Post Numero Dos

Two posts in one day?!  As if I don’t have enough to do already!  We actually had a very busy morning, albeit a fun one.  Today was playgroup with some other mommas and their gaggle of girls, literally all girls with the exceptions of Jonah and Jonas (who is still an infant).  Jonah does not mind in the least.  A kid is a kid, even if the girls boss him.  He should be used to that by now since he’s with me all day.

So we met at Pump it Up!  Jonah and I had never been, and I had no idea of what to expect.  It was amazing.  This particular one had 2 rooms - one for big kids and one for small.  The kids got to run free in the confines of this giant room while parents could sit and chat or play with the kids.  This room had a giant (and I mean GIANT - at leas 25 feet tall) slide, a round bounce house, and an obstacle course.  All you need to get in are socks and $6.50 per kid - parents are free. 

Jonah pretty much slid the whole time.  Over and over - he’s taking a great nap as I type.  After we wore ourselves out there we headed over to Chick-Fil-A, which is one of my favorite fast-food places.  #1 - the food is awesome and healthy compared to other fast food.  They have amazing buffalo dipping sauce and the BEST shakes. We stayed there until the children began to melt into screaming puddles on the floor.  Precious.  Julie Haines and I headed to the library.  Bookworms and gluttons for punishment I guess as it was obvious the kids needed naps. 

The library was teeming with children, which I found really cool.  OKC has an excellent library system and an outstanding summer reading program.  Jonah got his first ribbon today for meeting his first goal, which means we read him at least 8 books.  We did all the work - how come he gets a free kids’ meal at El Chico?!  Ah, well. 

Here we are this afternoon.  The house is quiet and I am about to plop down on the bed with the book I checked out - The Cat Bible.  I know.  I am a hopeless nerd. 

Also, what do you think about the theme change?  I think it’s more me.  I am considering a name change for the blog too.  I’d love your suggestions! 

Don’t Rush Me . . .

It always seems like my family has been slow to get hip with the popular mechanics of technical gadgets whether that be cell phones, DVD players, mp3s, etc.  I guess it’s just never been a big deal to us.  I think, no I know, I didn’t have a CD player til I went to college in 1997.  I didn’t get a DVD player until after I was married…I believe it was like 2002.  I remember it was like 1999 when I finally got a portable CD player for my car, and I didn’t care for the thing too much cause it skipped all the time.  I was happy with my cassette tapes. 

I got my first cell phone in 2000, and promptly racked up an enormous bill.  I was pretty nonplussed with that too.  In 2001, I got my first computer as it moved into the apartment with my new husband.  The computer was an absolute dinosaur, but heck - I was just happy to have one! 

So when all my buddies were getting laptops, fancy cell phones that practically did the dishes too, and mps3 players….I just kind of shrugged my shoulders while Jason silently prayed for me to “get with it”.   Well God must have heard those prayers because we finally got an mp3 player for my birthday.  A cute little thing called a Zen Stone made my Creative labs.  It was really inexpensive and holds about 500 songs, which just blows my mind!  I love it.  I’ve used it twice to go walking, and found I could walk longer, although I had to keep myself from singing out loud.  I don’t think the neighborhood would appreciate that at 6am!  I admit I got a pink one so Jason wouldn’t steal it.  He doesn’t seem that interested to tell you the truth.  I’m hoping to get an armband for it soon - then I will really be cool. 

Next month we are expecting the arrival of the laptop.  We have known for some time that we really needed one for my job, but have put it off.  We found a great deal, AND I can write it off since it’s for work. Win-win.  I am excited to try this whole WI-fi thing.  It fascinates me that I can work from the park, the library, or McDonald’s.  I will no longer be chained to my desk.  Can I get a hallelujah?!

So, I feel like we’re slowly becoming one with society as far as the techie stuff goes…but not too much - we still don’t have the plasma HDTV or the iphone.  Jason just about dies everytime we walk past the TVs in Wal-Mart.  In good time, dear friend.  All in good time. 

Home Grown

My friend Julie and I visited 2 of Oklahoma City’s farmer’s markets this morning.  Let me begin with saying that I love going anywhere early in the morning with Julie.  Whether it’s 6am or 8, Julie is pleasantly content and a joy to be around. 

So we headed out around 8ish to see what good deals we could find.  We first visited the OSU-OKC Farmer’s Market.  Not only did they have a good vegetable selection, they had hand-made soaps with scents such as peppermint, lavender, ginger-mint, and sweet-pea, herbs and flowers, dairy products from a local creamery, buffalo meat and grass-fed beef, baked good, and even homemade dog treats. 

I was really intrigued by an herb called pineapple-sage.  It smelled delicious and is apparently really great for salads and teas.  Yum!  I plan to get some next time.  I had also never seen so many varieties of Basil such as Sweet, Thai, Genovese, Lettuce Leaf, and Lemon.  I’m hoping to start an herb garden of my own, and this is the place to buy.  The plants smelled wonderful, were healthy, and fairly inexpensive.  Also, you can talk directly to the growers who can give you great tips on how to care for your plants. Or in my case - how not to kill your plants. 

I ended up with a small bag of banana peppers (yumo-o!), 2 red onions, a bunch of vadalia onions, 1lb of peaches, 1 yellow squash and 1 zuccini.  All for about $6.  Pretty good!

Next we decided to head on over to the historic OKC Farmer’s Marketin downtown OKC.  The building (and area) aren’t as nice as the pictures. In fact, the area is a tad shady, so I do suggest going with a pal.  The verdict?  Not so many Oklahoma-grown products as I had hoped, but there were some and some were from Texas too - you just had to be careful to look at signs and ask questions.  There was also a nice green-house area with a large variety of plants and some neat antiques for sale.  I walked away with 3 vine-ripe tomatoes, which are the kind you want to get right now as they are not associated with the recent Salmonello outbreak.  Also, if you want to know that you’re getting a good tomato, don’t squeeze them - give em’ a whiff.  A good tomato will smell great!  I also got a beautiful red pepper and a bell pepper - all for $3.50. 

While I still miss the Nashville Farmer’s Market with its endless aisles of produce, I am excited to have found some options here.  Also, farmer’s markets are a great way to not only get great, healthy food right from the source, it’s an excellent way to support your local farmers! 

And how could I forget the biggest perk of shopping the farmer’s market?!  You get to taste before you buy!  Oh yeah!

The Brain Pain

I heard the craziest story on the radio today which resulted in some pretty hilarious morning show banter about a man who got a “brain freeze” from a Sonic drink which seemed to have resulted in a minor heart attack causing him to drive off of the road and slam into a house.  Read the story here.

Wow!   

I’m a little scared now.  But should I be?  Well, apparently if you are prone to migraines, drinking super cold drinks like slushes, slurpees, and shakes is not a good idea.  Apparently the extreme cold hitting the roof of your mouth sends the wrong signal to ye olde brain, saying, “It’s cold! Crank the heat man!” and as blood rushes to the area - voila!  Insta headache.  I have always called them ice-cream headaches.  I think my mother probably referred to them as “that’s-what-you-get-for-eating-like-a-pig-headaches.”  Yeah, so that’s true.

While I don’t know about the heart attack part (although far be it from me to suggest that I have ANY medical expertise) I plan to be a little more careful when enjoying my drink on the way home from Sonic.  Can you just see it?  “Oh, sorry for rear-ending your car ma’am.  I blacked out from a brain freeze from this here grape creamslush.”  Yeah, right. 

This situation with the old man and the Sonic drink happened in Kansas which kind of makes it funnier.  We are a unique section of the country indeed. 

I May Not Have Anything to Write but….

 

There’s always David Cook.  I found this video and thought it was hilarious!

Enjoy!

David Cook on Hair

 

 

The House of Z

Memorial day has come and gone.  Can it really be summer already?  Oklahoma seems to be rolling out the welcome mat with unbelievable weather - you may have seen on the national news, we are one crazy, tornado-producing state.  Jonah’s starting to sleep right through them, just like a true Okie does. 

I however,am getting a little tired of waking up at 3am to watch the weather forecast as 60+mph winds lash at the windows.  I need a nap.

So Jason’s older brother, Dino and his family (my awesome sister-in-law Rylee and my three nephews, Jaden, Micah, and Eli - ages 10, 7, and 4) all came to stay overnight on Friday so we all could go to a family bbq in Norman on Sat.  Have you ever housed 4 little boys?  It was a little like going to the circus.  One minute they were monkeys - swinging and jumping from various pieces of furniture, then elephants as they thundered overhead upstairs, then acrobats as they tried to fly down the stairs, oh and tigers as they fought now and then.  They were also pirates for a good deal of the night.  The adults gave a collective sigh of relief as they finally dropped off to sleep. 

It was fun to watch Jonah with his cousins.  He just loves them to pieces.  In his eyes, the two older boys, Jaden and Micah, are just about as cool as cool can get.  I remember looking up to my cousins that way when I was small.  There was just nothing better than cousins.  Friends who are family that you don’t have to live with.  The best! 

Jonah is on month 6 of pleading his case for a sibling (even though I keep explaining to him that I can’t just go out and buy a brother or sister for him).  The other day I finally told him to ask Jesus for one.  Jason said that was a mistake -  if Jonah is as persistent with God as he is with us, we’re in big trouble now! 

I’ll keep you posted. 

 

 

 

I Love Rock N’ Roll

On Tuesday nights we usually hurry through dinner and rush to the TV to wait for AI to come on.  Tonight, we ate casually, cleaned up and made it to the couch just a minute or two before (as Mandy calls him) ‘Stupid Ryan’ said “THIS isssss American Idol!”  After the horror of last week, we just weren’t that jazzed about it to tell you the truth. 

Jonah keeps asking where Carly is.  Jason pray fervently that little Archie would stop boring him to tears, and I can’t figure out for the life of me how Castro is still there.  It boggles my mind. Like I said last week, he doesn’t even seem to think he should be there!  It’s kind of sad and awkward. 

So, here’s my take on tonight’s show - Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame Night 

David Cook:  Please win.  Please!  You’re a man.  Archie’s just a boy.  You can do this!  I admit I also have a bit of a rivalry with my little sister’s boyfriend who just loves Archuleta.  I would hate to have to concede to the little stinker!  The first song was okay - I love Duran Duran, but it was “eh - good.”  The second song, I loved.  Cook has very good taste in music.  The Who are awesome.  I wish he could have performed the whole thing where it gets fast and apparently he almost accidentally did - how cool would it have been to just let him do the whole song and then skip Castro’s second song altogether?  Oh well.

Syesha:  Yes!  Yes! I loved it.  It was fun, sexy, vocally wonderful, energetic.  I loved it.  Sometimes I think Simon doesn’t like her so he poo-poos her performances no matter what.  I hope she does that one on the tour (did I tell you we’re going to see the tour, we hope!, in August?!  Anniversary date!!!) Anyway, I liked the second song too, and this is the part where Randy smokes whatever Simon was smoking during her first performance.  But Simon came through as Syesha began to cry and rescued her from utter humiliation.  Paula actually didn’t blather for once, and she looked stunning tonight too!

Castro:  Ugh.  Ugh.  Ugh.  While I heartily agreed with the judges, I just felt bad for the guy.  It’s not his fault he’s still there.  He’s like the man who turns 110 and says,”Sheesh!  Am I ever going to die?”  I bet he’s on that ‘Vote for the Worst’ list. 

Archie:  Great vocals. Ballads (Gasp!  How Shocking!) And Boring.  Just boring.  I always feel like I am watching a mini diva-man who sings nothing but ballads.  He said in his interview that he had not yet sang a slow love song on the show….really?  Cause I counted about 100.  Sigh.  Archuleta will go home by some miracle.  Syesha and Cook - you must stomp him out!

I am predicting a dramatic results show where Ryan will be rude and tactless and if things go horribly wrong, someone other than Castro will go home. 

Until next time……

 

The Chair Model

Here is another completely indulgent post regarding my favorite show….oh c’mon you know it - that’s right!  The Office.  Last night’s episode was what I had been waiting for - just good ole Michael back to his old self (post- Jan, but is she really gone?  Doubtful; it’s hard to shake a psycho.)  And by ‘old self’ I mean, selfish, tactless, rude, and completely lacking in any kind of self-awareness.  Funnily enough, I will choose this Michael over sissified, pansy, having-three-vasectomies-cause-Jan-said-so Michael.  I just can’t stand seeing a man in that condition - it’s a tragedy!

I loved the meeting of the “Five Fathers” - it was hilarious to see Andy and Kevin team up to get their precious parking spaces back, which I totally related to while working for the YMCA.  Over the 2 years I worked there our parking spaces got pushed further and further away til I was beginning to feel like Milton on Office Space, where they move his desk around until he’s finally working in the basement.  I digress.

Okay so before I get to favorite quotes - it has to be said that I am a little scared for Jim.  I have this horrible feeling that Pam is going to break his heart.  Is it just me?  When he talked about proposing, didn’t she look a little scared?  Like she hoped he was just bluffing?  And when he acted like he really was going to propose (which was an awesome joke, I might add!) again, it looked like fear more than suprise.  Maybe it’s just me….but I gotta wonder!

Okay, so favorite quotes:

Michael:  I’m optimistic.  Because everyday I get a little more desperate, and desperate situations yield the quickest results.

Michael:  Use the woman on page 85 as a template.

Michael:  What part of shorn’t don’t you understand, Kevin?

Michael:  Okay, Wendy:  Hot & Juicy Redhead!

Kevin:  It’s just nice to win one.

Dwight:  You’ll wait til next year’s chair catalogue comes out and find someone who’s still alive.

 

 

And Away We Go!

Just in case you didn’t know - we’re moving, again.  No, we’re not nomads, although I sure feel like one these days. 

For a refresh, we quickly moved from Nashville back to our home state of Oklahoma in December.  Jason was offered a fantastic job opportunity with a great company, so he took it, and thankfully I was able to stay on working from home as a writer for Who’s Who Magazine.   We had to find a place, and fast!  We hastily agreed to what seemed like a nice place owned by what seemed  like a nice landlord.  While neither of the latter turned out to be true, we were blessed to be let out of the lease and are moving on.  

So we move into the new place which really is nice and really is owned by nice people starting tonight.  Jonah has the pleasure of being juggled around to various friends and family members for the next 3 days while we move in.  He doesn’t seem too concerned.  He’ll get to play with other kids and get spoiled by his Grandma Bev.

So on to the whiny portion of this post - I hate moving!  ugh!  I’m tired already just looking at the massive volume of crap that we have.  I really really wish I was Mary Poppins right now.  I’d snap my fingers and our belongings would happily dance their way into the appropriate boxes (and stack themselves too!) all to a catchy tune!  Wouldn’t that be grand?! 

Sigh.  Guess I better get to work.  I’ve procrastinated long enough.  I’m off to pack!  The next time I write will be from our new home!   

That’s Hot.

While slowly driving up and down the aisles of the Wal-Mart parking lot while waiting for Jason to deposit our check in the Bank (which is inside the said Wal-Mart) I observed the following:

1) A teenage couple making out on the tail of a car.  Really?  Here?  Sure it looks all Jackie and Diane I guess, but not at Wal-Mart.  At Wal-Mart is looks all Britney and K-Fed.

2) A very short man strapping a very large case of Heineken to his very small Vespa.  The song “Smooth Operator” popped into my head; I giggled. 

3) The D.A.R.E. booth set up right outside the doors.  I actually won an art contest for D.A.R.E in the fifth grade.  I got a month of art classes in downtown Austin.  I remember our D.A.R.E. officer’s name was Roach. We thought it was funny because she was named after a bug, but as adult a drug office with that last name is funny for other reasons.

4) Big butts.  A lot of them.  Okay I have a large-er derriere, but these were BIG butts.  What is it about Wal-Mart that draws the big-butt population?

5) Seagulls in the parking lot.  I saw this in the parking lot of the old Wal-Mart on Old Hickory Boulevard too (south Nashville - it’s closed now).  How are there seagulls so far from, well, the sea?!  I know seagulls are scavengers, and I guess they heard how trashy the Wal-Mart was, so they came all this way to partake of the goods.  Ambitious!