down the field...

It's Friday night football season once more in Central Texas. Okay, fine. All over the United States.

But NO BODY does it like small Texas schools.

Bull horns, shaker things... louder bull horns. And the giant pickles from the concession stand.

Now - my football knowledge fits in the same hockey puck that my baseball knowledge fits in...

But my kid sure is cute. I'm sorry...we're almost 17... handsome when he marches.

Oh, and we were beating the living daylights out of the school I grew up in... 36-0. I felt immense joy with each rebound shot and hole-in-one that our football team scored!

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I labored all week-end getting ready for Warrenton... what did YOU do? Are you sitting at the rugby field watching football all season? hee-hee

it's official...

"Laces OUT"... Ace Ventura

Fall has arrived.

The season change (such that it is in Texas where 150milliondegrees in the Fall feels the same as it does in January...) never registers with me until my red.neck self is parked on some really hard metal bleachers over-looking the Football field. I've said it before (here)... there is NOTHING like a good High School Football game.

Not that I know ANYTHING about football...

I go to watch and listen to the Marching Band.

And take a million photos of my very own - very tall - very SENIOR YEAR - trombone player.

I take pictures of other things too. The Blue Moon was happening in the 'hood...

And that was really breath-taking!

And then I took pictures of our Mascot...

and because I have a very vivid imagination I "commentate" in my mind while taking pictures. For example: "Our faux furry mascot looks more "psycho" Bulldog than "vicious - I'm gonna take you DOWN" Bulldog."

And...

"That is going to hurt in about.... 1millionth of a second. So glad we play Trombone and not "beat 'em up Crash Helmet" games". THEN I thought: "I'm gonna do that off of my porch railing Monday morning after I paint my helmet pink."

I look back up...

and think: "DANG! I'm glad MY mustache doesn't grow that fast!"

then someone made a hole-in-one so I look back down at the basketball court with camera in my hand... and so it goes...

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I'm wishing you the very MERRIEST Labor Day week-end full of fun and laughter... food and friends... and some RELAXATION!

Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold.  But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.  ~Douglas Pagels

What color are you going to slide down today?
 

p.s. We won the game! That didn't really register with me... but I think that's supposed to be important in the sports department. :-D

My kid walks sideways!

Central Texas is ALL about FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL...you can feel the excitement in the air when school starts up...the footballs start to quiver, the high school team shirts start popping up - the "who's going to go to State this year" whispers start, the magic markers and poster paper starts missing off the shelves - the stock in bullhorns skyrockets (please, let me grab my ear plugs first!!!) - the stadium seats and blankets suddenly become scarce - it is indeed a RUSH to get all things necessary to THOROUGHLY enjoy the yelling, screaming and cheering that is required on Friday nights - let the rivalries begin! The beat of the drums, the smell of the pickles (I love those things...how come they only taste THAT good at football games?), the kids running back and forth (that translates into: running up and down those bright and shiny (slightly noisy) bleachers) - bright lights, a slight breeze (thank goodness...it's really really hot in Central Texas) - that poor car that just got bingo markered, the fans and cheerleaders, the football players pounding each other on the back - yet helping the guy they just knocked over back up (love it!) - the band...

The High School Band. They might not be big in number, but they are big in spirit... they are the beat that goes on...the cadence that gets EVERYONE up on their feet and cheering, the fight song playin' gurus that have you yelling at the top of your lungs when they are finished with it - the kids that walk sideways...

I am the PROUD mother of a GORGEOUS 14 year old (oops, sorry...fixing to be 15 (this must be clarified at all times)) that has to bend over to give me a hug (how did that happen? Am I shrinking? Already?). We've got the rolling of the eyes goin', the slamming of doors...the "no way are you smarter than I am" thought process - the whole nine yards. AUGH! There are many grays mixed in with my orange hairs - and there is no driving...yet. With that, of course, comes the "no way can I walk across that room without tripping over my own two feet" syndrome (large feet...did they EVER fit in those cute little baby shoes? Am I delusional?). Did he get it from me? You betcha' (not the foot size necessarily, but the in-ability to move those feet in the same direction).


First I got to watch my 6' clown in action...he is an entertainer with his friends. Me? I can't get more than a few sentences and some smirks - the occasional smile - out of him! I watched the girls all bat their eyes at him, the other boys all roll their eyes at him...the band director shoot a glare in his direction. My heart just overflowed with pride! You know those everyday wonders - the rainbow on the horizon, the flowering weed in the middle of the asphalt...mine today was my child (he is EVERY DAY, but today even more so!). He stood up straight and tall. Not a smirk on his face, but a true, heart-felt grin when he saw me. No slumping of the shoulders (have I mentioned I owe the band director for the rest of time for this?). He marched forward - no miss-step, no tripping. He marched backwards - no miss-step, no tripping. Then the kid went sideways! And he didn't trip! I leaned forward to a complete stranger and said "that's my kid!"! She may never get anywhere close to me at the next game - but that's okay 'cause she knows who that trombone player belongs too! Whoo hoo!!! My kid walks SIDEWAYS!!!


I'm not even sure if we won...I will have to get back to you on that. LOLOL Please, don't tell anyone around here that I was so busy watching my baby that I didn't have a clue what was going on during the game...I might get kicked out of the bleachers next week - and this is way too fun for a red.neck girl to miss (plus, you gotta love those pickles!)!!!

I just had to share my wonder for today - my pride in my sideways walkin' trombone player...what was your wonder for today? Each day holds that moment...did you find it?

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide...hee-hee

:-) robelyn

where is red.neck Chic?

*** WARNING ***

grab your coffee 'cause i am feeling EXTREMELY talkative and i would LOVE IT if you stayed and spent some time with me!!!

we will steal Cat Daddy's chair.

first: i know... i know... i have become the most HORRIBLE of informants... i should proll'y have my "i will tell you things" license revoked IMMEDIATELY!!!

i've become the red.neck version of Waldo... but instead of being lost in a crowd of people - i'm lost in a pig sty la.BOR.a.tory full of fabric and duct tape and pocketbooks and memory cards containing a million photos (half of which are Cat Daddy sightings) and greeting cards and jewelry and dish towels and pearl-snap shirts and soap and candles and odd pieces of furniture... and all kinds of fun junk sitting around waiting for me to "red.neck" it up... plus a few other things i'm probably purposely forgetting about... PLUS a few great and fun things rattling around in my brain waiting to come out!!! it took me TWO HOURS last night to clean off 3 square feet of my cutting table! craziness!

for the record - that whole entire long notgrammaticallycorrect last sentence is not a complaint!!! ('sides. i'm not known for being grammatically correct ANY time. or schpealling corectly fer that madder.)

thrown in the mix for fun - i have been spending a lot more time at The Hillsboro Antique Mall - either harasing customers or destroying - and then trying to FIX MY OWN DESTRUCTION - "red.neckville" which has grown up some more, and filled in/out A LOT more!

Kim and David, CEO's of City Farmhouse and Kristi (aka: Sugar Bear), CEO of Junkology 101/Checkered Past

then we have the man-child who is 18 and that means... well... not much has changed there except: football season has happened and i have to go grin and embarrass the man-child because i like to take a million and one pictures of him and he hates that.

i don't care. *click* *snap*

this past friday night he played the "Star Spangled Banner" for the football game with the "trombone quartet". the feeling of "mama PRIDE" that i felt while watching and listening was... indescribable.

take a week + out of all of that and plant me in a cow pasture with the two most AWESOME of people and i'm in red.neck HEAVEN!

speaking of - do you like the eye candy i'm throwing in to make you grin and swoon? it's all photos i took from Mama Debinator and Cat Daddy's space at Marburger.

I give you:

THEEEEEEEE Kitty Cat Daddy!!!

i got to spend a WEEK with Kitty Cat Daddy! better than that? i was ASSIGNED to Kitty Cat Daddy! you betcha I was doing the happy dance when Mama Debinator gave me THAT assignment!

i've talked about my Grandparents before - my Grandfather - and just how very important in my life my Grandparents were... what a difference my Grandfather made - and how much FUN we had!

well, though Cat Daddy isn't old enough to be my Grandfather (he and Mama Debinator (i think) just celebrated their 29th birthdays you know...), Cat Daddy reminds me SO MUCH of Grampy. which... is a wonderful thing in my opinion! I got that whole warm fuzzy feeling for a whole week!

Cat Daddy is a man of few words - but works hard - then grins and plays hard!

i like to just trail along behind him and watch how he does "engineering" work (meaning... it's amazing what Cat Daddy makes happen using cardboard and zip ties... or wire... or whatever he can get his hands on...) as we hung lights and curtains... picture frames and mirrors... naked people... all kinds of things!

he can cart furniture off like nobody's BUSINESS! things that I thought FOR SURE would not fit on the dolly DID and i was left thinking, "how did he do that?!"!

if you ask Cat Daddy about something - ANYTHING - he usually knows what you're asking about, some history behind it and how it works. mind you... some of it might be what HE thinks it is and how HE thinks it works - but, in my opinion, that makes it more fun - and it usually makes more sense!

cookie breaks. Those are a must - and they happen just as all cookie breaks MUST happen.

i learned how to screech around sharp corners like a world class stunt driver... while going 10mph.

Cat Daddy is patient... each morning (which in HIS opinion starts WAY earlier than when Mama Debinator and I think it should) he would just sit and wait for us to be ready to "get out on the job-site". that - right there - says a lot about him!!!

Vienna Sausage will - from here on out - be referred to as: "VYEENY WEENIES" and are always best when warmed up on the dash of the truck.

and THEN there is Mama Debinator! good GRIEF - she is crooked as crooked can GET!

when i set-up red.neckville on the road and in the antique mall - i am very linear in my displays. i adore multiples and simple groupings and line-ups of fun stuff. (could be a flashback from my jail day.. *shrug*)

Mama Debinator? nnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooo:

"turn it a little bit more"...

"hang this from that corner... no... angle it some more."

"i just had a brain fart..."

THAT statement always leads to climbing, doing some gymnastics and making things crooked.

by the end of the first day MY question was always: "is that crooked enough for you?"

let me tell you though... the Talkin' Trash space at Marburger was a magical land of fun junk, AWESOME junk, giggles and laughter, life lessons and wisdom... and coffee.

and crooked things.

Mama Debinator's space was as FABulous as she is!!!

for me? the whole week was absolutely priceless. i got to spend days and nights with two of the most important people in my life. (yes. i am bragging about that!) annnnnnnd i'm ready to do it again.

let's see... what else... oh - i got a part/time job. well, i won't really call it a JOB because...

uhmm...

I GET TO GO VISIT HONEY (i know, i know, you know all about Honey and how i stalk her like a crazed red.neck, but stay with me here!) 3 DAYS A WEEK!!! i am SO excited - THREE DAYS each week i get to lurk, loiter, soak in and LEARN in Honey's Home + Style... i get to puppy-dog Honey's footsteps and sponge up her wisdom - I GET TO PLAY WITH FABULOUS HOME PRODUCTS and BE SURROUNDED by ALL THINGS new and cutting edge - all things that make up Honey's STYLE!!!

for a red.neck with big dreams, goals and plans - this is such an AWESOME FABULOUS honor for me - and i can't stop grinning!!! i see great and fun things happening and all of this is going to be reflected in how "red.neck Chic" grows and matures and becomes all things funner! did i mention that i get to spend time in the MOST FABULOUS shop on earth with one of the MOST FABULOUS shop owners I know? oh - happy dance HAPPY DANCE!!!

i'm sure that there is a whole lot more i'm forgetting to tell you about, but i figure you're out of coffee (and you might be falling asleep in "the throne" because it is THAT comfortable!) and i think i just saw sparks flying out of my coffee maker... that REALLY can't be a good thing i don't think...

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where i THANK YOU for being you and for sitting and visiting with me!!! you DO KNOW that YOU are super special to me and i promise - i'll get better at being an informant!!! right after i see why there are sparklers in my kitchen...

xoxoxoxo

FOUR YEARS!!!

I was babbling (that happens) the other night and it came out of my mouth:

"red.neck Chic - the blog - has four years of me. Some silliness - some seriousness - all me."

FOUR YEARS!!! Seems like it was only yesterday!

Do you realize all of the adventures you have been on with me? The jail-cell tales I've told... the man-child we've raised... the road trips we've taken... the shows we've done... the things we've made... the things we've THOUGHT about making... the times I've burned my kitchen down (I'm so glad you always bring a fire extinguisher)... the animals that have arrived and not left... the New Year resolutions each year... the couch we made re-live the chainsaw massacre...

The "resident teen" started DRIVING with you along for the ride... and I can't believe I let him drive after confessing to my dirty little "I stole a car" secret... I still don't think he knows... I don't think.

I've buried sewing machines - you were along as my accomplice... Heck - I've hauled a woman around on top of my car... then murdered her. You were there.


We've discussed my Grandparents - a couple of times - at Christmas and at the Port-a-Potty (No... it wasn't Christmas IN the port-a-potty... though stranger things happen in my neighborhood...)...


You spent time with Grampy on Veteran's Day and time with Grammy on our birthday...


You've been to "the Mama's" house (remember running from her? HAHAHA) countless times - my favorite is when you came at Christmas! And the tea party's she's hostessed for us... there's one more I haven't shown you yet! Remember when my older brother stole her car right in front of her?


I took a deep breath and introduced you to ALL of the crazies I'm related to my red.neck family!


Let's see... I've been jobless and am now building my "mercantile" in The Hillsboro Antique Mall... you've been watching me from the very beginning there... remember when I erected the "Taj Mahal"? It's still there... just a lot bigger.


We've been to the NASCAR races and we watched the soccer team win the Superbowl... we've even eaten pickles together at High School Football games!


You've watched me shift and change... learn how to use a camera... grow and then grow some more... you've listened to me rant - you've listened to me rave... you've listened to me crack up at nothing at all - and everything at once. You've watched me meet new friends, welcome some old friends - adopt new family members.


Sickness and health, mischief and mayhem, laughter and tears... ho-hum days and CRAZY days... sewing thread and spray paint cans... we've been in it together.


THANK YOU for YOU!!!


comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I'm thinking... 4 MORE years of complete insanity and THAT many more rolls of duct tape are comin' right up... are you ready?

batta, batta, touch-down

I decided to join the State of Texas last night by tuning in to the World Series to watch the Rangers.

I had my Superbowl attire on of jammy pants and shirt with a happy monkey soccer player sportin' the number "3". I had my phone in hand so I could get answers to any and all questions I had about this sport called:

Me: "It's very hard to make it to the home base!  I never realized that!"

Response: "Yes it IS!!! Each base is 90 feet from the other..."

While I processed THAT information... two things occurred to me.
1.  That's a lot of feet and I am worn out just thinking about it.
2. How do they decide who comes out of pit row first?

Then I heard it... "du du du du du duuuuuuuuuuuum"

Me: "I wanna play the organ"

Me: "How do they know when to swing and when not to?  I'd so stink at this game."

Response:  "The batter has to know the strike zone... Horizontally, the ball has to cross over home plate... if it misses inside/outside, it's a ball... in addition to the pitching needing to be over the plate, the pitch needs to be at least knee-high and no higher than the batter's chest..."

I don't understand... I thought a strike was when all of the pins fell... and a miss was if the ball went in the gutter?

Me: "I'd be the one just happily swinging at all the balls coming my way. I would be so confused if I had to play baseball."

 

Me: "What is an RBI?"

Response: "RBI = Run Batted In... a batter got a hit that allowed a base runner to score..."

Me: "Ah!  Why do they get to walk?"

Response: "Maybe the batter hit a home run... The ball went over the fence, so they don't have to run..."

One time I went to a baseball game in Houston at the Minute Maid Stadium.  It was SO cool how the roof opened up during the game!  A plane flew over... a bird flew IN... and I watched the clouds drift by - THEN when evening arrived I watched for falling stars!  It was so much more interesting than watching the football players slam dunk in to goalies with rackets on the green triangle down below... I think Ol' Miss was playing the Detroit Red Wings or something.

Me: "I still want to play the big organ in the baseball field"

I made a really cute hat while the Rangers were playing the Miami Dolphins at the hockey game last night.  How's the baseball thing going for you? Are you watching the World Series?

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide (where I'm wondering if they sell hot dogs at the horse arena...) hee-hee

What?

I know ya'll will find this super hard to believe... but I have nothing to say!!!

I've just been holed up in my "mad lab" creating great things and trying my VERY BEST to stay out of trouble... sometimes that works.... sometimes not.

What have YOU been doing? Have you been creating great things? Did you get your kiddo's back in to school? Football started yet? Talk to me...

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide... where you really should talk to me because I have started having whole conversations with myself... that's just kinda skeery 'cause I'm a little crazy...