Book club at the Arboretum

A couple of weeks ago (I'm a slow blogger) my book club met at the Bartlett Arboretum. Robin, one of our members, is the proprietress of the Arb and graciously hosts the October meeting so we can enjoy the surroundings. It is such a relaxing, not to mention beautiful, place. Here are some of my favorite snaps from the day.

Suzanne and Tara, two of my carpool buddies.

Suzanne prepares to take pictures of herself while twirling.

My twirling self-portrait.

The group discusses the book "Twilight" and the brand new Spirit Stick Book Club blog.

Lemon hat

I got this gift quite a while ago, in fact on my last trip to Ellinwood to see the family. It's another one of the long list of things I've gotten to commemorate my upcoming 40th birthday. To see what else I've gotten, click here and here. It took me a while to figure it out, but I think I've done it. Those who are responsible for the gifts, you will have to correct me if I'm wrong.

Summer vacations when I was a kid were few and far between. My dad is self-employed and getting away was always a bit of a challenge, not to mention that money was sometimes very tight with five kids in the house. But when we did go somewhere, it was usually to Colorado. My dad always drove. Window rolled down. Left arm resting on the door of the car. His arm always got incredibly sunburned on those summer vacations. I believe this story comes from the summer of 1978, but again, someone will have to correct me if that's not right.

I was nine, but since my siblings are so much older than I am, they were all busy with summer jobs. It was to be the last summer my oldest sister, Teresa, would go on a family vacation because she got married the next summer. On the drive out to Colorado, Teresa punched me in the nose for no reason. My mom was quick with the camera (she'd actually remembered it on this trip, usually she forgot the camera) and she snapped a picture of me after the punch, obviously shaken and surprised. And then she got a picture of Teresa after the punch, clearly jubilant and celebratory. I wish I had them to post but I don't. That's how the trip started.

Later on that trip, Teresa and I felt there was some unjust occurrence between our parents and ourselves. I can't even remember why we were mad at them. I do know that it was after a stop at a Sonic or similar drink stand along the way. Our method of annoying them and making them pay for whatever transgressions they'd carried out against us was to eat the lemon wedges out of our drinks. For some reason we thought this would teach them a lesson to never cross us again. We laughed and giggled for a long time in the backseat of that Thunderbird while our faces reacted to the sourness of the lemons.

Good times.

Whirlwind OKC trip

This past Saturday my sister Teresa, niece Katie and I went to Oklahoma City to visit my nephew Christopher and go see "Rocky Horror Show" at the Lyric Theatre. Christopher was the costume master for the show and out of all the variations of the show I've ever seen, these costumes were the best. I even knew some of the cast members, so that always makes it more fun.

Before the show, we went out for lunch with Christopher at Iguana Mexican Grill. Excellent food. We got the queso and it was served in this dish shaped like Oklahoma.

Also, the salsa was to die for. Seriously the tastiest I've ever had. I snapped this picture of Katie and Christopher before we left the restaurant. Aren't they cute?

Aside from a choking incident by the driver (me) on the way back to Wichita that night, the day was fantastic.

I won!

Yesterday the Altar Society at my church had their biggest fundraiser of the year, Quilt Bingo. There were 20 quilts that people won (not me) by playing bingo. I never get any good bingo cards. Ever. But there was also this beautiful queen size quilt in blues, yellows and neutrals that was given away in a raffle. This year I only bought $5 in tickets because of the whole jobless thing and I won the raffle quilt! I couldn't believe it. I was helping to sell bingo cards and was outside in the hallway at my station when they called my name. I got several high-fives on my way through the room.

I think this means my luck is changing for the better. A job is just around the corner, I can feel it.

I found a pair

Of shoes on West River Boulevard, that is. Usually I only see one shoe which makes me wonder what happened to the other. But this time it was a pair. And that was weird enough for me to stop and take a picture.

Recycling

This week I went to the recycling center all by myself! Inspired by my friend Jennifer, I purchased some plastic containers several weeks ago and started my own recycling program. All it cost was the money for the containers and my gas down to the Pro Kansas Miller Recycling Center in south Wichita, which only has to be done every month or so. This is a picture of me in the car waiting in line with my stuff in the back seat.

Once inside, it didn't take long to distribute my recyclables into the various bins. Here's a shot of other people doing the same thing.

It's a busy place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, since that's the only time during the week that it's open. It's also open on Saturdays from 9 to 3, and I would imagine it's a lot more crowded then. It doesn't cost much to get started, but the feeling of knowing that I'd done something good for the environment this week was priceless.

Zach's nighttime rituals

Part of my trip to Ellinwood to see the family included spending an evening with Zach and his parents, Mark and Terri. When I pulled up to their house, I could see Zach in his high chair eating his supper. He saw me and I opened my car door and waved to him. He enthusiastically waved back. It's so nice to have that unconditional love and have someone be happy to see me since lately it's been rejection letters or non-communication from potential employers. I needed that so much.

I got to observe Zach's bath, which was pretty funny. Like most kids, he sure enjoys running around naked. I chased him back into the bathroom after he escaped. Notice how he's checking to see if I'm behind him. He likes to splash around in the water and play with his toys, but he likes to be squirted with the shower attachment the best.

Once his bath is finished, his daddy comes to get him and dries him off and gets him ready for bed. After he's in his jammies, they go through the ritual of turning on his night lights and asking his bear on the lamp that grandma painted for him to watch over Zach as he sleeps. Sweet. They end the evening with Zach getting his milk fix and then crawling onto the couch with daddy for a few minutes before they both retire for the night.

Notice that Mark's clothes are lying on the couch behind them. He gets up for work very early so he lays his clothes out ahead of time.