Pages

Welcome to my head!

This is where I store the "extra" stuff in my head.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

My favorite time of year

Baseball season has begun for the Keetons.  My son, Jake, loves to play baseball almost as much as I love to watch him play! Almost. :)  I love the excitement of going to the games and watching my favorite son out on the field.  Sometimes, he is actually playing the game.  Sometimes, he's out there pretending to pitch.  Sometimes, he's busy swatting at the bugs, or hitching up his pants. But when that boy bats, you'd better watch out.  He can hit that ball like nobody's business.  I was in the backyard with him over the weekend, pitching (very badly) to him so he could practice batting.  I was ducking flying balls like, well.... like a GIRL. I figure if he can hit what I was throwing, then he shouldn't have a problem during a game!  Baseball consumes our lives until the end of June.   Jay is an assistant coach and goes to all the practices, too.  Most games start at 6 pm, and both of us get off work at 5, so it's a mad dash to get home, changed and to the ballfield in time. There are sometimes 3 games a week so the laundry starts piling up and the dishes go undone and we eat a lot of sandwiches.  By mid June, we're complaining that we are tired of all of it, and even Jake is ready to be done.  But, every year, we sign up for it all over again. And every year, we are excited and happy to go to the field.  It's one of life's greatest pleasures, in my honest opinion, to watch young children learn a sport.  So, thanks, all you coaches out there...for giving your time unselfishly to a child.  There is no greater reward than to see a child loving playing a game.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Soles for Souls

My family and I went to church yesterday in our bare feet.  Yes, that's right...walked right into Eagle Heights Baptist Church barefoot!  Don't worry, we haven't turned into hillbilly's out here on the prairie.  It was an organized event to gather new or gently worn shoes for people in Haiti that don't have any.   It was chilly and raining, but we still walked in barefoot.  I think the uncomfortable weather made a bigger impact on us than if it had been a warm and sunny day.  We were uncomfortable for a short while.  For many, uncomfortable is a way of life. They say that one person can't change the world.  BUT, little stones dropped in a pool make big ripples.  We did our part by dropping 2 pairs of brand new shoes into the donation pool.  There will be 2 less shoeless kids in Haiti soon.  I can live with that. :)
UPDATE:  EHBC members donated 316 pairs of shoes!



                                          

Monday, April 12, 2010

I NEED Gerber Daisies in my life!

I am pretty sure it's really, truly, springtime in OK!  The evidence is all around me, yet my yard looks as if winter is still breathing down it's neck, waiting to dump 3 more feet of snow at the first hint of green grass. My MIL always told me to wait and plant until April 15 to ensure against a late frost.  Which means, of course, next weekend I will be busting my tushy in the yard!  DH and I recently took a walk around our property and wrote a list of things that we wanted to do and needed to do.  The list is 3 pages long!  We've been in the house for 8 years now and things are in need of repair. So our "need to do" list is longer (and more expensive) than our "want to do" list.  I checked on my annuals and was thrilled to see my 50 year old Peony bush exploding from the ground, covered in buds! I brought a start of that with me when we moved. I am never more excited to see a bunch of ants as when that Peony bush buds! (ants eat the nectar which opens the blooms)  My lily of the valley plants are pushing right on through as well as my irises.  I may need to build a new fence to hold my clematis.  And I noticed that my miniature rose bush is spreading so I will need to start training it around the new trellis I bought last season.  The last time I did that, I was swarmed with ants. They made it to the hem of my shorts before I noticed them.  NOT so happy to see them THAT time, believe me.  This time of year, I feel positively FRANTIC with the need to plant something beautiful! So I'm praying for gorgeous weather for the upcoming weekend so I can dig out my garden tools and get to work! Please, please, PLEASE don't let me see any snakes! 

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter and Facebook

My family and I went back "home" for Easter weekend.  We spent time with family coloring Easter eggs, eating, making Resurrection Cookies, shopping, eating, hunting eggs and eating.  Did I mention eating? I stayed at my parents house, in the room I grew up in. (since 3rd grade, anyway)  I always sleep like a rock in that room, even though I don't sleep well without my husband.  After all, it's my parents house and mom and dad are just down the hall, so I can yell for them if I get scared.  Right?  And besides, mom leaves a night light on for me.  Yeah, I admit it...I'm afraid of the dark.  There.  I said it.  I've been afraid of the dark my whole life. Why change now?  It's good to have consistancy in your life.

The highlight of the weekend, for me anyway, was attending the church I grew up in with my mom and dad.  And here is where I realized that I am a Facebook junky.  I walked into the sanctuary and saw a guy I've known since high school.  I thought to myself "Hey, there's one of my Mafia members!" One of the ushers was another Mafia member.The sound guy is another! Pretty soon, I saw another friend with her son, who I've never actually MET in person,  and thought to myself "Hey! There are couple of my Farmville Friends!"  I sat down to speak to another friend and she told me who she was dating.  I said "Yes I know."  She said "How did you know?"  I said "Facebook."  I am not really in the mafia, nor do I really own a farm. Or a cafe. Or am I a  mayor of 2 "cities" that I have built.  But on Facebook, this is how I spend my time while interacting with people I haven't seen in ages! Facebook has made the world a "small town" for me.  If you are friends with someone, you know what's going on in their lives from who they are dating to how much coffee they may have consumed that morning before shouting "good morning" in ALL CAPS. (Mike :)  ) Conversations are carried out in posts and you can either leave a message or click the LIKE button, just so your friend will know you stopped by and cared enough to see what was happening with them.   And I LOVE it!  It makes me feel like, no matter how far away I am from my hometown, I'm never out of touch with it.  I hope that's how it is with all two hundred and something of my Faceook friends !

  I'm going to post this on Facebook now....feel free to leave your comments! Or, just click the LIKE button. :)

Thursday, April 1, 2010

How to Train Your Dragon

Run, do not walk, to your nearest movie theater to catch a showing of How to Train Your Dragon!  The 3D effects are the best I've seen YET!  It was funny, exciting, touching, scarey, heartbreaking and beautiful!  The detail on the characters was amazing!  You could even see the tiny hairs on the Vikings arms!  I don't know how many exclamation points I can use in one paragraph, but I'm really excited about this movie!   The movie opened with a terrific battle between the Vikings and the dragons, with a little narration from the "hero" Hiccup.  He's different and trying to find his place in the tribe while clashing with his father about who he WANTS to be vs who his father THINKS he should be.   And as it so often happens, dad doesn't listen.  Sometimes our kids don't fit into the molds we have in mind for them.  But Hiccup finds a way with the help of his dragon friend, Toothless, and the pair eventually each find their place.  I plan to buy this one as soon as it's available on DVD.  I guarantee you will enjoy this movie as much as me and my kids did.