On Sunday, the Queen of Peace Catholic Church had its fall picnic. It was more than a fundraiser, it was a very large family gathering.

Everyone there was family, even the people who were there for the first time or those who came from out of town for a good home-cooked meal.

Moms pushed strollers with newborns ands infants. Dads talked sports and hunting with their kids and friends. School kids played with their friends and helped to sell keepsakes in the country store and the plant sale.
 
A group of boys threw around a football early in the day - waiting for the games to begin so they could try their luck at the coin toss, fishing pond and other games.

Strangers shared the tables as they ate their lunch. The conversations went beyond the weather and the tastiness of the food. They talked of politics, the economy, and their ties to the small community of Sweet Home.

A dedicated group of men and women work months in advance to plan the picnic and then on Saturday and Sunday work many long hours making sure there will be enough picnic stew, cornbread dressing and all the trimmings to feed more than 1,200 people - I don’t know how many meals were served, that is just a guess.

Some of the cooks have done these jobs for so long, it is second nature to them and they do a great job. The stew crew knows how to season the meat so it is tender and tasty. The dressing group knows when to start cooking and how many roasters of dressing to prepare.

My job was to help on the plates to go line - which was a busy job for everyone involved. My job was to close the Styrofoam plates and make sure each was properly latched - well let me just say some of the latches weren’t very sturdy to start with. I just hope the plates stayed closed in the bags.

Someone commented that it takes a lot of people to put on a picnic. Yes it does, but when you are among family, the size of the job doesn’t really matter.

$3.51 - most stations along North Navarro and North Main streets.

If  you have seen cheaper gas prices anywhere, please let us know.

Becky

Have you ever read the disclaimer at the end of a map you print from the Internet warning you that the map is for planning purposes only and ..."other events may cause conditions to differ from the map results..."

They need to add one more line - "Some of these directions may be just plain wrong and take you miles past where you really need to be."

On Monday, I had an appointment in a part of Austin I was not familiar. To help me in my travels, I printed a map from Google and virtually committed the directions to memory because I didn’t want to be reading while navigating Austin’s freeways.

I followed every turn and curve to the letter, but never found where I needed to be. After making the last turn on the map and going farther than the one mile it said to go and finding nothing there resembling what I was looking for, I stopped at a convenience store to ask directions.

The clerk told me he was in the 10,000 block and I needed the 6,500 block - which was about four miles away. He too couldn’t figure out the directions.

He kept saying "These directions don’t make sense."

I replied "I know, that’s why I’m here."

Before I left the convenience store parking lot, I tried calling my destination, but they were closed for lunch and wouldn’t be back for about 30 minutes. So I started driving using the directions the store clerk gave me. Needless to say I didn’t find the business using his directions either.

So I pulled in to a shopping center just to get my bearings and to wait for 1:30 so I could call the business. But I spotted a UPS Store in the corner of the shopping center. I thought if UPS doesn’t know where this place it, then there is no hope for me. The woman there was helpful. After looking up the address on her computer, she drew me a map, an assured me I was only about two miles from my destination.

If it wasn’t for "this lane must turn right"lanes, I would have gone straight to my destination, but when you are in the wrong lane and have to turn, it takes a little maneuvering to get back on track. I finally found where I was going.

This whole time I feared I would be late, but believe it or not I actually arrived about 30 minutes early.

After my business was completed, I asked a clerk how to get back to U.S. 183 South.

She hand-drew me a map giving me the "back way" out of the area that connected with MoPac and then 183. It was the easiest part of the entire trip.

On my way out, I looked at where I should have gone. I realized when my Google map instructed me to merge onto Loop 1/North MoPac, it should have read take the south fork of North MoPac - a big difference.

But that was water under the bridge by then. I headed out of town on US 183 South, stopping only at Bucee’s near Luling - that is an almost obligatory stop when traveling.

The next time I go to that part of Austin I will know how to get around. Monday was my trial run and it was successful, but adventuresome.

But I will keep the hand-drawn maps for future reference just in case.

$3.58 - Valero Whistle Stop, 8501 N. Navarro St.

$3.65 - Most others along North Navarro.

If you have seen cheaper gas anywhere, please let us know.

Becky

I’m a hurricane veteran, having lived all my life in the area of the Texas coast.

But I work with a lot of people who have never been through a hurricane before.

When the threat of Ike hitting our area became a real possibility, many of my co-workers were scared.

And they were really smart to be so. There is nothing about a hurricane to take lightly.

I think even the most seasoned hurricane veterans among us - myself included - were scared about Ike -  the storm that threatened to hit our part of the coast as a Cat 4.

With each new report of projected storm surges, wind speeds and landings, came more concern.

We all wanted it to go somewhere else- but we didn’t want people to get hurt. Kind of like the not in my back yard mentality.

But when the storm started moving north toward Galveston and Freeport, I felt a little relief, but not a whole lot - you see most of my family still lives in Brazoria County- right in the line of the storm.

Once it was fairly apparent the storm would not hit us, I called one of my sisters and offered our home - small as it is- as a refuge to anyone who needed a place to stay. One sister took us up on the offer, but later changed her mind and went to San Antonio. Others already had places to go - even though some evacuated to areas that got hit by the rain and wind.

I have become a hurricane junkie more so than usual these past two days - trying to get a glimpse of Brazoria County on news coverage. I was familiar with the Surfside Beach area they kept broadcasting - my nephew got married at the Stalhman Park last summer, the Purple Cow makes some of the best hamburgers in the area, the beach entry road is literally where the pavement meets the sand and relaxation automatically begins. We had probably stayed in some of those beach houses during family gatherings.

I saw Wal-mart in Angleton, which is as a crow flies a half mile from my childhood home that one of my sisters now owns.

I’m also familiar with a lot of the places they have shown on Galveston Island.

I’ve kept the television on to Texas Cable News and the Weather Channel, checked Web sites and watched Houston news coverage via the Internet just to keep up with what is going on.

One of my sisters called today from Cypress where they evacuated to and were in the dark. She wanted to know if they could get back to Angleton- she had animals to feed. She knew the power was out. So I called one of our photographers who was going to Brazoria County to shoot photos and check on his family, to see what he knew. He happened to be in Angleton and he drove by her house and her daughter’s house - fortunately other than tree damage their homes came out OK.

I also checked Angleton’s Web site and learned that no one was being allowed back into town.

I relayed the information to my sister, who sounded relieved, but still wanted to get back home.

While I couldn’t help her get back home quicker, I hope my information helped her and her family feel some relief about their homes.

The worst of the storm has passed, but the cleaning up still needs to happen. I am relieved for the most part, but will be relieved even more when I know all my family has returned home safely and are safely back in their homes.

$3.48 - all stations along North Navarro Street.

Have you seen cheaper gas anywhere? If so let us know.

Becky

$3.48 -most stations along North Navarro Street.

Called in by readers:

$3.21 -at the Ganado Exxon , 401 N. Third Street in Ganado - not $3.81 as reported in Saturday's Advocate.

$3.51 - Speedy Stop on North Mechanic Street in El Campo.

If you have seen cheaper gas prices anywhere please let us know.

Becky

$3.48 - most stations along North Navarro Street and North Main Street.

Reported Thursday: $3.38 - Super Stop onBen WIlson Street.

If you have seen cheaper gas prices anywhere, please let us know.

Becky

Saw near Luling the other day: a large wooden yard ornament of Santa Claus wearing a Speedo bathing suit and sunglasses, laying in a lounge chair and holding a cold drink.
Not sure if they were wishing for Christmas to be here or just saying even Santa can enjoy the Texas heat.
Whatever the message, someone definitely has a sense of humor.

$3.48 - Speedy Stop 8701 N. Navarro St.

        & nbsp; - Speedy Stop 2604 N.Main St.

        & nbsp;  -The Other Store 101 E.Rio Grande St.

Have you seen cheaper gas anywhere? If so let us know.

Becky