Miscellaneous Monday Musings

This is going to be a great week. I love Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday for many reasons - singing Easter hymns, checking out the cute spring fashions, baking some delicious goodies and spending time with my family! Another perk - it's a short week/three day weekend for me and my husband since our offices will both be closed for Good Friday.

We saw True Grit at the cheap movies this past weekend. It was a good movie and nicely cast. The crowd could have been better. I almost had to beat down the woman sitting behind us. Inexplicably, in the middle of the movie she decided to start filing her nails. Filing. Her. Fingernails. In a dark movie theater. I could not believe it. I kept thinking she would stop, but no! Finally, I turned around and said, "Could you please stop that?" I saw her husband nudging her leg and she leaned over to whisper to him, "What did she say?" Apparently he relayed the message because she quit and I was able to resume watching the movie in peace. Sheesh!

Also, I am just now getting around to posting a picture from the Red Bud Classic 5K I ran in last Sunday. Last year was the first time I had ever run in the Red Bud Classic and it was my first 5K run. The weather ended up being very nice as the Oklahoma wind cooperated by gusting less than 20 mph. This is me with my running buddy co-worker. Warning, you may want to turn down the brightness level on your computer. I am rocking some seriously WHITE legs.

I can't believe I am going to share this with you, but today I think I accidentally ate some moldy cheese! The horror! The humanity! Here's a little secret about me, I have a bad habit of sneaking bites of cheese while I am cooking dinner. Tonight, I had a bag of shredded Italian cheese blend out to garnish our pasta. As I waited for the pasta to boil I opened the bag and took a pinch of shredded cheese out and popped it in my mouth. Hmm, I thought. That tasted a bit strange. But I was undeterred. I stuck my fingers in the bag for another pinch and noticed the peculiar consistency of the shredded cheese - sort of clumpy. I looked into the bag and realized there were some moldy pieces of cheese in the bag. EEEEEK! I threw the bag away. I immediately confessed my cheese sins to my husband. He may or may not ever kiss me again. Hopefully, I won't face damaging repercussions from my cheese sins.

But don't worry, I still LOVE cheese!

Popcorn Nostalgia

My dear aunt is a fabulous cook. I always look forward to visits and family get-togethers at her house in Kingfisher because I know the food will not disappoint.

Of all the fabulous meals and desserts my aunt has made over the years, the food that sticks out most in my mind is her popcorn. This popcorn is such a novelty because who even makes homemade popcorn anymore? Microwave popcorn is easy, but trust me when I tell you it cannot hold a candle to my aunt's popcorn. Homemade popcorn just tastes great and it isn't all that hard to make, either. It is light and fresh without the processed taste of microwave popcorn and its faux butter flavoring.

My husband loves my aunt's homemade popcorn, and he decided we needed to start making it in our own home. A few years ago, my aunt gave me one of her extra popcorn pans to make homemade popcorn and I am ashamed to say that until recently, I had never used it!

Simple ingredients - kernels, canola oil and salt

Add oil (1 Tbsp) and kernels (1/3 C) to pan over medium-high heat

Add lid and wait for oil to get hot

When you hear the first kernels popping, quickly close the lid

Shake the pan over the burner and turn the crank on the lid at the same time. Listen to the popcorn pop, pop, popping!

The finished product! Add salt or your favorite topping and enjoy!!

Read these books

I first heard of Barbara O'Neal earlier this year when I came across a blog post recommending her new book How to Bake a Perfect Life. I quickly reserved a copy at the library (cause I'm frugal like that), and when the book became available, I read it in a few short days. It was a wonderful story about the complex relationships women have with the other women in their lives.

I decided to see if the library had any of O'Neal's other books. Earlier this week, I checked out The Secret of Everything, a book that was published in 2009. I loved it even more than the previous book. I don't want to give away anything about either book, but I would highly recommend you read her books! She writes compelling stories focused on female characters who are strong yet vulnerable at the same time, which I think is a challenging task to get right. Also, O'Neal tackles difficult and emotional subjects, and her stories take plot twists that will surprise the reader and keep you enthralled until the end. (Warning: you may need some tissues, especially for How to Bake a Perfect Life.)

Another fun thing about the books is the author includes recipes for the reader to experiment with and she showcases the powerful presence dogs can have in our lives.

I hope you can find these at the library and let me know if you enjoyed them as much as I did.

So You Want to Be a Centenarian?

Living to be 100 seems like an awesome accomplishment. Think about everything a person who lives to be 100 sees in his or her lifetime - the world events, the natural disasters, the technological advancements, the social movements, and the scientific breakthroughs, just to name a few things.

Plus, think of all the family members you might get to meet if you lived to be 100. You could have great-great-great grandchildren!

Anyway, I came across this story on NPR  from a Gerontologist who says a trait that is common among many people who live long lives is adaptive competence, which is the ability to bounce back from stress. Doctors think our perception of how things are going in our lives is important, and it can affect our physical health as well.

It's stories like these that remind me why being a "glass half full" person is desirable. Life is stressful, and it isn't always easy to have a positive, upbeat attitude, but it could really pay off in the long run if you want to be a Centenarian!

Competitive

People who know me won't be surprised to hear I am a pretty competitive person. I am especially competitive when it comes to the opposite sex.

I think it all stems from my Grandfather constantly encouraging me from a young age to "beat the boys" and telling me I could do anything I put my mind to.

It was no surprise that I was in a competitive mood Saturday morning when I went on a little fishing trip to some family land outside of Perry, OK with my Dad and my husband.

It was a windy day and the fish were not biting. Even my Dad, the always-successful, uber-competitive angler was having no luck at all. After a few hours, we were all pretty discouraged, and my Dad had started to load up his gear. I did not want to give up, and I cast a quick line out only to feel it pull almost immediately as I began to reel it in.

Now don't get me wrong, the little fish on the end of my hook was nothing to write home about, but I didn't care. I let out an exuberant yell and my Dad and my favorite both looked on in a mixture of happiness and dismay.

I am sure my expression was one of sheer delight. I had beaten the boys again and it felt darn good!

Picture taken begrudgingly by TK

Weekend Recap

Last Saturday we set out for a little day trip. We like to take day trips when the weather is nice and we don't have any other plans or obligations. Day trips are ideal because you can explore an area you are unfamiliar with and you have something to look forward to when you are bogged down in the drudgery of the work week.

We headed north and east to Osage County, our state's largest county which also happens to be larger than two states! Our specific destination was Pawhuska to check out the nearby Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.

That particular area of our state is unique as there are large ranches and the ground is very rocky and rolling. It was  picturesque even though there was quite a bit of controlled burning going on. We stopped off for a look around at the Osage County Historical Society Museum which had some pretty neat Native American artifacts as well as other interesting items related to the prairie, ranching, the oil boom and even Boy Scouts!

After lunch we headed to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve which is run by the Nature Conservancy. It is actually several miles north of Pawhuska down a gravel road. Once we entered the Preserve, it didn't take long before we started seeing the bison.

Driving through the Preserve, it almost seemed like taking a step back in time. There were very few cars and we felt like we could envision the pioneers who settled the area over a hundred years ago. It was a relaxing journey through the Preserve and we really enjoyed the scenery and the beautiful weather. The visitor center was at the end of the drive, and we learned a lot of insightful information about the Tallgrass Prairie from the volunteer working there.

Leaving the Preserve, we made the mistake of thinking we knew where we were going, but after some turns this way and that on dusty gravel roads, it was clear we were lost. Thankfully, T's phone has turn by turn navigation and were were able to eventually find a state highway, but not before we drove into a controlled burn and several men on 4-wheelers likely wondering what the heck a couple of cityfolk were doing wandering around their ranch. Never a dull moment!!

All in all, it was a great day trip with my favorite person and my batteries felt recharged! What do you do to recharge your batteries?

P.S. Sorry my pictures are so bad! I am working with an OLD point and shoot. I hope to get a new camera one of these days - maybe a digital SLR? Any thoughts?

Dipping my toes back in. . .

Wow. I started this blog, posted one entry, and fell off the face of the blogosphere.

Well, not really, I continued reading blogs, I just buried my head in the sand about the fact that I had started one. There is a reason for that, and I hope you will stick around because that is a story for another day.

Today I am feeling reflective. The previous and only entry on my blog was posted on June 27, 2008. That is sooooo long ago - 2 years, 9 months and 9 days to be exact. It is amazing how much has changed since then. Here are a few things:

1. I have a different job.

2. My husband has a different job.

3. We no longer live in Enid, America.

4. I weigh about 45 pounds less (more about this to come)!

That is a lot of change in a relatively short amount of time.

How much has your life changed in the past 2 years, 9 months and 9 days?