West Texas Mama

" Mama, it just isn't fair ," she said quietly. "I know, baby," I replied while hugging her tighter. Since October, she'd put in so many hours.  Xeno was a stubborn pig.  He wanted to run everywhere, he pushed and shoved at you trying to get food, and he was just plain difficult.  But she put the work in to train him and love him and calm him down.  She succeeded, and she was so looking forward to showing him at the San Antonio Livestock Expo.  Just last week, I was very sick and drove her out to the barn where her pig was kept.   She took him out and walked him around the field.  "Look, mama!" she yelled.  I watched from the car as she guided him here and there, around and around the building.  I thought to myself how far she had come this year. Show day came yesterday, and she was excited on the way to the grounds.  Things were fine in the morning.  We went to get Xeno out of his pen to walk a bit about midday, and h...

When Number One Son was about four, he asked me to go on a date with him.  To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.  I thought he was perhaps the most handsome thing I had ever seen, the spitting image of his daddy.  As he looked up at me with those big brown eyes, I said, "Absolutely, I would be honored!"   He grinned and went back to playing. Date night came and his daddy helped him get all dressed up.  He was very concerned about how he was going to pay and insisted I give him the money.  So, I did.  I asked if he was going to drive, and he enthusiastically agreed.  I had to then inform him that the State of Texas might frown upon that, but he could open my door like a gentleman.  His daddy helped strap him into his carseat, and my date and I got on the road.  Having recently discovered Olive Garden spaghetti, he decided we should go there.  We entered the restaurant and he went to the hostess stand ...

I know I keep promising I am going to post more frequently.  I try, I really, really do.  But life gets away from me.  What with chasing kids, pigs, and dogs, making sure we get to karate, basketball practice, and oh yeah, work, this blog tends to fall by the wayside. But, I've been toying with an idea - I get a lot of requests from friends for recipes.  I am thinking maybe I will turn West Texas Mama into a pseudo-recipe site.  Maybe I will struggle less with coming up with things I can share at moments I am too exhausted to share them. That said, I made Pork Street Tacos tonight.  I can't take complete credit- a very dear friend name Christy J. told me she had used El Hubbo's smoked pulled pork and come up with something like this.  I didn't have her exact recipe, but here is what I threw together.  And Y'all.  I mean Y'all, y'all, y'all.  (That's West Texas Mama for DADGUMIT THAT IS GOOD.) Oh, and I should probably clarify my st...

Recently, there was a little holiday wherein the common practice is to exchange gifts.  I usually take on the role of my dad's elf during these times, and this year was no exception.  After I solemnly promised to act incredibly surprised by his thoughtfulness and generosity in the selection of my gift, I proceeded to purchase myself on his behalf a gift card to DSW Shoe Warehouse.  The holiday came and I opened my gift and exclaimed with glee, "Dad!  You shouldn't have!  I LOVE IT!"  And he smiled with self-satisfied pleasure and asked, "Great!  I am so glad!  What did I get you?" A couple days later I showered and prepared to reenter general society.  I applied makeup, kind of blowdried my hair and grabbed my gift card.  Off to DSW I went! I am not generally much of a shopper.  I am a buyer.  I know what I want, I walk into the store, I go directly to the target item, I pick it up, I walk to the register, I pay for the i...

Dear Stop Sign, I need to tell you a story.  For some time now I have been chasing a shadow.  I once knew this girl who was fearless, healthy, and strong.  I have been convinced for quite awhile that she might never be found, but today I thought I might have seen her. She was the very definition of fierce independence.  She believed what she did not know could be learned.  She was never afraid to try.  She truly did not know that there was anything she could not do if she set her mind to it.  Her mother instilled in her the mantra:  " Figure it out. "  If she wanted to see something, she went and saw it.  If she wanted to do something, she went and did it.  She was in the prime of her life.  She rock climbed in the dark.  She rappelled with abandon.  She rafted rivers at their peak.  She loped around center field, leaping and climbing the fence and  snatching home runs away from big men with bats....

Halloween was met with much anticipation by the kids this year.  Each child put much forethought into the costumes of choice:  Little Sunshine decided she would join the Minion ranks, complete with a homemade Minion choker, and Number One Son (Jake) decided he would be.......wait for it........Jake, From State Farm. I, however, was just not feeling it.  I struggled to put out decorations.  Today I just could not make myself dress up (even thought my office usually goes over the top in their costumes).  I went dressed in all black and when asked just referred to myself as "Sadness".  I mustered up the energy to not dampen the kids' enthusiasm. We're nearing the age where Number One Son will not enjoy the pillage for candy, so it was fun to watch him help his sister and go up to the door with her.  She was full steam ahead down the sidewalks, but when actually confronted with talking with strangers, she sometimes needs a little goading.  She bel...

Fires, tornadoes, drought, and now a hurricane.  It has been a rough time for our Lone Star State. I felt like she needed a love letter. Early in the year, fires in the panhandle had trucks come up the highways and interstates providing assistance to panhandle families who had lost family, herds, fences, and feed. Now, in the wake of Harvey, those trucks have been turned around, and the Panhandle sends them back full to the coastal families who now find themselves in need.  (Our mamas taught us you never return a dish empty.)  Our hearts ache for our fellow Texans on the coast.  We know too well the feeling of loss.   Regardless of the challenges ahead of us, we Texans generally manage to rise to the occasion.  We don't have time to worry about those things that really don't matter.  We have a job to do.  I'm proud of my state and her residents.  Those of us who trace our lineage back to the very founding of this Great State have had...