Strange Things Afoot at Texas Concerts

I'm finally getting around to sharing with you that Daniel and I accomplished one of our goals for the year. And, to think, we did it in April! That's pretty early in the year for a yearly goal! 

We spent a Sunday afternoon in April at a concert. I know, you're thinking, "big deal." But, that was a big deal to us. Here in Texas, and especially in Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World, we take our music seriously. And, our geographic locations over the past eight years have not allowed us to keep up with our live music desires. Yes, in San Diego, we did get to see Pat Green as well as Jack Johnson. But, while in Hawaii and Charleston, the opportunity for live music was slim. Now, we've been back in Texas since the fall, and have missed oh, so many live music opportunities. When my dad brought the Reckless Kelly First Annual Celebrity Softball Jam to my attention, I knew we couldn't pass this one up. It was inexpensive, during the day (1-8 p.m.), outdoors and not at a smoky bar, and at the baseball stadium within walking distance from our house! And, it was a blast! 

The softball game was slightly entertaining. It was mostly Texas country musicians like Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) and a few Major League players like Greg Swindell (of UT fame). Kyle Petty took a turn at coaching first base in front of us, but he also took a turn with his guitar as a singer/songwriter during the Jam. Who knew Kyle Petty was an aspiring musician? Not me.

While I enjoyed the music, I couldn't help but snap some pics to share with you fine folks the beauty of live music. It always brings out a cacophony of people who are unique and entertaining in their own way.

This women seated near us was wearing a "Beer, Bait & Ammo" do-rag or kerchief on her head. Don't miss the lovely tattoo behind her ear that is highlighted by how she has her hair pulled back with that classy do-rag.

This gentleman apparantly wanted to show his appreciation to the Beatles or Coldplay. I'm not sure which group's get-up he was trying to emulate, but I don't think he pulled it off. Plus, it was stinkin' hot out there. I'm sure he stunk that jacket up to high heaven!

This woman (with the large tattoo on her arm) doesn't look amusing, she just annoyed me, and I want to warn you about her. She is Paula Nelson, Willie Nelson's daughter. If you know me, you know that I absolutely adore Willie. I dressed up as him for Halloween one year as a child and even attended one of his concerts as the celebration for my bachelorette party. So, please know that I mean no disrespect for Willie. But, Paula performed a few of her own songs at the Jam, and she was horrendous. Oh, I was embarassed for Willie. I don't know if he has sanctioned her using his name, but he shouldn't. She's just awful so watch out for her!

This gentleman wore this rice field hat all day. I'm not sure if he was just trying to shield himself from the sun and skin cancer or if he thought the ladies would be attracted to his hat. Either way, we got a good laugh out of him every time he walked by us.

This group of men all wore the same odd black hats adorned with medals and pins. I'm not sure what their gig was, but it was odd.

All oddities aside, the music was great. Reckless Kelly performed here with one of my favorites, Charlie Robinson.

 

The show ended with almost all of the performers playing together. I think you can see Reckless Kelly, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Kevin Fowler, Ray Benson, Randy Rogers, Roger Craeger, Micky and the Motorcars, Jason Boland, Dale Watson and Cory Morrow all on the stage in this final jam.

Hopefully this won't be the only live show we see this year. If anyone wants to offer up free babysitting, I'm sure we could find a show to see on any given night around here. Any takers?

Evil at JC Penney

I did something yesterday that I haven't done in almost seven years. Ugh... Believe me, I haven't been missing it, and it didn't miss me.

I went swimsuit shopping. Yes, you can groan with me, ladies. It was misery. I really wanted to take a picture of the mound of suits in various sizes that I tried on, but I was worried that if the other ladies in the dressing room heard my camera clicking, they would be nervous that some perv was trying to sneak shots of them. So, I refrained. But, really, you should have seen that pile of suits. I did end up leaving with three of them, but I wasn't really pleased with myself. (Needless to say, the serious dieting will be back with a vengeance on Monday. Working out once or twice a day just isn't cutting it.)

It was quite the defeating experience. I went in there with these visions in my head...

...But, was met with this gruesome vision in the mirror. 

The funniest, or maybe most annoying, part of trying on the suits was the girls in a neighboring stall. They were maybe 20 years old and were there trying on jeans. The dressing room, however, was located adjacent to the swimsuit section of the store so they were filling the air with their commentary on the swimsuits. They were on and on about why so many of the suits left in the dressing room were one pieces. One girl was aghast that anyone even considers wearing a one piece suit. 

First, I wanted to spit on the girls. Then, I felt sorry for them and wanted to give them my number and let them know that they can call me in 10 years and apologize when they are fat and understand why all these women who have carried babies in their expanded tummies and spend all their time taking care of a family instead of themselves and because of that, can only wear a one-piece but would opt for a full body wet suit if the opportunity arose. Yeah, those girls will have their day of misery in the dressing room one day. 

The reason I pushed myself into the horror of swimsuit shopping is because we have spent every non-working minute at the pool for the past few weeks. The kids are so sun-kissed that they look like toasted marshmallows. It's been a blast.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Last night we finally made it out to a minor league baseball game in Austin. I say "finally" because the stadium is just less than a mile from our house and we have few excuses for not being able to make it out there before now. Well, that is, few excuses aside from our extremely busy schedules.  We have had plenty of chances to watch the after-game fireworks from our front yard. This time, we did it right, with the chance to actually see the game AND the fireworks.

We got things started off right with some ballpark hot dogs. How else do you watch a baseball game? 

The kids had an absolute blast. In fact, this park has beach volleyball, jump castles, playscapes and everything else to entice kids to not watch the game, but neither Abigail or Cooper wanted anything to do with those distractions. They were all about watching the game, and we were pleasantly surprised at how much they truly enjoyed it.

...Of course, their enjoyment have had something to do with the hot dogs, nachos, peanuts and cotton candy.

But, the in-between innings entertainment was also a big draw. Abigail loved the chicken dance. It's one of her favorite dances, and there just aren't a lot of chances to do the chicken dance in every day life. Personally, my favorite part of the game was the feeling of knowing we are certainly living back in Texas. "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" was played many times, and the lead-off hitter for the Round Rock Express (named after one of the team owners, Nolan Ryan), used Alabama's "If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)" as his at-bat song. Yes!

Summertime Salsa

Don't let the title fool you, this is not a review of So You Think You Can Dance. I have my final PTA meeting tonight and have to share a tasty treat, so I was excited to bring out a summer recipe I love. My friend, Allison, originally passed this on to me on her blog last year, and it's so tasty.

Ingredients

1 pint strawberries

1 large banana

1 red delicious apple

1 kiwi fruit, peeled

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Juice your lemon and stir in the sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon.

Dice all the fruit add to the bowl.

Grab some cinnamon/sugar pita chips from the store and dig in! (You can make your own chips with tortillas, cinnamon and sugar, but the pita chips are yummy and easy.)

A few weeks ago, we spent our Saturday driving to Kerrville to visit Daniel's grandparents. Gamps and Gammie, who live in New Mexico, were there for their annual woodcarvers' guild festival. We jumped at the chance to see more of the Texas Hill Country in wildflower season, but also to see G&G. 

We were super impressed to see Gamps at work carving a church in this relief carving.

There was a class next to his that had just finished carving flutes that they were all playing. The rest of the several hundred carvers would making all sorts of beautiful pieces. They were very talented.

Once the carving was complete, we spent some time at the campground with Gamps and Gammie. 

Cooper joined in his daddy's love of (trying) to skip rocks. But, he kind of missed the point and just started throwing everything in that he could pick up. (This was cute when we were at the river and it was just sticks and rocks. It wasn't as cute at Gran and Granddad's pool when it was his sister and Granddad's big glass of kool-aid.)

Abigail, as always, was picking every flower she could. She loves the "wish flowers" that she can blow to pieces.

We wished Gamps and Gammie lived closer, but we are glad we had this chance for a quick day trip to spend time with them.

Tuesday Treats - Spider Bites (Rice Krispies on a Stick)

Today, I have a guest blogger. My sister, Kelly Ann, is sharing a new way to make rice krispy treats.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
1 package (10oz) of marshmallow cream
6 cups of rice krispies

I melted the cream and then proceeded to add the cereal, only adding 5 cups because I thought it looked like there was not going to be enough cream to cover all the cereal... mixed it all together then when I got it all mixed and I started laying it out I had cereal stuck to my hands and everything else including my face. (I know now to use the whole 6 cups.  As I got frustrated my mom came to try to savage the mess I was making, and we laid it all down on wax paper in little, what looks like, cookies and froze them.  They then stuck together, but if we left them at room temp they fell apart and didn't keep the form of balls. so we had a freezer full of cookie rice krispies.

I then started molding them while they were in the freezer and stuck the picks in them.  I got them out for just long enough to get the white chocolate on them and the sprinkles. 

It was fun but would have been better if I would have followed the directions.  (It didn't help that my mom had told me a couple days before this that I need to experiment with recipes, and just go with it and don't always follow the directions.  So I didn't, and look where it got me, but she did help me fix it so I cant complain.)  Maybe next time I'll let my niece and nephew make these so I'm not so frustrated by the end of the day.  I do have to say that everyone at work loved them.

Movie Monday - Taking Chance

In honor of Memorial Day we saw the HBO movie Taking Chance. It's like nothing else I've ever seen. My cousin, Casey, recommended it to us, and I've heard it talked about aplenty on a local morning radio show so I had high hopes. This film did not disappoint.

It's a bipartisan view of an escort's journey to return a fallen soldier's body to his family. It's very simple with not much dialogue, but it's an eye-opening and, to say the least, touching view. The screenplay was written by the escort and based on his journal entries written as he returned home from his escort job. There are a few aspects changed for dramatic effect, but it's minimal. And, Kevin Bacon's performance as the escort is excellent. Marines are a hard character to pinpoint, but he did it perfectly. 

You must see this movie. If you don't believe me, check out this review from the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/20/AR2009022003750.html