Do Unto Others

On the way home from church today I asked Cambryn if she knew what the Golden Rule is.

She said, "Yes."

I said, "What is it?"

She said, "Always tell the truth and never pick your nose in public."

I am Plain Joe

I love coffee. I like personality quizzes. I'm so glad to finally know what kind of coffee I am. All the wondering had been keeping me awake at night.

Or maybe that's just the coffee.

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don't think plain - instead, think uncomplicated. You're a low maintenance kind of girl who can hang with the guys You're down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And you're dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Blueberry Peach Pie

It is my very good fortune that Tara, my BFF, loves to cook and entertain. Often on Monday nights after dinner she hosts "Dessert Night" at her house. We, the lucky friends, know that whatever Tara has decided to make will be spectacular. Not only will it be spectacular, it will look spectacular on our plates.

I finally got the grand idea to document one of her desserts so I took my camera along to snap some pics. Tara seemed truly flattered. The rest of the crowd (OK, just my husband) was slightly embarrassed when I insisted on taking pictures of the individual plates around the table. I didn't care. I was on a mission. So here, I present Tara's Blueberry Peach Pie. Feast your eyes. Imagine the goodness. Yes, it was...spectacular.

Books

Hi. My name is Leslie. I'm a reader. These are the books I've read so far in 2008:

1. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
2. Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure by Michael Chabon
3. Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson
4. Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
5. A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle
6. A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey
7. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
8. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
9. The Innocent by Ian McEwan
10. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
11. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
12. If I Told You Once by Judy Budnitz
13. Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland
    
14. A Boy of Good Breeding by Miriam Toews
15. Womenfolks: Growing Up Down South by Shirley Abbott
16. Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland
17. Gilead: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson
18. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 by James Shapiro
19. A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
20. The Deal by Dwayne Smither
21. The Way the Crow Flies: A Novel by Ann-Marie MacDonald
22. Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I'll Remember It Well

This post is for my friend, AJ. She was appalled that I didn't get any vacation pics of myself so I photoshopped one just for her. That means I didn't really stand by this Indian and take a picture.
The sad thing is, someday I will look at this and fondly remember standing by this Indian and taking a picture.

Friends and a Gorge

Here are some more Taos photos. We synchronize our NM trips with another family we met there. They're originally from Texas, living in Maryland, and they have a cabin near "ours." They also have a boy Collin's age and a girl Cambryn's age.

The photos were taken at the plaza, at Out Back Pizza, and at the Rio Grande Gorge.

New Mexico Cabin

Several days ago I tried to post these vacation photos along with witty captions and after 45 minutes of work, I ended up with a bunch of error codes and no post. I'm uploading them again but I'm just not feeling the wit at this moment.

Let me just say that we have a dear friend, Howard, who has a cabin outside of Taos, NM and he lets us use it whenever we want. And well, we've "wanted" to pretty much every year since 1992 so it feels like a home away from home.

Some notes:
1) The landscape photo with the bridge is a view from the back deck. Carson National Forest is on the other side of that fence.

2) Howard has toys at the cabin: mini-bike, four-wheeler, hot tub, satellite TV.

3) He also has mom toys (dishwasher, microwave, washer and dryer) but I didn't take photos of those. It's a log cabin but we don't exactly rough it.

4) There was a brown bear hanging out in the neighborhood all week but we didn't get a photo of him.

5) An analogy: Cambryn : creek as other kids : Disneyworld.

Angel

We just returned from a week in Taos, NM and we brought home a new family member! I'm delighted to introduce Angel ..............

She's such a little sweetheart! She's an AKC mini schnauzer with liver (chocolate) parti coloring, 8 weeks old. Collin and Cambryn named her Angel. And now we have a baby in the house.

Piano Room

This would be the room formerly known as the piano room. My dear husband decided to help me decorate. What do you think...does he have talent?

Santa Fe Basketball

Another update on Collin...he spent the past week at the Edmond Santa Fe High School basketball camp. His team went undefeated the whole week and at the awards ceremony yesterday Collin won two awards: 2nd place for Best Dribbling and All-Star Team (one of five players chosen). We're very proud. Yea Collin!

This morning Collin and my husband left for a father/son trip to Arlington with Collin's baseball team. Today they're all eating lunch at Joe T. Garcia's in Ft. Worth, swimming at the hotel pool, then attending the Rangers game. Tomorrow they've rented out the Rangers Youth Ballpark and will be playing there several hours against a local rival team.

Meanwhile, Cambryn says she and I are having a Girl Power weekend. "Girls Rule, Boys Drool!"