Everything's Bigger in Texas....

In Texas, everything's bigger... Football, Cheerleaders, the stars at night....
And in our small town, being nominated for the Homecoming Court is a huge deal. The senior class votes and the top five girls are the nominees (no other class is allowed.) And this year, they've added five senior boys, so tomorrow the entire school votes from these five girls and five boys for Homecoming Queen and King, and it will be announced at the football game Friday night. They even made the front page of the local paper today!
And yes, I am proud to say that my daughter, DD, is one of the five nominees.  She is honored, of course, to be one of the five senior girls, and I am so happy for her.  She really gives 110% in everything she does, and makes it her goal to be a role model.
As a matter of fact, along the way, I have gotten involved in all of the social media to sort of watch what their generation does and to stay current in my field of communications. I do Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest, Vine,  and Snapchat and I can tell you that most of my "followers" are DD's friends, since I mostly post about her. She's my only child still living at home, and my older two aren't that into social media. You have to know who your audience is, and the point of me telling you this is that there are tons of junior high and younger girls in our town that follow ME to see what DD does. She is high profile here since she is a varsity cheerleader and lieutenant on the danceteam, along with band color guard and most other clubs at school.
So I thought it was funny that one of the other nominee's mom told me tonight that her husband was discussing this subject with his buddies at the local bar last night, and they all decided that it's between DD and his daughter. How funny that even the men are laying bets -- small town living!!
Of course I'd love for my daughter to win, but just to be nominated is truly such a treat.
It's sort of our version of the Academy Awards.....

"You cannot compromise your core beliefs..."

I like almost all of the Republican candidates, and they ALL would make better presidents than what we have now by a long shot, but I LOVE Rick Perry. He's a straight-shooter and I trust him. Having lived in Texas the entire time he has been governor (and actually my entire life except for the one year I lived in Denver) Rick Perry has been almost perfect. The big snafu that he's being roasted on is when he wanted all girls to get an immunization for cervical cancer, and I DID disagree about that. But he has pulled away from those comments when he saw how Texan women reacted, and blamed it on his passion. But it's his passion that I love. I want a candidate who isn't just in it for the popularity, but actually loves this country and wants to "conserve" the constitution. I want a candidate with a strong faith and morals from which to make the big decisions. I prefer a candidate who has served in the military although it's not a deal breaker if they haven't. I want a candidate that has class and manners; someone who was raised right. I want a candidate who believes in capitalism, American exceptionalism and small government. I want a candidate that is fair and loves justice. I want a candidate who is a tough man but is compassionate.

You see conservatives have "seen the light," yet we are compassionate towards those who have not. That's the difference. Liberals generally have one issue that they will not negotiate such as same-sex marriage or pro-abortion or legalizing marijuana and it drives them to vote on that one thing only. Conservatives are driven by their strong moral beliefs which also cannot be compromised. And all conservatives are Republicans but not all Republicans are conservatives. There are the country club Republicans who do not have strong moral beliefs, but skew closer to Republicans on fiscal issues so they can keep more of their money. Talking about religion embarresses them and they are not passionate people. (Well, maybe passionate about hanging on to their money?)

Anyway.

Rick Perry has all of my 'wants' in a candidate and more.

Perry is the man for this time...

"Where there's smoke, there's fire..."

Right now as I write here in Central Texas, there are fires all around Austin... 14,000 acres burned in Bastrop and it's not contained yet. A mandatory evacuation has been issued. There are fires in Pfugerville, Steiner Ranch and south Austin. Major brushfire in bordering Hays County to the south. The entire state is just a big pile of kindling and is just a match away from disaster.

In the Utopia movie (which was filmed last summer) there is a scene of a thunderstorm here and the entire audience gasped when they saw it, as it's been that long since we've had rain. Trees are dying, bushes and hedges are almost gone, and yards are like tundra (my favorite word from 4th grade.) Ranchers are finding dead deer all over their places and nocturnal animals are coming out in the daytime for food. Even the bats are leaving their caves earlier to fly farther for food. And the bordering county south of mine, has had bear sightings (and now shootings) for the first time in 100 years, since they are coming north out of Mexico for food.

It's serious readers, very serious....

"7 Days in Utopia"

Tonight I saw the movie, "7 Days in Utopia," and it did not disappoint. Last summer in my little town in the Texas hill country, we heard they were filming a movie on a new book, "Golf's Sacred Journey, Seven Days at the Links in Utopia." It was written by a friend of DD's father, Dr. David Cook, who is a psychologist to super athletes, and evidently they come from miles around to have an appointment with him. David's daughter was in DD's dance class, so I got to meet him and his wife, and they are some of the nicest people I've ever met.

Anyway.

They had an all-call for anyone that wanted to be an extra in the movie, so it was great fun to see familiar faces in the crowd, not to mention all the familiar places around here! The movie truly captures our way of life here in the Texas hill country, and being a 5th generation Texan, it made me proud.

Of course after "Lonesome Dove," Texans call Robert Duvall one of our own. He SO reminds me of my mother's father with that cute twinkle in his eye... When I started reading the book, I knew that he was MEANT for that part. It is men like him that made me move to this town - those types are the salt of the earth and make this world a better place. The river scene looks like this entire area (except that it hasn't rained since they filmed last summer, so the rivers are drying up.) My family's ranch that my great grandfather bought, is right down the street from Utopia, so many childhood memories in these parts. The porch scene is actually a Bed & Breakfast in our town, (DD's 7th grade cheer photos were taken on the bridge on the property and we took family Christmas photos there a few years ago) and the gorgeous new golf course is at the edge of town. It's a movie with A List actors, gorgeous scenery and a meaningful script with no gratuitous sex or cussing that shows the wonderful metaphor of golf and life's successes. Go see it - you'll be glad you did.

It will make you want a new pair of boots...

"Where's the Beef?"

Ok, randomly I will introduce my movie star crushes at different times since summers are slow. Let me start with Kyle Chandler, of "Friday Night Lights," and this summer's "Super 8," among other things.

Hubba, hubba...

"Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!..."

Just read that our great governor, Rick Perry of Texas, is saying, "There is hope for America, and we will find it on our knees." Yes! Finally a politician that gets it right! Governor Perry has invited other governors to join him in Houston in August to a solemn gathering of prayer and fasting at Reliant Stadium. And it gets even better, he's going to be asking for God's forgiveness, wisdom and provision. Absolutely! It reminds me of my favorite president, Ronald Reagan, who mentioned God and prayer often, and wasn't ashamed. Perry adds, "Right now, America is in crisis. We have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism and a multitude of natural disasters. As a nation, we must come together, and call upon Jesus to guide us..." Right on!! He isn't ashamed to admit that we all have a Creator and He is still in charge! And just recently Perry called upon Texans to pray for rain when all of the wildfires were burning, and guess what? God answered, and it rained a few days later. Yes, the answer to our problems is returning to the living God, so I too, will be getting on my knees.

And while I'm down there, I'm going to ask Him to give Governor Perry wisdom in his decision to run for president too...