Weekend collage

Sunset on the lake

We have been having a great Memorial day weekend. Last night we had a social and then a great sunset sail. We rafted up with a few other boats and played music. Two guitars, a fiddle and Emma Jane on maracas. Good times.

Goodbye Third Grade

Last Friday was the last day of school.  And not only was it the last day of third grade for Emma Jane, we were also saying goodbye to a building we hold dear.  Mayo is moving in the fall to a new building over near the University of Tulsa.  It is on Route 66 and closer to where I work so that is good.  But it is a building designed for much older kids and I am nervous about little Lucy getting lost in that big place.  We are all very excited about the move though because it means more students get to share the Mayo experience.

But back to the last day of school.  It is a tradition at Mayo that if the fire department isn't out on a call they come to Mayo and hook up  a water hose and create a big rain/splash pit.  The students have snow cones and run through the water and scream and get muddy and it is officially the beginning of summer.  I can't think of any better way to kick off summer or cap off the school year.  This year, I decided to walk around her building and take pictures and say goodbye.

Goodbye locker...

Goodbye thousand-paper-cranes...

Goodbye outdoor classroom...

Goodbye art room...

Goodbye mosaic...

Goodbye best friends...see you in August...

Let's go play in the firehose...

Goodbye to third grade...

How does my garden grow?

From this in March... (Do Not judge the messy kitchen)

 To this in April

To this in May

My bell pepper plants have flowered and are getting peppers now.  My banana peppers are already producing.

But my tomato plants, while getting big, are not producing flowers or fruit...any ideas?

Science Rocks

Baby Jack

A friend at work is having a baby.  He is going to be named Jack.  Now, while I was limited at first by the fact that you can't spell his name using the periodic table of elements, I came up with a creative gift nonetheless.

I found this cooler first, which has a dog on it just like Lindsey's dog.  So I had to have the cooler and it was in the correct colors of her decor.  (As if she will store the cooler in the nursery, whatever!)
Then I started thinking of a beach day (or in Oklahoma, a lake day, aboard our sailboat) theme for the entire gift.

So baby Jack got beach towels, a sun hat and a cold pop to go inside his cooler.

But I could not stop there, so I added a bag tag

And burp cloths

I bought this chevron fabric here.  The color in my photos are not as vibrant as they are in real life.

Then I cut strips to fit the center of diapers and sewed the fabric to the diaper. Then I machine embroidered them.

A picture is worth a thousand words

This photo captures the personality and disposition of my youngest, as well as my oldest...

Grilled Romaine Bruschetta

The other night I made a concoction that my good friends made for me last year.  The bruschetta part needs to be made ahead of time.  Chop 4-5 ripe tomatoes and put them in a shallow dish.  Add 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar to 1/4 cup olive oil and shake it up.  Pour over the tomatoes.  Mince 2-3 head of garlic and throw it in with the tomatoes.  Chop about 1/4 cup basil and 1/3 cup red onion and mix in.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Let this marinate for 3 to 4 hours.
When the grill is hot cut a head of romaine lettuce in half.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill on each side for about a minute.  The lettuce will wilt and brown on the edges.

Pour the bruschetta over the lettuce and serve.  I toasted up some wheat bread and cubed it for croutons.

It was delicious and super easy.  I had more of the topping so I had this salad for several nights in a row.

Look whose picture is on the OERB facebook page!

Mother's Day Evening

We all came home from the lake and got showered and changed for Emma Jane's piano recital.  It was a perfect end to a perfect mother's day.

The single best way to describe Emma's performance was poised.  She played flawlessly.  But more than that she came out with poise and confidence.  She was so composed for 9 years old.  I was so proud of her.

Here is a photo of her in her recital dress.

I also took pictures with my girls...

After the recital we went to Mi Cocina for dinner.  I was camera happy and took this picture of Lucy "reading" the menu.  We sat outside and it was the perfect night for eating outside on Cherry Street.

I had such a great day...

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day.  My in-laws were in town for my niece Allye's graduation from high school. 

Here is a photo of them on their way to Allye's graduation.

So since I had house guests who babysit, I got to sleep late on Sunday morning.  My girls brought me breakfast in bed from Panera.  It was delicious.  After breakfast in bed, we packed and left for the lake.  We stopped by Mike's mom's graveside.  We put flowers on Grandma Jane's grave and told her Happy Mother's Day.

At the lake we had perfect weather.  The wind was 8 to 10 miles and hour and the sun was shining.  The temperature was in the upper 70's.  It was perfect.  I spent some time down below playing with the girls.

Emma Jane standing vertically but the boat is heeled over so much it looks like she is leaning.

Love that face...

Then I went up top to enjoy the beautiful day.

 

On Mother's day evening Emma Jane had a piano recital.  More on that later.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

 

Totem pole

Last stop!

The Blue Whale

Catoosa's blue whale on route 66

The round barn Arcadia, Oklahoma. 

Pops!

After a very short night's sleep on the gym floor of Oklahoma City University, we woke up and headed to McDonalds for breakfast. Then set out from Oklahoma City to Arcadia, Oklahoma. We went to Pop's. It is a convenience store and restaurant that has thousands of different kinds of Pop.

The kids loved it (even mine who doesn't drink pop). We are now off to the round barn

Tired but having a great time!

Chester's Party Barn

We are now at Chester's Party Barn outside of Piedmont, Oklahoma. There is a petting zoo, pony rides, an albino peacock, hay rides and a wood maze. We are going to have S'mores around a bon fire later.

I am so thankful that Emma Jane gets to go to a school like this. A school that values field studies and has the patience to make it happen for these kids. These teachers are the best!

Albino Peacock

Lucille's in Weatherford

Lucille's Roadhouse

Love this sign!

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Rock Cafe in Stroud

We stopped at the Rock Cafe for a yummy lunch. My salad was delicious. Seriously. It was so yummy. 

The owner of the Rock Cafe was the inspiration for the character Sally in the movie Cars. 

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Route 66 Field Trip

I am on a school bus with Emma Jane's third grade class. We are driving along Route 66 and our first stop is the Bronze Buffalo in Sapulpa. We will be stopping at many Route 66 icons today and tomorrow.

This bronze buffalo is surrounded by native grasses (and possibly chiggers). It is beautiful.

I am sitting at the back of the bus near the engine and the heat is already unbearable at 9:12 in the morning. It is going to be 93 degrees today and I'm on a school bus. Wish me luck!

I Don't Do "Pretty Good"

I recently went to the doctor and was told my blood sugars were "pretty good" for a diabetic.  This was supposed to be good news.  I, however, have a personality flaw that prevents me from relishing in doing "pretty good".  Pretty good is not quite good.  It is almost good, and it is better than okay and far better than poor, but it is not great.  Not the best that I can do.

As I drove away from the doctor's office I thought to myself "just wait until my next blood test, I will knock it out of the park!"  And then I thought, what is it that makes people the way they are?  Why can't I just settle for being pretty good.

I went to a one hour training class for HIPAA yesterday at work.  HIPAA is the privacy and security policy regarding all of our medical records.  I went to class planning on sleeping through it until I heard the word "test".  Test?  There is a test?  Yes, Emily, there is a test, but it is not that hard and you only have to make an 85% on it.  Oh really?  Okay, now I am super-gunner-employee taking notes and thinking of the prize at the end...wait...what was the prize?  You take the 25 question test and no one knows what your score is but you and the computer.  But it doesn't matter to me.  Not only do I have to be the first one out the door but I have to make a 100%.  This is absurd.  I didn't even want to take this stupid class and now I am sitting on the edge of my seat taking notes?

I am like this with lots of things, like baby showers, for example.  It would be perfectly acceptable to go to a registry for a new mom and purchase something that she really needs and wants off of her registry and show up to a baby shower with it wrapped by the store from which it came.  After all, that is a "pretty good" gift.  It is even a great gift because it is what she ASKED for, for Pete's sake!  But no.  I have to custom make something that shows that I have more knowledge about what a new mom needs or wants or "will want" after she sees what I made.  Really?  She needs custom monogrammed burp cloths more than she needs bottles or a bathtub?  I think not!

In the last 4 years at my job I have taken our medical school from next to the last in the country on a National Board Exam to number 1 in the country.  This year we will probably be in the top 3.  I had my performance review yesterday (same day as HIPAA training) and my boss told me that being in the top 3 was still "pretty good". 

On Monday I went for a little 5 mile run on the river after work and before faculty/staff softball practice.  I have a software app called runmeter.  She tells you how fast you are running, what your split times are, your average pace and how well you are doing compared to all the other times you have run this same route.  It was 88 degrees outside with about 90% humidity.  When I finished she told me that my pace was average for that route.

That's pretty good, I guess...