I have to admit – there was a part of me that was dreading the holidays this year. It wont be the same. Will the neighbors put up lights and decorate their yards? Will there be any fun Christmas events to go to? What about Santa? Will he know where to find me? Do they have Christmas in Texas? Will it be the same as it is in California?

The answer is yes, yes, and yes.

I wasn’t going to do it. I just wasn’t feeling it. The kids aren’t here, no one to cook for (besides JD). I was excited about the holidays – I always am, but of course this year is different. It’s our first Christmas “away from home”. First, I thought – no decorations…why bother? Then I started to see more and more Christmas in the stores so I thought, well I’ll put out a few decorations, but no tree. When I shared this info with JD, he was agreeable, but did inform me that this would be the first time in his entire life that he wouldn’t have a Christmas tree. “Gulp”, uh…okay, but is it okay if it’s just a small tree on a table? Does it need to be real? Fast forward to today. We now have Christmas decorations all around the house, the front porch is decorated, and there is a 9 foot Christmas tree in the family room. How did that happen?!!!

Last weekend we went into town for “Dickens on Main”. First, you should know that downtown Boerne is a really cute, old downtown Main Street. Old buildings that have been there forever (many are historical), and are now shops, restaurants, bakeries, etc. Anyway, last weekend Main Street was closed off, and all the shops and restaurants were open, there were horse drawn carriages, booths in the park (of course there’s a park on Main Street, and yes it has a big white gazebo!), and highlight was snow…just like Disneyland!

It’s official, I now have the holiday spirit.

What? I don’t believe it! Shut the front door! We hear that frequently these days, right? Well, that’s exactly what I said when I saw this creepy, crawly, and extremely ugly critter on our front porch. It was late, I was barefoot, and I was tired. “Knock, knock”. “Who is it?” “It’s me, an ugly centipede. My legs and me want to come in and make ourselves at home”. “Oh, you want to come inside? Wait there for just one moment, I’ll be right back”.

I then ran to the laundry room to grab a broom. A broom? Seriously? With all the variety of insect sprays we have (some which spray up to 20 feet away!) I grabbed a broom??? I tiptoed out – after all, I was barefoot and with all the strength I could muster, I swept it away. I was thinking it was going to fly across the driveway, across the yard and end up out on the road where it would be promptly run over and smooshed to smithereens by a car – but NO! It went about 4 feet and landed right on the front walkway. Ugh, it’s dark out here, I can’t keep sweeping this thing 4 feet at a time, and I also don’t want it to make its way back to the front porch. I know what you’re thinking…run inside and get the spray stuff, right? No! Because the minute I take my eyes off this thing, its zillion legs will be in motion and I will never find it again until it makes its way back to the front porch! Rocks. There are rocks along each sided of the walkway, I’ll smash it! But it’s dark out, what if I pick up a rock that has an equally creepy crawly thing in, under, or around it? I took my chances, picked up a rock and threw/tossed/slung it. Dang! I missed it…Steeeerike One. Picked up another rock. Steeerike Two. Oh. My. Gosh. One more time – and it’s a hit! I don’t know if you can see the picture, but this thing is pretty robust. It actually looks like a rubber toy, almost like a fake snake! Like the creature in Tremors! (why do I always reference that movie?!!!) Even though I’ve smashed it with a rock and it’s dead, it’s perfectly intact and looks perfectly alive. I kneeled down to get a good look at it – why is it we like to look t gross things?!!! Mission accomplished. I went in, washed up, climbed into bed and laid there with my eyes wide open because I was sure there was an army of centipedes outside plotting revenge for their fallen soldier.

The next morning I peeked out the window to see if it was still there – and it was. Because they make me feel super brave, I put on my trusty boots and went outside to make sure it was dead. I nudged it with my foot. No movement. Hallelujah! I’ve always been squeamish about spiders, worms, pretty much anything that crawls, so I surprised even myself this time. Well I have to go now. My boots and I are going out to save the world (our little corner of the world, that is!)

It’s back. Well it’s not back completely, but it’s getting there. It’s almost back, I can see it in the distance…like a movie, it’s running towards me – in ultra slow motion. I actually thought it had fallen off the truck on the move out here and was out in the middle of the desert somewhere in Arizona. Okay, it’s not that bad, but we’ve been here almost three months now and I’m just now getting my craft room together. That means for at least three months, I haven’t made anything, barely baked anything (more on that later), and haven’t had my own “zen” place (so to speak) to go. Confession: It’s not because I didn’t have a place to make anything, it’s because (gasp!), I haven’t wanted to. I guess it’s just a part of the whole getting used to living here. Another adjustment.

However…a few weeks ago, after going upstairs, and standing in the room full of boxes I decided it was time. Time to get some cabinets in so I can unpack all the boxes. Time to self motivate. The cabinets went in pretty quickly, however (and this is a BIG however), I was thinking when the cabinets were installed I would just unpack the boxes and put stuff away and I’d be ready to go. It didn’t quite work out quite that way. I had gone out that day and when I came back I couldn’t wait to go up and see how they looked. Imagine my surprise when I walked in and saw that the cabinets – although very nice, were completely unfinished! WHAT? Are they supposed to be that color? Who? What? Ugh!

I couldn’t bear the thought of waiting another week to get a painter in to paint the cabinets. “JD, I can paint these cabinets myself”. I’m really not sure what he really thought about it, but as always he was supportive. Now I had some decisions to make. Wait a minute. This is my room! I get to pick what I want in here. I can paint the cabinets any color I want! I can hang anything I want on the walls! I wanted to run down the stairs, grab my purse, hop in the car and go buy paint! But I didn’t. Instead, I got online and started reading. I finally came to the conclusion that I wanted to use chalk paint (not to be confused with chalkboard paint). No sanding, very little prep, paint, sand if wanted (for a distressed look), seal with crème wax. This is going to be so easy! I can do this! (then I grabbed my purse, hopped in the car and went and bought paint!)

I hauled all my stuff upstairs and carefully taped off the edges, etc. and I was ready to start. Oh. Hmm. I guess I’ll need to take the doors off of the cabinets first. Guess I better go get a screwdriver. Boy, this is kind of hard to do, some of these screws are in pretty tight. Why the heck do they even put the doors on unfinished cabinets, anyway? Gosh it’s hot up here. I wonder if JD has a cordless screwdriver? Down I go, to the man cave where every tool has it’s own special place with an audible alarm if its not returned to its proper location within a reasonable amount of time. I found it! But where’s the charger? Ugh! Cant find it. Maybe I can use this ratchet thingy. Well, the ratchet thingy worked just fine, but it took me all afternoon to take the doors off the cabinets and the hardware off the doors. Sheesh.

Now I’m ready to paint – easy peasy! Yeah, this is fun. Wow, it’ really hot up here. Three days later I’m still painting. Every day I’d talk to my daughter, and every day I’d tell her I was painting. “Still?” Heh, heh, yep. Then after the painting was done, it was time to sand, because yes, I wanted that distressed look. You know why they call it distressed? I can tell you why, Its because it’s so labor intensive. At one point JD came up to check on me. The look on my face must have said it all – DISTRESSED! And then after that, I still had to apply the crème wax. Not cream, but crème. Seriously? At last I finished! And I like them! I hung the doors back on (another thing that sounds easier than it is), and now I just need the counter tops. Yay! At least the room is functional.

I’m back in my groove – ready to create, and starting to feel like myself again. Hello mojo, welcome back 😉

Sometimes it seems like we’ve been here for a long time, and sometimes it seems like we haven’t. In fact, we’ve only been here for a couple of months so it really hasn’t been very long. And because it hasn’t been very long, I still find myself constantly comparing Texas to California. Of course there are advantages and disadvantages to both, but for now I will focus on the topic of vehicle registration.

Before I go any further, you must know that I do not like clutter. Clutter makes me crazy. I also do not like stickers of any kind on my car. I don’t have a problem with bumper stickers or other stickers on cars. In fact, some are quite amusing! I just don’t feel the need to advertise my political opinions, have stick figures of my family, blah, blah, blah. I like my car clean, uncluttered, and free of dog hair (sorry Lucy!).

Now, back to the registration…

It seemed simple enough. Move to Texas, get a Texas driver’s license, and register the cars. Easy, right? WRONG! First of all, vehicle registration is not managed by the Department of Motor Vehicles (like in California). It’s managed by the Department of Public Safety. Oh, I should probably also tell you that you can’t get a Texas driver’s license until you have registered your vehicle  And, for that, we must go to the Boerne Driver’s License Office, which is different than the place that does the vehicle registration. What? In California, we could just go in and spend the entire day at the DMV and take care of everything under one roof with one of those super friendly, DMV workers. Well Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore!

Road Block! Although by law (Texas law, that is), our cars should have been registered within 30 days of our arrival, but we were waiting on the titles to both cars. After what seemed like an eternity, they both finally arrived. JD was elated! Now he can get his Texas driver’s license and get the cars registered! D’oh! I forgot to tell you about the part where you have to go get your vehicles inspected prior to getting them registered. It’s dumb. It’s completely lame. Take your car in, cough please. Okay you’re all set, here – put this sticker on your windshield. I was not home with this inspection took place. In fact, I was in California at the time. So when I came home, the first time I hopped in my car of course I noticed it right away.

Me: What is this? Why is there a sticker on my windshield? And why is there messy handwriting on it?

JD: It’s the inspection sticker

Me: I don’t do stickers. And I make a  frowny face.

Fast forward to today. JD has just returned from the magical place that manages vehicle registration and he has a temporary license plate to put on the back of my car. Here’s how this went:

JD: We’ll need to go to the dealer to get the frames for the front of our cars. Texas law says we need plates on the front too. Oh, here’s your temporary plate and here’s the sticker ( yes, another sticker!) that needs to go in your windshield.

Me: Oh so that goes on instead of the inspection sticker?

JD: No, it’s in addition to the inspection sticker.

Me: I’m not putting all those stickers on my windshield, put it in the glove compartment.

For those of you that do not know JD, you need to know that this man is as honest as the day is long. He is strictly a “by the book” kind of guy, and would NEVER, EVER entertain the idea of doing anything that was illegal or against the rules.

JD: But you have to, it’s the law.

Me: Well why do I need to leave the inspection sticker on if we have the actual registration which we couldn’t have gotten without the inspection?

JD: Well the law says you need both. Do you want me to put it on now?

Me: No, just leave it and I’ll do it.

JD: Okay, let’s go do it now (at this point I can tell he’s fearing my imminent arrest for not having the appropriate amount of stickers on my windshield)

Me: No, just put it in the glove compartment and if I get pulled over, I can show that I have it (yes, now I’m just being stubborn and seeing how far he’s going to let this go!)

Imagine this scenario: I’m driving along (with no front license plate, and no sticker on the windshield and I get pulled over. “What? I need a license plate on the front of my car? Sorry officer, but I just moved here from California and even though it’s required there too, Jerry Brown let’s us do whatever we want, otherwise it would be considered discrimination. And I do have the sticker, but I don’t like stickers on my car. Now I’m going to reach slowly into the glove compartment and get it out for you.

Or how about this scenario: I’m driving along minding the speed limit and I hit a parked car. State trooper rolls up and I tell him, “Officer I’m so sorry, but I didn’t even see that parked car because my vision was blocked by ALL OF THESE REQUIRED BY LAW STICKERS ON MY WINDHSHIELD!”

As it happens, JD just read tonight that effective in March of 2015, there will only be one sticker required (apparently I’m not the only one that doesn’t like stickers!). The question is, do I put the sticker on, or leave it in the glove compartment and fly under the radar for the next six months? Hmm…

Today’s adventure was one for the record books. A while back I got hooked on watching Junk Gypsies. They’re kind of quirky and I wouldn’t necessarily decorate the way they do, but I can appreciate the way they can take what I might consider a piece of junk, and turn it into something. It wasn’t long before I started following them on Instagram, and that is how I found out about Texas Antique Weekend.

Texas Antiques Weekend takes place twice a year and is where every antique dealer, every collector, every picker, etc. comes together to sell their wares. It’s the mother of all antique shows. Imagine a yard sale along the road that goes on and on, from town to town (actually, that does exist but that’s not in Texas). Anyway, this antique show literally spans across 5 towns and lasts 9 days!. Sounds fun, right? I thought so! But, would JD go for this? We’d been talking about looking for things for the house, so I took the plunge and asked him if he’d like to go. Much to my surprise, he was totally up for going! Even though I explained it to him, I knew he had no idea of just how big of a deal this was going to be!

We headed out this morning, and about 45 minutes into the drive we both decided we needed some breakfast. We found a little donut shop and thought – perfect! Now I consider us to be friendly people. When we go in somewhere, we say hi, how ya doing, etc. Well, we walked into this donut shop and the lady behind the counter looked like she would have rather been having a root canal with no medication rather than selling donuts. She was an older lady, deep voice like she’d been smoking since she was 10. We say in our very best California accents, “hi, how ya doing? She didn’t care she just wanted us to get our donuts and get the heck out. Forgive me lady, but I’m really curious about these kolache things. I think I’ll try one (clearly I am taking way too long to make up my mind). She rings up our order – “Oh crap, now I have to change the tape in the cash register. [said in deep, raspy voice]. JD and I cannot make eye contact or we will both burst out laughing. “Well wasn’t she a ray of sunshine” we laughed all the way to the car!” Incidentally, the kolache thing was okay, but next time I’ll be ordering a chocolate glazed donut.

After more driving (this event takes place somewhere between Austin and Houston, and we are farther south near San Antonio (check your map!), we arrive in the first town. WHAT THE HECK!! Although I knew this was going to be a big deal, I was amazed. JD was amazed. On both sides on the road, for as far as we can see, there are literally rows and rows of tents and buildings with all sorts of things for sale. We debated. Do we park here and shop here? Do we go farther up the road to the next town? We decided to park – at this point we knew this was all we were going to see today. There was no way we’d see everything and still have time to the next town. We’d only been out of the car for five minutes before we were saying, “next time we’ll get here earlier”. “Next time this will be at least a two day event for us”. You get the picture.

There was SO MUCH STUFF TO SEE!!! We were on overload within the first 10 minutes. We were on the lookout for things for the living room, guest rooms, entryway, and whatever else looked interesting. We were in a sea of furniture, old stuff, new stuff, indoor décor, outdoor décor. Quite honestly, initially it was paralyzing. Once we looked around a bit and got our bearings, off we went. We stopped in one tent and were looking at some furniture, and on a table I saw this really cute table runner with a vintage, cowboy design on it. I figured it was just a prop, not really for sale. JD says, “Ask, maybe they’ll sell it”. So I see a young man (emphasis on young, as in no clue to the value of said runner). So I ask. “Oh I don’t know, it’s my moms, but  I’ll sell it to you for five bucks”. I was dying inside! I felt guilty because this was not a five dollar table runner. I said, “Your mother is going to kill you!” He didn’t care! “We’re here to make deals” he says. Well okay, here’s your five bucks. Quick JD, shove this thing in my backpack before this guy’s mom comes back! There – we broke the ice, we made a purchase!

We were targeting the actual antique stuff today. Next time I will definitely spend some time looking at the “stuff”. I found myself thinking the girls would love this, or my sisters would love this!

We did make one purchase for the living room, I wont say what it was, but once the room is done I will post a picture. We still need some additional pieces before we can call it complete.

We stopped for dinner before we headed home and talked about “next time”. Here’s what we came up with:

• Leave the house at 5am
• Reserve a hotel room nearby because this is a multi day event
• Go to Round Top (which is the hub)
• Bring a wagon
• Haul a trailer
• Bring the checkbook (who would have thought cash or check only in some places?)
• Bring friends

It was a fun day, but we are now two tired pups!

Remember – one man’s junk is another man’s treasure (and if it’s not, it can be upcycled into something else!)

Now don’t laugh…

We have some pretty good views from just about every window of our house. We have allot of windows – in fact, we have so many windows, that it really limits the amount of wall space we have for hanging art, photos, etc. I like it. In fact, I love waking up in the morning right when the sun is coming up. I don’t even have to move, I get a great view right from my pillow. One of these days I will actually get up and grab my camera because it would make a great photo. And lately, with all the rain passing through, I can lay in bed at night  and watch the lightening show off in the distance. I have no idea who the architect was that drew up the plans for this house was, but I am quite confident it was a man. Although I can see where a woman might design a home with lots of windows, there is NO WAY that a woman would design the master bath to include a window directly across from the toilet!

As you will notice, the photo on the left looks into the bath (water closet, loo, etc.). You can barely see it on the right hand side, but there is a rather large window there (see, directly across from the toilet on the left). There is no denying the view is magnificent. It’s pretty, and frequently there are deer out there feeding.

Now some people that live here like it and think the shade should be up all the time, and some people that live here wonder why the heck there’s a window there at all and want the shade down. The view from the outside must be of the shade constantly going up and down. If it ever breaks, I hope it’s in the down position! Total man design, right? I cant help but think that the one time I leave the shade up, someone is going to walk by! And at night when it’s pitch black outside – definitely shade own!

The world needs more female architects.

I had the privilege of taking my 12 year old granddaughter and her friend to a One Direction concert last week. Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with One Direction – where have you been?!!!!

Knowing that we’d be dealing with LA traffic, and because I’m an indulgent nana, I picked Mad (Madison) up from school at noon on concert day. Our plan was to leave at 2:00 for a 7:00 concert (yes, I’m completely serious). We were close! We hit the road at 2:15 and headed off to the Rose Bowl Stadium. This was going to be fun. I had tickets in hand and I had even sprung for premium parking. I really got a kick out of listening to their conversation on the back seat. They talked about school, boys, One Direction and 5SOSand how amazingly hot they are! For those of you who do not know who 5OS is, it’s 5 Seconds of Summer – otherwise known as the next big thing in boy bands. Their talk immediately took me back to myself as 12 year old, when there was no one dreamier than Donny Osmond! I was obsessed, I spent countless hours practicing my signature. Mrs. Osmond. Mrs.  Donny Osmond. Mrs. Donald Osmond. I now what you’re thinking, but hey – I was 12! At any rate, we got there in record time – where was all the traffic? Where was everyone? Oh. Still at work and still in school!

We wandered around for a bit, checked out the booths, and listened to some music, and visited the all important One Direction Merchandise booth. I tried to hang back a bit to give them some breathing room because really, who wants to be at a concert with their grandma hanging around! Oh, one very important detail. I failed to mention that Southern California was (and still is) in the middle of a heat wave which made it as hot as – well as hot as One Direction! In addition to that, I really had not anticipated such high temps and therefore had not packed accordingly [insert grimace here]. So after a while, we decided to go find some shade for a bit. We ended up within sight of the entry where people were already starting to line up to get in. “Can we go get in line? People are already waiting and the line is getting longer and longer.” Ugh. We were in the shade and we have tickets so it really didn’t matter if we got in line (in the sun). How do you rationalize with a 12 year old that cant believe she’s going to be breathing the same air as her heartthrob? So, off we go to get in line. In the sun. After they realize how blazing hot it truly is, they decide they are going to go look for something cold to drink.  “What? Of course you can. You go get something cold to drink, and I’ll stand here in the hot sun and save your places. And while your at it, pick me up one of those $40 t-shirts because the one I’m wearing is completely drenched in sweat! ” I didn’t really mind, my goal was for them to have a good time and there was probably very  little I wouldn’t have done to ensure that they had fun.

Finally, the line starts moving and wouldn’t you know, the girls are not back yet. They appear just as I’m digging the tickets out of my purse and they are carrying $24 dollars worth of cold drinks which consisted of two soft drinks and a bottle of water. Absurd! But okay – part of the price for them to have a good time. Well, wouldn’t you know, we get to the entrance only to be told we cant bring drinks in. You have got to be kidding me. Drink up girls.

We make our way to our seats and we are facing the sun. By my estimation, we’ve got at least a half hour before the sun goes behind the other side of the stadium and I find myself holding my ticket up as a sun visor. Oh my gosh. when I did become an old lady? Does that mean Donny Osmond is now an old man? Hallelujah! The sun has gone down!

I don’t have any idea who orchestrated this whole event, but they did an outstanding job. I have absolutely zero patience when it comes to inefficiencies, and I can tell you that this whole event couldn’t have run any smoother. No detail was overlooked. From the parents tent, to the parents drop off and pick up, the parking – so smooth. I would do it again in a heartbeat (that is, if my granddaughter will have me!).

No blogging for me recently. I was down for the count with some kind of bug, but I’m good as new (well, almost). Just ask JD, my level of humor is his gauge for how I’m feeling. If I’m till laughing and smiling, then I’m okay. If he’s doing somersaults and I don’t even crack a smile, he knows I’m sick. Fortunately for both of us, I’m on the mend – so JD, you may resume somersaulting now!

We were just discussing earlier how hard it is to believe that we’ve been here for six weeks already. It seems like ages since we traversed across the desert to get here. While that was a memorable trip, I can honestly say I will never – let me repeat – NEVER do that again. If the day comes when a move to another state is called for, I’m on a plane! We’ve had lots of fun since we’ve been here, there is so much to see and do around us and we’ve barely started exploring!

Since we’ve been here, this is what I’ve learned:

• People that use the phrase “Hotter than Hades”, have never been to South Texas during the summer. Now I am a lover of warm weather and I am not complaining one bit, but I wouldn’t mind an occasional sweater day!
• Although we live on 10 acres, the is in it’s natural state. Ladies on Avenida Gaviota, would you believe there is actually less dust here than there was in Camarillo? It could be because the doors and windows stay closed because the AC runs 24/7. I don’t know, but I like it!
• I hate scorpions. I know that hate is a strong word, but let me tell you that where I am concerned, it’s not a strong enough word. The mere sight of a scorpion can reduce me to tears in an instant – I kid you not. I’m a reasonable person, I know that I am much bigger than a scorpion, but not having had any experience I the past…ugh.
• I love my walk around in the mud boots. Granted, we are in the middle of a drought so there’s not much mud (maybe I should call them walking around in the dirt boots). I will wear them everyday, not because they are super comfortable – although they are, not to make a fashion statement – although I do believe they toughen me up a little, but so I can actually step on and kill the above mentioned scorpions which I just cannot bring myself to do so in sandals. Maybe some day I will learn to coexist with the scorpions of Boerne, TX – today is just not the day.

Now let me talk a bit about cactus and cactus needles. We have cactus on our property. Lots of it. I cant say that I’m really a fan of cactus, some of it looks nice, some not so nice. Now I can put on my walking around in the dirt boots and tromp through anything, however our poor pup does not own a pair (or two) of said boots. She loves to go out exploring and she loves to go out chasing deer. And she runs full speed, flat out, ears flailing in the wind! I have pulled out cactus needles from her without her even flinching. Today I took one out of her lower lip! I don’t know how she does it. She doesn’t whine, limp, or give any indication that something hurts her – and these needles are sharp and don’t come out all that easily. If only I had skin that thick!