Will The Real Pioneer Woman Please Stand Up?

I'm here!
It's me.
Woo-hoo, over here!

Oh yes, I, am the real pioneer woman.

Y'all aren't going to believe the hardships I'm enduring:
First, my parents have dial-up Internet. I know. I might as well be watching Friends and preparing my Y2K survival kit.
Dial -up itself isn't that bad, but it's not letting me upload pictures to my blog (or email them since it won't let me attach a picture). And if I can't blog with pictures, well, you might as well tell me I'm not allowed to watch Dancing With the Stars.

I also, may or may not, (depending on how the computer is feeling) be able to comment on other blogs. So if you're a blogger and you haven't heard from me lately, I'm readin' ya, lovin' ya, thinkin' your kids are cute, and thrilled about your European escapades...but probably not able to tell you.

I also made a (very poor) last minute decision to leave my laptop at home, so even if I was to stumble upon some WiFi, I can't do anything with it. Torrrr-ture.

But the hardships continue:
My phone has been on the brink for a few weeks now. For about a month I've only been able to talk on speaker phone. And as of tonight, it won't let me dial my voice mail OR tell me who called. It tells me I have a "missed call", but then I get to guess who might have called me.
The little voice mail icon is blinking at me, letting me know people are leaving me messages, but I have no idea what those messages might be.

Yep, I'm roughing it. But don't worry, I'm tough. I will endure.

But seriously, if you need to get a hold of me, you might want to try the Pony Express.
Or smoke signals.
I think carrier pigeons work well out here too.

And 4th Activities End With...

The annual JR Fireworks Show. This year he was joined by two 'helpful' assistants (not pictured).

Typical 4th Activities Continue

Relaxing at the pool.

What in the World are The Ingys Eating #2?

Fourth of July hamburgers! With the parade yesterday, it feels like we've been celebrating for two days. I've got some great pictures to share, but for now it's 'blog by phone' since my parents' dial up Internet seems to be taking the holiday weekend too.

Where in the World are The Ingys? July Edition

Lining up for the Crockett, TX 4th of July parade.

My View from the Porch

Rocking chairs, a kid, and a dog. If I could convince one of the roosters to wander by we'd have ourselves the cover of Southern Living.

A New Old Sayin'

We're used to staying inside during the Texas summers because it's too hot to go outside, but what we're not used to is staying inside because it's raining. Here's Reed on the front porch watching it rain. And although this last round of rain is due to the hurricane that just hit Mexico, East Texas has had a really wet summer. (I don't think it's even hit 100 yet!) Usually summer at my parents' house is consumed with talking about how dry it is. Although any form of rain talk is acceptable, the highlights are usually: the last time it rained, when it might rain again, and my personal favorite, how big a rain the town down the road got while my parents 'didn't get a drop'. So I can honestly say the conversation Jason and I had last night was a first:

Jason: So what are your parents doing?

Me: Not a lot. You wouldn't believe how green it is up here. (As apposed to my parents usual description of their land as 'totally burned up'.)

Jason: So what are they talking about?

Me: (Giggling) Nothing! It's so quiet. They don't have anything to talk about!

Which got me thinking about all Mama and Daddy's "Old Sayin's". Being good East Texans they've got one for everything, but seems Old Sayin's don't actually exist when you've gotten enough rain. So I came up with one of my own. Feel free to work it into your next conversation, I need to get it into heavy rotation if it's ever going to reach Old Sayin' status.

"A wet summer brings dry conversation."