Category Archives: Sweetie

Happy Mother’s Day

Todays the day that we celebrate our Mothers. I don’t know why we are only supposed to be celebrate Mothers one day a year. Probably because they are too busy working the rest of the time. What do you think?

Here is Sweetie, my Wife and Mother of my son, SuperPizzaBoy

Sweetie and SPB are inseparable. He is one loved child.

They run together

They certainly have lots of fun together

She loves to pull pranks on him

She even made him a SuperPizzaBoy costume one time

They are inseparable

Happy Mother’s Day Sweetie!!

Here is my Mother, Granny.

She has been gone for several years now. I miss her tremendously and think about her all the time. I can tell you that she would not appreciate a picture of her in her bathrobe on the world wide web, but hey this is one of my favorites. She was a great Mom, what can I say. She had that Irish twinkle in her eye all the time, loved children, especially her children, grandchildren, and great grand child. She loved to go trout fishing, and visit with her friends and family. She and I exchanged weekly letters for years. I’m not talking emails, I’m talking the real deal with stamps!

She grew up in the mountains and told her forest ranger husband, that she would go anywhere as long as she could see the mountains. From her resting place in Idaho you can see the back side of the Tetons in Wyoming.

Here she is with SuperPizzaBoy.

Happy Mother’s Day Everybody!!

RHOK Tuesday – Newlyweds

The ladies of the Real Housewives of Oklahoma are having their McLinky Monday again. I’m participating on Tuesday so I’m calling it RHOK Tuesday. I hope they don’t get upset. You don’t want to make them mad. They may swarm.

The theme of their meme this week is to share funny newlywed stories.

I’m also going to this opportunity to post a wedding picture of my wife Sweetie.

You can see why I call her Sweetie. She has only got better looking over the years.

On the other hand, look what she got in the bargain:

I wonder where those frames went? You can get new lens you for them you know. Oh well, just one of the many things of mine that disappeared the first couple years of our marriage. Along with my Coleman camp socks and camo pants. She still pleads innocent, in a smirking kind of way.

The story she always brings up happened before we got married, the evening before as a matter of fact. We were at the rehearsal: Sweetie, me, her parents, my parents, and some friends and relatives from out of town. So, we got done with that and we headed off to the rehearsal dinner. Yeah, we did, my folks and I. I left Sweetie in the parking lot. Oops.

She brings it up every now and then in a good natured way. I still feel bad about it. At least she doesn’t mention the worse things I did. I’m not either. I wouldn’t know where to start, nor when to end.

Oh she put with a lot. My job for one thing. The energy business is either boom or bust. Well it kind of bust right after we were married. My employer closed the Oklahoma City office down and moved it to Weatherford, OK about an hour west of town. We lived about a half hour north of Oklahoma City. So we got married in September and we moved in November. Three years later we moved again, this time to Tulsa.

She was very patient. I had to start from scratch on the whole married thing where two people are trying to start a new life together. All the standard stuff furnishing the house, coordinating schedules, the whole yin and yang of married life.

And then there was the way I dressed. I was like into engineer beige if you know what I mean. If you don’t know what I mean then come see me sometime at work. I’ll take over where the engineers are. So she dragged me kicking and screaming into the land of not beige.

And then the food thing. I was happy. I had a box of payday candy bars in the pantry, a case of beer in the refrigerator and Dominos on my speed dial. She actually cooked! Wow.

She has always been there for me. She would need a week or more to write about all the antics I’ve pulled over the years.

Flipping Out

SuperPizzaBoy inherited his Dad’s coordination genes, which means that he doesn’t have any. He also has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism, which makes it worse. He really can’t keep track of his body in space. To help, Sweetie got him hooked up with Mr. J for tumbling lessons. SPB has been seeing Mr. J for about a year. I haven’t attended a lesson in quite some time but Wednesday night I got to see them work together. I was amazed. SPB has gotten lots stronger and better.

Mr. J is a saint. Working with kids on the autism spectrum requires lots of patience. I mean lots of patience. No, I mean lots and lots of patience. Something that I often lack. I don’t know how Mr. J does it. But whatever he does, works.

Sweetie is great at finding talented guys like Mr. J to help with our son. Way to go Sweetie, you also Mr. J, and you SuperPizzaBoy!

Logan’s Lightning Thieves and Ready…Set…Run 2010

More Info

Do you like to Run? Do you like to Walk? Do you like to help a good cause? The Autism Center of Tulsa is having their fourth annual Ready…Set…Run! 5K and Fun Run on May 8 at Hunter Park in Tulsa. The race is both a fund raiser for the Autism Center and a time for the Autism Community to get together.

You can enter the 5K or the fun run by clicking on the banner on the sidebar. If you can’t make it out that day and would like to donate as little as a dollar you can also do it by clicking on the banner. Or if you don’t feel like donating any money but want to leave a comment that is very much appreciated also. Or if you want to help volunteer on race day that would be great, we need lots of help that day and we can find you a job to do just let us know here. Either way, please join SuperPizzaBoy’s team. This year it is “Logan’s Lightning Thieves.”

If you know anybody in the northeast Oklahoma area who has a child with autism especially those who are newly diagnosed and are looking for information please refer them to the Autism Center of Tulsa. The Autism Center doesn’t provide treatment instead they are a clearinghouse of information for parents, doctors, and other health providers. They also have parent support groups, sponsor family fun nights and other events that are either free or low cost to the families. They have also done things like provide training to the Tulsa Police Department on how to deal with people with autism.

Here is some scenes from last year’s race.

The lineup for the Fun Run

SuperPizzaBoy and Sweetie. His team last year was named “Logan’s SuperPizzaPeople.” In addition to being a potential broadway star and video game champion SPB has a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome.

Come on out and have some fun with us this year.

Desert Auction

SuperPizzaBoy’s school had a desert auction last week. I love desert auctions. They are so much fun. Here are few of the entries.

A collection of candy made by the Head of the Lower School.

Looks good huh? Well its mine, and its almost gone, and I didn’t share.

Below is my Mother-in-Law’s entry. Nana outdid herself on this. I don’t remember the actual name but it is chocolate on chocolate and it is good. Of course, I won the bid on this. Sweetie and SPB made me share it.

This was Sweetie’s entry. Its not chocolate, it is better than chocolate, a strawberry cake. Bidding was hot and heavy on this item and I was in the thick of it…

… and then my dear wife whispered something lovely in my ear: “Let them have it, I’ll make one just for you.”

Oh yeah Babe.

My World – Tulsa History Museum

A couple weeks ago SuperPizzaBoy and I went to the Tulsa History Museum operated by the Tulsa Historical Society at the Travis Mansion at Woodward Park.

Know something, it was free. SPB and I are all over free.

It’s not a real big museum but it is packed with stuff.

We loved this old truck polished to a high gloss.

They had relics from some of the grand old movie theaters downtown. Some cities have preserved some of these spaces and repurposed them for concerts and such. Not Tulsa, we’re progressive. We tore’em down. Can’t ever have too many parking lots!

I’ve previously posted this picture. It’s SPB discovering a juke box. His first selection was Frank Sinatra, which was fine. His second was the Partridge Family (or something similar). So no more juke boxes for SPB.

Pardon the reflection. (If my photographer knew he was doing this blog would be a lot better.) They had an exhibit on old department stores and including some of the fashions. I love that yellow dress. Do you think they have my size?

I loved the crown shaped perfume bottle. I bet it has the butterfly and taffy scent. It has to.

We enjoyed ourselves. We went next door to the Tulsa Garden Center. They had something going on also. I’ve always loved this little room off the end.

Hey, look who we found, Sweetie, working a booth and helping kids, hey that’s SPB!, plant something.

Yep, Sweetie, who is here there and everywhere is working with the LiL Green Thumbs with their children’s programs. I’ll brag on her a little. In addition to all her other talents, she is a Oklahoma State University certifed Master Gardener.

Know something else. She made the display board and decorated the table.

She’s awesome.

For other views of our world check out That’s My World.

Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day Sweetie!!

Life has been a party with you.

Saturday Sweetie and I had a little running around to do. Our church gives corsages to members who have been married 50 years or more. There are a lot of them. Sweetie and I help deliver them. This is our fifth year of delivering the corsages. It is a lot of fun. The couples appreciate the recognition and we almost always get invited in to “sit for a while.”

We get to visit for a while and hear a little about their lives, where they came from, what they did, the kids, the grandkids, and the great grandkids. It’s pretty cool. Some of them we have delivered to before so we get an update.

Sunday the couples are specially recognized during the services. Its a pretty big deal in our church. The Tulsa World even has a front page article about it. Read it here.

I’m looking forward to Sweetie and I getting her corsage in 2039. I wonder who is going to be delivering them. What kind of car are they going to be driving?

After five years of delivering corsages to these couples you know what I have seen and not seen? These couples have a deep love for one another and quiet respect. They don’t talk over each other, they are good listeners. They have smiles on their faces, and lots of pictures of friends and family scattered around the living room. The television is hardly ever on (unless the OSU Cowboys or OU Sooners are playing basketball.) You know what I haven’t seen? I have yet to see my first “Type A” personality.

My verse for today:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I Corinthians 13: 4-7 (NIV)

Check out That’s Baloney for other pairings of photographs and scripture.

Buying a New Car round Two

Poor Sweetie hates car shopping. We went out about a month ago and test drove a few cars and talked to A few salesman. Then we started pondering and decided to get her another Toyota Highlander but then the whole safety issue blew up and even the Wall Street Journal was writing that Toyota has historically been slow to respond to safety defects so as we oilfield trash say, we P&A’d the Highlander. (Plugged and Abandoned to you genteel non-oilfield trash.)

So we’ve decided to go after the Honda Pilot, a somewhat larger mid-size SUV which we finalized when we were surfing through the Honda City website and got satisfied with the decision that we made.

So off we went to one of our local Honda Dealers. As we drove up we could see the salesman looking out the window at us and I remarked to Sweetie. “I wonder which one of the blood sucking maggots (“BSM”) we are going to get.”

Turns out, we didn’t get a BSM. We got a real nice young man (about my age in other words), Joe. Joe was cool. He showed the cars, explained the various trim lines, the various features, how stuff worked. He didn’t insinuate himself on us, didn’t ask if we were Sooner fans, blah blah blah, didn’t point us to the most expensive car on the lot. Hey in other words he is a professional salesman acting professionally.

We went on a test drive and liked it. He took our car and had his used car guys look at it while we wandered around the showroom. They had a beautiful old 1966 Honda sports car.

And then he presented us an offer without us having to wait a long time. We weren’t ready yet to buy, we always sleep on it. We have to check things out, do a gut check. It has got to feel right. I’m just that kind of guy. He was ok with that. He didn’t do the old “Well somebody else was looking at that one and they are coming back, blah blah blah.” He didn’t do any games at all. And he said, “I’m not one that is going to pestering you on the phone.” Wow.

We went home and checked out their offer online. Their offer is right in line with what the car is worth and their offer on the trade in is in line also.

OK, but I’m not here to get an average deal. I mean who else is buying cars in February? So I’ll be calling Joe today. With any luck at all Sweetie will have a new car soon!

This, That, and the Other and Genesis 1:20

Saturday was an errand running day for SuperPizzaBoy and I. His Mom spent the whole day preparing for a fund raising event at SPB’s school so she didn’t get to join us. Lucky for her she says.

I made breakfast believe it or not. I used a recipe from “The Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook” by Ree Drumond of the blog “Confessions of a Pioneer Woman“. Check her blog out, I’m a big fan of MommyBloggers and that blog is a MommyBlog on steroids. Back to breakfast, she has a dish called “Egg in the Hole” which is simple enough.

Instead of egg and toast separately, you cut a hole in a piece of bread and then toast the bread in a skillet in a pool of butter and then put an egg in the hole and cook it. So its a combo type thing.

The way it actually works out is that it is a stick of butter with toast and egg added for texture. I made one for him and I ate two. I used a whole stick of butter. Its a good thing I hadn’t seen my dietitian in a while. I’m not sure how heart healthy it is, but they are good and they are filling.

I wondered if SPB would like it. New food is a sometimes thing with him, but hey he ate it!!

Then we set out to run a few errands. The main thing we were interested in was getting ready for the upcoming “Great Backyard Bird Count” We thought it would help out if we restocked our bird feeders. I’ve been wanting to get started bird watching for sometime now and I guess this will be our introduction. In our geocaching ventures in the woods and fields we come upon lots of birds and I really couldn’t tell you waht 90% of them are except in the most general way.

Anyway the great backyard bird count looks like a fun way to get introduced. They have bird lists by area and all sorts of references. Basically you just count the birds by species for at least a 15 minute period during the February 12-15 dates and submit your count online at the web site. I can handle that.

So we bought some sunflower seeds, some finch food, and a suet cake and set them out.

I know, I know, there are all sorts of guidelines about how high, and how far, and what kind of cover. Our neighborhood doesn’t have cats running around and my main guideline was I wanted to see the feeders from the kitchen.

We had an immediate customer. The little suckers are hard to photograph. I don’t know if Sweetie is going to put up with a tripod full time in the kitchen. On the other hand I washed the window I was shooting out of. I didn’t wash the ones adjacent but maybe later.

It looks like LJ want to help us count birds. Can cats count?

Then SPB and I took down our Christmas lights. It may seem a little late for that but we have had a messed up winter. Oklahoma winters are normally pretty mild. It may get cold for a while but it almost always warms and we get bright clear days with temperatures in the mid 40’s or so. Hey, sunny, no wind, and 40’s is a great day. Its almost shirt sleeve weather. So that is when I take the lights down.

Not this year, it stayed cold. So we got them down. SPB helped. I was up on the ladder and he took the gutter tabs off. We had a good time. Once you get him started he is like the Energizer Bunny on a task.

Later on SPB went to spend the evening with his Nana and Sweetie and I went to the fundraiser at the school. Sweetie had been putting together a table for a Silent Auction. She is queen of hospitality and presentation.

“And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth and across the expanse of the sky.”

Genesis 1:20 (NIV)

Check out That’s Baloney for other pairings of scriptures and photographs.

Skywatch Friday – Haikey Creek Park

We have a storm coming, ice. I hate ice. I can see it on the various weather maps inching closer. But I got photographs from last weekend. We went to Haikey Creek Park near Tulsa for a family outing. No ice that day.

Trees in the winter are beautiful. Pretty sky also.