The West Texas Fair and Rodeo, ACU & other things

1. I tried to take a picture of Ava's first day of school ,but whenever I tell her to smile, she makes this face. She closes her eyes as soon as I hold up the camera. What a goofball! She was pretty excited about having pockets on her jacket, so she walked around all morning with her hands shoved deep in her pockets as you can see in the picture. (Note to moms out there: Ava's hair is getting lighter and thinner. At first I thought it was just because we were in the sun, but it's gotten so thin, I can't even keep a bow in it anymore. I am starting to worry that she is malnourished or something. Is this normal? Do you have any ideas or experiences with this? I don't want to be paranoid but people ask me about it all the time, and I'm getting more concerned.)

2. We went to the annual West Texas Fair and Rodeo last night with our small group. I ate Sharon Allen's chopped brisket sandwich, sweet iced tea and a funnel cake. What's a trip to the fair without sticky fingers and a layer of white powdered sugar all over your clothes and mouth? Highlights for Ava include dancing to the western band, feeding the goats at the petting zoo, and riding the train. (It cost $6 stinkin' dollars for a 30 second ride-- $3 for her and $3 for me because she's too young to ride alone.) Somebody is making some serious bank at the fair and I'm pretty sure it isn't the "carnies" who work there. Highlights for me include watching Kevin Campbell ride a fake bull for 8 seconds, dancing with Ava to the music, and hanging out with my friends. Something about that environment reminds me of being in middle school! We had fun, but 2 hours at the fair is about all I need until next year.

3. Today I went to chapel at ACU with my cousins and had "Cousin Lunch" afterwards at Little Panda. I've got four cousins and a nephew at ACU right now. Being back on campus is interesting. It has the same feel with the same young faces, so I kept expecting to see someone I recognized. I caught myself scanning section "L" for a familiar face. Then I did a little math and realized that the freshman starting ACU this year were in 2nd grade when I started at ACU in 1995! Needless to say, that one made me feel old. Still, being on campus brought back great memories. Ava loved the singing and seeing all those kids in chapel!

4. For those who don't know, I took on a second part time job. In addition to being the Nursery Director at Highland, I am now a Rep. for National Geographic and a few other publishing companies. I market curriculum and instructional materials to schools. Generally speaking, I hate selling anything to people. It is just not my personality to be a salesman, but I am stretching myself and giving it my best effort. I took the job because we have to replace our air conditioning unit so we needed to make a little extra to help offset the cost of that, plus our electicity bill, and the gas prices lately have been making us feel the crunch. Chad has also been working extra hours. We've both been pretty worn out, but we're thankful to have ways of making extra money to help when we need it. I know many people don't have those opportunitites.