My misplaced pictures from the weekend have been found.  The nameless culprit who borrowed my camera took the card out of the camera and replaced it with a different card before downloading the pictures he had taken onto his computer.  He found the card still in his computer with all my pictures still saved on it.  Of course once he put his empty card (which had been in his computer) in my camera he promptly forgot the whole business.

So Family, how does Grandpa’s boat look  having reclaimed it’s old spot beside the dock?  Also: What do you think of the “new” seats?  Grandma and Grandpa sure are proud of them and they sure do enjoy being back out on their boat.  Somehow it seems smaller than I remember it, maybe because we’ve all “grown” so much.

Also, what do you think of the cleaned up garage? Maybe Grandma can get her car in there this winter, seeing as how I’ve taken over the carport for my new little car.

Remember I told you we moved out the old entertainment center?  Kimmie, your mom and dad will be returning your television, thanks so much for letting us use it.  Here is the new set:  The mount J attached it to will let the screen pull-out and turn in case there is something really important on that you need to see while you’re eating at the dining table.  As was the case the other day when we were having dinner and the OSU game was on.

You’ll notice the tv is on the brick wall which is where Grandma and Grandpa’s chairs sat so they could watch the tv in the old entertainment center.    Things were moved:  and this is how we’re sitting now.  Grandma’s chair is out there where she can lay it all the way back when she wants to.

My next project is getting a new softly padded seat with matching pillows made to fit the window seat.  Grandpa is working on a drawing so whoever we get to make the mattress/pad will have the correct angles and Grandma and I keep saying we’re going to go look at material.

Another project I’d like to tackle is getting (with Grandma’s permission) is getting some artwork for the walls and take down some of the old (old, old) photos that are hanging there. Have you realized there isn’t a picture of Kati in the whole place?   I’m thinking this project  would be a good one for the grandchildren to work on (???).  Instead of pictures from when you all were 3, 4, and 5, let’s get some photos that will tell a little bit about your lives now.

Well, what started out as “look, I found my pictures” has turned into me delegating jobs.  Really though, I did think all the family would love to see the improvements that have been made this summer.  I hope you enjoyed looking at them too.

This is your one and only warning;  the following blog post is a product of my thinking pattern this morning, it will be fast paced and we will hop from one subject to another, there will be no order and, as you will realize when come to the end, will have no main theme nor focus.

Did I ever show you a photo of my homemade peach yogurt?  If not, that is what is in the lead photo?  It was tasty for a first try.  I am hoping to make another batch soon, maybe a different flavor, and fine tune the points I thought needed fine tuning.

As I was down-loading my photos from my camera this morning I noticed a few were missing.  I had loaned my camera to someone (to protect the feelings of my sweet husband this someone will remain nameless) and when it was returned to me some of my pictures were no longer on the card.  This will not stop me from telling you what I had intended on telling you when I snapped the pictures.

J, his parents and I have been working at the cabin and selling off a few things we felt were no longer needed there.  In front of the garage (the photo would have shown an empty place) used to set a covered fishing boat on a trailer that Dad used to take out fishing in the evenings.  Because of his health  he has not been able to use the boat in quite a few years, so, with Dad’s blessing, J sold the boat to someone who was planning a fishing trip with his own dad.

While in the selling mood, J also sold the old (parts all over the garage floor) jeep that has set in (all over) the garage since about 2-3 months after it was purchased.  The photo would have shown an empty (and clean because Mom had swept it) garage floor.  Of course, like any garage, we’ll probably have something else take this empty spot very soon.

The 3rd missing photo would have shown the old (empty) entertainment center setting out on the porch and the 4th and 5th photos would show a flat-screen television attached to the brick wall and the new living room arrangement.  All the grandchildren are probably asking themselves at this moment, “what good is a new television if we can’t get any reception down in the valley”.  Well, we now have one of the satellite dishes hooked up all the time.

These missing photos would have, hopefully, shown all the progress and improvements that have been happening around the place, but as we all know; things happen sometimes.

The older grandchildren will remember riding in Grandpa’s IMP boat.  A few years back they had the inside of the boat all redone, but soon afterward Dad began having health issues and was not able to get the boat out.  Dad has been doing better and has wanted to get the old boat out again.  J worked at it for a bit, getting him a boat slip at the marina and helped in out on getting a lift for the boat.  Then, as happens sometimes, life took over and we just plain ran out of time to finish up things for Dad.  Fortunately,  J’s brother had someone come get the boat and get the engine all spruced up for the season.

Finally, this last “summer” holiday weekend we were able to get the Ol’ Girl back on the water. 

Everyone enjoyed a little spin around the cove: 

Doesn’t she look as if she is enjoying the ride: 

Well, there has been about a 5 hour gap since I wrote the above, in the meantime I’ve gone to town, fed the Rotary members lunch, had lunch at the church, walked from the church to the bank, cleaned up the kitchen at the bank, drove home, dropped off the leftovers, met Kati in Tulsa to take her a few items she was needing, dropped by my brother’s house and got a kiss and a hug from my niece, came home, started laundry and took a shower.

Needless to say, I think I need to just do something mindless for the next 30 minutes or so, but before I go I wanted to show you a picture of the mixing bowls I bought a while back.  I bought the same set for our newly married Fort Smith friends, hope they like them as much as I do.            As you can see, there are 5 in the set but the neatest thing is:

the big red bowl holds 14 cups as is written in the bowl, and

the smallest, green bowl holds 3/4 of a cup as you can see.  Of course the other 3 bowls also tell what they hold.  I made buttermilk cornbread in the large red bowl this morning and it was so easy to just pour 2 cups of flour up to the line.

Now I’m going to go and watch some mindless television for just a little bit.

This weekend starts football season all over Oklahoma.  Our own Ironmen played the Pawhuska Huskies and won their first game of the season (29-0, I think).  Tomorrow evening OSU will play their first game of the season and you can bet our Kati will be front and center with the paddle people paddling her little heart out.  UPDATE:  Kati will be hitting it hard.

As I was thinking about football it made me think of the cheerleaders yelling their little hearts out while rooting for the team.  As you can see in the picture, our Cassie was a cheerleader once upon a time.  I think they started in the 4th grade, the girls in the class cheering and the boys playing the game.  Friend Elisa Reid was one of the coaches and boy, did those coaches work those little girls.

Kati always liked going up and watching Cass and the other girls practice, of course, what Kati actually liked was stopping at Landers for Chicken-Os and getting an egg roll for her big sister.

I think Cassie cheered with the girls for 3 years before finding other interests.  But while she was still cheering (I can’t remember if it was 4th or 5th grade) Elisa and her co-coach taught the girls a routine to the Beach Boys song Wipeout among a few others.  What a hit!!!  Whenever the girls would preform this for a crowd the crowd was on their collective feet.  It wasn’t just the song either, these little girls were good, and I mean GOOD.

I think I might just dig out that video tape when I get home and give it another watch, of course then I’d probably cry because my little 4th grade cheerleader is now a 28 year old woman.  She is still just as cute as she can be though and I would bet you she still knows some of the Wipeout routine.

My shoulders are just a bit sore this morning from lifting close to 6,300 lbs last night.  Of course I didn’t do it all at one time.  It was over a period of 2 1/2 hours and 11.5 pounds at a time.  Over and over and over.

A small group of some of my closest friends went to Tulsa last night to lend a hand (with 2 other small groups) at the Food Bank Distribution Center.  Under the direction of Kate and Scooter we filled boxes with non-food items (this time) to lend a little hand to those who might need it.

Each box contained toilet paper, paper towels,  toothpaste, toothbrushes, hand soap, dish soap, laundry soap, deodorant, and a few other personal items.  I was at the end of the line which meant I lifted the full box onto the scale to make sure it fell between a certain weight.  If it was between the right numbers I lifted the box off the scale, folded the top down and passed it to the next person to tape closed and on down the line for labeling and setting on the pallet.  If the weight was off I dug through the box to see what it lacked (low weight) or what was extra (too heavy) like an extra deodorant or toothpaste or the like.

After my shoulders gave out from the lifting of 11.5 pounds up and down, over and over, I asked for a replacement and took up another job.  My second job was to use a box cutter to aid in breaking down all the boxes that the products had originally arrived at the warehouse in, from large toilet paper boxes to smaller boxes that had held the tubes of toothpaste or toothbrushes.  Once we’d filled 2 large rolling bins with broken-down cardboard boxes (and still had many, many more) I hunted Scooter down to ask him what I should do with the full bins.  Scooter took me to the back of the warehouse and showed me this very large, very blue automatic crusher.

With a little help, I rolled the 2 overflowing bins to the back and rolled out 2 empty bins.  I then returned to the back of the warehouse and began to unload all the pieces of cardboard into the big blue monster. Once I had the big blue monster full I pressed the button and all the cardboard was crushed into the bowels of the monster.  Once the crushing and chewing was done I filled it up again.  I then pushed the empty bins back to the front and returned with the next overflowing bins to feed Big Blue some more.

We finished up the work, doing close to 600 boxes.  I was  hot and sweaty and a little more tired than I’ve been in quite a while.  My heart was full (more overflowing than the box bins) and joyful and it felt so very good.

We’re going again in a few weeks and would love for you to join us if you’d like.  I don’t know if we’ll be doing food items or non-food like this next time.  If you can’t go with us, lend a hand in your area.  You’ll love the work, it’s fast paced and will make you sweat, but ‘oh what a feeling.  I promise you’ll walk away with a smile on your face and joy in your heart.

This is Casey and Kristin;  as of Saturday at 2:00 they are Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah.  J and I met them last October in Shreveport, LA and the 4 of us became fast friends.  Casey works for the city of Fort Smith so he and J chat every once in a while.

Casey and Kristin have been a couple for a number of years and, as a matter of fact, have known each other since they were small children.  Knowing this, J and I have asked them what they’ve been waiting for (we think any engagement longer than a few weeks is just wasted time).  We had a chance to heckle them about it last March when we stopped in Ft Smith on our return trip from Hot Springs.  A few months later Casey called asking for our home address so Kristin could mail a wedding invitation.

They are a sweet young couple and we wish them many, many happy years together.

J and I drove down (over? whichever way Arkansas is from here) Friday afternoon.   Last time we were in Ft Smith we visited the Old Town bordello “Ms. Laura’s where we had an interesting tour.  This time we strolled downtown and took in a few more sights.  They have a little amusement park with a ferris wheel and an old-fashioned carousel.  We’d read that they have an old railroad car where they serve dinner on Friday and Saturday nights:   J and I discussed having dinner there until we got down there and found out all they have is amusement park type foods and we weren’t really in the mood for that.  Here’s a closer photo of the diner cow all dressed up with her gunbelt & hat.We also found out that Ft Smith has a Planter’s/Kraft/Keebler plant, so we most certainly had to stop and meet Mr. Peanut.He looks just as young as ever, doesn’t he.

It was a very enjoyable trip, although next time we make a trip I’m really going to have to watch what we eat a little better.  With all the wedding cake and chocolate covered fruit at the wedding and then stopping at Abuelo’s on the way home later that evening, my stomach (which isn’t used to this much partying) decided to revolt and show me who is really in charge.  So, after a full night of being reminded of just how much I can “stomach” I ended up having to miss church Sunday morning, and I do mean miss church.

I’m feeling better and am (as I told Rob today) good as new, or would that be old.  We both decided to go with new (heehee).  It’s good that I’m my old self again as it’s already shaping up to be a busy, busy week that will include 3 trips to Tulsa.  The trips to Tulsa are well worth the drive though;  Tuesday evening we are having dinner with my cousins who I haven’t seen in quite a while, Wednesday will be a late lunch with my beautiful oldest daughter and then a quick trip by Sam’s before heading home so I can make class at 5 followed by a church meeting.  Thursday afternoon I will return to Tulsa with other members from our church to volunteer our help at the food bank distribution center.  We will be packing boxes (and boxes and boxes) with non-perishable foods that will go to other organizations that will then distribute the foods to those who are in need of it.

That’s how it’s shaping up around here.  Now it’s about time to start supper;  J has been wanting baked potatoes, so I best be getting them cleaned and in the oven.

Wishing you a great week.

WARNING:  if you are squeamish stop here!!!

One of my cousins and I (and J) spent a few days together at the cabin here while back.  As always happens (once you’re older anyway) when family gets together, most of your sentences begin with:  Remember when. . .

One of our “remember whens” was about the time my  family lived in a little 2 bedroom white house.  I don’t think this house had any central heat or air and the one thing my sisters and I will always remember was how very, very cold the bathroom was in the wintertime.  Whenever we had to visit that room we’d say; “Gotta go to Alaska, be right back”.  Once Mom threw wet sheets on top of the drier (waiting on one load to finish before putting them in to dry) and before she got back to them they were frozen.  Did I say it was very cold in that area of the house?

But this post isn’t about how cold the house was, this post is about chickens.  While we lived here we had a few barnyard animals;  3 Shetland ponies (Peanuts, Britches and Sassy), 2 pigs (Herbie and Sue Okie), and chickens.

One summer it seemed we had more chickens than we needed for our little farm, so Mom decided we’d put some in the freezer, after all she had 3 teen-aged girls, a couple of her sisters and a handful of cousins to help.

Mom built a large fire out back and set a huge (huge) pot of water over the fire to get hot.  Once the chickens were killed we would dunk them in the hot water, this would make it easier to pluck the feathers off.  Once the feathers were gone Mom and her sisters would clean the chickens and bag them for the freezer.

My sisters, myself, and some of our braver cousins, were given the job of killing and plucking the chickens.  I won’t go into detail about how we did the job, I’ll just say that my younger sister and I were on the small side and it took both of us to kill 1 chicken.  The memory my cousin had was watching the chickens once the killing was done.  This is where the phrase “running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off” comes from.  Once the chickens were still again, we’d grab them by the feet, dunk them in the hot, hot water and pluck them.

We put up quite a few chickens that summer.  It was an experience for sure, not one I’ve (gratefully) ever had to relive.

We talked about many of our childhood memories;  some great, some harder to relive.  It’s all in the past and now they are just memories.  But, as Bob Hope’s song used to say;  thanks for the memories!!

In fact, a number of my loves will be covered in this little Monday post.

Saturday, J (my first and foremost love) and I  had nothing on our schedule other than yard chores and it was just too hot, hot, hot to spend the day mowing, weeding, etc., etc..    Mid-morning  J asked me if I’d like to jump in the car (a new, fun love) for a nice, day-long, romantic drive (a long time love of both of ours).   With no destination in mind, we hopped in the car (top down to catch the mildness of the mid-morning sun and breeze)  and headed down the highway.

About noon we stopped at a little Mexican restaurant (Mexican food is, unquestionably, a love for both of us) for lunch.

The food was enjoyable and reminded us of the little Mexican restaurant that used to be in our hometown years ago.

After lunch the heat of the sun was beginning to take a stranglehold on the day and the breeze was no longer mild so we put up the top and headed on down the road.   We ended up down in the Tahlequah area, so we drove through town and by a few of the places J remembered from his college days there.  We parked and took a little stroll through town, stopping here and there in one or two of the little shops.   We ended up down by the river  where we both removed our shoes and waded through the water a bit.

We returned to the car and headed on down the highway, just enjoying the afternoon together.  We held hands (love, love) off and on,  talked about the things that were, are, and will be, chatted about nothing and everything, and stopped for a cold drink now and again.  The sun began to go down so we returned the car top to the down position so we could once again enjoy the breeze and coolness of the evening.  We found ourselves in Owasso so we stopped for a salad at Ruby Tuesday’s (a tasty love).  If you’ve never enjoyed a trip or 2 to their wonderful salad bar go tonight, really.  Make it a date and go tonight, they have a marvelous salad bar, complete with tasty baby beets, shelled edamame, zucchini sticks and so many other tasty treats.  Note to the Magpie:  I think I had way more than the 9 is divine.

From Owasso we drove north toward home where the yard is still needing the attention that we decided to show to each other instead.

We finished our weekend off with Sunday morning church services (love, love, love), a wonderful lunch made by my friend Merrillyn (another love) and a little church meeting.  J and I continued our slow, romantic weekend by watching a movie we’d ordered over the Apple box followed by a nap and a light dinner.

It was a lover-ly weekend.

Yesterday, Kati made the trip from Stillwater to Tulsa to get a new pair of glasses.  I went to Tulsa also, to take her a few things she had forgotten to haul off to college with her.  We met up at the 1 hour glasses place which actually took closer to 2 hours and 45 minutes, after we chose our style, but I’m not griping (really).

Kati tried on at least 15 different frames before making a selection (or 2).  She picked up a very large, round frame and tried it on.  She says “Mom, look how funny these look”.  I told her I used to (way back when) wear very large frames, it was the style many years ago, you know.  Because I’ve been wearing glasses (or contacts, off & on, in the 80s and 90s)  since I was in the 4th grade I’ve worn many, many different styles;  we won’t talk about the clear, cat-eye shaped, rhinestone ones back in elementary school.

So here you are Kati, a look at me, from way back before you were born, with frames as large as my face.

While I was looking through photos to find this picture, I started noticing the many hairstyles throughout the years.  I noticed the many hairstyles of all the women in my family; don’t worry ladies, you’re safe, I’m only showing mine (this time, heehee).

So here you go;  a few of my different looks.

I’m thinking this was in 1979 or 1980.  J and I were still in our little 1 bedroom apartment in town.  I probably wasn’t wearing my glasses most of the time back then.

This was at some point in the 80s.  I was working with the local chamber of commerce and this was an ad in the paper.  Take a look at that perm;  I think I’d started wearing contacts a few years before this.

This was in winter, late 1981 or early 1982.  I was pregnant with our Cassie and I guess my crazy hormones made me chop my hair off.  Contacts again.

Here is another short hairstyle.  Also another pair of large glasses.  I’m thinking this was probably taken during the mid 1990s because I was still fairly thin.  I didn’t really start gaining weight until 2001 when I quit smoking.

I’m thinking this was taken sometime late 1991 or early 1992 because it is taken at J’s Grandma Gatewood’s house.  Looks like I’m growing my hair back out.

Of course now I’m wondering about my current hairstyle, 10 years from now am I going to look at photos and wonder why in the world I would cut my hair like this.

Hope you had fun seeing some of my different looks, maybe you even had a good laugh or 2.  You know I did.

Believe me; I’m being conservative with this figure, as anyone who has gone to college or paid for someone to go to college knows very well.  Both our girls have gone to OSU, and I figure this will be the minimum of what I have and will be paying to OSU before it is all over.

Our Kati loaded her car (to the very brim) and headed back to Stillwater yesterday.  I followed in my own car which held the odds and ends that wouldn’t fit in her little Jetta.  The closer she got to Stillwater, the faster that little car went.  Did I tell you she was very anxious to get back,  back to college life and all her friends?

We drove all the way in pouring down rain.  It took us 45 minutes just to get through Tulsa between the downpour and the construction which caused an unplanned detour due to my not knowing that part of the construction had been finished and that we could drive on the new (old) road.

By the time we arrived at our destination the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to make an appearance.  We were so happy we would not have to unload the cars and carry everything in through the rain.

Kati loves (loves, loves, loves) her new digs.  She shares a common area with 3 other girls, a bathroom with 1 of them and has her own bedroom/study area (hope she uses that part,  heehee,  just ribbing ya Sis).  She and the girl she shares her bathroom with are both Sophomores and the other 2 girls we are assuming are Freshmen and will move in today.  Just down the hall from her room is a kitchen with a (real) range and oven, refrigerator and sink.  She was really thrilled that she is so close to a functioning kitchen; the girl just loves to cook.

Now J and I are “emptynesters”  again, and although we miss the kiddo a little, I really can’t say I’m upset about it.  I really enjoyed  a little less responsibility and one less person to take care of  while Kati was at school last year.  We already have plans to “get away” the weekend of the 28th on a little trip to Fort Smith.  We will be attending the wedding of a young couple we’ve met through our travels and gadding about.  They’ve been dating for years (for a few before we even met them too) and we’ve told them the last few times we’ve had dinner that it’s time to take that step and “tie that ol’ knot”.  They’ve decided to take the leap and have asked us to join them for their special day and we couldn’t be happier to make the trip and join them for this happy event.

And now, I need to get off here and get about my 1st responsibility free day.  Enjoy your day too.

With the 1st day of school having come I was thinking about the girls and their 1st days.  Both the girls were very anxious to start school.  Neither one of them cried or begged me to stay there with them.  Actually, Cassie wanted to just wave me good-bye at the door (she’s always been the “I can handle this on my own” type of girl).  Kati wanted me to stay while she looked around and was familiar with her surroundings but then it was “bye Mom, see ya later”.

Here is Cassie standing outside the school, I think her Kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Warwick.

Here is Kati’s first day of school and her teacher was Mrs. Collier:This seems like a hundred years ago to me;  my babies having, both, turned into competent young women.  Kati is heading off for her 2nd year of college and already thinking about staying in Stillwater and working through the next summer.  Cassie getting her own business off the ground and having it featured in a write up in The Tulsa World’s weekend magazine.

Their first days of school have come and gone but they both still have so many “firsts” left to enjoy.  I imagine we all still have “firsts” to enjoy as long as we’re out in the world;  I think I’ll go see if I can enjoy some of my own.