Transplanted in Texas

Springtime isn't cool and pretty with some showers down here. Nope. It is crazy, with days in the 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s and nights in the 30s and 40s and maybe 50s. And then it suddenly decides it's summertime, with 85-95 degree temperatures ruling May. And lots of wind blowing the pollen around. Awesome. I'm glad we don't have crazy allergies. Whew. June means 100 degree weather starts getting here - or maybe it is just a continuation of May. Either way, June 1 means summer, even if it doesn't officially  get here until late that month. Springtime in Texas means pouring rain, crazy weather, green grass, blooming flowers, babies of all species, and unpredictability. Also it means Yance wants to spend all his time outside. We went to our first reenactment in a year last weekend, and Yance thoroughly enjoyed spending 36 hours or so outside in the sun and shade. We had fun, too, with D ending up on a 3 mile march with his group on Sunday. I cooked brunch on...

Next Wednesday marks two years since my D asked my father for my hand. This picture was taken the evening before, at a reenactment ball. If we were in love then, we're nuts about each other now. That was the first of only two reenactments that I have participated on the field at. At that one, I rode Jack and was first guarding the cannon D was on, and then the following day was sent off with a cavalry group. My future sister in law and I rode a couple horses on the empty battlefield while the others were prepping to pack up, and while we were gone my sweetie asked Dad. The answer, of course, was yes. That ball was the first where I wore that gown. Today, it is packed away in a box, because I can't wear it. I fit it, I'm sure, but you can't breastfeed with it. Next year I will wear it again. Without my man, I would not know about reenactments. Sure, there'd be a basic knowledge that they existed, but I wouldn't know a thing about what to do with the...

Our latest trips have been interesting. For the past three weekends, we've been doing one thing or another, as close as an hour from home or as far as three and a half hours. And it's varied from a family visit to a paying band trip to an expensive hobby. April 21-23: My parents' place to see my grandparents, who hadn't seen me since the wedding last March. April 29-30: Houston, for my husband, his best man, and my father-in-law to play background music as a band at an outdoor Sons of Confederate Veterans supper party at a wealthy gentleman's home. May 5-7: Jefferson reenactment. The highlight of the reenacting season, and our first campout reenactment of the year. I will review them in chronological order. _________________________________________________________________________________ On the evening of April 21, which by the way just happened to be a stressful day for unrelated reasons (o.O), we drove up through testy weather to my parents' ...

This will be the second time I have missed the Kentucky Derby & Kentucky Oaks for a reenactment. The first time was two years ago - for the same reenactment. It was my first time going to one of these events. Last year, the event was cancelled due to rain, but it wasn't on Derby weekend and we went to the rival event in the same town instead, which wasn't nearly as fun. Last year following Sunday's skirmishes It's Jefferson weekend, the highlight of our reenacting year. And it will be Yance's first overnight camping weekend - two nights! We leave tonight and come back Sunday evening. Also, I chose not to watch the Derby last year. I wasn't interested in the least in the field. In fact, only Gun Runner and Exaggerator were thought of at all by me - and they ended up finishing third and second, respectively, behind Nyquist. Exaggerator went on to beat his long-time rival Nyquist in the Preakness and Haskell before being retired after a pair of lacklust...

It's 2am. My alarm goes off under my pillow by my head. I wake up, yawn, and shut it off. Then I lie there for a couple minutes before getting to my feet. I go through the bedroom door and out into the hall. Directly across the hall is the spare room, and I open the door and enter. On the bed in there is a little baby-bed thing, with my half-awake and hungry little boy inside. I pick him up and bring him back to the master bedroom. Once there, I get comfortable and feed the baby, who guzzles his nighttime meal in 20-25 minutes. I struggle to stay awake while my sweetheart snores quietly. Then Yance is finished, so I bring him back to his bed, close the doors, and fall asleep in my own bed again. The next thing I know, my husband's first alarm goes off. It's 5:30. After a minute or so, he rolls over and turns it off - and then we're asleep again. My alarm goes off again. This time it's 6, time for Yance's next meal. I repeat what I did at 2, this time with my...

We have two planned spring reenactments: Pleasant Hill and Jefferson. Pleasant Hill was the first reenactment we attended as a married couple, and this year it will be the first one we attend with our son. On Saturday, we will head over there, and Yance will have his first exposure to the whole reenacting environment. He will be one month old exactly, too. I am defying my own expectations. I did not expect to be so energetic four weeks after giving birth to this little one, and yet I am nearly back to my normal self. I haven't felt this good in more than nine months. So, D will fall in with some friends to fight at the Pleasant Hill reenactment, then play the ball with some more friends. I will watch from the sidelines, holding my baby boy. He will be decked out in a brand-new 1860s era baby outfit, and I will be wearing my blue camp dress. Who knows what reenactments we will attend this year. We will be at most, if not all of the upcoming band engagements (we missed...

In two days, my beloved and I are going to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. It’s been a busy, eventful year. The adventure began two years ago, when we both were hauled to a “mini-shindig”, put on by homeschooling families to let like-minded people meet and enjoy each others’ company. Neither of us were looking for prospective spouses. But by the grace of God, and some meddling by D’s father, we met and hit it off so well that it wasn’t long before we were in a budding friendship. Unfortunately, neither of us had bothered to ask for contact info before parting ways, so I was certain we’d never meet again, or at least it would be a very long time before we saw each other. That deflated the moment. But, a couple weeks later, he, his sister, and his father came out for a party I was throwing. At the “mini-shindig”, he had been the first person to get me to actually enjoy dancing, and at this party he showed me the ropes of volleyball - and was the first person to get me to d...