Welcome Home a Hero

This morning I had the privilege of greeting 220 service members who were coming home from Iraq & Afghanistan at DFW airport. There were about 12 of us from Unitrin there, greeting and handing out snack foods for them. This was their first contact in the USA since starting their way home from over there.

On one side of the walkway were all the family members who were there to pick up their loved ones and on the other side were people like us from Unitrin who went out there to greet, shake hands, high-five, clap, whoop & hollar and thoroughly welcome these guys & gals home.

The reactions ranged from dog-tired, to a little embarrassed, to shocked, to thrilled, to touched, with all the emotions involved. I didn't realize we had lowered the age you could join the armed forces---some of them couldn't have been over 13. It just made you feel good and feel proud to live in this country that you could spend a little time to say "thank you for your service" to some real heroes.

One of the best parts was when a grandmother handed over a tiny baby girl about 1 month old to a returning daddy who hadn't held his new daughter before. This was after he had been assaulted by his 3 year-old daughter with hugs and kisses.

I stood in line beside 2 Vietnam Veterans. I asked them how many people greeted them when they came home. The answer was "None." I told them that was a rotten shame and that this was for them, too, for their service. Want to see a grown man cry? That did it.

Obedient Chocolate Lab

Great video to watch about a dog's obedience and comparing it to our relationship with God.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKohJ1k4oKA

Fun Fellowship

We went to supper with our new friends, Lee & Karen Carpenter, tonight at a deli. We sat there and ate and talked for almost 1 1/2 hours. Karen then asked if we drank decaf coffee and invited us to their home to visit some more. Lee & Karen pastored a church in Mesquite for 31 years up until 2 years ago when Lee retired. They live on our one mile walking path and he is now the senior adult minister at Firewheel Baptist Church. There was a lot to discover about each other. We drank coffee and visited until about 9:45. Before leaving, Lee led us in a word of prayer. We got to meet Barkley, their poodle. It was a neat night. Thank you, Sandy, for placing us in the pathway to meet Lee & Karen!

Friends are Everywhere

On one of our nightly mile walks with Sandy, we stopped in front of a house waiting to cross the street, and the home owners were out front putting in some new mulch because it was just beautiful outside. The lady got up to talk to Sandy and then talked to us. It immediately grew into a sweet friendship. They are Baptist, he is a retired pastor, but then didn't like retirement so is now the senior adult pastor at a church in Garland. They are dog lovers and have a little poodle. She is a breast cancer survivor within the last 2 years and is taking Femara for the 5 years now.

It's funny because everyone knows us and waves and speaks because they see us and Sandy every day. But it's nice to have 2 new friends with names----Lee & Karen Carpenter!!!

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Video

This is a news video concerning a form of breast cancer that is scary deluxe. It does not start with a lump. It can simply start as a "bug bite" on your breast. Be aware of the warning signs! Know your own body and take responsibility for changes you see in it and keep going to doctors until someone will tell you what this is on your breasts.

A Mini-Vacation

Us and Sandy went to Denison yesterday and went to Eisenhower State Park. We drove over the dam that makes Lake Texoma and went into Oklahoma for a little bit and then quickly got back to Texas. We were hoping to get to let Sandy out loose to run and spend some energy. Well, they have a leash law in the park and besides that, it was the backdoor of spring break and the park was pretty full of people. And a few dogs, one in particular named Cookie who Sandy got to play with. We visited with Cookie's owners for a while and shared puppy stories.

But the biggest adventure for us was taking one of the nature trails along the lake through the woods until we came to a place that we could actually make it down to the lake shore. We then climbed, fell, swam and scooted ourselves along the shoreline until we got back to just below the picnic area where we parked the car. We (David & I) were tired puppies when we got through!!! Sandy was tired, too, but he would have loved to kept going. He played in the water and swam and chased sticks. He thought that was just too much fun. The water was beautiful and clear and there were smooth white rocks all along the shoreline, so it was clean. There were huge boulders that we had to maneuver around to get back to the car. The cliffs along there were probably 20 feet or more from the lake shore. It was challenging and we were very proud of ourselves that we made it. A young couple and their kids were right behind us, but they gave up and turned around.

OK, David is going to read this, so before he does and says something, let me confess. About 4 times I would look ahead of us and would whine to David "We can't go there, it's too steep, it's too rocky. . ." and he would tell me "yes, we can" and we did. It took us about 45 minutes to go probably 1/2 mile. And today we're not in horrible shape from it! Sandy got in the car and crashed in the back seat just give out from his fun.

We ate a great old-fashioned hamburger and home-made onion rings at Watson's Hamburger drive-in there in Denison that were worth the trip themselves. We were back home by 5 p.m. so it was a nice day trip to relax and laugh and enjoy being outside in the beautiful weather.

Graduation Day

For the last 3 weeks David has spent over 55 hours going to classes, to court, doing homework and watching videos to become a CASA volunteer for Rockwall and Kaufman counties. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate and is a great organization that looks out for children who are caught in the middle of some family ordeal and is in need of someone to look out for their needs. Yesterday David and 4 other volunteers were sworn in at graduation by Judge Brett Hall at the Rockwall County Courthouse. David did much the same work when he was a juvenile detective in Odessa, but this will allow him to volunteer and give to children who need someone to look out for them. I am very proud of him for doing this.

The Ultimate Squirrel Day

Sandy LOVES chasing squirrels. He keeps us apprised of their whereabouts all the time. We have the blinds pulled up in the dining room, so Sandy can see out in the backyard. We have the blinds pulled up in my PC room, so Sandy can see out in the front yard.

Yesterday was a great day! Five of his furry friends were outside and he was anxious to get to them. He was still hyper when I got home from work because of all the squirrel chasing. When we all went on our walk last night, Sandy found a cat that he has become chummy with. . . . well, Sandy's chummy. The cat is a guard cat in every sense of the word and guards and spits at Sandy every time he approaches the cat's front porch. So while Sandy is a brave hunter with those pesky squirrels, he has a keen sense of respect for those spitting cats!!!

Faded Love & My Rose of San Antone

Last night we went to see a play about Bob Wills, featuring Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel. The music was great! At one point there were 6 fiddles on the stage being played and all of them were excellent. Four were played by girls with their ages ranging from 14 to 22. At the end, Asleep at the Wheel then did some of their western swing songs, so it was like getting a concert with a play. It was particularly funny to us when they joked about Turkey and Lubbock. The city folk there had no idea of the point of some of the jokes.

We hadn't been to anything since February 18 of last year when we got Sandy. The tickets were $55 each, so it wasn't cheap. That has been one of the most disappointing things about living here. We got to see lots more people & plays in Odessa and Amarillo than we do here because we just can't see paying the tickets prices they charge here.

The highlight of the evening was during the latter concert portion when Ray Benson, the lead singer & lead guitar player for Asleep at the Wheel, brought Leon Rausch on stage. Leon is the last lead singer of the Playboys--Bob Wills sang some (when he was sober) but usually others carried the vocal lead and Bob Wills played fiddle and said "Ahhhhhhhh-hhaaaaaaaaaaaa" a lot. He sang a song and sounded great. We had no idea we'd get to see one of the Texas Playboys in person. He is a true legend of western swing music.