You Can Say It Here!

Merry Christmas from Nacogdoches!  That's right, you read it correctly.  I didn't type "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays".  I said Merry Christmas dadgummit and I meant it!  You can say that in East Texas and nobody gets offended.  Even if they did, they'd have the courtesy to keep their offense to themselves because that's just how people are here.

I started telling people Merry Christmas the day after Thanksgiving when I had to work alone in my office all day.  Each time someone called or came in to make a payment, I told them Merry Christmas.  It was my own little personal protest against the politically correct people of this world. While I understand that sometimes you must be diplomatic, I believe that it is wrong to say things that you wouldn't normally say just because you have been bullied into it by others.

A stiff "Season's Greetings" sounds like something Thurston Howell III from Gilligan's Island would wish upon people and not actually mean it.  While "Merry Christmas" sounds joyous to me.  When someone says "Merry Christmas" to you, it always sounds heartfelt.  And when it gets right down to it, that is what this time of year is really all about.  It's practically impossible to say "Merry Christmas" without smiling.

But getting back to my little personal protest, I've found in the last month that when I tell a customer "Merry Christmas", most of them pause, smile and then say "Merry Christmas" right back.  A few just say "thank you" and move along.  Some seem surprised but most of the surprise seems pleasant. But one reaction was priceless.  About 3 weeks ago, I said "Merry Christmas" to a gentleman who came in to pay for his insurance just as he was opening the door to leave the office.  He stopped dead in his tracks.  The stunned look on his face made me think that he might say something mean to me in response but then he got a huge smile on his face and said very loudly, "Thank You"!  Then he proceeded to tell me that I was the first person who had told him that this year and that he was so sick of people saying "Happy Holidays" that he couldn't stand it.

That experience felt so good that I doubled my efforts and began telling random people in stores, restaurants and even at the gas station "Merry Christmas".  And guess what....  Nothing but happy responses!!!!  People love to be told "Merry Christmas".  Here's the other thing, if you said "Happy Hanukkah", I would say "thank you"!  "Happy Hanukkah to you too!"  You know why?  Because my country was founded on some basic principles one of which is freedom of religion.  That means you can choose to be any religion that makes you happy and that's a pretty great thing. One of those other principles was freedom of speech which gives you the right to express your religion aloud.  It's not about trying to change someone's religion or push yours on them.  It's simply about wishing someone else happiness and that's what this time of year is all about.

So don't be afraid to wish someone a "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah" or even a "Happy Festivus" if that's what you're about (we'll have an airing of the grievances later).  Most people seem to like it and those who don't probably can't be made happy anyway.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A JOYOUS NEW YEAR!

A Weekend Get Away

This past weekend I had a wonderful visit from one of my friends who lives in Frisco.  I say wonderful, since it was wonderful for me.  I'm not so sure how she felt about it.  I think that since I grew up in Nacogdoches and lived in a number of other small towns throughout my life small town life doesn't seem so quiet to me until I begin to look at it through the eyes of someone else.  Last weekend I tried to look at it through Katherine's eyes.  And quiet just seems like the nicest way to put it.

First of all, I should say that I think Katherine had a nice time and I know that I did.  But when people used to come and visit me in Dallas, I'd have lots of fun and exciting things planned for the weekend that they couldn't do in their own city or town.  There was always some sort of professional sporting event to attend or a concert or at least a trip to an amusement park or museum.  I never  ran short of exciting things to do there.

Here, the list of possible activities was substantially shorter.  In fact, I could think of about four things to do.  My list consisted of, go visit my parents, eat out, visit historical sites, and walk some of the trails.  Prior to visiting we had established that we were going to catch up on some reality TV shows that we both are partial to.  In fact that is how Katherine and I spent most of our time as friends in Dallas.  She would come over and we would watch reality TV at my house pretty much once a week when The Bachelor or The Bachelorette was airing.  If neither of those were on, sometimes we would watch Survivor or Top Chef.  We had even been known to watch Below Deck and The People's Couch.  And I use the word watch loosely.  Really it was more like carrying on conversations while the show aired and then rewinding the DVR if one of us saw something that we thought might be interesting that we had missed.  I'm not very handy with the rewinding thing so most of the time that meant that it would take us several hours to watch a 2 hour show and we really didn't care that much.  It was really more about us having time to visit than anything else.  It was also an opportunity for Katherine to have a "Mom's Night Out".

So, that was what we had planned for this visit.  All week long as I found reality TV shows that I thought might suit our tastes, I saved them to my DVR for the big weekend visit.  So, after Katherine's arrival on Friday evening, we first went to dinner at Clear Springs which is a local family dining restaurant.  Surprisingly, there are three others scattered throughout the state, (who knew?).  So if you ever happen to be in New Braunfels, Midland or Tyler you can visit Clear Springs there too.  After returning to my house, we began watching The Bachelor.  It was a very entertaining episode since Jimmy Kimmel had been on this particular one.  Afterwards we got through another reality show or two and by the time we turned off the TV and called it a night it was a little after 1 AM.  All in all, a pretty big night at the ol' Meyers house!

Saturday I shocked myself sleeping until nearly 10 AM.  I had visions of Katherine rambling through my house wondering how lazy I could possibly be while in a state of starvation.  As it turned out, she came out of her room an hour or so later just to let me know that she was actually alive and then she went and got back in her bed for another 45 minutes or so.  This is why we are friends!  So around noon we both got dressed and headed for my mom and dad's house.  I like taking people to visit my mom and dad partially just because the drive over there is kind of pretty and it is definitely interesting if you aren't from around here.  When I say to my friends that my parents live out in the country, I don't think they really have a true appreciation for what that means until they have driven to there house.  So after spending about an hour visiting with my parents we headed to Fuzzy's Tacos, because you know.... a week without Fuzzy's is like a week without Fuzzy's....

Some berries on the walking trail

After that we went for a walk on some of the trails I like near the SFA campus and then headed back to my house where I baked a pasta dish and then we settled in to watch chick flicks for the remainder of the evening.

View from the walking trail

Sunday morning we decided to finish off our lazy weekend by once again sleeping in and then heading to brunch with my sister-in-law at Liberty Bell.  You really can't go wrong at anyplace that touts a $7 pitcher of mimosas.

Following brunch, we once again headed back to my house and watched some HGTV for a few hours before Katherine had to head back to the Dallas area.  I must say that by Sunday morning I was beginning to worry that Katherine was never going to come back to such a boring place where I had been such an unimaginative hostess.  But the more I think about it, I think this was probably Katherine's idea of a perfect get away.  I mean, after all, she is a stay at home mom and PTA president with all the responsibilities that that entails.  She was always pretty happy to get 3 or 4 hours over at my house once a week in Dallas when she could escape reality and just veg, if you will.  That hasn't happened since September.  So, a full weekend in my leather rocking chair was probably just what the doctor ordered.

I did threaten as she left that the next time she comes down, I'm going to take her to the cemetery to see Thomas J Rusks grave and I might even force to her the Old Stone Fort.  But she'll have time to psych herself up for all that fun.  Until then, if you are getting burned out on Dallas traffic and the fast pace of the big city, come on down to Nacogdoches for a visit.  I promise the pace here will reduce your blood pressure by at least 10 points.

The Difference Between Dallas and Nacogdoches

I moved back to Nacogdoches, Texas last September after having been gone for about 24 years.  I moved back for a lot of reasons not the least of which was that I just like Nacogdoches.  But that's not to say that it hasn't taken a little getting used to.  After all, the last 22 years of my life has been spent in the thriving metropolis that is Dallas.  There's a big difference between Big D and Naca-NoWhere as we called it back in the day.  So, in October after I had finished unpacking I decided to start a new blog so that my friends could, if they chose, join me as I took on the task of familiarizing myself once again with living in a small East Texas town.  So, after only three months of thinking about this blog possibility, here is my first installment of Life in Nacogdoches.

One of the things that I have learned since moving back here is that it is easier to diet in a town with limited dining options.  Let's face it, you can only go to the same restaurant so many times in one week in a town this size before they start calling you by name and say something like, "Hey Susan, are you going to eat another cheeseburger???!?!?!"  Not that that's happened to me.... yet.  But if I didn't know better, it could.  People with weight issues do not like to be reminded that they've ever eaten a single cheeseburger and they certainly don't want to be singled out like Norm walking into Cheers as they prepare to eat one.

In Plano, I went to Baker Bros deli for lunch all the time.  Almost every time I went there the same guy took my order.  I ordered the same salad with the same salad dressing every single time I went.  Each time I went I took my salad and sat at the same table, opened my Nook and proceeded to spend an hour enjoying my Texas Cobb Salad with honey mustard dressing and iced tea while reading.  I remember the guy who always took my order each time like a long lost friend.  I could describe him in such vivid detail that I'm sure many of you would also recall that he took your orders on many occasions.  Yet not once in the 10 years I frequented that deli and placed the same order and sat in the same location did he ever acknowledge that he had seen me before.

If there was a Baker Bros. in Nacogdoches, that guy would be asking me about my dad's most recent surgery and letting me know that his entire family was praying that this would be the last surgery necessary while he rang up my order without me uttering a word.  Then he would carry my tray over to my "usual" table for me and set it down as I followed.  What I'm saying is that people notice things here.  It's virtually impossible to just blend into the background when you live in a place like this. And although that might be a plus for some, it's a little disquieting for me.  You see I'm one of those people who likes to blend in.  I prefer to go unnoticed.  When I see someone I know in a grocery store, I turn the other way and pretend that I didn't see them so that I won't have to talk to them.  Not because I don't like them or want to be rude.  I'm just not comfortable in those situations.

A few weeks ago, I went to Kroger's in the morning for a few things for dinner.  Later in the day, I remembered something else that I needed for the dinner I was making and had to go back to Kroger's for a second trip.  Now, in Nacogdoches there is practically never a need for the grocery store to have more than 2 lanes open.  There's the express lane and one other lane for people with more than 15 items who can actually read the sign and count that high.  (Don't get me started on people with more than 15 items in the express lane!)  During both trips to the store, I was only buying a few things so each time I went to the express lane to check out.  On the second trip, I noticed that the same girl who had checked me out earlier in the day was still working there and I considered going to the other lane so that she wouldn't recognize me and comment on my two trips to the store in the same day.  You're probably wondering why that would matter, but the thing is that I suck at polite conversation.  I say stupid things and then afterwards I wonder why I said what I did.  Or I simply stutter, stammer and use words that make no sense.  It's the same reason that I pretend I didn't see a person that I know when I run into them at the store.  Polite conversation is a mine field for some of us!

So anyway, I looked at the other lane and the woman checking out was apparently buying groceries for a family of 15 for the next 6 months.  Who buys that many groceries??!?!?  Since I actually had something on the stove cooking, I didn't think it would be prudent to get in line behind her.  So, my only option was to use the express lane again and chance conversation with the checker.  She rang my item up, told me the price, I paid and thought I was home free when she smiled and said "Have a great day.... again!"  She recognized me from my earlier trip!  So I uttered a few nonsensical words grabbed my bag and practically ran from the store.

In Dallas, I was able to skate through life virtually unnoticed.  In Nacogdoches that could never happen.  In the 4 months since I've moved back here I have thought about this a lot and I think it is all about volume.  That poor guy at Baker Bros probably took 300 orders a day just during the lunch shift.  Here that would be two weeks worth of lunch orders at most restaurants.  Chances are if I had gone through that lunch line at Baker Bros seven times in one day, the guy taking my order would eventually have said, "Weren't you just here?"  But since he took several thousand other orders between each of my orders, I guess I just wasn't that memorable.

There's one other big difference between Dallas and Nacogdoches that's even more disturbing.  In Dallas, I went the last 5 or 6 years without ever going into a Walmart.  It's easy there.  Here, if you need a lawn chair, fire starters, paper plates and a tire gauge and you don't want to drive to Lufkin, you go to Walmart.  End of story.  So be on the lookout for tales from Walmart.  It's sure to entertain.