I wouldn’t forget this…

Thank goodness LJ managed to reappear so that I could recognize that today is the birthday of venusunfolding. In your honor, Johnnie, I’ve shot Jazzie (who recently played Keelie on Runway Monday) wearing a vintage Mattel coat (with matching purse) over a sweetheart of a dress made for me by my mother, lo those many years ago when no one thought it was bizarre for me to play with dolls.

And you, my friend, STILL don’t, and for that, I thank you, and celebrate your kindred spirit. Happy birthday!

Button Sunday

Tim talked here about what we did on Saturday. You know my views: We are all equal, deserving of the same rights under the law. My favorite moment of the day: The speaker asked all the straight people there to hold up their signs. When I said out loud, “I don’t have a sign!”, the lesbian next to us handed me hers. I raised it high with a lump in my throat.


A favorite photo of Tim.


Proper use of who’s and whose: It does an editor good.

Clicking on either of those photos will enlarge them, and you can also go “up to gallery” to see the rest of the photos.

My sister and Bobo

Thursday night, I was hoping that Lynne was going to spend the evening at The Compound and visit with my sister, but she wasn’t able to come. I’d bought a family-sized pack of chicken breasts, and when I actually opened the package, those things must have come off a group of Victoria’s Henhouse models. I quickly called Rhonda and Lindsey to see if they’d made plans, and since they hadn’t, they agreed to join us for dinner–which turned out pretty good for one of those last-minute, thrown-together meals.

Debby let us in on a little-known facet of Rex’s personality. Apparently, they’ve formed a fast bond of friendship, and he likes for her to call him Bobo. Here’s Bobo sitting next to his new best friend and showing Rhonda some love.

Also, I didn’t know that Lindsey, like Debby, is a big fan of coconut cake. She proves it here.

This evening, my nephew Aaron is coming to Houston so he can see his high school in a football playoff game tomorrow. I don’t know if Bobo is jealous that he’ll have to share Debby’s attention with someone else, but he looks a little worried today.

They knew it would come and dreaded this day

Today is the birthday of someone I love with a crazy love. Recently, he asked about a couple of photos, no doubt hoping I’d shredded all copies and the negatives. Um, I rarely get rid of anything sentimental–ask Tom, who’s moved it all several times, and Tim, the Great Purger.

These photos are really for four kids who were given free access to their aunt’s closet and cosmetics, circa 1985. Happy birthday, Daniel.

at least I never took naked baby on the bathmat photos of you

Hump Day Happy

Lynne caught Miss Lila in the pumpkin patch at the Oil Ranch. This photo is one of the happiest parts of a good week.

 

 

If you’d like something to be happy about, comment with a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25, and I’m sure our little friend here will mooooooove her way through the pages and find your answer.

 

“Lila” by Lynne.
Cow by book.
>

11/11

My sister is coming tonight, and I’m continuing a family tradition of cleaning like a madwoman before her arrival. We used to always do this before our mother came for a visit, and Mother would say, “Please don’t! Let me do it when I get there.” Because she loved to clean, and her house was always spotless, which is something my sister and I don’t even aspire to.

I’ve also done what Mother would have done and baked Debby a coconut cake. Let’s hope this doesn’t lead to a Rex ass-plosion like last time. I still giggle when I remember getting a text message from Tim that said, “Rex’s ass just exploded.”

I haven’t seen Debby since just after Mother’s memorial service. When we were together then, she gave my brother and me each a certificate signed by Bush. If you click on it, you should be able to read it.

I think of my father every day, but I think of him with particular gratitude on this day. Although the original Armistice Day was celebrated on the date that World War I ended and honored those who served and lost their lives in that war, it became Remembrance Day in other parts of the world and Veterans Day in the U.S. to honor all veterans. Peaceful person that I am, I still respect those who are willing to risk their lives for freedom and to protect their country, and I’m proud to be an Army brat and the daughter of this man.

Thank you to all the men and women who serve our country.

Going back to the beginning

I was born on a March day [number redacted] years ago in a U.S. Army hospital in Germany. My mother hadn’t expected to get pregnant when she and my older siblings joined my father there, but she’d been trying for a couple of years, so she was happy. She had some complications during her pregnancy, and maybe that’s why my parents had a housekeeper/nanny for the only time during their marriage. Or maybe it was just customary for young German women to make money by working for military families.

When my parents brought me home, I shared Lennie’s loving care with my brother and sister. My mother always said Lennie treated me like her own, and I even still have some clothes Lennie made for me that my mother saved. I have no memory of Lennie; I was just shy of six months old when we were transferred from Germany back to the States. I’ve heard that Lennie cried when we left.

Now a part of me is returning to a home I don’t remember. I’m not sure how the title translates, but this is the German version of A Coventry Christmas. I wonder if Lennie is still alive, will see it, recognize the author name, and maybe remember the infant she once cradled and sang to sleep. This one’s for you, Lennie.

Button Sunday

Using certain tags, I’ve gone through four years of LJ archives to fix bad photo links. I know this doesn’t matter to anyone other than me, but when one of my reasons for keeping a LJ is to publish photos, it’s kind of ridiculous to think of people ever meandering through my archives only to see “This photo is no longer available.”

Please, if any of you ever stumble over a missing photo or dead link, let me know. I try to keep this place always at the ready for that moment when one of you wakes in the middle of the night–or the middle of the day for some of you–and MUST FIND THAT PHOTO OF THE KENS WITH BAD HAIR. How tragic if you should be denied seeing it. Not that I remember seeing it when I was fixing things. It could be missing for all I know. My brain is fried from looking at old posts, and what I want to know is, WHY are you people reading this thing? Has anyone ever been more random and unfocused and needlessly verbose than I am?

I figure you’re here for the man and dog photos. So from the true archives–the ones from the shelves in the study–here’s a shot from April of 1999, when Stevie became the first of The Compound dogs to adore Tim. Whenever he was here, she was all his.

I am missing my Sunday night doll posts

About this time last year, Tom and I went to the dandelion fountain to shoot some photos. I had an entire storyline in my head to share, but then I never got around to doing it. My readership is an imaginative group. Here’s your chance. What story (remember, mine is a PG-13 journal, please) is being told by these photos?


One night…

click here for the rest of the photos