The Sewing Mom

I had a bad feeling about relocating to Allen, Texas when, on the night we flew in for our original house hunting trip, there was an arrest taking place in the parking lot of our hotel.  In the 4 days we were in town, we saw 2 more arrests taking place.  I really took this as a bad sign.

After moving here (no, my husband didn’t listen to my bad vibes), we continued to see arrests on a pretty regular basis.  My husband claimed that seeing arrests meant the police were doing their job.  However, I feel like they are just doing their job.  If they were doing a GOOD job, there wouldn’t be a need for so many arrests.  Don’t get me wrong, we live in a fairly upscale white-collar, college educated area.  This is by no means a ghetto.  I think that’s why I’m even more surprised at the amount of police activity I’ve been witness to.  Perhaps it is because of the area that people get lulled in to a false sense of security and make crime easier for the criminals?  I really don’t know.

Crime has been committed against us as well since moving here.  The first time, my husband had driven our van to the airport (DFW) and left it parked while he was on a business trip.   We hadn’t been here long and still had our Illinois license plates on it.  When he came home, the front plate, along with the brackets and license plate holder, were completely gone.  Even the bolts that hold it onto the bumper were gone.  I was thankful they had at least left us the rear plate!

Yesterday, my husband came home from work and casually informed me that when he came out of the office and got into the van, the oversized glove box in the center console was open and stuff was hanging out of it.  He could tell someone had rifled through everything.  Fortunately for us, there was nothing of any value in the van.  They left us with a broken lock on the driver’s door and got nothing in return.  Thanks.

And my husband wonders why I haven’t been happy since we moved.  I realize it’s little stuff, but it makes it NOT feel like home.

I just want to go on record to say that I am completely disgusted.  You see, we’ve been having a problem with these little bugs getting into our food that is in our pantry.  These bugs are larger than a weevil, but I do believe they are more than likely related.

Two months ago, I completely emptied my pantry.  I tossed any food that was in open packaging and discovered what I thought was the source, bags of chocolate chips.  I then put anything that wasn’t all ready in Tupperware into containers or ziploc bags.  Even boxed mixes that had never been opened I slipped inside a ziploc bag for protection.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, my husband found these little buggers in the container of bread crumbs.  We promptly tossed it out and I went through the pantry again.  I didn’t find anything else, so I thought maybe it was just something I had missed.   Today told me I was wrong.

I found a ziploc bag, completely sealed with 2 never opened boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix inside the bag.  Bugs everywhere inside the bag.  I am pissed to say the least.

I proceeded to go through the entire pantry, again.  I found the bugs in sealed bags of cereal and an open box of pasta.  I have thrown it all out.  Apparently, ziploc bags aren’t good enough for fighting these bugs.  I prefer Tupperware, but since I can’t afford it right now, I’m heading to Target to get some Rubbermaid containers.  I’m going to try to find a large square or rectangular container that I can set boxes of mixes inside of and then seal with a lid.  I’m also going to get some containers for the cereal.

Food is just way to expensive to have to be throwing it out.  In case you’re wondering, living in Texas, it’s routine to have your home exterminated on a regular basis.  I have our house done every 3 months.

That’s it, we’re done. Our back to school clothes shopping is complete, right down to the outfit required for band.

This weekend was tax-free weekend here in Texas and we took advantage of the fact that we could buy clothes and not pay the 8.25% sales tax. The tax free advantage only applies to clothing and shoes and that works for us because that’s exactly what we were buying.

After hitting two malls, one on Friday and one this morning, and a few shops outside the mall, my daughter has all the clothes she needs to get her through 7th grade, unless she grows! We even managed to find the black pants, black shirt and black shoes she needs for band, and they’re even stylish! Adding it all up, we spent just under $300 and saved about $25 in sales tax. Out of that, one pair of shoes was for myself (hey, I did all the walking and paying, I deserved something!).

Now we have all of this week to relax and enjoy the final week of summer vacation.

Our family has always been one that checks out historical information about the places we live. When we lived in Illinois, we made several trips to various places in the state to learn about the history of how the state came to be as well as learning about important people of Illinois. Now that we have moved to Texas, I am anxious to start traveling this huge state. I have always been interested in the history of the American West. I am thrilled to have found a museum dedicated to educating and inspiring all who, like me, enjoy seeing historical art.

Located in the city of Orange, Texas is a wonderful museum for viewing artifacts from over two centuries of western and Indian cultures native to Texas. The Stark Museum of Art has a wonderful website, www.starkmuseum.org, which gives information about how the museum began. The Stark Foundation, founded in 1961, was the vision of H.J. Lutcher Stark and his wife Nelda C. Stark. The foundation was founded as a way to encourage, promote and assist in education, the arts, and health and human services. Many children and adults have been inspired by the educational experiences garnered from the Stark Museum of Art. Interactive programs and tours are encouraged and enjoyed by families and school groups each year.

The museum has an exceptional collection of the art of the American West. Western Art that portrays cowboy life and Indian imagery is one section of art included in the vast museum. The Decorative Arts section of the museum includes rare Stueben Crystal collections and beautiful porcelain birds native to the west. Rare Books and Manuscripts are also on display.

I hope many of you are interested in the history of our country and enjoy visiting museums as much as I do. The Stark Museum of Art is on my list of places our family will be visiting.