Rejuvenation

The question on NaBloPoMo on Monday was, "Do you get more rejuvenation from being alone or from being with other people? How much alone (or social) time do you need to stay sane?"  That is a very thought provoking idea for me.  I think both being alone and socializing with other people is something all people need at different times in their lives, I know it is true for me.  After Momma died I needed to be alone a lot to deal with the emotions I was feeling.  I even went to Lake Austin Spa the summer after her death, alone and enjoyed every single moment I was there.  There are times when sitting in my hammock at the cabin or on the screened porch I savor alone time.  All that being said I also desire the company of my friends so bad sometimes that my heart hurts when they are not around me.  Probably explains why I miss Gail so much.  She so filled that space.  Answering that question could go either way with me depending on my mood.  How much time needed just depends on my mood.  This week, given that I'm doing the "woman" thing I kind of need the alone time.  As The Hubby often observes, I get in my invisible box.  The weekend I'm going to be surrounded by some old friends as it is the annual Hanging of the Bras weekend.  There will be laughter, talking, singing, dancing, games, eating and lots of wine drinking.  That will so fill the need of company and socializing and by Sunday afternoon I will need some quiet time to reflect and take a breath.  How would you answer this question? 

Shopping, Wine, Blogging and Exercise

Yesterday B and I took off an hour early from work to hit the mall for some long needed shopping.  It has been eon's since we have done something like that and it was a blast.  We hit Woodland Hills Mall and I was very thankful for wearing tennis shoes.  The main objective was to find the Payless Shoes.  We entered the doors and began the walk around the upper floor and then the second floor.  On the way we stopped by Wet Seal and found sale racks with buy one get the next one for a penny, 1 cent!  That was great fun and it is fun for me to finally be able to buy regular clothes in a regular ladies store, not the fat lady store!  Yes, I said FAT, big ladies store.  Filling a bag we traveled on to Payless where I immediately took off the tennis shoes and tried on tons.  I am a shoe hater and haven't bought anything new in a few years so this was definitely different for me. 

I was on a mission for sandals and that is what I found.  It's funny.  I usually wear a 7 or 7-1/2 but found that in there I even wore 6-1/2 and the 7-1/2's way too large.  Weird, I think I've lost weight in my feet!  I got four pair of sandals and B got two.  We then headed over to Victora Secret for new bras and undies.  Unfortunately they only had one bra in my size.  DRAT!  Shirts, sandals and bras I was done.  (Earlier at home I also found my Real Housewives of Oklahoma t-shirts had arrived!)  By the end of our walk throughout the mall I so remembered why I really don't like shopping.  My knees were killing me from the hard floors and the stop and go and wait stance.   B and I were greatly in need of a drink before the Blogger Meet Up put together by Tasha Does Tulsa at Siegi's Sausage Factory in south Tulsa.  We stopped in where Paddy's used to be and I cannot remember the name but a glass of wine and mug of beer to top off the shopping and I was ready to meet people.  It was great fun to exchange blog cards and hear the speaker Erin Conrad.  B and I were the first to leave because we were pooped and to rush home and catch the Season Finale of Project Runway...priorities. 

This A.M though Clayton was anxious to get up and eat and pee and started in waking me up at 4 o'clock!  YIKES.  Well, since I was up I decided I couldn't talk myself out of exercising so off I went to meet W and do the treadmill thing.  2.7 miles at level 3.5 and 3.5 speed most of the time I amped it up this morning.  Had to work off the brauts from last night. 

A Usual Thursday

This is just a usual Thursday.  Workout, shower, play with Clayton, work, lunch, afternoon delight, work, home, nap, drink wine, fix dinner, drink wine, watch Survivor, drink wine, play on the computer...yes it is a usual Thursday, or a usual day, less the extra wine.  Not much going on in life but the mundane but I like it just fine.  I'm not going to work tomorrow and will hopefully get to sleep in a bit, not long as I have to get up and let the cleaning lady in.  Then I will meet my friend C at the Brush Creek Bazaar for the afternoon.  As I said there is not much here today and I'm not sure why but my mind is kind of blank. 

I do have a thought though about health insurance.  Yes, I may get a little political.  I really don't know which side this is all on and I really don't care.  All I care about is the betterment for the American people, or just people!  This probably comes from my recent visit for the untrasound on Monday.  I had to pay a $500 deductible for it and we will see how the insurance pays for it.  I think, yes I THINK, that if the insurance companies would attend to the fact that paying for preventive medicine/care, then we would effectively save money, but wait, I think the insurance companies have a vested interest in keeping us sick so we can buy more pharmecuticals from the med companies which influences the insurance companies...OH IT IS SUCH A VICIOUS CIRCLE!  Where will it all end.  Is is driven by greed.  YES, I say it is.  Rise up and take a stand against...Oh gosh, I've had a whole bottle of wine tonight.  That is not good.  Oh well, maybe I'll get some traffic on this little babble, do you think. 

Weekend in Duncan

I'm back from my awesome girls weekend in Duncan. Yes, yes I know there is not much there to do but I have a friend there and she made it an awesome weekend. First, before I go into much detail of the weekend I must say THANK YOU to everyone who commented on my previous post on the awful doctors visit. I am going to draft a letter to the regular doctor this week and let him know what happened. If he condones this practice then bye-bye!

Now for the weekend. D picked me up at lunch time on Friday afternoon and we made a quick stop at Panera for some bread for B as Duncan has nothing to compare. We had a bite to eat and were on our way. Oh, and Donna also made a stop at Whole Foods for halibut, cheeses and fruit for our weekend as again can not be found in Duncan. So sad for a great cook as B is. Finally, we were on our way. The drive was about threes hours of chatter, chatter, chatter. It made the drive very short. We arrived at B & M's beautiful new house and were greeted with hugs and laughter. A quick tour of B&M's house and the wonderful artist's loft B uses to create her beautiful watercolors then we were ready to continue how we started the weekend off at Panera, with food. It seems the whole weekend would be wrapped around FOOD! M cracked open some awesome wine, Rosso by Francis Ford Coppola which I had way too much of and had to hit the blow up mattress at an early 7:30. I'm rushing ahead. Since we hit the town close to dinner and were famished M proceeded to create some wonderful homemade pizzas. The first one was a homemade pesto that B made herself. Next he made a caramelized red onion and tomato sauce and the last a supreme. I'm not sure which one this one was but they were all awesome and made for delicious lunch the next day.Tummies full we hit the sheets. I of course much sooner than the others although they imbibed a bit themselves after I went to bed.

Our Hosts: B & M

The next morning was brought with fresh donuts that M's brother makes in his donut shop and yummy coffee. We puttered around the house reading design magazines, chatting and watching cooking shows and M showed me his Kindle he got from Amazon. I WANT ONE! The plan for the day was to look around the town and do a little shopping. The first place was a clothing store which I bought too many cute little tops. Then we hit a couple of designer stores. A quick trip back to the house for yummy pizza then we were on to a couple of antique shops. One special place B wanted to take us was to a bead shop where she had some special beads and we each made our own earrings to commemorate the weekend we shared.

Back home for more food...yes, yes, yes. B whipped up some a wonderful appetizer of fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella cheese, capers and balsamic glaze and more Rosso wine.
Then came the delicious fish tacos that she made with halibut, chopped cabbage, hot peppers and avocado's.

I was stuffed.

D, B and Me after dinner. I'm wearing one of my new purchases and we all have our earrings on. Unfortunately, my face is back to natural as I'm not supposed to wear makeup for a bit because of the eye thing so I'm back to the no bra, no makeup and no shoes!

After dinner we all got our comfys on and headed to the couch for an after dinner drink (I can't remember what it was). We listened to music and then tried to watch a movie.

This morning I heard talking in the kitchen but with no clock in the room I wasn't sure what time it was. It was still dark but the sweet aroma of coffee let me know it was definitely morning. I got up to find B and M puttering around in the kitchen with the sun beginning to peak through. I grabbed my cameras and rushed outside to capture the moment.

Shortly afternoon D shuffled around the corner squinting and asking what time it was. I told her to go back to bed but it was too late, she was awake. M went to the store to get a few goodies for our wonderful chef to cook breakfast and was back in a flash. B go busy frying up bacon, potatoes and eggs but they were all with a twist. The eggs were spiced up with chives and a light goat cheese and the potatoes were spicy with red onions fried in. D squeezed fresh orange juice with a grapefruit added and breakfast was on. After the delicious breakfast we packed up and then made a quick trip to visit a friend of B's and her friends new grand baby. The next stop was a lunch date with D's daughter in Norman where she is a student. It was a wonderful Mexican restaurant called Tara? something. Very good. I rolled back into the truck and fought sleep all the way home. D and I had some really nice talks going to Duncan and then back home. It's so nice to break out and make some new friends. I so needed this weekend and it gives me hope that I will survive this drought in my life with my friendships. I love you D & B and M too. Thank you.

What about sleeping in do you NOT understand!

Last night The Hubby suggested a glass of wine at Vintage 1740 Wine Bar and I vigorously nodded my head YES! We like to go there sometimes and enjoy visiting with each other. I suggested that we go to Ciao on Brookside for dinner as we have not tried it before, especially since he was only going to get a frozen stir-fry if we went home. We had mussels for an appetizer...yummy. I had mussels in New York for the first time and now several times since we have been home. My entree was the lobster ravioli and The Hubby had a steak with Gorgonzola cheese sauce. YIKES, that was the best fillet I have ever eaten. I almost wish I had reordered after tasting his. During the evening chit-chat I told The Hubby that I was going to sleep in and not go to my personal trainer. He looked at me and asked why not. I told him I could not sweat as the MRSA would be "irritated" by the sweat. He didn't miss a beat and told me I needed to walk then. Excuse, I'M NOT GOING TO EXERCISE BECAUSE THE SWEAT HURTS MY WOUND! He doesn't get it. I have a serious "wound" and it needs to heal. Besides I also need to heal my body with rest and SLEEP IN! Somehow that still didn't get through the brain so at 4:45 a.m. the TV/alarm went off and he was up. I barely heard it and dosed off to sleep, briefly. At about 4:55 a.m. the TV came on in the living room and was blaring with the history channel and then the VH1 Classic with 80's music. Tink, tink, tink goes the spoon as he is beating his instant oatmeal into a froth. I rolled over and turned off the bedroom TV and try to ignore the din from the other room when I hear him rinse his bowl out and then pad down the hall to his room/den and his computer started playing music from his playlists. He's in the process of cleaning out his duplicate music from the computer. So now we have the TV in the living room and his computer blaring music. THAT'S IT! I got up, threw on some lounge clothes and went into the living room as he was back there and railed at him. I told him I wanted to sleep. He told me to just go back to bed. I can't do that once my mind starts working, Good Grief! So I've already put brown beans in the crock pot with ham hocks, had two cups of coffee, read the paper, finished the crossword and the Sudoku and now I'm blogging, it's 7:25 a.m. DAMMIT! I really need to be in the shower anyway as we have started tearing out the entry bathroom and the workmen will be here in about 45 minutes. Today I need to look at wallpaper and we need to decide on the flooring and will have to have a sink cabinet made. It's a small remodel and I will have pic's when we are done.

Painting class today!

The Hanging of the Bras

I'm back. I just did not have the desire last week to post, write, not a thing. I had a blockage with words. This morning I feel like I finally have the words to put to print but in this office I can't seem to find a quiet moment to type them. It is Monday morning here and it seems all the guys are still here at the office, not out in the field where they should be. I guess there are just too many things to gather up in the shop on their trucks and pipe to bend, etc. They need to get out and leave me to my thoughts please. While I was at the cabin with my girlfriends this weekend The Hubby caught up on some billing so my desk is knee deep in invoicing and I have to pay some bills.

Now back to the weekend, The Hanging of the Bras. What a wonderful weekend. The weather was AWESOME and the company was AWESOME. Friday afternoon I was able to get on the road about 1 pm with one of the girls following, Kat. We arrived, opened the cabin and then waited and waited. I really don't mind waiting, in fact if it is at the cabin that is just fine but that many hours with Kat is a little too much. Finding topics of conversation can be a little strained but we did okay. The other ladies finally started showing up about 6:30 and the party was on. There were 10 all together in attendance on Friday night with most of them leaving on Saturday afternoon leaving 3. I have all the ladies contribute $10 for food as I go by Olive Garden and get salad, lasagna and chicken scampi for our dinner with leftovers to eat on Saturday. I also made an fabulous egg casserole Friday morning for the next day. Then everyone else brings beverages (wine), snacks and sweets, there is not want for food. We ate dinner, laughed, cracked open about 6 bottles of wine and did the bus stop on the screened porch. Before we even had the first glass of wine the bras began coming off and were hanging on the string of party lights on the porch. Notice there are only seven bras, three of the ladies chose not to participate, party poopers. The laughter and dancing continued for me until I hit the sheets about 11:30. I just could not keep my eyes open after being up since 4:30. One of the ladies had a LOT to drink and they attempted to pour her into bed three times until she finally passed out about 2:30. What a party! It was great and I can't wait till next year. We've done it two years in a row, so far, with plans to continue. One of the ladies Desi, flies in from California to participate and it is her birthday. She used to be one of the Jazzercise ladies. The one downer for me was that I had to share a bed with Kat, my bed. Usually my cousin H shares with me but Kat wanted to get there early so she would have a bed and not the floor so it was my bed. Kat snores, not girl snores, guy snores. Oh my goodness, if I woke up at night it was non-stop snoring. She slept on her back the entire night and no amount of my jiggling the bed stopped her. PLEASE not next year, PLEASE!!! This probably explains the nap I took in the hammock and the nap I later took in my bed when she was gone. Good Grief!

Another weekend gone

Well today is Father's Day and we came back early from the cabin to spend it with my family, my father. We went to the cabin Friday evening and had a nice visit with the neighbors and shared a beer and glass of wine. There were not a lot of people there so it was fairly quiet. We had planned on coming back last night but The Hubby had spent all day long putting in the lights on the neighbors new deck and he was just exhausted so YIPEE we stayed. It was one of the most perfect evenings. The temperature was just perfect and we enjoyed most of the evening outdoors on the new deck (not quite finished). Harri fixed roast, corn on the cob, mixed veggies and french bread and I washed it down with a few Bud Light Lime beers...very yum. Then Harri decided she wanted to go on a golf cart ride before the sun set so off we went, her with her glass of wine and me with a glass of Pama (pomegranete liquor-more very yum.) We drove every road, gravel and paved looking for where there might be a party but it was pretty quiet. We watched the firefly's buzzing around in the meadow, watched some people playing a little golf on our 4 holes and hoped to see a deer or two. As the darkness crept up and we were driving on a road by Mud Flats a little creature ran in front of us. At first I thought it was a tiny deer but my mind immediately knew what it was. It was a tiny fox, very young. It was just darling as it stopped by some steps of a cabin and just sat and watched us watch it. Very sweet.

This weekend I really got into my book "The Book Thief" and yesterday as I sat on the porch and read it I was taken with warm thoughts of my Momma. Momma was an avid reader. She loved and I mean LOVED books and she instilled in my brother, sister and I the love of reading. We all three can not get enough reading done. She used to go to the library and check out 5 or 6 books every two weeks and would inhale them. Well, this book I'm reading is about a little girl in Nazi Germany and one of the parts of the book is her love of books and reading and as I was reading yesterday I thought, "I will never read the words that my mother has run her eyes over again." I know it is a weird thought but we shared books and would discuss them over and over again and I just had that strange thought that my eyes and hers would never touch that kind of sight again. I know weird but I miss her and our talks and closeness and sharing of life.