Gift From…Texas Treasury

I have been included in a great Treasury curated by gabeadz.  The Treasury is “Gift From Texas”.


Thank-you gabeadz for featuring me. 


http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=78080

"God Blessed Texas" Treasury

I am very proud of this Treasury featuring items from the Etsy Texas Crafters.  I hope Y’all agree.

Oh My Aching Knee

I learned the hard way (which is how I learn) that you should not brag about certain things.  In 2002 I was in my mid-30′s and in the process of moving from Washington to Oregon.  The man I was in a relationship with and I flew to Texas to visit my Mother.  One evening we were discussing injuries and broken bones.  Both of them had long lists.  My response however was “I have never broken a bone in my body”.  What is the saying about “Famous Last Words”. 

Less than 24 hours later I slipped and in the process of falling decided that the best course of action would be absorbing the impact of the fall on the concrete with my kneecap.  A word to the wise, Don’t do it!  Your knee is not one of those things that heals well.  Lets see, I had an arthroscopic surgery in 1996.  I have been in physical therapy off and on about 10 different times.  I have received 3 cortisone shots and all the shots do is make me long for the time of less pain before the shot.  Is that how they are supposed to work? 

I was at the point where a decision whether or not I could do something was based on what I needed to do within the next couple of days.  I could not walk or otherwise stress my knee if I had things that needed to be done within 48 hours.  I had to save up my time on my feet.  That is no way to live.

I moved to Nevada in 2006 and finally went to an Ortho back in November of last year.  After seeing the results of my tests he came into the room and the first words he said were “Your knee is really messed up”.  He told me that the “fix” is to have total knee replacement but at 50 I am considered too young.  So he suggested a series of shots.  When I calmed down, he explained that they were not at all like cortisone.  The compund was a healthy version of the fluid in the knee.  Good knees that is.  The fluid in my knee is deteriorated. I received 1 injection a week for 5 weeks and was told that the effects would last about 5 months at which time we could do it again.  The effects lasted 8 months for me and a few weeks ago I started getting twinges.  Within a week all the pain came back.  

I started a new series of injections today.  You know that there are always rules.  Well I only have one rule to follow.  For 48 hours after the injection, I have to limit the time that the leg bears weight to less than45 minutes at a time.   I can live with that, especially now that I know how good the knee will feel afterwards. 

Texas – Recommended Reading For Everyone

I received an email today and viola! I have a subject for my blog. You may not know but I am a Texan. I was born and raised in Texas. My first marriage failed (he was not from Texas) and my second marriage is thriving (he was born and raised in Texas). Coincidence? I think not. Texans are different, in a good way. All those qualities that you wish to instill in your children are part of the Texas way of life. If you are not from Texas, please read this so that you can understand why Texans are a proud bunch. If you are a Texan, I know you will get goose-bumps and a tear in your eye. My thoughts are in blue.

Here are the contents of that email:

Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at Texas with me just for a second. That picture, with the Panhandle and the Gulf Coast , and the Red River and the Rio Grande is as much a part of you as anything ever will be. As soon as anyone anywhere in the world looks at it they know what it is. It’s Texas . Pick any kid off the street in Japan and draw him a picture of Texas in the dirt and he’ll know what it is. What happens if I show you a picture of any other state? You might get it maybe after a second or two, but who else would? And even if you do, does it ever stir any feelings in you?

In every man, woman and child on this planet, there is a person who wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride off in a pickup. There is a little bit of Texas in everyone. This is where I start getting goose-bumps.

Texas is the Alamo . Texas is 183 men standing in a church, facing thousands of Mexican nationals, fighting for freedom, who had the chance to walk out and save themselves, but stayed instead to fight and die for the cause of freedom. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself . That is the Spirit of Texas . Most people do not realize that the Alamo is the most famous battle that was not won!

We send our kids to schools named William B. Travis and James Bowie and Davy Crockett, and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and they decided to cross it and be heroes.

Texas is Sam Houston capturing Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana at San Jacinto .

Texas is huge forests of Piney Woods like the Davy Crockett and Sam Houston National Forests .

Texas is breathtaking mountains in the Big Bend .

Texas is the unparalleled beauty of bluebonnet fields in the Texas Hill Country.

Texas is floating the rivers of the Hill Country on a hot summer day.

Texas is the beautiful, warm beaches of the Gulf Coast of South Texas .

Texas is beaches you can drive on and have many memorable bon-fires with close friends.

Texas is that warm feeling you get when someone asks where you’re from.

Texas is the shiny skyscrapers in Houston and Dallas.

Texas is world record bass from places like Lake Fork .

Texas is Mexican foods like nowhere else, not even Mexico .

Texas is chicken fried steak and world famous Bar-B-Q.

Texas is the Fort Worth Stockyards, Bass Hall, the Ballpark in Arlington and the Astrodome. (guess now, the Reliant Stadium too)..

Texas is larger-than-life legends, like Michael DeBakey, Ann Richards, Denton Cooley, Willie Nelson, Buddy Holly, Gene Autry, Audie Murphy, Tommy Lee Jones, Waylon Jennings, Farrah Fawcett, Janis Joplin, Sandra Bullock, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Landry, Eva Longoria, Darrell Royal, ZZ Top, Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan, Sam Rayburn, Howard Hughes, George H.. W. Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson, and let’s not forget GEORGE STRAIT- PANTERA, the Big Bopper, Tex Ritter, George Jones, Clay Walker, Mark Chestnut, to name ONLY a few.

Texas is great companies like Dell Computer, Texas Instruments, EDS and Compaq, Whataburger, Southwest Airlines, Bell Helicopter and LOCKHEED MARTIN AEROSPACE, Home of the F-16 Jet Fighter and the JSF Fighter, Valero.
Texas is NASA.

Texas is huge herds of cattle, beautiful horses and miles of crops.

Texas is home to the world famous King Ranch. (My hometown, Kingsville)

Texas is home to the most amazing sunsets of gold over an empty field.

Texas is hundreds of deer running around neighborhoods and fields.

Texas is skies blackened with doves and fields full of deer..

Texas is a place where towns and cities shut down to watch the local high school football game on Friday nights and for the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and for the night In Old San Antonio River Parade in San Antonio.
To drive across Texas , is to drive 1/3 the way across the United States .

Texas is ocean beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies, and modern cities..

If it isn’t already in Texas , you probably don’t need it.

No one does anything bigger or better than it’s done in Texas .

This is important, it is what sets us apart from other states.
By federal law, Texas is the only state in the U…S. That can fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. Flag. Think about that for a second. You fly the Stars and Stripes at 20 feet in Maryland , California , or Maine , and your state flag, whatever it is, goes at 17 feet. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Klein Oak High or anyplace else at 20 feet, the Lone Star flies at the same height – 20 feet. Do you know why? Because it is the only state that was a Republic before it became a state.

Also, being a Texan is as high as being an American down here. Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in Washington , D.C. And we can divide our state into five states at any time if we wanted to!We can become a republic again at any time the voters of Texas choose, and we included these things as part of the deal when we came on.

That’s the best part, right there.

Texas even has its own power grid!!

And don’t even lie to yourself… Did I mention Live music capitol of the world?

If you are a REAL TEXAN, you won’t even need to be told to pass this on.

God Bless Texas !!