The Rockport Kittehs

My sister Jill & I visited our friend Julie in Rockport last weekend and as usual, we had a blast. Julie & her boyfriend Eric have four indoor cats and several outdoor cats. Apparently the cats took a liking to me because one morning I woke up with three of them on the futon where I was sleeping. OC (Orange Kitty) pretty much slept on top of me the entire time...I have the scratches to prove it! :) Anyway, here are some photos from our trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144000&id=1243375405&l=3c90d6f48b

No one at home in the Texas House

This is video posted on the Austin American-Statesman of the Texas Legislature. I realize they have long, boring days and this was over a holiday weekend, but this is just ridiculous. None of them are at their seats! No wonder nothing ever gets done. What a joke.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1494874918?bctid=24154221001

And then when they called for mandatory attendance in order to vote, watch what happens:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1494874918?bctid=24161754001

Time Machines

“We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams.” ~ Jeremy Irons

I’ve been doing a lot of reminiscing lately and wondering how the years have flown by so quickly. And man that makes me feel old! First there was the realization that my 20-year high school reunion will be next year. I realized this about the time a webpage was created for our class and when classmates from high school started coming out of the woodwork on facebook. I currently have 51 facebook friends who I knew in high school! Crazy.

Another event that took me back in time was the 70th anniversary of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch & the 60th anniversary of Girlstown, USA. I spent some very formative years working at Cal Farley’s. I learned so much about the public relations field and participated in so many exciting things while there! I met celebrities like Dale Evans Rogers and Willie Nelson, pitched a story to People magazine and watched as it actually got published (!) and forged some very special, long-lasting relationships with some of the best people on earth. I always tell people that I think God plucked people from their corners of the earth and placed them at Cal Farley’s – the people who work there eat, breathe, and sleep the mission of providing homes for children. They are salt of the earth people and I love them dearly. When my invitation arrived in the mail for the 70th/60th anniversary celebrations, it stunned me. It seemed like just yesterday that I was working there and we planned the 60th/50th anniversaries! Ten years have flown by! The anniversary brought back some fond memories of all the fun events we had that year. I also remember being in a hotel room in Lubbock, getting ready to drive out to the Girlstown anniversary event on campus and hearing that John F. Kennedy Jr’s plane had gone down. I was able to meet up with some of my old buddies from Cal Farley’s when they celebrated the anniversary here in Austin at the Capitol…it was so nice to see them.

And the very next week, my alma mater, West Texas A&M University, held a 100th anniversary celebration here in Austin. I attended the event at the Bob Bullock State History Museum and ran into the former alumni director, aka Mr. WT, who was also my supervisor when I interned in the Communications dept. at the college. Saw a few other familiar faces and even met some new people. They did a great job highlighting the history of the school at the event, bravo to the planners! The event made me realize how much WT has changed since I left, ahem, 15 years ago. There’s now a fancy, new pedestrian mall, an entirely new fine arts bldg, and even a performance hall/arena! In fact, Dr. Maya Angelou is speaking in the new arena later this month! I’m hoping to make the trip up to Canyon to see her. It’ll be my first time on campus in at least eight years, maybe more.

And then there’s another anniversary looming…the second anniversary of my dad’s passing is Monday. At this very moment, I am holding up ok, but it’s always there in the back of my mind. We’re not doing anything formal, I guess we’re all just going to mark the event in our own ways. It seems like much, much longer since I saw my dad. I miss him every single day and still yearn to talk to him, to hug him. But most of the time, memories of my dad bring a huge smile to my face. He influenced my life so much that I literally think of him every day because I’ll say or do something he would have done, or I’ll hear a song he liked or whatever. I’m so lucky to have those memories.

In fact, I feel lucky to have all the memories I’ve talked about here. It’s the memories we have that will carry us through to the future. They help shape your hopes and dreams. I have no idea what the future holds for me, but I do have some dreams and I hope they come true. And if not, I’m sure that the adventure in trying to make them come true will be just as exciting.

Sunshine on my shoulders

I'll tell ya what I'm thankful for...some fall weather! Today in Austin it was sunny with a low of 47 and a high of 74! Perfection. Of course I liked the 47 end best, call me crazy. What irks me is that I actually heard several people complaining about it being too cold! Seriously? Are you kidding me? We spend what to me seems like 360 days a year being at 90 degrees and above, can't we be thankful for this delicious weather? No rain, no snow, no sleet. Sunshine and cool, crisp air. I've been humming "Sunshine on my shoulders" all day. And it does make me happy. :)

Why I live in Austin

It's taken me a few days to blog about it, but I am still over the moon about Obama getting elected president! Woo hoo! I am reading his book, "Dreams of my Father," and have been moved to tears many times already. One part in the book details how his white grandparents, who were from Kansas, once moved to Texas. They were shocked by the level of prejudice they saw and eventually moved to Hawaii. And this was long before their daughter married an African student she met in college, Barack Obama, Sr., and eventually had Barack Jr.

As a native Texan, I've always struggled with the level of ignorance in this state. And the hatred, simply because of the color of someone's skin or their religion. I've never understood it. I'm a white, protestant girl from Texas with Irish, German, French and American Indian roots...and who knows what else! We're all "mutts," essentially. (Obama had a press conference today and when answering a question about the dog he promised his daughters, he called himself a mutt.) It makes me very sad that many Texans -- not all -- still have such hateful beliefs. I'm proud to be a Texan, but not when we exhibit ignorance. Anyway, this map shows why I live in Austin...in case you can't tell, Travis County, where Austin is, is completely blue. :)

By the way, Obama's book is a very compelling read. (I hear they all are.) He's had many life experiences and has a very diverse cultural background -- in my opinion, a good quality for the President of the United States to have. Couldn't be a bad thing to have perspective from various points of view, could it? He looks at every issue from many different angles, a trait that I'm sure wil also come in handy.

Anyway, I'm thrilled and excited to see what comes next. Obama is intelligent, compassionate & charismatic and has already restored a little bit of hope for our Nation. I'm glad that so many people got involved and VOTED in this election. No matter who they voted for, at least they let their voices be heard! Rock on, America! Rock on, President-elect Obama! :)