Tag: texas

Oops…

Well, we were supposed to have a Texas flag that flew over the capitol building on our wedding day… only the will of God can make that happen now. My man will look into it to find out. God willing, he will get one. If not, I asked him to get one for the anniversary of the day we met. Not exactly the same, but still cool.

I was really looking forward to this for us. But it wasn’t my task to manage, and I forgot all about it until today. We shall see what happens, though. I trust that God will give us exactly what we need to be our best selves, and that is the ultimate goal.

God, thank you for this life. Help us to find the joy and fun and community pride that this small yet significant luxury offers to us. Help us always to pursue and fulfill your will. Thank you for my husband and his love and your love. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

Oops

Well, we’re going to RenFest tomorrow, first thing. We wear awesome outfits that I made. They could use some minor yet valuable adjustments. Yet, somehow, every year, I forget to make the adjustments until the last minute… this year’s being no different, I didn’t even pull them out until tonight…

So, I’ll be fiddling with my man’s cloak in the car on the way up in the morning, and hoping I’m doing the best thing for it. However, so far as our new drinking horns are concerned, I came across them by accident the other day, about a week ago, I guess… I remembered that we needed to seal them for safe drinking. So, I hauled them out, washed them, looked up what I was supposed to be using and doing to make them ‘safe’ for use, and then went this past Sunday to get the stuff. I did the sealant and let them cure for more than double the recommended time (kind of forgot about them), and now they’re ready! Of course, because I kind of forgot about them, 1)they each have a couple droplets that are, basically, permanently on an outside edge of the horn, and 2)I genuinely almost forgot even to go get them as I packed up our stuff tonight. It was only because I went through the whole bag and came across the carriers that I even remembered we had them… as though I hadn’t just prepared them for use a handful of days ago…

Like I said, I kind of forgot about them… 😛

Anyway, I hope tomorrow goes well!

Dear God, keep us safe and well, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Inner child, or just child?

I forwarded an e-mail to my man, asking if he wanted to go for the special $1 wings day at his preferred wing place, Pluckers, next week. I told him that I get out of school early, so we could go during his lunch break. His response?

“Woohoo, yeah!I was gonna ask you about it!”

Not even a space between the sentences, he was so excited. 😛

I love this man.

Post-a-day 2023

Not excited

I have a jury duty summons for tomorrow. The courthouse is about 40 minutes away, without traffic. Start time is 8:30am. Compensation barely covers the cost of gasoline to get there and back.

Jury duty frustrates me immensely, and on multiple levels. I won’t get into it now, but I will mention one thing.

People claim that Voir Dire, the questioning of potential jurors by the lawyers to determine whether they will be on the jury or not, means, “to tell the truth”. It absolutely does not. It means, “to see to say”. I speak French. I know these words and I use them regularly in French. I also use the various words for “truth,” none of which are “voir” or anything like it. “To tell the truth,” would be, “Dire la vérité.” “Voir dire,” only equals, “To see to say.”

So, I went ahead and grilled Chat GPT on it. It gave some basic boring information, quoting all the same articles I had already crossed. But I kept pushing it to find the sources behind the sources, and, after taking much about the Medieval French practices of law, we came to this simple response/explanation:

Yes, you are correct. The term “voir dire” in its legal context originally referred to the process of “seeing” or “observing” what potential jurors said or how they responded to questions during their examination. It was used to assess their qualifications, impartiality, and credibility to determine if they were suitable to serve on the jury for a particular case.

The word “voir” in French means “to see,” and it has never meant “truth.” The term “voir dire” itself does not directly translate to “to speak the truth” in French.

The term “voir dire” originated in medieval England during the Norman Conquest when French legal terms were introduced into the English legal system. “Voir dire” was used to describe the process of “speaking the truth” or “telling the truth” during the examination of witnesses or jurors in legal proceedings.

While the term “voir dire” itself comes from the Old French words “voir” (to see) and “dire” (to speak), its usage in the legal context in England evolved to represent the idea of truth-speaking during the examination of witnesses and jurors.

Bam. I am satisfied that a reputable source agrees with me that evolution of terminology has happened in the case of “voir dire,” and that it does not mean “to speak the truth,” no matter how many times people claim it. It merely references a time when potential jurors are expected to speak the truth, and the lawyers observe the responses and determine how to proceed with each potential juror based on those responses. And it still means “to see to say”.

Goodnight.

God, let me go home early tomorrow morning, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Powers of observation?

I wear one of two pair of earrings these days. I’ve worn one pair, a dangling pair, maybe five or so times in the past year and a half. The rest of the time, I wear the other pair, the studs. I wear them at least part of the day every four out of seven days, roughly. And that has been my standard the past year and a half.

Talking today with my man, in the middle of our slightly stressed discussion – calling out automatic-reaction-defensive meanness always is a bit strained – we had a pause to let emotions settle with the facts (always a good thing to do).

And you know what he suddenly says to me? “You’re wearing two different earrings.”

The shock is rather unreal for me. You see, I am wearing the studs pair of earrings in this conversation. I ask him to tell me what each one is. He tells me that one is a Texas and the other is a star. ‘What kind of star?’ I ask. When he fumbles on an answer, clearly registering how silly his comment seems now, I finish for him, “A Texas Star.” The pair of earrings is, as described, a Texas on one ear and the Lone Star on the other. I always check to make sure they are both upright, the star especially. I’ve even asked him for help to straighten them on various occasions.

I point out to him that this is the pair of earrings I wear just about every time I wear earrings. ‘And you’re just noticing this fact about them?(!!!)’

The whole situation is comical and we both know it. How could he not have noticed this fact at any point in the past? We both know he has almost no excuse. He has looked at these earrings directly before today, and more than once by far. And yet he never noticed that they were two different shapes that go together as a set, versus matching ones.

Never.

We both smile at the comedy of it, enjoying the humor, especially the irony of its surfacing in the middle of a stressed situation/conversation. And I absolutely loved how we both were able to participate fully in the unique conversation of the earrings, as though we were in a sidebar with the judge from our actual conversation, settle the topic, and then go back to the original to the conversation in a better mood.

It was ridiculous. And wonderful. 😛

Thank you, God. Amen. 😀

Post-a-day 2023

Stateside!

Y’all, he is officially in Texas. He has stopped twice already to nap at rest stops, and I don’t know how many times he has had to stop to release bodily stuff from one end or the other (or both!). He somehow ended up vomiting and with diarrhea last night, and so got a start hours later than intended this morning. My guess is that he ended up drinking some bad water… I hope it clears through him quickly, and he can heal by tomorrow.

Nonetheless, he is almost home.

Dear God, thank you for his safe travels so far. Please, continue to bless his travel with safety, and help heal his body, that he return home to Houston healthy and safe. Then, please, grant us both blissful sleep tonight, that we awaken refreshed and ready to enjoy the holiday together tomorrow, pursuing and fulfilling your will by being our best selves together. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Guess wha-at…!

We

Have

Gas Again!!!!!

So, now we can have hot water and cook and bake and have heat in the house and run the dishwasher and wash and dry clothes and just hand wash greasy dishes period(!). Oh, goodness… the difference it makes. We are incredibly grateful this is finally handled.

Turns out that we likely didn’t need to dig the ditch ourselves at all, but I think it was still good in that it gave my man a somewhat cathartic thing to do, as well as a thing to do while we waited for all the rest of the pieces of big company nonsense to sort themselves out.

See? The contracted company brought their own machinery to handle the rest of it all. AND they put all of the dirt neatly back on top of the ditch after they replaced all the piping. No extra work for my man or us. Woohoo!

The big energy company, when we did what we were supposed to do, then told us that we would have to wait until Tuesday for them to come and do the simple re-installation of the gas meter and to turn on the gas… a very different message from what they had told us two days beforehand, when they’d said same-day installation would be no problem whatsoever. They now wanted us to spend over five days in our home in freezing temperatures, and then they would come do a twenty-minute stop-in.

No way, Jose.

Fortunately, after much intending on my part and multiple phone calls on the part of my man, Centerpoint showed up, and a very nice man named Lee hooked up everything easily and quickly, and turned on the gas and cleared up our gas lines in the house (because air is in the line at first, after installation). And now we have heat!

We actually both reveled in taking hot showers before going to the Christmas gathering we had this evening at my brothers’ dad’s house. That shower, though not the actual best I’ve had, was, within the context, the best shower ever. Uh…

I just thank you, God. Thank you. Keep us safe, please, that we pursue and fulfill your will, being our best selves. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

Bedtime

Lying on the bed, we listen to “You’ve got a lover” by Shake Russell. It was not planned. I was just looking for a YouTube version to send to someone who loved it when we had sung it the other day. But I listened to the whole thing after sending it to her. We listened. And it was a beautiful bedtime meditation. Thank you, Shake Russell. And thank you, God, for such amazing creativity and talent and artistry and work to be shared with the world and with us specifically. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise be to God. And thanks be to Shake. Amen.

Now, go listen to it yourself: “You’ve got a lover”

Post-a-day 2022

Rodeeeooooo

And so, it shall begin… tomorrow is or first (and second!) shift of the rodeo for our rodeo committee this year. My mom and I are delighted – it has been so long…

May Houston and its people and animals and visitors be safe and welcoming these next few weeks as we revel in the reestablish meant of this wonderful tradition in Houston. HLSR, here we come!

Post-a-day 2022

P.S. Rodeo actually starts next week, but the Barbecue Cook-off is this weekend, which is what kicks off the rodeo season every year.

Max

It looks like three hours is my max drive time for what I can consider ‘an easy trip’. Going back to Houston last night, then turning to come right back tonight was tough, especially with most of the driving being done at night, and a good chunk of it past my regular bedtime.

Anyway, I’m here now, alive and well. So, that’s good and I am grateful. However, I shall sleep hard core now.

Thank you for the safe travels . Please, bless me tonight and tomorrow that I might be your love. Amen.

Post-a-day 2021