Author: Big Mama

Just You and me

For a variety of reasons with laziness among them, we haven’t been great about going to church this fall. It seems like every Sunday there is some reason why church isn’t going to happen and I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes that reason is that I don’t want to get out of my pajamas. I’m not proud, but I’m just being honest.

The thing is that I have missed being in church on Sunday mornings and so this morning in spite of the cold and rain and the fact that P is out of town, I got Caroline up and dressed and we headed out the door. We were even on time.

Y’all know how sometimes you can be out in the hot summer sun and not realize you’re thirsty until you walk back in the house and gulp down a huge glass of water? That was my heart as I walked through the doors this morning. My soul was thirsty and I didn’t even realize how much.

It’s not like I hadn’t been spending time with God, but there is something about being in His presence among other believers all singing praises to Him that envelops me in comfort like nothing else.

We sang this song:

Take my heart, I lay it down

at the feet of you who’s crowned.

Take my life, I’m letting go

I lift it up to you who’s throned.

And I will worship you Lord

Only you Lord

And I will bow down for you

Only you Lord

Take my breath, take my fear

All I have, I’m leaving here

Be all my hopes

Be all my dreams

You’re my delight

My everything

And it’s just you and me here now

Only you and me here now

And as we sang “it’s just you and me here now” all I could think is that’s what it all comes down to. At the end of my life it will come down to me standing before God. I try so hard to be a good mother, a good wife and a good friend but ultimately these are all gifts that have come from Him. If I’m not pleasing Him and seeking Him, then it will be impossible for me to be a good steward of what He has blessed me with. I cannot do it by myself.

But yet I try and then I fail.

So this morning I let Him pick me back up, dust me off and start again with Him taking the lead instead of me trying to drag Him into my agenda and my timeline.

On the way to church this morning, Caroline and I were listening to Breath of Heaven and she said “Mama, I want to go to heaven with you” and so we talked about asking Jesus into our hearts and then going to heaven someday. She said with all the excitement in the world, “Mama! I wish I could run to Jesus right now!”

And the best part is, we can. If we just remember.
We’re having ourselves a merry little Christmas

Over the last 24 hours we have been busy around here making the yuletide gay. And by gay, I don’t mean that we’ve been listening to Cher. Although we have listened to a little Judy Garland. I mean that we have been festive and full of Christmas cheer.

Not that there is anything wrong with listening to Cher.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided that we needed to decorate some sugar cookies and since this was a spur of the moment decision based mainly on the fact that it was freezing cold and sleeting outside and we desperately needed an activity NOW, I didn’t have time to wait for homemade dough to chill so I reached for my good friend the dough boy and his slice and bake offerings.

I have never seen Caroline as excited as when faced with such a variety of items to make a huge mess with. Oh! the flour! the sparkles! the red hots! the dough! It was an embarrassment of riches.

She focused all of her decorating efforts on one lone, candy cane shaped cookie and having emptied the entire container of colored sugars decided she was done. I’d like to say it was totally worth the huge amount of cleanup involved, but I think that might be a lie.

Then, this morning we had Breakfast with Santa Claus and I made a huge error in judgement by creating a buzz about it last night, so this morning she was up at 5:30 yelling “Mama, let’s go see Santa. Let’s go eat with Santa!”. By the time Gulley and her gang finally arrived to pick us up at 8:30, we were more than ready to go.

During the course of the morning I can guarantee that I made her aware of the fact that Santa was watching at least 154 times which would buy me maybe 30 seconds of quiet obedience. Maybe 30 seconds.

Gulley and I have a term we use to describe docile, gentle children. We call them “cup-pourers”. The name is derived from the little kids who sit on the edge of the baby pool in the summer time and are perfectly content to just fill their little nesting cups with water and then dump them out and then fill their cups and dump them out, while their mamas get to visit and drink a beer and have enjoyable adult conversation.

Gulley and I have not given birth to “cup-pourers”. This fact is confirmed every summer at the pool as we chase our kids as they run from one end of the pool to the other and it was confirmed again this morning as we chased them all over the country club while waiting for Santa and breakfast. At one point I even looked and thought why is that rope line holder about to fall over and realized it was because all three of our kids were trying to swing on it. And so here we go again with “Santa is right there watching you”.

We’d like to complain, but seeing as how neither of us could be classified as a “cup-pourer”, it would stand to reason that neither would our precious offspring.

So after a morning of sitting on Santa’s lap, eating some French Toast sticks drowned in maple syrup, and my futile attempts to get a decent picture of the three of them in front of the Christmas tree we headed home.

Gulley had fit all three carseats in her backseat, so on the way there we had talked about how great it would be to take all the kids to Bryan together. Then, on the way home listening to Caroline and Jackson argue throughout the entire 20 minute drive about who was strong enough to pull a helicopter out of the sky, we decided that maybe that trip could wait another year or five.

All in all it’s been a very merry 24 hours and the best part is that right now Caroline is in her room sleeping in heavenly peace. I’m about to do the same. And although all this merry making has worn me out, there is nothing better than spending time with best friends.
A little of this, a little of that

As y’all have probably figured out by now, I am home from Dallas. The trip left me slightly tired seeing as how I got about 3 hours of sleep total during my visit. I have never been able to sleep well in hotels largely due to the fact that I am compulsive combined with the fact that hotels don’t have fitted bottom sheets. It drives me out of my mind to have that rumpled, wrinkled non-fitted mess under me while I try to sleep. I am a modern day version of the princess and the pea.

So, next time I’m in Dallas I’m inviting myself to stay with one of you Dallas folks. Don’t you want me as a houseguest now that you know I am a compulsive insomniac who requires perfect sleeping conditions?

Anyway, as the incredibly creative title implies, here’s a little of this and a little of that.

1. Caroline was excited to see me when she and P picked me up at the airport. She had grown about three inches while I was gone and I promise her hair hadn’t seen a brush since my departure. I had told her that I would bring her a treat when I came home and she was really excited and said “Oh Mama, will it be gum?”

And because I am nothing if not an overachiever, I brought home not only a whole roll of Rain-blo bubble gum but also some candy wax lips. She took them to school today for show and tell because as luck would have it, the letter of the week was “L”.

2. I love Christmas music. I do my best to devote the entire month to the listening of Christmas carols. This year is like a dream come true because I downloaded James Taylor’s Christmas CD from iTunes. I do love some JT and this CD is on constant rotation in my car and in my house. I highly recommend it.

And by JT I meant James Taylor not Justin Timberlake, although I do love him too and spent a good part of my pregnancy listening to “Rock Your Body” because it never failed to make Caroline start kicking and moving around. Even in utero the girl had taste and rhythm.

3. P went shopping at Whole Earth Provision and bought some socks that will keep even the coldest feet toasty warm. I know this to be true because they have been keeping my feet warm all afternoon. Someone told me one time that if anyone tried to determine if I was still alive by seeing if I had any warmth in my hands or feet, I would be buried alive. It’s true.

Anyway, tonight as we’re on the couch, P notices that I have borrowed a pair of his socks and decides to get in a custody battle over them. Why, I ask why would he begrudge the mother of his child warm feet? I told him that I hadn’t put the socks on until after I showered so technically they are clean and he can still wear them hunting tomorrow. He didn’t really like that idea, but I’m thinking anyone who doesn’t mind using my toothbrush (don’t even get me started on this topic) shouldn’t mind wearing socks that have had my feet in them.

4. Last week Caroline didn’t want to go to dance class and told me she didn’t feel well. So I went through my usual routine of asking what hurt, and then in the real test to see if she was faking asked “Are you too sick to go play at Jackson’s house?” and she told me that yes, she felt too bad to even go to Jackson’s. So, I decided that she could skip dance seeing as how it’s not like she has the lead in the Nutcracker this year and no sooner had I informed her of my decision when she said “Mama! Good News!! I feel good enough to go play with Jackson!”.

And the answer to the question is yes, she is smarter than me.

5. Lastly, I wanted to mention Boomama’s upcoming holiday tour of homes in case some of y’all haven’t heard. It will be on December 15 which is one week from today. So deck those halls, take some pictures and go put your link over at Boomama’s.

Hope y’all have a great weekend!
To add a little sweetness to your season from the sweetest person I know

A few days ago I admitted that I have a problem in the form of complete addiction to Gulley’s sugar cookies. It is not even a slight exaggeration to say that you can’t just stop at the first thirty you eat.

Erin asked if I thought Gulley would let me give out the recipe and since I love Erin because she is so sweet and says great things like “waiting for the other foot to drop”, I asked Gulley if she would be willing to share the recipe and this is the email that she sent me.

Big Mama –

Since me and your fans have at least one thing in common – we all adore you – I will share my sugar cookie recipe. You may want to warn them, though, that this is not a cookie for serious decorating. It is way too soft. A glaze works perfectly.

The Cookie:

4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Sift dry ingredients together

1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs.

Mix all together and shape dough in form of loaf & sprinkle flour on wax paper, wrap dough and refrigerate overnight. Roll out dough, cut with cutter and bake for 6 – 8 minutes at 350.

Glaze

2 tbsp butter mashed in
2 cups powdered sugar
dash of salt
2 or more tbsp milk.

Spread on top of cookies, then top with colored sugars.

So, as Gulley says please make note that this is not a cookie for serious, Martha Stewart style decorating, however it is a cookie for serious eating in the form of two to three dozen at one time.

A few other things that make me laugh about Gulley’s email are that she knows me well enough to write it in perfect cut and paste form for Big Mama and that she refers to my “fans”.

When we were in college we were friends with this big football player (not the running back mentioned in a previous post) and whenever he’d see us he’d yell across campus, “How many members today?” and we’d say “What, what are you talking about?” and he’d reply “How many members y’all got in your fan club today?” It never failed to make us completely crack up.

So Gulley, as the #1 member of your fan club, thank you for letting me share your recipe and thank you even more for baking my supply for me. That’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Attention Walmart Shoppers..someone’s not right in accessories

Gulley was in Bryan last week visiting Nena, so y’all know I was hoping that there would be some kind of story.

When they got to Nena’s house, Nena was wearing some light green velour pants paired with a sweater and a wide leather belt. Gulley said, “Well, Nena…look at you!”

And Nena said, “Well, I know. I’m a vision of loveliness.”

Later on, Uncle Glen came over and was complaining about how much he hates Walmart but “Mama wears me down and makes me take her to the Walmart”. He said the other day they were there for almost two hours, so to pass the time he started trying on sunglasses. Nena walked up and said “Quit trying on those sunglasses. People are going to think you’re not right in the head.”

And in all fairness to Uncle Glen, isn’t two hours in Walmart is enough to drive anyone a little bit out of their mind?
An update from Dallas and the antithesis of a high speed wireless connection

Yes, I am still in Dallas. It has been more fun than y’all can imagine spending two and a half days going over things that could have been summed up in an email. A short email.

But on the bright side, I got to eat dinner tonight with my dear friend Hite who took me to a fabulous restaurant called Hatties. He described it as “gourmet soul food” and let me tell y’all it was some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. Fried green tomatoes, meatloaf and macaroni and cheese that was so unbelievably good that I wanted to lick the serving bowl. Heaven in a bowl is what it was. I will think about it for days with fond remembrance.

Oh yes, and the conversation was good too. Hite never fails to make me laugh and he told me a story tonight that left me with tears running down my cheeks. I’ll share it at some point, but he has pictures to send that will better illustrate. One of my favorite memories of Hite is the day of my college graduation when there was literally a tornado touching down in College Station and he looked at me and said “In spite of the wind, your hair is holding up beautifully”. It was a complete lie, but it made me feel better.

The other bright spot is that the hotel where I’m staying is the hotel where I stayed with Gulley, Jen and our other friends every New Year’s Eve when we were in college and A&M played in the Cotton Bowl. There are so many memories when I look around the hotel and think about what fools we were, but one of the best is the year that we were having a little social get together in our hotel room at 2 a.m. the night before the game and there was a knock on our door. We opened the door and there stood our star running back whose room was right next to ours. Apparently, we were keeping him awake with our festivities so he came on in and joined the party.

The next day, he fumbled the ball which essentially cost us the game. I’d like to think that we weren’t partially responsible, but I’m afraid we were. I have never admitted this publicly. In fact, as we sat eating our hot dogs in the stands that day, we vowed we would never tell anyone for fear of being outcasts.

Fool is the word y’all are looking for.

Anyway, later today I will be headed home to my people and for that I am thankful. I have my .25 cent Ziploc to safely tote my lipgloss on the plane. Honestly, the more I’ve thought about it, if someone wants to cause harm on a plane is a Ziploc snack bag going to stop them? My best guess is no.

The best part is that if my flight is on time and there are no delays, I’ll be home in time to tuck my girl into bed tonight.

And in other news, today is my Mama’s birthday. I won’t reveal her age because a lady never tells, but I wish her a wonderful day. Mom, I have a whole new understanding and appreciation of how many nights you went without sleep because “I couldn’t see” and other such issues. I am paying for my youth as an insomniac. I love you and hope you have a day filled with all good things.