Birthdays and Lion King

What a week. This is our Birthday week and we try hard to celebrate each day.

For my birthday, Bob gave me tickets to the touring Broadway show, The Lion King. The show he chose for me to attend was on his birthday.We met Sharon and Clark and Jeff and D.J. for dinner at
the Outback.

After a wonderful dinner, we had dessert.
The ice cream was on a rich, chocolate brownie. What a birthday cake for us!!

We had a great time and really enjoyed the time spent with good friends. Jeff took D.J. and I downtown to the show. We were worried about the parking due to the Yard dogz and Festival of the Arts. The tickets Bob got were on the very front row. It was awesome. We could reach out and touch the orchestra director. At one point in the show, the giraffe puppets bow to the audience. The face of one of them came down directly between Stephanie and I. It was so cool. If I had been faster, I would have touched it, but I was jumping out of the way. Oh well, Maybe another time.


I snapped the above picture of D.J. and I in the auditorium. The usher came unglued and told me to cease and desist. Pictures weren't allowed in the auditorium. Mind you, there were flashes all over the place. When I took my phone out to call Bob, Mr. User man was right there to tell me to stop taking pictures. I told him it was my phone. I guess he thought I was going to sit there and take pictures all night.

It was a great week, topped off by a wonderful night. It will be hard to top it next year. (But we will sure try)

3rd Monday in McKinney

Yesterday, Bob decided we were going to go on a Road trip. He wouldn't tell me where we were heading. I only had one guess and he would only give me one clue. He took me to McKinney, Texas for 3rd Monday Trading days. We love going to Canton for First Monday and were hopeful this would be as good. It is really small and we were able to do the whole thing in about 2 hours. I am glad we went as we had fun, but I doubt this will be a regular stop of ours.

Here is a picture showing down one of the rows. You can see the vendors on each side. They had things from handmade Cowhide purses to used books. It was fun to see all of the different things. We got a couple of things, but had a wonderful time just looking around.
This picture, below is from their version of Dog Alley. There are breeders with all kinds of puppies and cats for sale. At Canton, there is even a vet so you can have the animals checked out. It would be impossible to pass on one of these animals, if you were hunting for one. They are so darn cute. It is sad though, to think about the conditions that the animals may come from. As most of you know, our dogs are very spoiled and we were careful to check out the breeders they came from.


When we left there, Bob went to the "man store". I sat in the car and read the paper, played online Suduko and waited ... and waited ... and waited. He loves going here and can spend hour upon hour in there. Basically, it is just a big electronic/video/applicance/movie/cd store. They have things there that Bob has seen in magazines but not in real life.


I think it is hysterical that they have all the Longhorns looking at you from under their sign. This is what makes it a "True Man Store" I guess. Only in Texas.

From there, we tried a new place for dinner. Rafains Brazilian Churrascaria. We eat at Texas de Brazil a lot and wanted to try a different version of that. We are glad we tried it, but will stick to the original. Here is a picture of one side of the salad bar.


On the way home, we got caught in a lot of traffic turning into the Pizza Hut event Center. The neon sign said "Jimmy Buffet, here, tonight". The parking lot looked like an RV convention. I had heard that the Parrotheads party the whole weekend, but had never seen anything like it. Here are a couple of pictures that kinda show the crowd. We were going down the highway at 60MPH, so the picture quality isn't that great. Sorry.



Just as we were leaving Texas, there was a beutiful Rainbow. I thought Rainbows came at the end of rainstorms, but this one was before the storm. Still pretty.
We were on I35 between Purcell and Norman when we began getting rained on. There was a wall cloud west of us and another one east of us. All of a sudden we began getting pelted with hail. BIG hail. I was scared to death. Bob just kept going. The visibility was horrible, but we could see lots of red tail lights up ahead. Stupid people were pulling off under the underpass to protect their car. While that may be acceptable to do if you are in the outside lane, you should never do that in the inside lane. The car directly in front of us ... a new BMW with a paper tag ... just decideded to stop. Bob began honking to make them move. He was afraid someone would plow into one of the cars behind us and we would be rearended. Finally the car moved and we began going. We finally drove out of the hail. Here are a couple of shots from where we were stopped.

We had a great time, but I could have done without the last 90 minutes of the trip.

Sara Sara

In anticipation of more road trips, Bob and I have begun recording "Discover Oklahoma". Tonight we visited one of our finds via that show.

Sara Sara Cupcakes. This place sells nothing but gourmet cupcakes. It is located on N.W. 9th, just off of Broadway. Here is a picture of the store. As you can tell, it is an old home that has been restored into a cupcake shop

They have a variety of cupcakes that are sold everyday. They also have daily specials. It was really hard to choose which cupcakes to pick. As you can tell, we narrowed it down to a dozen!
Among these are Judge Joe Cannon ; Two great tastes and Triple white chocolate.
You can visit their website for the exact description. [www.sarasaracupcakes.com]

There is one that I have to give you the description of: Crimson and Cream
"Red velvet cupcake, moist and delicious, the classic Oklahoma way! "
How in the heck can you go wrong with Red Velvet cake??

Can you pick it out? Hint: it is on the far left of the screen. I will give you the answer at the bottom of the blog.




They have tables where you can sit and enjoy your cupcake. What better to wash down the cupcake than with a glass of ice cold milk? They have a milk bar! They serve White milk, Chocolate Milk and Strawberry (or a seasonal) milk. Here is a picture of the "bar". The milk is served in frosted glasses. We couldn't stay, so we are planning a group trip to the milk bar.


There was a sign that said they were now offering daily lunch cupcakes. I think today's was Bacon, egg and Cheese.

While we have not tasted any of the cupcakes yet, the kitchen smells great. I will let you guys know what the results are.

BTW: The crimson and cream is on the bottom row, the far left corner.

Road Trip

Yesterday, Bob woke up and said let go somewhere. We hopped in the car and took off for Meers. So many of our friends have eaten at Meers and loved it. Bob has been trying to get a group going there for a long time, but everyone has been too busy. Our first stop was at Chickasha at a Sonic. Bob pulled out his computer to check the route. His GPS would not come up with Meers. That is when I got the brilliant idea to play "Where in the world are Bob and Cindy?" Boy did that backfire.

Driving down the road, we saw this giant lizard. I made Bob turn around to see it again. This thing is off the road and had I not been looking out the side window, I would have missed it. While she is really pretty, she begs the question ...why? Why is there a giant lizard standing there watching the trees. She isn't even pointed at the street. One of life's little mysteries, I guess.





To get to Meers, (at least on our route), you go past Mt. Scott. We took the tour up to the top of the Mountain. The view is breathtaking. The weather was clear and you could see for miles.





















I am only posting a couple of the pictures here. I have posted all of them on Facebook.










I don't know if Easter was on my mind, but at one turn out ... far off into the distance is a wind farm. My first thought was "there are dozens of crosses". I guess because of the distance, they had a hazy look. They were beautiful. These picture do NOT do them justice. You might have to squint a bunch.
































I was amazed at the number of people sitting in chairs on the side of the mountain sketching the view. When Bob was Athletic Director, we had to go to out of town ball games. One time, we loaded up Bob's mom and the girls and stopped at Mt. Scott. I have a picture of the Mimi and the girls with the view behind them.

Next stop was the Wildlife Refuge. I was too slow to get a picture of the sign that said to be on the lookout for wild buffalo. Sure enough we saw a herd. A bit further down the road, there was 1 single buffalo standing there.



We rounded this curve and there were cars parked on the side of the road and dozens of motorcycles lined up. Welcome to Meers. I got out and went in to get a table, only to be told the wait was about an hour. No phone service, so Bob comes in. He goes and sits outside and I stand in line for 1 hour and 5 minutes.


As you can tell from the picture, this place looks sorta weird. I am not sure if I would have eaten there, but so many people rave about the place, we had to try it. They are famous for their hamburgers, but while Bob was sitting outside, he kept hearing people talk about the Chicken fried Steak. Bob opted to get that while I got a "small" hamburger.
The servings were huge. Bob finished most of his, I ate half of mine and Bob ate a third of it.
















They serve homemade ice cream, so we got a Cherry cobbler with ice cream. I ate two bites and nearly melted into the floor. It was awesome. Bob ate less than half and could not finish it. Sorry, the picture didn't turn out.

To learn more about Meers, visit their website at meerstore.com.

Bob has already said we are going to get the group together and make a return trip.

There was no broadband service until we got to Elgin. I booted up the computer and left the following Twitter update "next clue. Have been to highest point in Oklahoma and ate at world famous hamburger joint." I was blissfully unaware of the firestorm that I had created until a couple of hours later, when Bob's phone rang. Now everyone in the world realizes why I am not a teacher. I don't know Oklahoma Geography. Let me set the record straight ... Mt. Scott is the 3rd highest point in Oklahoma. Black Mesa is the highest. Bob said "I knew that". I guess I need to get him to proof read my stuff. LOL

I still had to get groceries, so our last stop was at Wal-Mart for groceries.
We had a full day and a great time.

I am ready for the next road trip.

Happy Easter to everyone. Have an enjoyable day with family.

Pop's pop reviews

Bob and I tried 2 more bottles of Pop's Pop last night.

Sorry Sharon, we tried your Cheerwine and give it a 1/2 chug. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't good. I guest it is an acquired taste??


Virgils Black Cherry Creamsoda is a 5 chugger! It is probably the best that we have tasted. We will be buying more of this stuff

Girls Night Out

Linda and I went to dinner a couple of nights ago. Sorry I haven't written about it until now, but I have been pretty busy.

The first thing that I learned is that I need to always take a camera with me. So, there won't be any pictures.

We went on the night of the high wind. The lights kept dimming. It sorta freaked me out. I had this vision of being in a restaurant in the dark. On the way, the wind was so high, my little red car was having trouble staying on the road.

We ate at Avanti Bar and Grill. This restaurant is part of the Courtyard by Marriott on Memorial Road. Linda started off with the Avanti salad. This thing was huge. The waitress brought an extra plate and we shared it. Trust me, the salad was great, but it was totally unnecessary as it took up too much room in my stomach .

I had the Dinner Salmon. It was too much for me to eat. I brought half of it home. It had a pomegranate glaze and was super good. I had never had anything with pomegranate glaze and was a bit worried, but how can you go wrong with salmon? The presentation was beautiful

Linda had the roasted chicken. It, too, was huge and she took a lot of it home too. I had a small bite and it was very tasty.

While both entrees were wonderful, as was the salad ... the next time I go to this restaurant, I will bypass everything and go straight for the dessert. Linda got an apple and cheese thing. I can't remember the name. The pastry was shaped like a hobo sack, with the apple and cheese inside. The pastry was sweet, delicate and Delicious. I got the Zuccotto, which was a raspberry pound cake full of cream cheese. Words can not describe how this tasted!

Linda and I were the only table for a while, which was a bit strange.

Give this place a try. You will be glad you did.

Happy Birthday Valerie

Here is the birthday girl
Happy Birthday Valerie.

We are so proud of the woman that you have become. Have a wonderful day and let Brodie and Camden pamper you. You deserve it.

We love you and miss you.

Mom and Dad

Misc. Seepage

Today has been the day from Hello. I am so glad it is nearly over.

First --Pop's review. Last night we tried "Stewarts Original Fountain Classic Cherries'n Cream". Really sweet. 1 1/2 chug. We would probably buy it again, but maybe not.

Second --Tonight we tried "The Original Bulldog Root Beer". This was awesome. 5 chugs and we are going to buy it again. This may show up at one of our parties.

Third -- After work, I went to my car got in, turned the key and nothing happened. My little red car was deader than a doornail. I had to call Saint Bob to come rescue me. Of course, he was tied up, so I got to sit in the parking lot for about an hour. At least this happened at a safe location where I wasn't scared spitless. Saint Bob also got Johnnies for dinner.

Forth -- Way to go Donald. You fired Khole last night. You did it for all of the right reasons. My opinion of you went up a couple of notches. Next, lets get rid of Joan. People who drive drunk should be locked up for a long time.

Fifth-- I am heartsick about the OU women. So close, but no cigar. Good effort by all of the women.

Sixth -- Carrie Underwood rocks. I love listening to her. I watched American Idol and couldn't be happier for her winning Entertainer of the year last night.

Seventh--Trace Atkins won song of the year last night. Loved him on Celebrity Apprentice last year and have downloaded bunches of his songs from iTunes.

That's all the seepage for tonight.

Night Night one and all.

Pizza and Pops

We were scheduled to go to Lucille's last night for dinner with friends, but Denise got hung up in Tulsa. Since there weren't any reservation's until after 7:30, we went to plan B. We went to 2 Brothers Pizza in Arcadia. Yes, it is a metal building with half of it a liquor store. It looks scary, but it is worth it.




















For those of you who have never made the journey to Arcadia for Pizza, you are missing out. The Pizza is great. It is family run and named after the owners 2 sons ... get it? The 2 Brothers. The pizza's are huge and we always wind up with a take home box.



Since we were already in Arcadia, we decided to stop at Pop's.



Here is a picture of Clark and Sharon with their son (decided not to put kids names on the blog). They had never been to Pop's and had a great time deciding on not one, but two cartons of pop. Sharon, did your son ever become immortal after drinking the immortal drink? Yes, I told him to wash the bottle and put it in his room. Gotta love friends like me. The men have started a new game. It is called "Who can pay the bill the sneakiest way, without the others knowing." Clark won the competition at Pop's. Thank you and job well done.







Here is Sharon. We were doing our imitation of Dueling photos. Sharon has a Facebook page and was taking pictures for it. I think she won. Her Iphone was awfully fast.









Here is Denise. It turned out to be a good thing that she got hung up in Tulsa. We had so much fun at Pop's. Denise spent a long time choosing her pop. But never fear, we are already planning a trip to Lucille's.











Denise's husband, Jeff, spent the day with his son at Little League baseball. They came up to Pop's and Jeff ordered dinner. The service is lousy. It was so slow. We sat on the patio. That turned out to be good, as we were having such a good time laughing and carrying on. The boys played on the beautiful lawn as the grown-ups visited. Our poor waitress needs to change career paths. She never brought Jeff a fork. Jeff must have been a boy scout as he
is ever resourceful. He cut the steak and ate the steak with a knife. We got so tickled and were laughing so hard, that everyone was looking at us. They were probably wishing they were having so much fun.

All in all it was a terrific evening. Hopefully the next time we go to Pop's they won't remember us!

You can teach an old lady new tricks

When I was a kid, there was not even color TV. We had a black and white set, and we were one of the few who did have a TV. Never heard of FM Radio. The word "computer" was not a word the everyday person uttered.

I was married, with children, when we got our first home computer. I remember Bob bringing it in and saying that the girls needed to be exposed to the computer because there would come a time that everything would be computerized. I thought he was nuts, but we tried very hard to open the horizons for the girls. Before long, they were playing computer games. (Remember, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago?) I mainly used the computer as a word processor, eventually branching out to using Quicken for keeping our checking account straight. Bob and the girls embraced it and were constantly trying new things. Then I discovered email. That is something I truly love. Bob taught me how to use Microsoft Word and I did a lot of things in that.

In 1996, Valerie had the audacity to graduate from High School and I was laid off from my full time job of mommy. I went to work part time at Hoover Middle School. I quickly learned that I was going to need more computer skills. I worked to learn the school programs and began using the computer for more aspects in our personal life.

Fast forward to 2009 ... Several things happened at the same time to make me realize that I was getting old and letting opportunities pass me by. There were some things that I wanted to do and if I were younger I would do them. Three of those items were Technology issues. I wanted to have a Facebook page, I wanted to Twitter and I wanted a blog. I talked to my head cheerleader, Bob, and he said go for it. I enlisted the assistance of 2 good friends and spent Spring Break"springing" onto the Technology highway. I am loving every minute of it.

This last week, I received an invitation from one of the ladies (and soon both were on the bandwagon) to be a presenter at a Day long Technology workshop. Yes, you are reading that right. It seems these 2 ladies think that I might be able to help other people my age (read older than dirt) conquer their fears of technology. After my initial reaction that this is a joke, I said no. After several emails back and forth, talking to Bob about it and more emails back and forth, I have decided to do it. I must admit when I opened the email telling me where I was to present, all I could do was reply "oh my". I am sure my friend thought I was brilliant at that moment.

I have made a list of what I CAN do technology wise and it it pretty long. The list of thing I can't do is fairly short. I have to admit, I am scared that I will make a fool of myself, but wouldn't it be wonderful if one "old lady" leaves my presentation and goes home and sets up a blog for her family to keep up with on another?

This shindig is in June. Stay tuned for my progress. Who knows, all of you may be part of my presentation.

Azalea

The above picture is my Azalea in the back yard. I don't have a clue why this is going so well this year, but I wanted to show it off. If the weather does get too cold tonight, at least I have proof that it was there. See why I have spring fever?

This is what I see every morning when I stumble into the kitchen. I love these faces that you can put on your trees. This one's mouth is part of the tree. I am convinced that he is saying "Oh, you really look bad and need to go to bed." Almost every tree in our yard has some sort of face on it.

Today was a very strange work day. The end of the month/first of the month are always interesting.

Tonight is California Pizza night and salad night. Think I will go start the fireplace.

Pure torture

Today was my semi-annual torture visit. Most of you would simply call it a visit to the dentist. Seriously, I am terrified of the dentist. I didn't go for years. Not until Bob tricked me. We have to go together, back to back appointments. We schedule 45 minutes for each of us.. Yes, a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes. Mr. Good Teeth Bob, spends 15-20 minutes in the chair and the rest of the time is mine. I am a plaque factory. There are times that there is debris flying out of my mouth . I can't tell you how many times I have bitten the hygienist and or the dentist. Now they know to give me the "happy gas" and get me higher than a kite before they even have me open my mouth. Today was better than some visits. I only bit the girl one time, I didn't draw blood from Bob's hand and I didn't cry. The dentist pronounced me a good girl and gave me a blue water bottle full of tooth brushes. I think he lives in fear of me ever getting a cavity. I would have to run away and if by some miracle I did wind up in his chair, he would need to go to the ER. The dentist was tricky though, while I was floating, he had the girl come in and make the next appointment with Bob. Guess I have to relive this nightmare in 6 months.

The only good thing about this whole thing was that I left work early and didn't go back. I am going to work on the family tree. Today may be the day that I discover I am related to someone rich and famous who will send me lots and lots of money.