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Friday, May 21, 2010

Show Us Your Life Friday - Show Us Your Hometown....Tulsa, Oklahoma

I live in a small town now and it's a suburb of my hometown Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Tulsa is one of the prettiest cities around.  People that have never been to Oklahoma think it's going to be all flat plains and are usually surprised to see tons of green trees and hills.  I grew up in those hills in South Tulsa.  It was an ideallic childhood and the perfect place to live.

Tulsa just built a brand new baseball park for our minor league team the Tulsa Drillers.  It's right in the middle of downtown near our new arena, the BOK Center.  My husband works in one of the skyscrapers in downtown Tulsa, which means he gets to sit on the 28th floor and watch the daytime baseball games.  Lucky guy!!!
Great view of downtown Tulsa from the ballfield




BOK Center - the spot for all the great concerts...we recently saw the Black-Eyed Peas and Ludacris there.  It was the best concert ever!

Tulsa also has some great neighborhoods.  The older neighborhoods have so much charm and character.  This house is in the Brookside area.



This house below is in an area called golf ball hill. It's called that because on top of the hill there is a huge white water tower that looks exactly like a golf ball.  The area is so hilly that I was terrified to drive my Jeep I had as a teenager there.  It was a standard and I was scared I would roll down the hill.  I made my friend Kevin drive all the time.  I was such a chicken!!!
 It's about two miles from Oral Roberts University and where a lot of the top administrators of ORU lived when I was a kid.  The houses are built among the trees and some would be considered modern architecture, some very similar to the architecture of Oral Roberts. 

This house is in Maple Ridge, an area with more traditional houses.  It's a gorgeous area and people work very hard to keep it that way.  Many of the Designer Showcase homes are in this neighborhood.
We have a huge 60 or 70 foot Golden Driller statue at Expo Square, one of the spots where tons of conventions and craft fairs, also home and garden shows are held.  This area is known as the Fairgrounds area.  You do not want to try to drive around this area during State Fair time.  It's a busy, busy place!
Since Oklahoma is an oil state, I think we are the only place with a huge oilman.  They even dress him up sometimes.  I think a local radio station even put one of their t-shirts on him last year. HA! 

I actually grew up very near Oral Roberts University, the private Christian college that the Roberts family built.  Twenty years ago, when I was in high school, it was a very successful college.  They even had the City of Faith hospital across the street from the college.  They had a medical school and it was considered one of the top colleges in the nation.  They closed the hospital in the early 90's and it's now an office building.  The family has recently come under scrutiny for some financial dealings and the owner of Hobby Lobby donated close to 100 million dollars to save the college.  I think he is now the President of the University. 
When I was a kid, the Roberts were a family that drew a lot of curiosity.  They had a family compound of houses near the university and we would drive by as teenagers, trying to see where they lived.  It would have been very sad to see this college close, since it is such a large part of Tulsa history.

The praying hands are at the entrance to Oral Roberts University. People from all over the world come to take pictures in front of this landmark.


One of the most beautiful places in Tulsa is Southern Hills Country Club.  It's where the PGA Golf Championships have been held and is the club with the most elite membership in Tulsa.  This is "old money" Tulsa, as people in town would say.  A lot of oil families belong to this private country club.  Tulsa is full of multi-generational families that made their fortunes in the oil business.

I was on my high school golf team and would volunteer every year at the Fore Tulsa golf tournament at Southern Hills.  I was the name placket carrier and loved every second of it.  First of all, because I was able to walk a historic golf course, and second, because I was able to meet tons of famous golfers.  That was heaven to me!!!  (This is BT people....as in Before Tiger time)  This is a very old money type of golf course.  I can only imagine what the older male members think when people yell after Tiger tees off,
"It's in the hole!" 
It makes me cringe.  I can't imagine what the 80 and 90 year olds think!!! HA!

And, for the record, I'm completely ashamed of Tiger Woods and not a fan anymore.  He makes me sick. (Just had to put that disclaimer in.)

The best place to walk around and window shop in Tulsa is Utica Square, an outdoor shopping center with the best stores, Banana Republic, Saks Fifth Avenue, Coach, Miss Jacksons and restaurants with outdoor seating when the weather is nice. 

Utica Square is also one of the premier places to live in Tulsa.  Many, many mansions were built in this area.  Roy Clark has a mansion just a few miles from the shopping center. 



This is a new building in the Utica Square area.  I think it's luxury apartments and an office building.  It's really pretty in person.


The only downfall of growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma is tornado season.  This is a picture of what happens when a tornado (this one from 3 weeks ago) hits a convenience store.  Scary stuff.
I have never personally been in an actual tornado (I'm knocking on wood right now).

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

20 Year High School Reunion

Why am I dreading my 20 year high school reunion so much? I mean, it's the same people that I see on Facebook all the time.  I think it's because I'm not the perfect size 6 or 7 that I once was.  I actually have the figure of a 38 year old mother.  Wait....I don't want the figure of a 38 year old mom. 

Since December 1, I've gone to a diet doctor that would give me shots of a hormone called HCG twice a week.  It was supposed to make the inches just melt off of my abdomin and hips.  I lost 10 pounds by January 1st but have gained and lost the exact same 4 pounds every week since then.  I started out eating a 1,200 calorie a day diet.  I was going nowhere with the weight loss.  Then I switched to Weight Watchers and have forgotten to log my food into the website for the past 2 weeks.  I've walked on the treadmill and walked around the block.  I've even tried jogging down the nature trail near our house. 

Nothing.

Except a rash on my ring finger making it almost impossible to wear my wedding ring and my face breaking out like crazy from the hormones.  Needless to say, I stopped taking that shot.  It caused much misery.

I think the pressure to look good comes from the fact that I went to a relatively wealthy school district.  I mean, I live in a small town now and the women I graduated with are actually having botox parties.  I'm not sure I even know anyone that lives near me that gets Botox or even cares to get Botox.  A lot of the boys friends have parents that are just glad to have jobs.  One of the girls that will be at the reunion is going to Dallas to get her outfits for the reunion, so that no one will have her same outfits on.  Are you kidding me??? 

I've wasted so much time wondering what to wear, how to do my hair, what would make me look the skinniest, what people will think of me, will they think I'm fat and ugly now?  I know those are really silly things to worry about during the times we are going through in the world, but darnit, those are the thoughts I can't get out of my head.  My high school best friend is a marathon runner who just completed the Boston Marathon and my other high school best friend has 5 kids and just told me that she's gained 20 pounds since high school.  Ummmm.....I would do anything if 20 pounds was all I had to lose.

I guess I'm just going to be thankful that I've got beautiful children and an awesome husband.  I'm going to be proud that I did something against the norm and chose to live in a small town where I feel safe and your neighbors know who you are and who you're related to - good or bad. And...I'm going to enjoy visiting with best friends that I haven't seen in 10 years.  Ten years is too long to go without seeing someone you spent many, many memorable moments with during high school.   Ok-now I'm talking myself into getting excited!

 

Wicked Weather

Yesterday Oklahoma was hit by some of the worst tornadoes we've seen in the past 5 years. We'd been warned all weekend that it would be a bad day for storms but I really didn't think that 5 people would lose their lives. It started suddenly at about 5pm during rush hour in Oklahoma City, then continued going east towards Arkansas.  I feel so sorry for the people that had to endure this tornado because this is the same area that was close to being hit by the Oklahoma City tornado of 1999.  I heard on the news that some of the injured people were saying they couldn't go through this again. So sad.
We didn't get any bad storms over our area. I'm so thankful for that.  I get really nervous about tornados but I also think they are so interesting.  I took Meteorology in college thinking that would be a fun and interesting class.  Ugh-it was so hard.  I think I got by with a high C.  Not my finest moment in college.  
The worst part was that a girl on the bus with the boys told them a tornado was coming so they were freaking out when they got home.  I had to pull up the radar on the computer to show them that we were ok.  Kids think it's so funny to try to scare their friends.

Other random notes about what's going on in our lives:

-This weather is driving the dogs nuts. They have all kinds of nervous energy. 
 wish they would do more of this.

-Soccer has ended for the season.  T-man's team is tied for first place in U12.  I'm so proud of how far they've come this season.  It's so exciting to watch them work together to make goals.  The boys are learning to be aggressive and push back when the other team is applying pressure on them.  I have to admit, the aggressive competitor in me loves that!
 
-On that note, why didn't my parents push me to play more sports in school??? I have such an aggressive little girl in me that would have been super competitive if my stupid shyness hadn't gotten in the way. That is one of the great tragedies of my life.  Shyness destroyed many opportunities for me.  If I had only conquered that early on in life.  I'm super outgoing now but deep down inside, I still suffer greatly from shyness and low self-esteem.

-We're looking at soccer camps for the boys to attend this summer.  The local university has a camp that they can attend in June.  We might go with a friend from town.  Hopefully his Mom and I can coordinate car-pooling, which would make it so much easier.

-H-man got a notice at school that his reading score on his Dibels test was at the level that requires him to attend a summer reading academy. Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!  I was freaking out about it until I called the principal and he explained that H-man only missed the cut-off by one point. Since his score was so high, we can buy a program at the bookstore to work on at home.  So.....no summer school.  Whew!

-I am so busy at work.  They are starting projects faster than I can get the paperwork done.  But, I've found out something.  I love busy paperwork.  I much prefer being the background person who works on all of the paperwork.  People find that stunning since they think I would be the outgoing person that wants to sell or speak to large groups.  No way!

-I am loving the Real Housewives of New Jersey!!! Teresa is my hero.  I'm buying her new cookbook, Skinny Italian.  Can't wait to try her recipes.

-My Aunt Gail and Uncle Sherrod are coming to Oklahoma City to see the college softball championships in late May.  We're going to go pick them up and hopefully my Mom and her sister can go shopping and have a lot of hanging out time.  That would be so good for my Mom.  I can't wait for the boys to see them, and for them to see how big the boys have gotten.

-The boys and I have been miserable with allergies and sinus junk.  How long can this stuff go on??? I've complained so much on Facebook that one of my high school friends actually emailed me to ask if I was pregnant.  HA! Now that's funny scary!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

We made it 2 days without a yellow card

Small Fry had been warned by his oh so strict third grade teacher that he had one more yellow card during his last week of April before he got Saturday school.  Saturday school is when they punish the parents and make the kids come in on Saturday morning from 8 until noon.  I wrote a huge note to the teacher and told her that we had definite plans that couldn't be cancelled if he got Saturday school.  I then begged Small Fry to just sit in class and not talk to anyone unless he set foot on the playground.  PLEASE do not get a yellow card!!!! I was desperate!  I just wanted him to get through April because they start from scratch at the beginning of each month.  Four yellow cards in a month equal Saturday school-ugh!

Well...he made it through the end of April and I was so proud!  He said he just sat in class and didn't talk to anyone.  YAY! That's what I had wanted!

I've been so sick lately that I forgot to remind him to be super good-we only have about 20 days of school left.  Well....what do you know.....he came home today with a stinkin' yellow card.  It never ends!  He said he was trying to help her move an eraser off of the projector that he thought she wanted off and she told him to switch his card to yellow.  He just thought he was being helpful.  So confusing for a child. 

The other day I was talking to a friend from another school district and she said they aren't supposed to give yellow and red cards anymore. It's considered aggressive discipline or something like that.  I'm gonna have to investigate that one!

Speaking of school, my wonderfully civic hubby went to the 8th grade center this morning to present the Teacher of Today and Student of Today award to a few lucky individuals.  It's presented by the local Masonic Lodge and since my hubby is a good Mason, he volunteered to do it.  Cute!!!  He even called me afterward to tell me he did a good job.  I think he was proud of himself.

Totally off subject-loooooved the Real Housewives of New Jersey.  I was asleep at 9pm last night and my hubby came in the bedroom and woke me up to watch it.  He knew how important it was for me to see it...and it didn't disappoint.  I love those women!!! I think I'm a little Teresa mixed with a little Caroline.  Teresa is hilarious!  I loved watching them make "the sauce".  I guess an Oklahoma family would sit around breaded cube steak for chicken fried steak or something like that.  Maybe peeling potatoes for fried potatoes.  I wish I was born into an Italian family-the food is soooo much better!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Stinky Sinuses

UGH! That's all I have to say for today.  I was up all night last night because I couldn't breathe.  My sinuses started bugging me about three days ago and I hoped they would just quietly stop hurting.  No...such...luck!
Sunday morning, I woke up at 6:30 and my throat hurt so bad I just went into the living room and looked through Facebook.  I did a little housecleaning on Facebook.  If I hadn't directly talked to someone in the last 6 months, I defriended them.  Nothing personal, just too many random people to keep up with and it was knocking my true friends and relatives off of the status update.  FB really is a great tool for keeping up with relatives that live far away.

I slept pretty much the rest of the day Sunday but at around 1pm decided to take a shower and flat iron my hair so I wouldn't have to worry about it on Monday morning.

Well......

As I was flat ironing my hair, I dropped my beloved CHI straightener and it BROKE!  NOOOOOOO!

Even with the worst headache on earth, we all piled in the car and went to buy me a new one.  Without that CHI, I would have a ton of curly hair and I really don't feel comfortable with my curly hair. 

This morning, I felt even more horrible so I texted my Boss and told him I was staying home.  I've slept most of the day, with body chills and feeling like I have a 105 degree fever.  I had to ask my Mom to come get the boys for soccer practice and soccer pictures.  That always makes me feel so bad but I just couldn't do it today.  Hopefully, I'll feel better soon.  I can't handle the sinus headache much longer.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Soggy Saturday

This morning we woke up to pouring rain and two scheduled soccer games, both out of town.  I hoped and prayed for the text messages saying that they'd been cancelled but no such luck.  Mr. H and I split up the duties and I took Tater Tot to his game, which was about thirty minutes away.  I grabbed my standard baseball cap and threw my hair in a ponytail so I could avoid the inevitable mess of crazy, curly hair that results on rainy days.  T-man was super excited to play in the rain and mud because it means more sliding and falling in the muck the entire game.  Boys love the dirt...especially 11 year old boys that play very rough!

T-man did a great job in the game, as did all of his teammates.  We ended up the game with a win - 9-6.  His team is really starting to work together and pull off some great passing plays.  It makes me so proud to see them do such a great job!  My sweetie scored two of the goals too!

After the game was over, it started raining really hard so we decided to go into town and look around the mall.  T-man wanted a new pair of running shoes since his foot seems to be growing a size a month. HA!  He now wears a 7, which is close to my size.  He's already 5' tall at 11 years old.  He's going to be bigger than me before I know it!  The big decision today was whether to get him slip-on Vans or more running type shoes.  I personally don't really like Vans so I was pushing hard for the running shoes.  Anything resembling the skater boy look scares me to death.  That's a total stereotype but I figure that's my Mom perogative.  I let T-man look for himself though.  After he looked at the Vans, he decided the Under Armor running shoes were his favorite and I was super happy because they were actually cheaper.  You have to love that!

We went into one of the kids shoe shops and I was stunned to see a ton of Ralph Lauren Polo tennis shoes.  Just...like...the...80's!!! Please, please, please let preppy come back!!!  I had to have a pair of white canvas with navy and I bought a cute pair of plaid canvas shoes for Small Fry. I wanted to surprise him!
We also had to stop into Abercrombie because they have the cutest t-shirts!  T-man got one with an Indian Chief on the front-he loves that because Mr. H is Indian and T thinks he acts like an Indian Chief sometimes. Tee-hee!


He also had to have this Bulldog shirt since that's the schools mascot.

The cutest thing about the entire shopping trip was when we bought T some Aviator sunglasses in one of the kids shoe shops.  They were Vans sunglasses and he thought he was so cool that he'd check himself out in every mirror in every store we walked into.  That's right-he wore his new sunglasses inside....he's cool like that!  Maybe that self-esteem that I always try to instill in my boys has backfired on me! HA!

I heard from a co-worker yesterday that Hobby Lobby was having some great sales so we headed there next.  I scored some great stuff!

A glass beverage server that I'd been eyeing forever-50% off!

A new outdoor rug for the back porch

A few things to hang on T-man's wall collage that I can never seem to finish-ugh




We finally made it home after a great afternoon of spending some nice mother-son time together and Mr. H and Small Fry had spotted the ice cream man in our neighborhood.  They had saved us both an ice cream sandwich in the freezer.  You can't find a better end to a relaxing afternoon than that!