Day 120

To celebrate the last "free" night before Vortex 2 begins for Patrick, we made a pilgrimage to the nearest Steak'n'Shake for dinner. I ordered a kids' sized shake, and this was the cute cup it came in!

Day 119

Today, Patrick and I got to spend some time with our friend Mary Ann who was in town for the presentation of a scholarship in her husband's memory. After the ceremony, we had a yummy dinner at Ted's and then headed back to Mary Ann's hotel to chat for a bit. While sitting in the hotel lobby, the conversation turned to social media, and we ended up showing Mary Ann how Twitter and Facebook work. Maybe one day we'll actually get her to join. :)

Day 118

After I left the house this morning, Patrick found this on the floor of the kitchen near the refrigerator and graciously collected it in a cup to show me at a "good time":


Apparently one of my favorite magnets bit the dust, and neither of us noticed his fall. This guy came back with me from London, so I hope I can get him superglued back into tip-top shape in the near future!

Day 117

This semester, there are 4 new Business Calculus I instructors at OU, and we have gone out to dinner before each test to commiserate, discuss teaching issues, etc. Tonight was no exception. Here's the gang: Thomas, Rachel, and Cherith. Thanks for making test night more enjoyable this semester!

Day 116

We each had to give TWO presentations in my night class tonight, but our professor had dinner catered for us! I thought it might be nice to have dessert, too, so I made cupcakes to take to class. Here's what was left after class. (One guy ate three in class and took four home for his wife and kids, so I guess they were good!)

Day 115

Patrick and I finally got to see a Braves game on TV for the 2010 season. We were both working while it was on, but at least I had a good reason to bust out my Brian McCann shirt! C'mon Braves! Beat those Mets! :)

Day 114

Patrick and I took a few items to Norman's Hazardous Household Waste event today. They were giving these reusable shopping bags to each car that pulled up, and they accidentally gave us two. This is good, because I like even numbers. :) Only having one would mean it was mismatched, but two is a set. Hey, don't judge me. We all have our quirks. :)

The front of the bag.

The back of the bag.

Day 113

Tonight was the Math Department's Annual Awards Banquet. Candace and I helped each other get all fancy before we went to get our awards. Here's a shot of us when she dropped me back off at the house afterwards. Please ignore the trash can in the background and focus on the eye candy in front of it. ;)

Day 112

Picked up a new treat at Target today... I hope these are as good as the full-sized ones!

Day 111

OG&E came and installed a new thermostat yesterday as part of an energy-use study we're participating in. The best part is - it's programmable. I cannot express my excitement at waking up to a house that had just warmed itself up for my arrival! Yay!

Day 110

Our friend Kelly was in OKC for business, and Patrick and I got to meet her for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings in Moore. It was so good to see you tonight, Kelly! :)

Day 109

Today I had to conduct an interview for a class project, so this weekend, I dug out my old recorder (the old-school kind with the little cassette tapes that people use to record interviews). I was testing to make sure it still worked, and I found this tape inside it:


It's a message I left for Patrick a long time ago (probably back when we were dating based on the content of it). It was funny to listen to, but also sweet to remember the little things we did for each other even then. :)

Oh, and by the way, I ended up not using the recorder today. I think it served a good purpose anyway. :)

Day 108

Apparently I've been hungry lately. This is the fourth post in a row about food! But, these were a new discovery to me in the refrigerator case at Walmart last week:

Ham Steaks. Yum. They're fully cooked and pre-sliced, so all you have to do is heat them up. Yesterday, I just threw them in a hot skillet, and they're really good just like that. However, today I also added some barbecue sauce to the mix just to see what would happen. It was SO good! I didn't think to take a picture of the finished product, but you can just trust me on this one. :) How did I not know this product existed before? Tastes good, super-easy, quick, and reasonably healthy... my kind of food! Yay!

Day 107

Had a new breakfast adventure today... SO good! :)

Day 106

Finally put yesterday's eggs to good use tonight... peanut butter and chocolate chip!

Day 105

Today I had the urge to bake, but I had no eggs at home. So, I made it a point to stop by a local grocery store on the way home to pick up some eggs. After I got out of the car, I couldn't remember if I'd thrown my keys back in my purse, so I looked inside to see if I could find them. As I was looking, I kept walking and managed to smack my head hard on a ladder or something that was sticking out of the bed of the truck in the next parking space. Apparently it looked bad enough that a car driving by stopped and both the driver and the passenger yelled to ask if I was okay. As you can see, I made it inside and got the eggs, but then I went straight home and applied a cold pack to my head. Naturally, after all that, I had no desire to bake, only a sore head. MLIA.

Day 104

Michelle is getting married tomorrow! Passionberri was definitely in order to celebrate, and we stopped on our way back to get a picture outside our building. Congrats, Michelle! (and Parker, too, of course...)

Day 103

Superglue to the rescue (I hope)!

Day 102

The week goes so much more smoothly when there are leftovers ready to eat for dinner. Chicken Pot Pie... YUM!

Day 101

The mess otherwise known as "writing a paper that's due tomorrow". *sigh* You can't even see the laptop or all the pillows I'm propped up on!

Day 100

Wow! I can't believe I've actually made it to Day 100! In honor of this special occasion, I thought I'd spice things up a bit. That's right - today, blogosphere faithful, you get a video in addition to the pictures. I didn't narrate this video because I was on my driveway and had reason to believe my neighbors might come out at any moment and see me talking to my camera and... well, I didn't want to seem any crazier than I already do! The video shows my car doors locking and unlocking using the automatic lock control. I know, it's mundane. But, the locks have been going out one-by-one for a couple of years now, we just got them all fixed today, and I have not yet lost interest in locking and unlocking. :) I figured I'd let you all share in my joy. Below the video are pictures of the service tag from the Honda dealership and the automatic lock control. Enjoy!

(Editorial Note: When I clicked on the video in Google Reader, it kept taking me to one of the pictures. I had to click on "Popout" to get the video to play correctly.)

Day 99

Candace and I are headed to a shower tonight for our friend Michelle, who's getting married next week.  Yay for Michelle and Parker!  Hopefully you will get lots of things tonight that you can use in your new home!  :)

Day 98

Patrick and I went to Cheddar's tonight for our date-night dinner.  This is what we brought home:

If you've never been to Cheddar's, you might be tempted to think we ordered our food to go.  Nope.  These are the leftovers from dinner - two more meals!  Tack on reasonable prices, and it's pretty easy to see why we love this place.  :)

Day 97

"Oh, what a beautiful morning..." :)  Had to snap a few shots of the gorgeous sky, great light, and super-green trees on the OU campus this morning after the storms we had last night.  So pretty!  :)

Day 96

These are my prized gold-star foil stickers. They get busted out for rewards for big-time accomplishments - big nasty tests, papers, etc. I've only used a handful in the 8 months I've had them. But today, all my students at Mid-America earned A's on their homework. I was so impressed, I'm breaking out the ultimate reward. :) Some days, I love my job(s). :)

Day 95

I had to go across campus for a meeting this morning, and on the way, I noticed this beautiful flower bed outside the union. They change the flowers in this bed pretty often, but I think the ones they have in it now are spectacular!  Happy Easter, Happy Spring, Happy Happy Everything!  :)

Day 94

Happy Easter, everyone!  :)

Day 93

See the small dark spot on the counter top just to the left of the edge of the stove?  First ant casualty of the season. I really dislike ants. I thought we had gotten rid of them when the house was sprayed at the end of the summer, but apparently they are trying to come back. I happened to be holding a pot of pasta in my hand when I saw him moving, so that's what I used to smash him. Fortunately, the hot pot didn't burn the counters!  (And please ignore the mess... I made spaghetti today. :) )

Day 92

First off, I need to apologize for the poor picture quality today. I set the self-timer on the camera, and apparently it wasn't quite stable where I had placed it for this picture. Secondly, I need to explain the context here. My sisters-in-law, especially Nikki, are really good about getting me cute stuff to wear for Christmas and then explaining to me how I should wear it (what color shoes, jewelry, etc.). Those of you that know me well know that this is greatly appreciated.  :)  So, the purple printed top I have on in this picture was courtesy of Nikki this Christmas, but I decided to be brave and "coordinate" it on my own with this black shrug and black pants. (I also have a black cami under it because I had to teach today.)  What do you think, all 3 of my faithful blog readers?  Did I do okay?

Day 91

OU baseball tonight!  Too bad Texas won...