Did You Know?

In Norman, America there are still plumbers who will drive to your house, tear out some drywall, replace a broken pipe, find the water shut-off valve to the garage area, show you how to turn it on and off (and it will stay off until the weather warms up since we aren't using the rec room right now), AND they will only charge you $89 parts & labor ON A SUNDAY? Well, now you know. And so do we. Of course, we did have to tow him out of the driveway and back up to the main road because our street is still unplowed and unthawed. There are trade-offs in everything, I guess.

Week In Review

Reading


Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan


Midway through the book and I am already getting choked up and teary-eyed while reading to the kids, much to the chagrin of my almost-teen daughter. Oh well, when they start talking about the youth-as-heroes, Mama's going to cry. Especially since I already know how it ends. But the kids are loving it. We try and have a 'no TV on Sunday rule' here, and when there's lots of Percy Jackson to read; we usually get away with it. I'm toying with reading The Hobbit with them next or maybe the Chronicles of Narnia even though I know that my older two have read them dozens of times already. On an unrelated topic, how cool is it to have a job where you can order the boxed set of Little House on the Prairie books because you genuinely need them for work purposes. Pretty cool indeed.

Watching


The Big Bang Theory


If there's anything I missed the first time in Season 3, I think I've seen it now. Also, what in the world are the writer's going to do about Kaley Cuoco's broken legs? I'm curious to see how it plays out this season. And finally, the kids and I have some hypotheses about what Amy Farrah Fowler does for a living since Sheldon would have already known her if she were a scientist of any note whatsoever. My bet is on Library Science even though I simultaneously bristle at the stereotype. Natalie went with English teacher, but I think she's been written as too matter-of-fact for that. Tristan said he didn't care as long as the show was coming back next week. And regardless of whether any of us are right, we can't wait for Thursday!! (And thanks to DVR, I'll still get my Grey's on too.)

Parenthood-


I'm glad the show is back, I'm kind of bummed about the Jasmine character spending the season in transit. I was actually a little bit underwhelmed by the first episode, but I adore this show and have faith it will get better.

19 Kids and Counting-


I'm glad the baby is home and healthy. That's pretty much what I got from watching two weeks' worth of episodes.

OU v. Air Force


Technically, I listened to this while driving to and from OKC. But...seriously Sooners? You're starting to scare me.

Extracurricular Activities


Bridal Shower


I skipped a precious OU game viewing because one of my former co-workers is getting married. It was like a mini-reunion for co-workers. Since it was a couples' shower, I got to see their spouses too. I had a great time getting caught up on what everyone is doing and how one of them is now expecting her first baby. (Squee!) Since Natalie was my date, I'm glad we didn't play some cheesy version of 'The Newlywed Game,' though one co-worker's wife aptly noted that Natalie would likely outscore Dave at such a competition. Alas, I think she was right. At any rate, a great time was had by all and I'm so excited for the wedding in a few weeks. (Squee again!)

This week was slow, next week is very full and should make for much better blog fodder. Provided I actually have time to write about any of it.

Week In Review

Reading-


Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Titan's Curse-


We were up late reading this last night, and finished the last two chapters today. I forgot how emotional I can get while reading a book until we hit the last few chapters of this one. Wow! At least Caroline was crying with me. While I post updates on the progress the kids and I make together on the books, I have read ahead through the entire series now. Supposedly, this is to keep me from getting so caught up in the books that I don't read them clearly. But, it didn't work for parts of Book 3, and I will be in BIG trouble by the time we finish Book 5. I was just proud of myself for not crying on the plane while I read it on Monday's flight home.

Watching-


19 Kids and Counting-


The new season debuted last week. My friends don't get my fascination, but I think I just like to have someone to compare myself to when someone tells me I have "too many children." Also, their debt-free lifestyle intrigues me as does the very happy marriage of Michelle and Jim Bob. People mock them, I may have been guilty of it myself, but you have to admit; it really works for them. I am very relieved that Baby Josie will finally be going home and I really like that they let Jana and John David go on a mission trip by themselves. They are about the age that I was when I went on MY mission and I can't think of a better way to have transitioned myself from student to real-world adult. I had a very nice get-together with some old friends a few weeks ago. They are no longer practicing members of my church (how we originally met), but I was pleasantly surprised to hear that in spite of everything; they are both glad they served missions. And you know, regardless of how frustrated I get with people at church here and there, I feel the same way. I think serving my mission was, independent of any religious motive, one of the single best decisions I ever made as a young adult.

At the Movies-


Clash of the Titans-


I had no desire to ever see this without having to use 3D glasses, so of course Dave bought it on Blu-ray. I have to say, the alternate ending actually made sense. So naturally that didn't use that one. Dave has a friend who wants to borrow this. I hope we never see it again.

Out and About-


From Sketch to Screen at the OKC Museum of Art-


This was such a neat exhibit! My friends and I met for lunch and a museum visit yesterday afternoon. It was lovely and definitely worth the time and money (though it was free for those who had Bank of America cards, which sadly I did not.) It's only here through August 15th, so it's now or never if you had any intention of seeing it before it moves on to its next destination. Oh, and the caprese salad at the Museum Cafe? It's everything I thought it would be, and I used to live in Italy; so that's saying something.

Another Bridesmaid Dress and a Baptism Story

For the past four years, it has been my honor to be nominated for an Okie Blogger Award. For the past four years, it has also been my my privilege (and my misfortune) to be nominated in a group of such talented writers that I really don't have a shot at winning. That is true again this year, but I couldn't be more humbled when I see my name listed among the likes of Kellyology, Miss Wisabus, Georgie @ Decisionally Challenged, Megan @ Sorta Crunchy, and a little blog you just *might* have seen called Rocks In My Dryer. We are among those nominated for Best Family Blog.  And even though I am quite sure this will not be my year either, I am going to beg ask politely for all of my Okie blogging friends out there to vote for me. (Unless you are nominated against me, of course.) After being a runner-up for four years, I would really like to win this year. Even though with all of the new baby craziness, I don't think this has been my best year for writing.

I do find it nice that the 'Best Family' nod comes on the heels of a very good weekend for my family. A weekend that leads me to believe I just might be doing something right as a parent. Our sweet Caroline was baptized yesterday. It's hard to know what to write to convey how wonderful that was without rambling, but I will try...

First, there were the testimonies. The first Sunday of each month, rather than having assigned speakers; the pulpit at our church is left open to anyone wishing to speak about their feelings for Our Savior, and what they have learned from His teachings in the past month. Some people do this, others ramble, some reveal WAY too much about themselves; and kids usually do all of the above when they get the courage to approach the microphone. Apparently, while I was in the other building nursing the baby, two of my girls felt inspired to speak. I missed Caroline's turn, but got back in time to hear Natalie. Natalie's testimony was a little detailed, as anything Natalie says is wont to be; but it was eloquent and still to the point. I am told Caroline's was the same. I am glad. This is not only because they didn't tell stories about me that I don't think our entire congregation needs to know, but also because they are learning to love the Lord and not to be afraid to tell others how they feel about Him. That's something I need to do a little more often myself and I'm pleased that my girls wanted to share those feelings with their church family. Even if I missed part of it.

Then, there was the baptism itself. Caroline knew it was her big day and had a smile on her face all day long. I was pleased when so many of our friends from church stayed to see it. I know they could have just as easily gone home and gone about the rest of their day. But they stayed. And then there were my wonderful friends Tracy (pregnant with child number six) and Danielle (mother of eight) who drove up to Blanchard after driving earlier that morning to Noble from Norman and back for their church services, just to be there for us that afternoon. They have done that for each one of my children's baptism. I love them both for that, among other reasons. In addition to those who make up my church family, there was my actual family whose religious beliefs vary widely, but who come together to support each other. This includes my sister's former mother-in-law who is still in our lives (much to my children's relief) and made sure my youngest nieces were there for Caroline since Caroline was at their baptism into the Catholic church last month. (I can't believe I haven't blogged about that. I should have. It was wonderful and equally as touching as yesterday.)

My mother and sister and nephews got there just in time to see Caroline's dad baptize her. She came out of the water and announced she wasn't leaving the font until someone brought her a towel. Somehow, Natalie and I convinced her to come up the stairs. I dried her and dressed her and as we were doing that, a little girl came into the Ladies' room. When she saw the water trail leading from the door to the font to where we were standing she said "Uh oh! You're gonna be in trouble for that mess!" So cute!

Once Caroline was dressed, we returned to the chapel so that my children could perform their much-anticipated musical number. Except, Tristan (already smarting because the day wasn't all about him) had gone and hidden himself because he didn't want to sing. I knew how long that battle could become, so I thought we would just go on without him. Some of the older boys (who I have known since they were younger than Tristan) disagreed and dislodged him from his hiding spot. So he sang with his sisters. His arms were crossed and he had a big scowl on his face, but he did it. I have loved the song they sang ("A Child's Prayer") and dreamed of my kids someday singing it at a baptism since I saw a family of six do the same for their 8 year-old sibling while I was on my mission. As many times as I pictured it, I never pictured Tristan looking so put-out. There were a lot of tears in my eyes as I led their music, and I'm not sure which ones came from laughing and which ones came from crying. I was doing both.

Following the song, Caroline was confirmed by her Dad and we closed without further incident from Tristan who had made a coat out of his tent that he crawled in backwards. I just let it go. I didn't get to hug and thank nearly as many people as I wanted after the baptism was over, but I was blown away by how many of our family and friends from all walks of life and from many other faiths were represented there that day. The love in that building was palpable and not just for me (and not just because it was my daughter's baptism). I left the church parking lot on Cloud 9.

The impromptu party held at my grandmother's house afterwards was just as wonderful. Although our faiths vary everyone had positive things to say about different parts of the service. My other grandparents made a surprise visit from Tulsa (the first time we had seen them since Thanksgiving). My sister's boyfriend came over with his children, my oldest niece put off spending time with her boyfriend to be with us, and other people who have been important to Caroline throughout her life were in and out all evening. All in all, it was a wonderful day that led me to believe in the power and love of family, both by those who share our DNA and those who share our spirit. As any of you who have read this for any period of time know, that doesn't happen very often for me. Does it for anyone? I'm not sure. And so, I'm grateful for my family both related and otherwise and I'm thankful for my blog's nomination. And if you got through all of this, thank you for reading!

Wordless Wednesday

Friday Flashback

I'm posting this now in case we don't have power tomorrow. The ice storm is rolling in as predicted even as I sit here typing this. I'm hoping for the best since we have plans to take Caroline to Dallas for her birthday on Saturday, but also spent yesterday and Tuesday picking up bottled water and toilet paper *just in case*. Either way, I hope it doesn't end up like the ice storm of 2007. In case you've forgotten that one, here are some pictures of my parents' house buried in trees to refresh your memory:

A Sense of Place Week #1

I joined a photo group at Flickr in part to atone for dropping out of two last year once the morning sickness hit and mostly because I want to make sure I keep practicing with my camera (and with Photoshop Elements) until I can produce pictures that I like more consistently. I have to say I'm happy with the first result. Here is the picture and the accompanying description:

"Christmas 2009 gave us over a foot of snow as its gift. By New Year's, this was all that was left. Even though most of it was melted, I tried to make it look like more in this picture because this is the first time that my youngest child was outside to see it. She spent most of the previous week battling some upper respiratory crud that defied diagnosis. My go-to RSV fear was disproved with a test and and a relatively quick recovery. However, this was as close to the white stuff as I would allow her, even it if was her first snow and probably the only white christmas the Sooner State will see in either of our lifetimes."

I Know It's Old News, But I Can't Resist

When OU lost to BYU in the opening game of our season, I knew there would be someone the next day at church who would inevitably point out that the Sooners lost not because they were outplayed, but simply because not every OU player was a good, clean cut returned missionary like the players on the BYU team. I knew this statement would make my hair stand on end for many reasons. Among these were the following:

• I'm almost positive that not every single  BYU football player is LDS because I know for sure that not all of the students are. Why you would want to go there if you weren't LDS, I'm not sure. But people do. (I tried to verify this with a Google Search, but only found chat board speculation similar to mine.)
• Even IF all the players were LDS, not all LDS men serve missions. Notably, Steve Young didn't, though I hate to single him out like that when I have such respect for his wife. However, it's an effective example.
• No one is perfect be they LDS, returned missionary, Methodist, Atheist, or Buddhist, NO ONE.
• Even if you are as close to perfect as humanly possible, God is not going to hand you things on a silver platter. I hate it when I hear church teachers telling the youth that something didn't work out for them because they weren't "being good enough." We are not exempt from trials and our trials aren't predicated on our righteousness. To teach our youth that if they behave that they won't have problems is to shake their faith to its core when they do their best and bad things happen. I'd like to say that we have stopped doing this as a church, but I still hear it all too often. (Good luck to anyone who tries to teach it to MY children, though.)
• And finally, GOD DOESN'T FAVOR FOOTBALL TEAMS. He leaves that to us for our recreation.

And of course, someone did say it in church. Several others said it on Facebook. People unfriended me on Facebook over my reaction to such a ridiculous claim. While I have enjoyed visits to Salt Lake City and Provo through the years and certainly appreciate the heritage that comes from there, I do not understand the hero-worship some of our members here in Oklahoma ascribe to all things that come from the state of Utah; particularly the BYU Cougars. To them I say this: When I was baptized, I convenanted to follow the example of Jesus Christ, to mourn with those that mourn, to comfort those who need comfort, and to obey the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. Not once throughout the missionary lessons or during my baptismal service did I agree to forsake my Sooners and root solely for BYU. (And that's good because it just might have been a deal-breaker.) And I also say that while I don't think winning is predicated on personal righteousness, I'm pretty sure I've never heard Sam Bradford say anything like this about ANY opponent.



I'm glad he apologized, he absolutely needed to regardless of how his family was treated a full year before he made those statements. I will admit seeing that gave me a great deal of smug satisfaction until I thought about how I would like to be judged by millions for something I said in the heat of the moment, and I didn't like that very much at all. Would anyone? Still, I hope everyone who took such glee in pointing out the Sooner's moral inferiority to the good ol' Y made a mental note to keep their judgemental mouths shut from now on. And, on that note, I would like to thank Sam Bradford for his awesome run at OU and for always being such a class act when it would be so easy, so allowable, and so human of him not to be. And  I also admit that I can't say that about everyone to have ever played for OU. The point of this post wasn't to paint either university or its players as "the good guys" and "the bad guys," it was simply to say in light of recent events I hope more people of my faith understand how dangerous it is to talk about how much more righteous and "worthy of victory" the BYU football team is. Or how much more righteous Latter Day Saints are when compared to other Christians for that matter. In fact, I think we should really cease and desist with comparisons completely because you can find the class acts, the bad sports, and the rule-breakers on ALL sides. It's dangerous to put ourselves or those that we think represent us on such high pedestals when all of us are human and therefore very prone to falling off of them. Let's forgive each other our trespasses and leave the Pharisees' attitude in the New Testament where it belongs, shall we? I'll try if you will...

Repeating Myself One More Time

I've already posted this on Facebook and Twitter, but I can't say it any better than this even without the 140 character limit:

"Dear Sooners,

Thank you for the early Christmas present!

Love,

An All-Weather Fan"

And with that, I will add an "Amen!" and one last "Boomer Sooner!"

Not Feeling It

As I fought through traffic on I-35 S. last Thursday just to come home from a Wal-Mart run, I realized that OU/Texas was upon us. I usually get just as excited as the next Sooner fan for this weekend, but this year I'm just not feeling it. It's not the team, it's me. I'm as tired of pulling in quotes in from movies and TV as you all must be of reading them, but if you will indulge me one last time, I think the way I feel about life in general was best summed up by Miranda Bailey during her cameo on last week's Private Practice when she said:

“I don’t sleep much anymore because I lie awake at night and wonder where all the joy is. During the day I realize that the joy packed its bags and left. The glasses of the world are half-empty.”

If I could say it better, I would. But this pretty much sums it up. However, that doesn't mean that my ambivilance about everything going on in the world right now (today's game included) should bring everyone down-so I thought I would link to another football blog post that did make me smile a few weeks ago. Here, my friend Christy describes one of the few reasons she might ever root for Texas. (Go read it, seriously. It's short and it will make you smile. And when is the last time anyone has been able to say that about this blog?)

Week In Review

Reading-

Anything I can get my hands on about pumping on some kind of schedule. Sorry you asked? I'm sorry I shared. But I did get to go grocery shopping BY MYSELF on Saturday, so the reading is paying off. On an unrelated note, I LOVE Aldi's. I filled a cart and a half and paid less than $180 for everything in both of them that will feed the 7 of us for two weeks.

Listening-

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-

We should finish it this week. What I love about this is that Caroline is suddenly super-intrigued by the books and Tristan has been reading them in class. Neither of them seemed interested at all when we started with the first book at the beginning of the summer so, score one for mom!

Watching-

The West Wing-

Still finishing Season 4 and still loving the show. We are actually getting to the handful of episodes that I remember watching because I LOVE John Goodman. It will be better to watch them now that I've seen everything that came before them.

18 Kids and Counting-

I used to be more intrigued by this show, now I feel like it's just the family on one trip after another and if I want to see a chaotic road trip, I can do that myself. So...how do I feel about Michelle having a 19th baby? Hmm...It's complicated  and in light of the fact that my husband and his father are fighting about our "oversized family," I just don't feel like talking about it right now. I am amused that they were 'surprised' by it though. I'll bet that doesn't happen too often to them.

And, as I suspected, I've already lost interest in Bringing Home Baby. I knew that wouldn't last long. Especially now that I know how to work our new DVD player.

At the Movies:

Baby Mama-

That's been on the 'to-watch' list since it came out, but never such a priority that I cleared my schedule to see it. It was on at my sister's last week and I finally got to watch it. Obviously, not an Oscar-winner, but I enjoyed it very much. Then again, it had Amy Poehler and Tina Fey starring in it so that was pretty much a given.

Out and About-

BYU v. OU-

You know...I had all of these good-natured, snarky comments ready to go and then this morning's paper reported that a man, his wife, two of their children, and a friend from Tulsa had been killed in a private plane crash en route to the game in Dallas. Between that news and Bradford's injury, I've kind of lost the heart for it. But, there are a few things that I have to say, and here it is: IF BYU beats OU because it is "God's University" and OU isn't, then tell me why is it again that Notre Dame beats BYU? In fact, why is it that BYU doesn't have perfect seasons every year? For that matter, why do TCU, Baylor, SMU, AND Notre Dame ever get defeated either? I know the answer to this, which is that God doesn't care about football, just the individuals who make up the teams and he certainly doesn't love any one of us MORE than the others. Nor does he only reward those who are better behaved. If that's true, why does Miami EVER win any games at all? I think it's great that BYU players are so well-mannered, but they won because they played better this time, not because God loves them more. It all goes back to that whole grace v. works debate. And there really isn't a debate there at all. Oh, and if you are going to get up and extol the virtues of the BYU players v. the ones at OU, maybe the King David comparison for the "good" guys isn't such a great idea. Most of us have read the Old Testament and we know how he turned out-and I say that lovingly because my husband is named for him. I'm just saying if my non-religious mom can point it out, so can any of us who attended Sunday School during the Old Testament year. (Can you tell what I had to listen to from the pulpit today?)
Best quote from our watch party:

Mom: Jim, no matter what happens with this next play, you canNOT shake the baby.

See also: Why Dad doesn't usually hold babies on game days. But he did just fine. It was also sweet to hear him comforting my youngest sister via cell phone who gets very upset about the outcome of these things.

Alexis' Blessing-

For all my whining yesterday, it really was a sweet experience this morning to be there for it. My parents came and Dave's former roommate drove over to participate. We also had our former and current branch presidents and other people who we have come to love since moving to the Blanchard Branch four years ago. Many of them come from non-member families like us, and they really do step up and fill that void on days like this. I may not love the 20 minute drive to church every week, but I still feel it was inspired that we wound up there. She didn't cry, Dave didn't change her name, the other kids were good for the blessing (not always the case when they were little) AND most of them sat with my parents for the remainder of the service. Also, no one walked in on me today while I was nursing! (which I think will be the exception and not the rule).

"Big" Days

Today's post, if I had found time to write it, was supposed to be all about the big OU v. BYU season opener and how God didn't care about which team won football games and that 'Hey! Don't you BYU fans realize there are rabid OU fans who are also LDS?" and a few other funny things written in good fun because I enjoy football and a good competition, but I am also smart enough not to live and die by whether or not my team wins (which is good, because the Sooners in the '90's would have rendered me suicidal) and I will  also never be so delusional as to think God favors one university over another. Especially when He has things like recessions, famines, natural disasters, health epidemics, and attempts at genocide to worry about. Make no mistake, I'm in my crimson and cream, have the kids singing "Boomer Sooner" and I can't wait for kick-off, but in the grand scheme of things I also get that it's just a very fun way for me and my family (and pretty much this whole town) to spend a Saturday.

That's what I wanted to write about today, and I'm glad I devoted a paragraph to it. These next two paragraphs won't be as fun. Today is the big game, and tomorrow is another big day. It's my baby's blessing day at church. Because Dave and I are the only members in my family and because, in my opinion, most members of both of our extended families prefer to hold to half-truths and other misconceptions about our church rather than just getting the facts from us; the days when we've blessed our newborns and baptized our 8 year-olds have always been pretty devoid of much family representation on either side. My father-in-law came to the first two blessings, but has skipped the rest since "you all shouldn't have had any more than two kids anyway." (NOT KIDDING. In fact, he said it again so recently that he and Dave aren't speaking. I found this out today. I'm not sure how long ago it happened, but I know I will get blamed for it regardless. Sigh...) And pretty much everyone else besides my parents and my sisters always have some stellar excuse for not being there, but all their "good reasons" really boil down to one message: "You joined a false church and because I'm so righteous I'm not going to step foot in it on a really important day for you so that maybe you will see the error of your false-church-choosing ways." And they don't come. They never have, and from the looks of it, they never will.

This year, I tried not to make a big deal of it. I told myself things like "Well, just don't say anything. Our meetinghouse is pretty small and seating would be hard to find." Or "This is our 5th baby after all, and it's really no big deal." But Dave is an eternal optimist, and he's been calling and inviting anyway. He didn't share any of this with me until this morning, and I'm not sure why he even told me. As usual, all the friendly invites were to no avail. And only my parents will be joining us this year because I have one sister in New York (for her birthday) and the other has been pretty sick this week. Though both of them usually do come. It's ironic to me that my self-proclaimed agnostic father and my self-proclaimed atheist sisters are the ones who always show up for the important religious rites of passage in the lives of my children. They don't do this because they support the church we belong to, they do it because they love me, my husband, and these children (ALL of them, and not just the first two we 'should' have had). As far as the devout churchgoing family members who have yet to come to anything? They have taught me a lesson. If their churches help them to feel justified in doing something that is very hurtful to other family members; then I know for sure that I certainly didn't make a mistake when I didn't pick their church as the one for myself and my family.

*And let the record state that throughout my adult life I have attended as many baptisms, blessings, confirmations, and ordinations as I've been invited to and will continue to do so whether or not I share the same beliefs as those participating in the ceremonies. Why? Because I understand how hurtful it is when most of your family isn't there on the "big days" in your life. I understand it all too well.*

For Sooner Scotty

I used to have a regular reader/commenter who blogged under the name Sooner Scotty. He was Native American and, understandably, took some offense at Thanksgiving celebrations and Oklahoma Land Run commemorations. I have Native American ancestry myself, but my great or even great-great grandmother opted not to put her name on tribal roles, to marry a white man, and to blend in as much as possible with white America-in effect denying that heritage to her future generations. Something that still bothers my grandmother and great-aunts. As a result of not knowing my heritage, I suspect that I am not always as sensitive as maybe I should be to the hurt that celebrating those events can cause. To me, Thanksgiving is a nice time for good food and a family gathering that happily lacks the annoying commercialism of Christmas. Because I work at a Land Run property museum, we participate in an annual Land Run re-enactment. I won't lie, it's a lot of fun each year. However, we do have a daily Native American speaker who gives that perspective to the kids in a 20 minute talk/demostration (depends on who gives it) at the end of each day's activities. Today, as one of them was speaking, I wished I could tape his talk and put it on YouTube so that Scott could see it and know that we did present both sides of the story. (Though he no longer blogs, and it's been ages since he has commented here.) BUT, I don't have a cool video camera that can do that and, unless you enjoy shaky videos, it's just as well that none of you have to watch it. However, I did a little digging on YouTube and I did find one of my favorite commentaries on the subject after all. (Sorry about the subtitles):



I had no idea Christine Baranski was in this movie!

A Weather Update of No Importance Whatsoever

As suspected, we got a lot of nothing in the end. It rained yesterday and snowed on and off this afternoon, but nothing froze and nothing stuck. This was a good thing as we held church leadership meetings this morning and had ladies drive in from as far as Ada and Ardmore to attend (and props to them for making that trip because the weather really was iffy and a lot of women from Norman and closer areas were no-shows). I'm glad they made it here and back home safely. Of course, this also meant that the meeting wasn't cancelled and that I had to teach today, and that always scares me. But, I think that went well too. It was also easy to get Caroline to and from her 1 p.m. birthday party once the meetings were over and to pick up all of the kids from my grandmother's after that. Since then, I've been very happy to stay holed-up in my house with my kids even IF the weather didn't require it.

Of course, a little farther to the Northwest, BritGal has a very different story to tell about the snow in Oklahoma this weekend.

Talking about the Weather, Again

For most people, talking about the weather is akin to conversation failure. For Okies, it can be a pretty intense subject. The saying here has always been "Welcome to Oklahoma. If you don't like the weather, wait about 15 minutes. It will change." There is a reason that the National Storms Lab resides right here in my hometown. Here in Oklahoma, we are well-known for devastating tornados, floods when hurricanes get close to Texas and Lousiana, and more recently; a few really awful ice storms. All this week throughout mild temps ranging from the 50's-70's, forecasters have been predicting that today would bring "the storm of the century."

Make no mistake, there is food in the pantry and I cancelled on the usual Friday night gathering at my grandmother's *just in case* BUT, it's getting hard to take this seriously when every flood, tornado, and snowfall since the year 2000 has been called the same thing. My question is, of all the storms we've had so far; which one was it again that was THE storm of the century? AND with 91 years and a few months left, aren't we being a little presumptious with that label? The Dustbowl didn't hit until the 1930's so I think we've still got lots of time before assigning every weather quirk with a title equivalent to disaster of biblical proportions. In the meantime, we're still waiting for the snow to even start at my house-though I have heard that it has reached the OKC metro area. I guess I'll know by tomorrow what exactly we were in for today.

A Walk in My Shoes

I was awakened at Midnight to the sounds of my son puking. By 6 a.m. my husband was doing likewise and one of my daughters was threatening it (a threat she followed through with a few hours later). When my husband passed out at the front door and seemed to have a seizure on the floor in front of me; I realized none of us were going anywhere today. I spent the day making pallets, handing out trash cans and large mixing bowls, getting drinks of water, seeing who could hold down what, doing laundry, and spraying Lysol on the toilet seat, door knobs, and at one point on my foot after stepping into an inexplicable wet spot on my living room carpet.

This blog doesn't often speak intelligently about politics, the OKC metro night life, or other witty and enjoyable "adult" topics. Sometimes it does...but more often than not, it is my outlet for dealing with days like the one described in the previous paragraph. And oddly enough, people still read it, enjoy it, and have nominated it for Okie Blogger awards each year of the last three. I've never won one, but I've had the pleasure of finding new blogs and, often, new friends among my fellow nominees. I'm not sure that anything I write here is particularly deserving of any accolades or recognition, but I definitely enjoy being part of the process. And I hope these gentlemen someday learn to do likewise, because this post makes them sound a lot more like a bunch of sore losers than the funny, witty guys whose posts we love to read to each other every morning at work. I expect and welcome their daily snark, but I feel that this post crossed a line and that they owe Georgie an apology. (Who was, by the way, a NEW nominee and a first time winner this year.)

Maybe we 35-40 year-old mommy bloggers aren't the most clever or the most interesting people to read, but we have hard lives sometimes, and funny lives sometimes, and inspiring lives sometimes too (sometimes we even manage all three of those at once); and we have every right to blog about them if we so choose. And other bloggers have every right to vote for us if THEY so choose. And, surprisingly enough, they do! And that's all I care to say on the subject.

Here's hoping for a puke-free day tomorrow...

*This just in...all comments left without actual contact information will be deleted. Hey! I'm a mom, I've got nothing better to do with my time than sit around eating chocolate and watching for trolls*

More Like the Maid of Honor

The results of the 2008 Okie Blogger awards are in, and yet again, I'm a bridesmaid rather than a bride. BUT, I did get runner-up for Best Commentary this year. Let's be honest, was I really going to beat these ladies? I'm just surprised that I came in second. Congrats to Today in Idabel Oklahoma! (And yay me for moving one step closer in the bridal party!)

Saturday Short

Is there anything more attractive than Hugh Jackman singing in his best Okie accent?



Then again, is there anything more attractive than Hugh Jackman?

Have a good weekend!

An Overdue Acknowledgement

A few weeks ago in the midst of 1st trimester ickiness and the usual four-kid chaos, I got a sweet comment from Georgie congratulating me on my nomination for the 2008 Okie Blogger Awards. (Congrats to you too, Georgie!) I was very touched. This is my third year to be nominated, and I am always very excited about it-even though I have as yet been the eternal Okie Blogger bridesmaid and have yet to win. Nonetheless, I have met some of my favorite people (and still hope to meet a few more someday) as a result of these awards and I am honored yet again to be included in their numbers. This year, I am nominated for Best Commentary and Best Inspirational blog. I've got some pretty impressive competition. If you are an active Okie blogger, I invite you to check out all the nominees for this year and if you are so inclined, feel free to vote for me! Though I do love being a bridesmaid. Voting is open through February 7th!

This is One Small Town

When I was a kid, Soonerville really was a small town. But it has since ballooned to a population of almost 100,000. And yet, so many small town elements still remain here. Earlier this morning, I checked the liveblog of a local news station for road condition updates. Instead, I noted with some chagrin that a high speed chase had come to an end at a local RV dealership about a mile from my house and that two of the three suspects were still at large. While I wasn't really all that worried about them getting up and down the two icy hills leading to my house (not to mention managing to get past my frozen driveway and overly friendly dog), I did monitor the situation closely as did my friend Wendy who lives on the other side of the highway. We chatted and joked about back and forth about it via Facebook all morning. Then, I clicked on the local ABC affiliate to watch the news mostly because the news is followed by All My Children. (There are some things you just never outgrow.) And that's when they dropped the name of one of suspects. And Wendy and I (and many of our other friends) definitely know him. Of course we do. It's Soonerville. And also, it's kind of funny. But probably because I wasn't the one who got tazed in a trailer today after stealing a truck and fleeing from the police. Or maybe that was funny too. At least until the tazer got involved. Oh well, never a dull moment. Right?

*Edited to add that, yeah, that's him. Sad.*