More Bedford struggles

A couple of years ago, a stupid political battle in Bedford caused our library to become the first public library in the country to shut down since 1989.

Because an anonymous donor gave $300,000 to the city, it reopened soon, but it reopened wounded. Lately, it has bounced back.

But now our city council is causing trouble again. They are trying to outsource our library. They want to save money, so they are asking for bids to run the facility. A for-profit company has put in a bid, and now we wait to find out what the mayor is going to do.

As a resident of the city for over 25 years, as a library patron, as a librarian-wannabe, as a mother of three kids who LOVE their library and its programs, I am livid about this development.

Many residents have spoken out against this plan, but it is still on the table.

I went to a meeting at the library a few weeks ago when I first heard about this. Apparently I hadn't heard about it because there were news articles about it in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram (which I don't read) but not in the Dallas Morning News (which I do read, although more thoroughly during the school year when I use it with my classes).

Anyway the meeting turned out to be a brainstorming session, not entirely because of the outsourcing threat.

Paloma in the middle

If Paloma has the opportunity, she loves to climb in the back seat between Carmen & Gabe. She does not appreciate it very much when I need her to get in her own seat!

An Inconvenient Truth

If you love this planet,
if you love your children,
you have to see this movie.

Watch the trailer here.

David & I just got around to seeing it. We got it at the library on DVD, so you probably can, too.



We have to change, we have to. And our family is taking on that challenge.

A few weeks ago, during all of the rain, Carmen asked me, "Why is God doing this to us?" (This was also around the time Paloma said, "It's raining at us!") A few days later, I heard her version of my answer as she explained why it was raining to all of her cousins on the 4th of July: Because humans aren't taking good care of the earth, the weather is changing all over the earth.



Even if you aren't a Democrat, I promise, you can learn from & appreciate this film.

Ever since the 2000 election, Al Gore has given this talk with this slide show to as many audiences as possible. The part that made my Mom seem interested was the story about how Gore's father, although a senator, was also always a tobacco farmer--he used this as an illustration of understanding the need for change--but he finally quit farming tobacco when Gore's sister died of lung cancer.


I was already pretty green; for years it's been my goal to recycle more than we put in the trash, for instance. But David was especially convicted after seeing the film. Within a couple of weeks, he had replaced every light bulb in our house.


However, when a guy came around door to door and convinced me to have my hail damage fixed from the April 13 storm, the car I got from Enterprise was not very earth friendly, but it was the only one that could hold 3 car seats in the back. I couldn't believe how much I spent on gas the two weeks I had it! The kids liked it, but I missed my car. Unfortunately, it smelled like cigarette smoke when I got it back!




But even worse than that was the news I got when I picked up the car. The really personable guy who convinced me to have the damage fixed had been killed in a motorcycle accident that morning. I walked around in shock that day. He was my age. His name was Buck.

How fragile life is.

Home Theatre & Audio/ Video pitch

We’ve been doing some freelance work for our friends Brian & Amy this summer. They have a small business called Texas Home & Leisure. If you know of anyone who needs a new TV or AV equipment, have them give Brian a call. He can get really good deals! And since we went to police academy together 12 years ago, I can vouch for him!

Found Cars cars

Call off the search—we found all of the missing Dinoco cars. They were discovered inside Gabriel’s trash truck. Paloma is the prime suspect, but since there was no obvious intent to deprive the owner of their use, we’re not pursuing this any further.

What a ham

None of my kids ever took a pacifier, but we still had some, just in case. I remember Brian's dad, who is a doctor, giving us advice when Carmen was born: get plenty of pacifiers.

Anyway, Paloma found a pacifier somewhere in her room, put it in her mouth and came to show me. It was a funny sight anyway because I'd never seen her with one in her mouth. It was funnier when I asked her about it.

"Paloma, are you a baby?"

"No, I'm a pig."

We laughed at her, so she repeated the joke a few times, but I was not fast enough to get a picture! I do understand why she said it--it does look a little like a snout when it's in her mouth!

- - -

In a similarly funny incident, she found a cloth nursing pad somewhere in my room (I don't know how or why, I haven't used them since she was a newborn), folded it in half and talked about eating her taco, then offered it to David.

Watch out, everybody—Lauren’s driving now! Just kidding. I’m sure you’ll be an excellent driver, Lala. Anyway, she only has her permit so far, but it’s offical. It’s hard to believe she’s almost 16 years old.

The last few years have seen a lot of changes for Lala. She was an only child for 13+ years, and before Carmen was born, when she was 8, she did not relish the idea of having to compete with cousins for attention. Then, when she was 13, she found out that her mom & stepdad as well as her dad & stepmom were both expecting babies. So her two half sisters were born in 2005 (Zoe & Amelia). And just when she became accustomed to that, we discovered that Hannah was expecting another baby, due any time now. He's going to be named Henry Elliott, we hear.

As Homer would say, "Mmmm, donuts!"

One night recently Gabriel asked, "Can we have donuts sometime? We haven't had them in a long time!" This was true for two reasons. First, David's diabetes prohibits breakfasts like that. Second, there wasn't a donut shop near us (within a 15-mile radius) that made donuts worth the trip, the money, or the calories.

But Woo Hoo! I found a Shipley's! I've been missing their "Plain Sugar" donuts that are anything but plain. . . when warm, they melt in your mouth like no other.
You can get this variety at Krispy Kreme, but they're not quite as good.
Anyway there used to be a Shipley's about a mile from work and I used to buy dozens of this variety because if you only buy a few, they give you what's in the case. But if you buy more than they have in the case, they give you HOT ones.

But a couple of years ago, while I was still doing yearbook, I went there one morning and they were closed. I have mourned the loss ever since.
As I lamented Shipley's closing to my friend Charis, she told me that she thought there was a Shipley's near her neighborhood. So recently I Googled Shipley's (on MAPS) and found that location. But when I tried to call, I found it was out of business, too.
So the next closest Shipley's was about 20 miles away. When I called and found it was still open, I told the owner we'd be there soon.

We didn't get there until close to 11, however, so that ended up being brunch!

So as not to waste the trip, we went by David's office to fax plans for P-Lo's birthday and tried to go to turn in our old camera to be repaired. The kids enjoyed the time at his office, playing with the spinning chairs and talking to the summer intern.

Party all the time

This summer set a new record for our family in the number of social invitations and attendance of parties! There were so many, I had trouble keeping up!




The first party of the summer was for two of Carmen's friends, Macy & Avery (the twins, she used to call them, referring to just the girls from a set of triplets that includes a boy, Jack, who was in her kindergarten class).

Soon thereafter, she went to Mikala's party at Sweet & Sassy. My favorite part was how she was greeted when she arrived! It had been a few weeks since all of these classmates had seen each other.

This is Mikala getting her makeover.






We went to Splash for Lily’s 7th birthday. Lily is in Carmen’s Spanish Immersion class, so they will be classmates until at least 6th grade. We appreciate Lily’s dad; he was the contact person for the class this year and helped get messages from Ms. Z out to all the parents.



After swimming and cake, we went in our wet swimsuits to Pleasant Glade pool for Maddie’s 6th birthday,

where we saw most of the adults from our Sunday school class and their kids.

I thought Paloma was heading for her classmate, Jacob (Madelyn's little brother), but maybe she was really just going straight to the ice chest.




I just had to shoot this picture of our friend Owen ("O for Owen!", Paloma always says.) because he always beams when he sees me! He has always had such an easy smile since he was a baby, and I love that!





Dan & Tracie held a mostly-backyard party for Elizabeth’s rainbow-themed 5th birthday.
They played with water balloons, water guns, the hose, etc.,



as well as drawing on the driveway and a pie-eating (really whipped cream-eating) contest.






Elizabeth prefered to eat like a lady and stay clean!


Our kids enjoyed the trampoline like they do every time we visit.





and Paloma enjoyed seeing baby Samantha again. Isn't she precious?

Elizabeth had a Jelly Belly rainbow cake with marshmallows--a big hit with the kids!

Water we been doing?

We just finished our two weeks of swimming lessons--what a crazy schedule! Carmen and Gabriel had theirs at 8:30 every morning, but Paloma's (with David) were at 6:40 every night. It seems like 10 hours in between ought to be plenty for everything else, but not so much.
After the first day, Paloma understood that her lessons were at night. "I swim tonight!", she'd tell people all day.
She enjoyed the Swim Jim, a contraption that allowed her to be neck-deep in the water.
But if you ask her what her favorite part was, she'd tell you, "Diving board!"
Paloma's teacher was Courtney, a former student of mine from before I was married!

I remembered her first name and that she'd been a gymnast the instant I saw her.

Even after all of the lessons, Paloma still isn't that brave about jumping from the edge. She still wants to be able to touch or almost touch the hands of whoever will catch her. Which is crazy because anywhere else shye climbs and jumps with abandon--unfortunately and much to my consternation, she can climb the bunk beds!
One night, after rushing dinner to get there, David & Paloma arrived for swimming lessons, but there was thunder, so they just waited and never swam. This made a big impression on Paloma, apparently. The next night, as they arrived, she said, "It's not raining today."

This is Carly, a former student of mine who I later discovered is a cousin of Lauren (Allison's daughter, my niece). We didn't know that the whole time she was in my class. My mom ran into her somewhere and asked if she knew me. She told Mom, "She's my favorite teacher!"
A former student, Jeff, said he's taking summer school English in my classroom now:
This is a former student, Reba:
The morning of Carmen and Gabe's last swim lesson, we were allowed to go in and take video and pictures. Unfortunately, I was not thinking ahead enough to realize what that meant for Paloma: a departure from the norm and temptation to get in the water.

Every time I tried to shoot video, she tried to get in the shallow water. (She'd enjoyed the same pool at Gabe's birthday party and could not understand why all of the other kids were swimming and she couldn't.) Taking her out of the water led to this:
But who can blame her? Her brother and sister were playing here:
This is Gabriel posing with one of his teachers, Tricia, a former yearbook kid & favorite student of mine.
Carmen's teachers were Kaitlyn & Will:
Next year, she'll have to go to a different pool/ park to move up a level (where the water is deeper).

During Carmen & Gabe's swimming lessons, I took Paloma to the playground at the same park on 8 of the 10 days. She preferred the slide to everything else and only wanted to swing on our last day there.

One day, she took her baby (one of many) and let her play at the park too. (Incidentally, she goes down easier for naps these days when I tell her to put her babies down for a nap—“close your eyes, baby” to each doll she brought with her into the crib that day).

Most of the days, she willingly left the playground to go and get Gabriel & Carmen.


Since David took Paloma to her lessons, we only went with them three times. Once, the kids played at the park, but it was so hot at that hour, we didn't do it again.

One time, the kids swam during the lesson, and during the last lesson, they had to just watch because we were headed to the Fine Arts Camp program afterwards.