A Tradition Continues

Well it looks as if Mariah will be following in her mom's footsteps as a UIL Ready Writer. Thanks to her story about Tom the Turkey, she made the team! Now begins the work to perfect the art of creating winning essays. Serena also had good news in that she made the Oral Interpretation team (formerly known as Oral Reading). I also did that event but was not very good at it. I've always been a better writer than speaker- that's the introvert in me I guess. We'll keep everyone posted on how they do at their first tournament.

More Adventures with the Green Machine

Well, after about 28 years, I finally got back on the Green Machine and as they say, it's like riding a bike. Mama did a 180 right off the bat- had to show those kiddies how it was done, you know. We actually rode that thing in my parent's driveway for hours- definitely a good investment. I would highly recommend one for every family.

Turkey Day Weekend Valley Style

The Smithville Segels packed up and headed back to the Valley for their Thanksgiving Weekend. We spent the day Thursday at my folks house cooking (me) while Jason and the kids fished then we headed over to Jason's cousin Lorie's house for the meal with my parents. As usual, the food was great and we ate til we were miserable. We even got to get a little summer preview when we went to South Padre Island Saturday afternoon and strolled through the arts and crafts festival they had set up and ate some yummy coconut shrimp all in weather that was in the 80s. Enjoy the pics!

Blake Turns 5!

The baby of the family is now officially a big boy. Blake celebrated his 5th birthday on November 18th with family by eating his favorite meal of corn dogs and mac & cheese with chocolate cake. He had his party with his friends the following Saturday. We did a flag football party that turned out awesome and was a lot of fun for the kids. I even managed to make a fairly impressive football cake even if it was amateurish. My best friend Andrea and her children Jonas and Carleigh joined us and we had a lot of fun just hanging out. I'm including some pictures for your enjoyment.

A Turkey Tale by Mariah Segel

This is a story written by Mariah to be submitted tomorrow in the final round of the Ready Writing tryouts to choose the final four team members. The ideas all came from her- I just helped with the editing and a little technical info.  I thought it was pretty amazing and highly entertaining and worthy of being published SOMEWHERE so here it is!  * Please excuse the format- I can't get it to come out right. Not her fault.

Tom the Turkey was a rebel. He liked to wear big tall platform boots an listen to rock-n-roll. He had a tattoo the shape of a heart with the word C-R-A-Z-Y in the center with green letters that as in the middle of his forehead. He was born with polka dotted feathers instead of regular feathers. 

Tom had no friends.

Tom used to watch Farmer Sue drive around in her truck. Tom was jealous of Farmer Sue because he wanted to drive too. He wanted to go fast, feel the wind in his feathers and his waddle blowing in thebreeze. He told the other turkeys that he wanted to drive but the other turkeys said "turkeys can't drive."

One day Farmer Sue left her engine running. So Tom looked around and nobody was looking so he jumped into the truck and drove away. With his beak he put the truck into gear, he turned the wheel with his feathers and with his big platform boots he put the pedal to the metal.

Once he got on the road he used his beak to turn on the radio. "Rock and Roll All Night" by his favorite band Kiss was playing. He started to do donuts on the road. Tom pulled over at the ice cream shop to get chocolate ice cream in a cup to go. When he left the ice cream shop he passed by the other turkeys and their beaks fell open when they saw Tom driving.

He was gobbling up his ice cream with his beak in the cup when Willy the police officer pulled him over for reckless driving. Willy told him he could give him a ticket or eat him or enter him in the fair because nobody would believe that a turkey could drive.It turns out that Tom the Turkey won and now he gets to drive in every parade in town. His dream came true.

The Green Machine

It's funny what things we remember from our childhood- friends, teachers, smells, sounds, etc. One of my most vivid memories is of riding my absolute most favorite toy- my Mean Green Machine (I added the mean part). Some of you may also share memories of this phenomonally awesome Big Wheel creation. Even though this was a rough and tumble (literally) kind of toy, there wasn't a girl on my street who didn't line up to ride it. As a six year old girl, I had no concept of the need to wear a helmet as I flew downhill in speeds unheard of only to pull that clutch at the last minute that sent me into a tailspin like no other. So as I perused the online catalog for ToysRUs looking for the perfect present for Blake's 5th birthday, I knew I had struck gold when I saw the new and improved Green Machine. With a few modifications to bring this wonder toy into the 21st century including an increased weight limit of 180 pounds, dare I say this thing kicks butt! And the best part is- MOMMY CAN TOTALLY RIDE!!!! Needless to say, when Blake saw his Green Machine waiting for him on the sidewalk, his grin was a mile wide and we stayed out until after 9pm last night in the lighted church parking lot across the street from our house while he tried it out. No, I still haven't gotten my turn, but maybe I'll wait till the kids are out of the house and it can once again be just me and The Green Machine.

Pretty is What Changes

I recently read a book by Jessica Queller, a writer for the Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, and currently, Gossip Girls. The book is entitled "Pretty is What Changes" and is Jessica's personal story of finding that she has inherited the BRCA gene mutation which put her at extraordinary risk for breast and ovarian cancer, both of which her mothered suffered from and ultimately died from ovarian cancer. It chronicles her heart-wrenching discovery and the decisions she made to greatly decrease her chances of having these cancers, including removing both her breasts and ultimately to have her ovaries removed as well. This is not something that most of us think about on a regular basis, but it is important nonetheless. It is important to women AND men and sometimes affects entire families. I wanted to share with everyone information about the genetic test that Jessica took that saved her life and could save yours as well. It is a test that unfortunately is still not well known by most people but is getting more attention thanks to people like Christina Applegate who also had the test but after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.


Having just come off of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I wanted to talk to everyone about a very important issue. Many people do not realize or take the time to think about the pain and devastation that breast and ovarian cancer causes nor do they realize that there is a connection between the two. About 10% of breast cancers diagnosed are due to hereditary causes, and mutations on a gene called BRCA1/BRCA2 account for the majority of these hereditary breast/ovarian cancers. It is extremely important to identify individuals with this “broken gene” for several reasons. #1 BRCA gene mutation carriers have up to an 87% lifetime risk of breast cancer and up to a 44% lifetime risk of ovarian cancer, #2) after a BRCA gene mutation carrier is affected with breast cancer, they still have a 10-fold increased risk of ovarian cancer. By identifying these “broken gene” carriers, we can not only obtain very valuable and lifesaving information for the carrier, but for their family members who may be affected as well. MEN- remember that you can also carry this gene and pass it on to your children. This is not just something that affects women. Men can also get breast cancer. Surveillance and treatment options for patients with this gene mutation are very different from the rest of the population because their risk is so much higher. If you have a family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer or have ever been diagnosed with one of these cancers personally, you may qualify for the genetic test called BRAC Analysis. While it is a very expensive test, we are finding that if you meet the high risk criteria, insurance companies are PAYING for this test as they would much rather pay for this than to treat a cancer which is extraordinarily expensive. This test can SAVE LIVES! If you are interested or have questions about the test, please contact me or your health care provider or go to www.myriad.com.

Jodi