

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-80785417829023886902010-10-18T08:06:00.002-05:002010-10-18T08:25:04.519-05:00

October 18, 2010Vote! Early vote starts today at 8:00!Arena Hall on Tabor RoadBrazos County Administration BuildingCollege Station Utilities Meeting and Training FacilityGalilee Baptist ChurchMSC, Room 146Oct. 18 - 22 (Monday - Friday)8:00 AM - 5:00 PMOct. 23 (Saturday)8:00 AM - 8:00 PMOct. 24 (Sunday)10:00 AM - 3:00 PMOct. 25 - 29 (Monday - Friday)8:00 AM - 8:00 PMBelieve me, it departed faster

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-44938389638931777822010-10-16T09:48:00.005-05:002010-10-17T09:31:39.229-05:00

October 16, 2010I hope all my friends will meet me at The Corner in Northgate next Friday for a special event with Robert Earl Keen and Governor hopeful Bill White. These fliers are downloadable, but I can also mail you the full jpeg if you want. Early vote starts on Monday and both Bill White and Chet Edwards need your support. Last night in Waco Chet surprised me and Walter when he told a

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-60872064742570522152010-10-14T07:59:00.007-05:002010-10-14T09:26:05.174-05:00

October 14, 2010Following on the theme of "Vickie really has acted like a doofus lately," I will confess to having issues on Tuesday.I finally had a normal sleep cycle on Monday night (or so I thought) after accumulating sleep debt for several days. I did my usual routine: dog walk, coffee, newspaper, breakfast, shower. I decided I needed to wear the kicky black-themed jacket my mom gave me

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-85342448935573928082010-10-10T22:39:00.005-05:002010-10-10T23:34:18.823-05:00

October 10, 2010So I missed starting this post at exactly 10:10 this morning or this evening, so I won't even pursue the multiple 10 date/time theme which I first explored on Cinco de Mayo in 2005 and then again on August of 2008 right before we learned of Erin's progression that led us down the path with no return.Instead, let me share a couple of things.Here's the laugh (courtesy of my friend

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-75714955403043638612010-10-04T17:50:00.004-05:002010-10-05T08:39:57.183-05:00

October 4, 2010Faculty like me don't always get paid during the summer months. Last Friday was my first payday since the first of June. Don't worry about us. First of all, we are pretty disciplined about saving, and secondly, Walter gets paid every month because he is currently an administrator.We do cut back some during the summer months and use the credit cards a bit more.So, when I noticed

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-70152599604008524892010-09-30T08:52:00.011-05:002010-10-01T07:34:40.834-05:00

September 30, 2010I didn't clue in that tomorrow was an "Odd Friday" until it was too late to schedule a workshop. Let's defer it a week and make October 8th a "Really Odd Friday (Since It Is Really Even)".Perhaps I can rouse your interest with this photo:We had a funny discussion at the Chet store yesterday. One of the young interns (when I say young, I mean younger than me. Actually, I mean

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-27146912287960265682010-09-27T21:06:00.003-05:002010-09-27T21:29:43.387-05:00

September 27, 2010I'm pretty sure I could get used to flying first class. Even if I couldn't get used to it, I would like to try. I don't even have any bad stories to tell about our flights to and from Columbus. We were relatively on time with relatively good weather and relatively good connections. I did draw two seats out of four legs of our flights that did not recline (if that's what the

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-22380558411684539572010-09-23T12:42:00.004-05:002010-09-23T13:25:20.464-05:00

September 23, 2010When I told Davis I would send him pie, I thought I would go down to one of his favorite pie places (Must Be Heaven or Readfields), place an order, fill in his address, pay the bill, then get all the credit for being a fabulous mom. It turns out that shipping pie from a local place costs about ten times as much as carry out. So I moved to Plan B. The Interweb, of course.For

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656703098638938996.post-57720327463864520782010-09-21T21:32:00.004-05:002010-09-22T07:35:44.458-05:00

September 22, 2010Feel. As in feel the love. These must be among the most beautiful girls in the world (plus Wally). They are growing into the team I always hoped they would become.

Vickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03232676927126653489noreply@blogger.com1