giddy-up ya'll

quote image from polyvore via pinterest, family image via my sister's iphone

deep in the heart (day one)

the girls and i kissed our boys good-bye on the curb of lax and made our misty-eyed way toward security. miley and i walked barefoot through the metal detectors without a problem, but the tsa agent said that mia required a full-body scan to make sure she wasn't hiding anything under her hippie skirt. after a long wait, the girls excitedly boarded their first flight in memory.

we were attacked in the dfw baggage claim by an even more excited auntie tweece and crazy grandma. we split up into two rental cars and i attempted to follow my mom to the hotel. i stopped trying to keep up when she drove her pontianc vibe straight through a yellow and black stripped barrier arm. much to her chagrin, when we safely reached the hotel 20 minutes later, my chest was still heaving with laughter.

to the girls delight, john & liz arrived with their babies a few hours later. we set off on another crazy procession, this time three cars thick, in search of food. the joyride ended with me swerving into a parkingspace outside olive garden (lame, i know) cursing the absence of a gps. once inside, my agitation was replaced with the elation of being surrounded by some of my favorite smiling faces.

illegally acquired, universally admired

the short drive from dfw (d-f-dubya) to our dallas hotel quickly revealed a few things. one- navigating the cities highways, turnpikes, spurs, and beltways was going to be problematic. two- texans freaking love texas. the iconic state outline is everywhere: waving on flags, painted on buildings, and placed in flowerbeds. the picture above was taken at my mom's sister's house, but i spied the exact same stepping stone in a garden at my dad's brother's house.

i'm a californian, born and raised, but i've been surrounded by that contagious texas pride my entire life. our orange county home was full of riffles, cowboy boots, and genuine texas bull shit paper weights. my mom channeled her texan resilience into retaining her twangy accent despite living the majority of her years away from 'home.' it worked so well that i still find myself regularly using the word 'ya'll.' which is quite the useful word when you think about it.

we just got back from two family reunions and four days deep in the heart of texas...

miley's 6/12/2011 journal entry

"today i had so much fun with my kuzins. luve miley suggs."

not expected, but appreciated

we are checked boxes and designated numbers. we are pigeonholed. society constantly nails deliciously round individuals into unapologetic square spaces. we take our lives and force them into schedules, educations, jobs, obligations, and blurbs of 140 characters or less that do not accommodate individual talents, needs, or preferences. we are taught to fear the roundness. we're afraid, so we throw out our potential for insurance.

i buy the safety insurance. i tuck my sleepy 5 year-old into a crowded classroom before 7:30 every morning, even though i know in my heart she should be sleeping in the security of her warm bed. a non-square mileyfied education would require a later start, a smaller class, less repetition, and more flexibility. but it would not require a different teacher. no, no, it would not.

public education is nearly impossible to personalize. teachers are given deplorable working conditions and unrealistic expectations. the cards are so stacked against them that i'm afraid to join their ranks. their success always surprises me. i do not expect them to accommodate and embrace all the individuals in their classroom, but i sure as hell appreciate it.

thank you mrs. c.

(a miafied education would involve a lot less boys, but that's a post for another day...)