The Van

The godforsaken gray van. It had to be blogged about eventually. We have unfortunately come into the possession of the creepiest, most hideous toy in the wide world, but ironically, the stinking thing has us in a Catch-22 because it just so happens to be Silas' most favorite toy of all. The van first made its appearance in our home when Silas was teeny-tiny, and my sister Christa was dropping off a load of toys that my nephew had outgrown. The van is a little weird-looking but fairly innocent enough... or so we thought.

(Side note: Doesn't Silas look more like a little boy than a baby now? Sniff sniff!)

Anyway, the van has three people hanging out of the windows: a mother, a son, and a cheerleader daughter, whom you can see on the passenger side in the above photo. On top of the van are strapped such fun things as a hockey stick, a soccer ball, and a drum, which are all completely normal things to strap on top of one's minivan. The major problem with the van, and the crux of Silas' obsession with it, is this one tiny little black button that you push to unleash the worst song you've ever heard in your life. One movement of the finger and out blares a ridiculous guitar intro followed by the loud lyrics of a teenage female:

"Vacation all I ever wanted!/ Vacation had to get away!/ Vacation meant to be spent alone." (REPEAT ONCE AGAIN. YES. ONCE WASN'T ENOUGH.) 

The van lights up and the front end bounces up and down during the music. Well, as you can imagine, this is all very exciting to an 11-month-old boy, and he'll stop ANYTHING he's doing to come to that van when you play the song. Because we know that this toy has the power to bring Silas back from wherever he's headed, we of course choose to keep the van rather than send it with the garbage; it has us bound in that way. It comes in handy when I'm too lazy to follow him when he crawls out of the living area, it's a last resort in a cranky spell, and for those of you who remember when I blogged with that nasty stomach virus, the van suddenly became my best friend as I was alone with Silas while waiting for BJ to get home. I was lying on my back on the floor, moaning with nausea, and each time Silas decided that something in the kitchen seemed more interesting, "Vacation all I ever wanted! Vacation had to get away!" was employed. I sold my soul to the Devil himself that day.

One last thing that I'll say about the van. I honestly think that the people that produced this toy were perverts. If one looks inside the van, you can see the bottom half of each of the three people. Now, the boy and the mom are appropriately painted all the way down to their shoes. The cheerleader girl, on the other hand, is clearly missing her underwear:

I normally wouldn't think much of this, except for the fact that she DOES have shoes painted on, and both of the other characters do have their pants on. Does some obscure toymaker have a fetish about what is under a cheerleader's skirt? Hmm. 

I would dare other parents, aunts, and uncles to top this hideous toy, but even if you could think of something that's awful, all I would shoot back at you is that you've never seen this van. So let's just leave it at that.

Mom's Birthday Project

When you are checking out at the register in a retail store in the mall and the salesperson matter-of-factly demands your email address, do you ever tell them that you don't have one?  You probably don't. But I do. I hate giving that information away. Usually my response is met with either a look of surprise or an icy "I-know-you-have-one,-you-hussy" look from the clerk. Here's a typical ensuing conversation that BJ and I have on the way out of that store as well:

BJ: You know they don't believe you, right?

Me: Whatever. How do they know I have an email address?  For all they know I could be Amish.

BJ: Because you look so Amish.

Me: Touche. (The boy has a point, as my jeans, aviator sunglasses, and above-the-shoulder hair are not exactly channeling Lancaster County.)

Well, when my dad is asked for his email address when he is in a store, he can honestly can tell the clerk that he doesn't have an email address, because that's how paper-and-pencil my dad really is. He only gets on the internet when the situation is dire, which happens once every few months. My mom is a little more in the swing of things, but not much. I finally got my parents texting at least, but usually with accompanying grumbles about how a phone call would be much easier. All of this to say, my parents are most certainly NOT among my blog readers. I'm fairly certain that my dad has no clue what a blog is, and my mom, though she has been on here once or twice, I can say quite confidently will not see her birthday present that I'm posting a pic of below. So mom, stop reading if you actually are!

As part of her birthday gift, I knitted my mom this snuggly little wine cozy.

Ain't it purty?

Now, I'm giving one more of these away to a friend that we're visiting on vacation next month, but I also don't think she reads this blog. Right, Lynn? You don't read this blog do you? So there you are friends, two of my latest knitting projects for you to see.

Also for you to see, reason # 11 why Oklahoma is so great... the redbud trees. The redbud is Oklahoma's state tree, and this time of year you see them in all of their glory, all over the place. They are just as lovely as the lilacs in a beautiful Minnesota May, except that they don't smell as good.

Have a great evening, friends.

"We We We So Excited"

Upon the suggestion of a friend who thought the video was hilarious, BJ and I joined the craze of people who have viewed that stupid "Friday" music video on youtube. The video has a whopping 53 million hits, according to BJ, so I'm sure that most of you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, you really need to look at it to solidify confidence about your own intelligence, which is undoubtedly higher than every last person who was involved with the making of this video. (Up for debate in my mind is why the rapper in the car is in this video, because he seems a cut above everyone else. Desperation for a career, I suppose.)  As we're checking out the video, we notice that Silas is incredibly interested and actually STOPS all activity (an uncommon occurrence!) to gaze at the laptop throughout the duration of the four-minute video. Just for laughs, we showed it again to him today and got the exact same reaction in his high-chair, with eating suspended so that he could stare with flapping jaw.

He just couldn't peel his eyes away. Sadly, I don't think it's because he thought it was a train wreck, but how can you blame a little guy? Exciting words popping up all over the screen, bright colors, smiling girl, extremely simplified lyrics...it's right up his alley. Please don't call DHS on us. We won't do it again!

Jenny's Top 10 Favorite Things About Living in Oklahoma

# 10-- The Mexican Food
Thank you, God, that most of the southern half of the United States can do some justice to the delicious cuisine of our neighbors to the south. BJ and I once (and only once!) made the unfortunate mistake of trying Mexican food in Minneapolis. When BJ and I are craving Mexican food, we now end up in places like Ted's, Alfredo's, Big Truck Taco, and Cocina Guatelinda. =)

# 9-- The Open Sky
Carrie Underwood wasn't kidding when she sang, "I miss the big blue sky, the Oklahoma kind." I missed it when I was gone too. I want to see nearly every bit of the sky, and in Oklahoma I can.

# 8-- Conversations with Friendly Rednecks
Oklahomans know what I mean. Here is an example of one of my favorites, a conversation some years ago with a fellow on our hospital unit:

          Me: So, what are you going to do when you get home today?

          Friendly Redneck Fellow: Well, I guess I better mow the blasted lawn
          before the weather comes in tonight.

          Me: Yeah, I hear there's a big storm coming.

          FRF: Yup, and I've got four acres to mow.

          Me: Geez! I hope you have a riding lawn mower!

          FRF: Well, I used to, but last year I done blowed it up!

# 7-- The Equal-Length Seasons...All Four of Them!
If you get too much further north or south from here, the seasons suddenly begin stretching in one direction or the other. Now don't get me wrong, because the summers in Minnesota are absolutely glorious! Glorious! We were outside all the time! But the winter lasts from October to early-April. Down in Dallas, just a couple of hours south of here, there really is no winter. But here, we get four wonderful seasons, and basically all in equal length, with perhaps a little taken from spring and added to summer as it starts getting pretty hot in the last half of May. If you can handle the heat in June, July, and August, then you're golden for the rest of the year!

# 6-- Running Into People I Love in Random Places
I remember once in Minneapolis BJ and I were driving down I-394 westbound and I got a call from our friends Kevin and Carrie, who shouted, "Look to your right!" And there they were, driving beside us on the highway! This was only one of two times in five years of living in strange places (Minneapolis and Tulsa) that we ever ran into friends by chance encounter. In OKC our network of friends and family is more plentiful, as would be anybody's in their own hometown, and we regularly see unexpected friends and family members at places like Thunder games, restaurants, and Target. Happiness.

# 5-- People Value College Football
In other parts of the country you'll find emphasis on basketball, hockey, golf, surfing, etc. I love nearly all sports, and all of these listed I would gladly sit and watch! But something about football, especially college football, stirs my blood and revitalizes my very soul. Especially that orange and black team in Stillwater.

# 4-- Vacations!
That's right! Now we get to spend our vacation time actually going on VACATIONS instead of using them to visit much-missed family members at home! Places like Florida, Seattle, Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Virginia, and North Carolina have suddenly opened before our very eyes as we spend our time away from work going to visit friends in their very cool places (including Minnesota, which is now one of our favorite vacation destinations!). The pic below is from a vacation to see some of our besties in MN.

# 3-- Tex and Sam
Tex has insisted that I allow him to have one of these numbers so that he can relay his ecstasy about living one mile from his best friend Sam. Sam is my parents' golden retriever and an extremely frequent companion of Tex's. When we lived in Minnesota and Tulsa, we and my parents always made our visits driving trips so that the dogs could come along and see each other. Here they are napping together in our living room.

# 2-- Our Mommies and Daddies Are Here
Besides each other and Silas, they're our favorite people in the world. Need I say more?

and #1-- "There's no place like home."
There just isn't. When we lived in other places I sometimes felt as though I was holding my breath, and when we visited home it was like letting all that air out and gasping in the good stuff. It's weird, I know, but maybe some of you who are strangers in a strange land have felt the same way. Now, every day, my lungs are filled with sweet, familiar air.

Sometimes Days Are Bad

Like the title of this post says, sometimes days are bad. There are some days in this life I've led where I can honestly say, "I done got schooled" and chalk up victory to greater forces at work. You may as well chalk March 23, 2011 up to these forces. Do I think that God is responsible for this? No, nor do I blame Him. Do I believe that He could have intervened? Yes. I don't know why He didn't.

But the fact remains that He didn't.

Yes, my life was a little rough today and I'm suffering a bit on a few fronts, none of which are to be named tonight. I'm tired, lonely, and wishing a friend was sitting here at my table with me because I could use a friend. Instead, I'm relying on my computer and my good pal Russell, which is really a box of Russell Stover's dark chocolate caramels.

Astute observers will note that two pieces are already missing (you may assume that they have been eaten). Still two more have vanished since the taking of this picture. You can also safely bet that another will have made its way from the box by the time I hit "Publish Post." I swear I was onto something with my previous post in which I theorized that the 'pig-out' stage should be added to the grief cycle. My mama didn't raise no fool.

Sadly, some people I know and love have had far worse days today than I have. To my beautiful friend that 90% of my grief today is for, I love you (you know who you are). Never fear...we WILL kick ass. More like, YOU'LL kick ass and I'll watch from the front row while cheering you on and eating buttery popcorn. In the meantime, I'll share a quote that I intend for both myself and my beloved friend. The quote comes from actress Betsy Drake who starred as the adorable Anabel Sims in "Every Girl Should Be Married," a strange and funny little Cary Grant film that I used to watch as a younger girl.

"There's something about being a girl--- you take every single little defeat and turn it around and around until you make it one great big victory."

A Post for BJ

As BJ was packing his suitcase last night for the coming work week, he was bemoaning the fact that he was going to miss Silas.  BJ is a regular reader of this blog, and he has mentioned before how much he enjoys reading stories about our week when he is away for work travel. So, BJ, because you are gone and we miss you, this post is really for you. If other people are interested in these pictures and tales, then God bless them.

We'll start with this picture of BJ and Silas catching some college hoops this weekend. The very picture of contentment, right here.








But on with the adventures of today!

Since you had to miss out on it Dada, today consisted of all kinds of exciting and wondrous activities, including demonstrating our superman powers by helping mom close the dishwasher. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't been there to help me. Look at those muscles bulging with exertion!

After finishing our chores, we played hard for a while, but paused to take a rest while looking out the window and pondering philosophy, aesthetics, quantum mechanics, and blocks.

We went to Nana's house for dinner tonight, and there were lots of delicious foods for Silas to eat, including scrambled egg yolks, tilapia, peas, and kiwi. Yum! And all the while we were eating, Papa was making funny faces at Silas so that he would squeal and kick.

After dinner we played outside on the deck and went for a walk in "Nana's park," which she and Papa have been working so hard to clean out.

Sam even came with us!

Later he got some snuggle time with Nana,

and afterward it was time to get back home. Bath time in the jetted tub!

But not before pulling one last trick on mommy for the day by pushing his bath towel into the water while I was focusing my attention on other bath-readying aspects.

Boys will be boys Dada. We miss you and love you.

Still Knitting?

I'm wondering what to do about blogging about my knitting. Readers to this blog might think that I picked up this new knitting hobby, knitted with a furious passion for one month, and then suddenly dropped it... but this isn't true! I've actually been knitting regularly, but the problem is that I've been knitting gifts for other people, such as birthday presents and thank-you gifts. Today I'm beginning what is to be a slew of baby gifts, as we happen to know many people who are expecting little ones this summer. When all of those are done, I'm definitely knitting something for myself, and I have it all picked out.

A summer apron! This will be the perfect marriage of my loves for both knitting and cooking!

I definitely hate not posting about my knitting ventures, but alternatively I hate to post about what I'm knitting and spoil the surprise of a reader or two, as often the recipients of these gifts read this blog. Any feedback as to what I should do about this? I'm honestly not even sure if anyone else cares about my finished products but me! Let me know if you have an opinion!

Tired But Cleaning

I haven't posted in a while. It's been an exhausting week, and when I look back at it, I'm not sure what was so exhausting about it. No mid-week Thunder games, and we sold our tickets to the game on Friday night so that we could bum out at home and watch March Madness. Whatever the cause, BJ and I have both been dragging, which makes formulating words for the purpose of blogging extremely difficult. I better get my R&R in tomorrow though, because BJ is sadly leaving town once again on Monday. All strength must be summoned by that point.

It has been a busy weekend for us thus far, full of spring cleaning sprinkled with some healthy doses of college basketball. We ran a major donation load to Goodwill today. I'm talking major here! Our tally included 80 shirts alone, 68 of which were mine...and that's just the shirts! I'd like to say that it cut my closet contents down to half, but it surely didn't, although it made quite a sizable dent. I also spent the morning on my hands and knees scrubbing the tile floors, which makes me feel like a better mom since Silas is constantly crawling all over the floor. It also makes my house smell like bleach, so now people who enter my home will mistakenly think the whole place is clean. Double bonus!

Friday morning I had an incredible hankering for pancakes, but had no convenient packages of Shawnee Mills mix. I remembered seeing a recipe for sour cream pancakes in Pioneer Woman's cookbook, and because I am magic I of course had all of the necessary ingredients for the adventure. PW called the recipe "impossibly easy" and she was absolutely correct. They mixed up easily and created delicious, fluffy pancakes for all four of us (Tex caught the last pancake from a six-foot range as it hurled like a frisbee toward his gaping mouth). Best pancakes I've ever made. Thanks PW!

I wish I had something exciting to say but I don't, so I'll stop blabbering. Good night everyone.

"Modern Day Slavery"?!?!?

I'm tired after a long day, but I just can't resist arguing against the idiocy of Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson, who foolishly announced that playing in the NFL is "modern day slavery" because players are exploited at the hands of wealthy owners.

Where to begin with this completely ignorant statement?

A. Green Bay Packer Ryan Grant completely echoed my thoughts when he stated that literal modern-day slavery does exist in this world. I'd like to see Adrian Peterson living in a place like Dubai, where people really are carted off from their families, forced to toil as unpaid servants, receive no payment whatsoever, and live in tiny broom closets with no lights in the homes of their wealthy masters. They have no hope of ever escaping back to their families, who don't know where they are or how to reach them. That is slavery, you dumb jock.

2. As BJ pointed out, what a disrespectful remark to make about people who actually were African American slaves in this country, people who really were beaten, raped, lived in shacks, sold as property, and worked in the sun for their entire lives. Oh, but wait...football is the same thing, right?

and
D. (for you 'Home Alone' fans, please note my counting system a la Buzz) If you don't like playing football, Peterson, then by all means please retire. You have the right to leave. And when you do, you will have more money to live on than BJ and I, and nearly all other Americans, will spend their entire lives working for, and you're only 25. We're crying tears for you, real tears.

In conclusion, please don't judge Oklahomans as all being equivalent to this giant moron when it comes to beliefs regarding equal rights and black history (and slavery history, no matter where in the world we're talking about).

Now I'm done.  Goodnight.

Double Dream Hands

Oh, my my my. Today I was watching The Ellen Degeneres Show while Silas was playing with his toys beside me. She showed a clip of the 'double dream hands' man, which is essentially an incredibly nerdy fellow performing some Napoleon-Dynamite-like moves while announcing them aloud (i.e. "shoulder, shoulder, now double dream hands!"). I think this link will lead you to the film if my description isn't colorful enough. So I'm definitely laughing out loud at this clip, and Silas is distracted by my laughter and looks to the television also. After a second he laughed out loud and said excitedly, "Dada! Dada!" while watching the nerdy man on TV. Poor BJ! I had to call him with that story, but reassured him that he is not a nerdy dancer.

For a general update, we had a great weekend. BJ was in Los Angeles all last week and returned home on Friday evening, so it was good to return to the co-parenting lifestyle again. Also, it was really nice to just be with BJ! We tried a Pioneer Woman recipe on Friday night from the cookbook of hers that I had autographed on PW night at Hastings. The recipe was for potato leek pizza, and boy was it ever good! BJ and I concluded that PW and we have the same taste in pizza toppings and cheeses. On top of this pizza were delicious sauteed leeks, thinly sliced potatoes, fresh mozzarella (NOT the bagged kind!), goat cheese, and bacon. I'm definitely not a pork fan, but a little bit of bacon on this was quite a nice addition. I forgot to take a picture when it was all pretty, but this is what the pizza looked like after we ravaged it.

Silas has also been surprising us with all kinds of tricks. Now he regularly says "Tex" which comes out more as "Tay" and he LOVES spending time with Tex. Seriously. This is not just me hoping that my two sons get along!

Of course, he also gets along with cats really well too, and took easily to a friendly cat at one of our friend's places. Silas had no qualms with making himself right at home in Kitty City.

It sucks that it's Monday, but ah well. What can you do? I hope that everyone has a great day!

The Disaster Pants

In yesterday's post I mentioned the "disaster pants," and today I fully intend to explain the meaning behind this. I was discussing that the day of the F5 tornado, May 3, 1999, was a day that lives in infamy in my mind, and that I actually remember what I was wearing on that day. It was a brand-new outfit and it was my first time to wear it, a red button-up short-sleeved shirt and royal blue capris. They may sound cute, and believe me, they were, but those pants are like the innocent-looking Reagan at the beginning of 'The Exorcist.' One minute all cute and girly, and the next minute wreaking satanic havoc and vomiting pea soup into the faces of priests.

So yes, obviously, the first time I wore the Disaster Pants was May 3, 1999. I was a senior in high school, and I was superstitious enough to actually not wear that outfit again for a long time. It was over a year, actually, before I donned the pants again, and it just so happened that that day was the day that my grandfather died. Now, to be fair to the pants (and the way that I was rationalizing this in my mind), we were well aware that Papa's life was drawing to a close and that he was likely to pass any day. So okay, that was maybe my bad. But still, bad taste in my mouth about the pants. So I didn't pull them out for another year and a few months.

Time passes and I am now a junior in college. Too many clothes are in the dirty-laundry pile, and I really need to get to work. A glance in my closet reveals the innocent-looking pants, and I laugh at myself for having convinced myself to not wear those pants for so long. They're so cute! And they fit well! Okay, I'll put them on and wear them. What world disaster could possibly happen? These are the very thoughts I was thinking on that morning as I got dressed and drove to work on September 11, 2001. Yeah. That day.

So now I'm pissed. I honest to God watched the buildings fall and looked down at my pants, asking myself desperately, "What have I done?" Never. to. wear. the. pants. again. Ever!

More times passes and I'm now in my first year of graduate school. I'm married, 23 years old, living in Minnesota, and we're making it on our own. I'm smart now and think, It's so stupid that I could have possibly blamed two major disasters and one family death on these stupid cute pants. Fine! I'll wear them again! Funny thing is that, throughout that sunny day in May, I actually told people the story about the Disaster Pants and laughed about it with them as I was wearing them. I was probably just relieving my own anxiety, but I think the Pants thought I was goading them. So they struck back. And that afternoon, BJ sat me down and told me he had bad news. "The pants! The pants!" I'm thinking in my head, as he continues and tells me that our family dog Jake has been put down that day.

The Pants currently are folded and live in a plastic bin in my closet. They will not be worn again. I couldn't fit into them anyway, but even if I could, there is no way it's happening. I really believe in the horrible karma of those pants, worn only four days and responsible for so much grief. There is no way I'm donating them either, because if some unsuspecting person wore them, disasters would continue to be unleashed. Nope, those pants aren't going anywhere. The End.

My Favorite Day Ever

I had really been hoping that Silas wouldn't be born on May 3rd.  There are two disastrous anniversaries that Oklahomans refer to by date only, and everyone knows what they are: April 19th (the Murrah Building bombing) and May 3rd (the F5 tornado outbreak). Both of those days were so awful and hit so close to home that I even remember what I was wearing on those days, and the "disaster pants" will be the topic of tomorrow's post! Anyway, Silas' due date was officially May 8th, but the doctor had moved it up and he was promised to come at any time at the end of April or beginning of May. I thought, "Not May 3rd, not May 3rd!" In the end, though, how was I to know that May 3, 2010 would become the all-time favorite day of my life?

Silas was actually born on the afternoon of May 2nd, so maybe it seems kind of odd that the 2nd isn't the best day of my life. However, my love for Silas was like a fire that was present but that needed a little fanning before it began raging out of control. I don't mind admitting that either. I remember when he was immediately born, of course I loved him! I loved him like crazy...BUT I was pretty concerned about me at the time too, as selfish as it seems (hey, I was a brand-spankin' new mommy, and selfishness was still the way of life!). I was in shock and I was exhausted, as I hadn't slept but about 45 minutes since two nights before. Three hours after Silas was born a nurse came in and asked if he had had a wet diaper, and I suddenly realized, "Oh yeah. I'm supposed to start checking for that kind of thing, huh?" It hadn't even occurred to me. I had been too busy showing him off and regaining the feeling in my legs.

That night I got a few hours of rest and woke up early, feeling like a new woman. I guess I really was a new woman. Silas was sleeping in the plastic hospital bassinet and BJ was sleeping on the plastic hospital pretend-bed, and I got up, picked up Silas, and held him while he slept. All day long. He honestly slept most of the day, and I honestly couldn't take my eyes off of him most of the day. He snuggled into my chest and I fell hard into love. I look back on that day and remember it so vividly...every single visitor, the laughs, the gifts, the care from BJ, and the baby. That silly wonderful baby. May 3, 2010...the best day of my life. The day I shed my old identity and morphed into something absurdly and crazily wonderful. A real mom.

Trouble Has Been Brewing

Let me just quickly say that Pioneer Woman's popularity has spread to my blog. I have noticed that I have officially gotten more hits on the PW posting than any other posting in the past, including Mommy Mathematics. The PW fever is rocking my blog too apparently!

Have I mentioned that I love being the lone girl in this little family of ours? My three boys, BJ, Silas, and Tex, spoil me terribly, and quite frankly I just can't imagine ever needing to upset this balance by adding another girl to it. Well, maybe one more. Three sons and a daughter sounds pretty perfect. Lately, though, both of our sons have been up to heaps of trouble. If you've smelled something fishy lately, it's probably what has been brewing at our place. For starters, there has been lots of horseplay (don't worry, Silas wasn't hurt in this picture).

There has been entirely too much begging for table scraps as well.

To be fair, it has been from some more than others...

But Silas isn't off here scot-free. He's been TONS of trouble lately! I've had to say to him, "Son, don't walk away when I'm talking to you!"

He has also begun growing his hair out too long for his father's and my taste...

And I promise, BJ isn't trying to murder him, despite how it may appear. We are not running a Sweeney Todd establishment here.

But in the end, BJ and I have decided to keep these two rascals, because how can you say 'no' to these faces, I ask?

I guess I won't.

=)

Meeting Pioneer Woman

I think that there may be about five people in this country who aren't reading Pioneer Woman's blog. If you are one of those five people, click here to join in the fun. Pioneer Woman, hereafter referred to as PW in this post, is actually a nice lady named Ree Drummond who is responsible for the Pioneer Woman website and resulting books, The Pioneer Woman Cooks and The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels--A Love Story. PW is an inspiration to me and she represents so much of what I aspire to be in life: happily married, mother of four, person-who-has-it-together-and-cooks-delicious-meals-and-writes-well-and-loves-contributing-to-her-family, and lives in Oklahoma to boot (and loves it!). Some of this I already am, especially the happily married, mother of one, loves to cook and contribute to my family and live in Oklahoma parts. The other parts of that, I can only dare to dream. So today, incidentally, I decided to purchase PW's cookbook and thought I might as well look to see when her next book signing in the OKC area was. Ah, I discovered it was in approximately 45 minutes, and it was happening 7 miles south of my house in Norman, OK. Incredibly perfect timing! So Silas and I loaded up and headed down to meet PW and purchase her book!

We got there before the signing and were still 258th in line, but since they were handing out tickets, we decided to leave and go grocery shopping before coming back later. Poor Silas just wasn't having it after about 30 minutes of waiting once we got back, but luckily PW saw my plight and moved me to the front of the line. The people behind me in line were totally fine with this, and I wish them all good karma for understanding the limitations of baby-adventures. Silas and I got the book signed and even got a pic!

You can see that Silas is clearly making a dive from mommy's arms to PW. Can't say I blame him.

I realize now that my post Books and Needles from earlier this week was a little hasty in finalizing my book-reading list for 2011. Obviously I need to read PW's cookbook, as it promises goodies such as Cowboy Nachos, potato-leek pizza, sour cream pancakes, and pineapple-upside-down-cake in an iron skillet. Also included on the need-to-read list this year are Hereafter, which is now available on Amazon by my friend Tara Hudson, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which BJ was so kind as to have signed for me, and the first of the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. My work is cut out for me.

Courtside Seats

Last night our season-ticket account manager, who incidentally is da bomb, upgraded our tickets for the Thunder v. Pacers game to COURTSIDE SEATS, just because she is nice! I can't even begin to tell you how excited BJ and I were. You can see exactly how excited Silas was about it too. Do notice the kickin' Kevin Durant jersey that Silas is sporting.

Our exciting evening began with a free dinner at the courtside restaurant, which essentially is a gourmet buffet. Our dinner selections included chicken marsala, beef tenderloin, some fancy fish in a red sauce that I didn't eat because it was reminiscent of the chopping board on which the fish was likely filleted, fresh fruit, salad, delicious dessert, you name it. It.was.awesome. After that it was on to our seats where we got to see warm-ups and then the game up close and personal. Here are some of shots I got of KD to illustrate our proximity to greatness.

We were so close that you could see the rippling muscles, and I could even see the freckles on Nick Collison's arms (my second favorite player). As seen only on TV! Silas also had cameramen in his face three times, and the lovable mascot Rumble came to say hi to Silas as well (although he walked away with shoulders slumped and head down because Silas wouldn't wave at him).  The Thunder rolled to a huge victory over the Pacers. Coincidentally we were sitting immediately next to Cathy Keating, who is a former First Lady of Oklahoma.

Ms. Keating was incredibly nice and I chatted with her for several minutes of the game. She kindly oohed and aahed over my son and generally added a fun presence to our little row. At one point she volunteered to take a picture of the three of us in front of the court, and it would have been a great shot, except that I accidentally slid the camera button to 'video' just before handing it to her. So now instead of a great Christmas card photo of the three of us in front of KD, taken by the Governor's wife, we have a video of the three of us smiling for a long time with confused eyes and Cathy Keating's voice in the background saying, "It's not flashing! It's not flashing! Is something wrong?" Oh well.
GO THUNDER!