Archive for the Category »Blog «

Hurricane Earl

01 Sep 2010 - gloria

My sister lives in Wilmington, North Carolina. I hope Earl doesn’t hammer them. Between my sisters, either one or the other get threatened every hurricane season. My other sister lives close to New Orleans.

Which reminds me–I watched several shows about the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The one that really stuck with me was the interview of NBC Brian Williams. He was describing how he was in the thick of things. He saw the suffering, the hopelessness, the fear, but also the goodness in the majority of people. He saw the looting, the lawlessness. Several times he had the police surround his team as he reported because he feared he would be taken out by thugs in the street behind him.

Click here to see a clip of it. It still horrifies me that the Bush administration was so inept at handling the catastrophe. Spain even sent a rescue crew over to help before our own government responded.

Category: Blog  Leave a Comment

California

13 Jul 2010 - gloria

We are in sunny California visiting relatives. Audrey and Chad went to tour Blizzard Entertainment. My cousin, Kevin Crook, took them. He’s been with the company for 12 years, when there were only 50 employees. Now there are over 1,000 in Irvine. He was the first legal consultant they hired. Everybody knows him. Audrey and Chad said it was awesome how everyone called out to him. And he is such a wonderful guy!

He set Chad up with a senior lead programmer who talked about how to get on with Blizzard, Chad’s dream job. Kevin and the lead took them out to eat at a wonderful Italian restaurant. They got the tour, and got all sorts of paraphernalia, which was fun. And Chad said they had a huge map of the world which showed every user that was online playing World of Warcraft.

They get their ideas for a storyline from a single sketch. Audrey said the art was unbelievable. One guy had art from ceiling to floor all over his four walls. You couldn’t see any space left. She couldn’t get over how detailed his pencil drawings were. She is motivated to start drawing again and practicing.

Chad got a decoder to protect his account from getting hacked. A couple of months ago he was hacked and lost everything. The company gave him back what he lost. Anyway, that’s a real problem because now a friend got hacked too. All of his characters were naked. The hackers sell the WOW gold and weapons for actual money to other players. Isn’t that insane?

Anyway, Chad hopes to get an internship with Blizzard next summer. I hope he gets one.

Category: Blog  Tags:  Leave a Comment

Bumpy rides are the best

03 Jul 2010 - audrey

I ran over a branch in the middle of the road downtown yesterday, and it jarred a memory from me. Which is silly, because it is so easy to crunch over a measly little stick! It isn’t like I have never done it before.

Anyway, I think it sophomore year of high school. I had become friends with a kid from the youth program that I had been attending with friends. I had picked him up and we were driving through town. We were probably going to go to Bueno, the current hang out for us teens. So, I cut down a road, but I had forgotten about the construction! Dang it! I hate construction!

Here we were, a dead end, so what do I do? Rough it! I jerked the steering wheel sharply to the right. There was barely-there curb, which my little car easily mounted. My friend gasped as the car bounced on the terrain then settled onto a new road going in another direction.

He turned to me excitedly, and exclaimed that was the coolest move he had ever experienced. He kept gushing how I had casually pulled that stunt without a moments notice. He didn’t have a friend that drove like I did. I felt embarrassed, but thrilled at the same time. It wasn’t such a big deal to me, my house was in the country (if that is any constellation).

So I will try to remember to take the bumpy treks I come across in the future, and maybe I will have another fun experience awaiting me.

Category: Blog  One Comment

Kiddie Park

23 Jun 2010 - gloria

Check out our evening at Kiddie Park with my little niece, nephew, Audrey and Chad! Oh, and watch Grady, who is 5. He was really scrutinizing all the equipment, watching how the rides were fitted together and all the moving parts. I really think he’s going to be an engineer when he grows up! Riley is a doll, and as smart as can be. She knew exactly what ride she wanted to go on and where it was. Things got a little scary at times, but she put on a brave smile!! And she really got into the steering! They both had loads of fun–and so did we!

Category: Blog  Tags:  2 Comments

Moving Tomorrow

22 Jun 2010 - gloria

Finally! Tomorrow is the special day where Graebel Movers come to the Ponca house and pack all our stuff. The good thing about moving is that it forces you to get rid of junk. Which is so hard for me to do. And I have to be organized, which I admit, I’m horrible at doing! That is the part I dread–not being able to find things. And I pity the movers. How do they know how to label stuff? I mean, I have random things and lots of little figurines, vases, pictures and decorations.

We are partially moved into our new home already. We’ve been getting new furniture–searching for antiques to fit our 1925 house. So I am hoping that everything will fit. If not, I’ll sell stuff on Craigslist!

Then on Thursday the movers will pack everything on the moving truck. Then on Friday is when they will unload everything. We will unpack the boxes. I kind of wanted them to, but then everything will just be on the floor, which will be a mess. We figure we’ll just go through the boxes on our own time. Problem is what to do with the boxes once they’re empty. Ugh, moving is a drag, but I’m psyching myself up for it!

Audrey is going to Stillwater with Chad tomorrow. He’s got to take a test for summer school. And she is going to go through some of her stuff at the apartment while he’s in his exam–start taking things home because Chad is moving in with friends at the end of July. So a lot is going on!

I think my dh and I will just slip away after a cameo appearance and hang out at our favorite Mexican restaurant–drink a margarita and chill. And I’m really hoping that I’ll get a chance to write some. REALLY HOPING. Gotta get finished with this novel!

Category: Blog  Tags:  2 Comments

Puppy Fever

15 Jun 2010 - gloria

Audrey wants a puppy. I’m so surprised because like her dad, she has not been a huge dog lover, but I am. I have been around dogs all of my childhood, and most of my adult life. Anyway, Audrey always claimed she didn’t much care for dogs, but the last few months she has been showing an avid interest–playing with Candy Belle, etc. And Candy was so much more sociable than our Silky Terrier was. He never let Audrey get close to him, cuddle him, etc. And she really tried to win him over! Looking back, I realize this is probably why she didn’t much care for dogs back then because she thought all dogs were like our Silky Terrier. But now she knows differently from being around Candy Belle.

So we have been looking feverishly for the right one! She has been researching all the miniature breeds. I keep telling her to post, but she is too busy looking for a puppy. I tell her to talk about her puppy finds here on this site, but … well, you get the picture. But it has been a LONG time since I’ve seen her this excited and focused. I know she has lots more pictures/research to show than me. I have just been searching for the right pup and shooting ads over to her. She has been researching how to take care of tiny pooches. Like making her own dog food, the right carriers, puppy clothes, how to get them used to grooming, etc.

We’ve been looking at the Tulsa World classifieds online, and saw this ad about a Yorkie that some missionary woman took with her to Cameroon, Africa. The scenario was that she realized she couldn’t spend enough time with the pup and that the climate was too harsh for the baby. She wanted to give the puppy to a good home in Oklahoma since she used to go to school in Stillwater. Well. My heart went out to that little puppy. Found out that she wanted me to send $275 to ship the puppy to my doorstep! I was leery when I heard that. Then I saw three more ads similar to this. All of them claimed they were from Cameroon, and the puppy looked like the exact same one, with the same markings. I reported them all as spam. Ugh! I hope nobody falls for that!! I highly recommend that you stick to local breeders, where you can go visit the little pup before you spend money!

Category: Blog  Tags:  2 Comments

Wisdom Teeth

10 Jun 2010 - gloria

Audrey and Chad got their wisdom teeth removed today–all 8 of them! Aaahhh, I feel so sorry for them. Audrey’s were impacted, and she is having a slightly harder time this evening. It took forever to get the bleeding to stop. We tried tea bags to promote clotting. It worked with Audrey; but Chad went back to gauze. I don’t think he was biting down enough. But he put pressure on the bleeding for 1/2 hour and it finally stopped.

Poor Audrey! Her face is really swollen, especially her right lower jaw. She’s been putting ice packs on it, and I have some anti-inflammatory medicine to give her. I’ve been fixing her smoothies and just made her a chocolate shake. Chad too, of course. She hasn’t been able to sleep. So I told her to write. It will be interesting to see what she comes up with in her pain induced state!

Category: Blog  Tags:  Leave a Comment

Candy Belle; Bella Candace

07 Jun 2010 - gloria

Rayma and John (my sister and brother-in-law) had a real tragedy happen. They were in Dallas, getting ready to watch their grandkids because their daughter and her husband are going to Hawaii for their 10th wedding anniversary. Night before last about 5:00 Candy Belle, John and Rayma’s little Yorkie, suddenly just died. One minute Candy was playing with her ball–she always had a tennis ball in her mouth–thirty seconds later Rayma found her dead, with her ball rolling down away from her inert body. She was only 4 years old.

They drove back to my parents’ farm by Lake of the Cherokees last night, about a 4 hour drive, and got here at 2 in the morning. (Audrey, Chad and I were here already, visiting). I’ve never seen John cry so hard. It was so horribly sad–I cried with him. He made a little wooden coffin for her and we all worked on making a headstone for her. We buried her in the garden next to Mom and Dad’s house.

I started looking in the classifieds for a female Yorkie puppy and found one in Chelsea. I drove Rayma out there and we bought it. Chad and Grady were with us. She is only 8 weeks old; born on April 1. She is sooo sweet. Rayma wants to name her Candy Belle, too–Like Candy Belle II. But John doesn’t want to.

They are thinking of naming her Bella Ray. They want to register her and hopefully breed her when she gets older. She is really small, though.

The mother weighs only 4 pounds and the father 2 1/2 pounds. So she might not ever go into heat. Anyway, I think it’s good therapy for them–especially John.

I’ve never seen him get so attached, but he said he was with Candy 24/7, and she was just like his second soul mate. I just heard him say that this was the hardest thing that he has ever had to go through, is to lose Candy.

I just heard John say that he would call the new puppy Belle. :)

Oh, and they decided on Isabella Candace for her registered name, and call her Bella.

Here are some pictures of the new puppy. Audrey is holding her in this last picture!

Category: Blog  Tags:  One Comment

New Internet

04 Jun 2010 - gloria

We are in our new house–well, new to us…it was actually built in 1924–and the cable guy came this morning. Bad, bad but my husband cut the cable earlier because he didn’t like it hanging across the roof of the garage and the driveway, (tacky). So, shhh! Don’t tell!

DH cut the cable so when the cable guy came, the guy was talking about how the cable was broken. I immediately felt bad because dh doesn’t want me to say anything–and of course, he couldn’t be here for the installation. So I play dumb and say, “I wonder how that happened.”

He immediately guesses that a squirrel chewed through the wires, or maybe a tree limb fell on it. I’m feeling worse and worse, (and having to hold back an hysterical giggle because I almost always laugh when I’m trying to hide something–an unfortunate reaction in so many situations, as you can imagine), thinking “Yeah, my husband has sharp teeth!”

But I’m loving the internet!!!!

Category: Blog  Leave a Comment

Train Dominoes

02 Jun 2010 - gloria

We had a scream of a time playing train dominoes at my parents’ house on Grand Lake of the Cherokees. Chad was after me, (sitting across from me), and Audrey was before me, sitting next to me. I was losing horribly–which is about par for me–and Chad had been watching me so carefully, chiding me when I accidentally chose 13 dominoes instead of 12.

The next round started with 3 spots. I didn’t have any to even start the game. Audrey was lining up her dominoes and I glanced over at her–saw she had a couple of 3′s. I wanted one so bad! I was reminded of my grandpa and what a tease he was. He would always sneak a domino from the bone pile, or sneak a domino into the bone pile that he didn’t like–and laugh his head off when somebody caught him.

I was sure either Audrey or Chad would see me. Chad was looking right at me when I reached over and grabbed one of Audrey’s dominoes. But he didn’t say a thing. I waited for Audrey to protest that something was wrong because I was so sure she’d notice a 3 was missing…but amazingly she didn’t! I laughed so hard I peed in my pants!! They just kept laughing too, thinking that Chad was making faces at me to make me laugh, which made me laugh harder.

I felt bad afterward, (well, sort of),  but what could I do? Nobody ever noticed a dang thing. After that, I kept getting doubles which were the only plays I had–and unfortunately for Chad, he had to break them and couldn’t go out on the hand starting with one spot. Anyway, it was great fun, and we laughed a lot. And I was really shocked because I actually ended up winning for the night, which never happens.

So, unless they read this post, they won’t ever know my ornery play!

Category: Blog  Tags:  Leave a Comment
« Previous Entries