Staycationing

Off to Tulsa tomorrow to see Phantom of the Opera, then out to dinner. Monday we hope to visit the aquarium and maybe Gilgrease Museum. A mini staycation since gas and airline tickets are too high for a real vacation.

I just wrote a whole long blog and got an error when uploading, so I'm going to bed. I'm sure none of it was particularly eloquent anyway. Grrr.

TGIF

Today is Friday and I'm at the start of a week off. Yay! I plan to sleep and read and ... whatever else I want to do. And nothing I don't want to do. Well, that sounds good in theory. We'll see how it works out in reality.

Today is also our 27th wedding anniversary. Twenty-seven years on the 27th of June. That will never happen again! It's been an amazing, sometimes confusing, often challenging, but always God-enveloped, ride. Three continents, 9 cities, 12 homes, not to mention all of the times we sheltered with generous family. I wouldn't have wanted to spend it with anyone else. We'll keep our fork, 'cause the best is yet to come.

The Wilds

Wild at The Wilds

We don't get out to The Wilds often enough. Every time I'm out there I feel like I've gone on vacation or somehow wondered by mistake through a time warp. The old mill and the covered bridge still amaze me. We were our there for Father's Day fishing, canoeing, roasting marshmallows for s'mores, playing volleyball. Yes, it was 95 degrees and very humid. But we built a fire anyway.

I can't remember how long it's been since I rowed on a lake in a canoe. Apparently my muscles and brain retain the memory 'cause it was really easy and oh so quiet and relaxing. Mark and I in one canoe, Dana and David in another, and Angela with two of Dana's granddaughters rowing around the smooth surface. That was BEFORE the DeLong boys took their turn, and played bumper boats.

I've decided fishing is like gambling. Every cast has the potential of being the "big one". So you keep casting. Tessa didn't catch a thing, but not for lack of trying. Angela and I finally pulled her away and forced her into a canoe. Apparently I was the canoe nazi, bossing them around from the steering position. We couldn't resist singing the theme song from Pocahontas as we rowed. Yep, we're dorks.

"Work eight hours and sleep eight hours and make sure that they are not the same hours." T. Boone Pickens

Amy(mom): "Abbey, be good, behave!"
Abbey (2 yrs old): "I AM good, I AM have!"

Things I did during my eight hours of daily work this week:

• Drove a 35' Winnebago to McAlester, OK and coordinated dental care for 10 lucky folks. Got soaking wet in the pouring rain, but loved the cooler weather.
• Drove to Muskogee, OK and had dinner with Amy, Laird and little Abbey, the source of the cute quote above.
• Drove to Porter, OK and coordinated dental care for 11 lucky folks. Tried to figure out how to change a bulb on a dental chair light. Wasn't successfull.
• Drove to Tahlequah, OK and met with the folks running the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Program. Apparently they aren't quite ready for dental care, since they haven't found the kids yet. They have 5 migrant children in the program, but are on the lookout for 25 more. Postponed our trip there till later in the month.
• Drove to OKC and back to the office.
• Figured out how to change a bulb on a dental chair, thanks to the amazing and ever patient Randy from Henry Schein Dental.
• Attempted to make popcorn pop with four cell phone. (gotta love working with boys!) Look up "popcorn and cell phones" on http://www.youtube.com/.
• Drove to Guthrie to meet with the Board of Trustees president.

I'm pretty sure I managed to work at least eight yours and sleep eight hours each day, not at the same time. I'm happy it's Saturday and my Starbucks awaits! Yay!

Of appendages and scabs and weekends

Ah the joys of Sunday evening - The relief of coming to the end of two days of leisure and the exciting anticipation of starting another five days of meaningful work. Ah the joys of sarcasm!

It has been a very relaxing weekend. It isn't often that we just REST - something we should do more often. I read "In the Presence of My Enemies" by Gracia Burnham in the last two days. Good book. Thought provoking to be sure. Watched "27 Dresses" with Mark and Tessa last night. I've seen it before but enjoyed it again. Gotta love Netflix, but here's a tip. Be sure to keep your que updated. I hadn't checked mine recently and turned in three movies at once. Got back an odd assortment including one foreign film with subtitles that is over 2 and 1/2 hours long. That's a lot of reading! I'm not sure what I was thinking when I was browsing THAT day. Tessa saved the day by going to the Red Box at McDonalds and grabbing a couple of dollar movies. Whoever invented that big vending machine is a genius.

Mark is nursing a sore thumb and leg. While playing softball last week he pulled a hamstring and hyper-extended the thumb on his right hand. He has the thumb wrapped. The doctor says it will get better in 4-6 weeks. That's a long time to not use your thumb. We are reminded daily what small appendage separates us from the other mammals! I can't say much since I fell twice in one week in May and am just now losing the ugly scabs and bruises. We (esp Mark) are in denial about getting older. Inside we are still 25! Or maybe the truth is we are just big klutzes!