Ellery and I went to the Ft Worth Kennel Club dog show this weekend. I got the fever. Since the kids are older and my work gig is ending soon, I am looking for my next life project. A small part of it I think is going to involve dogshowing. I don't know why I love showing animals--I don't have the space, time and $ for horseshowing. So dogs it is. I think I have a genetic marker for loving wellbred animals--my papa bred cockfighters (to my mother's chagrin and dismay), my grandpa always had a good hunting dog (pointer, german shorthair) in his backyard. Although he also trapped coyotes (right?) so it smelled icky back there. But I miss my grandma's dried apricots--they were GURD!! And my parents love a beautifully put together Arabian.
and the best for last:
Sipapu, NM is 20 min east of Taos. A small, local ski area. While we were driving there, the resort got 9" of new snow. We borrowed some gear, bought some gear and rented some gear. Skis, boots and poles for an adult were $15, $11 for kids. Lift tickets for adults run $39, children $29. Still a great deal even if you have to pay.
After our first night at Spring Break rates, our tico-type cabin was $60/night. It smelled of natural gas and I will bring my own bedding next time, but we saved $ by spending $145 on food for breakfast, lunch and snacks.
Never-ever skiiers like Soren and Ellery got 3 free 2-hour lessons. Ellery only needed one lesson (she informed me). She was right--she was doing blues on her second day and did a segment of black with me on the last day. Soren and Cyler snowboarded. I'll not lie-Soren screamed like a little girl the first time he went down a green. He boarded right over the edge into the trees. The next day was better.
Ellery on the chairlift in front of me. She liked to go up by herself or with someone she didn't know so she could chat. By the end of the 3rd day, she could wave to several of the (male) skiers ("Hi Carlos." "Mom, did you know he has been skiing for 33 years?" I've been skiing for 2 days!" Then she laughs wildly.) We kept the kids out of school 2 days to make it cheaper and we avoided the crowd (but got there in time to see the 2010 Cardboard Derby). Not sure of the long term effect of this decision. I think they'll survive academically.
To the Irish that flipped the bird at British imperialism for as long as they could being so close, without using words like "holocaust" and "diaspora." To the Irish that came this side of the Atlantic as indentured servants with eternally renewing contracts for minor infractions, more expendable than slaves. To all the immigrants, miners, politicians, soldiers, moonshiners, and day laborers that built this country even when this country didn't love you back-when you were compelled to fight your fellow countrymen fresh off the boat in the Civil War, when your guns/hunting/liquor making customs (ways to remain economically self-sufficient) were taken from you after you fought on the Confederate side and lost, when the signs hung "No Irish" or "We don't hire Irish" and when Irish Catholic women weren't considered morally fit to nanny Protestant children, when you were told you had too many babies--no reparations asked for.Happy St. Patrick's day. Look how well you're doing now. My heart breaks and dances a jig for you.
And you gave us Mother Jones--Look up what she did.
The Phantom of the Opera.
We went on a date. Italian food then the theatre. We got dressed up (I let Ellery wear her Easter Dress) and I wore a skirt and jacket I had made in Thailand.
Thai silk is rougher and thinner than Chinese silk but the country is really trying to develop the industry. It feels like a taffeta almost. The elephants make me smile.
Carrabba's is my favorite Italian restaurant chain here. We talked the whole dinner about manners, etiquette and what-if questions. Like what if a friend walks up to you while you are talking to someone else? What if you are invited to a party after you have already accepted a previous invitation. The waiter treated Ellery like a young lady and she sponged it up.
In the car Ellery wiped my shoe while I tried to degrease my digits. The glass didn't come out until after I got home near midnight after traipsing across Dallas Fair Park parking lot, stairs to the lounge and that insanely steep ramp to and from my orchestra level seats. Ellery had such a good time. After doing a feminist interpretive analysis on Christine Daea (can the girl stop needing a man to save her and just make up her mind?) I let myself enjoy the woman's voice who played her. The voice was amazing.
The intrepid Eric Reed. Builder of buildings. Speaker of Spanish. Lover of CiCi's pizza. He's naming his presently-in-utero son, Major. Is he not a natural born Texan?
Hotmama, Pistol Paralegal in a Mighty Mouse body. Shila's got a gun and will use it on any garage repairman that tries to cheat her and then won't leave her doorstep.
I look up to these two, Brady Bunch style. Robert's pic is coming tomorrow. He'll have a suit on then.
I am reading this right now. I haven't really thought about the history of indentured servititude of Anglos and their relationship with African slaves. These two cultures intertwined in the Carribean on sugar and tobacco plantations. I love Irish history and this fiction does a great job in painting a picture of what it's like to be oppressed by a group who looks and worships like you do but who considers you a whole other species. The author has done a lot of scholarly research on the sociology and psychology of slavery and how it defines "family" differently. Sometimes we forget slavery is ubiquitous in human history.
