Sunday

Swimming...

The OU Pool opened over the Memorial Day weekend, the true beginning of summer. I like to swim but I don't like my body in a swimsuit. I'm going to have to get past that as I have been instructed to swim as it's good for rehabilitating my knee. Especially water walking since the buoyancy of the water takes pressure off the joints.

Do I even know where my swimsuit is? Hmmm, I think I saw it here somewhere (Refer to The Countdown Decisions...Stuff) I think the last time I used my swim suit was at the Hot Springs in Pagosa Springs last summer. Maybe I left it in the swimsuit water extractor. Hmmm...Shows you how much I get in the water.

My plan is simple. If you follow my blog you know that I had long hair last year and after having a total knee replacement I had to cut my hair because I was waking up drenched with perspiration, not good when the house is cool and I didn't need to catch a cold. The plan was when I got to the point of swimming I would go over at noon on my lunch hour (the pool is next to the building where I work) and either lap swim or water walk. The short hair has been easy to control and I really don't have to dry it before returning to work. Just put a touch of mousse in it and we're ready to go.

I start on Wednesday with this project and we'll just see how the ole leg does.

Happy Trails...

Friday

Tick City...

The ticks in Oklahoma are horrible this year. I have not seen an infestation like this since 1987. That was the last time I had to treat my yard for ticks and fleas.

This past Tuesday Christie took her dogs for a walk out at the lake and then a swim. What she didn't count on was the ticks that started to cover her and her dogs. At some point in the walk the dogs leads became tangled and she stopped to untangle them and discovered ticks were all over her shoes and she could hear them falling from the trees like rain onto the leaves below. She then rushed to get the dogs to the lake to let them swim and try to get some of the ticks off of them and her.


Later that evening we went to PetSmart and got a tick shampoo and came back and bathed the dogs as they were covered with Lone Star ticks. Chris even had some on her. For the next several days we found ticks on the dogs, in the car and in the house. We even found one on our little guy that didn't even go to the lake. So a through cleaning of the furniture and carpet is in store this weekend as well as a good spraying of the yard.


Years ago we would have sprayed the yard with Diazinon insecticide and that would have been the end of any bug problem for years. This weekend I will get some Malathion or something comparable to spray the yard with, less toxicity to pets and humans.


Happy Trails...


PS...It's Sunday and we're still battling the ticks...UGH!!!!!!! The ticks from the lake are dead but the ones in the yard are making an aggressive stand. I will win this battle!

Family and the Baby Shower


Getting it all put together before the guests arrive.

Last weekend Heather and J came into town for a baby shower. My goodness is this girl pregnant or what! Her Auntie Karen, Uncle Frank and Cousin Russ came down from Tulsa. Her girlfriends, camp friends and sorority sisters came into town to celebrate and family friends attended as well. Everyone had a great time getting to visit as a lot of them had not see each other since everyone went their separate ways.

Cousin Russ giving Heather a shoulder rub.


The cup-cake cake was darling but not what I had ordered but we went with it anyway as there was not time to redo it. Besides I got a good discount on it so I can't really complain. I made a double recipe of the RV Cooking Shows "Paulette's Cuban Cowboy Caviar" the only thing I changed was...OK...I didn't have time to make the red wine vinaigrette so I put Zesty Italian Dressing on instead. It was good and a big hit! Auntie Karen, a hostess, brought a big bag of Qdoba's homemade chips and baby blue and tan M&Ms. Kelcey, another one of the hostesses and sorority sister brought Ginger Ale, Sprite and Raspberry Sherbet for the punch and we had Iced Tea as well.
I have to thank Fr. Greenwood, one of Heather's priests from camp for the use of St. Anselm's of Canterbury for both the wedding and now the baby shower. It is a beautiful building that is now on the National Historic Register. It's a lovely place with a lovely space for such events.



Heather and Mrs. Ward, her English teacher from high school



Some of the guests in the come and go event.



We had lots of "little ones" at the shower giving Heather and J a wee taste of what they are in for.



Heather and J with Heather's "Sisters" Kelcey and her little one, Desmond, Nicole, Amber & Andrea

After we finished the baby shower we went over to "The Greek House" a local favorite for some real authentic Greek food. We have been eating there since we moved to Norman. When the family who owns and operates the restaurant goes to Greece for their month long vacation we have to suffer here. You should see the place when they return, the line is out the door and around the corner of the building for several days.


After we finished the meal family and friends departed and we got to have short but nice visit with the kids for the remainder of the weekend.
We had a fish fry on Sunday with the fish my brother brought down on Saturday. He and Russ caught over 120 bass and filleted them out. Oh such good eating!

Christie shucking sweet corn


Heather is starting to get to the miserable stage with swollen feet and a rash from her diabetic medication. She now goes to the Dr. once a week for follow-up. Her due date is in July, but this boy may come sooner. We will just have to wait and see. For now...

Happy Trails...

Doris Eaton Travis....



Broadway dimmed their lights last night for an icon of the theatre, Doris Eaton Travis, the last surviving Ziegfeld Follies Girl. Doris was 106 years young and still dancing when she left us this past Tuesday.

I met Doris 38 years ago when I was just married and had moved to Norman. Her husband Paul was on the Board of Directors at the bank where I worked. I knew they had a ranch west of town and raised Quarter horse race horses, what I didn't know was Doris's history. Over the years I found out that she was a Ziegfeld Follies girl and Eddie Cantor, Will Rogers, Fannie Brice, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin were friends of the family and would come over for family dinners. She knew the composers and lyricists of the music I love to sing. She owned, operated and taught at her Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Michigan, that is how she met her beloved Paul which is another story.

Our friendship grew over the years as my husband would help her with her film projects and film all her birthday parties. Please understand that this woman knew how to give a party. They were glorious festive occasions. Every party would have a special theme and there would be entertainment, dancing and wonderful food. She would have over 100 people at her parties and during the evening she would go to each table and introduce each person at that table to the entire group and tell a little story about them. The last time I saw her do this she was 104. What an amazing memory.

Doris kept young by dancing everyday and surrounding herself with people who were young and young at heart. In 1997 Doris went back to the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York to celebrate the reopening of the theatre where she performed as a young lady. There were several other follies girls there but Doris was the only one that was still dancing. She even performed on the Ellen Show in New York that year. She was an instant hit. When she was 95 she had a part in the movie "Man in the Moon" starring Jim Carey. Here's this little lady having to fall down while riding a stick horse and be revived by Carey's character. I forget how many takes she said she had to do but it was quite a few. When she was 88 she graduated from the University of Oklahoma with her Bachelors degree. Doris wrote a book titled "The Days We Danced" which is a fascinating account of her life. Here is an interview with Ruby Comer that is wonderful, if you have time read it. She interviewed Doris when Doris was 104.
www.aumag.org/features/RubyAugust04.html

Doris had a wonderful infectious outlook on life and passed that outlook on to many who knew her. We will miss our darling Doris.

Doris, we tip our hats to you!

Monday

Tornado's....

We had quite a few tornados around our area this evening. But we are fine. The closest one was about 2 miles from our house. East Norman was hard hit. Of course it made national news. We have gotten use to the fact that we live in Tornado Alley, and this time of year is just a fact of life. Why would they put the National Weather Center here in Norman if it wasn't tornado alley.

Knee Good to Go....

I went in last Thursday for my six month check up for my knee. The Dr. was very pleased with my progress. I was pleased for me when he told me most people only get to about 108 degrees of movement and that is why it is important to get to the 90 degrees. I have 124 degrees of movement in my knee.


It feels better and better with each day that passes. Therefore I have booked my next surgery for December 1. It will be a go if the Sooners do not make it to the Big XII playoff, otherwise I will have surgery on the 7th of December. How do you like that! Having to work your surgery around Sooner Football.


As far as I am concerned it can't get here fast enough. I am so ready to get the next surgery over with.



Happy Trails....

Mother's Day and A Shower for Heather...

We went to Texas this past weekend for Mother's Day and a baby shower for Heather and baby Noah. Heather had another 3-D ultrasound and we got to see little Noah's face this time. He looks a lot like his daddy. He has turned and his little face is mushed and looks funny. Heather and J were looking at it and they started laughing and then baby Noah started laughing, yes there is a picture of it.

We got into Longview around 6:30 on Friday and immediately headed out to Marshall, TX for the baby shower. We arrived at 7:30 at a beautiful home built in the 1920's. The architectural style is along the haciendas of San Antonio with a center courtyard with fountain and the house built around it. It has been in the same family since the '20's. It is very old but beautiful with a lot of character and charm. We had a wonderful time. We finally got back into Longview around 10 PM and crashed. I just wish the drive was shorter.

Saturday was spent trying to help out around the house, getting weeds pulled flowers planted and such. I worked on getting Heather's Mary Kay closet organized so she could see what inventory she had and needed. We cleaned up around 3:30 and went to see Iron Man 2. We all enjoyed it and had a good time. The only thing I am going to say here is DO NOT LEAVE THE THEATRE BEFORE THE END OF THE CREDITS, THERE IS A KICKER!!! Otherwise you will miss it. That is why we always stay through the credits. You never know if there is a surprise waiting for you.

After the movie we went to Kobe's steak house. It was a busy evening and we waited for quite a while, enough time for me to have a Mai Thi... not a good choice on an empty stomach but it was goooooooooooooooddddddd!!!!!!! But dinner was worth the wait. Our chef's name was Jun pronounced June. We went with J's parents Jerry and Irene, Heather and J, Christie, Dave and myself, a party of 7. They always put on a show and the food is something else.
Jun starting his show

A happy face in rice.
Lots of good veggie things to eat.

An onion volcano
Ah dinner is served...time to eat.

Sunday was spent putting more stuff away and sorting out more junk to be gotten rid of. Dave got a broken sprinkler head fixed so J could water the back yard. J fixed everyone a wonderful meal and we had a great time. Irene, Heather and I opened our Mother's day gifts. I got Laura Bush's new book, chocolate, body wash and body spray. Even Christie got a nice gift set of fragrance from her sister an J. It was for her birthday that was in April. Irene brought over her cookbooks from Trisha Yearwood. There were some great recipes in them. I may have to go and get them.

Then it was time to head home. Christie drove all the way back to Norman. We ran into some real heavy rain just before we got to McAllister, OK. The lightning was something else. Sort of reminded me of the movie "War of the Worlds" As you can see the storm did not affect Fitz's nap.


Gas here is $2.59 at least it's $0.10 cheaper that what it was when we left.
Happy Trails....