21DEC10

On the way home from the VA Hospital yesterday, I saw this billboard with green "legs."

19DEC10

Justin with his hair in his face and his cool hat on his head. He is a fun kid! :)

18DEC10

Clearly, this isn't a great picture. It is the only one which survived the day though. This is Gage. He served me at Mama Jack's restaurant in Koontze. By the way, Mama Jack's is a really comfortable restaurant. It is warm and cozy and country and the food is great. Prolly not good for you, but so delicious. Comfort food all around.

17DEC10

The grey cold winter day in our backyard.

16DEC10

Trees in the subdivision behind Kaine's. Pop and I saw them before our DQ date.

15DEC10

These are the trees Pop and I see when we go to check the mail. Beautiful in the Autumn, yeah?

12DEC10

The sky as I was on my way home from evening worship. The pink above the trees was much more vivid in real life than it is on the computer, but I think it still looks pretty cool.

11DEC10

view of ferris wheel at Kemah Boardwalk from the sky.

10DEC10--Tipper

Tipper checking out someone passing by on the road--Standing Guard.















An Accidental Photo when Tipper ran over toward me at top speed. She sure is full of energy and spirit. I <3 that dog a bunch.















o/' o/' And they called it Puppy Looovveeeeee o/' o/'















Squirrels's Eye View

09DEC10-Criss Cross

I'm no expert at taking photographs. I just see something I like and take a picture.
When I was editing this picture on Photoshop, I noticed something really interesting.
There are criss-crossing lines all over the place on it.
They are all different. Check it out:
-Brown Autumn Leaves horizontally across the bottom third.
-Fence line horizontally across the center.
-Another fence line just above that one; however, it doesn't have as much length.
-Almost all the way up in the center--and about an inch in length--there is a dark brown branch which goes off in another direction but the leaves cover the path the branch goes.
-On the far left, just at the very top, is the final horizontal line--another branch.

For the vertical lines:
-several tree trunks of varying lengths and colors.
-a darker shadow--in the tree in the foreground--which cuts the trunk in two.
-the speed limit sign.

And strangely--almost in the middle, but kind up toward the top--is a circle, a wheel, a connector of all the lines.

I just think this picture is pretty cool. Hope y'all enjoy it, too. :)

08DEC10

Getting a haircut with Daddy.

Today, a dad and his daughter were getting a haircut at the same salon I was. When daughter was finished, Daddy put her in a nearby chair so that he could get HIS haircut. She didn't like that idea and began to cry. In the end, Daddy had to put her on his lap, where she sat quite happily, until Daddy was done with his hair cut. Too cute, they were

07DEC10

Here is a picture of the decorated tree with PRESENTS!!!! underneath it. The picture of the undecorated tree is HERE on my word blog. Those are only the presents that I'm giving someone ELSE. I suppose that if I had a large family, the pile underneath would be MUCH larger. I'm thankful that nearly everything is purchased and wrapped. I think there is like 3-5 little small things left to do or get. One I won't even think about until Christmas Eve when I am driving home. Gotta get Mom and Daddy some coffee beans from Starbucks! It is tradition!

The tree makes me happy--just looking at it! It is even nicer with presents underneath. I thought y'all would like to see the finished product. :)

And, hey! How cool are those fake sunlight beams coming from the ceiling lights? :)





This is an accidental shot I took-accidentally ha!--today. I was taking the memory stick out of the camera when the button was pushed and I got this odd shot of my computer keyboard.

06DEC10

These oranges are (called Satsumas, by the way) from the orchard of one of Pop's brothers. Pop picked them himself! I love that they still have the leaves on them.

When I put the oranges on the dining room table, I noticed that the table gave a reflection of the oranges! I didn't think that wood reflected. Weird! This is a totally planned and contrived photo, just in case you wondered. I loved the reflection of the ripe oranges on the table and the picture of Pop and his great-grand-daughter in the background.

If you have any comments or constructive criticism about how to make this photo better, please let me know. However, please follow the motto that hangs on my bedroom door: Be nice or go away!

04DEC10

Another example of me being fascinated with all things "South East Texas." Those log trucks always catch my eye. I wish I had a really good camera with a zoom function so I could get a shot of them from farther off. I can't really zoom on this camera phone. Plus, the camera usually actually takes the picture a second or two after I press the button. Therefore, in order to NOT miss the shot completely, I usually end up trying to compensate. Compensation = a picture that is taken just too soon or just too late.
Sigh! As you can see, this one was one of the "just too soon" variety.
Ah well! What can you do? OH, I know--starting January 1st, I'm putting a tiny portion of each check away in order to buy a camera for myself next Christmas. :)
You can't see it from this shot, but there is something kind of lovely about those log trucks. Well, not the trucks themselves, but the piles of tree trunks. They all have such a variety of color and the texture is obvious even from far off.
I know. I'm weird. It's okay. I like myself anyway! ;-P

05DEC10

The owners of these trailers full of hay were parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot and had stopped to have some lunch at Chili's. They thought it was funny that I was taking pictures of their hay. I just told them it was cos I was from the big city--Austin, haha--and that all this country stuff fascinated me. Then it got fun:

Them: Hey, you got a dollar?

Me, warily: Yeah.

Them: Well, for a dollar, we'll let ya smell our hay.

Me: Nah. It prolly doesn't smell that good.

Them: No! It smells purty good.

Another one of Them: Hey, did you say you were from the big city?

Me: Yeah

Them: Does that mean you voted for Obama?

Me: No way! Blech!

Them: Well, just for that--you can smell the hay for free! :)

03DEC10

On the way home from our Thursday "DQ Date" (on Friday), Pop and I passed this interesting and abandoned home on the backroads of Buna. It was back in that area between the elementary school and the "Quarters." I thought it looked really cool, even though it was one hot mess. I especially liked it when compared to the next photograph. Pop and I met this boy and his Daddy at the DQ. His Daddy said he is a mess. The boy has quite a charming grin, yeah? Maybe this photo should be named "A Charming Mess?"

02DEC10

This is Kermit. He is a lizard who hangs out here at our house here in Buna. I've often seen him--or his twin--out in my garden. He also has a friend whom I've only seen in the garden. His name is mule. He has that grey coloring which mules have, so I figured the name was pretty apropos. Anyway, I was able to get a snap of him. Maybe he'll come for another visit sometime soon.

01DEC10

I'm not sure why the interior portion of my Kale plant is turning white, but it is. I imagine it is prolly cos the plant is dying. I think it looks kinda pretty though--the white kind of acts as a large and unofficial center to the rest of the green kale.
The second picture is one I cropped because I didn't really like the full picture.




















Oh, and here is a photo of Snow White after just awakening from a nap.

Rao's Cafe and Bakery

I don't go to this cafe very often. I believe the reason for this lack on my part is because this particular establishment contains approximately 80.572 million possible bad--err, I mean lovely, sweet--choices for me. Plus, I usually don't have the extra money for gargantuan slices of sweets.
On the plus side are these several bonuses:
-There are 80.572 million possible lovely, sweet choices for me.
-They have at least two fresh and delicious choices of tea for me to consume whilst I am enjoying one of the aforementioned lovely, sweet choices.
-They almost always seem to have an adorable male counter-worker who flirts with me. What IS it with this place!?! My "old" woman ego really enjoys this particular aspect of Rao's.
-The atmosphere is calm and relaxing.
-It has an Italian theme which I enjoy cos I have a certain affinity for all things Italian, along with--as you will find out later in this blog--an affinity for all things British. Perhaps I have an affinity for all thing All Things, yeah? ;-P
-There are always interesting people there. And I do not count the flirting counter-men in that number. They are above and beyond the number of regular, normal, every day interesting people.



For example, just yesterday, there was a Daddy and his blonde, frizzy-headed, 7-year-old girl. For those of you who have seen the "Jessica's daily affirmation" video on Youtube.com, think of her and you'll have a fairly accurate picture of what the young lady looked like. Daddy was a dark hair, super-bulky body builder type whose shirt barely stretched across his torso. They were just sitting down when I looked over to where they were planning to sit. The little gal had chosen a seat on the bench part of the table. Daddy presumed he was meant to sit on the chair portion of the table. However, he soon found himself to be in the wrong. An "AHEM"--which seemed way too loud for such a small body--came out of her mouth. She put that certain look on her face and pointed to the bench beside her. Of course, Daddy got up from his chair and immediately went 'round to the bench beside his daughter. I couldn't help but laugh. He looked up at me, grinning.
"Her little finger is wrapped with you, isn't it?" He laughed and nodded his assent.
I tried to read my TIME Magazine while I was there, but this happy little couple kept getting my attention. She insisted that he sit there with his arm around her shoulder, even though both of them were trying to eat the delicious Italian Ice Cream the cafe serves. It was funny to see the Daddy try to reach around her to scoop up some ice cream, all the while endeavoring to disturb her as little as possible. Later on, she had crawled up and was standing practically on top of him giving him a very big Bear Hug. I almost began to be worried for him--Could he breathe? However, in the end, he seemed to extricate himself from her loving embrace and get back to his ice cream. Those two were still sitting there--participating in their own personal meeting of the mutual admiration society when I left. When I said my goodbyes, she lifted her head up from her Daddy's shoulder and gave me a very shy, little girl smile and wave. What a cute little duo they were!


There was another interesting group there at the same time--a quartet this time. They all had at least 10 years on me, prolly more. I'm usually pretty bad at guessing ages, however, so don't go by what I say. When I went to fill and refill my iced tea, I would pass their table. They were enjoying a conversation as old friends do--all of them jumping in and adding this comment or adding that anecdote. I don't know if it is like this for other Americans, but I think the British accent is just lovely. They always sound as if they are reciting poetry or singing a beautiful song. I could just listen all day long. I've joked with my friends many a time about bringing me home from the grocery store a 6'3" red-headed husband with a British accent, but I wonder if that would actually be a wise choice on their part. I might be so caught up in his accent that I never actually listen to a word he says. That wouldn't be good for a spousal relationship would it--the wife never listening?

Okay, I guess I got off track here. Needless to say, I love me some Rao's. If you're interested in checking it out, click here. You'll find menus for the bakery's history, catering offerings, locations (there are three in Beaumont, one in Spring, and one in Nederland) and contact information, and a menu of its slightly less than 80.572 lovely, sweet choices. Hope y'all enjoy!