The Road To...

After about twenty rounds of Where's the pink butterfly?, Where's the yellow flower?, Where's the green grasshopper?, Lola responded with, "Daddy, you're driving me CRAZY!!!"

Recycling 101

Make Trash Fun!!!

The Gator box was recycled by Randy to make a playhouse for Lola & Jaxson. They had lots of fun during our stay at Nana & Poppy's.

Creepy Crawly

"Daddy, it's a corn cob spider!" ~ Lola

Special Note: I actually had our own incredible shot of a similar monster, but I deleted it by mistake. I had to settle for this.

Midnight Tacos

I wrote this on Friday night but due to technical difficulties, I'm just now able to post it.

12:04am - I guess that makes it Saturday morning...

I'm having a slumber party with my dad at the hospital tonight. It's been pretty tame although he's super funny because of all the pain meds. He's also really hungry. He has been talking about tacos for about an hour. He keeps waking up and asking me what I want to eat, asking me where his taco is, or looking for it in his sheets. My sister came upstairs after she got off her shift in the Emergency Room. She took his order and is now on a midnight taco run. Dad’s snoozing again. I wonder if he’ll ask what the heck Dana is doing with a taco, when he wakes up.

I can connect to the hospital network but for some rason I can't get any internet access. The hours would go by faster if I could surf around the WWW. I guess it's time to pull out my trusty Sudoku game.

Dad just woke up and asked where Dana went to get tacos. On cue, she walked thru the door. Bon Appétit!

6:37pm - Sunday evening

I'm about to hit the road to relieve my sister at the hospital. I've got another slumber party with Dad tonight. What new adventures will we have?

New Digs

Last Saturday we drove to Stroud to visit MiMi & ProPro and check out their new abode. It's a great house and they have a large chunk of land with lots of room for grandkids to run around. After we arrived we took a tour and then we all piled in cars to eat at the BBQ joint down the road. By all, I mean Aunt Rhonda, GiGi, MiMi, and cousins David, Trina, Drake & Dylan in addition to Randy, Lola & I. After dinner, we stood outside and I heard cars running. Sonic was next door but it sounded like our car was running. Since it was hot outside, I thought if it wasn't our car then we should get the air going. So I asked Randy if he started the car. In his usual sarcastic manner he said, "Oh no, I left it running!" I shot him a look while his grandma GiGi laughed. We piled into our car and headed back to the house. Randy almost took off to the golf course before I jogged his memory that his parents didn't live there anymore. Once we got back to the house, GiGi came inside with her sing-song, "Misty, you won't believe what Rhonda did!" It turns out that Rhonda really had left her car running the entire time we were eating in the restaurant. Weird coincidence, right?

Lola had a great time playing with her cousins Drake and Dylan. She was sad that Drake had to leave to go to a Redhawks game. But ProPro came home from the golf tournament and it wasn't long before he & Lola were running through a sprinkler in the back yard. Lola had so much fun! I hadn't brought her extra clothes or a bathing suit so we stripped her down to her panties and let her go wild. Before you start thinking the poor kid had to go the rest of the day without underwear, don't sweat! Her skirt had built-in bloomers. After the water works, Lola & ProPro spent a long while snacking and rocking on the front porch while watching the passing neighbors and listening for a neighborhood motorcycle.

We spent the rest of the evening eating a fabulous meal of grilled chicken, fried squash, salad, and bread - and watching the Olympics of course! It was also a treat to see Uncle Dennis & Aunt Novie. We can't wait to go back and stay in our new room at MiMi & ProPro's.

Randy's brother Eric, Erin & Nickie moved into a new house just a few streets south of us. It feels great to have them in the neighborhood now. It's been a crazy couple of weeks so we haven't seen much of each other but just knowing they are closer is fun.

On Sunday we had brunch with a good friend at her new place. Donna was Jeff & Mary's neighbor until recently. We have gotten to know her by hanging out at the Nemcok house, having dinner, sharing drinks and wonderful conversation. She is a sweet, spunky lady who is absolutely fascinating and we think it is so cool that she hangs out with us. She recently moved into Concordia, a retirement village. It's like a resort... I want to live there! Brunch was an incredible buffet and we enjoyed some lovely mimosas. But the company was the best. Here is a photo of myself, Donna, and Mary.



Here's to all our loved ones and their new digs! May your homes be blessed and full of life, love and joy!!!

Country Cooking

Sometimes you just need a good home-cooked meal... country cooking as people around Oklahoma call it. Our meal last night fit this category; however, instead of the eight side dishes you usually find on dining room tables around here, I only made two. We're trying to watch portion sizes and highlight foods which means simplify in my book. It may not seem like a very healthy dinner but I did use olive oil and Smart Balance - and considerably less than in the past!

I took pictures while still cooking so here's our illustrated menu:

Pork Chops: These were yummy! I'm not much of a pork person and I'm particular about my chops. I like them with the bone in and pan fried. Salt, pepper & garlic - that's all you need.



Fried Okra: ...or a mess of Okra as we Okies say. We grew a garden this year but I didn't plant okra. I actually haven't seen any fresh okra in the market or heard of anyone whose okra made good this year. So sadly, this was frozen okra which I floured and spiced before tossing it in hot olive oil. It was still delicious. Like the pork chops, this okra isn't done yet. It was nice and crunchy in the end.



Apples Deuce in Cinnamon Brown Butter: A duo of Golden & Red Delicious Apples cooked to perfection with a lovely sprinkling of sugar and Saigon cinnamon. The butter was really Smart Balance, but that isn't quite as appetizing as a moniker.



We also had tomatoes fresh out of our garden. Actually, I had tomatoes. Randy isn't a fan of fresh tomatoes - only cooked. He's CRAZY!!! Of course, we drank Iced Tea. Dessert was served much later and consisted of Chocolate Chunk Brownies.

I'm heading into the kitchen to make dinner now. Tonight it's tilapia. I made fresh salsa yesterday so dinner could take on a Latin flair... maybe fish tacos?

He's Seen Better Birthdays

My dad, better known as Poppy, fell at work yesterday and broke his hip. He lost his footing on a 2x4 that was propping up a boat. He was there by himself and thank goodness he had his phone on him. He called 911 and had an ambulance take him to the hospital, but he didn't call them first. He called his cousin Ronnie to come and lock the business, pull the boats inside, etc. When his esophagus ruptured (almost three years ago now), he was knocking on death's door and telling my mom about an invoice that needed to be paid. Last week, I took my mom to have a routine medical test that required sedation and they had given her some extra pain medication. She's a tiny woman and she was quite loopy. Right after she said she needed two more days of that kind of sleep, she started asking me what I thought about a business idea... that's the kind of work ethic my parents have.

Today Poppy had surgery to repair his hip. Tomorrow is his birthday and Saturday is my parent's 36th wedding anniversary. Our celebration was to include a big crab boil but I suppose we'll postpone that. They probably won't read this post for a while but here's to Nana & Poppy!



Poppy - Get Well & Happy Birthday, which seems a bit ridiculous to say right now even though we have so much to be grateful for...

Mom & Dad - Congratulations on doing what seems impossible for most people these days. You are both pretty amazing!

Note: The photo is from my dad's 30th birthday at a gig he was playing with his band The Sundance Band. That was 26 years ago. You do the math.