Introducing Tonks

Tonks Roberts - Our new Malamute Puppy

My husband and I got our first puppy approximately six months after we were married.  It wasn’t until years later that I learned getting a puppy at that particular point in a married life was a typical thing.

Get married, get settled, then…get puppy.  “Futz” Roberts (so named by Mick after a tame wolf who used to hang out at a bar in Stillwater) was half Australian Shepherd and half Samoyed.  He was the first dog of our hearts, and we loved him dearly.  There are stories I could tell. Oh, there are definitely stories.  But even now, I’m not ready to write them.  I still miss him and he’s been gone for over ten years.

Our second dog was adopted a few months after Futzie died.  I named him Bojangles because that week I happened to be in a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band mood.  He was billed as “half Husky and Half shepherd” by the shelter, but he looked a little like a golden retriever. Except that he was brown. And, he had a spotted tongue like a Chow.  Bojangles was a really sweet soul and he died too young.  The urban legend we’ve created in our family is that Bo saved us from a poisonous snake he battled in our back yard at night that might otherwise have hurt us.  It’s true that he was a great guard dog. And he would take on whatever animal happened to venture beyond the borders of our fence into his territory.  And it’s true that we’ve discovered more than our share of poisonous snakes since we’ve lived here.  However, we’re just not sure what really happened to our dog.  One day Mick walked out into the back yard and thought Bo had been sleeping a little too long.  He had.  That was another sad, sad day.

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The Spirituality of Births, Graduations, Weddings and Funerals

This is NOT my daughter's cake topper choice, but just an illustration of the whimsy involved recently in fun wedding choices. Click photo if you want to purchase this one.

Lamar is taking a break, so I have prepared a short thought for our Simple Sabbath post this morning. I sat down at my computer and the first thing I noticed on my desktop was two images; items my eldest daughter had picked out for her upcoming wedding.  One is the cake topper.  People don’t just use plastic molded standing brides and grooms for cake toppers any more.  And the other is a little “accent” for the wedding – to be used at just the right time.  I love it.

They are both secrets so I’ll just have to leave them here on my computer until they can be revealed during their wedding day.  But thoughts about the wedding led to other thoughts…musings about life events.

Christmas will be here soon, my eldest daughter is deeply involved in planning for her upcoming wedding in March, we’re picking up a new “family member” today (a six week old Alaskan Malamute puppy), my younger daughter will be finishing her hair stylist program this summer and a friend of mine died last week.  Births (I know, I’m using a puppy birth and the Christmas season for my example…), graduations, weddings and funerals.  I’m 47 years old and I’ve been sitting through or experiencing all these occasions literally since my own birth in one way or another.

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My Sports Wish List

Only a week til Christmas, so its a little late for wish lists.  I won’t be asking for anything extraordinary from my family and friends at this point.  Get me the sweater, the book, the DVD, and I’m a happy guy.

But let’s pretend for a moment there is a sports Santa Claus.  A sports version of St. Nick who is very interested in making the wishes of sports fans come true.  Well Mr. Claus, I’ve been pretty good this year and I have a few requests.

Here is what I want for Christmas:

soma online overnight I WANT A COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

Don't the unbeaten Horned Frogs at least deserve a shot at a national championship? Maybe one day they'll get that chance. (courtesy realclearsports.com)

I know Santa, you get this one a lot, but I’m never going to stop wishing for this.  I’m thrilled with an Oregon/Auburn matchup in the title game, but the BCS continues to get lucky and that can’t last forever.  I’ll even admit TCU probably isn’t as good as Oregon or Auburn, but shouldn’t that be decided on the field?  The Horned Frogs did absolutely everything that was asked of them, but won’t get a sniff of a championship simply because of discrimination toward smaller schools and non-traditional powers.  I don’t care how big or small the playoff is, I just want a level playing field here.  And spare me the excuses of extra games, protecting student-athletes, and preserving the bowl system.  The bowl system is a middling mess of mediocrity.  You mean we might miss out on Florida International vs. Toledo in the Little Caesar’s Bowl?  Good, I’d rather watch curling anyway.  Trust me Santa, if you want to stop receiving these letters, you’ll find a way to make this happen for me and the countless fans who hate seeing this sport’s champion be crowned by ignorant human voters and soulless computers.

I WANT THE NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT TO STAY AT 65 TEAMS

College football may get it wrong, but college basketball gets it right.  There is no need to expand March Madness to 96 teams as is being discussed by the NCAA.  65 teams means the little guy still has a shot and that’s all the little guy is asking for.

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Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch: All’s FAIR in Love and War

“You should enter some of your peppers in the fair.”

tenspeed
Julie with her bike at the Chickasha county fair

The county fair.

When I was in fifth grade I performed a baton routine at the Grady County Fair in Chickasha,Oklahoma.  That same night I won a ten-speed bike that I really wasn’t able to ride comfortably for about five more years.   It didn’t matter that my mom bought all of the tickets that she was supposed to sell.  I had won.  It was a fabulous night.

The memory of that fabulous night was all it took to peak my interest and begin a perpetual thinking cycle this past week.  Here’s what happened…

Our local extension agent and his wife were attending a party at my house, and we were touring my garden.  He innocently suggested that I participate in the local county fair.  My mind started spinning like a Ferris wheel.

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Crunch Time, Countdown to Christmas

This is our poor Christmas Tree we just put up!

With Christmas fast approaching I am going to deviate from our usual Stockyards City Cookbook recipe and share a favorite family recipe with you.

If you are like me you are close to panic mode. Christmas is just around the corner, there is shopping to be done, presents to be wrapped, baking, cleaning and in my case – decorating the house. Yep, you read that right! It is the 16th of December and this self proclaimed “Mrs. Claus” has not decorated her house yet. I waited too late to get a real tree so I drug the fake one out of the attic. My husband took it downstairs for me, put it together and plugged it in. Let’s just say it is going to take a lot of work to get that tree ready for decorations! So rather than work on the Christmas tree I decided to start my baking. I didn’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen so I decided to make a quick, easy recipe that my grandmother always made. I’m sure it has an official name but we call it Nana’s Graham Cracker Treats. If you need a quick treat to take to a party or even a cookie exchange this can be whipped up in no time at all.

Nana’s Graham Cracker Treats
Loyce Robinson

2 pkgs. of Graham Crackers (1/2 box)
1 C. Brown Sugar
1 3/4 sticks Margarine (1 stick plus 6 T of  margarine)
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 C. chopped Pecans (optional)

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