Reunion

So a few weeks ago I got an email from my friend Cathey from back in high school. It seems my high school is working on a reunion. Fun! We are having an all-school reunion for the classes of 1983-1999. I fall closer to the beginning, but not all the way back. I graduated in 1986. So since then I have been communicating with old friends while we try to plan this shin-dig. It will not be until July, so we have a little time to get the plans made. I am getting geared up for it, by pulling out yearbooks and trying to look up old friends on Facebook, etc.

While looking through the year book I found some old pictures of me and of other people who I know now, but did not know then. John Van Horn was in third grade when I graduated. His pictures are very funny. Lonna Wright went to my school too. I think she was in 5th grade when I graduated. Tom Dahlman went there too, but he did not make an appearance in any of my yearbooks.

It has been fun catching up with friends. Julie lives here in town. She is getting ready to sell her big beautiful home to get another bigger, more beautiful home. Christy just got her Doctorate! I know that is just the tip of the iceberg. That makes me feel kind of like a failure, or like an underachiever. I still live in our first home and I didn't finish college.

I hate the way getting for reunions makes you feel sort of desperate and worried about what you have done and how you look. Is it possible to lose 100 pounds in 4 months? LOL!

The good part of reunions is that when you finally all get together, all the good times come flooding back. Last time we met, within 20 minutes we were all laughing and having a great time. We were really close friends, and I graduated with a wonderful group of people! I am going to try really hard to keep this all in perspective and not freak out.

This picture was taken 13 years ago at our 10 year reunion. Pictured from the top left is Julie, seated in the chair is Ann, on the amr is me, seated on the floor is Christy, and the guy is Jerry. It was a lot of fun. Very casual and relaxed. We only had 25 seniors the year I graduated and of course all of us did not make it for the reunion. All in all I am looking forward to seeing my friends again this summer!

Snowy Day!!

Saturday we were expecting snow. The weatherman said that it would start early. Kim worked all night Friday, so when he came home and crawled into bed at 7 AM Saturday morning, I asked him if we had any snow. He said no. I was very disappointed. I do love snow! So I just went back to sleep. Around 9 AM, I woke up and read my book for 1/2 an hour. Finally tired of laying around, I got up. To my surprise, there was a ton of snow and it we really coming down fast. I snowed all day long! Jacob Got out on his fourwheeler after he woke up and tried to ride for a while. He does not like to ride while it is snowing, and it just would not stop, so he gave up and came back inside.









The outside dogs, Bonnie and Clyde had a great time running around in the snow. I have never seen Clyde quite so frisky. They did manage to stop long enough to visit me on the deck for a treat. Bonnie spent most of the day rolling around in the snow and running up and down the fence cheering Jacob on while he was on the fourwheeler. I think this is the most snow they have ever seen and they really seemed to enjoy the cold wet snow.


Around 1:30 we went to Target to pick up a few items for a party we were going to Saturday evening. The main roads were not too bad, but the parking lots and the back roads were terrible. I almost got stuck in the Target parking lot. I was surprised how many people were out. Before we left, I walked down to the dead end to take a picture of the Red Bud tree. It looked so amazing with the snow on the blossoms! By the time I got back up the hill to the car, my hair was soaking wet. This was a very wet snow, perfect for snowball fights and snow men, but neither of those were on our agenda.









We headed back home and I was relieved to arrive safe and sound. Just as I was considering cancelling the party I was co-hosting for my cousin's son, Houston and his new wife, Meredith, I received a call from our church. They had decided to cancel Sunday services. That was no surprise since the parking lot would be a mess.
I called several people who were planning to attend and we decided to go ahead with the party, which was mostly for family. Houston and Meredith got married last month in Arkansas and the family here had not been able to attend the wedding, so my niece, Mattie, and I decided to host a reception for them here while they were visiting for Spring break. At 7PM we met at Rosehill United Methodist Church for a celebration. We had home made chocolate cake, ice cream, strawberry cheesecake and a very nice time.


Houston's wife, Meredith is a very nice and beautiful girl. I am sure she will fit in nicely with our family. I am not sure that is a compliment, but it works out good that we seem to get along. Even my Grandma came, and she rarely gets out of the house for anything. The picture on the left is my Aunt Mary, Houston, Stephanie (his mom), My grandma, and Meredith.



Here is a picture of my favorite sister, Debbie and I. Isn't she cute? She was a great older sister, some other time I will blog about some of the awesome things she did when we were growing up.

It was a nice visit with family. I hope that Houston and Meredith have a wonderful future together!

Friday!

Friday is my favorite day of the week. Saturday and Sunday go too fast, Friday is a work day, but it is the end of the week and I usually get to do something fun with Jacob on Friday nights.

Tonight we went to my grandmas house. He was having fun watching the basketball games and eating the chocolate from her candy dishes.

He always makes me laugh. Tonight he was modeling a candy wrapper on his nose. You know, the foil kind that are on Miniature Reeses cups? Yes, that is my son. I don't know where he gets his sense of humor. Must be from his dad!

He has signed up for a dodgeball tournament at school and his team needs a name. Please post your clever suggestions as soon as possible. We need your suggestions by Monday evening. :o)

Remember you can post your comments without signing in as a member. Just type your remark, fill in the coded word, and click anonymous, but make sure you include your name so I will be able to thank you for the suggestion!

Work, Church, Home...

That was my life today. Nothing exciting.

Work, how I make a living. A little bit stressful, a little bit fun, a little bit of pay. I guess that seems fair.

Church, how I re-charge. I start to get a little stressed from work and other worries. So I go to mid-week services and see my friends. We eat together, we talk, laugh, sometimes cry, pray, sing, study, and I am ready to face the rest of the week. I love Wednesday nights at our church. Almost more than Sunday morning. :o)

Finally, home. Sigh. It is nice to be here. Relaxing. Survivor is on tape. I will finish my blog entry and sit down to watch my favorite show, then read myself to sleep. Life is not really so bad, after all!

Here are two interesting pictures for your viewing pleasure.

This is a picture of my Great Grandma Zeila. I inherited a few things from her. Curly hair, the diamonds in my wedding ring, some really nifty old beads that Gigi crafted into an awesome necklace and bracelet and the item in the other picture. A lady's head vase. I have looked for one like it online for quite a while and have never found one just like it. I guess it may be worth a little money, but I just like her. Fun to look at. Makes me smile.

Goodnight, Survivor is calling!

Back to work...

After a week away it was time to go back to work. Having a week off made me realize how much I wish I did not have to work. I guess as far as jobs go, I like mine. I work with nice people and most of my customers are very pleasant.

Unfortunately, finances being what they are, a job is required, so I will keep doing what I do. And I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to work in a safe, comfortable environment.

So, as I sat at my desk today, where do you think my mind was? Yes, you guessed it, in the mountains, on the road, and looking at the palm trees against the beautiful blue Arizona sky.

Traveling was so much fun. I love the adventure of being on the road! I don't even mind all the driving. I could have happily driven the entire way, except it is harder to take pictures when you are behind the wheel.

This was a once in a lifetime trip for me. I had a great time, but I dont think I will ever take another vacation without Kim or Jacob. We are already trying to think of something fun to do for our Spring Break next year. Jacob and Kim want to camp, so I am going to look in to renting a pop-up-camper for a week. I can live with that kind of camping!

Tulsa to Tucson '09

Friday 03/13/2009

The fun began at 4:30 on Friday the 13th. My Aunt Mary picked me up at work and we hit the road with plans to drive to Amarillo to spend the night. We thought it would take us approximately 4 or 4.5 hours to reach Amarillo. The weather was nice, after the snow Tulsa had on Thursday, we were a little nervous about what the conditions would be like. I told Mary that I was going to take our picture, so she p0sed. When I told her I was posting this on my blog, she was horrified. I just laughed, you know.... my evil laugh! We stopped for dinner at around 7:15 at a Denny's. As we left at around 8:00 it was just getting dark and it was starting to rain. I took the wheel and drove into the night (Aunt M does not like to drive at night!). About 30 minutes later, the rain turned to snow! I was so surprised. I have never driven on the highway in hard snow. It was a taxing experience, for sure! We continued to Amarillo and arrived at close to 10PM. Mary prefers to stay at a Comfort Inn, so we were both very happy when we immediately saw the sign for Comfort Inn just as we rolled into Amarillo. Here is the snow we found on the ground outside the Hotel.

Saturday 03/14/2009

We left Amarillo (yes, by morning) and headed to our side trip destination, Santa Fe, NM. We decided to take a short cut at Clines Corners and found that the road was under construction and we had to drive a good part of the short-cut on a GRAVEL road!!! Ugh! That was slow going, but a beautiful drive. The scenery was breathtaking for a girl who does not live in eyesight of mountains! We arrived at around 1:00PM.

I don't know if you have ever been to Santa Fe or not, but it is an eyeful! Everywhere you look there are amazing things to see. Mary and I walked for several hours, through lots of shops looking at art, jewelry, furniture and just amazing sights. Here is a picture of a funny statue.

And here is a nifty men's suit. It has pez dispensers glued all over it. Very artistic, but it would be terrible to sit in!!We found beads galore, they made me think of Gigi. Also saw tons of cute odds and ends. We shopped and shopped. I loved this little owl pitcher, but the lady who owned the shop must have loved it more than I did, because I decided it was too pricey to purchase. But I had to sneak a picture!

We finally decided it was time to eat. We chose carefully. We asked several shopkeepers where we should eat dinner. Two different one's mentioned "The Shed". The menu was Mexican. Aunt M was not happy with the choices, I thought it was fine, but not what I hoped it would be. I think we both wanted a little more for the price we paid. Santa Fe is a tourist town so everything is pricey. With that in mind, we headed out of town for the night. Looking for another Comfort Inn far enough away from Santa Fe that the price would not be outrageous. We drove about 2 hours and stopped for the night around 8PM in Socorro, NM.

Sunday 03/15/09

The trip continued. It was our plan to drive the rest of the way to Tucson on Sunday. We had cut a few hours off the trip by driving a few hours extra Saturday night. The scenery on the way was even more beautiful than what we saw in Santa Fe! Wow!

We arrived in Tucson around 1:00. The weather was beautiful and and sunny. It was about 70 degrees and the sun was bright. It felt so good to finally see the sign for the trailer park where Grandma's fifthwheel has been parked for the past 20 years.

According to Aunt M, this is not located in the best part of town. Grams and Gramps had been coming here for about 30 years all together. After Gramps died, Grams had the trailer brought to Crazy Horse and it has been there since then. She is the most senior resident in the park, and it seems like everyone loves her!

As soon as we arrived Grams talked us into going to one of her favorite places. The Tanque Verde Swap Meet. It is basically a giant flea market. There were lots of fun things to see there. I quickly spotted a Oklahoma license plate, a bear skin and a sweet little Miniature Schnauzer (my favorite breed of dog!) and some beautiful fresh fruits and veggies. Grams and I had to sit down and take a little break while Aunt M continued to shop. The temp was rising quickly and it was almost 80 degrees by 3:00! Finally Mary came back with her goodies and we headed for the car.

Back at the trailer, we relaxed for the rest of the evening. Mary napped and I read a book, then Grams friends came over and we spent the evening playing Rumicube. Louie and Dale, park employees, came by the trailer to say hello. Seems like there was always someone stopping by to say hello or to play a game of Rumicube with Grams. She seems to stay really busy for an 87 year young lady.

Monday 03/16/09

We got up and got ready to face the day. The weather was beautiful again. It had gotten quite cold over night, but it warmed up very quickly. While Aunt M finished getting ready, I walked with Grandma over to the office to pay her bill for the year. I got to meet Frank, the owner and Zach one of the park employees who has worked in the office for many years.

Mary and I decided to take our brochures to Cindy Lou's, a local diner for breakfast. We looked them over and decided to go to the 4th Avenue shopping district in downtown Tucson. We headed that direction and parked in the wrong place. While we were looking for the right place we found a cute vintage shop. Mary bought some awesome jewelry. Here are some pictures from her windows.

We finally found 4th Ave. It was really fun. We found some great bargains, Aunt Mary bought a lot of beautiful jewelry. I mostly just window shopped. I found some fun ideas for Halloween, but somehow, I don't seee these costumes showing up at our church Trunk or Treat festivities!

Tuesday 03/17/09

St. Patricks day! Another day of shopping, this time at a shopping mall. Fun. On the way back to the park, we stopped at WalGreens so I could get some green nail polish for my toes. Then back to the park for a quiet afternoon of toe nail painting, reading and napping. Finally finally at 6PM we went to a St. Patrick's day feast at the park clubhouse. Louie made Corned Beef and Cabbage and boiled potatoes and carrots. There was lots of other food, including homemade cookies and bread (by Grams!). We got a chance to meet more of Grams' friends we also got to see the place where she spends so much of her social time, playing Bingo and working puzzles.

Since this was our last night in Tucson, I spent some time after dinner taking some pictures around the trailer. I found some beautiful flowers, the pink flowers were vivid, the white ones so delicate! There were tiny bees flying everywhere, but I could not seem to capture them on film.

Wednesday 03/18/09

We got up and got around. The car was mostly packed, but we had a few last minute items to squeeze in. Then at 7AM we went back to the clubhouse for donuts and coffee. We watched while everyone gave Grams hugs and made her promise to come back next year. It is a small park and they make her feel like family. Seeing first hand how she is treated there makes me feel better about her leaving every year. We were on the road by 7:30. There were more sights to be seen on the way back. We stopped again in Amarillo, where we spent the night, back at the same Comfort Inn.

Thursday 03/19/09

Last day on the road to Tulsa. It felt great when we finally had to set the clock back to Tulsa time. There is a two hour time difference between Tucson and Tulsa. I know it will take me a few days to readjust to the change. It wonderful to finally see the sign that said that Tulsa was just ahead! We rolled up in front of my house at 1:05 this afternoon. I had a great time, but it is so wonderful to be home at last!

This week...

This week is almost over. It has flown by. There is much I need to be doing. Again I did not take any pictures today. So before I publish this post, I will have to scroll through my pictures for something interesting. It was a long day in the classroom today. I am glad it is finished.

I did add a prayer list to my sidebar tonight. Please join me in prayer for these people. I know you may not know them, but I am a believer in the power of prayer, so God will know who you are praying for. If you want to add your prayer to my list, let me know.

So, as I was scrolling through my pictures, this is the one that jumped out at me. I am so blessed to have this boy/man in my life. He is almost 15-1/2! I can' t believe how blessed I am. Thank God for this kid, because my life would be very empty and boring without him. I sure will miss him next week.

Today...

Today was a busy day at work, my co-worker was out all day at a class. I have to be gone all day tomorrow in class. So it was busy trying to tie up loose ends. Also I am trying to wind up my work so I can leave for vacation Friday. It is almost here. I need to start a list so I can get everything done and leave with some peace of mind.

I am working on a secret project that I am just dying to share with my peeps, but I can't and it is so killing me! It is hard to think of something to blog about because I am obsessed with it!!

I found this picture in my archives, and it made me smile. Sigh, if you know me at all, you know how I love leaves!