greetings from texas!

thursday was a long day on 3.5 hours of sleep but lovely, nonetheless. when we arrived to my parents home in the country, we met their new pound puppy who had never socialized with another dog. she initially yelped, tucked her tail between her legs, and hit between my parents' feet when louis approached. when we left yesterday, she was biting his bum, chasing him, and not letting him leave with beau for their quick road trip. during this exchange, louis happened to discover how to get onto the kitchen counter (no easy feat for a pug) and quickly consumed freshly baked lemon bars and a left over cinnamon roll from breakfast. he was one happy pug.

since thursday was a bit of a sleepy blur complete with heading to bed at 9pm, we arose early on friday to get things started. as beau and pug headed to nebraska (with hopes of hitting one of his three never-been-to states), mom and i headed south to texas to canoodle with gramma. we got massages at her fancy assisted living center, dined at olive garden (my fave chain restaurant - shows i'm not a true foodie, eh?), hit tarjay after gramma was eying my silver ballet flats (i told her they had patent red, too, and she had to have 'em - she's 95, i think she can have whatever she wants), took a quick tour through ross dress for less, and then gramma needed her second nap of the day. so back home, she snored, and we got ready for an art auction that featured two of my uncle's lovely paintings. not to let a moment go to waste, we hit big lots (a fun discount store) with 45-minutes left until closing and i got some fabu stickers for the tranquil space foundation's pilot programs featuring creativity, some fancy paper for making cards, and some lovely vellum envelopes. i have trouble passing up a bargain - especially when it is a crafty one!

en route to texas, we stopped off to see a dear friend of my father's who is dying of cancer. he was at my booksigning in oklahoma over the holidays, was as spry as ever, and has been amazingly loyal to my father over the years. it was heartbreaking to see what has transpired since our last interaction. life is truly so fleeting and it reminded me to be grateful for every moment - even the slightly challenging ones (like mom pointing out all the gas prices as we pass the stations - "oh, it's X here. wow, 2 cents cheaper here.")

wrote and got the next 2 columns off to the examiner, along with a description for my 3 days at kripalu in 2008 while gramma napped. who knows what today holds. think we're off to a tea house, may do some craftsy projects, and will have lunch with her friends in the cafeteria. life moves much slowly here - midwest in general, especially her assisted living center - and it is a nice change of pace. country music abounds on the radio, people are incredibly friendly, and life is quite slow. welcome to the midwest (or how do you really classify oklahoma?).

tomorrow's the big day. 95th birthday par-tay with friends and family coming from all over the country. will definitely have photos of this event. asked gramma how she wanted to celebrate her centennial and she blew me off. when you're 95, you don't have to deal with the niceties or placate everyone's silly questions.

i hope you're able to relish in the joys of discount stores, gettin' craftsy, and spending time with a loved one this weekend. memories are to be cherished and constantly created. back to gramma - she may be up by now. that lil' booger loves to sleep - a woman after my own heart! oh, and i must credit her with my love and belief in the power of naps. she always made me take 'em - despite my lack of desire - as a young girl. now, i think they are the most decadent thing ever. well, right after chocolate gelato stuffed with chips of chocolate. yum!