Problemas

For the past two days I have been trying to post on my new computer. There seems to be a problem with the satellite or so my husband says. I am beginning to think it some computer conspiracy. Someone out there is determined that I not use my new computer and my new internet. I have been running back and forth between my computer and Jesse's trying to post. Sometimes I am able to comment, but not always. I feel like I have been cut off from the world. I can read your blogs, but not reply or post. Finally, I have gone back to my old dial-up to get note posted and let you know what is going on. Also, I lied about feeling better - or it was just wishful thinking. I have not felt up to par, yet. Maybe I have turned the corner, and I am beginning to feel better, but I have no strength. It has been the pits. And I could not even whine about it because I can't post. Hopefully, all of this works out in time. When it does, I will do a victory dance.

Ill Weekend

Friday was a busy day. I hit the ground running and did not stop until the late afternoon. I drove to Lawton first thing and had Jesse's car serviced. This time the service man at Toyota was super nice. I was back in Duncan by 11:00 to help a friend decorate for her daughter's wedding. I got home about 4:00 with the beginnings of a funny tickle in my throat and a slight ache in my bones. Toby took Jesse and I out to dinner. Jesse has been so busy lately, that we do not have many outings with her. It was a real treat. But before the evening was over, I was not feeling well. I woke up Saturday with a sore throat and fever. After taking some over-the-counter drugs, I felt well enough to make it to wedding. I had several duties at the wedding and did not want to let my friend down. It may have been a big mistake, because it really wore me out. We stayed at the wedding until the last guest was gone and helped clean up. I went home and crashed. The rest of the weekend and most of Monday, I ran a low fever and felt like I had been hit by a truck. Monday afternoon, a neighbor came by to say that our horses had escaped and were down the road. Great. The good news was that Toby was off today, so he was here to help me round up the horses. Somewhere during the excitement, my fever broke. We penned up the horses with not too many problems considering horses are like little kids doing everything wrong. When I got home, I slept for a few hours and woke up feeling much better. I finally had the strength to post something even if my weekend was not very exciting.

Painting of the Week

One of my students brought in a picture from Park City, Utah. I thought it would best be done in watercolor, but she had not done many watercolors. In order to help her with the painting, I often paint the same picture. Painting together seems to work well when teaching - rather than me trying to explain where to paint certain colors or particular brush strokes. Watch, learn, imitate - tried and true teaching method. Plus, I get a painting too:) Kat's painting turned out very nice, and she finished it in one sitting. I may make watercolorist out these girls yet.

Anniversary

Two years ago, my son introduced me to the world of blogging. Today is my anniversary of sorts. I have now been blogging for two years. My how time flies! Although I had heard of blogging and the difference bloggers made on the 2004 elections, I had no idea that I, too, could be a blogger. And why would I want to blog? The main reason I wanted to try my hand at blogging is because I want to keep up with the latest computer fads. You know that I am not a computer techie, but I was intrigued by the idea of being able to communicate with people throughout the world sharing ideas, news, diaries, etc. It seemed a great way to write about life and read about other’s lives. It seemed a great source of real news – having a finger on what real people really think.

Bo sent me to Blogspot and told me to follow the instructions to my own blog – pretty easy. Even a “computer illiterate” could do it. If you read my first blog, you will see that I had some fears of the blogosphere. When instant messaging came out, I had a great time chatting with friends and family. It was a great way to keep in touch with Bo at college. I found that I really liked using the computer as a way of communicating. After trying my hand at chat rooms (a so-called Christian site) and getting burned, I was a little reluctant to try blogging - voice my opinions - worry that I would be attacked again. Having strangers read my thoughts and make comments took some courage. I have never been one to worry about the “approval of man”, but neither do I want to be slammed. I am a people person. I love hearing what others do and think. Blogging turned out to be perfect for me. My little blog is not very important in the grand scheme of things, but it makes me happy. I have met some good friends and found some interesting ties to the rest of the world. Blogging has been an outlet for the writer in me, and it has been a great source of information – much better than the mass media.

My first year blogs were probably the best. Stories about building our little house were just funny. In my second post, I wrote about a newborn calf that lost its mother and became my bottle baby. I continued to tell about the calf as she grew. Two years ago, I did not post pictures, but here is one of “the Bambina”. Another good thing about blogging – it is a dairy of my life – a way to look back and see what was happening and what I thought at the time.

You know, it does not really matter what others think about my life or my blog. This is for me. As long as it is enjoyable (profitable to my soul), I will do it. If it becomes a pain, I will stop. Although, I hope others enjoy my posts, and I do try to write for my audience, none of that has to matter. It is like my art. Sure, I want people to like my art, but if they don’t life will go on and I will continue to do what I do.

Rock and Rant

The plan for today was to switch cars with Jesse so that I could drive her car to Lawton and have the oil changed at the Toyota dealership. Driving Jesse’s car is always a treat. She has a Scion. It is sportier and has more horsepower than my Camry. We both love our cars, but one inconvenience is having to drive to a Toyota dealership for service. Sometimes I go to the Ardmore dealership where we bought my Camry – they are always pleasant, but it is closer to go to Lawton. The WF dealership tried to sell me on something that I did not need – I don’t go there anymore. This morning I got moving early since I had other errands. I got to the dealership about 10:00 AM. The service manager asked if I had called ahead. I told him no. He then told me that they could not change my oil today – maybe Friday. I told him that I had never called ahead in the several years that I had been coming to them. He then told me that he only had two technicians working and no one to change my oil. The guy who normally does oil changes had “family issues”. I stood there wanting to rant and rave and complain that I had driven over 45 miles and that I could not come back on Friday. I wanted to yell, “Family issues? What the heck does that mean?” I wanted to tell him he should have more than one guy who changes oil. After all, it does not take a rocket scientist to change the oil. I could probably do it myself if I had the special Toyota oil filter that they require. But, I did not say any of those things. What good would it have done me? The man repeated several times while I stood there – we cannot do your oil today. Maybe if he had a more pleasant voice and a nice look on his face. Na, I would still have been angry.

So, I went to Sam’s Club to do some shopping and treated myself to a new CD. I started to get something soothing – Josh Groban or some sort of easy listening music. Then I rebelled and bought a Creedence Clearwater Revival CD. On the way home, I opened the sunroof and cranked up the music and rocked all the way home.

For the record:
Since I am already ranting today, I just want to go on record saying that I think that any news media that reports on anything to do with Anna Nicole Smith is just trash and is out of touch with reality and what real people want to hear about. I guess saying such a thing about our news media is nothing new, but they have sunk to a new low lately.

President's Day

Because my son works for the State of OK, he had yesterday off, and I got to spend more time with the grand-babies. I took GBN1 to Wal-Mart with me. She chattered the whole time riding in the basket. She rearranged the groceries several times and was a big help when it came time to put them on the check-out counter. She told the clerk that we were going to find Crewcraw (her name for Toby) and have lunch. While driving to Halliburton to find Crewcraw, she said, "I pick my nose." Me - "Oh, do you have a booger?" GBN1 - "Yeah. I got it. Here it is." She held up her little finger for me to see. Me - "Great." When I told her mother about this conversation, she said that GBN1 had recently discovered boogers when she had a cold and seemed quite fascinated.

After lunch with both grand-babies, their parents, Jesse, and Toby, everyone went their separate ways. Toby and Jesse went back to work since Halliburton did not have a holiday. The grand-babies went back to The City, and I went home to deposit the groceries and do a few things around the house including a nap since I now have the cold that GBN1 had a week ago. Later in the afternoon, I treated myself to some fun by going to quilt on the latest wedding ring quilt that our church ladies are making. My good friend, Janice, was there - so the time was extra fun catching up on each other's lives. Janice is Lindsay's mom, so you know how much fun she is. She keeps me grounded and encouraged in any struggles I have. She is a very good friend, and I wish we had more time together. Here is a picture of Janice and me taken several years ago at a tea for the young ladies and their mothers. We all wore silly hats and enjoyed an old fashioned tea party. Janice and I posed for the picture as if we were gossiping old biddies - hmm, none of which is true:)

For a good laugh check out the video that Buck put on his blog today. It made me lol.

Computer Update

Toby got my new computer ordered. He told me all about it and asked if I was excited. I am excited to get a new computer to go along with my new Internet, but I really don't understand all the techie talk. I feel like Jessica Simpson in that commercial. After giving all sorts of tech talk, she says, " I don't know what it is, but I wont it." I hate the commercial, but I love that last line. Although I have learned much about computers through my blogging, I still do not know the technical stuff. I tend to try and leave that to Toby or my computer doctor, Ernie. I am use to using outlook express for my emailing, but I am having some difficulties - I am able to receive, but not send. Although I can use my new Hughes service for emailing, it is not sending links nor do I have all the addresses in Jesse's computer. There is no point in trying to clear up all of these little problems until we get my new computer. Then we can get Ernie to network our computers and solve all of the glitches. Toby could probably fix most of the problems if he had the time or inclination, but he does not have either. Until then, I feel like a juggler - copy this, paste that, move that here, get on the old computer, send to Jess' computer, etc. I am not really complaining - just giving a report. Such is my life. I just try to be patient until it all comes together.

Back when we were building on our house in Questa, we lived in a 24'x30' log cabin while we added on a new living room/kitchen. Then we redid the old part of the cabin by adding a bathroom and closets. Living amongst the construction was not easy, but it had to be done. It took us a year to get the addition dried in, but the kitchen was not plumbed yet. In the meantime, I was having to go to Taos to the laundromat every week. After a year of doing the laundry in Taos and one particularly horrible time at the laundromat, I called my plumber friend and had him rip out my kitchen sink and put in my washer and dryer. Toby came home and said, "Where is the kitchen sink?" I told him it was gone. He said, "Where are we going to do dishes?" I told him that I did not care, but I was not going back to the laundromat. He got my kitchen sink installed pretty quick after that.

Another time my impatience did not work so well. We had a plan to refinance the land and house. In order to do this an insurance man had to inspect the house. At that time, we were using only a wood burning stove for heat, but in order to meet insurance requirements we had to have some sort of central heat. We had a heater unit and a plan to put the heater in the old part of the house on one end of a closet. The problem was that we did not have the closet built. We needed a wall with a four foot opening for the closet door and a place to put the heater on one end. This all needed to be done before the insurance inspector could okay our home. Toby was very busy at work and had not had any time to build the closet. "No problem," I thought. "I can do this." So I built the wall with the opening for the closet doors and built a place for the heater. It was all approved. Yeha! I finished sheet-rocking and painting the closet, putting up the rod and filling it with clothes, but we did not hang the doors for several years. Right before we sold the house, Toby went to hang the doors. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated the slant of the roof when setting up the studs in the wall. All of the studs were at a very slight angle and the door would not hang correctly. It was a real mess to correct.

So, I will be patient with my computer. I would rather not make a mess for Toby or Ernie to correct. It will all come together soon enough.

Painting of the Week

El Rito Creek ran through my parents property in NM. It was used as irrigation for anyone who had water rights, which my parents did not have, but that did not stop the grandchildren from playing in the creek.

Cold Valentine

At ten o’clock in the morning, I left the house and headed to Wal-Mart. The outside temperature was 24. That is just pretty cold for Oklahoma. If I had not needed to go to the grocery store, I would probably have stayed home and snuggled up with a book and some coffee. Even when we lived in NM with snow six months out of the year and some really cold temps, I did not like getting out when it was that cold. Maybe the high and dry NM air was not usually so cold, but still, I was always a fair weather skier. Although yesterday was clear, it stayed cold all day. About 6:00 PM, it started snowing. I am really looking forward to March.

Sometime last week, I bought the card that played “Wild Thing” for Toby’s Valentine gift. Later, I saw the TV ad where a lady in one cubicle sends a card to a guy in another cubicle. When he opens it, it plays “Wild Thing”. They both stand up and look at each other over their cubes, but so does everyone in the office. I thought it was pretty funny, but did not know if I could pull off something like that. After buying the card, I put it away and pretty much forgot about it until yesterday morning. I had not signed the card, so I could not open it and sign it without the music playing and Toby hearing it. I had to wait until he left for work and figure out a way to get it to him later in the day. We planned on having lunch together – maybe I could just give it to him in the restaurant. When I went to pick him up for lunch, I saw one of our friends who works with Toby and asked him to be my accomplice. He took the card and put it in Toby’s office while we were off having lunch. After lunch, I dropped Toby back at his office and headed home. I did not get far when he called. “How did you get the card in my office? How did you pull this off?” He said that when he opened the card the music started, and he slammed it shut. I refused to tell him who had helped me get the card in his office, but I asked him to go to Tucker’s cube and play the card. Ah, the light went on for Toby. Tucker will do anything for a good joke. I saw Tucker at church last night, he was still laughing and said that anytime I wanted to play a joke on Toby, just let him know.

In the meantime, Jesse went to lunch with three male coworkers (and admirers). She gave each one of her “dandies” (as Lindsay calls them) one of her Valentine pictures. Poor guys! Jesse likes each one, but none are causing any bells to ring. Someday, when the right guy comes along, things will be very interesting - even more than they are now

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine Day! Now I can safely post more of Jesse's Valentine's Day Mascarade pictures. These two especially cracked me up. I think we could do a caption contest with either one of these pics.

Mothers and Daughters

The weather here in OK has not been okay. It has been downright cold. Yesterday, it warmed up some, but it was rainy. Today the wind is gusting out of the north and it is expected to be even colder tomorrow. Yeha. February teases you with spring then slams you with winter.

I went to WF yesterday to see Mom. She seems to be doing well, and we had a good time. Her life is busy with her Red Hat ladies, AARP group, and church. She has made new friends and renewed old friendships. It fills her time and she seems to be enjoying herself. I am really glad Mom is having fun. I enjoy her friends and hearing her stories about them. Sometimes she repeats stories, but that is okay. I just assume she has forgotten when she talked to me last and what she has told me before. But sometimes she repeats things that makes me wonder if it is some sort of Freudian way of telling me something that she wants me to know (as only a mother can do). Several times now, she has told me that the exercise she takes is really helping to tone her body – it is not just that she lost 20 pounds, but the exercise that is making a difference – she does not even have to watch what she eats because the exercise has been so helpful. Why does she tell me this over and over? Is this her way of telling me that I need to exercise more? Maybe, maybe not, but I find it irritating. I am really not stupid – just fat.

Several times Mom mentioned her church – The First Baptist Church in WF. She has told me many times that she does not like the pastor, but that he is an excellent speaker. Twice yesterday, she has told me that Dad did not like to give his money to the FBC because he did not approve of what they did with the money (bigger and better buildings). He always gave his money to organizations like Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch and other programs that helped people – or he helped people on his own. In fact, Mom and Dad never went to FBC in all the years we were growing up – it has only been since Dad died that Mom has been going there. I am not sure why she mentioned the tithing thing twice. Maybe she wanted my opinion on what she should do with her tithe, but I did not give it because I thought I would make her angry. Here is my thought on the subject: If you do not approve of what your church does with the money you give, why are you going to that church?

Gosh, I have a lot of my dad in me.

Lindsay and Friends

That is Lindsay in the middle of her friends on her last night as Daphne the gold-digger in "The Mystery of the Hopeless Diamond". Of course, Jesse is next to her.

More from the Adolphus

If you are wondering why I did not post this weekend, we had GBN1 most of the weekend starting Friday afternoon, all day Saturday, through church on Sunday, and after church through lunch. She decided that she really liked riding in “Crew-craw’s” (her name for Toby) truck. It made for a busy weekend, but a fun weekend. We also managed to go see Lindsay in her play, which was a “mystery dinner theater”. Lindsay was great, as was the whole production. The characters mingled with the audience before the show started. After the big murder scene, they mingled again giving the audience a chance to ask questions. Puzzles and clues were provided to each table to figure out “who dun it.” As my table went through the clues, they decided that Basil was the murderer. When they asked me my opinion, I said that I thought the Old Lady did it, but I did not have a good reason – so they poo-pooed my opinion as illogical. After dessert, the lights went out and the play continued revealing the murderer. Of course, I was right, the Old Lady did it. Logic has nothing to do with silly murder mysteries – it is always the least likely person. Jesse said there would be no living with me since I was right.

Before I continue with my Aldophus story, I need to explain a few things. As I said before, we were living in NM and Toby was working for a major waste company. The waste convention that we attended was held in the spring of 1994 in Dallas, and the company put us up at the Aldolphus. It was a week of living high on the hog. Since the convention was in Texas that year, Toby and I decided that I would leave a week early taking the kids and driving our pick-up truck to see grandparents. We stopped in Lubbock for a few days to see Toby’s mother and then on to Wichita Falls to see my parents. I left the kids with my parents and drove to Dallas to pick Toby up at the airport where he had flown in to Love Field. This truck was a 1990 Chevy Z71 club cab. It was perfect for our family in those days, and I loved that truck. I hauled kids and horses all over NM to rodeos and 4-H events in that truck. I also hauled kids and skis to many a ski race in that truck. It was just comfy and smooth – the Cadillac of trucks.

Although I had lived in Dallas fifteen years earlier, things had changed. Traffic was even more horrendous than I had remembered it. Traffic jams in NM are few and far between – they are usually the result of Mr. Ortega’s cows on the road and not due to too many cars on the road. I made it to Love Field and was glad to turn the wheel over to Toby to drive us to the Aldolphus in downtown Dallas. There was a bit of a mix-up at the airport because the company had sent a limo and driver to pick Toby up. Toby dismissed him and we went on together. Once at the Aldolphus, the valet took our truck, and we checked in. Although Toby and I looked like NM ranchers, the Aldolphus made us feel like royalty. It was really a beautiful place.

On our next to last day in Dallas, several ladies that I had met at the convention wanted to go to the Galleria. They were going to take a taxi from downtown Dallas out to the Galleria. That seemed like a long way to take a taxi so I suggested we take my truck. I explained that it was a club cab, but I thought we would all fit nicely if they did not mind the truck. Being trash wives, no one had a problem riding in a truck. So the plan was made, we all met at the valet station, and I handed my parking ticket to the valet. While we waited for my vehicle, I questioned the valets on how best to get to the Galleria. I told them I did not want to have to drive through any traffic lights. Once again, I was dressed western. I played up the part of the country hick saying, “Where I come from, we only had one traffic light and it was always green.” The Valets, most of whom were young black men, were enjoying me and began teasing me, but they said they could get me to the Galleria with very few traffic lights by sending me down the Tollway. About that time, a valet pulled up with my truck, and we started to load up. The valets went crazy! They were hollering, “Five ladies in a pick-up truck!” They laughed and teased us – all good-naturedly – waving us off to the Galleria. When we arrived back at the Aldolphus after shopping, the valets asked how it had gone. In my best Texas twang I said that it had gone well, “but what was that thang you had to stop and throw money in? You forgot to mention that!” The valets all hooted. They got a real kick out of ladies in our pick-up truck, and the ladies loved it, too.

The next day Toby and I had gathered in the lobby with our luggage along with many of the other people from the company waiting on their limos to take them to different airports to fly them to different parts of the USA. Toby went out to give the valet our ticket and get our truck. As the valet pulled up in our truck, I stepped out of the hotel. The valets went crazy again hooting and hollering and teasing me. It caused a big commotion. Even people from the company who did not know what was happening joined in with the teasing. Toby did not know what was going on, but he went along with the teasing and laughing. As we drove off in our truck he turned and looked at me and said, “I take it that you knew those boys?”

Painting of the Week

I wanted to make my painting look more like an illustration by outlining the car. I could not decide if I should outline Bess or if it would mess the whole thing up. What is your opinion?

Storied from the Adolphus

Buck posted a picture of the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas with this paragraph describing the hotel:

A baroque masterpiece opened in 1912, The Adolphus Dallas hotel ushered in a grand new era of sophisticated Dallas lodging. Amid such treasures as early Flemish tapestries and a Victorian Steinway once owned by the Guggenheims, you can recall the splendor of bygone days and almost feel the presence of the famous guests who stayed here before you. Once you are shown through our carriage doors, you may just feel like royalty yourself.

Toby and I stayed in the Adolphus back in about 1994, and it was as grand as the description says. It did make you feel like royalty. We had a corner room with huge windows and a little sitting area. The bathroom was gorgeous – I went swimming in the tub. I had to refrain myself from stealing the plush bathrobes provided for our convenience. It was a trip to remember – in more ways than one.

Back in those days, we lived in NM and Toby worked for a major waste company. This company was in the growing stages trying to acquire other waste companies. That year the big waste convention was held in Dallas. The company Toby worked for sent all of their district managers to Dallas and put them up at the Aldolphus. They also had a huge hospitality suite where every evening the managers and big dogs wined and dined prospective acquisitions. By day, the managers worked the convention and by night, they worked the hospitality suite. The wives spent the days shopping and enjoying the convention.

Late in the evening a fancy restaurant would be chosen, and the whole herd (some 40 plus folks) would all go out to eat. We ate at some pretty funky places. Our last night in Dallas, Toby balked at eating with the herd saying he did not want to eat fancy food. He wanted good ol’ Tex-Mex (there is a difference in Tex-Mex and NM Mexican food). One of the new acquisitions from Chicago heard Toby defy the herd and said, “I’m going with them!” pointing to us. So the concierge set us up with a limo driver and sent us to Deep Elm to eat at Monica’s. The driver all but snickered when he let us out of the limo, but would not tell us why. Unknown to us, it turned out that the Deep Elm was a gay area and Monica’s used to be Edwardo’s until he/she had had a recent sex change. Monica was about 6’ tall with a very deep voice. The atmosphere was odd, but the food was great. The Chicago acquisition really teased Toby about Monica's and Deep Elm saying he could not wait until Toby came to Chicago for the next year’s convention – he would show Toby some really“fun places.”

Later when we got back to the Adolphus, we stopped in the lobby outside of the bar to have drinks. Before long, the herd came drifting back from their fancy meals and joined us in the lobby. There was lots of good-natured teasing about Monica’s. There was also lots of teasing about who was picking up the drink bill which had grown quite large – whose room number were they going to sign to the tab? Eventually, the big boss joined us (this was the big man behind the company with the money and the power to buy and sell companies) and said he would sign the bar tab. The barmaid handed him the tab and said something (can’t remember what exactly) snide as if we were all ill-bred and could not to afford the bill and we should all have been in the bar and not out in the lobby. A hush fell over the crowd. The big boss did not say anything – just signed the tab and handed it back to the barmaid. Later, Toby said, “I bet you anything that girl will be looking for a new job tomorrow.” I think everyone was thinking the same thing.

I have another Adolphus story for tomorrow - much funnier.

Insult to Injury

The mother of two of my art students called to say that her children were going to miss my class. She was very apologetic saying that her children hated to miss art, but that a repairman was coming to her house. Although she had told the man she had to be somewhere (art) he just did not listen to her. She told me how much she appreciated my teaching art and that even her husband could see an improvement in his children’s art. When we got off of the phone, I thought, “Gee! That was nice of her.” My artist’s ego was unruffled.

I run a pretty loose ship when it comes to my art classes. Although I have been in art classes where if you did not show up for class, you pay anyway. It is a great incentive to attend class even when you do not fee like painting. Most of my students do not have much money. In fact, I feel bad having them pay for lessons as it is. Yet, it is my time and teaching that they pay for, and also, I can buy more art supplies with the money. My students come in and drop their money on the table. I do not check to see if they paid. I don’t want to know, and I don’t want to hassle with the money. If they come to art, great. If they pay, great. If a student does not want to be here, he/she might as well not be. As a teacher, I let that slide. As a mother, I would never let it slide with my own children, but that is another story. I tease my students when they don’t come to art telling them they had better have a doctor’s excuse, but the truth is that I want these classes to be fun, and I want the kids to want to be here. If these classes are ever a hassle, I won’t do them anymore.

Now and then, someone does ruffle my artist’s ego. Last week, a mother called to say her children would not be coming to art. That was fine with me – her decision to make. Then she added, “After all, they are just going to be working on that one project. It is not like you will be doing anything important.” I am sure my long pause was noticed while I mulled over what I should say. She continued, “Well, you are not really going to be doing anything are you?” I wanted to answer, “Heck no! We never do anything important. It is just art. I don’t know why you bring your kids here in the first place…” I did not say any of those things. Slow to speak – Slow to anger is a much better way.

It just brought on such a case of déjà vu that I felt myself slipping into the old self. Back in my public school teaching days, there were several times when a parent would say, “I’m sorry little Janie missed your class, but she told me that you were not doing anything anyway.” What? And you believed her? This happened so many times that I did get fairly smart-mouthed about it – a little facetiousness goes a long way. You would be amazed at what parents often said: “I don’t like the grade you gave little Johnny. He wants to get a basketball scholarship and go to college. Now you have messed that up for him.” This was just so messed up on several levels that it was difficult to make a reply that would not be insulting. I usually handed them my grade book and a pencil and said, “Why don’t you give him the grade you want him to have?” They would all look aghast and say that was wrong – they couldn’t do that! Isn’t that what they wanted me to do?

When a kid says something stupid, I am more willing to let it slide. It is just difficult for me when it is a parent who is not only stupid, but insulting.

The picture above is one of my favorites. That is my mother third from the left and my dad on the far right. My Uncle Bobby is on the far left. They are standing in front of The Lodge and The Motherlode in Red River, in 1953 - the summer they met.

Movin' into the Fast Lane

Okay, I got in a bit of trouble for posting another "Valentine's Day" picture, but let's face it, they are just fun. I thought Lindsay was not reading my blog lately, but she caught me posting the pictures - get over it. You know you love to see your picture on the net :) I guess I will have to post grand-baby pictures instead - at least until Valentine's Day.

I had so much more free time yesterday - this could be hard on my diet. I read through most of my favorite blogs in record time. I found and played Zuma, which I had not done in over a year. I read through several newspaper headlines and even worked a crossword puzzle. Man, it felt good. And I still had time to set up and have my art class. I went to Boggs site and found a video from some embedded reporter type person that Boggs thinks we should support. Yeha! Here was a chance to see if I could see a video in real time. The video worked great, but I would not recommend anyone else watch the video. I was a bit appalled at the language. Being a military video, I was not surprised at the use of foul language, but I was just put off by so much of it. I don't think I am a prude or anything, and an occasional cuss word has its place - sometimes it is even necessary to make a point, but this was ridiculous. The video opened with two military guys in Iraq talking about what people say to them when they are home. Every other word was the F-word. I am not exaggerating - every other word! Personally, I don't care for the F-word, but used in just the right scenario, it can be perfect. The F-word is like a slap in the face. One use and you feel slapped; several uses and you feel beat up. Overuse of the word just shows lack of intelligence - make one wonder if the person using the word is LEP (limited English proficient) or has a real lack of imagination. In other words, don't bother watching the video unless you want to be beat up. I did not make it through the whole video, and it did not make me want to see any of the other videos on the site. Too bad, because it had an interesting message about today's generation. I doubt I will support this reporter.

Later, I moved on to Buck's blog. He had a couple of videos to watch. I watched the first one with real interest and was fascinated. The second one that Buck linked to, well, I fell asleep. Like talking about insurance or futures, my eyes glazed over, my hair became blonder, and I took a short nap before art. But it thrills me that I can watch videos now. Maybe I will learn to post them!

So far, I am really enjoying this new faster internet. Who knows what I may learn!

Experimenting

I just wanted to see how long it took to upload an image - it worked well (giggle).

New Stuff

Good news! I have my higher speed internet, but not everything is in place yet. We hooked up Jesse's computer to the new satellite and do not have mine networked yet. Maybe we will not do that until I get a new one - who knows. I am just so tickled with my new speed! I am use to going to a site, then going to take a shower or cook dinner while the site comes up completely. What will I do with all of this time I will be saving? I feel like a mother with a newborn or a kid with a new toy or a teenager with a new car - like I need to be careful that I do not break it yet I want to check it out and see what it will do. For now, I am playing on Jesse's computer in her room (hehe). I had to wait until she went to work as to be a good "roommate". Now that she is gone...the mouse will play.

Yesterday, the young man, who came to hook up the satellite dish and computer, was very cute and personable. Toby had told me to call him at work and tell him when the computer man got here. I did, but Toby was not able to get away from work to come oversee the setting up of the dish. Not that he really needed to be here, but he had thought he might could be. I called Toby (like a good wife) and reported all of the doings here. Toby seemed satisfied with the way the hook-up went. When all was completed and the young man was gone, I called Toby again to tell him all was done. I also told him how cute the computer guy was. Then, just like a man, Toby says, "Well, did you ask him this...? No, well why not? Did you ask him that...? No? Why not?" Now, I really hate it when Toby does this to me - gives me a mission, which I think I complete very well, and then he thinks of all of the things I should have done (computer questions in this case) better. It is like being sent to the tractor house to get a part. It never fails - I think I have all of the right info as to not look like a stupid farm wife, but then the partsman says, "What model no. is ...?" or some other question which I do not have the answer for and I stand there with that blank look on my face.

Oh well, I guess it is better that I looked stupid to Toby and not to that cute computer guy.

The Big Game

It was a beautiful weekend here. The temps got up into the 50’s. It would have been perfect for working on the barn, but Toby had to do some work at Halliburton on Saturday and yesterday was the Super Bowl – duh no work then. Jesse invited several of her girl friends over to watch the game. I thought they were coming over early, we would eat, and then watch the game. Instead, they all showed up just after kick-off. There was lots of commotion with everyone getting food and drinks before they settled down to watch the game. They missed the first touchdown. I told her that she should have invited her guy friends – they know football etiquette. Toby grilled fajitas, chicken, sausage, and shrimp and some pineapple. We had my homemade salsa (not pico de gallo because the tomatoes are just not so wonderful this time of year), quacamole, cheese and tortillas – it was make your own taco. By the way, the word "fajitas" is the word for "flank steak". My ex-sister-in-law would get very irritated if we said "chicken fajitas" because chickens are not fajitas. It is rather funny to think of "shrimp fajitas". I have to admit that we do not always use true flank steak for our fajitas – mainly because with popularity, the flank steak became very expensive and is really a sorry cut of beef. I also put out some snacky foods including chips, cheese, small slices of turkey and ham, cheese cake…Once again we needed the guys because the girls just made a small dent in all that food. We had lots left over for lunches this week. We did have one guy show up with his girl friend. They are both big buddies with Jesse and Lindsay. Unfortunately, this guy was less into football than the girls were. Poor Toby! Actually, we all had a good time. With the Colts winning, we were all happy. By the end of the game, there were four girls on the couch - laying on each other, bundled up with pillows and snuggled down. Do guys do that?

Gangst-hers

Jesse and her friends have been at it again. These pictures were just too good to not share. The gang went downtown Duncan to take pictures as if they were old-time gangsters. Jesse did some research of old gangster pictures and made a plan. If you look close, you will notice that they are carrying weapons of all sorts, but two of the weapons are paintball guns. Yeah, they look tough. One of the girls wanted to take a real shotgun, but her dad and brother nixed that idea. Although, I would say that several of these country girls know how to use a gun. The daddy’s just did not think it was wise to hang out at the post office with a real gun – loaded or not.

Jesse and Lindsay are going to Cozumel in March. They booked their vacation a few days ago. It has been so cold here in OK that I would love to go to Mexico too, but I will be a good mom and stay home. The big plan here is to go scuba diving. They will be taking some lessons in Lawton between now and when they leave for Mexico. After booking her trip, Jesse was pretty excited. When she told one of her coworkers that she had just booked a trip to Cozumel, he said, "I bet you are going to get wasted in Mexico." Jesse’s response was classic Jesse. She said, "Why would I do that? If I wanted to get wasted, I could do that anywhere." She is a very practical girl, if not a little naïve.

Painting of the Week

Today’s painting is called Gray Day in Prague. It is one of Buck’s photos from a month or so ago. You don’t have to look too close – there is no nude. You might can just make out Buck sitting under an umbrella drinking a beer.

The first painting of a beach scene was done for a party at my house. Notice the helicopter over Toby’s shoulder. The second painting was done for a "camo party". We all dressed in camo, divided into teams, and had a race through an obstacle course over a mile long.

Bec recently asked about my wall paintings. I may have blogged about this before, but I thought I would share some old wall paintings and tell how they came about. In 2001, our church youth banquet was held at an old theater building. The atmosphere of the room was great, but it had immovable movie posters all along the walls. The theme of the banquet that year was Italy. My art girls were asked to come up with some large wall paintings to cover the movie posters. We painted nine Italian scenes – each were about three feet by six feet. At that time we lived in a different house which had a long, extra-wide hall. I put together butcher paper to make the large canvases and put them all down the hall, in the kitchen and anywhere where there was wall space. My art girls and I had a great time painting. Usually we had the stereo blasting and we were slinging paint bee-bopping to the beat and often singing along. The girls loved it so much that it became a tradition to paint a large wall painting for all the banquets. We also painted large posters for other parties – back drops for picture taking. It led to our being commissioned to do some real murals. We have done mountain scenes around an entire room. We did western scenes for a hunting lodge. Some of my girls have done individual work for relatives and friends. It has been lots of fun to paint elbow to elbow with the girls and see them learn to meet each other's styles. I will try to post some more old wall paintings to show you my art girls’ work.