November

Friendsgiving 2020

Let’s just put a disclaimer out here because… I know most people’s feelings about get together this year. They aren’t popular. I would also like to state that most of the people that were here have had Covid. No, we didn’t give it to each other… all at different times… so during this event, we had the immunity and no one got Covid at this event. Now that that is out of the way…

Friendsgiving 2020

So KW’s mom has a picture very similar to this at a Thanksgiving when she was about 18 months of age (so a bit younger than he is here…). We decided to recreate the picture. I really wanted to put the pictures side by side, but after digging through all of Deb’s photos, we couldn’t find Shaye’s picture like this… It also took a little convincing KW that this was okay to do, even though apparently he likes butter just as much as his momma did.

They’re not Leggins, They’re not Jeans, They’re jeggings… aka Turkey eating pants! (think Joey from Friends) (more…)

I have Covid-19

It’s taken a while to convince myself it is okay to say that. Why? There is a certain stigma around it… It feels like I am the plague. Not that I have it… but that I am it. People want to avoid me…

Ooo you didn’t follow the “rules.” Oooo you’re dirty. You aren’t clean. You don’t know how to wash your hands.

Really, whatever else someone might say. There are a lot of things out there too. But I’m here to tell you… I’m personally on the verge of being a germ-a-phobe. I’m not quite one but I might as well be… My hands are so dried out from washing them sooooo much. I carry hand sanitizer in my truck, in the pocket of my pants, always.

The mask you ask… what is my stance. I think it’s stupid. BUT before you yell at me, I wear it. I don’t want to… but I do. I get pissed off every time I have to put the damn thing on. I have it in my back pocket at all times. I spray it down with hand sanitizer every time I take it off because, Hello… I don’t want all those germs up against my face all the time. Think about it… you go to a bathroom, especially a public bathroom, a toilet flushes… particles fly as they say. You breathe in and it gets on your mask and bam… you’re walking around with other people’s shit on your face. Congratulations whoever thought masks were a good thing. I hate public bathrooms in the first place. Then that thought makes me want to gag.

Through the 7 stages of grief… I bounce around as many people do.

  1. Shock/denial
  2. Guilt
  3. Anger/Bargaining
  4. Depression
  5. Upward turn
  6. Reconstruction
  7. Acceptance

Shock/Denial

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How to: Onion

Onions are one of those tricky vegetables. I’ve had friends (usually little kiddos) that can’t pronounce it correctly. The most common for a while was yonion. :). And it makes a lot of people cry. I can’t say everyone because I don’t cry cutting up onions, but I run people out of the house cutting up onions. My favorite thing to do IS cut up onions. So I always volunteer to cut onion for people. ALWAYS. 

So why do Onions make you cry?

Onions produce the chemical irritant known as syn-propanethial-S-oxide. The synthase enzyme converts the amino acid sulfoxides of the onion into sulfenic acid. It stimulates the eyes’ lachrymal glands so they release tears.

Do some Onions make you cry more than others?

It takes a lot of precise chemical reactions to produce tears. White, yellow, and red onions all have a higher concentration of the onion enzyme necessary to create syn-propanethial-S-oxide while sweet onions, green onions, and scallions have fewer of the necessary enzymes.

Do different Onions work better for certain things?

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Chiefs Tree

Honestly, I’m quite late on this, but better late than never. Now that we are in our own house, we had a little more room to put up more trees. We put up 3 in fact. You’ve seen the family tree which housed all the presents. Then both girls got a tree. This one was the Chiefs Tree for Tbug. She had options and this was what she wanted.

Last year at the end of the season I bought this tree. The funny thing is if you look at it, it almost has a silver tone to it. However, it was bought to be gold. So looking at the box, what was printed directly on the box says silver. The label Walmart put on it said Rose Gold. With the lights on it looked more rose gold so who the heck knows what color this tree really is. (more…)

Thanksgiving 2019

Thanksgiving 2019 has come and gone. Ah, I love Thanksgiving. That might not appear that way as it seems like I slide past it to Christmas, but Thanksgiving is totally about the food. Heck yeah! Anyone who knows me knows I like food.

The day before I decided to make the desserts. I knew the day of I’d be super busy. I got it in my head I wanted a Coconut Cream Pie Cheesecake. Now before anyone asks, no, I’m not pregnant. Yes, I’ve already been asked. I was told this was a weird combination. I didn’t think so though. I really like Coconut Cream Pie and Cheesecake is okay. Why not put them together.

My mom had some medical issues earlier in the summer, which has caused her to eat differently. Then she decided to follow a Keto diet so she gave me a recipe my dad came up with for a Keto Pumpkin Pie. Yey, everyone had dessert. When I invited my mother-in-law, she asked what she could bring. I told her to bring a Chocolate pie that she makes, you know, just in case my cheesecake didn’t turn out. btw, it was amazing! (more…)

Moms and Muffins

I’m a little leery to google that title phrase. Yikes! Anyway… that’s what we did the Monday before Thanksgiving with our kiddos at school. It was called Moms and Muffins. Mom went into the school, where we spent time with our kiddos and ate muffins.

We also helped/watched them make turkeys out of apples. Earlier in the month the teachers sent home a feather that the students were to decorate and design to get them into the Thanksgiving spirit. Then during Moms and Muffins, we took an apple and made it into a turkey.

There were marshmallows (large and small), m and m’s, fruit loops, gumdrops, icing, and toothpicks to help decorate the apple into a turkey. After the first round of decorating our turkey, Abug ate some of it. Then she redecorated it and ate it again. I took home half a decorated turkey…? (more…)

Surviving Christmas!!

This was actually the easiest, most fun Christmas I’ve had in years, we’re talking YEARS!! It was laid back, relaxed, no one was upset, no one was mad, there wasn’t extreme running around trying to get everyone everywhere and getting people mad b/c we were running late. If every year could be this easy, bring on Christmas (and yes it is my favorite holiday!). Aunt Connie had to work on Christmas Day this year (since she’s a doctor, we have to work around her schedule at times) so we celebrated with Aunt Connie & Brad, mom & dad, Prince Charming, Tbug & me on the night of the 23rd. I had to work the day of the 23rd so I made Prince Charming a deal, he got to go to my house and help my mom by being my replacement for the day. She had him wrapping presents, cooking, cleaning and I’m sure whatever else she needed help with, and he made Brad’s corn, compliments to the chef! By the end of the night there wasn’t much at all left. It was my grandma’s recipe and I was the only one who had it so I found it and that was the corn recipe for this Christmas. We also had baked Spaghetti (that Prince Charming & I worked on making the night before), garlic toast, and cheesecake, Plus some appetizer dips to start the night out. We were all stuffed by the end of the night. Tbug’s mom brought Tbug to me here at work when I got off so we buzzed home and pulled in right before Aunt Connie & Brad got there. The tradition at our house is to eat appetizers, open presents, eat dinner/dessert, and then play with all our new gifts (or try them on).

Merry Christmas Baby!

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Angel in disguise!

I have recently been blessed with the opportunity to spend a holiday weekend with the one that I love and her family!! The weekend was filled with love, to say the least, I have been told by a few people that I say I love you too much, so I wonder is there such a thing? I do not believe so I believe Garth Brooks got it right when he said “tell that someone that you love just what your thinkin of if tomorrow never comes!!” Anyways sorry I was off on a tangent back to my Angel in disguise I truly believe that she is my Angel in disguise!! If I spent a year doing nothing but typing this blog I couldn’t begin to explain how much I love her she IS my Angel!! We left Thursday morning and arrived to a very welcoming Aunt Connie and Uncle Brad and a wonderfully delicious Thanksgiving Dinner!! Then spent a lovely afternoon taking pictures and spending time with my Angel!! Friday all the girls headed out early for a fun-filled day of shopping in Texas while Dad and I went out to see what was going on in the barn!! We helped ready the horses to be worked until around noon when we went into Ardmore to eat!! After lunch Brad worked horses for a little bit and then it came to my turn!!!! I was excited I rode a horse they call Rosie she is over 18 years old and is still a firecracker!! She stepped fast turned fast and never missed a beat!! Then we rode out to catch some sick cows, this was fun we rode quite a ways which gave me an opportunity to talk to Uncle Brad a little which was good!! This brings us to a very worn out Mark, but the fun doesn’t end there I finally got to spend a little time snuggling with my Angel and watching ELF which by the way I didn’t see very much of ;)!!
Then came Saturday morning time to pack up and leave we said our goodbyes and headed toward La Hacienda stopping along the way at Cafe Ole in Tulsa for lunch and a brief shopping stop at Stein Mart!! In short, this was one of the best Thanksgivings I have had in years!! spending time with the woman I love!!!!! Can’t wait for Christmas!!! I love spending time with my Angel and could never spend enough time with her!! Baby, I love you and You ARE my Angel in disguise!!!

STILL Amazed

So all growing up you hear of stories of people marrying their grade school and high school sweethearts and of course being a hopeless romantic I used to always wish that would happen. As time went on it became more and more apparent that it wouldn’t happen, but that’s ok, I knew that God had some great plan for me, and I think part of it was to teach me patience… not my strongest suit. So I dated one guy after another and things wouldn’t work out for whatever reason (and don’t be fooled, there weren’t all that many, I usually had length over numbers…) and again as you’ve probably read before I was in a relationship with a guy for over 5 years. That came to an end this last summer. Again God had something great in store but who knew… When you think about this next thought, keep in mind how I started this…

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SHMILY

This is an email I’ve received before, There is just something about it that I really like:

My grandparents were married for over half a century and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word “shmily” in a surprising place for the other to find. They took turns leaving “shmily” around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more.

They dragged “shmily” with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio where my grandma always fed us warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring. “Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper to leave “shmily” on the very last sheet.

There was no end to the places “shmily” would pop up. Little notes with “shmily” scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows.

“Shmily” was written in the dust upon the mantel and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents’ house as the furniture. It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents’ game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love-one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents’ relationship. They had love down pat.

It was more than their flirtatious little games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affection which not everyone is lucky enough to experience.

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