Tacky, Tacky, Tacky



 My Living Room

  Most of the time, my house stays as neat as a pin.  I like it that way. It is relaxing for me to leave and come home to a clean and organized home.  But, I have to be honest here, when it comes to my purse, I am embarrassed to admit, I am a bit of a hoarder, plain and simple.  I truly don't know how so much stuff creeps into my purse and on most days I don't even notice it.  It's not until after extended periods of time when I try to cram something new in that I realize it is again at its brink and can’t hold another thing. It happens a few times a year and today was one of those days. I was on my way out the door to run some errands in a different vehicle than I usually use. I had just come back in the house from the driveway where I had started the van we'd be taking (when you leave your vehicle in the driveway in Texas, it totally has to be cooled off before you can get in it).  I went back in the house  to grab my list of stuff to do and to put my phone car charger in my purse,  but it was hopeless. My purse was overflowing with a wild array of  …..items.   In an effort to get out the door quickly to run my errands, I opted for a quick, short term remedy, and I took out a few big handfuls of the random items and put them on my washing machine with the intention of sorting through the pile when I got back home. But before I left, I stood there a moment staring at my shortcomings with embarrassment, pleased that my mother wasn't there to shake her head at me in shame.

There was a fork, a knife,an old telephone bill, 3D glasses from a movie we saw last week, lotions with no tops on them, rubber bands for my kid's braces, an old People magazine I have every intention of reading, receipts, paint samples, and Lord knows what else. I was still standing there staring at the mess wondering why my purse always looks like this,  when Sarah frantically came running back in the front door telling me she had accidently locked the van, while it was running and I immediately remembered…………….I..........don't..........have.............a................spare.......key...............!!!

After I was sure I had heard her correctly, I looked at her and said,

YOU DID WHAT???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brooke, sensing my distress looked at Sarah square in the face and exclaimed,  "That was so tacky, Sarah!"  Tacky is Brooke's new word.  Because her latest obsession is DISNEY IMAGINEERING, she has become  a walking app regarding the history of both Disneyland and Disney World.   Evidently Walt Disney did not like the "tacky" hotel and advertising signs directly outside of the Disneyland gates and that was partly his motivation to purchase the land in Florida which later became Disney World. (I learned this from Brooke) For some unknown reason, Brooke has latched onto that word and is readily identifying anything she finds unpleasing with it. 

    Anyway and luckily, disaster was averted when I remembered my stepdad has a spare key.  I called him at work and the girls and I drove the whole 2 minutes from my house to his job and look what we picked up-

In just a few minutes we were back home and then leaving again in a VERY COOLED OFF van!



Brooke said I was 'tacky" because I take too many pictures and because I always say to say cheeeeeese.

I headed to downtown Fort Worth because I need to have some work done on the van and I had gotten a good recommendation for a body shop there that would give me a fair estimate.  We took several little twists and turns down little streets through the outskirts of Fort Worth.  The landscaping was beginning to look more and more like a small barrio of a foreign country (where  Brooke described  every other building as tacky)  when we stumbled upon this gem just down the street from the body shop-  

Yes, it was a house completely decorated in beer cans.  I bet their neighbors love them.

I had to get out and get a better view of this one.

Sarah thought it looked beautiful but Brooke stayed in the van and told us it was tacky, of course. 

After our visit to the body shop, the girls and I celebrated another hot day of summer with a stop on the way home at one of my favorite places ......

There is nothing like a Reese's Blizzard.