debide
Since his retirement Mike has been working on a design for his "O" gauge Lionel train. He has had the train since 1956 and is just now taking it out of storage. It has taken over the spare room and continues to grow each week. He has architectual drawings of where the train will feed in and out of tunnels, through the town, drop off goods and pick them up. 
** be sure to check out the difference in the two pictures of the patio table from earlier yesterday morning's blog and today **
Well it’s been a long time since I have seen a winter like this in Oklahoma. But here we are again with ice and snow. (see previous blogs) Thought we were going to miss out on the blunt of the storm, and to some extent we were as we only got about ½ inch of ice, but this morning around 9:30 it started snowing and it is still snowing and expected to continue until late evening. So far we have about 5 inches of snow on top of the ice. We are lucky that we still have power, full refrigerator and things to do around the house. Hopefully we will be able to get out tomorrow or Sunday – then they are predicting another “something” for Monday. At this point I think they are afraid to use the “snow” word again……….ha ha ha 
This week our FCCLA group has been collecting Stuffed Animals for DVIS and Nursing Homes and I thought it was time to maybe clean out my closet for some “Slightly used” Teddy Bears. So while I was at work I had Mike take them out and lay them on the bed for me to decide which to save and which to donate. Well………..I knew I had some bears, but I had no idea I had that many!!! They took up the whole bed, and of course Mike had them staged just perfectly. I remember walking into the room and the first thing that popped into my head was “Love”. Look at all that love. I never remember thinking – what a mess – or how did this thing get out of hand – or have they been multiplying on their own. – but love. 
Each of us has memories of that favorite thing we carried everywhere when we were growing up - for my brother it was his beanie hat, for my grandson Jason its his donkey and for my grandson Kevin it was his monkey. But I never remember having anything I had to carry around, maybe I did but I am so old I can’t remember. But I do know that if I had 30 minutes to pack up before disaster I would for sure grab the largest stuffed bear on the bed. Why?? Because it symbolizes me hugging me, me hugging family, me hugging God. That’s the whole thing about Teddy Bears isn’t it?? That we as humans can hug something – we can connect our bodies with something else. We have that need to touch, hug, embrace, and confirm our existence with someone or something else. 
( did I give some away……..no, I couldn’t because each held a special memory – this one I got for Christmas, or this one I got when I graduated college, or these are all from my brother-in-law………and so the story goes. But I will buy a new one and donate it so that some child can feel its love, and an older person in the nursing home can have fond memories return to hug.)
It has never happened - at least that is what the weathermen are saying - BLIZZARD Warnings for Tulsa County. It started yesterday - rain, heavy at times with lightening and tornado warnings in the southern half of Oklahoma. Then this morning a viscous arctic blast - rain turned to freezing rain, sleet. Then about an hour ago it turned to snow. We are expected to get 4 to 8 inches. So much for Christmas Eve family get together. Even the Churches in Tulsa have all cancelled their evening and midnight services.
For us Christmas Eve started out with cooking and mike smoking a Ham. Then as the day went along first our grandson Jason became ill, then our grandnephew Lucus turned up ill, couple that with the weather and the two matriarchs - (Debbie and Cari) decided we did not need "specific date" to celebrate Christmas and family so we cancelled the evening events and rescheduled for tomorrow. So here we are food in the fridge - but that is for tomorrow, so for tonight I am making a big batch of Chicken Enchilada Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches........
The Alps
d view the alps from the balcony of our hotel at 6,000ft. And the definitive question and answer has to be – are the Mts. Gods gift to us to show us his beautiful work or is it to remind us of his infinite power and wisdom? I like to think a little bit of both.
I used to tell people that I had my clothes made by Omar the Tent Maker, but it was not until we were on vacation in Myrtle Beach South Carolina that I realized that I had my bathing suit made by his cousin Corilita the Curtain Maker. (Mike said he was grateful that I had a sun burn otherwise he would not have been able to see me sitting at the table.) If you click on the picture you can see just how closely they match.
und the world. To know that because of these young men, many of them not much older than the boys on tour, sacrificing their lives so that we would have the freedoms to travel, to learn, to see first hand.
ies that aired on PBS World at War series - The announcer in the background, deep voice crying out the horrors of War. Watching film clips of our young soldiers storming the beaches, clips that were shown back home in movie theaters to elicit national pride and encourage enlistment. Those to me were the real meanings behind the invasion. And here I was 65 years later, crossing under, the same waters they crossed. As we crossed under the water in the Chunnel I could not help but want to reach out to all those who died in the water to thank their souls for the sacrifices they made and to their families that will never have a gravesite to visit or honor.
ee I decided my 9th grade year that instead of playing the clarinet (poorly) I would take art instead. After 2 weeks of introduction from the teacher he gave us free reign to draw anything we wanted. So I used the bold primary colors and drew a ship with masts and water with waves. I was proud!! Then he came over to look at it – and I will never ev
er forget his word- “Debra you played in the band didn’t you?? You might want to consider going back to band”. OMG how traumatic. So the next Monday mom and I went into the office, and by last period there I was sitting 3rd seat, 3rd row clarinet.
ll remember Vacation Bible School or Girl Scout Camp - a time of joy and sharing. I had fun, learned a little but mostly had fun – until the Popsicle Lady showed up and fear emerged in me like Mt. Vesuvius getting ready to explode. Why – because she was always “perky” and said “Now children today we are going to take these sticks and you are going to build a church” Ok…… Now I have said how much I loved architecture what I did not say was that getting a concept from my brain to my hands – well lets just say that connection
was never made in the womb. So here I sat – looking at dozens of sticks, glue, and felt……. well after hours of trying the best I could do was make a very large star. Not exactly the church the teacher wanted I would go home defeated – why could other kids glue sticks and make reindeers, or houses and I could not……
Sunsets are often seen as the end of something, but what if the sunset was the beginning. The beginning of a new time, of a time of peace, tranquility, a moment frozen when we can take that one big sigh as if to say “all is well”.
There is a moment when the sky is lit with a luminance that challenges the mind to identify the colors – are they real, can they be duplicated, would they have taste? Is a sunset a commitment from God that there will be a tomorrow? Is a sunset a place in our minds that reminds us of that time in our lives when we laughed and loved and smiled. Are sunsets that passion that dances in our souls within the human body and arouses our senses? Or are sunsets just empty signs that the earth has moved?
To me………..sunsets are much more than just that random movement of the planets and weather fronts and ozone layers. A sunset reminds me that while there is so much ugliness in the world, I need not worry for the father has laid down a beautiful resting place for me that soothes, excites, will enhance my senses, and give me peace.
