Day 365

Wow... Day 365! I can't believe I actually made it! There were a lot of days I had trouble coming up with something to blog about (but I guess you had already figured that one out). I think I've come to the conclusion that not every day needs to be that noteworthy. It's okay to have some ordinary now and then. :) But, I intend to keep this blog and update everyone about our lives and the out-of-the-ordinary things that do occur.


Today's picture is a cross - the way St. Francis of Assisi liked to view it. It's also the Greek letter tau, used in mathematical work in many genres. Patrick's brother brought this back for us from a recent trip to Italy because he knew we'd appreciate the dual meaning.

Quote of the Day: "Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love." -- Saint Francis of Assisi

See you in 2011!

Day 364

Patrick and I finally made it back to Norman tonight around dinnertime. While we enjoyed our trip and our time with family, we were SO ready to be home! We stopped at Sonic to grab dinner on the way in. I ordered the wonderfully balanced meal of mozzarella sticks and their newest "Blast" dessert (displayed here by my fantastic husband):


I love the slogan: "Happy Stomach, Meet Happy Wallet." Trust me, after all that junk, I had neither! I also got red ice cream drips on my jeans and cream-colored jacket. :( BUT, the night started looking up when we got home. Patrick found out he was selected to beta test a new technology product, and I found out that the company that was repairing my watch did more than I asked them to do -- for no extra charge! Hooray!

Quote of the Day: "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." -- Ernestine Ulmer

Day 363

We are finally back from Florida (hence, the late hour of the post!). While there is much to tell, for now let me leave you with a couple of shots of Turner Field in Atlanta - Home of the Atlanta Braves! We drove by the stadium both going and coming, and it was exciting for these Braves fans!



Quote of the Day: "Baseball is almost the only place in life where a sacrifice is really appreciated." -- Mark Beltaire

And, on that note, many thanks to my wonderful husband Patrick for driving literally ALL DAY today (including yucky weather)!

Day 362

I've been waiting for this Christmas gift for a couple of months:

Gray canvas TOMS! These are SO comfortable!!!

Quote of the Day: "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -- Benjamin Franklin

Day 361

Patrick's cousin introduced him to his new favorite thing today -- this really cool head massager:

I've been told we're getting one tomorrow. :)

Today's Quote: "Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are." -- Diana Maria Mulock

Day 360

Two cool (or very very cold) chicks - me and my sister-in-law Michele!

Quote of the Day: "The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." -- Sydney J. Harris

Day 359

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good... box of chocolates? Seriously, this is the biggest box of chocolates I'd ever seen!


But, more importantly, Patrick and I had a great Christmas celebration with our families at various times over the past few days. We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. Remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Quote of the Day: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." -- Isaiah 9:6

Day 358

The past few days, this collection has been quite the lifesaver... There's always someone sick at Christmas, it seems!



Quote of the Day: "Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas." -- Dale Evans Rogers

Day 357

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

(Sorry for the poor picture quality... but better lighting would have ruined the effect!)

Today's Quote: "The only really blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his heart." -- Helen Keller

Day 356

BEAUTIFUL sunset today... :)


Quote of the Day (from my fortune cookie at P. F. Chang's the other day): It is much easier to be critical than to be correct.

Day 355

Only 10 more blogging days to go! Today's picture is another great gift Patrick got for Christmas already this year -- a Charlie Brown Christmas tree! (We don't have it set up yet, so you get a picture of the box.)


Today's Quote: "Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy." -- Mohandas Gandhi

Day 354

I went shopping with my two amazing personal shoppers today, my mother-in-law Tia and my sister-in-law Nikki. Nikki found me an amazing suit for 70% off (Woohoo!), and Tia chipped in on it for part of my Christmas present (Woohoo again!).


Yup, it's a terrible picture, but I am feeling pretty lousy tonight, so this is the best you're going to get. Sorry. :(

Quote of the Day: "The trouble with always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind." -- G. K. Chesterton

Day 353

Patrick got a very cool Christmas gift from my parents today - a Phineas and Ferb mug!
He and I both thought it was amazing!

Quote of the Day: "When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable." -- Madeleine L'Engle

Day 352

Today I was ready for lunch before the rest of the family, so I took my bowl of soup to the loveseat. I was quickly joined by 3 dogs--one in my lap:

One curled up beside me:

And one on top of the back seat cushions with her head resting on my shoulder:

Amazingly, I got through lunch in relative peace! Shortly thereafter, they were all basically in my lap:

And, at some point, they couldn't figure out why I was taking so many pictures of them!

Quote of the Day: "The dog is the most faithful of animals and would be much esteemed were it not so common. Our Lord God has made his greatest gift the commonest."--Martin Luther

Day 351

My afternoon looked something like this:

Grading final exams with one dog in my lap and the other sitting nearby? Yup.


Quote of the Day: "Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made."--Roger Caras

Day 350

Look at all the pretty colors... Love this Christmas decoration!

Quote of the Day: "When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses." -- Dr. Joyce Brothers

Day 349

I definitely intended to clean at the end of this week (after final grades were submitted)... and I think the house needs it!


Quote of the Day (as seen on the wall during my haircut): "You can't control everything. Your hair was put on your head to remind you of that fact."

Day 348

It was a big day for my odometer... We started the day with a palindrome in the driveway:


Then, when I headed off to lunch with my friend Ann, I noticed I'd hit a big milestone:


Pretty good for a car I've been driving 9.5 years! I had another palindrome on the way to lunch, but I was on the interstate, and it didn't seem responsible to try to get that shot while driving. :)

Please continue to pray for my father-in-law. He's still in the hospital, and as far as I know as of this blog post, they still aren't entirely sure what the course of treatment will be.

Quote of the Day: "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." -- Anthony Brandt

Day 347

What a big surprise this little envelope held today!

In more important news, please be praying for my father-in-law. He's in the hospital and still waiting to see a specialist to get a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Quote of the Day: "Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted." -- Paul Pearshall

Day 346

We don't go to Sunday evening church... well, ever. :/ But, the one Sunday evening service that we make a special effort to get to is the Christmas music service. All of the church's choirs, as well as a (mostly) full orchestra, do an evening of Christmas music that is just so much fun for former choir / orchestra nerds like me. :) I tried to get a shot of the decorated sanctuary as we were leaving, but a few heads got in the way... oh well.


Quote of the Day: "There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live." -- John Adams

Day 345

I was a busy domestic bee today - 6 loads of laundry, 4 batches of cookies (including some in the freezer to bake later), pancakes, waffles (also to freeze), final gift wrapping, other miscellaneous cleaning / housework, and these babies:


Mmmm, pepperoni pinwheels! Crescent rolls, pepperoni, cheese, and dipped in pizza sauce - yum! All in all, a busy--but very productive--day!

Quote of the Day: "There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will."--Robert Frost

Day 344

When I got home from Zumba today, I wasn't in the mood to eat anything in the house, and I was in the mood to get out. Fortunately, Patrick was game. :) We trekked up to the nearest Steak'n'Shake for a fun date-night dinner.


Quote of the Day: "Christmas - it's not the giving, it's not the getting, it's the loving." -- Garfield (borrowed from a friend's facebook status)

Day 343

I was pleasantly surprised to find a $5 off coupon to Hallmark in my email this morning. Since I was planning to run a couple of errands near a Hallmark store today, I went in to see if I could find something in the $5 range. After debating some cards, I noticed that they had their huge rolls of gift wrap on sale: Buy 1 (for $4.99), get the second for $0.99. Perfect - with coupon, 2 rolls of nice wrapping paper for about $2! I started perusing the various patterns they had in bins throughout the store and thought I had settled on a couple of nice ones when I saw these:


I literally gasped out loud. (I'm sure the other shoppers thought I was nuts.) Patrick LOVES the comic strip "Peanuts," so I knew these were a must. I've already done most of my wrapping for this year, but next year, watch out!

Quote of the Day: "Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given--when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes." -- Joan Winmill Brown

Day 342

I finished our Christmas cards today. We had 3 different designs, but I think this one's my favorite:

In even more exciting news, I finished Christmas shopping for our families today! Only 2 1/2 weeks until Christmas!

Quote of the Day: "Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts." -- Janice Maeditere

Day 341

First snowflakes of the season! YESSSSSSS!

Quote of the Day: "Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind." -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Day 340

Fancy paper and big envelopes... it's definitely job application season!

Quote of the Day: "When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." -- Alexander Graham Bell

Day 339

Had to make a tough decision today:

Sorry, big guy - you're staying in the garage this year. We just don't have time to get you set up and enjoy you with our schedules this time. Please, no hard feelings. Keep in mind that you were out an extra month at the beginning of 2010 AND we got you these nice boxes this year so the bugs in the garage aren't eating at you. You'll be fine 'til next year, right? Right?

Man, I feel like Scrooge.

Today's Quote: "Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were." -- Cherie Carter-Scott

Day 338

In honor of Michelle passing her M.A. exam earlier this week, she, Candace, and I got pedicures and gelato tonight!


I was thinking of doing something festive for the Christmas season, so I settled on a peppermint / candy cane theme. Then, it occurred to me that these colors were also appropriate for the Sooners and the Hogs! Excellent!

Quote of the Day: "Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend." -- Albert Camus

Day 337

After a loooong week, I sort of crashed at the end of today. I thought I might be getting sick, so I went through two bottles of Gatorade and even took my temperature.

Fortunately, it is looking like I'm just exhausted, so I'm off to bed. G'night!

Quote of the Day: "It is not the job of mathematicians... to do correct arithmetical operations. It is the job of bank accountants." -- Samuil Shchatunovski

Day 336

Back Story: About 3 weeks ago, I was working on my dissertation in my office one morning, and I noticed my laptop was running on battery power. I checked to make sure everything was connected properly, and still, the laptop wouldn't start charging. I ended up saving all my crucial files to a flash drive, shutting down the laptop to conserve the remaining battery, and calling Patrick to rescue me. Fortunately, he has a laptop of the same brand that he doesn't use terribly often, so he was able to loan me his power cord. He tested my cord with his laptop, and sure enough, my cord was toast. When we got back from Thanksgiving, he mailed it off to get a replacement through Best Buy and threw part of my power cord away, thinking it was junk. However, when the new cord arrived today, we realized that we were supposed to return the old cord... oops. Fortunately, we don't take out our trash terribly often... So yes, you guessed it -- I dug through an entire bag of trash tonight. Yuck. But, we did find the cord, and it is in decent shape considering it sat under food and other trash for five days. The best part is, tomorrow is trash day. So, if the new cord hadn't come today, or if we hadn't opened it immediately, the old cord would be history, and we'd be paying for it -- literally! Sorry for the long story. But, here's the guilty trash bag and somewhat disgusting power cord:


Quote of the Day: "True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost." -- Charles Caleb Colton

Day 335

Christmas is coming... and so are the gifts I've ordered online!

And many thanks to Patrick for coming home early to wait for UPS to arrive... only to find they didn't show up until well after dinner!

Quote of the Day: "The proper function of man is to live - not to exist." -- Jack London (borrowed from a friend's facebook page)