Day 243

Blog readers, I have a confession to make. I did a bad, selfish thing today. I feel bad about it - but it is what it is. Are you ready to hear this? I failed to turn in a DVD back to the public library, which means it will be overdue. I did this on purpose. I know, I know - this is so terrible. Here's the whole story:

I checked out 2 DVDs a week ago, but I haven't had a chance to watch them yet. They were due today, so I had made myself a note to renew them this morning. When I went to renew them online, one of them couldn't be renewed because someone else had requested it. Problem was, I had left the DVDs at home, and I had to be at school until fairly late. So, I could either go home, pick up the DVD, drive back across town to the library, walk inside on a sore foot after a lot of other walking today, and drive back home (all while hungry), OR I could wait to take it back tomorrow when I have more time, pay the quarter (seriously, that's it?) fine, walk inside on a much-better-rested foot, and eat my humble pie. I chose pie. I do feel bad that whoever requested the DVD has to wait another day, but at the time, I thought it was (from a solely selfish perspective, of course) a good choice for me.

I should probably hang my shame curtains now. Bonus points if you get the reference.

Day 242

Today's culinary adventure: Blueberry smoothie. I had some frozen blueberries and some leftover milk that I wanted to use, so I found a recipe online for a blueberry smoothie. I didn't have vanilla yogurt, which was what the recipe called for, so I decided to substitute the Key Lime Pie yogurt. No big deal, right? Yeah, except that it was basically an epic fail. :) Apparently there's a reason lime was not the recommended yogurt flavor. I drank the smoothie, so as not to be wasteful, but quickly felt the need to rid my kitchen of the evidence:


In better food news, I cooked my hamburger for a shorter time tonight, and the result was hot, juicy, and quite tasty! Yay!

Day 241

I was a lean, mean, culinary machine today: A chicken casserole for lunch, and my first attempt at a hamburger on the good ole George Foreman grill for dinner. I overcooked the burger a bit, but it was still edible, so I ruled it a success. :)

Day 240

Since my foot / ankle have been hurting me for a few days now, I tried to do this as much as possible today:

Day 239

The Math Department had their annual "Welcome Back Party" this evening at OU's art museum. When I got my camera out to take pictures, my friend Rachel (remember her wedding earlier this summer?) said, "Take a picture of us; we're cute!" and grabbed her new husband Ty. As it turns out, she was right - aren't they cute?


After a false start, I managed to get a picture of most of the rest of Ty and Rachel's table. (I had to promise that the false start wouldn't appear on the blog - doesn't that whet your appetite for hilarious party photos?) Here's Candace, Lynn, and Daniel:


Then, I took pictures of my table. I forgot to warn some of them about the blog, so I'll just stick with this picture of Matt and Cherith. Matt was giving us his best excited face... yeah. :)

Day 238

If you look REEEEEEALLY closely, you can see the moon in this shot from my morning drive into school. (Sorry about the quality - I couldn't get to the real camera while at the stoplight, so I had to settle for the phone camera.)

Day 237

Sometime last week, Patrick got a new Mac at work. Once he got it to run Windows (and his Windows-based software) as well, I think his exact words were something like, "I think I've died and gone to heaven." In homage to NSSL, who funded the purchase, here is Patrick's new technology item proudly displaying the NSSL website:

Day 236

What's wrong with this picture?

My jacket was actually in use today - in AUGUST!!! Wow!

Day 235

First day of school... had to hit the ground running to get lessons ready to teach this week!

Day 234

One last hurrah of summer... a 50-cent vanilla cone from McDonald's!

Day 233

Just part of the beautiful sunset Patrick and I saw on our way home from dinner this evening!

Day 232

I saw the Ear-Nose-Throat doctor today, and he recommended I take either Zyrtec or Claritin. When I got to CVS to pick up one of these, I noticed this:

Anyone see what's wrong with this picture??? Needless to say, this was not the product I went with!

Day 231

Candace and I got some lunch at Freebird's today, and on the way back to our offices, we just HAD to go in this new little cupcake place on Campus Corner:



Their "special", if you will, is a red velvet cupcake, but they also had a yummy-looking chocolate cupcake with strawberry frosting (with REAL strawberries!):


So, naturally, we had to get both and split them so we could both try both flavors! I meant to get a shot of the two of us enjoying our cupcakes... but we got distracted once we opened the box. :) The cupcakes were both good, and I think we will definitely be heading back in the future!

Day 230

Two of the more interesting items we brought back from Arkansas: a bag full of bubble wrap (does my Daddy love me, or what?) and a small grill (inside the box... we haven't been brave enough to pull it out)!

Day 229

I went up to the National Weather Center with Patrick tonight to check his various mailboxes. Here's a sneak peek at one of them after he emptied the goodies out of it:

Day 228

Emily and I got to hang out today for a bit of shopping and some ice cream. She found what she was after, and I found something by accident that I had been meaning to shop for. So, basically, the shopping trip was an epic success! Then, we headed to Marble Slab for some ice cream, which was just utterly fabulous. Great afternoon with a friend! :)

Day 227

First up tonight, a bit more about yesterday's baby shower. Yesterday, you saw the guest of honor, Mieke, and our wonderful hostess, Stephanie. Here are the rest of the baby shower guests:


Left to right, Amber, me, and Sarah. You met Sarah earlier this summer when she stopped by Norman for a visit. Amber was awesome enough to let me invade her home last night so I didn't have to make the long trip home. Thanks, ladies! Here's the entire baby shower group (complete with Stephanie's daughter!):


Today, after a yummy brunch and great church service with Amber, I headed back. This was our evening this evening (just insert me between the two dogs for a full effect):

Day 226

I had the wonderful opportunity to get together with some great college friends today to have a baby shower for our friend Mieke (below, left):

More pictures to follow tomorrow!

Day 225

My brother and Patrick looked all Shaft-like to me today, but only my brother was willing to be photographed after I made that comment. :)

Also, Happy Birthday to my Daddy! :)

Day 224

Patrick got "puppied" today! First, he had two in his face:

Then, they both want in your lap at the same time. (At least they were friendly to each other during the process!)

Day 223

I went through a lot of these bad boys today... You never know how dirty your house is until you start cleaning!

Day 222

Patrick and I went to the eye doctor this morning. We were there a crazy-long time, it seemed. Plus, they had us both in the same exam room, which felt a bit odd (although, I guess I don't have any eye-health secrets or anything...). At any rate, while we were waiting for the doctor to come in, I snapped a picture of those letters they always flash on the wall for you to read, plus the weird machine that they use to determine your prescription (etc.).

Can YOU read all those letters???

I feel like this machine just has too many arms. What are they all even FOR?

Day 221

Candace and I had a marathon shopping adventure today! I forgot to snap a picture of us totally rocking some argyle, so instead, here's a look at the colors I brought home today (none of which involve argyle, sorry):


Stay tuned to see if you can spot these pieces in a future blog post!

Day 220

Patrick and I got an unexpected invitation this afternoon - a friend of Patrick's (and his wife) invited us over to have s'mores with them, their son, and another friend and his 2 sons. Yum! After the "sugar bar," the adults sat around the living room talking and playing with the dog. However, some of us got roped into playing horsie for the kids, too:


(Just for the record, I wasn't the only horsie, just the only horsie Patrick took a picture of!) Patrick got in on the fun, too, and got a taste of the "Student Health Plan" (one of the boys with a toy drill applied to Patrick's knee):

Day 219

Patrick and I have been meaning for a couple of years to make our way up to Stillwater and eat at Eskimo Joe's. We have even sort-of planned this a few times, but it has never worked out... until today. :) After a long, boring drive, we finally got to Eskimo Joe's around 12:30. We opted to sit at one of the bars rather than wait an hour and a half for a table, and it actually turned out to be really interesting to watch the bartender serve everyone seated at the bar, keep her area clean, make ice cream treats for her section of the restaurant, etc. Our food turned out to be pretty good, too. I had a bacon cheeseburger:


Patrick had more chicken and fries than he knew what to do with! But, the most exciting food portion of the trip was when I saw the bartender make an ice cream sundae for a birthday girl at a nearby table... and then I had to have one. It was so beautiful - caramel and chocolate sauce swirled in a martini glass, then ice cream, whipped cream, more sauce, and a cherry...


And believe me, it lived up to its outer beauty! :) As we were leaving, I snapped a picture of Eskimo Joe on a parking lot sign (since I felt he was a key part of a blog post about Eskimo Joe's):


We also got to see a bit of OSU's campus as we left Stillwater. All in all, a fun outing with my sweetie! :)

Day 218

Ornery toilet lately...

Day 217

I got to have lunch today with my good friend / former officemate Ann and her daughter Jaiden. We ate at McAlister's, then headed back to their house to hang out a bit. I forgot my camera, so the first and last pictures came from Ann's phone (thanks, Ann!) and the middle one is from my phone. Here's one of me with Ann:

As Ann says, we got Jaiden to "cheese" for the camera:

Day 216

I finally went to the health center for my ears today. Fortunately, I don't have ear infections, but I do have a lot of pressure built up in my Eustachian tubes. Hopefully, the Flonase the PA prescribed will relieve the inflammation and get the fluid out of my ears!

Day 215

Patrick got a new toy today, so I am about to inherit the old one...

Day 214

I got to check an item off my "Norman Bucket List" today! (In case I haven't mentioned it, this is my [mental] list of everything I want to do before we leave Norman.) Candace, Evyn, and I went to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of National History on the OU campus. Since it was the first Monday of the month, the museum had free admission for everyone! We first went to their new (temporary) Chocolate exhibit. We weren't really supposed to take pictures in this exhibit, but we made an exception near the end when we saw these bonbon chairs:



Next we went through the permanent exhibits about the dinosaur eras, native Oklahoma history, and more! Here's Evyn and me checking out a few of the exhibits:



At this point, I am feeling obligated to point out that Candace was behind the camera for most of our visit to the museum. Apparently, I already have "Mom syndrome" when it comes to taking pictures (which I am told means that I put other people in them but leave myself out), so Candace volunteered to help remedy this problem. :) At any rate, moving along into the Oklahoma history-type exhibits... There is a very cool canoe you can climb into. I managed to squeeze in with Evyn for a nice shot...

... and a silly shot!

Before we left, we had to pose with the gigantic woolly mammoth statue. Evyn showed me the best way to pose (under the mammoth's foot)...

... and then played dead.


Naturally, I then had to pose under the woolly mammoth's foot. I went for the "oh my gosh, he's about to squash me like a bug" pose:


Finally, a shot of the entire woolly mammoth statue:


Such a fun afternoon with two of my favorite ladies! Thanks again to Candace for taking the bulk of these!