Tag: relationships

Winding down the Old and Quietly Ushering in the New

On By DGThomaIn Family, News and Reviews, Travel, Writing2 Comments

My anniversary is the first week in January and instead of exchanging gifts, my husband and I often take a weekend trip.  We are usually in need of a bit of recuperation.  Although fun, holiday travel can take a toll.   Our hectic schedule begins with Thanksgiving and culminates with our anniversary weekend.

I love to travel but am always grateful to return home.  This year our holiday plans included multiple trips, and I wanted to avoid piling on more miles when planning our anniversary.

I debated planning a special meal instead of a weekend trip, but decided to search online for day trips.  A few familiar options popped up, but, there was one I had not heard of , the 9E Ranch.  Intrigued, I read the following blurb:

“On a 320-acre ranch, this rustic cabin resort lies 13.4 miles from both downtown Bastrop and Smithville.

The 4 antiques-filled cabins are individually decorated and come with full kitchens and country views. Some add sleeper lofts, claw-foot tubs, air-conditioning, decks or wood-burning stoves.

Paths and hiking trails crisscross the property. Breakfast muffins and coffee are complimentary.”

The description sounded perfect for a quiet restful weekend!  I checked the website for a vacancy and found The Eagles’ Nest Log Cabin was available.  I booked the cabin and on Friday afternoon, we headed for the 9E Ranch.

We arrived at the ranch half an hour after we left home.  The entrance was easy enough to find but I recommend using GPS.  It is well marked but in the dusk it wasn’t as obvious as I expected.  As we drove through the gate, we shook, rattled and rolled down the hard-packed dirt road.

9E

It was a typical ranch road as expected on a working ranch. When we pulled up to the cabin, a smile spread across my face.  The scene was idyllic.  Thankfully, we had packed light, bringing few bags.  The air was chilly and damp, so minimal luggage made unloading easy. DSC00388

Inside, I was instantly charmed.  The view was lovely.  The stately pine trees meandered across the grassy slope tossing pine needles in their wake.  Huddled at the bottom of the hill a small herd of longhorn cattle strolled.

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We stowed our bags and settled on the sofa as the evening dusk faded to cast delightful light show across the horizon.  Later, we sat at the little wooden table and ate a light meal.  Tuna and fruit on a bed of greens and a tray of cheese with crackers on the side made a light and tasty meal!  The rest of the evening we sat quietly reading, talking and just looking at  the skyline.

On Saturday we drove to Smithville to visit a few antique stores and enjoy a fun lunch at Pocket’s Grille.  At Pockets, the burger bar is the trunk of a 1961 Ford Galaxy.  I ordered fish tacos and it was a delicious choice.  Ron opted for a burger. We both cleaned our plates.  After lunch, we headed back to our cabin.  With the drizzle now a rain, we stayed inside the rest of the day.  We had planned to take long walks on the trails and view the animals that roam the ranch.

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Instead we stayed indoors, wrapped in a quilt while we played Trivial Pursuit and watched the night sky come to life.  We left the Eagles’ Nest cabin around noon on Sunday, refreshed and rested.  It was the perfect getaway and I can hardly wait to return.

Rainbows and Lollipops

On By DGThomaIn Friends, Musings, Writing2 Comments

Normally, I am happy and contented and suffer only occasional bouts of frustration.  I mean, we all have to deal with reality checks at times.

I spend more than a little effort trying to do the right thing because I believe karma can be powerful, both good and bad.  Generally good triumphs over evil and doing the right thing pays off.  Of course, not always.

Let’s face it, sometimes when you bend to smell the flowers, you get a nose covered in fertilizer.  The past few weeks have really been busy and everything has been overly complicated.  It’s that time of year when numerous projects are wrapping up, while others are just beginning.  Everything and everyone has been clamoring for my attention (at least from my totally unbiased perspective).  But as a co-worker said, “Sometimes you’ve got to laugh and keep on going.”

We’ve been working long hours…..

Leaving at 6:30 AM for the office

 

Returning home late from the office.

Returning home late from the office.

As you can see, I’m definitely not getting enough sunshine!

I thought I was internalizing my grumpiness pretty well, but I may not have been as successful as I thought.

A good friend stopped by my office with a gift.  She said this can be for now or later, you decide.  Well of course I chose to open it immediately.  It was a present after all.  What was inside, made me smile and tear up a little.  Underneath a plump stuffed gray elephant lay a book, titled, “You’re Here for a Reason”, by Nancy Tillman.  20151028_190401

I’m very fortunate to have a caring and generous friend to remind me what is important.  The rest of the story……

My friend is very close to her great nieces.  They were out shopping and she has bought me gifts before when they were with her.  They are all between 4 – 8 years old.  They showed her the book and said, “If someone is having a really bad day, this is the bestest book to read.”  Of course she bought it immediately and that is why it ended up on my desk last night.

I will cherish it always and any time I’m feeling down, I think I know just what I want to read.

A Change of Plans…

On By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Friends, Humor/Light Hearted, Musings, Travel, Writing5 Comments

July 4, 2015… Well it actually started July 2nd.

When my Dad called to say he wanted to come for a visit, we decided to rent a cabin for a couple of nights at the lake.  Knowing the cabins would fill quickly over the 4th of July, we made reservations months ago.  My dad loves to fish, which is obvious from his nickname “Fishhook”.  We made sure to get a waterfront cabin so he could fish as much as he wanted.  I’m not a fan of water and I don’t have the heart to go fishing, but Dad loves it!

In anticipation of our time together, we postponed our Father’s Day celebration.  We decided to celebrate Father’s day and my birthday together.  (my birthday falls on the 6th of July).

My daughter, Kat planned to swing by and pick up the boys, (my grandson’s) and my Dad.  They all live about six hours away and although Dad is perfectly capable of driving here himself, at 82 I hate for him to be on the road.

We reserved the cabin for Thursday night and Friday night.  We planned to drive to Corpus to see my older sister Saturday morning.  She and I share a birthday even though we are three years apart.  My Dad wanted to visit both of us on our birthday.  Rarely do she and I have an opportunity to spend time together and it’s been years since Dad was able to join us on our birthday.

As often happens, our plans went awry.  The boys had rehearsals for their community theater production and couldn’t get away.  Dad lost his critter sitter and didn’t want to leave his dogs.  He was also feeling a bit under the weather.

We thought about cancelling the trip and just gathering at home, but decided against it.  The cabin was only 20 minutes or so from our house, but tucked away among the trees and nestled on the bank of the lake made it feel worlds apart.20150703_165613

We left for the cabin on Thursday, picking up my goddaughter, Dez and my son, Rich on the way.  Dez, loves to fish and had eagerly anticipated fishing with my Dad.  Rich on the other hand has never really enjoyed fishing as much as his sister does.  My daughter was bringing her fishing gear and planned to arrive Thursday evening.  She and Dez would be our fisherwomen for the weekend.20150703_120614

The cabin was very basic.  It had five beds, an air conditioner and a trail leading to a shared shower and restroom facility.  It also had a beautiful view of the lake, fresh air, an outdoor grill and a picnic table.

During the weekend we played games, rented a canoe, ate too much food and created unbelievable memories.  My son discovered an enjoyment of fishing (much to his surprise), my daughter discovered a slug in her tennis shoe and a June bug in her swimsuit cover-up and my granddaughter, Jilly discovered a beetle in her nightshirt.

I discovered the delight of sitting in the middle of a canoe, lightly rowing and watching my Kat and Dez cast their lines.  We laughed so hard trying to launch the canoe we almost didn’t get in the water.  Even when the wind picked up and the rain fell, we laughed and fished and rowed.20150703_165844

 

 

Father’s Day was celebrated on Thursday night.  We celebrated my birthday on Friday night, with Kat and Jilly surprised me with a cake and everyone sang happy birthday.

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Saturday morning we were supposed to leave by noon but no one was ready to leave.  Anticipating failure, but deciding to try anyway, my husband went to see if we could stay another night.  Our cabin was already booked but the one next door was available.  Rather than make us move, they switched the other guests next door.  After a wonderful breakfast and lunch, my husband and I went to pick up a fresh bundle of firewood from the front office.  When we arrived, they let us know the family that was originally booked in our cabin was insisting that we move and give them our cabin.

Since our reservation had been impromptu and it seemed to be important to the other family, we willing agreed to move.  I rushed into the cabin to interrupt the current game in process and let everyone know we were moving.  We had 5 beds stripped, suitcases moved, dishes and food transitioned and all our outdoor gear moved in about 15 minutes.  By the time the new guests arrived we were already seated in our chairs next door planning our dinner meal.

I decided that if we ever have to go on the run or leave in a hurry, we definitely have the skills!  Slightly sunburned, a few pounds heavier and a heart full of sunshine, we went our separate ways.  It was a wonderfully fulfilling weekend with many stories left to tell…. Like the raccoon and the hotdogs and the snake in the reeds….  All stories for another day.

 

Growing up in a small town…..

On By DGThomaIn Friends, Musings, WritingLeave a comment

Growing up in a small town, I knew everyone and everyone knew me.  There were approximately 3500 people in our town.  As soon as I could, I left in search of excitement and opportunity.  I rarely look back with any regret and have enjoyed my life immensely.  I have come to value my privacy and enjoy living in a bigger city even though “Nobody knows your Name.”

However, occasionally I am reminded that there are trade-offs.  If you stand in the center of my hometown you could walk a mile in any direction and likely be on the edge of town.  Getting anywhere is a matter of minutes not hours.

Photo Courtesy of Barclay Gibson Photography

Photo Courtesy of Barclay Gibson Photography

Currently, I commute an hour to an hour and a half to get work each day.  I am grateful that my husband and I work in close proximity and are able to ride in one car.  That’s great until something happens.

Recently I was working a little late and waiting for my husband to pick me up.  He had called to say he would be there in about 10 minutes, so I was surprised when he called back within a couple of minutes.  Assuming he was warning me he was stuck in traffic, I grabbed the phone.  Nope, he was stuck but not due to traffic.  His car was dead in the middle of a fairly heavily trafficked street.  We decided to call our roadside service and began to reach out to friends for a ride to pick up my car.

After several phone calls, we determined that it was just too complicated to find someone to pick each of us up and drive an hour to get us to my car and then spend another hour returning back to their homes. We also had to find a way to get to our car and talk to the service department where it had been towed.   I have great friends and they would have been willing, but it was too much to ask.  Instead, several kind strangers helped push the car off the road and the tow truck dropped my husband near a rental car agency.  Half an hour later, he was at my office to pick me up and we were able to head to the dealer.

It reminded me that in my home town, I could have walked to my house to get my car, someone I knew well or was related to would have given me a ride and if someone I barely knew happened by, it would have been safe to accept a ride.

It’s a good reminder that living in a community of any size, you still need to have strong relationships and that commuting is not much fun.  I do love my life and wouldn’t change it but maybe I’m a little more grateful for growing up  with a wonderfully established community and I remember that sometimes it’s good to go where “Everybody Knows Your Name!”

Memories of A Middle Child

On By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Writing4 Comments

Growing up in a family of 5 children is lovely and maddening.  As family position goes, I am right in the middle. To my older sister and brother, I was the baby.  To my two younger sisters, I was one of the big kids.  Honestly I was probably more the baby since we three older siblings were so close in age.  My oldest sister was born on July 6th, 18 months later in January my brother was born.  Queue forward to July 6th 18 months after my brother was born; I was born.  Yes I was born on my sister’s third birthday.  How I love to remind her, I am wonderful gift!

Whichever I am, one of the oldest or the baby, I was very shy and terribly dependent on my mother when I was young.  So when my grandparents invited me to spend a week with them in Rush Springs, OK, no one thought I would go.  Especially not my mother, who assured me no one, would be able to come pick me up before the next weekend.

Hello world!
Hello world!

But I did go and I had the time of my young life.  For just one week, I went from being the middle child with four siblings to becoming an only child.  For one entire week, I had my grandparents completely to myself and was allowed to wander around the farm on my own.  I named each chicken and watched them pecking the ground for hours.  I climbed the apple tree and I talked to my grandparents.  I felt like a princess.

My two favorite memories of the week were the weekly trip to the grocery store and my grandmother making lemon pudding.

The grocery store was unlike any grocery store you would find today.  It was a small locally owned store crowded with shelves of canned goods, dry goods and fresh produce.  But my most vivid memory was the “drawing”.  We had been wandering the narrow aisles, mostly window shopping, but a few things made their way into the cart.

Suddenly, it got quiet in the store and Mr. Teal, the grocery store owner called out, “Who wants a ticket.  One dollar for a chance at this week’s basket of groceries.”  A current of excitement moved through the crowd.  Understanding my grandparents were extremely conservative with their money, I was shocked when my grandfather was one of the first people to pay a dollar for a ticket.

What a wondrous thing it was.  It was my first experience with the pure joy of chance and anticipation.  For only a dollar, there was a chance to take all those groceries home for free.  Mr. Teal drew numbers from a cup and called a few numbers.  I watched my grandfather’s face.  With the complete faith of youth, I waited for him to go collect the groceries.  Of course our number wasn’t drawn and we left without the groceries.

Even though I was disappointed when we didn’t win, I remember vividly, how I felt waiting with my grandparents for the “drawing.”  It still makes me smile.

My other favorite memory was of my grandmother making a lemon pudding in the large country kitchen.  She stirred fresh milk into a sugary mixture in a pot on the stove-top.  She was making a pudding and I asked if she was making a banana pudding.  My mother often made wonderful banana pudding with vanilla wafers.  She said she was making a lemon pudding and we were going to put lemon cookies on top!  Then she explained she always put sugar cookies on vanilla pudding and lemon cookies on lemon pudding!  I have no idea why that was so remarkable to me but I always thought it was extremely creative!

There were so many good memories from than that week but these two memories transport me back to my grandparents farm and a wonderful week with two of my favorite people.

I Remember…

On By DGThomaIn Family, Writing1 Comment

Several years ago, I completed a writing exercise that began with the prompt “I remember when”.  Looking back through my notes, I decided to reinvent it as a blog post, if possible.  Working with one of the thoughts, the result is this week’s post.

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I remember when yesterday was today.  I remember climbing a tree and my older brother scolding me and insisting I come down.  I remember tagging along after my brother and his friends.  He was only 18 months older but always acted like he was in charge.

I also remember how he begged me to pitch to him so he could practice his batting.  Terrified of being hit, I refused.  After numerous pleadings and promises that he wouldn’t hit the ball at me, I finally acquiesced.  I must be an amazing pitcher.  I threw the ball over our makeshift home plate and my brother swung.  I heard the ball hit the wooden bat as the bat and ball connected.  Instinctively, I ducked, covered my head with my arms and felt the ball sail over my head.Baseball

Shocked, my brother dropped the bat and ran toward me.  After making sure the ball didn’t hit me, he grinned and said, “That would have been a home run!”  I wasn’t as impressed with his batting as he was.  Although I never pitched to him again, in retrospect, I’m sure it was the pitch that was truly impressive!

Growing up, my brother and I were very close at least from my perspective.  To him I was probably an annoyance and a pest.  To his credit, he never actually said as much.

When we were in high school, I backed into his car, breaking both his headlights.  At 16, I was terrified to tell him, but I knew I would have to face it.  I went to find him and let him know what I had done.  I expected his temper to flair but was pleasantly surprised with his response.  He walked to his car, looked at the lights and grinned.  Shaking his head, he simply said, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”   I remember being immensely relieved!

Not all memories regarding my brother are happy ones.  Years after the batting incident, I recall a memory I will never forget.  My plane landed in Washington DC and I turned my phone on to listen to messages.  Returning my calls, I discovered my brother had been diagnosed with cancer.  For several years he fought a tough battle valiantly before losing the fight.

But I don’t choose to remember those years.  When I think about my brother, I remember climbing trees, pitching baseballs and long talks.  Those are indeed very good memories.

 

 

Puzzles

On By DGThomaIn Friends, Musings, WritingLeave a comment

Heart Puzzle

Puzzles…. there are jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles and the list goes on and on. Some people enjoy a nice challenging puzzle and other’s consider them frustrating or a waste of time. Whichever side of the debate you fall on, I think everyone would agree, that people can also be a puzzle.

Often, we think we can predict how people will react and we think we know exactly what the other person is thinking and saying. Watching people interact, I have discovered that people often say one thing but the listener actually hears something entirely different. By bringing our previous experiences to any interaction, we introduce bias in our relationships. Recently, I witnessed a situation, where by trying to protect each other, two people complicated everything. If each of them had just said what was on their mind without filtering by what they thought the other person wanted, they would have prevented a lot of confusion.

So even though I know that sometimes a filter is important, I am going to strive to listen and hear what people say to me. I will resist the tendency to form my answer before they finish talking. Hopefully it will make for a more enjoyable exchange.

Who knows, I might even solve a few puzzles along the way!