Boring Blogger

I received a text from my daughter, Jessie, yesterday: "Your blog. It needs updates!"

I know, I know! I've been such a boring blogger of late. Just too much going on right now. With one thing or another I haven't found any blogging mojo. Or stitching mojo either! I think there are 8 sad little ORTs in my jar right now!

No blogging. No stitching. BUT I've been keeping busy and that's not boring. For instance, the last weekend in September Dash and I hopped on the motorcycle for a mini-vacation. We went to Fayetteville, Arkansas to attend Bikes, Blues and BBQ which is a big motorcycle rally. This was the first rally I have ever attended and boy ~ it was fun! Dash and I had a great time, spending three entire days on the motorcycle. Wow ~ was my butt ever sore! I never saw so many bikes in my entire life...

Bikes were parked like this up and down both sides of the street for several blocks. Plus, bikes traveling non-stop, both directions. We saw some really awesome motorcycles.

Crowded like you wouldn't believe.

This was about half way, I think, looking up the hill. We had stopped at the food court for turkey legs. Yum! And beer. There were several bars. I think we went into each one. Rick teased me in one of the bars for giving my beer to him and asking for a glass of wine instead. Don't get me wrong ~ I love beer. Just not horrible, disgusting, bitter beer. I don't care how many awards the place got...it still brewed nasty beer!

Here is a little video snippet of the rally taken on my iPhone. You will have to turn the volume all the way up to get the full effect of how LOUD it really was. Just kidding ~ you might want to turn it down!

It was an awesome holiday. The weather was perfect: not too hot, indeed a little too cool at times with lots of clouds. It sprinkled on us a few times but no real rain. We do have rain gear, just in case. I got to wear my biker vest: 

I've been collecting patches that express my interests. You will note my road name patch? LOL I haven't found any "cross-stitch" patches...and it's impossible to internet search for them. If anyone knows of any iron-on type patches with a cross-stitching theme be sure to let me know!

The back looks a little lopsided until I get more patches. I was ever-so-pleased to find the "Marine Wife" rocker since Dash's vest has a "Marine" rocker. Isn't this fun? Too bad I actually look like a chubby housewife rather than a sexy-biker-bitch! ROFLOL

Now that summer has passed and autumn is finally here maybe life will slow down for me. Wait...the holidays are coming up, what am I thinking? I will be back soon with a stitching update for you. The traveling pattern I am in possession of needs finishing so I can send it on to the next stitcher. Hopefully by the end of the week! See you soon.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox 

Home from Texas

I'm baaaack! Rick's family reunion in Texas was fun, lots of sand, sun and food. I had a good time even though the day before we left I caught a nasty cold. Who gets sick on vacation, anyway? The 10 hour drive to Lake Jackson was smooth...we rented the last Harry Potter book on CD and listened to it as we drove. That in itself made the drive more pleasant! We stayed in a hotel but gathered every day at this beach house in Surfside. Isn't this nice?

We had lots of food. Here is a glimpse of the 30 pounds of crayfish we cooked one afternoon. I've never eaten crayfish before and I must admit I still haven't. I promise, I was going to but they were still looking at me even after they were cooked! I can't eat whole fish either; something about those eyes...

We had great weather! Very sunny and nice cool breezes. We walked the beach and gathered shells. I even went out into the water knee-deep! Really, this is a big thing for me since I hear Jaws music in swimming pools! One afternoon, I was gleefully gathering seashells at the jetty when I felt one of the shells move when I picked it up. On closer examination, I found all the shells I had collected were already occupied by hermit crabs. I put them back!

You wouldn't believe the mosquitoes down there! I thought they were bad here at home; not even close! I am covered in bites even through the repellent I wore. The bugs are so bad they have trucks that drive the neighborhoods spraying for them!

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I am glad to be home and back to work! The cold is better except for a nagging cough. I'm afraid I shared the cold with Rick and had him snotting and coughing along with me. I had super-stitching-mojo while on holiday and got a lot done ~ I'll share that in another post!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Boots & Bikes 2009

On Saturday Rick and I were signed up to do a poker run hosted by the Stillwater Professional Firefighters. What is a poker run? Usually, it's motorcycles or hot rods and everyone leaves from a designated spot, travels to five stops (often bars or restaurants,) drawing a card at each stop. At the end, your poker hand is tallied and the winning hand wins a prize and the lowest hand wins a prize. Depending on who is hosting, there might be other prizes as well. This was my first poker run and I was quite excited!

We left the house at 8am and had breakfast at a popular diner. I don't often eat breakfast out so that was a treat. By 9:30 we met up with several friends at a local motorcycle shop and checked ourselves in. We both got t-shirts, red ones, logo shown below. I had slathered on SPF 50 sunscreen before we left the house but I was nervous so I did some more! It was probably 10 before we got everyone in our group situated and ready to go and off we went! Our first stop was a little town called Mulhall. We parked the bike and went to the bar to draw our first card. I drew a 5 of spades...crap! We had a beer; I know, beer and it wasn't even 11 am but it was already getting hot outside! More sunscreen. On to the next stop at a bar in Perry. Another beer and I drew a 9 of hearts. Yay. My hand wasn't looking favorable! Our third stop was in Pawnee and we just quick went into the bar and drew our cards...mine was a Queen, I forget what suit. And more sunscreen.

We wanted to hurry on to the fourth stop in Cushing, for lunch. The stop was at a favorite Mexican restaurant, Rodolpho's. Oh, heaven! Tecate with salt & lime, enchiladas and their to-die-for homemade flour tortillas! I drew another Queen there. Ooo, a pair! The last stop was back in Stillwater (Where the bank thermometer read 95, surely it was hotter than that?) at the famous Eskimo Joe's. We were rather early so we went inside to enjoy the air conditioning and yet another beer since they weren't drawing cards until after three. Lots of bikes were trickling in and we chatted and watched. I'm terribly sorry but I forgot the camera that day! They finally formed up to draw cards and I drew another Queen! Holy smokes!

By this time in a poker run you can usually tell about where you stand. If you only have a poor hand you can call it a day if you're tired and ready to leave. With three Queens in my hand we thought I had a pretty good chance of winning. We had tickets to the Talons/Yard Dawgz game in Oklahoma City at 7pm and we were going to cut it close! But with three Queens we couldn't just leave.

The last-bike-in deadline was 4:30 and we'd been watching them tally hands. Finally, finally it was getting close to announce the winners. Rick spoke to a former co-worker who is now a firefighter and chatted him up to go peek at the chances for us. He returned and reported I was tied for first! OMG! Last call for check-in and they started announcing winners. The winning hand was three Queens/Ace high...I was second place! We hadn't expected a runner-up prize but they called my name with three Queens/Nine high. And cows-in-the-corn, I won $200! How awesomely cool is that? One of our friends won the prize for lowest hand, $100. We also had tickets for door prizes and won a leather bag and a pirate skull cap. What a great time that was!

We zoomed back home by 5pm and dashed into the shower...we were pretty rank after spending all day in the heat and drinking beer and wearing ten layers of sunscreen! I don't remember ever showering so fast before but we were pressed for time! Our beloved Talons were playing our hated-arch-rivals the Yard Dawgz in less than two hours! But we made it in time. The Talons won easily and we had a good time. So far, this season, we've only lost one game. There are some pretty tough games coming up though.

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Wow, what a day. Rick and I were both really tired on Sunday. So much excitement! Last night I told him I think we needed a weekend after our weekend, just to recover! In fact, I think I'm still tired! Good grief, I won $200! I still can't believe it! Do you know how much stash I could buy with $200??? Oh, yes. Whoops! of course you do!

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We are going to Texas near the end of this week, for Rick's family reunion. If you don't see me around, chatting up your blogs, I'm just busy at the beach. I'll try to remember that darn camera too!

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Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Fun holiday

We had a fun holiday yesterday. I had to work the morning but as soon as I was off we packed up the bike and rode to Edmond, where my parents live. Yes, it was actually warm enough to ride, 65 degrees! We had turkey, with all the trimmings, shared with my parents, sister, brother and his wife & kids. Jessie came too, of course. It was a fun time even if we were all in different stages of sniffling and coughing! It was pretty cold on the ride home...leather chaps and coats are pretty toasty even in the wind...but the chaps don't cover your rear. Just call me icicle butt.

Christine sent word the floss tag she won from me arrived. When I saw who'd won the draw I knew I wouldn't be able to resist sending a few extras. Christine loves penguins! Here is a snap of the goodies I sent and visit Christine's blog too!

I tried to add a new blog to my following list today and it refused. It said I had reached 200 blogs and that was the limit. How sad is that? Apparently, I have too many friends.

Thanks for visiting my blog today! I want you all to know how much I enjoy your comments. I treasure your friendship!

Old Blind Dogs

Imagine getting to spend four or five hours up-close-and-personal with one of your idols...say, your most favorite band? That is what happened to me on Thursday! For real!

I'll back up a couple of weeks, when we found out my favorite Celtic band the Old Blind Dogs were coming to Oklahoma. Tahlequah is only a couple of hours away so we decided if the weather cooperated we would take a ride over on the motorcycle, get a hotel and see the Dogs play! A side note: Jessie was not pleased. The Dogs are her favorite as well and they were playing in a bar and she is only 20. I have heard several rants about our-screwed-up-drinking-age-limits-in-the-USA over the past few days...sigh, poor kid. It really isn't fair.

The weather was gorgeous. We both got off work early on Thursday morning and headed out about 1pm. We planned a stop in Kilkenny's pub in Tulsa for lunch. I had apple cider, Rick, a beer and we both had fish and chips. It was our first time to eat here and we both enjoyed it very much. There are quite a few antique shops in the area so I'm thinking we need to go back soon! A wash up and we were back on the road to Tahlequah.

Got into Tahlequah around 4:30 and decided to find the bar before getting a hotel. We wanted to be fairly close since it was going to be a late night. Granny's Attic was on a lightly busy street and had just opened up for the evening. (Another site here.) We were welcomed by Matt who served us a beer and said Sam, the owner, would be in shortly. When Sam arrived we soon found ourselves with a new best friend. Before we knew it, he was on the phone with a hotel getting us a Jacuzzi room at a discounted rate; right up near the front so we could keep an eye on our bike! We learned the Dogs were friends of his and he was excited to know we were fans and had come all the way from Stillwater! After we finished our beer we left, checked into our hotel, had a quick nap and shower. The only thing to mar the day so far was that Rick and I both were getting ill with the dratted first cold of the season. After a refreshing shower we headed to a Chili's we saw down the road.

We arrived at Granny's Attic that night to find the Dogs smoking cigarettes out front. OMG! My jaw dropped! Those of you who know me know I am most painfully shy. I stepped thru past them (blushing) and couldn't stand it...I turned around and grinned and said "Hi Jonny, we came all the way from Stillwater to see you play." Of course, being from Scotland, they have no idea where Stillwater is. Rick told them how far and them being boys had to ask about the motorcycle. I showed them my ipod with all 11 of their albums on. After a bit of chat (Oh heavens, their accents are divine!) Rick and I went inside for a drink...another beer. We drifted upstairs and found a table right next to where the Dogs were going to play. OMG!

Sniffling, remember ~ we both have colds, we chat and watch the various band members ~ mostly Jonny and Aaron, setting up for their set. Fraser and Ali (the new piper) were busy with chatting up the college girls according to Jonny. Next thing Aaron plunks his beer down and sets next to me! More chatting, Aaron tells us of adventures flying back and forth from Scotland over 16 years. He takes another look at my ipod and tells me the album I have called "Live" is not recognised by the band; they never authorized it's creation or release! Then here comes Jonny and squeezes in between Aaron and I with his beer. Up jumps Jonny, grabs a pen and paper and we are helping him remember the words to Hollis Brown. OMG! We forgot one line and could never think of it, but Jonny figured everyone could get the jist of the song without it. The Dogs tell us they are friends with Sam the pubs owner and they were there because they had two days between venues and called Sam up with an offer.

The waitress comes with more beer and Aaron insists on paying. OH MY GOD! THE DOGS JUST BOUGHT US A BEER! I am literally in heaven. It gets closer to the time for them to play and all four are in and out and back and fourth. I have been instructed by Jessie to film as much of the performance as possible on her flip video. It is more like a jam session than a concert. Very informal and loads of fun. I get most of the important stuff on video for Jess. I completely forget to take pictures; and only get a few. We sing along and clap and scream. Jonny sings Hollis Brown; remembers the verse we couldn't think of and turns to me in the middle of it, points at me and says "That's the verse we forgot!" I'm ginning like a bloomin' idiot!

During intermission Aaron makes me come look at t-shirts. He says I have to take one home for Jessie since she couldn't come. OMG! I pick one out and know Jess will be thrilled with it. (She hasn't let me wash it as yet...) All four of the Dogs at some point sit with us during their break. Aaron gave me the shirt, Jonny tries to buy us more booze, and Fraser and Ali come and chat motorcycles. Fraser has his license but hasn't bought one yet. He can't afford the one he wants and nothing else will do. All the Dogs curse and drink like Scotsmen. Odd eh? I'd say they were quite smashing drunk by the end of the set but everyone knows Scotsmen don't get drunk. I am over the moon. It has been an enchanting evening! Rick and I were very careful not to drink too much as we were too far to walk back to the hotel!

The Dogs disappeared quickly after their performance. I know they had to be up early the next day as they only had a short time to get to their next venue. I am so pleased to find my hero's are down to Earth, real and Scottish to the core.

On Friday, we pack up the bike fairly early and hit the road. We take a different route back than we came in. We have a stop in Cushing to eat at Rodolfo's ~ Mexican is my all time favorite food. Then it was home to loads and loads of laundry, bills to pay and a carpet of dog hair to vacuum up. Jessie is still inconsolable at missing seeing them. She is in luck though; they told me they would be back again soon....

Thank you for staying and listening to me babble for such a long time. I think my brain is rather addled by all this excitement. I've spent the last two days recovering my wits and trying to shake this darn cold. Thanks to all who've read this far...you are huggable.

Man Stash

The last time I was on a motorcycle was 10 years ago when we wrecked our touring bike. We weren't hurt more than road rash, bumps and bruises but it was enough to scare the s**t out of me. A couple of years ago Rick got a little (and I mean little) motorcycle to drive to work and save gas. Then he needed a bigger bike because he was hooked again. That time, he bought a Suzuki RF 900 R. I never so much as sat on that scary looking creature! Plus, I thought it was an ugly bike~eeew!

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Motorcycles are apparently as addictive as biscornu making. Rick drove to Arkansas yesterday and bought a brand-spanking-new Honda VTX 1800 S. When he got her home I thought she didn't look too bad and not scary at all. I even sat on her. Will wonders never cease. This morning, Rick went out-and-about on her and I started reading my blogs and chatting on IM with Lisa.

When Rick came home he wanted me to go with him to Edmond to visit my parents. Umm, okay! It was a beautiful day. This motorcycle is massive and solid-feeling under you. I didn't mind a bit even though the last time I was on one it was sliding across the ground. Today was fun. My left arm is sunburned. I need a new butt as I think mine is broken. We had a blast. I thought I'd share a few pictures from today's little outing; you can just see a peek of me in the third one...

I'm green...

My friend Tracy recently returned from holiday in Ireland. She has a lovely post about her trip...here. She also has the most beautiful photos of her trip (on her main page.)


I wanna go!

One gnome is home...

Yes, I'm home! I've been pouting and working. We had a lovely trip barring the long traffic delays through Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia...both due to accidents. We arrived in Orlando on Friday around noon. We checked into our hotel, got a bite to eat and collapsed. I'm afraid we did nothing else that day. I was rather freaked out about all the traffic there and on the way Thursday...I'm just a small-town girl!

On Saturday morning we caught the courtesy shuttle to Magic Kingdom and had a blast! I loved Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World and Pirates of the Carribbean! The Philharmagic show was awesome too. We ate pizza, turkey legs and pretzels and walked around until our feet fell off. We caught a cab back to the hotel, had dinner at the hotel's restauraunt and as we were both exhausted we went to bed early.

On Sunday we spent the morning in and resting our aching feet. I wanted to try driving a bit to see if it still frightened me so we looked up an antiques shop and added the address into the TomTom. I drove right to it with no problems-did I mention how much I love my TomTom??? We spent a few dollars...two wooden cats and a book for me, Jessie didn't see anything that took her fancy. We also drove to the Medieval Times to pick up our tickets for that evening, had a bite to eat and got ready for the show.

Jess LOVED Medieval Times, I knew she would! It was grand fun and we both loved seeing the horses and show. Jess insists we must go back one day so Rick can see the show.

On Monday playtime was over and we got Jess to her check-in early. She went off doing her stuff and I went to the parent's tent for coffee and info. I took a walking tour of the apartment complex and the rep answered questions and explained routines and such. The complex is nice and seems quite secure. There are buses that go everywhere for the interns so Jess wont need to drive too much. I helped Jess put her stuff into her assigned apartment and she had meetings to go to. I walked back to the hotel to wait for her to finish.

I cross stitched all that afternoon; I got quite a bit done on les Moutons! After Jess had her meetings she drove to pick me up and we went for an early dinner (she didn't get lunch) and made a trip to Walmart for some food and other needed items. I helped her unpack and chatted a bit and walked back to the hotel...leaving my kid there for seven months. Wahhh! It was hard not to cry!

I flew home Tuesday morning, Orlando's airport is very nice. I sat in the food court for a long time cross stitching on les Moutons and listening to my iPod. I had a long wait in Dallas (I like that airport too) as my plane was delayed. More stitching time! After I landed in OKC we had dinner with my parents and then drove home. Ahh, home was so nice! I miss the kid like crazy.

Jessie has been uploading videos to her youtube account of her adventures...see them here!

Tupelo

Hey, we're in Tupelo, Mississippi...just about half way! Had a nice drive here today and made good time. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel and dinner was a pizza delivered to our hotel. Been thru Arkansas, Tennessee and now Mississippi. Free internet at the hotel was a nice extra! I LOVE the TomTom...we had no problems keeping the correct road. We are having a blast so far! I hope to keep this updated as we go but I'm not sure of our internet access...

Hugz to all from the roaming gnomes...

I'll be home soon

I'm off in the morning for Florida with Jess. We have decided to go a bit early so to enjoy the trip and spend a day at Magic Kingdom. Rick is staying home to work and baby-sit the pets but I promise to bring him a surprise.

I'm recovering from the flu which I came down with last Friday evening. I got to the doctor early enough to take the flu-fighting medicine and get Jess started on it so she doesn't get it. I do feel much better, although weak as a kitten! Then...Rick came down with it Sunday evening!!! Off to the doctor with him too. It's been loads of fun at our house this week!

Will I have empty-nest syndrome when I get back from Florida? What are the symptoms? I must do research...see y'all in a week or so!