Also-----

I also have to share that today is our anniversary. The Hubby and I have been married for 31 years now. I can't believe it has been that long. It seems that the years have just flown by. I guess as they say "Time flies when you're having fun." That is so true in our relationship. I may complain but he is my best friend and he still makes me belly laugh. He can still surprise me and I will share sometime our 25th anniversary. It was incredibly special.

Pictures from the girl in California!

John Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) and A

Paul Stanley of Kiss fame and A

Rick Springfield and A

More Ice Storm Damage

Here are some more pic's of the ice storm damage at our lake place. Incredible. It looks like bombs went off everywhere. The hillside is just littered with fallen trees and the tops are just gone out of them. A lone golf cart top(my card was full so pic) was absolutely pierced by a huge fallen tree branch. The power and water was off for 7 days which was a very bad problem for those who live there full time. It will take a while for the whole area to rebound from this devastation. On the other hand the ones who love the place for fishing are already making plans to wet a hook because the creek is up and that means the sand bass are biting.

What Country am I!

You're Thailand!

Calmer and more staunchly independent than almost all those around you,
you have a long history of rising above adversity.  Recent adversity has led to
questions about your sexual promiscuity and the threat of disease, but you still manage
to attract a number of tourists and admirers.  And despite any setbacks, you can
really cook a good meal whenever it's called for.  Good enough to make people
cry.


Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

Rick Springfield

OK...my youngest A is in LA at The NAMM Show...some music industry convention and she has talked to Nancy Wilson from Heart, C.C. DeVille, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick AND Rick Springfield...so far. She is working at the show for Fender and Gruno (her online DJ Friend) and has only been there for about 3 hours. She called me and I got to TALK to Rick Springfield. So very cool and she said he looked really good. YUM!


I'll have more pic's of her with some of these people.

http://www.thenammshow.com/

Cabin Fever Never

As you may have read in previous posts The Hubby and I have our own business of which I spend a lot of time sitting in a windowless office. Sometimes the day is pierced with tons of phone calls and then there are days when I don't even pick the phone up or see a living soul. I play POGO on the computer and can see outside with cameras from my desk but basically I'm by myself most of the time. Plus the office is nothing but MEN, when I might see them. So, to my story:

Since we have had the winter of the century in Oklahoma I have been home except for one day in which The Hubby insisted he take me to the office. I have been home and throughly enjoying it. I have windows! Last night The Hubby made the statement, "I don't see how you can stay here everyday, pent up, it would drive me crazy." I turned to him with my jaw hanging and said, "What do you mean it's just like at the office only I have windows here. I stay busy. I read, clean, watch TV, water plants, watch the birds, just stuff." It stopped him dead, he blinked and looked at me and then had to turn it back on me, "You know there is stuff you can do at the office if you were motivated (that is the key word). You can answer the phone. The customers don't like talking to the answering service."

OK...First, I am NOT motivated anymore to sit there. Second, then why do we have an answering service if we don't even use it.

I was really pissed at him. He still doesn't get the boredom and apathy I feel sitting there. I don't know if he ever will. He's also upset because I haven't worked out with him since I can't get to Jazzercise. The last time I went with him to workout at his place he embarrassed me and felt like what I was doing was a waste of my time. Unknown to him I have been doing Pilates to my DVD's everyday. HMMMPH!

Next Tuesday is our 31st Anniversary, I guess I had better get over it. HaHaHaHaHaHaHa

More Ice Pictures

Lake house pictures of our steps and the backside of the steps. Also, a registered tree along the creekbank.

Finally done!

It's finally done...the Christmas if finally put away. YEAH! It's not calling me bad names anymore. Mocking me from the front room...My demons are in the attic. HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa....OK, I'm going stir crazy from all this ice and they are predicting more for the weekend. I HATE WINTER...give me a hot Oklahoma summer any day. Bring it on.

I've been so bored that I found my stack of old journals and read some entries. Very scary if anyone should find them and read them "while I'm still on this earth," especially The Hubby. Man I was a mess when I was younger. Poor little me. I certainly wasn't very happy with myself, not my life so much but myself and my attitude towards myself. It's kind of healing to read that stuff and see how far I've come in my life and my thoughts on my life.

Still frozen inside!

I'm still here safe inside the new abode, safe from the frozen tundra outside my door. The Hubby came and took me to work yesterday but he hasn't called today. I don't plan on driving yet till the driveway is a little safer. It's a steep incline and I don't particularly want to be in my neighbors front room. My friend C called this morning though and she was out galavanting around in the icebox we call Oklahoma and wanted to stop by to borrow the book we are reading for bookclub, Jenny McCarthy's "Life Laughs." She couldn't park in the drive or even walk up the drive. She slid down as she attempted to travail the slope. Instead she climbed over the front wall and the azaleas. Wow, what a woman. Not me. I would be in the street on my back saying, "Ouch."

Last night after work The Hubby wanted to have a glass of wine at the wine bar Vintage 1740 (http://www.vintage1740.com/home.html) and dinner at the Itailan restaurant next door but it was closed on Monday's. The Hubby loves to go out to eat when the weather is bad like snow because the places are almost empty. The problem is getting me into the places. I'm not too stable on my feet when it comes to walking...haha...I have taken a few tumbles in the past few years, three of which were in our garage in the old house. But, I actually walked on the frozen stuff into the wine bar and we enjoyed a few glasses of wine with all of the other two people in there. The Hubby's phone rang and he had an emergency call from a customer so we had to go by there and check his electric meter. Then we decided to pick up Jamils (best steaks in town) and take them home to eat. Yum, yum, yum!

Well, that updates my boring life for the past few hours. Not much to do except to STILL put away Christmas. I'm still trying to get it done but just don't want to. Oh well......

Monday is a workday.

Yes Monday is a workday and here I sit at the office again. Despite the ice on the roads, houses, trees and sidewalks nothing and I mean NOTHING deters The Hubby from going into the office. I thought I might get to stay home all day but NO! He called and said he would come pick me up. He would drive into the garage and then into the shop so I would not have to even set foot on the ice. I, of course, said OK. I HATE the snow, ice and winter in general so this is going above and beyond for me. I really couldn't see the point in traveling into the office since the banks and post office was closed, but The Hubby had come in on Saturday and there was a stack of invoicing on my desk I needed to type. So here I sit at my lonely desk getting to WORK! Oh well, nothing better to do I guess than nap, read a book, finish packing up the Christmas, my laundry. Toodles...type, type, type, type.....

Snowed In

It's 6:36 AM

It's 6:36 am Sunday morning and I can't sleep. I woke up to a sound that I figured out was the heat kicking on. I realized I needed to pee so I quietly made my way in the dark to the bathroom then I piled back to bed under the warm covers. All of a sudden The Hubby got up to go to the bathroom. Of course being a man he shut the door so he could turn on the light to see where to aim. Being a woman we do it in the dark just fine, this is our advantage to having "indoor plumbing." Anyway, I heard the toilet flush and then the shower start up. What the...! Since I was already fighting a sinus headache I beat him to the coffee and here I sit.

Yesterday was a pretty boring day. I did nothing. The plan was to take the Christmas down but all I got accomplished was taking all the ornaments off the tree and lay them in the floor in anticipation of being wrapped in tissue paper. I just didn't get very far, maybe today. Last night when The Hubby slid up the driveway and into the garage I had a small pot of hamburger stew and biscuits. We topped off the evening with a glass of wine and watching the movie Sideways.

I hear The Hubby in the bedroom with the blow dryer going, slamming cabinets, and shaving. I'm glad I wasn't sleeping because I would have been awakened by that noise. Well, I guess off to another day of stranded in the house with lots to do but no motivation. The Hubby I'm sure will try to go to the office again to work, nothing stops him, ever!

Ice Storm

Ice storm in Oklahoma...we're sitting tight in a warm home with a cozy fire, several bottles of wine, a pot of hamburger stew and a good book/movie. The only thing that could make this not happen is a power outage and so far we're good. The Hubby of course had to go in to the office to do some paperwork (work for me Monday.)

I'm so glad I'm staying put after seeing this video.

Brrrrrr...Baby it's cold outside.

Yesterday the sky was falling, according to the weatherpeople. Yes it is icy outside,yes it is cold, and yes we should stay inside, but really do we have to have constant television coverage about the weather. I can understand if it was tornados, but it is just ice and snow and we are going to be stuck inside for a few days, so what. The sky is NOT going to fall. The upside is that we don't have to watch commercials since that is where the weather reports pop-up but that does get old.

Today The Hubby will travel out on the icy streets. Nothing keeps him from venturing out, nothing. We decided on not going to the cabin this weekend because he had to work in the office and catch-up on billing. He likes to work on paperwork on the weekends because the phone is quiet and no one bothers him to get him off track. My task this weekend is to take down Christmas. It's all over the house and slowly but surely I have gathered it up and put it around the still adorned tree. I have to climb into the attic to get boxes and I am not a height person so that is unnerving. I've also got to finish a book and maybe take a nap. Yeah this is going to be a nice weekend, all cosy.

Last night we made good use of the cold and fireplace and a bottle of wine (wink). It is wonderful to be empty nesters. Yes, don't fret when those little ones are out in the world, embrace your honey and rediscover each other. It is so much fun. Trust me!

Hot Flash Anyone!

I am here early in the office trying to beat the weather. I missed Jazzercise this morning because I was so very sore from yesterday. I just lazed in the bed and then watched the weather. I thought I had better get some extra milk for The Hubby just in case, so off to the grocery store early. I couldn't believe it when I pulled into the parking lot. It was 7 am and the lot was jammed full. I walked in and fought with the tangle of shopping carts to break one free before I found the produce section. There was one bag of salad mix and most of the other bins were empty. Oh My Gosh! Then I pushed through the crowd of panicked faces to the meat for ham for beans. No chicken, No beef and very little pork stuff. The weather people are scaring people to death with this ice storm thing. It will only be a couple of days and then Oklahoma will warm up again. My goodness people, make a pot of beans or stew and enjoy the weekend inside with a good book. Hopefully the power won't go off but, well, we sell generators so that won't be a problem for us I hope.

Boy, did I miss the reason for this blog. I was sitting here at my desk and my face flushed then my whole body. I thought I was on fire. Thank goodness for the cold outside because I had to step outside and just enjoy the cold. If you know me at all I have always been cold up until this past year and half but today takes the cake. I remember when my mother had her own personal summers and she would be beet red with sweat pouring down her face. Sometimes she would get so hot she would be physically sick to her stomach. Oh wait, that could be the mix of hot flash and drinking. Anyway, I'm finally comfortable now. I guess it is close to that time of life and I am embracing it. Fan anyone!

??? Day

Well, yesterday I went to the doc to just see if the scale is moving in his office since it certainly is not moving in my house. ARGHHHHH!!!! I have amped up my workout and even lost 2 pounds over Christmas, which I put on over the New Year celebration! The only good thing is that I put on a pair of pants out of my closet that have not been worn in probably 2 years and they were barely on then. I put them on and zipped them right up with room to spare so I KNOW my body is-a changing. The doc said that I was in the best "medical" shape that he has ever seen me in in the past 15 years. HOORAY! Too bad the scale is not cooperating. Oh well, I'll keep up the good work.

Lots of stuff are happening again for my family. My youngest is back in California and she says in her blog (Jane of all Trades) that she is back home. The first morning back she got a call for an interview YEAH! But of course they needed her to start in the position right away and she had to say she was committed to a project (which she is not getting paid for) and couldn't. Granted this is only a part time job but it is a job. The guy told her he might have another position that he will look into for her. Then she got an email from a music artist that wants to possibly get her to record his song or something like that. This of course means she needs another computer program (ProTools) to aid with that endeaver. That track is where she wants to be. Whats another $200 or $300 to further her career and deplete my bank account.

The oldest daugther closes on her new home on Jan 24 and tonight is going to buy appliances. This is So very weird because this is the kiddo who didn't want to get married or have kids or even plant roots in one place. She wanted to travel and work somewhere that wasn't in the United States. Now here she is buying a house and appliances and has a guy in her life that she plans to make her future. I cannot quite wrap my head around this since she has been the other way for so very long. I just knew that I would have to travel to visit my kids. Still might with the youngest.

Raising kids is not an easy job. When you're young and get married and spout the words, "I want to have a baby." You really have no idea what it takes to raise them. I totally amazed myself when the oldest was born and we took her home, I kept her alive. Now I know that sounds weird but you just find it amazing that you are taking care of a real live human being and they are surviving. Then they grow up so very fast and are out the door before you know it. The in-between stuff is the easy thing. The ear aches, the tummy aches, the scraped knees and nightmares, the first boyfriend, first kiss, school, PTA, Pom Pom practices, or basketball games, the fights, the rebellion, the worrying in bed at night when they turn 16 and aren't home yet, these are the easy things. Now comes the hard stuff. You worry about what they are going to do with their life and hope to high heaven that you have given them the skills to be self-sufficient when they are out in the world without you. You will always be there to guide them. I'm 50 years old and not until last year did I not talk to my Momma and get her advice on something. That is the part of the job that never ends. This is the rewarding part, when they become functioning beings of the human race.

Concert tonite!

Tonite we are going to see CHRIS BOTTI! I can't wait. I've had my tickets for 3 months and have waited in anticipation for this night. I LOVE that guy. I'll let your know how it went...

Evolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK1NbGRACls

Oh I'm having fun now!

Oh, I'm having fun now. I finally have figured out how to get into my new Beta version and as you can see I am adding tons of pics and changing stuff. I'm having a blast creating. This is so very cool that I just can't stop myself. Enjoy everyone. The old pictures are of my great grandparents home that I LOVED to go to and stay. Way out in the country they totally lived off the land but were also college educated. As you can see by the wishbone doorway I don't have much of a problem with the African mounts since that is what I was used to seeing.

Too Many Checkbooks!

We have way too many checkbooks. We have one for the company, Money Market checking (blue cover), personal checking (computer checks), my Mary Kay checking (pink cover), and my personal inheritance trust checking (brown cover), way too many to keep track of. Well, The Hubby needed to take a check out of the MM Checking to pay for the rest of his African mounts. The checkbooks were at the office, I wasn't, and I told him the BLUE one NOT the Brown on. Well, today I'm trying to balance my mulititude of accounts and noticed a check missing, OUT OF MY personal inheritance trust checking. Now, the first problem is that he is not a signer on the account. The second, is that my account draws interest so it will miss out on a little interest. Goodness, I'll have to reimburse myself. Too funny really.

On the other part of the previous paragraph are the African mounts. A year and a half ago The Hubby went on African Safari for 2-1/2 weeks. He killed a kudu, impala, blesbok, springbok, black wildebeast, and a blue wildebeast. The three very large ones are now hanging in the cabin, those are the kudu, black and blue wildebeast. The others, impala, blesbok and springbok are not proudly staring down at me in our living room in town. Actually, they are very pretty and I really don't mind. I grew up with that at my great grandparents so I'm not offended by it. I told him that he had a VERY understanding wife to allow those to hang in our main living quarters, he agreed.

Now it is my turn to hopefully book my spa trip. I'm looking, just trying to get brave to travel there. I want desparately to go to Austin Lakehouse Spa. I've been dreaming of that place for ever. http://www.lakeaustin.com It would be fun to go with some friends (hint).

A Reading Weekend

OK...I thought this book looked interesting and so I slogged through it this past weekend. The comments on the back made me think it was a non-stop page turner that frankly I had a hard time trying to turn the page to finish. Yuck! I can't believe they actually made a movie of this one. My only thought would be the infidelity throughtout the book, a child molester, anger ridden men who can't grow up, just what they need to sell tickets at the box office. And I heard a TV critic suggest that Kate Winslet might earn an Oscar nod. Perhaps he is right if it is based solely on the performance. This is not worth the time at all and I'm sorry I did.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all....Oh My Goodness it has taken me awhile to get my other computer to FINALLY let me in so I can blog. I'm so very frustrated with this new version. I hope the kinks get worked out.

Hope all had a great New Year's bash. The Hubby and I spent the New Year at our lake retreat with several other people. We had a cabin progressive dinner. What great fun we had golf-carting to each others cabins and eating, and eating, and eating. I'm so glad I have not made dieting my New Year's resolution. Way too much stress.

I mentioned earlier in a previous entry that I was not going to make resolutions but I LIED! Ha! The only one I am going to make is to journal in my pen and ink journal everyday. I probably will do the online one not quite as often. I have to get my mind into the writing mode if I'm going to succeed in writing. There it is in print!!!

The new year is starting out with a bang. The youngest daughter Af is driving back to California with her roommate/best friend on Friday and I'm a little antsy but kind of ready to have my house back. She's been here for 3 weeks and I was really getting used to being empty nesters. I love her so very dearly but I want her to get on with her life. She is a certified Audio Engineer now but no job on the horizon, just "helping with CD's" which pays NOTHING! She's networking but she may have to do a little starving. I'm just not comfortable kicking her to the curb with no money or support, a beautiful, young girl living in California in the industry that she wants to be in. We'll get through.

The oldest daughter, Br informed us a few months ago that she is moving in with her boyfriend, and then a few days later they were talking marriage, very soon. Now she has put a contract on a HOUSE!!! not very far from us. The contract was accepted and it is an adorable house. I'm so very excited for her. She is a great girl with a great job and future. She is also getting her masters and is planting roots. See I can cut those apron strings successfully, it's just very hard to do.

I'm looking forward to 2007. I hope it brings all kinds of good stuff to my family, friends and myself. Everyone knows who has read my blogs that 2006 has been the year from Hell and I'm ready for some good stuff.

Blackeye peas anyone!!!!!Here's to good luck!