Flying High...???

What an experience I had flying from Lubbock to Houston last Friday to spend Easter weekend with Mandy's family! Went to bed at 2:00 am the night (day?) before and got up at 4:00 am in order to make the drive to Lubbock to catch the 6:60 am flight. Got there with just a little time to spare, only to be set aside from the others moving through security and having to endure an agonizing (not to mention, humiliating) thorough (and I mean thorough) body and belongings search. I will admit to looking a bit "ragged-around-the-edges" due to the lack of sleep, early rising, NO COFFEE, and no time for a POTTY BREAK, but come on....me?, a serious threat to the security of others?? Well, by the time the "search" was over I did want to hurt somebody.
Boarded the plane, longing for that first cup of morning java. Ha. The flight from Lubbock to Dallas was so turbulent even the hostesses were required to remain seated the entire time.
Got into the Dallas terminal and heard them calling my next flight over the intercom. RAN to the gate and boarded just in time. Plane pulled away from the gate, started down the runway, took off slightly...and came back down to land!
Mr. Pilot's voice comes over the intercom, "Ladies and Gentlemen, there's probably no need for extreme caution, but SOMETHING JUST FLEW INTO OUR RIGHT ENGINE!!! and we thought it best to come back to the terminal and have our engineers check it out. Right.
We pull back into a gate and here they come..lights flashing, sirens blaring, little men in little uniforms running around everywhere. Then the discussions begin...should we have the passengers return to the terminal??Yes??OK, folks, gather up your things...no wait...No??...ok, folks, just sit back and relax while they check this out. Oh, by the way,...it MAY get a little warm and/or stuffy on the plane since we have to turn off the air for now...IS THIS A BELATED APRIL FOOL'S JOKE??? Not funny if it is.
Minutes ticking by. More and more people murmuring, "Coffee, I need coffee, if they'd just send some ____ coffee around!"
I'm thinking it too, but also am thinking,"Potty...I didn't get to go to the potty!"
We finally get the OK to take off again and they come around and take our drink orders. FINALLY, morning coffee. We actually take off and in just a few minutes Mr. Pilot comes over the intercom again. Too turbulent to serve drinks...hostesses are all instructed to take their seats for the remainder of the flight.
No coffee. No potty.
Thank goodness I was met at the Houston airport by three eager little people yelling, "Nana, Nana!!! ( Claire was thinking it I'm sure)."
One quick stop at the restroom...Mandy says she'll get me coffee..and we're off for a great weekend!!

Kids in a candystore!!

Most of you know by now that hubby and I have been on a VERY strict diet the last few weeks. In an all-out effort to eat as much organic food as we can (and consuming absolutely NO SUGAR or STARCHES) we have made several trips to Albuquerque, NM (4 1/2 hrs. away)to stock up on allowable organics. This also includes lotions, soaps, detergents, etc--well, you get the picture. We have also made trips to both Lubbock and Amarillo to get what little organics we could at the Market Street establishments in those cities. So, today was a rather cold, blustery, somewhat rainy/snowy one and we decided to embark on yet another trip to Amarillo, since it was too cold to continue our work on clearing ground for the organic garden we are planning. We knew we could pick up at least a few items we were getting short on.
W-E-L-L, as we were driving through Amarillo on 34th street on our way to the Market Street on Georgia street (lots of streets!), Kregg happened to glance to the left and saw a store called "Natural Grocers/Vitamin Cottage". We decided to check it out.
OMGosh!!!
Within minutes of entering our new mecca we were like 'kids in a candy-store'!
ALL their fresh produce (actually everything in the store)is 100% certified organic! We stayed several hours! Clerks were greeting us; telling us how glad they were that we had found the store. We floated down aisle after aisle of organic goodies, our eyes glazing over with all the new prospects; hearts beating a little faster at the shelves of hand creams, and shampoos, and shaving creams that meet the new standards our Oklahoma doctor asked us to follow. Thought they might have to revive us after we found the coolers of grains, seeds, nuts, berries, and dried beans.
Tears actually appeared as I stood viewing all the ice creams and assorted frozen delights which will be acceptable in just a couple of weeks when we have completed Phase III of the plan and gone on to Maintenance.
We were not brave enough to sniff the baked goods and breads--just didn't think our hearts would stand it.
As we checked out we were told that the company is based in Colorado and that they have also recently opened stores in the Dallas and Austin areas, BUT that the Amarillo store was out-selling both of those!!

What do you know.
Right there in the Panhandle of Texas. SO there ARE other weirdos nearby...folks who have chosen to seek out (and pay a higher price for) foods/products which are of more nutritional value and mean an improved lifestyle.
What do you know.

Spring???

It's Spring Break here--probably for most everywhere. Monday when we went into town for the mail it was cold and drizzly--felt sorry for the kids who had to spend the break here.
A little better yesterday, but still more rain in the evening.
Today the sun is shining and the asparagus bed/weeds are calling my name.
The last short winter-reprieve we had, I carefully uncovered most of my perennial plants in preparation for new birth. Now they are saying we will have SNOW on Sat. (which also happens to be the start of SPRING) and I don't know whether to cover them back up or hope for the best.
Decisions, decisions. I'm just glad my baby chicks aren't in yet!

Valentine's Day

Something my California niece said in her blog prompted me to say a few words concerning Valentine's Day.
Knowing the commercialization of this "love" holiday could possibly ruin it for some, all that advertising does make it virtually impossible to ignore the day (at the risk of facing wrath from a spouse/partner!)
Me? I LOVE all those cheesy things like stuffed bears and ribbons, and candy and flowers (no balloons though). And jewelry! Can't leave out jewelry...although that almost never happens.
I got a singing Valentine's card (slightly r-rated) (and yes, it was from my husband), two gorgeous alabaster heart paperweights, and an original Sudoku book (with all puzzles hand-created by some "original" Japanese company. (even the Easy ones are Hard!)
I gave Kregg two CD's from WholeFoods (meant to help him relax), a new magazine on Organic Gardening, a copy of 'albuquerque, the magazine--The Travel Issue' and the 2010 issue of National GreenPages. Does this reek of "old couple married for 38 years??!
We cooked small tenderloin steaks on our George Forman grill (go, George!) and had some tasty strawberries with that. All this while at a hotel in Albuq. NM.
No bears, no ribbons, no candy, no flowers, no balloons, and no jewelry. And it was one of the nicest Valentine's Day's I can remember in a long time.
We talked about our kids, our grandkids, and all the changes we are trying to make to keep ourselves healthy so we can continue to talk about them (and cook together in cheesy hotels)
for many more years.
I LOVE Valentine's!!!

Falalalablah!

So, Kregg threw up all night the night before last...then Chloe threw up last night (in bed, with me). Mandy is not feeling well today and Ben had diarherria for two days. Shawn, baby Claire and I are now in the lottery for the next illness--can't decide if I want to just get my turn over with or hope for a Christmas miracle!
In spite of all the aforementioned, we are having lots of fun playing games, making gingerbread houses, and watching Christmas movies. And last night at a candlelight/communion service, baby Claire, dressed in her big sister's christening gown, was baptized in a beautiful ceremony with adoring family and friends gathered around!
What a wonderful life it is!

With all the new and exciting things happening in my life recently, this seems like a mundane thing to blog about..but it was just SO west-Texas I had to tell someone!
We got up this morning to a bad ice storm..which switched to rain about mid-morning...then switched to snow at noon...then some sunshine...then a terrible wind!
The old saying, "If you don't like the weather in west Texas, just wait awhile and it will change" is SO true!!

Nana's girl