Saying Good-bye to Ed

Suzi and I made the trek to Victoria last Wednesday to say good-bye to our sweet friend Ed and love on his wife, Sherry. Before I go one second further, I have to tell you Sherry looked absolutely beautiful. It's kind of neat to see how people clean up well when they're not sleeping in tents, showering in semi trucks and walking 60 miles.

It was hard to be making that trek for the reasons that we were, but it was such a blessing to have that time to spend with Suzi. With schedules like they are, we don't have that much time to just hang out. A whole day with her was a blessing I really needed.

We got to Victoria about noon -- well ahead of the 2:00 Mass for Ed. We stopped in at Charlie's Liquor and Wine to buy a couple of bottles of vino. We'll toast Ed one of these days and that will be cool.

We asked the gang at Charlie's where we should eat lunch, and they sent over to Jim's Big Burger.

Oh, my Heavens. I think we may have found out why Ed had a massive heart attack at 58. This is Burger Heaven. If you're ever in Victoria, I highly recommend you give them a try. VERY inexpensive. And one of those absolutely-perfect burgers. Toasted bun, with that little bit of crunch right on the edges. Mmmmm......

After Jim's, we hit Target where Suzi bought a juicer (I know -- huge contrast to lunch), and then went to the funeral. I've never been to a Catholic funeral / mass before -- but I have to say, there were a lot of Hail Marys. It was very interesting. I will say I missed the personal touch that you get with a good, old Protestant funeral. The slideshow. The masses of flowers. The singing. The message where the preacher touches you with memories of your loved one.

We did order flowers, though -- PINK. With two pink ribbons. One said, "Real Men Wear Pink" and the other read, "Team Talent." Sherry's friend Pam said she was really touched by that. I'm glad. I think Ed would have liked them!

Ten Down. Thirty-nine to Go.

A Quandary

I've been coasting along, Facebooking and Blogging to my heart's content -- and wham! I got slammed with a bit of a dilemma last night.

The friend I mentioned a few posts ago? The one who was more like a sister than a friend before the Big Thing happened?

She sent me a friend request on Facebook.

And I have no idea what to do.

There's a part of my that craves information from her household -- and wants so much to know what's going on with her. And misses all our fun times more than anything.

But.... The Big Thing? Well, she put the moves on Biggsy. And I'm not going into details. But it wasn't really about him, more about what was missing somehow in her own life. Although, when you consider what a hottie he is, it's a surprise there aren't women just falling all over him constantly. And almost no one knows about what happened because I waded through the pissed off and angry and hurt and everything that went with it on the "high road." Our lives were so entertwined that I didn't think it would be right to answer her wrong with one of my own. So I resisted the urge to hire one of those planes with a banner to fly up the Interstate announcing to the world what had happened.

Moving to Houston was a very freeing thing for me. It got me out of town and far away. But at the same time, losing my Mom right after just compounded my grief. By that fall, I had made some new friends and was finally able to talk about what had happened. Some dear Tiaras and MOPS friends were there to listen. But at the same time, being this far away, it allowed me to carry that load of anger a lot longer than I probably would have otherwise.

Last fall, a dear friend, a mentor helped me work through the forgiveness part -- finally. And I've felt so much lighter since then. We've talked on the phone a couple of times. I sent a Christmas card.

But last night this Facebook thing popped up. And I don't know what to do. My network is largely her network, too. Our lives were that entertwined. And that's just a bit bizarre.

And I just couldn't jump off and hit "confirm." It's almost two years to the day since the nightmare started. That's an awfully long time to have something between me and a sister in Christ. And that's what she is. Even if I don't consider her a friend that's closer than a sister at this point. At the end of the day, she is a sister in Christ.

And this is what I'm dwelling on today.....

Take a Deep Breath....

And take out your calendar.

And change the date of our Fundraising event to February 28.

Studio Movie Grill needs an extra week to get their location finished.

If you've made your donation (to receive your tickets to the event) and cannot come on Feb. 21, I can convert that to raffle tickets for you. How's that? We do have some incredible prizes.

If you haven't made your donation (so you can get movie tickets/ raffle tickets), what are you waiting for????

Four Blocks Down. Forty-five to Go.

A Great Weekend at the Creek!

We had a great weekend at the Creek this weekend. The Bennetts joined us down there, and Biggsy and Mark hired a guide for Saturday. They took Ethan and Abs with them -- and left Robin and I to entertain Cooper and Kait. Lucky for us, Coop and Kait are like peas and carrots!

Here are the "bigger kids" with Cap'n Gene.

Here's Abs scouting for fish. We would have more pictures of the bigger kids, but Biggsy accidentally left Mark's camera (that went in the boat) at the Creek.

Lucky for you, I had my camera with me! So we have lots of pix of Cooper and Kaitlyn!

They were busy as two bees all day. They climbed the tree in the front yard and declared that they had "assigned seats."

Cooper fished quite a bit. That boy can cast!

Unfortunately, though, he kept getting his line tangled around his fishing pole. And I was having to take time away from my ever-so-important Cross Stitch project. Then, I figured out the problem. Every time he cast the line, he went into Luke Skywalker mode and turned it into a light saber for a bit. It was a hoot!

Once he got over being a Jedi Knight, he tried to see if he could get a bead on the fish in a different way. Aren't boys fun? Our girls would never think of any of this!

Kait spent much of her day washing off the pier and making rainbows!

Swinging took up a lot of time, as did washing seashells we had found on the beach last summer. Kait "invented" this shell-drying system. She's looking for a patent if anyone is interested....

Jake spent his day running up and down the Creek, chasing birds and trying to figure out how to get to a "pretty young thing" (a cute yellow lab) on the other shore!

Here's Abs after a loooooooooong day of fishing. They were out about 10 hours and caught about 15 fish! We sure had a yummy dinner! (It didn't hurt to have Chef Mark along!)

Here are all our peas & carrots. They really do have a great time together.

Monkeys Climbing at Monkey Bizness!

We went to Katarina & Kassidy's birthday party at Monkey Bizness a couple of weeks ago. Our girls have never been there before, but they had a blast. They spent a little time on the bounce houses, but the rock wall had their attention!!! Unfortunately, I forgot that I was using my camera to take video, so the video I have looks like they're doing a great job climbing sideways! Oh well!!!

At one point, Abbie swung around with her back to the wall, but she didn't let go -- and was able to recover and keep climbing. How cool is that??

The "Something Cool" That Came on Friday!

When I blogged about something "big" happening on Friday, I know you thought I meant that Big, Red Truck. Nah. I just didn't have time to get the pictures up until now....

BUT.... We got a new mattress on Friday!!! After 11.5 years of marriage, and about 7 years of complaining about our old mattress, we got a Tempurpedic!!! Woo-Hoo!!! The guys who delivered it thought I was nuts for documenting it. But they just didn't get how thrilled I was!

And of course, the girls had to help break it in!!!

FAM Night

Last Tuesday was "FAM" night at Keith (Fitness, Art & Music). The 2nd graders invited their parents in to see what they do during P.E., Art & Music.

Here's Abbie showing off her "Spin Jammer" Skills.

Here she is at the cup-stacking table. Cup-stacking is a really cool sport for people who don't like to sweat. And it takes amazing hand/ eye coordination.

I'm pretty much the worst cup-stacker ever. It's the coordination part. I'm all over a sport that doesn't make you sweat.

Biggsy came from work and got there just in time for a little hands-on art.

Here's Abs with two of her best friends -- Alyvia and Andrew.

Flush Out Cancer

I just uploaded a ton of pix off my camera. So brace yourself for a ton of posts!!!


Today was one of those road-trip days. I ran up to Mecca (College Station) to pick up my wedding ring at the jeweler's where it was being repaired. Then across to Humble to drop off Mom's sewing machine for repairs and back home.


On the way to Aggieland, I stopped at Martha's Bloomers to see if they had any bedding plants I couldn't live without. They didn't. But check out what they did have....

This would never "fly" in Fairfield like our Flamingos do, but isn't it a hoot??

Saying Good-bye -- Again.

It seems to me that Heaven is kind of getting more than its fair share of the "good ones" here of late. And much to my dismay, this is turning into somewhat of a tribute blog. This is not at all going according to plan.

Or rather it is. God's Plan.

I found out today that Ed Taylor, of Team Talent Fame, went to be with Jesus yesterday. I don't know the "how" or "why," and frankly neither of those matter. What matters is that he's gone, leaving behind the woman he lovingly referred to as his Bride.

Ed and Sherry shared a love like no other. The hand-holding, big-hugging, light-shining kind of love. Their love was so apparent to anyone and everyone -- from the minute you met them. Ed had nursed Sherry through breast cancer and chemo and all the yuck that goes with it. He stuck by her side through all of that -- and beyond.

I just can't believe he's gone. This man was so full of life, and random sayings, and love and energy. There wasn't a person he knew that didn't love him. You just couldn't help yourself.

I spent some time with Ed & Sherry on this year's walk. Ed loaded his Bride into the Boobie Mobile to take a little break from walking. He wasn't taking a break -- he walked each of the 60 miles. For Her. His Bride. GPS -- check. Camo -- check. Pink "Team Howdy" shirt -- check. And along the way he befriended everyone he met.

I got to cross the Finish line with Ed & Sherry this year. A memory I'll treasure always.

Ed, we're gonna miss you. Our lives are so much better for having you as a friend.