Debbie Delozier :: A Casual Affair

A penny is worth everything you have if you need to get it out of your baby’s throat.

On Thursday evening our Courtney scared her momma half to death when she began choking on something.  By the time her mom could get to her she had swallowed whatever it was (or so her momma thought).

That evening Courtney didn’t really want much to drink or eat and this continued the next morning.  At lunchtime when she tried to eat a little bit she began to gag.  Her mom decided to take her to the doctor.  The doctor sent them to the hospital for x-rays.  The x-rays showed a coin, standing on it’s end stuck just above Courtney’s windpipe.  The doctor’s decided to send her, by ambulance, to Tulsa to St. Francis Children’s Hospital.

In our experience (now and previously), St Francis Children’s Hospital is a marvelous hospital when it comes to working with little ones.  Once Courtney was there the doctor’s talked to Momma and Daddy a bit to inform them of the procedure they would be doing.  They explained how they would put her to sleep and extract the coin.

The nurse took Courtney from her momma; this, by the way ,was very hard on Courtney and her momma both, and turned to go to the operating room.  We tried to comfort Courtney’s momma and daddy the best we could..

The procedure didn’t take very long, it probably took longer to get her to sleep than it did to actually do the extraction.  Before we knew it, Dr. Rainey came out and handed Christine a little plastic jar with a penny in it.

Just a little bit later our Courtney woke and wanted Mommy and Daddy, a drink and a cracker.  Just a little bit later we were all headed back home.

It was a trying afternoon, but, thanks be to God everything is fine.  This is not the only  story I have to tell you today, now I’m going to tell you another way in which our amazing Lord works.

This morning, J and I readied ourselves for church as we do on Sunday mornings.  Because all of our youth, along with our pastor and our Senior Elder are all at the General Assembly in Indianapolis this week we were blessed to have a guest speaker.  When I tell you we were  blessed to have her, I mean We Were Blessed To Have Her.

I feel the first blessing of the morning was the message which I felt was intended especially for me.   For the last week (or longer) I have had an internal struggle.  At least 3 times over the last 10 days I have started to do something that I thought would be of help to another.  Each time, my heart would stop me from actually doing what I had planned.  I couldn’t understand what was stopping me because I knew (in my head) if I were to carry out the act it would be of extreme help to the other person.

What a gained from today’s message is that sometimes we have to sit back and let God do His work.  Sometimes what we think might be helping someone might actually be getting in God’s way because it is actually enabling the person down the wrong path and God isn’t able to work in this person’s life the way He needs to.  Be Still and Know That I Am God.

The second blessing that Becki, our guest speaker, brought to our congregation happened like this:  just as she was about to end her message, she stopped speaking and quickly left the pulpit and began to move to the back of the church.  Of course we could all tell that something behind us was happening and stood and turned around.  One of our beloved members, Glenn Yirsa, had passed out and fallen over in his seat.  It just so happens that Becki is not only a minister, she is also a nurse.  Everyone moved out of her way as she neared Glenn, we called 911 as she was assessing his situation.  She asked if anyone had oxygen, which as I’ve told you before, my father-in-law has been using oxygen off and on for the last year so he always has some with him.  We took the oxygen to Becki who began to administer it to Glenn.

Glenn began to slowly become aware of things as Becki washed him with a cool damp cloth and calmly talked to him.  Once the paramedics and the ambulance arrived Becki related Glenn’s status to them.  Glenn was then taken to the Bartlesville hospital.

Now, just what do you think the chances of the minister/guest speaker who brings a message that is exactly the message you needed to hear on this particular day is also a nurse who is badly needed in your congregation on this same particular day?  I don’t know a lot about betting and taking chances but I’d say that if you sit back and let God do His work it will happen every time.

I was talking to another member after church about how I felt that the message spoke directly to me because of the struggles I’d been having and she told me that she felt the same way about the message because of struggles she’d been dealing with lately also.

I know lots of people would call this coincidence or fate or even luck, but I think the Lord puts people in our life just as we need them.  I don’t know if I’ll ever see Becki again but I do know that she was the angel the Lord sent to us today.

Comments(2)

A family that plays together . . .

Last night we had a grilled dinner  and after J did the dishes we played a couple games of croquet and Kati won both games.  Well, we let her cheat a little the first game (she said she couldn’t remember ever playing before, I’m thinking that  was probably a ploy), but on the second game she won fair and square, not cheating.  We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs.  It was a wonderful time.

Today both J and Kati left for the week on business and I miss them already.  This afternoon was a little slow, I had to make another trip to Bartlesville to the doctor so other than that I didn’t do a whole lot, but I’ve got big plans for the rest of the week.

Today, being Tuesday, was Rotary lunch.  I experimented on them, again.  Today’s lunch was Mexican with an Italian twist.

This is Taco stuffed pasta shells.  It is a mixture of hamburger and turkey.  After browning the meat I added onion, jalapeno, roasted green and red peppers.  When these had cooked down I added taco seasoning, cumin, and chili powder.  After this I added cream cheese and stirred it together until it was all melted.  I stuffed this mixture in cooked pasta shells.  I placed the stuffed pasta shells in a dish I had put some salsa in and topped them all with enchilada sauce, shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips.   I can’t tell you if it is good or not because the members had all left by the time I returned to clean up and the leftovers I gave to some of the bank employees (I didn’t have a family to feed tonight), so I never had any of it.  I did taste the meat mixture before I stuffed the shells and it was good.

Dessert was dulce de leche tarts.

  I think I put too much chocolate on because (I think) the chocolate overpowered the caramel flavor.  But you can’t beat caramel, chocolate and peanuts.

So, that’s been my day and it’s getting pretty late, so I guess I will head back to that bed all by myself.

Comments(2)

J has been watching our grape vines with great contemplation this year.  He hasn’t paid any attention to them at all for the last 5 years, but this year he has been watching them closely.  Why?  I don’t know.  Last evening he brought in a handful and declared “we don’t have green grapes, we have red grapes”.   Now he is determined to pay extra attention to them to see what type of a crop he can get.  Why?  I don’t know.  I just like to grab a sweet handful to eat as I walk by the vine now and again.

I talked to my dad last night.  I’ve been wondering how he’ll keep himself busy (other than taking care of my mom’s dogs) while my mom is in Washington.  My dad has never had a problem with “keeping busy” that’s for sure.  He had dinner with my brother on Friday evening and said he was planning on going up to visit my sister toward the end of this week.  I told him that since I might have an evening free this week (before he heads to Kansas) we’d go to dinner or something.  We’ll see how our schedules go and hopefully we’ll both have a free evening on the same night.

In church today we commissioned our members who will be going to Indianapolis this week.  There are 7 members going;  7 people represents about 10% of our church membership so we are very happy with that number.  Four, including Kati, will be leaving Tuesday morning, with the remaining 3  leaving on Wednesday morning.

After church we enjoyed a wonderful Mexican lunch.  Being a very small church there are times when we run a tad short when it comes to meeting our budget.  So, today and for the next 3 months we will hold a lunch on the last Sunday of the month to help raise a little extra for the budget.  So, if I mention the upcoming lunch next month (which I hear will be chicken and noodles) please feel free to come and visit our church and have lunch with us.  Consider yourself invited.

Wishing you blessings until I see you again.

Comments(0)

A man, his boat, sunshine, and water;  ingredients for a fun couple of days.  We were looking at a busy weekend and a busy week ahead of us so we snuck out of town and headed to the lake just about noon on  Thursday.  First thing J wanted to do was get his boat in the lake.

We boated, swam and had a wonderful, carefree day in the sun.  Friday was more (and more) of the same.

Late Friday afternoon J’s parents, having had the same sneak away for a night at the cabin idea, showed up at the cabin to join us.  That evening we grilled steaks, oven-roasted some vegetables, and sliced some garden fresh tomatoes with cottage cheese for a yummy dinner on the patio.  Then we did a bit more boating to end the evening.

We left the cabin and returned home this morning so we could get started on some of the jobs we need to finish here.  I needed to make a double batch of chicken enchiladas for a fund-raising dinner after church tomorrow.  After finishing getting those in the fridge I started on some of the other things that need my attention.

Kati and J will both be leaving here on Tuesday.  Kati is headed to Indianapolis on a missions trip with the church and J is headed to Dallas for meetings.  That will leave me here all week all by myself.  I’m actually sort of looking forward to it.  I told J that in all of my life I’ve never had 4 days that were totally all my own.  The only down side of J being gone this week is that Wednesday (the 29th) is our 31st wedding anniversary, and he’ll be down there and I’ll be here.  Actually, he asked me to go with him but he is going to be in meetings all day (every day) so I’d rather be here where I can work in the glass shop or. . . do just whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it.

Speaking of our 31st wedding anniversary:  Last week we had family friends visiting from Idaho.  The friends were Cliff, Clint (Cliff’s son) and Clayton (Clint’s son).  They have been friends of our family since I can remember.  Cliff was the minister of the church we attended when we lived in Oregon.  He is the minister that baptized me when I was young.  When J and I were making arrangements for our wedding we called Cliff (who happened to be living in Missouri at the time) and asked if he would come and honor us by doing the ceremony.  So, that Saturday in July, he traveled over and married us on one of the hottest days in Oklahoma history.  Okay, it may not have been actually a recorded hottest day but it sure did feel like it then.  We had a good visit with them and Cliff asked how long it had been since he married us.  He was surprised to hear it had been 31 years.

As I told you, Kati will be gone this week also.  When she returns she’ll be home just about a week before she moves all her stuff to Stillwater to attend school.  I am, in truth, trying not to think of that too much.  One day I’ll be very sad about it, her being my baby and all.  Then, the next day I’m looking forward to it (just a little bit), you know, one less person to take care of, a little quieter in the house; that sort of thing.  I’m sure the last few days and probably the first week (or so) after she is gone I will be sad,  just until I figure out what to do with the extra time I have.

Now that I am thinking about it, everyone is going somewhere right now;  everyone but me that is.  J and Kati are leaving;  friend Vicky will be on her way to Hawaii for 2 weeks (her 50th b’day present from Rick); my mom is in Washington state as we speak, another friend left for Australia last week to visit her kids there; and sis-in-law Debbie and husband Mike left today for Boston to visit their son and his family.  So, let me know if you’re traveling somewhere this week.  You could always come and see me, cause I’ll still be here.

Well, I guess I best get busy figuring out what to fix for the Rotary’s lunch next week.  Hope y’all have a great week whether you’re traveling or just enjoying yourself at home.

Comments(0)

Much to Kati’s enjoyment (mine and J’s too) I finally got around to making a dinner using the Steamboat (that’s what our family calls them anyway) cookers I purchased at the Oriental market in Oklahoma City a year or so ago.  J and I have never done one ourselves, it’s always been his mom and dad that did all the work, so last night was a learning experience.  Learning, in that we found out how long it takes the broth inside the cooker to heat up, how much broth to use and a few other little lessons (such as the wood tray underneath the cookers now has 2 big burn spots on it haha).

For those of you who have never done such a dinner here is how you do it.  The steamboat holds chicken broth (you could also do one with oil if you like, however it is a bit more dangerous) inside the bowl.  Underneath the bowl you add coals or charcoal to heat the broth.  You then have meat sliced very (very) thin (we had chicken breasts) and raw veggies, anything you like (we had bok choy, broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, carrots) and you can also have Chinese type noodles.  I made fried rice to go along with it also.

Once the broth inside is very, very hot you add the items you’d like into the broth and when it is done you scoop it out with your own little basket.

It was great fun and pretty good eating too.

Before I chopped everything for the steamboat I made a dry rub for a pork roast I slow cooked all day yesterday for the Rotary Club lunch today.  Last night, after cooking the roast all day, I shredded the pork so it would be ready for today’s lunch.  With the pulled pork sandwiches I served Confetti potato salad and baked beans.  The Rotary members said they really enjoyed their lunch today which was finished off with individual pineapple upside down cakes.

Tonight we took the leftovers from lunch down to my mom and dad’s to share with them.  Some old (old) family friends were here visiting from Idaho, so we spent the evening catching up on the past 10 years.  We had a very good visit.

Now, I best be getting to bed as I’ve got to be in Bartlesville for a doctor’s appointment in the morning.

Til’ later;  Love and Old Friends

Comments(2)

My latest glass project!  Finished cutting the glass and onto the foiling process, by Monday (hopefully) I’ll be onto soldering.  I think it is already beautiful and it may end up being one of my favorite pieces, but I’ve always been mesmerized by hot air balloons, kites, blowing bubbles with the little bottle of soapy water and plastic wand; you know, all the shimmering floaty things.

Thursday seemed to be what I call “Debbie Day”.  It seems everywhere I went people had something really sweet and nice to say.  It began at the bank while I was cooking, compliments about the lunch, J showing up to help with dishes afterwards (you should have heard the bank girls going on about how lucky I was to have this fella of mine “like I don’t know, tee hee”).  It continued into the evening and a dinner date with that same sweet man of mine and dessert from The Cheesecake Factory.  Oh my how I love Dulce de Leche Caramel cheesecake.  I know, I get the same one every single time.  As they say;  if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and Dulce de Leche Caramel cheesecake fixes so many things.

Debbie Day carried over into Friday with phone calls to let me know I was the darling of the directors, having successfully captured the collective heart (or at least the stomach) of the bank board.  I hear conversation of how  much the lunch was enjoyed carried over from the lunch room and into the board room.  As I told you, I always get so very nervous when I prepare food on such a large scale, so I was very, very happy to hear it was enjoyed.  Some day maybe, just maybe, I’ll have a little more confidence (maybe).

Kati and a group of friends got together yesterday and went to lunch and then to the new Harry Potter movie.  It sounds like they had a great time, although I think I heard Kati say she was a little disappointed in the new movie.  I didn’t hear her say what disappointed her so I can’t tell you anything; besides you need to see it for yourself, if you can stand to sit through 2 plus hours of a movie (I can’t).

Now here it is Saturday and we have a little cooler weather here in NE Oklahoma.  Believe me, it is really nice to see some low 90′s high 80′s after a week of temperatures over 100.  I was able to get out in the gardens this morning and watered the veggies and the flowers.  So, now I’m ready to get on with this marvelous weekend.

I hope your weekend is also wonderful rather you spend in resting or playing.

Comments(1)

It is mid July which means squash, squash and more squash.  One night a few weeks ago I julienned a yellow squash, a zucchini, a green bell pepper and a red bell pepper (all from my garden, I might add).  I added all these strips of veggies to a skillet with some olive oil, garlic and a thinly sliced sweet onion.  Now I can’t remember what I was making it for that particular night my J and Kati absolutely loved it.  Since that evening’s dinner it has been requested (and made) quite frequently.  We’ve had it on everything from grilled hot dogs, flank steak tacos, and with chicken over angel hair pasta with a light garlic sauce.  Because of this yummy medley and along with giving a few squash and zucchini to my parents off and on we’re not drowning in squash as we have in previous years.

I was able to get into the glass shop today for a little bit.  I was there cutting a few pieces while I was waiting on the bankers across the street to finish their lunch.  While I was there a woman came in to chat a bit.  She said she was so happy to find me there, she’d been coming by, off and on, hoping to find me.  She is interested in learning how to do stained glass and was wondering if I gave classes.  This is about the 5th person that has asked me so I guess I’m really going to have to consider it.  I just keep thinking “all I need is one more job”.   Maybe I’ll think about it for the Fall, things might slow down a bit then, after all, my baby will be gone and I’ll have one less person to take care of then.

As I mentioned, I was waiting on the bankers to finish their lunch today.  They were having a board meeting here in town instead of in Tulsa as they normally do.  Sandy called and asked if I’d consider doing a large, manly meal for them.  I really haven’t cooked for them since they began holding most of their meetings in Tulsa as they found a caterer there to do their meals (as you remember I did a few, but with that distance it was just more than I wanted to do on a regular basis).  Of course, she said; “I expect you to charge more like the Tulsa caterer so add some hours or something to your bill”.  Well, my Momma didn’t raise no fool, so I charged more “in-line” with the Tulsa caterer.   Actually I charged more than normal because she wanted me to set everything up and clean everything up this time as the bank girls that normally do it were busy with auditors today.

One of the members stopped me afterwards and told me how much they enjoyed their lunch.  I was glad to hear it as I’ve been awfully nervous about the lunch for the last day or 2, after all, I’m being compared to their Tulsa caterer now.  For their “manly meal” I prepared a spring salad which I dressed in a champagne vinaigrette.  I then topped the salad with walnuts that I’d done in a butter rum sauce before drying in the oven, and gorgonzola.  The entree consisted of breaded and baked butterflied pork loin chops, twice baked mashed potatoes and southern style green beans.  The dessert was individual lemon chiffon tarts topped with a dollop of cream and blackberries.

I’m looking forward to getting into the glass shop tomorrow after getting a double load of my paying work done first.  As soon as I get into my hot air balloon piece enough so that you can tell what it is I’ll show you a picture.  I’m really anxious to get it done because I already have another project in my mind.

I’ll catch up with you again later on, until then:  God is good   All the time

Comments(2)

Yes, that is my exact thought when I step out the back door every morning and am greeted by the simple beauty growing in my garden.  I received a package of seeds for Sunflowers from someone earlier this Spring, so I planted them all in a row on the west end of our garden.  I’m so glad I did;  doesn’t this gorgeous gal perk you up with just one glance.

I spent a few hours in the glass shop this morning, grinding glass for my hot air balloons (I’ll take a picture and show you as it progresses).  While I was there the cutest little boy came by for a visit.  He looked to be about 8 or so and was in town from Bartlesville selling raffle tickets.   He walked right in to the shop (hopefully his mom or someone was sitting out in the car because he was just walking up the sidewalk by himself as far as I could tell) removed his cap and said “Good morning, Maam” in the biggest business like voice he could muster.  He continued, “My name is Cody, would you like to buy a raffle ticket for $1?”.  I asked him what the raffle ticket was for and he told me how I could win a gas card for as much as $100.  So, I asked him what the money went for  and he told me, simply, “charity”.  (heehee)  So I handed him $2 and he handed me 2 tickets for the raffle that was being held by the Little Britches RoundUp Club in Bartlesville.

After our ‘business’ was done, he asked what I was doing and I told him I was making a picture out of glass.  He wanted to see the picture so I showed him the hot air balloon drawing.  He picked up the pieces of glass I was working with and turned them over and over in his hand, examining them.  Cody asked how I would make all those pieces of glass into the picture so I showed him how I cut the glass and how I grind the glass.  I showed him how the pieces would all fit together to form the picture and how I would use solder to make everything stick together.  He said “like glue?” and I answered “yeah, sort of like very hot glue”.

After looking at a few of the finished pieces I have in the window he said he needed to get back to selling tickets, so I told him bye and as he walked out the door he said over his shoulder “I’ll call ya if ya win the gas card” to which I said thanks.  And he walked on out the door and down the sidewalk to the next business.  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Cody this morning as he left a big wide smile on my face as he walked on down the street.

Speaking of people who put a big wide smile on my face;  have I told you lately how wonderful my husband is.  The other day J was looking on Craig’s list for some stuff and told me there was a listing for some stained glass.  He said the listing was from Bartlesville and the man was offering a box of old stained glass sheets and some bevels all for $20.  He said they were all about 20 years old and had been through a flood in his basement so they were all pretty dirty.

So, J went over to B’ville the other day and picked up the box of glass.  Yes, it was awfully dirty as well as awfully stinky.  But J and I sat in the back yard on Saturday with the water hose and a scraper and washed all the glass.  There were 17 – 12×16 sheets of glass.  A marvelous deal let me tell you, considering the 2 pieces of glass I bought the other day (each about 10×16) was $30.  But then, you know my J, the man loves a good deal.

And I love the man.

I hope to get back to the shop later this week, maybe do a little more work on the hot air balloons, but I don’t know if I’ll have the time as I have a 2nd (bigger) lunch to do for Thursday and I will probably be doing some of the cooking on Wednesday.

As for now, I need to get out in the garden and pick a little bit of basil and a nice red tomato as I promised Kati I would make Caprese Salad to go with supper this evening.

I hope you meet someone today who puts a smile on your face.

Comments(0)

These garden fresh tomato slices hold every single bit of flavor you can imagine.  I could eat them all day long; no kidding!  Our garden is finally putting out some big red tomatoes, not a lot, but enough for us and even a few to share here and there.  Can you imagine any gift better than a garden fresh tomato?  I sure can’t.

We are getting  zucchini, yellow squash, and cucumbers now and again.  I’m thinking our garden hasn’t done as well as in previous years because we moved it this year and sometimes new beds don’t always do as well as a good old worked bed. I also didn’t get the plants/seeds in as early as I normally do and now that things are coming on well we’re having to deal with the heat which has been in excess of 101 the last day or so.

The last week has been a week on the run.  We ended up returning from the family lakehouse earlier than anticipated due to my pharingitis.  I was back, steady on my feet by Monday but was so glad that I had asked to have Tuesday’s Rotary lunch day off, because the last thing I wanted to do was plan a menu and do the grocery shopping.

I guess because I had asked off on my regular cooking job I decided to take it off around here too.  For our dinner on Sunday evening I made breakfast burritos. 

I had brought home the sausage that J’s sister had left at the lake, so I took a bit of it, eggs, cheese, carmalized strips of zucchini, squash and onions, sliced avocado and chopped tomatoes and stuffed it all into a few flour tortillas.  MMM Good.

Tuesday I decided, because I had the day off of cooking, I would do a little glass shopping.  There is a fairly new glass shop (within the last year) in one of the towns near the family lakehouse.  J and I stopped by a few times over the holiday weekend and never caught them open.  Kati and I drove back over, hoping to catch them open.  The gentleman was in the shop and we chatted and chatted about our mutual love of glass art.  I think I’ve found a new friend as well as a new supplier.  Yea!!  While we were there I purchased a few sheets of glass as well as 2 bits for my grinder.

  Looks almost like water doesn’t it.

After the morning of glass shopping and an afternoon spent playing in the glass shop I was looking for a quick cool meal.  I had poached a few chicken breasts in a taco-flavored base the day before so I sliced the chicken breasts, added greens, roasted corn, beans, sliced red onion, sliced avocado, tomatoes, grated cheddar and spiced, crisped tortillas and we had a marvelous salad for Tuesday’s supper. 

The rest of the week I was able to spend a few hours everyday playing in the glass shop, visiting with a few friends who dropped in off and on.  Our evenings were spent trying to keep as cool as we possibly could with meals on the cool and easy side mostly.  Friday Kati and I went to do a bit of marketing for the 2 lunches I have coming up this week (probably not much time in the glass shop this week) and a bit of girl stuff around Tulsa during the day.

So that has been the week, not too exciting. I love living my quiet peaceful day to day life.

Comments(1)

Have you met with controversy lately?  Do you give in, take the easy road, go with the flow?  Or do you do what you know, in your heart, is good and right and you keep right on dancing?

A few weeks ago J and I made a decision that would change our “normal” way of doing things.  It is a decision we feel is right and good.  We knew it would affect others, a little, but not in any sort of way that would change their lives although we knew it would change, not only our lives, but our hearts as well.

We decided that, because our decision affected others, we would share it so others could take the steps they needed to take in order to leave us out of the normal routine.  Most of the people we shared our decision with thought it was wonderful, even saying they, too would love to join us.  But you know, no matter what, there are always those few who are negative about everything others do.  I can not tell you how malicious and hateful some of the comments I received were.

I could not figure out why a few others had such a problem with our decision.  But then, with the help of a very smart and loving person, I realized that when you are trying to spread God’s work and God’s blessing, there are always going to be obstacles.   That is just the way it is, there are always those who are going to try to make right seem wrong.  Even knowing this I still had a very rough evening and very restless night.

This morning, I readied myself for church, still  heavy-hearted and hurt from the previous day’s controversy.  I sat in my usual seat waiting for. . . something, anything that would lift the heaviness (dare I say, hatefulness) I felt.

Rob spoke of being a Giving receiver and I knew my statement had been that because we had received so much I wanted to share the blessing.  Rob spoke of dancing with exuberance when you are filled with the love and the work of the Lord.  Then we sang the Hymn of Commitment* and it sunk in as my eyes released the hurt my heart had been holding.  My heaviness, my hatefulness, my doubt was gone.

*I’m gonna live so God can use me, anytime and anywhere.  I’m gonna work so God can use me, anytime and anywhere.  I’m gonna pray so God can use me, anytime and anywhere. I’m gonna sing so God can use me, anytime and anywhere.

And although it isn’t a verse in the song, I’m gonna forgive so God can use me.  And I’m going to dance with excitement, spirit and energy while I keep on trying to live so God can use me.

I wish YOU peace, I wish YOU well, I wish YOU happiness; and I hope you dance with enthusiasm.

Comments(2)