Living with a Boy

Birthdays in May.

2011-08-04T15:49:00.000-05:00

I answered a phone call from my dad again the other night. I should have known better.

Me: Hi dad, is everything okay?

Dad: Hello??

Me: Dad. Can you hear me?

Dad: Yeah, why?

Me: Sigh...never mind. Is everything okay? I'm kind of in the middle of something, so I will need to call you back in a little while or tomorrow since it's so late.

Dad: What? My fan's on and I can't hear you.

Me: CAN I CALL YOU BACK TOMORROW?

Dad: How old is Austin? (Austin is my nephew...his grandson).

Me: Dad, seriously? I'm busy...18 months.

Dad: When's his birthday? Last month?

Me: Dad...I just told you he is 18 months old. His birthday is at the end of January.

Dad: It is?? I thought it was in May!

Me: I HAVE TO LET YOU GO. I WILL CALL YOU BACK TOMORROW.

Dad: Who else has a birthday in May? Somebody does...

Me: Uh, YOU do, Dad.

Dad: Oh that's right!

No. THIS Sunday, Dad.

2011-07-20T11:53:00.000-05:00

While I feel slightly guilty about making fun of my dad and I's phone conversations, it's not so guilty that I would not actually DO it...

This call occurred Monday evening. He called me.

Me: Hi Dad.

Dad: Hi, sweeeetttttiiiimaaajiggggy. (Dad is on several medications for his COPD, and sometimes, he takes a Lortab...this would be one of those times).

Me: Oh goodness. Hi.

Dad: Hi there!

Me: Uh, you feeling okay?

Dad: Yup! Just calling to see how the big move went!

Me: That hasn't happened yet. This Sunday is when I'm moving everything out of the house to the storage unit.

Dad: Why did you change your mind on when you were moving?

Me: I didn't.

Dad: So then did you get everything moved?

Me: Sigh...no, Dad. THIS Sunday is when I'm moving. Not this last Sunday, THIS COMING SUNDAY.

Dad: Oh. Do you still have stuff to move out?

Me: Yes, Dad, an entire house full of stuff.

Dad: Well, why did you not get it all moved? Do you not have any help? Have all your friends moved away or something?

Me: Yes. Everyone has moved away. But not me. Cause I am moving this.coming.Sunday.

Dad: Hope you get some help! Be sure to buy them beer for helping you move!

Me: Okay, Dad, I'm sure I can find a way to tha...

Dad: So what changed your mind on when to move?!

Me: I'm hanging up now.

Dad: Did I call your work number? I love you, leeeetttllllewhippppersnnaaaaapppper!

Senile or sense of humor...? Hard to tell.

2011-07-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

Actual conversation with my father, on my cell phone about the difference between my work number and cell phone number...my voice mail message on my cell says "You've reached Kelsey from the Daily O'Collegian..." Apparently, this has left my father quite perplexed...

Uncle Pat: Kelsey? I'm here with your father, and he is quite confused about which number he calls when he calls you. Which number is this?

Me: This is my cell phone. He doesn't have any other number of mine.

Uncle Pat: Well, he seems to think he's calling your work number. Here, you talk to him.

Dad: KELSEY?! Where are you right now?

Me: I'm at work right now, dad.

Dad: Well, I need to fix your number in my phone. I don't know how I got your work number in here...

Me: You don't. You called my cell number.

Dad: Well, how am I supposed to get a hold of you then?

Me: *facepalm* Call THIS NUMBER, Dad.

Dad: But...how about I hang up and call you right back, and you tell me what number I called?

Me: Dad...you have basically already done this. It's my cell phone, not work.

Dad: Okay, good, I'm going to call you right back and you tell me which number it is.

Me: Shit, fine, dad.

About six minutes later, I called him...

Me: Dad! I thought you were going to call me right back so I could tell you that you had my cell number in your phone, not my work number??

Dad: Oh, did you want me to do that right now?

Me: Oh.my.gawd. Yes, I did. I'm at work, I don't have time for this.

Dad: But if you're at work, how are you talking to me right now?

Me: I can't do this. I'm done.

Dad: I'm going to call you right back, and you tell me if I've called your work number or not.

Me: Dad, it's my cell phone, I promise.

Dad: Well, let me just see.

Again, five minutes pass...and then my cell phone rings...

Dad: Did I call your work number?

Me: No, dad, you called my cell phone. You have the right number in there.

Dad: Well, let me write down your work number so I have it...

Me: No, dad. You don't need that.

Dad: Well how am I supposed to get a hold of you when you're at work?

Me: I'M AT WORK RIGHT NOW AND YOU'RE TALKING TO ME.

Dad: On your cell number or work phone?

Me: I'm hanging up now.

Dad: Oh good cause Uncle Pat is still here and I need to visit with him instead of talking on the phone.

Girlie Show: Thank You Cards

2011-06-14T15:34:00.000-05:00

So, with all of your help, I narrowed down my Christmas cards to 7 designs to have printed for the Girlie Show (all of course, depending on us getting accepted...).

But now I need to figure out 3 more designs for the table. I wanted to include some Thank You cards, so if you could, once again, tell me which ones are liked...? Or none at all, and I need to go back to designing...?

Thank you so much!
#1

The Pentagon...just a glorified office building, really.

2011-06-13T09:17:00.000-05:00

My trip to Virginia was not exclusively for the NKOTBSB concert...my brother and his family also live near D.C., so I was able to spend the rest of the long weekend with them. And my super adorable niece, Harper.

My brother is a Marine, and he works at the Pentagon...in some super secret communications office, and while Matt has extensively told me what he does, I still really don't get it. I think he just answers the phone and directs the call to the right military big wig.

But that still didn't stop us from going to the Pentagon on a Sunday. He warned me not to get too excited as he told me, "It's just a glorified office building, really. I mean, it's cool and all, but not too cool."

Uh, okay. I had no idea what to expect. I knew it would be big and confusing, but what I found out that it is REALLY big and REALLY confusing to get around. I do not know he does it on a daily basis.

This is the Department of Defense hallway...Secretary Gates office door was actually open too, so I peaked in, but I didn't have the balls to take a picture...

I just really liked this stairwell...only one of these I saw actually.

This is the Air Force area. We went this way to take pics for our brother-in-law, Zach (Becky, we got lost and couldn't find the Army area for Pat...)

This is the Marine area. (Liz and I thought it was prettier than the Air Force one...must be the red walls).

Hall of Heroes...really beautiful and peaceful room, with all the names of those that have received medals of honor.

The entrance to my brother's office...this is as far as they'd let us go. Apparently there are about 3 more security entrances to go through before you even get to his actual office.

All in all, it was cool, but not too cool. Really is just a glorified office building...

NKOTBSB.

2011-06-10T09:20:00.000-05:00

If you knew me in college, you knew of my love for drinking too many beers, standing on a coffee table and singing screaming the words to most every Backstreet Boys song...who are we kidding, I did a perfect rendition of "I Want it that Way." Could pretty much act out the entire video. With Becky, of course. And many of you, too...

And if you just happened to have known me in about the 5th through the 7th grade, you knew of my undying affection for Joey McIntire...sigh....

So when it was announced that the New Kids and Backstreet Boys would be touring TOGETHER, I almost cried with joy. And when my husband bought me a plane ticket to go to Virginia this summer and see the concert with Krissy and Elena, I DID cry with joy.

My mother-in-law even made me a custom t-shirt dress for the occasion. This would be a night to remember for sure.

So for one night 80,000 females pretended to either be 13, 15 or 22 again...and it was a-may-zing...

As you can tell from the singing along in the videos...

EMO.

2011-06-01T09:54:00.000-05:00

Wow. So sorry for the completely EMO post from last time...I've had many texts, phone calls, emails and visits from friends, so I guess it did it's job though :)

Things have gotten a little better, but I'm now seriously considering saying to hell with this Masters degree and moving down to Houston in August when our rental house is ready...I'm just not certain this degree is worth it, but I know I will kick myself if I don't finish it when I'm so close to the end already.

But I don't wanna... *whine*

On a completely different note, I've been playing with the iPhone, and took this pic this morning...

I swear, this iPhone takes better pics than my normal camera...

So it keeps me busy while I contemplate moving before December.

Funk.

2011-05-25T15:45:00.000-05:00

David left for Houston last Thursday.

And I can barely breathe when I think about how long it will be before I see him again.

I used to love being at home alone, catching up on work or chores or just laying on the couch watching the tv shows I know he cannot stand (i.e., Glee, Private Practice, and Grey's Anatomy...).

But I love being with him more, and I find myself crying often during the day. Or night. Or just whenever.

I'm pretty much miserable.

Despite the fact that I am sleeping better than I ever have...no elbowing him in the back in the middle of the night due to his snoring....

I know this is only temporary, I know the time will pass quickly, and I know I will, on some level, just get used to this and move on...

but for the time being, I am in a funk. And I really miss my husband.

The Girlie Show

2011-05-16T10:01:00.000-05:00

My friend Addy and I are trying to get into The Girlie Show in November. It is held at the Farmers Market in Oklahoma City, and it is specifically for women to showcase their creative endeavors...but so many apply to get in each year, it's definitely not a guarantee, so we are thinking that if we did it together, we had a better shot of getting in and getting our stuff seen. And bought.

I need some help though. I'm going to do Christmas cards, but I need to know which ones to print and which designs appear to be the most popular, so I can print more of those.

So if you could, just take a sec and let me know which of the following designs are more appealing to you...I'd appreciate it!

#1

#10

OSU Graduate

2011-05-10T09:35:00.000-05:00

He may never wrap his arms around his fellow alumni, sway and sing all the correct words to the alma mater.

He may never be able to get that pesky arm "S" down (hint: left hand up...always).

And the color orange? Yeah, probably never going to wear it again.

But D is an OSU graduate...and that's all I care about!

And in case anyone missed his big interview for the Stillwater Newspress, here it is: http://www.stwnewspress.com/local/x1113183129/Oklahoma-State-University-students-take-first-steps-after-college

So congrats, hubs!! Yay!

Labels.

2011-05-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

The hubs sometimes confuses me.

He refers to the garbage disposal as the "trash compactor."

And sometimes, the dishwasher is the "washing machine."

And other times, my car...is "his car."

I'm considering getting a label maker.

And theeeenn??

2011-05-02T09:27:00.000-05:00

David and I went to New China Super Buffet on Saturday. We normally play a game called "Guess the number of morbidly obese people that will be here"...it's a fun game, I promise.

But this particular visit, we played a different game. It was called "Whoa...didn't know you could do that at a restaurant, but whatever..."

Here's what we learned from this game:

1) It is perfectly acceptable to fall asleep at your booth after finishing your meal.

2) When at a buffet, and the item you want is nearly gone, go ahead and elbow the 7 year old out of the way...no need to wait for more sweet and sour chicken.

3) Your belly button itch? Just go ahead and lift up that shirt and get after it. The people eating around you won't mind one bit.

Can't wait to go back and see what else this game has in store for us.

Houston, There is No Problem.

2011-04-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

We are heading to Houston, Texas!!

I'm so ridiculously excited about this, I can hardly stand it. David graduates with his second degree in a couple of weeks, and he has been interviewing with several companies for the last few months. We literally could have wound up anywhere, but he had his sights set on Marathon Oil and Gas in Houston...and we got the call on Friday afternoon that this is going to come true. He received an offer to be a safety specialist for Marathon Corporate, and he will begin his new career on May 23rd.

We do have friends and family there, so the move will not be without company in our new city.

I do however have to stay through December to finish this Masters degree up. But to be real honest, if the right job opportunity comes along, I'm out... :)

So the house will be on the market soon, we're getting David packed up (he will be living with his sister and her husband for a short while until we can nail down a rent house for a while), and I'm cleaning out the house I have somehow managed to stuff full of just crap for the last 4 years...

But Houston...here we come!

Phi Mu OKC Woman of the Year

2011-04-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

Back in about October, my dear friend, Penny Cupp, called to tell me some pretty awesome news: that the Oklahoma City Phi Mu Alumnae Chapter had decided to honor me as the Phi Mu Woman of the Year.

I could not have been more speechless. And actually, still am.

Last week was the Panhellenic luncheon at the OKC Golf and Country Club honoring all sororities' chosen Women of the Year. 17 total. (in the picture below, the blonde woman in the purple dress-Sigma Kappa's WOTY-is the mother of a current Phi Mu freshman, Baileigh Means).

I was able to invite family and friends to the event, and one in particular I wanted there, was my Aunt Judy, Pi Phi alumna.

Luckily, I didn't have to say anything when I was presented, but my mom did...

With Judge Swinton (Zeta alumna), her daughter Caitlin Green (she pledged Phi Mu in 2005, and she was always one of my absolute favorite collegiates, me and mom.

All the Phi Mus that came to the event. I could not have been happier, and I felt so honored these fabulous women came out to support me.

With an impending move out of state looming, I know I will cherish this award and these women for years to come. Thank you for the honor...

I'm still speechless...

Design Portfolio

2011-04-04T13:36:00.000-05:00

For a while now, I know that I have needed to have an online portfolio to showcase my stuff...well, I finally got around to making one here.

So if you get a chance to check it out, let me know what you think...thanks!

Zzzzzzzz.

2011-03-28T08:58:00.002-05:00

D was taking a nap Sunday afternoon...and the littlest pets decided to take one with him.

More Photobooth Fun.

2011-03-20T13:24:00.000-05:00

I had my computer out, and Gus Gus decided it was time to play "take pictures" again. So we did. And Cormac joined in on the fun, as well.

Beer and Chicken Nuggets

2011-03-18T08:33:00.000-05:00

Playing "car" with Gus, and we're apparently going to "Old McDonald's" (McDonald's) to get "drinks and stuff."

He asked me, "Do you want apple juice with your food?"

Me: "No, I want beer."

Gus: "They don't have beer at Old McDonald's."

Me: "But that's what I want to drink."

Gus: "With your chicken nuggets?"

Me: "Yes, with my chicken nuggets."

Gus: "Then we'll have to go to the beer and chicken nugget store instead."

South Carolina Visit: Day 1

2011-03-16T20:53:00.000-05:00

So I'm currently in South Carolina visiting Becky and her family, and the last time I came, Gus said so many funny things, I couldn't remember them all, so I decided to blog while I was here instead of waiting until I got home (I mean, my computer is here...for thesis work, but whatever...).

On the car ride from the airport to their house, I told Gus I was going to need his opinion on something...to which he then told us that he didn't have a penny.

An audible belch came from Gus while at the dinner table, and Becky reminded him to say "excuse me." A few minutes later, he said, "Excuse me." Becky: "Did you burp?" Gus: "No. I tooted!"

Gus and I were taking pictures using Photobooth on my computer:

There were probably around 47 pictures taken (he hand picked the above 3 to "give to mommy, daddy...and Cormac!"), so eventually I had to tell him that the battery was running low on the computer, and we'd have to quit taking pictures. To which I was then told, "Oh okay, but we're going to play this game in the morning, Aunt Kelsey." So I'd expect more of these in the coming days if I were you.

Something to keep me busy.

2011-03-15T14:36:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine recently let me know about CrowdSPRING.com. It's a website that allows individuals and companies to post their graphic design needs, and then the designers submit their work to them, allowing even for feedback to the designers, and then a design is chosen...and PAID for.

I cannot believe I am just now finding this site. But I found it, and so far, I love it.

Right now, there's a contest for sippy cup designs. And with all the clients' restrictions and requests, I came up with this for a little girl's cup:

Thought it was worth a try to maybe get some extra cash out of doing something I am absolutely in love with doing...

And now on to work on a little boy's cup!

A Day at the Omniplex

2011-03-09T08:41:00.000-06:00

While Becky and her family were in town, visiting the most awesomest science museum ever was definitely on the agenda. So with her two boys, Gus and Cormac, additional college friend and former sorority house roommate Laura and her two boys, Carson and Cooper, my nephew Austin and Becky's mom, Cindy, we embarked on the formerly known as Omniplex in Oklahoma City.

That's right...5 little boys. Two 3 year olds, and three one year olds. But they were all great, and I think they all had a fun time.

One of the fun new additions to the Omniplex is a super fast and twisty, 3 story slide. Gus did tell me, "Aunt Kelsey, you need me to go down the slide with you since you're scared of it." Okay, sure thing. Thankfully though, that picture of me coming down the slide with him has yet to surface...

Cindy and Becky found the water guns...

All the stroller-bound babies.

Austin really wanted to hold Cormac's hand.

And of course, notice Austin's super cool shirt his mom dressed him that morning :)

And my two cute ring bearers, Carson and Gus, all big now!

Husband of the Year

2011-03-08T09:48:00.000-06:00

David deserves the Husband of the Year award for these small acts, all in the last 24 hours...

• Leaving the toilet seat up...and yep, I fell in at some point in the middle of the night.

• Forgot to lock Nova up in the kitchen when he went to bed. The little pup has a habit of peeing at the edge of the couch, and while he's too tiny to really get the couch at all, he does get little dribbles of urine on the floor. That I get to clean up.

• Didn't take the trash out this morning, so as I was hurrying to get to work, I set it out by the curb. And got some non-descriptive smelly liquid on my slacks.

• Actually forgot to flush the toilet. Yes, you read that right. When I told him what he'd done, he actually said, "What? That's gross!" So he's aware that it is in fact, nasty to do that.

Couples Shower

2011-02-28T09:48:00.001-06:00

We had a couples shower this weekend for our friends, Laura and Adam. It was at her parents lake house at Tenkiller, and I jump at the opportunity to spend any time there at all as I find it to be one of the most peaceful (well, when the lake folk aren't running around half lit off of 2 dozen Miller Lites...) places on earth. With it being February, I obviously wasn't going to be on the water, but the chance to sit on the back deck at the lake house is just as great to me.

David had to work, so he was not able to go with me. It's a good two hour drive from our house, and I knew it would be in my best interest to go ahead and just stay the night there, and return home on Sunday. It definitely would have been more fun had he been able to go, but it was still a fun time.

When I got home yesterday, David inquired about all of the guests, what kind of food was there, etc...and then...he asked me, "So did the couple get a lot of raunchy gifts?"

Huh?

"Well, it was a couples shower, right? So that means gifts for the couple to use in the bedroom. I bet that was awkward with all the parents there."

He was dead serious. I'm guessing the blank look on my face gave it away because he next said, "Oh...that's not right?"

No, honey.

You'd think he would remember that WE had a couples shower before our wedding, and there was no raunchy gifts there...just lots of alcohol since it was a stock the bar party.

Guess it's been too long (or too many drinks) since then...

He's not gay, I swear.

2011-02-25T14:53:00.000-06:00

We probably won't be in Stillwater, America for too much longer. David graduates with his 2nd degree in May, and while I won't be done with my 3rd and final degree until December, he has been interviewing like crazy with companies that have positions available in Houston, Ft. Worth, San Antonio...and North Dakota.

Ugh. I hate the cold. But it would only be temporary and great stepping stone for David in this particular company, one in which he would really love to work.

Again though, I'm not done until December...so that means I'll be hanging around here for about 6 months without a husband.

But there's a strong possibility that I won't be lonely. If the Phi Mu house doesn't find a new house mom soon, I'll fill in for the fall semester until they find one. (financially, this would be excellent...mentally, probably not...) But the two cats and tiny dog can't come with me.

So they will have to go with David.

To North Dakota...or wherever we wind up.

And as Becky pointed out to me, David will have to answer many questions about this living arrangement..."Sooooooo, you have two cats and a teacup Yorkie...and you're 'wife' lives in a sorority house in another state...riiiiight."

(Super) Nova

2011-02-24T13:42:00.000-06:00

We were asked to dog sit a teacup Yorkie, weighing no more than 3.2 pounds, last week by my "stepmom" Kathy (explaining who Kathy is to me would require a whole new post, so we'll just leave it for now with stepmom in quotes...). Nova, was originally found in the California desert by my brother and sister-in-law. He's tiny. Smaller than a guinea pig. And our cats. Even Little Bit.

My brother left Nova with Kathy (his mom...see how confusing my family can get sometimes?) when they moved to Virginia. Nova and Kathy never really bonded, and she saw him more as just that little thing that requires food and water sometimes.

So when she asked us to watch him while she went to visit in Virginia, I knew what was probably going to happen...David, my husband with a bleeding heart, would fall in love with him because he so desperately wants a dog, he won't care that it really isn't a dog cause it's too small to be a dog, but whatever...

And that's exactly what happened.

So with an enthusiastic "Sure!!" from Kathy via text message, (Super) Nova is ours. Or I should say, David's.

Allie has mostly ignored him, and Little Bit has decided he's a toy for her enjoyment. I've pulled her off of him multiple times cause I'm so afraid she'll eventually hurt him, but it's still rather funny when she tries to tackle him. (read: I hope to get this on video at some point...)

More Design Stuff

2011-02-10T15:30:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week, sorority sister, Ticey, put me in touch with a potential client...after looking at the designs the bride-to-be liked the most from Askew Designs, I seriously got the inspiration bug...and just went a little nuts making stuff...

It's definitely a different style for me, but I had so much fun doing these, it just may become what defintes my style best.

I'm currently working on getting an etsy store up and running, so I can do custom orders, so once I have that all figured out, I shall pass on the info!

Austin=T.I.R.E.D.

2011-02-02T10:27:00.000-06:00

So there were no dramatic occurrences while we took care of the nephew, Austin. But he did wear us the hell out. And showed us how our home, despite every effort we made prior to his arrival on Friday, is not for toddlers. Wobbly walking ones too with all these wood floors and tile. I feared for his life every time he took a step.

Austin's always been a great baby, and while I had him on my own Friday night, I was not anticipating having any problems. We only had one blow out gross diaper (what is it with kids wanting to stand up and run away once the diaper is off but you haven't had a chance to really wipe everything away?? Another good reason I don't have carpet, I guess...) but around bedtime, he wasn't having it. I pride myself on getting babies to sleep, especially ones related to me, and getting him to sleep wasn't really the problem...it was when I went to lay him down. And he'd wake up. Screaming.bloody.murder.

This was ongoing for about an hour and a half.

Once I finally got him to sleep, I quickly realized how my 50 year old home with wood floors and a chiming-every-15-minutes-grandfather clock was SO.LOUD. I barely slept as I was so worried he'd wake up at any moment (which he did a couple of times, but it didn't take long to get him asleep again).

How do you moms do this?? I couldn't take my eyes off him for a second or he had his fingers in a light socket in the dining room...

David got his turn alone with him Saturday. But he didn't have any gross diapers, nor did he have any problems getting him down for his nap.

But all in all, it was a fun 24 hours. Every time he saw Lil Bit, he'd start waving and clapping his hands with excitement. We also entertained ourselves with the camera on my computer...

Maybe we should stick with cats for the time being...they don't wear me out as easily!

Baby-Sitting.

2011-01-27T14:07:00.000-06:00

I was just called by my sister. Her husband's step-father has passed away, and the viewing and funeral are in Tulsa this weekend.

And she doesn't want to take my 12 month old nephew along with them. Austin is understanding emotions very well, and she doesn't want to unnecessarily upset him right now. Soooooo, that means the little man will be joining David and me Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon. He's a very good baby, and I anticipate no problems at all taking care of him. Just need to baby-fy my den this evening, but other than that, we should be fine.

Right?

I called David to let him know what we'd be doing. I have tickets to the women's Bedlam game at noon on Saturday, so David will have to watch Austin for a couple of hours on his own...or, I take him with me (which I really don't want to do...that won't be any fun for him).

So I told David, "You'll have to watch him by yourself for a little while, are you okay with that? We won't be far away, so we can come home quickly if need be, but you'll essentially be on your own."

Hesitantly, he said, "I'll be fine. Seriously. You'll have to show me the essentials first, but I'll be fine."

Uh, essentials? Like what?

"Uh, like how to change a diaper...? And maybe how to feed him?"

Stay tuned, folks. This weekend could be interesting...

Baxter.

2011-01-18T09:16:00.000-06:00

It's been a rough few months for pets in our house. We took Baxter in this last summer. He was my dad's dog, and with my dad's poor health and moving into a nursing home, Baxter needed a new home, as well. So he came to live with us.

Dad got Baxter from the Edmond Humane Society in 2002. He was a simple terrier mix, and at the time, I figured him to be about 2-3 years old then.

So taking him in in the summer of 2010, meant he was probably around 10-11 years old. Couple his age with the change of moving him from dad and into a different house, and he quickly deteriorated. His health and general behavior changed so drastically over the last couple of months, I knew it was probably time for us to make a decision about his quality of life. He was no longer going outside, instead opting to use puppy pads and towels in the spare bedroom, showed very little interest in eating, and drinking water like it was his job. He often acted as though he no longer knew who we were, and he became very skittish around us, running to his bed in my room to escape us whenever we came around a corner.

After discussing it with my siblings, David and I took Baxter to vet med on Friday morning. The doctors there were in agreement with us that it was probably best to end his misery as it was becoming inhumane keeping him the way he currently was.

So with tears and sobs we said goodbye to the little dude.

RIP Baxter...you were a good boy, and we thank you for spending your last few months with us.

I.Was.Wrong.

2011-01-12T16:14:00.000-06:00

Beer...THEN ice.

2011-01-07T13:52:00.000-06:00

A few summers ago, David and I scored tickets to the Indy race at Texas Motor Speedway. At the time, David lived in the Dallas area, so I drove down from Stillwater and met him at his apartment before heading over to the speedway.

Through numerous phone calls on the drive down, I was assured that David had everything packed and ready to go. All we needed to do, was put it all in my Escape.

I was close to the exit to his place when my last phone conversation with him ended with him excitedly exclaiming, "Getting ready to put everything in the cooler, so we can go once you get here!"

But when I pulled up to his apartment, I saw something I was not quite expecting.

The cooler was full of ice. And one would expect that there was beer beneath that ice.

But I saw the half empty case of Miller Lite on the grass next to the cooler.

He was proud of himself. And thought I should be too.

He simply could not understand why I was irritated. So I tried to explain it.

It took him a little while to understand that it actually is much much simplier to put the beer in first, THEN put the ice on top of it. When I pulled up, he was actually shoving beers, one at a time, through the ice in an attempt to put them in the cooler at all.

Years later even, when packing up the cooler for tailgates or a trip to the lake, I make sure I put the beer and ice in the cooler...in the correct order.

MS Paint

2011-01-06T16:01:00.000-06:00

I'm obsessed with a couple of blogs.

Their primary way of communicating is through drawings done in MS Paint.

This is one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

And I found this one through shaggybevo.com...this guy is known to come on the message boards and give his random interpretation of Texas athletics...http://prevailandride.blogspot.com/

So I took my interest in these and graphic design and thought I'd create my own...well, my own version of me and David anyway.

I thought it was a pretty similar rendition actually.

David's a little smug about suddenly being in MS Paint (well, it's Paintbrush for Mac, but whatever)

But he still says hi.

Stay tuned. I may make these two start interpreting what goes on in our house instead of me taking pictures...or even writing it out anymore...

A Cat Nap

2011-01-04T15:40:00.000-06:00

I just thought this was funny...David and Little Bit were napping in the den, and so I went to get my camera to snap a pic. I could tell David wasn't really asleep, so I said, "Hey, don't turn your head or open your eyes for just a sec..."

So what does he do?

Turns his head and opens his eyes.

Eternity and a football reference. All in the same post.

2010-12-30T18:10:00.000-06:00

I made the mistake of once telling D that I thought "Eternity for Men" was the greatest smelling cologne on the planet.

Even went so far as to tell him I found it to be a turn on.

So what do I do? Go to Dillard's, armed with a recently found $50 gift card from our wedding, and purchase the tiny 1.7 oz. bottle of Eternity.

David was ecstatic to try out it's appeal on me.

After a long day of running errands and dinner in OKC, I made it home to Stillwater late. Tired and in no mood for any extracurricular activity in our bedroom, I let him know I was heading to bed and would most likely be out once my head hit my pillow.

Shortly after, I found him quietly and covertly trying to put on the cologne in an obvious attempt to change my mind that I was no longer as tired as I was.

Me: "Seriously? It doesn't have the ability to suddenly make me not exhausted and want to jump you."

D: "Hey, can you fault me for trying to throw a hail mary here?"

*facepalm*

Just Dock It.

2010-12-28T13:34:00.000-06:00

When I was growing up, my dad referred to his toiletry bag as his "dock kit." Not sure where that came from, but that's just what it was called.

So I now call David's toiletry bag a dock kit.

Yesterday, as I was cleaning the upstairs bathroom, D pops his head and announces that all he needs is his docket, and then he'll be out of the way.

"Uh, your what?"

"What you call my bag...a docket."

Apparently, I need to speak more clearly...

More pages from the book.

2010-12-15T14:36:00.000-06:00

These are so much fun to do...and one of them made me crack up.

I love you because...

2010-12-14T16:26:00.000-06:00

I ran across an idea a few months ago to make an "I love you because" book, with the drawings of stick figures...I thought I'd do something like that for Christmas for David. So here's a sneak peek...

I have 10 more pages I want to get done by the end of the week, and then I can take it to be bound. Hope he likes it!

Dear Kitties,

2010-12-11T18:26:00.000-06:00

To Allie and Little Bit,

I love you, fur babies, but here's just a few thoughts for you two, to help me out over the holidays...Mom's most stressful time of the year...

1. LEAVE THE TREE ALONE. I did spend an entire afternoon putting up the tree, decorating it, trying to get it not look crooked, and buying more ornaments cause I just didn't think there were enough on it, for you two to continually circle it like it's prey. Trust me, it's not. And those glass ornaments on it? Not cat toys, dangling for your entertainment and pleasure, only to be swatted down by your paws to meet its death on the hard wood floors. And while we're discussing the tree...
2. LEAVE THE PRESENTS UNDER THE TREE ALONE. Again, not for your amusement and destruction. I would prefer not to give my family members their gifts with teeth marks in the wrapping paper, exposing the gift beneath.
3. I can go to the bathroom alone. I do not need your assistance. I will be out shortly, you can make it by yourselves during that time. Quit trying to beat down the door when it's shut, stick your paws underneath the door, or cry nonstop outside of the door.
4. When I clean out your litter box and pour new litter in it, do not jump into it and play in it like its a damn sandbox, scattering litter in a 14 foot radius forcing me to sweep it up for the next four days when I will inevitably have to clean out your litter box again, thus, causing a never-ending cycle of litter clean up.
5. Oh, and when I DO clean out your litter box, would you mind waiting more than 27 seconds before taking the stinkiest dump you have ever had in it? What did you get in to that caused THAT to come out of something so tiny?
6. I need my sleep. And if your food bowl is (God forbid) empty at 2:30 in the morning, please do not take that opportunity to walk all over my head and cry at me until I am forced to get out of bed, go upstairs, refill your bowl, you take 3 bites and then pass out on the couch, but then I cannot go back to sleep until an hour before my alarm goes off.
7. The doggy gate for Baxter is up for a reason. It is not your personal jungle gym. You are not a track star practicing your hurdles. Little Bit, I KNOW you can jump over it, so when you do find yourself on the other side of it and would like to be out in the rest of the house with us, do not sit and pitifully cry until we come and pick you up.
8. I know you need your alone time too, but when I go looking for you, calling for you and shaking the food bag to get you to expose your most recent hiding spot, I expect you to come to me. Do not allow me to not find you anywhere, start hyperventilating and even look in the dishwasher and oven for you since I had them both open at some point in the previous hour what if you had gotten in there but really you are just hiding in the back of the closet behind every single possible piece of clothing and when I DO find you, calm down enough to breathe normally, you look at me like, "Uh, could you turn out the light, sheesh."
9. When the FedEx guy rings the doorbell to drop off a package, it's not for you, Allie, I promise.
10. Little Bit, you just had surgery on Monday. Your stitches are still in. Quit running around the house like a wild banshee. I'm half expecting to see your poor tummy exposed due to you ripping the damn stitches out.

I know you both can be good kitties, I've seen it before...just remember, Christmas is coming. And I'm pretty sure Santa is watching you guys too.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Christmas cards...and Christmas presents.

2010-12-10T10:21:00.000-06:00

In my (limited) spare time, I've been making some Christmas cards. I know that it's way too late to try and promote these for this year, and with all that's been going on with us lately, I just didn't have the time or energy to really get these going for this year...buuuuuut, my plan is to have a ton of these made throughout the year, so there will be lots to choose from next Christmas! (the white boxes are for pictures if those are wanted).

And hopefully my sister-in-law, Emily, doesn't read my blog at all cause I'm about to spoil part of her Christmas present...I made up a logo for her and had it placed on some stationary. I also made some notecards with it for her.

And for Gus Gus, I made him a little shirt...

Sigh...maybe one day I can quit the day job and just do this stuff full-time...

Christmas at the Mu.

2010-12-08T08:32:00.000-06:00

I know some of you may want to see how the Phi Mu house is decorated again this year for Christmas...lots of pink...

How sweet it is.

2010-12-03T12:36:00.000-06:00

Little Bit has been peeing on the beds. ALL the beds. Apparently, this is due to her having gone in to heat a while back, and it may have caused a UTI. (she's getting spayed Monday, so all should be good then) But in the meantime, I have had to take ALL the comforters (there are 3 bedrooms...) to the cleaners at least twice now. When I went to pick up the latest two victims (one being our main bedspread), the stupid cleaners didn't have them ready yet...even though they had told me twice they would be ready by then, but that's another blog post...oh, hell, I'll just say it here: I HATE HATE HATE NORTHSIDE CLEANERS IN STILLWATER.

Whew, I feel better already.

But I digress...

Because our big bedspreads weren't ready to come home, I had to pull out an old one for us to use. I acquired this at some Phi Mu Mom's Day years ago, but never really used it. It had been folded up on the end of the spare bed at dad's house for so long, I quit noticing it around 2004. But with my dad moving out of his house, I quickly snatched it up and took it home.

When I pulled it out last night to put on our bed, the extra pink poofiness of this thing apparently got to David, as he said, "Oh my gawd, it's like we'll be sleeping under cupcakes."

No private school for you.

2010-12-02T18:26:00.000-06:00

While I was holding Little Bit yesterday, David and I were discussing how I thought it was neat that my baby cousin, Abby, is going to Casady School in Oklahoma City...the same school her dad went to, and Little Bit took that moment to let out a small mew of approval, as well.

To which David replied, "No, you can't go to Casady, Little Bit. But you can go to Cat-sady..."

Thanksgiving and 1st Birthdays

2010-11-29T13:33:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's been a while...I haven't felt much like blogging lately. While I love the holidays, I put an insane amount of pressure/stress on myself during this time, trying to finish up the semester, still be somewhat competent at work, and keep my house/checkbook/grocery list/car maintenance/etc. in order. Not sure how well I'm doing at this point, just really wanting it to be January already...

Thanksgiving was spent getting a giant tour of the metro area in Oklahoma City/Edmond/Yukon as we visited three different family members' homes for dinners...it was fun, but exhausting and filling, and I envy those that have one dinner, take a nap, watch football, eat leftovers and visit with relatives as opposed to hurrying through dinners just so we can make the other family members' dinner at another house in another suburb of Oklahoma City...but I'm extremely thankful that we have so many relatives that require our presence :)

at my sister and brother-in-law's new house out in Yukon...

Harper likes to smile for the camera.

Austin was using my leg to stand up.

Over the weekend, we also celebrated Harper's 1st birthday (her real birthday is December 3). She was super fun to watch as she figured out how to open presents, play with only the boxes/bags/tissue paper/ribbons, not want to be dirty as she at her cake, and play with her cousin, Austin.

I love this one of them playing...they play really well together. Until Austin decides he wants whatever Harper has and takes it from her. But she doesn't yell or anything, just lets her cousin have it :)

Happy 1st birthday, Harper! I love being your aunt, and when you don't like your mama when you're about 14 or so, I'll be here for ya :)

At least we know the gender now.

2010-11-08T12:36:00.000-06:00

Well, we have confirmation on Little Bit's gender.

She's a she.

And the reason we know this?

She went into heat over the weekend.

She's still really little, so we may have been off on her age.

(I'm also not comfortable having her spayed until I know for a fact she's over 6 months of age. She's not going outside or anything, so we just have to get used to the constant talking/chirping at us, rolling around on the floor and moving her back legs really weird-like. I know she's uncomfortable, and probably confused by all the sudden hormones, but I'm pretty firm in not putting her through major surgery at least for a couple of more months).

We noticed her odd behavior early Saturday morning, and it didn't take me long to figure out the cause.

I told David that I was pretty sure she was in heat.

His response?

"I feel like you just told me our 11 year old daughter just got her first period."

So conflicted.

2010-11-04T08:53:00.000-05:00

David and I are big Thunder basketball fans, being the Oklahoma City kids that we are.

But we also like to root for those teams where our former college athletes are now playing (Dez Bryant with the Cowboys--even though they suck this year; Sam Bradford with the Rams; Tony Allen with the Celtics; and of course, Adrian Peterson and the Vikings...). But he must've forgot about one that was recently added to this list: Blake Griffin with the LA Clippers.

David turned on the TV just in time last night to catch Griffin score an impressive shot...against the Thunder.

"Oh my gawd, and Griffin is playing...I'm so conflicted, it hurts!"

Time to Design

2010-11-03T13:14:00.000-05:00

I have been asked by dear friend Laura Powell to serve as her Matron of Honor in her upcoming wedding, and she asked me to do her save the dates. So I came up with a few designs for her to choose from:

She chose the orange/tree design, and so I put one of her engagement pictures in it to complete the save the date:

So now we're just working on either printing them as notecards of postcards and completing all of the information she wants on them.

I freaking love doing this kind of stuff. I have been contemplating for a while now of starting my own graphic design company...just some stuff on the side, such as save the dates or holiday cards or birth announcements. There are few things I am more passionate about than design, and I would eventually love to do this full-time, but in the meantime, I'll get to work on making it a part-time passion/obsession/money-maker...what better time than now??

Kitty Cuddle Time

2010-10-30T10:34:00.000-05:00

David used to make fun of me on Saturday mornings. I'd wake up early, and go on a search for Tatumbell. He wasn't allowed to sleep with us (he'd suffocate me by laying across my face), so I'd go and find him and bring him back to bed for kitty cuddle time.

Des (really, I think we have resorted to just calling the kitten Little Bit) is also not sleeping with us (sharp teeth through the bedspread when you move your feet = not fun). But somehow, the baby wound up having kitty cuddle time with David this morning.

Yeah, he got up...and brought Little Bit back to bed with him...

OSU Homecoming

2010-10-25T12:08:00.002-05:00

I LOVE OSU's Homecoming weekend. Everyone comes back to see the house decs at Walkarounds, the tailgate scene is unreal, the game is usually intense, and of course, the bars are freakin' jam packed. This year's homecoming weekend was no different...

Phi Mu/Kappa Sig dec

and others during Walkarounds...

and from the game...

and from the tailgate...this is David with childhood friend, Todd George...funny story here, I met Todd in the 6th grade when I went to school at Dennis Elementary...and from what I remember, my very first crush. It fizzled of course, but we remained friends all through high school. So here's my first crush and my first boyfriend, 20 years later...

My sister and I during Walkarounds.

Despite the Cowboys losing the game, Phi Mu not placing in house decs, and the crowds that usually accompany homecoming weekend, it was still great fun, and I enjoyed seeing people I hadn't seen in years...guess that's what homecoming is about, right??

Crazy Kitty

2010-10-20T12:28:00.000-05:00

This new baby kitty is sure keeping us on our toes...I haven't had a kitten since Allie and that was almost 9 years ago (apparently, she is a "senior" cat now, and I'm in complete denial of that...there's no way my cat is going to be 9 soon and considered elderly by kitty standards...), and I pretty much swore of kittens as they are just into everything all.the.time.

But then David found Des (aka, "Little Bit").

Little Bit has what we call "crazy time" and this is usually at 7:30 in the morning, around 6 in the evening and then again around 10pm. It's during crazy time that she (still pretty sure it's a girl...still no confirmation on this as I have yet to make it back to the vet to make sure...) goes nuts sliding all over the wood floors, antagonizing Allie and Baxter, and her new favorite trick...

balancing on top of the chairs.

until falling. Which isn't too long after attempting to get on top of the chair.

She's definitely a snuggle buddy though and loves to sleep on our chests or laps. She's starting sleeping with us at night, but it's only in between my pillow and the headboard. Unless it's storming, and then all of a sudden, we have scared baby kitty on our hands, and she curls up really tight on my neck.

And when she's done being crazy, she usually passes out somewhere...sometimes, right next to Allie...

and sometimes, Allie doesn't mind.

In.The.Bag.

2010-10-19T07:28:00.000-05:00

If I needed any reminders as to why David is not allowed to touch anything in my kitchen, I got it last night.

We are having a ton of guests this weekend for Homecoming, and I have been frantic trying to clean, get groceries, finish up homework, etc. So David offered his assistance last night while I made dinner and cleaned the upstairs bathroom and spare bedroom.

I had an easy meal ready to go (Russian chicken is what we call it...it's Russian dressing, apricot preserves and dry onion soup mix all mixed together and then put on chicken. It creates this glaze that's a little Chinese food like, and it's awesome). I usually serve it with rice.

So I had the chicken in the oven, and the boiling (well almost) pot of water on the stove. Next to the pot was the box of boil in a bag rice...much like this.

Everyone can see that it says "Boil in Bag" right??

While upstairs cleaning, D yells up at me, "The water is boiling now, do you want me to go ahead and put the rice in?"

To which I replied, "Yep! Two bags! It boils ten minutes and then we're ready."

A few minutes later, David comes up the stairs and says, "I put the lid on and set the timer for 10 minutes."

K: "Oh, the lid doesn't go on."

And for some reason, this comment he made had me realizing what he had most likely done. Not sure why, but I do know my husband pretty well, so I thought I would go ahead and ask...

K: "Did you take the rice out of the bag?"

D: "Way to have faith in me...of course I did, I'm not a moron."

Sigh.

K: "You're not supposed to take the rice out of the bag, that's why it's called 'boil in bag' rice."

D: "Oh shit." As he runs back down the stairs. "Does this mean it's ruined?"

Yes. And so are all your future chances of ever "helping" me in the kitchen, honey.

Ah, baseball. You bring out the best in us all.

2010-10-18T09:50:00.000-05:00

David is a huge baseball fan.

And even bigger Texas Rangers fan.

So while the Rangers are battling the Yankees in the...playoffs? I don't remember baseball stuff, I have no interest in it, so while I'm reading in the next room, I hear plenty of yelling in the den at the TV.

And some of his shout outs, if taken out of context, could be phrases yelled at future children...

"Get down, get down, get down!!"

"How the hell did you make that error? Have you not learned anything??"

"Shut your mouth and just play already."

"Jesus Christ, you fucktard, what did you just DO??"

Okay, maybe not that last one so much. At least I hope not...

Fall and Daylight Savings.

2010-10-05T11:46:00.000-05:00

David and I went and visited with our friends Joey and James one day last week. The weather has started to cool off and feel a lot like fall, so it was a nice evening sitting outside. Someone made the comment that it's sure nice that fall weather has finally arrived.

To which David replied, "Well, daylight savings ends this weekend too. Or it was last weekend, I'm not sure, but at least it really is fall now."

Ummm, what?

"Yeah, officially, fall started last week, so that means daylight savings ends then too."

Again...what?

To which Joey had to ask him if he thought it was the week before, would he not have noticed gaining an hour at some point??

"No because our phones automatically update so I figured it already happened and they were already changed. You know, since fall started and all."

To which I had to point out that no, it had not actually happened yet, even though fall had officially begun.

Daylight Savings ends November 7th.

"Well, that's a long time past the beginning of fall."

*facepalm*

OSU vs. A&M

2010-10-04T10:42:00.000-05:00

David and I got to sit club level at the OSU vs. A&M game last Thursday...much thanks to Penny Cupp for the seats! The game was ridiculous, and thankfully, beer is served club level, so my nerves were calmed quite a bit or I would have been nuts during this game...

The only negative thing about sitting this far up is that I have to zoom in to even see Coach Gundy...

David and I really like the 50 cent instrumental song that is used before the team comes out, so I had to video it...sorry it's sideways too, and it may be difficult to watch this way!

And thankfully too, the Cowboys pulled out a nailbiter of a win, 38-35, won on Dan Bailey's field goal, and we improve to 4-0!

Go Pokes!!

21 or 31 years old?

2010-09-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

When am I supposed to be an adult?

And at what point am I considered one? Should I not be by now?

I am 31 years old, have one Masters degree, have a full-time job, own a home, married...

But I don't FEEL like an adult.

But I don't FEEL all that young anymore either.

Why I get confused that I am not again 21 years old:

• I don't have the energy to make it through an entire day without attempting a nap at some point...I did that in college too.

• With David and I both in school again, and living off of my paycheck and scholarships, I am constantly worried about our finances...also did that in college.

• Between class work, research projects, my real job, Phi Mu stuff, I have very little free time...again, very reminiscent of my undergraduate years...

• I live in a college town...in fact, the very same college town I went to college in...

• and because I live in a college town, anytime I order a drink at dinner or buy beer for a tailgate, I get carded.

• I find myself feeling out of style or fashion when surrounded by these tiny little college girls. All my insecurities from when I was younger sometimes resurface.

How I know I am not 21 years old again:

• Those naps I want to take? If I don't get one, I am in bed by 9pm. In college, I would have just been cranky for a little while.

• In college, no one really had any money, so it wasn't a big deal if you were broke. I shouldn't be now, right??

• I HATE getting carded. I mean really, I am 10 years over the age limit, there is no way I look 21 years old, regardless of how much I want to believe that I actually do.

• I am so annoyed with what the college kids wear these days. They look ridiculous.

• We didn't really use the Internet in college. Whoa, to write that out was a little scary...

• The girls going through recruitment this year were born in 1992. I was 13 years old then and had already met some of the friends I still have now. I.am.old.

• I used to love the bar scene. Now I just want to sit on a back porch or at my tailgate with close friends and drink beer. Wait in line to get in or get a beer? Hell no.

Despite the lack of free time, money and fashion sense, I am happier now than I have been, possibly ever, in my life.

And maybe that's how I know I am an adult now.

I am comfortable, content and all around pleased with this life I have somehow created for myself.

So I guess I really am a grown-up, huh?

But now I have to get back to studying for my management class, do some homework and then go work out at the Colvin Center later.

No, that's how I know I am older.

Pretty sure I barely went to the Colvin Center to do anything other than watch other people play basketball when I was in college...now, I gotta keep up with these youngsters...

Des and Baxter

2010-09-21T09:27:00.000-05:00

Des found Baxter's bed. Baxter let Des have the bed. For a little while.

But then he wanted it back.

"Are you sure you don't want to let me back in there?"

"No? Ya sure?"

"Fine...I can wait this out."

Thanks hubs.

2010-09-17T13:46:00.000-05:00

This post is specifically to thank my wonderful husband.

I came down with some god-awful stomach virus Monday. At one point, my temperature spiked at 102.9. David skipped his Monday afternoon class to take me to the doctor.

The doctor's visit proved nothing (it was Voodoo on campus, what did I expect...), and I was told to just drink plenty of fluids and take Tylenol to get the fever down.

Oh, but then early Tuesday morning happened. And my stomach decided to turn on me. Literally.

I'm pretty sure this was the absolute worst stomach flu I have ever had in my life, as I could not keep a thing down or in me. All of that including excruciating abdominal pain, I pretty much thought I was not long for this world...

Another trip to the doctor Wednesday morning actually landed me in the E.R. to get an I.V. bag of fluid. Apparently, I was "dry as a bone" according to the doctor. Once again, David left his class he was already in to come and get me and sit with me for over four hours at the hospital waiting for me to just get to feeling better.

All week long I stayed in my little cave upstairs at the house so I could be close to the bathroom and out of his way. The kitties and daytime T.V. kept me company. But David kept me sane.

He waited on me hand and foot, getting me cold washcloths when I could barely move, going to get me Pedialite (ugh, which SUCKS by the way) in the middle of the night, and keeping up with the household chores I could not even think about doing this week.

So thank you, to the most caring and generous hubs on the planet.

Not only do you make me a better person, but a much healthier one too :)

Visiting the Pseudo Nephews

2010-09-09T11:46:00.000-05:00

David and I spent Labor Day weekend in Columbia, South Carolina, visiting Becky and her family. Her boys, Gus and Cormac, are SO much fun, and I wanted to try and remember everything Gus said over the weekend cause he pretty much cracked me up the entire time...but I may have already forgotten them all...

In an effort to save quite a bit of money, we drove from Stillwater to Dallas/Ft. Worth Thursday around midnight. The flight left DFW at 7am, so we made it in plenty of time to park the car, take the shuttle to the terminal, get checked in and then wait on the flight. The two hour flight to Columbia seemed to take foooorrreevver, as I was just so ready to be there, I was about to jump out of my skin.

We finally made it, and an unusually shy Gus met us at the airport with his mom and baby brother, but it didn't take him long to be comfortable around us again and start filling us in on his stories (apparently, he, his brother and his dad are going to grow up and be goats...but not Becky cause she's a girl, and she's "going to have a lot of goats in her house!")

We spent some of that first day at the zoo.

The next day, unfortunately, we slept in...guess we were a little tired from staying up the night before...but we were looking forward to football, beer and Krissy coming down from Virginia to play with us too!

It was a great relaxing day by their pool, watching football and playing with the boys. (Originally, Cormac was in the front of the wagon and Gus in the back, but Gus had to drive..."Nonononono, Cormac, you're going too fast!"...)

Sunday, we went on a tour of the University of South Carolina's campus. It was really beautiful, and I was growing increasingly jealous that I didn't get to work on a campus like this one...

Cormac was having some fun scooting a cup along the floor like a car.

And while Becky's not my real sister (doesn't matter...I still consider her my sister), and her children are not my real nephews, I LOVE hearing Gus call me "Aunt Kelsey." He was playing with this bug puzzle, and one of the pieces is an ant. One of the times he was playing with it in the car, he handed me the ant piece and said, "This is you, Aunt Kelsey, cause you're an ant!"

It was such a fun weekend, and ended much too quickly. Aunt Kelsey and Uncle David are looking forward to making another trip out there soon. Maybe I'll remember everything he says then...

Introducing...Des.

2010-08-31T10:12:00.000-05:00

Some of you may already be well aware of what has occurred in the last few days regarding our white trash neighbors.

Last weekend, David came home from work very excited. He noticed the neighbors looked as though they were moving out. Mattresses were piled on top of a car and more crap than usual was strewn across their yard.

But we've witnessed this type of behavior before, so we didn't want to get too ahead of ourselves here...

Monday morning, I noticed an article in the Stillwater Newspress about a guy driving a pick up had struck and killed a toddler in the middle of a neighborhood street. Apparently, it happened that Sunday evening, after 8pm, with no parents around anywhere. Several witnesses mentioned how the child had routinely played in the road by herself.

I thought to myself, "sounds like something those neighbors would do..."

Turns out, it WAS my neighbors.

Apparently, they had moved to a nearby trailer park in Stillwater that weekend after being evicted from the home next to mine. And obviously, picked their behavior right up where they had left off. Leaving their children to roam freely, without any regard to their safety.

And unfortunely, paid the ultimate price for their laziness.

The remaining neighbors around me have all come together to act as witnesses to their prior behavior of negligence so that this 25 year old kid that hit the child is not held legally responsible for her death. He will live with that for the rest of his life, and it has been determined at this point that he was not under the influence nor using an electronic device at the time of the accident.

Due to the child's death, the family has not been back to the house to complete their moving out process.

And left their kitten on the front porch.

David noticed last Thursday the tiny thing attempting to walk across the yard. And then collapse.

Since losing Tatumbell, David has become an advocate for kitties that need help. And so he took food and water over to it.

And then fell in love with it.

We spent that evening coercing it on to our porch instead of the neighbors, and before we knew it, we had a porch kitty.

It's still pretty tiny, and already in the few days we've been feeding it, have noticed it has put on weight and added a ton of energy.

It's (hey, I can't yet tell what gender it is...we're going to the vet this week, so we'll know eventually!) black and orange, so of course, it needs an OSU name.

So without further ado...this is Des (after Desmond Mason)...

and if the little booger would sit still long enough, I'd have more pictures...! So hopefully, I can get some more soon :)

So far, it's a good little kitty. (Allie's not all that thrilled, but she'll get over it). It knows how to use the litter box, eats really well now, and just sleeps whenever we aren't around.

And is extremely loving.

And I think more than a little grateful to David.

Fry Dummy

2010-08-24T09:43:00.000-05:00

David's uncle recently gave us a ton of catfish he caught on a recent fishing trip. I was stoked; I could try my hand at frying something...but, I had to first purchase a fry daddy.

Just a small one for now, just until I figured this whole thing out.

So I bought the catfish batter and even a package to make hush puppies. We felt so confident in my frying abilities, we even invited our friends Kathryn and Phil over to try it.

And, it was a hit. I had immediately surged to the top of the cooking chain with my newly acquired skill of frying stuff.

So I tried it again this weekend. But this time, I did fried chicken legs and okra.

Again, a hit.

But the fry daddy was awfully dirty after, so I left it in the sink to soak; careful not to get it's electrical bits all wet.

But then, David did the dishes last night...

I woke up this morning and noticed an empty sink.

Oh no.

I quickly glanced at the dishwasher. The red "clean" light was on.

I opened the dishwasher.

And there was my fry daddy. On the top rack. Dripping wet.

Apparently, my husband had no prior knowledge of electrical equipment not being submerged in water.

I woke him at 7am this morning to ask him what in the hell he was thinking putting my fry daddy in the dishwasher??

His response...

"I didn't put the cord in."

Recruitment 2010

2010-08-16T11:02:00.001-05:00

Ahhhh, the post many of you have been hounding me for the last couple of days :)
although I'm sure if you have seen my facebook stuff, you are well aware of how well this year went.

But I can get a bit more detailed here than I can on facebook.

Work week ended with the annual alumnae skit night, and because this is my last recruitment as their adviser, I was given a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a nice little speech about me by good friend, Harlan Ross. I was literally speechless after, and especially when everyone stood up for me. I really felt appreciated for all the sleepless nights in August, compromising time at my full-time job on campus, and making my husband feel like a "Phi Mu widow" by helping with Epsilon Nu's recruitment since 2004...and Epsilon Beta's the two years before that...so needless to say, stepping down from doing anything at all, will make for a difficult August for me next year. And yes, I'm well aware of the fact that I am not a pretty crier...

So then recruitment started...the first round is split into two days with 8 parties each. The t-shirts are provided by Panhellenic, and all the chapters look the same. The only difference obviously being the appropriate letters on the shirt. This year, I wasn't too impressed with them, but at least we're cute girls, so they could pull it off.

Wednesday morning I was awoken early (4am early...) to learn of a few rush infractions the members had committed at some point in the previous two days...awesome. I had to go to the house by 7am to remind them of certain rules, and that I would kick their asses if they had any more infractions.

House tour day (formerly known as 8 party day) went extremely well, and while it is normally our weakest return rate day, that was not the case this year...I'm used to releasing around 30-40 that night. However, when I logged into the system that evening to see the numbers, I about hit the floor...we were to release over 150! I had to call Panhellenic and confirm that number. And I was told, "You guys skyrocketed today." The members were thrilled when I told them. It set the stage for the next day, skit day, a day they normally KILL.

And kill they did. They performed the "campus' greatest recruitment skit" (as told to me by the panhellenic adviser) 6 times that day. And had a little dance party afterward...

I was expecting a big release night after skit day, and it was. About the same as the evening before. So by this point, we had released 100 more than the we normally do.

So on to pref day we went...

(much thanks to my own pledge sister, Jennifer Helms Morgan, on making the cupcakes...they were great!)

The members wore pink dresses...different shades, but mainly hot pink. It looked fabulous!

and then, the greatest bid day ever :)
Quota 54, Phi Mu receives 59

For my final recruitment, I went with the seniors to pick up the Phis at the Student Union...

as the sophomores waited in the heat outside the house for them...

and the juniors took pictures...

but here they come!

and I lagged behind cause honestly, it was the absolute hottest damn day of the year...

PC '10...! All the new baby Phis.

PC '07...the seniors. I remember vividly when this group pledged. They are a fun group, and they will be missed once they graduate. And yes, there are 30 seniors...! Quite a bit different from when I was a freshman and the chapter only had TWO seniors!

And the entire chapter...it was difficult to get them all in one shot. The total is now 175...

So that's it, I'm done! I'm finishing my binder for the next recruitment adviser(s), and once that is completed, I will pass this on to them...maybe a little hesitantly, but with very little reservation. I have had the absolute pleasure of getting to know these women over the last few years, some becoming good friends once they graduate, some even working for me on campus, and I will miss the opportunity to make connections like I have in the past. But it is time for someone else to make those connections and positively influence the lives of these collegiate Phi Mus.

LIOB.

Favorite TV Show.

2010-08-06T13:13:00.000-05:00

Oh, we have loads of favorite tv shows...
But the main one we get super excited about??

Yeah, we LOVE Friday Night Lights.

Favorite Movie...?

2010-08-05T10:06:00.000-05:00

This one is tough for me. Ask David, he'd tell you that I'm constantly saying about any particular movie, "Oh, this one for sure is in my Top 5." He calls it my "rotating movie list."

But there are some staples that will always be near the top.

My #5: Grandma's Boy
This movie is one that David and I will quote all.the.time. We love Nick Swardson, and he's pretty effing awesome in this.

#4: Up
This is a new favorite for me. We try to watch it at least once a month, but David refuses to watch the first 15 minutes or so. I have a dream of naming a dog Dug. And making him talk.

#3: Christmas Vacation
My family used to begin watching this on Thanksgiving night and then every night following all the way through Christmas. I no longer have the time for that, but it's put on when I wrap presents or make divinity (a holiday only activity). Please do not watch this with me unless you too can say every line cause pretty sure, I'm only going to annoy you.

#2: Steel Magnolias
I'm a girl. And I LOVE this movie. If I find that it's on t.v., I'll watch it up until Shelby collapses at her house on Halloween. I cannot handle it after that.

And the #1? Yeah, it's Animal House.
I think this is the funniest, most quotable movie ever created. I fell in love with this movie in college actually, and it remains in the top spot for me. At least for now...

Day 1 of a Challenge

2010-08-04T14:15:00.000-05:00

So I have stolen this idea from Kaylyn and I wanted to do it too...so feel free to steal it too :)

I'm currently knee-deep in my final Phi Mu recruitment, so I may not be able to keep up with this for the full 30 days, but I'll try.

The 30 day blog challenge.
Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy
So, Day 1: favorite song...
Honestly, this changes almost daily. I'm currently really into the Hairspray soundtrack.

I know I'm a couple of years behind on this, but whatever...I like it. Especially this one.

I'm a big fan of anything Fleetwood Mac, too. Especially the Rumours album.

Love Love Love this whole album. It's pretty much my cure-the-funky-mood music.

I cannot listen to "For Good" from the Wicked soundtrack without getting a little teary-eyed. The lyrics powerfully describe how I feel about some of my friendships.

But there's one song that will get me every single time. Before our wedding, David asked if I minded if he chose the song we would dance to at the reception. (of course I didn't mind, one less thing to worry about!) But he wanted to keep it a secret until the reception.

However, either he's not very good at keeping secrets or I'm just that good at getting them out of him, but about two weeks before the wedding, he could no longer hold it in.

He had chosen "God Only Knows", by the Beach Boys.

So while I have many other favorites, this one is by far my most favorite.

Thank you, Dr. McGuire.

2010-07-27T08:46:00.001-05:00

Two weeks to the day of finding out that I had not passed my qualifying exams, and I was no longer to be considered a graduate student in the EDLE higher education doctoral program, my school of employment and one in which I am a graduate already, has come through for me.

The School of Media and Strategic Communications (formerly the School of Journalism and Broadcast for you OSU alums not understanding what I am saying here...) has a Mass Communications Masters program. I was supplementing my doctorate with classes from mass comm to create my cognate area in order to make my degree a little more well-rounded.

I graduated with my bachelors degree in journalism, and my first Masters is in higher education from OU. I would have liked to earn a Ph.D. in advertising/pr; however, OSU's program only offers up to a Masters degree at this point. This is why I had originally began a doctorate in higher education in the first place. I figured it would be the most comparable in helping me get to where I eventually want to be, which is in university marketing or communications faculty.

This past year, I took a few mass comm courses, and one in particular with a faculty member I have always noticed around the building, Dr. John McGuire. (He's a perfect candidate for The Biggest Loser...seriously...). He has his way with my papers, and because of his tough-natured demeanor, I became a better student and academic. He quickly became one of my favorites.

And thankfully so. For the first time in 10 years, another faculty member stepped down from his position as the School's Graduate Coordinator, and Dr. McGuire stepped in. But only for this summer and this fall semester. When I was told this a few months ago, I paid little attention to it. It was of no concern to me.

But the timing of his taking over this position could not have been more pivotal in my own academic career. Last Wednesday, just three days after he began his new position, I went to him for help.

I asked how to transfer over to the School to earn a Masters degree in Mass Communications. And to do so as soon as possible so as not to lose my financial aid opportunities I had been given for this upcoming school year (how do you let someone know you no longer need a scholarship?? I didn't want to find out...)

We talked for a while, and I was under the impression I would need to submit my application to the department soon, take the GRE and in the mean time, be considered "special student" status and not receive financial aid.

But then, last night, he sent me an email...telling me the best news EVER.

That I would be immediately accepted into the program, beginning now basically, I would not have to take the GRE, and I would not lose my financial aid.

I could not have been more grateful and excited.

I never really panicked throughout this whole thing, but I did worry that the last 3 years may have been a complete waste of money and time.

But at least now, some of my hours will transfer, and at the end of (hopefully) December 2011, I'll have another Masters degree.

So, thank you, Dr. McGuire. You opened a window when one door was slammed in my face.

And the fresh air being let in from that open window is pretty refreshing.

no self-awareness.

2010-07-25T15:41:00.000-05:00

I'm fascinated by the complete lack of awareness my next door neighbors have...

I came home from the grocery store today, to see baby daddy working on the beat up Explorer. In the front lawn of course.

This Explorer should not be street legal. It's so beat to shit it rattles in neutral.

But this hasn't stopped baby daddy from trying to get it in some sort of working order.

In the front lawn.

I know it may be difficult to see in the picture, but there were about 4 toddlers running around in the yard (notice the one in the street?), and one of the women there (not sure if it was Arkansas hood rat or her friend) was yelling at the kids, of course. Wearing only a t-shirt again.

At one point, baby daddy did get the Explorer to go, and when he backed out of the driveway, took all of their trash with them...

Ahhh, to be completely oblivious to all that is around you...must be blissful.

H2Oh-you-have-to-be-kidding-me.

2010-07-20T15:47:00.000-05:00

David loves that I am blogging about Whisky Tango instead of him...but they keep providing material, so I must oblige, right?

Right.

It's Oklahoma in July. Which means it is a hundred and hell degrees outside.

and watering your lawn during the day, for those with even just a smidgen of common sense, is a waste. That water is evaporated faster than you can say, "water vapor."

And those are the people that actually HAVE nice lawns and would like to keep them looking like that.

Like my neighbors across the street from me:

Or to the north of me:

Not these freakin' people...

Yep. They watered their crabgrass for a grand total of 10 HOURS on Saturday. But they didn't just water the lawn...they got the street for at least 3 of those 10 hours. Not a drop on the grass. And yes, that's a shopping cart in their lawn. Want to see what else was getting wet?

I mean, why not leave the trash can right in front of your porch? And that gate you see in the pic? That's the make shift baby gate. They close that, prop open the storm door and let the dirty little thing run around. I call it a "thing" cause I honestly have no idea what gender it may be...I can't tell since it only wears diapers. Usually diapers so dirty they are sagging off it's little ass.

How do I know this? Well, that baby gate that's supposed to keep it on it's own front porch?

Yeah, doesn't work so well. I often find the little dirty thing on MY porch. Looking into my storm door. Leaving greasy little white trash baby marks everywhere. I've had to shoo it away at least 4 times already.

Yes, you read that right.

I "shooed" it away. It was awfully dirty, and I did this grand "shoo-ing" gesture on my porch and shot a disapproving look to the mother.

But she was too busy, wearing nothing but a really long Arkansas t-shirt with a Confederate flag (of course!) on it, moving the sprinkler to really get the driveway good and soaked.

Whisky Tango

2010-07-15T10:31:00.000-05:00

David calls our next door neighbors, "Whisky Tango."

In other words, "White Trash."

It does not get much more stereotypical trashiness than these people.

Here is my cute little house:

I must have had blinders on when I bought it. Cause I didn't see this:

It's painfully obviously a rent house. And we've had our fair share of renters over the last 3 years come in and out of this place.

But the latest bunch take the friggin' cake.

Each weekend, the young mom and one of her friends, along with one of the baby daddy's and his friend, drag their two dirty kids out to play in the front yard.

And this is what it looks like...

Awesome right?

And it's often not picked up. All week long. Even when it rains. That pic with the stroller in it? Taken this past Saturday. Today is Thursday. It rained this morning. Stroller still there.

But it's not so much as how they choose to decorate, it's more how they let the entire block know that they are white trash. By yelling at one another, complete with every other word as an F bomb, in the front yard.

Here's what happened the other night...

Around 6pm, baby daddy comes to our front door. David answers it, and baby daddy proceeds to tell him that his "wife" is being difficult, and could he borrow David's phone...?

David let him. And the guy says this into the phone, "Yeah, this is Larry Pearson, checking in."

Hmmmm...parole officer? Bail bondsman? Doesn't matter, that conversation would only occur in one of those instances.

He thanked David and went home.

But then around 10:30 he's back at our front door. To tell us that the "wife" has kicked him out of the house and he's going to be sleeping in a tent. In our front yard.

Uh, no you are not, dude. So David tells him to keep it off our property. So baby daddy Larry puts it up on the side of the house. Which just happened to be right outside my bedroom window. You've got to be kidding me.

While he's on our front porch telling David his entire fight with the missus, another dude comes to support him and interject with his own account of the situation.

And then the shit storm begins.

White trash lady and her friend are yelling at the baby daddy and his friend--while they are still on my porch, so of course, they are yelling back--dropping F bombs everywhere, all while holding the youngest kid.

And the older kid? She's using both hands to flip off the baby daddy. She looks about 3.

It's at this time that David and I tell them all to get the hell off my porch and front lawn or we're calling the cops. I don't want to be associated with these people.

Baby daddy Larry then tells us, "Oh, they're already on their way. She called them on me, and I called them on her."

Awesome.

So about this time, two cop calls pull up. Right in front of my house, so it looks just great.

Things calm down, and I go to bed.

But remember how Baby Daddy Larry is sleeping in a tent? Yeah, he's pretty much right outside my window.

So around 12:30am, the shit storm starts again.

Only this time, he's yelling back at her from the tent. Right outside my bedroom window.

And it's at this point, that David realizes that I am about to go all ape shit on these people, so he goes outside and tells him to leave. There's more yelling between all the white trash people, and Baby Daddy Larry goes walking off down the street. Yelling at her as he goes, something about how she needs to just go be with her boyfriend, to which she responds, "Fine! I will! He's a better fuck than you anyhows!"

Seriously. That.Just.Happened.

I spent a good deal of time on the phone the next day trying to find the owner of the house to attempt to contact him/her about these people. I'm not having it anymore. I'd rather live next door to constantly partying college kids. Not this real-life Cops episode.

I so hope they are long gone by the time we go to sell our house, as I'm sure each day they are around, my property value decreases by about 12%...

no more.

2010-07-14T10:29:00.000-05:00

Well, it's a little ironic what my last post was about.

I came home Monday (after working on my dissertation's literature review all day at the library) to a letter from my academic department.

This letter was to inform me that I did not in fact pass my qualifying exams, and that I would then be dismissed from the program.

Ummmm, what??

But my advisor, Dr. Wanger, allowed me to enroll in 2 dissertation hours this summer, which means I PASSED quals, right?

Apparently not.

I'm 3 courses and 8 hours of dissertation work away from my Ed.D.

And I won't be getting it. At least not from OSU.

I'm exploring all of my options right now, and really just getting over the whole self-pitying crap that engulfed me for the last two days.

I hate failing at anything. As most people do I assume. How did this happen??

I still don't know. None of it makes any sense. People in my program I consider complete morons passed. But not me. And one other friend of mine.

We were the only two Ed.D students left in the program. The others are Ph.D.

There had been talk amongst the faculty of getting rid of the entire Ed.D program altogether. But I just assumed that meant after they had at least graduated US.

I guess they just wanted to end it sooner.

So 3 years and about $30,000 later, I am without many options to continue my education. But I refuse to give up on that. I'll figure it out.

And in another twisted turn of irony, last night, I received an email from a prestigious academic conference that my research proposal had been accepted for presentation at the conference this fall.

I had used quite a bit of this same format of a proposal in my qualifying exam proposal. Hmph.

302 Days from Now.

2010-07-07T09:08:00.000-05:00

May 6th, 2011.

Approximately 7:00pm CST.

I'm thinking Gallagher-Iba Arena on the Oklahoma State University campus.

I should be wearing something similar to this:

For the next few months, I will not be much fun, and I apologize in advance for that.

Ya see, I've started working on my dissertation.

HOLY SHIT.

Yep, I've made it to this point, and there's no turning around/stopping now, so my goal of earning a Doctorate of Education should be obtained by May...

Just wanted to give a heads up if I don't write as often, you'll know I've probably curled myself into a ball on the 4th floor of the Edmon Low library with stacks of academic articles surrounding me, with a most likely sleep-deprived twitch developing as I attempt to write the largest and most important paper in all of my life...

I began this journey in the fall of 2007, and I have a hard time believing I am to this point now as it does not seem that long ago I dove back into the world of higher education...as a student again instead of just a staff member.

But here I am. I can really see the end of this coming.

Good crap, I could not be more excited about that.

But I know it will be a long and difficult year. And I appreciate your support as I complete this.

So thanks ahead of time.

Sincerely,
(soon!!) Dr. Kelsey Nuckolls

No longer a newlywed.

2010-06-29T12:54:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, we celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary...! I still cannot believe it has been one whole year already...so I thought I would celebrate on the blog with a list of things I learned as a newlywed...

1. It's pretty awesome to never have to take out the trash myself again...
2. or mow the lawn.
3. If I want something done (i.e., the trash taken out or the lawn mowed) I have to ask repeatedly, sometimes 12-15 times, before it is actually done. And the nicer it is said, the quicker it gets done.
4. Unless it is funny or sports, it is not being shown on our t.v.
5. I'm thankful I had a grieving partner when we lost Tatumbell. No way I could have done that alone.
6. I think my friends and their husbands/other halves like David more than me sometimes...
7. We get really irritated when we are called a "house divided"...yes, we know, one likes OU the other OSU...we harbor no hatred for the other university, unless it's actually a Bedlam game, and the only thing really on the line is which one of us has to wear the other's university shirt at Christmas...
8. Putting clothes in the hamper will always be hard for David to do.
9. All those weird and annoying things he does...well, I may not be over them all or anything, but I have learned that those things make up him, and I'm working really really hard at not being so irritated when his jaw loudly pops when he eats, his snoring or his inability to ever be anywhere on time...
10. I have an automatic built-in support system. He is always on my side, regardless if I'm wrong in the situation.

I know how lucky I am. I know too that we really are made to be together, so with that knowledge, is comforting.

So happy anniversary, hubs! Now on to year 2!!

We.Are.Faaammmiiileeee.

2010-06-28T12:21:00.000-05:00

We went out to Picture People at Penn Square Mall last Friday to take a family pic with dad...my brother flew into town the night before to surprise my dad (his wife and baby were already here) with a weekend visit, so my sister wanted to take advantage of all of us being around at the same time, even if just for an hour or so.

My dad is not doing all that great, and so I'm glad we have this, especially with the babies in it. All three of us got married about six months apart from one another, so we have lots of family pics due to the weddings, but now with the additions of Harper and Austin, I'm happy we were able to do this.

“Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water.”

2010-06-24T10:25:00.000-05:00

David likes to grill. And he's gotten pretty good at it too.

He looks everything up online to make sure he's timing it all right and the temperature is right and he's using the tips correctly (i.e., putting ice cubes in the foil with the butter when grilling corn; leaving pork chops out of the fridge for at least 20 minutes before grilling so as not to "shock" the meat)...and one of these tips is not to use Pam cooking spray on the grill, but instead, spread an oil on the grill using a paper towel.

My assumption? Any oil could be used. Vegetable, olive...whatever. I have both of these in the cabinet above my stove in the kitchen.

While preparing to cook out the other night, he reaches over me to get something out of this cabinet.

I assume he's looking for one of the oils.

But he bypasses these, pulling them out only to continue looking behind them for something else.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

"Wesson oil," he tells me.

He's holding the generic grocery store brand of vegetable oil in his left hand, yet looking into the back of the cabinet.

Me: "What kind of Wesson oil? That's the generic vegetable oil right there, and the olive oil is up there too somewhere."

My sometimes clueless husband: "It has to be Wesson oil."

Me, realizing quickly he doesn't realize it's just a brand name and wondering how long it will take for him to figure this out: "Honey, you're holding the vegetable oil. Use that."

My now exasperated husband, sighs heavily and says, "Well, I hope it works the same and doesn't screw it up because it's vegetable oil and not Wesson oil."

Now it's my turn to sigh heavily...

Decorating and new doggie.

2010-06-21T10:50:00.000-05:00

I've been busy moving rooms in my house. When I don't have much to do, I start cleaning and rearranging furniture apparently...I haven't had free time in so long, I forgot what to do with it. So I started moving all the bedrooms in the house. I moved the spare bed upstairs, the futon downstairs (then eventually got rid of it altogether), and moved our bedroom to the back room (what used to be the spare bedroom). Cleaning everything in the process.

Since my dad is now using a hospital bed, I offered to take his antique wood bed that used to be my Grandaddy's. So I started prepping the spare bedroom for it's arrival.

I chose some fabric for curtains, matched the blue in it for the walls, and found some throw pillows for the bed.

And then got to work.

After about a 3 week process, it is pretty much complete...!

The front room before, as our bedroom...(I moved all of this to the back bedroom, and it looks exactly the same back there. Reason for the move was this room has a ceiling fan).

Before the painting began...

Pretty much done!

And we have a new addition to our family...my dad's dog, Baxter, has come to live with us.

I was unsure if we were ready for another pet, especially since Tatumbell has not been gone for long, but so far, he's aided in healing our hearts. He is very laid back, never makes a sound, and loves car rides and visiting our friends. We like having him around :)

My Taurus is Bigger than your Virgo

2010-06-08T10:24:00.000-05:00

Despite our sad moods around the house (which have been getting much much better. Many thanks to those that sent prayers and thoughts in our direction, they helped!)

we still have David around for some comic relief...

The night before Kim and Paul's wedding, we went over to their house before heading out.

Lindsey was wearing this shirt.

and David says to me, "Hey Kelsey, you need that shirt!"

I was immediately impressed that my husband knew I was a Taurus...he's not really into horoscopes and whatnot, so I thought to myself, "awww, he paid attention somewhere along the way..."

Nope.

Lindsey then asked him, "David, what are you?"

His response?

"Well, I'm rollin' in an Altima these days..."

It didn't take me long to realize my husband thought I should have Lindsey's shirt, not because he knew that I am a Taurus, but rather, because I drive one...

Tatumbell.

2010-06-02T08:40:00.001-05:00

I really don't want to write this post.

But it's been very sad around our house.

Last Thursday, David took Tatumbell to the vet. He had been acting odd again, but this time, instead of panicking and worrying, I thought he would snap out of it again and be fine.

But I was wrong.

He was diagnosed with a mediastinal mass in his chest. The tumor was obstructing his heart and lungs so much you could barely see them on the x-rays.

So we brought him home, tried to make him as comfortable as possible, and prayed he was not in much pain.

But it was evident he was.

Monday evening, David was at work, and I was seriously contemplating sleeping on the floor with Tatumbell, just to be near him.

He came out from underneath our bed where he had been for the last three weeks, and I knew it wouldn't be much longer.

I picked him up and took him to the couch. He barely moved, and I was probably putting him in more pain just by touching him, but he suffered though it for me.

We laid together for over an hour. I just petted him and talked to him and cried. He purred, loudly sometimes.

And then he started breathing out of his mouth. He could barely breathe.

So we called the vet, at 11:30 Monday night, and made the very difficult decision to put him out of his misery.

By midnight, my sweet baby boy was gone.

I have been a basket case, and this post alone has taken me over 40 minutes to write.

I know it was the right decision, but goddamn it this is painful.

A few months ago, I wrote about him here and I'm really glad I did that.

I just can't go and look at it again. Not yet.

So goodbye, Bubba. You were a very sweet boy, and your mom and dad will miss you so much.

Like Father, Like Son In Law

2010-05-27T12:56:00.000-05:00

I knew there was a reason I married David.

He reminds me of my dad sometimes...

Some background info here: my cousin (Tim) and his family recently had to move back in with my aunt and uncle (Judy and Ben) while they were in between homes--waiting on one to sell, and then the other to be bought.

Actual conversation my mother had with dad about this:

Mom: "So are Tim and Melissa still living at Judy and Ben's?"

Dad: "No, they are in their own house now."

Mom: "Oh, so where are they living?" (obviously meaning where in Oklahoma City or Edmond they had bought their house)

Dad: "Well, IN it."

Tor-nada.

2010-05-20T09:17:00.001-05:00

You would think after living in Oklahoma my entire 31 years of life, I would be used to tornado season.

Nope. Hate it.

The first real threat of the season occurred last night. No sooner had Mike Morgan said, "Stillwater, this is headed directly toward you," I packed up the kitties and had them in the car before D even had his shoes on.

My "safe place" is my building on campus. The Journalism building is over 90 years old, made of cement blocks, and with an office in the basement, I knew we'd be safest there. Unlike my house, where there is not an interior room/closet or basement to go to.

So off to campus we went. Having just left for the work day, I was not happy about going back, but just fine if it meant we would be safe from tornados. I really hate them. Hate hate hate.

After we put the furbabies in my office, we went back outside (as most Oklahomans do during an impending storm...), and apparently, the entire town of Stillwater wanted on campus too. The parking garage next to my building was full within 15 minutes with a line of cars still wanting to get in.

(My co-worker Barbara brought her two cats in her rolling suitcase. She couldn't find their carriers.)

The O'Colly has a large tv in the newsroom, so several of us went in there to see how much time we still had, as David, the amateur storm tracker himself, decided to "walk around and see what's going on."

I swear, he would chase the damn storm if I let him.

(we didn't take this video, but it shows just how creepy this thing was)

The sirens were going off, and the PA system on campus warning us we only had 3-5 minutes to take cover. And David is still out walking around. Most likely contemplating how to get on the roof of the Student Union for a better view.

So I called him to tell him to get his ass back to the Journalism building, as this thing was fast approaching.

And what does he tell me when I ask where he is?

"I noticed the Sigma Nu's were on their roof, and that's awesome, and I thought that I'd..."

I interrupted him here to tell him to GET.HIS.ASS.BACK.TO.THE.JOURNALISM.BUILDING.

Needless to say, the storm was pretty anticlimatic, and for that I'm thankful. Pretty sure the tornado-chasin' husband of mine was hoping for a bit more excitement though...maybe next time, I'll let him get on the roof of a fraternity house, if only for a better story for him than "so we took the cats up to the O'Colly..."

thank.gawd.

2010-05-19T09:25:00.000-05:00

Blaaaaahhhh.

That's how I feel right now. (WARNING: this is a bitching post...)

Some of you are aware of all that's going on with me right now. And for those of you that are not...here's a little rundown:

1) Since the hubs and I are both in school (I swear, 9+ of higher education, I should be the smartest effing person alive...), we live off of my salary and student loans...the lack of cash flow into our home causes me to hyperventilate every now and then, but somehow, D puts into perspective for me: "We pay our dues now, so we can play hard later. Simple as that." The fact is, we chose to go back to school (or in my case, continue through for a terminal degree), so I just need to suck it up, quit whining and get back to working on a paper...

2) which brings me to this one. I found out while on vacation with Krissy in Virginia, that I did not pass my qualifying exams I had taken in January. I needed to retake part 2 of them, which I am doing right now...it sucks having to do this again, but it's really not that bad, all I have to do is tweak part of my original proposal, but I have mini break downs thinking about this thing and the possibility of me not passing again which would then have some serious repurcussions because I couldn't continue in the program and the thought that I have put in 3 years to this thing to not be able to complete it would seriously cause me to go a little ape shit. Whenever I get this crazy, the hubs will start calling me "Dr. Nuckolls" for a little extra push. And I appreciate that so much.

3) Tatumbell is acting funny again, and I hover over him while he's sleeping and check to see if he's still breathing, and then I start crying that I'm even having to do that, and D reminds me that he always comes out of these little spells of his, and if he stays bad for an extended period of time, we'll go to the vet then, but not to continue to worry right now.

4) without going into too much detail, my dad's sick, and his whole situation is a daily battle of my (and everyone else in my family's) sanity. Whenever it gets too much for me and I unload on D about it, he'll ask me to tell him a story about my dad when I was little. This gets me out of that funk and helps me not to be so frustrated with it all.

So the moral of all this?

I could not have all of this going on, and still be somewhat sane if not for my husband.

I thank God every day (or I should) for giving me the perfect partner in life. He balances out my crazy. And somehow, makes it all seem okay.

Buff-a-what?

2010-05-14T09:29:00.000-05:00

David really wanted me to tell this story here to illustrate that I say some stupid shit sometimes too.

I KNOW that buffalo wings are chicken.

I am NOT Jessica Simpson stupid here.

I just made the comment, "Why do they call them Buffalo wings then?"

He told me it was the sauce, and that it originated in Buffalo, NY.

Me: "Huh. I figured it had something to do with the sauce...just wasn't sure how it was connected to buffaloes. Could have been made from buffaloes for all I knew."

D: "You thought the buffalo sauce was MADE from buffaloes??"

Me: "Well, I don't know. Could have been I guess..."

D: Laughing too hard to really respond...

Me: "Shut up...I just thought there was a connection to buffaloes, not Buffalo, New York..."

D: "Put the shovel down, honey. The grave has been dug."

dreams of princes.

2010-05-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

I woke up to a crazy-ass, vivid dream this morning.

I was with Prince William. And apparently I was pregnant with his child. And we needed to tell Princess Di about it.

Yep, she's alive.

And she took the news really well (such a nice lady), so all was well in Kelsey's dream world.

I re-told this dream to my co-workers this morning, and one responded with, "Did you watch something with Prince William in it before you went to bed or something?"

This co-worker has only met David once.

So she may not realize whom my husband resembles...

(although he gets really mad at me when I say this cause of the Prince's rapid hair loss as of lately...)

Too bad our checking account doesn't also resemble the Prince's...

A mother's day rescue.

2010-05-11T10:30:00.002-05:00

My ~~31s~~t 29th birthday was this past weekend. Mother's Day actually. I ~~loathe~~ just love sharing my birthday with every mother on the planet...

but the mothers really came through for my birthday.

With my mother's help, David was once again steered in the right direction of a gift.

I found the most perfect orange purse at Kohl's...1/2 off.

Apparently though, it was pretty difficult to track down.

He went to the store in Edmond. The purse was no longer there.

And due to his already running late to make it to my Bedlam baseball game party in Bricktown, he didn't have time to check the store in OKC.

And we had to leave early Sunday (my actual birthday) to get back to Stillwater since he had to work.

At some point, he called the store on NW Expressway, and they did have it.

Buuuuut...he was already in Stillwater.

So my mother-in-law came to his rescue.

She went and got the purse. And met him in Guthrie Sunday evening.

And he was able to give me my new purse.

So thanks moms.

Back to normal.

2010-04-29T16:13:00.000-05:00

Things are back to normal in our house. Tatumbell cuddling with us whenever he can.

Ch-ch-changes. Sorry 'bout 'em.

2010-04-28T10:20:00.001-05:00

I'm a graphic designer.

And I cannot STAND when I design something I don't like.

Which is why my blog layout has changed so much over the last couple of weeks.

I designed one that was pretty awesome. But not knowing html code so well, I couldn't figure out how to get it to look right online.

So I've just been playing around with this for the last few days.

This one is nowhere near what I originally designed, but I'm probably going to leave this for a while, just cause I'm tired of messing with it...

But I won't make any promises on that. :)

Whew.

2010-04-27T12:52:00.000-05:00

We had a not so fun week last week.

Beginning Sunday, Tatumbell was acting odd. He stayed curled up in a ball, sleeping under the bed, not wanting us to touch him, not really eating or anything. Needless to say, I grew more and more worried as this went on for days.

On Wednesday, I had had it. We took him to the vet (Vet Med here on campus), and after hearing that they had no idea what was wrong with him and needed to perform many many tests, costing upwards of $500, I broke down in tears in the vet's office.

We don't have any extra cash right now. But I could not let my cat continue like this without doing something. Anything.

So they opted to do the "cheapest" of the tests, which is the blood work.

But they came back fine. So again, they had no idea what was wrong with him.

They sent us home with some pain meds for him "to work this out on his own" and basically, just to pray for the best.

I gave him the medicine, but by Friday morning, I was convinced we were going back to the vet as his behavior had not changed at all.

All week long, my stomach was in knots as I was so worried and stressed out over Tatumbell, I could hardly see straight.

I found a website (http://prayersforpets.org/), and after I posted about Tatumbell's situation, I had several e-mails praying for his recovery and for peace for David and me.

And they must have worked.

I came home Friday afternoon expecting to see my listless fur baby curled up under the bed with no improvement on his condition.

But he was back to normal...happy, purring and playfully swatting at my hand as I rubbed his belly.

I still have no idea what was wrong, but I'm just so grateful he's okay now, I can finally relax.

So, whew. :)

The table has turned. But only briefly.

2010-04-23T11:42:00.002-05:00

My friend Joey invited me to lunch yesterday to one of the greatest little hole in wall places in Stillwater, Crepe Myrtle.

They have some of the tastiest (I hate that word, but here, it is needed) burgers on the planet. With some pretty awesome curly fries too.

And with curly fries comes ketchup.

And with ketchup comes dropping the curly fry, with ketchup, on my blouse. My white blouse.

And David had to bring me another outfit so that I could continue my work day and presentation in class last night without looking like a toddler.

He wanted me to let everyone know that he had to come to my rescue this time.

So David's not the only one...

2010-04-20T16:23:00.000-05:00

Real conversation at work today...

Me: "O'Colly, this is Kelsey."
Girl: "Yeah...um...I need to place an ad."
Me: "Okay...display or classified?"
Girl: "What's the difference?" (this question happens at least three times a day...how does one NOT know what a classified ad is??)
Me: explains the differences...
Girl: "Oh, I want a display ad then. It's for a university organization."
Me: "Oh, okay, you're on campus?"
Girl: "Uh. No, I'm on the PHONE."

Oh.good.crap.

Meet Austin.

2010-04-19T09:19:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY got to meet my nephew Austin. My sister and her husband moved back to OKC this past weekend (yay!), and I pretty much held him all day Saturday.

I was worried about playing favorites since I already know Harper so well, but once I met this little booger, I was in love :)

And no, he didn't set off the baby-wanting alarms in my uterus, just the I-better-be-your-favorite-aunt sirens.

I plan on letting him eat candy anytime he wants it, buying him ridiculous amounts of toys, and never giving Christmas or birthday presents of clothes, socks or underwear.

With all that, I'm GUARANTEED to be the favorite aunt. So take that, Aunt Elizabeth.

To practice.

2010-04-13T08:42:00.000-05:00

D has an internship this summer in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

From what I understand, it will be pretty intense. Long days.

So he'll have to get up earlier than what he has been used to.

But not yet.

His alarm went off this morning at 7am.

And I was surprised by this cause he doesn't have class until 10:30. He usually lays in bed until at least 10:15...

Right before I left at 8:00, I asked him (while he was still laying in bed, hitting snooze every 5 minutes on the alarm...) why he set it so early if he wasn't planning on getting up yet.

His reply?

"To practice."

To practice? Practice getting up early since you'll have to do that all summer?

No.

"To practice setting the alarm for 7:00 instead of 10:00."

Gelll-USSS.

2010-04-12T12:50:00.003-05:00

So I'm having a serious case of the "I wants" and "I'm jealous of's" and "where did all the money go's?"...

I know I need to probably just pray for patience, and our upscale home with granite countertops and a manicured lawn and large, stainless steel refrigerator and garden tub will at some point be ours, but as a re-modeled older home located in the Belle Isle or Crown Heights area of OKC (the kids, while not yet conceived but must still be accounted for, would have to go to Casady...no OKC public schools for them...),

...along with a decent lake house at Tenkiller with a screened in porch and large deck not too far from all our friends' homes in Snake Creek...where our black Cobalt is docked at the marina...aptly named "Pistols Firin'" despite many protests from D, but since he doesn't know how to drive a boat, he will eventually back off and let me name it whatever I want...but we'll also have a pontoon boat he can name whatever he wants...I'm thinking "Switzer", "A.D." or something really lame like "Sooners"...

I'd drive to work as a part-time graphic design lecturer and full-time vice president of university marketing at Oklahoma City University in my black Mercedes E class...D's inability to really take good care of a car will leave him with the Taurus or an older Silverado pick up truck...

We can afford all these things cause our school loans will be paid off by a fairy god mother, and each of us earn salaries well into six figures (of course education faculty most of the time get paid around $60k, but I don't think of that while wracking up school loan debt well over $100k to earn a damn doctorate...), and we finally figure out the stock market and how to use it to our advantage.

Sigh....

To beef, or not to beef...

2010-04-09T09:15:00.000-05:00

Ever had hamburger meat in the fridge for just a couple of days after buying it, and it turns grey/brown?

The inside is still pink, and I always thought it was still safe to eat until it was past it's expiration date or smelled funny.

I just figured it was something to do with being exposed to air or too cold or whatever, but it was still fine to use.

And it's definitely not changing the type of meat that it originally was...

This conversation occurred last night:

(As we're about to get dinner ready and grill out)
D: "Ya know, I read somewhere that ground chuck makes the best burgers, not the lean ground beef."

K: "I may have actually bought that, I don't remember..." (I had originally bought the meat for meatloaf, forgetting that David won't touch the stuff...had to alter my menu this week...)

D: "No, you bought lean ground beef."

K: "Oh? Is that what it said?" (we were in the bedroom putting laundry away, so I was little distracted)

D: "I didn't look."

K: "Then how do you know it isn't ground chuck?"

D: "Cause ground chuck is red. What's in the fridge is brown."

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2010-04-06T08:49:00.001-05:00

So I know I really don't ask for much.

But a little appreciation would be nice. Just every once in a while.

And I'm not talking about D here. That's one area of my life where I know my efforts are always appreciated.

Since 2002, I have been an advisor in some capacity to the sorority. I started at OU, worked for the National office as a graduate counselor, and then when I came back to Stillwater, I inevitably became my collegiate chapter's advisor. I have since stepped down from that role, but I have been the recruitment advisor now for three years. I have always loved recruitment, and I look forward to it each August. I love it so much that I would do both OSU's rush, and then immediately drive down to Norman and help them finish theirs. I have made some amazing friends and connections during these times, and I would not trade it for anything. I actually enjoy the sleepless two weeks, undergraduate girl drama involving someone somewhere not getting their way, and the deliriously funny stories I hear at 3am on the back porch while waiting for the bid list to be posted.

But, contrary to what many of the undergraduates believe, I do not get paid for this job. It's completely volunteer.

Which means, I sacrifice my time, energy and real full-time job to help them out and make sure they do recruitment correctly, get whom they want in the house, and most importantly, make quota.

I do not do this for the rolled eyes when I tell them no food or drink in selection session, the looks of disbelief when they are told that if they didn't make grades they are not allowed to vote, or the complete lack of disrespect for not only my knowledge on all things recruitment, but also all things for the sorority, but too my position as their advisor.

And for all the alumnae out there reading this, you might know where this is headed.

And for the collegiates that may come across this: GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THE CHAIR WHEN I, OR ANY OTHER ALUMNA, WALK IN THE ROOM.

I'm not asking for much. It's not as though I have ever received a thank you card for my efforts, flowers on alumnae skit night for my contributions, or a verbal thank you from any one other than the recruitment chairs or presidents.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not that nazi alumna requiring everyone to stand when I go to the house.

But if you see me, recognize that I am not a collegiate member, carrying a large bag as though I'm going to a meeting, and continue to eat your dinner and stare at me when I walk into the dining room, it would be in your best interest to not let me think you don't care about all I do for your chapter.

So it would be appreciated if you'd get up.

The simple gesture may seem silly to some, but it speaks volumes.

And I need it to be louder.

a happy birthday list...

2010-03-30T09:46:00.000-05:00

Today's D's 31st birthday.

And I thought I would give him a break and not exploit his sometimes simple-mindedness for all of the blog-world to see.

And instead wish him a happy birthday by listing the things that make me love this idiot so much.

1) I'm obsessed with magnets. LOVE them. And I put them all over my fridge. I have one in particular that I've had for a while, it's a lion who has magnets in all four feet so when he's on the fridge, he's kind of spread out. He's also a little stuffed animal, so he apparently looks a bit like a cat toy. Tatumbell thinks so anyway. He'll jump up and grab this lion, just to pull him to the bottom of the fridge, drop him on the floor and then walk away. He does this EVERY DAMN DAY. I find my poor little lion magnet on the kitchen floor, halfway under the fridge. David must have found it the other day in this same condition cause I heard him say, "That lion talking shit to you again, buddy?"

2) The kitchen sink faucet is loose. It's the biggest slut on the block, for sure, and I have to be extremely careful not to knock it off and cause a big ol' mess thanks to it's promiscuity. David recently got underneath the sink to tighten it, it worked, and because he is not the handiest husband in the world, was extremely proud of himself. He kept saying, "Run up on me, Bob Villa!"

3) I know I have mentioned this before, but it is kind of a big deal...he wears orange on OSU game days.

4) When he finds a funny video online and wants to share it with me, he'll preface it with "Okay, you'll actually think this is funny too, not just have to humor me" if he thinks I'll really like it.

5) When I returned from Virginia and wanted to catch up on all the shows backed up on my dvr, he suffered through two episodes of "Ugly Betty", one "Private Practice" and one "Grey's Anatomy" before I realized I may be forcing him to grow a vagina.

So happy birthday to the funniest, most accommodating, well-adjusted, confident, book-smart idiot on the planet.

A Thunder-ous Birthday

2010-03-26T09:42:00.000-05:00

D's birthday is coming up next week, and I have had his present since January...I am no good at keeping secrets, and I had this big reveal planned, but I couldn't wait any longer, so I finally just told him the other night.

(I was slightly worried that I would not be able to top last year's birthday surprise, but I think I did okay...)

I got Thunder/Lakers tickets for tonight! We have yet to go to a game, so I'm ridiculously excited! (with the Cowboys out of the tournament already, and the Sooners never having the chance to continue playing past their season, we need this basketball game...) I enjoyed the Hornets while they were in OKC, so this should be great as well.

I also got him a brand new Thunder t-shirt to wear to the game :)

And because I know we will enjoy some (many) cold adult beverages, I went ahead and booked a room at the Courtyard in Bricktown to avoid having to stay sober...it's almost like an early birthday (or weekend) present to myself!

Wanted: One Husband Whom Knows How To Clean

2010-03-21T16:36:00.000-05:00

Recently, I went to Oklahoma City for the weekend, and after leaving my husband alone for the entire weekend, I returned home to find the house not at all in the shape I had left it. Pizza crumbs on the counter, cat puke on the couch, and dirty laundry piled on the floor next to the laundry basket...yes. Next to the laundry basket, not in it. Still haven't figured that one out, I guess.

So before I left for my week long trip to Virginia, I asked my cleaning-deficient husband to please pick up after himself while I was away. I did not want to have to spend the last day of my vacation cleaning the house.

While I was gone, he texted me "where do you keep the stuff to the mop the floors?"

I was thrilled with this comment. I thought, "oh my goodness! He's cleaning the floors?? That's great!"

Apparently though, he just wanted to know where it was. Not use it.

I just spent the last two hours cleaning my house, mainly the floors, because they had not been swept/mopped since the last time I had done it.

When I asked him about this, and why he had wanted to know where the floor cleaning stuff was located (and really? doesn't everyone keep their cleaning supplies under the sink? Is this a sign that he has not a paid attention AT ALL to my obsessive cleaning habits?), he responded, "Oh, I was going to do it before you got home. But I couldn't figure out the mop."

Sigh...so much to teach him, I guess...

While the cat's away...

2010-03-02T14:04:00.000-06:00

the mice will play.

Or at least eat terribly.

I'm off to Virginia for a week, and I'm pretty sure my husband is already looking forward to the junk food will live on while I'm gone.

Just a quick rundown of his favorites and what he will most likely gorge himself on:

Along with occasional runs to Mazzio's, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, and Little Caesar's...yes, he likes pizza that much...I'm worried about what I will come home to.

So if you're in the Stillwater area, and are feeling dietician-like, feel free to stop by my house and rid it of the junk he will store in the kitchen.

A Damsel in Distress

2010-02-24T11:32:00.000-06:00

I do not know how in the world my husband lived for so long without me.

And I'm being ridiculously serious about that fact.

About once a month, I have to come to his rescue.

Normally when he calls me for help, I'm so irritated it takes me a while to get over it, so I did not often find the humor in it to blog about it.

I've turned over a new leaf.

And I have decided to find things humorous, or I will most likely go crazy with irritation.

So "hahahahahahahahaa" to my husband's helplessness...

1) He's notorious for flat tires. And he's not the most "hands on", mechanic, knows-stuff-about-cars type of guy like my dad. So we have had multiple pick him up wherever he is, drive to get a new tire episodes than I care to count. And I'm thinking it may be in the teens by now on how many times this has happened...

2) Remember the last post of leaving his backpack in his classroom? That wasn't the first time that has happened. He called me once because, gasp, he had a flat tire. So I went to pick him up at this remote engineering lab on campus, after 9pm, and by the time we got halfway home...he realized he had left his backpack in the lab, and we had to turn around and go back to get it. Only the doors were locked and no one was around...

3) which brings me to this one. David now works at his aunt and uncle's frozen yogurt shop in Stillwater, and he often closes late at night, doing all the cashing out duties in the office in the back. Last night, he calls me around 11pm to tell me that he left the office, the door shut and now it's locked. With his keys inside. So no way to get home or back into the office.

4) and my most favorites are the ones where his car runs out of gas. A couple of weeks ago, he calls me, while I'm working on my qualifying exams at home, to tell me he's run out of gas...right down the street. Shhheeeeesh.

So again, I'm unsure of how he's lived as long as he has...and I'm afraid I will add to this list shortly.

Not quite like a purse.

2010-02-23T11:21:00.000-06:00

I left work early Monday afternoon due to a massive head cold and just in general feeling like whooey...

So that put me being at home when David got home from class.

He barrels through the front door. Tatumbell had been sitting on the chair in the front window, anxiously awaiting his dad's arrival, but with that kind of entrance...well, it sent him running to the back room where I was sitting.

Not realizing that this kind of entrance is not considered normal, I didn't say anything other than "hello."

I notice right away though that he's kind of pissy.

"I left my backpack in class. I have to go back and get it before class tonight."

What? How do you leave a backpack in class??

I asked him this.

"Well...I got in to class. Set it down. Asked the professor if we were meeting there or out at the site for the demonstration. We were, so I left. Without the backpack."

Still not really comprehending, I asked him why, if he knew he was having to drive out to the lab site, why he didn't take the backpack and then leave it in the car to make sure he had it with him...

"It's not like a purse, Kelsey, I don't have to have it on my shoulder all the time. Sheesh."

But you're driving back to campus to get it because you need it for later, right?

So maybe it IS as important as a woman's purse is to her?

"Oh. Maybe."

Maybe. Sheesh.

whew...it looks good.

2010-02-22T08:54:00.000-06:00

My Valentine's present finally came in...

And David took it to Hobby Lobby, all by himself, to have it framed...

Considering he's never framed anything other than the occasional beer-induced sweaty boys at a football game picture in a cheap plastic 4x6 frame from Walgreens, I was a bit worried...

But it turned out great! (sorry the picture is a bit blurry...but you get the idea!)

Better Than Roses...

2010-02-15T14:19:00.001-06:00

Well, my Greg Burns picture did not arrive in time for Valentine's Day...

So instead, David brought me the biggest bag of Sour Patch Kids I have ever seen to my work...