Tag Archives: Logan

Logan in Footloose

Logan’s school put on another musical this year, Footloose about a small town in Oklahoma that bans dancing in the city limits and the kids fight city hall and win. It is based on actual events in Elmore City, Oklahoma in 1980. Read about it here.

Logan as a parishoner during a sermon. The beige and beige on beige look was what I had in the 80’s until I met Heather and she introduced me to color.

Logan had a small part but he worked hard at it. So did his mother from shopping at Goodwill for 1980’s era clothes (why didn’t she check my closet?) to being at almost all the rehearsals and all the performances.

He is a town council member here. He “forgot” to tuck his shirt in before going onstage. I thought Heather was going to have a coronary. She texted him to tuck his pants in before he came back out. Yeah for cell phones. Of course playing on it may have caused the problem in the first place.

The teacher that directs the kids is very demanding but has a big heart. The kids really respond. This production had kids down to sixth grade participating.

Logan had a small part and he made the most of it and gave it is all.

Those of us who are parents know what it is like when you see your kid doing something and enjoying it.

This is his air guitar technique. We hadn’t seen that before.

This is his last high school production so we’ll see what the future holds for Logan. Will he be in any more productions? If he wants to hard enough he will.

But I will worry about that later, right now I’m enjoying his joy on the stage.

It was fun!

Community Service Hours at the Animal Rescue Foundation

Son Logan’s school requires their kids to give back to their community via Community Service Hours. Logan has tried various things like the Food Bank and local libraries but he found something that he clicks with.

Tulsa’s Animal Rescue Foundation is a no kill shelter that puts dogs up for adoption. They bring a bunch of them to one of the Petsmart stores every Saturday from 9 to about 4. The need help of all kinds: setting up the tables and crates, helping people who want to look at the dogs and cats, and people to walk the dogs ever now and then to give them a break.

Logan is really liking this and is great watching him like it. He is a dog walking machine. They had about eighteen dogs last week and he walked every one of them, many of them twice during his shift. ARF has lots of teen volunteers and I am impressed with them. They pitch in and help where they can and they all love the dogs and cats.

The dogs vary from old and slow to young and exuberant and Logan gives them all a good walk. Plus many of the dogs appreciate just being held for a little while. Being on display stresses them out. By the end of the day the dogs are exhausted and are sleeping while waiting for their foster “parents” to come retrieve them. Almost all of the dogs are really good dogs who are victims of divorces or other life changes of their owners that are no fault of the pets. You can tell they are really confused about why they are not home.

Anyways, if you live in Tulsa and you are looking for a dog check out the Animal Rescue Foundation.

Weekend Roundup

Busy, busy, busy that was us this weekend. Friday was my 9/80 day. I work 80 hours over nine days and get every other Friday off. It makes for long hours when I’m working but I love having the extra days off. Friday, Heather and I dropped my car off to get tires and then we went to breakfast and then on to the movies. We decided to see The Revenant.

Heather went to see it as a favor to me and I don’t think she liked it as much as I did. The Revenant is a powerful movie and very raw and incredibly brutal at times. I was worn out by the time it was done and I can see why it was nominated for a bunch of Oscars. I can’t really say much about it because almost anything would be a spoiler. I’ve some research I need to do and then maybe a dedicated blog post.

Friday night Logan’s Improv group put on a new show. Logan loves Improv and I love watching him light up when he is onstage. It is great watching his fellow performers also, some of whom have been in the group for years and I love watching the kids grow up. Logan and several others are seniors this year so they will be aging out of the group. We’ll have to see how Logan can continue doing Improv.

The nature of Improv is that you have to have a quick wit and you have to move on. Some skits work and others don’t and you don’t look back, you just go on.

Saturday morning I went for a trail run on Turkey Mountain. It is a great place to get my head on straight.

I saw this note card stuck in a tree. It’s a nice gesture and all that but the first rain this will turn into mush or the wind will blow onto the ground. I’m such a cynic.

Saturday night Logan got all spiffed up for his school’s Winter Ball. Heather and I were the chauffeurs for the night. We drove him to a country club where the Senior Dinner was and then later picked him up and took him to the dance venue and then picked him up. We were glad to do it. It was great seeing the young men and women being all dressed up, excited, and glowing for the event.

Heather and I went first class. I took her to one of the finest convenience stores in the country and offered to get her anything she wanted. I was even prepared to get here the X Large Pizza. Nothing but the best for my wife. She opted for a bottle of water.

Christmas 2015 – In the Books

Christmas happened this year. Hear you go a rare shot of me in my snuggie.

The kid with his Nana. The kid is getting taller and taller. Is there something we can spray him with to slow him down a little bit.

Heather and Nana, quite a team.

I got a candid shot of Heather. She said she hated it but then she made it her profile pic on facebook. Should I hit her up about royalties?

I captured Nana also.

Before the Christmas meal. We decided to have it more informally this year in the kitchen. Lots less work that way.

My sister Ellen posted this on facebook today. She’s the cute one in the middle. I’m the good looking guy on the right and brother Bob is on the left. I’m guessing mid 1960’s in Price, Utah. We always had a great Christmas. Often we would load up afterward and head up to southern Idaho to see our relatives there. That was fun, or we would head down to Phoenix and see people down there. That was fun also. Bob and Ellen, with her husband Irvin, spent Christmas in Idaho with my dad this year.

She also posted this picture of her three girls. I’m guessing in the 1980’s. Dana is on the left. She and her husband Adam are in Australia visiting his family with their little girl who was born this year. Adam is an Australian citizen you see and their little girl has dual citizenship which I think is totally cool. Jillian in the middle is also visiting my dad, her Grandfather for Christmas in Idaho. Her husband Brian is in the Army serving his country overseas this season. Mary on the right spent Christmas in Colorado Springs with her son this year.

This isn’t a Christmas picture but it is Ellen and her Husband Irvin with Logan back at the turn of the century.

This is also not a Christmas pic but it shows my dad in between Logan and brother Bob.

And this is brother Bob and me with our mother a long time ago in Coyote, New Mexico. She is never far from our thoughts.

Hey you know, when we celebrate Christmas we celebrate it with the critters also. This is abby our sweet but not very smart mutt.

And Rascal, he is sweet and smart. You can see that he has been reading the paper.

And our sweet but perpetually cold mutt Ginger. My niece Dana pictured above lives in the Phoenix area and I think Ginger would like us to move there also.

And Nana’s dog Fiona. She always enjoys visiting us, but is ready to go home when that times comes also.

That was our Christmas this year or at least part of it. I’m big into Christmas not running into a huge stop on Christmas Day so I’m going to go ahead and everybody a Merry Christmas.

Skywatch Friday – Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you who observe it, Happy Skywatching to everybody. This is from our trip to Hawaii last summer.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

How about some Bing Crosby and Mele Kalikimaka?

Now, Elvis and Martina Mcbride: Blue Christmas

Christmas Memories

Digging through the files. This is Logan when he was two. He has always been a Christmas kid.

One year we got me Logan some Thomas the Tank Engine track and cars. I He loved it until ~~Heather took it away from me~~ he outgrew it. Sniff.

At least two out of the three of us can smile.

Boompa and Nana with Logan. Boompa, Charles, was the word’s greatest FIL and a heck of a great guy. He and Logan loved each other and were best friends. He was taken away from us suddenly years ago and we still miss him every day. Boompa loved Christmas and he loved his grandson.

This is my mother, Granny, with Logan when he was about six months or so. Nobody loved her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids like Granny did. She is also gone now.

We are moving forward though making new memories. We are confident that we will meet up with Boompa, Granny, and others again and the memories will be that much sweeter.

For new classic singers can anybody beat Michael Buble?

For great Christian Gospel Hymns check out my friend Driller's Christmas Music Marathon, going on now.

Oklahoma State One Act Play Championship

Last Thursday Logan got on a bus with about four dozen other kids and a few adults and headed to the Oklahoma City suburb of Mustang. The kids were competing for the State Championship One Act Play Competition.

The young men and women were amazing when the U-Haul with props showed up including the very important tree. They just jumped in there and unloaded everything like they knew what they were doing.

Then it was time to check out the stage and do a fast run through to get a feel for the size of the stage. The lighting, sound, and spotlight crew got familiar with everything also.

And then it was one of those moments. A Christian school working in a public school. The Director of the play offered up a prayer for the event.

The next morning it was time to put on the costumes and makeup (see this page) at the hotel. Heather did it for Logan.

And here we are, Logan playing Baloo the Bear in Just So, Mr. Kipling by Lisa Nanni-Messegee.

Sorry my pics are not very good. I am in the process of getting permission from one of the Mom’s who took great photos of the performance and I’ll add them if and when that happens.

And then the performance started. All the young men and women did great. Their hard work had really paid off.

They give you 45 minutes to complete the performance. We finished in 44 minutes and 56 seconds. So they didn’t waste anything.

I am strange, I love watching the chaos that ensues when a group of people decide to get a group picture. I love how everybody kind of sorts themelves out.

There were eight other schools performing that day and Logan’s school took second place. I watched about half of the other performances by the other schools and I was quite impressed. I hear garbage every now and then about how today’s kids don’t know how to work and don’t care. I’ll tell you that last Friday there were lots of kids from nine schools who know how to work and care a lot.

Okay, they finally go their act together. A fine group of people these are. There were about fifty involved. Not just the actors and actresses but the stage managers and assistants, stage hands, makeup buffaloes, sound guy, lights girl, spotlight girls, and all sorts of others. All working together.

Hey we got to get a senior picture. Yeah!

For the parents its the face of their happy child that makes them tear up.

Well done guys and gals!

Through My Lens – A Visit to Carmichael’s Pumpkin Patch

Sunday afternoon the family traveled from Tulsa down to the country outside of Bixby to Carmichael’s Pumpkin Patch to pick out the family pumpkins for Fall.

We saw some greedy goats.

And some cute little goats. At what point do they turn into shameless beggars?

We saw a lonely, humiliated chicken sharing its space with a rabbit and a tiny little pumpkin.

And a pot bellied pig looking a little frazzled trying to take care of her youngins. (Youngin is a word in Oklahoma just in case you are wondering. Other words have disappeared. Nobody knows what a Democrat is here any more. Except for some old timers who don’t really want to talk about it too much.

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And we saw brahma cow. aaaa

And a few llamas.

And some youngins making a little selfie nest in the pumpkins. Aren’t they cute. I wasn’t the only one taking pics of them making a selfie. Look at the lady across the way.

Oh yeah, we did find a couple of pumpkins!!!

Linking for the first time with Through My Lens

Lots Going on Here Lately

There has been lots going on these days. I have not been a very good blogging friend I am sorry to say.

Heather, Logan, and Nana after the play.

Let me see, first up this week, Logan was in a play at school. He plays Baloo the bear in the play “Just so Mr. Kipling” a drama based on Kipling’s characters in The Jungle Book.

It is a a great role for Logan with his deep booming voice. He makes a great bear. The kids all did great. For a one act play it has pretty large cast and you can tell the kids and the director really worked hard on it. They competed in a regional competition a couple weeks ago and won first place. So next week the State Championship so we are all loading up and heading down to Mustang, Oklahoma where the competition is being held.

And then Wednesday night was Corporate Night at Tulsa’s Oktoberfest. We took some customers to the event to drink beer, do the chicken dance, and wear funny hats. I didn’t take too many pics. Not good when you are with customers. I did get a pic of our VP of Operations holding two full beer steins. I am not sharing the pic with you guys though. At least not yet. Maybe after I retire, or he retires, or something like that.

The beer was great. This is Lagunitas IPA. Yum, yum, is what I say.

And then Thursday night the choir’s at Logan’s school gave a concert. Everybody from the first graders on up. Again they did a great job. Again, all I got is fuzzy pics from my cell phone. Sorry.

Saturday, Logan and I are heading out to the Wizard World at Tulsa’s Comicon. Fun, fun,fun exploration of the weirder side of our popular culture.. This pic is from last year’s event.

So that is what we have been doing. Kind of bouncing between Culture, Debauchery, Divine Music, and then Popular Culture. I’m really messing the kid up.

What have you been up to?

Friday Night Lights – Oklahoma High School Football & Homecoming

Friday we all loaded up to go watch the Metro Christian Academy vs Poteau High School Football Game. Logan is in the Metro Choir and they were singing the Star Spangled Banner before the game.

The booster club was grilling food for sale. Is talking on the phone while grilling lawful?

The Zebras were keeping to themselves. Nobody has any love for these guys.

The latest fashions were on display. No joke, the young guys at the office were checking out web pages trying to buy pants similar to these.

The Choir gathered out on the field to get instructions and warm up. I think here they are playing the game of “Everybody look all different directions.” Or so it seems to me.

The photographer was out doing his thing while I was doing my thing and we got each other.

The cheerleaders were warming up. A big difference between cheerleaders today and way back about 40 some years ago is the athleticism of the cheerleaders. They were doing front flips and back flips and hoisting each other in the air. They are athletes themselves. The cheerleaders way back when were just as pretty but not as athletic. Or you know, maybe they were and just didn’t display it for everybody. These girls were amazing.

Metro’s team got in their big inflatable helmet. I don’t blame them, that is where the cheerleaders were. And then the coin toss and shaking hands and all that. The Metro team captains ran back to the ~~cheerleaders~~ helmet and then the gun sounded and they all ran out.

Poteau is a small town in eastern Oklahoma. I think they suited everybody in town up for the game.

The Choir sang the National Anthem, and a prayer was said. (Don’t worry, totally legal. Metro is a private Christian school and the game was on their property.) As far as I know, nobody from Poteau minded.

And then the game started. It was a good game. Both teams are very good and you could tell they are well coached. The modern game with its spread offense, quick release passing, and no huddles is really exciting but very demanding of the players.

One difference between then and now is the how the plays are transmitted to the players. The plays are signaled in from the sidelines. The three players and coach in the foreground send an elaborate set of signals. And everybody on the team watches. Poteau had a little bit different system involving three posters with colors, symbols, and numbers.

At halftime the Metro band got out on the field. They didn’t get to do much marching. Their function that night was to provide music for the presentation of the homecoming king and queen and attendants. The presentation was pretty cool; they introduced the kids and gave a little bit of information about them including where they went to church, their school activities and such. Their parents accompanied them out on the field and I thought that was a great idea. The parents should receive as much recognition a their children. I noticed that the mothers of both the boys and the girls were beaming and proud. The dad’s well, I’m sure they were proud to but they just wanted to get it over with.

And then the Pride of Poteau Marching Band came out and gave quite a show. That is another difference between way back when and now. The marching routines are much more complex. The Metro crowd was very appreciative of the show.

So, all in all it was a great evening. I have to confess though. We left after halftime. It was kind of cold there. Poteau ended up winning in double overtime 42-41.

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