Can't help but love the Texan and Cowboy Fans at the Tailgate party

We are one in this great state of ours. That was shown by the gentleman behaviors at the stadium in the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans game on October 26th, 2010, at Reliant Stadium. It was also evident in the smiles and congeniality among those on opposite support positions. I am going to share that with you here. Such lovely people with which to enjoy the Tailgate party.

My tummy hurts from laughing!

I saw this lovely lady when she was giggling over a joke with her friends. I seemed to make it a lot worse when I started kidding her about her tattoo! She was trying to explain to me that the tattoo wasn't real and I wasn't buying it. She wins the award on best laugh! Would we all have such a personality! She had me rolling on the floor before I could get out of their tent.

Want a chiller? Who can say no to that sweet face?

Miss Miller Light had a great smile. She was passing out some nice Texans chillers. You don't think the guys behind her noticed her, do you?

I can't believe you did that!

This guy had just finished off a Tequila shot(s) with whipped cream. The girls are laughing as he has come out of it unscathed but wait a minute! He has water in his hand! A feeble attempt to detox?

We are the Texans!

This was Tejano day, a celebration of the rich culture in the latino community who support our Texans. Some folks won't let Earl Campbell be forgotten. To us, he played for the Texans, not the Oilers.

So you like my red hair. Ok then I will show it to you in the sun!

This young lady was destined to be featured before I left the tent. Her red hair I found to be amazing as it glowed in the sun.  And that is why her smile is so genuine.

This is the way it goes. We are going to win!!

Listen pops, I am proud of my Mexican heritage. Tengo muchisimo orgullo de mis parientes de Mexico. Hablas el español? Porque no?

Hey pops, look at me! I'm ready!!!

Hey pops! I am about to show Dallas what a real man is like! I AM READY FOR WAR on the turf! Let me at 'em.

You and I both know that I am the sweetheart of the Texans fans

 
Another lovely lady making a statement. Texans it is, has been and will continue to be!

Can I help that I am a Dallas fan?

All ages were represented at the Tailgate and in the stands of Reliant.

Great boots

I think this lady was waiting for me. I saw her cleaning the front of the truck and apparently waxing the front bumper. Then I figured it out. She wanted a clean place to sit down. Now she was ready for a photo to be taken! Please .... No problema!

You gotta be kidding me!

You want me to do what? ... Geez buddy! The lady just before you wanted her photo taken!

Little Guy award - going right in the ole bread basket

Watch me put it where Schaub #8 would put it, right into the hands of Andre Johnson, #80!

Mama made beans

I remember the good old days when grandma shelled beans that she grew in the garden and baked them in a wood fired oven. Nothing smelled as good as food from that oven! To make baked beans, she had to shell the beans, boil them and then bake them in the oven. This was a long process and made a very hot kitchen in the summer.  Then there was the baking of the bread in the same oven. That was a lot of work, a lot of time and took a lot of love.  Every meal was unique in some way and planned to the hilt!  My job was to stay out of the kitchen. A meal was often was prepared by multiple family members. Lots of things were discussed in that kitchen that my ears were not supposed to hear.

I also remember mama cooking baked beans. She did it in a gas oven but bought the beans already shelled from the grocery store.  My job was to thoroughly wash the beans, because the bag had rocks and dirt in it. Then she soaked the beans overnight and baked them the next day. The oven was closed tightly so you could not smell the food baking in it.  And were they good! Bread? That was too much work! Instead, we just ate sliced bread or cooked prepared dough from the grocery store.  Every meal seemed to be by recipe, usually Betty Crocker. It was semi-planned and fun to do. Dinner cooked while watching the soap opera.

Today, I go to the super market, buy a big can of beans and precooked mini-loaves of bread. I open the can of baked beans with an electric can opener, heat them up in the microwave and serve them in five minutes. Then I lightly toast the loaves of bread in the electric cooker.  Yum! Every meal is by the skin my teeth, whatever can be thrown together in the shortest time, because when you get hungry, you got to fix the meal!  15 minutes to open the can, heat up the beans and bread and eat dinner.  Every one to serve himself!

All of this change happened over just 70 years. Now the next 70 years? Maybe we will say “abracadabra” and the baked beans with bread will just appear out of nowhere and go straight to the gut.  That’s progress folks!  … in the next 70 years …

Remembering the Gardenias

Today I took photographs after the rain and was thinking about the love my mother had for gardenas. Now we always pronounced that like it was in Spanish - Gardiñas.

Mother, I remember when you told me you would love to have Gardenas because of their bright white flowers. You and I loved their smell, but you said we could not grow them well in Corpus. You could not get enough iron to their leaves;they yellowed and produced little flowers when they produced anything at all. The plants were in reality ugly, sickly. You certainly tried over and again by adding iron supplements. We have a lot of iron in our soil here. In fact we have an iron clay soil that gets harder than a rock sometimes. I bought these two Gardenas because of your love for them. Now I have two large plants and they bloom over and over in the summer. I love them. Look and see some blooms! I don't know if I ever told you some of these things.

I explained to Maria (my daughter) once that I believe it is important to say what you think and feel. That is an obligation, not an option. The other person deserves to know. You, Mother, instilled that in me. I have known it all my life but not always practiced it. I thought many times it had to be obvious. You never thought your mom loved you but she did. You were insecure in love and I don't blame you, but you were very loved by me, my brother and my sister. These flowers live and thrive; they are for you.

Celebration of Death - planned departure from life

It is with a great deal of confidence that I say these words are not normally connected. This is a story where this was quite the case. Although sad to lose a loved one, you want your loved one to leave this world surrounded by love and appreciation for who you have been and best wishes for next steps of existence. That is of course unless you are adamant that there is no after life. And even then, most people will most likely bend towards the possibility anyway that there may be something in store for the person about to depart. Whatever the opinion on this matter, if you get the opportunity to celebrate a death, it can be a very satisfying event. No, it will not change your grief of losing someone you have loved perhaps your entire lifetime, nor will it remove the sadness that death simply must be a part of life. It does bring the picture into focus and let's you have those final moments with your loved one, celebrating life's joys, accomplishments. Hope and aspiration are gone at this point. Those things are left with the ones you are leaving behind.

We had this opportunity. It sort of fell in our laps. One of my sons and I discussed this idea when the doctor said it was about over. She was now on life support systems and there was no hope that she would ever be able to live independent of them. She directed us to pull the plug if that situation ever arose in her health. My mother had been fighting a multi-organ failure, caused by a fall and lying on a hard floor for about 36 hours. For one month in the hospital ICU she fought kidney failure, heart issues, digestive system failure, and severe skin failures. She was 87 and carried with into the hospital the goal to live to be at least 90. She had things to do, places to go. It was clear from the onset that she was to going to go down without a string battle. This was bothersome to the staff at the hospital. They wanted her to be without pain, totally comfortable. That is another story to be told. The point here is that she really did fight to recover. However, at every turn where she would improve, another thing would go wrong. The final blow was her lungs. She could no longer respire on her own, constantly battling new outbreaks of liquid on her lungs.

At 11AM, we met with the staff to discuss her condition. The decision was made to let her go. We would pull the respirator off. The doctor said it could take a few hours for her to pass away, but she would do so within 24 hours afterward. So the idea - let's take her off of the medicines that are keeping her sedated and unable to be conscious but keep her on pain medicine. The hospital staff resisted that idea but we won out in the debate, although we allowed some of the sedation on their advice but little of it. We called close friends and family to tell them what was going to happen. We would not take her off the respirator until the evening when everyone could get there. Some might have to travel some distance.

That afternoon, the sedatives began to dwindle in their effect. We had actually lowered them by request the night before but the staff had increased them in the morning, so we reversed that and by mid-afternoon she was able to communicate with her eyes and follow us by moving her head.During this time, we chose to be with her and watch her vital signs. At 6PM came the doctor.

He with the help from an assistant removed most of the tubes and then the breathing apparatus. Her food intake and other medical treatments by tube continued. The tubes for the kidneys were also removed. Everything to make her more comfortable! We had arranged for a CD player to be brought in and her bible was close at hand so that we could read to her.

The room began to fill rapidly. We made sure she knew when every person who came into the room. Her favorite hymn music was being played and one member of the family sat on either side of the bed holding her hands and occasionally hugging her. We would talk about things of the past and what was coming for the family. We talked about celebration - her life. It had indeed been a beautiful and long life. She had even a great great grandchild. Her children had lived a religious life and been successful. Some of her grandchildren had joined her church also. She had been a fine example to all of us and all of us wanted to be like her, accomplishing things, being a contributor to family successes throughout our lives. Yep, 87 years of continual service to God and family, well worth a celebration in which she should participate. And she did, as weak as she was, participate in her own celebration of life. She would soon enter into the world of the dead

Immediately after the respirator was cut off from her, she breathed rapidly and gasped for breath. I talked to her about how to make that easier and she changed to deep breaths. The oxygen level in her blood was not sufficiently high to sustain life for very long, so we understood that she was in a departing process. We would have been quite happy if that had been reversed but it did not. This would be better for her now and we knew it.

Now she was dying. Her heart continued to beat as it did before. There was a glimmer of hope in my mind, but I was prepared for the end. We talked. We laughed. We loved. As we changed who was next to her and as time passed, things being discussed about her and us and how we had finally reached where we were, her friends and some family had to get something to eat and get some rest. We had celebrated and the night was upon us. So after some three hours, the room quietened. Within five minutes, she gave up with two of her grandchildren by her side. I received a text message and then a call - "better come back". We ran. Her last heartbeats were showing on the monitor. We sat with her as she passed away, letting her brain cells fail and her heart to totally quit. She was dead. We cried. "She has gone to a better place." It is now the wait she has and hope in death for her savior's return. That was surely on her mind at the very end. Her family and friends had said good-by with great love! She can rest in peace.

The Last Lecture - reading to identify self and lessons learned

An incredible life journey for a common man with a common life reveals powerful lessons in life. Death of course is part of life. Early death is a tragedy. How do you turn a tragedy into a legacy for your family and friends? It has something to do with attitude. Here are the lessons I embrace from Randy Pausch, the author, who lived a life of only 47 years. I see him very similar to myself, so his book struck home very strongly for me. I hope that you read his book also and finish with a different circumspect vision of yourself as I did. This is the reason this book is so popular. It is a short but not one to be taken lightly.

• Family is foremost in all things. The father and mother play very important roles in a child's life. Being a father is to see that the child gets the opportunity to dream and set his roots into his vision of life, but guided and encouraged by his parents to be his own individual person. A daughter is very special and a good father will recognize that and see to it that she has the relationship needed to eventually embrace life as a woman with strong family and interpersonal values. Who falls in love with your daughter first? It is the father! I too am a member of the "wrapped-around-my-daughter's-finger club". Both sons and daughters learn from team sports, which by the way are not an extension of the parents but a learning experience of the child. Give your children as many opportunities as you can for this indirect learning. It is a "head fake", the type where your children learn what you want them to learn without them knowing it. The relationship of man and wife is difficult to maintain and grow. Direct communication and the realization of gaps is very important. Acceptance of the our mate is paramount to a good relationship regardless of perceived flaws.
• A positive attitude which seeks resolution on issues is like coasting downhill to happiness. Everything else becomes easier. Whining gets one nowhere; no one wants to hear it. When we're done whining, we are not any happier.
• What others think of us is not very important. What we think of others is. Look for the good in others and good will eventually come of it, especially if you specifically note it. Apply this rule to your children. They want to know that you like and appreciate about them. Tell them exactly why.
• Advice to a daughter - watch what the guys do, not what they say. Sweet talkers are a dime a dozen. The good ones operating from the heart are not so numerous.
• Define experience - what you got when you didn't get what you wanted.
• Be personal with people. Write notes by hand. You will be remembered and appreciated much more when picking the right time to write a note by hand. Typing on paper is impersonal. When meeting someone new, invest the time and effort to remember that person. At that time, that person is the most important person in the world to you.
• Give what you receive. Call this "forwarding on". Your rewards will be numerous.
• Preparation is a way to achieve and enjoy. Think ahead and do "what if's". That can improve the quality of your life tremendously.
• There are three parts to an apology. Tell it like it is, not what you want it to be. (1) What did I do wrong? (2) I feel badly for what I did. (3) How can I make it better?
• The truth will set you free. It also sets the stage for others to open up to you. Embrace it as a habit.
• Inventory your childhood dreams and live them. Do not forget them. Set doable goals to achieve them. They are the backbone of your existence.
• Remember your roots and the guiding compass you were given. Every step of the way is influenced by that compass.
• One can live in two cultures, taking the best of the two together. Just identify the best and move on.
• It is alright to be heads over heals in love with someone. Enjoy it.
• We are given a hand to play. Play it!
• The brick wall that we cannot seem to climb over is often our most valued asset. It shows us how badly we want something and when we do manage to scale it, we are much better off for conquering it.
• Humility goes a very long way to acceptance and love. That trait is durable and worth every penny invested in it.
• There are professional and personal legacies to be dealt with in this life. Take steps to ensure you have both in your sight long before you face death so you can look back on it and be consoled when you do eventually pass away. You never know when it will come.
• Early death is not the same as late death but the approach probably should be the same. Treat life as if you have a short time to live. Every day, every hour is important. Manage your time.
• In death, be reassured and give reassurance to those you love that in your passing, part of each person you love also passes with you. You take something of everyone you love with you to the grave. This is good and your family and friends should know that. You are comforted by that little something you take with you.
• Understand that in death there are two types of insurance. The traditional financial kind and the less definable emotional type. Your job is to prepare both for your family.

  you read the book, I suggest watching the video of his actual last lecture: http://www.thelastlecture.com/

If you have read this book, I would love to hear what you learned from it and how you feel about your life relative to it.

Family Reunion - kernel of love, a bridge

I recently went to a family reunion, one that I organized. For years, I was "too busy" to participate in any Christmas gatherings, reunions or the such. I got almost totally out of touch with the larger family and more focused on my wife's family than mine. It had been five years since my family had it's last reunion, and some members of the family I have not seen since that time. So much water has flowed under the bridge since that reunion. This article is intended to describe that bridge and its relevance to today's family. This picture tells the story. Uncle Russ. Is he loved by his nephews or what?

Unfortunately, the last five years has seen the loss of half of my mothers' siblings. One aunt, one uncle and their spouses have passed away. Other relatives on this side of the family have also passed - some young, some elderly. That water will never pass under that bridge again. I have regrets for not asking them many questions and reminding them that I loved them. I had little interaction with them and missed a great deal of my heritage, yet I knew them as if I lived with them. Why is that, I ask? For one thing the relationships were for many decades. Over those decades, we talked many times about our family and heritage - memories, questions, answers.

The base of our relationships over those years has been the kernel of love. You will find it's heart on that old bridge which passes over a river, cutting through the earth for millenniums. As more water passed under it, the water became deeper, just like the love that bonds the family. Since America began, that river has deepened for many families as their relationships developed and ancestries were preserved. In the last century alone, the importance of the family has become much more pronounced in America. Important questions abound on disease inheritance, national bloodline inheritance, and family history. Sometimes, there is a concentration of ancestors in specific areas of this country or another country. We want to meet some of those people. We want to understand where we came from and be able to pass that information to our children and grand children.

I once sought a possible family link in Scotland to only discover that the Scottish clan where I may have had roots, consisted of murderers, thieves and robbers. Later I found that I was not related to them. That gave me a sigh of relief. Now I wish I had some connection like that to pre-American ancestors. We do have some photos 100+ years old to help and some information linking us to very early immigrants. Maybe that will lead me to another place on the other side of the ocean. That could give us some real connectivity with the past.

So after putting this reunion together, I am already planning the next one. We will have one at a historical site of the family rather a contemporary site and do it next year! It will be a learning and bonding experience for everyone.

If you would like to share your family reunion experiences and any advice you have to make excellent bonds within the family, please do so in the attached comment section. I would personally love to hear about your thoughts and experiences. I am sure my readers would as well.

My own advice? Listen to the flow of the water. Stand on that bridge and gaze into that water. Don't think it too difficult to see into the water nor that it is not valuable to capture what passes by. You won't be disappointed. Like my aunt said, "I love my family." It is our heritage, our blood, our past. Whatever happens there, it happens. Family is important to our children and our children's children. Embrace and protect your heritage. There may be skeletons in the closet but the reality is there, so do not divorce the family if there are dark kept secrets. Knowing empowers us to have good health and take measures assuming that we inherit the good and bad traits of our ancestors. Computer software is available to document and share knowledge. Old photos can be reproduced easily. Chances are that one family member knows how to use the software and to doctor old photographs and make them available to others.Sometimes we find relative information in newspapers. Other times, in relative's storage boxes.

Lov´n under-privileged children in Venezuela

We live in a community of many nationalities, especially from South America. This article is provided to help understand some of the culture from where they came and also to relate to our own own.

Some 30 children of various forms of poverty and health gave us new insights into life today. Like my wife said, ¨this is reality where the real world connects to fantasy. We do not live in a perfect world." Don´t we all learn more each day? This was such an exceptional experience for all of us that I had to share it! Here in Venezuela, the children´s rights are protected by the government, so we could not take any photographs. I will outline a few memories to note what we did and what benefits unfolded for us and these children.

We brought new toys from home to give them and had arranged a visit to this special home before we left the states. The toys had to be special for these special children from little babies to a fourteen year old. Most of them were incapable of opening their packages so we did so for them. The event was a party of about two hours duration. When we arrived, several of the children were curious why we were there and what we had with us. Two of them came out to the lobby to mix with us and see what we had. They were fascinated with our eyeglasses, the camera which I was not allowed to use and all the packages we brought. After working with the social workers to put names to the gifts and see that the toys were distributed appropriately, we went into the children´s area and fed them the sandwiches and juice that we brought. We needed to help a few with their lunch but generally they were able to feed themselves. Mostly they came and asked for help when they needed it, but for some we had to go offer our help. I remember one child in particular who seemed starving for affection. She was about 4 years old and was not happy when we arrived. I picked her up and hugged her. She did not allow me to put her down for about 15 minutes. She grabbed me around the neck and held her face tightly next to mine. She was precious, and my heart pained to see any child like this. She finally settled down and was happy and participated in the event like the others, but we remained close after our initial emotional acquaintance. Another child that my daughter got attached to was the little girl without arms and legs. My 19-year-old daughter fed her while she was in her lap on the floor. Of course the little girl loved her attention. That girl was quite adept with her arms, managing to put on her cap and arranging it on her head very quickly. She also was able to walk well using her stub legs. Another little boy with black curly hair wanted me to pick him up and love him several times while we were there. He is about seven years old, and I could not hold him for long. But I gladly helped him every time he came to me.

One room was dedicated to tots and babies, with baby beds lining the walls. We went in there to visit them, but only one of them could interact with us and that interaction was only one-way affection. Most seemed to be be suffering from autism

After eating, the children were instructed to sit down in their chairs and wait for their names to be called to receive their gifts. They did so very well, quite behaved! Some wondered after a while if they would get a gift, so we had to speed up the process. They were excited. Some received dominoes, others dolls, others little cars, and other gifts. We had to cull the doll packages to remove the little hair brushes and nail files that came with them. The packages were difficult to open and the children wanted the little extras in the packages, but for safety sake, we had to remove those extras. It might have been better to open the packages beforehand, but part of the experience was the interaction with the children in opening their gifts. That gave us an idea of their skills and a better appreciation of who they are and their plight in this life. Some or all of the older children go to school. We were told that it is very unusual to receive visitors. Some say that the general population here does not have a conscious for these poor little ones. It is very rare for a man to visit them. Two called me ¨papa¨ and called the social worker ¨mama¨. I was not the only man there. A male family member also accompanied us. The older girl was also quite special. She was in a wheel chair and was not sociable until I went a talked to her like an adult. She wanted to know where we came from and why we were there. She opened up to me and soon she joined everyone else and enjoyed our visit. I noted that they tended to look after one another, especially the older ones to the younger ones. One little girl took the gift of another little girl and told her to keep it in the paper bag that we provided. She helped her put it in the bag when we left.

All in all, it was an event of love and compassion. I would have taken one home if I could. I have always wanted to do this here and was so glad when my wife's family arranged it. The responsibility for these children rests with the government and that is sad. Yet it is comforting to know that all children have protected rights here, even though the general population chooses to ignore the children and their plight.

I recommend that other people do this if they can, anywhere in the world including here.

Lov'n those darn chocolates - Chocolate Passion Conroe

Yesterday, I had the privilege to attend the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony of Chocolate Passion. This is aptly named from the craving attitude of South Americans, this case of Venezuelans. Now I know many north Americans who also crave chocolate, so I am going to share this with all my readers, especially knowing how healthy chocolate is for us. OK, maybe that is an emerging trend of thought, but seriously, dark chocolate is being touted as an excellent antioxidant.

Chocolate Passion is located in Conroe, a well-spent short trip from The Woodlands area. Yes, I know! The highway department has a big construction project that sometimes creates a bad bottleneck. Well, I suggest avoiding I45 north on Friday afternoon. Other than that and at 5PM daily, I'd say the construction is not typically a big issue.

You just cannot miss out on at least sampling the products of this establishment! Nestled in a little quaint shopping center on SH 75, it is easily accessible from the SH 105 exit. When you enter the place, immediately you know you have found something different, on the order of a small town store, that is comfortable and luring. It is like a shop you might see in Old Town Spring. On entry, you are already wanting to taste their stuff. Go to the meeting room and relax like it is your own living room! Go to the cuisine enjoyment room, sit at a table on the wooden floor, and listen to the live singing entertainment that is often present on weekend nights. It is like a modern coffee shop of the 60's on a wooden floor with rustic decorations. And you can enjoy it all with your laptop connected to the Internet! Click on the title above to see their website. It has plenty of information.

Now shall we talk about the cuisine? These folks make a rare specialty chocolate, of pure (and rare) imported cocoa from Venezuela. At their grand opening, they had a wide variety of chocolates which you can pick out of the showcase by what looks good or even by product name if you really know your stuff. Of course they will help you sort out what to choose by your likes and dislikes as well. The owner is an expert Chocolatier. She has been making candy for many years and brought her expertise with her when she moved here from Venezuela. She makes her chocolate products right there in her store.

Chocolate is not all that is served, by far! Their coffee beans are also imported, freshly roasted and ground right here in the Houston area. They sell the beans and serve this coffee. You know it is always fresh! They serve Lattes and other coffee drinks, just as you would find in other coffee houses.

I do not know if they sell it or not, but I noted fresh baked Venezuelan bread, a famous Venezuelan Ham bread made for the Christmas holidays. I sampled it and it was authentic. Delicious stuff!

Breakfast and lunch are now served there as they have partnered with a catering service who prepare sandwiches and soups. I had a salad which was very tasty.

They rent out rooms for special events. It is amazing what this little place can do.

I highly recommend everyone try out this place, especially if you like chocolate. Although they do not serve alcoholic beverages, they did conduct a free wine tasting event on their opening day, to demonstrate how well certain wines will augment the taste of their chocolates and how the blend of the two together make an excellent tasting treat for the palate. I was thoroughly impressed and my passion will be Chocolate Passion, as it has always been. I guarantee that will not be the last visit there for Indianspringsguy !

Tell em I sent ya.

Lov'n the little lady who sold her property

One little country lady has been our customer for years. She raised her children here, saw her home burned by fire, went through the death of her husband here, and at the end sold her home to The Woodlands Development Company. She will move on to new pastures. Some commercial center will rise up from her land in the bustling new village of The Woodlands in Harris county. Moving away but staying in her state, she will be remembered for her fishing stories in the rain forests of Vancouver, her dog stories, her "better than nuthin" response when we would ask her "how are you today?". In fact right after she had a significant fire in her home, she came for a pedicure with a very sullen face, and when asked how she felt, she responded "Better than nuthin". We will miss her for many reasons, but most of all because a long time resident will leave and along with her - part of the country of horses, small ranch estates and good people in the Tomball area.

Happy fishing to ya Jenny! May the bass leap right into your pockets!

"The Woodlands Development Co. has purchased 3.6 acres at 26619 Kuykendahl from Jenny Huber. Charles Underwood and Carson Underwood of McDade, Smith, Gould, Johnston, Mason + Co. represented the seller."

Houston Chronicle November 25th, 2007, "Real Estate Transactions"