Dave and Susie's Musings

Becoming a Rabbit...

2012-01-29T13:30:00.000-06:00

I never desired to be a rabbit, but a rabbit I am becoming. Now, I understand why Peter invaded Mr. Megregor's garden. Tender shoots of baby spinach, arugula, purple cabbage, baby carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, cucumbers, green beans, parsnips, tomatoes and so much more. Huh? You say. I know that sounds strange, but since being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes I find I'm eating more vegetables than ever. I have always loved my veggies but I also like pasta and various meats(which brings out the lioness or bear in me), trying to find a balance has been difficult but I'm figuring it out.

Let's take pasta, for a diabetic pasta is a no-no due to the high carb. count and blood sugar spikes. But I have managed to find a pasta that I can eat and enjoy and not blow my carb count and it tastes wonderful, Dreamfields Pasta. I have also found a foldable flatbread that I love and is low in carbs, plus very healthy, Flatout Flatbread, but my all time favorite in this line is the Flatout Hungry Girl Foldable Sandwich Flatbread. I like the one that is Whole wheat with flax seed and only 90 calories and 15 carbs. Unfortunatly I have to go to Longview, Texas to find this as the Oklahoma Wal-Mart Super stores don't carry it. This morning I had a toasted Rosemary and Olive Oil Flatbread with avocado slices and cooked egg whites with rubbed sage and lemon pepper. It was so good and I enjoyed every bite of it. The dogs undoubtedly enjoyed the slice of avocado that hit the floor as it quickly dissapeared.

I find that I have the munchies after 9 p.m., but I think I've solved that problem. Around that time I like to have popcorn or chips, you know the oral crunch gratification thing. Well, I now have my salad along with 5 Cruchmaster Multi-grain crackers (Gluten Free) at that time and am quite satisfied. Two days in a row now I've had a normal fasting blood sugar upon arising from sleep. YEA!

I'm determined to control this without medication, but with diet and exercise. I've purchased several good books to help me with this, one of them being Diabetes DTour Diet, and it all seems to be working. My short term goal is to be at 200 lbs. by my birthday, March 17 and to have my blood sugar under 100, plus maintaining it by my next Doctor's appointment in April. My long term goal is to get to 145 lbs and maintain good habits and blood sugar. My first weight goal is to loose 10% of my body weight, which I have lost 20 lbs. to date (since August) and have 3 lbs. to go. Next goal will be to loose 21 lbs., of which I should meet my goal of 200 by my birthday. Good goals to have.

When I was first diagnosed my a1c was 8.1 which means diabetes. At my last check up it was 6.9. The Doctor was thrilled as was my dietician to see I had lost a full point off my a1c. I am determined to get it under an a1c count of 5 and keep it there.

There's nothing like getting a good kick in the gut to see that you're on a road to destruction and you have chance to turn it around. And that's what I am doing.

Happy trails...

As Promised, A New Fence...

2012-01-22T23:01:00.001-06:00

Fitz watching Lizzy and Bear trying to find a way out of the new fence

Several weekends ago we put in a new fence to secure the back yard for the escape artist dogs. The old fence had been there for 33 years with the odd panel or board being replace here and there as my soccer player daughter would break the slats rebounding the ball against the fence (we would pay her a dollar for every slat she broke). But the time finally came to replace it when the big boy started pushing through the fence to find a way to freedom and David was having to stake the outside of the boards to prevent the push throughs.

Rob, our neighbor and a former construction supervisor came over to help us. He and Dave loaded up in his truck with trailer in tow, Christie and I lead the procession in the suburban, off to Home Depot we went. After totally changing our plans on the fence we walked out $339.00 poorer. However we got the beginnings of a new fence.

After getting back to the house we unloaded the trailer of fence panels, boards and screws. First order was to move all the stuff we had against the old fence trying to block the path of the dogs. Then we started taking down the old fence, I kept a few fence boards to make some frames for some paintings I did. The old wood should look good. Then we dug out some of the old posts that were rotten and set two new posts. I did learn a new trick today, when setting fence posts mix the concrete in the hole with the post in place, saves an extra step. After the posts had set up we started putting up the new fence. Measure twice cut once. We started at 10:00 this morning and finished up at 6:30 this evening with Christie and I using our new head flashlights to help the guys finish installing the latches.

The rouges gallery enjoying the weather

After a long day it felt good to let the dogs out to explore their new fence. Ah snifforama and let's scent this thing or not!

I have one more project and that is to put up the icicle lights along the garage so when the "kids" go out I can see them in dark corners. No more hiding from "mom."

I would post the pictures of the fence but alas I have misplaced my photo card for my camera as I was trying to figure out how to transfer the pictures without a card reader, silly me.

Happy trails...

Balls, Fences and Satellites...

2012-01-05T00:11:00.001-06:00

If you read my blog about the wedding and the reception on New Year's Eve, you will remember I mentioned that my daughter met a nice young officer who had graduated from West Point. "Harry" spent New Year's Day with us going to the movies. Well the short of the story is he call my daughter Tuesday after he got home and invited her to his military ball in February where he is stationed. The flight has been booked and today we went shopping for a cocktail dress. Needless to say she doesn't fit into the Jr sizes any more besides they are totally inappropriate for this occasion and Women's is just a tad too big, what to do. We will go out again tomorrow and look some more. What she did try on was smashing but you can't dance in something you can barely move in.

The dogs have busted through the fence more times than I care to think about, therefore we are going to replace the fence this week. We went to Home Depot today to figure out what all we needed and what kind of fence we wanted. We have decided to go with a pretreated dog ear wooden style, total cost $355.00, not bad. Hopefully this will solve the problem and stop some of the barking at every little thing they see. Installation starts Friday. So we're going to get a lesson on fence building. Oh how fun.

While out today I decided that tonight would be hot dogs over a fire night. I got a nice fire going in our fire pit in the back yard and roasted the wienies. Had coleslaw, baked beans with salt and apple cider vinegar flavored kettle chips to go with it. I sat outside to eat as it was lovely out, not too cold. It remindes me of camping and eating out in the mountains. Oh how I love it.

Dave and Christie joined me after they had finished. Christie brought out her IPad which has the neatest app on it. She pointed the IPad to the section of the sky she wanted to look at and it brings up the stars that are out in real time. It shows the constellation that the stars and planets form and also shows the satellites that are passing through the area. We saw the International Space Station and several other satellites which were identified and several that were not. Those could have been military or other countries satellites that didn't want to be identify for the app. The night sky and moon were dazzeling tonight. I know that I will have to get an IPad so I too can look at the stars but I also want to get a good telescope as well. Both are essential if you are going to stargaze.

After banking the fire and clearing the dishes from dinner, we sat down to a couple of movies. Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" with Johnny Depp to which I promptly fell asleep but was awake to watch "Rio" Which is a cute animated film about bird snatchers and two blu McCaws. If you want something fun and lite, this is the film to see.

Well time to call it a day.

Happy trails...

Another Movie...

2012-01-04T00:59:00.001-06:00

January and February are typically our movie months. With me taking an extra week off we decided to go see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo today. This is a well made film with lots of twists and turns in its intriguing plot. This film is not for the faint of heart. At times it is quite brutal, has lots of sexual content and violence but also has lots of suspense. It's a who done it that will keep you thinking.
No yawner here.

You can go to Wikipedia and read the synopsis of the story. I did not, had no clue what it was about. But being 62 not much shocks me any more.

As I understand this story is a three book crime series. The next movie will be "The Girl That Played With Fire." I'm looking forward to seeing it when it is completed. In the meantime I may read the books now. It has piqued my interest.

Happy trails...

Movie Day...A Family Tradition

2012-01-02T18:41:00.002-06:00

For many years now, too many to count, New Year's Day has been a 3 movie, movie day. Even if we were out on the road driving back from Florida after visiting Walt Disney World or going to a soccer tournament, we would always stop in Panama City, FL. set up the tent trailer on New Year's Eve and head to the only theatre in town at that time, a 6 plex, and watch our three movies in one day, New Year's Day.

It all got started when the girls were little, we decided to go see a movie at the local theatre, once finished we still had plenty of time on our hands and decided to see another movie. After that movie we went and got dinner and decided to see another one and that is how it started and continues to this day and our daughter and her family have also started this tradition. Everyone thinks we're nuts but we have so much fun doing this.

Our three picks this year were Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows, The Adventures of TINTIN and War Horse.

Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law was as good as ever leaving you with the feeling there will be more. Guy Ritchie is a very talented director, the acting superb and special effects amazing. A must see.

The second selection was Steven Spielberg's Tintin. A capture action film like Avatar but all animation. It was very good and I did enjoy it but I did find myself, like Emperor Joseph II of Austria, yawning at times. If you remember the movie Amadeus, you will remember the Emperor yawning during a performance of "The Marriage of Figaro." It could have been that I was tired from the late night before and with the dark theatre, lent itself to the yawns, who knows.

In between the second and third movie we went to grab tacos at Taco Mayo just around the corner of the Warren Theatre in Moore, OK just off Interstate 35 and 19th St. If you're ever this way I highly suggest that you see a film there. There's plenty of parking and the lot will accommodate a big rig or two. The Warren will be opening a new Imax Theatre soon and we're looking forward to that. There are lots of good movies on the horizon. One that I am waiting to see is The Woman in Black with Daniel Radcliffe. He looks totally different without his Harry Potter glasses.

The last movie of the day was War Horse, another Steven Spielberg film based on a children's book about the true stories of "Warrior" a Canadian Cavalry Horse. This book was turn into a play and then into a movie. This one I highly recommend. However be ready to have your tear ducts cleaned, at least three hankies. It's a very emotional film, beautifully done with outstanding photography, superb acting and beautiful scenery at times. If your not familiar with the story it's about a horse and the hope he brings to various people he comes in contact with during World War I. Be prepared for brutal battle scenes. The horse used for the film was one of the horses used for the movie Secretariat. This movie will not disappoint. As my hubby says, "Good old fashion film making at its best."

Today has been filled with the annual Parade of Roses from Pasadena, CA, football and food. We have the OSU Cowboys against Stanford tonight. Go Pokes!

Want to welcome aboard some new followers MARTHA and TERRY they're a couple of 50 something boomers traveling full time in their 39' Fleetwood Discovery, with their 10 year old Beagle, Charlie. You might know them from their blog Gypsy Life Journal, Howdy folks!

Happy trails...

New Year's Eve and Counting....Ooops New Year's Day!

2012-01-01T12:19:00.002-06:00

Just a few more hours until we can say "Rest In Peace 2011...Welcome 2012".

Laid up at McBride Hospital in 2010

What a year it's been for our family. I didn't have a major surgery(knee replacement) to sideline me as in the past two years. Yay!

We got to visit several times with our ever changing grandson who is a little pistol.

Noah being Noah, such a boy!

Our youngest daughter moved from Marietta, GA to Cleveland, OH with the help of her daddy for another internship, this time in Athletic
Compliance at the university there. She's living in a shoebox of an apartment with barely a kitchen to cook in.

The "BIG" news!

We are expecting our second grandchild in 2012.

We learned how to text with our new cellphones, have to have those pictures of the grandson you know. Keeping up with the ever changing technology really keeps you on your toes, you either learn it or in my case pitch it across the room in frustration, I'm known for that.

We're getting new neighbors, Robert and Talita, in November of 2012 as the house across the street was torn down and a new one is being built in its place, hence we have a vacant lot for the moment, but the contractor has poured the foundations so construction is underway.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes but am working on controlling it with diet and exercise. So far I have lost 17 pounds and have brought my blood sugar down from 187 to 117. No wonder I was feeling so bad all the time. I now do strength training 3 times a week and journal my food intake at loose it or caloriecount They are both excellent tools in helping you with weight loss. At the moment the gym is closed but will reopen Tuesday so we are looking forward to getting some time with the exercise equipment. The thing I find interesting is everyone wants you to use their meter so I now have three meters for testing my blood. So far I like the Bayer meter. It's not so much testing my blood but pricking my fingers that gets me.

Yesterday I went and got a new "do" to welcome in the new year. Today is for shopping and picking up the essentials (a gift card) for a wedding tonight.

My new "do."

Some of my friends had a good year, some others not so terrific and I pray for the one's that lost loved ones or have loved ones with medical problems. I also pray for our men and women in the armed forces who are in harms way. What is past is past and we look forward to new beginnings with a new year to be filled with new memories.

As we start this new year, here's a little something from James A. Farley, an English physicist and chemist. "Never think any oldish thoughts. It's oldish thoughts that make a person old."

So lift your glasses high, "Salute to Auld Lang Syne!" Now give your honey that long expected kiss.

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne ?CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
And surely you’ll buy your pint cup! and surely I’ll buy mine! And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We two have run about the slopes, and picked the daisies fine; But we’ve wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.

CHORUS
We two have paddled in the stream, from morning sun till dine†; But seas between us broad have roared since auld lang syne.

CHORUS
And there’s a hand my trusty friend! And give us a hand o’ thine! And we’ll take a right good-will draught, for auld lang syne.
CHORUS

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone, may your year be filled with happiness and may you be prosperous.

Happy Trails...

I typed this up yesterday with the intention of posting it yesterday. I was waiting on a picture to be sent to me via hubby. Alas it did not happen and we went to the wedding and reception that lasted till we all closed the place at 2 a.m. this morning. Boy those West Point people sure know how to P A R T Y!!! It was a beautiful wedding and the reception was one of the best I have been to in a long time. And I have been to a lot of fancy schmancy receptions but none like this one. The food was awesome. They even had a omelet bar after midnight. An open bar, a live band, one of the best that I have listened to that did not repeat a single song and an absolutely fabulous cake. The reception food was awesome as well. The staff at 747 was terrific, couldn't have asked for better.

Today we are off on our annual New Year's Day 3 movie marathon. We will be taking a young officer (daughter met him last night) from the reception with us. No point in sitting in a hotel room all day.

Again, Happy New Year!
P.S. The picture I was waiting on came and so I posted it. It's the vacant lot.

Hurry Scurry.....

2011-12-23T18:25:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year when everyone loses their ability to think rationally. I'm talking about holiday shoppers and their waiting until the last minute to shop. Talk about the traffic and such, it's a mad house out there.

I got all my shopping done yesterday. Of course Dave had a few items (essentials) to pick up and we wanted to fill the car before the gas stations raised their rates for those folks heading out of town for the holiday. They do it every year. Along comes a holiday and the gas stations like to make a few more bucks on people because they know people will be traveling. That doesn't help us who stay home. However we did find a Murphy's Oil Co. where the gas was $2.85 a gallon. The other stations had already started creeping up to over $3.00 a gallon.

Living in a college town the gas is even higher that up the road in Moore. Everything is higher here, food, homes, gas...sometimes I just get so tired of it. I know we're suppose to support our local economy but when they sock it to you I like to sock it right back and take my business elsewhere.

Christie arrive last Saturday for her Christmas visit. She will be here until the 9th of January. So with the kids coming in tomorrow, we will have a full house. Sure glad we have lots of room to put up everyone.

Hope everyone has all their shopping done and the presents wrapped and under the tree, cause Santa will be paying you a visit here soon.

Merry Christmas everyone and too all a Good Night...

1 Day left till CHRISTMAS!

Happy trails...

The Get Fit Program

2011-12-17T15:35:00.001-06:00

A special fitness program was offered to people who need to loose 50 lbs. or more. You had to apply and be accepted into the program as there were only 15 spots available. I was one of the lucky few who was accepted into the program that sponsored by the Merrick Foundation with a grant. The 12 week course is designed to help you change your eating and exercise habits, leading you to a more healthy lifestyle and future. We were provided excellent training in the right things to eat, stress control, self image, the foods to eat before and after a workout, making good choices when eating out, weight training and a personal trainer for 12 weeks. If we stuck with the program we got a free 1 hour massage. I love massages so I made sure I stuck with the program...I would have stayed with it anyways, massage or no massage.

Since being diagnosed with diabetes in August, I felt this was a good way to kick start myself in the right direction. My blood sugar in August was 189 and I tipped the scales at 233. This morning I tipped the scales at 214 and my blood sugar was 106. I would say I have come long way but still have quite aways to go.

Staying on track through the holidays will be tough with all the scrumptious food being served up. Exercise will be paramount but with the help of my family I will perserver.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad, Happy Holidays, Happy Kwanzaa, Season's Greeting's to all out there. I'm sure I left someone out, my apologies.

Happy trails...

Catching Up On Events...

2011-12-17T15:15:00.000-06:00

It's three weeks after Thanksgiving, the family has long since left and I am sitting in my office thinking about all that has happened since I last blogged. Let's see, that was a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Has it really been that long, where has the time gone?

Color Guard

It all started with Veteran's Day. Norman held it's first Veteran's Day parade since 1941. One of the attendees was 90 years young and one of many of honored guests. There were lots of on-lookers, flag waving and thank-yous as our Veteran's passed by.

Our 90 year old Grand Marshall

The Patriot Guard Riders, can't thank them enough for what they do

A few days later I was having some trouble with my right knee so I went to the Dr. and Phil the PA said nothing to worry about, just a build- up of scar tissue and to keep massaging the scar around the knee to break up the scar tissue inside. It's feeling better already. He also gave me an Rx of Arthrotec, an anti inflammatory. It's great stuff, I'm sure glad that insurance picks up most of the cost on it, otherwise it would be $199.00 out of my pocket for 60 tabs. It keeps the tendons and ligaments around the knee from hurting. The joint is great, no problems there. I can do things now that I have not done in years.

Dave and I cleaned house during the week before Thanksgiving as the kids were due to arrive early Wednesday morning...they pulled in around 3:30 a.m. With three dogs you can imagine the hair. Even though we vacuum every day the dog hair is astounding. So it was vacuum and dust everything time once again. Hopefully when we hit the road we will have one small dog. Taking big boy and little girl along with tiny would be a rather interesting feat.

With the
house clean and ready to accept a 17 month old toddler plus 2 adults and another dog, we felt we were ready for the next five days. Wednesday at noon the kids, hubby and baby came up to my office so the staff could meet my daughter, son and baby Noah. Noah went around to everyone and gave them a hug. He's such a sociable little guy. Everyone enjoyed him as he absconded with Miss Janet's magic wand.

After the visit I was off for the remainder of the day, so off we went to the Greek House to get Gyros . While we waited for out meal, Heather decided that it was too warm for Noah to be wearing his sweatshirt inside the Greek House so she took it off and laid it in front of me.

Yep...she is expecting in July. We are so excited for the both of them. Hmmmm, me thinks she did this exact same thing 2 years ago for her daddy's birthday weekend. Sorry Bobbie, no trip to Colorado this next summer to see you and Jim. :(

After all the excitement at lunch we returned home to reacquaint the dogs with the little tyke. As you can see from the picture above, big boy and Noah got along great, little girl runs from him and is very wary of him being around. However at times we would catch her herding Noah. We have to be careful about that as she likes to nip at his heels. We had to keep a pinch collar and short lead on big boy as he gets too excited sometimes, especially on the first day and wants to mow the boy down. By the second day he was a pretty calm dog but being over 100 lbs. he can still be somewhat overwhelming for Noah. Sometimes big boy would get a drink of water and then want to go give Noah a "kiss" to which Noah would wave his arms and say no, no, no because he knew he would get "slimed" if he let big boy "kiss" him. It was so funny to watch.

The kids were wanting to take their family Christmas picture but during the course of the evening Noah fell against my chair and hit his head on one of the brass tacks. Needless to say no family pictures until later when the bruise goes away.

Thursday being Thanksgiving, everyone had a hand in making dinner. It turned out wonderful as usual. I fixed a turkey without the dark meat, a ham, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, corn, dressing, gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce, a special cheese spread for the stuffed celery and a pumpkin pie. I did real well in eating as I measured everything I ate and was able to keep my blood sugar down and did not leave the table feeling stuff.

Friday was the crazy day where everyone seem to loose perspective of what Christmas is all about and act like idiots to run through stores and buy bargains. I have not and will not ever shop with the idiots on Black Friday at ungodly hours. We did go out later that day and do some shopping but no way am I getting up at some ridiculous hour and do battle with the other idiots for some item that might save me a few dollars. It just isn't worth it. I did most of my shopping online this year anyway and saved myself the hassle and wear and tear on my nerves not to mention gas.

Saturday we pretty much vegged around the TV watching football. The big bedlam game between OU and OSU wasn't even a heart breaker. OSU soundly whipped the boys in Crimson and Cream, so OU will be Arizona bound to play Iowa. I don't think it will be that exciting of a game, but you never know...

After the game Heather and I made up cookie dough for the sugar cookies we would be making with Noah on Sunday morning. Noah was a big helper in the kitchen. He helped me cut out the cookies and was a great cookie decorator until he found out the decorations were sweet. We had so much fun.

Noah patting the dough

Decorating cookies is fun!

"Me on a sugar high?...NEVER!!!!"

Soon it was time for the kids to pack up to go back home. Noah and J kept making faces at each other, it was a riot to watch their antics.

They were soon loaded, we said our good-byes and off they went. Low and behold only a sock left behind this time.

I do wish the kids were closer but one of these days we will have our RV and can go visit them.

My Brother and Sister-in-law came down today and brought us Noah's Christmas gift since they were not going to be able to make it down for the holidays. We had a great visit and went to Pei Wei for dinner. I love it when we can all get together.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends.

8 days till Christmas!

Happy trails...

42 Days Till Christmas and Counting...

2011-11-14T20:43:00.000-06:00

My gosh is it that time of year again? Where has the time gone? For the past two years I have been out of commission by having total knee replacement surgery during the holidays. But this year I am up and around and doing fine. I get to decorate the house! Wheeeee! It's been a long time since I've decorated the house. But family is coming and I'm excited about it.
I have most of my Christmas shopping done. Nothing like planning ahead and getting it out of the way. I still need to shop for Noah, but trying to find him something that he doesn't already have will be hard. He's got so much stuff for his birthday that I don't think another toy will fit into his house.

With an 18 month old in the house and his being such a go-getter, constantly on the move, I want to spend lots of time with him. I don't get to see him all that often and when I do it's such fun because he's such a cute little guy. I think he will have fun at Christmas, but next year will be when he will really have fun because he will be more into it. We'll have to find a place to put the Christmas tree so it won't get toppled. A little one, four dogs and a small tree doesn't mix very well.
I have lots of baking to do over the next few weeks. Christmas cookies and pies, make ahead casseroles. I will be experimenting with making the cookies with Splenda instead of sugar this year. I don't want to spend my all time off from work (12 days) cooking. My blood sugar is doing well and I have lost 16 lbs. thus far. I have more to loose and I want to get the blood sugar down under 80. If I can do that before the end of the year, I will be a very happy camper.

Dave has a birthday coming up this month. He was lamenting the other day that he was going to be 69 in a few weeks. I told him he had one more year to get his stuff pulled together as I'm trying to set a target date on getting out on the road.

I looked at a Keystone Sydney 328FRK the other day. I like the layout of the kitchen but Dave was concerned that there was not room for two reclining chairs. I told him that we could do away with the couch...that went over like a lead balloon. There were a few other aminaties that I would like to have that were not offered. I prefer a table and chairs for the dining area instead of booth seating and you have to have a seat it the shower. Small details like that. All in all it's not a bad looking trailer. But my all time favorite is the Keystone Alpine 3600RS. The price is nice too. :(   Will have to wait to see if any used ones come up for sale. There could be one drawback to a rig that size. Getting it into the National Parks and National Forest areas.

Yesterday I made a big pot of German Chicken Barley Soup.  It was good and hit the spot. Today has been cool and overcast with a smattering of rain here and there. Hot soup always does the trick on a cool or cold day.  And there's nothing like walking into a house where soup is on the stove and the aroma hits you like a ton of bricks and makes the old mouth water. Yep, good soup!

Well for now that's the news from here.

Happy trails...

Earthquake?!?!?!?!?!

2011-11-06T16:39:00.000-06:00

Yesterday way a day for earthquakes here in central Oklahoma. I have felt one before while sitting in my office at the university. But last night we had a 5.6 quake here and I can tell you the house was shaking pretty good.

Dave and I were sitting in the living room watching a delayed version of Prime Suspect when the quake hit around 10:10 p.m.. The dogs jumped up and started barking and we had things falling off the piano, video tapes falling off their stacks, some cups came off a shelf and some of my Mary Kay product ended up on the floor.

We've had over 40 aftershocks, non that I have felt. We had 3 quakes that led up to the large one last night. Here is a map that you can get up to the minute information. It's really interesting as it also has information about boarder incidents, Hazmat information and a plethora of other information you might find interesting.

If you haven't done it yet be sure to set your clocks back so your not late to any appointments or work.

Happy trails....

Ah...Affairs of the Heart...

2011-11-02T13:43:00.000-05:00

In one of my last blogs I talked about having a chemical stress test on my heart. Got the news back yesterday that everything was ok and I was good to go. Boy did that lift a weight off my chest!

It's amazing how you imagine everything. Women are suppose to have different symtoms of a heart attack than men. Every little pressure I had was, this is it, syndrom. But until you actually get the news...you worry. The up side to all of this is we now have a bench mark of my heart for my diabetes. My blood sugar is coming down and so is my weight. I have lost 16 lbs. since the last week in August and have dropped my blood sugar 66 points. Do I still crave carbs...YES, but I now know what's at stake and I work on making better choices in what I eat. I am determined to not go on medication if I can control it with diet and exercise. Where is my Wii when I need it. Still collecting dust I see...Dave, get it hooked up for me!

Happy trails...

Don't Want To Do That Again...

2011-10-27T22:07:00.000-05:00

Monday I had a nuclear (chemical) stress test on my heart. All I can say is that I don't want to have to do that again any time soon. First they inserted an IV in my arm and shot some saline into the vein. I could taste it and smell it as well to which the technician said only a small amount of people are able to to that which means I have great taste buds. Hooray for me! Next they took my blood pressure but put the BP cuff on my forearm instead of my upper arm. The technician said you actually get a better reading in that location. After that the technician attached the little electrodes all over my chest, the nurse's assistant came in the room and the test began.

Have you ever had your life flash before your eyes? That is what it felt like, very heavy, hard to breath, dizzy. The test only lasted 30 seconds after they shot the chemical into my vein, but felt like a lifetime before they shot me with the recovery drug twice. Then they introduced the isotopes into my system. After that I had to wait for 15 minutes before they took me to another room and put me on a very skinny table that was attached to a special camera that took pictures of the heart under stress from all sides being still for 17 minutes. Have you ever had an itch you needed to scratch? You get the drift.

After it was over I left the office walking like a drunken sailor, my legs were like rubber. Needless to say I did not feel like going back to work so I went home. I didn't even have the "want to" to make dinner. So we went out to Taco Mayo and I had 4 of their tacos. Normally I only get three but that night I got 4. They tasted wonderful!

The next morning and most of the day I felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my upper torso. Now keep in mind not everyone reacts like this. Some people are not affected at all by all the chemicals. By mid afternoon I was back to normal. I had to go back on Wednesday to finish rest of the test. What now? Actually nothing as drastic as Monday. They inserted the IV and flushed the vein with the saline again, then injected the isotopes and had me wait 15 minutes. Then I laid on the skinny table and was to be still for 20 minutes this time while the camera circled my torso shooting pictures of my resting heart. Then I was done, none worse for the wear.

I went to work and after work went to my health class then worked out with my personal trainer. A very long day and boy was I glad it was over.

I get the news on Monday. All of this because I had a muscle cramp in my back. But being a diabetic I can understand the reason for wanting a benchmark as to where my heart is. So we wait.

I've been busy getting ready for the concert on Monday. Spooky music with the OU Symphony and 3 different choirs. There is 151 people in the choir and boy does the sound, sound wonderful. It should be a great concert. Just finished working with the orchestra, rehearsal Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m., dress rehearsal Sunday evening and the concert on Monday. I know...everyone has asked me "why Monday?", It's Halloween! Well after all it is Spooky music.

Tomorrow is casual Friday, to which I will be wearing my thermal shirt and jeans. It gets cold in my office as my windows face the North. Monday the employees in the office are dressing up in costume. I'm going as a vampire opera singer. I already have my make-up planned out. The only thing is I will have to take it all off and re-apply fresh make-up for the concert. Oh well...

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Halloween...

Happy trails...

A Lazy Sunday...

2011-10-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Homecoming for the University of Oklahoma. The day was filled with lots of activities and a parade with the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band, floats and lots of other stuff I did not see. Last night after an hour and a half rain delay the game started. I was in bed by the second quarter trying to keep my eyes open but faded by half time. The Sooners had a rough time of it with Texas Tech and eventually lost the game. Oh Drats! As you can see I am not a big football fan any more. Use to love it but have other priorities now, like figuring out a way to get out on the open road sooner that expected.

This Sunday morning found me making the coffee instead of Dave making the coffee. I guess that after 9 hours sleep and when the peepers pop open before sunrise, you might as well get up and at'tem. After making coffee and turning on the TV to finish watching a program I got out the DVD of exercises and did my workout and then had some 5 grain oatmeal.

After breakfast I did a Spybot, Malware check and a Clean-up on my computer. It had be 40 days since my last run. Everything checks out but for a new computer it sure runs slow. I'm going through my office today and working on taxes...UGH! Hate those things but it has to be done. Later Dave and I are going to work on one of our closets, got to get it cleared out and get the junk removed. Not looking forward to that but it has to be done.

Dave came across a new site yesterday and I have attached the links here as I find it interesting. It's about making changes in your lifestyle and how to accomplish what you want...hence full-timing. I know I will certainly look at things with a different perspective now. Great stuff our younger generation is coming up with.

I go to the Dr. tomorrow for a Nuclear Exercise Clinically induced heart stress test. Should be interesting. With my diabetes the Dr's want to have a benchmark of where my heart is. So no caffeine, chocolate, tea, decaff tea, cokes (I don't drink them anyways), decaff coffee or decaff coffee 24 hours before the test. Water is pretty much what I drink now with a cup of coffee in the mornings. By the time the test rolls around I should have a great headache...oh fun!

After a gloomy foggy morning the sun has finally broken through and it's beautiful day outside. If it's sunny where you are...get out and enjoy the day. Sunshine is good for you. Great source of Vitamin D.

Happy trails...

Oh Blessed Rain...

2011-10-10T21:18:00.003-05:00

Saturday was a grand day in that OU beat Texas. But we best watch our P's and Q's as the Texas players are very young and in a few years will trounce on us when we have a young team. But the win was sweet anyways. After the game Dave and I noticed some wet stuff falling from the heavens. Could that...is it possible...is it rain??? Sure enough it was the wet stuff we had been praying for. Some areas of the state got up to 5 inches. Here in Norman we got over 3 inches. For now the short term drought is over but the long term drought is still with us. The weatherman said the state still needed 15 inches of moisture in order to help alleviate the problem. So we pray some more and hope more moisture falls from the sky.

Yesterday Dave and I went to see "Real Steel" with Hugh Jackman up at the Warren Theatre in Moore, OK. We had to make a mad dash from the parking lot to the building as it was still raining and it didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon. I can tell you this, Disney sure does know how to tell a story. It was good and growing up in a boxing family, I could really appreciate the movie. My dad was a corner man for a boxer by the name of Shorty who fought for the Navy out in San Diego, CA during WWII. It's a shame I did not keep the golden gloves boxing gloves that dad had. He had two sets of them. I can remember when I was around three years old, my dad would watch the Friday night fights on TV (very small screen), they would sing the National Anthem before the match. I would stand in the middle of the living room and belt out the song right along with the singer on TV. Dad would always tell me that I did a better job than the person on TV. Oh what memories, what fun.

Other than the "usual" stuff, not much is going on. My blood sugar is slowly coming down, I still have a ways to go with it but it gets better each day. I meet with my personal trainer on Wednesday and do my fitness assessment. That should be interesting. Tomorrow night is choir rehearsal for the program the University is putting on, on Halloween. Personally I think it should be on a different day but I did not make the schedule nor was I asked, hmmmm! Come on folks, it's H A L L O W E E N, ghouls, goblins, little kids in costumes, candy, jack-o-lanterns...seriously a concert about the Druids and the coming of Spring?????? Ok...the music sounds a little ghoulish.

In looking at my stats on my blog I was so surprised to see people from different countries from all over the world who have visited at my blog. I wish they would leave a message and say hi. I wonder who they are, what they're like. Today I had a visitor from Canada and I bet I know who that was...Al from The Bayfield Bunch. Thanks Al for stopping in and taking the time to read my blog. I rarely miss yours. Just love that Phebmonster and Motormouse.

Well that's my report and I'm sticking to it...now where have I heard that before?

Happy trails...

First Fire of the Season...

2011-10-05T12:29:00.001-05:00

What?!?!?!? you say? Yes, you read right. I had the first fire of the season Sunday evening and it was lovely. Being here in Oklahoma you would not think of having a fire at this time of the year with the drought and all, but the wind was low, a lovely breeze was out of the North and it had been so terribly hot here this summer and since we did not get to make our trip up into the mountains, I decided that it was time to have the "First Fire of the Season". Besides I did call the Police Dept. and they said it was ok.

I had been outside playing with the dogs and it just hit me that I needed to have a fire, to sit back and let my mind go blank. The weekend before, I talked Dave into moving the fire tub from the patio to a cleared space in the yard where the dogs had worn away the grass and was quickly becoming a barren patch of fine sifted dirt (we need rain desperately). He set the legs of the fire tub on cement blocks so as to not become mired in mud when it does rain (sometime in the near future hopefully, the outlook does not look good).

I gathered wood from our wood pile, built a square of wood, it looked like a tic-tac-toe puzzle, put crumpled up newspaper in the center of that, then put a couple of logs across the top with more newspaper in-between those two logs and put the fire stick to the paper. The wood was so dry that it took a total of 45 seconds for the whole thing to catch on fire. I put the protective screen on the top, pulled up a chair, and called Dave to come out and join me. We watched the sun set and the fire go out. It was loverly!

I enjoy building a fire on a Sunday morning, taking my coffee, paper or a book out to read in the peace and quiet of the surroundings in my backyard. I get to hear the neighborhood wake up and the Canadian Geese take off from the retention pond that is not far from the house to fly over to the larger duck pond located just east of the university, where children and parents bring tasty morsels of bread and cracked corn to feed the hoards of geese and ducks milling about.

In the mountains, it's heaven to get to hear the birds start their morning song at about 5:30 a.m. just as the first blush of light breaks through the dark of night and the stars start to disappear in the dawn of morning. The air is so clear and crisp, the sky so blue, the scent of the mountains,water and fauna is overwhelming. The sounds of a waterfall, chipmunks playing among the pine needles, deer softly treading into your campsite, the weasel rushing to hide himself with his treasure, marmots whistling to each other, and the spider web with the morning dew covering it like diamonds glistening in the first rays of light make you wonder if it is a dream or reality. Last but not least, let's not forget the abundance of wild flowers and grand vistas. No wonder people want to get away from the cities, smog and noise. Now if they would just leave their noisy boom boxes and arguments at home, the campgrounds in the mountains would be perfect.

Happy trails...

What Everyone Needs...

2011-09-30T16:42:00.000-05:00

While at the local Sam's club the other day, I made a sweep of the store to see if there was anything new. Sure enough there was. The item that caught my eye was a two burner camp stove with a functioning oven underneath it call the Camp Chef. It runs off propane. The cost $175.00. I thought wow!, that would work well in an outdoor kitchen. We have been having more bad weather here in the mid-west and there are times that such a device would be very helpful. And again I think of all the campers that would like to have this item.

Happy trails...

Football Saturday and a Plan...

2011-09-24T23:38:00.000-05:00

I love it when a plan comes together. While out this morning doing my Saturday morning errands I stopped at the Farmer's Market and picked up some items. First was a sugar pumpkin. It looked so good and FabGrandma had a recipe for fixing the pumpkin on her blog this past week and I knew I had to give it a try. The next thing I bought was some Colorado sweet corn. One ear for me three for Dave. I also bought some new potatoes, red onions, apples, zucchini, butternut squash and a red pepper. I got all of it for $19.00.

One booth tempted me with a Mixed Pepper Spread for my biscuits. It was very good, reminded me of the Jalapeno Jelly I bought at a local Farmer's Market in South Fork, CO 2 years ago with my friend Bobbie. I had just run out of the jelly this past week. Yes, it kept that long and every bit of it was wonderful.

Around 4:00 p.m. I needed to go to the bank to make a deposit which is located in our local Homeland store. Outside they were fixing slabs of pork ribs for $9.99. They smelled so good that I had an idea, I would get some ribs, fix the corn and throw some pork-n-beans on the grill. When I went to pick up the ribs, they weren't quite done and they wanted me to wait until they were. To heck with that!!! I said give me the ribs and I will finish cooking them on my grill.

I got home, cleaned the grill, fired it up, got it to temperature and on went the ribs for about another hour and a half. I opened a can of beans and put some agave syrup and BBQ sauce in them, did a quick stir in the can and put that on the grill. I then wrapped my corn in foil and on the grill they went. While that was cooking I removed the ribs, wrapped them in foil and put them in the microwave to hold the temperature. The ribs were very good and hit the spot.

The timer just went off, so my corn is done, the beans are done and the ribs have rested. Time to dig in and watch some Oklahoma Football!!! Go Sooners!!!

Happy trails...

The Great State Fair Of Oklahoma

2011-09-21T17:02:00.000-05:00

Today was Senior Day at the fair so I skipped work and Dave and I went to the fair. They had several things that were new such as a Butterfly Tent. There were over 5,000 butterflies inside this tented pavilion. They were gorgeous! We opted to see them from the outside.
We took our time and strolled through the exhibits and looked at several items such as a temper-pedic mattress and a Dura Tent for putting your prepared food in for outdoor camping, tail-gating or any other outdoor related activity or party.

We decided to not have any food at the fair as everything is either high fat or fried in grease and terribly expensive. Instead we went to Smash Burger at The Outlet Shoppes of Oklahoma City. I had a grilled chicken breast with mayo, lettuce, pickles, red onion on a artisan bun (very whole wheat). It was very good...down to the last bite. Dave had the All-American Burger. He said it was delicious. He had regular fries and I had sweet potato fries with rosemary. They were outstanding. We both had water.

After that we decided to head home and stopped at a Wall-mart on I-240 and Santa Fe and got gas for $3.08 with the Wal-mart discount. Such a deal. Gas here in Norman. is $3.39 a gallon.

I'm off to a new exercise class where I will have a personal trainer. I had to be accepted into the class. I'm one of 15 out of many applicants who made it into the class. Apparently we will run the whole gambit of training including weights and water works in a pool. Should be interesting. Until next time...

Happy trails...

Diabetes...

2011-09-20T11:26:00.001-05:00

August has come and gone and we are half way through September now.

Not much went on in August other than it being horribly hot here in Oklahoma with no rain in sight. We had over 100 days of 100+ degree heat. Our big trees started dying, all the leaves dried up on them. Hopefully they went into survivor mode and will come out next spring. We'll need lots of rain and snow this winter for that to happen. When the dogs would trot across the yard they were leaving dust puffs. Our big boy Fitz looked like he was a galloping horse it was so dry and dusty. We have had terrible grass fires here in the state, but nothing like in Texas. Those poor people down there who have lost everything. I really feel for them.

I had been feeling somewhat under the weather for awhile and with my grandfather, mother, brother having diabetes and my daughter having gestational diabetes, at my daughters urging, I decided to get a free Freestyle Lite meter and check mine. HOLY COW my blood sugar clocked in at 189!

The kids and the grand baby came to see us over the Labor Day weekend and I took a couple of days extra off and made an appointment with the Dr. to have my annual physical and blood work done. My a1c came in at 8.1, the Dr. would like for it to be at 6 and my blood sugar was 157, it needs to be down to under 70. In a week and a half's time I had managed to get it down to that. The Doctor said that she will give me three months to get things under control or she will put me on a drug called metformin. I will do everything I can to not go on medication.

My darling daughter brought all her diabetes information and I started going through it and making copies and started journaling my carbs, eating more fiber and protein. We have only eaten out once and boy did my blood sugar go up! So eating out less and more preparing fresh.

I have been working on my weight by watching what I eat and exercising. Since my knee surgery I have not been able to walk correctly and can't find my stride. Also my foot hurts when I wear shoes so I have to wear Crocs. This morning the scale said I had lost 8 lbs. and my blood sugar was 134. The more weight I loose the better the sugar will be and I think my foot pain will improve. I must say that I am already feeling better. It's amazing how a little device like a glucose meter will get you on the stick and make you realize that you had better do something about the situation and fast!

We had a wonderful visit with the kids and grand baby. He's getting so big! Such a cutie! We formed a corral out of the furniture so he would have a safe place to play. It was so funny...Dave was gone and the kids had gone shopping leave grandma to babysit. Noah was crawling all over his corral and having a good time. While sitting on the floor he just fell over sound asleep! I covered him, picked him up and put him on the couch propped by pillows so he wouldn't fall off. I texted the kids and told them what happened and they replied "He put himself to sleep"?!?!?!?! to which I replied "Yep" I guess he never does that at home. After awhile he started to get fussy and wake up to which I picked him up blanket and all and brought him to my chair and tucked him into the crook of my arm and there he slept for another hour and a half. In all the little guy had a 3 hour nap, much to his parents amazement.

He figured how to get past the furniture which was his corral by watching our little dog who would go under the chair, so we had to put our ottomans in front of them to block off the space. He was not a happy camper about that! He was very determined to get past the blockade and tried every maneuver in the book. But we managed to thwart him and keep him occupied with lots of toys and balls and a movie or two.

The kids brought their new bicycles and a collapsible child trailer for Heather's bike for Noah. We went for a bike ride over to the practice field for the OU band and watched the drum corps do their thing. Noah was fascinated. It was a good bike ride and I enjoyed it very much even though I had some trouble with the seat of my bike. Every time I would go over a bump in the road my seat would tilt backwards. Dave needed to tighten it a lot before it finally stayed put.

I received an email in August saying the OU Community Choir was starting up and was going to be doing a work by Mendelssohn "Die erste Walpurgisnacht" with the OU Orchestra and OU Choir on Halloween. I put in a link so you can listen to the work. It's been years since I had done any real serious singing and decided that this would be a fun thing to do as my pipes had become somewhat rusty. We had our first rehearsal last week and boy what a workout! So lots of fun in store for us I would say and my pipes? I would say the rust is starting to wear away, just have to get the breathing under control.

Tomorrow is a free day at the Oklahoma State Fair for seniors so Dave and I will head off at some point during the day and look at all the goodies and then will head to Smash Burger at the new outlet mall at I-40 and Council Road. I love their grilled chicken sandwich with their sweet potato fries. The outlet mall is really cool and we have needed one in OKC for sometime, until then...

Happy Trails...

She's All Situated In Cleveland Now...

2011-08-22T11:40:00.004-05:00

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted anything, super busy with life as they say. Dave got Christie to Cleveland without much further adieu. Once they got situated at the hotel the university was putting them up in they started the hunt for an apartment for her.

One of her co-workers suggested an apartment just around the corner from the university. They went to look at it...holy cow...is-it-small, 320 sq. ft., it's what she ended up with after looking at all her options. For $575.00 a month with all bills paid with cable and high speed Internet it's a good fit for her. Before it became studio apartments I think it was a hotel as the rooms seem to be hotel size. It has a great workout room, huge laundry room, 24 hour front door attendant. Great in-gathering space in the lobby and a meeting room with media facilities.

Her kitchen, as you can see is quite small, and doesn't have an oven in which to bake anything. Nor is there any storage space to speak of. She and her daddy had to get creative so she would have a place to put canned goods, spices, pots and pans. Unfortunately she is not able to do Angel Food this year as she doesn't have any freezer space. She has to plug in her crock pot in the living room as the only plug-in in the kitchen is located behind the double doors above the microwave. A very poorly planned kitchen if you ask me. Then the microwave is not even a convection oven combo. How in the heck are you suppose to make cookies!

Her living space looks like this, this is their advertised picture. As you can see there's not much room to fit in a queen size bed, a 1940's chest of drawers and vanity with a circle mirror, book case, TV, couch, papasan chair, computer, side table, straight back chair, two-way standing lamp and wall art. But for now it is home. She had to get a storage unit to put the rest of her stuff in as there was not enough room for all of it in the apartment. Now she knows what RV small space living is all about.

She is within walking distance from work and has the metro just outside her door to get around in the downtown area. At the moment she is enjoying going to the set of the "Avengers" that is shooting in downtown Cleveland and watching them film. She attended the guy's soccer game the other evening and she said it was awesome to have the skyline of Cleveland in the background as a backdrop. How fun is that!

Having her own office allows her put her own dorm size refrigerator, microwave and coffee pot in it. So she is a happy camper. Imagine not having enough space to have a coffee pot at your apartment.

Dave says he will never complain about the streets in Norman and Oklahoma City or even I-40 again as city streets are abysmal in Cleveland. Another thing they were shocked at was a fairly new Wal-mart there in Cleveland, he said there was no order by management to speak of, merchandise was all over the floor and not on shelves, not enough help, not enough checkout lanes and no shopping carts. Christie went to get a shopping cart and couldn't find one so she asked the greeter where she might find one and he told her that other than what the different departments had managed to secure for themselves the rest had walked off (been stolen). Great, huh!

Christie did have another item that had to be fixed on her car, her tail lights were out. Apparently they were out for the whole trip. She found a very reputable mechanic just across from the school and got them fixed. She is however going to have to get the center light fixed and that will cost her more money, but it has to be done. But her little Jeep is running great for now. She is averaging between 22 and 25 miles per gallon and that was with it loaded for the trip. Not bad for a 14 year old car.

After Dave got her moved in and settled he came home after being gone a week and a half. It was nice to have him back but he did not enjoy coming back to the 100+ degree heat we've been having. I'm hoping for a break soon as we are loosing our trees.

We are baby-proofing our house once again...I thought I was done with that but apparently not. Our little guy is coming to see us soon and we are all ready for a "Noah Fix".

Happy trails...

Foil...

2011-07-31T19:40:00.002-05:00

You know, foil has many uses. One use is to remove rust from chrome, another is to wrap food for cooking. Matter of fact there is a plethora of uses for foil, just go to the World Wide Web and type in uses for foil. You might even find one for mind control.

Today I had, had enough of the heat here as it topped 104 again. Later this week it's suppose to get to 109 with no rain in sight. My kitchen has a west facing wall and window, even though it has a tinted interior storm window in it, where the heat was pouring in. I decided that something needed to be done so I foiled the window. I took 5 long strips and attached them to the top of the interior storm window and made sure they came below the sill. The difference in temperature was immediate. The kitchen is staying cooler and I'm a happy camper.

Tomorrow I will do the same for the big window in the front bedroom. I know it looks tacky, but those passing by are not paying my electric bill so I don't care how tacky it looks.

Stay cool my friends, stay cool.

Happy trails...

Moving to Ohio...

2011-07-30T13:16:00.007-05:00

No Dave and I are not moving to Ohio but Dave is moving our youngest daughter from Marietta, GA to Cleveland, OH this weekend to start a new job. And all is not going well.

It started out like this...

Monday we get in the SUV to take me to work and the battery is dead. Hence a new battery. Dave said something like "Is this an omen of things to come"?

Last weekend we took my bike, which is 39 years old, into the bike shop the get new tires and a tune-up. Before Dave could get the bike home on Tuesday the front tire blew up due to too much air pressure and the heat. So he had to take it back in on Wednesday morning but the bike shop did not open until 10 which put him behind in schedule by 2 hours as he wanted to be on the road by 9. He drove to Memphis, TN the first day and I rode the bike home, UGH!

The second day (Thursday) there was stalled traffic in Birmingham, AL and the heat was so bad that cars were stalling out on the highway. He said it was not a pretty sight. He arrived in Marietta, GA 9 hours later. Keep in mind folks it's only 6.5 hours to Marietta.

In the meantime Christie takes her car to the Firestone Service Center just around the corner from her for an oil change and finds out that the radiator hose has melted flat, she has no coolant in the car which means a radiator flush plus she need two new front tires and an alignment. $600.00 out of pocket real quick.

Dave arrives and they go get a trailer from U-Haul. After dinner they they start loading the cars. Her couch goes in the Suburban, the Papasan chair frame get strapped to the top of her car. The next morning (Friday) they start loading the trailer. Then they have to clean the apartment. After inspection, which is now around 4:30 they hit the road to Kennesaw St. U. to drop off a payment to the school where she worked. By 5:30 they are finally on the road heading toward Chattanooga, TN.

They stoped just outside of Chattanooga to have some dinner and then Christie's car quits. At 9:00 p.m. EST. Christie is calling AAA to get a tow to Cleveland, TN to the Cleveland Tire and Auto Center. I quickly get on the horn and find them a room at the EconoLodge in Cleveland, TN. Ben, the gentleman with the tow truck, under contract with AAA, went out of his way to make sure that hubby and daughter got to the Econo-Lodge safely by showing them the way. The gentleman at the front desk of the Econo-Lodge was very pleasant as well and made sure they had a good room at a decent price. They showered, hit the sack and was fast asleep in no time.

They were at the Cleveland Tire and Auto Center this morning (Saturday) at 7:30 a.m. when the Center opened. The mechanic said he had two cars in front of them that he had to finish up today but he put her car in front of them and started working on it, it needed a new alternator and battery. Dave and Christie then found a Cracker Barrel and had breakfast, went to Wal-mart to pick up more water and ice then went back to the Auto Center, where they were surprised to see her car all ready to go. They paid the bill of $300 and some change. Thank you Cleveland Tire and Auto Center!

So onward they trek towards Cleveland making a stop in Florence, KY to see old friends this afternoon. I don't think they'll make Cleveland tonight, maybe tomorrow.

Happy trails...

The Day After and Beyond...

2011-07-23T14:50:00.000-05:00

Dave surprised me with beautiful lilies and heartfelt card after work yesterday. The lilies were so fragrant that I thought I was in a flower shop. He took me to dinner at Chelinos Mexican Restaurant where we shared a meal.

Off to the movies we went... but the movie we wanted to see, Captain America, was sold out...maybe Sunday will be a better day. So we turned around and drove home...looked at our own collection of movies and decided to watch The Duchess staring Keira Knightly and Ralph Fiennes. The costumes were outstanding and won an Academy Award. The story of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire is true, such a piece of history, she was the "It Girl" of her time just like Princess Diana, one of her direct descendants. Beautifully done, I don't think it will disappoint.

After The Duchess we watched The Sorcerer's Apprentice with Nicklaus Cage. It was a cute movie and after it was over we called it a night.

Skipping to today,Saturday...I took my bike into the shop to get new tires and a tune-up as it will be my only mode of transportation starting the middle of this coming week. Dave bought me the bike the first year we were married and I have not ridden it for at least 15 years or so as it's been stored in the garage. Wish me luck as I know I will have a sore bum for awhile as I get use to riding it again, hopefully this year I will wear the helmet the correct way and not backwards.

Dave will head out to Georgia to help Christie move to Cleveland, OH where she has another internship at Cleveland State University's Athletic Department in their Compliance Office. Sure am glad these are paid internships. Moving from the south to the north, she is looking forward to this new experience in her life. She's hoping to save on gas by riding on the transit system there.

Time to run to the bank, make a deposit and find something for dinner...any suggestions?

Happy trails...

39 Years and Counting...

2011-07-22T11:46:00.001-05:00

It was a hot July evening 39 years ago with a quick rain shower just before the wedding. The guests gathered in the church while my dad was putting a penny in my shoe for good luck. The wedding dress was made by me on my great-grandmothers treadle sewing machine. The cake was made by my mother's cousin and my groom was waiting for me at the alter to say our "I do's". Everything was in it's place and the music started.

My dad handed me off to my groom as I took his arm I was shocked to feel how much he was shaking. I guess I was shaking too. But we made it through the ceremony and now 39 years, two wonderful daughters and many adventures later, we are starting on our 40th year of marriage.

We took to heart the part that said "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness". I don't think couples of today adhere to that anymore otherwise you would see them work though their problems instead of abandoning them.

Dave is my life partner and I am so blessed to have him by me as we walk through life together.

I hope those who read this have many happy years with your life partner.

Happy trails....

Harry Potter or Women's World Cup Soccer...

2011-07-17T14:33:00.012-05:00

It's Sunday afternoon and the choice is to go see Harry Potter or watch the Women's World Cup Soccer final between the USA and Japan. Decisions...decisions! We just finished a Harry Potter marathon since Thursday evening watching all the Potter films, so we are ready to see the final chapter of the series.

We went up to the Warren theater in Moore, for the 1:30 showing today and it was sold out, so we opted for the 7:30 showing. Therefore we got to come back home and watch the Women's World Cup Soccer final. So far the score is Nil-Nil.

What an exciting Sunday. Two of our favorite past times...Harry Potter movies and soccer, what could be better? Well...our grandson and children.

Want to take this time to welcome some new followers, Al and Kelly of the Bayfield Bunch and John and Ellen of Through the Gates of Grace.

Happy trails...
P.S. Harry Potter was wonderful, a must see, but if you have not read the book you must do that first. The US Women lost in their bid for a World Cup Championship. It was just not meant to be.

From Wonderful Highs to....

2011-07-10T13:17:00.007-05:00

Thursday afternoon June 30th, we left for Dallas to pick up our daughter at DFW airport. If you have never been there it's a maze of terminals, ramps, parking lots and confusing signs. Her flight from Atlanta arrived at 9:04 p.m., she made it to the car at 9:25 p.m., after we got her loaded, off to Longview, TX we headed. Her doggies were very happy to see her even if they did bark at her as she approached the car. The drive was rather uneventful and we pulled in a little after 1:00 a.m. After a brief stop out in the boonies to grab a bite to eat at a Sonic around 11:30 p.m., we piled into the house as quietly as possible with three dogs that had been pent up since 5:30 the previous day, J's sister JeriAnn was asleep in the dinning room. She was up from Austin,TX to help J's mom Irene do some painting on her house that is in the process of being remodeled and new sections being added on.

We were in Texas for our Grandson Noah's first birthday party to be held late Saturday afternoon. There was so much going on that time went by in a blur. Friday was spent shopping and getting last minute things for the party. Dave and J worked on the yard all day long as the party was to be a backyard Ducky Splish Splash Party for the little tykes to enjoy while lots of parents socialized. At noon I hopped into the car and headed over to Golden Chick to pick up a family pack of food, it was good as usual. Balloon's were bought to go on the mail box. Twigs were picked up where the pools were to be placed. We had to pace ourselves as the heat was terrible. By the time evening came we were spent with lots of things still to do. J even found fun music to be played at the party.

Christie our youngest even found time to do a Skype interview with Indiana University for an internship they had in Athletic Academic Counseling. However Cleveland State University in Ohio beat them to the punch and offered her an internship in Compliance which is an area she is highly interested in. So I guess Dave will be going over to Atlanta to move her to Cleveland, OH at the end of the month. She is excited to say the least.

Saturday morning arrived and there was still lots to do. J and Dave sat up the three pools, one for the babies, one for the toddlers, and one for the older kids. J found a great deal on a canopy at Wally World for $79.00, so that went up for the purpose of shading the food. Shara, J's sister made the birthday cake for Noah. She had to bring it in pieces to be assembled at the house, the head was Nerf ball as the rice crispy ball was too heavy and kept falling off. Noah even had a little cake of his own.

For the menu there were hot dogs for the older kids and adults, duck shaped peanut butter sandwiches, duck shaped rice crispy treats, duck shaped cheese to go with snack crackers. Irene brought her famous chicken salad sandwiches on croissants and a veggie tray. There were lots of refreshing drinks and tea to go around.

The guests started arriving around 4:00 p.m. and things got underway. Kids in pools, hot dogs being cooked, food being set out, people eating, drinks being grabbed and everyone having a grand time. It was so fun to sit back and observe the party. I think my daughter should go into party planning for a business. The splish splash party was a hit. Around 6:00 p.m. everyone gathered to sing happy birthday to the guest of honor, who was starting to nod off. Cake? What is that? You could see the expression on his face as the little eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. Everyone was going to have to shoot their pictures fast as Birthday Boy was going down for the count. We retreated to the cool of the house for present opening and the whole shabang was over at 6:30 p.m., and on time I might add. Noah got lots of fun things...trucks, musical instruments, a doctors kit, books, blocks, clothes, a plethora of balls and the big noise maker, a drum with all kinds of instruments packed inside. We were all spent and dinner was a light affair of leftover chicken.

Sunday morning we made it to Church and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Christie and I went to the mall to Bath and Body Works so I could take advantage of their Semi-Annual sale which ended Sunday. I was pleased with my purchase but my poor feet were taking a beating. I had been on some new medication for an infection and it was making my feet swell and it hurt to walk around. So I tried to stay as quiet as possible after our outing.

Monday arrived and the festivities began around town, as it was the 4th of July. We stayed home out of the heat watching movies. Later that day we headed over to Jefferson Texas , which is rich in history and haunted houses, to watch the fireworks display. On the way over we ran into a powerful rain storm. The wind was blowing so hard that the rain was moving sideways. The winds were clocked at 72 mph, tree limbs were falling onto the highway and you couldn't see two car lengths in front of you, this lasted for a good 20 minutes or more.

The fireworks in Jefferson are some of the best around and a grand time was had by everyone. There were 15 of us in our party. We all stopped at the Jefferson General Store and got ice cream which was yummy. The fireworks started off via a cannon shot with a big American flag being lit up with sparklers not to mention Noah being scared out of his mind until Heather was able to calm him down where he then slept through the rest of the show. Then the big boys were shot off, we got some great pictures of the display. The drive home was uneventful and we rolled into bed around midnight.

Tuesday was a day for running around and doing some shopping. Irene, J's mom had been informing me of the dangers of soy. She had really done her homework on Soy as something that kept making her sick. Once soy was out of her diet not only did she get well she starting dropping the pounds. To date she's lost 50lbs. If you start looking at labels you will find that soy is in almost everything we eat. There have been studies about Soy and ADHD and Autism and the problems it can cause in infants and adults. Soy also can effect the colon as well. It can also cause you to gain weight.

So guess what...I'm reading labels and taking soy and salt out of my diet. I picked up the following at the store, Coconut Oil which is a good fat for you, Kefir a drink very much like buttermilk and very yummy with lots of probiotics in it and unsweetened chocolate almond milk. Since I started looking at my diet and soy, I have not changed how I'm eating but what I'm eating and have lost 4 lbs without trying. I'm eating more avocados, olives, nuts and purchased some agave nectar as that is better for you than honey if you have a high chance of getting diabetes.

Wednesday we starting packing to go home. We had a wonderful time with the kids and wished we could stay longer. Noah is such a delight to be around and a good baby to boot.

The rock bottom low for the week came around noon. I got a phone call from the wife of my former Director at the University asking if I had heard about my former boss and friend, Joan Howeth? I told her "no" to which she said "the whole university was talking about it". Sadly and unexpectedly, I found out that my friend had drowned in a rafting accident the day before in Colorado. I was devastated to hear the news. Joan was a great person to work for and I will truly miss her. She and her husband retired early and had been on the road full-time in their motor home seeing the country. They loved the RV lifestyle.

Later that afternoon we went out to J's mom's renovated house to see all that had been done. It was coming along and I know they will love it when it is finished. Afterwards we went to the Butcher Shop for dinner, as usual it was very good. The trip home, only taking 5 1/2 hours seemed to take forever. I really don't like driving at night but Dave does.

Yesterday and today have been quiet around here. I finally have a computer again and can start getting some (a lot of) paperwork done. Tomorrow Christie and I tackle the kitchen and closets...fun! Then back to work for me on Monday. I have enjoyed my week off, just wish it was longer.

Happy trails...Pictures coming soon

One For Al of the Bayfield Bunch...

2011-06-07T13:25:00.008-05:00

There is a tiny insect on the tip of the flower that likes to suck the insides out of Aphids
One sucked on me one time and it was extremely painful.

I love to read RV'ers blogs especially the blog of Al and Kelly of The Bayfield Bunch and his "Groaner's Corner". I also love his photographs, so when I received this email the other day from a friend, my thoughts immediately went to Al and I knew he would appreciate it.

So Al...you may never read this but know I'm thinking of you.

MY LAST TRIP TO COSTCO

Yesterday I was at my local COSTCO buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for my loyal pet, Tank, the Wonder Dog and was in the check-out line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had an elephant? So since I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn't, because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV's in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a Perfect Diet and that the way it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina Nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff a poodle's ass and a car hit me.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard.

Costco won't let me shop there anymore. Better watch what you ask retired people. They have all the time in the world to think of crazy things to say.

Happy Trails....

A Feast For Ears and Eyes...

2011-06-05T16:39:00.006-05:00

While looking at different sites on the net this weekend, my dear hubby sent me to a few that blew me away.

One was a continuous shoot to a lip sinc of American Pie shot in Grand Rapids, MI. The next one was of 2 guys, one piano and a cello with a wow factor. The last one was so beautiful it made me cry and I'm still seeing the images in my mind. I will let you experience it like I did with an open mind. Watch them, they will blow you away.

It makes you wonder how far the Internet will take us and at this time I think it is limitless.

A Winter landscape shot in January 2010

Happy trails....

If you have trouble seeing the sites let me know and I will email them to you.

Pain You Know Where...

2011-06-02T11:13:00.003-05:00

I don't know what has happened to Blogger but it's a pain you know where. Every time I try to make a comment on some sites I follow, it seems I am unable to. It's been going on for over two weeks now. Those with comment boxes at the bottom of their page are the worst. I will type my message then it asks for how you want to be listed, I use to be able to click on my google account and preview and post. But now if I click on google account it takes me back to the sign-in page, I sign-in again and then we go back to the post page and then back to the sign-in page, on and on we go this way and then I end up being anonymous if it gets posted. If it is just a comment and you click on it it takes you to a different page, you type in you message and post with no problems. Tis a puzzlement...

HELP!

Picture of stained glass windows of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma

BBQ...Billy Sims Style...

2011-05-18T19:37:00.011-05:00

Tonight we decided to try a new to us eating establishment here in Norman. After driving around town thinking of all the places we have already patronized, we decided to go to Billy Sims BBQ. Anyone out there who knows college football knows of Billy Sims. College football's 1978 Heisman Trophy winner for the University of Oklahoma and NFL Running Back for the Detroit Lions.

Billy Sims BBQ has been in business for 6 years and almost a year in Norman, OK. We had passed by it lots of times when we would go to Hastings Book Store, but would never stop. We kept saying that we needed to try it. Tonight we gave it a try. Little did we know what we were missing.

Dave ordered the Bevo Plate sliced brisket dinner and I had the Pulled Razorback pork dinner. We got 2 sides each, Texas toast and a dill pickle spear. You get to see them dish up your food. Boy did it look good. There was little to no fat on the pulled pork and very little fat on the brisket. It was melt in the mouth meat. I would say they use a dry rub on their meat. The BBQ sauce was wonderful, we like a sweet sauce and theirs was very good. There was so much on our plates that after I had eaten part of my dinner I decided to take a picture with my phone's camera. We brought home enough food for lunch tomorrow. Believe me when I say, I was stuffed! Everything was so good.

There are 15 stores in Oklahoma, 2 in Missouri and one opening soon in Detroit. You can go to their website and find their other locations,see their menu and read all about how they got started.

As for the store in Norman, it is situated just off I-35 at the corner of West Main and 24th Avenue NW in the Normandy Creek Shopping Center on the East side of the property. There is plenty of parking for Motor homes, buses, 5th Wheels and anything smaller. If you're wanting to get off the road for a nice break from driving, I highly suggest Billy Sims BBQ. In my estimation it rates 5 stars. Come on in and sit a spell, you'll be glad you did.

Happy trails...

Dorms Empty...

2011-05-17T10:40:00.002-05:00

Last Friday was moving day as parents came in droves to help their almost grown children move out of the dorms here at the school and head home for the summer. Now you would think that the students could handle a move on their own, but you have to take into account all the "stuff" they acquired during the year amounts to more than one car (I really don't have room to talk...we helped our daughter move to Georgia because she did not have a hitch on her car, it took 2 cars and a trailer to get her there). Load after load of clothes, bedding, refrigerators, appliances, rolling drawers, suitcases and boxes of food were removed from the dorms and packed into cars.

Dave picked me up for lunch. I had to make a stop the admin building to drop off some papers. On the way there we stopped at the stop sign across from the dorms. There standing in the street behind his son/daughters car was a somewhat balding man, slightly overweight, in his Bermuda shorts, black socks and tennis shoes, yes he did have a shirt on, shoving on a suitcase in the back of the SUV situated under a pile of already loaded belongings. The suitcase would not budge and he couldn't get the door closed. He stepped back, looked at the back end of the overstuffed car...looked down to the ground to see what he still needed to put into the car(at least 8 more bags)...looked back at the car, looked back at the stuff and put his hands on his hips and shook his head. It was one of the funniest sights I have ever seen. I wish I had my camera, by golly, I did on my phone, I could have gotten a video clip of it, but I didn't.

Oh the joys of moving back home.

Happy trails....

First Mother's Day...

2011-05-06T15:33:00.002-05:00

It just dawned on me that this will be my first Mother's Day without both of my girls here. It's a rather strange feeling. What will I do...I don't know, maybe sit out on the patio with my coffee and a book and fire up the fire pit and read in the cool of the morning. Maybe Dave will surprise me and take me to see "Thor" at the theatre and take me out to dinner. Or maybe nothing will happen, I just don't know.

In some respects it's a rather melancholy time, my own mom is gone and the children I gave birth to, loved and nurtured have now flown the coop to start families and careers of their own. I now know the true term of "Empty Nest."

Happy Trails...

Sixteen Years Today...

2011-04-19T09:37:00.004-05:00

I had just finished taking my charges to their respective schools and was sitting at the dining room table enjoying a cup of coffee when my mom called and told me to turn on the TV. I asked why and she said that there had been a gas line explosion in downtown Oklahoma City. I immediately flipped on the TV and saw the carnage and told her "Mom, I've got to go." she asked where? "Out to the American Red Cross, they're going to need help", and hung up. I knew this was not a gas explosion but something more sinister. I jumped into my van and rushed out to North Base at Max Westheimer Field to the American Red Cross headquarters, went in and said "I'm here to help, just tell me what to do!" I was one of the first there.

They put me to work setting up the reclining chairs for blood donations. Then I started setting up chairs and tables for the other workers who were on their way. People started pouring in almost immediately to give blood. The decision was made to take only those people that had O positive or O negative blood since it was a universal blood and asked those who had come to give, with A or B, blood types, to come back the next day. The parking lot was full and overflowing, the line of people wrapped itself around the building and stretched down the street.

Food vendors from all over the city sent huge chests of hot food, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot chicken sandwiches, doughnuts and it kept coming all day. One young man had filled his pickup with bottled water and brought it and said to me "Here, you may need this for all the folks standing out in the sun. Other vendors brought ice chests full of just ice. Grocery stores sent orange juice, coffee, sodas and cookies. People would randomly drop by and put money into our hands and would say "Put it to good use" we would try to give them a receipt and they would just shake their heads "No" and drive off.

In the afternoon I moved to the refreshment recovery area and made coffee, passed out cookies and sodas. Kept track of the timer for those who had given blood, all the while watching what was going on, on the TV. Such horror, we were shell shocked to say the least. We learned it was a bombing and that many lives were lost including many children, the most innocent of all. We were all traumatized by it. And to think we would relive it again in 2001 on September 11th.

I had to leave to go pick up the kids from school as I operated a before and after school program in my home. After picking up the children, I fixed their snacks, sat the older ones down in the dinning room and had them do their homework to keep their minds occupied. I put on cartoons for the little ones and took my daughters aside and said "Don't mention this to the little ones as they may not know about it, I want their parents to explain this to them." My own girls were distraught as they had friends who lost their parents in the bombing or had a parent who was suppose to have been at the Federal building that day but had been running late. They looked at me and asked "Why?" I could only say "I don't know why, but now we must be ever vigilant against evil people who would want to hurt us."

Later that evening our family watch stories of the rescues and the thunderstorm that moved in on Oklahoma City. We saw firemen, police, rescue squads, nurses, doctors, dog handlers with search and rescue dogs all trying to rescue those still trapped. Blocks upon blocks of the city had been destroyed. Yet there was no looting. It became known as the "Oklahoma City Standard" to the major network broadcasters. The community pulled together and stayed together. People and companies donated their time, energy and anything that would help.

The next day I took the children to school and went out and spent another day at the American Red Cross Headquarters helping in any way I could. That day I gave blood. The line was just as long as the day before, but people and business gave of themselves, the donations did not slack off.

I was proud of my community and the giving spirit. I saw that spirit again several years later on May 3rd, 1999 when an F5 tornado ripped through Bridge Creek and Moore, OK killing 44 people and destroying over 300 homes.

We Oklahomans have a spirit, a spirit of "When things get tough the tough get going."

God Bless Oklahoma, God Bless America...

Quick Road Trip...

2011-04-18T09:52:00.009-05:00

We took a quick road trip last Saturday to Tulsa to see out grandson. The kids had gone to Tulsa to visit my brother and his family and to see a concert put on by "The Kings of Leon" Friday night. We went up to spend the day and have a belated celebration of my birthday. As usual the dinner was wonderful and the cake yummy. My brother and his family gave me a beautiful cup with bumble bees decorating it, you have to know I love bumble bees and collect them. The kids gave me a beautiful picture frame filled with pictures of Noah. The little fellow is growing so fast. He us pulling up and trying to get his balance to walk. He's such a good baby and a delight to be with.

While on the trip up, a milk tanker passed us and on the back of it was an American Flag with the words "Let's Roll", I immediately teared up and thought of all those souls lost on 9-11 and Todd Beamer who said those famous words and with the help of others kept the terrorist from flying into Washington D.C. and killing even more people. God Bless them all.

We took Noah to Woodward Park during "magic hour" where the Azalea's are in bloom and took his Easter pictures. He was so much fun to watch. I had the job of holding the flash to the camera and "Come on G-ma try to get him to smile." That was the easy part. The hard part was climbing over the rock that were very uneven at times. With new knees it was not easy, but for the most part I managed.

Afterwards we went to our favorite place to eat, Goldie's. It was as good as ever. We now have to go to Tulsa to enjoy their burgers since the franchise store in Norman has closed. Boo Hoo!

We started back home at about 9:45 p.m., got gas and hit the front door of our house at 12:30 a.m. after a stop at Wally World to get some cream for the coffee the next morning. The big dogs were happy to see us as they had been outside all day long. We took the little squirt with us as the neighbors would have killed us as he is a non-stop barker if he sees anything move. He did real well with all the other animals that were there at the house, 4 dogs and a cat.

So all in all it was a great day filled with great memories.

We have a new follower, wecome to Donna aka Froggi from 2 taking a 5th. Welcome Donna and Stu. We follow you too!

Happy trails...

Posting Problems...

2011-04-15T13:12:00.005-05:00

This problem has just started. If someone out there in in blogger land can help me it would be much appreciated. In my last two posts, I've written my blog with paragraphs, but when I go to post it's coming out as one huge paragraph. HELP!!!!!! I have gone in and cleared my cache. Also I would like for the comments from others to show up at the end of the posts instead of having to click on the comment tab to see them. A good example is Laurie and Odel's Semi True Tales... Thanks in advance for any help...

Next Appointment....

2011-04-14T11:37:00.013-05:00

I really dislike going to the doctor but today was a different matter. The doctor was going to let me know about the progress of my knee surgery. After waiting for about an hour for him to arrive he popped through the door as I was taking a picture of a recipe with my cell phone camera. He thought that was a novel idea. We talked about what I should be feeling 4 1/2 months out from surgery. There should still be heat in the knee, swelling at the end of the day, soreness in the area, little shocks in the tissue around the incision due to nerves reconnecting. I might need Tylenol occasionally. I will feel weather changes. Some stiffness if I sit too long, so need to get up and move about ever so often. One of the things we talked about was getting down on the floor to do exercises and play with the grandson. He said NOT to get on my knees since it has a plastic piece attached to the back side so it will glide over the joint, he said I didn't want to damage it. He suggested that I get a small or low stool and move to that from a chair or ottoman to get to the floor. So I guess I won't be installing carpet anytime soon. However I will build up my arms moving from piece to piece. He said to walk, water-walk, ride a bicycle, or swim to keep the action going in my knee. He measured the range of motion in both knees and said I have 126 degrees in my left knee and 124 degrees in my right. That will improve as the swelling goes down. He said most patients only obtain 90 to 108 degrees of motion so he was very, very happy that I had done so well. However he did say that I needed to continue my exercises because if I stop it could reduce my range of motion. That would make me a very unhappy camper for sure. When did he want to see me again???? TWO YEARS!!!! Woohoo!! Is it worth it? Yes...but you really have to want to do it. You have to mentally prepare yourself to do what the physical therapist tells you to do, you have to push yourself through the pain to achieve the results that you want, thank goodness there are great drugs out there for this. This is a tough, tough surgery and a long recovery. It takes a full year for a total knee replacement recovery. You have to commit yourself to doing the exercises and to keep on doing them long after the physical therapist leaves. This surgery is not for the weak of heart. But is it worth it? Again I say yes. I plan to keep on truckin' past 100. Happy trails...

A Memory...

2011-03-21T10:23:00.003-05:00

It's funny how you will take a sniff of something and it will bring back a long forgotten memory. For me it was dark rye bread. Saturday I opened a new bag of dark rye bread and was hit with a flood of memories of my mom. dad and grandmother.

I was raised on Braunschweiger or as some people call it Liverwurst. My mom would get the little party rye breads, put mustard, thinly sliced onions and about a tablespoon or so of Liverwurst on the rye bread. She would make up a whole plate of these for my dad. He would eat them with dill pickles and a glass of chocolate milk.

I do not have a fondness for liver. It's one of those meats that you can take or leave and I prefer to leave it for someone else to eat, but mention liverwurst or braunschweiger to me and I am ready to sit down and chow down.

Saturday when I opened the rye bread, I knew that I was going to have to find some liverwurst. I have not had it in 25 or so years. So while we were out looking at RV's again this weekend we made a stop at Crest Foods in Moore, OK and I went in search of the Braunschweiger by Oscar Mayer Foods. I found it! It was packaged just as I had remembered it as a child. I went home and took a slice of rye bread, cut it in half and put on the mustard, liverwurst, thinly sliced onions, put the top of the sandwich on and enjoyed! Just as I had remembered it from my childhood, It was so good.

Memory satisfied! Now I have a whole tube of Braunschwieger to eat. Hmmm...I know, it's one way I can get the dogs to take their medicine. Here, Fitz will eat it! So will Bear and Lizzy. But they're going to have to wait because I am going to have a sandwich for lunch. I may even have a pickle. Yum!

Happy trails...

Social Security?????

2011-03-18T16:37:00.003-05:00

It's not every day that one becomes eligible for Social Security. But yesterday I did...I hit the big XX. Will I quit my job and collect? NO! Besides the spouses don't get to collect all that much anyways, half of what the larger bread winner makes. I still have a few years to go before I hit the bigger number and then I will retire, if I can afford to. The way things are going I am beginning to have my doubts.

I had a lovely day yesterday with lots of well wishes from my friends on Facebook, co-workers and family. Dave took me to Outback Restaurant so we could order off the Red, White and Blue menu to help out the troops. I had steak and crab cakes with steamed french green beans and a Sailor Jerry's drinks. It was good. After dinner we went and got a Chocolate Heath Bar Mix at Braum's.
It's my favourite desert.

Dave gave me a Nikon Cool Pix's 14.5 mega pixel camera. Everyone else in the family have cameras that have all the goodies, I had a little Kodak head shot camera for my MK business that printed out pictures that I could give the customer. So this is a welcomed addition to the camera family that we have.
I am ready to go out this weekend and take some snaps.

Today I got a box from my daughter in Georgia filled with lots of goodies. She got a great buy from Bath and Body Works and sent me a whole lot of fun stuff in the way of scents. What was so funny about it was that she got me the exact same birthday card that Dave got me. As they both said there weren't very many good cards out there for St. Patrick's Day Birthdays.

I even got a text from our friends Jim and Bobbie asking if we wanted company soon to which I replied "We would love it." They will becoming through our area on their way back to Colorado to be Camp Hosts at Park Creek campground just outside of Southfork, Co. You can read Bobbie's blog here. They are a fun couple to follow and I always enjoy reading her blog. They've been in the Deep South this winter and have had a great time.

All in all I had a great day.

Happy Trails....

Pneumonia...

2011-03-10T14:47:00.002-06:00

I really hate being sick, but sick I am. I was not feeling well and that is unusual for me so I decided on Tuesday to quit work early and go to the doctor for a breathing treatment for my asthma. Guess what! Asthma yes...early pneumonia yes...ugh! He did the standard x-ray and low and behold there was some fluid on my right lung along with crappy air sacks inflamed with junk. "Wonderful" I said. He told me to stay at home Wednesday and rest. He said nothing about Thursday or Friday so here I am at work. I feel okay but not quite my perky self.
The medicine he prescribed seems to be working but the after taste is yucky, tastes like putrid metal if there is such a thing.

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday and the last day of the work week. There's an RV show in Oklahoma City this weekend that I would like to go to but we will have to see how I'm doing. Hopefully I can go.

It's that time of the year again for us to SPRING forward Sunday, so be sure to set your clocks ahead one hour...oh, I forgot, RVers don't have to worry about
the time, they travel to their own time, relaxation, happy hour, wherever they want to go and see wonderful sites and do fun things.

I'm so ready...just need to win the lottery!

Happy trails...

Bud Wilson...So Long Coach...

2011-02-28T15:28:00.004-06:00

Bud Wilson was one of those rare people who had a life long love of working with kids to develop their social skills through the Optimist Club. He had seven children of his own. Our youngest daughter was one of his many, many students. He taught her and others how to play softball and basketball. He was a great coach. He always said that the kids in the outfield who chased the butterflies or sat down to pick flowers were a cross between a hazy daze and a floating opportunity. He loved them all and had the patience of Job.

Rest well coach, rest well...

Mom...Fearless...

2011-02-20T14:24:00.005-06:00

When it comes to the great outdoors, I have both my parents to thank. My dad loved to fish, so did mom and grandma. But when it came to being adventurous, mom won it hands down.

As a kid growing up we never went camping, we stayed in rented cabins at the lake. We had a boat and went most every weekend during the summer to go fishing or water skiing or exploring the back roads of the area. Often my grandmother would join us. It was a fun time to be a kid in the 50's and 60's. You could go wandering all over the place and never fear for your life.

Many times mom, dad and my brother would go out on the lake to go fishing and I would stay at the docks by myself fishing (we always had belt life preservers, had to wear them if around or in the water), when they would get back with nothing to show for their time out on the lake, I would pull up my basket and proudly show them a mess of fish, which, of course I got to clean. My brother finally got smart and would stay with me at the docks and catch fish while mom and dad got to have a bit of "alone" time.

Dad worked hard during the week and the lake was his escape. Even if we didn't go out on the boat or spend the weekend, mom would pack out the car on a Saturday afternoon, except for food, bright and very early Sunday morning she would put the food in the car and the family would make the 80 mile trek from Tulsa to Pettit Bay on Lake Tenkiller just outside of Tahlequah, OK and fix breakfast on our Coleman camp stove and watch the sun come up. Dad and I would sit on the cliffs and fish for Crappie and perch, if we caught enough, and we always did, we would fix them for dinner along with coleslaw, home fries with fish gravy.

Every year for 27 years my parents would head south to Lake Murray in southern Oklahoma just outside of Ardmore, OK. We kids would fish, swim, water ski, ride horses, play the arcade games in the lodge, bicycle ride, chase armadillos and have a grand time for a week. Our favorite cabins were the ones down on the water front near the lodge.

We (my brother and I) would be so excited that one time in anticipation I went to bed dressed ready to get up a 4 in the morning to leave. Well...mom came in to check on me, saw that I was still awake and noticed that I had the covers pulled up to my chin. Mind you, it was very warm outside, she pulled off the covers took one look at me and told me to get undressed and get to bed. I did, only to get up four hours later and get dressed, put my body in the car and go back to sleep for the 5 hour drive to the lake.

While my dad would be working at the Apparel Mart in Dallas as a Manufactures Rep., mom would put us kids in the car and proceed to teach us how to read maps as she got lost on Loop 12...on purpose. We were frightened to think that we were lost, but mom would always say, "How are you going to know what's 'round the bend if you don't go see what's 'round the bend, there might be something wonderful for you to see." Sure enough we always made it back to our starting point safe and sound. Later in the evening we would tell dad of our "Big adventure".

One year mom and dad bought some lake property at Lake Keystone just outside of Tulsa. It had three private stocked fishing holes, a boat ramp, swimming pool, tennis courts and a 9 hole par three golf course. Mom, my brother and I would drive up to the property around 4, build a fire and get dinner going. While it was cooking my brother and I would take a dip in the pool. Dad would get off of work and drive up and we would have dinner together and then go fishing. We did this about two nights a week on average.

One Sunday afternoon while dad was at a Reps. show in Dallas we decided to go to the property to go swimming. Mom saw they were building a new road and decided to explore it. That was mom...she had to know where the road went, and we found out, without running into the largest road graters and earth movers I have ever seen speeding along the unfinished roadbed sending up huge clouds of red dust. My brother and I begged mom to be careful and to turn around and go back to the main road but no, we ventured further and further, finally coming to a road that got us to our destination. Mom was fearless.

Today mom would have been 86. If she were still here she would be saying "What's 'round the next bend in the road you two?" "Are you ready to go? I am!" Happy Birthday Mom, we love you and miss you!

Happy trails...

Valentine Surprise...

2011-02-14T19:09:00.006-06:00

For Valentine's Day dinner Dave took me to Goldie's Patio Grill in Norman. It's one of our favorite places to eat. There was so much food that I ate only half of it and brought the rest of it home for lunch tomorrow.

After dinner we did a hop, skip and a jump over to Wally World to pick up some items I was out of, one of them being shampoo.

After gathering the various sundries, Dave decided to go back to the movie department and I stayed in the shampoo aisle trying to decide on what I wanted for my hair.

Being a woman, I like for my hair to smell good, over time my sniffer is not smelling so good (unless one of the dogs has cut one and we have to light a candle to clear the air). Up one side of the aisle and down the other I went sniffing the various shampoos. I finally spied the Herbal Essence shampoo having used it in the past, I thought well this should be nice smelling.

Picking up the container I opened it, normally one would do a slight squeeze to catch a whiff of scent. I could not smell anything at all so I squeezed harder and much to my surprise ended up with blue Herbal Essence hair conditioner all over my face, up my nose and all over my hands. Looking around quickly to see if anyone had seen my gaff I quickly wiped off the bottle and put it back on the shelf. I had so much lotion on my hands I was rubbing the stuff all over my hands and arms to get rid of it. I removed the conditioner from my nose and mouth and did some more rubbing on my arms to dissipate the goop.

I now had the best smelling arms and hands in the store. I picked up a bottle of shampoo that was cheap and left. I then made my way back to the movie department to meet up with Dave. Off we went to the grocery department to pick up some cheese and milk, I decided to tell Dave of my mishap. As I started to talk, he looked at me with a weird look on his face and said " Why do you have blue stuff up your nose?" Wonderful! here, I've been walking around Wally World with blue hair conditioner up my nose for everyone to see. Dave thought that was the funniest thing he had ever see.

While on the way home the scent became too much for him and he had to open the car window to expel the scent. I have to admit a little goes a long ways, and I reeked of it.

After getting into the house and our three dogs happily mauling me because of the scent, I managed my way to the bathroom and washed off my hands, arms, and face. I have the softest hands and the smoothest arms at the moment and I still reek.

Moral of the story...Don't squeeze the bottle too hard or you too may end up with blue hair conditioner up your nose.

Happy trails....

P.S. After getting settled to watch "Chuck" I spied a beautiful rose and card on the mantle. Dave also gave me a Blue-ray DVD of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." He's such a wonderful guy and I wouldn't trade him for all the tea in China.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Oh The Joys...

2011-02-04T14:11:00.005-06:00

Is it my imagination or just every time we have any kind of bad weather, we take power hits that fries our refrigerator. This is the third time since 2007 that we have had to get the fridge fixed after a power hit. Thank goodness I have a repair contract on it. The last time the contract got to pay $900.00 to fix the fridge.

This time a blower motor at the top of the fridge went out when we took two hits yesterday morning. You know something is wrong when you open the door and the olive oil which should be solid is liquid.

Repair is set for Monday between 1 and 5. So the majority of our food is in boxes sitting on top of the dryer out in the garage since it's colder that what the fridge would be. And it's not due to warm up anytime soon.

Dave ventured out this afternoon for the first time since Tuesday. I on the other hand have been lounging in my pj's since Tuesday which is a good thing. Reason...I have a special latex bandage on my scar that helps the scar to soften and go away. The longer I can wear it the better. I had been wearing it just at night for about 12 hours. But since the storm came in I have been wearing it continuously and that helps. I had tried covering it with special band aids but my clothes would rub them off. Hence, the pj's are made of a slick nylon and does not remove the Scar Care latex from my leg.

We are getting more snow today and the University is having trouble removing the snow from all three campuses. Guess what folks...I bet the school is closed next week as well as we are supposed to get more snow starting Sunday night and going till Wednesday.

This reminds me a bit of the winter of 1978 starting in January every Wednesday for 8 weeks it snowed and not just light snows but heavy wet snows.
Heather was sick the whole time and we could not go outside and play in the snow. I remember the city snow plowed main street and pushed it to the center of the street and had to cut places in the snow for cars to turn out of the strip shopping center in front of the High School. You couldn't see over the pile of snow in the center of the street it was so high. It was insane, the amount of snow we got that winter.

Poor Dallas is getting this frozen wet stuff and it's Super Bowl weekend. Dallas is not use to this at all. Pray for them.

Happy trails...

Movie Date

2011-01-30T16:45:00.001-06:00

Dave surprised me quite a bit this past week and I couldn't be happier. I love movies and there were several that I wanted and one in particular that I wanted to go to. First Dave got me "RED" which is a fun spy spoof with Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren. Next he got me "Secretariat." Oh my gosh, what an inspiring story and what an outstanding horse. Yesterday he took me to see "The King's Speech" with Colin Firth, Jeffery Rush and Helena Bonham-Carter. I can see why it was nominated for 12 academy awards. Both Dave and I were wiping away tears at the end of the movie.

So, there are my pick for must see movies.

Happy trails...

Class Action Lawsuit...

2011-01-22T15:36:00.002-06:00

This morning Dave went on-line to read up on my problem with my dead computer and lo and behold he found a plethora of information from many dissatisfied customers on the problems with the NVIDIA graphics card and wireless card on the HP machine. It seems like the machine should have had two cooling fans and a better copper heat distributor as the solder on the graphics card would over heat and come undone therefore causing the computer to fail within two years. There have been so many problems with the graphics card that a class action law suit was brought against NVIDIA and this morning I joined it.

So we will see what comes of it if anything, hopefully I will get some return so I can get a new computer. Will keep you posted.

Happy trails...

Up In Smoke...

2011-01-21T08:57:00.004-06:00

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you are about to die, I wonder if that's what happened to my computer yesterday as it gasped it's last electronic breath as the screen went to glow with no graphics? Do computers have feelings? I think not, but I do and at the moment it is one of pure frustration. Yesterday we had the day off from work as bad weather moved in and a snow day was declared.

In October of 2009 my computer died and I had to get a new motherboard put in. I did not get the computer back until January of 2010. You guessed it, the motherboard went out again yesterday 1 year later and this time it's not under warranty. So guess what Susie has to do, get a new computer.

So I ask you, do you have any recommendations? I currently have a defunct HP and am looking at a Toshiba. I'm really frustrated as I don't need this aggravation while working on taxes or my inventory for my Mary Kay business. My whole life is on that computer. Thank goodness my IT Tech in Kansas City was able to remote in and back-up the whole computer to an external hard drive I have. Once I get my new computer I can up-load everything and be back in business, hopefully in a short amount of time.

Happy trails...

Back at Work...

2011-01-19T14:59:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was my first day back at work. Everyone was happy to see me and likewise. For me it was a very, very long day. Matter of fact I was so worn out by noon that I had to go home and take a 30 minute power nap so I could finish the day. You wouldn't think that sitting would wear you out so much.

Last evening after work Dave and I went over to the Houston Huffman Center and re-upped our membership so I can use the exercise equipment. Last year I went at noon to do my exercises but this year I am going to do it after work so Dave can go with me and he can exercise too. I rode the bicycle for 10 minutes which was really painful until I could get the bend going then it leveled out. Then I sat on a high chair and did 100 leg swings. After that we went home and Dave fixed dinner.

I actually got to bed at a decent time, 11:00 p.m. and slept till 6:00 a.m. WOW! 7 hours of straight sleep.

Today has been better, I did not have to take a power nap at noon and am still going strong. I'm still slow but pacing myself. I have to get up periodically and walk the hall to relieve the stiffness of my leg. Besides I need the exercise.

Tomorrow is going to be iffy weather wise. The forecast is for sleet and snow and I have been told to stay home if the white stuff shows up. The staff doesn't want me to fall, neither do I. Looking outside you would never think there's a major winter storm pushing it's way into the state. I can see the clouds gathering on the horizon and moving this way. Hopefully I can get to the store and pick up the fix-ins for homemade Tacos and Guacamole. I'm ready for some Mexican food, amigo.

Happy trails...

Oh Happy Day...

2011-01-13T19:18:00.004-06:00

My six week check-up for my total knee replacement was today, scheduled for noon. Noon came and went and about 1:30 p.m. I was shown into an examination room. One poor lady had been waiting since 10:45 to see the Dr., she finally got in about 1:15 p.m. Apparently an emergency came up at the hospital and it delayed the good Dr. In these matters I wish the staff would let us know so we would not have to sit there in the waiting room for several hours and we could make a decision to either re-schedule or have them call us when they see the Dr. is getting close to seeing us and we can make it back to the office for the appointment. Our time is just a valuable as theirs.

Once the Dr. got into the examination room he had me walk and then measured my leg. I now have 108 degrees of bend. He was really happy with my progress and wanted to see me in 3 months. So I have 3 months to get to the 125 degrees of bend I want to be at.

Tomorrow I will be heading out to my last physical therapy appointment. I will miss working with Karen, Cori and Mark. They make a great team. After that I will have to do my therapy on my own at the Recreation Center at the University like I did last year. It was quite a workout but I found I rather enjoyed it. This year instead of working out at noon I will go after work so Dave can go with me and help me with the equipment. Some of the equipment is a little difficult for me to handle on my own.

I have shed the compression hose and my legs feel so much better, however my right leg seem to be rather sensitive and certain clothes irritate the whole leg even my feet. I am still trying to find that sweet spot to sleep. I still can't sleep past 3 hours then up for 2 hours and then back to sleep for 4 to 5 hours. I need to get back into a rhythm for I go back to work next Tuesday. My holidays are fast coming to an end.

Dave and I are going to go to a movie after my physical therapy appointment tomorrow, my first in 2 months. Dave just has to see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I" for a second time. I've had to wait until I could bend my knee and keep it in that position for several hours. I will make sure to take a pain pill before hand so I don't cramp up and will sit in a seat where I can stretch my leg out.

Each day gets a bit better, it takes a full year to fully recover from this surgery and once it is over I look forward to hiking again.

Happy trails to you all....

90 Degrees...

2011-01-04T13:58:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was my first visit back to the Physical Therapist since before Christmas as my therapy group shuts down for the holidays. At my last appointment before the break, I was at a stretched 85 degrees. Yesterday I was at the coveted 90 degrees. Karen, my therapist was surprised to see that I had graduated myself to the cane over the Christmas break and was happy to know that I had worked at my therapy during the break. She decided that I needed to go on the recumbent bike and figured that I might not be able to make the complete circle but I proved her wrong just like I did last year during my first knee surgery.

I am still having a lot of pain due to swelling but am striving to go greater distances between pain pills as I have to return to work on the 18th of January. I see the doctor on the 13th for my six week check up. I would like to be at about 108 degrees of bend at that time as it will make sitting in a chair at work a whole lot easier.

I still wear out rather easily and am working on getting my full strength back. I'm looking forward to getting into the gym to get more stretch in my knee just as I did last year. This journey defiantly take a year to recover. But It is so worth it. I can walk without the cane but sway from side to side which is not good. So for the time being I'm relying on my cane to lengthen my stride so I don't have the "limp".

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year to you all.

Happy Trails....

Merry Christmas Everyone.....

2010-12-24T23:09:00.003-06:00

It's Christmas Eve and quickly approaching midnight. I have just finished wrapping my 4 gifts as I was not able to do much Christmas shopping this year. Dave went out the other day and purchased a small 4 ft. tree fitted out with lights. He said it would go great in the trailer once we are on the road.

I'm three weeks and three days out from my surgery and have 85 degrees of bend in my knee. It seems to be a slower process this surgery. But with time I know I will get the bend that I need.

Here's wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and may we never lose the reason for the season.

Happy Trails.....

Round Two...

2010-12-04T14:26:00.004-06:00

This will be a short blog today as I am tired and drugged. Tuesday I had a total knee replacement surgery on my right knee. The good news is that I had it in time the bad news was my right knee cap was only 10 millimeters thick and getting thinner. Normal kneecaps are 24 milimeters thick. Mine had deep grooves in the back so it made it much more difficult to resurface and attache the plastic glider that moves over the joint.

I have become proficient in giving myself the lovenox (blood thinner) injections. Trying to miss the scartissue on my stomach is like trying to miss the salmon swimming up stream during migration season.

The pain meds are a trip. Every 4 hours. In and out of lala land. As the good Doctor said, he didn't want the pain getting a head of me as I would be real miserable, and I have no reason to not to believe him.

Am watching the Oklahoma ~ Nebraska game. This is the last match-up for these two teams for the Big XXII Championship. As it goes away after January 1. I hope I can stay awake for all of it, as it doesn't take much to put me to sleep. Oklahoma had better get on the stick here and start making plays. At the moment they're not doing well at all.

I start physical therapy Monday. Getting tired so Happy Trails for now.

A Slight Change of Plans...

2010-11-18T22:24:00.002-06:00

While I was at the dentist today getting a deep cleaning and laser treatment for my gingivitis a phone call came into the home phone. It was my Orthopedic Surgeons office saying they were changing my surgery date and that it would be a day earlier. For some people that would not be a problem. But for me it creates a problem.

First I have already applied and have been granted my FMLA(Family Medical Leave Act) request at work and now we have to redo the paperwork, also I have to get a Dr's note stating why he is moving the surgery up. You know the whole documentation thing. The last Dr's note cost me $25.00 for him to fill out the paperwork for my FMLA. Two, the 30th is the last day of the month. So....you say, well for me that's a problem because I am the principal data entry person in our office and the last day is the busiest day of the month for us, as we have lots of units who wait until the last day to turn paperwork in to be processed.

The reason for the move...he is the team Dr. for the schools basketball program as well as the football program and they require him to travel with the team and on December 1, he will be in Fayettville, AR on TV. Maybe I will see him, maybe I won't, you know...good drugs...sleeping!

I guess I can sacrifice a day for the team. Go Sooners....

Happy trails and be safe out there...

A Tribute...Margie's Oatmeal Recipe

2010-11-15T09:48:00.006-06:00

It's hard to believe that it's been 4 weeks since we lost one of our favorite RVing couples, Margie and Bruce Mallin in a tragic accident. How I have missed reading their blogs.

While going through some papers on my desk over the weekend I came across Margie's recipe for Blueberry Oatmeal that I had copied. My hubby loves oatmeal and eats it every day. What better way could I honor Margie and Bruce but to print out her oatmeal recipe for everyone to enjoy.

Margie's Oatmeal

Makes 2 servings

3/4 cup of old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup of brown rice
1/4 cup of barley
dash of salt, if desired
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
4 cups of water
1 cup of frozen blueberries (no need to thaw)

Spray the heck out of that crock pot insert with Pam spray, or you can use a crock pot liner (easy clean up).
Add oats, brown rice, and barley to crock pot. Sprinkle the salt (if desired) and the cinnamon over the grains. Stir up with a fork. Add the 4 cups of water and the vanilla flavoring. Stir again. Place lid on crock pot and plug in. Let it cook overnight. in the morning, give it a stir and add 1 cup of frozen blueberries. Stir it again. replace the lid. Go for and hour walk and then be ready to enjoy with 1 cup of skim milk.

From all that I have read lots of people will miss Margie and Bruce but I can say one thing, her oatmeal recipe will live on.

Happy trails...

The Doldrums.....German Chicken Barley Soup

2010-11-13T17:38:00.006-06:00

A state of inactivity or stagnation. That is what I'm going through at the moment mentally, the calm before the storm. I'm trying to get everything squared away at work and here at home before my surgery. Other than that life plods on.

Our weather here at the moment reminds me of south Florida in December light, breezy with pretty sunsets, but there is a storm brewing on the horizon. Am I ready for cold weather? No! Do I wish we were on our way to someplace else...warmer perhaps? Yes! Two years from now is our target date to get out on the byways and highways of this great country. Am I looking forward to this? You bet, so much that I can taste it! But there is so much to do before we can get to that point. Follow me on The Countdown as we try to achieve our goal to fulltiming. We have a new follower on The Countdown, welcome Donna aka Froggie and Stu, hope to meet you one day.

Key West, Florida Picture taken by our daughter Christie, December, 2001.

We have never operated on a true budget so trying to create one and sticking to it will be something new for us. But I can see where in the future it will be a necessity. So there is no time like now to start one, therefore I have been looking at items that we seem to splurge on...like eating out, which we do way too much and shopping on a whim for stuff. Those habits will have to change if we want to achieve our goal of fulltiming. We have lived in the land of excess for a long time, now we are going to have to make a shift to living in the land of the lean if we wish to achieve our goal.

Today I am making a wonderful soup that is a main stay in our family. It's a hearty German Chicken Barley soup. The original recipe calls for chicken gizzards ground up but since I don't like gizzards I use a whole chicken instead. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

German Chicken Barley Soup

1 Whole Stewing Chicken

2 Large Yellow Onions chopped

4 Cloves Garlic Crushed

1 lb Carrots ground (I use my Kitchen Miracle Chopper)

1 Bunch Celery ground

1-1/2 Cup Pearled Barley (Quaker Oats)

4 whole Peppercorns

4 whole Cloves

3 Tbs. Osem Chicken Consume Crystals (Found in the Kosher Section of your grocery store)

Sea Salt

2 Bay Leaves

1 Loaf French Bread

Butter

Instructions:

In a large pot place chicken and cover with water. Add 2Tbs. of Sea Salt and 2 Bay Leaves. Place on simmer and let cook until done and bones start to remove easily. During the cooking process skim foam from top of water and discard.

Remove chicken from water when done and let cool. Once cooled remove skin and bones from chicken. Shred chicken and set aside.

In separate skillet add 2 cups of stock, onions and garlic. Let cook and start to to turn golden. Add more stock to pan and de-glaze, add all of mixture to the stock in the large pot. Add celery, carrots, peppercorns, whole cloves,barley and shredded chicken to stock pot. Cook on simmer, taste, add salt if necessary(This is personal choice). If you need more chicken flavor add in another Tbs. of chicken crystals.

Soup is done when barley is swollen and tender.

Serve with buttered slices of french bread and a side salad.

Makes 15 servings.

17 Days and counting until surgery day, 12 days until Thanksgiving. Time is flying by, before long we will be into a new year. I wonder what 2011 holds for us.

Happy Trails and be safe out there...

Appointments, Appointments...

2010-11-03T10:13:00.001-05:00

Like last year the days leading up to my knee replacement surgery are filled with appointments. Unlike last year I don't have as many, thank you very much. First off I have to get my teeth deep cleaned and lasered as I have the beginnings of gingivitis and I don't need for it to progress any further. I really don't look forward to this procedure but I know I will feel better once I have it done as I have a rear molar that is really starting to bother me. Plus I don't need to have an infection brewing somewhere in my body as that would knock me out of having the knee surgery.

The next appointment will be my pre-op appointment with Mr. Phil at the McBride Clinic . Phil is a great guy and Physicians Assistant to Dr. Schnebel. He has been with the good Doc for a long, long time. There I will get the low down refresher course on do's and do not's of before and after surgery. Then I will get an x-ray, blood work, EKG, lab work and anything else they can think of and sock me for about $850.00.

I got the final cost on my surgery yesterday and I will be out pocket to the tune of about $3,500.00 on a $46,000.00 surgery. I know that sounds like a lot but the cost is nothing compared to how good my left knee feels and I know that my right knee will feel just as good. The surgery is well worth it but there is one thing that you really have to do and that is to do everything your Dr. and Physical Therapist tells you to do, because if you don't there is a price to pay and you won't like the outcome.

As I did with last year I will keep everyone posted on how the surgery goes and how I progress. I am so ready to get all of this over with. It's been a long time coming, since I was 26...I knew what was in store for me, all of this is almost over and done with and when I am released in June I will be ready for some camping.

The big day? December 1st. So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers on that day and the days that follow.

Happy Trails to you all...

Taco Soup...

2010-11-01T09:02:00.002-05:00

Ok...I have had several requests now for Taco soup. It is one of the mainstays at our house and since we are getting into the soup season I thought I would go ahead a give you all out there in blogger land the recipe that my son-in-law gave to me. It's one of those recipes that does not require you to do a lot, except for grocery shopping. Keep in mind that I buy certain things in bulk at Sam's Club, such as French's Chili-O and Hidden Valley buttermilk mix in the large container and measure out 1 oz. actually you can eyeball it. I keep these two items in hand as I am always using them and it is cheaper to buy them in bulk.

Taco Soup

2 lbs. Ground Meat ( If you are a vegetarian you can get the Morning Star veggie crumbles)
1 large Yellow Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Package of French's Chili-O
1 Package (1 oz.) Hidden Valley Buttermilk Dressing Mix
1 Can Pinto or Ranch Style Beans
1 Can Black Beans
1 Can Kidney Beans
1 Can Corn or Golden Hominy
1 Can Rotel Mild
1 6 oz can Tomato Sauce
2 Cans of Mexican Diced Tomatoes
1 Package of Yellow Corn Tortillas
1 8 oz. container Sour Cream
1 Package of Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 Cup canola oil
California Garlic Salt or Zing (found at Golden Chick restaurants)
In a soup pot combine and cook the first three ingredients until meat is cooked through.
Add in Chili-O and Buttermilk dressing mix.
Open all the cans and start dumping them in.
Add some hot water (half a can) to a can and swill it around and dump into next can getting all the leftovers out of all the cans and dump into soup.
Stir and turn fire down to simmer, cover and let soup come up to temperature, stirring occasionally.

Take a pizza cutter and cut tortillas into thin strips. Fry up in hot oil until golden, drain on paper towels and add garlic salt or Zing and enjoy with the Taco soup. Serve with a salad.

Add, if you desire, sour cream and or shredded cheese and chopped onion.

Makes 10 to 12 servings Total cost to make, about $14.00, which comes to about $1.17 per serving.

Next time I will share my Potato Soup...

Until then, Happy Trails...

All Hallows Eve Time

2010-10-28T10:15:00.019-05:00

It's that time of year again when summer is finished, the crops are in and we celebrate the harvest and coming of winter. All Hallows Eve or as we know it Halloween is upon us. The link that I provided is a great description of how we come to celebrate Halloween. I find that it's an interesting read.

All that aside, I think that Halloween is one of my favorite days. It's fun to watch all the children dress up. Each year I wonder what the costume of preference will be. When we first moved into our neighborhood there were lots of children so we would have a great turnout of little ghouls and goblins. One year I dressed up as the witch from Hansel and Gretel and sat in a dark entry and as the children would approach I would sing "Nibble nibble mousy, whose nibbling at my housy" then would cackle. Believe me the little ones had really big eyes after that. Then I would get up and approach them with the candy bucket, you should have seen their faces when they saw me in costume.

But over the years the children and their parents started going to the malls for trick or treating and it didn't take long for our neighborhood to see the demise of trick or treating. Even though we purchased our candy and had the porch light on last year, no one came to our house. So Dave had a sugar high.

This year we will once again purchase the candy and leave the porch light on and set out our little witch and her kitty all lit up as I have invited some of the children of my co-workers to come by.

Another reason I love this time of year is the house decorations. I love creative people who have an eye for such things. I'm creative but in different ways. Dave and I spied these two houses as we were coming back from dinner one evening and I just had to have a picture of them.

We had a fun day at work Friday, most everyone dressed up and we brought food and ate all day long. I fixed Taco Soup, Someone brought chopped brisket sandwiches, another brought Texas Caviar as well as little smokies, then there were veggie and fruit plates, doughnuts and cookies and cupcakes. We had a lot of fun with all the costumes and pranks we played on each other. Here is a group of us and some of the zany outfits we had on. Others were dressed but not able to be in the picture so their individual pictures are below.

One person brought up a teacup pot belly pig names Spartacus, and you guessed it...I will leave that for you to figure out. Farmer Teddy and Spartacus Moose, the only pig I know that has his own Facebook page.

It was fun to sit on my front porch last night and listen to the OU Pride perform music from The Rocky Horror Show, The Munsters and other selection down at the soccer field for the Bedlam game between OU and OSU. They had over 2000 fans show up. Unfortunately OU lost to OSU 2-0. Maybe next year. But the girls did make it to the Big XII championship, so we are proud of their efforts.

Stay safe and Happy Halloween...and Happy Trails until next time.

Another Week Gone...

2010-10-22T08:46:00.005-05:00

It's Friday and heading into the weekend. At the moment we're getting ready to get soaked again as another round of rain passes through the area. Don't get me wrong we really need the rain, but my poor little dog just hates thunder. At about 1:10 a.m. this morning he started whining as he jumped up on my bed and proceeded to sit on my head shaking up a storm. He does that when he is scared. After arousing me from a great sleep, I had to get up and put him in his crate. it seems to be the only thing that calms him. It took me awhile to get back to sleep but sleep I did until the alarm went off at 6:40 a.m. We had the attic fan running and the cool night air was wonderful.

I love to wake up slowly and unhurried as my day just seems to go better when I do. So I generally hit the snooze button and turn on Fox and Friends to see what has happened overnight. I will toggle between that and one of the local stations to see what is going on with the weather. I then put out the dogs and wake Dave so he can make the coffee. I bring in the dogs and finish getting dressed, grab my cuppa coffee and out the door we go so Dave can take me to work. I just wish I could sleep in on the weekends. That would be loverly.

What's on my plate this weekend? More of getting rid of stuff. Between the big dog and Dave I have managed to downsize my collection of bowls this week. I had some beef grease in a bowl at the back of the stove, letting it solidify and the big boy got up and pulled that down breaking the bowl, and Dave was soaping up a bowl to clean it and it slipped out of his hands and broke in the sink. So that is two less of what I have to get rid of.

We will most likely watch the Sooners play Missouri and watch some Sunday Pro football, will have to see who is playing though. But that is it for our weekend. Nothing exciting going on unless we decide to go somewhere. Just chillin before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 come out next month. We can hardly wait.

I will say this though...I will be glad when this election cycle is over. I'm fed up with all the campaign phone calls we get each day. I know...they're trying to get the pulse of the voter but enough already, I don't need 10+ calls a day of campaign messages and pollsters taking polls.

Well that's it for now, pizza night tonight and a movie, The Half Blood Prince, a Harry Potter film . So...getting ready to go grab one of our favorites, Pepperoni and Mushroom on a thin crust. Have a good Friday everyone.

Happy trails...

Just an Ordinary Day....NOT!!!!!!

2010-10-13T11:17:00.006-05:00

What started out as a normal mundane Wednesday turned out so far to be far from mundane. Around 9 o'clock this morning while sitting at my desk a low rumble started then cresendoed into a solid shake of the building lasting four seconds but for me lasted longer than that. EARTHQUAKE!!!!! 5.1 on the Richter scale. I've never experienced an earthquake before. At first thought that it was jets doing a very low flyover when I realized that there was no jet noise. The adrenalin started rising and everyone in the office started talking at once. "What was going on?" "Was that an earthquake?"

The quake was located about 6 miles east of Norman out by Lake Thunderbird near Highway 9. Jones, Oklahoma which is north of us gets lots of 3. quakes which are not felt here. But this one was felt in Kansas City, KS and Grapevine, TX

One of the skylights in one of our tall buildings here on campus cracke severly so they evacuated the building for precautionary measures. I called Dave and he said the pictures on the wall were bouncing all over the place.

Just as we were all starting to lower the adrenalin levels, the fire alarm went off in the building. False alarm or not we have to evacuate. So I grabbed my purse, blue book (I am the official head counter), cell phone and out the door I went with the rest of the crew. Once down 4 flights of stairs and out the door we learn that it's a false alarm. Adrenalin rising again and trying to come back down, I quipped "well to complete the drill for the day we just need a tornado and the day will be complete." Oops did I just say that? The day is not over and yet and it's Oklahoma. As Will Rogers said "Wait a minute and the weather will change."

Well so much for an ordinary day!

Happy trails....

And Behind Door Number 2....

2010-10-07T22:32:00.002-05:00

Is a beautiful pre-op room just waiting for you...today starts the countdown to my next knee surgery which will take place on December 1st. 55 days and counting. I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet since I don't know if I will have health care next year provided by the university or not. Everything is so up in the air and such a mess.

Once this is taken care of I will for the first time in over 25 years be able to bend down normally and pick something up off the floor without pain. Acting like a giraffe all these years has not exactly been pleasurable. One of the side effects from the first surgery has been that my left foot has been hurting me. When I talked to the Dr. today he informed me that once we get the other leg done that my feet will be in their normal walking position and the pain should stop so in the meantime, I am to wear inserts to support the arch and to keep the foot from rolling inward. We will see how that goes.

I know I'm going to have a lot of work ahead of me. I so looked forward to the first surgery last year in getting my left knee fixed. Don't get me wrong. I am looking forward to this surgery as well but with less enthusiasm since I know all the hard work involved in getting better. But done it must be, so without further adieu...So with true American fortitude...Onward Ho!

Happy Trails.....

Senior Day at the Fair

2010-09-23T22:46:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we made our annual trek to the State Fair of Oklahoma via Riverwind Casino for breakfast. In years past the breakfast was free for seniors on Wednesdays. This year it was $2.50 a person. Still it was very reasonable, $5.00 for the two of us.

Then we headed up to the fair. This year I don't think it was as crowded as in years past. I had one particular thing that I wanted. It's called a Miracle Kitchen Plus. I watched the demonstration and tasted the salsa that was made with it and knew I had to have one, some of the best homemade salsa I have ever tasted. The other thing that sold me was when we start to full-time it will come in handy when we don't have access to power while boondocking. Things at the fair are not always the bargins they would have you to believe. I paid $35.00 for the machine, Ginsu knife and cheese grater. I went on line and found them on sale for $17.95. So I plan to pick up two of them and give them to the girls for Christmas presents since the girls asked me if I got them one.

This year we decided not to eat at the fair....I know, tis a sacriglige...but to go to Bunny's Onion Burger stand instead. After having a totally awesome burger we went back to Norman to let the dogs out and then head over to Floyd's RV center. Yes Bobbie, we started looking at 5th wheels yesterday. So many to see, so much to absorb. No wonder it takes two years to make up your mind.

Today my tootsies are sore from all the walking we did for 6 hours. How the kids (Workampers) at Amazon.com manage for 12 hours I do not know. I don't think I could do it. Glad it's Friday tomorrow and the weekend is here. More clearing of junk to be done.

Happy Trails...

The Tale of the Traveling Vanilla...

2010-09-23T22:30:00.004-05:00

While we were in Colorado last year we met several wonderful couples at the campground we were staying in. Jim and Bobbie were the camping hosts and Charlie and Dawna were the campers across from us. When we arrived at Big Meadows just outside of South Fork, Colorado Bobbie gave me a hug like a long lost friend. When we got our campsite in Loop A and got set up, Charlie came over and said hello and told us if we needed help with anything just to let him know. We had a great time at the campground and when we became stranded with car trouble both of these couples helped us out.

Charlie is standing on the bench with his hand on Dawna, Jim and Bobbie are in the camp host uniforms. We all had dinner with Charlie and Dawna, homemade beans and ham with cornbread. It was good!

Flash forward: Bobbie and Jim are full time RVers and wintered in Arizona this past winter. While there, Bobbie and Jim went into Old Mexico for several day trips. On one of those trips she picked up some Mexican Vanilla for me as during one of our discussions the previous summer I had mentioned that I had run out of my Mexican Vanilla and missed baking with it. You have to understand that Mexican Vanilla is much stronger than the regular vanilla that you purchase at the store so it gives a different flavor to what you are preparing. The question was, how to get it to me.

Fast forward some more: It turns out that Charlie and Dawna live not far from us and they were heading on vacation up to Yellowstone and coming back through South Fork to stay at Park Creek campground where Bobbie and Jim were camp hosts this year. So the Mexican Vanilla got handed off to Charlie and Dawna to bring back to us.

Last weekend we met up. Charlie and Dawna came down for the OU - Air Force football game and passed off the Mexican Vanilla. They parked at our house where I ran them up to the stadium so they could attend the game. Afterwards I picked them up and we all went to dinner at Goldie's Patio Grill and had a wonderful time discussing RVing.

On our way to dinner I spied a man’s wallet in the road. I gave it to Dawna and she went through it trying to find some identification and we came up with a AAA card. She called and left her number and the young man who lost it called and came to Goldie's to pick it up. As it turns out it was our next door neighbor’s wallet. He was very thankful that it was us who found it and returned it intact.

It's amazing how friendships develop and come full circle.

Happy Trails.....

A Marine's Send Off....

2010-09-18T17:05:00.004-05:00

I have a friend at work whose Marine son who left three weeks ago to go back to Camp Pendleton, where he and his group were shipped out yesterday to Afghanistan for a years deployment. He's was home on a three week leave enjoying his time with friends and family before his deployment.Dave and I went to his deployment party at his parents house. There were lots of people there to wish the young man well. I told him to keep his head down and I would see him in a year for his homecoming party.

His mom had a beautiful cake made, too bad we did not get there before it was cut into but you can sort of see what it looked like.

There was lots of food to eat and drinks to drink, my favorite was the jumbo Oscar Mayer hot dogs that were grilled to perfection.

We need to remember to keep our brave men and women, who have volunteered their service to our country, in our prayers at night. By doing so we honor them and their families, who have given them up to us, to defend our great nation.

PSALM 23
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”
Amen.

Noah's Baptism....

2010-09-08T13:18:00.004-05:00

Last week we made the trip to Texas for the Labor Day weekend and Noah's baptism. After an uneventful drive with three dogs, we arrived and settled in. The kids place is looking good but we all pitched in Saturday to get it tidied up for the festivities on Sunday. Noah was being baptised and there was to be a cookout after church.

The dogs stayed out most of the time on the back porch or out in the yard. They had never been out that much and was enjoying their new found freedom.

You forget how much gear is needed to take a baby someplace, baby carriers, diaper bags etc....on top of it, Noah was being somewhat fussy so if we made a stop, one person would go in for something and we would have to drive around the parking lot to keep him quiet. We shopped for Hot dogs and all their fixing's and hamburgers plus all their fixing's. I decided that I would make Tabouli Salad and proceeded to purchase the ingredients for it. I managed to get everything at Kroger's except for the Tabouli Wheat, they never heard of Tabouli wheat, which is cracked Bulgar wheat. I then went to Wal-Mart, no luck, same blank expression on the sales clerks faces. At the Wal-Mart in Norman the Tabouli wheat is found in the salad area, not so in East Texas. I was begining to become frustrated and decided that you know your in East Texas where they don't know what Tabouli wheat is. Finally, finally at Albertson's I found the Tabouli wheat in the rice isle. I had to purchase two boxes of it to get the portion that I needed. Normally it comes in a plastic bag, sometimes it already has dry ingrediants in it. I do not purchase that, I only purchase the wheat itself. It's a fairly simple recipe to put together.

Tabouli Salad / Half recipe

1 box or half bag of Tabouli Wheat

1 box of Minute Maid Frozen Lemonade thawed

1/3 Cup Soy Free Canola Oil or Olive Oil

2 Lg. Ripe Tomatoes diced

2 Medium Cucumbers diced

1 Bunch Green Onions cleaned and thinly sliced

1 Bunch Parsley cleaned and stem tips trimmed and chopped finely(can be processed in food processor)

Sea Salt

In large mixing bowl soak wheat in hot water for 10 minutes, drain and squeeze dry.

Add in all the ingredients except for salt, mixing well. The salt is a personal preference. I add in 1 Tbs. You may want more salt. Be careful not to add too much. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

This is best if allowed to sit overnight so all the flavors can meld. The longer it sits the better it gets. You will want to stir it ever so ofter so as to get the juices over the wheat so it will swell up. The wheat will turn white the longer it sits.

Noah decided to become real fussy and I could just see him at church the next day. Saturday night I said a little prayer asking that Noah be a wonderful little boy on Sunday. My prayers were answered. He slept through the whole thing and most of the day and night. We were amazed. The kids said he had never slept that much at one time. Of course his daddy held him all the way through the service, and has that wonderful calming quality about him.

The little prince still asleep through all the singing, service, having water poured over his head and paraded around the church.

His baptism outfit was beautiful, his grandmother's sister handmade the whole thing, everything was crocheted, the hat the gown and the onesy for underneath. I had not seen that kind of handwork in a long time and to think it's becoming a lost art saddens me.

I stood in for my younger daughter as she was to be Noah's Godmother. The kids had to get special permission from the Bishop as she is not Catholic. It was a beautiful service and Noah was the little angel.

The cookout was a success and everyone enjoyed themselves. Dave spent Monday morning pulling weeds and trimming trees. We had lunch and bid the kids goodbye and loaded up the car with all our belongings and dogs and headed home. 5 1/2 hours later we pulled into our driveway and unloaded and had time to wind down before bed.

Our weekend was wonderful and we had a great time. While we were out shopping this week I found Noah's Halloween costume and sent it down to Texas. An OU Boomer outfit. His daddy will have to paint his face and his auntie will have to put a drawstring on the hoodie to keep it in place but it will be cute. Besides I just couldn't let him go as a Longhorn (Look for pictures in November).

Happy Trails....

Angel Food...

2010-08-21T16:03:00.005-05:00

With Christie living on such a limited budget in Georgia, I decided to enroll her in the Angel Food Ministries program for August. Just to see what it's like, I enrolled as well. I wanted to see what she was getting for my money.

I went this morning to pick up my order and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of food I received. All the meats and vegetables in the Signature box were flash frozen. I was amazed at the quality of the fresh vegetables and fruits in the Veggie box. The peaches are big and juicy. I plan to make a peach-mango-onion salsa to go on my chicken. I also got a box of 12 seasoned chicken breasts for $22 as we love to grill.

I paid $52.00 for Christie's boxes of food, $2.00 extra for being an Internet order. And $74.00 for our Internet order. For all that I got, I feel like it's a lot of food.

Angel Food is open to participation to anyone of any income level. It would be a great deal for RVers and I'm sure lots of full-timers take advantage of it. This morning I saw college students, single mothers and dads, families with little ones in tow all helping to get the food to their cars.

I was told the local Angel Food group was trying to get more participation as the more that is ordered, free boxes of food are added to the total order so the church group can offer those free boxes to the local food bank and homeless families who could not otherwise afford them. This program is all across the US. I was pleased that I participated and hoped I made a difference in someones life.

Another nice feature is you don't have to purchase the signature box before you can purchase a specialty box. You can pick and choose what boxes you would like. Just be sure to take shopping bags or a box in which to put your food in.

I talked to Christie after she picked up her order and she was commenting on how much food there was and she seemed pleased in what all she got. She was in the process of thawing out the hamburger meat to make spaghetti for dinner.

If you've not tried the Angel Food program yet, click on the link and check it out. I think you will be pleased. I know I am.

Happy trails....

P.S. I have new followers, welcome anonymous and Mountain Born. Glad to have you aboard.

Move In Day...

2010-08-19T20:30:00.005-05:00

Today started like any other day at our house, getting ready for work, feeding the dogs, making coffee and heading out the door to go to work. Except what I forgot was, that it was move in day for thousands of students with their parents in tow, helping them move in over the next 4 days.

The line-up of cars was unbelievable just to find a parking spot to unload the necessary things for dorm life, the all important mini refrigerator, the rolling 3 drawer storage unit loaded with who knows what. Mattress, bedding, suitcases, on and on it went. Then everyone heads to Wal-Mart afterwards to pick up those all so important items to finish out their move, once again with Mom or Dad in tow "the purse strings", to purchase a hefty supply of the oh so needed study snacks, paper plates, toilet paper and the ever so important bottled water. Heaven forbid if one should forget the bottled water.

Trying to get me to work was a feat in itself. We had to figure out detours and round abouts to avoid the mayhem less than a half a block away from where I work.

From my fourth floor office window, the students moving into housing looked like an army of ants hurrying and scurrying to get their cars unloaded. Oh so many trips to accomplish this. To top the day off, the power went down across the campus due to an overheated air-conditioning chiller. We were down for about 30 to 45 minutes. One of our employees was briefly stuck in the elevator but luckily she was able to get out in spite of her short lived panic.

Tents were set up so parking and transportation employees could inform not only the students but parents about parking procedures at the school and if your student who is not an Honors dorm student parks in an Honors dorm students parking spot, he or she will get a ticket and a hefty one at that. All sorts of kiosks were set about between the housing towers with tons of information spewing from them to the waiting hands of the wide eyed but unknowing new incoming students.

When I left work today at five, it still looked like an army of ants on the move. I would have to say another school year has started and the City of Norman wipes the summer sleep from her eyes and prepares for another 9 months of college life and football Saturdays.

Hopefully when we go to work on Monday we will be able to get our parking spots back.

BOOMER SOONER!

More Clutter Cleared...

2010-08-15T18:38:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago I wrote about clearing clutter while Dave was gone to Georgia. Today we resumed our endeavors and cleared and moved furniture, removed more pet hair, got the potato crop harvested and corralled the dust bunnies. It's amazing how stuff multiples when your not looking. We moved the piano (which is for sale)over toward the window and the credenza from under the window to where the piano use to be. Boy does it make a difference in how large it makes the room look. I also got the bookcase cleaned and moved under the window. Christie did not take her Harry Potter books so they now have a place to reside. I've been looking at trailers, my friend Bobbie steered me toward Jayco trailers and I found the one that I'm interested in. It is a Jayco Eagle 322FKS. I like the fact that it has a King bed and the shower is separate from the john. It's got a larger than normal kitchen and I know I won't feel cramped working in it. Now we wait for a year or so, so the price can drop some more on a used trailer and we will be set to go.

If you've ever read the comic strip Zits you know that Jeremy is a teenage boy whose parents are electronically challenged and trying to fit in with texting and such. Well that is us. We have managed to not text until this week when we upgraded our phones. Guess what! We like it. I can now get instant pictures of the our grandson. Both Dave and I got the Samsung Sunburst ,for a free phone it sure is a nice one. We are having a ball learning how to use it, however it is nice to actually talk to someone in a long conversation, but for that quick question texting is ok. Old dog learns new tricks.

I have a lot of recipes hanging around and another RV friend suggested that I scan them and put them on a flash drive so...that is what I did this evening. While cleaning out a basket of papers I came across recipes that dated back to 1995. Ya never know what you'll find lurking in the shadows.

Well...clothes to fold and showers to take, another work week awaits us.

Happy trails.

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy days of Summer

2010-08-11T13:40:00.005-05:00

Bring on the soda, pretzel and beer. I sure could use some iced tea or water though. I am not a beer drinker because I'm allergic to the hops that is used to make it. I can have a sip now and then but to drink a full beer will make me swell up like a toad. Sodas...I can do without the sugar but will have one once in a great while. Wine, I can drink and I like it.

I like summer, I really do especially if I am in a cooler spot than where I am now. Another 103+ day here and suppose to be 104+ tomorrow, keep in mind that is with the heat index. The heat is oppressive due to the humidity and the tropical storm that is moving ashore in Louisiana is not helping. Our section of the United State is locked in under a high pressure dome and the heat is miserable. We may have a chance of rain Sunday or Monday but I wouldn't hold my breath. Everything is drying up and shriveling on the vine so to speak.

The OU pool looks inviting and I just may partake this weekend since I can swim for free.

I've asked Dave to get my bike out so I can get it tuned up and start riding it this fall. Last week I borrowed a bike to get back and forth to work while Dave was gone and I could tell that it really helped my leg and knee. The only draw back was that I was drenched by the time I got to work.

Need to mow the yard as the dogs are starting to get lost again in the growth. It never ends unless your out on the road.

Happy trails...

Georgia on my mind update...

2010-08-05T08:52:00.003-05:00

Christie got her car back yesterday evening after some additional work on the car and it's running great. The mechanic decided to wash the engine on the car because it was so greasy and discovered a pin hole leak in her radiator hose. He called her and asked if she wanted it repaired, cost $50.00, of course she said yes. When she went in to pick the car up she found out that he had gone ahead and flushed her radiator as well, no extra charge. She checked into having it flushed before she left at a local business here in Norman but they wanted $148.00 to do it and she decided not to have it done at that time. The mechanic in Marietta said her radiator had mud in it. Mud? Yes you read right, mud. He said it was a miracle that the car did not overheat on the trip over. I said it most likely was the mud that was plugging the hole in the hose. She also has an oil sensor plug that is not working which causes the light on her dashboard to stay on. He said that if she brings her car back in next Saturday he will fix it for $20.00, it should take about 2 hours. So it sounds like we have a mechanic lined up for the Jeep. Someone up there is looking out for her and I thank Him.

Dave is on his way home this morning and I will see him sometime tomorrow evening. Ah Pizza night.

Happy trails...

Georgia On My Mind.....

2010-08-04T10:24:00.009-05:00

Well not really, more like my hubby and daughter on my mind. Dave was all set to come home Monday when Christie's car broke down. Missing fuel filter, no where to be found, and an out of service fuel pump. Thank goodness there was not much gas in the tank, so not a huge loss there. However, she has an older Jeep and from what they are telling me quite expensive to repair. I really can't complain as she's had the car since 2003, it's a '97 Jeep Cherokee, and the only things we have had done to it is a tune-up, two sets of tires, one set of brakes, some air-conditioner work and a fuel pump. So really we have been very fortunate not to have had more pumped into this little car. It has been a good fit for her but I think it is time to upgrade to something newer. She's wanting a Ford Edge, so time to start looking I guess.

I'm glad all of this happened before Dave left to come home as he's been taking her to work and getting her back home in the evenings. Depending on if she gets her car back today he will start home tomorrow. He sounded really tired on the phone last night. They have been having a good time looking at antique shops in the area and going to the specialty grocery stores near her apartment. I can't wait to see pictures of her apartment, it sounds really nice.

I signed her up for the Angel Food Ministries food service. So that will help her out some. August's food box looks good, she is getting the standard box plus the fruit and vegetable box for $52.00. I signed us up for one as well. I wanted to see what it was she was getting and if it was good or not. They say it is enough food for one person for a month. If she's careful she may be able to stretch it out that long. Her daddy took her grocery shopping and spent about $100.00 on the basics for her. So when she picks up the box in two weeks she won't have to shop for things like peanut butter, ketchup, mustard etc...

She's making friends at work and says it will be an interesting year. She's going job hunting this weekend to get a part-time job to supplement her income if she's to survive.

I on the other hand have been dealing with 3 dogs, big, medium and small. They have decided that they need to sleep in my room so I now have 3 roommates. They are great protection and I really don't mind them being there. I'm doing all the things around the house that Dave would deal with and in general being on my own for a week. It's been somewhat of an experience since I've been without motorized vehicular transportation and I'm ready for Dave to be home. I've been very fortunate to be able to work with a great bunch of people. My boss loaned me a bicycle to get to and from work. One of them has let me borrow her truck so I can get home at noon to let the dogs out and not ride the bike in the 103 degree heat we are having at the moment. How can I repay them for their kindness? I will think of something.

I have poop patrol this afternoon when I go home for lunch as our neighbor is going to mow the dog's pen for me. The grass is now taller that the smallest dog and that is not good. I would mow it but I've never used our new lawnmower and Dave doesn't want me to do it until he shows me how to work it. Today was trash day and recycle day. I managed to get everything out before the pick-up time. So as Dave would say, I did good.

I have to finish up the living room mess that I started and do a few more chores before Dave gets home so I will be busy tonight and tomorrow night. Ah...so much for being by ones self. Until the next post...

Happy trails...

Downsizing...

2010-07-31T12:16:00.006-05:00

While Dave is in Georgia with Christie helping her get moved into her new apartment, yes... she finally was able to jump through all the hoops, I decided to tackle the dinning room and do a bit of downsizing. I don't know if it is actual downsizing but it is an arrangement that makes it look like there is less in the area.

First I cleared and moved my great-grandmother's Singer treadle sewing machine from the dinning room to the entry way. The credenza that was in the entry way was cleared and moved to the dinning room making a side board. I then took my great-grandmother's chair and put it under a painting in the dinning room. Then I took the leaf out of the dinning table reducing it from a 6 person setting to a 4 person setting creating more room in the area. Then I removed a small bookcase that holds my cookbooks and put a chair in that space. Now if I can get Dave to remove the shredder and his paper pile it will look good in there.

I'm trying to get a sense of space in the living room as we have some over sized furniture which includes a piano, which catches lots of clutter, a leather couch, 2 leather chairs and ottomans, coffee table, credenza, 2 side tables and a unit to hold the electronic equipment. The two rooms make one big room. I think if I get rid of the piano it will help besides I don't play it anymore. The demarcation line is the dinning room which has parky flooring with a rug and the living room has carpet. I'm contemplating pulling up the carpet and vinyl tile underneath and putting in Mexican tile. With the heat here in the summer a tile floor would help keep the house cooler, for winter I have area rugs I can put down to help the area stay warm.

While the troops have been gone I have been keeping the house at 75 degrees on the inside, day and night. It really is quite comfortable. Dave likes to knock it down to 72 at night but with the ceiling fans 75 is fine with me.

Sunday is laundry day and I have much more to do before Dave gets home on Tuesday so...

Happy trails...

Leaving The Nest...

2010-07-29T20:30:00.007-05:00

Over the past week I have been writing about our youngest daughter who is moving to Georgia for a new job in her field. It has been an experience in finding an apartment, getting services turned on, all the while doing it long distance, packing up and all that goes with that.

The most frustrating thing I have experienced is the apartment manager people. They have been doling out information in piece mill style instead of giving all of it to us up front. After my husband an daughter got on the road today we were informed that the card that we were going to use for her deposit, now has to be in the form of a money order or a check. So happens hubby did not take his checkbook with him. I am now having to transfer money from the card to the bank and hopefully he can withdraw the full amount and get the money order. Such a pain.

She had to say goodbye to her dogs this morning and believe me they knew something was amiss. At the moment they are moping, poor babies. We will have them for a year. It will be interesting to see if they remember her when she gets back, I'm sure they will.

Darling daughter saying good-bye to her big boy Fitz William Darcy (Fitz) all 96 lbs. of him.

Here she is giving big hugs to her Miss Elizabeth Bennett (Lizzy) a sweet natured little lady.

All packed up and getting ready to pull out. Two cars and a U-Haul Trailer. Where would we be without U-Haul.

We said our goodbyes and kept in contact during the day, aren't cell phones wonderful? They arrived safe and sound at their first stop. I even utilized gasbuddy to get them to a station on the road with a reasonable gas price. I will sleep well tonight.

I miss her already. But this is the beginning of a new chapter in her life. God speed sweet one.

Happy trails...

Dinner Fit for a....

2010-07-28T11:25:00.008-05:00

Our daughter Christie is leaving for Georgia tomorrow and I wanted to fix a nice dinner for her before she left. Yesterday I let her make the decision as to what she wanted. After mulling it around for the day she decided on her grandmother's lasagna. My dad loved lasagna but didn't like the texture of cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, therefore my mom decided to try it with cream cheese instead, and it became an instant hit with the family. Here's the recipe that my mom would fix the family.

Teena’s Lasagna (Full recipe)

2 Lbs ground beef (we prefer lean meat)
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
4 Large cloves garlic mashed
1 Large Onion diced
1 large Green Pepper diced
2 bricks of cream cheese sliced short side (you may want to put in freezer for a few minutes before slicing)
1 package of lasagna noodles (cooked al-dente)
1 small can tomato paste 6 oz.
can of water (use tomato paste can)
1 Bag of Mozzarella Cheese
salt
pepper
1-2 Tbs. Basil
Spaghetti sauce mix. Nothing that has cumin or chili spice in it.
1 Large Jar of favorite Spaghetti sauce. I like Prego and or Bertolli Onion, Basil, Garlic sauce

In a large HOT skillet add oil, onion, bell pepper and garlic let sear for 1-2 minutes while stirring, turn fire to low cover and let cook stirring occasionally until onions are opaque. Remove from skillet into a large bowl.

Get skillet hot again and add a quarter of a pound of meat and brown, remove to bowl and repeat process until the whole two pounds are cooked.

Pour all of mixture back in skillet. Add tomato paste, half a can of water, spaghetti sauce mix, Basil, salt and pepper to taste. Don’t use too much salt, save the salt shaker for the table. Mix all together. If too stiff add more water or about a 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce. Don’t get it soupy.

Cook noodles according to package. Warm your spaghetti sauce in a pan.

Assembling the lasagna

In a large 3 qt. rectangular baking dish spray bottom with cooking spray. Put a drizzle of spaghetti sauce in bottom of baking dish, put in three strips of lasagna noodles. Cover with a layer of meat mixture, lay in a piece of cream cheese into every spot you want a serving to be. Large casserole I figure 1 brick per layer, cover with spaghetti sauce and a light dusting of Mozzarella cheese. Repeat the same with next layer. Last layer leave off cream cheese and top out with rest of bag of Mozzarella cheese covering whole casserole.

Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes or until Mozzarella cheese is bubbly and has a nice light brown crust. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. I suggest putting dish on a heavy duty baking tray to catch any drips. Also this will make it easier to remove from the oven. Makes 9 servings.

Serve with a tossed salad and Italian Garlic Bread Sticks.
Dinner is served.

Happy trails...

One Year and 38 Years

2010-07-22T18:33:00.007-05:00

Last year at this time I started blogging after returning from our first vacation minus kids. Something I had never done before was to journal. Growing up I could never get into the habit of keeping a diary or journaling, I never found anything I had to say worth writing down. But over the course of this past year I have read about the adventures of Bobbie and Jim, (Bobbie was the one who started me blogging) Laurie and Odel, Alan and Joan, The Bayfield Bunch, Mountain Born, Bill and Leslie, The Gypsy Journal with Bad Nick and a whole host of other RV'ers out there enjoying life on the open road and living out their dreams. Through your posts I feel like I have a wonderful world of new found friends that I can't wait to meet. So after reading all the wonderful posts, the lot of you have inspired me to journal or blog our experiences.

I find that I enjoy writing this blog, that it is very cathartic and helps me to release feelings and emotions that from time to time get pent up. It allows me to venture out with photos of food and snowy day photos and experiences I would normally not mention. I don't know if my writing has improved over the course of the year but I feel better about it than I did when I started.

Another year has passed and so many things have happened over that year. Dave and I have become grandparents to baby Noah. Our youngest daughter has found an internship in her field at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia and is preparing to move there for the next year. Dave and I will become empty nesters as of next weekend. I will feel the loss of this extraordinarily talented young woman and miss her presence in our house. I have had her around for 27 years, time for her to move on and start her life. Unfortunately she will not be able to take her dogs with her at this time and she is quite sad about leaving behind her Fitz and Lizzy. We don't mind taking care of them. Fitz is a rambunctious boy and Lizzy is ever the little lady with an ornery streak in her.Our oldest daughter came through a surgery that allowed her to have children. She and her darling husband bought their first house and now have a beautiful baby. Life couldn't be better.

Dave and I are celebrating 38 wonderful blessed years together today. It's amazing how fast those years go by. You blink and so much life passes by you and you find yourself wondering where the time went. Hold tight to the ones you love and let them know each and every day how you feel. Don't let a day go by without saying "I love you". That way you will never have any regrets.

Life is indeed beautiful!

Happy trails.

A Bit of Kick...

2010-07-18T13:03:00.007-05:00

This morning while reclining in my adjustable bed, drinking a cup of java (it's a Sunday morning thing) I happened to turn on the cooking channel with Bobby Flay who was grilling up Korean Style Grilled Chicken (This was after watching Sunday Morning on CBS about all of us overweight Americans). It looked so good that it got my creative juices going and I decided that "I" could come up with a marinade for my own grilled Asian Chicken. "It can't be all that hard" I said to myself. A little bit of this and a bit of that, stir it together and pour over the frozen chicken breasts and then let thaw all day and let that marinade get worked in.

I pulled my ingredients and utensils together and started in. In a few minutes, after a few minor adjustments...what was it that Bobby Flay said about cardamon and curry? I have a bad habit of not measuring, I'm sort of a pour and go with it kind of gal. Instead of mashing out my garlic like Guy Fieri I have this cool little apparatus that quickly does it. I can then brush it off into my bowl. Hmmmmm...a bit more of this...ah...my marinade was ready and to me it was outstanding. Such flavor with a touch of hot. I can hardly wait to heat the grill up this evening. But what to have with it? Ah...I know, grilled potato fingerling's, sweet onions, peppers with a few broccoli florets thrown in for green. I would do a zucchini but Dave is not that fond of that particular vegetable, what the heck, I will do a zucchini anyways because Christie and I like them.

Ok, I know you're wondering what I put in my marinade, well here goes.

Susie's Asian Marinade

2 large cloves garlic ground or pasted
3 Tbls. Hoysin Sauce
2 Tbls. Oyster Flavored Sauce
1 Tbls. Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Chinese Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken
12-15 Dashes of Tabasco Sauce
1 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar or Rice Vinegar
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 tsp Coriander pressed with mortar and pestle to break seed open
1/8 tsp curry powder (optional)

Mix all together in a bowl, taste for heat, add more Tabasco if necessary, pour over chicken in a Ziploc plastic bag, seal and marinade for 4 to 6 hours. Turn bag over every hour. Make sure you have plenty of wood soaking for your grill. I use mesquite wood. Grill however you would grill it and enjoy.

My garlic grinder plate, yes it's made in China. It grinds the garlic clove making it into a lovely paste and you can grind whole nutmegs and the plate will not hurt your nails or your fingers. You can find them at Walgreen's for around $10.00 in the seen on TV isle. I would not be without this set. Just rinse plate and brush off with water for easy clean-up. You can grind up some garlic add some crushed red pepper and olive oil right in the garlic plate and you have a dipping sauce for Italian bread sticks. Along with the plate and brush is a garlic clove peeler, stick in a clove of garlic, roll it back and forth a few times and walla... it takes the skins right off the garlic clove. Hold the clove by the root end and swirl it with a bit of pressure around the grooves on the plate and you'll have mashed garlic in just a few seconds. Brush garlic off with the brush provided and you are set to go.

Here's my plated Asian Chicken with grilled vegetables. Time to dig in folks. Boy does that look good, hey Dave pass the...

Happy trails...

Kennesaw State University

2010-07-14T15:37:00.004-05:00

Our youngest daughter managed to snag an internship at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, doing what she got her Master's in, Athletic Academic Advising and helping to get a Learning Center off the ground. She leaves in 3 weeks with minimal possessions until she is able to find a second job that will support her and her bills. We will truly be empty-nester's then. At this time she will not be able to take her dogs with her which makes her sad.

Kennesaw is about 30 minutes Northwest of Atlanta. From the pictures I have seen it looks like a lovely area steeped in history. With Atlanta so close I'm sure she will be doing a lot of sight seeing of the area. Kennesaw houses The General which is a type of 4-4-0 steam locomotive that was the subject of the Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War. You can read more about it at the link provided.

My only objection is that Kennesaw is 13 hours away so it won't be so easy for her to get home to see family. Somehow she will manage. I look forward to her sending us pictures of the area. I just hope the people are nice there.

Happy trails...

Bunny's...

2010-07-10T23:12:00.005-05:00

Yesterday evening we decided that we wanted something different for dinner so we hopped in the car and drove to Northwest Oklahoma City to a little hamburger joint called Bunny's. Bunny's is famous for it's Onion Burger, fries and handmade malts and shakes. Nothing artificial here.

Bunny's T-shirt, I just love the pink tie-dye job

The hamburger is simple fare, a bun toasted perfectly on the grill. Onion's that have been sliced, not chopped, piled high on top of the sizzling fresh ground hamburger meat that is cooking on a well seasoned steel surfaced grill. When ready the burger is flipped and the onions that were on top are now being caramelized on the grill the bun top is put on the top of the burger to be softened by the steam rising from the meat and onions. Once done Joey, the grill master, flips the bottom bun pulls the burger and onions to cap it and then plates it with the fries and dill pickles. The french fries are fresh hand cut potatoes fried to perfection. When served the burger is so hot that you have to wrap it in napkins to keep from burning your fingers.

This burger was plated just for this picture as it was a to-go order. To bad you could not see the mound of french fries you would get with it.

Bunny insists on serving fountain coke-a-cola that is very strong. It has that wonderful burn when it hits the back of your throat. I can remember the original coke in the little bottles from the 50's and when you drank one of those ice cold babies it would have that same burn. Mmmmmmm Goooooood! Every bite of the burger brought forth moans of happiness. Oh it is such a good burger.

Kaylee, Joey the grill master and Kialee. These two girls really took good care of us.

Bunny's is located at the corner of 50th and Meridian, 5020 N Meridian Ave. It's right across the road from Putnam City High School so you know what crowd it caters to. We have been having burgers at Bunny's for at least 20 years. Before that it was known as Joe's Onion Burger and we ate there for at 15 years before it became Bunny's. There is now a new south side location at 1023 S. Meridian Ave. It is better situated to I-40.

If you're passing though Oklahoma City and want a great onion burger I suggest hanging your hat at Bunny's and sit a spell and enjoy the food. 2 Thumbs Up!!!!!

Happy trails....

Our New Grandson...

2010-07-07T22:22:00.009-05:00

Friday afternoon we slipped out of town to go south to see our new grandson baby Noah. After a marathon journey of 7 hours (which should only take 5) countless accidents and side trips to avoid and get around the accidents, we arrived at the hospital and saw our grandson for the first time.

What a beautiful baby. He is so precious. He's surrounded by a loving family that has lots of aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. So there are a lot of helping hands to assist the new parents. And we will be heading south as often as we can to see the little tyke.

Grandpa was holding Noah when dog child Sam decided that he had to get in on the action, keep in mind that grandpa is very ticklish. Sam has been a member of the family since he was 6 weeks old. So Noah has a great big "brother" and a great playmate when he gets older.

Things will never be so peaceful as they are right now. Give him a few years and Watch Out World Noah Has Arrived.
Here's Noah with his grandpa Jerri. It looks like they're both are tuckered out and having a great snooze. A great past-time for the 4th of July.

Grandma Irene came over on Monday and babysat Noah so we could go out and have lunch and do a wee bit of shopping.
Auntie Christie got a nice big yawn out of her new nephew.
Cousin Dillon holding his new baby cousin Noah.

Aunt Stephanie, Cousins Sydney and Ashley admiring baby Noah.
This is one lucky baby, to have a lot of family close by to love on him. What a wonderful way to come into the world.

Happy trails...

Noah Alexander...

2010-06-30T11:06:00.009-05:00

After a 5 year wait and an odyssey to get here, Baby Noah Alexander arrived this morning via a C-section at 9:25, weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs and 20 inches long and he's two weeks early. Can you imagine what he would have weighed if he had gone to term?

Last year it was discovered that Heather had fibroid tumors and she was blessed to find a Doctor in Dallas that would remove them instead of telling her that there was no hope and remove everything. The surgery was a success and in October she was pregnant. Dr. J. Michael Putnam pioneered the instruments and surgery to save a women's uterus so they could have children. We are very thankful for Dr. Putnam and his team of professionals.

Only could our kids come up with a name that would tie into a hurricane that is about to hit the Texas/Mexico coastline. ALEX, is his name fate or coincidence? I wonder if Noah Alexander will live up to the name of his hurricane?

Happy Trails...

The Dreaded T Word

2010-06-24T21:54:00.002-05:00

Yes there is a word that starts with T that is dreaded by everyone. Let me just say this, one particular set is now DONE! One down one to go. My computer crashed last year and it took a long time to get it fixed and back after several miss-starts with the company that was fixing it. When the computer crashed I lost a lot of valuable information and had to rebuild which was not fun and is still not fun but I am chipping away at the T word and will be done with the whole mess soon until next year. I defiantly learned my lesson on all of this. BACK-UP, BACK-UP, BACK-UP!!!!!!! I cannot stress this enough...BACK-UP YOUR FILES!!!!!!

Well the girl may make it to July after all , That baby boy has decided that he does not want to come yet. Friday is her last day at work and then she is going on leave from her job. As of last week he was 8lbs. 11oz. Everyone is excited and I know she is ready for it to be over with. We can hardly wait for Baby Noah to get here.

Soccer!!!!!!! Go USA!!!!!! We advanced out of our group along with England and will play Ghana Saturday. We will be in front of the TV cheering on Team USA. Watch out guys here comes the Red, White and Blue!!!

Happy Trails....

Father's Day...

2010-06-20T22:04:00.002-05:00

To all fathers, step-fathers, fathers-in-law, grand-fathers and everyone who plays the role of a father, thank you.

Happy Trails

Eyes of the World...

2010-06-13T15:00:00.006-05:00

The Eyes of the World are on South Africa this month as World Cup Soccer (Football, a game in which the play is made with the feet or head) gets under way. Most of you (5) who read this blog will say "who cares!" Well that would be us, we care, and the many families we have associated with over the last 20 years as our girls became soccer players, for rec. teams, classic clubs, high school teams, college teams and for a few, semi-pro teams. When our girls were first introduced to the sport we had no idea what soccer was. We knew it as a boys sport something girls would not play as it was deemed "too rough". But as the sport was introduced to more and more girls, daddies became interested and learned all they could about the sport. Hence my hubby.

For the next month our evenings will be consumed with the "beautiful game". Our family will watch the games and cheer our USA team on in hopes of advancement out of Group C. The USA team is a young team in terms of the sport of Soccer as American Football (a game where the play is made by handling the ball and running with it or throwing it to score and players crash into one another trying to get possession of the ball), Basketball, Baseball and Hockey dominate this part of the world.

The powerhouse teams are in Great Britain and Europe. The big game last night was between England's national team against the USA's national team, "those poor Yanks across the pond" as they refer to us. England was the team to watch as they were suppose to dominate us and walk away with 3 points. But we, the USA, put a finger in their eye and we both walked away with a 1-1 tie and 1 point each. Bully for us! Tim Howard our goalkeeper was outstanding "man of the game". He really is something to watch, poetry in motion.

Most people think soccer is a boring game. It's not at all, it's just not a high scoring game. It is a game of extreme skill and finesse. Soccer players are some of the most conditioned athletes in the world as they run constantly for two 45 minute halves being allowed only two substitutions. Try that with American Football.

Well, the next game is starting and I'm off to watch Germany, another powerhouse team and Australia play. Ghana beat Serbia this morning 1-0 on a penalty kick.

Go USA!!!!!!!!!

A Festive Weekend...Graduation, Birthday and Baby Shower

2010-06-07T21:24:00.022-05:00

Off we went to Texas Thursday night after I got off of work. We made the trip in 6 hours because we stopped for dinner in Marietta, OK just North of Thackerville and the Winstar Casino . We also ran into one heck of a thunderstorm just this side of Ardmore. Otherwise it's a 5 hour drive if we go down to Dallas and over to East Texas. This way we had 2 full days and a partial day with family.

The weekend was full, a graduation from High School on Friday night for Dillon, J's Nephew. Saturday was J's 31st birthday and Sunday was the last baby shower for Baby Noah. Friday was spent cleaning and sprucing up the house. We cleaned surfaces and got lots of crosses and pictures hung. Everything looked nice. I know the kids appreciated all the help. Dave worked on planting flowers and pulling weeds. Heather, Christie and I (when my back was not killing me) worked on cleaning the floors and carpets, bathrooms, kitchen and getting the nursery ready to present to the guests.

The graduating class Friday night consisted of a total of 8 students, 4 boys and 4 girls. The kids had been together since Kindergarten and they were like one big family, their slide show was a testament to that. I have been to quite a few graduations but I truly think this one beat them all. It was so intimate and personal. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. At the end of the ceremony each of the graduates gathered roses and went to their families and handed out roses to all the mother, grandmothers, aunts and people that meant something to them. It was so touching. Dillon heads off to college in the fall, I know he is excited and he will do well. We went out to the family home for a graduation after-party and lots of food and merriment was had by all.
J had a great birthday on Saturday. We got him a Marvel poster by his favorite artist and a Marvel Chess Set. He also got a Sam's club membership. There was a huge crowd out at Robert and Shara's house. We had lots of food and some went swimming and got a good sunburn.

There's nothing like a fun time in the ole pool.

J loves Marvel anything. I think Spiderman is his favorite character. When a new Marvel movie comes out they always see it on the first day. We were down in Texas when Iron Man 2 came out and we were there along with Heather and J on the first day. I will say this...Iron Man 2 was good!

The baby shower on Sunday was wonderful. These two kids have so many people who love them. They were showered from all sides. I swear there were at least 35+ people in their house. Some of the ladies even drove in from Texarkana to celebrate the anticipated arrival of Noah. I think they are pretty well set now and can just relax and wait for Baby Noah to arrive. J's mom Irene, made her famous chicken salad croissants, deviled eggs along with her potato salad and guacamole and a mango-papaya chutney with cream cheese. J carved a fruit basket out of a watermelon and did melon balls with a honeydew melon, cantaloupe and watermelon. He also made his favorite...Onion Dip with wavy potato chips. One of the hostesses brought a veggie tray and another hostess brought a fruit punch made of Raspberry Gator aid with Seven-up. And last but not least there was a cake. All of it was really good.

What was funny about the whole day was the neighbor across the street was having a baby shower for a friend of hers at the same time. So pink balloons on one side of the street and blue balloons on the other side of the street. It was quite a sight with all the cars lining the street.

I on the other hand was somewhat down and out for the festivities. Earlier in the week I had somehow put a rib out and it caused an asthma attack to which I had to get some really expensive meds to treat it. On Friday morning I had to have Christie do an adjustment on me and then spend a lot of my time on a heating pad, muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory pills. By Sunday I think the worst was over and was able to make it all day without any medication.

We found the cutest baby bedding set on Overstock.com decided that it would go with their theme of red, white and blue, so it is in transit now. His Auntie Shara is going to paint Spiderman on a sheet and then put it up on a wall as a big mural. She is an accomplished artist and teaches art at the school where Dillon graduated from. She is also one of the schools drama teachers. That's the thing about small schools you have to be a teacher and able to juggle many hats. I really admire her and all that she has accomplished. Auntie's Stephanie and Shara, Cousin's Abbie and Dillon and Uncle Jamie.

We are now placing bets on how long Heather will last. Christie says two weeks I say three but no more than that.

Sunday evening found us on the road heading home at about 7:35 and we arrived home at 12:45 with a 15 minute stop just outside of Dallas to take a quick break and get some coffee. Coming home was uneventful and Christie drove the whole way. The dogs were good travelers and slept most of the way.

Today was a bit tiring but it was a good day and went fast as I was training our new student.

We are now on BABY WATCH!!!

Happy Trails....

Swimming...

2010-05-30T16:48:00.005-05:00

The OU Pool opened over the Memorial Day weekend, the true beginning of summer. I like to swim but I don't like my body in a swimsuit. I'm going to have to get past that as I have been instructed to swim as it's good for rehabilitating my knee. Especially water walking since the buoyancy of the water takes pressure off the joints.

Do I even know where my swimsuit is? Hmmm, I think I saw it here somewhere (Refer to The Countdown Decisions...Stuff) I think the last time I used my swim suit was at the Hot Springs in Pagosa Springs last summer. Maybe I left it in the swimsuit water extractor. Hmmm...Shows you how much I get in the water.

My plan is simple. If you follow my blog you know that I had long hair last year and after having a total knee replacement I had to cut my hair because I was waking up drenched with perspiration, not good when the house is cool and I didn't need to catch a cold. The plan was when I got to the point of swimming I would go over at noon on my lunch hour (the pool is next to the building where I work) and either lap swim or water walk. The short hair has been easy to control and I really don't have to dry it before returning to work. Just put a touch of mousse in it and we're ready to go.

I start on Wednesday with this project and we'll just see how the ole leg does.

Happy Trails...

Tick City...

2010-05-28T09:36:00.004-05:00

The ticks in Oklahoma are horrible this year. I have not seen an infestation like this since 1987. That was the last time I had to treat my yard for ticks and fleas.

This past Tuesday Christie took her dogs for a walk out at the lake and then a swim. What she didn't count on was the ticks that started to cover her and her dogs. At some point in the walk the dogs leads became tangled and she stopped to untangle them and discovered ticks were all over her shoes and she could hear them falling from the trees like rain onto the leaves below. She then rushed to get the dogs to the lake to let them swim and try to get some of the ticks off of them and her.

Later that evening we went to PetSmart and got a tick shampoo and came back and bathed the dogs as they were covered with Lone Star ticks. Chris even had some on her. For the next several days we found ticks on the dogs, in the car and in the house. We even found one on our little guy that didn't even go to the lake. So a through cleaning of the furniture and carpet is in store this weekend as well as a good spraying of the yard.

Years ago we would have sprayed the yard with Diazinon insecticide and that would have been the end of any bug problem for years. This weekend I will get some Malathion or something comparable to spray the yard with, less toxicity to pets and humans.

Happy Trails...

PS...It's Sunday and we're still battling the ticks...UGH!!!!!!! The ticks from the lake are dead but the ones in the yard are making an aggressive stand. I will win this battle!

Family and the Baby Shower

2010-05-28T08:41:00.013-05:00

Getting it all put together before the guests arrive.

Last weekend Heather and J came into town for a baby shower. My goodness is this girl pregnant or what! Her Auntie Karen, Uncle Frank and Cousin Russ came down from Tulsa. Her girlfriends, camp friends and sorority sisters came into town to celebrate and family friends attended as well. Everyone had a great time getting to visit as a lot of them had not see each other since everyone went their separate ways.

Cousin Russ giving Heather a shoulder rub.

The cup-cake cake was darling but not what I had ordered but we went with it anyway as there was not time to redo it. Besides I got a good discount on it so I can't really complain. I made a double recipe of the RV Cooking Shows "Paulette's Cuban Cowboy Caviar" the only thing I changed was...OK...I didn't have time to make the red wine vinaigrette so I put Zesty Italian Dressing on instead. It was good and a big hit! Auntie Karen, a hostess, brought a big bag of Qdoba's homemade chips and baby blue and tan M&Ms. Kelcey, another one of the hostesses and sorority sister brought Ginger Ale, Sprite and Raspberry Sherbet for the punch and we had Iced Tea as well.
I have to thank Fr. Greenwood, one of Heather's priests from camp for the use of St. Anselm's of Canterbury for both the wedding and now the baby shower. It is a beautiful building that is now on the National Historic Register. It's a lovely place with a lovely space for such events.

Heather and Mrs. Ward, her English teacher from high school

Some of the guests in the come and go event.

We had lots of "little ones" at the shower giving Heather and J a wee taste of what they are in for.

Heather and J with Heather's "Sisters" Kelcey and her little one, Desmond, Nicole, Amber & Andrea

After we finished the baby shower we went over to "The Greek House" a local favorite for some real authentic Greek food. We have been eating there since we moved to Norman. When the family who owns and operates the restaurant goes to Greece for their month long vacation we have to suffer here. You should see the place when they return, the line is out the door and around the corner of the building for several days.

After we finished the meal family and friends departed and we got to have short but nice visit with the kids for the remainder of the weekend.
We had a fish fry on Sunday with the fish my brother brought down on Saturday. He and Russ caught over 120 bass and filleted them out. Oh such good eating!

Christie shucking sweet corn

Heather is starting to get to the miserable stage with swollen feet and a rash from her diabetic medication. She now goes to the Dr. once a week for follow-up. Her due date is in July, but this boy may come sooner. We will just have to wait and see. For now...

Happy Trails...

Doris Eaton Travis....

2010-05-14T10:32:00.011-05:00

Broadway dimmed their lights last night for an icon of the theatre, Doris Eaton Travis, the last surviving Ziegfeld Follies Girl. Doris was 106 years young and still dancing when she left us this past Tuesday.

I met Doris 38 years ago when I was just married and had moved to Norman. Her husband Paul was on the Board of Directors at the bank where I worked. I knew they had a ranch west of town and raised Quarter horse race horses, what I didn't know was Doris's history. Over the years I found out that she was a Ziegfeld Follies girl and Eddie Cantor, Will Rogers, Fannie Brice, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin were friends of the family and would come over for family dinners. She knew the composers and lyricists of the music I love to sing. She owned, operated and taught at her Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Michigan, that is how she met her beloved Paul which is another story.

Our friendship grew over the years as my husband would help her with her film projects and film all her birthday parties. Please understand that this woman knew how to give a party. They were glorious festive occasions. Every party would have a special theme and there would be entertainment, dancing and wonderful food. She would have over 100 people at her parties and during the evening she would go to each table and introduce each person at that table to the entire group and tell a little story about them. The last time I saw her do this she was 104. What an amazing memory.

Doris kept young by dancing everyday and surrounding herself with people who were young and young at heart. In 1997 Doris went back to the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York to celebrate the reopening of the theatre where she performed as a young lady. There were several other follies girls there but Doris was the only one that was still dancing. She even performed on the Ellen Show in New York that year. She was an instant hit. When she was 95 she had a part in the movie "Man in the Moon" starring Jim Carey. Here's this little lady having to fall down while riding a stick horse and be revived by Carey's character. I forget how many takes she said she had to do but it was quite a few. When she was 88 she graduated from the University of Oklahoma with her Bachelors degree. Doris wrote a book titled "The Days We Danced" which is a fascinating account of her life. Here is an interview with Ruby Comer that is wonderful, if you have time read it. She interviewed Doris when Doris was 104. www.aumag.org/features/RubyAugust04.html

Doris had a wonderful infectious outlook on life and passed that outlook on to many who knew her. We will miss our darling Doris.

Doris, we tip our hats to you!

Tornado's....

2010-05-10T22:27:00.003-05:00

We had quite a few tornados around our area this evening. But we are fine. The closest one was about 2 miles from our house. East Norman was hard hit. Of course it made national news. We have gotten use to the fact that we live in Tornado Alley, and this time of year is just a fact of life. Why would they put the National Weather Center here in Norman if it wasn't tornado alley.

Knee Good to Go....

2010-05-10T22:19:00.004-05:00

I went in last Thursday for my six month check up for my knee. The Dr. was very pleased with my progress. I was pleased for me when he told me most people only get to about 108 degrees of movement and that is why it is important to get to the 90 degrees. I have 124 degrees of movement in my knee.

It feels better and better with each day that passes. Therefore I have booked my next surgery for December 1. It will be a go if the Sooners do not make it to the Big XII playoff, otherwise I will have surgery on the 7th of December. How do you like that! Having to work your surgery around Sooner Football.

As far as I am concerned it can't get here fast enough. I am so ready to get the next surgery over with.

Happy Trails....

Mother's Day and A Shower for Heather...

2010-05-10T19:55:00.006-05:00

We went to Texas this past weekend for Mother's Day and a baby shower for Heather and baby Noah. Heather had another 3-D ultrasound and we got to see little Noah's face this time. He looks a lot like his daddy. He has turned and his little face is mushed and looks funny. Heather and J were looking at it and they started laughing and then baby Noah started laughing, yes there is a picture of it.

We got into Longview around 6:30 on Friday and immediately headed out to Marshall, TX for the baby shower. We arrived at 7:30 at a beautiful home built in the 1920's. The architectural style is along the haciendas of San Antonio with a center courtyard with fountain and the house built around it. It has been in the same family since the '20's. It is very old but beautiful with a lot of character and charm. We had a wonderful time. We finally got back into Longview around 10 PM and crashed. I just wish the drive was shorter.

Saturday was spent trying to help out around the house, getting weeds pulled flowers planted and such. I worked on getting Heather's Mary Kay closet organized so she could see what inventory she had and needed. We cleaned up around 3:30 and went to see Iron Man 2. We all enjoyed it and had a good time. The only thing I am going to say here is DO NOT LEAVE THE THEATRE BEFORE THE END OF THE CREDITS, THERE IS A KICKER!!! Otherwise you will miss it. That is why we always stay through the credits. You never know if there is a surprise waiting for you.

After the movie we went to Kobe's steak house. It was a busy evening and we waited for quite a while, enough time for me to have a Mai Thi... not a good choice on an empty stomach but it was goooooooooooooooddddddd!!!!!!! But dinner was worth the wait. Our chef's name was Jun pronounced June. We went with J's parents Jerry and Irene, Heather and J, Christie, Dave and myself, a party of 7. They always put on a show and the food is something else.

Jun starting his show

A happy face in rice.
Lots of good veggie things to eat.

An onion volcano

Ah dinner is served...time to eat.

Sunday was spent putting more stuff away and sorting out more junk to be gotten rid of. Dave got a broken sprinkler head fixed so J could water the back yard. J fixed everyone a wonderful meal and we had a great time. Irene, Heather and I opened our Mother's day gifts. I got Laura Bush's new book, chocolate, body wash and body spray. Even Christie got a nice gift set of fragrance from her sister an J. It was for her birthday that was in April. Irene brought over her cookbooks from Trisha Yearwood. There were some great recipes in them. I may have to go and get them.

Then it was time to head home. Christie drove all the way back to Norman. We ran into some real heavy rain just before we got to McAllister, OK. The lightning was something else. Sort of reminded me of the movie "War of the Worlds" As you can see the storm did not affect Fitz's nap.

Gas here is $2.59 at least it's $0.10 cheaper that what it was when we left.

Happy Trails....

A Milestone...

2010-04-27T08:57:00.004-05:00

I get my 10 year pin from the university today. It's hard to believe that I have remained in one spot for 10 years, well 11 years actually. In all of my lifetime I have never remained in a job other than being a mother for more than a year or two. Being a Staff Assistant is something I enjoy...helping other people.

I had a mobile catering business once upon a time that I really enjoyed doing for two years until I was injured by a careless driver. After much pain over the following 8 months the doctor advised me that if I wanted any kind of a normal life I had to quit lifting 50 lb. coke canisters, 100 lb potato sacks and 100 lb propane tanks. That's when I sold my trailer and contacted a friend of mine at the university. She got me in with the Peak program where you do temp work for different departments at the university on a short term basis. I did that for 16 months then was hired by Project Support and Compliance Assurance to do scanning. The department spilt in 2001 and I moved to the College of Continuing Education to work for Outreach Sponsored Programs where I work with the administrative staff to support the officers who work with grant accounts.

Did I ever feel I would stay at the university this long? No. But I will say this, I have been happy here, doing what I do, helping other people and being a representative of a great university.

Live On University...

A Celebration of Life...Ned Hockman

2010-04-24T12:54:00.014-05:00

Today people came from all over the United States and gathered at the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communications for a Celebration of Life: Remembering Ned Hockman.

Ned was one of those bigger than life kinda guys who had an amazing journey.

Jon Vittitow had this to say about Ned, "He was on the front line of history in World War II, in Burma. He was at the dawn of modern film and television and worked with Sony in developing technology for the military that would become part of many consumer products. He captured the glory days of OU Football with Bud Wilkinson and beyond. He has a still photo collection that captures yet another side of his artistry. Ned had an amazing ride in life, and he knew and appreciated it. Ned was down to earth and approachable."

During both WWII and the Korean War, Ned was a combat cameraman. He came back to Norman and became "the" film and photography professor at the university and touched the lives of thousands of students. Many came to day to remember him.

Connie Smith from Norman remembered him this way. "Ned taught us how to take pictures and how to tell a story from our own unique perspective. When a student asked why he he wasn't spending more time talking about developing film, Ned said "Read the paper in the box. That's all you need to know about that!" And he was right, the mechanical part is easy. It is learning to see that is the hard part. In 1999, for the University Women's Cookbook, I staged a table for two, complete with china, crystal and candlelight, at dusk in front of Bizzell Library. Bill Williams took a magical photo of the scene and I showed to to Ned, who said" Aw Connie, it's amazing what you can do with those digital photos!" I cherish that surprised look and big smile he gave me because we had done it " the old fashioned" way. How lucky I was to have taken his classes and know him for more that 30 years!"

Marianne Ray McLean sent an email with this, "I'm sitting in my office here at Walt Disney Imagineering and I know in no uncertain terms that I am here because Ned Hockman slapped a Bolex in my hand and told me to go out and "shoot some movies." He said, "don't worry about the camera...you can drop kick a Bolex and it will still run," and though I never drop kicked the camera, I did drop it once and he was right. It is hard to hurt that old camera. Because of Ned, for the first time in my life I felt I was really doing something that I wanted to do, something I passionately enjoyed. I loved the classes but more than that I loved the times we sat and talked surrounded by all the film cans and equipment. I loved how he so enthusiastically told me how great I was. I needed to hear and believe that and so I worked even harder making little movies and trying to make good grades. I wanted him to be proud of me. What great motivation."

Ned always encouraged his students. He made them believe that they could do it. Ned who was the king of sticky notes left this on one of them, "The success of a teacher is his students."

Ned left us on December 20, 2009 at 88 years young, he will be greatly missed but as one of his former students said, "Everything has a beginning, middle and end, but for Ned, today was not an end to his life but a reset.

If Ned were here he would say just one word..."FANTASTIC!"

Let's Skype Together

2010-04-22T10:12:00.004-05:00

OK, I'm hooked. I learned about Skype yesterday from Bobbie Chapman a full timer friend in Colorado. I joined and now I'm hooked...oops I've already said that. It's a wonderful way to stay connected to family and friends via the Internet. And it's free. Anything free is good in my estimation. Go to http://www.skype.com/ and get set up.

When Dave dropped me off this morning he called me a Skyping fool...don't let him fool you, he enjoyed the conversation last night as well, matter of fact he was amazed at the quality and clarity of the program.

So come join the party and let's Skype together! We are available in the evenings to talk.

Happy Trails.....

Tax Day Come and Gone...

2010-04-17T21:30:00.005-05:00

Well not exactly, I am still working on them but getting ready to turn in 2008. It's a pain when you loose your information due to a computer crash. But I am getting close to getting it done. I'm so glad I have a wonderful tax consultant. She filed an extension for me so I can breath a little easier for now.

As soon as I finish 2008, then I will start in on 2009. And when I finish 2009 I have a plan...to start entering the data as I get it for 2010. That way at the end of the year I will be ahead of the game...hopefully!

Not much going on here at the moment. Trying to compile a guest list for a baby shower for our daughter. It should be fun.

Happy Trails....