My Little Victory Garden, Entry 10: Teaoli, Delivery Day and “Garden Improvement”

Sometimes I go back and re-read my posts then really cringe.  Take last week’s “Victory Garden” entry, for example.  Here are all the Blog Boo-Boos I found: a) I talked about Teaoli and didn’t even provide you with photos or information.  b) I wrote some sort of introductory statement like, “And now…here are the finished quiches, feast your eyes!” and followed that up with a photo of my broccoli. Wha?? And, 3) I talked about Teaoli and didn’t even provide you with photos or information.  The Teaoli little faux pas is worth two bullet points.

Nestled in the northwest shopping corner of 15th & Bryant in Edmond awaits a very special place for you to explore.  The owners would love you to come in and taste olive oils, infused olive oils, balsamic vinegars, blended balsamic vinegars, and teas…and teas and teas. Every time I go shopping for olive oil, I always want to taste it.  And now I finally can.  I’ve spent between $7.00 and about $30.00 for approximately 14-18 oz of olive oil.  Their 14 oz bottles are $14.50, a mid-range price-point for oils by and large from California.  I can recommend my first purchase: Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  The description reads, “Fresh and lively with a mild to medium intensity with notes of green apple peel and herbs.” I just uncorked it again to take another whiff and see if I agree with their narrative.  (*inhale….okay, another inhale*) Yes. Continue reading My Little Victory Garden, Entry 10: Teaoli, Delivery Day and “Garden Improvement”

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Simple Sabbath: All Things New


Several years ago I lived through a nightmare. A very close friend lost his thirteen year old son. He was a good kid, a little bit goofy, but a handsome young man who sparkled with innocence and energy.  The doctors did not save him; there was no option for an experimental drug or miracle treatment. In a terrible accident, this teenager died — a healthy boy who awakened that morning with his whole life ahead of him; a child lying in a funeral home that night.

It was horrible.

My friend and I sat on the back porch late into the evening.  I could feel the emptiness, the darkness of Dad’s soul. I’ve never felt more helpless; it was so final, and it felt so unfair, unnatural and wrong. I spoke at the funeral. I was angry. I was angry with the boy, I was angry with me . . . and I was angry toward God. Death was not welcomed, it was wretched. By faith I summoned words to convey a better life to come and how we would all see our young friend someday in heaven. The whole time I never once doubted that God is good, and that we can trust Him. But, I can still remember the anger. Continue reading Simple Sabbath: All Things New

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Fiscally Fit Bootcamp Whips Your Wallet Into Shape

I guess that you could say that Billy Joel and I have a little something in common. No, I’ve never married a supermodel even though my husband Justin is pretty hunky. All I can play on the piano is “I dropped my dolly in the dirt” so there’s no similarity there. But, just as the chorus in Billy’s hit song “I Go to Extremes” says, apparently Billy and I both go to extremes and neither of us knows why.

In the summer of 2009, I had an 8 month old baby boy and 17 pounds of baby weight that didn’t leave my body when the baby did. Instead of slowly starting a workout regimen to walk off the pounds or enrolling in a nice, leisurely yoga class a few times per week, I got an extreme idea. I guess it was the Piano Man part of my personality breaking through.

I had been driving around town and kept seeing these little signs stuck in the grass called Operation Bootcamp. I went to the website and watched all of the video testimonials. Operation Bootcamp is a 30 day outdoor workout routine held locally in parks. Did I mention that I signed up for the June/July session and that it is outdoors?  Did I also mention that it involves running (which I hate), push ups face down in the grass, sit ups (which I could not even do at the time), bear crawls, and some monstrosity called a “mountain climber”? Continue reading Fiscally Fit Bootcamp Whips Your Wallet Into Shape

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The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 16

#16 of 52 : ROBIN
Imaginary Family Project - Week 16

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
With all my moving across this wide open mid-western country for near sixty years one would think I’d have organized something about my life.  Every time I unload a moving truck into bedrooms and kitchens I am amazed at the boxes I’ve not opened since my last move. In the unused study the boxes rise against the wall. I’m not running from anything because I carry it with me, sealed in plastic cases and shoe boxes.

My last move five months ago landed me as a library assistant in a small town in Oklahoma bordered by miles of ranch land. All the major county roads are lined with fence posts and barbed wire, and the black cows are scattered alongside a creek snaking through a field almost barren of trees.  There’s something peaceful about gazing across flat land at a lone tree and a cloudless blue sky stretched like a blanket above my head.  And as I gaze for too long and become lost in my thoughts, the tree becomes a stranger staring back at me until I lose the contest, look away, awed by the ache of quiet.  Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 16

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Music from the Man Cave: Chronology of My Concert History at THE INCOMPARABLE MYRIAD

I stayed up way too late last night watching a rockumentary about Rush on Palladia.  I love Palladia; it’s what MTV could have been.  I think it may be owned by MTV.  Nevertheless, there were musicians from several other bands talking about Rush and the influence that band had on their own music.  I started thinking about the times I’ve seen Rush and how they are kind of a man cave band.  I’m not sure why women don’t dig Rush like guys do….maybe you’ll enlighten me.
Anyway, that train of thought led me to man cave music and eventually to the concerts I’ve seen at, as they used to say, “The Incomparable Myriad!” Naming rights to the building have since been sold to Cox Cable but it’s still the Myriad to me.

My first concert there was in 1977 while I was just in 7th grade.  I could not imagine turning my 7th graders loose in a venue that large….not sure what my Mom was thinking but we both survived the experience.  And, I saw Led Zeppelin on their last North American tour.  Yes I did.  For $7.  John Bonham, if memory serves, played his orange chrysolite Ludwig drums and had a platform that rolled to the front of the stage for Moby Dick.  That and Jimmy Page being surrounded by a cone of lasers while he played his Les Paul with a violin bow are about all I remember…..but I was there DUDE! Continue reading Music from the Man Cave: Chronology of My Concert History at THE INCOMPARABLE MYRIAD

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Showcasing Red Dirt culture ~ authored and managed by contributors with connections to the great state of Oklahoma.