Lately I've Been...

I don't read a lot of blogs that belong to other people. The simple truth is I don't have time to read a lot of people's complaints and whines. So I pick and choose. And I don't check all the blogs I read every day. Which works out good cause most of them don't update every day. However on one of the ones I do check fairly often the author occasionally posts something she calls, "Lately you might find me..." Then she lists five things she's been doing recently.

I liked this idea but I don't want to completely steal it so, I'm changing it to "Lately I've Been..." and the the number of things I write will probably vary.

So without further ado...

Lately I've Been

• Obsessively listening to Duran Duran (I was totally crushed when the lead singer got married)

• Writing a romance novel

• Vacuuming a large amount of pet fur

• Watching Burn Notice on USA

• Staring into space with a confused look on my face (usually when working on romance novel)

• Cooking dinner (except for last night when I made Miss Goofy and two nights ago when I made Music Man buy us pizza)

• Rocking out, dancing around and causing Miss Goofy to roll her eyes (really enjoying Duran Duran again)

So that's what I'm up to. What about you?

Things I've Learned In Oklahoma

If you live in Oklahoma or have lived here in the past, you can probably ignore this post. If you've never been to Oklahoma and enjoy drivel, this might be the post for you. This will of course be in list form.

1. Although crickets in the house are supposed to be good luck, you really don't want to have them jump on you at three in the morning.

2. Even the biggest, bravest dog will be terrified of a thunderstorm.

3. Oklahoma humidity will make you appreciate the mild climate of California.

4. Oklahoma humidity is way better than Georgia humidity.

5. The wilderness is very noisy.

6. Oklahoma isn't just flat desert. It has gorgeous forests, beautiful lakes and vibrant cities.

7. I much prefer the city to the country.

Thank You!!!

So, I talked the other day about having moved. It was a long trip from California to Oklahoma. We traveled in a caravan. Well part of the way.

Music Man, Music Man's Uncle and Aunt, Miss Goofy and I, oh and Courage and Thatcher were traveling. Music Man and Thatcher traveled together, they bonded in Music Man's truck. Music Man's Uncle and Aunt pulled a trailer with our stuff. Miss Goofy, Courage and I spent the better part of a week in a Saturn on the I-40.

For the record, Courage has a terrible time with digestion when he travels. Translation: he gets awful gas.

However, I do want to take a moment and thank two people who helped Miss Goofy and I a lot. These people helped us by keeping track of weather and road conditions and sending us text messages warning us of changes and possible problems. As well as providing us with jokes and cheerful notes as we drove.

Thank you DolphinLady and TheWeatherGod! You helped us make what could have been a difficult trip much easier.

For the record, I've wanted to post my thank you for a while but I had to wait until I had internet. Now that I have it, I'll be posting more often.

Where Have I Been

You might be asking yourself that question. Then again you might not. This might be your first time to my blog and if so, welcome. Or you could be an old reader and just happy I finally decided to update.

While I don't have a good excuse for not updating between Jujubee's birthday and the first of May, I do have one for since then. And it's really good.

You see I left my little mountain in California for the forests of Oklahoma. No I wasn't drunk. No I didn't get lost. Yes there are forests in Oklahoma.

As you may have heard unemployment in California is very high. Where we lived it was running close to 20%. Here in Oklahoma we're at 7%. Go ahead and do the math. I'll wait.

Yeah see, more opportunity for a job in Oklahoma. Way less competition. So we made the choice to move. And it's gone, well let's just say it's gone. We've had a few challenges on the way and I'll blog about those when I stop having nightmares. Just kidding, I'll blog about them later though.

However in moving sort of suddenly, we didn't have things as nailed down as we should have. So, we've been staying at a cabin owned by Music Man's uncle. It's shelter. For insects and us but mostly for insects. Let me tell you, the only thing that startles me more when I wake up than a cricket on me, is waking up with a spider crawling on me. Ewwwww!!!!!

But crickets in the house are supposed to be good luck so we've caught them and released them outside. Or nearly all of them. I can't be held accountable for the first one that hopped onto me in the middle of the night and I beat to death with my slipper. Nor can I be responsible for any that my cat has tortured during their "play" time.

The cabin does pose some amenities that are unique for me. There is a wonderful mosquito colony. Not to mention all the good luck from all the crickets in the house. Um, it's about four feet off the ground so if the river floods we should stay dry. Anything in the shed will be ruined but the house should be okay.

Unfortunately, there is no internet. Or cable. There are however lights but I have been singing the theme song to Gilligan's Island for about six weeks now. Slightly changed though to "no web, no phone, no cable, not a single luxury. It sucks to be like Robinson Crusoe. Get me out of here!"

Oh that was the other thing, our cell phones don't always work well. But it's pretty. I'd show you a picture but I don't have my camera with me and I'm sitting in a Barnes and Noble in Tulsa hoping my laptop battery doesn't die before I finish this post.

Hopefully we'll be able to move in the next few weeks and have internet again. We'll see. Music Man did find a job and he's working so there's always hope. Course he just started this week and I have no idea how long he has to be with a place before someone will rent to us. Hopefully, they'll rent to us without any problem. We'll see soon.

Happy Birthday Jujubee

It's Jujubee's Big Day!!!

Happy Birthday Sissy!!!

I love you lots!!!



From Nora and her Herd

Joy

Simple things in this world give us joy. As adults it can be anything from a bite of chocolate, the wind in our hair, the sun shining on a cold winter's afternoon or sleeping in while the kids are at Grandma's for the weekend.

As a mom I've always tried to see the world through my daughter's eyes. She has always found joy in the simplest things. Twirling in a circle until she was so dizzy she fell down, chasing bubbles in the yard, the dog kissing her cheek until she's laughing so hard she can't stand, these are the things of her childhood. I hope she will remember them with the same joy I felt watching her experience them.

Now I have a new one to add to the list: passing the written test for her learner's permit. It took most of the afternoon for that one to sink in. But when it finally did, the giggles coming from her were exquisite.

I took her out for a quick driving lesson after we got back from our four hour trip to the DMV, which I didn't even mind this time. We were in a commercial neighborhood with no traffic. By no traffic I mean, there is a gas station, a Denny's and a hotel, about four streets and maybe six stop signs. I had told her on the way over I wanted her to get her speed up to 25. She'd been driving around our mobile home park at all of 10-13 mph. So I wanted her to really drive this time. She did and after her lesson, we parked so we could switch places and I could drive us home. I got behind the wheel and she giggled and said to me, "I went 27." The joy on her face made me want to cry. So happy, such a little thing, but it made her so happy.

So I called her a speed demon and got on the freeway to come home. No way I was going to let her know how much it makes me want to cry. Then I blogged about it.

She's still a speed demon.

New Resolutions

Okay, so I've been thinking about last year's resolutions and I've come to a conclusion.

When you aim low it really is easier to attain your goals. With that uplifting thought, I've decided to make new resolutions for this year. They are a bit more lofty. By the way the only ones I didn't really achieve last year are numbers 7 & 8. And well, I doubted number 7 would happen and I was really just dreaming with 8.

1. Listen to obnoxious music. (It worked well last year, thought I'd stick with a winner)

2. Participate in a 100 lbs in 10 months online weight loss challenge. Details to come later.

3. Participate in NaNoEdMo. This is in March and if you wondering what it is then you need to see the site. I've already chosen my novel to edit.

4. Participate in NaNoWriMo. This is the one I'm really excited about. It's National Novel Writing Month. It's in November. I think it will be a lot of fun. I might have a practice run in the next few weeks.

5. Schoolwork. I think this is self-explanatory.

6. Learn to play the flute at least a little. I was in band in fourth grade. I was able to play three notes. I'm up to five now, so I'm already doing better. I also have a better flute.

7. Blog at least once a week. Glad this is done for this week.

8. Exercise daily. This will help with the 100 lb in 10 months challenge.

9. Establish and maintain some routines. My life goes much better when I have some basic routines in place.

So have you made any resolutions? Wanna tell me about them? I promise not to laugh, but I may email and see how you're doing.

Brutal Game & A Funny Story

It's playoff season for soccer. We as coaches and a team mom decided on some rules for our playoffs. It would have been nice if they had abided by them, but I'm not going to talk about that now. Needless to say it was a brutal game and it's left a not so good taste in several of our players and parents mouths. We'll see what happens. If you look in the sidebar you'll see we lost.

However, while chatting with our resident COB (that's cranky old bastard for those who don't remember)I was reminded of a funny story.

We lived in our church's parsonage for a while. We had just moved in a few days before, we hadn't even gotten our big brave dog yet. You know our big brave dog, right? The one who hides behind me when jets go by overhead.

So here we are, in the middle of gang territory living in a house that's sat empty for the previous 18 months. Did I mention it was repeatedly broken into before we moved in?

It was late and we heard a noise outside. It was clearly someone jumping the fence and attempting to break into the house.

Music Man jumped out of bed, grabbed the closest weapon he could find, yelled at me to call 911 and went flying out the back door.

The kid who had been attempting to break in took off running, jumped the fence catching his foot in the process and screaming, "Oh shit!" as he landed on his face. I was on the phone with the police, who were sending a car right away. The very nice dispatcher nearly peed herself when I requested they not shoot the naked guy with the sword, cause he was my husband.

Apparently, gang members are terrified of naked, fat white men with Thai ceremonial swords screaming at them at night.


****Please don't try this at home. It's much better to let the police run naked through your neighborhood.

Okay, So We're Not Undefeated

Here is Miss Goofy blocking shots in the pregame practice:



Here is Coach Music Man's pregame pep talk:



Here is what was a spectacular save:



I won't put the pictures of Miss Goofy letting in 4 goals on the blog. Music Man and I worked with her a lot on Sunday. Hopefully it will help and we'll win our game this weekend. Especially since DolphinLady and TheWeatherGod will be here for the game. Root for the Blue Crush everyone!!

Our Last Soccer Match

Okay, I'm thinking I've jinxed the team by forgetting my camera two weeks in a row. So, the camera is totally going this week. Maybe I'll even remember to use it. We'll see.

Let's just say, this past week wasn't their best game. Especially for our goal keeper. She had some issues.

We also had two new players. One of them plays soccer for a club team (don't tell her coach), the other hates soccer. Or she did until she played on Saturday. She played very well and seemed to enjoy it a lot more.

This week our team plays the Sharks again, hopefully we'll be ready for them. And for the HERicanes the next week, when DolphinLady and TheWeatherGod are coming to down to see Miss Goofy play.

No pressure.

Miss Goofy Asks a Political Hot Button Question...

So this morning Miss Goofy and I were watching TV. A commercial for an identity protection company came on. We started chatting about social security numbers and I dazzled (yeah right) her by reciting several of our family members numbers. Including my sister's.

She looked at the dog and asked me, "What's the dog's?"

"He doesn't have one."

"He's illegal?" She turned to the dog and asked him, "Where's your work visa?"



He looks worried doesn't he?

Just Outplayed

Our girls played hard this morning. We had a nine a.m. game. Hell, I thought nine a.m. on Saturdays had been canceled. Apparently not. I didn't take any pictures this week.

First let me say, most of our team was gone on Tuesday. Turns out they had the flu/cold/yucky crud making everyone in town sick. Whatever it hit Coach Music Man this week too. He could hardly speak on Tuesday. Then it hit Miss Goofy on Friday. She still went to Friday night practice and the game this morning.

Miss Goofy made some incredible saves. Including diving on the ball just like a pro. One of our girls who has really bad knees scored two goals. Unfortunately it just wasn't enough and we lost by 5.

Not because our team didn't play hard. They did. There are some things they need to work on, but they tried. Unfortunately, the HERicanes, are well, experienced. Their team has mostly older girls, so around 15, which for us is older. They also have girls that have played for a minimum of 3 years. All of them.

I thought these teams were supposed to be equally divided. Oh well. At least we know what to plan for when play them again. Next week's team is one that is young and inexperienced. I think the girls are looking forward to it. Not that we're guaranteed to win but I think they're feeling a little more confident of how they will do.

I'm just hoping they have fun. They seemed to, even in the midst of getting their butts handed to them this morning. If nothing else, they should be proud of their good effort.

First Game!!!

Okay so Music Man is coaching Miss Goofy's AYSO soccer team. Their first game was today. They won!!! Go Blue Crush!!!

Here is Music Man and Miss Goofy after the game:



I circled and labeled them. I'm really getting the hang of Microsoft Paint.

Here is Miss Goofy in some bizarre soccer ritual.




There would be more pictures, but I forgot I had the camera out. I'll try harder next time.

Oh and the final score was 5 to 1. So we're undefeated and tied for first place!

Hark! Are those Crickets I Hear?

Okay, so there's been a little problem with Miss Goofy playing soccer for AYSO this season. Namely, not enough girls in her division, which is either supposed to be U16 or U19. I'm not really sure which. I think it's 16 with the option to play up a level if they didn't have enough girls sign up.

The problem was they needed more girls. Why? Because the board here locally decided to split the upper division by gender. So we had a total of 18 girls signed up in the 16-19 division.

A call went out, "We need more girls!" As of today there were 21. This evening we went to a meeting with the other parents and girls, the Commissioner, the registrar, and the coach administrator. The topic? What should we do?

I was a little worried we were about to come home $85 richer. But we weren't, we actually had several options. One was form a single U19 division team and travel for most of the games. Not a good option since last year more than half the team decided not to travel. Option B was to create a fourth (they already had 3) U14 team. The downside there is the teams can't go to the regional playoffs. The commissioner has decided that if that's the option then we will have playoffs here and he will make sure we have an awards ceremony to go with it. Option C was a refund on the season.

Ultimately the parents decided on Option B. It does mean juggling the teams in the U14 division. It also means some girls will play down a level. But it seems like the best choice.

Then the commissioner, (a very nice man who signs his emails "the Commish") told us we also needed a coach and we need to find one tonight.

Does anyone else hear the crickets?

Music Man is the man you want to have at a meeting when you ask for volunteers. That's probably all I need to say about that but, I'd like to add that Music Man, while a wonderful dad and husband, an excellent trumpet player, a hard worker and all around great guy, has always been an American football fan. Not a British football fan. Good thing the AYSO has books on the game.

So, Miss Goofy will be playing soccer, Music Man will be coaching and I will be taking lots of pictures and probably a bunch of other stuff that I haven't even begun to contemplate. Wish us luck!

And Now I've Become a Soccer Mom

This is Miss Goofy doing one of the drills:



This is more of the same drill. I believe this is just after the girls hit their coach with the soccer ball.



This is a relay the girls were doing:



And this is what happens when your team loses the relay:



I love that picture of Miss Goofy. She just got hit in the butt by a soccer ball.

I have a bunch of other pictures but the biggest thing I keep asking myself is this: How the hell did I wind up a soccer mom?

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

How does your garden grow?

Or in my case, how does Miss Goofy's garden grow? It grows quite well. Especially since we didn't get to plant until late in June. We were still having frost until then.

These are two of the tomatoes, we had a third one but we ate it. It was good.



Here are two of the bell peppers. We're hoping for more. They smell really good.


We have a whole bunch of other things on the plants and are looking forward to eating lots of wonderful food this summer and autumn.

Operation Beautiful

I'm sending out a challenge.

I found this website for operation beautiful. I love this idea.

So I'm challenging everyone and anyone who reads my site to go to this site and check it out.

There's also a You Tube video that explains the project: http://operationbeautiful.com/the-movie/

Go check it out and then go put your own notes up.

Forced Blogging

I am writing this post under protest. Miss Goofy is demanding I update my blog. She wants a picture I took of her to be posted. So here it is.



The skunk with her is the newest member of our entourage, Fillmore T. Skunk.

ETA: I just got yelled at for not mentioning the damn hair. Miss Goofy bleached her hair a while ago. Someone needs to do her roots.

Obsessions

I might have a tendency to become obsessed about things. The proof of that is in the number of blog entries when I started this blog. I also have a tendency to not keep up with former obsessions. The proof of that is the number of blog entries in the last few months. If you want further proof look for my entry about music obsessions and becoming obsessed with a song.

However, I became obsessed back in the beginning of August with writing a romance novel. Now, I'm not going to say it's good, though Music Man and DolphinLady might if I pay them enough, but it has been an enjoyable experience.

I finished my first one and while writing it had inspiration for another 4 stories. The basic premise is the the stories are about five brothers and their journey from tragedy to love. The first story came together very quickly as did the second one. I'm working on the third story now and enjoying myself a lot.

The problem comes from my obsessive tendencies. When I'm writing I tend to talk about one thing and one thing only. Primarily, my stories. Any thoughts on how to keep me from being boring and only talking about my obsessions? It's kind of annoying those around me.

You Know You're Married to a Musician When...

1. Your spouse drums on everything: tables, counters, walls, you.

2. Your spouse looks around the house and says, "I think we can fit a grand piano in here if we take out the kitchen."

3. The books in your house run the complete gamut: from classical composers life stories to why Tupac was shot.

4. In order to take a bath you have to move the tuba out of the tub where it's been placed to dry from it's bath.

5. iTunes sends you a thank card for all the music you've purchased.

6. You ask your spouse to pick up some paper for you and they bring home music manuscript paper.

7. All matter of man and beast near your home are soothed.

8. Someone says, "Do you know how to get to the post office?" and your spouse replies, "If you hum a few bars I can fake it."

9. Buying a car involves bringing every instrument you own to make sure it all fits.

10. All your neighbors houses are for sale.