a few more festivities, a few more friends and a new favorite hobbie

what else happened during this holiday season?!

well, i failed to mention that when i returned from viewing the lights at the motor speedway with the gals, i came home to find a marker in the middle of the living room, without the top. i know that i didn't leave it that way-my markers are treasure to me! so that left bruno or chaco-i looked everywhere to try to locate the cap, and didn't see it anywhere. but there was a tiny shred of green plastic in chaco's facial hair...grr...could he have really?? i mean he did do some damage to the red papermate not too long ago... although i wasn't too worried, i went to bed, and then at about 3am, i couldn't sleep, and i ended up looking on animal web md...found something to make chaco throw up, in case he had eaten the thing. so i actually got up, got dressed and went in search of canned pumpkin to make this concoction...i finally ended up at walmart, where i should've just gone in the first place (although, in my defense the 7-11 has had it in the past..about 5 years ago, but still)...got home, made this stuff, fed him (so i had to give bruno some pumpkin, because if chaco eats, bruno has to). and then in about half hour, i was up cleaning after chaco-looking for green bits of marker cap. this happened about 7-9 times, no marker. i'm an idiot. we went all day with no problems, then he was doing it again the following evening, so we went in to the vet-xrays for both of the boys-nothing, (bruno's was just to check his leg for lameness) but they did discover that although there was no marker top, chaco did have a slight case of pancreatitis, and we got some prescription food for him. they love the canned stuff, and it seemed to help calm his tummy (he's had issues with the vomiting before-but i never really thought anything of it, because it would pass...don't want everyone thinking it's bc i gave him some pumpkin crap!). 

i hated going out to get this!!!

and so he rested with me the following day, while i was doing work-ish stuffs!

well, then, my friend bmayes came down to do some Christmas-y-dallas-y stuff one weekend. she was going to an early dinner with one of her small-group gals, and she actually ended up going to walk another girl's dog-which, all said and done, i think she was back around 10:30-11-ish, and we still drove around to look at lights near park and midway. they were beautiful, and the estates are enormous!

this HUGE lit tree was so beautiful!

and of course, chaco, waiting to see if there was going to be any more fun that evening!

the following day, we ended up getting in one event-the george w bush presidential library at smu, as they had a Christmas display. we almost didn't find parking because our outing just so happened to coincide with the smu graduation. oops. it was pretty cool, and i've been meaning to get over there for quite some time now! anyhoo, b had to get out of town shortly after that (wanted in several states, trying to keep in front of the law..oh, wait not her, that's someone else i know)...she had to get home before the weather in norman got bad! this was the day that it was 70 at about 11am, and by 7pm it was down in the 30s. half-day of spring to winter...it was great.

because it's all business in the oval office!

and the following evening after the cowboys played a stellar game, kristi, an old friend from HONDURAS happened to be passing through, and got to stay with me and we stayed up late catching up, and the following morning got to do more catching up before she took off around noon. truly i do love catching up with old friends! not much has changed apart from new experiences! seems like just yesterday that we were playing water-war games in the empty lots around the neighborhood, climbing up the water-tower and playing beach volleyball! #timestandsstill....

good times with this kid!! (i must have been about to say something, i look silly)

i got a text from nicolette asking what was going on tuesday p.m. and she text back that we were going to medieval times! she was the lucky winner of 4 tickets on instagram! so tickets had to be used! we met up and got the greatest paper crowns in the kingdom- red and gold! the food-always phenomenal, and while i didn't get much of a chance to catch up with olivia-all the way on the other end, it was fun just to be there! our knight was handsome in his own way, until i began imagining him with a man-bun.. he did not win the princess' hand though. he did throw a flower my way, but it was just a little short, and i didn't jump for it...the little girl in front of me picked it up to give it to me, but i told her to give it to her sister, the birthday girl. and afterward, nicolette and i ran some errands because she had some gifts that needed to be rounded up. unfortunately we weren't able to find all the necessities, so i was able to find some gift boxes from lush that made the cut..crisis averted, the team was getting more than last-minute gas-station sunglasses and a diet coke! we met later that evening, as i was leaving the next day.

yum! eating with no utensils always makes the food more delicious!

fun times! which one of these girls has no toilet paper at their place? hint: i do!

our handsome knight! quite adept with his tools of the trade!

throughout the week, i received fun stuff from our boss-team and hr! it was like Christmas all week long!! very fun, very unexpected and very appreciated!

so very thoughtful!

thursday i was taking off for missouri, so after packing everything, i made a stop at the vet on the way out, to pick up pain meds for bruno's leg, and they seem to be working great...and she called to tell me that his blood tests were normal, so we have the green light to schedule his surgery!

love going to mom and dad's! while i was there, i got to make a detour down to branson to see trish (so often, she's not there), so it was great to sit with her and enjoy conversation! one of my mentors, and a dear friend-only wish she didn't live so far away..it only means that the occasional random times that we do get the opportunity to hang out is that much more precious!

fortunately the weather was nice enough to do some target practice that afternoon! i haven't gotten much of a chance to go target shooting around here, so i love it that dad has set up a great spot.

we did Christmas, gift exchange and such, then we had a shortened morning service at church. after that we picked up a young man who used to go to our church up in iowa, and is now living near mom and dad. he did lunch with us, and then dad dropped him back off at his place, and mom and i continued picking up pecans! yes, they have a pecan tree, and there were so many pecans on the ground-it was like looking for easter eggs!! then we watched some football! go chiefs!!

and we will most likely be using one of these photos for next year's Christmas card!

and my new favorite pass-time over the break became 'pecan-shelling'! i've become quite good at extracting full halves. it's like a game now...so soothing, so calming, such a great meditation-al device! apart from the blister-inducing devices. so now i have a great little nut-cracking-callous on my pinky finger. nice.

i didn't mention it, but as i stopped at the tx rest area on the way home, i was stretching the boys' legs, and we saw some people gathering something from under the tree, so i went to ask if them was pecans they were gathering, and i think the man was very hesitant, as he thought i might be encroaching on his territory and a perceived threat (we encounter that when searching for shark teeth quite often)...no worries, mr! i got two bagfuls in my cah--get over it!

and that takes us to the uneventful drive home, the day after Christmas. uneventful.
finishing out EOY vacations next,

julie

whirlwind of friend visits and thundermuffin mission complete!

so i continue on my short vacation...this morning i got up early and headed to the park to exercise...i walked a lap, ran a lap (mostly) ease back into it. going to have to 'push the envelope' if i want to get serious about toning up. then i began my trek down to branson!

oh, branson. i like you small...please stop growing.

i love branson. don't judge. first stop: dick's 5 and dime. i had to get a miniature pig...and found some other animals i had to have...why you ask? because someone, somewhere is going to be in need of a smile at some point, and i am going to supply it in the form of a miniature animal. wait for it... then i made my way down to the flea market-i always go when i am in town, because they have my favorite sheets-since 2011 so...yep, got new sheets-yum. and then it was time to head out to college of the ozarks to see my dear friend kristin. 

we had two hours to ourselves to catch up-the kids were down visiting their grandparents, and kyle was at a convention (i believe). it was so good to laugh and there were just so many things to talk about-a full day would still not have been enough time! i do appreciate this young lady-she lives to love on people and does it so well! kristin is the picture of grace under fire. i really wish she and my co-counselor, lindsey wheeler knew each other; they would be fast friends, because they have so much in common! it is amazing to me how some of my most compassionate, caring friends are the ones who are fighting physical ailments that to the general public, aren't visible-and in many cases if you don't know them, you'd never know the pain and exhaustion they deal with on a daily basis, because they would never complain about it. i admire them immensely! 

then i made my way over to lampe, mo, k2! the lady at the security post asked if i needed a visitor pass: yes, i'm pretty sure i should. when i told her i was just there to visit, she said, "that's great! lucky you-wish i had the day to go down and play...what all are you going to get to do?" my response: i'm just going to visit with trish for a little bit. that's all.  (at a camp that has lake access, jet skis, wake-boarding, every sport under the sun...i'm just here to chat...with one of my 'inner circle' friends). we just need to sit and catch up every once in awhile-i love our friendship (since '98) because it's so stable. she said it best today, and i can reciprocate- if i ever REALLY needed something, i know i could/and would go to her; one who would never commercialize on me, and will always speak TRUTH. so even though we only had maybe 45-1hour, it was precious time! #bringsoutthebestinme

fortunate to have forged this friendship

all too soon, trish had to go to the cafeteria to be a lunch-presence. since i'd already eaten, i took the opportunity to go up to see emmy before she worked the afternoon ropes course shift. the harmon family is like a second family in dallas to me. i absolutely love them! i've know them since '98 as well, my kamp connections are strong. i love it when most of them are together, and that was the package i got today! diane, emmy, brett ann, and hank were all there! and some of the kiddos were upstairs playing or sleeping. so it was fun to sit and chat with them. we always laugh together and often have some very sober conversations about family, politics, the Bible, and just life in general; authentic! i may be helping diane out with a little artwork for her class-we have that bond-smile. and hopefully emmy and i can connect to go climb the silos sometime when she gets back to dallas!

before leaving the tablerock neighborhood, it's kind of an unwritten rule that if one has any decency, they will stop by the blueberry farm for thundermuffins! so, as is tradition, i made the right instead of the left and took the gravel road less traveled and that has made all the difference! had my cumulobluebus, and i continued a tradition of sending shea a batch of thunder muffins! i had purposefully toted her address along (not that it is really heavy enough to tote. it was in the back of my amazing journal). when she saw the pic, i think deep down she knew before she even offered the bribe (i smile because i was already long gone by the time i got the offer) 

then i headed back to lebanon-where i saw several signs for hosea bilyeu-commissioner; first of all, i was sad that i didn't get to see the rees family. but it was somewhat exhilarating to see these signs first hand, in person, because i'd seen them working on the campaign on fb, and posting pics. and for me, when it comes to politics, voting for the guy with the most integrity who is willing to do what is right will always be the way i lean! so while i didn't get to see my missionary friends, i was thinking about them quite a bit-with much fondness!

and it was supposed to storm in this area tonight, but for the moment, crisis averted, the dogs will not be barking at least not until the wee hours of the morning..and hopefully not even then, rain, rain, go away...or if need be, arrive in the quietest of fashions...i'm tired. 

and tomorrow we fly (as in: fly, fools -ala gandalf...we will not actually be flying. we will be hurrying in another direction; norman to be exact. craving hurts. yes, it does...ok, i-am-craving-hurt's-donuts). 

good night!

julie

btown, bmayes, b with friends, b safe!

it's ou/tx weekend!! that's why i left! um..ok, not the real reason. actually, a few weeks ago, my friend bmayes shot me a text suggesting a visit to branson. a friend of ours would be getting married, and what better time to visit the ozarks than fall, with the changing of the leaves. so we made plans, but the details were not quite hammered out. it was perfect because it was that weekend that dallas elementary schools have fair day on friday!

unfortunately, as you saw in a previous post, my radar detector went out a couple of weeks ago, and had me feeling naked in my car...like something was missing! so i knew that going on a trip would probably require the comfort and security of a radar detector, but the alarm store where i'd made the original purchase was closed down and no longer there, so i had to look it up on my phone and was pleased to see that best buy sold them. so i stopped in and purchased the new guy.

bff

last week, i got the text that said the wedding was actually to take place at 4 pm on sunday. hmm...that was not good news for me because if you add in the reception, that would put me home WAY late. so, unfortunately as i sit here, i am thinking that i will miss the wedding-because i really want to get home safely. so we decided to drive in separate cars so that b can stay for the wedding.

as i was driving through oklahoma, almost at the halfway point, i knew that i should stop to get windshield wipers, because the ones i had were getting flappy (you know, when the rubber starts to come off and just starts flapping around). um. so when i saw the dark nimbus clouds in the rearview, i decided it was time to stop at walmart in mcalester. and guess what. when i walked out of the store, it was raining. great. so i put my hood up and proceeded to replace my wipers in the rain. i was having a little difficulty, and a young man came over and offered to help. he showed me exactly what i needed to do, so the second one was a cinch! i've been daydreaming about getting new wipers, because i remember getting the new ones for the g-6 and being overwhelmed by the efficiency and the amazing work these things do!

be still my beating heart!

because we drove separately, i was able to leave early and get up to see mom and dad's new place! i had the address, but there was no reception, so when i got to the general area, i turned off to the right on old hwy 5, not realizing that every turn off on hwy 5 is old hwy 5! so when i turned off and drove up a way to see the number on the mailbox, it was too high...i knew i had to go back, but what i didn't know was turn to the right or left. so i started driving and went with my gut and turned on the other side of the highway, and drove up a bit-fortunately i have a good gut-my intuition was right! (it was GOD) i saw mom's car, and when i pulled in, i saw her wind chimes and i knew i was in the right place! i got the nickel tour, and they have quite the property- so i got to spend a little time with them before back-tracking to come back down to toward branson west, where we met up for dinner at dana's bar-b-que! love me some bbq nachos! (if you ever visit b-town, i would highly recommend dana's).

once our appetites were taken care of, we took off to find the air bnb the bmayes had booked. i was following, and we got a little turned around because the directions said to turn in at a time-share complex, and it was a bit confusing...so we came back and took the directions, which led us down to a little road that wound around the complex and into a little mobile home park nestled in a little treed area near table rock lake. the light was on, some music playing and a pumpkin signaling that fall was in the air-so inviting! cozy little place!

by the time we got there, it was probably around 9pm, and i was exhausted from a long day of driving. for some reason, as soon as i got into mo, people seemed to be just driving stupid...passing at their cruising speed, which took them forever to get around semis..this drove me crazy!! driving etiquette folks, if someone is coming up behind you, accelerate, get around the slow car and move yourself on over. it drove me NUTS. i will refrain from revealing my speed, as it was a bit ridiculous. but i digress, bmayes was in the main area room, and i set up camp in the additional add-on space. i figured, since i brought one of my memory foam mattresses (remember how i travel with it whenever i can?), i would take the futon. well, it so happens that the futon was a bit smaller in dimension than mine. this basically meant that the mattress lay sloping on both sides, i tried it-nope. moved it, there was still quite an incline, and i thought it might work, so i tried it.

well, i woke up several times, thinking i should take the mattress and just lie on the floor...i didn't, and i didn't until finally, i couldn't handle it anymore. it was about 6am, so i pulled the mattress to the floor, trying not to wake bmayes in the other room. the best two and a half hours of sleep that night! morning! when i woke up, i was already thinking about breakfast! so i got on yelp and found billy gail's cafe. it sits near a campground, just up the way from silver dollar city. i had seen it several times before, but never stopped. they had great reviews, and when bmayes was awake, she said she'd seen the same thing! so it was a deal!

we drove up to the joint, and as promised by yelp reviews, it was busy-hoppin'! b dropped me off to find a parking spot, and i put our name in-45 minute wait. yes please. i knew i needed a cup o' joe, and then we stood outside with a bunch of other patrons and waited patiently; good chance for conversation! when we finally got sat, we ordered the pecan cakes and biscuits and gravy with a side of eggs to split. wow. it was delicious! good biscuits and gravy make me happy! when we were finished, we were graced with a visit from gail herself! quite the firecracker, this old gal! she and bmayes had a bonding moment, as her granddaughter is named brittany as well.

then we got back to the pad and watched the ou/tx game. sorry tx fans, i cheer for ou, because so many of my closest are from there! unfortunately tx had a lucky day.

after the game, we took off to springfield to get donuts! hurts-thank you! we decided we should take them with us to trish's, as she had offered to make taco soup for dinner that night! yum! so we were able to get the best donuts and back to trish's by 5:30. time with these two is so much fun! we just sat and talked for a couple of hours; i can be very blunt with them, and i know they don't judge me. i am not p.c. around my closest friends. i don't have to be. to be fair i am really not fond of being politically correct anyway. i'm not a politician, so i have no reason to be a hypocrite. if it's going to offend someone, i'd rather just not talk about it at all instead of trying to wear kid-gloves (my hands are much to big and my opinions can come off a little harsh). so i cherish my time with these two, which is why it was a fun surprise when trish invited us back for breakfast hashbrowns the next morning!

we wanted to get some coffee from this cute little joint in hollister, but unfortunately it was closed on sundays. so we went ahead and grabbed our coffee at casey's and made our way to trish's again. we let ourselves in, because it really is home-away-from-home...and grabbed our plates and just kinda' made ourselves at home, because that's how we roll. no one in sight, so we just figured they were getting ready for something or...something. shay came up and was like, "hey! what's going on?! does my mom know you're here?" probably not. so she went and got trish, who just laughed when she saw we'd gone ahead and helped ourselves. like i said: home-away-from-home!

we were going to go geo-caching, but we ended up going to look for shoes instead, and it took awhile, but we finally found something that was going to work well for the dress bmayes had. alas, by the time we left kohl's, it was already almost 1! WHAT?! that basically meant that when we returned, i packed up and took off. the drive home was uneventful, although when i stopped at the rest area, there weren't many family cars, or others around, but there was a man walking around with his cell phone..so i made certain to grab my knife for security purposes-better safe than sorry? i mean...doesn't everybody carry knives with them? or something to protect self?  #ilikebeingalive

never a 'dull' moment!

i picked up the boys the next day, and they seemed to have had a wonderful time with joanne! chaco talkin' all about the backyard, and begging me for one..so i told him when we went to visit mom and dad's new place, he could enjoy theirs.

i can't believe it was just a week and a half ago! which means that a lot has happened since then, and i should be writing up another post in the next few days!

julie