Fabulous Finds

On the way back to Louisiana, we took a day and bedded down at the Navy Lodge on base at NAS Ft Worth JRB. We have a view of the lake and a lovely little kitchenette--not bad for sixty bucks a night...

Last time we were here, I plugged the word "bookstore" into google maps on my phone, and--to my delight--a place called Half Price Books popped up nearby on the map. Holy Cow! Amazon used-book pricing without the shipping fees? I can pay with my Visa check card? They have music and films, too? Outta my way!

I picked up four books. Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott), The Problem of Pain (C. S. Lewis), The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner), and [with a wink and a nod to Rob] Ulysses (James Joyce). All for under twenty-five bucks!

The only way to travel

On the Road Again...

With apologies to Mr. Nelson, the Corbetts are headed for Denver International in a rented gun-metal gray Corolla on their way back to the bayou. Here's a sample of what they're seeing along the way.

Work

Since I mentioned my work with the newspaper, I thought I would post links to some of my articles here.

Cobb's Bar-B-Q
Plex Gym
Janey Macey & Associates
Bossier Parish Teacher of the Year

Bird by Bird

I was talking with my brother yesterday about writing and how the process can be so overwhelming, even when one sets limits such as two pages a day. I remembered something I had read by Anne Lamott about her own brother and his writing woes.

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was 10 years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

--Text excerpted from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott, Anchor, 1995. Click here to read more online.

--Photos taken by M. Corbett on the ledge beneath the roof of her front porch.

Perfection

I write for a local community newspaper, which affords me the opportunity to meet some pretty incredible people whom I then get to feature in my articles. Joe and Sue Cobb are particularly memorable.

They own a BBQ place in downtown Bossier City that has been there since Eisenhower was in office. I was treated to delicious Texas-style barbecued beef AND Miss Sue sent me on my way with some Angel's Trumpet plants from the grass patch next to their restaurant. I took those tender, young plants home with me in paper bags and transplanted them to old formula cans filled with potting soil and with holes punched in the bottom. As I was heading out of the restaurant, one of the Cobbs' regular patrons was telling me how beautifully these plants bloom. Then, as I passed by my container garden on my way into the house for the night, I saw that one of the plants actually had bloomed. I brought the plant inside and took some pictures to share here.

Fly Navy

Not an Air Show. No special engagement or operation. Just a Wednesday at the Naval Air Station in Ft. Worth. These shots were taken from the ground.

Show off.













Yes. Upside Down.

Rockets Red Glare--Monroe Style

We Corbetts are blessed with neighbors who love to help each other out and get together often for barbecues and beer. This past Fourth of July, the Monroes had everybody over to celebrate and watch the fireworks that usually light up the sky beyond their fence courtesy of the hotel/casino just up the road.

Well, this year the show was somewhat lackluster (either that or the neighbor's tree grew a LOT since last summer). No matter. Our good buddy Ray ran up to the store and came back with enough fire power to remind any veteran what fighting for freedom actually might look and sound like!

We were delighted, and I tried to capture a few shots with my camera. Here's what we came up with. Enjoy, and thanks so much for a great time Sandra,Ray, and Miss Jordan!

Target Diaper/Wipes Deal

For the past four months or so, my family has been playing what is commonly known online as the drugstore game. We clip coupons, shop CVS, utilize their customer rewards program known as Extra Care, and save a boatload of money on things we buy anyway. I've become a subscriber to quite a few blogs that feature tips on how to get the most for your dollar at all kinds of retailers, though we mainly shop Target, Wal-Mart, and CVS.

Since this experience has turned into quite a lucrative habit for us, I thought it might be of interest to those who visit us at Borderlands of Faith. Here's what we did yesterday:













This deal was actually 6 separate transactions. I bought:

1 Jumbo Pampers diapers on sale at $8.49
1 Pampers 3-Refills wipes at $5.99 (reg. price)

Used:
$1 off 1 Pampers diapers coupon from P&G insert 07/06/2008
$.50 off 1 Pampers wipes coupon from P&G insert 07/06/2008
$5 off both Pampers diapers & wipes (180-ct +) printable
Free $5 Target GC when u buy Pampers diapers & wipes (180-ct +) printable

I handed the cashier the gift card coupon first, then the two P&G coupons, and finally the $5 off Target coupon.

This purchase rang up to $7.98 before taxes, and the cashier handed me a gift card with $5 loaded onto it. I turned right around and did the deal five more times (I always buy 6 Sunday papers so I have 6 of every coupon). That gave me a total out of pocket of $47.88 before taxes and earned me a gift card with $30 on it.

Bottom line: 6 packs of Pampers and 6 packs of 3-refill wipes for $17.88 before taxes--a little over a dollar per item!

I, however, parlayed the $30 gift card into another transaction pictured here:













This transaction rang up to $20.63 before taxes.

$.25 clearance Cosmetic bag
$.25 clearance Patriotic music cd
$.25 clearance Glitter glue
$.25 clearance Camping ER blanket x3
$.25 clearance Camping ER whistle
$.25 clearance appetizer dip spreaders
$1.49 clearance wicker paper plate holders
$1.34 clearance Renuzit Pet Odor Remover
$2 Lysol All-Purpose Cleanser Fluid on sale 2 for $4
used $1 off 1 MFR coupon from booklet I got at Jackson's pediatrician's office
$.94 Rubber Maid ice substitute x 2
$9.99 40-lb Scoop Away cat litter
$.95 clearance Elmers rubber cement
$1.66 ea Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner on sale 3 for $5
used 3 $1 off 1 MFR coupons from same booklet above

Total came to $20.63 before taxes which I covered with my $30 gift card, so I still have over $7 to spend on that card.

God, I love this game.

Crops

Dude, I'm a farmer...

Fresh Ink, or--Happy Father's Day, Charlie!

Charlie has expensive tastes. For nearly every gift-giving situation of our marriage, I have pleaded with him--in advance--for gift ideas for him. The usual suspects are:

a motorcycle
a new car (update: we bought the FJ Cruiser on his birthday two years ago!)
a tattoo

I have a personal policy against us owning a motorcycle while we are diapering an infant, so a tattoo it was for this past Father's Day. We found a place and met the artist--Rafael Coleman--who owns Iron Horse in Shreveport.












We decided to go with a photograph I took of Charlie playing with Jackson at our friend Tara's pool party on the Fourth of July last year. Jackson was just two months old (almost to the day). Here's the original photo (after Charlie applied his mad Photoshop skills):









First, Rafael drew up a tracing which he applied to Charlie's shoulder where he wanted the tattoo.









First cut is the deepest.












Mister Charlie, Rafael's pet spider, who lives in a very thin glass container mere inches from the tattoo chair...













Jackson waits patiently...



It's gettin' there.









A shot of Rafael's ride while you wait.









GORGEOUS!

Daddy's got the day off!

A typical Saturday morning scene...except that it's FRIDAY! WooHOO! We get a whole extra day with Daddy, which doesn't happen very often at Chez Corbett. Happy Independence Day!

Vacation?

All the free time we can stand, and this is where we're likely to be found!

Extravagance

I was out for a drive one day trying to calm my son during a particularly heinous and all together inexplicable crying fit. It worked like a charm--he was finally at peace and I was enjoying the late afternoon light on the winding, tree-lined roadway.

Then we rounded a corner and saw this house. It's ENORMOUS. I can't even imagine having to clean it routinely, much less paying for the furniture to fill it.

I haven't yet figured out who lives there, but I have a few guesses...

Dinner Out in Ft. Worth

We tried a little kid-friendly diner last night while we're in Ft. Worth on a business trip. Met some nice people with a little boy named Blake whom Jackson adored! We like to try new places out of town, and the Purple Cow did not disappoint. It's such a relief when your kids are welcomed in restaurants!

A Different Perspective on the "Fall" of Man

Reflections in Exile: Irenaeus--"Nice Guy" Theologian

Breakfast

Charlie isn't much for breakfast. He's perfectly happy with cereal or nothing, not even coffee.

For me, coffee isn't so much for breakfast as it is a multivitamin--an essential component of the morning routine absolutely vital to daily function.

Breakfast? Well, that's all about the egg.

My family has made an art form of weekend breakfast. My father is the foremost breakfast meat connoisseur. My mother is the scrambled egg whisperer. Whether at home or out of town, one thing was for certain for the Waltons--there would be a country breakfast at the morning table. Cracker Barrel does a nice one, which is where my sister discovered "Eggs in a Basket" (she prides herself on being the last to order and the one giving the rest of us plate envy--she's that good). I found a tutorial for Eggs in a Basket here. Try it for yourself. Yum.

In Honor of Skip

"Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen him. But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, Son thou art welcome. But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me. Then by reasons of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me that he had truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted. Dost thou understand, Child? I said, Lord, thou knowest how much I understand. But I said also (for the truth constrained me), Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days. Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.

"Then he breathed upon me and took away the trembling from my limbs and caused me to stand upon my feet. And after that, he said not much but that we should meet again, and I must go further up and further in. Then he turned him about in a storm and flurry of gold and was gone suddenly" (Lewis, C. S. The Last Battle. New York: HarperCollins, 1956, p.204,206).

A Little Summer Reading

My brother, Rob, is reading Ulysses, by James Joyce, and suggested I pick it up. I found a site online where I can read it for free, so I thought I would share it here. Ulysses is written in stream-of-consciousness style, much like another novel I read back in college, The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner. I read that one based on a challenge that I'd never get through it. I did get through it, and I loved it. So I am hoping I feel the same way about Ulysses. I mean, it' a novel about a day in the life of a man whose wife is cheating on him. And her name is Molly. How can it not be a good read?

My Boys on Father's Day

Dot Store Shoppin'

On the front door last night

Gardening, Rent-Style

I grew up among gardening folk. Nana, in Jacksonville, will tell you that her mama had a real way with things that grow out of the ground. I know the truth. She's just as much a green thumb as "Mamama" ever was. Charlie takes pictures of Nana's flowers all the time. They are truly lovely, but what fascinated me most about being with Nana and Grandaddy during the summers of my youth was the nightly trip out to the garden come sunset. The heat of the day would be passing lazily over by then, and out we'd go with a bucket or a tin pan to collect the bounty the Carolina sun had ripened to perfection for our harvest. Okra, snap beans, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash. Nana's gardens produce some of the most beautiful fruit and vegetables I've ever known, and to this day her crops are the standard by which I select produce for my own family's dinner table. Sadly, the choices seldom measure up.

Nevertheless, I had some success with my own 6' square garden spot along the lake--mostly okra, which I love lightly dusted with salted flour and fried in just a little canola oil...mmmm, summertime.

Charlie and I don't live on the lake any longer. We rent a home in a suburban area with very little water around. And though the ground is not ours to do with as we see fit, I still wanted a garden for the summer. Last summer we had a brand new baby boy to cultivate, so I did not want to pass another summer without one. What to do...

Container gardening.

Charlie andI live on one income--his. So I knew I wanted to keep our expenses to a minimum and invest most in the plants themselves. I had been collecting old formula and coffee cans, and we had an old entertainment center that got demolished in our cross-country move. I salvaged two drawers from that and had Charlie drill holes in the bottom of them for me. I used a scredriver and a hammer to punch holes in the bottoms of the cans. Voila! Containers. I did, owever, purchase a couple of 88-cent pots from the Big Box.

Potting soil at the local Big Box Store was relatively inexpensive--I think I paid $2 per 40-lb bag, and I also bought my plants there--all for under $3 each. I bought tomato, okra, bell pepper, strawberry, and [what I thought was] squash plants--turned out to be zucchini rather than yellow, and where I come from zucchini is zucchini and squash is yellow squash!

Only the strawberry plant has suffered. It must not like containers. I tried the hanging method with one of the tomato plants, and it's working out just fine. Still no fruit but it's early yet. The okra and zucchini are going to take over. Seriously, save yourselves.

I added mint and rosemary plants to the collection after a recent trip to the local farmer's market, and a lady I interviewed for one of my news stories graciously sent me home with several starters of angel's trumpets to plant. They need to be repotted but are also hanging in there.

Now, I'll have more to say about container gardening once it actually produces fruit for us. We do have some tiny okra buds coming in. For now, the jury is still out, but I will say that container gardening, so far, has been a real pleasure. I get such a kick out of nurturing these tender plants, watering them in the mornings and evenings, closely inspecting them for health and defense against rodents and insects. There like little babies who need special care, and that touches a deep place in me that needs to nurture and protect. I also relish the appeal to frugality that gardening satisfies. It's just one of the many means to the end of keeping me home with our son, yet affording pursuits that interest, challenge, and inspire me.

Anne Rice is a what?

I know this is old news. But I've been away having a baby and learning how to take care of him, so I have some excuse, I suppose. Anyway, my brother tells me about Anne Rice, encourages me to check out her website, and then mentions her book Christ the Lord.

Well, I picked up Christ the Lord a while back, read a few pages, and decided that it was going to break down into a reboil of gnosticism. I'd been down that tunnel before, so I laid it down. Boy, was I mistaken. I've now got it on order to try it again. Based on my brother's recommendation, Ican hardly wait for it to get here.

One thing I have noted about Ms. Rice through her website--she goes to great pains to explain herself to members of the evangelical Christian community in terms of the works of her past (her vampire chronicles) and the decisions of her present (her endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president). I think she's wasting her time. I wonder how long before she realizes that many from that community will never fully accept her confession of faith in Jesus Christ. The evangelical Christian community seems more in the business of disproving "incomplete" or "inferior" faith than affirming and celebrating it. She should give another Anne a call. Ms. Lamott could give her some pointers.

Christians like Anne Rice do my heart tremendous good. Like Jesus in his culture, these thoughtful, conscious Christians unsteady the boat of pride and apathy just by being their authentic selves. It's inspiring.