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The latest issue of Texas Family Magazine is out. This one, I really like. I got a kick out of the Play It Again! piece, in which we profiled a dozen toys from our childhoods that have been remade for today's kids. Think Slinky, Monopoly (now with debit cards,) Twister, and Radio Flyer (what I call the pimp-my-ride set for kids.) There's also a great piece on the Sandwich Generation, those who are in the position of simultaneously taking care of their parents and their children. We also incorporated natural and organic products and living into many of our features/sections, and we rounded things off with travel stories on Amarillo, Texas, and Amelia Island Plantation in Florida. Plus, a bazillion other topics and pieces - all of which I could probably recite! : )
Those of you who have been following my blog for a while know that I have a very, very dear friend Prabhakar. Well, Prabhakar moved away this past weekend. To Canada. I told him I am just pretending he is away on one of his business trips, that this is not good bye. And, it's not. But, truth be told, I'll miss him. He's definitely one of the good ones.
We are joining with Crime Stoppers and others to help capture child predators who are on the run. Take a look at their website to see if you recognize any of these predators. I hear they have already caught the first fugitive as a result of this initiative!Here is a video of my statement at the press conference, kicking off Child Abuse Prevention Month. All the local stations and most of the local outlets were there so I assume we got some good coverage. And, we are on about 50 billboards across Houston. My statement is cut into two parts on YouTube. I start at about 8:50 into Part One and then am at the beginning of Part Two. In total, it's about four minutes. I encourage you to start with Part One. Oh, and in case you can't figure it out, I'm the one in the red dress, standing next to the congressman. :P
Baby Jackson and Big Sister Alivia Rose. I visited and met my nephew Jackson for the first time! He is extremely expressive with his face, constantly changing his expression in cute and remarkably original ways. He also smiled at me when I rubbed his head. : )And, yes, he is in his "Class of 2030" Texas A&M hat, much like Alivia's "Class of 2029" hat. : )The sweetest thing happened: Alivia heard Jackson let out a cry in the other room. Immediately, her expression changed, and she darted away toward him. (Well, to the extent one-year-olds can dart.) She grabbed a pacifier and went straight up to him to try to give him the pacifier to soothe him. She's one. And, he is only a week old. Talk about some real love, there. I thought it was one of the sweetest things I'd ever seen.
I think an important part of life, and in feeling good about our purpose in life, comes from helping others, which is accomplished through loving others. If we could boil down everything that matters in life, I believe the result would be love. And, this love is all around us, every day, in both small ways and grand. I find I am the most inspired and the most filled with love when I am around people who are serving others. This weekend, I had the privilege of helping kids with cancer and kids honoring those with cancer paint and decorate lucky horseshoes that will serve as centerpieces for the Cattle Baron's Ball, which will benefit The American Cancer Society. Because of the nature of the event, I asked God to send me in with extra angels that day, and I could feel their presence the entire time. The knowledge of that goodness is almost overwhelming, but in a good, good way. I am also helping with a campaign on which I definitely will be asking for the assistance of God and the angels. In conjunction with Crime Stoppers, we (via my Texas Family platform) are conducting a month long campaign during Child Abuse Prevention Month to capture child predators who have failed to register as sex offenders or who are wanted for victimizing children. We'll be having a press conference Friday, and I am trying to get the word to as many media outlets as I can because, ultimately, it is people in communities who can make the difference. What we are asking is that people look at the Crime Stoppers website to see if they can provide any information on the wanted felons. Here is my quote from my press release: “Sometimes child sex predators are hidden among us, within our trusted groups of friends and family, and we learn of their horrors only once it is too late, wondering if there are signs we should have recognized,” says Caroline A. Shearer, Editor in Chief of Texas Family Magazine. “Other times, such as with these wanted sex offenders who already have violated children, the law, and the justice system, we can take purposeful action to stop them from causing further harm. We implore you to help us capture these predators by providing Crime Stoppers any information on their whereabouts.”
I'm an aunt twice over now! Jackson Everett Shearer was born today at 2:03 p.m.! He was 6 pounds, 9 ounces. Everyone is doing well!
Do I not have the cutest niece in the world? (Other than my own aunts and uncles, of course. :P )I'm about to be an aunt twice over. Little Alivia here is about to have a baby brother - any day now! I hope you all had a Happy Easter! I came home with lots of organic dark chocolate so I'm definitely happy!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind always be at your back, and may everyone with a "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" button be really cute!Four leaf clovers to the lot of ya'! : )
I've been really bad about posting lately. I'd say nothing interesting has been going on, but that wouldn't be accurate. It's more that what has been going on is a.) not stuff I can put on here or b.) stuff I cannot put on here. :DI have been trying to hit a few SXSW events, along with the thousands of music-lovers who have descended upon our city, the live music capital of the world. There literally have been parties and live music and movies every hour on the hour, every day for a week. This will seem random, but Rachael Ray, the delightfully likable food celebrity, had a party with some indie bands. (Apparently, her husband is in that scene so there is the connection.) I missed seeing her, but I still made the party. I also went to an Ice Cube concert, which was pretty cool. It was old school - You Can Do It, Put Your Back Into It and Today Was a Good Day - meets new school - Gangster Rap Made Me Do It. It was fun. My dad will be proud that I am taking advantage of the music scene. He doesn't understand how I usually just let it slide on by me. There really is this whole other world here. Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY yesterday to my little brother!! : )
Yesterday, March 8, was International Women's Day. This story, then, from the AP, makes a timely appearance. A 19-year-old medic from Lake Jackson, Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor. Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said. After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away. "I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there," Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday at a U.S. base in the eastern province of Khost.
Have y'all been seeing my dear Aggies each night on the FOX Report with Shepard Smith? Looks like they are in the MSC (Memorial Student Center) on the Texas A&M University campus and are behaving so well - decked out in maroon and whooping only when appropriate. ;)
The segments are part of their ongoing election coverage. If only Shepard could pull some strings and get those political callers from non-stop calling my house!
Happy Leap Day! Enjoy your extra day of February! :D
* Yep! You guessed it! I was in Amarillo, and this is from nearby Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States! It is very hard to take a good picture of yourself when trying to include a phenomenal background and simultaneously staring straight into the sun. :PAny idea where this was taken? Hint: Loads of history here - from Native American to Civilian Conservation Corps to present-day performances that draw hundreds of thousands each year. Hint: Nearby, if you can finish a 72-ounce steak dinner in under an hour, it's free! OK - I made this really easy!
I was in the grocery store this weekend, and they had an assortment of flowers, presumably left over from Valentine's Day, on sale throughout the store. I often will buy a few stems to keep on the kitchen counter overlooking my breakfast area and living room because it creates a nice, bright feeling, I think. One of the specials they had was on tulips - red tulips. I really like tulips, and the red ones were quite pretty and rather dramatic looking. Since they were offering 30 stems for $10, I bought one bunch of them. Then I got them home and discovered that 30 is a lot of tulips - a whole lot! I realized right away they weren't going to fit into just one vase. Now, I have two big vases absolutely bursting with red tulips brightening up the mood of my house and myself! For the next couple of days, at least, I look very loved. :P
Happy Valentine's Day!! Here's a little V-Day cake I made, with raspberries and homemade whipped cream in the middle. Mmmm ... too bad I gave it away instead of getting to eat it! :PHave a wonderful day celebrating the love in your life - all of it!
I played Laser Tag for the first time this weekend. It was FUN! It was the adults versus the kids we tutor in a two-story, black-lit playing field. We were all running around, trying to tag each other and the "bases." I discovered I'm a little bit of a daredevil in combat - willing to catch the brunt of the opposition forces in pursuit of attacking their base. : )The kids won both games - BUT we would have had them the next game! It just took us a little longer to get the hang of it, not being experienced in these things. :P They keep pushing for paintball, too, but I have to admit I'm a little scared of that one. It was beautiful this weekend. I spent a good deal of the afternoon Sunday out walking on Town Lake. It was so nice!
All about Love.
That was our theme for this issue, my second now as Editor in Chief. Isn't this cover cute? Texas Family is now entering its third year, which is exciting! We have some really great stories in this issue - like a winery tour through the different viticultural regions of Texas and a story on adopting from the Texas foster care system. I wrote the adoption story and a travel story on Clearwater, Florida. I'd love to post pictures of those, too, but then you wouldn't go out and buy a copy. :P
Supposedly, there is some kind of a football game on today, and since I couldn't be less interested, I have decided to hold my own write-a-thon. I'm going to try to write all day for my book (books, really.) I have had so few opportunities for months now that I am curious to see how well I can get back in the groove and how my perspectives have changed regarding my characters and plots ... Wish me well!
"Careful, or you might end up in my novel." I saw that t-shirt design this morning, and it cracked me up. If I wore that, I wonder if people would take me seriously. Somehow, I doubt they would, and yet, they probably should ... :P I don't know about you all, but I have sneezed at least fifty times in the last few hours, courtesy of that good, ol' cedar fever. Aah!
I saw a fantastic movie this weekend, titled "Juno." Very different from what I expected, it is a hilariously funny and touching story about a girl named Juno who gets pregnant at 16 and then proceeds to try to find adoptive parents for her on-the-way baby. And, while I was delighted the whole way through with this precocious/innocent/savvy/naive girl, I also really appreciate the underlying and tender message that comes from this storyline.
Take a moment, and picture this: a teenage girl, pregnant.
I imagine this brings up a lot of images conditioned from upbringing, society, personal experiences, etc. For many of you, it may bring up a negative reaction at first, or perhaps entirely. When I see a young girl who is pregnant, while at times there may be an initial shock, my next thought is one of love - how brave she is, and even braver if she is taking that extra step of giving up her baby for adoption. And, I think of the beautiful life that was created and is living inside her.
To me, the girl in this movie is like so many other girls I've known - not in the sense that they all became pregnant - but in the sense that they are learning how to live and how to be who they are (who they really are, not who others want them to be.) And, while some may not find her general choice of words or actions throughout the movie "appropriate," I can assure you how she talks and behaves is like so, so many girls today. It is a product of an independent spirit, and I applaud it. Maybe if we're appalled, we're actually appalled at ourselves for not always saying what we think or doing what we feel, without regard for what others will think of us. I'm really proud of this next generation of girls, and I hope that we "older girls" (and boys) are able to learn something from them.
The latest issue of Texas Family Magazine is out. This one, I really like. 
