pictures for carol

here are three pics i pulled from photobucket of the pattern. i added a tutorial for you. let me know if you need more info or help here.

i have run out of witty titles

Im sitting here with a heating pad on my back and shoulder. i have been doing the same thing at work for too long with out a change and here it is getting me. we have a therapist that comes in during the week and gives us 15 minute sessions. i had one last night and another on thursday night. i am so glad i got signed up when i did. Im usually too late and all the spots are filled. I have a large knot on my upper back and extends into my left shoulder. it will go away, or at least calm down after a while, but till then, its heating pad, ice pack, heating pad ice pack, ibuprofin.

when we went shopping this weekend, we bought a bunch of bananas. the nectarines and peaches looked good too, but we were at costco and we cant eat that many before they go bad on us. well guess what? the nanas are going bad. so i made nana bread. no nuts, im all out. we buy gallon bags of fresh walnuts every year from a guy john used to work with. he only charges like ten dollars for a gallon bag of shelled walnuts. we bought about four bags and we are out. i bake a lot, and john likes to put them in his oatmeal with some cinnamon. if you have ever tasted fresh walnuts, you wouldnt bother with the ones you buy at the store. you have no idea how old they are. and the flavor is fantastic. there are so many different kinds of orchards and trees around here. we are very lucky to have all the fresh produce at our fingertips.

this morning i gave the quilt i made for my friend to her. I knew it was for her when i took out the scraps and started putting it together. she is the kind of person that will give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. sometimes, she takes on more than she needs to, and has a tendency to carry other paoples burdons for them. of cource, they let her. I told her the other day she is being a doormat and people are walking all over her, and she doenst see it. some people need to carry thier own burdons, so they can learn how to take care of it themselves. she is very caring, and wont do for herself like she should. so  before i gave her the quilt, i made her promise not to let anyone take it from her or she cant give it away. she said ok, then i told her to get it out of the back seat. she just loved it. it has frogs all over it, and her mother loved frogs. her mom passed away about the same time my mom passed away. so, anyway, to make a long story longer, she loved it and wont let anyone else near it.it is hers. good, my job is done.

ok, so is this post. see ya later.

Sundays pool party

john took one pic of me, but i think he pushed some different button. i wasnt there. he dont get to take picture any more.

sundays pool party

After breakfast i went and pulled the pool out of the closet in the sewing room. John got a tarp from the garage and an extension cord for the thing to blow it up with. within ab out eight minutes after starting to inflate the pool, it was done. I added the hose and turned on the water. the party was about to begin. i changed in to my one and only bathing suit when i heard a knock on the door. it was lu and she wanted to be the first one in the pool, so since she hasnt been feeling well, i let her get in first. then amber arrived and jumped in right after lu. just as I was going for the corona in the garage fridge, Carol showed up. she grabbed a coronna and headed to the pool. I grabbed my camera and tried for a group shot, but they all said no and scattered. when i tried to get a shot all i got was running buts. can you believe that?

anyway, the ladies left after a while and john n  i stayed in the pool. it only got to around 95 yesterday, so the weather was really still kinda nice. it gets unbearable after 100. anyway, we sat in the pool (i have six whole pictures to load after this). john and i drank our beers and enjoyed the water. john had the good sense to apply sunscreen cus he is lilly white. i had the misconception that you wouldnt burn if you were under the water. boy was i wrong. we are paying for that mistake together. while i was in the pool, i was doing small water aerobics and that made itself known today also. i could barely walk. you wouldnt believe what that will do.

I had to come in and take a shower at 4 so I could get ready for work. john stayed out in the yard, he was queing up some ribs on the grill. we had them today. yummy too. we both had a hard time at work, with our legs burned to fine crisp. i could have come home last night around two, but decided to stay. i wish i had come home. when i did finally get home, i fed the fish, took off my pants and socks and fell on the bed. i was asleep by 8 thirty. still in my work shirt smellin like chip oil. gag. i slept till 430. yep, i was tired.

so now the pool is empty, till the next time around. the week is starting over again and my tan is on its way for our trip to vagas. i dont want to go there and be so white. i dont usually go in the sun, so this is a big thing for me. this may be the last tan i try to get. thats it for now.

hope you all have a great week.

new lappy and state quarters

yesterday i spent the afternoon in my sewing room working a quilt i started a few weeks ago. its a scrappy made from squares i cut a while back. I was trying to create a particular pattern and forgot one step too late. I put the cut pieces back in the dresser where I store my scraps and vowed i would use them one day. so a couple weeks ago, i thought i pulled them all out of the drawer and laid them out to sew. after i had them all sewn, i only had fifteen blocks. crap. so yesterday i went through the drawer again and found a bunch more. I put them all together, then added borders on two sides, and sewed them in strips. everything is pretty random in this quilt. i did try to not have two of the same borders match up, and i think i did it. I got it all finished, using the excess fabric from the last quilt i made for the back. Im gonna give this to the lady that rides to work with me. she dont know it though, that is what makes this fun.

ok, now does anyone collect the state quarters? I do and cant find wyoming or any of the new ones for this year. i could get the collection from the mint, but that would be kinda cheating, dont you think. i have the map on my wall in the puter/guest room and there are empty spaces. i may have to go to the bank and buy ten dollars worh of the latest ones to get any of them. this is the last year, and i think people are hording them, at least the new ones. or maybe im just not looking hard enough. I dont know.

Ok, breakfast is just about done. I am so lucky john makes breakfast every sunday. we are gonna blow up the pool and I am gonna lay in it today. its supposed to 100 today and this heat is too much. its time to fight back with a kiddie pool. lmao. Pictures to come???? I think not.

See ya all later.

Lisa's New Scrappy Lappy

I used some of my scraps to make this quilt. I love making scrappy quilts cus there are no rules. I dont have to follow a pattern, or worry that the seams line up correctly. I can use what ever i have to create something wonderful for someone else.

A friday blog

as most of you know, i dont sleep well. this week and last week, i got at the most 5 hours of sleep a day. it sucked. this week, i have made scary driving mistakes, looked at things and forgot all about it, the list goes on. last night we had a meeting at work and had to go in one hour early. no big deal, i was awake already. so we stopped at the local gas station/quickie mart to get a coffee. there isnt a starbucks on my route. so i decided to get an iced coffee.  i start filling it up, and it is taking forever. finally, lori, the lady that rides with me says lisa, look what you are doing. the plastic cup was almost full. i was filling it with french vanilla coffee cream. i felt so foolish. embarrassed really. so i got my iced coffee, paid the bill and went off to work. when i got there, i changed into my horrid steel toed boots, and went directly into the meeting room. i sat there for a minute, chattin with my team members. all of a suddon, i remember, crap, i never punched in. this is what happens when you dont sleep. so i got to come home early today at five. i didint think i was gonna get to, i got lucky. i walked in and john handed me a cup of coffee. i drank part of it, read my mail and fell asleep on the couch and finally woke up long enough to get to bed and slept till 230. i feel better. i am gonna take meletonin to try and sleep next week. this cant go on.

so, on another note, i dont know if you saw or not on my front page. I put this thing on there to try. every saturday n sunday morning we watch good morning sacramento. its better than jumping out of bed first thing. it starts at 6 am, but we turn it on when we wake up. ok, so cody stark, the guy that is one of the hosts, wants to get everyone to watch, no matter where you live. no matter. even in the uk. so if you have nothing else to do this weekend morning, log on to cw31.com and try to find the streaming video. if you do find it, send them and email. they might call you. i dont know, it just seems like fun if your not doing anything first thing in the morning. which by the way starts at 9 eastern time.

ok, i dont have much more to say. if i think of something i will get back here. but till then, see ya next time. n have a fun weekend.

wednesday post

Wednesday must be the day to post a new blog. I got on here just to check my mail, and everyone has posted something new. I guess i can follow the crowd and try to dump my brain on here. that usually consists of the things that rolled through it the previous night at work. or that will trigger things which make me think of something else which carries me somewhere else. So, here i go with the things that rolled through my brain last night.

There are a few everyday words that I just dont like. I dont know why, it makes no sense, I just dont like the way they sound. One of those words is blog. I know, what the hell lisa, isnt that what we are doing here? and you dont like the word? yes, its true. that word has no good sound to it, it reminds me of blob, and it just doesnt roll off my tongue very well. I prefer Post for doing what we do here. I tell people I have a blog page so they know what i am talking about, but the petty part of me doesnt like that word. I know, .............................

another thing, sometimes, quite often really, i read someone elses post and get inspiration from that. it triggers thoughts in my head that go from that post to my own. Like today, carol posted about having people pay to work in the yard while the whole time getting the muscle workout they really needed. this didnt trigger anything in my brain, i just like thinking about the young male gardners in my yard buffing up. of cource, there werent any of the middle aged flabby women like myself in my thought process.

But, em did write about fireflys. I have heard about these little critters all my life. I have never seen one though cus we dont have them here in california, that i know of. I feel like i am being cheated. i dont know if these little bugs have any other purpose than to amuse the humans around them. im sure bats  and other nocturnal animals find them tasty treats. I would just like to see one for myself. I think i would wait for night time just to watch them.

and finally, Amber is doing the cambrige diet. she has lost 40 pounds. I am proud of her. the best i do is talk about dieting. i hate that word. back to the word thing again. i keep thinking I will just look up the diet and try it to dispose of some of the fanny that follows me around. i even think i will grab the weights i keep by my front door and start walking again, but that is as far as I get. i work real hard at thinking about these things.

ok, there are my triggers for today. i wonder what the word trigger will generate for the ads on the side of this page. ok, see ya all later.

update, update, update

I posted a few pics I took this weekend. the birds, my fish, grapevine and headless doll i made. lol.

As i said in the last post, we have new house guests. I got up the other morning and was able to get a few shots of the momma in the nest. as soon as I open the screen, she takes off. Well, on sunday morning, john opened the front door and one of the parent birds was dead on our doorstep. I was afraid the mom would leave the nest now, but she is still sitting there. i just keep listening to hear the babies.

My fish. from all the fires here in california, the bodies of water are growing algie. I bought stuff to clear the water in the fountain, but it didnt work, i think because it was just too bad. So i put the fish in the bowl and started running water through the fountain flooding it til it runs clear. I was gonna keep the fish in the bowl for 24 hours, but they were not doing wel in the bowl. I ended up loosing two of the smaller ones. I  think it was too stressfull and the water got too warm for them. I will have to think of a different way to clean the fountain next time around.

I think the grapes on the vines are really pretty. We have vines all over in this area, and i would like to one day go get some shots of the wine grapes. but this vine is in my back yard. We usually dont eat these cus they dont get sweet enough, but we like looking at them. they are supposed to be thompson seedless, and sweet, but they dont get much bigger than a small marble.

Now, as for the headless doll. A few weeks ago at work, i grabbed two cores from the roll stock at work. that would be film to everyone that doesnt know. anyway, i brought the cores home and let them just stand in my sewing room for a while till i could figure out how to make a doll to attach to the legs. then i decided to get the baby outfit and i covered the legs in panty hose and made the arms out of knee hi's. I will have to get some more stuffing to make a face, and when i do I will introduce her to you. I have no idea what i am gonna do with her. maybe i will send her to a good home.

I dont have a whole lot more, i just wanted to put up the pics and explain what they are. have a good week everyone.

birds, fish, grapes and a doll

These are a few shots of been going on latley. I made that doll.

New house guests

When we got home from our vacation, John was outside watering, mowing the lawn, knocking down week old cobwebs. I was in the house putting away our stuff. John started calling me to come out front, quietly. we have a new house guest. He pointed up under the eve of the front porch, and there is a nest. it looks like a swollws nest, the kind that are under bridges. We let it stay there, some people will knock them down claiming they will damage the building or they dont like the bird poop all over the walkway. We want to see the babies. Yesterday morning i was looking at the nest, and one of the birds was sitting on the edge. then, all of a sudden, the mate came and landed in the nest, and that one took off. I guess there is always only one in there at a time. the one that just flew in, settled down and it was hard to see her then. this moring i was watcing the nest, and decided to get my camera. I got a few pics through the screen and i will put them up here. I want to try and get a few more.

yesterday when i was at my sisters and we were walking to the pool, i saw some asperigus ferns planted  and it reminded me that John had cut the large fern all the way to the ground in my back yard. I was going to say something to my sister, but i really didnt want to give her a reason to badmouth john. I recalled that I  had walked out in the back yard to feed the fish, or check the water level or something and noticed john had not only cut the fern down, but two rose bushes, and a couple plants along the fence. he sometimes does this just to get things under control, but never the roses. he did leave one right in front of the window which we planted there to discourage burgelers from crawling into the house.

Ok, so yesterday afternoon i went out there to sit and chat with him as it was finally cooling off. I looked over to the naked spot where the fern was and it was still there. So was the rose bush. That is when it hit me. that must have been one of those really real dreams. WO! I told john about that, and he was wondering why he would have cut everything down. I am just glad i didnt say anything to my sister. I must have had that dream on thursday, cus i know i had been in the back yard since we have been home. and it is possible for me to miss something like this. how strange huh. i really thought he cut all this stuff down. I was happy to see the fern still there.

I think that may be it for this saturday morning. Im gonna go get ready for the day. maybe see if I can do something with some of those scraps I have in my sewing room. Hope you all have a great weekend.

called off again

This seems to be getting to be a habit. i sign the list to be decrewed, and lo and behold, sometimes it happens. i got called off last night and got to go back to bed. for some reason, i was so tired yesterday. i came home, took a shower, had a bowl of cereal  and fell asleep on the couch. my sister called me at 11 and asked me to come over after work on friday and go for a swim, and then i got up and went to bed. i slept till 530, but still wanted to sleep some more. i think this is because the vacation thing got me off schedule. all week i only slept about 5 hours a day. it finally hit bottom.

so here i am, in my jams, and on the couch. right now my only plans are to go for a swim with my sister. so that is what i better get doing before the sun gets to scorch heat. its supposed to get up into the 90's today. i dont want to burn. just wanted to stop in and say hi. see ya all later.

after vacation thoughts

After i got home, unpacked, sent all of you home since you wouldnt help, i finally relaxed again. As I relaxed, actually sat on my ars, i thought about our trip. basicly it was fun. I did have a few things that drove me nuts. i have to tell you these things, cus i have nothing else to talk about. I do need to stop by your pages and read the latest and greatest of the info on here. but first, let me say these few things.

I sent my tweezers with john in the car so they wouldnt take them from me at the airport. I dont know about you, but once you find a decent pair of tweezers, you make sure they dont get lost, or damaged. I have bought multiple tweezers, just to find our they dont match up and are useless. so i had a geat pair. when i got to our hotel room and unpacked, i couldnt find them. i tore every bag apart looking for them. i couldnt find them. i was so upset. so when we got home, i was unpacking again, and there they were, sitting right in the middle of one of the bags i tore apart. at least i still have them. now i just need to use them again. Im getting the unibrow thing right now.

i dont know if i said this earlier, but im gonna say it again if i did. you know how the airports are supposedly being all critical of everyone going through the gates. we have to take off our shoes, pack make up and personal items in baggies, practicly undress to go through the metal detector. ok, i get to the airport and only had my carry on. No luggage. i printed my own ticket, so i never had to talk to anyone. and my ticket was one way. this should have sent up red flags everywhere. i went through all the totally bored screeners, and when i kinda whined about having to take off my flops, they just rolled their eyes and said put them in the tub. everyone i talked to said i looked suspicious, but not in our airport. I had no purse, no luggage, just my laptop and cell phone. my id and credit card were in my pocket. no one even flinched. they just waved me through. how funny, micheal cain is saying the same thing on the view right now. except they pulled him aside and profiled him.

the other thing that drove me crazy was the radio commercials. you know the ones where they announce some 1-800 number, 3, 4, or maybe 5 times so you dont forget it. by the time they are done saying it so many times, and I have it memorised, i dont know who it belongs to. but that is ok, cus it keeps repeating in my brain all by itself. this is ok if your only in the car for a short time, but on a long drive it sucks. by the time you get to your destination, you have a bunch of these numbers floating around in your head. or at least parts of them. i really hate these commercials. i was gonna warn lu to bring cd's or tapes or sheetmusic, on her trip to keep her from going crazy, but sadly her plans changed.

we rented a car to travel in. it was a saturn something. if we ever get a new car, we may just look into getting one of these. it was very comfortable.

ok, that is it. im tired. i need to go read some of what is going on out there from you.

We're home!

OK, everybody out of the car and help unload this mess. it was a long ride from Kingman to modesto, but we finally made it home. i usually snap pics while we are driving, just to entertain myself, but not this day. i was so tired, all I wanted to do was sleep, but i only napped. the rain followed us all the way from tulsa to kingman, arizona but stopped before it got to california. i was hoping it would just keep traveling west with us and help with some of the fires and thick crappy air here. but it stopped and the fires are still burning.

anyway, so we got up this morning, packed the car and went over for the breakfast that was served in the lobby area of the hotel. crap, it was good. they had a couple of ladies that made everything and then cleaned up. the scrambled eggs were real and they had biscuits n gravy and all kinds of yummy stuff. we just figure, that is one meal we wont have to pay for.  our budget was starting to get a little low, so free is good.

so after breakfast, we headed out. it was an uneventful ride, i guess that is why some of you didnt realise you were still in the back seat. it was a little crowded, but you all were really good. no fighting, or pushing or shoving or even whining. i dont mind taking you vacation with us at all really. anyway, we got home around four, unpacked, sent you all back home, then went for chinese for dinner. my feet and legs are swollen from riding in the car for three days. they look like two logs holding up my body. lol i think i am gonna have to drink a ton of water to get them back to normal.

ok, i really dont have anything else to say, so this is it for today. hope you enjoyed the vacation. i know we did.

Texas to Arizona

Last night we pulled into the Big texan hotel and asked if they had a room and they did. i think i told you that while we were there. so all we had to do was walk to dinner and stagger back to our rooms. I had chicken fried chicken and john had a combo meal of ribs, sausage and brisket. it was all really good. i totally recommend stopping in there if you ever happen to pass through Amarillo. after dinner, we went out to the bar for a drink before we went back to our room. waht the hell, neiother of us had to drive. even if we stayed at a different hotel, one of the limo's would have picked us up. but we stayed there. check out the picks. it really reminds me of a brothel. the really colorful one is the main building. we had a room in the back and it looked like spanish mission.

ok, so after dinner, we were sitting at a table in the bar area. pretty soon another couple came and sat down at the empty table next tot us. John had got us drinks, and this couple waited for a waiter to come and take their order. so as they waited, of course we started to chat. as soon as the lady started to talk, i had to ask. where are you from? i had heard that accent before and it was really familiar and made me feel happy. she giggled and said New Haymsha. OMG. you sound just like my friend Amber and at that point i had to tell her all about our friendship and the trip to vegas and meeting Amber and her family and Em and she said it sounded so exciting. I finally went up to the bar and told the lady that that couple had ordered a drink and it never arrived. she sent another waiter over and we all orderd another round.

John told us top go see the pictures on the wall in the hallway, cus they change and they are really cool. on the way there we noticed this huge rocking chair. we took turns taking pics of each other in the chair, and laughed the whole time. as a man walked by, we asked him to take our pics together in the chair. it was so funny. i actually felt small in that thing. I did get her email and sent her copies of the pics.

the next morning we got up, had breakfast at the restraunt and then took off again. this time we needed to make time on the road. John wanted to get to Kingman arizona, so we had to get rolling. John had wanted to stop at the crater thing in arizona, but changed his mind cus he wanted to get to our destination and rest. we gained two hours traveling back towards arizona, so we drove for about ten hours today and got here around six. we are so burned out. we should be home around five or six tomorrow. i just want to get out of the car.

so i am gonna go add some pics to the ones that i have here, then im off to bed i think. your weekends are starting now, so make em count.see ya all later.

the big texen

pics from the big texan restraunt and the people we met there

Whew!

i bet you guys didnt even realise we left tulsa. dont you remember john waking me up and making me get up and get out the door before my eyes were open? well he did. too early i must say. so let me back track a littel and tell you where we all are in our vacation here.

It has been raining, but that isnt gonna stop us, or at least me. if you can get past the muggy part, your doin ok. just find an air conditioned place and land there. so yesterday i wanted to go see john uncles gravesite. we had to take the longest way around to find it, but we did. the funny thing is, that it is right across the street from the neighborhood that alex lives in. I took a bunch of pictures for johns sister and sent some of them off to her. After we left there, we drove around the neighborhood and found alexs house again, but this time all by ourselves. then we found the house johns uncle lived in before he passed away.

we went back to our hotel and by that time alex was done with his customers at work, (it was his day off). alex took a nap and we watched tv till we went out to dinner. this brazilian steak house was so cool. very nice dining area, i really didnt expect that. the waitress warned us to go lightly on the salad bar or we would fill up too fast and not be able to taste all the meats. we took her advise and im glad we did. i got so full so fast, but not until i forced myself to taste most of the meats. i just didnt eat the lamb or the sausage. gag on those two. but alex ate like he never ate before. it was really disgusting, but he was having fun.

we left there at around 830 and went back to the hotel where we said our good bys to alex till next time. this morning we got up, packed the car and took off for amarillo. so that is where we are right now. there is a restraunt here called the Big Texan. they have a 72 oz steak that if you eat it and all the trimmings, you get it free. and you have to do it in an hour without getting up. there is a clock right behind you while you eat all the food. people have done it. i will bring my  camera and get some shots inside the restraunt. or you can go to www.bigtexan.com. you might be able to see it all there.

we will be leaving in the morning and trying to get to arizona tomorrow. there is a big crater john wants to see in new mexico, i dont know if he will stop. its up to him.

so until we hit the next stop, see ya all later.

ITS RAINING!

IT started raining last night as we were leaving Johns cousins house. What a cool home her and her hubby have. anyway, it was raining, with lightening, all around us. we dont get to see these storms, so it was kinda scary. not that i am afraid of lightening or thunder, but it was just all around us. we are just unfamiliar with this kind of weather. at one point in time on the drive home, we couldnt see anything because the rain just got so heavy. hey, and guess what? we only had to turn around one time! woo hoo! we are getting better just in time to go home.

i woke up early this morning around five to use the bathroom, and it was still raining, and lightening. with all the lightening, we only heard a few thunders. strange. i sorta expected to hear it all night long.

so tonight we are going to that brazilian steak house with alex. John is sorta excited about that, and alex has never been there either. it should be fun. they have a limo that will pick us up and take us back. that is cool cus now all of us can drink and not have to worry about driving. .

if the rain slows down, i would like to go visit Johns uncles grave later. he passed a while back, and we werent able to attend the funeral. i just think that would be a nice thing to do. i dont usually do stuff like that, but it is important to remember your family. John is whining cus HE doesnt have anything to wear in the rain. well neither do i, but i still want to go. he is such a big baby.

ok, that is all i have for now. see ya all later.

Alex n Garth

fishies in every size n color, oh and garth

yesterday John and i found our way to the tulsa aquarium. I say found our way, because every time we get on the freeway, or road for that matter, we go the wrong way, have to turn around, back track, and go the other direction. there are a couple places we can get to without getting lost, but for the most part, this is our routine. when we get verbal directions, john doesnt listen, cus i am the navigator. I AM DIRECTIONALLY IMPAIRED AND HE KNOWS IT! now he says next time i tell him to go in one direction, he is gonna go in the other.

so after back tracking a couple times, we finally found the aquaruim. it was nice. not as nice as i thought it would be, but it was cool. i guess coming from a coastal state, i just expect more. it took us a few hours to stroll through it though, so it took up some time.

When we left, we called alex and asked how to get to this littel burger place. i knew how to get to the turnoff, but not which way to turn off the freeway. you guessed it. turn around and go the other direction. we did find it, ate and got home to relax some more in front of the tube.

while we were in the aquarium, alex called and told me garth brooks was in the shop where he works. he is a car salesman and garth was shopping for one. brb. gotta go to breakfast. i will be back to finish this in a bit.

ok, im back. anyway, so they all got their picture taken with him and alex sent me a copy. it is an attachement to an email, and i have to transfer it to my document/picture file. but alex is walking on air right now. garth is his favorite. all his friends have met him, and finally he did. garth lives in this area and shows up all aver town i guess, just like a regular guy.

today we are going to find this little place that is an old fashioned soda fountain. we went to one i kentucky when we visited there, and it was really cool. later on we are having dinner with johns cousin that lives here. she is really nice and i am looking forward to this.

well, i better get this posted and look up the address for the soda fountain. maybe we wont get lost, but we probably will. have a great day.

Oklahoma Memorial

Today John, Alex and myself headed off to Oklahoma city to see the memorial of the bombing of the Murrah Building in 1995.  Its about 95 miles from here so it was a little drive. we didn't get to see this the last time we were here, and we really wanted to see it. We packed some water, red bull and snacks and piled in the car.

The weather was nice, about 95. Not as muggy as it has been, and the drive is mostly straight shot to OK city, until you get close, then you have to start changing freeway and finding your way there. We finally fond the place, then had to find parking. since it was sunday, there was an empty lot reserved for federal parking. so we used one of their spaces.

the grounds are beautiful and peaceful looking. very well kept. there was signs explaining what everything was on the outside grounds. Everything has a meaning there. everything. the trees, the tiles that decorate the retaining wall in front of the museum, the bricks in the windows. there was 168 people that were killed in that bombing. there is a separate memorial for each person and every name is engraved on a memorial wall. the chain link fence that was put up to keep people out of danger in the days right after the bombing is still there in part and people are still putting things up on it every day.

A large american elm tree stands that used to be ina parking lot and protected cars from the sun. that tree survived the bombing and is now called the survivor tree. we stood under the tree and listened to a park personal tell us about what happened that horrible day. I cried as he talked. this is a very emotional place. After the talk, we went on the tour inside the museum. i really wasn't prepared for what we were gonna see and hear. i cried though the whole thing, quietly and to myself. it was difficult to see what those two men created and did to so many innocent people. I heard another lady sniffing her way through the pictures and demonstrations and displays. it was heartbreaking.

After, we went to lunch/early dinner at Toby Keith's I love that bar and grill. Hot Damn that was some good food. good country cookin. i wish we had one of those in california. from there we drove back to tulsa and to alex house where i got to meet his dog Lola. She is a boxer and still a puppy. I was so happy to finally meet her. i have pics of her at the end of the pics i put up today.

ok, I'm gettin tired and would like to relax a little. I just need to write these every day so i don't forget anything important. this is my journal also. see ya all later.

Oklahoma City Memorial

Pictures i took outside of the Murrah building bombing. if you can, read the plaques. this was a very emotional day.

Bass Pro Shop, Broken Arrow

These are pictures of my first visit to a bass pro shop. it was amazing

picture days in tulsa

yesterday was my first full day in tulsa. we got up, had breakfast downstairs then came back to our room to figure out what we were gonna do. Alex had to work, so we were on our own. we decided to get in the car, and just try to find stuff. first though, john took me to the car lot where Alex is now working. Yes, my son is a car sales man. so we drove up and parked the car. no other customer was on the lot, so all the sales men were looking for prey. every head in the shop turned in our direction and one lone guy came walking out. I felt safe though, cus i wasn't looking and they couldn't attack. as soon as he saw john, he recognised him from the day before when alex took him there. it was sorta funny. the puff just came right on out of him.

We  asked alex for directions downtown, so he printed them out and shortly we were on our way to getting lost twice on the tulsa highways and finally finding our destination. John was specifically looking for this bar they went to on wednesday. it had 65 different beers on tap. we did find it, but it was closed. as was every other business in the downtown part of tulsa. we could have safely driven the wrong way down a one way street. I had my camera with me though, so i wanted to start clicking. tulsa downtown has some amazing architecture. it is very old and a lot of it is made from stone or brick. I swear, there is at least two churches on every block, and they are huge. That is what most of yesterdays pictures are.

we found our way home and after alex got off work, we went to dinner at ruby tuesday. it was ok. nothing to rave about, probably wont go back. no big dael. after dinner Alex's gf came over and we went to watch the fireworks in downtown. i didn't know there was a display until alex told us. after driving through many neighborhood streets, we finally parked on some grass next to other cars there. the show was nice, and as soon as the grand finally was nothing but smoke, we got in the car and took off. we were home by 10:30.

today we decided to find the bass pro shop. I had never been in one before, but i had heard of them. i brought my camera in. John told me i didn't need it, what does he know. i was amazed as soon as i walked in. i need to say this first. i have never seen so much camo in my life. I didn't check, but i bet they had camo undies. after talking to a lady that worked there, she told us many people go in there and take pictures. this store is cool. i couldn't kill an animal, but it is strange to see them all stuffed and looking as if they were in their natural habitat. I'm gonna put up those pictures also. i ended up getting my grandsons birthday prezzy there. I will just have to send it off ot him. its a camo jeep and tent and atv. very cool for a little boy. john refilled his favorite bbq sauce, roadkill. its really called that and it is good.

after that, we looked for a restaurant he wants to try. i didn't write down the directions, and i should have, but i did get the phone number. we couldn't find it, so i finally called and found out it is closer to our hotel. i think we were ready to kill each other from trying to follow directions that are difficult to understand in the first place. we did end up finding it, and will go there before we go home. it is buffet style and has about thirteen different kinds of meat, all you can eat. can you imagine that, how gross. oh well. its a brazilian steak house, john wanted me to tell you that.

ok, that is it for today. I'm gonna go get those bass pro shop pics for you to see. have a great weekend.

tulsa pictures downtown

I took these pictures on the fourth in downtown tulsa. most of them are churches. they are so beautiful. i forgot to get teh names ofg the churches though. next time.

its Tulsa time

this may take a while to tel you everything that has happened since i left my house yesterday, but it is all worth talking about, i think. so here goes.

i had to work all night, which meant i got no sleep. zero, nill notta none. i had a few chores i had to do before i could leave, along with making myself look presentable to the public. I was after gonna be seen by more than just the folks i work with. so i dressed cool enough to keep me from sweating all over myself in public, and hoping i wouldn't have to remove too much at the airport gate. I had on Capri's and a sleeveless tank with my teal flops. i was hoping i wouldn't have to remove them, but i did anyway. i am paranoid about foot fungus on the airport floor.

My sister finally got to my house to pick me up and take me to the airport. she suggested we stop at IHop on the way there, since by that time we would probably be hungry again. oh sure, sounds good to me. i was dreading the drive with my sister, cus she can get pretty naggy sometimes, but it wasn't so bad. i had to keep talking to keep myself awake till i boarded the plane. we finally got to ihop. i ordered breakfast and my sister ordered a sandwich. we waited, and talked and finally when i was about to ask about our orders, they arrived. i ordered scrambled eggs, pancakes, crispy bacon. i got all this, with a side of hash browns. when i tasted the hash browns, they were greasy. oh well, i didn't pay for them anyway. i don't have to eat them. then the same for the eggs and the bacon was burned to a crisp. the pancakes fell apart when i tried to pick them up with the fork. i think i took maybe two bites of everything and left the rest. even the coffee was bad. now my stomach was slightly sick and I still had to fly. i could do it.

I didn't have to  check baggage, so i was able to print out my ticket and head to the waiting area by my gate. i still had an hour n a half to waste. I found a plug for my laptop, and set up. luckily, i sat down next to a lady who had done this before and she helped log on. its a good thing, cus i had to do the same thing today in the hotel. So there i was, floating around your pages, leaving the occasional comment, then i played some spider. which by the way i have an 18% win rate. i love that game. in the meantime, i started talking to this lady next to me and told her about multiply. i told her it was more of a grown up version of myspace. she was excited and started setting up her page right then. i told her my name, asked her to send me and invite, and she did. go visit her page. her name is angela.

After that, i went over to the boarding area. i saw everyone milling around and acting like they were gonna get on the plane. they finally let us start boarding and i headed toward the door. when i went through it, there were stairs that went down onto the tar mack and over to the plane. i thought that was so cool. i didn't think to whip out my phone and take some pics. crap. My seat was the very first one right behind the door. this is where what i was wearing matters. for crying out loud! it was freaking cold! i about froze my ass off during the whole flight, even with that super soft very thin airline blanket over me. i was too cold to sleep. next time i fly, I'm dressing for winter.

the flight was nice, i saw some of the fires, and really strange circular farm areas. i think i also saw the grand canyon or something else just as cool looking. at one point, i looked out the window and it looked like i was seeing glaciers. it was so pretty. the clouds were so white and they all just floated at the same level. again, i wished i had my camera. when we landed, again we walked on the tar mack. alex was there waiting for me. on the drive to the hotel, there was lightening and thunder like we don't get in california. i was so tired. we stopped n got a hamburger, then headed to the hotel. after we ate, alex headed home, he had to work today and we went to bed. i still hadn't slept. i think i was asleep immediately.

there is a few more things, nothing big but i will post them later along with some pics i took today. see ya all later and have a very happy n safe fourth. don't forget to put out your flags.

Set your tivo's and dvr's

i had to jump on here really quick to let you know we are gonna be on TV. not us, but frito lay. and not just any frito lay, but modesto frito lay. they will be talking about sunchips and it was filmed at our site last year. how cool is that. anyway, set your recorders for the food network, on 7/11. its the unwrapped episide about sunchips, pickle chips and chocolate covered potato chips. its on at 8:30 pm here. check it out. im not in it, but i did clean the area around where it was filmed that day. i have my recorder set.

ok, now i have tp go get ready to go

Day three

I just talked to John. he drove straight through to amarillo texas yesterday and got up this morning and drove to tulsa. he is at the hotel, which by the way he said was pretty nice. it has a walk in closet and its pretty big. Our son met him there, and now they are off to have a male bonding guy day together. alex will meet me at the airport tomorrow night, since it is right next to his school. he has class tomorrow night, and its over right as i get in. great timing, i think.

this morning after work, i went n picked up the piece  for johns new grill that was on back order. he has been waiting for it, and will be happy to find out it is here finally. its a rack/tray thingy that sits on the front edge of the grill to hold tools and what ever he want to set there. John loves his new grill. i would recommend this kind of grill to anyone.

after i did that, and brought the key to the gate for my friend to water the yard over ot her house, i came home and fussed over my fishes. the barrels are are getting kind of filled with algae. i emptied some of the water using a huge measuring cup thingy and then put more water in from the top barrels. that way the new water mixes with he old water and it isn't so strong. then i went in and called petco and asked about the plant life and about a new filter for the pump. the guy told me they didn't have the filter, but this other store across the street called tropical haven probably would. I completely forgot all about this store.

i skipped petco, and went straight to the real fish store. I got everything i needed there, and information on algae killer, and how to use it. those folks were so nice. They could tell i was lost when i walked in. they(i think it is a husband wife team) helped me find everything i needed. i will be returning there when i need to get more stuff or food or that fish net i keep forgetting to buy. i now have to keep the fountain on 24 7 to keep the algae stuff working. the fish will love that.

ok, i think i need to try to sleep again. i know now its because john isn't here. its not like he is here usually when i am home, but i know he will be. now i know he wont be. i think i kinda miss him. i will have to tell him that when i get to tulsa. Hopefully i will get called off tonight, or if i have to go in, i may be able to go home early. i would really like to get some good sleep before i leave.

so that is my day so far. i cant wait to leave. see ya all later. hope you all have a happy n safe fourth of july.

 

Day two by myself

Ok, so John got up and packed the rest of the bags into the rental and was out the door at around 6 am monday morning. I was able to come home from work early, but i was not able to wake up when he left. he woke me up to tell me good by, love you, i will call. all the parting things. i woke up at 8 am though and couldn't get back to sleep. So i got up, ate some pancakes from the leftover batter i had and tried to do a few things so I could head back to bed. the dishwasher needed to be emptied, and i figured since the coffee  maker wasn't gonna be used for a while, i may as well run some vinegar through it. I had some clothes to fold and a few dishes to hand wash. I really thought once i did all this, my brain would say ok, you can relax now and head on back to bed. i knew that only those 4 hours sleep wasn't enough to get me through to the night.

so i went back to bed, again. i layed there, and layed there. nothing. crap. so I turned on the tv low so i wouldn't hear the house sounds. those always keep me up. i had in my earplugs, had the fan on and the ac on. there was no reason i shouldn't have drifted right back to sleep. so then i got back up, one more time. it was around 230 now and i turned on the tv in the living room and settled down hoping maybe i would fall asleep on the couch. at three, my cell started ringing and i had to run back to the bedroom to get it. it was john, and he was already in kingman, arizona.

we chatted for a while, and he told me about his drive. he said when he drove through death    valley it was 116 degrees. it was 105 in kingman. it only took him 8 hours to get there, and he loved the car. the radio was a nice extra with xm on it. he was supposed to head on to Albuquerque this morning about 8 am.

well, I'm getting kinda tired here. i just wanted someone to talk to, and since you are there, i figured i could talk to you.

Wow, i just read this, and it is really boring. but I'm not gonna delete it cus i already spent this time to write it. ok, so see ya ll later. i sure hope i didn't bore you to tears or have you doing the head bobbin thing yourselves. good night all.