This posting features the youngest of our three princesses, the one that lives and loves in a Dallas suburb where she effectively and efficiently maintains one husband, two children and an Australian Shepherd named Wrigley—that’s their dog, not a flock tender from Australia.

She started a blog on Word Press long ago and began it with a cute story about her daughter, but has steadfastly neglected to add to it—and that child is an outstanding and endless source of blogging material. Click here for the cute story. It’s worth the visit.

Her resistance to blogging is based on her belief that her writing lacks pizzazz—Click here for a definition of pizzaz, and just in case you’re short on time, here’s the definition:

Pizzaz—dazzling style, flamboyance, flair, vigorous spirit, energy, excitement.

This exchange of e-mails between her and one of her sisters is delightful—entertaining, educational and filled with promise. I find her writing dazzling, flamboyant, vigorous, energetic and exciting—it’s filled with pizzaz.

I had never been to Spain but her e-mail took me there, albeit only for a brief visit—I wanted to stay longer, and with her help I could have. I’m hoping this posting will convince her to take me back for a longer visit, just by using her writing talent and her blog to tell more about her trip.

This is the welcoming e-mail from her sister:

Welcome back from Spain!

Hope you got some great photos to share with us!

FYI: Mom is looking (and feeling) really good. She’s got some pep back in her and her appetite is definitely up. Dad was irritating her the other day (you know how he likes to repeat things over and over until you want to deck him?), and to answer some crazy question he asked her, she finally said, “Shit, no!” It was so funny to hear her say that. Cracked him up, too. I guess he had picked at her long enough (you know how she always says he likes to just talk to hear himself!).

We had a great visit and got the flower beds up front looking good again (filled in the areas where they had pulled out all the hedges/shrubs). I’ll send photos once I pull them off the card.

This is her response to the welcome home e-mail:

Subject: Re: Welcome back from Spain!

Hey, I figured that you could use the shawl for decorating or something. I really didn’t picture you wearing it all that much, but who knows?  I’m glad mom seems to be feeling better. Last time I was there which was the weekend before I went to Spain she just seemed so frail and tired and I knew she was. And that was before they put the device in her arm. So, I’m glad she seems to be better—she sounds better when I talk to her on the phone.

I’ll call you later to talk about Spain. We had a really nice trip and got to see a lot. Went to Barcelona and visited a winery about 2 hrs outside of the city so we got to see the countryside and its miles and miles of olive trees, Seville (loved that place), Madrid and Toledo where we saw a 600 year Catholic church that was incredible.

Loved the architecture in Barcelona (Gaudi’s cathedral—Sagrada Familia?). Visited the beach, saw topless from newborn to 90. Quite a different world out there. Definitely no body issues in that country. We could probably take a lesson on that. With top on, of course. Walked a lot, a whole lot. Barcelona is a busy place. About 5 million in the city and 2 million outside of the city. Not a small town by any means.

Seville (much quieter, felt really comfortable walking around the town by myself which I did). Could have stayed there the rest of the trip.  The area we were in was very clean, quaint with all those tiny cobblestone streets leading to little restaurants and shopping.

Madrid—another busy city. Very cosmopolitan in many areas, lots of graffiti everywhere which is common throughout Spain. I guess they think it is art—I don’t know. Went to the Prado and some other modern museum where we saw tons of Picassos and Dali (is he a strange one or what?). Went to an authentic Flamenco show which was pretty intense. Just 2 people (man and woman) with a few guys playing instruments and singing behind them. Whatever they were dancing to they really meant it. I really enjoyed that.

Mom said that you and Michael worked really hard on the front yard and that it looked beautiful. I’m sure she really appreciates that. Every time I went down there she would say that they needed to do something about it and now you have. So, that is a good thing.

Brennan is in baseball camp this week. He also had an all-stars game last night. He plays 1st base and did a terrific job all last year in that position (thus making All-Stars). However, for some reason, guess because he is tired, he could have been on the moon looking down at us because he truly was the only player out there that was paying no attention to the game.  You don’t want to come down too hard on him but the other kids are kind of depending on him to catch the ball. 1st base is a pretty critical position even in minor, minor, minor, minor league baseball. He would just watch it whiz by him and throw out his hand as an afterthought. As a parent you don’t want to be embarrassed but I actually started to feel that way. Probably the same as mom would feel when I would drop the baton a lot or get my batons tangled up with one another at a competition while doing a simple salute. Not a proud parent moment.

I’ll talk to you later. I was actually weeding the front yard this morning. The weeds are so huge they look like a free form garden at this point. Macie tried to help me pull them but didn’t have the strength. I try to like gardening and I can see how it is stress relieving but I just feel like there are lots of tiny eyes looking up at me as I disturb their carefully planned homes. Plus, I’m afraid a spider is going to bite me, or a snake. We do have those around here sometimes. Anyway, what I’m trying to tell you is that I haven’t developed a love of gardening at this point. I’m working on it though, but very slowly.

So there you have it, a story told by one that is filled with doubt about her writing ability. In my opinion, she has the makings of a first-rate writer—nay, a great storyteller and writer—she only needs to write. Perhaps some of the visitors to this posting will help bolster my opinion. Click on her blog here, and use the comment section to help provide some impetus to her posting more about herself and her life—she has some tall tales to tell and the talent to tell them—they’re tales totally worth sharing with others, especially with her family.

As an afterthought, check out the alliteration in the last sentence—tall tales to tell, etc. That’s twelve consecutive tees. I do love alliteration. Twelve—count ’em!