Still pressing "Pause"......

My apologies really.........there are still ever so many Tall Tales Of Texas I hath not yet told.....

Trouble is, Life just HAPPENS really.

Footloose and Fancy Free in Texas has turned into , well.......Dealing with 'stuff '.

So, as I apparently have ever so MUCH 'stuff' to deal with....LOL........it's taking me just a bit to get back Here ;)

My heart IS, still, very much so,  in Texas. 

I'm rather certain a goodly portion of it shall remain there and I will enjoy visiting it every now and again (much like Ontario :) 

Meanwhile, back at this Rancho.....I am dealing, with, IT (!)

Life is nothing if not interesting......mine certainly no less so....anyone know a Decent lawyer (oxymoron, yes...LOL ) please send him HERE...........jeez...........

So, please bear with me......whilst I take the proverbial  bull(s)  by the horns and work it all OUT......

When I find some solid footing again...........SOON I hope.............I'll fill in all the Texas Gaps :)

Meanwhile I'll get out of the rain and the cold, sit back with a cup of Mexican Spiced Cocoa (courtesy of Texas of course....LOVE you :) and pick a bull to stare down....

LOL

Keep well, back at you soon I hope....

Light, Love , Laughter  :~D

(and not necessarily in that order but it all works out in the end ;)

Small but Mighty Determined :P

Touch Down.....

My return 'Home' started at 2am Pacific time, involved two planes (one of which came with a FEMA Search and Rescue Dog under my seat for the duration :) a train, a bus (which managed to find a 6 car accident and get trapped on a bridge for nearly an hour) and yet another ferry.......these feet hit my rock at 7 pm that day.  Yikes.  I am, entirely too old for that level of 'adventure' I think .....

So, I must admit to being  Home again......have been so for several days but I'm still oddly not really HERE just yet, I'm not really sure if I ever will be either.

Every now and again your heart finds another Home.   Mine just did.

As if being torn between my physical love of All Things Island and my emotional attachments to all those that came before in Ontario wasn't good enough........I've now left a big chunk behind in Texas.  Of all places...Texas??.... who knew really?  I can't honestly say I've ever done so much, BEen so much and met such truly amazing people........all in the briefest of time and, on a whim and a prayer ;)

WOW. 

There are still many stories to tell and images to share, from The Hill Country, Luckenbach (which really IS a step back in time) to the winding San Antonio River and The Alamo.....homemade root beer and REAL Dr. Pepper too (!)......there remain a few more wee conversations for sure.  

For now however, that little thing called Reality must take precedence.......I've got to get caught up and have 'things' to deal with....Big Things that, with a fresh Texas perspective, don't seem nearly as scary anymore but require my urgent attentions for the next wee while in any case.

I'm leaving some images behind to hold this space.........I'll also leave my boots checked by the door, to be put back on again just as soon as I am able.

Cheers

(and, of course, MUCH Love to Texas :)  

Cody , Under Seat Security ;)

Enchanted Rock

Cactii, Papaya and Palms at The Alamo

Lunch Along The River

Sweet Honeysuckle

My Door Stop for now......

Going Postal

A slightly better place holder....until I'm trapped in an airport somewhere again anyhow :)

This afternoon I gained a whole new appreciation for the term "going postal"...having experienced up close and personal what the US Postal Service actually LOOKS like to your everyday average Joe.

I am, like ever so many other people (who rarely admit it, just to make ME look bad, I'm sure ;) Packing Challenged.  I just can't DO it.  Really.  Ever. I seriously need some strapping young thing to just say "here, let me do that for you "  :) I can however, almost certainly be relied upon to over pack in a Texas style way .

Whoops she did it again. At least I didn't disappoint myself !

When one has to sit and/or wrestle a suitcase into submission originally, adding MORE items doesn't work very well.  The math's off entirely.....

So. 

SHIP it BACK I think ?

.......adding another bit of luggage is NOT an option, considering the altogether total impossibility of wrangling TWO cases plus 'puter plus Me all the way back to BC via the previously mentioned  plane/train/bus/ferry scenario.

I felt quite ill just thinking about it.

Postal Service outlet here we come............what we walked IN to however was nothing any  more cheerful than a funeral parlor. Less so, if that's actually possible. I can't honestly recall ever experiencing any energy quite like THAT before.  ABJECT MISERY.  Complete and total.  Huge line up of entirely morose people with a mere two equally morose clerks moving the masses along at a snails pace.  It was like some B Grade Horror film.....

Not ONE single smile, sniffle or word from any single anything.  No muzak, no rustling of feet, NO sound whatsoever .  Creepy, morose, SILENCE. 

Had you heard a pin drop it would have been  groaning. 

Apparently this is the way it just IS and , for many Americans, going to the Post Office is akin to a root canal and/or putting a much beloved pet down.  They clearly do NOT want to BE there and the atmosphere resonates with their unhappiness, which they are forced to linger in longer due to staffing cutbacks.  Being the clerks at the receiving end of THAT all day ??  I cannot even begin to imagine it but they too are the pictures of abject misery and "going postal" would be entirely reasonable and probably quite appealing under such appalling working conditions.   

I have, never, seen so many actual frowns in one place before. 

Seeing as it physically pains both myself and my current Hostess With The Mostest to actually physically frown (frankly I don't think either of us possesses the required muscles) we just can't DO this particular zone but we are certainly forced to do something as the parcel MUST be posted or all will be entirely lost and children in Canada will be forced to go shoeless LOL

So......we just BE...... ourselves :~D

Initially we got treated much like Aliens from another planet (perhaps we are) .  Eyes were averted, down usually and several frowns actually deepened with the sound of our usual banter, accompanied with the usual  fits of laughter. Customs forms ARE funny really...what IS the ACTUAL dollar value of my favourite tatty t-shirt? my well hiked sneakers?  flip flops??......

What's THIS they think ??? 

Two loud and clearly happy middle aged women, a strange sounding one wearing a t-shirt with a Ginourmous, Rainbowed Paw/Peace Sign and  a local with a melodic giggle and presence to match... oh MY...whatever are they DOing??

.....Fifteen minutes and much laughter (yes I made a lot of Canuck jokes...it works, as does a room full of people listening to me try to explain WHY I'm shipping used clothing etc back to Canada  :) later......Parcel successfully posted (Space In Case only to be replaced by several pairs of soccer cleats and exercise trainers LOL).....we left an entirely different space.  Clerks not only smiling again , but LAUGHING......people talking, most of them also smiling................WOW.

These little cupcakes turned THOSE frowns entirely upside down :~D

We didn't do or be anything other than what and whom we ARE. 
We walked into a very oppressive and unpleasant situation and stayed OUR course.... turned it all around, for the better, for a number of people, the least of which being those poor postal clerks , whom we left laughing and most likely telling stories that may well make us Urban Legends :)  Again.  Ha !

It cost us nothing, we laughed, we played........we resisted the common element of misery and PREVAILED.

My package got posted and my kids will get their shoes too!! *LOL*

Win Win.

Live, Love, Laugh.......................

:)

Random Act of Silly....Just Because ;)

Place Holder

Just a quick note to say I am very much still alive and well in Texas......heading home soon and will try to fill in the myriad of gaps ..................busy busy.....I LOVE Texas and it appears to love me too.....it's going to be very hard to head back really.........

The Hearts of Texas

Having spent the better part of the last fourty eight hours listening to live music in venues and living rooms, playing dress up and meeting more amazing people and poochies.......I thought perhaps I should introduce Y'all to the two Texas Roses that inspired this somewhat extended  'Road Trip'.
 
Karen aka Miss MEOW here....that Super Sexy Thang on  the left ;) 

She's the gal that offered her guest room to a relative stranger from another country.  Heart the size of Texas, voice to match !  Strength, Grace, Soul and just an overall astoundingly gorgeous BEing this one is .  Those horns don't suit her but that GLOW does.  Tremendously so . I am exceedingly blessed to have not only had her bring me into her home but embrace me as well............WOW. 

Also the Purrrrrfect Partner In Crime in SURPRISING.............

Miss Vicki..... she'd be that gorgeous Webbed Wonder to the right :)
 
One of the most utterly spectacular women I have ever met in my life.  Personality PLUS....an incredible energy that truly humbles me. A woman that embraces Every Little Thing in every little moment.  If I accomplish even the  smallest fraction in my entire Life of what Vic already has I will be immensely satisfied.  She is inspiration to always try and living proof that everything IS always possible and that we are all capable of doing anything we set our hearts to.   Thank You for that :) 

I swear I will never, EVER, forget that first "you're really HERE!" (repeated three times and with THE most expressive eyebrow accompaniment ever LOL )

THAT was absolutely fabulous and, in it's own right would have made the trip entirely worth while :~D

There's more though, ever so much SO.

I tossed my heart at Texas and Texas keeps tossing it's own right back at me. 

It's a little like Canadians but a lot warmer. LOL

I continue to have seriously big FUN , surrounded by wonderful people that treat me like I'm HOME and not some Random Canadian, though I do suspect that they're all finding it seriously amusing as well....this works for me. 

I'll save THE Halloween Party (go BIG or go home, that's Vic :) for it's own time.  I just thought I'd take a quick moment to introduce the key players in this particular wee story of mine.

These are THE Gals who are being very, VERY kind to me and I love them dearly.
They are no longer (not that they ever really felt that way anyhow) 'Strangers'
They are, for me  in any case, truly the Hearts of My Texas  <clap repeatedly here> LOL 
WE are and shall aways remain....

The Sisters Sprite.

I am Blessed and THANK YOU Ladies :)

The Texas Trio ....BoOooO !