Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy Birthday Patty!

To my Older and Wiser Sister - Happy Birthday! Patty prefers pumpkin pie to cake as her birthday cake - so here ya go, I am giving you a slice of 100% calorie free Pumpkin Pie!

Patty is a whopping 13 months older than me - I figure that's at least a decade. And while my first thought for today's blog was to talk about everything I have to be thankful for...I remember today is a very joyous day and one of the things I'm most thankful for is officially 2 years older than me today!

Happy Birthday Patty!

long days and pleasant nights to ye...

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Our New Bed


Sorry folks, but it seems that the only pictures of the puppies for awhile will be on "their" new bed. The bed is so very much softer than my old bed. And the great irony of the whole thing is that Nannie never ever EVER allowed animals in her house, much less on the bed.

She did begin to get soft and offered to allow them to sleep on the porch one weekend. I decided to let them vacation at Uncle Jimmy's house. There are cats to chase in Canadian.

Anywho. Millie (who is named after Nannie) has convinced Toby that they have to go back to bed right after breakfast and immediately after dinner. So, I'm pretty sure they sleep there all day too. In fact, making the bed in the morning is difficult. Today I literally shut the door and locked them out until the bed was made.

Thank you for the new wonderful bed Nannie. Hope you don't mind that the puppies like it as much as I do.

Long days and pleasant nights.

Monday, November 19, 2007

No Longer a Shar-Pei

The weekend was a bit stressful. Millie evidently stepped on a wasp or a stinging creature of some kind. At one point she looked like a baby shar-pei.
I was online desperately looking up whether or not dachshunds could take benedryl and if so, how much. Then when I learned that she was probably reacting to a bee or wasp sting or maybe even a snake bite, I began looking up aspirin and benedryl combo's on dachshunds.
Saturday night was the worst. All night she paced on the bed. And randomely decided that she would feel much better if she could scratch her face on my face.
Last evening I finally found the stinger. I had been looking on her face and neck - where the swelling was the worst. Then I noticed that she was licking her front legs and paws. So I studied her paws - sure enough - there it was in between two fingernails. I pulled it out, she jumped up and attacked me, then Toby. By this morning she was her beautiful dachshund self.
Thanks Jo and Renie for the helpful advice.
Long days and pleasant nights.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

I baked a pie!




Finally, I have a picture to prove to all 2 of you that I actually baked a pie. Isn't is beautiful?




Yep this is my first ever raisin pie. It won't be my last since I learned that Splenda tastes just like sugar in the pie. You honestly don't know how excited that makes me.




Also I found this cute picture of my absolutely adorable Millie on her new bed that she loves.




More later...




long days and pleasant nights

Friday, November 16, 2007

Garth Visit...

The annual Thanksgiving meal at the station was yesterday. The way it plays out is the station buys the meat. Everyone else signs up to bring food. If you don't want to cook you can pay $5 for the meal. All proceeds go to our Education partner - Park Elementary. This year I opted to cook.

I felt that after that weekend in September with Nannie, I can bake anything. That is the funniest thought I believe I've had in a very long time. Raisin pie and Blackberry cobbler - almost totally from scratch were included in the meal yesterday. The only difficulties I had were that the cobbler had no top crust. Who knew it would fall? The only variation from Nannie's recipes (and strict instructions) was that I used Splenda in lieu of sugar. No one noticed that difference. Both were heartily eaten. I'm sure that they weren't enjoyed solely due to my standing over the dessert table, pointing out what I had made (from scratch) and insisting they be added to the each individual plate. Pictures of the dishes were taken, however, I can't figure out Nicole's camera so that will have to wait for another day.

This morning when I arrived at work, I was caught in the coffee room staring at one of the morning guests. I honestly thought that I was back in the early 1990's. Garth (young Garth) walked in to get a cup of water. I was pretty sure that no alcohol had been added to my oatmeal or coffee before coming to work. I looked around and Trisha wasn't there. It was odd. Turns out this gentleman has been named the "Best Garth Look-Alike" in all of America - supposedly by Garth himself. Honestly, I paid attention to the song he sang on the show. Not that impressed. Once you've seen the man himself perform, well let me just say, he is not duplicatable. (hope that's a word.)

OK, off to find more to do...

Long Days and Pleasant Nights.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Impulse Buying Sucks


Ok roll your eyes now and get it over with.
Jo, you can get up off the floor and stop the hysterical laughter.
Yes, today I went to WalMart to purchase the stuff necessary to make blackberry cobbler and raisin pie (from scratch) for the station Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow. I almost made it out of the store with only the stuff that is needed for Nannie's recipes. When what did I spy hanging out on the counter by the register? You guessed it - Toby! And I can't just walk by and not at least touch the disc that bears his likeness.
To my delight it has two cd's and hopefully a video. I'll keep you updated.
Long Days and Pleasant Nights.

Monday, November 12, 2007

It's a Wonderful Life Indeed

Those of you who know me, know that life hasn't been all that great the last few weeks. You also know that Christmas isn't one of my favorite holidays.

It's a Wonderful Life is one of my two favorite Christmas movies and definately in the top five of my all time favorite movies. This last month I have come to know how much one life affects the world around a person. And indeed, I know that one of the bells that rang last week was significant of Nannie earning her wings.

Every time someone asks me how I like being back in Tulsa, the answer is always, I love it. And then the follow up - how do you like your job is followed by I LOVE IT. The people are wonderful, the atmosphere is wonderful, it's is just where I belong.

I've never been gone from a job more than a week at a time. For Nannie, I was away from work for two solid weeks. I have to admit that when I noticed that the mail had been sorted and handed out, I was concerned that they may have learned how to live without me. Today was my first day back and the first day of living my life without Nannie.

The mail was taken care of, however, nothing else was. What a wonderful surprise. Carlton couldn't even operate because he had no one to find him a yellow legal pad. Chris had no clue how I handle timesheets and time cards, they guessed at that. All the on-air persons gave me huge hugs (even Frank and Lincoln) and told me how much I was missed. Carlton and Chris assured me that I would never again be gone a full two weeks.

Thru all this, I know that if I had needed a few more days, it would've been granted. I also learned that my job is secure and they love me as much as I love them.

Also, one of the first things that Nannie did when she arrived in Heaven was to find a church I would go to. Let me explain... I've been casually visiting different churches and haven't found a spiritual home in 2 years. This upset her. Our conversations always turned to the question of whether I had found a church. Today I saw in the Sapulpa newspaper that one of my favorite priests has been assigned to the Episcopal church in Sapulpa. So my answer is, Yes Ma'am, I'll get my tail to church Sunday. Thanks Nannie.

Long Days and Pleasant Nights to ye...

Sunday, November 11, 2007

My Baby Girl is 21

November 9 is a day that ye should begin celebrating. It is the day that Nicole was born. The year only matters a few times, and this year is one of those times.

She was at the bar at Midnight Thursday to have her first official drink. Then she continued the celebrating Friday with happy hour and on into the wee hours of Saturday morning.

She and Ryan arrived at my house Saturday afternoon in time to drop-off their stuff and meet her grandparents for dinner. They came back to my house for some OU football and beer. Then they were off to meet some friends.

This is where the story begins to get a bit funny. Grab a beer and read along. Nicole and Ryan were a bit irritated with their friend before leaving my place. You see, he kept them from going to the bar for 2 whole hours. Then he decided, without consulting Nicole or Ryan, to bring along his 20 year-old girlfriend. At the same time he decided to do this, he also decided that instead of going to a bar they would go bowling. After a couple of conversations on the phone, and one threat of abandoning the friends, Nicole and Ryan finally left my house around 9:30ish to go bowling. I did remind them that bowling alleys sell beer. That made it a bit easier.

I pulled out the sleeper sofa. Placed clean sheets on it and a quilt. Then I went to bed. This morning when I woke, I thought it was odd that they made it into the house without the dogs alarming me. The reason is - the bed wasn't touched! So, I put on coffee, let the dogs out and began putting the bed back together. In the middle of that Ryan came falling thru the front door announcing that Nicole is freaking crazy. Then Nicole came falling thru the front door. She went straight to the bathroom. Ryan walked in circles around the living room with me trying to get him to go lay down on the bed. He finally went that direction, I finished with the couch and heard a loud THUMP from the direction of the bedroom.

I turned to see what happened. There sat Nicole in the middle of the floor. She had fallen off the bed while trying to get on it. Honestly I should have helped her, but the laughter prevented me. They both finally found the bed and didn't move for a good 3 hours.

I had to get ready for the party so I went to the bathroom via my bedroom. It smelled like day old bathtub gin that had gone bad. I found her car key on the bathroom floor and her Arvest card in the washing machine. (I am her mom and washed the smelly clothes)

Ryan was the first awake and we had lunch while I heard the story of the night before. Seems they didn't make it to the bar until 1 am. Fortunate for Ryan - he found a credit card receipt from the bar - he left the tab open for Nicole - she managed to drink $47 in shots. Tequilla shots. I really don't need to say more, but I will...

Ryan and the bartender carried her to the car. Ryan had to explain to a passerby that he wasn't trying to take advantage of her, she was actually with him before getting her to the car. He was smart enough to know that neither of them could drive and tried desperately to find my phone number. He didn't so they slept in the car in a parking lot. He stayed awake long enough to hold her head while she vomited several times and to make sure she was ok.

He woke up at around 8am because the car was moving. Somehow Nicole had gotten they key and decided to drive to my house. He said as scary as that was - when she went into the ditch at my house was the absolute scariest part.

I'll end with, we all had fun laughing at and with her at the birthday party. She had a wonderful 3 day long birthday that she won't remember. You Go Girl!



And this is what she looked like an hour or so before leaving Tulsa to go back to Norman.


Happy Days and Pleasant Nights to Ye!

Monday, November 05, 2007

Nannie


It has been a very long 2 weeks. Actually the last month seems to be endless.
Uncle Fred died Sept 29. The day I moved into the new house. Nannie literally lost her life-long best friend that day.
A few days after the funeral she became ill. She never recovered.
That's about all I can say at this point.
Mildred Louise McKee Dellinger was reunited with her husband and brother about 5pm, Sunday, Nov. 4.
She will be laid to rest Wednesday morning - November 7.
Long days and pleasant nights to ye.