Wordless Wednesday

If You're Up Early Tomorrow...

FOX 25 will be shooting their AM show from where I work. The kids will be there too from 5:30-7:00 a.m. Yes, I have lost my mind completely.

Music Monday

So far, all your music suggestions are still on a list until I get a minute to do some iTunes shopping. I'll let you all know what I wind up downloading. Until then...here are this week's songs:

1. BB Blues-Nellie McKay (Rumor Has It soundtrack)
2. Careless Talk-Billy Joel
3. Sewn-The Feeling (iTunes freebie, but I really like it)
4. Sweet Caroline-Neil Diamond (again this week?)
5. Love Shack-The B-52's (a main staple of every Rainbow/DeMolay dance I ever attended, and that was QUITE a few)
6. Christie Lee-Billy Joel (Wonder why he didn't sing this at last spring's concert. Hmm...)
7. Leave a Tender Moment Alone-Billy Joel (I swear it's on 'shuffle')
8. It's All Been Done-Barenaked Ladies (I love these guys-then again, they ARE Canadian.)
9. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again-The Phantom of the Opera
10. All I Ask of You-The Phantom of the Opera (Heart melting right now! I'm really into this song again lately.)

Did you play? Let me know in the Comments section.

Week In Review

Reading-

Ender's Shadow-AKA 'the book I can't seem to finish.' It's even a good book and I enjoy it, there's just too much going on to squeeze in more than 15 minutes here and there. I think I will finish it this week though-at least that's the goal because now I've got my hands on another book that I've been dying to read for years.

Watching-

Grey's Anatomy-Welcome back Callie! It was an awesome episode yet again! I did close my eyes when I heard the chain saw start up-I knew no good would come from it and I was right! I loved Meredith 'trick-or-treating, ' I loved what Mark said to her about falling far from the Ellis tree, and I enjoyed Grandpa Gilmore saying "I still think cutting your foot off is crazier." I'm going to miss him.

Brothers and Sisters-It's on right now. I hate the soon-to-be ex-husband and I'm not real happy with Rob Lowe right now either. But I love this show! Kitty just told everyone that she's pregnant, aww!

Good Times-

Couples' Shower-Wendy was nice enough to let me co-host a shower for Lanie and Dirk. It was a lot of fun. The food was wonderful and the company was even better. Between Wendy hosting it at her house and Jeff and Mary Kay doing most of the cooking; my only contribution was chopping vegetables and refilling serving dishes. Thanks for letting me play along anyway, Wendy. I had a great time.

Slivers Under My Fingernails-

Well, there was the comedy of errors that was me and Chris driving around last week trying to meet up and drive to Bricktown for Race for the Cure. I couldn't find the meeting spot in the dark (the sign and lettering were dark and unlit) and as I searched, she had to turn around and go back home for her race number. (We still made it there in time, you knew we would!)
And I forgot to add that when we stopped the car to pick up Dirk's bike, Chris did this:

"You forgot the brilliant moment of me leaving the car in drive and just pulling the brake when I got out. LOL. Too many years of diving a manual transmission!"

Then, there was sticking my hand in the corn crib while teaching a group of 1st graders last week and seeing my hand in a bucket full of dried corn AND the mice that were eating it. I am SO proud all I said was "Oh my goodness!" (So were the teacher and parents.)

I bit the crap out of my cheek about 6 times this week. It is swollen and painful and I can't eat or talk without feeling horrible.

Tristan and Caroline playing beauty shop yet AGAIN and getting grounded from the Halloween carnival as a result. Also, Caroline looks like a boy now.

While I enjoyed the couples' shower I mentioned above, I spent most of it feeling like I was having an out-of-body experience. It turns out I'm coming down with a cold.

Oh, and my house isn't clean and won't stay that way no matter how hard I try...and this week is going to be even crazier!

Quintessential Tristan

Once upon a time, letting Tristan use my GameBoy was a rare and special treat for him. Now, he knows where it is more often than I do and desperately wants his own. I thought I had confiscated it from him over a recent infraction, but apparently I didn't do a very good job of hiding it. I got this email from one of the other PTA officers last night:

"Melessa,

Our sons are funny boys. M got home close to 5, with Gameboy belonging to Tristen. I asked him if Tristen asked you and he said he wasn't sure but he could borrow it for the weekend and return it on Monday. If M does not return it he will have to pay Tristen $2, 700. LOL, how cute is that??????????????

Anyway, I told M it must not leave their room. If we they get to play over the weekend, we'll give it back if not, I'll make sure he brings it on Monday.

Anyway, have a great weekend"

As you can guess, Tristan most certainly did not ask me since he wasn't even supposed to have it and it isn't his to loan out to his friends. Yes, he got in trouble for his "generosity" (once I stopped laughing long enough to summon him), but doing something like this is SO like him that I just had to share it with the rest of you.

Friday Flashback

Today's flashback is brought to you courtesy of my friend John whose birthday I think I missed earlier this month.



I thought I had told all the funny Chris/Melessa/John stories that I could possibly remember. Apparently, I was wrong. There are more. I don't know WHY I forgot this, but it suddenly came to mind last week and it's given me several big smiles every time I've thought of it since then.



For several years, my boyfriend and John's best friend were the same person. My kinship with John was rather irritating to him. Not because he was jealous, but because John and I tended to bring out the worst in each other. As he once put it "By yourselves, when you or John get some crazy or stupid idea you think 'Oh, that would never work' and you drop it. When you are together and one of you shares the idea with other, someone says 'Hey! That's a great idea' and off you both go to get yourselves into trouble. Usually at MY expense." And while I denied it then, I will admit some 15 years later that he might have had a point.



On this night, the boyfriend was the proud and relatively new owner of a truck. He loved this truck and the only time anyone else had ever driven it was when he was too drunk, and I'm told that even then he was full of suggestions as John drove it from the party house to mine. This made sense because the truck was a standard and John couldn't drive one. A fact he harassed John with quite frequently in the weeks that followed. John didn't care for this too much, but he bided his time until one Saturday night found us all at Mazzio's likely after a dance. Apparently, John had "forgotten" something in the truck, and as the boyfriend handed over the keys; John beckoned me with a sneaky look on his face. The next thing I knew we were running for the truck at top speed, locking ourselves inside and trying to drive it as best we could. Since I didn't have a license, John drove and operated the clutch while I shifted. Eventually we figured out how to make it circle the Mazzio's parking lot while we laughed and laughed at getting away with something 'forbidden.'



But then, no one seemed to notice and the circles got old. We decided to park and go back inside. Unfortunately, we couldn't make the truck stop rolling. After about three more circles, we were getting a little frantic. I thought back to my seemingly useless days in driver's ed and all I could think to do was to "PULL THE EMERGENCY BRAKE!" So, we did. The car stopped and apparently, people HAD noticed us in our last 5 minutes of desperation. Mostly, the boyfriend had. He came racing over to the truck looking none too pleased and begged us to tell him that we hadn't set the emergency brake. As it turned out, the release lever didn't work and it had to be released manually from underneath the car. Who knew?! Not John and I, that's for sure. Needless to say, that was the last time for many years that John was able to grab the keys to get something out of the truck without a personal escort from its owner. And that was probably a good thing.



Happy Birthday, my friend. Thanks for being my favorite partner in crime. And just remember, no matter how old you get-I'm always older. At least it can make YOU feel better.

Thursday Thirteen #38

I know Thanksgiving is still a month away, but since I do a lot of venting and whining here; I thought that as I approach my 1000th post; I'd like to focus on what's good in my life. So, for today I give you my

Thirteen Reasons to be Thankful:

1. My children-They drive me crazy, but at the same time they are healthy, happy, smart, and funny. In addition to being the reason that I drop dead every night at about 10 p.m., they are also why I got out of bed in the first place.

2. My good health-A very good friend of mine (the sister of one of my closest friends at church) had a routine surgical procedure recently that revealed a malignant tumor. Fortunately, the cancer hadn't spread and everything looks like it will be OK. She is my age and is the mother of 8 children, one of them just a couple of months old. While waiting out the tests, I had plenty of opportunity to dwell on how lucky I was to be in good health, ankle brace and all. (And I'm very thankful my friend is going to be OK too.)

3. My friends-Whether you've known me since junior high or just met me for the first time at FRED last summer, I have been blessed by good friends throughout my life. They make up for many of the shortcomings that exist in my immediate family. I don't know WHAT I would do without any of you.

4. My Grandparents-I'm lucky enough to still have my paternal grandparents and maternal grandmother. One of the biggest hurts of losing Dave's mom so young is that Natalie will never have the unwavering support and love I've enjoyed throughout my entire life from two very different women, my Gran Doris and my Namaw and one very wonderful Pawdad.

5. My life experiences-I mean that, even the bad ones. A blessing once promised me that I would eventually quit seeing the adverse experiences of life as stumbling blocks and embrace them as stepping stones. I am beginning to see the fulfillment of that promise. (Also, some of the dumb stuff I did makes for great stories now.)

6. My education-Whether I was breezing through four years at OU for my B.A. or trudging my way through the Master's, I always tried to keep in perspective how lucky I was to live in an age and society that so easily allowed for me to pursue those degrees. Even in 2007, not everyone or every place has such opportunities.

7. My sense of humor-If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that I experienced a lot of very bad situations in my life. My ability to find something to laugh about at just about any given time is what got me through then and what gets me through now. (Even if what's funny is, at times, wildly inappropriate.)

8. My American citizenship-No, really-I mean it. I lived abroad long enough to see how 'spoiled' and arrogant we can be as a nation, and I also came to understand what a blessing it was to be here. I will never forget the sight of the American flag as my plan slid down the JFK runway back in December '96 as I returned from 18 months in Italy. I cried, and not because we landed in an ice storm and really had to work to get some traction before pulling into the gate. I have teared up at every OU football game flag salute since 9/11-we may have a lot to learn as Americans, but we are still lucky to call ourselves that.

9. Being an Okie-Again, I'm serious. I whine a lot about having to spend my life here, but that has a lot more to do with the particular memories associated with places here in the Metro. At no time while I lived in Italy or in Arizona did I ever shrink away from telling you exactly where I was from. I'm proud to be an Oklahoman, to talk with a little twang, and to know and be related to people who say things like "once't," "ya'll," and my favorite; "Wal-Mark." My paternal great-grandmother was a double in the looks and personality of Oklahoma's Aunt Eller and I loved her for it. If I have to live in the place where I grew up, I'm glad I grew up here in 'the land of the brave and the home of the SOONERS.' (If you've ever been to an OU game, you know what I'm talking about.)

10. My Job-It's hard not to talk about Oklahoma pride without thinking of the territorial 0. My Jobhomestead museum that gave me my first grown-up job. As with any non-profit, I know my situation there is tenuous, but before it ends, let the record state that I love the people I work with and that I enjoy every aspect of my job. (And with a small staff, that's just about everything.) I would say that "I'd work there for free," but sometimes I already do.

11. Being Involved with the PTA-There are times I may not have included this, but things are going so wonderfully this year that I just have to. For the first time, I have help. My email list grows almost daily. After three long years, I finally see things going in the right direction. While I won't be an officer next year when I think things are really going to take off, I'm excited to be around for the first push. I enjoy to companionship of the other moms, good relationships with the teachers and staff, and really feeling like I make a difference, not only for my own kids but also the other 475 kids at their school.

12. My cute new kitten Tommy-If for no other reason than he's sitting on my lap and purring as I type this. What a sweetie!

13. Music-They say that music is important for adolescents because it helps them process emotions that they can't otherwise articulate. Am I immature if music still does this for me? Whether someone is rapping it, playing it, or belting it out on Broadway; it speaks to me and I love it.

10-20-30

I saw this in a couple of places tonight and thought I would play along.

Where was I:

10 Years Ago-I was uncomfortably pregnant with Natalie and in the process of buying our first house. The little yellow one on Peppertree Place that will always be my favorite-even if I would hate to see all 6 of us fit in there now.

20 Years Ago-I was enjoying my Sophomore year at West Mid-High and had just met the boy who would give me my first kiss a few months from now. (Anyone remember him? Kyle who?) I was just becoming close to the girls who would turn out to be my lifelong BFF's.

30 Years Ago-I was five and no doubt getting ready for Halloween. I lived on Normandie Dr. had a brand-new baby sister, and my Dad was still in grad school. Back then, Michele F. was my friend across the street instead of my friend who lives in Texas.

Wordless Wednesday

Tired Tuesday

Just one thought for today...This weekend I'm going to have to take my oldest daughter to the store and buy her a bra because...well...she needs one. As someone who still wears one pretty much for 'moral' support (and because I breastfed four children for at least a year each), this is unfamilier territory. Hold me-I'm scared!

Music Monday

It's time to kick-start the week again with the first 1o songs that come up when you press 'play' on your MP3 player of choice (mine is a silver iPod Nano). Just for fun, I'll type up the first memory I associate with each song that plays.

1. Paradise by the Dashboard Lights by Meatloaf (Endless trips up and down the turnpike to Tulsa and back squeezed in between OKC area dances, installations, and OU football games.)
2. Pretty in Pink by The Psychedelic Furs (Watching this at Anne's house in Tucson waiting for Molly to drop her purse in the parking lot)
3. Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond (Singing this weakly to my 5 week-old baby in the hospital while desperately praying that she would calm down, take deep breaths, and raise her SAT levels *blood-oxygen saturation* when she had RSV and pneumonia. The song seemed to cheer both of us up and she still loves it today. She's also been asthma-free for over a year now!)
4. I Am Changing by Jennifer Hudson (I think of her not being 'good enough' for American Idol and then winning a freakin' Oscar 2 years later!!)
5. Blow, Gabriel, Blow by Kevin Kline (One of the best moments in DeLovely, he's quite an actor!)
6. I Can Hear the Bells from the Hairspray soundtrack (I remember downloading this one from Napster back in the day. Yes, I paid for this copy of it-thanks for asking!)
7. Shout by Tears for Fears (An album I actually owned on cassette tape. I was 'poor' back in the day and taped most of my music off the radio. I got this in some gift exchange, I think.)
8. Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts (I'm going to go the safe route and say the movie Cars, but I think my co-workers would be amused to read it was THIS song today.)
9. This Night by Bille Joel (I LUV this song and have since I used to listen to it on my dad's car stereo in the early 80's.)
10. Patience from the Dreamgirls soundtrack (Jamie Foxx's character was a big jerk not to produce this one. I'm glad Beyonce left his sorry butt.)

Did you play?! Leave your list or a link to your own blog in the comments section. (I'm too lazy for Mr. Linky this week.)

Week In Review

Reading

Ender's Shadow-

It's really picking up speed now that Dragon Army has been formed and started battling. It's really interesting to see the story from another character's point of view, having read Ender's Game already.

Women's Day Nov. 13th Issue-

If you didn't catch yesterday's entry-I'm IN the magazine.

Watching

Cold Case-

I never comment much on this show because each episode is pretty self-contained, but it IS one of my favorites. (However, I have to agree with Monty-what's UP with Rush's lipstick this season?)

I forgot to watch Grey's Anatomy this week and, even worse, I forgot to Tivo it on Friday. My bad! Thank goodness for TWOP.

OU v. Iowa-

OK guys, a win is a win-but I'm getting a little tired of nail biters.

In My Netflix Queue-

Bridge to Terebithia-

I resisted watching this for quite awhile because I loved the book and the original PBS movie so much. However, I have to admit that this new one is pretty good too. (Yes, I cried. I'm a baby like that.)

Airbuddies-

With kids out of school two days this week, we saw lots of kiddie shows. This one wasn't horrible, but I sure wish my kids weren't so addicted to it. Blech.

The Music Man-

Comfort food for TV-I hadn't seen this all the way through in years. I still love it.

My Fair Lady-

I still melt when Prof. Higgins offers Eliza his arm on the way to the ball and that moment at the very end. Again, very good stuff and good bless TCM-especially now that Robert Osborne has been joined by Carrie Fisher.

Junebug-

I've had this saved on Tivo for quite some time now waiting for the kids to be sleeping when I could still stay awake and not worrying about getting up at the crack of dawn. It was worth the wait and completely justified Amy Adams Oscar nomination. I really liked this movie.

Extracurricular Activities

Ring of Fire-

The first Civic Center show of the season was a tribute show comprised of Johnny Cash songs. It was pretty good. I recommend it if you're a fan of his music at all.

Race for the Cure-

It went well, but I was bummed that I had to wear an ankle brace for it this year (My ankle hasn't been the same since I tripped down my bathroom step the morning I left for the cruise-I know, I know; I should probably get it checked.) AND I only beat last year's time by 30 seconds. It was still fun, I was just hoping to be in better shape than I was when I did it last year, not worse. Oh well...

Check It Out!

1. Go to your local grocery store/Wal-Mart.
2. Purchase the Nov. 13th issue of Women's Day.
3. Turn to page 58.
4. CHECK ME OUT!!! (The link should take you straight there, but the magazine includes a cute pic of me and the kids.)

Thanks very much to Toni for the referral and to Denise Schipani for including me. I think this pretty much comprises my "15 minutes."

ROTFL

After certain mysteries were cleared up last summer, checking my blog stats isn't nearly as much of an obsession fun as it used to be. However, I did check in today and took a look at the various searches bringing people to my blog. Thanks to my friend Jennifer who lives in Wilburton (not to be confused with Texas Jen who lives in Delaware), there are still many for "dog ate neosporin." "Let's go Outback tonight" is still popular and lately I'm getting a lot for "Bachelorette Party Cruise." But my new favorite has to be this one:

"DeMolay sex with girls"

And like most of the DeMolays I dated, anyone coming here with that search is very likely to be disappointed. But thanks anyway for the laugh today, I needed it.

Friday Feast

I've been heavy with memes this week, but I've never done this one before so I thought it might be fun.

Appetizer
If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?

A golden retriever because they are my favorite breed.

Soup
What does the color purple make you think of?

My friend Lanie because it's her favorite color.

Salad
Approximately how long does it take you to get ready each morning?

Between finding homework, library books, permission slips, backpacks, and lunches; and then dressing, feeding, and fixing the hair of my four kids for about an hour and a half each morning-apparently, I get myself ready and dressed too. But I'm not sure how much of those 90 minutes is really mine. Not very many, I'd guess.

Main Course
How many cousins do you have, and are you close to them?

Biologically, I have 7. If you're talking friends of the family-the number jumps considerably. My cousin E is FavoriteUncleBob's son and is 9 mos. older than me. He has always lived on the West Coast (Seattle, WA and Santa Cruz, CA). Even so, we're pretty tight and he is the closest thing I have to a brother. He's also closest in age to me, as the next grandchild born on either side of the family was my sister Janet who didn't come along until I was 5. My next cousin is J who is the oldest son of mom's other brother "Uncle Buck". He also grew up on the West Coast (Modesto, CA), but moved here several years ago and recently bought a duplex with my GranD. He is pretty reserved, so I can't say we're "close," but we have very similar sense of humor and share a love of all things Disney. He spoils my kids rotten and is more of an uncle than a second cousin to them. I also tend to defend him and take his side any time he and Mom get into it, which is fairly often. (Not that he NEEDS my help, but I just hate it when she picks on him.) His younger brother D still lives in Modesto. Of all the cousins on my mom's side, I'm know him least of all, but I'm still quite fond of him and his wife and enjoy their visits here. Cousins K, R, and J are all on my Dad's side and were born when I was 8, 9, & 11. I see them more often than most cousins on mom's side because they live (or lived) in Tulsa, OK but I didn't come to appreciate them until they were older since I was so much older when they were born. K and I love Pee Wee Herman and Harry Potter and have both studied Latin. She recently abandoned us Okies for life in 'the land down under' and you can read about her adventures here. Her brother R is great with my kids and married a wonderful woman who I love chatting with at holiday get-togethers. (I found out I was pregnant with E the day before their wedding). I guess this means I forgive him for smacking me with a plastic baseball bat when we were kids. J is quiet and reminds me in the best way possible of his dad, my Uncle R. Not once did HE ever hit me with a bat or, you know, at all. Going back to Mom's side, Cousin M is the baby of the crew and I was her nanny for a couple of summers in Seattle. She is, as I understand, studying glass-blowing right now and enjoying life as being "legal" since she turned 21 last April. I absolutely adore her and have pretty much stopped seeing an 18 month-old when I look at her.
(With all of that, I guess you could say we're all close.)

Dessert
Take your initials (first, middle, last) and come up with something else those letters could stand for. (Example: SFO = Sweet Funny Otter)

M-Mad
L-Latin
G-Grammer Skillz (OK, I cheated with that last word)

Thursday Thirteen #37

This week's Thursday Thirteen (since I have more time than usual to devote to it) are my thirteen all-time favorite TV episodes. I've watched a lot of TV in 35 years, so this is Pt. 1: Sitcoms (Pt. 2 to follow next week)

1. That 70's Show-"That Disco Episode" (This one reminds me SO MUCH of my friends and I back in the day. Except we never wore bell-bottoms...or smoked pot. As far as I know.)
2. That 70's Show-"It's a Wonderful Life"
3. Friends-"The One With a Chick. And a Duck." (It's not the whole episode that gets to me. It's the way Ross takes Rachel to the ER instead of doing the Discovery channel panel on fossils even though they had just endured a bitter break-up and were barely civil. Why did he do it? Because HE was her lobster. Sigh.)
4. Friends-"The One Where Ross Finds Out"
5. Moonlighting-"Atomic Shakespeare" ("We hate iambic pentameter" I was in high school and studying Shakespeare when this originally aired. Good times.)
6. Moonlighting-"I Am Curious...Maddie" (Every episode after this pretty much stunk, but this was some good viewer payoff. It's probably the only Tuesday night I raced home quickly after a Rainbow meeting to see what happened.)
7. Roseanne-"Dear Mom and Dad" (We meet Roseanne's parents for one of the funniest early episodes of the show.)
8. Roseanne-"Wait 'Till Your Father Gets Home" (This one was written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, no surprise that it was so funny, sad, and touching.)
9. Roseanne-"The Fifties Show" (LOVED it!)
10. Roseanne-"Into That Goodnight" (While the first season was a little weak and the final season was downright awful, the finale was incredible.)
11. M*A*S*H-"Big Mac" (all the to-do over General McArthur who only drives through the camp at the end.)
12. M*A*S*H-Any of 'letters home/report' episodes whether it was Hawkeye, Radar, B.J. or anyone else doing the writing. Those were always good ones. (I'm cheating a little bit there, but that's nothing new)
13. M*A*S*H-"Of Moose and Men" (when a soldier is Dear John'd and sends her a stack of photos to take hers back from)

M*A*S*H Honorable Mention: Abysinnia, Henry ("There were no survivors") and, of course, the Series Finale.

For more Thursday Thirteen lists, click here!

You Might Be Too Stressed If...

This video makes laugh until you cry (and not in a good way) because it rings a little TOO true:



It's the "and tomorrow we will do this all again" that sets me off. But I still say thanks to Mrs. DOF and Wendy for sending it to me.

Fall Break

The kids have the next two days off from school and luckily the school groups at work are small enough for me to stay home with them. I may feel like posting another entry (or 5) by Sunday or not. I think what I need more than anything are a few days curled up in the fetal position on my bed of rest and relaxation with as few obligations as possible. I know, good luck with that. What I'll probably be doing instead is as much marathon cleaning and decluttering as I can stand since I never seem to have any other time to get that done (and none of the other 5 people who live here are incredibly inclined to help me). But I'd really prefer locking myself in my room and sobbing until I don't feel so stressed out anymore. I let you all know how it goes...

Time for a Re-run

Sleeping Mommy tagged me for the "4" meme. I know I've done it here before, but I'm too lazy to search the archives-so here it is again!

Four Jobs I’ve Held

1. Babysitter
2. "Call girl" at Domino's pizza (that's what they called those of us who answered phones but didn't do deliveries).
3. Graduate Teaching Assistant
4. Museum Archivist/Registrar

Four Films I Could Watch Over and Over

1. Notting Hill
2. Cinema Paradiso
3. Armageddon
4. Anything with 'Star Wars' in the title

Four TV Shows I Watch

1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Cold Case
3. That 70's Show (in reruns)
4. Brothers and Sisters (I'm about 3 episodes into it, anyway.)

Four Places I’ve Lived

1. Mt. View, CA (born there)
2. Norman, OK
3. Northern Italy (Verona, Vicenza, Livorno, Rimini)
4. Tucson, AZ

Four Favorite Foods

1. roasted chicken
2. pasta with marinara sauce
3. s'mores (probably not really food)
4. cheeseburgers
   

Four Websites I Visit Daily

1. Bloglines.com
2. gmail
3. hotmail
4. Live Journal

Four Favorite Colors

1. Yellow
2. Green
3. Navy blue
4. Khaki

Four Places I Would Love to be Right Now

1. Florida
2. a cruise ship
3. a day spa
4. Italy

Four Names You Love, But Could/Would Not Use for Your Children

1. Grace (doesn't work with the last name)
2. James (Dad and Grandpa's name, but Dave doesn't like it)
3. Susannah
4. Hunter

Four People I Tag

I think I tagged four people last time. This time you can play along if you choose to (but if you do, let me know...)

Music Monday

For this week's Music Monday, I'm going to have you all complete my list again. Here are three songs I recently downloaded from iTunes. Since I usually buy 5 at a time, I need a couple more suggestions. (Feel free to email me if you don't want to leave a comment.) My rules for this week's purchases were that the songs had to be current and NOT part of a musical soundtrack:

1. Me Love-Sean Kingston
2. Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)-Fergie
3. Who Knew-P!nk
4. ?
5. ?

So, what am I missing here?

Week In Review

Reading-

Nothing really, unless you count flipping through the pages of this book (warning: PG-13 rated) and giggling at Lanie's shower this weekend. (And did I ever giggle!)

Watching-

Grey's Anatomy-

Alex is back to his old, jerky self I see. AND Grandpa Gilmore found himself a guest star gig. I've never been more thrilled. This episode rocked and reminded me of the Grey's I've always known and loved.

Netflix Queue-

It's all still sitting next to my DVD player waiting patiently for me to have time to watch something. Maybe next week...

Extracurricular Activities-

Lanie's Bridal Shower-

Big fun and I think we were fairly well-behaved for us. Chris, Kendra, and Lanie's future SIL co-hosted. The food was wonderful, the games really were fun, and it was a nice break after a very hectic week.

OU v. Mizzou-

I think I might have preferred to watch this one from home...it does very little good to have tickets when you spend a lot of the game with your fingers crossed and your eyes closed. I also would have liked to see LSU get beat live and in person-but all that really matters is OU won AND LSU lost. (And so did Cal, but I don't hate them and so I didn't relish their defeat nearly as much.) If we could just play for the whole game the same way that we do in the 4th quarter, we would win by much bigger numbers.

OU Centennial Parade-

I had to work at it (sort of), but I'm glad I was there. I'm watching a re-broadcast right now (and I found the former Miss Americas!). Aside from needing 45 minutes to get out of Bricktown, I had a good time.

What you don't see here is that our next PTA fundraiser is coming up quickly and there is a field trip group every week day at work from now through the end of the month, which is pretty exhausting when combined with everything else that I do and leaves little time for books and movies. Fall Break is technically next week, but it won't be much of one. Sigh...

Friday Flashback

I had to take something to Lanie's mom's house tonight. Since I was fourteen years-old, she has lived in two houses and they are next door to each other. Even though I once lived with them for a summer, I still occasionally forget which house is which. This was one of those times. Because I lived in one and hung out constantly in the other, I have certain 'first kiss' memories in each driveway. One was with Dave, the other was with some other guy whose name starts with a D. (And it occurs to me just now that I once had a knock-down, drag-out fight with The High School Ex in one of those driveways too. His name ALSO started with a D. Believe it or not. And yes, Wendy and I had quite the entertaining conversation about that during the cruise. Her letter is "J") Anyway, being a sentimental gal I remembered who I kissed in each driveway and that's always how I've distinguished the two houses. But today, umpteen years, a marriage, four kids, and a second college degree later; I could not for the life of me remember the time line. I sat there in my car looking from house to house trying to remember which boy I kissed at which house. (Yes, I eventually wound up with Dave, but I dated him earlier in my life as well and that added a 'degree of difficulty' to my dilemma that my poor brain just couldn't handle.) I finally went with the house that had the flag on the door and the frogs in the garden. No one answered leaving me still confused. I thought I might be right because ringing the doorbell set off a chorus of dogs, but I couldn't be sure. So, I do what I always do when I can't figure things out; I called Chris. As she answered, I checked the mailbox. I had the right house. As to whether or not I'll ever remember who went with which driveway? Probably not. And I'll bet neither one of them remember either. I think I'll file this under 'things that only ever happen to me.'

Thursday Thirteen #37

Thirteen Random thoughts that have skipped through my brain this week:



1. Hey! This is the second time this month I've filled up my gas tank for under $50.



2. Did I really just send a memo to every teacher at my kids' school with my blog address in the signature? Why yes, I do believe I did. (Hello there! Now you all know why my kids are the way they are.)



3. Am I ever going to write anything good here again?



4. Why do I always have plenty of time when I start the laundry/dishes/other projects, and never enough to finish any of it?



5. I was just going to LOOK at the kittens, why do we have three cats now? (He's a brown tabby, his name is "Tommy," and we love him.)



6. Tuesday nights just aren't that much fun anymore without Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars.



7. How pathetic am I to miss tv shows THAT much?



8. (Speaking of that) Welcome back to my world Grey's Anatomy!



9. There are two types of people who shop at Big Lots: Those who are bargain-obsessed and those who kinda look like mutants. Wait a minute! I shop there. Which one am I? Don't answer that.

10. Will Lanie's fiance's religious relatives be at her shower? Can I still give her the gag gift I bought if they are? Will I actually have to behave at the shower? Can I do that in the presence of Chris, Lanie, and Vickie?

11. It's going to be chilly at the OU game Saturday night. I need a sweatshirt. I'll go to Wal-Mart. I need to see if Wal-Mart is donating to the PTA. We need lots of donations this year...we've got no money. Is it my fault? Am I a bad president? Why didn't we make any money last year? Wait! What was I thinking about 2 minutes ago? I'm going to freeze my butt off at that game, aren't I?

12. Well listen to that. KJ-103 is still broadcasting, they even have the same jingle and remakes of a lot of the same music that used to play when I was a regular listener. And it's still on the air. Who knew?

13. Hey! That's not a bad song. It's got a good beat. It might be good on the elliptical trainer. I wonder who sings it. BRITNEY SPEARS?! I'm changing the station now.

For more Thursday 13's, click here.

I've Been Tagged!

Thanks Lammy!

1. What TV show have you seen every episode of? Little House on the Prairie, MASH, V (anyone else remember that one?) Moonlighting, Roseanne, Friends, Babylon 5, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, Stargate: SG1, Battlestar Galactica, all the Star Trek series, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Firefly and probably Blues Clues too.

2. What show makes you laugh until you cry? That 70's Show, Moonlighting ('till the last season), Friends on occasion, and Roseanne almost always.

3.What show do you wish had not been cancelled? Veronica Mars (and I'm really missing Gilmore Girls even though I thought it ended well.)

4. What show do you wish WOULD be cancelled? Any of the ones the CW replaced Veronica Mars with-just for spite.

5. Who are your favorite TV characters, either past or present? Hawkeye Pierce, Roseanne Conner (the character not the actress), Daniel Jackson, Deanna Troi, Julian Bashir, Worf, Kara Thrace (Starbuck), Lorelai Gilmore, Miss Patty and Babette (and pretty much all the other Stars Hollow dwellers), Veronica Mars, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, & Meredith Grey

I tag anyone who thinks this looks like fun!

Thankful Tuesday

Today has been busy and the rest of the month is shaping up to follow suit. There is a field trip group every day from now through the end of the month at work, Halloween costumes to pull together for four kids, OU tickets, Civic Center tickets, Race for the Cure; not to mention all the usual committments to PTA and YW at church. So I didn't have time for the big essay I had planned for the night, but I do have many things to be thankful for.

For now, let me just be grateful for a PTA Board who WANTS to get things done and who are likely better at making things happen than I am. After three years of just trying to hold things together, I feel like we are finally moving forward. Finally! And that is one good reason to say 'thank you.' And one big reason why I'm too busy to blog tonight.

Music Monday

Yep! It's that time again! I'm going to grab my iPod, hit shuffle, and post the first ten songs that play no matter how embarrassing they are. But this time, I'm going to try something new...I'm going to add a Mr. Linky and keep track of those of you who play along. This is not a big blog and I'm not expecting tons of traffic, but some of my biggest responses have been to this particular meme so I thought I would give it a try. (And, as always, I give credit to Sooner Scotty for doing this on his blog first.)

And here we go!

1. It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)-R.E.M. (Ah! High school memories...)
2. Stars-Les Miserables soundtrack (the only use I have for Inspector Javert is that he sings this song)
3. Kissing a Fool-George Michael (I knew that being embarrassed at some point today was inevitable...)
4. I'm the Greatest Star-Barbra Streisand (And the humiliation continues.)
5. The Winner Takes it All-ABBA (My all-time karaoke solo fantasy song)
6. Amish Paradise-Weird Al (Would you believe I'm NOT embarassed by this one? I have a son, we love Al's music together.)
7. Anyway-Martina McBride (One of my ALL-TIME favorites. You all are going to have to wait for me to listen to the whole song...)
8. Be My Baby-The Ronettes (I must like this one, it comes up a lot on Mondays.)
9. A Little Fall of Rain-Les Miserables soundtrack (So does this one.)
10. Hey There Delilah-Plain White Tees (What can I say? I work with teenaged girls twice a week.)

Did you play? All you have to do is grab an MP3 player and list your first 10 songs in my Comments section or post your name and blog link here with Mr. Linky (provided I've gotten the HTML right). Happy Monday! (Edited to add: You have to click on Mr. Linky to see the other links. I will try and fix it for next week's Music Monday-I *may* get it fixed tonight, but I wouldn't bet money on it.)

Week In Review

Reading-

Duane's Depressed by Larry McMurtry-

He is SUCH a male author. I don't know about Duane, but I sure was depressed through most of this book. I will admit to liking the very end AND the gratuitous shout-out to one of McMurtry's other books, Lonesome Dove. (What Thalia resident wouldn't have loved that one?!) Having said that, he's still one of my favorite authors and Thalia and its characters ARE his, and not mine, to play with-but I did find this book pretty sad overall. I'm glad to be finished with it.

Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven by Mark Twain-

If you've never heard of this one (I hadn't) you can read it here. (Thanks for the link!) I found it very interesting for a few reasons. One was the discovery that there was still written material by Mark Twain that I hadn't already read. The second was that so much of it reflects the afterlife doctrine of Latter Day Saints when Twain himself was no fan of Mormons. I'm very glad to have read this because it certainly compensated for the disappointment of the above-mentioned book. Overall, it was interesting and not too far from what I believe myself about what happens when we die IF were I able to put those thoughts in a nutshell. (And that's a big "if")

Watching-

Grey's Anatomy-

I thought I could go through this season without watching. BUT it turns out that I can't. What can I say? I'm "addicted." (Funny if you watched last week.) I really loved Bailey and Alex in the observation room: "Thank you," "NO, thank you." Good times. But I'm still not watching Private Practice.

In My Netflix Queue-

Bridget Jones Diary-

It's nice to know that no matter how many public faux pas I may make, I'll never do it in as big a way as Ms. Jones does. Why had I never seen this movie before?! It was good stuff. Now I'll have to rent the sequel and hope for the best. (Sequels make me nervous.) Oh, I LOVED the Hugh Grant/Colin Firth fight scene.

Extracurricular Activities-

Grand Lake camping-

So much togetherness...too much togetherness? Lately I've been whining to Dave that our house is too big and our kids don't play together. That I really want to pare things down and live more simply. I may have to re-think that now. Not really. It was a fun trip. Some of the highlights were Elisa running out to the little porch off of the Master Bed that had its own hot tub (we're really rustic when we camp) clad in nothing but a deflated duck floatie. Needless to say, we let her join us. How could we say no?! We did get to do some swimming, some over-the-fire cooking, and the satellite made sure we didn't miss conference. Maybe not the most roughing-it OR the most relaxing of trips, but definitely the stuff that my teenaged fantasies of motherhood were made of...so no complaints.

Okie Blogger Round-Up-

It was a smaller gathering than last year, but worth being in the Tulsa area to attend. I got to see Redneck Diva and Tater again and I even got to meet Mr. Diva. Someday we'll get those kids together...I also met Shannon from Rocks In My Dryer and promptly spent the entire time she sat at our table with my foot in my mouth. Thank goodness she is just as sweet and nice in person as online AND that I watched Bridget Jones the night before that so I could keep it all in perspective. Did I win anything? Of course not. But I'm OK with being the Okie Blogger bridesmaid just as long as I'm still invited to the round-up each year. This year's winners are listed here.

All in all a good week. And did I forget to mention that OU BEAT TEXAS!!! Because we totally did!

Thursday Thirteen #36

Thirteen Things on this weekend's 'To-Do' list.

1. Pack a suitcase (or three) for our family weekend here.
2. Plan a menu and grocery shop for #1.
3. Load the dishwasher and put away the laundry so we don't come home to a messy house.
4. Make sure Mom and Dad have a key so they can still watch OU/Texas game in our home theater room.
5. Feel annoyed that my parents still have a key to my place when I'm 35, married, and the mother of four.
6. Feel relieved that there will be no 'Well, you're Dad and I wanted to watch the game at your house, but you went out of town and we couldn't."
7. Watch the aforementioned OU/Texas game.
8. Root for the Sooners.
9. Keep my fingers crossed and watch my language in front of the kids.
10. Leave mid-game to attend this year's Okie Blogger Round-Up.
11. Lose graciously.
12. Congratulate Redneck Diva, Chaz, and Shannon on their wins. Feel way too shy and inadequate to talk to Pioneer Woman, IF she actually comes.
13. Have fun and leave my laptop at HOME.

I'll see you all when I get back. If you enjoy my mother's company, feel free to try and break-in in our absence. But I don't recommend it. GO SOONERS!!

For more Thursday Thirteen fun, click here!

Wordless Wednesday

Anyone wanna tell me why I can snap two excellent pictures casually over the side of a cruise ship, but can't get a good one of my kids to save my life?!

Tired Tuesday

Today's post is the 5th comment in yesterday's comment section. For some reason, Blogger wouldn't let me publish it as a post; but it worked just fine as a comment. Not sure what's up with that and, frankly, I don't care. School pictures are tomorrow, so we've got outfits to find, hairstyles to try, and order forms to fill out. I'll chat with you folks tomorrow...maybe.

Music Monday

I'm doing something a little different this week. I'm copying Chaz and Monty who were copying someone else when they did this meme last week. I've done this one before, but it's been long enough since then that I think I can safely recycle. Because I'm too lazy to go get my iPod out of the car, I'm going to open up iTunes and hit shuffle. I will write down the first couple of lines of the song UNLESS the title is revealed in it and leave it to all of you to guess the songs.

1. "We are strong, no one can tell us we're wrong, searching our hearts for so long. Both of us know it..."

2. "Don't you fret Monsieur Marius, I don't feel any pain..."

3. "On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?"

4. "...how you thrill me, uh-huh...nearly kill me, uh-huh...I heard about you before, I wanted to know some more, and now I know what they mean. You're a love machine."

5. "I'm waking up at the start of the end of the world, but it's feeling just like every other morning before..."

6. "Hey! Hey! You! You! I don't like your...No Way! No Way! I think you need a new one!"

7. "...And I need you, Baby. Oh Baby, you got me on my knees. You've got me begging, Baby, Baby, please..."

8. "...the smile I had has gone away, those that steal are gonna pay...today"

9. "I know you have questions, same ones as me. How long has it been? How long will it be?" (#7, #8, & #9 are all from the same soundtrack)

10. ...I die a little...I wonder why a little. Why the gods above me who must be in the know, think so little of me they allow me you to go."

11. "God that was strange to see you again. Introduced by a friend of a friend."

12. "Didn't I say I wasn't ready for romance? Didn't we promise we would only be friends? And so we danced, though it was only a slow dance..."

13. "...I ain't got the time and if my Daddy thinks I'm fine...I won't go, go, go."

14. "It was a recipe for disaster, a four-course meal of no-sirree. It seemed that happily ever after was happy everyone was after me."

15. "I hear she's kickin' ass across the board and rocked 200,000 highest score and just in time to save the world of being taken over. She's a warrior."

Please play along in the Comments section or at your own blog (just let me know so I can come and guess. I'm really bad at this meme, but for some reason I love it anyway). What do you think, Scott? Are you going to try it?