Finally a New Home

This evening, July 21, 2017, Becky D, my LOAN officer called to say that the Underwriters accepted my loan for the refurbished Condo on 1218 Massman Dr, Nashville, TN 37217-1759. She just received the phone call and called me.  PTL! We could close in a few business days. Hallelujah!

I write this today to explain how these people reflect the marvelousness of my LORD to me. I appreciate them all!

My daughter, Jeni, started heckling me in February 2017 about leaving my 19-year-old filthy carpeted apartment to buy a home. After much prayer, I decided to go for it and by faith signed a home agreement months later on June 6, 2017. Many things have happened since then and have benefited me personally and financially.

There is this one floor cottage, at the end of a condominium with all new appliances and flooring. It is close to downtown and the airport and has been on the market for 54 days with no takers. I think the LORD was holding it for me. My daughter showed up to check it out. She videoed it and said, “Mom, this may be it.” The video was great!

Another blessing is finding a professional Home Agent like Andie R who knows the home market and how to deal with Sellers. She has been generous with her time and a wonderful blessing to me.

The LORD blessed me with a Christian money person, Becky. How wonderful to be able to share my concerns/fears about this home purchase with someone who tells it like it is. She knows my credit score and knows whether my income is feasible for a home purchase. I have no clue.  What a blessing Becky has been!!

Another blessing is the 14-hour HOME READY on-line course that had been available only for a few months. When Becky D heard of it, she encouraged me to take it. I passed the tests  over a weekend and benefited with about $1000 cash toward closing costs. It was marvelous because it educated me about what buying a home was going to be like. I had many questions that the Course answered. I had been an apartment dweller for 55 years and this was to be my first home… Praise the LORD!

And again, most important is Jeni, my darling daughter, who took on the challenge of dealing with  emotional ME.  She found me a home without my having to get crazy involved. She covered all aspects of the purchase for me. What patience! I thank the LORD for her each day.

I had lunch... 

I've lost 27 pounds since Nov 1, 2013.

                                                  Hello!

(Sylvia, Dot Sawyer, her daughter Annie who bought a house .2 miles away,

 Sue Johnson, new from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Clarice Parsons, and 

Judi who works with Annie in a ObGyn private practice downtown)   

MY FOOD! 

Had a great meal today at Mére Bulles in Brentwood, Tennessee.

It was a brunch! Out of this world! $25 plus waiter tip of $4. 

There was food in every nook of the first floor. A dozen different breakfast foods, roast beef, fried Grouper, salads and an exquisite assortment of desserts. 

I waited as the chef made an omelet for me with everything in it-- chopped ham, bacon, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and shredded cheese, including washed and seedless raw jalapenos! 

I filled a small bowl of Charleston She-Crab Bisque, went to our table and ate slowly enjoying every bite.  

I had finished my omelet and went back looking for something else. 

I served fruit on my plate next to a generous slice of rare roast beef. When I returned to the table, I sat down and looked at my plate (photo) to find the fruit lookin' back at me saying, "No desserts today, okay?" I said, "Okay, no problema." I've been talking to my food more recently instead of gulping it all down quickly. ha!

We laughed ourselves silly with stories we all brought to the table. Great time. Great restaurant! Just wanted you to know.

Do You Remember Colored Chicks???

Do you remember buying these bright colored chicks at Easter?

My senior year in high school at San Marcos Baptist Academy, my roommate, let's call her Sharon, came back to the dormitory room one weekend with a pink chick.  She thought it was so funny and cute.
Sharon even had baby-chick food for Pinkie, its new name; but how in the world were we going to hide that chick from Shelly, the housemother, who was living at the end of our hallway? We were frequently in trouble, so I knew what could possibly happen if she found this chick in our room. 

That same night, hours after Lights Out at 10pm, the chick must have gotten cold because it started "peeping." Sharon was a hard sleeper and did not stir. So, I quickly turned on my desk lamp and covered the chick with heat from the lamp. That worked. Pinkie quieted down and went back to sleep. So did I. 

Later, I don't know when, Pinkie started making LONG LOUD peeps, so I thought that maybe making another change would shut down the peeps. So, I turned off the lamp. WRONG! The chick went crazy loud. In desperation and half asleep, I grabbed the chick and with it in my hand, I forced open our window, looked out and saw that there were bushes next to the building-- three floors down. 

Not thinking, I reached way out with Pinkie in my hand, and dropped that noisy chick. Bye bye Pinkie!  I watched Pinkie flutter all the way down and saw it land in the bushes. It was still alive. Yay! Goodnight bird. I closed the window, forgot about it, and went back to bed. 
Next time I was awake was when my roommate yelled, "Where is my Pinkie?"  She was a sound sleeper and missed all of my actions. I didn't remember where it was until I looked at the window and said, "Uht oh." I quickly got dressed and went downstairs. Sharon said nothing when I explained having to fool with this bird.

It was after 7am so I knew the front door to the girls dormitory was unlocked. I went out looking for Pinkie. I found that little chick way under our window leaning up against the building, shivering... I felt so bad. I picked it up and kept it in my warm hand and went back upstairs and put it under the lamp. It was alive.

Later, in a group waiting to go into Breakfast, two trouble-maker kids, who lived on the first floor because they had to be monitored, approached me and asked what I had been doing early that morning outside their window on the first floor. I told them about the pink chick. They were furious at me because their housemother ransacked their room that morning saying that she had heard sounds and just knew they were hiding something. I owed them.  

After breakfast, I saw a cleaning woman who was sweeping the hallway. I asked her in Spanish if she could use a pink chick. I had to do some explaining about what a pink chick was. Ha!  She said, "Si, Como no." So I went to get Pinkie and its food. She smiled, thanked me and put the chick in her pocket as she continued to sweep the floor. Poor Pink Chick! What a life! 
That may be why you can't buy them in colors any more.

El Rancho "Puff Taco" Multimillion Dollar Enterprise not mentioned in TACO USA?

TACO USA is a great read

 if you are interested in the TACO.

This book is 290 pages hardback; index is 21 more pages of references, etc.   What I found lacking was the mention of the El Rancho Mexican Restaurant business in San Antonio from 1941 to 1980. In one paragraph, Mr Arrellano mentions the "puffy taco."
So, I put wrote to Mr Arrellano on FaceBook since this Californian has a "Ask a Mexican" page.  I am sincere about what I say; but I will see if he bites..ha! We had a multimillion dollar food industry with warehouse and kitchen that served 12 full standing restaurants by the time they were sold in 1979. No mention?

"Mr Arrellano. First, I have to say I really enjoyed your Taco U.S.A. book. You used a references to the "Puffy Taco" on page 136. May I introduce you to my deceased parents, Henry and Agnes Westrup, who were the originators of the "Puff Taco" in San Antonio. I was born upstairs of the Mexiquito Mexican Restaurant on Nogalitos Street in 1944. By that time, this first restaurant had been in business since 1941 serving puff tacos. Because Dad was not able to raise menu prices due to WW2 food restrictions, he realized that he could open another restaurant, change the name, and raise menu prices.  39 years and 12+ restaurants later, El Rancho Mexican Restaurants were employing a minimum of 150 employees, 12 managers and 12 assistant managers in training. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I was so pleased with your extensive research. It was a fun read. Muchas Gracias."

Did anything like this ever happen to you?

I was just minding my own business driving home and turned  to see that on the outside of my car window a bird had left a big purpley-white blob that was so juicy it ran down my hot window and dried? Yuk!
Oh well, I thought I would take care of it as soon as I got home. 
I was drinking iced tea so I could splash it the window and wipe it off. 
This was my thinking.

What follows happened in 30 seconds:
I parked the car and took the napkin from inside the door to wipe with, sucked up a mouthful of ice tea, looked around to make sure I was by myself, and spit it at the window. Most of the tea hit the window, the rest ran down my chin. Good. I was almost finished.

I started wiping and cleaned off most of the bird doo with the napkin. When I saw sticky gum on the window and my napkin. There had been gum in the napkin. Oh no. 
I pulled the napkin away from the window to see a long string of sticky gum stuck to the window like hot mozzarella on a pizza. 
Now what? 

Knowing you can get gum off anything with ice, I quickly drank the rest of the tea to get to the ice. As I put each little cube on the gum, it quickly melted in the hot sun. The gum had to get cold to come off.  

Well, the last of the gum is still on my window. I will have to go after it with a big ice cube and a razor blade. Do they still sell blades or do I have to get my leg shaver with aloe to try to get the gum off?  
How did this get so hard?

Temple Grandin... the autistic child

Cattle 

cattle cattle... 

I was not surprised when I pulled into this Sonic for lunch today and saw the car stalls like cattle stalls. We line up for food the same way to be fed. Ha! 
I  had spent too much time thinking about cattle this last week. TheTemple Grandin movie had been so eye-opening and sad that I took this picture, drove away from Sonic and drove to Walmart where I ate in an indoor Subway in mental peace. 

Let me tell you what happened...

I was intrigued and found myself immersed in the life story of Temple Grandin. I had read her self-titled book and had watched her life story. (Actress, Claire Danes had been awarded the Emmy as lead actress for the 2010 HBO movie titled, Temple Grandin.) 

Who was this woman? The first time I heard her speak was for about 17 minutes on TED Talks (Netflix) a couple of weeks ago. On TED, Temple said that she was diagnosed as autistic when she was two years old. She said that her Dad wanted her institutionalized because she would never be “normal.”  Her Mom stood her ground to keep her even though it caused divorce.  Temple's Mom worked diligently to have professional people teach Temple. As a result, Temple learned to speak, went to school for years, and learned to communicate and not to offend the people around her.

Today, at 63, Dr. Temple Grandin is a brilliant scientist and professor of animal science at Colorado State University. The subtitle on her book, Temple Grandin, reads, “How the girl who loved cows embraced autism and changed the world.” As an autistic person, she sees things everything in pictures. Her drawings have revolutionized and encouraged humane treatment of cattle and chickens used for the food industry today. 

Because of Temple, major meat buyers like McDonalds and KFC will only buy meat from slaughterhouses that follow Temple Grandin’s recommended systems. These encompass humane living conditions for chickens and humane slaughter for cattle!

If you get a chance, watch what Temple has to say about schools and autistic children. 
You will be enlightened. 

Remember flying in one of these?

It was the mid 1960’s.  I was 20 years old when my Mom called and told me I was to catch an airplane rather than drive the 3 hours it took to get to San Antonio from Waco, Texas. I knew I had to don heels and a Sunday dress to travel by air. That was the Texas custom in those day just like being “dressed in heels” to go watch a football game at the Baylor University stadium.

Jet airplanes had begun to be used for everyday people. However, when the taxi dropped me off at the small Waco airport, I went outside and found out the airplane was not a jet. I had to climb up steep medal stairs into the front of the airplane. 

These airplanes were call “props” because they had two propellers on their wings. Few people flew unless they had money, or for business, or in case of an emergency. I was not told why I was going to San Antonio late that same night; but I knew my parents had money to fly me, so it didn’t matter. A plane flight was cool!

The stewardess told us that we would have one stop in Killeen, Texas to pick up passengers. I was a little nervous about the passengers around me because it was known that these airplanes were called "puddle jumpers" and caused passenger nausea. I saw the folded white bag in the seat pocket in front of me. Yuk! Not tonight. Please not around me on this trip or I would have to join in. Ha! However, no one got sick on that first puddle jump to Killeen. 

We arrived in Killeen and were waiting to get back into the air when the stewardess asked us if we would quickly get up and walk out the front door of the airplane. That was weird. She told us to leave everything on the seat since we would be back on the same plane. Like cattle, we all did what she asked. With my first step out onto the metal stairs, I found that I was being hit on the face and body with red, blue, and yellow flashing lights. I saw fire engines and flashing cars. On the ground, I walked behind the white picket fence where we, the passengers, were being corralled, I turned and looked back at the airplane. It was a canvas of bright blinking colors that looked like a party was being thrown. But, I didn't hear any music? 

Then I saw it!  It was a painting embedded in my mind that I have lived with during the last 50 years. 
Four emergency people were lowering a Vietnam soldier down the steep airplane stairs. He was in full dressed green uniform.Two of the men carried the soldier by his arms stepping down slowly. The other two were below him each cradling his legs. The soldier was out of it. His head was tossed to the side. I did't know if he was unconscious or dead.

I was reminded of so many painters, etchers and lithographers who painted their “Descent from the Cross” that I had studied in art classes at Baylor.  The "Descent" always showed Christ's followers lowering the dead body of Christ down off the cross. Christ’s body would be lifeless and contorted as it was handed down carefully to people who loved Him. 

That night during my flight, I saw the similarity of the lifeless uniformed soldier being lowered in the same way. 

Even now as I think of it, I can’t help but be moved by the thought of how Christ, by choice, gave his life for me so that I could live in Him each day. It was too sad for the soldier; but oh how thankful I am that Christ died for each of us and rose again to live through us daily.

That scene is a painting has been etched in my mind for all these years. If I were to paint it, it would have the darkness of the night contrasting the white picket fence between the airplane and the many passengers and bystanders who are looking on. The colorful plane would be lit by the many contrasting vehicle lights. In the center, the uniformed solder, in my painting, would be seen as having giving up his life for you and me so that we could be safe in our own Country. 

It is my timely “Descent from the Cross” that reflected the 60's and the Vietnam War.

Anyway, we were asked to get back on the “prop.” After getting settled with the seat belt, I could see the right engine and propeller out my window. The engine revved up but failed to start, twice; but on the third try it finally started. Oh, what else can happen? 

In San Antonio, I was met by my sister and my brother-in-law who finally explained why I there. They told me that my Mom’s Mom had passed away. Oh, I thought. So sad. She was always so loving to me. This would continue to be a sad trip.

They drove us to my uncle’s big house where I found many people standing around in every room. Loud festive music was playing. These relatives/ friends were laughing, cutting up, eating tamales, telling stories, etc. I was confused.

I finally found my Mom who was surrounded by people who loved her. After our usual hug, I said, “Mom, this looks like a party. I thought Granny passed away.” Mom said, “Sylvia, we all know that she is in heaven. Why should we be sad? So we are just celebrating her life tonight.” 

I would understand this concept more in my future, but as a 20 year old, at that moment, it was weird. Matter of fact, the whole trip was weird. “Okay, pass me a tamale. This one’s for you, Granny.”