I make you a deal honey!

My seventh anniversary is Sunday and I desperately needed to buy a new dress! While Little man was at school for his start the summer party, little miss and I went to the mall with my children's favorite child care giver le-le or luh depending on which child you're talking to. I looked at a few stores and found that while dark purple is the "in color" for this summer, I do not look good in dark purple. I was pretty discouraged after store three.

As we walked to the next store I saw a very cute, flowy, polka dot, strapless dress in an expensive store that I never shop in. Le-le told me to go try it on and I said no way it's going to be too expensive. She said you never know if you don't try it on. Reluctantly and with no hope I walked in and looked at the tag...$50...not bad...okay maybe this will work out. "What are you looking for honey?" came this gruff Germanic sounding female voice. I responded that I was looking for a dress for my anniversary. My new stylist said, "oh honey, you pick out dresses I find the perfect one!". A smile immediately spread across my face. "I love this lady!".

She picked out four dresses for me to try on including the polka dot one. The first one I tried on was a kind of mustard yellow Marilyn Monroe style dress. I had my doubts. I mean really mustard yellow? I tried it on and was astonished. I looked amazing and more importantly I felt amazing! I had never looked in a mirror and thought, "wow". I was sold and I hadn't even looked at the price tag..."yikes I hope it's not too much because I might walk out of here paying more than I want." A voice shook me from my thought, "you try on the black one next honey."

I tried on the black dress. The black dress was asymmetrical with a sparkly jeweled strap on one side. It was ruched along the side. It had it two ruffled skirts layered on top of each other to a height of just above my knee. I walked out of my dressing room to a chorus of wows. Le-le and my new stylist both said it was breath-taking. I asked which was better and my new stylist said, "honey, you try others on. I try to do something for you."

So I tried on the polka dot dress. It was pretty lack-luster after the two I had just tried on. I walked out and asked what everyone thought. Le-le's response was "eh" and my new stylist said, "you want me to be honest?"

"Um, of course I want to look my best."

"The other two just pop. This is not your dress." Alright then that settled that decision which left only one more dress. The last dress was a beautiful cranberry color. It crossed in the back for dramatic detail and again was gorgeous. It was however a little too short for my still chunky thighs (I've gotta do jazzercize more frequently).

I then made the comment that I didn't know which one I was going to choose. My new stylist said, "you give me the black and yellow dresses. I see what I can do." I had checked the price tags and decided that if she gave them both to me for $150 I'd buy them both. That was about 40% off and I did look amazing in both of the dresses. I walked up to pay and my stylist leaned in real close and said, "I give you both for $95."

"Holy cow!" went running through my mind. I knew that was just a fraction of what I should pay. "I'll take them both then." My stylists response, "oh, I know you do honey!"

I was shocked and amazed and so thankful. Stuff like this never happens to me. Wow what a day. Stay tuned for my anniversary blog. I'll post pictures of the dresses and you can see which one I decide to wear.

Jazz it up!

Have you ever encountered a person who probably is nice but comes across as intimidating and reserved? That's me. I'm not the type of person that likes to put work into building a relationship that isn't going to last. Many times I meet people and a year or two later they tell me how intimidating I was when they first met me. I must give off a false vibe of confidence that comes across as watch out or I'll take you out.

When I started my most recent job I met someone who gave me that same impression and after three years we have become friends (that's about an average length of friendship building time for me). This friend is also a jazzercize instructor. I went to my first official jazzercize class with her a couple of days ago. I was amazed to watch her. This often reserved person at our job just absolutely transformed while doing her class. It seemed as though she truly loved what she was doing. The stress washed away from her face. It was amazing. She worked me harder than I've worked in a long time. I hopped and kicked and crunched and skipped for an hour and my muscles thanked me for every minute of it. (Of course the next day was a different story.) The music is new, fun and energetic. The choreography is relatively easy to pick up on even if you aren't a dancer. The best part of the choreography is that it's repeated so many times that you have plenty of time to learn the moves.

As I sat there trying to keep up with moves I hadn't done since I was 10 I was also thinking how I needed to find something that did the same thing to my face. I mean, I've developed wrinkle lines between my eyes from my lack of stress management. I've been thinking for two days now and come up with nothing so far. So until I come up with something that makes me that happy, I think I will keep going to jazzercize. Maybe it will inspire me at some point and I will find something to do that completely wipes away my stress.

Thunder Pride

I must start by admitting that I have no love for the National Basketball Association, most frequently referred to as the NBA.  It has more to do with me wanting to play the game not watch the game, than anything else.  I remember trying to watch a Bulls vs. Celtics game when I was in elementary school.  I grabbed my ball and began my ball handling drills while watching the game.  As the game progressed, I became more anxious and moved into what I thought would be inside safe shooting drills.  I remember it was towards the end of the game and I wanted the Celtics to win for some reason.  The Celtics had the ball dribbling down the court.  The player got to half court, passed to a team mate, who wasn't paying attention.  The ball hit the teammate right in the chest and bounced into the defenders hands.  I was so angry I "shot" my ball a little too hard and it hit the lamp hanging from our 12 foot ceiling.  Oooopppps.  I was sure I had broken the light, luckily the lamp shade was the old 70's style basket woven shade.  I calmly turned the tv off and snuck outside where I shot baskets for the rest of the afternoon.  I don't even know who won the game.

The Oklahoma City Thunder however, has revitalized my desire to watch basketball on TV.  Thus far, I have been pretty proud of myself.  I haven't cussed out the tv, nor have I woken up my sleeping children since almost all of the NBA games start after my bedtime and way after my babies bed time.  I have found myself watching ESPN any chance I get.  I've been listening to commentaries, and analyzing statistics and I have been so excited.  It's wonderful that a professional sports team can bring such excitement to a city.  As I approach Oklahoma City each morning and see the billboards that say "Rise Together," I get chills and that familiar feeling of pride and unity starts welling up in my gut.  I see the buildings that are wrapped in banners for our team and am so excited that the people of Oklahoma have joined together to support something, even if it is a professional sporting event.  With all of the negative criticism of our state, our legislators, our education system, it is nice to have something that we can all be proud of.  Our Thunder is a young team that has made remarkable strides each year since coming here.  So thank you Thunder players, thank you Clay Bennett, thank you to the whole Thunder organization for giving Oklahomans something to be proud of.

Brownie Mix Cookies

I stole this idea from my mother in law who always has unique ideas for cooking! She used a recipe similar to this for my daughter's christening only it was red velvet cookies instead of brownies.

1 box brownie mix
1 stick softened butter
Half a package of cream cheese
1 egg

Mix ingredients with a blender until just blended. Don't over blend! Drop about 1 inch balls onto a cookie sheet. Cook for about 11 minutes. If you want you can top with cream cheese icing! They are easy and delicious. I made them for my co-workers on Wednesday and they were a huge hit!

We Have an Emergency!

It's been a long week. My little man has been sick with allergies all week, my students had to take their test, we had different schedules and a field trip. Yesterday however began what would turn into an incredibly long day and night.

May is a fun time in Oklahoma. The flowers are blooming and emitting their sweet fragrances into the air. Everything is green by this time and the trees are providing their canopy of shade. This is also the time when you drive down the street and think perhaps it has snowed because there are drifts of white stuff blown against the curb. It isn't snow though. It's something much worse. A secret weapon of nature used to torture me. It is the cotton from the cottonwood tree. My body cannot handle it at all.

Yesterday began the journey through the land of pain and suffering experienced each year at this time. While working I went through a brand new box of Kleenex. Yes the whole box! My students thought something terrible had happened but when I told them I was just sick they backed off and avoided me like the plague. (I'll have to remember that for the future). On my way home I experienced the worse pain searing through my face by my eye. I thought for sure I was having an aneurysm and was going to die on the side of the street. Naturally I text my co-worker to tell him where all of the papers are for the field trip and give him all the information to make sure things went smoothly in my absence. To which he responded, wtf, you can't be gone tomorrow.  Finally, I made it home and collapsed in bed with my son who was sleeping.

No stopping for super mom though. I had to tutor a high school student on hyperbolas, parabolas, and ellipses (yikes it's been a long time)! Upon completion of the tutoring I was ready to curl up in bed. I took some choice medication and fell asleep. While sleeping I kept waking up hearing about people in Tibet building houses. It took about three times of this odd experience for me to realize that it was my voice talking about Tibetans building house and what products they were using. It reminded me of a funny story I heard about my mother-in-law thinking Connie Chung was knocking at her door.

So proceeded with the same for the next few hours until I started a fever and body pain. This was definitely worse than body aches. This was a hot, needle stabbing pain every time I moved. I got up to get some water and almost broke down in tears because walking was so painful. Thus began a mad dash of pill popping. I wanted to call in for a sub for the day more than anything but couldn't let down my team. I woke up at about 6, took some more pill cocktail and headed off for the field trip. The day was great and included all sorts of weird and fun conversations in my head. I did manage to keep them all in my head.

Fridays are usually dinner with my parents and since I was sick my dad made all the food. While waiting for dinner to get ready, little man comes running in screeching, "papa we have an emergency.". My heart stops wandering what it could be. I start running through the list of people in the house to make sure they aren't passed out on the floor, I quickly sniff for the smell of fire.  Luckily it was just that the headphones for the computer (which were taped together) were broken, again!

What a day! Glad it's Friday and I can spend some time healing my allergy stricken body!

Cheesy potatoes

It's been awhile since I posted a recipe so I thought it was time. This one is a family secret! Shhhh don't tell my aunt I'm leaking it our I'll be in trouble!

1 bag frozen potatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 container of sour cream
1 half a block of Velveeta
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt velveeta and mix with milk, soup, sour cream, salt and pepper. Stir in hash browns and pour mixture into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Something to Talk About?

The past year has been somewhat of a challenge for me.  I feel as though I have been in a transition period stuck between two people almost.  I feel stuck between the person that wants everyone to like her and the person that just really doesn't care.  It's difficult for me to talk to people about this because I sometimes feel a little bit insane and maybe I am.  For the past year I have been pin-balling back and forth between wanting to be liked all the time and not wanting a single person to talk to me.  It has been incredibly confusing for me and I'm sure for everyone else around me also.

So today I had this amazing conversation with a friend who will be called my Fount of Wisdom.  My Fount's statement when I said I needed to work on not being so judgmental and being nicer to everyone was a very firm, "no".  I was taken aback because this was the second time this week I had received that message from this person.  My Fount said, "you don't need to change yourself.  If everyone was perfect and everyone liked each other how boring would that be?  None of us would have anything to talk about."  This might have been the first time in my life that I left a conversation feeling like I really truly could be just who I am.  That I didn't need to keep trying to be somebody else to please the people around me. It was so liberating in that moment.

My question now though is how does that effect my long time relationships?  Are people who are used to seeing me try to put forth my best foot all the time going to be disappointed in the real me?  Does anyone even know the real me?  Do I even know the real me?

I felt so relaxed after this conversation.  So at peace, something that seems to have been a sparse feeling in my life recently.  My conversation with my Fount of Wisdom ended, rather abruptly unfortunately, with my Fount saying, "we're all just too busy.  We need to just chill and enjoy life."  I love it!