The Help

    

I just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  Actually, I should say I just finished listening to the audiobook.  I downloaded it from ITunes and was mesmerized right from the start by the voices and accents of the very talented narrators.  I think it adds so much to a book when you have a voice to go with a character and you're not just left to imagine what they might sound like.  They were so good they had me thinking and sometimes even speaking with a Southern accent!

     Stockett's honest style of writing was captivating and the heart-wrenching and uplifting stories are a reminder for all of us to be kinder to one another and never pass up the chance to say thank you.  We are, after all, just people trying to make our way in life.  We all have ups and downs, trials and victories, different yet the same.  Read it or download it here.  You will not be disappointed!

Signs of Spring in the Texas Hill Country

The peach blossoms are coming on and the bees are busy doing their thing.  I can feel it in my bones.  Spring is upon us:)

R.I.P. Chicken Lou

In Memorium

Our dear matriarch of our flock, Louise, has passed away.  I am unsure of the exact cause of her demise.  All I can say is she was treasured during her time here with us and we hated to see her go.  She was one of our original three hens that we brought in a card board box from Fort Worth.  One of my kids' first pets, we named her after a spirited hen in the children's book, "Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken" by Kate DiCamillo & Harry Bliss.  She was a superb egg layer and was the Alpha Hen of our flock.  We will miss her dearly.

***I noticed about 12 days ago that Louise seemed weird, but you know...chickens are weird, and she's a chicken, so I went on about my business.  A few days later I noticed she wasn't jumping up onto the roost in the evening any more.  Instead, she was sleeping in the nesting boxes.  I thought maybe she had gone broody and that's why she was hanging out in the nest so much, but she was only spending her nights there, so that blew my theory.  During the day she would go outside with the other hens.  After a few days of this, I noticed she seemed sort of mis-shapen.  She really didn't even look like the same chicken any more, so I decided I better get a closer look.  I scared the poop out of her when I tried to catch her and it was like clear liquid.  I lifted her wings and realized that she was just a little bag of bones and feathers:(  I could have chopped wood with her breast bone.  I knew then that something was definitely WRONG.  I went to my computer and started trying to diagnose her while watching her out of my kitchen window.  When I saw her just standing there, not eating, not scratching around, eyes glazed over, neck swooning like she could fall over at any moment, I made a difficult decision.  She was suffering and probably had been for days without me knowing.  What if she had some illness that was contagious?  I could lose my entire flock.  It was time to put her out of her misery.

Roger was out of town, but luckily one of the guys who works for the ranch was near, so I asked him to take care of her.  I ordered the hit and didn't ask any questions.  I only requested that he dispose of her in a way that would not cause her to end up back on our front door step for the kids and I to find later.  Our dog, Maisy, brings any dead thing she finds around the ranch and puts it on the front door step, or in the front yard.  The other day, she brought a deer leg into the kitchen!  Now that's COUNTRY!  More country than I can handle!

In half an hour, I got word that the job had been done and I felt a huge wave of relief knowing that Louise was in a much better place and her suffering was over.  I contemplated whether or not to tell the kids how she died (they already knew she was sick). I decided to tell them exactly what happened.  Life sometimes presents difficult decisions and I think they need all the practice they can get with their parent's guidance before they have to someday make those decisions themselves.  That is one of the beautiful things about growing up on a farm and ranch.  There are lots of opportunities to learn life's lessons!  We said a little prayer for Chicken Louise that night and imagined her in Heaven laying golden eggs for God.  The kids were understanding and peaceful throughout the whole experience.

Louise taught us many lessons in her short time with us.  She taught us that it IS possible to haul a chicken in a cardboard box five hours across the state and she'll even lay an egg for you on the way!  She taught us about the social hierarchy of chickens and what happens when another hen gets out of line.  She introduced us to the joy and satisfaction of having your own fresh eggs that, by God's perfect design, are the most complete and nutritious single-item meal you can consume.  And those same eggs, if fertilized, can become fuzzy yellow chicks in 21 days time.  Amazing!  She taught us about the responsibility of owning a pet or farm animal and the joy of watching a chicken just being a chicken.  They are truly entertaining little creatures!  And finally, but most importantly, she taught us about the circle of life and the tough decisions we may encounter along the way.

Rest in peace, sweet Louise.

Enter at Your Own Risk

My friend Lor! called me up out of the blue the other day to say, "You know how every once in a while you watch a movie that just really moves you?  That just happened to me!"  She had just seen the movie "Australia" for the first time and it really spoke to her...changed her...and she was excited about it.  

That's exactly how I feel lately.  Excited. Not specifically about a movie, a book, or anything else that tangible.  Just excited.  I'm excited about life and all that it is now and what is still to come.  Mostly I am excited to be given the chance every day to live it!  The other evening I was standing outside my wide open front door (which is just how I like it) and noticing the scene.  For that moment, time stopped in my head and I took a mental snapshot and began listing everything I loved about that little tiny speck of a moment in my day.  It looked like this:

car full of groceries behind me, chickens doing their thing all over the yard and on the front door step- scratch, scratch, look- scratch, scratch, look- POOP- scratch, scratch, look (oh, to be a chicken!) dog in pen barking at chickens, the aftermath of a two year old playing all over the house all morning which means a lot of obstacles in my path on the way to the five year old who is sitting on the toilet yelling, "Mommie, I'm DONE!!!", my arms full of bags, mail, backpack, purse, while two year old is begging, "Mommie, hold me" and teenage boys are texting, "What's for dinner?" and "What time will it be ready?"

And my list of what I loved about that moment:

See above.

It's life, and it's messy, and I LOVE it!

Outside Lisa

My Sweet Valentines

Valentine's Day 2011 has come and gone, but just now when I uploaded my pics from my IPhone, I decided I had to share some photos of my little darlings and all the beautiful reds and pinks of one of the most endearing days of the year.  I hope you had a wonderful day and didn't get all hung up on trying to give (or receive) the "perfect" gift, or even worse, set your expectations for the day so high that Cupid himself couldn't have pleased you.  To me Valentine's Day is simply a day for loving harder and louder than usual. A day to remind, reassure, and acknowledge the love we give and receive every other day of the year.

We are short on Valentine's Day decorations, so we decided to make some.  By cutting strips of scrapbook paper and stapling the strips together in loops, we were able to make a chain to drape over the mantel.  So fun and easy!

The kids and I made cookies and decorated them with icing and sprinkles.  They were so cute and we had a ball making them together.  I really enjoyed watching all of the kiddos in Harrison's class gobble them up!  The work it takes to make something from scratch and then share it with friends is an act of true love.  

My number one Valentine.  My husband.  My best friend.  

Nighty, night...

Outside Lisa

Resolution FIVE: Lose the Addiction

     It is my sincere hope that "Mister Coffee", my Mr. Coffee Espresso and Cappuccino maker that Roger and the kids got me for Christmas, has what it takes to hold up under the pressure I'm putting on it every day.  It has some really big shoes to fill.  To live up to the green and white crack pusher that comes to me in my dreams and whispers to me ever so sweetly, is no small feat.  Don't get me wrong, Mister Coffee is good at what he does, and I have my concoction down to a science now.  But will I be able to resist the beast down the road?   IT has something Mister Coffee doesn't have.  MAGIC.  There has to be a flock of fairies sprinkling magical coffee bean dust across the land to get the aroma to reach me 15 miles away.  Could it be a super electromagnet that causes my car to veer in it's direction every time I pass by the place?  Or maybe, just maybe caffeine is what they've all being saying it is for years.  A drug.  (The hell you say!) Whatever it is, I'm addicted.  And I don't like being addicted to anything.  That just doesn't fit my program.

     I'm not saying there is no place in my life for Starbucks.  I wheeled in just the other morning and got a cup of hot herbal tea to soothe my scratchy throat and calm my nerves on my way to the Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist who wants to cut out my uvula.  So, see...there IS a place for Starbucks in my life.  I just want it to be my friend, not my obsession.

Summer Addiction

(I guess I better start working on a homemade version of this one now!)

     So what is this addiction thing all about?  I'm convinced it's not the caffeine I'm addicted to, but the place itself that draws me in.  Sure, the caffeine has something to do with it, but when I'm at home on the weekends, I usually don't even drink coffee and I feel fine.  My theory is that it all goes back to my lack of organization and brain fog.  Without a good plan, it's like Starbucks is the automatic default on my car.  "Hmmm...what do I need to do today?  I know, I'll go to Starbucks and think about it on the way."  Or  "Hmmm...where is that place?  Oh, look, there's Starbucks.  I'll go get my coffee and figure out how to get there."  Or, I'll be driving somewhere talking on my cell phone along the way and look up and "Oh, hey...I'm here and oh cool, looks like I must have gone by Starbucks on the way 'cause there's a coffee in my hand.  Nice!"  Yes, I probably am a danger to society, but the first step to recovery is admitting your addiction, right?  And isn't that what I've done here?  Actually, I've already taken the first COUPLE of steps because I now set out each day with a good solid plan and that plan does not cost me $5!

     For the past two weeks, I've been making my soy cappuccino at home with Mister Coffee.  I use a Starbucks Espresso Roast coffee for the espresso part and I use plain steamed Silk soy milk to make it a cappuccino.  The taste is spot on, I am in the convenience of my own home, and it costs a fraction of the amount I pay for the same thing at Starbucks.  And to top it all off, I add a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of the froth and it's like aroma therapy in a cup.  I would venture to say, Mister Coffee makes an even MEANER soy cappuccino than his rival.  Now if I can just convince my car of all of this, we'll be in the money!

   So, what's your addiction?  Are you ready to shake it?  I'm making 2011 the year for losing my addiction!

Have a great day,
Outside Lisa

P.S.  Mom, that doesn't mean you should stop buying me those Starbucks gift cards for gifts.  I'll still use them.  They'll just last a lot longer!

  

  

Resolution FOUR: Create.

     I aspire to see every day of this year as an opportunity to CREATE.  It doesn't have to be a masterpiece... just something that can be viewed and treasured by me as a work of art.  On some days, like yesterday, I may have the time to drag out all my paints and paint with the kids.  On other days, it may just be that I cook a beautiful meal, take a pretty photograph, or do a really good job on Em's pigtails.  The idea is that I create something that means something to ME.  Something that comes from me and is food for my creative soul.  Anyone with a creative bone in their body needs this, and I think they do best if they get it often.  But, in my opinion, it requires a way of thinking and an attitude that opens you up and broadens your sense of what ART and CREATING really is...what it means to YOU.  If it turns out that it brightens someone else's day...EXCELLENT!  But the one responsible for brightening my day is ME, no one else.  So, I challenge you to open your mind, get your hands dirty, make a move...any move...to CREATE.  Chances are, you're already doing it.  You just have to recognize it!

CREATE.

Have a great day!
Outside Lisa