"OK......LAHOMA........"

"....where the wind comes sweeping down the plain."

I just returned from 6 days in Wapanucka, Oklahoma. My parents had already been there for about a week. I flew into Dallas on Saturday and my sister and dad met me at the airport. We spent the afternoon on a "daddy-daughter date." We went to lunch and did some shopping in Sherman, TX (the closest, large town to Wapanucka). We made our way back to "Wapy" where I was met with a fabulous welcome that included signs and balloons. (Kind of hard to see in the picture that it says Welcome Trisha).


They have a ranch out there a couple miles away from their house where they raise cattle. They currently have 4 baby calves at their house that they have to bottle feed. (It is a whole different world out there coming from the big city.)

We had lots of fun doing puzzles, playing CLUE, reading books, etc.

One day we took a drive out to see the house that one of Laura's friends just bought. She lives in Stringtown, OK which is where my sister was told Reba McEntire is from (although on wikipedia it says McAlester, OK). I had to have my picture taken by the "Reba McEntire Rd. ) sign. (or maybe I just wanted out of the car to stretch my legs for a minute??)

The last night that we were there we had some pretty exciting weather. There were severe thunderstorm & tornados warnings for many areas close by. The thunder and lightning storms that we had were amazing. The rain coming down in buckets reminded me of the way it rains in Brazil. Fortunately there was not need for us to hunker down in the tornado shelter, but the thunderstorms continued all through the night. On our way to the airport the next morning there were many signs and trees that had been blown over. In fact, a sign for one of the McDonalds restaurants that was off the side of the freeway was missing its "golden arches." The tall sign was still there but the yellow M that was protruding above had been blown off and was on the ground. It even looked like it had taken out a power pole on its way down. I think that I will take my chances with earthquakes! I also prefer the dry heat to the humidity!

It is so fun to visit family, but the little girls were so sad the morning that we were leaving.

WHAT COLOR OF GIRL ARE YOU?

You Are A Blue Girl

Relationships and feelings are the most important things to you. You are empathetic and accepting - and good at avoiding conflict. If someone close to you is in pain, it makes you hurt as well. You try to heal the ones you love with your kind and open heart.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorgirlareyouquiz/">What Color Girl Are You?

SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP

Some of you might know that I have booked a Mediterranean cruise for this September. I am not writing this post to rub this in, but this information is pertinent background information for this post. This cruise is a 12-Night cruise and we are extending our trip by staying overnight in Barcelona and Venice before and after the cruise. The total trip will be about 16 days.
For anyone that has not been on a cruise, you have to (or at least I have to) have a daytime outfit and then my evening outfit (not to mention the coordinating shoes). You are supposed to dress up for dinner plus there are a couple of formal nights. I am not the lightest of packers and therefore will require a significant amount of luggage.
Up until now I have still been using my mission luggage. I'll let you do the math, but I have been home for "a couple of years " and it is pretty worn out. I drug that stuff on and off of buses/down cobblestone streets & cement stairs in Brazil, taken it on several cruises, back to Brazil and all over the US. It has served me well, but I have decided that it is time for new luggage and that I deserve that.
WOW! Who knew there were soooooo many options out there??? I spent over 5 hours shopping for luggage last Saturday. I think that I saw every piece of luggage in the Salt Lake Valley.
Anyone who knows me really well, knows that I struggle with decisions. Give me 3 options and I do okay, but when there are hundreds to choose from, I struggle.
Not only are there different colors, sizes, styles etc, but then there is the choice of do you buy mid-line luggage that you will have to replace every 5 years or so or spend lots of money to get the "top of the line" stuff.
Well, after hours of shopping and opening every piece of luggage to check out the inside compartments, etc. I came up empty handed. I needed to go grocery shopping and stopped at Wal-mart. I wasn't planning on even looking for luggage there, but decided to anyway. Low and behold, I found just what I was looking for there. I found some Red Swiss Army Luggage. In addition to the 28", 25" & 21" uprights, I opted to get the matching backpack as well. I also found a fun black travel bag (purse) at Eddie Bauer.
So I am now ready to go try out my new luggage.
EUROPE HERE I COME!
I will take it on a test run when I go to Oklahoma to visit my sister and her family in April. Hopefully I chose well.

"Did I do that?"

This is a story about something that you only hear about, but I acutally witnessed it with my own eyes here in Salt Lake City.

Once a week or so, a group of us from work go to lunch together. We call these "lunch bus adventures." (We don't actually have a bus, but that would be cool!)

So the "lunch bus" was heading down the street on the way to Cafe Rio when a white pickup truck up ahead begins to pull off the road. It appears that the truck has something hanging out of the door that is dragging or something. As we get closer and are about to pass the truck we see the driver just put his head in his hands, as if to say, "I can't believe what I just did!" This is when we all realize that the gas pump & hose is hanging out of his gas tank. We were laughing so hard.

As we returned to the office we noticed that, sure enough, pump #12 at the Holiday Oil/Sinclair station had no pump. Oooooopps!

That would certainly ruin your day. The best/or worst part is that it was a company vehicle. That is going to be a fun story to share with your boss!

So, now the question is......do you go back to the gas station and walk in holding the hose to admit what you did and return the hose, or try to ditch it in a dumpster or something knowing full well that gas stations have some seriously sophisticated surveillance going on and they will find you?? Wow, I am just glad that wasn't me.

STAMPING OUT "VD"

Heeee-larious! I was listening to the radio a couple of days again and Tony Tuscano, a movie critic, was on talking about some upcoming films. They got on the topic of a couple of the chic flick movies that will be coming out just in time for Valentine's Day, etc. when all of a sudden he says, "I am starting a crusade to stamp out VD." I must say that the first thing that came to mind was a certain STD, but after a minute or two I realized he was talking about Valentine's Day. Maybe it was just the mood I was in or something, but I laughed my head off.

Some of you out there reading this might LOVE (no pun intended) February 14th, but for others of us.....not so much.

In the world of singles, it is a SAD (Single Awareness Day) holiday. There is nothing inherently wrong with this day, but I don't like being reminded that for the 32nd year in a row I don't have a boy to buy me flowers, take me to dinner, or even simply give me kiss or even one made of chocolate. I am reminded enough as it is, I don't need a day set aside specifically to highlight this fact.

Here's hoping that one day, I will have reason to be a fan of this holiday!
(oooo, I do love those conversation hearts though.....yummy!) Ü