Day 212

Long day, but one small highlight - finally got to try these bad boys! It's like a chocolate-covered pretzel, multiple times over, PLUS one bag of these has about 60% of the calories of a bag of any other flavor of M&Ms. Sweet!

Day 211

Last day of Summer Bridge today! The students and I were all exhausted, but hopefully they learned some valuable things about college life, mathematics, engineering, etc. I wanted to post some pictures of a fountain that I walked by most mornings on my way to teach:



Yes, the lions have streams of water coming out of their mouths (except for the one on the left in this picture, which seems to be broken). The question that has been hounding me for the last three weeks is, "Why in the world do we need lions spitting into a fountain on the OU campus?" Why do fountains ever need to make a dressed-up reference to bodily functions? I'm just sayin'...

Day 210

Today was such a whirlwind, and now that it's gotten so late, I don't have the energy to go through it all. The two main highlights: My students did their Rube Goldberg project presentations this afternoon, and I got a couple of aerial shots from the balcony over the workshop floor. (Since I haven't asked permission to use these shots, I won't include them in this post - but trust me that the projects were SO cool!!!) The other highlight of today was that Patrick and I finally made it to an Oklahoma City Redhawks (AAA baseball) game together. One of his advisors went with us, and we had a good time (except that I was SO tired from the past few weeks, I could barely keep my eyes open for parts of it). Here's the view from our seats:


Isn't the sky beautiful? It was a bit warm when we got there, and a bit muggy throughout, but otherwise, it was a nice night for baseball! Here's a shot toward the outfield (and Dr. Kloesel's feet!):

Day 209

Today was final exam day for my summer class. Here are a couple of shots of our classroom this morning before they all came in... or as I like to think of it, the calm before the storm. :) (Hey, I'm married to a meteorologist. I'm allowed the occasional weather analogy!)

Day 208

Traitor.

I woke up late again this morning - not as late as yesterday, but still enough that I was a bit frantic while getting ready. I was seriously starting to think this thing was dead. No, no - I checked it, and it works fine. I'm just apparently now selectively deaf in my sleep or something. Tonight, I'll set the cell phone in addition to the alarm clock. Yes, the oversleeping probably just means I'm tired, but being late just won't work on my students' final exam day tomorrow!

Day 207

After a rough start to my morning (overslept, realized I'd forgotten to do something over the weekend, etc.), I thought this was a pretty and relaxing sight when I got to campus. It's just a sprinkler gone amiss, but I loved the fog-like effect in the morning sun!

Day 206

This morning, I was eating my Frosted Cheerios, minding my own business, when a fairly large bug starts crawling across the kitchen floor. I could tell it was a bug that would crunch if I smushed it (and I really hate the crunching sound), so I busted out my old college vacuum cleaner and just sucked the bug up that way.

Day 205

I tried to spend some time today catching up on things around the house that I've been putting off the past couple of weeks. Case in point: Scrubbing the burnt-on pizza dough off of my oven racks. They may not be spotless, but hopefully now I can avoid the lovely burning smell every time I turn the oven on!

Day 204

We had Candace and Evyn over for homemade (okay, from a kit) pizza / hanging out tonight. We had a great time and got to enjoy some delicious pizza!

Day 203

I got to have lunch with my friend Krista and her kids today. (Okay, and maybe frozen yogurt was involved, too...) It was so much fun to spend time with them all. I can't believe how grown-up the kids are getting compared with just a few months ago.

Me and Abi


Me with Krista and Eli (who decided to be shy for some reason). Abi did a good job taking this, too! Can't wait to spend more time with these guys in the near future! :)

Day 202

Happy Birthday to Me! I had a great day today thanks to many of my friends and family members. After teaching this morning, I went to meet Candace and her daughter for lunch at Freebird's. (We both had free burritos coming from their rewards program!) Michelle surprised me by coming, too! We had a great lunch together. Here's one side of the table...

... and the other!


Freebird's has a tradition of letting people have foil to save leftover food. Along the way, people have created foil "sculptures" that are displayed throughout the restaurant. Candace and her daughter grabbed some foil and made me a fabulous birthday cake complete with candles!


Isn't that amazing? I was so impressed that I took it home instead of leaving it at Freebird's! :) After lunch, we walked the 1/2 block or so down to Passionberri for dessert. Normally, I try to be "good" and put fruit in my yogurt, but today it was all about indulgence.



Passionberri has a big whiteboard near the stools where you can sit and eat, and Candace left me a little note:


After dessert, I went home, watched a couple of episodes of House, made a Walmart run, did a bit of work, etc. Then, when Patrick got home, we decided to try a local Mexican place, Tarahumara's, for dinner. I was fascinated by the fact that they separated my two flavors of enchilada on the plate so that the sauces didn't run together.



Genius! They also had bendy straws, which earned them major points in my book. A huge THANKS to all those who helped make my day special - either in person, online, or on the phone! You guys are the best!

Day 201

One of my favorite spots on campus - a little garden / fountain tucked in between buildings and a parking garage. It's also right across the street from restaurants, shops, etc., but you'd never know it from the way the trees seclude it!

Day 200

Milestone! Day 200 of the 365 blog! Woohoo! To celebrate? Fudge brownie sundae, of course! :) I had a coupon for a free one with purchase of an entree at Chili's, so when my friend Candace mentioned she could go for some chocolate today, I knew where we should go for dinner. We split fajitas and the sundae (which was AMAZING, but you definitely want to share it so you don't get sick). Here's a celebratory picture of me with our clean bowl. (Thanks to Candace for taking this one.) This dessert was definitely worthy of two thumbs up!

Day 199

Apparently I really am my father's daughter, because I seem to have picked up his habit of ironing multiple items in one sitting (or standing, as the case may be). During the school year (and summer, too, when I am teaching), I set up shop in the guest room on Sundays and iron for the entire week ahead. Sometimes, like today, I iron more than enough for the week because I just can't decide what to wear each day. The result:

Day 198

Patrick came home today from his trip! I left the light on for him...

Day 197

MGSA picnic tomorrow? Students have to come in on Saturday for a 3-hour class? No problem - I recently found Emily's recipe for chocolately chocolate chip cookies, so I made some tonight to take to both groups tomorrow:

And, naturally, I had to destroy all evidence of broken cookies... yum!

Day 196

Surprisingly, after a long day - 3 hours of teaching, Zumba, 2 meetings, and errands - I was in the mood to actually "cook" dinner. Enter, the Chef:


Naturally, I added pepperoni into the mix, too. Unfortunately, it smelled so good that I cut into it before taking a picture, so you will have to use the box and your imaginations on this one...

Day 195

I was headed outside to take a different picture for tonight's blog when I nearly stepped on this (and, of course, freaked out when I realized what it was):


I have no idea where this little guy came from, but there he was on our sidewalk! I guess the heat's getting to all the creatures out there the past few days!

Day 194

Girls' Day! Tia, Nikki, and Michele drove out to Norman to have lunch, go shopping, and grab some yummy frozen yogurt! It was great to see them, and we had a lot of fun exploring shops in Norman. Here are the "non-natives" being introduced to the goodness that is Passionberri after a long afternoon of shopping! :)

Day 193

Our coffee table. Two key things about this table: 1. When I started putting furniture back in place today, I could not for the life of me get this back in the "right" spot. I think I've got it close now... I hope. 2. This table has quite a history! It's a hand-me-down from my parents, and they had it FOREVER before we got it. I think you can see the big crack down the length of it. That's happened since we inherited it. Oklahoma had some particularly dry weather during the first couple of years we were married, and our table paid the price by cracking. :( I guess eventually we'll get rid of it, but for now, it just has a table runner covering the crack. The other important piece of history? When I was 4, I was doing somersaults off the arm of the couch (yes, after being told not to) and split my ear open on the edge of this baby. I had my first (and only, so far) stitches as a result of this table! And now, "Ode to Table" is complete... for now!

Day 192

I cleaned carpets today. Boy, am I sore. It was a real workout!!! I wasn't sure I'd be able to tell if the carpets were cleaner, so I took some before and after pictures:

Before - a high traffic area with lots of little spots


After - looks much better!


Before - more spots


After - well, I still see one spot, but it's at least a major improvement!


Before - entire living room. (Isn't the recliner in the kitchen a nice touch?)


After - still wet, but hopefully they look better! I think I'll be able to tell better tomorrow once they're dry and I get the furniture back in place.

Day 191

Our A/C went out yesterday afternoon / evening. By the time we realized it, it was too late to call anyone, so we just tried to sleep as best we could (windows open, all fans on, etc.). Patrick called about it this morning, and fortunately, the A/C repairman was able to come out this afternoon! Apparently something had melted that resulted in a breaker tripping, so the guy had to come in (to our bedroom, where I was airdrying laundry, how embarrassing) and reset the breaker. So, here was the view of our breaker box today:

Day 190

Another Friday, another Friday lunch! Each Friday this summer, some of my friends from the department and I are trying out food places on Campus Corner that one or all of us have never visited. Today's lunch: Pad Thai. SO good. And leftovers to boot! Here's a shot of the group while we were waiting for a table:

Day 189

Lots of popcorn in our house tonight... too bad there wasn't a movie to go with it! We prefer different levels of butter and salt on our popcorn (I'll let you figure out who likes what!), so these mini-bags are a real lifesaver for us!

Day 188

Because of some scheduling conflicts later this week, Patrick and I had this week's "date night" at lunch today. We decided to go to Logan's and were surprised to find this promotion:


And, the foods we were planning to order anyway were part of the promotion! They're also doing a 2 for $19.99 deal with the same entrees that includes an appetizer and a dessert to share. Yeah, we're definitely headed back to Logan's sometime soon! :)

Day 187

So tired when I came home from the gym this afternoon... shoes just landed near the piano. :)

Day 186

Patrick and I took some time out after dinner to watch the movie I checked out from the library last week... an oldie but a goodie! :)

Day 185

This silly mirror just will NOT stay on the wall lately... GRR! It would be nice to be able to see both halves of me in the mirror at the same time!

Day 184

Patrick and I "hosted" a cookout today. We each invited one friend (and their family). I had some extra celery in the fridge, so I decided to do an "appetizer" tray. I figured the kids would like the "ants on a log", and sure enough, those went first!

My friend Candace was gracious enough to "man" the grill and cook most of the other yummy food we scarfed down. (Burgers, grilled veggies, asparagus... YUM!) Patrick's friend brought over ingredients to make S'mores as well as these beautiful flowers:


I wish I had gotten more pictures of the event (you know, including the people who were there), but we were so busy eating and having fun that I didn't get to it! Happy Fourth of July to all of you!

Day 183

Ice cream pies, both large and small, in the freezer, awaiting tomorrow's cookout...

Day 182

Another softball night tonight. Fortunately, the weather was GORGEOUS! Unfortunately, I only had my cell phone camera with me, so the quality isn't so great.

Patrick Pitching.


Patrick's Up to Bat!


Despite the fact that we won both games (and on run rules, no less!), this was sunset was the real star tonight! So beautiful!