We had a good day today. We went to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman, OK. It was a good museum with four different exhibit areas. The kids seemed to learn several things. We'll just have to see if they remember it later.
We also went onto the OU campus and went to the library there. It has a really wonderful Reading Room inside. Drake described it perfectly. He said the is was something like out of the movies, like you would see on Indiana Jones. It had all the dark wood, all carved and beautiful. I can't wait to go back there sometime with a good book and just sit and read. I told the kids that maybe one day when we need a change during our school routine we will go there and study. How cool would that be?
That's it for now. Got to go because Drake just freaked out because he found a spider crawling on him. Can't say that I blame him for freaking out!!! YUCK!!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
New Day
Wow, what a heavy last post. It sure helped being able to poor it all out on paper. I think that things had just built up until I just exploded over something silly, like time off work. Once I finally fell asleep, I woke up with a new attitude. Several options for relief pharmacists opened up for me and all was better. I guess everyone deserves a good cry every now and then.
Right now we are in the middle of a snow storm. There was even a Blizzard Warning given today. Can you believe that? Blizzard in Oklahoma in March. Strange. It sure is fun that it is on the weekend so we don't have to worry so much about getting out and going to work in the mess. We can just sit back and enjoy the cold. Well, enjoy might be a bit strong but at least relax.
Drake has a girlfriend. He has 'dated' this little lady for awhile. She seems really nice and is from a really nice family. The thing I really like is that she seems a lot like Drake. Meaning, she isn't just "going" with him just to say she has a boyfriend. The share the same style and likes. In a town as small as this one, and for someone as unique as Drake that is quite a rare thing. It is sweet to see him grow up.
Jilly is just plugging along. She is the happiest kid I've ever known. She takes after her daddy. I strive to be as positive as she is everyday.
Steve is doing pretty good. He had a tough couple of weeks with Randall's passing and all but I think he is pulling out of it now. Work stress has been going down and a new normal is starting to arrive on the horizon. I think we will be OK when this all flushes out.
Well, enough for now. I just wanted to post something more positive after my complete break down the other night. Thanks for letting me vent.
Right now we are in the middle of a snow storm. There was even a Blizzard Warning given today. Can you believe that? Blizzard in Oklahoma in March. Strange. It sure is fun that it is on the weekend so we don't have to worry so much about getting out and going to work in the mess. We can just sit back and enjoy the cold. Well, enjoy might be a bit strong but at least relax.
Drake has a girlfriend. He has 'dated' this little lady for awhile. She seems really nice and is from a really nice family. The thing I really like is that she seems a lot like Drake. Meaning, she isn't just "going" with him just to say she has a boyfriend. The share the same style and likes. In a town as small as this one, and for someone as unique as Drake that is quite a rare thing. It is sweet to see him grow up.
Jilly is just plugging along. She is the happiest kid I've ever known. She takes after her daddy. I strive to be as positive as she is everyday.
Steve is doing pretty good. He had a tough couple of weeks with Randall's passing and all but I think he is pulling out of it now. Work stress has been going down and a new normal is starting to arrive on the horizon. I think we will be OK when this all flushes out.
Well, enough for now. I just wanted to post something more positive after my complete break down the other night. Thanks for letting me vent.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Overwhelmed
Today is a day that I'm glad not many people, if any, read this blog. I'm feeling totally overwhelmed right now. Our company boss and good friend, Randall Kourt, died two weeks ago. This threw everything in our lives into total caos. We didn't know where the company was headed, we didn't know who would provided needed functions, we didn't know what the money status of the company was. To make matters worse, Randall was our day off. He was also our vacation relief.
I stepped up and agreed to do paperwork for the company. This is no small task. There are 8 stores in the company. I will have to do daily worksheets, pay bills, and run payroll. I don't think this will take up to much time once I get everything settled. It's the getting settled that is working on me. Plus, now everyone thinks I'm the person with all the answers. I understand that I have opinions that I don't keep to myself. I understand that someone needs to get things done but I'm not seeing the end of the tunnel.
Tonight I just kept thinking about time off from work. Steve and I have no one to cover us. How are we going to be able to go on vacation? We are planning on working 6 days a week. I'm not sure who to even ask to cover a whole week. I'm sitting here bawling like a baby because i can't take a vacation who knows when. It is so stupid!! I know it is stupid yet I can't stop it! I've been able to solve all the problems for everyone else in the company who have been freaking out but I can't solve this!
I guess I just need to go to bed and I'm sure all will be well in the morning. This may be one of those things that I hate to read later on but right now it feels good to get it out. I'm not going to re-read this so I'm sure it will be rambling and full of errors, please over look it.
I stepped up and agreed to do paperwork for the company. This is no small task. There are 8 stores in the company. I will have to do daily worksheets, pay bills, and run payroll. I don't think this will take up to much time once I get everything settled. It's the getting settled that is working on me. Plus, now everyone thinks I'm the person with all the answers. I understand that I have opinions that I don't keep to myself. I understand that someone needs to get things done but I'm not seeing the end of the tunnel.
Tonight I just kept thinking about time off from work. Steve and I have no one to cover us. How are we going to be able to go on vacation? We are planning on working 6 days a week. I'm not sure who to even ask to cover a whole week. I'm sitting here bawling like a baby because i can't take a vacation who knows when. It is so stupid!! I know it is stupid yet I can't stop it! I've been able to solve all the problems for everyone else in the company who have been freaking out but I can't solve this!
I guess I just need to go to bed and I'm sure all will be well in the morning. This may be one of those things that I hate to read later on but right now it feels good to get it out. I'm not going to re-read this so I'm sure it will be rambling and full of errors, please over look it.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Florida Chrinicles Part II
OK, to pick up where we left off.....Steve had arrived in Florida.
He pulled into the first hotel they found. It was a nice Marriott and it only had a suite available. Steve hopped on it. Needless to say he was tired. Who wouldn't be after driving since 5am!
The next morning he was ready to seize the day, Carpe' Burrito, as he would say. The only problem, he has spent the last 16 years having me plan his vacation days. I don't think this is a bad thing. He just hasn't ever developed the skill to plan the whole day on a whim. He, again, is very goal oriented. So he was kind of lost on what to get done.
He called me and I gave him some ideas. His dad was being a good sport and was just going with the flow. Don is a laid back guy and wasn't about to put his agenda on Steve. So Steve got to (had to) make all the decisions.
The went around the town of Clermont. It seemed to Steve to be a very tourist type town. Not a very homey place. He was really bothered by the guards at the entrance to the grocery stores. It was a big strike against the area.
He took Don around to the Disney sites. The took in Downtown Disney, the Poly, the Wilderness Lodge, the Grand Floridian, & the monorail. I think that Don got a good idea why we enjoy it so much. I think Steve also got a better idea of why we like it so much. The reason? Because it isn't the 'real' world. Just outside the Disney gates the 'real' world comes flooding back in.
Steve spent the day growing ever more anxious about the drive back home. I think the idea of spending another day just flitting about while the drive loomed over him was too much. He started to freak out and obsess over the drive. He was done! He was ready to come home! He was tired of not knowing where to drive, tired of reading maps, tired of thinking about what to do next. Again, he was DONE!
So he was tossing and turing trying to go to sleep with no luck. So what does any sane person do? Wake up their father and get on the road at 8:30pm! He knew if he told me I would have freaked out on him. He called me the next morning from Alexandria LA. I was glad he was coming home but worried sick about him.
He made it home safe and sound, if not really sleepy. He learned that we didn't need to buy a house in the Orlando area. If we want to spend several months there when we retire, we will just rent. It is not a place that he wants to make a home. So the trip seemed like a failure but in hind site it was a success. He learned what he needed to learn.
He pulled into the first hotel they found. It was a nice Marriott and it only had a suite available. Steve hopped on it. Needless to say he was tired. Who wouldn't be after driving since 5am!
The next morning he was ready to seize the day, Carpe' Burrito, as he would say. The only problem, he has spent the last 16 years having me plan his vacation days. I don't think this is a bad thing. He just hasn't ever developed the skill to plan the whole day on a whim. He, again, is very goal oriented. So he was kind of lost on what to get done.
He called me and I gave him some ideas. His dad was being a good sport and was just going with the flow. Don is a laid back guy and wasn't about to put his agenda on Steve. So Steve got to (had to) make all the decisions.
The went around the town of Clermont. It seemed to Steve to be a very tourist type town. Not a very homey place. He was really bothered by the guards at the entrance to the grocery stores. It was a big strike against the area.
He took Don around to the Disney sites. The took in Downtown Disney, the Poly, the Wilderness Lodge, the Grand Floridian, & the monorail. I think that Don got a good idea why we enjoy it so much. I think Steve also got a better idea of why we like it so much. The reason? Because it isn't the 'real' world. Just outside the Disney gates the 'real' world comes flooding back in.
Steve spent the day growing ever more anxious about the drive back home. I think the idea of spending another day just flitting about while the drive loomed over him was too much. He started to freak out and obsess over the drive. He was done! He was ready to come home! He was tired of not knowing where to drive, tired of reading maps, tired of thinking about what to do next. Again, he was DONE!
So he was tossing and turing trying to go to sleep with no luck. So what does any sane person do? Wake up their father and get on the road at 8:30pm! He knew if he told me I would have freaked out on him. He called me the next morning from Alexandria LA. I was glad he was coming home but worried sick about him.
He made it home safe and sound, if not really sleepy. He learned that we didn't need to buy a house in the Orlando area. If we want to spend several months there when we retire, we will just rent. It is not a place that he wants to make a home. So the trip seemed like a failure but in hind site it was a success. He learned what he needed to learn.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Florida Chronicles Part I
Last Tuesday/Wednesday we had the brilliant idea that we should look into buying a rental home in the Orlando area. This isn't a totally crazy idea since that is where we really enjoy spending our vacation time and where we plan on spending some of our retirement. The big hold up was that we have never spent any time outside of the Disney parks.
We spent a couple of days looking on the Internet for possible areas to purchase. We looked at several homes that looked to fit our criteria. The housing market there is at a rock bottom. The prices look to be very good. Now we had to go and actually look at these properties. Trouble is, one of us has to stay and work and take care of children.
Steve has been wanting to take a road trip with his Dad and/or brother for awhile now. This seemed like the perfect time to make that happen. So he called up his dad and asked if he was ready for an adventure. His dad wasn't sure he wanted to leave his mom at home. She had been fighting the flu for a couple of days. He wanted a day or so to think about it and see if she got to feeling better.
Thursday night it was decided that he would go and the plan was to leave out on Friday afternoon. Needless to say, we were running around our house on Thursday trying to get everything ready. I made lists of things for Steve to check while he was running around Florida. Things like, get a local paper, go to a grocery store, check out what kind of people are shopping at Wal-Mart, go talk to a local pharmacist, etc.... I was overloading Steve with multiple chores. It took a few hours before I understood what the trip was really supposed to be about. Sure, it would be great to find the perfect house in Orlando but the trip was really a chance for Steve and his dad to spend some time together. I told Steve not to worry about the house so much as to have fun running around with his dad. I think I even talked him into taking his dad to EPCOT for a day.
His dad showed up at the store about noon on Friday. Boy was Steve ready to roll! His poor dad didn't have but a minute to rest his tushie before Steve was herding him into the car again. We had planned out a couple of different routes that he could drive down to Florida. One of them along the coast and the other coming in from the north. He said that he was going to take the one along the coast. I got a call a few hours later saying that they changed their mind and were in Ft. Smith Arkansas. The thought this way they would see new sites right from the beginning of the trip and really feel like they were started. This seemed like a good idea at that time. It was a few more hours later that I got a call from them declaring otherwise. I guess they spent a few hours driving in a terrible thunderstorm, at night, in a town they didn't know! Not a good stress reducer for Steve. The stopped for the night in Memphis TN.
Steve called me from the hotel in a desperate bid to find out what the weather forecast was for Memphis. To me it seemed OK. Well, it was the start of a major winter storm!! Steve's neurotic nature saved them though. He tossed and turned all night worrying about being frozen into Memphis TN for days. So, he woke his father up at like 5am and said "Let's hit the road." Good thing they did, Memphis got several inches of snow over the next day!
Now that Steve had the weather chasing him there was no stopping him. He drove right on through to Orlando with very few stops. So much for stopping along the way and doing fun things. He was scared that they wouldn't make it to the destination. Talk about tunnel vision. He is very goal oriented. In hind site I should have had specific stops for him to make along the way. Thus, he wouldn't have had to think about it.
I'll continue the story on the next blog....It's time for me to get ready for work.
We spent a couple of days looking on the Internet for possible areas to purchase. We looked at several homes that looked to fit our criteria. The housing market there is at a rock bottom. The prices look to be very good. Now we had to go and actually look at these properties. Trouble is, one of us has to stay and work and take care of children.
Steve has been wanting to take a road trip with his Dad and/or brother for awhile now. This seemed like the perfect time to make that happen. So he called up his dad and asked if he was ready for an adventure. His dad wasn't sure he wanted to leave his mom at home. She had been fighting the flu for a couple of days. He wanted a day or so to think about it and see if she got to feeling better.
Thursday night it was decided that he would go and the plan was to leave out on Friday afternoon. Needless to say, we were running around our house on Thursday trying to get everything ready. I made lists of things for Steve to check while he was running around Florida. Things like, get a local paper, go to a grocery store, check out what kind of people are shopping at Wal-Mart, go talk to a local pharmacist, etc.... I was overloading Steve with multiple chores. It took a few hours before I understood what the trip was really supposed to be about. Sure, it would be great to find the perfect house in Orlando but the trip was really a chance for Steve and his dad to spend some time together. I told Steve not to worry about the house so much as to have fun running around with his dad. I think I even talked him into taking his dad to EPCOT for a day.
His dad showed up at the store about noon on Friday. Boy was Steve ready to roll! His poor dad didn't have but a minute to rest his tushie before Steve was herding him into the car again. We had planned out a couple of different routes that he could drive down to Florida. One of them along the coast and the other coming in from the north. He said that he was going to take the one along the coast. I got a call a few hours later saying that they changed their mind and were in Ft. Smith Arkansas. The thought this way they would see new sites right from the beginning of the trip and really feel like they were started. This seemed like a good idea at that time. It was a few more hours later that I got a call from them declaring otherwise. I guess they spent a few hours driving in a terrible thunderstorm, at night, in a town they didn't know! Not a good stress reducer for Steve. The stopped for the night in Memphis TN.
Steve called me from the hotel in a desperate bid to find out what the weather forecast was for Memphis. To me it seemed OK. Well, it was the start of a major winter storm!! Steve's neurotic nature saved them though. He tossed and turned all night worrying about being frozen into Memphis TN for days. So, he woke his father up at like 5am and said "Let's hit the road." Good thing they did, Memphis got several inches of snow over the next day!
Now that Steve had the weather chasing him there was no stopping him. He drove right on through to Orlando with very few stops. So much for stopping along the way and doing fun things. He was scared that they wouldn't make it to the destination. Talk about tunnel vision. He is very goal oriented. In hind site I should have had specific stops for him to make along the way. Thus, he wouldn't have had to think about it.
I'll continue the story on the next blog....It's time for me to get ready for work.
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