Wedding Bells are ringing, just like I told you they would.

ALittleBitofMiller@theDoubleD.bloggingmylifeaway

June 30, 2014

Wedding bells are ringing. Friday, July 4th. That is the winning date. What is it about weddings that makes a body go completely mushy? Seeing a bride all gussied up in white standing on an old pier with a pine tree forest behind her, her long black hair a riot of curls, her blue eyes sparkling, her face so beautiful that more than one man swallowed his tongue looking at it — well, it just melts the heart. Word on the street is that all the bride's pictures were taken at the farm by Picture It Perfect. Xena, Miller's very own warrior princess, did an amazing job as always and will also be shooting the wedding photos. The farm was the perfect setting for the former snowbird and her bridal party. FB did good, don't you think, Millerites?

Having said that, this intrepid blogger couldn't help but notice that some feathers were ruffled when the wedding party arrived. That little redhead from NYC — let's call her the Red Haired Northerner (RHN) — sure created a stir in our little town. Is this blogger the only one who noticed a certain Friend of the Bride (FOB) looking thunderstruck? Think there is a story there? Most definitely. RHN has a round trip ticket, but don't be surprised if she buys a return ticket in the near future. Seems she was quite taken with the quaint charm of the Double D Motel. And she was not the only New York guest to make an impression. A certain sharp-eyed attorney (SEA) who looked at the Double D like she was calculating its structural integrity has this blogger thinking Miller might just grow on her yet. We shall see. Meanwhile, be prepared to get to the C of C early if you are attending the wedding. It is sure to be crowded — the sanctuary seats one hundred fifty people comfortably. The reception will be held at the Double D Roadhouse, and Chef M has created what this blogger hears is a masterpiece of a wedding cake.

A word to the wise, Millerites: weddings make people brave. They also make people foolish. Sometimes those are the same thing, and sometimes that is exactly what the good Lord intended. Show up, be kind to the out-of-towners, and tip Chef M's staff well. They have earned it. 'Nuff said.

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@The Double D Series: Kiss Me Senseless

God's Newest Angel

 ALittleBitofMiller@theDoubleD.bloggingmylifeaway

June 16, 2014

While reading the news online this morning, this blogger came across a very sad article about the lady hiker who went missing on Mount Rainer last Wednesday.  Search and rescue workers found her body after a three-day air and ground search.  Authorities assume she was injured while hiking in a rough section of the Owyhigh Lakes trail about 5,000 feet up and succumbed to hypothermia before the ground team located her.  An avid hiker and writer, her friends and family told reporters she came to the end of her earthly trail doing what she loved.  At seventy years of age, she was active, healthy, and living life on her own terms.  Can we ask for anything more?  Which brings to mind another woman, recently gone from this world, Silivia West Eaton.  Miss Silivia’s family said their final goodbyes on Saturday.  Over five hundred people attended the funeral and stood in ninety-five-degree heat at Miller’s City Cemetery to honor the queen mother of the Eaton family and, in some respects, the reigning matriarch of Miller.  On the surface, these two ladies have little in common, but when you dig deeper, you see that they both lived their lives on their own terms and inspired people to appreciate the world around them.  When one ponders the here today and gone tomorrow aspect of their passing, it begs the question: how many of us are prepared for this to be our final day on earth?  Our last hike, so to speak.  No sermon (although if that’s where your brain takes you, you should go with it), just a question for the masses.  If this is your day to go home to the Lord, what headline would grace the front page of the local paper? Leave a comment below and help Miller say a fond farewell to one of God’s newest angels. “Go rest high on the mountain, Miss Silivia.  Thanks to your example, we got this.” 

Now for the rumors about town, some started by this blogger, others heard here and there from people who really should learn to be more discrete.  Boy Next Door El Segundo (BND2) sat with the family between the former TV star, better known as Girl Next Door #3 (GND3), and her baby sister (GND5).  Not many people could tell which sister BND2 was laying claim to, but it appeared to these eyes that the boy was a bit more touchy-feely with GND5.  Hmm!  Maybe the rumors of a romance between BND2 and GND3 were nothing but the wishful thinking of the Mamas and the Papas (tMatP).  One other pairing of note, GND4 and the money man she swears is just a friend were inseparable. Eyebrows raised (^^).  Should we call him money man (MM) or just a friend (JAF)? State your preference in the comments below.  Also of note, Chef M hosted a dinner for the family at the Double D, serving all of Miss Silivia’s favorites.  The party/wake lasted into the wee hours of the morning, and a little birdy observed Chef M giving GND2 a ride home afterward.  Could it be that the chefs are cooking up a little sumpin sumpin?  You can be sure this blogger will keep said eyes peeled. Get it? Eyes peeled.  HAHAHA.  A little chef humor.  Checking in on everyone’s fav couple: you may have noticed Snowbird (SB) and a green-around-the-gills Farm Boy (FB) at The Filling Station (TFS) Friday morning filling up on blueberry waffles courtesy of the former beauty queen (TFBQ).  With their wedding just a few weeks off, FB is looking more and more like he would prefer to run to the nearest Chapel of Love and avoid all the hoopla.  DT at the water office has a pool on whether FB will talk SB into eloping rather than walking down the aisle at the church in front of three hundred plus guests.   This blogger is betting FB will man up and give SB what she wants.  The bride’s parents, aka the Golden Years Peace Corpsers, yes that word was crafted by yours truly, (GYPCs) are back in town for the nuptials but were not at breakfast with the lovebirds.  Rumor has it that the GYPCs were seen at the Double D trying to talk Chef M into adding some dishes from Belize to the wedding menu.  Last, but most exciting, our own DD, the Man of Steel has been nominated as East Texas’ Most Eligible Bachelor.  That’s news that should stir up our little town, especially when the hordes of female hopefuls arrive. Batten down the hatches, it’s about to get real, folks. 

Meanwhile, the fireflies are lighting up the woods at dusk.  These luminescent bugs are a type of nocturnal beetle and have some genuinely amazing characteristics—self-synchronicity, to name one.  With more housing developments, pesticides, fire ants, and light pollution, we see fewer and fewer of these captivating and charming insects.  Word of warning, if you go looking for fireflies, they live in damp areas, so you are likely to find the mosquitos more plentiful than the lightning bugs.   Be prepared.  Nuff said.

 

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@theDoubleD Series: Kiss Me Crazy

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

ALittleBitofMiller@theDoubleD.bloggingmylifeaway

June 14, 2014

Silivia Erlyne West Eaton.

(02-02-1929 to 06-13-2014)

Sometimes the world is a sad place to live in. No matter how many times you hear the old saying—You can be sure of only two things in life: death and taxes—the truth of it never really sinks in until you stand at the graveside of someone you love. Then it hits you right between the eyes—death respects no one, no one rises above it, no one escapes it, and no one cheats it. Death came to our little town recently and escorted Mrs. Silivia home—to heaven, where her husband, Earl, is no doubt waiting for her with open arms. Miller will miss the lady who reigned over our little town from the corner of Beryl and Wardley. She was a tried-and-true Steel Magnolia long before the movie Steel Magnolias hit the big screen. It was certainly a pretty, if somewhat sad, picture to have all five Eaton girls home for the first time in too many years to remember. Their grandmother would have been proud. Rest in peace, Miss Silivia. You will be missed.

In honor of Miller’s Steel Magnolia, who prided herself on knowing everything going on in our little town, here are the latest tantalizing tidbits, hot off the streets. There is a great deal of excitement out at the farm as the wedding of the year approaches. Farmboy (FB) and Snowbird (SB) will tie the knot after what seems like the longest courtship in history. The Golden Years Peace Corpsers—if there is such a word. No matter. SB’s ’rents spent the weekend in Miller. Mama GYPC had to oversee the bride’s photo shoot. Papa GYPC hung out at The Filling Station and filled the crew in on the advantages of using mosquito netting in the tropics. FB just smiles, nods, and marks the days off the calendar. He’s a mite impatient, it seems. FB isn’t the only one marking days on the calendar. It has come to this blogger’s attention that Our Man of Steel (MoS), Mr. DD himself, has taken a vow to abstain from dating for a year. He’s stuck to his guns for five months; only seven more to go. That might account for his surly attitude of late. This blogger wouldn’t be surprised if DT down at the water office doesn’t have a pool on whether or not MoS/DD makes it a whole year. If such a pool exists, then you can read about it here. From DT’s lips to the internet blog post, so millions (okay, that might be stretching the truth a little) of readers can place their bets. Don’t you just love technology?

Meanwhile, folks, it’s summer, and that means higher utility bills. One way to conserve energy and lower your bill is to turn your AC unit up when you leave the house in the morning. Or should you turn it down? Neither sounds right. Either way, 78° is the recommended temperature for the daytime hours when no one is home. The higher temperature makes a huge difference for all of us. It saves you money, and it helps reduce the drain on the power grid, so there are fewer brownouts and rolling blackouts. Win-win. Make it a habit to set the thermostat at 78°. Don’t worry, the cats will survive, and you will save enough dinero to buy them that fancy cat food they crave. Meow! Meow! Nuff said.

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@the Double D Series: Kiss Me Cross-Eyed