new coop

It's time, people.

Flappin' my wings and flyin' to a new coop.

Gathering my belongings and moving to roomier digs.

I'm steaming the curtains and mixing cocktails right now.

I want you to join the flock at the new place.

Come on over.....we'll have fun. We'll explore lots of barnyard together.

Here's the new address:

onachickenwingandaprayer.com

Leavin'-the-light-on-for-you love to all.

inappropriate test

Recently experienced the sickening moment when getting dressed for church; pulling on leggings to go under the killer-perfect jacket. Felt the sharp deflation as I spied those horrible words inside the waistband…‘Miley Cyrus’. 

My God…..are these ‘jeggings'?!

Time for a serious and fearless moral inventory.

Remember the last BLOG POST of my struggles with appropriate sartorial choices? Seems I haven’t learned my lesson.

Be kind, dear reader, as I demonstrate my past sins.

1976. Remember halter tops? This was a reversible number I purchased at TG &Y for about two bucks. When I tired of the blue side, I could reverse it to the red bandana-cloth side. Do I seem embarrassed that everyone behind me is dressed sort of normally and I stand out as a skank? naaaawwwww. This top was a fave of the Texan.

One word about articles of clothing monogrammed with your entire name. Don't.

Rocking the vertical stripes to  hide  Sprout #3.  I sorta look like a referee. Wait.....that IS a referee shirt!

Roller blades are not the best option for footwear when wearing a kelly-green dress.

Loving the Easter photo of the fam. Even loving the purple sheath with neutral flats. Not loving the pregnant-looking tummy. Must've been in days before Spanx. Painful.

Rodney and the Texan-looking sharp! Me....I think I fell off the pumpkin truck. This shirt is exactly what a migraine-aura looks like. A classic example of horizontal stripes being a fashion 'no'.

****breathing again**** I warned you my inventory would be fearless.

You know Jeff Foxworthy and his bit ‘You might be a redneck IF….?’ I've developed a clothing self-test just for you. It just might save you from the ‘Don’t section of Glamour magazine.

                            You might be dressing age-inappropriately  IF……..

1.  You own a pair of thigh-high leather boots.
2.  You apply leg-makeup to cover the varicose veins when wearing shorts.
3.  You don three layers of neck-to-knee spanx to snug into your favorite dress.
4.  You own a pair of coral-colored denim capri pants.
5.  You own anything Jimmy Choo.
6.  You think the latest OPI neon-green nail polish is ‘cool’.
7.  You wear leggings as pants. (you know who you are!)
8.  You wear any type of two-piece bathing suit.
9.  You own a pair of animal-print hose.
10.You have clothing with the labels Miley Cyrus, BCBG, Bisou-Bisou, Stella McCartney or Hello, Kitty.
11.You see a photo of yourself from behind. Your only thought is you wish you'd been wearing your ‘back-smoothing’ bra.

Only trying to save you from yourselves. Don't be like me. Do you have some other tips to add to my list? Tell me, I’m listening.

White-lipstick love to all.

new beginnings

Eaten my last bowl of left-over black-eyed peas and ham. Cleaned the fridge of the scraps of  pumpkin roll with cream cheese. The remnants of Christmas are tucked away in the dark recesses of the attic. The Texan has taken down the festive lights on our house.

2013 is really here, ready or not.

Went to a funeral of a dear friend in early December. The service was gorgeous and the children of the deceased spoke glowingly of their father with intimate stories of his character. The next day over lunch, as we were re-hashing the funeral details, the Sprouts threatened they would have lots of colorful stories to tell about me after I'm gone.

Don't talk about me! Just keep it about Jesus, OK? 

The Sprouts took particular relish in telling my in-laws of my many 'phases'. (I like to think of it as life-long learning). They related to the giggling in-laws of a phase we dubbed the 'cleavage phase'. Seems I permanently scarred my middle sprout (while she was dating her husband-to-be) with my sartorial choices of frequent plunging necklines. It bothered her so much, she mustered the courage to ask about it one day.

Mom, what's with the low-cut necklines?

Really? Are they THAT revealing?? 

Yes, Mom! Last night my date said, 'Did you check out your Mom's shirt?'

I was taught to dress to my strengths. I'm staring at the big 5-0. I don't have many strengths left!

But, Mom....

I followed with an instructive recitation of being comfortable in one's skin, the difficulties of aging, fashion for the mature woman, and learning to live with an interesting mother. She's a good girl and she loved me through the embarrassing phase. Don't get her started by asking about the DONUT QUEST insanity, please!

An out-take of our xmas card pic 2005. You be the judge.

You, fellow chicken-winger, will be pleased to know I've outgrown my 'cleavage-phase'. Pants, long-sleeved shirts, high necklines, closed-toe shoes, and derriere-covering jackets are my wardrobe choices these days. ****sigh**** Can the moo-moo and velour jogging suit phase be far behind?

I guess the only strength I have left these days is.......... my hair? It gets more and more asymmetrical (tell everyone my hairdresser was drunk when he cut it) and brighter and brighter red as I age. I'm positive I'm too old for this hair-do.  I've informed the Sprouts and the Texan the red hair is NEVER going. They better learn to live with it. Can't see myself with a long gray braid down my back.

Have you made any resolutions for 2013?

Been thinking about some things I'd like to accomplish this year. I'm not brave enough to voice all of my resolutions, but I will tell you I'm gonna try and spiff up the blog a bit. I enjoy being here and it needs to reflect more of what we are about. I have some fun ideas coming up for the new year. Stay tuned.

The message at church moved me this morning. Such a wonderful sermon for a new year. This was the Scripture:

"I'm not saying I've got it all together; that I have it made. But, I'm well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong:  by no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision-you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it."
Philippians 3:12-16

I'd like to grow spiritually. Make 2013 a year I become a little more like Him.

I hope you reach your goals this year....and you have someone to love you through your poor, inappropriate clothing choices.

Plunging love to all.

P.S.

The Texan just reminded me of someone's birthday today. #7!

I didn't think she realized it was her birthday, but I should've know better.

The wiener asked if we would take her to THE BIG TEXAN for her birthday. She wants to wrap her canine teeth around the free 72 ounce steak. Help.

hold close

It's Christmas eve eve. Wanted to wish all the Chicken Wingers the merriest of Christmases!

The terribly sad events in Connecticut gave me new vision. My vision improved to 20/20 as the holy holiday drew nearer.

Enjoyed singing for old folks. My retirement singing group must have visited every retirement/nursing/alzheimer's home in this town. I savored holding every arthritic hand.

Led the Christmas merriment at the facility where my mother lived. So many ties and lovely memories there. They are kind to ask me back every year.

Had some help with Nancy, Rich and the Christmas Bichon, Sophie.

Sophie enjoying Nancy's rendition of 'O, Holy Night'.

As I was standing at the podium about to lead 'Silver Bells', a male resident walked behind me....patted me on the a## and said I was lots wider back there than I was last year. Really. Made me laugh so hard, I teased him mercilessly about being 'naughty'.

Santa agreed. The guy was naughty.

Santa 'n me!

Our church choir had a special Christmas musical with local musicians.

Was privileged to be a part of this glorious day of celebrating Christ's birth. We talked about the deaths of the innocents in Connecticut that Sunday morning. Talked about how the light is coming into the darkness. Aren't we longing for the light this year? This world feels less and less like home to me.

While I'm here, I'll savor moments like these.

Baby G and me Christmas Eve 2011. Holding close my precious grandson.

Peanut and G.

The grandson is 15 months old now. He has his own pony. He's learned to walk and he can sing 'EEE-EYE-EEE-EYE-OOOOOO! Amazing! The year has flown by.

I'm grateful for my Sprouts and for the long-suffering Texan. I need to tell them 'I love you' more often.

I enjoy this ridiculous wiener dog.

Roxy Doxy is worried about the meaning of 'naughty'.

She shows me something of God's love. I like to think He wags his tail thinking about seeing me and He would give me a big, slobbery lick if He were here.

I think He would hold me (and you!) close, too.

May your Christmas be brimming with fun times with your loved ones and lots of happiness.

The light is coming.

Be blessed.

Christmas-y love to all.

divine intervention

Divine intervention. Lord knows, I need it.

I've been busy with my annual divinity-making project. Keep dreaming of heavenly creaminess and the crunch of  fresh pecans. Even though I always aspire my candy to be celestial perfection, too often the results are simply earthly.

Some of the cast of characters.

If you ever watched your mother or grandmother make this candy, you probably learned some fun, new curse words. Divinity is persnickety. One of my batches today was a total loss. Had to pry it with hammer and chisel out of the mixing pan. Over the years, I've developed my own rules for making this Christmas candy.

Rules for making Divinity

1. Measure all ingredients carefully. Sugar must be measured to the last granule.

Pouring the hot syrup into the beaten egg whites.

2. Don't attempt to make divinity on a day with a humidity level over 40%. Candy won't set up.

3. Do not attempt to make divinity on a day with a humidity level under 30%. Candy will be as hard as an anvil.

Lovely pecans.

4. Have a USDA-NASA certified candy thermometer. Must be accurate within a millionth of a degree Fahrenheit.

5. Beware making divinity in a leap year.

Ready to spoon out.

6. Don't attempt this candy on any day or year containing the dreaded number '1'.

7. Never plan on giving divinity as a Christmas gift. Your pores will excrete nervous gasses. Those gasses react with the candy to turn it a snot green color.

This piece looks surprisingly good.

8. Never...ever...let a wiener dog observe your divinity-making. It is the candy kiss-of-death.

I really wanted my candy to be perfect, but it wasn't. I was tempted not to give it. Didn't want my friends to suffer through crunchy divinity.

I put the candy in my pretty Target gift boxes and gave it away anyway. Maybe they will taste the love. Strikes me as a parallel to so many things in my life right now.  I could use a little divine intervention to straighten things out and spruce things up a little bit. Even if I don't see divine intervention or I don't feel it, it still seems important to keep striving....to keep giving. I'll live fully in this current messiness and imperfection and you can meet me there. We'll have a party!

Maybe that realization is my divine intervention for today.

Carry on. Christmas is coming.

Karo-y love to all.

visor study

Presented for your viewing pleasure.

Etude du visors avec chiennes. Or, the importance of being earnest.

Chienne un. Doodle in red visor.

Chienne deux. Bichon in red visor

Chienne trois. Wiener in red visor. La sausage en chapeau rouge.

Faves?

I hear it's almost Christmas. Time to get busy. Thanks for stopping by.

Sincere love to all.

donut tower update

You can quit holding your breath now! As promised, I am now posting a professional picture of the donut tower I blogged about in DONUT QUEST.

First, to set the stage. Little V and I moved said donut tower from the car to the reception in this.

A deluge. Gully-washer. A drenching downpour or quite the cloudburst. We are not experienced with this kind of rain in West Texas. We were woefully unprepared.

This is how little V and I looked after hauling in the tower.

Why do I look like a drowned NYC sewer rat and Miss V looks all fluffy and cute??! She even has her chic handbag over her shoulder. Lot of good it did her. It wasn't big enough for an umbrella, apparently.

The finished tower.

Or as I refer to it, the monument to my insanity.

Every rainstorm can have a rainbow. Here's our rainbow.

Giving thanks today.

Monumental love to all.