back home, safely

We ended up not in the neighbor's shelter. They lovingly invited three families and when the sirens went off we decided that we were better off going to the hospital, whose lower level is a community storm shelter.

The real reason we left the neighbor's house is because I read The Hater's mind and he was going to be all heroic and insist on everybody else getting into the shelter and then there wouldn't have been room for him. That's simply not acceptable. The storm sirens started, the news said we were in the clear for the moment, and I looked at him and said, "If we're going to go we need to do it RIGHT NOW." The Hater flew. We made a seven minute drive in about three minutes.

It was hot and muggy and smelled like a combo of rotten BO and wet dog at the hospital (because people bring their animals, too). We stayed down there for a while before I decided to try to take us into my office and hang out there where it was cooler and less crowded. It's next to a stairwell and we figured between the tv and our battery operated radio, if the news said to seek shelter we could just go downstairs with everybody else.

It was a good decision. Baby was about done in the basement. In my office she had a little more room to play with way less stimulation. We stayed hidden in a small room because we wanted to stay incognito and avoid being told to go back downstairs.

We waited until this part of town was clear and came back home. All of the houses in our neighborhood (and on this side of town) are okay. Some surrounding communities were not as fortunate. It'll probably be morning before they know how bad the damage is in the state.

The Hater was very good and didn't complain at all about the bag I packed to take with us. I had medicine, diapers, wipes, PJs for Baby, two changes of clothes for Baby, her baby and banket, a few books, cell phone charger, my wallet, three bottles of water, a box of protein bars, and a small box of baby treats. Tonight he's Husband of the Year.

tornado season

We've got a bag packed and we're ready to go to our neighbor's storm shelter in the garage. If you don't hear from us, send someone to look over there (my fear is that something will fall on it and we'll all be stuck like sardines in there).

More later...

Thunder Up

The phrase "Thunder Up" has become a rally cry in OKC. You say it when you're getting ready for a game, during the game when it's time to get serious and send good vibes to the team, and pretty much any other time that a Thunder fan wants to show their Thunder love.

(I liken it to the similar cry in the 1994 movie "8 Seconds" with Luke Perry where the big catch-phrase was "Cowboy Up". I've not heard any commentary on this, but it's what I think of every time I hear "Thunder Up", at least after I think about the horrible Chemistry teacher I had who let us watch this movie in class instead of actually teaching us Chemistry.)

Anyway... I'm excited about the game tonight.

But I'm also frustrated with some Oklahoma fans. I overheard several people say things like: "If they play like they did last time I'm going to turn it off.", "They better win or I won't watch them next year.", or "They better 'Thunder Up' or I'm going to 'Thunder Out' and cheer for Dallas." This attitude supremely gags me.*

I think it's very important to claim a team and support your team. You don't have to like all of the players or the coaches or the owners. You don't have to like their logo. You don't have to like how they play all of the time. But if you're going to claim them as your team, you should support them or keep your mouth shut. Stand behind them and especially support them when they're struggling. It's easy to support winners, but true fans are there to cheer and be supportive when the cards are down.

If you had told me at the beginning of this season that we'd be this far into the playoffs I would've been shocked. We're a young team that has already over-achieved this season -- they need supportive fans, people who are willing to Thunder Up.

* I'll only mention as an aside that the fans I overheard with the worst attitudes were also OU football fans. Coincidence?

as I hang my head in shame

Well, it's done. I've officially joined FB. I figured that since the world didn't end, I might as well.

Or, as my aunt said, maybe this is a sign that the world really did end?

The only other news in my life is that I found my first gray hair last night! How exciting! I'm seriously tickled pink about it - it's a great sign that I'm still kicking. This is the first of many that I will dedicate to nursing school.

battle of the burger

The Hater, Baby and I adventured to Norman for the Battle of the Burger. We'd heard about it and decided that it would be a fun, different thing to do since it wasn't raining. We learned quickly that I need to sit in the back seat with Baby if the car ride is going to take more than 10-15 minutes.

I love driving through town and seeing signs to support our team. As Baby would say, "Go Boys!" I've never really lived in a town that totally embraced a team like OKC has embraced the Thunder. We're watching game #3 now. The Hater is frustrated that they've not played better in the first quarter, but points out that they never play well at the beginning of a game. I say Thunder Up.

So we went to the burger battle which was actually held at a huge car lot. They had between 20-30 people out grilling burgers, live music, blow-up jumping things, a playground, and yummy burgers. It was all for a Toby Keith charity that raises money to help families who have children with cancer, so we didn't feel bad at all participating in the festivities.

The best burger I had was seriously THE BEST burger I've ever had. They mixed frozen hash browns and cheese and bacon with the meat to make a "baked potato" burger. It seriously tasted like a loaded baked potato made sweet love to a hamburger to produce the most divine concoction I've ever had. We may have to try to recreate it this summer. I asked for more specifics and the lady (cooking for the On Point construction team) said she used frozen has browns, cooked them like regular hash browns, but not completely through, then added it to the burger mix. Mmmm. Just thinking about it makes this Pavlov salivate.

The only thing better than the burger was the music! We'd heard about Spaghetti Eddie and had very good intentions to get a cd and add it to the other music we play for Baby, but until today we've not been able to do that. We bought a cd AND saw them play. They were a lot of fun. I look forward to playing their cd until we all know the words and can sing along with it (then we'll go find another live performance and sing along like real rock star fans!). They were apparently on Good Morning America not too long ago. It's fun music for kids, too. If you have kids you should seriously look into it. (Yes, that was a shameless plug for a local band, and I admit it. But it's great music, so you'll be glad you took this bait.)

Aside: Baby is really into "rock and roll" and likes to pretend like she's singing into a microphone. Usually it's just la-la-la or itsy-bitsy-spider. My favorite is when she wants to sing into the bathtub faucet.

We ate just right and played very hard. The actual car lot was fancier than any car lot I've ever seen. They had the huge playground outside. Inside they had huge waterfall and fish tank that wasn't quite as big as the one at Bass Pro Shop, but very close. They had an indoor play room for little ones (Baby had to check it out), another room with video games for older kids, and yet another connected outdoor playground. These people seriously knew how to make their family consumers happy while shopping.

Needless to say Baby fell asleep about 5 minutes from the house. Then proceeded to sleep for a wonderful nap.

After she woke up we continued to play hard. The Hater made an excellent rosemary chicken with cherry tomato sauce for supper (a Weight Watcher's recipe that was a total and complete home run). Baby and I read about 30 stories between nap time and bed time. This girl seriously loves to read and I couldn't be happier with that.

It's been a great week, and to top it off....

LLRRLLRRLLRRLLRRLLRRLLRRLLRRLLRRLLRRLLRR

(drumroll)

I've never actually been to this restaurant, but I've begged The Hater to stop so I could take a picture of it just about every time we've passed it for the last almost eight years that we've lived here. And today we thought of it enough ahead of time to get off the interstate and get this great shot.

Do you think they serve turnip greens and cornbread?

How about lemon ice box pie?

How about poke salet?

How about sweet tea?

Do you think they have to wiggle the dish washer around to hook up to the sink to run?

Do they have homemade grape juice canned under the sink?

Even if they do, they can't be nearly as fancy as my Mama Lou's kitchen!

oh me

It all started with Puppy.

Puppy was a tee-tiny little plastic dog that Baby thought was the greatest thing ever. It was a fun little thing that she played with while in her car seat. Then one day she threw it somewhere in the back seat and it's so small I've not been able to find it.

So we decided that it would be a good idea to get another, larger animal that would be easier to spot in the back seat. (And that wouldn't give me a pang of panic that she could choke on it.) It was a tough decision, but she picked an animal we both liked. Enter: Tiger.

This is Tiger.

Baby loves Tiger. Tiger doesn't have any other name yet. But it's the favorite toy in the car (for now because let's be honest - she's fickle).

One of the things that Baby will do from time to time is tell me (while I'm driving) that her blanket went poo-poo or that the bear went poo-poo or now that the tiger went poo-poo. Then I say, "Uh-oh! What should we do?" And she says, "I clean it up, Mommy." And then she sings a clean-up song that they sing at day care when they put away toys. This doesn't happen all the time, but it does from time to time. Even blankets have accidents.

Well, since we've gotten Tiger, "Tiger go poo-poo, Mommy" is said much more often than anything went poo-poo before. I didn't know if it was a sign that we're moving closer to trying potty training again, like if she was becoming more self-aware, or if they had been talking more about the potty at day care... but it was strange because she didn't talk about poo-poo all the time -- just when she was in the car. And it peaked within a day of getting Tiger.

Then this weekend I happened to pick up Tiger and noticed this...

It's not poo-poo.

On one hand I'm very excited that Baby is this observant.

On the other, I'm not ready to have this conversation yet! Not with my two year old!!

I plan on letting her think it's poo-poo for at least five more years.

Shoo -- dirty, dirty poo-poo!!

among the wildflowers

I've been eyeballing a field of wildflowers for about a week. It was the Queen Anne's Lace that caught my eye. I had a vision of making a wreath for Baby's head out of it. I thought it would make some cute pictures. Long story short - it was too twiggy and not malleable enough for my wishes. I think I could've messed with it and maybe soaked it in water overnight, but decided that was far too much work for what I wanted to do.

(Yes, I know this is not Queen Anne's lace - other flowers in the field)

Enter Plan B: Just take Baby to the field, cut some flowers, and get her to hold them and pose. (Have I mentioned that she doesn't pose?) We did this today and I did manage to get a few cute pictures, despite her refusal to look at the camera or me.

We weren't there for very long - not even five minutes. We didn't get deep into the field. But it didn't matter, I scooped her up and left as soon as she started the snotty nose fountain. I was being naive and hopeful that the pollen wouldn't bother her, but I was wrong. We came home and immediately washed hands and face and I gave her some Zyrtec.

We won't be able to go back to the flower fields again.

(At least not until the later summer wildflowers bloom...)

She loved the flowers and was in such a great mood this afternoon. Remind me of that tomorrow afternoon when she's hit her Zyrtec-makes-her-crazy-evening-slump-where-everything-is-the-end-of-the-world-and-causes-much-consternation-and-many-tears...

quick update

Had a wonderful Mother's Day. The highlight of the weekend was family bowling. One really fun game followed by fried chicken and sweet potato fries. And then we all took great naps.

This sweet girl is currently curled up next to me, purring. It's a good life.

I've had several consecutive late nights for work - and now I hope to crash and sleep until morning.

dig

My grandfather's class motto was "Dig." I've always thought that was great.

We had a terrible trip to the zoo yesterday, but the highlight was looking down on the ground and seeing this little guy stamped into the concrete of the Children's Zoo.

It makes me think of home, of family - and I smile.

I smile despite how incredibly congested the zoo is at 9am. I smile even though I had to scoot and pull Baby from the car seat from the opposite side of the car. I smile even though she pitched a fit and we bypassed actually seeing any animals at the zoo. I smile even though there are so many people that I can't push the stroller faster than a a sloth moves.

New rule: When you get to the zoo before it opens and STILL have to park in the Science Museum lot next door, just turn around and go back home. It's not going to be worth it.

I would like some kind of credit for my awesome parking job. Does this officially make me a city girl? (But maybe not completely - another reason we left after being at the zoo for a record 20 minutes -- because there was no way that guy was going to be able to get into the van, much less get out of the parking lot.)