Sneakers1957

  1. The Family at #23        Kathryn Sharman 2. A Killing on the Hill  Robert Dugoni 3. His Other Woman      Valerie Keogh

Resolutions are basically a joke but every year I need to at least to try to do better. So here I am. 52 books...               Buy only one...                        Eat the refrigerator 30 Minute Walk...

  I've tried to make biscuits for years & while they taste good, they never rise much. I even made scones once that had the same problem. I have made a round no knead bread that was pretty good. But until Friday I'd never tried to make bread loaves. But Friday, I did.😁 I can't even remember where I saw the recipe. I saw a video on YouTube but I'm not sure how I got there.  It's called Mennonite White Bread & the creator is Ruth Ann Zimmerman from a site called Homesteading with the Zimmermans .  I didn't watch the entire video (sometimes I don't have the patience for the noise) but got a copy of their recipe. So here we go! Mennonite White Bread 1cup warm water, 120-130 degrees 1 T instant yeast 1/2 cups honey Mix together, then let it sit until foam appears, 8-10 minutes Add: 2 T salt 1 1/2 cups of warm water, 120-130 degrees 3 T oil, butter or tallow, melted 5-7 cups of all purpose flour * Add 2 - 3 cups of flour & mix  dough  until smooth,...

First time ever!!  Top 4 in the country!!  That's my school!!  

  I'm a little late with this one. This band was at the Cactus Theater on September 4, 2025.   I am a West Texas girl & I am a huge Bob Wills fan.  The town of Turkey, TX claims as a native son & I think he claimed it too, though he was not born there. He had a band full of fiddles (the Texas Playboys) & they make me happy  I never saw him perform live but I've heard his music all my life. And a whole ton of country singers have covered his music.  Waylon Jennings sang a song called 'Bob Wills is Still the King'..."it don't matter who's in Texas, Bob Wills is still the king."  He's been gone 50 years but he's still considered the King of Country Swing. This band is a tribute band & they are really good. Many of the members are even older than I am & trust me, those boys were rocking. I tend to think the younger generation thinks they invented music & boy are they wrong. The band 'Asleep at the Wheel' recorded an ...

Ginger Cookies Mix together: 2/3 C Oil  1 C Sugar 1 egg 1/4 C molasses Sift together: 2 C flour 2 tsp soda 1 tsp ginger 1 tsp cinnamon Add dry ingredients to wet mixture.   Roll into 1 inch balls, bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes, 350 degree oven.   Makes 42-48 cookies.

Today, I cannot stop thinking about my friend, Paul. Rookie Paul I met him when he was a young pup & a rookie at the police department. He started dating a desk officer, my friend Debbie. He was in love but I'm not sure Debbie was. But she came from a small town & that he came from an affluent family & thought he'd be able to give her an easier life. So she married him.  Sadly, the luster wore off really quick. She got her house & her big diamond & an interior designer but she wasn't happy. And she hated being married to cop. She hated the hours & because she wanted more & more, he had to work extra side jobs for the money & she'd complain about him being gone. One of my pet peeves is don't marry a cop if you don't want to be married to a cop. Her dad was a cop so the life was not a surprise. I would ride along what Paul quite a bit & we became close friends. I felt safe with him & he always protected me.  We laughed a lot...

  This picture was at my daddy's 89 3/4 birthday party in 2003. I wanted to have his friends come celebrate hi 90th birthday but it was in January & I was afraid of the weather...rightly so. That day was a mess. So I decided to have in October. He still lived in our hometown so I put an ad/invitation in the local newspaper. It was funny because he didn't see it but was confused why people kept wishing him Happy Birthday. Sneaky.  And my niece surprised him from Arizona. Her kids were little ones at the time & I heard her drive in so I told him that I'd heard someone at the back door. He told me I was crazy but went out to the to look, to find Niece with her hands over kids mouths. He was surprised!!  It was a very good day. He griped a little for show but he loved it. 2 of the people who came down from Lubbock were my friend Lee & her husband Pete. I'd worked with Lee for years & she'd met my dad but Pete had not. But Pete & daddy hit it off firs...

  Another giveaway from the Business Expo was a back scratcher.  I always have an itchy back so I was excited. Not that exciting for sure but I actually have a back scratcher story. Back when I first retired in 2010 I worked seasonal at Walgreens. We had a boxful of wooden scratchers but had sold them all.  A lady came in on Christmas Eve afternoon wanting to buy one. She was in a little panic...her little boy had asked Santa for one. I called our manager who called around & finally found one at another store.  Christmas saved!!

A cocktail as bright a nd pure as the West Texas sun. First thing is, I'm not a drinker. I've never had a Chilton. But it was allegedly created in the Lubbock Country Club bar by a Dr Chilton working with a bartender.  And in Lubbock, it's a big old deal. Every Lubbock drinker apparently loves them. A couple of years I was working at a local kitchen store & the owner wanted a tea towel with the recipe on it. She said she'd contacted her towel printer & they never would get it done. But she was not a follow up person so I don't know if it was true. I never saw one...until... ...the annual Lubbock Chamber of Commerce Business Expo where a local printing company had created one. And they were handing them out for free! In a rare mean moment (really), I have to laugh a little. You snooze, you lose.

One day last week after running errands, I stopped at Chic-Fil-A for a sandwich. After I had my food, I noticed a young man walking across the parking lot carrying what appeared to be everything he owned. He had a large,fat garbage bag, a computer case & a guitar. I pulled over & asked if he was hungry. He was & I went back through the line & got his lunch. When he walked over,as I always do, I asked him what he was doing out there.  He told me he'd been homeless for 14 years. He really didn't go into much detail but said he's been all over the country hitchhiking.  He appeared to be in his 30s, with dark hair & a beard. He probably needed a shower but he wasn't filthy. He was well spoken & grateful for lunch. And he then asked for a ride to a Starbucks, for wi-fi if I was guessing. He said he understood if I said no & I did say no. I'll buy anyone a meal but I'm basically not all that trusting.   His name is George. I pray he's s...

Best Mom Ever. I knew Mother's Day was coming up & it's been 22 years since I lost mine so I never look forward to the day. I decided as a distraction I'd do a day trip to Amarillo to watch their minor league baseball team play an afternoon game. And then spend the night at a hotel, one of my favorite things to do. I headed out Sunday morning knowing I'd be a little early--it's a 2 hour drive. However, when I hit the Hale County line, they'd decided to put out every cone they owned. They'd closed alternate sides of the road closing til I was out of Hale County. The road was not torn up. There were no workers. I think the cones were there to annoy us. On my way back yesterday all the cones were in the median. I'll never understand that process.  Then I decided to stop at Happy,TX, The Town Without a Frown. I just drove through. It was church time & they all looked full. The main thing I noticed was the smell. We are talking feed lots galore. Pee-Y...

  Well lunch was good but also an adventure. Not good or bad...just there. Menu: Smoked Sausage Carrots Green Beans with onion, bacon, a tiny bit of brown sugar.  I just sliced the sausage down the middle so it would open up naturally with grease, I mean juices. 😀  I put it on parchment paper on my small baking sheet, the one I use for practically everything. And put it under the broiler. It was in there about 5 minutes & I looked at it & it was smoking & the paper was turning black. I pulled it out before there was a fire. But the smoke alarm did go off. I got it off 1st time though. Meanwhile, back at the stove top, the green beans,bacon,onion, butter combo got just a little overdone as I was dealing with the smoke alarm. My carrots did not realize anything was going on & were just  boiling away, minding their own business. The beans were a little charred but not completely burned. Carrots are a favorite so they are always good. Sausage was perfect...

  Back   in November I bought a new Nissan Rogue & decided I needed a road trip.  I didn't have anywhere in particular so I decided I'd go to Rotan where my granddad was buried in the Grady cemetery.  His name was Lon & he died in a fire in 1924. My dad was 10, 2nd oldest. Uncle Raymond was 12 & there were 4 kids under them. For some reason, my granny always said she never wanted to go to Rotan again so after being a widow for 61 years, when she passed she was buried in Spur in our family plot. It always bothered me that my granddad was buried alone.  The cemetery is just is quite away out in the country. Grady had been a community but like too many it has dried up. No one has maintained the cemetery since 1993. It is covered with weeds. I did find his grave & he had family buried around him including his dad & both of his wives, both named Martha. My granny went by Annie but her 1st name was Martha too. I left a flower on his grave. When I w...

And last night, continuing my own concert tour... At the historic Cactus Theater it was Bellamy Brothers time! I had seen them one other time in the old Lubbock Coliseum, better known as the Bubble.  They had actually been the opening act for the Oak Ridge Boys, many years ago. Funny, I just now remembered that I'd seen them before as I'm writing this. Weird. Howard & David have been performing for 45 years according to their introduction announcement. They are just good old boys making good old music. And they still sounded perfect. They sang for an hour & a half & covered every song of theirs I'd ever heard. I love their music!! 😍  The evening was delightful. They had an opening guy named Robert Sullivan who is with an Odessa band called Westbound Hearts. The entire band was there & supposed to perform but they could not all fit on the stage with all of BB gear.  Robert looks about 21 & had a great voice, covering a 90s "classic" country, pr...

Last week, I went to the Buddy Holly Hall to see 2 of my favorite bands from the 70s bands. LRB was on it's 50th anniversary tour & the Dogs have been touring since 1968! There are no original members of course in LRB & 1 original Dog there since the beginning.  Both have young energetic bands behind them to keep the music going on & on. LRB had good voices & they knew all the words to the songs but it was not quite the same.  I wonder sometimes why they choose to go with a legendary band name & music catalog instead of doing their own thing. We oldies want to hear the familiar songs of the band. They did a couple of their own songs too but the response was lukewarm because we were there to see LRB. Three Dog Night's original member Danny Hutton is about 85 & still has a strong voice & his younger back ups were really good. The sound was great, good pace, amazing lighting. I hoped that LRB's lighting guy was paying attention. It was an tight show...

  I have lost weight since September, about 16 pounds & I've gotten smaller. I have been wearing size 8 jeans, even 16 pounds heavier & they were getting a little droopy so I ordered a size 6 & they fit!!  Happy Dance. Not sure I have ever been a size 6 as an adult, maybe not even when I was 6.  At 80 pounds heavier, I wore size 20 jeans. I have to brag on my blog because I cannot brag to my best friend because she lectures me over & over about being to thin & I don't want to hear it.  And for the record I am not too thin. I could still survive 40 days in the desert.

  Sunday afternoon, I went to the Buddy Holly Center to see the Broadway Touring Company of Les Miserables. The musical is based on the book of the same name written by Victor Hugo in 1862. It's the story of a man who was sent to jail for breaking a window & stealing food for his family & about rebels in the French Revolution. It's also a story of redemption. I saw it several years in the old Lubbock Colosseum & I was mesmorized, mainly because they sang the entire show.  I also saw it in Graham,TX, my friend Jimmy's hometown. He's a professional singer & he played Jean Valjean.  So this was the 3rd time I'd gotten to enjoy it.  The singers were incredible & the production was amazing.  There is a scene where Inspector Javert is committing suicide after Valjean, his mortal enemy, saves his life. The scene on stage is a murky sky & a drop down bridge wall. He jumps over & screen behind it moves down to simulate him jumping in the water...

 I love their names.  

Alexandra & Belle I worked with a woman named Donna at Southwestern Bell/SBC/AT&T for about 20 years. We got set in a support role & worked well together. We became friends.  Actually she got a friend...I can't exactly say the same for me.  I was there for her pregnancy & then for her bought with breast cancer. I ended up going back to regular desk & she was promoted.  Looking back, we had very little in common. She is married to Danny & has a son, in his 40s now. I have none of those things.  And Donna's only life was her family. It was all she talked about.  She is also one of the most selfish people I've ever known. She did nothing she did not want to do. When I went to her house in the metroplex, she'd decided what we were going to do & she was not about to make a change. A couple of times I told her I wanted to do something else & she absolutely refused. We watched the TV shows she wanted to watch (Rachel Maddow for stupid sa...

I went to the Buddy Holly Center to watch the band Air Supply.  Lubbock was the 1st stop on their 50th anniversary tour. I've loved their music for all those years.  Basically, they are geezers, like me. I've seen them 2x before...once at the Orleans in Vegas in 2015 & then at the local fair in maybe 2018. They put on a good show. Neither of their voices are what they used to be but I'd hate to admit what I've lost as I've gotten older. Falsetto guy Russell still sounds good but partner Graham has lost most of his voice. However, G plays a mean guitar.   They also had a young band behind them...one particular guitar player played "tortured" like he was in a hard rock band instead of a geezer band. It was humorous. Russell had overdone the hair dye & the make up & was dressed in plain shirt, leather pants with studs & tassels & black shoes (or boots...couldn't tell) with rhinestones.  Graham looked normal. My favorite song is 'Tw...

  Books 2025 1. Hot Property                Mike Lupica   (Spenser) 2. Butcher Boys               Chris Gill 3. Perfect Alibi                 Sheldon Siegel 4. Dark Purpose               Mary Stone 5. Influencing Justice     Kirkland & Hall 6. The Lawyer                   John Ellsworth  7. Felony Murder Rule   Sheldon Siegel 8. The Sublet                     Greer Hendricks 9. The Wife Between Us  Greer Hendricks &                                               Sarah Pekkanen 10. The Ascent              ...