Good-bye Yellow Pine Road

On Tuesday, the sale of Temple-Inland to International Paper was finalized.  This is not normally a topic for this blog but Temple-Inland isn't just some random company; at least not to me.  Temple-Inland is the only company my dad has worked for since I was born.

See Temple has really felt like a family member.  We would go to company picnics.  Mom would load us up in the truck and we would take my dad lunch.  I have lots of good memories of going to the plant and sitting under a shady pine and eating lunch with daddy.  Every day of my childhood is tainted with the smell of pine.  My dad would come home with a thin layer of pine shavings on him.  That smell always takes me back to being a little girl and running to my daddy after he got home from work.  That East Texas pine smell is so relaxing to me that I searched all over Greensboro NC for the perfect candle when it came time to give birth.  I knew I needed that pine smell to relax and bring my baby into this world.

Temple is also important to me because I received a $3K/year scholarship to go to college.  It was that scholarship that allowed me to follow my dreams and go to Hollins University.  I loved my time at Hollins.  It was being there that allowed me to grow and become a confident woman.  Without that scholarship, my life would be way different.  It was that step to Hollins that would set me up to go to UNC-Greensboro and finally finding my true career path, librarianship. 

Temple-Inland is was not just another company to me.  What will happen to Temple?  At this point no one really knows.  So far my dad still has a job.  I hope that the plant will keep running not just for my daddy but for the whole area.  Just hard to be believe that Temple is no more.

My official Temple Foundation Scholarship picture w/Dad. cira 1997

Family Fun Facts

Inspired by The Feminist Breeder, here are fun facts about my little family:

1.  Audrey sings all the time.  Her favorite songs are Thumbkin, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and If your happy and you know it.

2.  Audrey likes to call DH by his first name.  He hates that!

3.  Audrey sings for Boob.  To the tune of Shave and a haircut

4.  We are a wheatless family that loves pasta!  DH's spaghetti is the best ever!

5.  I have baked more in the last two years of wheatlessness than in 8 years of married life prior combined.

6.  Audrey calls my dad "PiPa" and my mom "Buea," we have no clue where she came up with them.

7.  Snoopy and Jasmin love Audrey but they miss being our babies.  Jasmin does not love it when Audrey takes her by the tail and tries to spin her.

8.  My dad is addicted to Netflix and streams at least one movie a day.

9.  Audrey only likes PBS cartoons.  It's like pulling teeth to get her to watch anything but Caillou and Barney.

10.  Audrey loves to rock out.  She likes to play on any instrument, especially her daddy's Fender guitar.

Wordless Wednesday: ready for a sock hop