OU Game Day

I went to the OU opening game yesterday; they played University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. As usual for the first game of the year it's HOT and STICKY! (but then sometimes the game planning people are really stupid and make the game in the middle of the day when it's blazing sun and 100 degrees). Thank goodness this game started at 6:00 PM so the hope of cooler air was on the horizon. We parked down by our church and walked to the game with some of our good friends (even though the walk from our house was probably about the same distance just not thru all the fun stuff!).On the way we stopped for the band coming thru Campus Corner so we had to clap and sing Oklahoma. Here's a view of campus corner going toward the campus.

A picture of the Michael F. Price College of Business (where Kristen spends her days as an accounting major).








The front of the stadium waiting to scan our tickets and let them search our purses.














The opening ceremonies and a picture of the new Jumbotron scoreboard. We had one but that one wasn't big enough so we had to get a new one. All those national championships are worth something, right?







Not a good picture, but this is the OU Pom squad where we hope Kaitlyn will be next year.







The Sooner Schooner. They have new ponies this year and they're gray. Everyone was complaining that we liked the white ones better but they RETIRED!!!

At half time a REALLY dark cloud came up and the announcer came on and said they were extending half-time for 30 minutes because a severe thunderstorm was rapidly approaching the stadium and everyone should take immediate cover! There was lightning etc. So we left (since the score was already OU 50 to Chattanooga's 2) to go drink at one of the restaurants on Campus Corner however as we were leaving the stadium, you could look back and see this HUGE wall of rain coming at you so we quickly put on our ponchos and started running to the closest building, which happened to be the Student Union. Here's a picture of Kay (my very good friend and former co-leader with me of Girl Scout Troop 235) with our rain gear. Usually Kay and I ride our bikes up to the tailgate parties and meet Joe and her husband Randy (who were freshman friends together in college) then the guys go to the game and Kay and I ride back home (so we don't have to endure the game, ugh!).

So we proceeded up to the second floor where all the couches and TV's were and sat up there for about 30-45 mins till the worst of the storm was over. We then proceeded to La Luna Mexican Grill and Cantina to have dinner before leaving to go home. It turned out to be a fun night.

Tuesday

I've been really busy the past several days. I worked at Kohl's A LOT! Joe helped Kristen move into her apartment. I did get to go over there on Sunday evening, but her room was still kind of messy so I didn't take any pictures of the inside. I did, however, take a picture of her apartment building. She is on the second floor and her room is to the left of the screened porch (between the two trees). Of course, when she saw me take the picture she started accusing me of being a "creeper." Oh well!

Joe and I and Kaitlyn with 2 of her friends went to the lake on Saturday. We had a good time. Everyone (but me) tried out the wakeboard and most of them got up and went for a little ways. Kaitlyn got up the easiest but Joe rode for the longest time.

Here is a copy of my mantra lately - it's a sign I found at Hobby Lobby and I hung it over my kitchen door so I can see it every day.

Time for School

Yesterday, Kaitlyn started back to school. Her 1st day as a senior and her last "first day of school." She already has "senior-itis." I think she's ready to move on. If it wasn't for that darn AP English and Oklahoma History (the 2 classes she needs to graduate) she'd be done. She did say she thought she was going to like her sociology class. They get to go to a prison and talk to prisoners (uh, I'm not sure that I like that part) at the end of the semester. She's also taking Clothing I, Physics, Personal Finance, and Pom. She doesn't take Oklahoma History until 2nd semester. This is the first year she's been able to take some blow-off, easy classes. She's always been in orchestra and cheer/pom and couldn't take "exploratory" classes so she's making up for it this year.

Kristen is moving into her first apartment tomorrow (Friday - Lord, help me and please let the girls she's living with have forgiving hearts!). Kristen's room almost always looks like a tornado came through there. She does do her own laundry but she doesn't know the first thing about cooking. This summer she usually had Dad buy her lunch (since she rode to work with him every day while she was interning at The Ford Center with him) or if she was home, she begged Kaitlyn to cook something for her. She has even offered Kaitlyn cold, hard cash if she'll come and CLEAN HER ROOM for her in the apartment. Kristen needs to find a future husband with SERIOUS MONEY or the ability to EARN some SERIOUS MONEY!!! That girl needs help!!

Working at The Omicron....

.

Today I worked at the sorority house (nicknamed The Omicron) during rush. It was "house tour day" for the rush-ees. The moms cleaned the house while the girls got ready. Then we hid in the kitchen while each party was taking place.

When all the girls were upstairs in the chapter room doing the skits, we got snacks ready and make the "mocktails" (shirley temples in a martini glass). We took them out to the serving tables and pledged/wiped down the tables in the dining hall, etc. between parties while they were upstairs and then ran back in the kitchen like little elves that did the work when no one was looking.

This is what their parking lot behind the house looked like. I think some dad parked the cars for the girls to fit most of them in there. I was lucky and parked behind the fence at the university's hotel. I worked from 10:30 AM to 8:00 PM. I was really tired when I left, I cannot even imagine how tired the girls were. They did 14 parties on Friday, 11 on Saturday, 6 today, 2 tomorrow (pref night) and Tuesday is bid day. Wow, I didn't realize how much work they really do. I think Kristen is either getting "strep" or she's very hoarse from singing and talking non-stop since Friday.

Working at the Car Wash......

Today we had the Varsity Pom squad car wash fundraiser. We kept our fingers crossed and held our heads just right and it didn't rain on us. We had already sold tickets the week before so we had our money up front. I just didn't want to tell anyone the car wash was canceled due to rain and we didn't have a makeup date and they wouldn't be getting their money back either.

We had some girls and their parents washing cars (check out this car!).



Our teeny mascot Ginny who is wearing a cheerleading skirt from the build-a bear collection!












We had some parents and girls drying the cars off.







And then we had the captains who were doing what they usually do (nothing).


We made lots of money and had fun too. All the girls were soaking wet by the end. The parents just tried to stay out of the way.

New (2nd) Job

Last night I went to training for my new (aka 2nd) job. I will be working at Kohl's as a cashier in the evenings and on weekends. This is so my "darling" daughters can continue to have fun, social lives and look good while doing so. For all you parents out there who have little girls, just wait. It will soon be "I gotta have a Coach purse!" "I need Rock and Republic/True Religion/Citizens for Humanity Jeans!" Actually, a lot of that stuff they pay for themselves with their money from their jobs - I do draw the line at $300 jeans! Especially when I buy Levis at Kohl's/JC Penneys for less than $30.00 usually. I'm hoping to pay some of Kristen's college costs with cash instead of having to continually "dip" into my 401(k). That's another thing, if you have babies, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE start putting away money now for their college education. Every little bit counts. Don't wake up like we did, when the girls were in the 11th grade and go "oh, ****, we need money for college!" Not everyone is eligible for scholarships. Kristen and Kaitlyn were both 4.0 students all the way thru school and scored 25+ on their ACT. Kristen did get a Valedictorian scholarship for 4 years ($1000 per year, must maintain a 3.0 GPA at OU) but that's it. Joe and I make "too much money" to be considered for anything thru FAFSA and they don't consider the debt we have. So be aware and start saving now!!! At the rate I'm going, I'll never be able to retire (not that I'd want to).

New Yard Sign

We got a new yard sign at enrollment the other day for the front yard. We bought one a long time ago when Kristen was a freshman in high school. It was double sided and said an Orchestra member on one side and a figure skater on the other side. All the years that Kaitlyn was on cheer and/or pom, we never replaced it since she was also in orchestra and was a figure skater. So this year the pom squad is selling them as a fundraiser at back to school and I purchased one that says Pom for Kaitlyn's senior year. I think the squad pays $7.50 for them and sells them for $20.00/each. A nice little fundraiser and you can get any sport/theme (basketball, choir, golf, etc.) you want to go on them. They are approximately 18x24". The other high school in town sells them also (except theirs are green and they are the Norman North Timberwolves). Oh, and my grass doesn't actually come up to the bottom of the sign, it's planted in some monkey grass that naturally comes up higher!

Sunday

This morning I got up and went to church by myself. Joe had gone to the lake with some friends of ours for the weekend, Kristen stayed with some of her sorority friends last night, and Kaitlyn was still asleep. After church, I came home and did my daily walk (40 minutes) then I started watching the Olympics again. I love watching all the games. This afternoon I went to my Prayer Shawl Ministry meeting. I knit scarves and shawls to give to people in the church and the community. Above is one that I finished a couple of weeks ago. Below is a scarf I'm almost finished with.

My next project will be a prayer shawl made with Homespun Waterfall. It's a variegated yarn with sort of watercolor blues and purples. I've never made one with these colors before. This should keep me busy for a couple of months. I usually make about 3-4 shawls a year with a few scarves completed inbetween.

Back from California

We've been back from our California vacation now for a little over a week. We were in Anaheim with Joe for an arena managers convention so us "girls" got to do a little sightseeing while we were there. We went shopping, to Disneyland & California Adventure park, on a grand tour of Los Angeles (including Beverly Hills and Hollywood), San Diego Wild Animal Park, and the U.S. Open Surfing Championships in Huntington Beach. Kristen and Kaitlyn immediately got "lost" from us so they could check out all the hot guys. There were 60,000 people on the beach that day with lots to check out. We also went to the beach at Malibu, Laguna, Aliso, Huntington, La Jolla, and Venice. We ate In 'n Out Burgers, and Wahoo's Fish Tacos. We visited Joe's cousin, Brad, and his family (2 daughters also) in San Clemente. Their house is high up on a hill with his back porch looking out over the pacific ocean at Dana Point (wow, what a view!). The weather was wonderful (about 83 degrees) and no humidity!! We came back to Oklahoma to 105 degrees and probably 95% humidity so it felt like 111. (eww!) Thankfully, the temperature has dropped to a mild 93 degrees this week.