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.

Our new lawyer in the family

We spent a couple days in Dallas, celebrating the younger daughter's graduation from SMU law school. Our CPA daughter and her husband were able to join us from Austin to make it a fun family celebration. We wish the husband's parents could have joined us, but they were happy to watch the ceremony's livestream and cheer her on from the comfort of their living room. 

We went out for a celebratory dinner at Stillwell's Steak House in downtown Dallas' Hotel Swexan. The service was excellent and the meal delicious. Our law grad will now be buckling down to begin the arduously time consuming task of studying for the bar exam at the end of July. She has always been a dedicated learner who takes her studies seriously, so we know she'll be well on her way to clearing this last hurdle to secure her law license in the state of Texas. 

May on the lake

When the CPA daughter dropped in for Mother's Day Sat-Sun on her way to Dallas for work, we had the chance to do a spot of fishing from our dock. The initial spinner she used wasn't attractive to our local fishes. So the husband zipped over to our nearest convenience store to pick up a container of Canadian crawlers. Sure enough, that did the trick and she reeled in a little sunfish and catfish.

Then I had to stroll down memory lane, scratching around to find old pics I had taken on a trip to Minnesota when these two also did a bit of fishing. It was the summer before she started kindergarten. Such sweet memories, y'all.

We took the boat out for a spin, and our daughter decided little man Finn should join us. He was really nervous at first, very unsure of it all. But he settled down and seemed to enjoy checking things out along the shoreline as we cruised around the bay.

I know the pic below is so zoomed in that it's super blurry. But I didn't want to try and creep closer to momma duck and her babies for fear of scaring them away. We've seen them paddling around this stretch of our neighborhood the past few days, and they're so stinking cute.

Mother's Day weekend 2026

What I wouldn't give to have my own dear mother with us to celebrate today. On a weekly basis I find myself thinking about how much she would have enjoyed living in this lake community with us, because she became a real social butterfly in her later years. I think what pulls at my heart strings the most is that she didn't live longer to enjoy our girls as adults. The graduations and wedding she has missed since she went home to heaven over four years ago. Another wedding and some great grand babies to spoil. But all of the little mundane stuff, too. So much life I thought she'd be here to enjoy, but it wasn't meant to be. 

Mother's Day 2020, with all four grandkids

But I DID enjoy my Mother's Day rather than succumbing to the maudlin thoughts. We got to see our older daughter, the CPA, en route to a work commitment in Dallas tomorrow. Plus we had the husband's mother as well as my sister for brunch at the club after church. This earthly life is short, and time is precious, y'all. Focus on family, and place your trust in our most gracious and loving Lord. 

Wishy washy spring weather

Spring weather in these parts is always interesting. The heat is starting to settle in, but we always have these last gasp cool fronts making their way through the area. So that means we're often in the watch zone for severe thunderstorms, hail, straight line winds and tornados.  

Several nights ago we had some serious straight line winds blow through the neighborhood. The next morning I walked down to the dock to check on the outdoor furniture, and ran across this scramble above. I purposely chose our polywood dining set because it's heavier than a lot of other options I considered. However, I knew it would be best to hedge my bets by using a steel cable run through the chairs to secure them with a padlock to a dock beam. And now I've got photographic proof it was a wise precaution.

The rest of the weekend we enjoyed more beautiful "San Diego weather", as my husband calls it. My sister and I did take the time to zip over to the world's largest flea market in Canton, in search of a vintage bait bucket. With two old bait buckets saved from our river house, I thought it would be fun to have a grouping of three painted with fish by a local artist to serve as decor on the boathouse. Or maybe in the kid's bunk room bath (think garbage pails) at the new lake house we'll be building. 

Sunday was another glorious day spent out on the back porch, where we spied one of our local sailboats out for a spin. With our air temps warming, along with the water temps, we're starting to see parents hauling around kids on towables. And the jet ski folks are definitely out in full force again. 

We're goin' hoppin'

Last Saturday night we had a hoppin' and poppin' good time at the American Bandstand-themed party up at the clubhouse. We were seated with a neighbor couple that's really fun, plus some of my mahjong friends. It was touted as a musical tour through the 50s, 60s and 70s. I'm dating myself here, remembering Dick Clark hosting American Bandstand back in the day.

We got a kick out of the pack of candy cigarettes as part of our table decor, and had no clue anybody still made them. I feel like the DJ played more tunes from the 50s and 60s versus 70s. So I was happy when he cranked up Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland". Dressing for a decade was encouraged, so I went with the 60s since that's when I was born. All in all, it was a great party with fabulous music, and one of our last theme parties as the social season winds down, with folks gearing up to travel for the summer. To quote Dick Clark, "For now, I'm Carrie Louise... so long!"

Real estate rodeo

Heavens to Betsy, y'all, my head is spinning from wrangling real estate the past couple weeks. We FINALLY got our hill country house on the market. I'm praying a large or multigenerational family needing lots of space and breathing room will come along and fall in love with it. Our hope is that it will sell by the time school starts again in August so we can close the door on that chapter of our lives.

https://vimeo.com/1184125956?fl=pl&fe=sh

*click on the link directly above to see the video of our hill country house*

Meanwhile, here at the lake, we (meaning me) decided that our current house on a little lot with big water views just wouldn't work for us long term. And when I say long term, I mean I can't picture us leaving our sweet little community anytime soon. Though the husband and I agree we could definitely see ourselves buying a second home to be near them if our grown daughters move out-of-state. Which remains to be seen. And I digress, as usual.

In considering other lake house options, we've run across a few waterfront properties that would be a better fit for our needs. But I've just felt so welcomed and at home here in our 'hood that I want to continue putting down roots. Honing my mahjong skills. Leading the Monday morning women's Bible study at our community church. Serving as the women's club vice president. When I say I'm getting involved, you can see I'm serious about it.

Since we want to stay here in our golf community, that meant looking at options which would give us more space for a custom build. And ideally a blank slate to create exactly what we want. We discovered a canal lot, as well as a tear down that has golf course and water views. After us hemming and hawing a bit, unsure about committing to a new build, the canal lot was taken off the market by the owner. That left the tear down, which was in a sticky situation, having a reverse mortgage on it with the elderly widowed owner now residing in a nursing home. 

We were afraid we might have to cool our heels months on end if the bank foreclosed on the tear down. But in a quick turn of events earlier this week, the bank opted for a short sale and allowed us plus a couple other potential buyers to make "best and final" offers. We thought we might be destined for a long wait to see how it would all shake out, whether we'd get to purchase it or not. If it was a no, then we'd trust the Good Lord to lead us to an even better property for us in His perfect timing. 

Lo and behold, we got the call from our realtor a couple days later that the tear down was ours. I've already contacted our designer/decorator back in the hill country to let her know I'll be needing her help soon. This will be her 8th house with me, and I'm happy to have her on board. I contemplated using a local person, but just feel more comfortable sticking with someone who understands my aesthetic and I can trust to steer me in the right direction. I've learned a lot from her since we started working together over twenty years ago, and so I feel like this build process from the design end will run very smoothly. Buckle up, because you'll soon be tuning in to approximately 18-24 months of custom home building posts here on the blog.