ADVENTURE 5

I'm at our family friends home for dinner. They live in the Woodlands, a sophisticated Houston suburb, in a gorgeous home. They are some of the most saintly people on the planet and have played a huge role in my life. There are about 25 of us in total, me being the newest Texas resident. There are 10 women, 2 men in the room. The majority of the women are having arts and crafts night. They were all gathered for the weekend to go the the International Quilting Show in downtown Houston. The craft of the evening is jeweled pacifier holders. Yes you read this correctly. Jeweled. As women do, we're chatting away and one woman starts talking about guns. Then another chimes in and another. I'm over on the couch talking to the two men and overhear this. So I stand up and ask, "Who in this room does not own a gun?" Myself and one other woman raise our hands. ONE!! And her response was, "Me, but I really want one. Hopefully next year." Then one girl exclaims, "My mom last Christmas couldn't decide if she wanted an embroidery machine or a laser sighted hand gun." My jaw drops (and from that point forward I asked everyone I met that evening if they owned a gun...and they all said yes) and the gentlemen I'd been chatting with proceeds to tell me about his wife, Mama Jeanie. She comes from a family of professional shooters, has 23 grandchildren, owns a baby pink handgun with rhinestones on it, and publishes a very popular site called Lipstick & Lead. Here's her truck to match.

And here are her granddaughters at a gun show.

The following morning I received a text from Jeanie's husband announcing hot off the press article in the Dallas Morning News featuring Mama Jeanie called, Gunslinging Grandma. He told me to call next time I'm in Dallas. I told him I would and that we'd go shooting. He was on board with that idea!

Fun fact: 80% of Texan women have been to a shooting range before they're 20.

You can't make this stuff up!