Here We Sit

My candles are lit, dinner has been put away, porch light is on, my afghan over my knees,  TV is blaring, here we sit, and we here we wait…..wait…..wait!    It is on 6:40 p.m. so maybe the Trick or Treaters are not ready…………….but my boys have already Facetimed me to show me their costumes so we should be bombarded with the little ghosts and goblins any moment.

Just a little something I want to say right now:  I love that tie Mike Morgan has on tonight.  Now you can go back to regular blog reading.

While we are waiting, here’s a little look at our annual hayride/wiener roast, otherwise known as weenie roast.  Enjoy the fall evening we had last Saturday evening.

 

Football - part of every fall party.

Logan, Blaine, and Eli

Our little Princess Hadley

Shoes – It’s all about the shoes.  In this case, it’s all about the boots.

And it’s all about best friends, Blaine and Jordan.

Getting ready for a ride.

And off they go, Grandpa and all the kids.

And my favorite son-in-law, Ryan.

While the kids are enjoying their ride, it is time for the parents to dig in. Christine, Sheila, Shawna, and Ryan’s twin, David.

And the dogs, it’s all about the dogs.

Brooklyn and Tiffany

 

And there is Jaxson on the tire swing.                Eli and Hadley, Sarah’s kids

Sarah and Mindy, Shawna’s friends, also her wedding attendants.

Tiffany, Shawna, and Sheila

One last hayride, this time in the dark.  Thanks Grandpa.

Brooklyn – The party’s winding down; time for a little concert

 

Here we set, an hour and a half later, still no little ones.  Here we sit, enjoying looking at the pictures from the hayride.  Here we sit, splitting one Eskimo Pie.  Here we sit, watching TV.  Here we sit, enjoying each other.  Here we sit……………….

I love you!  Come by and sit with us  a while.

Pillow, Pillow, Pillow, Pillow

 Christmas will be here soon and if you don’t believe it, check the calendar, even better, check out all the blog post and Pinterest pins.  Want more proof, check every store in Midwest City.  Every blog is full of crafty ideas and recipes, waiting in the wings for Christmas, and boy howdy, some are really cute, and the cake pops are yummy looking.  I must admit I am getting excited, too.  I am not sure why; I’m guessing it’s because I haven’t really grown up.  Some say it’s for the kids, but secretly it’s for me.  Not really, but I seriously get more excited buying gifts than a normal person.  I truly believe I enjoy watching someone open a present from me than I enjoy receiving a gift.   

Don’t you really think Christmas must be the fifth season…yes, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Christmas, and Winter?  Well, before the Christmas season begins in earnest, I thought I would let you see my little autumn pillows.  This is what I was doing at the time of my crafting blog post a few weeks back.  They are finally finished!  Not great objects of art or even desire, but they kept these little fingers busy for a night or two.  Notice all that pillow fuzz?  Please ignore that.  We would have brushed that all off, but we couldn’t find the new lint remover wand.  Still can’t.  Want to come help us look for the two month old lint remover?

I love you guys.  Hope you are enjoying your Friday night.

 

Just One Big Hoot Over Here

"Honey, come here.  I want to tell you something."   Pulling open the garage refrigerator door, I show him my glasses on the shelf.  "If you happen to see these in here, I want you to know that I put them there on purpose."

"OK", he says, "but can I assume that the dishcloth I saw there yesterday was on purpose, too?" And then he laughed and asked me why I was deliberately putting them in the refrigerator so I told him why.  As to not keep you in suspense any longer, I will tell you, my friend.  You see we were heading out for the morning and when I got to the car, I realized I had two pairs of glasses in my hand (don't even ask about that).  Well, what was I going to do with two pairs of glasses?  I only needed one and the refrigerator was right there within two feet of the car door.  In my mind (might be a clue there) the only logical choice was to put them in the refrigerator.  Why, you might be asking.  Well, the simple reason was that I knew I would be getting in the refrigerator some time when I got back and they would be right under my nose and I would then retrieve them and bring them in the house.  Also, the house was already locked and the alarm was counting down the seconds. 

I just wanted the hubby to know that I knew that he knew the glasses were in the refrigerator and that I knew he knew I was not crazy.  We have to remind each other daily that there is a madness to our madness!

Another bit of funny:  Today I was reading an online article about Trump.......I know, I have nothing else better to do.  Anyway, the article quoted someone as saying "Donald Trump is the Honey Boo Boo of rich people."  I cackled.  Funniest quote of the day!

I love you guys.  P.S.  The dishcloth in the refrigerator was accidental.  I didn't remember leaving it there, but I do remember using it there.  I was NOT storing it there............hmmm, although it might be a place to keep it from mildewing.  Just one big HOOT over here.  Come see us!  You might laugh, too.

It All Worked Out

Good morning everybody.  Have you been outside today?  It is so beautiful that I had to just get outside for a minute or two.  To all you worker-bees, you get to do that when you retire.  Anyway, as happened I walked by my garden and lo and behold, there were some red tomatoes clinging to the vines.  I stopped and picked a few.

One of my sweetest memories is the fall after I graduated high school.  Everything was right with the world, but at the same time everything was wrong with my personal world.  No job..............no college............no boyfriend............no ambition...........and I worried constantly about all these things.  Still, it was a wonderful time of bonding with my mom.  Everyday it would be me and Mom alone.......kids in school...........dad at work........the autumn of 1966. 

My life would turn around by December 1966 when I became a working girl, but that fall was a time just for Mom and me; riding together to take a truck load of peanuts to the mill, watching "Days of Our Lives", ironing as she folded clothes, shopping in Shawnee.  We did about everything together that year; just hanging out.  That was the fall when we first discovered Sandy's Hamburgers in Shawnee........remember that place?  This was even before McDonalds.  Ten cent fries; twelve cent burgers and Mom and I loved them.  This was our own special place and we stopped every time the two of us went to Shawnee. 

This brings me back to those tomatoes I saw this morning.  On those precious fall days (and please believe me, they were indeed precious) of 1966, I would fix Mom and me lunch which almost always was a grill cheese sandwich.  What made our grill cheese wonderful and memorable was having slices of tiny fall tomatoes on them.  To us, the tomato lovers, those sandwiches were wonderful.............something I will never forget.   

Oh sure, in 1966 I had those worries about what the rest of my life would bring and I am sure Mom was worried about that for me as well, but in the end, 45 years later............the most precious part of that year was bonding with mom...........just hanging out.  It all worked out.

I love you.


 

Family Recipes–Memories

As I was cleaning the kitchen this morning, I ran across my mother’s recipe files and in it are many family recipes.  It struck me once again, that I seldom look at these old recipes, and almost never use them.  But boy, oh boy, I have to tell you a lump formed in my throat when I looked at them closely.  There I found my mother’s handwriting………..then I found my sisters’ and sister-in-law’s handwriting…….and oh my gosh, way at the back, I found my Grandma Dawkins’ homemade taffy recipe in her handwriting.  And there on the same shelf, I found a baggie full of my mother-in-law’s recipes, many of them in her own handwriting, and often on scraps of paper.
These recipes are not necessarily ones that I liked, but just a compilation of family memories.  I hope you enjoy them.  If you happen to want a particular recipe that you cannot read, please contact me and I will decipher for you.

This looks so tiny (remember I am still learning the ins and outs of this new computer) you might not be able to read it, but it is my sister-in-law’s Mexican Cheese Rolls that she gave me 30 years ago when I was having a Christmas homeowner’s meeting at my house. 

The recipe on the left is my great grandmother’s cookie recipe, but in my sister’s, Brenda, handwriting.  On the right is my mother-in-law’s recipe for Ginger Bread which she made often once she found out our son loved it.  Grandmas are like that.

On the left is Kay’s recipe and in her handwriting.  The recipe on the right is my Aunt Betty’s Peanut Brittle in Brenda’s handwriting.

And…………on the left……here is mom’s recipe in her handwriting. 
And last………….lump in my throat…………here is Grandma Dawkins’ recipe for Old Fashioned Taffy and in her handwriting………….{sigh}.  The only time I ever saw my grandpa help in the kitchen was when she made taffy.  Oh my, it was so hot and you had to work fast.  Grandpa and Grandma would stretch the taffy back and forth till it was porous.  What memories of a cold winter evening with loving grandparents.  Never to be again, but I will have that memory forever and especially when I see her handwriting.
There is something special about revisiting the handwriting of my family.  Will you have the same feeling of your recipe file on Pinterest?  I doubt it.  I could rewrite all these and have nice typewritten, readable recipes, but why would I erase these memories?
I love you!!!!

I Do Love My Little Grandboys

I have talked about our five little acres before, but it is never more appreciated than when the grandsons are here.  For the last couple of days, most of their day was spent throwing balls, driving tractors, dragging limbs to the big trash pile, takings walks, kicking leaves, scavenger hunts, swinging on the tire swing, and running with the dog.  .........their own private park here.

We crafted, baked cookies, took a walk to find pretty leaves, ate out three different fast food places, and watched movies.  Who knew the two hour marathon of Three Stooges shorts could generate 94 questions?  "Grandpa, when was this movie made?  Who is Shemp?  There were four?  What are their last names?  What is a judge?  Are they brothers?  This one was made in 1953; Nana how old were you in 1953?", etc, but those giggles were all worth the questions. 

And then there were non-Stooges questions..........................
"Nana, can we have a drink? No, no, not water.  I mean a Coke."
"Nana, when Mommy was little where did she sleep?"
"Nana, is this the same bathtub as Mommy used?"
"Nana, did Steven and Mommy take baths together, too?"
"Nana, can we have root beer? We can??!!"
"Nana, can we get dessert pizza at Mazzio's?"
"Nana, can we have a cookie? Seriously, we can get one any time we want??!!"

There was only a tiny bit of drama when the little one whined that his daddy makes them pick up the living room before they go to bed, too, and he didn't like it one bit.  But you know what, he pitched right in and helped.  I have good grandboys.

Then the hubby and I almost lost it when we hear this conversation:  "Hey, where is my knife?" and very seriously his little brother says "Here you go my good man.  I was using it to cut my sausage biscuit."

And they came in with glasses, masks, flashlights, and hats and Blaine declared to me "Helmet, mask, GPS, and flashlight. We have all we need for the wrath of a dangerous mission."  And off they ran to the great outdoors to save the world.  Oh my, I do love these little boys.

These boys are wonderful, but they sure made me remember and miss my own kids when they were their ages.  The giggles from the back seat were so sweet, but boy did they ever remind me of the early 80s when my own were giggling, or was that arguing, in the back seat.  I am probably looking back to the 80s through my rose colored glass, but these times were nothing but goodness.  My advice to all you young parents, enjoy these times for they are short and soon you will be looking back through your own rose colored glasses.

Memory:  Shawna reminded me today of the times when she and Steven would spend the week at Grandma Dawkins and how much work it must have been for her and Grandpa.  Remember when they would have all you grandchildren at the same time....whew....Mom how did you do it?  --  Note to her grandkids:  I never heard your grandma complain one bit, not one ''I am so tired."  She was one strong, sweet, wonderful grandmother.

I love you.

Testing Only

Testing again.  Sorry guys.

Just Want to Hug Somebody

I am testing again today.  These are some untouched photos from the trip that I selected at random.  They have been downloaded to my old computer and uploaded onto this blog using the old computer without a hitch.  So.......if they upload from this computer.......why don't they upload from my new computer?  I will find out even if it takes me a year.  I will just have to keep playing.  In the meantime, I may entertain you or dismay you by posting pictures from our trip.

Just a little side note:  This morning I saw laundry hanging on a line; panties, socks, a top, and two pairs of jeans.  All swaying gently in the breeze on this beautiful fall day.  It was not a trashy home, but the whole symbol of those clothes hanging on the line, to me, just exuded love.  I just about had a moment....a moment as Blaine says "you just want to hug somebody".  I was having one of those moments where I just wanted to hug somebody.  I remember mom hanging clothes on the line and now, looking back through my rose colored glasses, I choose to recall it as mom loving us.  She might have thought it a necessity.  Either way, she did it.  She loved us.  Another little side note:  I hope all of you have one of those "just want to hug somebody" days.  I just want to hug somebody....that be you, Mom.

I love you.  

Route 66 Motel

If you read The Pioneer Woman's blog,

then you are familiar with her photographs

of the hotels she has frequented throughout

her many trips for book signings and TV appearances.

By the way, I just love that because

she is just an Oklahoma girl at heart and

things like nice hotel rooms tug at our hearts.

I thought it would be nice to show you

one of the hotels we stayed in on this last trip

This was in Tucumcari, NM.

You will notice the hubby's love for me had

no bounds when he sprang for this hotel.

He went all out on this one!

You will also notice we were able to park our plane

right at the gateway to paradise.

As you can see, our rental car was also able to park

within steps of the front door.

Here I am in some odd posture pose

ready to open the door to the

1970s unknown.

I still look happy.

Well, roll back the clock!  1970 for sure!

Despite my teasing about the room,

we actually got this room for $38 plus tax

and it was extremely clean.

This is exactly what the nicer hotels looked

like in 1972. 

We LOVED it!

We will hunt it up again if we are ever in the area again.

And the price wasn't a bad deal either.

Took the key back and now we

are ready to see the lights of

Oklahoma City -

looking mighty pretty.

Let's get going......

I think I have finally found a fix for my photo upload problem, but

it took some maneuvering.  We shall see if the photos look sharp when published.

Right now they don't look so hot.  If not, we will work on that another day.

I can't even remember how many posts I have posted today.

Please forgive me!

Good night all.

I love you! 

1990 Anyone?

Who wants to go with me right back to 1990?  You remember the time.  The time when computers were just written about in science magazines, rumored about at the office, and the declaration at every social gathering was ''Oh, we will never have a computer in our home.  We absolutely have no use for a computer."

Let me tell you right now that I HATE COMPUTERS!  I could really rant here, but.........  Oh go ahead Regina.  Thank you, I will.  I HATE COMPUTERS.  They are a menace to society.  OK, I need to calm down.  I think maybe computers have done more to raise my blood pressure than any other thing I have encountered in life. 

These machines have conned us into believing that we can't live without them.  We rely on them for our social life, our financial budget consultant, and our entertainment among other things.  And then just when they have us wrapped their little motherboards, they break, freeze up, stop downloading, and run so slow that you have time to change the baby's diaper, put a load of laundry in the washer, take the dog for a walk, and thaw a four pound roast. 

They have us!  We are in their hands and we HAVE TO HAVE them.  We need them, we cannot lie without them.  Then the time comes for a new computer.  Laptop is the best option for me so off we go to the nearest "Geek Store" hoping that one of those tattooed youngsters will have the patience to deal with a clueless 60-something.  When one of these youngsters can't avoid meeting my eye, he saunters over, and I can almost read his mind ''OH great, I am the one that is going to have to deal with this senile old woman.  Why does she need a computer anyway?" But he puts on a smile, or is it a smirk, and answer my inept computer questions.  It is then that I realize I don't know enough geek talk these days to ask intelligent questions. 

So here I set typing on this laptop that I call a MONSTER!  I ask you why did all those geeks think Windows needed to be changed/upgraded.  The 2006 Windows XP was all I needed.  Now my brain is going to have to engage, and folks it hasn't engaged since December 31, 2008.  

So even though I told you yesterday that I had mastered this thing, I have not.  Somehow a miracle occurred and I was able to upload one photograph, the one that you happened to see in the previous post.  I have no idea how that happened.  I have searched and investigated for the last three days and still I am clueless.  One lousy picture of myself uploaded and that was only a fluke or as I like to say, a miracle! 

So until I get this thing figured out, I will bore you only with my words, not pictures.  Who wants to go with me right back to 1990?  Back when we were wireless-less!  Back when we could only snoop into people's lives by peeping in their windows (house windows). 

1990 anyone?

I love you!

Maybe I Mastered One Thing Today????? Testing

Just Rambling Again Today

Today is one of those beautiful days.....one which is almost indescribable, but let me attempt to tell you what I feel.  Wish I were Zane Grey at this moment.... full of great adjectives.  I feel cozy all deep inside; like all is right with the world.  This morning's rumbling thunder is like music to my senses; a gentle rolling kind, not the scary, fearful kind.  I wanted to curl up in a blanket on the porch swing and wait for those drops of precious water the earth so desperately.  Then drop by drop it fell, until now when we have this gentle all day rain.  Oh, I hope it does just that! 

My house will soon fill with the aroma of a pot of Great Northern Beans cooking.  My Grandma Dawkins (I talk about her a lot, don't I.  She was the epitome of everything a grandmother should be.  She was love.) always had a pot of Northern Beans or Navy Beans simmering on the stove.  It has been a decade or more since I bought dried Northern Beans so I am going to give them a try again.  Even if we do not like them, I have only lost a few cents, but I have managed to create a delicious  smelling aroma.  Rain, OU/Texas game, simmering pot of beans, cornbread............ummmmmmm. 

Oh woe is me............the struggles of one inept woman learning the ins and outs of a new computer.  Kids, this thing jumps around and does all sorts of things of which I have no control.  In order for me not to be proven an idiot, I must master this thing........besides I have been griping for the last three years about the old one.  I CANNOT say scream "I want my old computer back!"  PRIDE!!!  (Did you know that computers do not come with manuals?  Do they not realize that everyone buying a computer is a 27 year old GEEK who nursed at the computer keyboard?  Even the 35-light string I bought yesterday came with an 8 page instruction guide, 8 pages I tell you, and I am not counting the pages in Spanish.)  Eventually...........  But boy, do I need my own personal geek squad.  Gone are the days when I could rely on my buddy Van to come to my rescue.  One of these days I need to blog about my friends from work.  I think now that I have been retired for 4 years and they don't read my blog anyway, I can get away with some zingers and laughs. 

The hubby and I have been talking about rain lately and we think it rained more when we were children.  Perhaps that memory is just a childhood memory, looking back so to speak, because I also remember how desperately we needed rain for the peanuts and rejoicing when it finally came.  Perhaps as children, we took things for granted.  Perhaps we didn't realize the impact of rain to the earth, to the crops, to our psychological well-being.  Well, now that we are grown up.........well, we are grown up........... 

I am going to try one more time to upload a picture or two, then I am giving up on the computer for the day.  So if you see a picture, you know I mastered one thing today.  If not..........well...........

I love you! 

Act Now

Good morning everybody.  Is it raining at your house?  It is a beautiful day here with showers now and again, but I am afraid they won't be around in another hour.  In fact, I would just about bet that the sun will shine soon.

Nonetheless, it is a day for reflection.  Today is the birthday of my hubby's cousin.  The unfortunate part of this story is that he passed away last year.  The unfortunate part is also the fact that the retirement plans of my hubby for him and his cousin went unfulfilled.  My hubby had great plans to reconnect with his cousin; head for the nearest fishing hole to spend some time reminiscing, lazing about on a still lake or a roaring river.  The fortunate part of that story for you and me is that there is still time to make connections if we act now. 

Act now!

I love you.  Feel free to connect with me.  I love you! 

Right now I am listening to Canon in D played on the piano by Michael Silverman.  Canon in D, morning of showers, cleaning my stove top...........what more could a girl ask for?

Ramblings Tonight

Ramblings tonight:

Rambling 1. Hello everybody.  Here I am again.  I can't seem to stay home long enough to actually blog, but am here tonight.  I am typing from a brand new computer and it is really a challenge so my post may be brief.  In fact I was deep into this post when I hit the X and the whole thing went away.  (OK, I knew better).  Who knew that in just a short, what?  7 years? that computers would change this much, and I am not talking about going from a PC to an Apple.  Nope this is a PC, too. 

Rambling 2.  We have been on vacation to my favorite place (other than Sam's Club), Red River, but this year which happens to also be our 40th anniversary year (and the hubby wants to know just how long I plan on making this 40th year last), we drove on up to Colorado.  I will have a blog soon about that trip.

Rambling 3.  This afternoon we went to the grocery store.  As the bagger loaded our groceries in the cart, she played me a compliment and told me how pretty my wedding ring was and she wanted to know how many carats it is.  I was taken aback and asked if she would repeat that question for I was sure she wanted to know something about carrots.  After her clarification, I knew she actually wanted to know the carats of my ring.  I told her less than a carat, around .92.  It was then her turn to be taken aback.  She told me she had never heard of that....how could it be less than one carat.  No diamond is less than one carat.  It definitely had to be more than that.  Then she held out her hand and declared hers was 10 carats.  Well.......what was I to say to that?  Sometimes one just has to hold ones tongue.  What good was it going to do for me to point our her ring was probably around .10 carat?  I guess her boyfriend really pulled one over on this young lady. 

Rambling 3.  A week ago I was having one of those moments..........ladies you know what I am talking about.  Nothing, nothing looks good.  Turning around from the dressing table I cupped my hands around my face from my eyes to my chin, and cried to my hubby.  "Look at this.  What is this?  I never used to have this.  I don't remember this being so long."  "Honey," he says, "that is a face."  Then he laughed, then I laughed.  All was well..................

Rambling 4.  All was well.............until I saw those vacation pictures.  All the pictures I took were great, but that hubby of mine was taking pictures of me taking pictures..........pics of my back side.  Whew.............now that brings up a whole new......."one of those moments".  When did that happen?  Just how much spinach artichoke dip, vinegar chips, chocolate dip cones, caramel apples, and pasta did I eat?!?  I guess I have been kidding myself for the last couple of years, telling myself I deserve that chip and dip.  Now is the time of reckoning.  

Rambling 5.  This Vice-Presidental debate.............nuf said.

Memory:  My brother told me once that my neck was as long as Mrs. Sutterfield, my grade school teacher.  I never forgot that......but I find it a charming memory.  I do have a long neck, but I prefer to describe it as stately.

Another memory:  I remember once I told my daddy that he looked like Judy the Elephant (at the Zoo), swaying from side the side, when he was leading singing at church.  I hurt my daddy's feelings.  I am so sorry about that.

I love you guys and I am glad to be home from a great, safe trip.