I Can't Believe This...

I wholeheartedly agree with it, I just can't believe it made it into an East Coast newspaper, AND the columnist is from Chicago, too.

Can it be? Are people really waking up and realizing that the concealed-carry permit owners are not the shoot-'em-up, crazy-cowboy, lunatics the anti-gun crowd says we are?

Well, probably not, but we can hope.

Walrilla

The Last Of Thanksgiving...

This year, anyway.

I'm sitting here eating the last piece of my mother's Buttermilk Pie(no recipe, yet, darn it) and dang, it sure is good. Flaky crust, smooth creamy custardy buttermilk filling, mmmmmmm mmmmmm. The only trouble is, it's only my second piece.

Would you believe my family ate nearly all this pie? How dare they?? That's my pie! My Mama made it just for me, not them!

Seriously, we had a great time Thursday. We drove up to Rio Vista to visit some of my mother-in-law's family, then drove back home to see my family. Both places had old-time country home cooking, the kind everyone wishes they had grown up with and only a lucky few do. My wife and I both grew up with this and eagerly look forward to it every year. We're both pretty good cooks, but neither of us can touch our mothers or aunts for country cooking.

You know the stuff, turkey and sage dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, green bean casserole, home made biscuits and rolls, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, candied yams topped with marshmallows, pecan pie, cranberry sauce, all that good healthy stuff.

And it is healthy. Oh, maybe not healthy in a losing-weight, low-carb, kind of way, but healthy for the soul, good for getting back to your roots kind of healthy.

I hope all of you had a good Thanksgiving, too.

Walrilla

Thanksgiving Update

I forgot to mention a couple of things I'm thankful for in the previous post:

My blogging friends, you people are the greatest. People I've never met saying great things to and about me. (Wait. Are they saying these things even though they've never met me, or because they've never met me? Hmmmm...)

On a serious note, I forgot to mention how thankful I am for our armed forces. Without them, none of this would be possible. Every time you see a soldier, sailor, marine, or airman, thank them. Thank them profusely! They've earned it, several times over.

Walrilla

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I hope everyone has their fill of Thanksgiving dinner today, whether it's turkey, or ham, or a big bowl of chili, or whatever it is you like.

I just want to take a moment and list some of the things I am thankful for:


My children, who make me proud every day,
My parents, who raised me right,
My parents-in-law, who raised my wife beautiful,
My friends, who are just as crazy as I am,
My employer, who is absolutely the best company I've ever worked for,
My country, God bless her,
My state, Texas, what can I say,
and, last but not by any means least,
My wife, whom I love dearly, truly, and completely.

This list is by no means complete, but I could stay here all week, listing all of the things I'm thankful for.

I would hope you would take a moment and think of all the things you're thankful for.

Walrilla

Howdy!

Yes, I am still here, technically, anyway. I'm just trying to get ready for Thanksgiving by getting all my work finished before I take off. Sorry about that "once-a-day posting" thing. That got shot to hell, didn't it?

Walrilla

Ooooh, The Things You See...

When you ain't got your sword!

As promised, this here is a tale of things better left unseen. Specifically, one certain thing. One certain tall thing.

As you all know, we went to the Texas Renfest weekend before last and saw lots of interesting things. Some cool costumes, lots of neat people, and some hilarious shows. And one thing we haven't been able to identify yet.

I wish we'd been able to get a picture of this... person, but we were too surprised to think straight. They were about 6',8", around 280 lbs., not fat, just big and solid, long hair, huge, gnarled, man-hands, and a rough, but smooth, man-face. They were wearing a dress, but that's not too remarkable at a renfest. All outward appearances said that this was a man.

Except one. Or, should I say, two. That's right, HE had BOOBIES! Not man-boobs, squished up by a corset, but BOOBS, real, bona fide, two-hump, estrogen-enriched, BOOBS. Not a stuffed bra, but bare skin cleavage. Now, I'm not a very sophisticated redneck, but I've "been to two county fairs and a mule-boinking", and I ain't never seen anything like that!

Oh, I've seen transsexuals before, and yes, they didn't look quite 'right', but not this bad. I really thought it was a man dressing as an "Amazon", until I saw it's decolletage. There are just some things you wish you could unsee, and this was one. Hell, this was the number one sight I wish I could unsee.

Anybody got any eyeball bleach?

Walrilla

Mea Culpa

Sorry, everybody. I’m still here, I’ve just been dealing with family issues and unexpected out-of-town funerals, which tends to wreak havoc with actual blogging. Let me catch up, and tonight I’ll have a doozy to tell you from our trip to the Renfest, weekend before last.

RenFest Notes

Well, we're back. Actually, we got back late last night. RenFest was AWESOME! I got to have all my favorite foods and beverages, and a good time was had by all. Here are a few notes and remembrances:

FOOD - The food was good, if a little overpriced, but that was expected. I got to sample all of my favorites, turkey leg, scotch egg, roasted corn-on-the-cob, and mead. The scotch egg was a little overcooked, but just a little. Otherwise, everything else was done to Fair-Quality perfection.

THEME - Since when did the Renaissance include everybody from cavemen to 19th century pirates? I know it's all in fun, but people have really started to stretch it. Several pirates showed up, along with cavemen, fairies, demons, and other assorted out-of-period costumes. A lot of Captain Jack Sparrows showed up, ranging from very good to absolutely horrid. I even heard rumors that someone in a StormTrooper costume showed up. I guess he was going for that Time Travel angle. All in all, fun, but not very authentic.

COSTUMES - We saw some very good costumes. Like this guy dressed as Cap'n Jack.


He was a little big for the role, and the braces took away from it a little, but pretty good. That's my daughter standing there with them.

My favorite costume of the whole thing was this guy.



I'm not sure exactly what he was supposed to be, but you had to see the costume in real life to get the effect. Freakin' awesome!

As one performer said, the renfest is the last place to see hippies in the wild. There was a lot of hippie influence to the thing, which, in retrospect, isn't real surprising, seeing as it was hippies who started this whole thing. Oh, well, this conservative still had a good time.

Walrilla

P.S. I'm studying that guy's costume and looking for instruction on making leather armor. I will go attired correctly next year, or close to correctly, anyway.

I Love This Woman!

Guess what my wife gave me earlier tonight. NO, not that! Keep your mind outta the gutter! She gave me tickets to here for an early anniversary present! Our anniversary is not until the end of next month, but she wanted to do this because she knew I have been wanting to go for a few years, and she wanted to surprise me. Well, surprise me, she did.

We have two "Faires" in Texas, one in Waxahachie, and the big one in Plantersville. I've been to Waxahachie, but I've never been to the one in Plantersville.

This is great, but you know what this means. This will be our tenth anniversary, so now what the hell do I get her when it really does roll around?

Walrilla

Daddy Braggin'

Hey, y'all! My daughter was invited by her teachers to participate in UIL(University Interscholastic League) competition! This is awesome news. She will be in the Storytelling competition, which is where they have to describe a story they just heard to the judges. She is a natural at this, and I expect a lot of trophies, although, in my eyes, she is already a champion, and not just because she's Daddy's girl.

You see, my daughter has Williams syndrome, a genetic abnormality, caused by a deletion of the gene Elastin on the seventh chromosome. People are affected in varying degrees by this. Some have mild developmental delays and minor health problems, while others have severe retardation, and possibly severe heart and internal organ problems. Some have almost no health problems. They're recognizable by a uniformity in facial features. What's less understandable is their facility at conversation and in recognition and memory.

Most of these kids can carry on a conversation seemingly well above their years, as long as the topic remains on a non-technical level, and their memory for faces is astounding. What's even more astounding is the proficiency several of these kids show for music. One lady, Gloria Lenhoff, sings with professional Opera companies, sings in 28 languages, and has a repertoire of over 2000 songs. This is not a case of "Aw, poor gal, she's trying so hard, let's give her a break and let her sing on stage", this lady is outstanding. Her voice is classically trained, and purely beautiful. Unfortunately, she cannot even cross the street by herself, and has trouble with even simple arithmetic.

Anyway, getting back to my daughter, she has very few health problems, and relatively minor developmental delays. We have certainly been blessed with only having these minor problems, but it's still a struggle at times. That's why news like this brings such an unequaled feeling of joy, of feeling she is in a place where we never thought she would be able to go. So you'll have to excuse me for bragging a little bit. I've got a good reason.

And a great daughter.

Walrilla