The One With Food

Here is Uncle Joe and Terry enjoying some music and a funnel cake.















Sharon and I shared this one. :o)









Sharon with a mouth full of funnel cake























This was the first time Terry and Sharon had Thai food. Denton has a wonderful Thai restaurant we go to every time we are there. The owner remembered us from our other visits and was glad to see us back...and with more customers! I am happy to report that the picky eater of our group, Sharon, loved the Chicken Pad Thai she ordered. (There was a small pile of veggies on the edge of her plate, but hey....she at least TRIED the dish!) Terry had a ball with his bottle of Thai lager, Singha.

Heavy Metal Jazz

This is the main Jazz Stage, where we were planted all day. We soaked up some good sun and some good tunes.
The great trees around us provided shade on and off throughout the day.
My favorite picture. This is a metal artist. It is very colorful and wonderful don't you think?
Metal sculptures. I can't imagine having this in my yard or home. I would probably fall down and hurt myself on it.

Snooze and Don't Loose

These folks are sitting across from the Jazz Stage where we were. They can bring in coolers and other paraphanelia...like a tent and tables. Enlarge the picture to see the family that laid claim to a plot of land.
This is not a Jazz music fan. He took advantage of the nice weather and took a snooze. (This would never happen if our children were there.)
Another snoozer.

This gentleman apparently borrowed the nearest lady's hat and didn't seem the least bit embarrassed about it either.
Aren't you glad I didn't get his face?

Big Texas Trip

It's true! Everything IS bigger in Texas!
Look at the size of this strawberry we picked up for a snack in our hotel room.
A shot across the waterway to the arts and crafts tents. There were a lot of them and we went to all of them.....twice.
A funny horse made out of....horse shoes.
A funny picture of .....whoever you think they are.

Trip Pix

I promised the children that I would post pictures. I can't tell a fib to my babies so here you go CarlyJo and CassiJo. (Be good and do what Nana and Papa tell you to do. I hope they tell you to have fun and eat ice cream!)

Below: We are off. I am in the drivers seat honing my traffic skills. I'll keep you updated on how that is workin' out for me.








Look what is right across the street from our hotel!























Look what I got for us while UJ rested from the long drive. The bed was so comfy and he had the most comfy pillows ever and a nap took him as soon as we got there.


Below: We had it on good authority there was a good restaurant at this exit, but we couldn't find it, so we went to our good ole stand-by Cracker Barrel. It is just so fun to hear the music and eat good homestyle food, play games at the table and do a little shopping after a nice (quiet) meal.















Below:UJ kept to his usual: open faced beef samwich. Pretty tasty. I got some chicken tenders and who knew that asking for honey mustard was totally out of the ordinary. It took them a looooong time to bring it to me. (Sound familiar Susie?)




















Any good southerner knows what this is. Any takers? Go ahead....guess what it is. Until Susie came to visit me I had no idea that this was a "southern" thing. What regional "food thing" do you have in your area?








Below: Uncle Joe is sitting on the porch after dinner waiting for another epiphany. (While we were at a Cracker Barrel in Tennessee he had an epiphany about country music as he looked out across the mountains as the sun was setting. I'll let him tell the story if he hasn't already.......)















Maybe I'll get in front of the camera for a few pics tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Totally Trippin in Texas

Here is where we are this weekend. We have been coming down to Denton Texas for the last 4 years to a great Jazz Festival. Out whole Saturday will be full of music and fun festival food: roasted corn, Gyros, frozen chocolate dipped bananas, funnel cakes, corn dogs and slushies and kettle corn. :o)

Our friends Terry and Sharon come up from Benbrook to lounge with us on the square and soak up some sun as we watch the musicians. Sharon and I sneak off a few times to look at all the arts and crafts. There is a ton!

I hope to find another nice piece of turquoise jewelry, or maybe something else that tickles my fancy. My fancy is very ticklish so there is no telling what I will come home with. Heehee!!

We have new folding chairs just for this occasion, new nice smelling sunscreen, visors and magazines for me to read when I get tired of people watching. Believe me there are some very unique and interesting people at the Jazz Fest.

Our plans also include Terry and Sharon's maiden experience of Thai food. There is a great place down here that we go to every time we come to town and I am really looking forward to it again. If you haven't ever tried Thai food you are really missing out on some great foods. It is very fragrant, wonderful and light. I just love it!!

Can you tell I am very excited to have a bit of a holiday from home? This is the one time Uncle Joe and I get to be alone. There is a long trip in a small car so I can really pick his brain about things. He is a captive audience. Literally. One bad thing: my radio antennae is broken so we had to listen to cd's all the way down here. I forgot my cd holder so we had to make due with the ones that escaped under the seat....slim pickins! Maybe I will come home with a new jazzy cd for the trip home. :o)

OK I am off to Starbucks which is just across the street from our hotel. How great is that??

Stay tuned for pictures later......

Three Feet

This is what our feet looked like at the end of the day at Old Fort Days or Heritage Days here in Fort Gibson. We went to the fort and walked around looking at the period re-enactors and sampling some food and drinks. It had been raining Thursday evening so it was still a little muddy to say the least.















There are a whole lot more pictures down below.....take a peek!

Look how fast this guy is pickin'...his hand is a bit blurry. Notice on he banjo there are no frets. UJ wants to learn to play one of these.

This is Mr. Roberts, one of CarlyJo's former teachers. He is impersonating a Buffalo Hunter. The gun he is holding is very heavy and VERY loud.
CassiJo had a laundry lesson from The Laundress. We learned that Laundresses made more money per day than the soldiers! She had to make her own soap and fetchher own water. The contraption you see on CassiJo is how she did it.
Cassi and Papa play "I am going to stomp your foot" He was trying to beat her up the hill. I think he won.
This craftsman is burning a pattern on a tomahawk handle with a telescope lense.

I am so glad we don't have to use Thunder Mugs any more. Aren't you?
Cassidy on the top story of the Fort.
One of the rooms in the Fort .
Soldiers passing the time by singing with the band.
These musicians were very good. The man on the left is playing the bones. he is clacking them together for rhythm.

Uncle Joe has been saving these root beer bottles for a year. The man who sold us them said he would give us a free refill.
Turns out not to be the same guy and the new guy wasn't too happy to give it away even though we bought two more! I think I'll tell on him.







Three beauties. Carly, her friend Ashley and Cassi pose on the cannon at the fort













Carly smiles weird on purpose












Then I get a real one.

Super Sunny Weekend

Cassi finds a new baby to play with, now maybe she will stop asking for a sister!
She loves horses still!
Papa said, "I'll be there in a minute" an d he meant it!
Uniformed re-enactors.
Cassi was very naughty.

A Question from Down Under

A new visitor from Oz has asked the question: Have you ever been lonely?

Over the years I have found myself mostly surrounded with people. I grew up in a family of 5 and was always with either my parents, my brothers or several of my gazillion cousins. (My mother comes from a family of 11 children, so that is a LOT of cousins!) I went to college, always in a herd of girls. I met and married Joe when I was 22/23 respectively and we had our first daughter with in a year and a half. Carly and I have been attached at the hip from birth and when we shop we are attached at the elbow. :o) Cassidy came along 5 years later and has been rockin' our world since. My job has consisted of greeting and talking to people either on the phone or in person for 8 hours a day for almost 20 years.
All this to say you would think I would NOT have ever been lonely. I remember once a few years ago we were at a church picinic. Uncle Joe was visting with his friend, Carly and Cassi were playing with their friends and I stood there looking around wondering where I fit in. I sat down and looked around again. I did not seek any one out, purposely waiting for someone to see me. They never did.

I am never lonely at home. There is always something going on with one of the girls to keep me occupied. I would like to have neighbors to visit and fellowship with, but right now we have a family that is moving away, a retired couple and a young man and his friends. I know I should be more assertive and approach these people, but that is a little difficult for me, something I purpose to work on. Summertime vegetables from the garden or some homemade cookies should make it easier don'tcha think?

I do like time that I control. I sometimes feel overwhelmed and like that my time is not my own. I sometimes have to assert my will and take time for myself. One of the most liberating times was at Christmas. I went to Tulsa(a city about 50 miles away) on a solo-shopping trip. I drove all over town by myself , shopped by myself, had lunch in a crowded restaurant by myself and generally had a ball! I plan to make that an annual event and maybe even throw in a solo over night stay next time!

In my life I think that lonliness comes when I am listening to the lies of the enemy. I am surrounded by people that love me and care about me. They do not have to seek me out, sometimes I have to be the seeker. I have to destroy my own lonliness by picking up the phone or driving across town and sometimes just reaching across the bed.

Not Again!

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) - The U.S. 62 bridge over the Arkansas River at Muskogee has reopened after being hit by at least 2 of 7 barges that broke free from the Port of Muskogee.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation closed the bridge about 8:45 last night for inspections. All lanes were reopened about 4:30 this morning.
Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson says no injuries are reported and there appears to be no damage to the bridge. He says it's not known how the barges got loose. They are being collected by towboats.

Muskogee Police Captain Stephanie Schledorn says officers arrived before the barges got to the bridge and stopped traffic "because everybody remembers Webbers Falls."

Fourteen people died May 26th, 2002, when their cars plunged into the Arkansas River after barges pushed by a towboat crashed into the Interstate 40 bridge at Webbers Falls.

Here is another link: Bridge Story

We are very thankful no one was hurt, and the bridge was reopened. It is one of three routes to Muskogee for us. One of the other routes takes us across Fort Gibson Dam and through a tiny town called Okay. The roads are windy and the speed limit is certainly not 65 mph like we are used to but we would get there. (and not too many extra miles)

Happy Tax Day

As usual, I procrastinated until almost the last minute to do our taxes. I don't know why this happens every year, but it does.

I went out on a limb and bought Turbo Tax this year to save us some money. We went to a CPA last year and it was SO expensive! $250!! A $50 investment in Turbo Tax sounded a lot better to our wallets.

I got up Sunday morning before the rest of the Joe household woke up and dove in head first. Any time I do work that I know will be highly scrutinized I get sick at my stomach. (Month-end at work makes me ill regularly) I plugged away and by noon we had a nice little refund coming our way and had to pay a (relatively) little bit to the great state of Oklahoma, just like we always do.

I was just glad I will NOT be one of those people down at the post office this evening getting a late post mark on their returns.

Every year I say I won't do this, but somehow I do. Do you??

Sad News

I have a friend at work, Tara, whose family has had to bear more tragedy than a a family should. January 2005 her niece, Sara Smart was abducted, murdered and concealed in a barrel and dumped in a pond. It was over a year before she was found.

Last summer, Tara's brother and Sara's father, Brian, died at his own hand.

Yesterday, Tara called me to let me know her nephew Collin, Sara's brother was found dead. They family suspects an overdose, but the authorities are still investigating. Collin was in his eary 20's and leaves behind a 3 yr old son.

Tara and her family are in Las Vegas for her son's National Motocross race so she is mostly alone during this horrible loss. It will take them at least two days to drive home and what a long trip that will be knowing what you are coming home to.

Please keep Tara and her family in your prayers. She is a strong woman, but how much more can they bear? Tara keeps all her burdens to herself and is very private. Please pray that we can successfully encourage her to seek grief counseling.

Sara's murderer is behind bars now and is awaiting trial on unrelated charges as well as the charges for Sara. It seems that he has also caused the death of Brian and Collin, indirectly. I don't think Collin would have been in the mental state he was, participating in the things he was doing if he had his family intact.

It was a very sad day.

Please pray for my friend.

Welcome to Tornado Alley

This what woke us up about 4:50am this morning. Thank God for the loose net getting snagged on the tree! It would have have hit our bedroom window, potentially knocking it out! See our "Batcave" entrance? I am glad we didn't have to go down there last night. It is dark and a little creepy. (For those of you in non-tornado prone areas this is a storm cellar or a fraidy hole for you hicks. ;o)
The braces are bent, but not too badly. Hopefully my dad can fix it.
This is the neighbors trampoline. It got blown from the back-door neighbors yard. He said they had staked it down and it still got whipped around. It didn't damage anything on the way over believe it or not. This is the second trampoline they have had damaged by high winds. I think God is trying to tell them something.
Just another view......
Look how far the tramp blew in from. Our swing and umbrella had some damage too.

We are all ok and the neighbor fetched his trampoline today. He and Uncle Joe hucked it back into their yard this afternoon.

The next door neighbor's house is up for sale if anyone is interested in living next to the Joes. We could knock down the fence between our yards and make a big swimming pool.

Well this explains alot......

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