Jen Austin

How many times have you looked out the window on a beautiful day and wanted to escape work or school to go outside and play?

It may not be all about play for students in Hudson, but at least they’ll get to spend some time outside in the gorgeous fall weather, in their new outdoor classroom. They just launched a new butterfly garden too.

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I think I saw the first big, full-blown display of Christmas trees and snow globes and dancing elves in a store around September 15th. That’s pure madness! But after I stopped fighting it in my head, I let my excited 4-year old drag me into that section of the store and we both picked up a snow globe and shook it

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Have you heard the crazy notion that men’s underwear sales are an economic indicator?

When men’s underwear sales are up, the economy is doing well. When people are not buying guys’ tighty whities, the economy is in the tank.

Do you think it’s true?

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It’s the time of year when the fall colors make for some great photo opps! We took the kids to a pumpkin patch last weekend and snapped a couple of good pics.

This photo turned out great, but what you don’t see is the moment before and the moment after the picture was snapped. This is just that one, tiny split second of success where everything worked out. As any parent can guess, there was near-disaster before and after!

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Sure, California has its benefits. The weather is gorgeous, movie stars abound, and there are plenty of hotties walking up and down the street.

But how can anyone afford to live there? Be glad you live in East Texas, where drivers are enjoying some of the cheapest gas in the country

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This is truly making the best of a bad situation.

We know that last year was a bad wildfire season. In fact it was the worst season for wildfires since the Texas Forest Service started keeping records in 1922.

Some talented artists though have made art from the ashes, and now that's on display at the Texas Forestry Museum in Lufkin.

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Daryl Hannah is perhaps best known for her role opposite Tom Hanks in Splash, and she was beloved in Steel Magnolias.

More recently she's become involved in political protests, and that led to her arrest yesterday right here in East Texas, in Wood County. She was released last night from the Wood County Jail in Winnsboro.

What happened?

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Have you ever ridden on a train? There's something nostalgic about it, not to mention the fact that it saves wear and tear on your own car, and the hassle of fighting with other drivers to get where you're going.

Might East Texas get Amtrak service? There's an Amtrak route now that runs from San Antonio to Chicago.

And there's a push for Amtrak to extend it's service from Shreveport-Bossier City to Dallas-Fort Worth, which would take the trains right through east Texas and give us a fast track in both of those directions.

How close is it to reality?

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Even if you’re not particularly a baseball fan, you may appreciate the drama today. It’s making national news.

The Texas Rangers have been leading their division almost the whole baseball season, and now after 161 games, the Rangers and A’s have identical records, and today’s game will decide who the division champ is, and who gets the better playoff spot. It’s come down to the wire.

Are you nervous today? I am!

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I have to admit, I didn’t try the delicacy that is Frito pie until I moved to Texas. Growing up in Nebraska we sometimes mixed chili, cheese, and saltine crackers together, but the genius of replacing the Saltines with Fritos just didn’t occur to us.

Texans are onto something! Frito Pie is delicious, and who cares how fattening.

We Texans broke a Guiness World Record on Monday with a Frito Pie that weighed over a thousand pounds. Some states might be ashamed, but in Texas its a badge we wear proudly. We just may need a Tums to go with our badge.

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