Parade of Homes tour

A couple weeks ago, we toured through about half of the 32 new builds included in our local parade of homes. I was pleasantly surprised to run across several features that caught my eye, a number of details I might want to include in our dream retirement custom build here at the lake. The light fixtures below were interesting to me since I'd like to incorporate a few modern iron and/or wood rustic touches.

There were a couple kitchen design ideas that I liked. The first one was particularly utilitarian, putting a paper towel holder in the recessed spot of a drawer above the trash can. Genius, really, to get it off the counter where most folks typically have it. 

Then there were the glass fronted kitchen cabinets where I'm planning to display my vintage collections. Most glass front display cabinets open on hinges that swing outward, left and right. However, these cabinets in the parade home were a single expanse of glass that opens from the bottom. And I was like oh-my-gosh, I love this! It's such a logical thing to do so you can see the entirety of what's being showcased behind the glass. But it honestly wouldn't have dawned on me to have the cabinets constructed this way until I saw it in the parade home. 

This accent tile below in the back of a shower at one of the houses caught my attention. It's such a fun leaf shape that I think would a unique select in one of the four bathrooms we've got to design.

I had already decided to include a casual dining nook in our retirement lake house. Then we ran across the one below in a parade home, and my idea was confirmed in all its cool and practical glory. And I gotta admit I'm kinda surprised we only saw the one because I think they're a great use of space. I like that it provides bench seating, but you can also pull up chairs to fully maximize the number of dining spots available for larger gatherings. Plus storage, y'all. The whole set up is a must-have for me.

This wet bar below was in the entertaining "barn" space of a design home out in the country on some acreage, and I thought it was really interesting. Such a typical Texas touch, too. However, this wasn't the only house where they had backlit a natural stone countertop or wall. I'm not sure yet if it would be a good fit for our wet bar and the direction I'm taking, but I do think it's a rather unique and kinda artsy option to consider.

Fishing boat for the 4th

The husband has been talking about buying a fishing boat since he retired six months ago. After researching models, contemplating accessories, considering our needs and where it will be stored, he finally chose one earlier this week. We made the hour long drive over to a boat dealer in the cute little town of Gladewater, which has dubbed itself the antique capital of East Texas. 

The owner's grandfather opened this boat business in the early 1950s, and they specialize in fishing boats. The husband crawled around the one he had honed in on below, and asked lots of questions. After a bit of wrangling to get the right accessories for fishing, including some fancy trolling motor and live scope, we'll be able to pick it up next weekend. Which means we'll have it for the holiday when we'll be hosting the younger set that likes to fish with all the bells and whistles. The fishies on our lake better beware, because we're coming for ya!

Permission for demolition

It has taken more time than we imagined, but last week the husband and I finally purchased what we've been referring to as the tear down house. After closing the deal at the title company the seller chose to use in a nearby town, we hit one of our favorite fusion restaurants. They do an excellent job of mixing Cajun and Tex Mex cuisine. Since I was driving, the husband celebrated with something called a gator bite drink.

We were supposed to buy this property the day after Memorial Day, but the title company and owner needed more time to get the paperwork done and unload the house. Granted, we wouldn't have minded if this sweet little 1963 convertible Corvette seen below had been left in the garage for us. But alas, they got it running and away it went. 

Though we didn't get to keep the zippy old Vette, we did run across a cool vintage water ski as well as some golf clubs that I might use for decor in our dream retirement house we're still busy designing. With the HOA approving our application to tear down the house, now it's just a matter of getting the electricity and water disconnected from the source so the demolition folks can do their thing.

We continue to make tweaks to our house plans with the architect we hired. He has been a quick study with our vision, and does a good job of listening to what we want, as well as getting revisions to us in a very timely manner. I think that by the time the old house has been removed from the site over the course of the next month, that we will have our house plans edited to our liking and contracts signed so we can kick off the build in early fall.

Vacation Bible School 2026

Whew, y'all... I just wrapped up a week of teaching VBS to 5th graders at the church we attend here in our community, and I am whooped! They were such a sweet group and I really enjoyed them. Plus I had a really great youth helper that was such a positive role model for the kiddos. 

It has been a minute since I taught VBS, and so I stuck my "class schedule" to the back of my name tag so I could keep track of all the activities we had the kids rotating through every day. As you can see above, the curriculum does a really good job of keeping them hopping and popping around to fun things that really engage them, while reiterating as well as reinforcing the daily Bible story and memory verse. 

Our theme this week was "Known & Called". The kiddos, ages PreK to 5th gr, learned three core ideas. 1) God is powerful, faithful and loving. 2) That Jesus knows them and loves them. 3) And they can choose to follow Jesus. Every day we opened VBS with a few of my favorite modern worship songs, including "Goodbye Yesterday" and "Can't Steal My Joy". The kids really got into the moves they learned to go along with the lyrics, and it was a joy to see them worship the Lord in song. 

In true VBS fashion, even the snacks coordinated with the theme. For our Exodus story of Moses parting the Red Sea, you can see one of their edible efforts below. After we wrapped up our final day, the kids enjoyed a splash bash celebration - lunch, some of those big inflatable water slides, a dunk tank and a watermelon eating contest. It was a busy week teaching the kids about our Savior, Jesus, and my sincere privilege to volunteer alongside an amazing group of wonderful folks here in our neighborhood. Tonight I'm absolutely NOT setting my alarm since I'm off  the VBS clock until next year.

Dear friends at the lake

This week we had the pleasure of hosting a friend and her family here at the lake. I've known TJ since we were in elementary school together. Attended the same university. Visited and kept in touch over the decades. Which takes effort since she has lived in Europe for almost thirty years now. 

In Texas (from Portugal) to attend her niece's wedding, I invited her to our lake house with promises of boat rides, fishing and authentic cajun food. We had some spotty rain, but didn't let that slow us down. Every morning she and I would get up with the sun to log about four miles of walking in our neighborhood. Nice long chats with someone who knows all your history, the good, bad and ugly, is truly a blessing. On these walks, we saw various critters. The Canadian geese were hanging out at the dog park, and they were entertaining to watch when we took a little break.

Our friends had lots of luck with their fishing. We were fortunate that the fish under and around our dock really liked the worms and minnows we used. A couple of the catfish reeled in were big enough to eat. The small perch, catfish and bass they landed were fun to check out and then throw back. One evening, they were having so much fun that they continued fishing through a beautiful sunset into early evening.

It was cool to spy one of our sailboat neighbors out on the water for a spin. Sailboats are always such a majestic sight, in my opinion. We finally got motivated to dig out our towable and get it aired up for us to kick off the summer season with the 20 something crowd. TJ's younger son and husband were both game to take a ride. So I gave it my best shot, spinning in circles and figure 8's, trying to bounce them off. Whether a relaxing ride in the golden hour or jumping waves on a towable in the afternoon, we all had a good time on the water. I really wish I had snapped some pics of the action, but I was busy driving the boat.

Jesus & dumplings

In a couple weeks, I'll be teaching VBS after a realllllly long hiatus. As in haven't taught it since our newly law-degreed daughter was in elementary school. So yeah, many moons ago. But I'm game. We had a curriculum meeting this week and I'm excited about all of the fun things the kiddos will get to do while being immersed in God's message of hope, love and faithfulness. Hands and feet of Jesus, y'all. If we aren't pouring the Gospel into the younger generations, then we're failing at what our Lord and Savior told us to do to further His kingdom here on earth.

By no stretch of the imagination do I consider myself a crafty girl. So when the VBS coordinator asked me if I could make a paper mache sun with some rays as part of the decor, I gave it my best shot. The deep mustard yellow paint job is absolutely retina-burning bright. There's no way the kids can miss it. I'll follow up my efforts by decorating our classroom in an "Under the RED Sea" theme to go with the second day's lesson about Moses leading his people out of Egypt. 

On a completely separate note... the husband and I continue to try new restaurants near our lake house. Taco Tuesday at a local fish place was definitely a winner. But a foray to a noodles and dumplings place, where everything is made fresh in a see-thru kitchen set up, was one of our recent favorites. Good thing I'm still logging 25 miles of walking every week to burn off some of the delicious calories we're consuming.

May musings

Praise the Lord that we've continued to get a bit more rain lately, because we really needed it. Thankfully, the showers didn't put a damper on our Memorial Day plans. We were still able to grill a few times as well as walk a Freedom 5K here in our community. With the lawyer daughter's boyfriend out of town, we got to enjoy her company a couple days. That girl is covered up in bar exam prep, and heaven forbid anything interfere with her study schedule. So she hightailed it back to Dallas Sunday morning.

Back when we lived in England, the husband enjoyed buying new beers to sample. That continues today with my photographic evidence below of a recent taste test he created for himself. I didn't partake, but have to admit I was intrigued by some of the cool names and can designs.

Both dogs had to be taken to the vet recently, one with a swollen paw and the other with stomach issues. But by the time I was able to secure an appointment and get them there, little man Finn was no longer limping, and Pepper's diarrhea had run its course. I got some preventative meds in case either issue popped up over the long holiday weekend. I imagine the fact that I got something to have on hand assured that there would be no further health concerns.

I've become a regular walker in our neighborhood, logging 25 miles per week. Ye old metabolism continues to crawl along as I age, and so I've cut back on the calories and upped the exercise to keep from outgrowing my britches. Every day I pass by this sweet patch of zinnias one of the neighbors on our street planted right along the road, and it makes me smile.

Finally, I was zipping into town to run an errand this week and the misspelling on the back of a work van caught my eye when we were stopped at a red light. In this modern age of autocorrect and spell check, I'll admit it's a rarity to see something like this. They obviously should have run their text by someone with proofreading EXPERIENCE. And I can't help but wonder how long it took someone to point out this error emblazoned across the back of their van they obviously use for advertising.