Singsation

In April I drove out to Oakley to see and hear my nephew, Jeffrey, in Singsation. On the way to Ellinwood to ride with my sister Teresa I had a tire blow out on a lonely country road in Rice County. As luck would have it, about five minutes after I pulled to the side of the road, some people whose kids I used to babysit drove by on their way to Wichita. Clayton was instrumental (OK, he did the whole thing) in putting on the spare. I was able to make it to Ellinwood without mishap. So grateful they came by when they did.


They kicked off the show in their fanciest outfits. Jeffrey's the second from the left in the back row. He did a great job on his solo of "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" which he heard for the first time last year in my car. He was really nervous, but I was so proud of him. Some of the other solos...well, not so much. They were all way ahead of me, though, because I'd never get up and sing in front of a crowd. Ever. At least not without a lot of alcohol first.

He also joined the rest of the boys in the Oakley Plainsman Singers for "Goober Peas" and he's the goober on the right in this picture.

We had a good time and I was glad I made the trip out for it. I needed new tires anyway.

Easter weekend

My birthday fell on Good Friday this year and I was lucky to have that day off from work. It was the day I got the official offer letter for my new job at Brainworks. It was a really good day, despite the fact I turned a year older.

Zach was really the only little kid around on Easter Sunday. He had a great time helping hide Easter eggs with Katie and I. We'd each take turns hiding them with him and then he'd help the other one find the same eggs he'd just hidden. It was pretty comical. We had gorgeous weather that day and ended up spending a lot of time outside. Here Zach and Katie are finding the eggs I helped him hide.

Hiding eggs with them made me remember hiding them when I was a kid. It brought back some really good memories. I've always loved Easter since it's usually right around my birthday. I hid an egg in this tree that I ran over with the mower right after my parents planted it. I know I stunted that tree's growth, but it's still alive even though it hasn't really grown that much. Oops! Even though my mom never said anything about it at the time, she told me she definitely noticed it when it happened. Mom always knows! Eyes. In. Back. Of. Head.

After egg hunting was over, Katie and Zach got into a fight with sticks. They're so weird.

Better late than never, right?

As my family will point out, I'm a bit of a tardy blogger. I really do mean well, it's just that life gets in the way. Not to mention a new job (this is week seven already) and a healthy dose of sleep on the weekends. But I'm back and I'm vowing (yes, again) to be a better blogger.

The first three months of the year I spent every Wednesday night with a great group of folks as part of my job. I really enjoyed coaching that group of couples on the skills they were learning in their marriage education workshop. It was a great way to round out my employment with Marriage for Keeps. My job there ended on April 30 and I was lucky enough to be able to have the last week as vacation before I started the new job. Here's a picture of workshop facilitator Brian talking to the group. That's the other facilitator, Rachel, facing the camera.

Because of confidentiality reasons I can't post a picture of the group even though I took one the last night we met. If you were in that group and want a copy of the picture I took, post a message and I'll e-mail it to you.

I miss my co-workers at MfK because they're a group of awesome individuals, but I'm really diggin' the new job. What's not to like about the relaxed dress code, "normal" work hours, and the satisfaction of helping people work through their computer problems? Nothing, that's what.

Stay tuned. More to come...

Spring is springing

The forsythia in my back yard bloomed this week. I think it looks so pretty. If the photo looks blurry it's because the wind has been blowing constantly (it seems anyway) this week. It never seems like there's a moment it's not blowing in the wind.

Five years ago about this time my friends Lucy, Ian, William and Ellen were here from England for a visit. They bought the forsythia (they pronounce it for-sigh-thia) for me on that trip and we planted it together. I never look at it without thinking of them. And just in time for my birthday, I received a card from them in the mail yesterday. Happy spring, friends!

OKC trip

A couple of weeks ago (OK, almost a month ago) I went down to Oklahoma City with my mom and sisters for our annual girls’ weekend. Jenny studied on the way down (she has to keep up her perfect 4.0 GPA in grad school, you know). As usual it was filled with lots of laughter and some really good food.

Christopher, one of my nephews, lives in Oklahoma City and works at a couple of restaurants. We went to one of them while he was at work and it was a great experience. Ingrid’s is a German bakery and restaurant. We dined there on the Saturday for lunch and my reuben was excellent, but the slice of German chocolate cake I ate for dessert was the best I’ve ever had. It was so good I took a picture of it and my sister, Teresa, made fun of me. On the left is mom's strawberry cake. On the right is Teresa's coconut cake. My German chocolate is in the middle. It really was divine.

There was live music when we got there but they put away their instruments not long after we arrived. Ingrid’s was featured on a recent episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” on the Food Network. We got to meet Maggie, the kitchen manager, who showed Guy Fieri how they make their famous reubens. Search for it on YouTube if you haven’t seen it.

Here’s a picture of Christopher at work behind the counter. He’s very photogenic, don’t you think?

We also ate at Iron Starr barbeque and it was delicious as always. Sorry no pictures of that.

There was also a healthy dose of slot machine play for my sister, Jenny, who has a bit of a gambling itch that needs scratching every now and then. Mom, Teresa and I were happy with about three hours’ worth of gambling. Jenny needed about eight hours’ worth. So we left her there and picked her up later. Very little shopping this year. Mostly we just hung out, ate and played cards. It was so much fun I'm ready to go again.

A Keeper photo

In January I went to Exploration Place with Jennifer, Bella and Jake to get a sneak preview of the Mr. Potato Head exhibit. We weren't really that impressed with it and Bella was very unimpressed with the costumed spud, but she did consent to one photo with him.

After this picture was snapped she wouldn't go near him and hid behind me every time we saw him.

When we left EP the flames at the Keeper of the Plains were ablaze. Here's a picture I took that turned out pretty good, for an amateur photographer.

Happy Vietnamese New Year!

A couple of weeks ago I had lunch at Saigon on Broadway. Behold, the number 56:

It was the perfect day for lunch at Saigon. They had entertainment to celebrate Vietnamese New Year, which included the popping of firecrackers outside (to ward off the evil spirits) and some drum music and two dragons winding their way through the restaurant during the lunch rush. I'm sure they symbolized something, but I don't know what. I liked the atmosphere, though. It was lunch AND a show!

As you can see I wasn't the only one taking pictures of this event.

After we'd eaten, we also got to pick out an envelope from a basket. Each envelope (or ours anyway) contained a Power Ball $1 quick pick. I am sad to report that I didn't win anything, but it was a good day to lunch at one of my favorite places.