Monthly Archives: April 2010

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Sweetie got me a Kindle for my birthday. Amazon has loads and loads of free books you can download to it so I thought I give Pride and Prejudice a try. So I read it and I liked it. There isn’t any sex nor violence in it, no cuss words either. What it does have is sparkling dialogue. The characters talk and talk and talk in whole paragraphs. And the dialogue is dense with lots and lots of information. This is a book that could be read a dozen times and still not discover everything the book has to offer.

Young Elizabeth Bennett, the main character of the book, is quite the woman. She can flirt with the best but when she gets her dander up she lets loose. She blasted Lady Catherine de Bourg when the old hag showed up and demanded that Liza not marry Mr. Darcy. The little teenager sent the royal dowager packing.

Now as far as the great romance between Liza and Mr. Darcy, I don’t get it. Mr. Darcy is one of the most pathetic guys I have ever read about. He shows up day after day all distant and removed. And what is funny to me is that Liza doesn’t see much in him until she goes to his house and falls in love with it. Then she thinks she might be able to tolerate him a little bit.

Oh, well. I’m a guy, I’m not supposed to get the romance. The book is good though. I give it three stars out of four. I’l be reading more Jane Austen.

Oklahoma Skywatch

We have had big ole beautiful white clouds in Oklahoma this week and then Wednesday the sky started falling in Tulsa.

Sunday I played golf. I don’t play very well but I took my camera

Later Sunday we had a little drama in the sky

On Monday we had more big fat clouds

Today the sky started falling in Tulsa.

(Photo from TulsaWorld.com)

Sorry, I had meetings and couldn’t get there in time before they removed the car and put up some plywood.

Fortunately nobody was hurt but several cars were damaged. Only one was still there when I got there.

This is not the year to own a Toyota is all I have to say.

Check out Skywatch Friday for photographs of our sky from all over the world.

Boys Night Out – April Edition

Lets see, last Tuesday in April, that means that Sweetie is heading off to her monthly Book ~~Coven~~ Club and SuperPizzaBoy and I have our monthly Boys Night Out.

It’s a school night so we can’t stay out too long. SPB had a pizza party with some of his buds so we aren’t going to eat anywhere. “What do you want to do SPB?” “Lets go plant a cache Dad.” The little dude doesn’t have to tell me twice. We keep the makings on hand.

Here is before:

After:

Isn’t camo duct tape wonderful. Mother’s Day is coming soon!! In case you are looking for an idea. Camo duct tape is an example of a bad idea.

So we loaded up and headed off for downtown to a spot I’ve scoped out before. It was going to be the site of our new library until my fellow citizens voted down the bond issue. So SPB and I are using it for its highest and best use: Geocaching.

SPB is in charge of cache security, video game playing, and camera mugging.

Here is the final hide. Do you see the cache container?

No? Good!

Celebrate a successful placement with ice cream for me and a milkshake for SPB.

More camera mugging

(A rare Yogi smile with teeth. SPB wouldn’t give me the camera back until he saw teeth.)

And then we finish up at the bookstore. Another BNO tradition, I buy any book he wants (no videogame cheat books!!) Little guy loves to read.

It’s dark, it’s late, its a school night, and it’s time to go home.

I filled out the cache application. Maybe it’ll be approved today!! SPB and I have now hid 28 geocaches.

Looking forward to May’s edition of Boys Night Out.

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.

Ruby Tuesday – Red Barn

I played a round of golf Sunday with some friends from work. I’d never played the course before. We kept driving by the barn pictured above. It’s in play on one of the holes. If you are a good golfer,you hit your ball over it. If you play like me, you go around it.

Check out Ruby Tuesday for other pictures of red from all over.

Jenks Herb Festival, Genesis 1:29-30, and the RHOKers are looking for Guest Bloggers.

The family loaded up #1 MIL Nana and went across the river to the Jenks Herb Festival.

SuperPizzaBoy and I are not too much into gardening. He decided to chill for a little while.

So I joined him to see what things looked like from the curb. I love those clouds.

They sell stuff besides plants.

Some of the stuff was actually pretty cool. I loved these baskets.

I don’t need one but they are fun to look at.

I loved these cacti

Hey look at this, and wouldn’t you know, right by a wine tasting booth.

Miss McGillicutty where are you? No matter where I go, the RHOK girls have been there. Go check them out; they are a hoot! They are looking for guest bloggers, if you are brave enough, give them a shout.

And then it was time to go home. Sweetie and Nana loaded up on lots of stuff. SPB and I satisfied ourselves with Boy Scout root beer.

“Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.” (NIV)

Go check out That’s Baloney for other links to photos and scripture or contribute your own.

666th Post

This is my 666th post. Thank you dear readers who have stuck it through. I dedicate this blog and this post to you!

(Thanks Irritated Tulsan, this is the only award that I have ever won, in my entire life.)

Wikipedia number of the beast

Special thanks to the blogging ministry of That’s Baloney for bringing to life 666BOI. She is ~~to blame~~ owed many thanks.

Sarah Borges

Who I’ve been listening to

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles

Who are you listening to? Yes, grandkids count.

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!