Obama's Day

I've been glued to my computer all day watching and listening to Charlie Gibson and the ABC crew cover the inaugauration of Barack Obama. I will be forever jealous of Tricia Scruggs and Reba Williams-White for having the opportunity to be in Washington to view this amazing day in person.

I did not vote for Obama. I had nothing against him personally, I just worried about the political ramifications of having the Democratic party in office. That being said, I pray that I will be proven wrong about my misgivings. Day 1 - So far, so good.

I enjoyed the inaugauration speech and all the hoopla leading up to it. In my secret heart I wish I was smart enough and good enough to write political speeches. I can only imagine what it would be like to pen words that helped shape a nation. And the new president did a pretty good job of saying them too.

The speech truly was inspiring to me. I loved that he quoted scripture. I like the line where he pointed out that "our forefathers struggled to give all of us a better life." And "we must begin again the work of remaking America" along with "Old hatreds shall sometime pass." This was cemented by showing the reactions of a group of people in Selma, Alabama, a room full of Obama's relatives in Kenya, members of the Tuskegee Airmen and the 1.2 million who thronged the Mall to get a glimpse of the new President.

I, along with the rest of America, noticed he was wearing his flag pen on his coat, unlike when we watched for it in vain during parts of his campaign. The crowd along the parade route screamed for him like a rock star. And Michelle walked along side him IN HEELS in the 30 +/- degree weather. She looked great, btw.

I watched Ted Kennedy be loaded onto an ambulance during the luncheon held at Statuary Hall and said a prayer for his health.

Barack Obama has an opportunity to inspire a nation. He is inspiring me and I hope I, along with many,many others, will give him the benefit of the doubt and back his decisions.

My Perfect Day

On the Survivor application form there was a blank for "describe your perfect day." I've been blessed in my life to have many, many perfect days. My girls wedding days were perfect to me. A Saturday after Thanksgiving spent at Crystal Beach on the Gulf was a never to be forgotten experience. Jake and Kelley's engagement day. And that's just the recent ones. I've got an endless list from my childhood and when the kids were little, plus I got to add another one on Friday, Jan. 9.

Uncle Johnny and Aunt Lynn Tidwell, residents of Loma Linda, CA. have been in town for a few weeks doing the rounds of relatives and Friday was our turn. Johnny met Brian and Dustin along with Shelley's husband Paul and son, Caleb, at Creekview in Crandall for an 11 o'clock tee time. I took the day off work so I could hang out with Mom and Lynn when they got to Terrell. I went to Raylan's about 10 and got a call from Mom at 11 saying that she and Lynn had run over a ladder on I20 and blew out a front tire. They ended up getting it changed by a TxDOT Courtesy Crew (you guys are awesome!) and got to Terrell about noon. In the meantime, Miss Lauren showed up at Raylans to watch the boys for us so Ray and I took off on an errand running tour of town. We hit the bank, post office, Methodist Day School and two propane places before we finally got back to her house. Shelley and Rylee, along with Mom and Lynn, were there when we got back. We loaded up again, dropped Mom's car at Discount Tire and headed to Rockwall to meet Wayne for a late lunch. Add a flying trip to Bass Pro Shop for Beau's "Arctic Cat" birthday gift, two trips around a Bank of America (with Raylan freaking out because I tried to drive the dually the wrong way in the drive up lane) and we got back to Terrell a little before 4. Raylan took off for her house with the gift in tow, the rest of us did one more trip to WalMart and we all met up at Raylan's at 5. They guys showed up and Jake and Kelley were there when we got back. Dustin and Lindy were responsible for hors deourves. My original plan was to cook spaghetti but it got diluted into ordering pizza. I sat at Raylan's kitchen table and watched my family cooking and laughing through frying ravioli, baking pizza bites and making a feta cheese, pepperoni and pesto appetizer. The fire alarm went off several times (Olive oil can't be cooked too hot evidently). Jake got roped into the ravioli frying and did a great job. Raylan contributed by waving the kitchen towel around to clear the smoke. Paul, Dustin and Lindy contributed as well and the food was wonderful.

It was about 8 when Johnny and Dustin got out the guitars, mandolin and music. The entire family was treated to them picking and singing the evening away. Brian joined in the singing. Lynn and Johnny sang only one duet but it was wonderful. It's obvious that my immediate family has no talent for music but my son-in-laws are way talented. Johnny's "Cattle Call" gave me goose bumps. Beau had his singing debut and gave us a solo of a hymn that I don't know, but his Mama says he sings it all the time. He loved the mic time. My girls know the words to "On The Road Again", "You Don't Have To Call Me Darling" and many more of the beer joint oldies but goodies. We all sang along.

My perfect day is always one where my family is around and everyone is happy. Having Johnny, Lynn and Mom there was the icing on the cake. I hope it was just the first of many, many nights to come where we get Dustin to play and he and Brian to sing for us. Maybe someday we'll even be back at the beach for a Thanksgiving. Perfect.

Survivor

I'm one of the 500-plus crazy people that showed up at Randall Noe Ford on Jan. 3 for the Survivor tv show tryouts. I have no idea why I wanted to do that but since one of my resolutions for 2009 was to step outside of my comfort zone, it was a good fit. That and it was in Terrell so I didn't have to do much to get there.

I filled out the application and spent most of Saturday morning talking myself out of going. Wayne and I joined Raylan, Lindy and Dustin at Beau and Dax's basketball practice at 9. Then Wayne and I jetted over to WalMart (what is Saturday unless you go to WalMart?) for a few things. By 10:30 when we got home, I had made up my mind to go and at least check it out.

I got there, parked and was in line at 11:00. The line stretched behind the building and snaked around the parking lot. I stared at it then took my spot. What the heck? How long could it take? The answer is four hours. I left there at 3 that afternoon, a little sunburned and a lot happy that I had taken the chance to make a fool of myself. I was officially No. 411. I got to visit with several of the people in front and behind me. The couple directly ahead of me were firefighters from Chisholm that both work for the City of Dallas. She is also a part-time law student. Behind me was a young man and his girlfriend. She came along for the ride but about 2 hours into the experience let the boyfriend fill out an application for her. Robert, a 2000 graduate of Terrell High School, was next in line. He joined the Marines after he got out of school and did three tours of duty in Iraq before he got out of the service. He is now a manager at Autozone in Terrell and has gone back to school to get a teaching degree. Joe was an advertising salesman for CBS-11 but now buys wine.

There were the requisite freaks and slackers, ditzy looking girls wearing heels and low cut shirts, Viet Nam vets, bikers, and a bunch of regular folks that wanted to add Survivor tryout to their resume'.

Do I think I have a snowball's chance in hell of making it on the show? No. Did I get what I wanted out of the four hours in line? Sure. Everyday I learn to take a chance, even if it seems like it won't make a difference. Maybe it did. I had fun and I got to plead my case on camera. Now I won't have to wonder if I could have made it.

Thanks to Janna and Alison for encouraging me. If I get on the show, I promise I will wear jewelry and lipstick and be encouragment for all of us that are approaching "the far side of 50."

Resolutions

We (the family) were sitting around Raylan's table New Years Day discussing resolutions and whether or not we are making any for 2009. We went around the table, Jake first.
He says he is going to work out in preparation for the DFD test in March. Kelley said she wants to be healthier, be more social and be more positive. Raylan wants to become a genuinely better person. I've never known anyone who works harder to be a good person than she does so I'm betting it will be a successful year for her. Lindy thought long and hard and came up with "I don't want to kill anybody." As a family, we hope she keeps this resolution. Wayne gave up dipping snuff and is working on his second week. I'm so proud of him for this. I can't imagine how hard it would be to kick a nicotine habit. I can't even quit eating sweets so I don't know what it would be like to quit doing something that ingrained.

My resolutions are plenty.
1) Quit procrastinating. I kind of want to do this one next year instead of 2009 but I'm keeping it on my list for now.
2) Step outside my comfort zone every now and then. I started doing this last summer when I went back to school. Now in 2009, I've removed the popcorn off the ceiling in a back bedroom. For all who know what kind of handyman I'm not, this was a big step.
3) Lose that last darn 10 pounds. Seriously this time.
4) Get the two mares broke and ridden before summer is over.

That's enough resolutions for me. I'm pretty sure I'll only get 2 and 4 done this year anyway.