Yellowstone is magnificent

Yesterday we loaded up Angie's van with lunch stuff and people and headed out for the approximate hour and a half drive to Yellowstone National Park. It was a long day, but so worth it. For today I'm pressed for time so I'm just going to leave you with some pictures.

Big Sky ski resort area.

On the drive to the West Yellowstone entrance.

Some bison and their babies having a midday snack beside the road.

At the entrance at West Yellowstone in the rain. Me, Kyle, Anissa, Jenny, Fred and Jeffrey.

Firehole Cascade.

Emerald geyser pool.

Old Faithful.

My favorite Lake Yellowstone shot.

Today is a long drive and I won't be posting until I get home. So, until Tuesday, happy trails to me.

The sun came out Tuesday

Tuesday morning Angie and I had a late breakfast after both Michelle and Matthew were at school and Gary was at work. The kids get out of school next week and they are really excited about that. Angie and I had a grueling day of shopping and a late lunch.

Part of our day included walking downtown Bozeman checking out the little shops. Pricey but really cute stuff. Here's one of the shops with a mosaic stream in front of it. I bought a couple of things: a gift for Angie and some locally made soap. We also saw Bozeman's million dollar park. Behold its beauty (on the right). It has a statue of the Ten Commandments which was quite controversial since it's a public park. It is beautiful but quite small.



We had lunch at Starky's deli. I had a very good turkey reuben with chips and a pickle.


I love the feel of the downtown area. Lots of old signs. Here's a shot of the street itself after the sun finally showed itself.

Next up: Yellowstone.

Greetings from Bozeman!

Sunday evening my flight into Bozeman, Montana, was early. We landed about 10:45 p.m. MDT, which was almost midnight to my body. My flights from Wichita to Minneapolis/St. Paul and then on to Bozeman/Big Sky/Yellowstone were uneventful. Besides spilling a large amount of water on myself at the Wichita airport and spending some quality time in front of the air hand dryer in the ladies room, there is nothing to report. The airport at Bozeman looks like a ski lodge, appropriately enough. No photos because I was too tired. Angie and Gary (my cousin and her husband of almost 25 years!) picked me up at the airport and were parked very close to the door. So I didn't have to think too much once I got to baggage claim.

Yesterday Angie and Gary tried to kill me. We had intended to do a short hike to a waterfall, but the road was closed because of a mudslide. It's been raining here for a week and the mud slid right down off that mountain and ruined our hike up there. So we improvised and they drove me through the campus of Montana State University and then downtown Bozeman. We hiked partially up a different mountain which is where they tried to kill me. My body is not as in shape as I'd like it to be and not being used to the altitude didn't help either. We didn't take the right "more vigorous" path, we took the other one, which was pretty steep, too. These pictures don't do justice to the incline. If you click on the photo to the left, you can see where we parked at the right side of the photo. The weather was windy and cold, but it was still beautiful. Here's a photo of Angie and I once we reached my breaking point. The city of Bozeman is behind us in the distance.

After we hiked we drove up to the ski lifts at Bridger Bowl. They are closed for the season, but there is still some snow up there.

Then we hit the local Wal-mart (it looks like a ski lodge, too) for some salsa fixin's and went home. Gary fixed his famous marinade (their son Matthew says he would drink it if they let him) then we soothed our tired muscles in their hot tub for a bit and watched a couple of movies before eating steaks, baked potatoes, bread and broccoli. Before bed I got introduced to games on the Nintendo Wii that Matthew bought with his savings recently. I am a decent bowler, but really stink at golf and Super Mario Bros. racing. They made Angie and I race each other and they got a good laugh out of that. We were usually vying for last place finishes.

It was a great Labor Day indeed.

Time for vacation

Later today I leave for an eight-day vacation. I'm flying to Bozeman, Montana, this afternoon where my cousin, Angie, will pick me up at the airport. I'll be at Angie's house until Friday morning. I don't want to spoil the surprise of what I'll be doing in this post, but hopefully I'll be posting at least a couple of times from the road.

It wasn't until this morning that I started to get very excited about this trip. I've been so busy since the layoff that I haven't even had time to think about anything except what's next on the list of things to do. So I'm looking forward to this break, which was scheduled well in advance of the ax falling on my job.

Next time you hear from me I'll be in Big Sky Country!

Introducing Ethan

This little guy belongs to my cousin Jason and his wife, Heather. He was born on March 23. He was about two weeks old in this picture.

And this picture of him with Heather was taken this past Sunday. He was alert and bright-eyed when he wasn't starving. His mom says he's a really good eater.

Those are Zach's hands on Heather's knee. He was pretty interested in Ethan and what he was doing. He didn't like it at all when his grandma was holding the baby. Apparently he thinks that the only baby grandma should rock is Zach.

A few more graduation snaps

The two graduates posed for a picture, sans caps and gowns, on Sunday. They even dressed in similar colors and I don't even think they called each other ahead of time. Freaky, huh?

Here's a picture of Christopher enjoying (yes, I said enjoying) one of the EHS graduation speeches. At least Katie's graduation didn't last over three hours (including baccalaureate) like yours did, sir.

Here's one of Katie after she received her (fake) diploma. She's the one cheesin' for the camera. It's also a nice shot of Mr. Sobba standing in the doorway. He was my Algebra teacher in high school.

This one is a self-portrait of me, Zach and Christopher. This was shortly before I started giving Zach some of the fruit dip on his pacifier. Aren't aunts supposed to spoil their nieces and nephews? I have been doing a pretty good job of spoiling Zach lately. FYI, Christopher was pretty full of vodka at this point, but all I had was one margarita. That's the truth, I promise.

Katie graduates

My niece Katie graduated from Ellinwood High School on Sunday. She was kind enough to pose for this picture with her cake (just as delicious as Anissa's since the same lady made them both) before graduation.

Katie's dad is on the school board, so he got to present his little girl with her diploma and a big hug. Very moving to see that. I can't lie, I teared up.

The graduate with her mom and dad (my brother-in-law Kenny and sister Teresa).

Katie will be attending Emporia State University this fall where she'll study to become an elementary or pre-school teacher (I'm not sure which). Unlike Anissa, who's the oldest child in her family, Katie is the baby (like me). Her parents are thrilled she's chosen a state college since both of their boys went to private schools.

Anissa graduates

Last Saturday my niece Anissa graduated from Oakley High School. This is a snap of her before graduation in her cap and gown with her cake (which was delicious).

Even though alphabetically she would have been called first, they didn't sit alphabetically and she was in the second row of graduates.

The happy graduate with her mom and dad (my sister Jenny and and brother-in-law Fred).

Anissa will be going to the vocational technical school in Goodland, Kansas, next fall to study respiratory therapy. She's excited to be moving on to the next chapter of her life. But her mom, dad and brothers are really going to miss having her around even if they don't know it yet. Congratulations and good luck to you!

Graduation prep week

This past week has been busy, busy, busy. I left Wichita on Tuesday and came to Ellinwood where I helped my sister, Teresa, clean her house to get ready for her daughter Katie's graduation on Sunday. Teresa had back surgery about a month and a half ago and she can't bend yet, so since I'm laid off, I offered to come and help her get her house in order. She paid one of our nieces to do some of the rooms for her, so I only had three rooms to clean: living room, dining room and kitchen. I started on Wednesday and did the kitchen. Nothing much to report there except the smoke alarm went off a couple of times while the oven was self-cleaning.

After the kitchen was finished I had to go back to my mom and dad's house and stay with Zach while my mom went to an eye doctor appointment. We had a short nap and then played outside on the porch. He's getting really good at going up and down and up and down the porch steps. When I got to their house on Tuesday we were out on the porch and Zach attempted to go down the first step and went head over heels down the stairs instead. Since my mom covered her face in case there was blood, I went over and retrieved him. He didn't hurt himself at all and was just that much more determined to do it all by himself after that, although much more carefully.

Thursday I moved on to the living room and dining room at Teresa's. They are really just one huge room and it wasn't too bad, except Teresa and her husband have lots of things that have to be dusted. Like antique hurricane lamps and teapot collections. Just when I thought I was finished dusting hurricane lamps, I'd find more tucked away behind a cabinet that stores teapots. Doh! Luckily I didn't have to dust inside her seven china cabinets. Yes, seven! And they have two cats. One of which is white and his hair is all over the house. Had to empty the vacuum a couple of times before it was all swept.

Other than the hairball and broken toe (not really, but I did set the very large sofa down on my right foot) I got from cleaning there, everything went just great. The graduate herself even helped me do some of the heavy lifting.

Thursday after my dad got finished working my mom, dad and I left Ellinwood to drive to Oakley where my sister, Jenny, lives. On Friday we helped her get ready for her daughter Anissa's graduation on Saturday. Yes, that's two graduations. One weekend. Priceless.

Friday we all cleaned (except my brother-in-law who'd gone to work and my dad who conveniently disappeared when he wasn't napping). I did the front porch, the living room, part of the dining room and one of the bedrooms. Jenny has a slightly smaller house (and fewer things to dust) than Teresa, but it's very similar. Jenny has beautiful navy blue carpet that shows every single speck of dirt and it had to be vacuumed more than once.

In the afternoon, Jenny and mom finished up the grocery shopping and we prepared some goodies for the reception after graduation. Things like macaroni salad, potato salad and lime green punch. Anissa's class colors are lime green and black. Saturday morning we decided to go out and eat breakfast so we wouldn't mess up the house getting a big breakfast prepared. It was a good decision.

Are you as tired as I am just hearing how busy the week was? More on the graduations themselves in later posts.

Christopher graduates

You don't have to look closely, because you won't see Christopher's name under the Bachelor of Music section in the graduation program at Oklahoma City University. But he did graduate on Saturday along with about a million other individuals. OK, it wasn't that many, but it sure did seem like it.

Friday evening I hopped into the van and rode down to OKC with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and brother-in-law's mom. Christopher got a Bachelor of Music degree with an emphasis in Music Theatre and a minor in Costume Design from the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at OCU on Saturday. He's been a student for five years and was thrilled to be graduating. He has one class to take next fall, but then he'll be completely finished. Hooray!

The day started bright and early with Baccalaureate at 9 a.m. Christopher sang in the choir. You can see him in this photo. He's just to the right of the choir conductor (with the pink sash and his back to the camera). They sang beautifully. And it only lasted about an hour.

At 11 a.m., commencement exercises began for the undergraduate degrees. I'm sure that's the best version of Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" I'll ever hear since OCU has a knock-out music program. OCU's Wind Philharmonic provided the tunes.

At 12:55 p.m. (yes, it really did take that long) they called his name and he proceeded to get his fake diploma and have his picture taken with the university's president. In this photo you can see him on the big screen after his name was called. He's on the left side of the screen.

After two and a half hours of grueling graduation mumbo-jumbo, it was finally finished. The day was hot and humid, but we posed for just a few pictures outside the building before going to eat a late lunch. First, Christopher with his proud mom and pop, Teresa and Kenny.

Then Christopher with his sister Katie. And then with his grandma Wanda.


















Then me with the graduate.

I have to plug the restaurant where we ate lunch because it's so good. We ate at Iron Starr (urban bar-b-q) at 36th and Shartel. If you're ever in the OKC area you should check it out because the food is awesome. And it wasn't just because we were starving. It's always that good.

Z is for Zach and Zoo

Thursday was a very busy day. Shortly before 11 o'clock that morning my guests arrived: my mom, Terri and Zach. Mom was attending her annual convention of china decorators and Terri and Zach were just along for the ride. While mom went off to attend some painting classes, Terri, Zach and I met Jennifer and Bella at the zoo for Zach's first day among the animals. Even though he's yawning in this first picture, he really did enjoy it.

We watched them give one of the elephants a bath.

And we saw this hippopotamus up close and personal.

Before we reached the chimpanzee exhibit, Zach was snoozing soundly in his stroller.

That much excitement in one day is bound to wear a little boy out. I'm certain we'll do it again someday because Terri really enjoyed it, too.

Meet...a new baby girl UPDATED

Yesterday afternoon I went to visit some friends in the hospital who just had a baby on Monday. When I got to see their precious new daughter yesterday she was only about 24 hours old and Nancy and Pepe hadn't decided on her name yet. She's their fourth child and has two older brothers (Joseph and Vincent) and a sister (Libby). Can't wait to have some more cuddle time with her once she gets to go home. I'll keep you posted on what they end up naming her. Isn't she beautiful?

UPDATE: She's been named Mia Catherine. They came home from the hospital last Wednesday and everyone is doing great!

Jessica's first prom

Here's the long-awaited picture of my niece Jessica and Donnie, her date for the prom a couple of weeks ago.

If Donnie looks a little scared, it's probably because he was in the company of my brother John (Jessica's dad) and John takes great pride in torturing anyone his daughters bring around. Doesn't she look elegant in her red dress with her hair up? She's definitely a jeans and t-shirt girl in everyday life, so it's wonderful to see her all dressed up. Word on the street is that Jessica and Donnie are now "dating" since going to prom. I haven't met him yet, but I'm positive I'll be a lot easier on him than John.

Day one: Whatever I want to do

Since I left the Eagle (aka the Big Bird) for the last time as an employee on Friday, I've been really busy. Appropriately, I went to see the Broadway touring production of "Movin' Out" on Friday night at Century II. The dancing was amazing and the music was wonderful. In case you don't know it's all Billy Joel tunes with choreography done by Twyla Tharp. Both of my thumbs enthusiastically up. Thanks to my friend, Laurie, for letting me tag along with her. Before the show, we went to Old Chicago where I had two of these incredibly large beers.

Saturday morning I went to the Crown Uptown to see "Charlotte's Web" which is the current show for kids. I went with my friends Jennifer and Isabella. Bella is a huge fan of the newer movie version with real people and I'm a huge fan of the older animated version. We all enjoyed the buffet of yellow foods (applesauce, french fries, chicken nuggets, mac & cheese and hot dogs) and the show. The guy who played Wilbur was pretty funny. His snorting pig noises and dancing were hilarious. Bella took her stuffed Wilbur (who also makes pig noises) to the show. I think he enjoyed it as much as Bella enjoyed her pink smoothie. Notice that she has pigtails like Fern.

Saturday evening I went to Margarita's Cantina for dinner to celebrate the 50th birthday of my former co-worker, Holly. It seems so weird to think that I don't really have any co-workers anymore. For the first time in over 10 years I'm not on call. It's a very strange feeling. Not bad, just strange. I'm sorry, but I don't have any pictures from the evening. Not even of the two large margaritas I consumed. Probably best that way.

Yesterday I was a little sad about the job situation. Everything finally had a chance to sink in and I was just feeling a little sorry for myself. I just hung out at home, got caught up on the TiVo shows and did some yard work. Oh yeah, I had a nap, too. Last night I accepted an invitation to have dinner and watch a movie with some friends.

Today I woke up with a great feeling. I can do whatever I want to do today and all the other days until I find a new job. But there was one thing I had to do, which was go to a presentation at The Salvation Army. I am on one of the allocations panels for United Way and our first presentation was today.

Now I'm just getting caught up on blog entries, which is on my list of things to do now that I'm unemployed. Next up: finishing the yard work, re-potting a ficus tree, planting some flowers outside and cleaning the house in preparation for my special house guests who will arrive on Thursday.