A blog to make me feel better.

Over the last month or so two men that I had the pleasure of meeting have left this life. Both men were at least 80 years old, and both men made me smile. The first one was John's next door neighbor from childhood Mr. Hubbard. Mr. Hubbard and his wife were from England. Every time I saw him--including the first time I met him about 14 years ago--he would call me his "hot tottie." Not really for sure what that means, but it always made me smile. He would tell the lamest jokes I ever heard. My fondest memories of Mr Hubbard took place at my mother-in-laws home while my father-in-law was still with us. I think Mr. H would irriate my father-in-law to pieces. And I LOVED that!!! They would sit in the living room, Mr Hubbard saying something incredibly silly, and my father-in-law would look at me like I was the biggest nerd for enjoying the company. I loved being there to see those two old farts interact. When I found out that Mr Hubbard died, I was incredibly sad. The saddest I have been in a long time. Every time I saw Mr Hubbard I thought of my father in law. And I smiled. I hope I don't forget.

The second man wasn't a man that I knew very well, but I was so inspired by him. His name was Mr Salter. John had a pretty close connection to Mr Salter growing up. I first met Mr. S when I went to midnight Mass at John's church about 13 years ago. I was incredibly uncomfortable in that church because I am Catholic and we were in an Episcopal church. Mr Salter came up to me while everyone was eating cookies and drinking some sort of hot apple cider (crap) and started talking to me about St. Mary's in Windthorst. He put me at ease. He told me stories of John being an alter boy that made me laugh. Mr. Salter was a volunteer at the hospital in Wichita Falls. I saw Mr Salter most recently when I visited someone at the hospital. He talked to me about my husband and my child, smiling, wishing me the best. If I had known that was the last time I was going to see him, I would have told him what an inspiration he was to not only me, but my husband. I would have thanked him for talking to the "outsider" that Christmas night long ago. I would have thanked him for coming back into town the night John and I got married. John wanted him there so badly. I would have thanked him for the talk he had with my husband when my father in law died.

I know neither of these men had any idea how much of a difference they made in my life. Shame on me. You think there might be Myspace in Heaven? Maybe they can look me up and read this blog.

Rest in peace Mr H and Mr S. The Wahl family will miss you both.

Ava and Momma!

This picture is from Becky's wedding. Dixie is an amazing photographer. So much fun to be around!!

Aren't we cute!!

10 Guilty Pleasures

My guity pleasures. Thanks Laura!!

Laura did a 10 guilty pleasures blog so I had to do mine. Here goes:

10. Us Weekly, Star, OK Magazines--I can't help finding myself wrapped up the the Britney saga, or IS Jennifer Lopez pregnant, ect. I read these magazines at my desk while I eat lunch. Kind of a "calgone take me away" moment.

9. Online gaming--I do this EVERY DAY as soon as I come home from work. It is a stress reliever. My favorites are backgammon and reversi.

8. Myspace--I also do this every day while I play online gaming. Another stress reliever. And as Trecie says, good way to stay in touch.

7. Car Washes--Not just any car wash. The ones that clean your seats, detail the inside and outside, wax on, wax off... This is by far my favorite birthday, Christmas, whatever present..hint hint

6. Egyptian Cotton Sateen Sheets-- Once you've slept on the best you never go back.

5. Arbonne--These facial products are the best. I LOVE the REveal facial scrub. I actually have all of this REveal product line. Kind of expensive, but my skin is worth it! Want to try some--call Jacqueline!

4. El Chico--nothing compares to this fine Tex-Mex establishment. John and I try to limit ourselves to once a month, but I can say with much embarrassment that the management staff at 1-35 in Lewisville knows our names and our favorite dishes. They also know that Ava hates ice and won't drink the water unless it is ice free.

3.My Ipod. I use my Ipod in the car, at work, on the eleptical, when I am doing the lawn..so many uses. I find that when I want to be left alone I can just put those earpieces in and everyone leaves me alone. I don't even have to have the thing on. Those earpieces are wonders!

2. COACH!!! A very expensive addiction. Can't help it.

1. I saved the best for last. I am not ashamed to admit my most pleasurable guilty pleasure is the Rt. 44 Diet Dr. Pepper--easy ice please--from Sonic. I get this lovely drink every day, sometimes twice a day. If I don't have this drink I turn into an incredible "B". The people at work have been known to buy me a drink on particularly bad days.

So--if you don't want to get me a car wash for Christmas, a Sonic gift card will
surely make me smile!

One of the things I like to do with Ava is SHOP!! We both get dressed up and go to all of her favorite stores--which includes WalMart! Today we went to the Shoppes at Highland Village to look for a Christmas dress for Ava. I love that place because I can hit Gymboree, The Children's Place, and Jaynie and Jack in one stop. We also stopped in at Barnes and Noble so Ava could play with their train set--she LOVES trains--and so I could scope out my next new book. Here are a few pics of Ava dressed up for our girl's day out!

Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch

Ava and I went to the pumpkin patch on Friday while John worked. I'm not sure what she was expecting when I told her we were going to see the pumpkins, but when we got there her eyes got so BIG. She had never seen that many pumpkins. I was suprised that she let me take her picture by the scarecrow. She is petrified of the one we have at home. We can't even walk down the Halloween aisle at WalMart because she gets so frightened.

The pumpkin patch had lots of character displays for the kids to take pictures with. We took pictures with almost all of them, but here is the ones that matter most to Ava.

Dora and Boots

The Little Mermaid

Land Before Time

And of course, Ava's all time favorite, THE BACKYARDIGANS!!!

If you get a chance, I recommend the pumpkin patch. It is free and offers alot of fun kiddo things to do!

Just a note, I have never been labeled a good photographer...

I am on vacation this week. John had to do an emergency run to Houston for a few days to fix a system, so Ava and I are left behind to find fun things to do. Today we went to the Dallas World Aquarium to see "the fishies"!! Please notice that Hippo was a third party in our adventure.

Ava enjoyed the large aquarium that held sea turtles, a boluga whale, and other fish.

Ava couldn't understand why all the other kids were so scared of the sharks. She wasn't scared at all. She would have stayed in that tunnel all day long.

Ava's favorite exhibit had to be the penguins. We met the famous "Happy Feet!"

And, if you can believe it, we also met Happy Feet's parents.

Here is Ava glued to the penguin exhibit.

We had a great day at the aquarium. I wonder what adventure we can explore tomorrow!