Craft Time with Sarah

One of my best friends, Sarah, left the metroplex for bigger and better things. She graduated from UNT with a Broadcast Journalism degree. She's worked at CW33 News and CBS11. But through Twitter she landed a job as a reporter in Amarillo. Before she left we had craft day. Here are some pictures of some frames I made.

Sarah, you're amazing! Your story is a great one and you did a wonderful job. I am so proud of you. You're finally doing what you've always wanted to do. You'll be back in a big city before you know it.

Here is the link to Sarah's story at News Channel 10-Amarillo.

Congrats Sarah!

Happy (belated) Easter!

Easter was a good day! The day before Jeremy's work had a party to celebrate the 2-year anniversary of the current owner. We had a great time, with great food, and great people. Unfortunately, that night brought some rain and cooler weather, making Easter Sunday a little wet. I made fruit salad to take to Jeremy's parents' house. I asked Mom for the Poppyseed Dressing she uses for fruit and a strawberry-spinach salad.


Here's the recipe:

Poppyseed Dressing

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup vinegar
3 Tbsp. onion juice
2 cups Wesson oil
3 Tbsp. poppyseeds

1. Mix sugar, dry mustard, salt, vinegar, and onion juice together with an electric mixer.
2. Add Wesson oil to mixture by adding as a fine stream while mixing with the electric mixer.
3. Add poppyseeds to the mix.

Couple of chef notes:
- I asked the regular grocery store and a specialty grocery store, NO they have never heard of onion juice. They don't make it and bottle it. You must make your own. It will take a medium size onion and a cheese grater, and a BUNCH of tissues!!!
- I measured the 2 cups of Wesson oil in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Poured with the left hand and held the electric mixer with the right hand.

This recipe came from my mom, who I think got it from my grandmother, Murr C. She got it out of the Helen Corbit Cookbook. The recipe calls for "Wesson oil", Murr C thought Helen Corbit got paid to use the name. Everyone loved the fruit salad.



Easter lunch was great. Brisket, potato salad, fruit salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, and of course, dessert. But with it being wet outside we had Layla hunt Easter eggs inside. I'm not quite sure she has the understanding of the whole hunting egg event. Hopefully next year it will be warmer and she will be more interested. After lunch we went and saw Fast and the Furious 4. It was pretty good, and leads you to believe there will be a 5th movie.

WARNING!!! - Provocative Lizards

WARNING!!! Below are pictures of lizards doing intimate activities.









So, last year my dad took this photo:

And last week I took this photo:

Both pictures were taken in the backyard in the same area near the fence. I don't know if they are the same lizards, relatives, or just another random pair of lovers. But it does beg the question: What are my parents running over there? :)

Some Family History

So when the boss goes on vacation, we go on vacation. Well, we're at least off of work, vacation maybe not. Two weeks ago, my mom and I met my grandparents at the lake. We ate breakfast at McClain's. This restaurant has been there for as long as I can remember. There is a club/bar in the back (or there used to be, I haven't seen it in a long time) but you can eat dinner back there. The lights are always kept low. There are license plates, kind of like a border, around the top of the room. Also, there is a train track with a train that runs around the top of the room.

Our next stop was the town of Elkhart, Tx. In this little town about an hour and 30 minutes from Tool. From the scrapbook we gave Granny for Mother's Day in 1998, "Granny on the next page talks about a pilgrim church at Elkhart, Tx. That was the 1st Protestant church in Texas. When the Parker clan came to Texas. Texas was still part of Mexico. Daniel Parker got permission from the Mexican government to start this church. Cynthia Ann Parker, Daniel's sister, was kidnapped by the Indians. We are not related to the Parkers, but this is the church that Ira Dell and Neel (Poppie) both preached in and the church Maridelle grew up in." Poppie was a member of the Union Primitive Baptist Association. It was believed that you were born with a life path already planned. Someone once told Poppie he was meant to spread the word of God. He never believed it and finally he joined Primitive Baptist Association. He was later kicked out of the Association for joining the Masons. Here are some pictures taken at the Pilgrim Church in Elkhart, Tx.

It always seems that older churches always have a cemetary near by. There was a lot of Parker's buried here, as well as some war veterans.

The brick church on the right is the church that Murr C went to service at. Poppie said, "They hired a black man to lay the brick, but I don't know how much they paid him." The little church on the left is a replica of the original that was built in 1997.

Outside to the right of the church, there are cement tables and a small fire pit. After service they serve snacks and refreshments. Murr C. said that if you brought a guest to the church and you wanted them to join you would invite them to eat with you today. Another part of this association is to wash feet. If your guest was accepted by the church, you would ask them if you could wash their feet today. That was only done once a month.

Murr C and Poppa outside the Pilgrim Church.

Murr C told the story behind the dogwood tree. Long ago during the days that Jesus was here on earth in the form of a man, there were many dogwood trees. Then, the dogwood was comparable in size to the oak tree. Because of its firmness and strength it was selected as the timber for the cross for crucification. Jesus saw to it that the dogwood would never again grow as strong or large enough to be used for a cross. Now, the dogwood is slender and bent with the blossoms resembling a cross. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there is nail prints, brown with rust and stained red. In the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns.

And two "artistic" shots from the day.

We also talked a lot about family history and random stories. I'll just list them:

• Murr C and Poppa owned 4 washeterias in Austin (I think in the 60's)
• Granny and Poppie met at church. Back then, church was all day. You were allowed (but not encouraged) to leave the church to take a break. Charolette and Granny stepped out and were sitting in the car. Poppie walked across the church yard and Granny turned to her sister and said, "There goes my husband, even if I don't get to marry him."
• Poppie was in Hawaii was 2 years in WWII. The letters he wrote and sent home were sensored and read by someone in the Navy. They were not allowed to reveal where they were. Although he wrote in code to Granny so she had some sense of where he was. He got a job at a Gentlemans' club in Hawaii.
• Once Poppie was back, he took flying lessons at the White Rock Airport. It was a GI Benefit. Uncle Charles, Poppie and Mr. Stark (Poppie and Mr. Stark met in the Navy and later learned they both were from Pleasant Grove) all took lessons and then went in together and bought a Piper Cub 2-seater plane. They later sold it for a 3-seater because Poppie wanted to be able to fly with Granny and Murr C, even though Granny didn't like to fly. They would often fly to Mabank (from White Rock, they lived in Pleasant Grove) to visit Momma Mc (Shan). They would "buzz" the house (do a fly over). It would notify them that they would need a ride from the cotton field they used to land.

I had a great time and I love learning about our family history. It has taken me a while to post these pictures, I wasn't very happy with the way they turned out. I used a wide angle lens adapter and it made the pictures look a little funny on the outside.

Link to more Information on the Pilgrim Church.

Public Apology

I have a bunch of stuff to post. The trip to Elkhart, moving the office, the lizards, and now after today Easter. I'll get back to it hopefully this afternoon, if not, maybe at lunch time Monday.

Hope everyone has a great Easter. I'm off to make fruit salad.