This & That...

Wow, what an end to October....Halloween, homecoming, snow, thunderstorms and daylight savings comes to and end...back to coming home in the dark...UGH!. What does November have in store for us? Birthdays, Thanksgiving and lots of leg exercises. Need to loose twelve more pounds before surgery. Drink that water, lots and lots of water! Move that body, work it out!

Got Physical Therapy squared away. Would like to have gone to the McBride Physical Therapy Center but it is Out-of-Network and it would cost me more money. At least I do have insurance that will cover most of the procedure. The component (Striker Knee) is going to cost me $1600.00 up front. Insurance does not cover that. All totalled the surgery without insurance is around $40,000.00.

We dressed up in Halloween costumes today for work. I decided to come as a Contract Outlaw. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would dress up in OSU colors...Go Pokes beat Texas!

We had some really great costumes this year. It started out small several years ago and has grown each year. I find it fun to get in the spirit of the season! BOOOOOOOOOOO!

Knee Surgery...

It's countdown time until I have knee surgery. December 2 is the big day. I will be having a total knee replacement on my left leg. I went to the Dr. last week and and was told that my knees are abysmal. According to the Dr. I will be in the hospital the first three days maybe four days and then come home. Physical therapy three days a week. I have known since I was 25 that this day would come. I am so get ready to get this over with. What I was impressed with was the electronic tablet the Dr. was using. It had all my records on it as well as my x-rays and I got to hold it and see everything. Another thing that I was impressed with was how fast I was moved through the different areas. I will start documenting the experience as I go through this journey. Talking to the insurance company and the Dr's office has been a real treat. I just want to know what the bottom line will be so I can start the financing procedure. So stay tuned for more information

Amore & Arrivederci For Now

Ah... The Mammogram...

It had been 3 years since I had a mammogram done. I know, I know, shame on me! A co-worker urged me to go get one as her Dr. found Stage 1 Breast Cancer in her mammogram several years ago, she is now fine after radiation and chemo. Plus my director had a conniption fit when she found out that I had not had one in that length of time. To be honest, I hated getting the things done as I just hate being hurt during the procedure by that darn machine. They love to smash you flat in both directions. Plus it made you feel like you had be violated.

Well this morning it was different. They have new technology at Norman Regional Hospital's Women's Breast Care Center. A digital X-ray machine, yes they still squeeze you but no longer smash you. Does it hurt? No! :) And now you get to breath while they take the picture. All in all it was a pleasant experience. I will not mind at all getting it done again next year and the year after that and so on and so on.

Since it's National Breast Cancer month, here is a link so you can click to give "Free Mammograms"

It is a worth while cause. Just be sure to go in each day and click to give someone a chance at living a long life. http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

Amore & Arrivederci For Now

Fall Has Arrived...

The trees are turning colors and what a display they are presenting us. Golds, reds, yellows, burgundies, lime greens and rusts. The wind is starting to change from the south to the north and the bite of winter is not far behind. Tis interesting how the seasons can creep upon you or just come in, in one felled swoop. The swoop happened this year, much cooler than usual. Will we get snow this year? Generally we don't get much snow but according to the Farmer's Almanac it's supposed to be a much wetter winter than normal. That's ok with me....means less watering we will have to do next spring.

Amore & Arrivederci For Now

U2 & Black Eyed Peas...

Back in July I had a chance to purchase U2 360 World Tour Concert tickets. So I did, 4 of them.
We went to the concert last night at the stadium and all I have to say is...It Was Awsome!!!
The stage set is 164 ft high with a 360 screen so you can see the performers no matter where they are. http://360.u2.com/ by going to this site you can see the set up and listen to the music. Just way too cool.
Also performing with U2 was Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas. Even tho I am not a real fan of rap it was an interesting performance and I did enjoy it. Here is the Black Eyed Peas site http://www.blackeyedpeas.com/
I am so glad we had the chance to go.

Amore & Arrivederci For Now

Weight Watchers....

Another lady in my office and I joined Weight Watchers at work back in September. To date she has lost 5% of her weight and I have lost 5 lbs. But I will say I feel better and according to my test results from the Dr., my blood sugar is down to 91 instead of the 126 it was 3 weeks ago. My blood pressure is good and everything else is in good order, Very Good News Indeed!!! I have been on a liver cleanse and I feel my energy returning and I seem to be more active. Hence the desire to tackle jobs I don't want to but know I must. I really like the new Weight Watcher site. It helps you to track your points and all the things you need to do for good health. When I hit my goal I will post a before picture and an after picture. Oh the Goddess I will be!

Amore & Arrivederci For Now

Decluttering and OU-Texas

It's OU-Texas Saturday and OU is up by 6 and Sam Bradford is out again due to another shoulder injury, Landry Jones is now QB of the team. I have lots of projects on my plate but today I am going to tackle the kitchen. There is so much stuff to get rid of in this house. I know I have to tackle it one room, one cabinet, one closet, one part of the shed at a time. I have a goal and I am bound to do it. OU is moving the ball at the moment. Darn...missed again. Still 6-0 OU. Gooooo Sooners! Well the Sooners played their heart out but came up short 16-13. It was a great game.

I on the other hand have been busy clearing out the shelves in my kitchen. I have cleared out a lot of stuff that needed to be gotten rid of a long time ago. A cathartic feeling.

Amore & Arrivederci For Now

Bobbie and Jim, Leslie and Bill

Oh Happy Day!

Yesterday Bobbie and Jim arrived from Albuquerque and the Balloon Fiesta. They called Tuesday night to say that they will be staying at the Casino down the road from us. Bobbie also said they had traveling companions, Bill and Leslie who worked at a KOA in Colorado City, Co., and asked if it was ok if they joined us which I resounded with a big YES!!! I had been reading about the Bear and the Butterfly which is the name of their blog. I was anxious to meet some of the people that I had been reading about.

The crew left Amarillo at 9 yesterday morning and drove all day in fog. They pulled into the casino around 4 yesterday evening. All 4 of them were very tired but ready for dinner. We met them at the casino and then we took a quick tour of Bill and Leslie's 5th wheel. It was very nice with lots of storage space. After all, it is their home. We were impressed.

We piled into 2 cars and drove to BJ's Brewpub and had pizza and beer. It was good and the tripple chocolate pizookie was to die for. Yum! http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/ We had great conversation and knew we had made new friends.

Bill and Leslie went back to their trailer and Jim and Bobbie came over to our house so Bobbie could help me on the settings of my blog. We had a few adjustments to make but for the most part I had done a deacent job of getting it set up.


Bill and Leslie at the Tetons

Earlier in the month I helped Bobbie win a non-electric drip coffee pot on an E-Bay auction. She had it shipped to our house along with 2 prescriptions which we held until they could get here to pick it up.

The four of them are on their way to Coffeeville, KS to work as workampers at Amazon.com as pickers and packers. Bobbie and Leslie and Bill and Jim are hoping to get positions in receving. They will make enough money to pay their fuel bill for their truck next year. They will work until December 23rd then they are off to Quartside Arizona and the worlds largest RV show.

Quartside is a sleepy community of 1300 residents that swells to over 100,000+ people in the wintertime. It is one of the most sought after places in the winter for boondocking. My what a life of excitement.
Amore & Arrivederci For Now

The Oklahoma State Fair

One of the events that Dave and I look forward to each year is Senior Day at the Oklahoma State Fair. Now you would think that a couple of youngsters like us would scoff at Senior Day but for us it is a fun filled day. After Dave had his heart attack 3 years ago we started looking at each day as a blessing and try to live life to its fullest. I work full time and I decided that the office could do without me for a day. Thank goodness I have a boss who understands.

We started the day off with a free buffet breakfast at the casino then headed out to the fair which is also free that day for seniors. This year we made a point to see the Clydesdale's and visited with Doug Sauter the coach of the former Blazer's Ice Hockey team in Oklahoma City.

Doug said that he was excited about the Edmonton Oilers farm team coming to OKC, we are too. Since Dave is a Canadian, now Naturalized US Citizen we have a fondness for Hockey.

I just wish we could afford to go to to the games.

After finishing up in the horse barn we ventured over to the Cox Pavilion and spent some time going up and down the isles. I looked at some hair items for my long hair and then Dave and I watched a demo of some cleaning products for rugs. This stuff was something else, taking dirty motor oil out of carpet and leaving it white. I was impress, needless to say we departed with $30.00 of our money and got two canisters of cleaner and a scrub broom for our carpets. We will see if it lives up to its hype. Sure hope so.

From there we ventured over to the Centennial Building and went up and down the isles there. Dave kills me, I want to stop and look at things and listen to the demos and his idea of attending the fair is to race up and down the isles to say that he was there. How he ever sees everything is beyond me.

We then sauntered over to the Modern Living Building and one again raced though the building, I can say I was in the building. We did stop long enough to have our annual foot long corn dogs to the tune of $14.00 total and then was on our way. We could have had 4 regular size corn dogs for $12.00. They will soon price themselves out of the market if they are not careful. I thought $12.00 for 2 foot longs last year was outrageous. But the state fair does have to have its cut too.

After getting off our feet for awhile we decided to head out and call it a day at the fair. We went back to the Cox Pavilion to purchase the hair items that I had looked at earlier and to pick up our carpet cleaner as we had not wanted to carry them around all afternoon. This is something that we both enjoy in September. Next year I will make it a point to let Dave know that I want him to stop so I can see some of the demonstrations. Ha Ha!!

Amore & Arrivederci For Now

A Blast From The Past...

We saw the Wizard and he is a little man behind the curtain...


My Junior High Reunion this past weekend was a blast. Saw old friends and cemented new friendships. Dave and I made it to the Embassy Suites by 7:00 P.M. the start time for the Friday evening kick off. I called Peggy Reeves as we entered the Creek Nations Turnpike. Peggy met us at the hotel. I had not seen Peggy since high school. She was such a sweet girl back then and is still sweet now. She was quite nervous but I reassured her that she could do this. I also saw Steve Reeves, no relation, Jimmy Walker, Susie Monger, Gaye Rumbaugh, Mike David, Gaye's husband, Jean Barsh, Mike Soper, Dave Hefly, Stan Clark, Lollie Turnbull, Sadie Haddad, Steve Montgomery, Linda Roarke, Linda Butler and lots of other people I did not know in Jr. High or put simply, just plain forgotten them. A lot of these people I never had friendships with but knew them throughout Jr. High and High School. There were some people that were suppose to come but for one reason or another were not able to attend. I would have loved to been able to see them again, maybe next time. There are other people that are now gone but remembered by all. As long as you remember them, they live on in our hearts.

We took a bus to the Jr. High and took a school tour on Saturday morning and had a box lunch at the school provided by Jason's Deli. Our tour guide was the Assistant Principle, Mrs. Connie Hamilton. Wilson is now a magnet school, its particular specialty is Foreign Languages. My how education has changed since our time there. The school had set up a table and decorations, yearbooks, and old pictures of us way back when and had it there for the week prior to our arrival, it was a touching gesture. We even learned how we became known as the "Wilson Rebels". After lunch and a walk down memory lane, yes the girls locker room and gym were still the same, even found my old gym locker, we got back on the bus and went to each of the elementary schools that fed into Wilson and the people that went to that school had their pictures taken in front of the school. Steve Montgomery and I went to Sequoyah Elementary. I took a peek in the front doors and saw that someone had spent a lot of time painting a mural on the gym doors and entrance hall. It was quiet striking. I liked it. I wish I could have seen the rest of the school...talk about memories, Mr. Sinsentaffer, Miss Harper, Mr. Dodd...

After the bus tour was over Dave and I went back to my brothers house and picked up our niece Kelsey and took her to Woodward Park for her Senior picture shoot. After a couple of hours there we went back and changed and went back to the hotel for the dinner. We sat with Peggy, Gaye, Mike, Jean & Sadie. Dinner was excellent and the company great. We had our choice of Chicken Parmesan, Steak, Roasted New Potatoes, Savory Green Beans, Salad, Roll and to die for Chocolate cake. I do believe that I enjoyed this reunion much more that my high school reunion two years ago.

After the dinner we said our goodbyes, promised to keep in-touch and went our separate ways until the next reunion. Time has changed a lot of things, views and opinions. I think I prefer to remember this group when we were innocent and naive and not so jaded in our thinking. They say time heals a lot of wounds but for some, I fear time has deepened some of the wounds for some. My hope for those people is that they find peace and joy in their lives.


As they say " There's No Place Like Home"


Amore & Arrivederci For Now

Junior High Reunion???

We're off to see the wizard the wonderful wizard of Oz.....

Junior High!!! Ah, those were the days that we were totally oblivious of the world, the age of the innocents. I was in Jr. High when Kennedy was shot. There are 25 of our class members from Jr. High that are going to get together this weekend in Tulsa, OK, to meet up with old friends that went their different ways to different high schools. For some of us, we have not seen each other for 45 years. I will be meeting up with a friend that I have not seen since high school. It should be a fun trip down memory lane, and again maybe not. We will see.


Amore & Arrivederci For Now