BFF John...

Dear Tammie,

Let me start by saying, "Thank you." You have stood with Elizabeth and me throughout this campaign. Your support has sustained us as we have traveled across this country.

Earlier today, I suspended my campaign for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. I made this announcement from where our journey began just over 12 months ago: New Orleans.

I began my presidential campaign in New Orleans to remind the country that all of us -- as citizens and as a government -- have a moral responsibility to each other, and what we do together matters.

Now, it's time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path. We do not know who will take the final steps to the White House -- but what we do know is that our Democratic Party will make history. And, along the way, all of you who have been involved in this campaign and this movement for change and this cause, I am asking you to continue speaking out for those who have no voice, just as Elizabeth and I will continue to do. We need you.

Do not turn away from the great struggles before us. Do not give up on the causes that we have fought for. Do not walk away from what's possible, because it's time for all of us -- all of us together -- to make the two Americas one. We need you.

I hope you will take a few moments to listen to the video clip of my speech in New Orleans earlier this afternoon or to read it below. In the meantime, Elizabeth and my family join me in thanking all of you for your support and for working so hard on my behalf. We are truly blessed to have such friends.

Thank you.

John Edwards
January 30, 2008

Not a Eulogy

"It is time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path," Edwards said in New Orleans. You don't know the depth of sadness I'm feeling. Not just for John and Elizabeth Edwards, but for our Nation.

My introduction to this man was the presidential debate held at OSU, way back in '02 or '03. Nicole and I both fell in love with him. He is so smart. In fact we predicted then that he was too smart to be elected President. We both thought then, as I think even now, he is the ONLY option for that office. I have a very strong feeling he isn't going away. He didn't after the '04 debacle and he won't after today's announcement.

However, Super Tuesday isn't here yet. I haven't paid much attention to the silly bickering between Clinton and Obama so who do I vote for?

Someone at the station suggested I vote for Huckabee. Well, sorry, he's not an option for me for several reasons. Right now the least being that he's a Southern Baptist Preacher. The primary reason I won't vote for him on Feb. 5, 2008 is that he "literally" isn't an option on my ballot.

If, like the voters in New Hamphire, I vote for the first name on the ballot - my vote will go to Hillary. The political pundits still think that's the only way she won NH. Now I suppose the only way she won Florida is because it didn't count. Floridians only vote when it doesn't count.

On the other hand if I vote the way that silly test says, Obama has my vote. I don't trust that gimmick. I'm pretty sure the Liberals have it rigged - Kucinich was my second favorite!

This is such a kerbunkle.

Stand-by as I try to get thru the next week and find a candidate I can honestly stand behind when I cast my vote.

Long days and pleasant nights.

Over the Weekend

Sorry this is late. I always think I can do the Weekend Review on Monday morning. But, no such luck. See it's already Wednesday and this is the Review:

The BIG story of the weekend...

Sinclaire is officially 5! It was a big week for her. She had a total of three parties. The best, of course, was the last one. It was Saturday night and was only family.

She was the recipient of the soooo many gifts she had no clue where to begin. The party began with pizza and wine. Well, soda for Sinclaire and cousins. Emme had her very first slice of pizza that night. She gummed the heck out of it. The grown-ups did an absolutely awesome job of eating annoyingly slow so that Sinclaire was forced to just look at that gifts and cake in a longing fashion. She wasn't even allowed to open the candy that was attached to the present Aunt Tammie brought. It was sooooo horrible.

I did want to take a moment to show you the cake. It was Sinclaire's design. You see it is a coiled rattlesnake. This is going to get her closer to her dream husband, Harry Potter. In addition to the rattlesnake cake, she received a "Spell Making Kit" so she can learn the appropriate potions to lure Harry into her trap. Of course the best gift of all was from Aunt Tammie. The Chia Pet!! Just what every girl needs. We won't tell her that Aunt Tammie managed to kill her Chia pig in one day. Who knew it would freeze to death if left in 30 degree temperature for several hours? Anywho, happy 5th Sinclaire. We'll do it all over for Emme's first next week.

In other weekend news: I had the privilege of puppy sitting Izzy. Sorry, didn't get pics. We had a great time walking all over midtown. I even found several new lofts that would be perfect for Nicole and Ryan to live in.

Millie and Toby watched several hours of the Dog Whisperer and I'm happy to report, Millie is doing well with the whole, Mommie is the Leader of the Pack idea. Well that is until last night. To calm her I tried the holding her down by the back of the neck. This is supposedly to make her submissive to me because that is how a dominant dog would hold her down. She evidently has forgotten that. She thought it meant, oh Mommie wants to wrestle. Toby was relieved because that meant she was leaving him alone. I guess we still have some work to do.

Long Days and Pleasant Nights!

My Little Helper

I couldn't find my wallet anywhere this morning. I had it at 4:45 when I went to the Station the first time. Then I took Kara to the airport. Can't remember if I had it then. But it was definately gone when I was ready to go back to the Station at 8:20 this morning.

I searched the house three times. Searched my office and car at least three times. Asked Millie if she had seen it. Well her reply was very prompt - she assumed since I couldn't go to work without my wallet - she brought me the tennis ball. Very important for me to receive the tennis ball.

I finally found the wallet. I was very efficient with my time this morning and managed to get two loads of clothes on the way to being completed. The wallet was in the washing machine.

long days and pleasant nights.

Cody Fix?

Ok, Over the last year or so I've become accustomed to Pat visiting me in my dreams. But come on, Cody? - please! He knows my loyalty is with his BFF Boland. I'm not complaining because you know, they are an awesome band. (Jo, get off the floor and finish reading) And he was kind enough to include Jo in the partying in my dream. But Boland wasn't there and I kept searching for him. So needless to say Jo had a blast in my dream and I was bewildered.

Here is my promise to you Cody. The next time I'm in the concert area while you are performing, I will pay attention. After all, you are The Boys from Oklahoma!

Long Days and Pleasant Nights to ye.

Winter Project

One of the things I picked up at Nannie's was a quilt block. Once home I noticed I actually had two blocks. On my birthday I was wondering around Hobby Lobby and saw two packages of those same blocks. Looking at the pattern, it seemed simple enough, so I bought both packages. Now I have three packages. I'm going to complete the quilt with the pattern she never finished. I'll also have two unique pillows. The blocks Nannie finished will be made into the pillows.

So, this is my "Winter Project."

One block down - 15 blocks to go!

Long days and pleasant nights to ye.

Don Woods?

I don't see it. No one in my family sees it. But, several people thought I brought Don Woods to the Holiday Party with me. So I started thinking...
What would it be like to be the daughter of Don Woods? That would be pretty cool. I mean a house full of Gusty's. Hayden's hole Weatherman Worshipping would make sense.
Hmm

Long days and pleasant nights to ye...

Sooner from Birth

Even though I don't understand the Cult of OU, they have claimed my daughter. So, I'm more than happy to aid in Avery's inclusion into the cult.

Patty made a "one-of-a-kind" blankie for Avery to have while watching football and basketball with her daddy.

Nicole, don't get any ideas - you and Ryan already have OU blankets that I made. =)

In other news. I stepped on the scales 3 times this morning in disbelief. According to my official Weight Watchers scales - I lost 6.5 pounds last week! How, you ask. Well I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with the one day I walked to work. It might be the gallon of water I drank every day that helped. Or, mayhap the biscuits and gravy at Ollie's yesterday morning. Whatever it was, I'm hoping to duplicate the loss this week. I'm only 20 pounds away from my desired Calf Fry weight!

Daddy told Aunt Ruby that I'm no longer allowed to buy clothes for him. Seems that even though I had the most handsome date at the ball - he thinks I spent way too much money on him. Well I say poo to that.

Long days and pleasant nights.

You Go Daddy

Daddy had a blast. He was a bit despared by the fact that we would be on the 30th floor. But once we got in and he had a 7Up - life was good.

Dinner was very good, so was the dessert. I had a little (seriously) piece of chocolate cake. Daddy had a little of everything on the dessert table - lol.

He reminded me that we had been there awhile and he still hadn't said hello to Carole. So off we go to find her. Well, she blew right past me, as though I wasn't even there - yells "Hi Daddy!" and hugged him.

Next thing I knew she had him out on the dance floor doing The Twist! He sat out the next couple dances and then danced with me. Then we left. What a wonderful night we had.

Awful Handsome

Tonight Daddy is going to my company Holiday party. We had to postpone the planned party on Dec. 15 - the power was still out at the restaurant.

I just wanted to take a minute to post a picture of my date!

Isn't he the most handsome?!

Parents & Children

I'm pretty sure I have cured my parents' computer. It had contracted a virus. We (Patty and I) are blaming the two grandsons. They like to download from questionable sites. So, I discussed the problem the 'puter was having with our Computer Guru. He diagnosed it the same way I did. Then he offered the generic Dell recovery CD that is incased in a glass box in the IT dept. He sent me home with the CD and pretty good instructions. I followed them to the letter, including, drink a beer while formatting, and it worked. Millie also felt that it would make things go faster if we played fetch while the CD worked it's magic.

Patty and Jimmy are in OKC this week. Patty called and offered to buy Nicole lunch. Turns out, Nicole decided to give Patty a tour of OU and buy her lunch. Patty had the pleasure of eating at the Cate Center Cafeteria! I've eaten there and also at the small coffee shop inside the Library on campus. Must say that the library was a bit better. I'm pretty sure the best part of Patty visiting OU is the gallon of pickled okra that she delivered. I'm also pretty sure that Ryan won't be seeing that gift.

Long days and pleasant nights

Weekend...

What a wonderful weekend it was. Saturday, Jan 12 - Avery Grace made her appearance into the world. She has been long in the making, so to speak. Her Daddy is one of my bosses. Her Mommy works at ORU and she is the most loved child on the planet at this moment. She weighed 9lb 1oz. and is 20" long. What a beautiful baby girl. Congrats Chris and Amy.

Sunday the family gathered to celebrate daddy's birthday. Hayden was asked how old Poppie is. His answer... 44! Patty and I almost crawled under the table. Hayden went thru the chow line with me. Good thing his momma wasn't there, all he wanted was french fries, so that's all that made it to his plate. Shhhh don't tell Alecia. Then Aunt Tammie made him the biggest ice cream cone in all of 'Skogee.

Skylar Z. on the other hand, ate everything that was placed in front of him. He even grabbed a spoon so he could scoop up Hayden's ketchup. The reason Hayden looks so good in this pic is that he looked at the first one I snapped and made me take another one.

Another thing to celebrate from the weekend... I finished the first quilt block!!!! Let's all do the Happy Dance.

Long days and pleasant nights to ye.

Employee of the Month

My BFF (Best Friend Frank) is the Employee of the month for January. Let's all say "HOORAY Frank!"

Seriously, this was a big shock to Frank. However, no one else that works here was surprised, honestly.

Employee of the Month is chosen by the department heads once a month.

Frank was chosen for his awesome prediction and coverage of the December 2007 Ice Storm. He had to abandon me Dec. 6 to watch the weather stuff and accurately guage the situation. I was left alone to deal with Sports. He promised me the Storm of the Century was on its way and he had no choice. Who knew he would be correct? Then he worked 12 to 14 hour days throughout the storm and the aftermath. We only had 50% of our Weather team at the station due to vacation and illness. Frank took up the slack, had the storm chasers on-duty and delivered the best storm coverage in Eastern Oklahoma.

Then last Monday night (Jan 7) in the midst of a gallbladder attack, he stayed on-air 5 hours without a break. He made sure everyone in the viewing area was kept updated with all the tornado warnings and severe storms popping up.

Frank, you are the BEST!

Name that Pig - Contest

Ok, I have always secretly wanted a Chia Pet. So when I found out that a whole case of them had been delivered to the station for a promotion, I quickly grabbed one.

I must say that this "pet" has been every much as attention dependent as most of my dachshunds have been. (Please do not ask if Millie is included in that thought...)

Anywho, to successfully achieve a fat pig, I had to follow some time consuming steps.

First, soak said pig overnight in a bucket of water. Also, soak seeds in a seperate dish of water. So, I found a bucket and placed the pig in the water. Seems people really do pay attention to the goings-on at my desk. A rumor began that I was trying to drown a pig.

Second, place the gooy germinated seeds all over the now fully saturated pig. This was a bit messy and not as easy to do as one would think.

Then, according to the box, just watch it grow, watering it occasionally. This is where I'm convinced a man began writing the directions. Because you see, you must make sure the water level is ALWAYS full or the pig dies. That's right I was on the verge of killing my pig (whom I had grown to love) when Chris rescued him/her.

He found a Chia Pet Rescue Kit (plastic fork, spoon, knife and napkin) and promptly went to work. This is the when he decided that Aunt Tammie of the Year or not, I'm not allowed to babysit his unborn child. (this is not good)

Vacation time came and piggy and I went home. Over the break and thru my sickness I kept the little guy fully watered. That was a chore because unlike Toby, he couldn't bring me his food dish as a reminder that feeding time had surely passed.

Long story short, kinda, everyone wanted to know how the little guy was doing. So he/she is back at the station and nameless.

So please help me find the perfect name!

Long days and pleasant nights if Gan sees fit...

Woo Hoo Nicole!

Nicole is beginning her work to be a History teacher.
She was officially accepted into the College of Education, today. I feel the need to share her future plans. She explained this to our friend Pat during the reception for Emily:

Nicole's Road to the White House
Double degree in History and Education
Masters in Education Administration (or something like that)
Teach for awhile
Move into Administration
Become a Superintendent
Run for President (win the election)

Her reasoning is that if you can teach our future generation and run a school system, running the country is a piece of cake. And, she's ok with the prospect of Hillary beating her to the "first female president" title.
Long days and pleasant nights to ye

What's Wrong with a Woman?

ARGH!
Sorry folks, but I have to give my opinion to those "Political Pollsters" that are scrambling to "explain" why Hillary won the New Hampshire primary. People can read. They didn't vote for Hillary simply because her name came before Obama's. Please, give us a little more credit than that.
Would they be scrambling if they had predicted Hillary to win and she didn't? I don't think so. Those of you that know me, know I really want Edwards. I'm thinking that's not going to happen. But, I'm no longer sad that Hillary is doing well. I've watched her on talk shows and other things. We know this woman. We first saw her in the early '90's and honestly, I've loved her since the whole "I don't bake cookies" contraversy.
She is tough and compassionate at the same time. She is everything that we want from a man, only she is a WOMAN.
It also angers me that these self-professed political journalists have been saying that people don't like Hillary because she doesn't show emotion, then when she does get caught on camera in a weak moment, go all over her because she showed weakness. Well, she is only HUMAN.
On February 5, if my choices are limited to Obama and Clinton - my vote is definately Clinton.

Christmas Stories - Finally

I know I've been absent. The excuses are really lame. I was sick and with the new boss I'm busier than absolutely ever! (That's not a bad thing)

Anywho. Christmas was fun. Skylar Z (Zeke) is now toddling and totally got into the opening gifts thing. He is also climbing like a monkey. We found him sitting on the table Grannie has all her musical Christmas things on. He was dancing along with them. It was too adorable.

Hayden was also a blast. Normally clothing is a boring Christmas gift. Not for Hayden. He had to try on everything he opened that was clothes. By the time Alecia came to pick him up, he had changed at least four times.

The next week literally everyone in the family experienced gastro-intestinal flu. Just goes to show you, a family that pukes together, stays together.

Long days and pleasant nights to ye.

Congrats Em!

What I remember of Emily is a tall, lanky, messy haired little girl that was always the joker in the crowd. She has a beautiful smile and a wit that keeps the crowd in stitches.

January 5, Lisa and Tim were the first of the parental units that I became friends with thru my daughter to become "in-laws". They simply adore Jason. Congrats and good luck to this new family.

Long days and pleasant nights to ye.