Who needs a husband when you're an honorary Schumann and FIVE MEN FROM GERMANY will fix your car with a Phillips screwdriver and a two-by-four?
At one point, I offered Dirk (wielding the bed slat below) a bottle of my finest Lambrusco (quit laughing). He joked that only street people drink Lambrusco. (Well, street folk and librarians on a budget, apparently.)
So, as a feeble gesture to repay their kindness, I'm treating his wife, Tina, to a night on the town next week!
They were the absolute coolest. The finest. And now der Wagen is no longer kaput!! I can experience the joy of Fahrvergnugen once again...
Fat squirrels with big, bushy tails... instead of those red, half-starved ones we have.
Rain.
Ducks out the window.
Good conversation.
Loot.
Sports fanatics checking the score.
Old friends...who somehow knew to color coordinate!
Team Apps.
The most amazing food...in copious amounts!
Great wall art!
And finally, t-shirt shopping downtown after dinner!!
More database meetings tomorrow...so happy! It's hard to get anyone to talk databases to me in Abilene! (One librarian had a colleague ask if she were attending "NerdFest" this weekend, but I personally prefer "Burning Nerd"...)
Okay, I'm all relaxed and comfy in my recliner. Time to add a little text to the photos I posted earlier about my way-too-busy weekend. I'm supposed to be "taking it easy" these days...
...but Marty's only gonna turn 40 once...and Belva made the yummiest margaritas...
...and there's no way I could skip the Memory Walk! (Even if they wouldn't let me walk and put me at the Forget-Me-Nots volunteer table, instead.)
So these WONDERFUL young men from the AHS football team helped run the Forget-Me-Nots, each with the name of a loved one with Alzheimer's, to six locations all around the zoo. As walkers passed the stations, they would see the name of the loved one they held in the air during the Opening Ceremony.
Can you see Lea Emma's forget-me-not? Later, Karen planted her forget-me-not right beside this one. (Oh, and we found her red tribute flag along the walk...upside down! Trust our red-headed grandmother, Lea Emma Fowler, to be different!)
I love the bonding going on in this picture...both sets!
Then, after the walk, TEXAS AUTHOR KATHI APPELT signed the Madison library copy of her award-winning book, The Underneath, right before the Books and Boots Luncheon where she received the A.C. Greene award!
For Renee and me, this was like meeting a ROCK STAR!
Marty and Mike Renfro, the author of Shine On: 100 Years of Shiner Beer. Kirsten is going to take her brother to the brewery this Christmas...and if I'm lucky, I'll get to come, too! (Until then, I'll just have to wait until Dan lends me the *signed copy* Kirsten bought him...)
There is no entertainment like the Hardin-Simmons Cowboy Band. Period. Let's hope they come back every year!
Oh, and did I mention that this weekend is also the Balloon Festival? (Also known as "Our Dogs' 48-Hour Freakout.")
These photos are taken from our YARD Saturday afternoon. People in the hot air balloons, including one of my students, hollered greetings down at me and the traumatized canines.
And then, to make up for all the calories consumed at Belva's house and the Books & Boots Luncheon (catered by Harold's Barbecue, y'all!), here was my dinner Saturday night.
(Well, veggies and a "diet" mojito...so not entirely innocent.)
What a great weekend! I don't know how Kirsten avoided getting her photo taken...I was armed with the school camera this weekend, and clicked anything that moved! We both enjoyed all of the luncheon's speeches, especially the ones about Shiner and crusty old LBJ.
UPDATE: I just looked at this blog and realized that I'm HUGE compared to Ms. Appelt and Renee. I look like some kind of freaky Steroid Librarian, fixin' to stomp my way through the Hall of Authors like Godzilla, leaving a trail of splintered destruction in my path...
[8:49:18 PM] Kristy Fowler: I tried to Skype you this morning as I made spaghetti sauce. It didn't work...
[9:01:09 PM] Bethany Hicks: mmm spaghetti sauce
[9:01:13 PM] Bethany Hicks: i have to go teach class [9:01:17 PM] Bethany Hicks: right now
[9:01:34 PM] Bethany Hicks: bye for now. Be back in a couple hours
[9:01:39 PM] Kristy Fowler: Just as we're headed to bed. That figures... [9:01:43 PM] Kristy Fowler: says Karen!
[9:02:03 PM] Bethany Hicks: Night Karen! Night mom! Night Hannah! Night Little Bit! [9:02:20 PM] Bethany Hicks: Good night Maybee. Goodnight Bennett. Goodnight Dolly!
***
Want to see Bethany's China pics & videos? Click here.
What a great week. Mom came Sunday afternoon, just in time to go to HOPE with us and hear one of Damon's sermons. She arrived just as I was starting to feel better after the Big Surgery; a week earlier, and I would have felt too bad to go anywhere...a week later, and I would have been back to work. God's timing once again!
And speaking of God's timing, Tuesday, September 8th (Mom's 3rd day here) was the date of my *original* appointment with the doctor, the day I would have learned of a problem that required a hysterectomy right away. Instead, it marked three weeks and one day of healing. What a lovely blessing, and anyone who thinks that the doctor's office calling me during Summer School in *July* and offering me a last-minute cancellation was just "Dumb Luck" is so, so mistaken.
Mom packed a whole lot of Abilene living into 6 days, with lots of laughter and good food. Although she had to do a lot of the driving in an unfamiliar town, we managed to visit El Fenix, Jordan Taylor, Harold's, the Cockerell Art Gallery for Jessalyn's photo exhibit, the Bush home for cheesecake with Kirsten's parents, the Texas Star bookstore, 2 Thai restaurants, a baptism at ACU's Jacob's Dream sculpture, the Maxwell home to see a childhood friend, the mall, ArtWalk (complete with folk music & bellydancers on the streets of Abilene), the doctor, ACU, and probably a bunch of other things I'm forgetting.
Side note: Mom was a great taxi driver for someone post-surgery! She drove slowly in the right-hand lane, trying to avoid all the manhole covers and potholes. Who cares if she sometimes turns left when you say "right" or right when you say "left" or turns when she dadgum feels like it, even though you told her to stay on that road? We saw a lot more of the city using Mom's method!
And here's a delicious twist: Mom and Dad are always telling me that *right after* I leave Virginia every summer, the weather turns cool and wonderful and the leaves start to turn and the air turns crisp and apples fall from the trees and red cardinals perch on their windowsills, singing cheery autumnal melodies. EVERY year, I "just miss" the cool weather.
Well, now I can report that the same thing happened in reverse! All week, Mom kept complaining about how hot it was, even though we had cool weather every morning (high 60s/low 70s) and Every Single Building in Abilene has AC. We even had rainstorms that made the air smell wonderful! And what should the local paper proclaim on the front page today, the DAY AFTER Mom left town? "Fall temps move in." No kidding.
We love you, Mom! Hope you had fun surprising Uncle James on his birthday, snuggling James Russell, and hangin' with The Girls (including Dolly) in Abilene! Don't be a stranger! Bring Dad and Jackson next time!
You will need a tissue or two before you watch this video...you've been warned.
It's not like me to recommend a country & western song...ask my college roomie, Linda McCrary. I once told her to pull her little red Pinto over to the curb so I could WALK rather than listen to some C&W heartbreak twangfest playing on her radio!
Side note: Linda liked ALL music. everything imaginable. Her album collection included Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy, Ethel Merman records (oh, yes!), and everything in between. There was no telling what you would hear as you entered our apartment. I, on the other hand, drove her crazy with The Police and Prince...over and over...and over.
So, fast forward 24 years...last night when Jamey Johnson performed "In Color," it made me cry. Absolutely terrific. So maybe I've finally broadened my horizons? Maybe returning to Texas, the land of my birth, has changed me? Maybe that one George Strait concert I attended finally convinced me?
Who cares?! Bring on the Nashville, baby!
P.S. Upon reflection, I'm pretty sure what got me first about this song was the cotton farm (which reminded me of Nanny, the best cotton chopper in Collin County, and her sister Lillian, the best cotton picker of Collin County, according to their dad, my great-grandpa) and the line about the tail gunner. As soon as he sang about the tail gunner, the throat lump started; the tears came when he got to the part about the wedding day. Unlike the tail gunner in this song, my dad's Uncle Lloyd didn't come home. His best friend, Levi Frank Caldwell, did, though, and I felt SO PRIVILEGED to meet him last Christmas.
(The cloth he embroidered from threads he hid from his captors is stained with his own blood.) Mr. Caldwell only told me one thing about his torture in a prison camp, and it was pretty dreadful. It is obvious that there is so much that he intentionally keeps to himself about those days...he said that more than once he thought to himself that my Uncle Lloyd, who died as the tail of Our Belle hit the ground, was the lucky one...
See if you can spot Karen's two beautiful daughters (TWICE!), my fat legs, and our newest (4-footed) family member, Dolly. Dolly is getting quite the ego, btw...she's only lived in Abilene for eight months, and she's been in TWO different commercials. (You can catch her first cameo here.)
We're lucky to be on our SIXTEENTH moment of fame 'round these parts!!!
Madison Middle School and Kirsten and I are in this month's Texas Fish and Game magazine, y'all!! (Get there as fast as you can...don't know how long that link is good!)
And here's the best part...check out God's perfect timing: Kirsten couldn't find this article until I was in the hospital, so she was forced to read it to me AS I LAY IN A HOSPITAL BED! It was the very best kind of pick-me-up, and it really lifted my spirits. (Well, the morphine drip really should get MOST of the credit.)
The school principal and AISD superintendent have both read Cali's story, too! Thanks, Cali! You are the best PR man our humble little library has ever had! God bless you and your family...and here's hoping you ALL get to come to Abilene next time.
P.S. Forget about planes...you don't need no stinkin' planes! Just throw The Whole Family in the car and make The Trek Across Texas! (The snacks are better when you drive, anyway!)
Watch the three videos here, on Kester's blog. Watch all three...and be prepared to do some thinking...
P.S. Home from the hospital. (HOME! What a wonderful word.) Sat down last night to make a list of all the kindnesses shown to me since this awful surgery was announced...and hardly made a dent. Jesi's parents praying for me in Africa, our preacher showing up with a 4-pack of bath tissue when he heard I was doing the colon prep (he also prayed with us and helped me celebrate the liquid portion of the Lord's Supper), flowers, food, visits, phone calls, dog chewies for my babies (thanks, Carol!) and so much more.
Can you imagine having so many nice things done for you that you have a hard time remembering them all to make a list? My cup runneth over...and my heart is so happy. As long as I don't look down at the staples holding my tummy together, all is WONDERFUL!
Karen and her girls (Team Nightingale) are the ones you want caring for you in an emergency. They are patient and kind and go the extra mile to make me feel special. What a blessing!! Oh, and Kirsten? I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't have a friend like Kirsten. She can do anything. She and Libby can make things happen by sheer force of will!
Time to take a shower and try to walk a little...friends are bringing me SOUP, the world's best food, for lunch.
Please pray for my sweet sister this week as she plays Florence Nightingale to me, starting tomorrow with a scheduled noon surgery. (Lifting me up in prayer as I go through this health trial would be a special gift to me...and very much APPRECIATED, too!) Your prayers are precious to our Creator!
You might want to pray for two special nieces, as well. They have both promised their mom that they will help Aunt Kristy as she recuperates at home for several weeks. (Bless their poor hearts...can you imagine anything more wretched than bringing your auntie ointments and creams for her giant scar? Or walking her dogs for her? Or bringing her a pain pill so you don't have to listen to her moaning in the next room?)
Yeah...you'd better PRAY HARD and PRAY OFTEN for the residents of this house/hospital wing!
And since I feel like such a beggar now that I've shamefully solicited your prayers, it is time to do something for you. This one will be an especially nice present for my parents, who are HUGE Molly Ivins fans. Enjoy!
Did you enjoy yesterday's guest blogger, a.k.a. "Tater Gauge?" Well, since I had to remove all the video clips I'd put on the school's borrowed Flip camera before school begins, here's a smidge of Tate that made me smile..
Oh, and speaking of Super Sport...she recently enjoyed participating in the Fowler Family Tacky Game.
What is that, you might ask? Here's the gist: While Fowlers are guests in each others' homes, we like to hide/strategically locate tacky or unusual items in fun places. Ugly ties, macrame owls, comically bad DVDs, feathered dreamcatchers, futuristic coffee mugs, naughty ashtrays, etc.--all good FUN!
Russell and Amanda Faye recently upped the ante last Christmas by adding a new *reverse* twist: Instead of being the butt of the joke by having items hidden in their home, they worked diligently to hide things in the VISITING Fowler's car. (The best one was a Menudo album, securely tucked into the mesh netting behind the passenger seat, found while searching for a map of Austin in February...that's right, A MONTH after leaving Charlotte. Bethany was at the wheel, getting ready to turn left onto I-35 when I popped up with a Menudo album instead of a helpful map, and we laughed our way onto the interstate!)
So, anyway, Monday morning, Tay Tay enlisted Bethany and Dottie to keep me occupied while she hid a really atrocious top in my luggage. ..several sizes too small and completely, deliciously inappropriate...so I wore it to Librarians' Staff Development yesterday.
Joke's on YOU, Tay Tay!
(Just kidding. In fact, we all had a hard time keeping a straight face for the camera after I changed into this Fashion Faux Pas!)Thanks for the laughs, Tater Bug!
UPDATE: Surgery Monday. Prayers, please! Prayers for KAREN would be prudent and appreciated, too; she has informed me that I was a rather "challenging patient" the last time she played Florence Nightingale during the Giant Jaw Surgery of 1994!
Ohhhh... the adventures I have with my Aunt Kristy and Bethany. This past Thursday, (August 6th), we went to the one, the only, THE RED HOUSE! This is the furniture store where credit is extended to ALL PEOPLE!
I hand-wrote the directions from our house in Charlotte to our wonderful ending point, making it hard to tell if we were supposed to turn left onto Tyvola Rd. or make a u-turn and head to Transylvania. The entire trip was one never to be forgotten. Once we arrived at The Red House, we all took turns gathering in front of the sign and taking pictures, making the workers in the store and people passing by turn their heads.
Aunt Kristy had to get the perfect angle of the sign so she now has about eight pictures on her camera of it.
After that, we walked inside as if we were normal furniture shoppers, just wanting a new coffee table, when in reality, we wanted to run up and hug "Big Head" and "10 Gauge" with all our might (at least me and Kristy). Johnny ("10 Gauge") briskly walked up to us and introduced himself making me freak out and stare. After all of us talked to him a little about how far we had traveled and telling him how wonderful he was (that comment was from me, of course), we started walking around the store. I soon spotted the perfect thing to buy, a Red House t-shirt. After freaking out Aunt Kristy, Bethany, and I were invited into the back with 10 Gauge to look at the sizes.
We all took pictures of him handing the shirts to us and then took pictures of hugging him, that's right, hugging him. WE HAD OUR ARMS AROUND 10 GAUGE!
10 Gauge then told us that most people like to hold his 10 Gauge. We walked into his office and he threw his gun at Bethany wanting her to hold it. She immediately took it and got her picture taken under his deer head mounted to the wall, Kristy, taking the picture, tried to avoid the naughty half-naked girl calender on the wall.
We all then followed with the taking pictures of ourselves and the gun. Later, after walking past the ovens, I realized what this trip was for me--a dream come true, so I of course had to share my feelings with Bethany making her mock and laugh hysterically.
After exploring the best store of all time, we sadly had to leave, but 10 Gauge made it so that we could never forget our trip to The Red House. He kindly gave us his last two flashlights with batteries (of course having The Red House address on them, making it easier for our return in a few weeks). He also gave us a magnet for the refrigerator, so that every time we get out some food, we can think about how we would love to be eating this hamburger with 10 Gauge. Lastly, he gave us business cards just for the scrapbook. Isn't he wonderful? Aunt Kristy, Bethany, and I walked up to the counter and bought our MAGNIFICENT t-shirts, which I preferred over a book for my birthday.
Kristy was not too happy with my choice, but was glad I was such a nut about The Red House. 10 Gauge, just being his sweet self, gave us a little price break on the shirts. He handed us our receipt, then we slowly walked out of the awesome store hugging him on the way. As we got into the car, I kept reminding myself how lucky I was to have visited, The Red House...where black people, white people, hixspanic, and ALL people can buy furniture!
"We are trained scientists who believe in God, but we also believe that science provides reliable information about nature. We don't view evolution as sinister and atheistic. We think it is simply God's way of creating. Yet we can still sleep soundly at night, with Bibles on our nightstands, resting atop the latest copy of Scientific American."
~and~
"What we learn from science cannot threaten our belief in God as the creator. If God created the universe in a Big Bang 15 billion years ago, guided its development with elegant mathematical laws so that eventually there would be big-brained mammals exploring things such as beauty, morality and truth, then let us celebrate that idea, not reject it."
Music. Poetry. Altruism. Mother Teresa. Sweet Baby James. There may be questions about *how* God created this beautiful earth and the endless universe, but there is no doubt that He did...
Fixin' to go home and celebrate right now with three other big-brained relatives...and three small-brained dogs, God's grateful child
P.S. Stay tuned for trip updates. Will post The Red House trip tomorrow...with a VERY SPECIAL guest blogger!! Here's a little taste to bring you back...
At one point, I offered Dirk (wielding the bed slat below) a bottle of my finest Lambrusco (quit laughing). He joked that only street people drink Lambrusco. (Well, street folk and librarians on a budget, apparently.)
So, as a feeble gesture to repay their kindness, I'm treating his wife, Tina, to a night on the town next week!
They were the absolute coolest. The finest. And now der Wagen is no longer kaput!! I can experience the joy of Fahrvergnugen once again...
