It's a Red Lipstick Day

I drooped a little this morning with the Weight of The World. I don't know if it is hormonal or what, but lately it is easy for me to cry.

After I dried my tears, I decided I needed something to perk me up and re-direct my day. Instantly, I remembered Emma's new red lipstick. I borrowed it and carefully painted my lips. Wow! I felt vibrant. I'm going to have to procure my own tube of that stuff. I think I understand now why it was so popular in the 40s. All the women were trying to stay cheerful during the war.

Emma decided that she, too, would have a red lipstick day. She took the brazen lip color back to her bathroom and perked herself up right speedily. Then we decided to take pictures. Unfortunately the good camera's battery was dead, so we used the little one, and it could not handle the abundance of sunbeams bouncing off Emma's yellow walls.

Emma looks more womanly than girlish to me. I don't know if that's really true or if it is just my mind trying to help me adjust to her starting college on Monday.

She ended up only wearing her red lipstick for the pictures. She was going to spend the afternoon as a mother's helper, so she changed clothes and applied peachy-pink lip color. It did seem more appropriate. I, however, was going to the feed store, so I left mine on.

After I returned with my 100 pounds of chicken feed, I took some pictures of myself with the newly-charged good camera and used one of them for my profile picture. Best to take advantage of the opportunity, I decided. Who knows when I'll have another red lipstick day!

Who Wears Short Shorts?

Yesterday Emma and I went to the community college to get her tested so that she can register for fall classes. I did a considerable amount of waiting and passed the time reading and people watching.

The students looked friendly. The campus was clean and attractive. I think Emma will enjoy her classes. But she won't fit in with her female peers when the predominant dress for girls is tank tops and short shorts. SHORT shorts. I had to keep my head down when I walked up the stairs behind these girls. I guess the guys must get used to this level of female exposure, or else they would all have to drop out from sheer distraction. I noticed that they dressed slightly better than the girls and wore long pants quite a bit more often than the girls. Tattoos and piercings seemed scarce, an unexpected bonus.

On the way home, I asked Emma if she had given any thought to how she would dress for class after seeing how the other girls dressed. She reminded me that the adviser we had spoken with late in the afternoon remarked to us that we had been there a long time. We hadn't told her that information. Clearly, she had noticed us earlier in the day because we stood out in our dresses. With that in mind, Emma decided that she would definitely not wear her cheerful red gingham jumper that she wore on the picnic with Angela. I really don't know if the style of dress makes that much difference. When no one else is wearing one, you're going to draw attention.

I Sing the Separator Electric

While I have been supremely content to lightheartedly and carelessly skim cream off the top of the milk with a gravy ladle, leaving to waste an 1/8" in each quart, my husband has worked feverishly behind the scenes trying to catapult me into machine efficiency with a properly working electric cream separator.

Our first one, an antique Westfalia that I bought used on eBay many moons ago, is missing a part that adjusts how fast the milk goes through the machine. If it goes through too fast, the cream does not separate completely and must be run through again. Possibly related to this is a problem we have with the milk foaming excessively. We're not sure because we also do not have a book for this machine. So this separator is usable, but it certainly does not perform at its peak.

This situation has preyed on Herb's mind for the last six months. Ultimately, it could not be borne. He tried and tried to buy the missing part, but to no avail. Apparently it's just one of those parts that is prone to get lost after 40 or 50 years.

Despite its problems, Herb loves our Westfalia machine. It gushes with horsepower; its body is rock hard and quivers not under a load, the Atlas of cream separators. As its motor winds up to full speed, it sings a manly song of precision machined bearings, which draws Herb into the earthy, testosterone-rich milieu of shared masculine memory, where Vikings row in sweaty synchronization and tribal hunters converge on the charging buffalo, bows drawn.

So I was not surprised when, with immense satisfaction, he informed me that he had found and purchased another Westfalia separator, one with the milk flow adjustment part and a book. It arrived while he was out of town. Despite being travel weary, upon his return Friday night, he set briskly to work setting it up for the greatly-anticipated triumph of cream separation without waste or worry.

Well, he got half of what he wished for. No waste. Solid cream. HEAVY cream. We tried using it in our coffee, but it takes quite a bit of stirring to get it to dissolve, and it leaves an unattractive layer of fat cells floating on the top. All is not lost, though. Herb figured out how to adjust it by the time four gallons of milk had run through. Next time we'll have pourable cream.

In the meantime, he suggested that this batch must certainly be just seconds away from butter. I'm going to put it in the mixer and see. If it works, I have an idea for a song: It Ain't Heavy, It's My Butter.

Third Order Carmelite Leaves Pro Life Legacy

Dr. Edward Hannigan: A Pro-Life Hero Texas Right to Life

"As a moral pillar of UTMB, Dr. Hannigan was crucial in keeping abortion out of UTMB. He stood firm during accreditation review procedures when questioned about UTMB not offering abortion or abortion-related services on its premises. He also shaped the convictions of countless medical students so that they, too, would adopt only life-affirming medical practices."

I did not know Dr. Hannigan, but he was a fellow parishioner of Queen of Angels. I was very impressed by what I read in the Texas Right to Life article linked above. He received Last Rites from Fr. Zendejas shortly before he died on Tuesday and was buried in a Carmelite habit at Mount Olivet Cemetery yesterday afternoon. His obituary is here.

Adjourning to the Living Room

My husband came home Thursday night with a surprise for me--a new Apple laptop. Totally shocked, I tried to get him to take it back. He refused. I told him that I didn't need it and that it was too much money. He ignored me and opened the box, to my deep distress.

At the same time, I felt guilty for not being able to respond in a way that let him enjoy giving me this fabulous present. Luckily, he anticipated that I would react this way, and it did not phase him. God bless him!

Friday morning I realized that this gift was the final incentive I needed to make the move to the living room for all my leisure activities. Our living room has the customary living room furniture as well as my desk, the piano, a fireplace and most of our books. I had been spending most of my time in the game room because the good reading lamp, music player, and the computer were all in there. Unfortunately, the television is also in there, and one of the surround sound speakers hangs right above the computer, so that if I was using it during the menfolk's action movie time, I was bombarded with sound effects that made me feel like a mama bear does when someone threatens her cubs. Worse, I am unable to tune out the news programs, and the majority of the stories disturb me long after the report is over.

I say "the final incentive" because I had already started trying to make the move. The first step was replacing the old CD player that no longer worked. Herb did that for me last week. He also bought me the connection I needed to hook up my iPhone to the stereo so that I could listen to my playlist through the Bose speakers that are mounted in the gable ends of the room. Being able to play music in the living room again enticed me to spend time working on cleaning up my desk, which had become a dumping ground instead of a workspace. One of my "Happiness Project" goals is to read the Bible all the way through before Christmas. Once my desk was clear, I started reading there. Since my desk is against a window, I can pause from reading and look out into the backyard. That pleases me exceedingly.

With the arrival of the new laptop, I realized that almost all the essentials for a ladies' retreat were now in place. I placed the laptop on my clean desk. It looked great! Now I just needed a reading lamp on one end of the couch. I replaced Herb's brass finished reading lamp in the game room with a black one, and I took his to the living room. I lit a scented candle on my desk, sat down, and listened to the Celtic Harp CD while visiting my favorite blogs on my new laptop. Ahhhh.

Picnic Pals

Emma and her friend Angela picnicked in a park Thursday and had so much fun that I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the pictures they took of themselves. For both of them to be in the picture, they each contributed their "outboard" hand to holding the camera.
The picture above is from a series of shots just after they finished eating. Upon enlarging it, Emma and I discovered that both girls had strawberry lodged in their teeth--one of the humorous hazards of picnic photography.


As with every occasion, Emma tried to dress appropriately. She thought red gingham would be perfect for a picnic costume. She has a red gingham jumper. She talked to Angela the day before and found out that she had a red gingham skirt. Done.

For Christmas I had given Emma a cooler with a built-in picnic "basket". She packed it with tuna fish sandwiches and two bowls of chopped apples seasoned with cinnamon, drenched in fresh raw cream, and topped with strawberries. She generally only drinks milk and water, so she packed a quart of each.







Then it was off to the car with picnic basket in tow for the drive down to Clear Lake to pick up Angela from work.

Here's a picture from the Picnic World website of all the supplies that come with Emma's cooler, The Avalanche model.

Components:
4 Plates, melamine 9"
4 Napkins, cotton 14" x 14"
4 Tumblers, acrylic
1 Tablecloth, cotton 45" x 45"
4 Ea. knives, forks & spoons (stainless steel)
1 Set of salt/pepper shakers
1 Corkscrew, waiter style (stainless steel)
1 Cutting board, wood 6" x 6"
1 Cheese knife, stainless steel w/wood handle
1 Ornate bottle stopper

Angela brought sandwiches and apple juice. I think they should have invited two more girls.

Next time they go, I'm going to make sure they both know how to do the Heimlich maneuver. I can't believe that Emma didn't choke on this strawberry--she was laughing so hard. Angela took a whole series of pictures to cover it, but I'll just include one more:



It appears that Angela was able to maintain her composure by looking heavenward and asking for Divine assistance.

In addition to eating and taking pictures of themselves, the girls enjoyed the scenery and the wildlife. Angela tried to get some geese to chase her so that Emma could take a picture of it, but apparently the geese would not cooperate.

It didn't get Angela down, though.

The girls had such a good time, they are already planning the next picnic. I must say that I am looking forward to it myself.