Bluebonnets bud. Birds sing. Wise parents accompany their children outdoors for long hours of unrestricted play.

With no more than a quick “see you later” to the house, we make hasty calls to friends with the pressing questions: “What are you doing right now? Meet me at the park?” We’re eager to revel in every moment of unfettered freedom outside.

For we all know the truth – as quickly as spring arrives in Austin, the planet tilts and turns, tipping the sands of time in favor of the searing heat that is  the Texas summer.

Happy First Day of Spring to you all!

Actually I think the blogger of this blog, yours truly, lost all heart for blogging for a while.

Maybe it was the economic downturn or the winter blues that kicked it off.

But a sad personal loss followed.

Then a piping hot summer.

Autumn found me starting  a small home piano lesson  studio.

And then this blog’s biggest fan (just look through a few old posts for comments from Nene and you’ll see what I mean) lost her short battle to cancer.

Frankly 2009 shall be known as the year I was at a loss for words.

Recently I realized, although I didn’t tell you about my adventures in 2009, I never stopped having them. Kenny and I hit 3 out of 5 of Texas’ top BBQ spots. My sisters and I celebrated our big birthdays in San Antonio. I downed the finest example of onion rings EVER at the Varsity in Atlanta. We beat the summer heat at some of Texas’ coolest springfed pools. And snow and lightning robbed me of my summit of Pike’s Peak in Colorado Springs.

Though I look the web over, I don’t find many bloggers telling you these important details about the great sights here, there and everywhere. So I’m dusting off the old keyboard and warming up my typing fingers.

Get ready. Dixie Gypsy is waking up.

When I was fourteen I often babysat a sweet little boy in Alabama. (Um yeah…I just did the math and he’s driving now!) One Christmas his mom had stacks of orange slices drying on all the countertops in their kitchen.  She was making potpourri.

I thought of her and decided to give it a try.

I sliced the oranges in quarter-inch thick round slices and laid them out flat on a cookie sheet. Then I set the oven to 200 degrees and baked them overnight and well into the morning, turning them occasionally.

I threw in a few grapefruit slices too just for fun. (I know…I know…I live on the edge.)

Aren’t they pretty?

Four hundred pieces of cinnamon sticks are en route to me now. I’ll mix the two together with a sprinkle of whole cloves for a nice potpourri to simmer through the holidays.

The oranges were out in my kitchen today when a sweet fourteen year old girl arrived to babysit my little boy this afternoon.

Funny how life makes one big circle.

I find it ironic that “Going Green” is the current trend when people’s pockets are less green than they’ve ever been in my lifetime. Interestingly enough an economic downturn and the essence of going green work well together.

Since moving to Austin, I’ve been affected by the green movement. It’s hard to escape it here, so I’ve been learning about it. I’m not sure I’ll make a complete switch to organic foods and green cleaning products, because I’ll be limited by the amount of green in my wallet. However, I find myself embracing the heart of the movement: waste not, want not. Who knew our grandmas were green?

I could tell you how I recycle and compost and use re-usable grocery bags. I could shock my mother and mention that I’ve put the plastic butter containers to a second use when the butter is gone. However, I think many people are telling you these green tricks.

If you’ve trekked with me long, you know this: one thing is always on my mind. Food! I’ve been inspired by stories of old Southern and country cooks. Many dishes we take for granted in the South were birthed out of sheer survival in poor times past.

Want to “waste not, want not” in your kitchen? Well, come back ya hear? We’ll be chatting about this theme from time-to-time in weeks to come.

P.S. Here’s the weekend summary for the other football states I’ve called home – Alabama whomped Auburn and Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State.

P.S.S. Kenny’s wondering if I’m the same girl he married.

P.S.S.S. Apparently people do change after all.

However, I do love one thing about this time of year (other than the point of it for those of us in the Christian faith). I love holiday TV shows. I don’t watch much TV the rest of the year. Why live vicariously through actors when I can live my own life? But my favorite December activity is sitting brianlessly on the couch in front of the tube for hours on end drinking hot cocoa and taking in the holiday specials.

Anyone with me?

If you like this too, I happened across this link for the 2008 holiday specials schedule. Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t call December 16th. I have a hot date for the 29th year in a row with Charlie Brown. I wonder what Christmas tree he’ll pick this year?

In high school, I think I only attended two of my school’s football games – one because I had to be there and another because a boy I sort of liked at the time said he was going. We weren’t very good. I don’t know that we even won a game the four years I was there.

My first college roommate adored football. Her walls were plastered with pictures of her favorite team, and she planned her life around their games. Our room looked a little funny since my side of the room consisted of floral prints and monogrammed sheets – we do love our initials in the South!

She signed me up for the intramural flag football league. I played five minutes of one game. I think I ran the right direction the whole time. Kenny was dating me at the time and came to see me play. He blinked and missed the whole thing.

That’s all changed now. When I was only a few weeks pregnant with Titus, Kenny woke up on a Saturday morning to the sounds of football on the TV. Bewildered he walked into the family room to find me laying on the couch watching the Arkansas Razorbacks and Lord only knows who else.

“Can you tell me what’s going on here?” I asked.

“Can you tell me where my wife is?” he replied.

A mother’s premonitions must be very strong. I now have a boy – a very big boy. It’s quite likely football – lots and lots of football- will be in our future.

So why wait for tomorrow when the future can start today? It’s Thanksgiving, and in honor of our town where burnt orange pride infects even the strongest of resistance, we’ll tune into the ever-important match against Texas A&M.

Hook ‘em horns.

However, I solved an international mystery. I found the Bermuda Triangle. It lies in the coordinates between my stove, kitchen sink and kitchen trash bin.

I’m putting out a search warrant for the following items that disappeared just this week:

1. Three dehydrated orange slices.

2. Titus’ green sippee cup, thankfully only filled with water, not milk.

3. The three remaining slices of bread from a nearly-finished loaf. The plastic bag too.

4. The trash bin lid.

If this keeps up, we may have to add a fifth item.

5. My mind.

Can you relate?

This week will be a quiet one. Kenny and I are in Canada on vacation. Next summer we celebrate 10 years of marriage. Since we have expiring airline vouchers, hotel points and grandparent babysitters available now, we decided to celebrate now!

Stay tuned next week, ’cause I’m sure I’ll have many tales to tell upon my return.

Peace, love and happiness until then.

I love my book club here in Austin. The girls have been really welcoming. And they just introduced me to Fannie Flagg. How did I miss this woman?

She’s an author from Alabama and is famous for her bestseller Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. I think I’ll go join my new library and look for that one soon.

I just finished Standing in the Rainbow. When I was a kid I read quite a number of books set in the fifties. Anyone heard of Homer Price? I loved him. As a kid reading about kids in that time, life sounded like a dream. Youngsters could wander all over town with all kinds of freedom because the world seemed to be a safe place. How much of that was true and how much of that was literature I wonder?

Standing in the Rainbow gave me that same warm fuzzy feeling.

Next time you need a smile on your face and some warmth in your heart, look for Fannie Flagg.

P.S. She also wrote a cookbook – The Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook Featuring Fried Green Tomatoes. I love this girl!