Break from Blogging

I was going to blog a few times this week but events at work have taken up my time. My boss of twelve years passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday. Needless to say we have been in shock and am trying to recover and make plans. It has been quite a week.

Friday Fragments - Three Day Weekend Ahead!

I was chastised by my daughter for not posting on Wednesday for the hodgepodge questions (sorry Joyce) so I'm joining Mrs. 4444 for Friday Fragments.

We'll start off with the stupid criminal. A woman was arrested for trying to go to high school with a fake id. She was 31 and said she was 15. Why would anyone want to go back to high school in their 30's? 

I finally got my flower seeds planted this week. Dan had to till some dirt for me. In the little bit of time he was outside he got a tick. So today he will be spreading bug granules in hopes that it will rain this weekend like they say it will.

My favorite summer show starts next week. So You Think You Can Dance is mine and Whitney's staple for watching in the summer. We can't wait.

Whitney bought her plane ticket to go to New York City this week to visit her roommate who is there for a summer internship. She has been busy plotting how to go as many Broadway shows as possible. I've never been there so any guidance would be great. She will be staying near Times Square.

I'm in the process of trying to decide what I want to do in Hawaii so I can purchase our plane tickets. I'm pretty sure it will involve changing islands at some point because we really want to see the volcanoes but my meeting is in Honolulu. Thus some major planning needs to get going.

The food trucks that I mentioned on Monday will be in St. Louis this weekend. If you are around there, go check them out.

Hopefully all can enjoy a three day weekend in celebration of Memorial Day. Remember that service men and women gave their lives so that we can be free to celebrate.

The last time I was at Arlington National Cemetery.

Food Network visits OKC

The Food Network show "The Great Food Truck Race" filmed in OKC this past weekend. Whitney found out about this and of course me being the lover of all things Food Network agreed with her that we needed to go see it. If you haven't seen the show, several teams of three compete across the country with the prize being $50,000 and their own food truck. OKC must have been the third or fourth stop because we had five teams in town.

We found that most of them were going to be in Bricktown because really if you are looking for foot traffic that's the place to be. We do know that they had a rule that they had to stay in the OKC city limits otherwise they could have made some serious money in a suburb. On Saturday we went to tour a historical house and drove by the trucks. There were lines so we didn't stop. But we decided that on Sunday after church Whitney and I would head to Bricktown to check it all out.

We at at the Let There Be Bacon one because really...its Oklahoma and we love our bacon.

These guys are from Cleveland and super nice. They kept thanking us for coming out to the truck. When we got there about 1pm on Sunday there wasn't really any lines so it was nice to not have to wait. I thought that three of the trucks were reasonably priced for food trucks. One of the trucks was outrageously expensive...especially for Oklahoma. The other truck I didn't see the prices.

The food was ok. I know that near the end of Sunday they had a challenge that they had to make and sell onion burgers, which is a specialty of the area. I would have thought they had to do something with steak since we have the stockyards but they may have done that the week before when they were in Austin.

I can't wait to see the show this summer and see what everyone says. Oklahoma people were quite kind to all the trucks. We just get excited when a network comes to our town!

Late Friday Fragments

I'm getting a late start and since I didn't join Mrs. 4444 for her 300th episode last week (so sorry) I'm going to try and post a few now.

Whitney just sent me a note that OKC is going to host the Great Food Truck Race this weekend. It looks like there is 4 or 5 trucks left. I've heard that last year there could be lines up to 2 hours so I'm not sure if I really want to participate and stand in line for food. But she may convince me after we tour a museum tomorrow.

I'm dealing with stupidity from the government and it is very frustrating. I'm not sure why they don't understand the concept of a U.S. state having its own insurance and what that covers. Darn lawyers need everything written out in language a baby would understand. Stupid.

No stupid criminal this week. Sorry to disappoint you loyal readers. Maybe I'll have two next week.

For Mother's Day my mom came over and I cooked. She brought strawberries and biscuits and it was so good. Made up for me overcooking the pork loin (which I never do).

We were able to move Whitney home last week in about four hours. Not too bad filling up three cars. Next year will be different as we will hopefully be moving her into an apartment or somewhere for a real job after graduation.

I think our dog is going nuts. She hates baths and she keeps pushing the door open to the bathroom when I have a bath running and laying on the floor next to it. I wonder if it is a sign that she needs one?

Hodgepodge - Getting Back to Blogging

Joyce continues to crank out weekly questions for us so I know I must participate. She puts forth so much effort, I should do the same. Right?

1. It's still May, right? When were you last in the middle of something that might be described as mayhem?

How about every day at work? Just look at my desk. Paper everywhere. So many projects and not enough time to do them.

2. When did you last feel dismayed?

I don't feel dismayed too much so I'm sure it has been many years.

3. What's a food combination you like, but other people may find strange?

I don't eat this very often anymore but I like catsup on scrambled eggs or fried egg sandwiches.

4. "It is never too late to be what you might have been." Do you think that's true? Why or why not?

I think in some cases it is true but I don't think you can decide that you should have been a doctor when you turn 70 and then go to school for it. Maybe at 50 but not 70.

5. US News and World Report listed the best historic destinations in the US as follows-Washington D.C, Philadelphia PA, Williamsburg VA, Charleston SC, Boston MA, Richmnd VA, Savannah, GA, Santa Fe NM, Yellowstone, San Antonio TX, San Francisco CA, New Orleans LA, and Charlottesville VA.

Of those listed how many have you seen in person? Which two sites on the list would you most like to see in person?

I've been to Washington DC, Williamsburg, Richmond, Savannah, Yellowstone, San Antonio and New Orleans. I've posted about both DC and New Orleans trips. Of the rest that I haven't seen I would definitely want to go to San Francisco and Philadelphia.

6. May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. If you had to participate in a single fitness activity for the next half hour, which activity would you choose?

Go walk on a treadmill. It's the only fitness activity I do.

7. What did you like best about the city, town, or neighborhood where you grew up?

I grew up in so many towns that I would have to narrow it down to the one I lived in the longest, Watertown, WI. I went to elementary school there the whole time. It was a small town (when we got McDonald's it was a big deal). But you could ride your bike to the pool in the summer and not worry about anything. And in the winter the pond at the park would freeze and they would have an outdoor skating rink.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Monday it was raining lightly on my way to work. I passed someone riding a bike who was holding an umbrella and talking on a cell phone. Not sure that was the safest way to go somewhere but it took some talent.

Reflections on the A-Z Blog Challenge

Well I did it! I survived the A-Z Blog Challenge for the second year in a row.

This year I had a theme. Last year I winged it. Was it easier with a theme? Yes I think overall it was easier. The only problems came on those pesky letters U, X and Y where I really had to stretch to come up with something. The rest weren't too hard. Last year I had a lot more hard letters.

This year I pre-wrote a couple of weeks of posts. That helped me immensely as my April got busy at work and it was hard to write. I would definitely do that again.

I didn't get to visit a lot of new blogs. I did go through the list (which is super long) and tried to pick blogs to check out because of their name. I went to lots of them and if it looked like something to read, I would try it out. But so many of the blogs are writers looking to write stories and that's not what I want to read about I think I gave up. I did find a few new blogs that I'm following that I am looking forward to reading.

If your blog post was long or had lots of pictures, I really didn't read it. Sorry but I don't have a lot of time to get into some of those posts. I tried to keep mine pretty short this year (taking the challenge leaders advice) and I think that worked well for me. Especially with the topic I chose.

Would I do this again? I honestly don't know. I missed my random blog posts (which I tried to do with my Friday Fragments and Hodgepodge) but I know I missed talking about things in April. If I do it, I will definitely use a theme.

Friday Fragments

Mrs. 4444 is celebrating her 300th Fragment next week with prizes. So come join the fun.

Stupid criminal is from Austria. A tourist goes into a local police station asking if they have any warrants for him. Surprise...4 of them for fraud. Instant arrest. I'm not quite sure what he was thinking.

One more week and Whitney comes home. She will be home this summer. Still trying to figure out her summer plans. She should hear if she gets an offer from her current job to work the summer and she has an interview today for an unpaid internship with a non-profit. I will say the non-profit sounds really neat and I know she wants to do it. So crossing fingers that the right choice opens up for her. She also has an interview for a job for the fall selling advertising for the school newspaper and yearbook. It sounds like she probably has the job but just has to go through the formality of an interview. The benefits of a small college.

I love finding guidelines for how to do a report after we've submitted it. I'm just going to pretend that I never dug around a website to find them. If they can't send them to me, how am I supposed to know?

Abby is enjoying the nicer weather because that means she gets to ride in the car more. And she loves a good drive-thru at the pharmacy or bank. That means treats for her!

Please read this story about a family from the tornado in Arkansas. If this woman can still have faith in God, we should all have faith and not anger.