Winter is coming....

Great White Hunter

My brother-in-law, Bruce, stopped by on his way home. He lives in Ft. Myers, Florida and was driving through Texas on his way back from New Mexico. Bruce bagged an elk in New Mexico yesterday. The visit was very short, but he promised to return soon with my sister, Monica, in tow (pun intended).

Stefan flew back to Minnesota last week to officially graduate from culinary school

Our houseguest, Stefan, returned from his trip to Minnesota on Monday evening just in time to have dinner at Tamale King with our friends, Joe and Donna. Joe and Donna closed up the resort in Wisconsin and stopped by to visit for a few days on their way to Goliad, Texas for the winter. They have purchased 11 acres to build an RV park and they even got a new house in the deal.

On Tuesday, Stefan saved the day when he took over dinner preparation for me. We had Tur-Duc-Hen (stuffed duck inside a chicken inside a turkey), Cajun stuffing and roasted garlic asparagus. I think we just invented a new reality cooking show "Save this Dinner!".

Silent Auction

Laurie Justus Pace generously donated this painting to a silent auction to benefit Phoenix Center - a local charity that provides free wellness programs and creative arts programs to mothers and children in crisis.

We are accepting bids through October 24th. The current bid is $605.00. 100% of the proceeds go to Phoenix Center. Email bids - info@patinaofmarblefalls.com

Inner peace

In the midst of an international financial crisis and the Texas-OU game, we hosted our event with the works of Laurie Justus Pace (in person) and Diane Whitehead. Earlier in the week, John had hired Amy Norton to work part-time in the store. Amy's husband, Byron, tended bar while John, Amy, Laurie and I worked the room on Friday night. Today, Laurie was in the store to meet customers and give an interview for the local newspaper.

At the end of these events, I always sit back and ask myself "Was it a success? What did I learn?" Besides the obvious (don't schedule an event during a big football game/stock market crash next time), I once again learned how blessed I am with the incredible people in my life. Laurie and her husband Terry are so grounded. Not to say they don't have an uneven road to follow, it is just that they acknowledge the potholes and hold hands as they bump over them.

John and I have so many friends, old and new, in our lives that inspire us to be better people - to give back more...to be grateful for what we have instead of lamenting what we don't have. We were lucky to be able to spend some time with Laurie, Terry, Amy and Byron this week-end and they got to meet some of the friends we have made here - Trent (sans Laura this time), Carole, Alison, Mark, Cindy, Kimberley, Chris, Francie, Mike, Susie, et al.

Laurie and Terry just left to drive back to Dallas. Soon, our good friends Joe and Donna will arrive in Texas for the winter. Our lives are so rich with good people that we didn't even notice Select Comfort's stock had slipped to 78 cents a share yesterday!