Liberty Fest: Taste of Edmond

We just got back from the Taste of Edmond. This is a huge part of Edmond's Liberty Fest (which was rated as CNN top 10 places to be over the July 4th Weekend). And it's great...they have many vendors donating the food that is a favorite at their respective restaurant...they have many people helping out...and they have a great venue. It's all great...in theory!

The problem is so many people partake. Normally this is a good thing but here, it's wall to wall people and there's all these lines to wait in but the lines are schewd, overlapping each other and you don't know what vendor you're in line for until you get closer.

By my fourth line, I had had it. It wasn't fun anymore. It was endless waiting, juggling the item you rec'd in the last line you waited in for 15 minutes along with your drink, dodging strollers and people who don't believe they are supposed to say, "excuse me" before crossing in front of you so they could get to another line.

I hate to be a killjoy but....I probably will not be going next year.

If it were up to me, I think it should be set up like this. Seat the people and have the vendor's hire highschool kids to bring their fare to each table. I'm all for this. Instead of having 3000 people running around; have 300. This makes more sense to me..but it's not up to me...so I'll get off my high horse and go watch Password.

Just call us Gramma and Grampa

I finally got around to visiting the new neighbors. They moved in across the street about 3 weeks ago. I've been meaning to go over to welcome them to the neighborhood. They appear to be a very nice young couple with a 5 year old daughter. I would guess they are in their mid-20's.

We had a pleasant conversation about the usual...what we did for a living, how long we've been in Edmond..blah blah blah...but I swear things came to a screeching halt when he said, "I think you and your husband are probably the oldest couple on the street."

"Oh righty then!"

I didn't stay long after that and as I left I did have this overwhelming urge to say, "Well, I gotta go...I think the Ex-lax is kicking in and it's almost time for my Geritol."

Or I should have asked if he had any tennis balls for the feet of my walker.

I told Phil that next time he sees him to say, "Hey how ya doing there son?"

It's kind of strange to be thought of as "old." I'm not sure I've earned it.

I just don't care....

Right now, I just don't care if Obama is the son of Osama. I don't care if polar bears are in danger because Bush has signed some bill or something giving oil companies permission to find oil in the Chukchi Sea. I don't care who becomes president in November. I don't care about Kobi Bryant or the housing bubble or same-sex unions going on in CA.

Right now, all I care about is my dad; about the tumors returning to his bladder. If they are and they have to remove them the surgery will probably push back his surgery to repair an embolism in his aorta which will push back the surgery to remove the bladder. He's had enough road blocks! That's what he calls them. If you read this, please pray he will be better. That's all I care about right now.

(Notice the remote in his hand. Such a natural pose!)

Oh this makes sense..

I don't watch The Bacholette but I see the many many promos. It looks like they are trying something new.

They're bringing in the authority in men who wear boxes...yes, Ellen DeGeneres! They decided the show apparently needed someone who knows men! Yep, that'll be Ellen!

My idea of a vacation

Oh man...I loved today. I loved not going to work. I loved doing stuff around the house but more importantly...I loved the opportunity to nap. I know, most people like to do stuff, go boating, camping, cook on the grill but my idea of the perfect day off...is a good nap right smack in the middle of the day. Why? You may ask. Because I can!!!!! This works for me.

If you make your bed...

If you make a choice to do something and it ends up causing you grief, can you complain about it? Isn't the grief self-inflicted?

If you decide you don't love your spouse like a person is suppose to love a spouse and you tell your spouse this and you make plans to be with another and for whatever reason it makes you sad or upset or whatever, should people around you feel bad for you? Isn't this one of those times where you're making your bed and you need to lay in it?

Am I wrong for not feeling sorry for this person?

May 19th

I've been working on my present job for not quite a year. When I first was hired, there was one lady, Pam, in the company who worked at a different building who emailed me. Her primary reason to email me was to welcome me to the company. I was new and I didn't know the culture of the workplace so I freely emailed with her over the next few weeks. We seemed to be on the same line of thinking...believing that each day was a gift and that we needed to cherish each of them even if it was not Friday. I just felt some sort of connection with this woman.

When I met her for the first time it was like we just knew each other. It's so hard to explain but there was not much of a beat we were missing. She just struck me as "my kind of person."

In August we moved into a new building together. I found Pam's office on a couple of occasions as some kind of refuse. I was having a hard time with others who were not privy to my line of thinking. Pam offered me support. She let me vent and sometimes she laid it out for me in no uncertain terms. We shared the honesty that can be hard to find in the business world.

In the last few months, Pam's mom became ill. I would check on her, asking Pam how she was doing. I prayed at night that her mom would be okay or if God had plans that Pam would find the strength to let it happen.

I found out today, May 19th, 2008 that Pam's mom passed on. I find it no accident that Pam lost her mom exactly two years to the day, that I lost my momma. And I firmly believe that Pam and I are not the only ones who share a connection.

On that show Lost

I don't watch "Lost" but I see the 86 million promos ABC airs during the three or four shows I watch during the week and all I can say is:

Will someone please save these people!!!!!

The promos are making me nuts. Aw..I just can't believe how much grief these people have had. Wasn't falling from the sky enough drama? Like I said, I don't watch the show but I know they have had problems with getting along with one another, being so-called rescued by what turns out to be unfriendly people and for the most part, escaping death at every turn. Please ABC...save them!!! Have a show with them dealing with post partum or whatever that syndrome is that I can't remember the name of where you have flashbacks etc. You know. Just lose "Lost"....for me.

And so it goes..

Only one more test and one more memo to write and I am a graduated college professional! Wow! 29 years in the making.

I am not going to the ceremony on Saturday or having a party. Maybe Phil and I will go out and do something fun ..like give blood. We tried to give today. Phil was successful. I had had an steriod epidural 10 days ago. You need to wait 14 before donating though. Just an FYI.

Something will come up...something fun...also our 21st anniversary is this month too. Please send money.

Choices

We all make choice. Each day you make a hundred.

• Should I make the right on red or wait until the light turns green?
• Should I bring my lunch to work or go out?
• Should I take an umbrella?
• Should I wear heels?
• Should I go on the turnpike?

See there's five and I haven't even got to work.

Of course there are bigger ones to make - go to college, get married, get involved with someone, have an affair, or not; end an affair.

My problem is when those who need to make a choice, don't...they sit on it and you can't do anything. And your life hangs in the balance. Decide already...okay.

Update on my dad

It appears that the cancer is contained only in the bladder. We hadn't gotten the official word from someone, say a doctor...but the nurses at Roswell Cancer Institute say the scan "looked good." They release my dad on Saturday...sent him packing with a prescription and his very own cathader to collect all his pinkish pee. Yikes....now there's TMI. The hope now is he can get in soon to have the aneurism fixed, recover from that and then take the bladder.

He's doing okay but a bit, understandably, apprehensive.

Still listening

The Book of Joe on CD is my first book that I'm having read to me. I'm really liking this concept. I just started the third disk with Chapter 11. I probably could read faster but I'm listening while driving so, since laws and the distraction of driving hinders reading, I'm multi-tasking. I am sure I will do this again with another book. Maybe Eddie's Bastard....I loved that book.

At lunch I was going to go the mall but decided to just drive to Taco Bueno for a Bob. I took the long way just so I could listen more.

I love his descriptions but I am not sure the average person takes in all that he's describing unless they are going to write about it. Lunch is almost over....gotta go.

I'm my Parent's Daughter

My dad is very sick. He has bladder cancer and he lies in a bed at a cancer center in Buffalo. He had a tumor removed in the fall and now, he just had another taken out today. It's bad. He's not really healthy enough to have the bladder removed, which would be the best thing. They are running scans right now to see if the cancer has spread. I'm home, here in OK, prayer with all my might that it hasn't.

I want to get on a plane to go see him. I know there are a lot of people who would just go....just book a flight regardless of the cost and go. I am my mother's daughter and my father's daughter...there is no doubt about it. I'm on the net comparing prices and trying to decide when to leave. If I leave tomorrow its almost $900. If I leave on Sunday, it's under $300. I just don't know what to do. I'm waiting for my brother to call with more info. I just don't know what to do.

I'm in that kind of mood

I'm listening, in the car for the past four trips somewhere, to a book on CD. It's The Book of Joe by Jonathan Trooper. I've read the book...actually read it...a couple years ago. It's been long enough that I really don't know what is going to happen as I listen. I have a vague recollection of there being a Mrs Robinson kind of thing going and I think someone dies. I'm not sure.

Anyway, it's got me in this frame of mind where as I write this I can hear the narrator speaking my words in my head just like he reads Troopers. It's weird. I really hear him. Trooper writes well and I find myself saying...I can do this....I can rely my life in the same manner; I can put words together in a crafty way where they sound plausible, funny with a bit of familiarity. I can have snappy answers in my dialog of my story too.

For example, yesterday, I saw someone taking a rather large piece of birthday cake out of the kitchen. I had to make a conscience effort to not say what was running though my head....I bit my lip. It was good but the urge to say, "that's a mighty big piece of cake for someone on a diet" hung in the air as he waddled out of the room. I could almost feel him wish to not have me there to witness this transaction; a sort of hesitation with doing it with a desire to say, "f-you, I'm hungry for something sweet. F the diet too" and continuing with the confection get away.
There...that is very Trooperish.

I'm working on a short story, hopefully for True Story magazine. This story does not have the same tone as The Book of Joe. It's really pretty bad in that it's not deep with detail and the flow of the story is a bit choppy. You don't have to describe every single thing...just give the essence and move on.

We'll see.

I didn't think it could happen....

...but apparently it did. I have recieved some information today that clearly states I, yes me...yes little ol me, have cornered the market on words! It's true. All the words that are spoken or written in a blog belong to me! No one else is allowed to use them because they are MINE! I find this a little hard to believe because I know in my heart of hearts, I really don't matter.

I know that may be hard to hear but it's true. I am not a bleep on anyone's radar screen...well except for my husband and my family. If I am to speak of you; or describe an occurance that you were party to...you as the reader have absolutely no recourse. You can't comment on what I have said because to do so would mean you are using words and we all know, now, that those words belong to ME!

I suppose this is why YOU don't comment. Apparently that memo went around but no one cc'ed me until now. Now I get it.

Should I take this time to say, I reliquish my hold on all words? As of now, you can comment and I promise, I will not delete your comment unless you are spamming me. It's okay...I give up my corner of the market. You can also set up your own blog and tell stories of what happened with whomever...even me. I'll let you. There you have permission. Use the words and use them wisely. Even though they are not limited and there are more words out there if you just look. They are everywhere! I swear!

On feeling Productive

There's nothing like it; working on your work and seeing the fruits of your labor blossom into a bountiful harvest. Okay, that's a tad dramatic I honestly feel like I'm contributing....like what I'm doing matters. I don't know why.

I actually didn't want to leave. I had so much I wanted to get done and every now and then an email or a phone call would take me away from my objective and steer me in a different direction for a short time. Then I'd make my way back to what I wanted to do. I actually clocked out before I was done, but kept on working.

I really like it when work is fun.

Edna, Andrea and Me

Here is Edna and her daughter Andrea.

Edna is such a great gal. I'm blessed to have gotten to know her.

And me and Andrea. That picture was taking while holding the camera in front of us and just hoping for the best. Andrea is such a cutie.

I'm free....

Such a bell rings through me! I feel so free. You see, I had this presentation to do with three other students in our class. We choose Music Labels and Music Artists. On top of the Power Point presentation, we had to write a 16 page report on the subject. It's all I've been focusing on for the last three weeks. (Well, the occasional look into the meaning of life did get in the way.) But it's all done!!!!! I could dance a jig! I just might.

Now I can clean my house, write that short story and figure out a way to keep track of all the things I do at work! I'm so psyched!

Questions in Life

There's a show on ABC called Men in Trees. It's about a relationship-advice guru writer named Marin Frist, who moves to Alaska after finding out her fiance was cheating on her. She has a radio talk show where she ponders different questions.

My last post was taken in the same vane. But here is another...

When do you call a person you know "a friend?" How much do you need to know before you are "friends?" The show touched on this a little last week when the one character, Cash, needed a kidney. A man, Terri, stepped up for him and he felt because of this donation they were now instant friends. Cash apparently, at first didn't see it this way. Of course, to make the story flow nicely he came around. But there was one interesting quote Terri said, "Friends are aware of another's feeling." Yes, this is TV but life does imitate art. And visa versa.

I know the waitress at Texas Roadhouse last night is not my friend even though we exchanged pleasantries and revealed little pieces of ourselves. I do think the moment you ask someone a fairly personal question (and no, not how do I like my steak cooked) and you receive a fairly detailed answer you are friends.

I'll have more Marin Frist type questions as time goes on. Stay tuned.

Starting Over

How many times do YOU reinvent yourself? It seems I am doing this every four or five months. Something happens that is not a positive occurance which I think I need to rise above. I put on my "big girl panties" and deal. Or at least I try. I'm not always successful.

I think the best you can do is look at all what is good in your world. Some say if you're breathing that is all that matters. Do you ever look at your life and wonder if anyone would want it? Who would want your life? This can get kind of depressing when the best you can come up with is a homeless person with a life altering disease. Yes, it can always get worse.

I have issues I need to address. I used to think blogging about them would help and I still believe this but it might not be in the best interest of those in my life....of those who can not understand or begin to understand.

Depression is a tricky thing. Putting on your big girl panties just doesn't work. The woman's magazines will list helpful answers to what to do when you're feeling a little blue. Things like buy an new address book and rewrite the addresses leaving out the people who have disappointed you. Or rent a funny movie. Or make voodoo dolls and stick pins in them. Sorry....this is fine if you boyfriend just broke up with you and a pint of Hagan Daas isn't working. But true depression doesn't work that way.

I do thank my lucky stars that I have this amazing husband who is constantly reminding me how much he loves me. I have a wonderful job that pays me a decent salary (not that I would turn down more). Although my family is not here, I know they are there for me if I needed them. Aside from some back pain, I'm healthy enough to do what I need to do to make a living, go to school and travel when I need to. I have a working car that I need new tires for. I have this great little dog. And I have a God who watches over me and those I care about. Life is good.