and God said, "Let there be ice."

We are watching the news here in Oklahoma and there are nasty predictions of up to 10inches of snow and ice accumulation. Who knows if I will be able to make it in to work!? My dad, being the sweetie that he is will call me in the morning to make sure I don't need a ride. Uncle Joe says he will put his foot down if it is really bad and make me stay home. I don't think he will have to try too hard. ;o)

I sent Uncle Joe to the store for snackies and staples ("code" for toilet paper) I on the other hand will be in charge of our entertainment. I am sneaking off to Blockbuster for a movie!

Maybe we will all get to snuggle up in bed tomorrow and look at the snow falling down and have a nice pot of stew........mmmmmmm

How is the weather in YOUR neck of the woods??

Christmas Came Early!

I got an early Christmas present from Emma.....can you guess what it is??

Don't you think my Blogger Diet is working out for me? Look how skinny I am! And my hair!! So long and luxurious, and I didn't have to do a thing to it!

Thank you very much Emma...I love my new metropolitan chick template. It suits me to a "T" , was just what I wanted, and fits perfectly. ;o)

Black Friday

*Yawn*

Yep...I did what I haven't done in YEARS: ventured out on Black Friday to do some Christmas shopping.

My friend, Beverly, and I decided Wednesday that we would do a little bit of shopping before work today, since we were the skeleton crew on duty today at the clinic.

We agreed to meet at JCPenney's at 5am...when the doors opened. We were among the first so we received a cute little Mickey Mouse snow globe. He will adorn my desk this holiday season.

We found a few bargains there, some for me and some for the girls. I ran out of arm space before making it to the men's section. (sorry honey) I know I know, I probably shouldn't have been buying things for myself, but they were such good dealeos and I needed them really bad. (a purse and wallet ok? i have carried the same dysfunctional and marginally ugly purse all summer.)

Sears dished out some shoes for some of our honeys then we decided to go to KMart where they had only 4 check stands open. Now you tell me what moronic company has only 4 check stands open on BLACK FRIDAY?? We were smart and went back to Electronics and still had to wait in a small line, but we were in and out in 30 minutes I guess. That included a small visit with my parents in the middle of the store. My dad even got out! I don't think that has ever happened! They scoped out some gifts for the girls and snagged some pop (that is soda to all you northerners) on sale.

We were ready for breakfast about 7am and decided to go have a sit down breakfast before work. A fine end to a fun shopping day. There is never a dull moment when Bev is around. We liked looking at all the "unique" people out. We saw a woman with huge hair, 2 women in their pajamas in public, and saw an old lady bring her dog, who was wearing a sweater, to KMart.

The day at work was pretty boring but everyone who had been sick over Thanksgiving came in since their doctor's office was closed. We got to leave early so not all was lost. I even sneaked in a trip to Walmart and made a huge dent in my shopping for my family of Joes.

I usually buy Joe themed gifts. I wonder what the theme this year will be? I will marvel and amaze you at my shopping prowess. I am a Wonder Woman when it comes to snooping out dealeos. ;o)

Who has their tree up already?? Not us.....but the girls are after me already to get it up. I may appease them this weekend.

Gobble Day

Cassidy's teacher had an activity in the Writing Center: Write a letter to a turkey.

Here is what she said she would write:

Dear Turkey,
You better run and hide or we will eat you for Thanksgiving!
Your Friend,
Cassidy

In other news:
Carly is a finalist in a Christmas card contest! We will keep you posted. Shhh she doesn't know it either!

In other news
I haven't felt much like bloggin' lately
We (actually Joe made the dealeo) finally sold the old house and will close on it next week. (Praise the Lord!) Everything is finally moved out and into our garage. I never thought the day would come! We sold it to a man who is going to remodel and resell it. We will be semi out of debt in about a week. Can I see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel? I think I can! It is the color of cash! haha

In other news
Go to Joes Place and see what he got to do last week while I was partying with 6 12 yr olds.

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone! You each are counted among the blessings in the life of the Joe Family.

Survivor Story

I survived Carly's 12th birthday slumber party!! I planned, I prayed, I facilitated and I survived!

Two of the guests came home from school with her so the festivities started early. I actually thought that she might get some work done before the party. Boy, what was I thinking? She didn't seem stressed about the house, so I didn't either. (I mean hey, it's not like it is filthy dirty any way!)

We made mini pizzas, had nachos, carrot cake (Carly's favorite made by Uncle Louie) and they giggled and squealed and did what 12 year old girls do best: talk about boys. We even loaded up in the back of the truck and went visit a couple of boys. They thought that was pretty cool and I got a kick out of the reaction of the boys when a truck load of 6 girls drove up to their houses. :o)

They piled up in the living room about 11pm and watched movies til 2am they said. Not me....I went to bed and was sawing logs. I got up about 430 to check on them and it was a sea of arms and legs in the living room. Two of the girls slept together on the couch....good thing they were skinny little things.

They all woke up about 9am and Uncle Joe and I made pancakes for them....then it was time for them to start going home. Parents arrived and the party was over.

I think they had a good time and I was glad to see Carly having a good time with new friends.

Now it will be Cassidy's turn December 11th.

Bicentennial Post and Computers

Woohoo!! This is my 200th post! I never knew I had that many words in me and that anyone cared about reading them. :o) Thanks for being here with me along this road that is my life.

We were in the Java Cafe today (the breakfast served at our church on Sunday mornings) and guess what happened? The church had a computer they didn't need any more and someone told someone about our smelting accident. We left the church with a used perfectly capable computer!! God is so good! The computer has most of the things we had on our previous one and what we need to add is little things. Yippee!!

Happy Birthday to Pa-Pa Utah today. A memorable birthday we spent with him was when we went to Bozena's here in Fort Gibson. It was Oklahoma's only Polish restaurant and we had a good time. The owner Ziebiegnew came out and sang for us. I was pregnant with Carly at the time, so that was 12 years ago. We ate either pickle soup or saurkraut soup. I don't remember now......

At any rate, today was a pretty good day. Nice weather, kids got along and the short cakes are in the oven. Now we just need some icecream. ;o)

The Meme According to Josefina

1. Explain what ended your last relationship? My ex husband thought it was ok to be mean and nasty and be with other women.
2. When was the last time you shaved? this morning thank you very much
3. What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m.? trying to wake Joe up very sweetly. he wouldn't stand for it.
4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago? putting the short cakes in the oven
5. Do you have any famous ancestors? does Uncle Joe/Batman count? Truthfully I can't think of any.
8. Have you had to take a loan out for school? NO
9. Do you know the words to the song on your myspace profile? My who?
10. Last thing received in the mail? duh an envelope
2. Do you ever leave messages on peoples answering machines? yes
13. Who did you lose your CONCERT virginity to? George Strait 1986
14. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach? Never been to the ocean beach only the lake beach and there are too many rocks there to make it look good.
15. What was the most painful dental procedure you have had? I had to have one tooth anchored to another tooth and "gently" guided into a more straight angle. It wasn't gentle and it hurt.
16. What is out your back door? My porch which holds a cat box, a chair and some green army men
18. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair? Never been to the ocean but when I go, I'll let you know
21. Do you re-use towels after you shower? only the ones that i dried my hair on, and only on my hair again....
22. Some things you are excited about? ;o) hmmm let me see.....i am crazy about that special someone, my kids being happy....and the holidays coming up.
23. What is your favorite flavor of JELLO? Peach
24. Describe your keychain(s)? lots of keys and a purple hook thing, and a royal blue stretchy cordy thing that i put around my wrist.
26. Where do you keep your change? of clothes? in my closet. oh. coins, in the cup holder of my car
27. What kind of winter coat do you own? i have a black leather bomber jacket and a purplish coat with fur around the hood, and a super long black leather coat I got from UJ a few years back. (it was the bestest Christmas gift ever. i had wanted it so bad, but never told anyone because it was too expensive......how did he know?)
29. Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed? closed. i don't like the cat pouncing me at night, and you never know when you might need a little privacy.....for reading or something. ;o)

And there you have it. The most unique meme I have every done.

Fashionably Late Wishes

Happy Birthday to Seeker!!

S-mart
E-nergetic (she jogs every day with PR)
E-agerly awaiting the arrival of twin grand daughters
K-ind
E-ver so craaaazy about her grandchildren! (as well she should be have you seen them??)
R-isible (look it up)


We hope your day was full of fun and lots of love from those grand-boys. I bet the twinnies were wondering what was going on outside too! :o)

We love you and are SO glad to call your our Far Away Friend.

Much love,

The Joe Family

1986 was a good year

These are not really awkward pictures, but something I had been working on when Anne requested awkward photos of our youth. This will have to do since our computer melted in a smelting downloading accident. Tedly is on the job in Geekville trying to get us a new one on loan.

Oh, and I don't know why the pictures are hidden. I am posting this and hoping that another one of you might offer a suggestion. (hint: Emma please help me!) Right click on the square and left click on "open link" and the photo will open in a new window.

This is my Best Friend (or BFF Best Frin Forever as we said in High School) Carol. She was one year older than me and her grandma lived across the street from my grandma and we became friends in 1985 and have remained friends ever since.

These pictures were taken the summer of 1986 right before we were going to a rodeo with some guys. I have always loved the pictures and she even had a pencil drawing done of th top one that hung in my room for a long time.

We were in a herd of girls, otherwise known as a gaggle of girls and we called ourselves S.M.A.C.K. (Suzy, Mindi, Angie, Carol, Kelly) We were all in Colorguard together, attended church together and generally spent all our waking hours with one or more of each other. If we weren't together physically, we were together on the phone. (the old fashioned ones with CORDS! haha)

We talked mostly about boys and who was "going with" whom but we also were laying the foundation for lifelong friendships. The secrets we told each other then are still in the vault. We know too many secrets about one another now to ever stop being friends! :o)

Carol and I have remained friends through boyfriends, college, moves, divorces (mine not hers) and babies, and are now enjoying a much less logistically challenged friendship since she moved to Sallisaw about 2 years ago. (I am so glad!)

Our hubbies even get along well....hers is a Band Director and mine is a music man, so you can imagine all they talk about is music and kids (and their beautiful wives of course!heehee!)

Carol I just want you to know how much you have always and continue to mean to me. You are a wonderful example to me and I am so blessed to call you my lifelong friend. I don't know how you ever put up with my boy-crazy self, but you did and I thank you. Thank you for talking, laughing,climbing, plotting, writing, praying, walking, twirling, driving, crying, planning, advising, giggling, and loving me for over 20 years. I look forward to many more :o)

Yippee!!

What a great moment this is in my day. The children....yes I used the plural word there...are both gone to my (wonderful) Sister In Law's house for a sleep over. Her oldest, Elle, is having a sleep over and Carly is attending that. Cassidy is there also as the guest of Elle's younger sister, Alli. Both our girls were so excited all day.

Joe and I were pretty excited too. It has been a long time since we have been all alone in the new house. ;o)

We drove to Tulsa for Thai food and are now about to enjoy a quiet evening. Well maybe just a little noise.....there is a good football game on.

Woe Is Us!!

Yikies!! Yesterday I walked through the dining room and smelled something hot. You know the smell....like when you first turn on the heater. I checked: no, heater was not on. Carly's flat iron was on, but not smelly. I even leaned down very carefully to smell it. I walked by the computer again and was horrified to realize the smelly hotty smell was coming from my computer!!! It was off and blinking and would not turn back on. BTW I was trying to download a video of Uncle Joe playing a cool guitar lick.....I always knew he was hot guitar player....but oh my!! He melted the hard drive!