A Miscellany

We've found a new Latin American restaurant right here in Moore!  It's wonderful!  Amazonia Latin Flavors is on 12th Street across Janeway from Parmele Park.  The food is SO good!  The people are nice, too!  We've already been twice.  Can't get dessert too often, or I'll have to exercise 2 hours a day just to break even!

 One Week Later: 
Just got back last night from my week in Austin, TX at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference.  My colleagues and I had a great time, and learned a LOT.  Now I have to sit down and digest all that good info into useful chunks that perhaps our library system can find useful.  Also have to fill out an expense report for the reimbursable things.  (Meals.)

Not this weekend, though.  Today I had laundry and yard work to do.  Tomorrow I will finish laundry and of course, go sing at church.  It is also the 20th anniversary of the  Murrah building bombing.My thoughts will be on what happened 20 years ago, not on the conference just past.  Monday is soon enough to go over my notes and get them typed up.

Looking chubby for some reason at TXLA2015

Some observations from my trip:

And through the grey cool damp
We climb
And find once again
That the sun still shines
In spite of turbulence
And pain
Hope shines forth
For all again.

Wrote it as we climbed above the clouds as we were leaving for Austin.  Funny though, it fits the story of our recovery from the bombing, too.  We have climbed past the dark and pain, and hope and light fill our city again.

It's nice when an airline can keep its cool and just reschedule you around weather delays.

Adventures are fun but I prefer my cozy nook and my books.

It's really hard to write legibly when there's turbulence.

Need to develop a "Captain Obvious" character for our library videos.

For me, flying seems to be a diuretic.  Alas.

It's cool when your celebrity friends acknowledge your tweets.

Twitter withdrawal:  It's a Thing.

I may be a fussbudget, I may just be.  But I'm organized!!

Scenes from a walk to the conference from the hotel.

Austin is weird, but it's a beautiful kind of weird.

Bluebonnets growing close to the sidewalk in downtown Austin.

My great adventure, wherein I was bitten or stung by some obstreperous insect or arachnid.

How the bite looked the night after.

Library people are the best people there are - helpful, friendly, and caring.  (Except when it's a race for the free book table.  Then all best are off!)

Jewelry vendors do very well at library conferences.  (Heavily female crowd, mostly far from home with no time to go shop away from the conference... and you are selling shiny things!)

Trying to write a coherent report on this conference is going to be like trying to force the ocean through a tiny little funnel.  It's not all going to fit!

Digital citizenship session

Tomorrow is the day I will try to wrap my head around the fact that it has been 20 years since the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in down town Oklahoma City, just two blocks away from the church we attend.  So much has happened since, we've all grown so much since then.
Monday is soon enough to write my conference notes.  Tomorrow is for the remembering of the bombing, and tonight is for relaxing.

Trying To Get My Act Together and Taking It On the Road

I am about to embark on a brand new adventure.  I've never been to an out-of-state library conference before.  Next week, I'll be in Austin, TX for the Texas Library Association's annual conference.  (Yeah, I know, I'm not a Texan or an actual librarian, but I DO work in a library, and Oklahoma is right next door, so we have some of the same challenges as Texas does.)

There will be many new ideas to bring home about how to do some of the things we do every day, there will also be lots of vendors showing lots of neat things for libraries.
I am looking forward to the chance to talk to other library people, and to see new things.
I am also looking forward to seeing my friend Jana again.  She isn't a library person, but she is my friend, and she lives in Austin.  So, BONUS!

Trying to figure out how many outfits and what sort of clothes to take has been a challenge.  I know it will likely be warm, but we will be in an air conditioned building, and sitting a lot of the time.  Therefore, I have packed several of the Librarian's Best Friend:  The Cardigan.  I have sleeveless tops and tanks and work appropriate slacks that I can wear, and the cardigans are the perfect topper.  I am also taking a couple of pair of jeans.

I've mentioned before that I do not travel well.  I have the classic problem of trying to come up with a suitably portable version of "my stuff".  (See George Carlin on YouTube.)

Here's a link to it.

I will try to remember to take photos and post them.  I will be with two colleagues from the branch I work in, and I'll be rooming with a colleague from our South Oklahoma City branch.  She trained with us at Moore, so she knew what she was getting into when she agreed to put up with me as a roomie!  (Hi Suzanne! ;-) )

Getting a little bit nervous, but I am sure everything will work out.  After all, I'm  going to be in the midst of some of the most helpful people in the universe: Librarians!

The Week That Just Was

This week just passed was certainly not typical. First of all, we got a new water heater, BEFORE the old one died, for once!  We had it installed on Tuesday.  Nice to have REALLY hot water again, and the gas bill should also be lower...

As soon as possible, we will be getting the doors reinstalled on the "mechanical closet". 
The install went well.  We were happy.  That was Tuesday.

Wednesday, the weather got ugly, and there were tornadoes in Moore again.  Only little ones this time, and all on the other side of town again.  The worst damage seems to have been done by 80 mph straight line winds.  We had no damage, but unknown to us, during the night, the wind blew out the pilot light on the water heater.

Matt was faced with a very cold shower Thursday morning. He went out, thinking to relight the pilot light, but found the catch pan full of water, and water dripping down the water heater.  Seems a joint in the newly installed pipe had leaked.  So, back comes the plumber and gets it all fixed up.

Friday the city inspector came, and ok'ed the install, as long as we get the doors back up asap.  (Since we are in the process of getting the drywall in the garage restored, we got a pass.)  It won't be too much longer before we get the doors back up.

The weekend was actually pleasant.  Hard work all day Saturday, but pleasant.  Beautiful weather, and we got BOTH yards completely cleaned up and ready for Spring.

The front yard.

The herb garden out back.  Still lots of oregano, some sage, parsley, lavender, mint, and thyme. And garlic chives.  Garlic chives are in BOTH herb gardens.

Even the front porch furniture got a wash.

Today I did laundry, and read, and goofed off a lot.  We caught up with our Bosch binge watching, and now Matt is watching Falling Skies.  Tomorrow is another Monday, and I hope this week is less eventful than the last week was! 
This coming week is also Holy Week, which means a Friday evening service for us.  So grateful the Parish Choir does the Holy Saturday service.  That one's a real marathon.  I am hoping to get some more stories recorded this week, and some more storm prep done, so I won't feel so insecure if the weather turns on us again.  Mainly scanning documents to my Survivor Drive, getting the first aid kit up to date, and cleaning out the closet a bit more. Time for the seasonal clothing swap outs anyway, and time to purge some stuff that's way too big now.


So here's to the darling days of Spring
When warm winds blow,
and all the birds sing.
When storm clouds billow
And wind chimes ring.

We pray the days will all be calm
With pleasant airs
And sweet scents of balm
To ease our cares
Like one of David's psalms.

The Gift Of a Beautiful Day In Late Winter

Today was a lovely, almost Springlike day here in Central Oklahoma.  A rare treat, since we've had snow and COLD off and on for weeks, with only a day or two of respite.  (Not exactly normal for us.)  Today was sunny, and bright, and not too cold.  A perfect day to get out and visit our friends at the winery.

Canadian River Vineyards and Winery in Slaughterville, OK is a lovely place to visit. Friendly folks (even if they haven't known you for years), and GREAT wine.  They have a nice deck overlooking the vineyards where you can sit and enjoy the view.  You can taste all the wines they have available in the Tasting Room, and we ALWAYS buy some, even though we really go just to see our friends.  All the grapes are grown locally in Oklahoma, and their wines have won awards at several festivals.  My favorite right now is the Moscato, which is sweeter than the wines I usually like.  They also have a fabulous Merlot, and Shiraz, and chardonnay, and ... it's ALL good!

We have a long tradition of taking food out to share with our friends (and even other customers if they want some).  Today I took a simple appetizer that I got the recipe for from an email pal years ago. You take a small wheel of Brie (or, as I did this time, Camembert), put it on a microwave safe plate, and spread the top with basil pesto. (I use my homemade pesto.  I try to put enough in the freezer every Summer to last until the basil comes back again in late Spring.)  Then you pile some toasted slivered or sliced almonds on top, and zap it in the microwave for a minute or so, just until the cheese is softened.  Served with toasted baguette rounds, it makes a lovely accompaniment to all types of wine.  We also took some of Matt's homemade beer mustard and some corned beef.  All were very popular.
I made a batch of dark chocolate shortbread and took that as well.  A few folks were eating that with the Moscato and with the Merlot.  (Dark chocolate and Merlot pair very well!)

Being able to share good food with good friends is a great joy.  Wish we could do these things more often, but life is so very busy.  I just decided that the laundry could wait this week, and we should go see friends we haven't seen in awhile.  We had a very nice visit, and I only used my phone a couple of times to upload a photo or two.  Spent the rest of the time talking with our friends and other visitors to the winery.  It was a very, very nice day.

Now we are home, the wine is safely stashed in the wine rack, and Matt has the brisket in the brine for the home made corned beef for St. Paddy's Day.  Time for me to finish this up, start the laundry, and see what else I can get into.

I hope your Saturday was enjoyable as well!

We made a happy wine rack today.  All full up.  (The liquor shelf was already happy.)

Trying Another Story

Madame Skye, our own Opera Cat

Yesterday, I posted a video of myself reading my very favorite children's book. 
I decided to try another story today.  This one is called Opera Cat, written by Tess Weaver and illustrated by Andrea Wesson. 
The book is one I became very fond of once I realized I had an Opera Cat.  Though our Madame Skye couldn't sing, she enjoyed hearing me sing opera, and would appear, and make commentary or faces depending upon what and how I sang.  The song featured in this story is by Verdi, but Madame preferred Mozart.  In fact, she would only respond to a summons if it was the song "Deh Viene Non Tardar" from Marriage of Figaro.  And usually, only if I sang it.  I still miss her when I practice, because she was there for every one.  She'd come in and sit on a chair or table close to me, and offer her opinion. 
Our Opera Cat is very much missed.

I cannot imagine what she'd make of me singing the "Queen of the Night" aria.  If ever a temper tantrum were put into song, this is it.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you Opera Cat

The Rest of the Birthday Vacation

Thursday, February 26, 2015
 I tried to get in touch with my voice coach today, but her phone appears to be having a problem.
I did get to go out and share some of the joy that I have been given.
I've taken one walk, and am about to take another.
Goofing off when you're on vacation is mandatory.

Having a husband who loves to cook is such a nice thing when you'd really like to put your feet up before dinner.  When he cleans up his own dishes, it's a marriage made in Heaven!!

A nice glass of Merlot from Canadian River Vineyards and Winery is a very good thing at the end of a busy day.

Doing things to make other people smile is the MOST fun there is!
I had such a good day yesterday, I was out spreading the joy today, and I think I succeeded...

And my darling husband made such wonderful spaghetti sauce that I ate more than I should have and feel rather like a beach ball at the moment.  It was SO good!

It's supposed to snow starting tomorrow and lasting all weekend.  Goody.  We're usually done with this crap by now...
Not supposed to be more than an inch or so total snow tomorrow, though.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Got up at 7:18 today.  Still haven't gotten much done.  Did try the recipe I was toying with for the sesame sticks.  Made those chocolate haystack cookies, but with sesame sticks.  Probably more calories, but a bit more nutrition and fiber, too.

Did some light cleaning, just finished 90 minutes on the elliptical, and am still trying to digest the news that Leonard Nimoy has passed on.  He will be missed.  Mr. Shatner, Mr. Takei, Mr. Koenig and Ms. Nichols are the only original cast left.  I'm guessing Mr. Nimoy, Mr. Kelley, Mrs. Roddenberry,  and Mr. Doohan are having one heck of a fun reunion party about now.  For fans, these actors, and the characters they helped create, are dear friends, family even.  We care about them, and we miss them when they pass on to whatever is next.  (I tend to believe in Heaven, and if my friends and my pets aren't there, then it isn't Heaven.  The God I love wouldn't do that to me.  They're HIS friends and pets, too.)

As I gaze out my office window, I see that there is a very light, dry snow falling.  Doesn't appear to be sticking to anything yet.
Time to go get cleaned up and see what other kind of trouble I can get into on my last official day of vacation.

On this day when we have lost Leonard Nimoy, and we remember that Jimmy Doohan and DeForrest Kelley are also gone, it makes me really conscious of the passing of time.  I just had a birthday.  That means I and all my siblings are older.  That much closer to the end.  I don't want to lose any of them.  Worst, suckiest thing about being the baby is that everybody else is older and liable to leave you behind in one way or another.  I don't want them to go.  I have friends my own age, and friends who are older.  I have younger ones, too.  No guarantees about who goes first, but damn, I don't want to live without any of my friends, or my loved ones.  Photos someone shared on Facebook brought it all home.  I don't wanna be the one at the empty table.

This was shared on Facebook by Chris Cracknell.  Very moving.

 

 

 

 

So please, friends, take good care of yourselves.  I know my siblings will try to take care of themselves.  Thoughts and prayers are with those left behind today.  Remember that love never dies, and those we love live on even though we don't find them in this world anymore.  Still, it's hard to get used to the change, isn't it?

Some Reflections and Observations on the Fifth Anniversary of My Eleventh Birthday

(Or the 11th Anniversary of my 5th birthday, whichever way you'd rather multiply it.  The age remains the same.)

I have so many dear, kind, and wonderful friends.  I am TRULY blessed.  I have teared up several times today because of the kind words and deeds of my friends.  I feel so very fortunate, and so very spoiled. And so very loved beyond all reason.

Even when I try not to obsess about my birthday, I end up wallowing in it.  Oh, I'm not worried so much about how old I'm getting, (but OMG!!) rather how much I end up thinking and talking about it.  Perhaps this is because I was the baby by so many years.  My birthday was always a big deal.  (And then the oldest one starting doing the math, somewhere around 1985, and started saying "If you're x, that means I'm...Oh, dear God, let's not EVEN talk about THAT!"  He's 16 years older.  You do the math. ;-) )

Sometimes, making your own birthday cake, and taking it somewhere to share, is more fun than letting someone else make it.

The Cake.  Complete, and ready to go be shared with starving choristers.

I like to bake anyway, and this recipe sounded like fun.  It was, and I learned that you can't wait too long to use a ganache type frosting, or it will get crumbly. 

It tastes marvelous, though.








So, this morning, I finished preparing the cake and made the frosting.  I took a lovely walk while the frosting cooled.

The neighborhood kiddos are off to school.  The kids around a few years ago really loved Mr. Bear when we were out walking in the mornings.  I miss that dog.

It was a beautiful morning, and I am so grateful for the lovely weather.  What a nice birthday gift, based on the weather Monday, and what has been predicted for from Friday on.  So nice to have had this glorious, beautiful day.

I came home, and decided to have a special breakfast before I tackled cake assembly.

I reheated some sourdough pancakes, scrambled myself an egg, and tried out the espresso cheese I bought last night.  I also had my orange juice in my Perlman mug.  (That is, a mug with a lot of pictures of Perlman's mug on it.  A gift for my birthday from my pal Kelly.) I love it.

While I was eating, I checked my Twitter feed.  I found a link to this Instagram post:

This, along with MANY posts from my friends and family, really made my day!  So much love.  (Kelly, the one who sent the mug, is on the left in this picture, which was made when we all met in Dallas in 2013.)

After breakfast, I frosted and assembled the cake.  After resting up from that, I did a few dishes, and got myself cleaned up.

This is the outfit I wore, my dark wash Levis, (size 6!) and my new sweater from Target. (With a turquoise tank top underneath.)

Thus arrayed, I gathered up the recycling, and set out to do that one chore, and then shop!

My especially sweet and loving husband had told me to buy something I wanted/needed and consider that my gift from him.  So, I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and got some new walking shoes.  (Okay, I also got two pair of really nice leggings for working out and walking.  One flare leg, and one fitted.)

After that stop, I walked next door to Target, and found a few odds and ends, like a yoga mat, some hand cream, and a new suitcase to replace the roll-along carry-on that Matt had.  (It died finally, after a long and thoroughly useful life.)

This is the hand cream I bought.  I thought it was very appropriate, me being a "coconut", and all ;-)  It smells wonderful.  Delicious, even.




After I made my Target purchases, I headed over to Kohl's, one of the best places to score bargains on clothes and household linens.  I didn't really NEED any new clothes, but I thought it couldn't hurt to look.  I found several things, including two new shirts for Matt.  Everything I bought was on clearance, and I had an "extra 15%off" coupon they had sent me in the mail.  I spent $112, but I got more than $200 worth of items.  Kohl's always has good deals.

This was my full cargo area when I got home with it.  After I got it all in the house, I set out the items from Kohl's on the bed to go through them.   Then I tried on the dress that I only paid $10.00 for.  I had tried it on in the store, but without the shapewear I found to go with it.  Below is how the dress looks on me.  It's a bit snug on the top.  Will probably wear one of my fancy shawls with it when I wear it out in public.  I love the color, though, and you can't beat the price!

After I got all the stuff I bought put away or sorted out to wash, I put workout clothes on and headed out for another walk.  No pictures this time, because the phone battery was in dire need of charging.

Right after I got changed, the doorbell rang.  There was a nice lady from the florist there with a lovely arrangement of flowers.  My dear friend Fi and her husband Geoff and her son Hayden sent me a beautiful bouquet of aromatic flowers for my birthday.  I am so touched by the kindness of all my friends, but this almost made me cry.  So very sweet, and so very beautiful.  Almost as beautiful as Fi's heart.  I love that girl.  We've never met in person, but we have a real connection as people, in spite of distance.  I owe her about a dozen hugs when we DO meet in person.

When I got home from my walk, my wonderful, loving, and long-suffering husband was home waiting for me.  His hugs and kisses are always the best thing.  Especially nice on my birthday, since we've missed a few of those over the years due to deployments, training, and regular airlift missions. All these years since he retired have been making up for the time we missed.  He's aged, of course, and so have I, but this is how I still see him, my Knight In Smelly Flightsuit.

He highly approves of the new dress, and the exercise leggings I bought.  (Anything form-fitting, and he's happy.  Some things NEVER change! ;-) )


We had a nice, light supper of Caesar Salad and grilled chicken breast, because we knew the cake after choir rehearsal was going to be RICH.  It was.  Oh, so very delicious.  Proud of my efforts in that regard. 
The choir sang Happy Birthday to me, which is a tradition in our bunch.  (This is the 19th birthday I've celebrated since joining this choir.  Hard to believe it has been so long.  That's a lot of Sunday services sung, a lot of Christmases and Lents and Holy Weeks and Easters.  I spend more time with these gifted musicians than I do with my family on holidays. )  I really love St. Paul's and I am especially fond of my fellow choristers.  The blend we can achieve, it is transporting, moving, absolutely magical sometimes.  I am SO very fortunate to be able to sing with this group.

The choir (and our fearless leader, Canon Musician H. Scott Raab) dug in to the cake, and managed to eat most of it, by taking slices home to spouses and other family members.  I'm all for that, I have to still be able to wear that $10 dress I bought!!

Here's what we have left of the cake:

I am grateful to my fellow choristers (and Scott!)  for their willingness to save me from my own birthday cake! 

So, now I'm home, and typing up this blog post so I can remember all the wonderful parts of one of the best birthdays I've ever had!  Sitting here listening to Pink Martini, and drinking a dry Martini.  Life is SO good.

This has been a busy day.  I have a few ideas about how to use tomorrow in my quest to share and spread the joy I have been gifted with.  I won't be detailing those little activities.  I think random kindnesses are best done in secret.  (Do not blow trumpets when you give your offering, as some do, for truly, they have received their reward.  Do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing, and your Father who sees in secret, will see your gift, and your reward will be stored up for you in Heaven.  -A very rough paraphrase, but that's the idea, anyway.)  

The reason I write blog posts like this is so that I can look back in the future and remember all the wonderful things that happened on this special day.  It has indeed been a special day, made so by the love of my friends.  Many thoughtful friends who took the time to send their love and best wishes my way.  From a busy actor (and I mean he's SERIOUSLY busy right now) who took time to send me a birthday greeting, to all the friends and family near and far who sent messages, cards, gifts, and most importantly their love.  That love is what keeps me from having any serious self pity and depression any more.  When I was younger, I was very fond of self-pity.  For no good reason, I've had a very blessed life, but it was easy to fool myself on this score.  No longer.  Friends on social media, around the world make it impossible for me to feel so alone anymore.  People ask after me when I am not online.  All of us #Perlgirls check on each other, and we try to keep track of our favorite actor, too.  We care about the guy.  He makes us laugh.  He's good people.  Really.  He stands by his values, and he remembers his friends.  He appreciates his long time fans. 

 I also happen to work for one of the best public institutions going.  Our library system is always looking for new ways to bring our customers what they need and want to improve the quality of their lives.  Things to read, watch, listen to, programs to teach them things, or give them the opportunity to explore issues, a place to meet, a place where it's safe to just sit and hang out, a place where you can ask just about any question, and not only will your privacy be respected, but no one will look down their nose at you for asking.  The people I work with are all smart, funny, quirky, friendly, and caring.  They are also absolutely dedicated to your freedom to read.  Library work is a lot like teaching in that you don't go into it expecting to make a bunch of money.  This isn't a job, it's a holy calling.  Education, intellectual freedom, and the maintenance of an important community resource are what we value.  Very proud to be a part of such a great institution. 

So, time to wrap this up.  Birthday Vacation Week still has a couple of days left in it.  Perhaps a voice lesson will happen, perhaps a trip to the car dealer to get the oil changed, all depending on what the weather does Friday.  (Guess I better get cracking tomorrow on that list.) 

Thank you my friends,including Ron Perlman, whom I DO consider a friend,  my family, my coworkers, and especially Matthew, for making this such a lovely day for me.  I am SO happy.  I don't know if I'll ever stop smiling. 



“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh