"T" for Texas...Or Maybe Just For Lack of a Better Title

Greetings from the freezing planes of Texas! :) Yes, I really am in Texas right now. No, it really isn't the sunny, hot climate of which you are thinking. The weather is cold-cold-cold, and VERY windy, as you can see in the picture about. You know that black thing running across and "ruining" the picture? That's the camera handle-wrist-thingy, getting blown in front of the lens!

I'm here staying with the people in the pic...Grandma, Grandpa, and cousins Hannah and Caleigh! While Aunt Robin and Uncle Steve are off on an awesome vacation, I got to come play with these dear girls (the cousins that is...). It has been a full two years since I've seen them, and we are having so much fun together! Hannah-Bell is an always-smiling, make-everyone-around-her-happy, 8-year-old living with Rhett syndrome. Caleigh-Bug (or "Caleigh-Mon'ter", depending on her mood) is a 3-year-old bundle of energy, following me around, donning all my jewelry, clomping in my shoes, and helping me with any and EVERY task I turn to.

Hannah and me - her hair stayed put better in the wind than mine did!

Caleigh-Bug, showing her pretty nails and impersonating Mr. T
with all my necklaces!

Arriving Wednesday afternoon, I had a day and a half to spend with the whole family (which was good, bad, and wonderful: I worked out twice with my aunt at the gym, and was completely schooled by her = embarrassing! = bad (hehehe), got a manicure with same aunt = incredibly relaxing = good, and got to go watch a Beth Moore Bible study on Revelation = very cool (especially having just completed her Daniel study) = wonderful :), before the early-morning departure of my aunt and uncle on Friday. Since then, it's been breakfast, play with Hannah, play with Caleigh, lunch, play with Caleigh, play with Hannah, dinner, play with Hannah, play with Caleigh. Aye, it's a tough life I'm leading right now, don't you think? You will even more so when I tell you that, after dropping the girls off at school yesterday, Grandma had an errand to run. Papa obligingly took us to Dillards (the southern version of Nordstroms, but with better sales) to get socks. So, of course, Grandma and I tried on shoes. Isn't that what you do when you need to buy socks?

We found all sorts of wonderful on-sale shoes, including a grand selection of what Papa termed "happy shoes", such as those pictured above. They certainly made us laugh and smile - pink and sparkles, how can you go wrong?

 --Excuse me? No! I don't need to buy new socks. What do you mean mine don't match? I assure you, they do, one of my dear friends has a pair just like it! Don't worry, mama - I was wearing my boots. Nobody saw my killer sense of style except for those in the shoe aisle!

In the end, we left the store with a few pairs of socks for Grandma, and a new pair of shoes for the two of us! Though not necessarily an amazingly descriptive shot of our purchases, here they are being tried on!

And here's the Caleigh-Bug who slipped into my new shoes the moment she returned home and saw them!

I afraid this post has absolutely no potential to be anything besides random. And maybe a little loopy...but it's late, so I can't even tell for sure. What do you expect of someone who spends her day crafting "cookiemanders" (beaded salamanders, thus retitled because of a 3-year-old's confusion between crafts and cookies - I mean, they're similar, right??), watching "Strawberry Shortcake", and re-organizing an entire closet in search of a purple baby-doll slipper? Maybe this whole post should have been in list format, since you would be scandalized to know how long it has taken me to sit here and formulate complete sentences.

Ok, ignore everything above. I think I'll start over.

Things That Make Me Smile:
- Flying
- Hannah
- Caleigh
- Grandparents
- Hearing Caleigh ask Grandma where her "new cousin Sarah is" in the morning
- Hannah's laugh
- Hannah's smile
- Making cookies with Caleigh...and having her dump half the flour on the floor
- Making enchiladas with Caleigh...and having her drop all the "innards" of an enchilada on the floor
- Sweeping with Caleigh...and having her empty the dustpan contents back onto the floor by putting it away BEFORE dumping it in the trash
- Having Hannah pause during her walk to look me straight in the eyes...and just feeling all the love that little girl has
- Seeing "coincidental" themes in almost everything...blog posts, emails, Scripture, and sermons - do you ever just laugh and think "God's trying to tell me something"?
- orange juice
- bed

Oh, bed. There's an idea. Maybe sleep will clear the mind? Not that you can count on anything, but it's worth a shot... I promise am pretty sure hope more flowing, coherent posts will follow soon - and if worst come to worst, I could always just have Caleigh write something. What am I saying? I really do need sleep...