Hi! Do ya’ll remember me?

I’m that girl that is living on a lavender farm trying to build my body care empire while also spending 60 hours a week at my real job to pay for my body care empire dreams; the girl that has been living in a house under construction for 3 years who is trying to have that dream home she’s been dreaming about for 40 years; the girl that never knows if she’s coming or going because she has bitten off way more than she could possibly ever chew; the girl that is working on some new packaging design of her lavender products; the one who has a crashed website because she’s been too busy to meet with a web design/host person to get back up and running; the girl that talked her husband into planting several acres of lavender of which we’re still trying to figure what in the world we’re doing; that person that has longhorn cows that are treated more like very large pet dogs that are eating her out of house and home; the girl with 4 dogs, one of which has just had knee surgery (the second one in 15 months), who is going to go broke paying for vet bills…

Okay, enough of that – I’m wearing myself out…

Anyway, I’m back to blogging for a bit before I get off on another project that will take me way off course again. In the meantime, I wanted to tell ya’ll about my wonderful long weekend in Houston. I talked my sister into going on a date with her husband so I could babysit my nieces and nephew. My nephew is 17 months old now and my sister and her husband have not had one night away without kids in – well let’s see…. Ever. They simply don’t do things without the kids so I talked them into renting a hotel room in Houston for Valentines weekend to do – well, you know…. Anyway, they took me up on the offer and my nieces couldn’t shove their parents out the door fast enough. We waved goodbye and then started jumping up and down yelling Par-tay!!!! And then we broke out the junk food.

Let me introduce you to my nieces again:




The oldest one is Jilly Bean and the little one is Miss High Falutin’. I call her Miss High Falutin’ because….




She’s just high falutin'. What can I say?




Jilly Bean is the athlete. And quite the comedian.

And this is the baby…

How cute is that? I made sure to take on the responsibility of teaching him NOW that bubble baths can cure any ailment or any bad moods… He’s taking to it nicely.

I had a great time with the kids and of course was very responsible in my caretaking . I didn’t want the little darlings to get sick on too much Valentine candy, so I rummaged through their goody bags from their school Valentines Day parties and stuffed 49 tootsie rolls in my mouth over a 10 hour period whenever they weren’t looking. I mean, you know – it was what was best for them. I also limited their enriched flour intake by hiding Valentines Day frosted sugar cookies in my suitcase from them. I’m very concerned about any gluten allergies they could possibly have… I would never consider this as stealing food from my nieces. I was simply demonstrating leadership in child-rearing. I'm just still wondering why they kept getting so upset with me when I would lock myself up in the closet with their goody bags…

In all seriousness, I have to applaud once again all you moms out there. Kids are great! But SO exhausting. It’s A LOT of work. I mean, I work hard – you all know my crazy schedule. But keeping kids is a different kind of hard work. When my sister got home on Sunday I had to take a nap before I could venture out on my drive home. I was completely worn out. In a good way, of course… But, I have to tell ya’, I’m not smart enough, wise enough, or athletic enough to raise kids. In fact, the only thing I think I can raise right now is my glass of cabernet to all you moms out there… Cheers!

Last but not least, I have to update you on our new roommate. Remember me telling you that Jack met a cowboy at WalMart and the next thing I knew he was moving in? You just never know who you’ll bump into at WalMart. Anyway, this is who he is:

His name is Damon Rogers and he’s a real bull-fighter. I’m still cracking myself up over the fact that my husband dragged him home. You know – we have 13 animals in total which I think is PLENTY. I warned Jack a while back that he couldn’t bring home anymore stray animals…. BUT, I didn’t clarify that that included stray humans...

Seriously, we are enjoying Damon and are glad to know him. He’s in a transitional phase right now so bunking here for a bit. He’s been our evening entertainment and we will both miss him when he’s gone…. Oh - And he's a darn good horse trainer and farrier. So - if you happen to be in the Hill Country and need shoes for your horse(s) give Damon a call!

Okay – I’m done and going to bed. I’m truly exhausted and the truth is feeling a little puny. I missed a great party in Austin tonight because of it… And you know, far be it from me to miss a good party! Seems I’m paying a price for 49 tootsie rolls and 10 pounds of sugar cookies. Oh – and hanging out with kids with runny noses and coughs. Like I said, I’m just not tough enough to raise kids….

Hummingbird Farms is the place to be!

Jack and I had a great visit in California and can't wait to go back! We did what we always do as soon as we got off the plane at LAX. We first drove through In-N-Out Burger for Jack, and then straight to Wahoo's for fish tacos for me! I proceeded to eat fish tacos everyday for lunch for four days, and Jack proceeded to eat an In-N-Out burger everyday for four days. When people ask me what I miss most about living in LA, it's always - Fish Tacos!

Of course I had to squeeze in a burger, too, because you know - it's just not American to go to L.A. and not eat an In-N-Out burger! When Jack and I were dating and he was living in Dallas and I was in L.A., he wanted me to check into Fed Ex'ing an overnight In-N-Out burger to him. We decided it could be done, but the buns would probably get way too soggy, hence ruining his love for In-N-Out. It simply wouldn't be worth compromising such a work of art.

So anyway, we get off the plane and I get that immediate giddy, high-energy feeling I always get when I visit my Manhattan's - that would be Manhattan as in Manhattan Beach, south of Los Angeles, and Manhattan as in New York City. I love me some Manhattan! I just love me some city!

So my head is spinning with pure excitement and joy to be in Los Angeles again. I'm thinking to my self, I AM a city-girl, really I am - this is where I'm supposed to be....

We enjoy our entire time there. Of course we had some really good food - we did manage to break away from Wahoo's and In-N-Out for some other fine fare. Notice I said, "other fine fare." Wahoo's IS fine fare! We also enjoyed just hanging out and soaking up the California scene and all the pretty people. All the skinny people that is...

Good Lord! Some of those girls were just WAY too skinny. I felt sorry for them! In fact, when one girl walked by I told Jack that someone needed to give that poor thing a piece of pie. Bless her heart!

The weather couldn't have been better. It was absolutely perfect, in fact. And so we had a wonderful time in sunny Southern California.

But then it came time to go home. Of course I was missing my animals, but life in the city was sure good for a change. I kind of felt like me again...

And then we landed back in Austin. As I got off the plane there was a Bob Wills song playing on the intercom and that familiar I'm home feeling actually felt quite nice. As we left the airport and got deeper into the Hill Country, I felt myself relax. My heart rate sort of slowed down a few beats. I noticed how the sky opened up and I was surrounded by miles and miles of Texas; it made me feel small. It made me smile on the inside.

Then we drove into the gate to Hummingbird Farms and the cows greeted us from the pasture. As I walked into the house, Birdie was so excited to see me she sprinkled all over herself, me, and the floor. Oh well - a little tee-tee never hurt anybody! And Big just kept jumping up and down, up and down; all the while, my kitty Festus was walking figure eight's between my ankles, wrapping his tail across my calves. Lupe was chirping a mile a minute, saying, "I'm over here in my cage, come get me, come get me!"

And then I saw a huge pile of cow manure just outside the dining room window where Bob had spent the last 4 days staring in wondering where we all were.

And that's when I said to myself, this is where I'm supposed to be.... Hummingbird Farms is the place to be!

On the road again....

Hi ya’ll! I am VERY behind on blogging and want you all to know how much I thank you for stopping by. I only have a few more days to go and I’ll be back home with a weekend upon me so I can get caught up with all of you. I’m in week two of traveling - some for fun, but mostly for business. Here are just a few things that have happened since the last time I checked in:

1. Our web site crashed! Oh yes it did… What luck! And just before Valentines Day. Arrrgh! Our web host was able to put up a temporary page in the meantime….
2. My cousin Travis graduated from the Marines!
3. My nephew turned 16 today… I can’t believe my little groundhog is 16!
4. Some progress has been made on our 224 construction projects… One down, 223 more to go!
5. I’ve been to Los Angeles, San Diego, back home, and now in Dallas for the week.
6. Last, but not least, my husband met a cowboy in the checkout line at WalMart the other day who is in between rodeos and kind of in a transition phase. The next thing I knew he was moving in! Yep, we have us a new roommate. More about this later….

I’ll be checking in soon – Again, I’m sorry for being MIA, but look forward to getting caught up with everyone over the weekend. I’m ready for a day of being couchy and bloggy – my two favorite hobbies right now. Well, next to bubble baths! Too bad I can’t blog from the tub…