Christmas

Wow. The lights look great at Brian and Robin's place. And as always we are thrilled to see Kayla and Chloe in photos -- even if we can't see them in real life. I hate that job of Robin's though, and I can't wait until the kids move closer to home. I think they will because it's just too hard to be away -- particularly that far away -- from everyone.

I have cousins there in Washington, I hear. So tomorrow, I'm calling Freddy and asking him where the cousins are so that maybe the kids will have "family" there. But I think they are in Vancouver, which is still a ways from them.

Can't believe Robin went shopping for Carharts... the first time I ever heard about those was when I took a press tour of "ag" Missouri, and we were stopping at a country store off the highway between Columbia and St. Louis -- great store by the way. Anyway, everyone kept talking about how it was the best place in the state to get carharts. I thought they were saying "car parts" I was a little surprised when I went into the store at what they were talking about (yep, the lights came on in the brain about then.) And, yes, Rev. Black - you are right. It ain't cheap to be a redneck. Heck, do you have any idea how much it cost to spend a weekend in a travel trailer at the Texas Motor Speedway for a Nascar race? Out of my price range.

Jazzing it up

I think I need to jazz this site up. It's rather dull, don't you think? Oh well.

Christmas cards in the mail today -- that's my goal. I was going to wait until Dec. 1, but I just want to get 'em out. Maybe it will signal the start of the holiday season for someone who's not in the mood yet.

In the meantime, I still have 20 pounds of turkey in the fridge because Amanda and Sheldon had to have a turkey, and then decided last night that they were sick of turkey. Hmmm, "turkey and dumplings" "turkey enchiladas" "turkey alfredo" might have to get creative.

Have a good weekend all.

Thanksgiving

We had a great day. Lots of folks over at our friends, Paul and Susan's house. There were about 35 people there. Variety of folks from family to Susan and her sister's old nanny from when they were little, and Bill, otherwise known as "Watermelon Slim," a blues musician we all like.

Lots of good food. I feel like I might explode!

Turkey

Hmmm...turkey. Can't wait for dinner already. Dang, it's tomorrow.

Lazy cat

Actually, it's a crazy cat. We've had this cat nine years now. She knows the rules, and yet lately when I'm working on the computer in my office (aka the jungle room). She lies on the bed in here. Not beside the bed, ON the bed. I yell at her, she moves -- slowly -- and gets off. I get busy and turn around and see she's back on the bed. She opens one eye, if I don't yell or move, she closes it again.

Anybody want a cat?

Thanksgiving

Well, I guess I'm going to go out and buy some "Thanksgiving Food" today. Don't much feel like it. I think we're going to be by ourselves, so we were thinking about going out to a restaurant and a movie. Though, now I guess we might just go to a friend's house.

Though Ray is already bemoaning the fact that we won't have leftovers, so my mission is to go out and find the smallest turkey possible.

That's a change!

Second summer

It's still like summer here, or at the very least a warm spring. People are still wearing shorts. It's great. Well, except for Ray's obsession with the yard.

As those of you who have seen the yard know it's huge. And in need of some major work. There's more dirt than grass in the front, which makes mowing the yard a major pain and a very dirty task. Ray's mission? To have grass. So we're planting winter seed and today we're fertilizing and watering again. And, we have bulbs. Lots of them to plant today.

I've decided the best thing to do is save money for the spring because I know it's going to be expensive. We've already spent $100 on the grass stuff and bulbs. Oh, and did I mention that we got a new lawnmower this year? Now he wants a riding one -- it takes about two hours to mow the lawn with the walking one.

But it will look nice when it's done! And, it makes Ray happy.

So today we'll spend another day outside, up until about 3 p.m. then we decided it's time to have some fun, so we're going to Galileo's for a blues competition (to watch, not participate.) We really like blues and jazz, and are really getting into that music scene here.

Sad

Autumn. Fall.Whatever you call it, the season with it's warm colors and temperatures that migrate from cool to cold, and warm to downright hot -- at least in Oklahoma -- always makes me a little sad.
The epilogue to a chapter. Maybe I'm sad because this year, I've seen the last of my children get married...my precious grandchildren move far away...another year slipping quietly into history.
I'm sad also because I know this might be our last holiday with my dad. I'm sad because my sister's hubby's brother is now in hospice -- his last stop before moving on to the next world. He wants to be cremated. I don't know how I would act if I knew this was my last chance to see the leaves turn golden and orange.
For all of this I'm sad, but I know like autumn my sadness will pass and I'll laugh and dance and cry a little longer.
I'll be glad for Spring.

Movie Monday

Went to see Zathura (free sneak peak, of course). It was awesome. Kids are gonna love this movie. We loved it, and I had to drag Ray to it. It has great special effects -- now if you're a sci-fi nerd (Brian, Robin) don't go in expecting Star Wars. This is a kid's film, but it's good and fun. Exciting, imagination and good lessons for the kids. It's great.

Now the crazy part of my week. I actually have a job interview tomorrow. Really. It's nuts, I know because I have a NEW job. But they called me and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Well, at least not refuse to go talk about. Now, the clincher is if they get me what I want and that is a signing bonus (hey, I need a extra car -- sharing is getting more and more difficult!) Wish me luck!

And, yes, I know it's Tuesday instead of Movie Monday -- maybe I should have done Showtune Tuesday -- RENT is coming out on film after all.

Now the pressing question of the day. Are the Rocketts dancing yet?

Television addict - I admit it

Wow, I didn't have much time this week to write -- at least not for leisure. But it was a great week. We actually stayed home last night and tried to catch up on some missed television shows. This morning, I got up early and watched E.R. and Grey's Anatomy.
If you didn't see this week's episode (actually last Sunday's episode) of Grey's Anatomy -- you should. Since I was in the living room alone and everyone else is asleep, I watched and blubbered through most of it. It was a good show. I know -- guys don't undertand that. But my guess is that this show will make them cry too. Watch it.
But I had enough of television when I flipped over to "But Can they Sing?" Think American Idol with celebrities. I watched as Morgan Fairchild "sang" Nancy Sinatra's "These boots were made for walking". Not good. Antonio Sabata Jr. sang "I'll be watching you." Painful. But the final straw was some psuedo-celeb Bai Ling singing -- and I uses this term loosely -- Madonna's "Like a Virgin." I shut the television off.

Good day/bad day

Good day -- got to talk to Mason for the first time in more than two weeks.

Bad day -- he asked to talk to Papa after he talked to me for about 30 seconds.

Bad day - Miss the girls.

Bad day -- Hear Brian's been talking smack. Doesn't believe the package thing. I have a witness. Sheldon was with me when I retrieved the package left by UPS on our doorstep and then went to FedEx Kinkos to send it off again -- after inspecting that all was in there.

Good day -- I love seeing photos of the girls.

Good day -- What does everyone think of going to Vegas for the holidays so that we don't have to have Brian driving over the mountains? Cheap flights.

Finally

Well, just got to see more photos on Brian's blog, but still makes me sad to see the girls when I can't hug them.

Finally, the girls will get their very belated birthday presents. UPS dropped off the box at OUR house yesterday. So Sheldon and I took it to FedEx and sent it off. We would have gone to the post office but they were already closed and I wanted that box to get to the girls as quickly as possible, and I was not about to trust UPS with it again!

So I'm trying to write a book this month Southern Fried Baptist
It's part of the National Novel Writing Month challenge. Why the heck not? I've got a bijillion books in my head.

Well tonight we actually got invited to go to a Murphy family event. Col. Murphy is being inducted into the military hall of fame. Pretty nifty. But Ray's so excited about being included. It really hurts me to see how hard he tries to get his brother to like him. Though, my guess is not that his brother doesn't like him -- it's me. So I'm going to go tonight be the good little QUIET wife. Yeah, tough role. I'm never quiet. I'm proud of Ray and what he's accomplished.

Holiday Time

Used to be whatever we decided for the holidays was the only thing we had to worry about. With everyone grown, scattered across the country and working now we have to coordinate. And it's tough! So that's my mission today to finalize plans for the upcoming celebrations of Thanksgiving, Ray's birthday and Christmas. Ray's birthday is a HUGE deal this year because well, it's a milestone.

No cracks about half a century -- none.

So questions to the kids -- what about a football game on Christmas eve in Kansas City? Or New Year's? The only other option is a Cowboys vs. Chiefs game in Texas, and some how I think Dad would rather be at Arrowhead. I'm putting this in here, because he rarely reads this blog :).