Monthly Archives: May 2009
field trip
hi, there. don’t get too comfy, just yet. today we’re going on a little outing over to SortaCrunchy. my friend megan asked me to guest post on her blog! it seems i’m the snobbiest tea drinker she knows, and she thinks her readers will appreciate my take on the way of tea and why i love this beverage.
i’m flattered and excited to connect with a new group of people, and also to introduce you guys to her impressive and inspiring blog. megan is a wonderful mom and is currently co-authoring a book on parenting, as well as writing and editing for the new blog Simple Kids. we share a passion for living naturally,writing, faith, and family, and a long-time friendship.
so without further ado, let’s skip on over and see my debut outside the ~~okieOLIO~~ web space. (tomorrow the second part of my contribution will be published, so please check back in with SortaCrunchy to read the follow-up to today’s post.)
**UPDATE: SortaCrunchy readers, welcome! please click around and see if any of our interests coincide. i’d love to hear your thoughts, advice, or questions on the topics i love to pursue here. feel free to make yourself at home.
LOL – guess you had to be there
okay, i have to admit: this LOL blogging thing is harder than it sounds. choosing a story to expound on is proving to be more challenging than expected. while The List is long, the majority of the funnies really do seem to require an element of having-been-there in order for the RE-telling to hold any power of amusement. sometimes the punch in the punchline relies on knowing the personality of the source or experiencing the atmosphere of a moment. required attendance, perhaps. allow me to offer some examples:
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i could describe in detail the surprised reactions of the passengers on the plane as i followed my brother down the aisle to our seats and he successively bopped each of them in the face with the huge pillow 
strapped to his backpack. i can even tell you how trying to suppress my snickers in front of the blindsided victims silenced me to wheezing laughter, and how i couldn’t catch my breath to tell him to stop, and how that in itself made me laugh harder because it allowed the fluffy attack to continue. but even if i could show you a picture of his bewildered face when we finally arrived at our seats and he turned to find me redfaced and breathless and unable to articulate what was so hysterical, you’d probably not be as entertained as i am right now, holding my cramping sides from uncontrollable giggles.
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i bet you would at least smile at reading about my sister’s strategy to keep a class of tiny tap dancers from driving her insane with incessant clacking of little feet during instruction. (“stand completely still! sit on your bottoms and try to touch your feet to your ears! lie flat on your bellies!!“) but even if i had the advantage of acting it out in front of you, you’ll likely never find it comical enough to provoke the involuntary snorts that i react with when recalling her tell it.
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i can carefully recount the entire evening that led up to the scene of my cousin john crouched near the toilet bowl with a bottle of bleach, a plunger, and wishing for a nose plug. i could introduce his dry sense of humor in hopes of translating his deadpan delivery of this priceless summation: “just so long as everyone enjoyed their chili…” but it’s virtually impossible for me to convey the utter hilarity of the moment without pages of background.
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so you see, the probability of me sitting at my computer in hysterics while my stories fall miserably flat on your screen is quite high. but i’ll keep casting them out there, because even if you periodically shake your head perplexed at my giddiness, hopefully you’ll catch a chuckle one in a while.
dances with bulls
maybe it’s because i’m a lifelong okie who can’t resist a real cowboy. maybe it’s because i’m a sucker for skinny guys with no rhythm get out on the dance floor anyway. perhaps i just get a kick out of corny one-liners delivered with a texan drawl.
whatever the case, i fell fast and hard for professional bull rider ty murray after the first week watching him on dancing with the stars. his genuinely amenable personality and “git-er-done” energy won me over immediately, and as an added bonus he was paired with one of my favorite dancers from so you think you can dance - chelsie hightower. i started watching the show to root for steve-o, (who serendipitously was paired with the only other sytycd pro, lacey schwimmer), and when he left the competition i was hooked cheering for ty & chelsie.
i’m a few days behind on watching dwts this week because of other pressing matters, but now that i’m catching up i’m sad to discover that my favorite couple has been voted off. bummed, but not surprised, because the “king of the cowboys” was certainly not the most skilled dancer. he was undeniably the most improved, thanks to his attitude and commitment (and chelsie’s teaching), and fan votes incredibly carried him through to the semi-finals. but now that he’s out i’m honestly not that interested in who wins the finale. they’re all good.
so as a tribute to that cute rodeo champ, who charmed everyone and thankfully entertained me during the agonizing wait for this season of sytycd, here are some of his best quotes i collected from the show.
“chelsie says in this dance she’s the bull. if all bulls looked like her, there’d be alot more bull-riders in this world.”
“my cha cha was really just a cha, ’cause I forgot half of it.”
(after shaking his hips in front of his wife, Jewel): “the score wasn’t great, but i’m hoping the solo pays dividends later.”
(while she’s riding a mechanical bull) “man, chelsie, stiffin’ up a little bit, you dancers are so fluid!”
“salsa is supposed to be like a party, but it’s really just a pain in the ass with a whole lotta steps ya gotta remember.”
and the most profound of them all:
“dancing is kinda like bull-riding: you’re never really ready, it’s just your turn.”
just one more week until the premier of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!! it’s the only reality show i’ve ever really gotten into, and i honestly watch the recordings repeatedly when the show is not airing. the sheer talent of the dancers and choreographers involved resonates strongly with my love of dance.
puggle love
when cooper bounded into our lives 2 1/2 years ago, we didn’t even know such a thing as a puggle existed. our puppy is a mix of pug and beagle, and we’ve recognized characteristics of both breeds in him: the hound’s hypersensitive snout that can sniff out the faintest odor of interest, and the pug’s social inclination that loves to be the center of attention. but evidently, “puggles” as a cross-breed share many traits, as well. when we found the loads of puggle videos on YouTube, we were shocked at the uncanny the resemblance in behavior.
in the absence of actual videos of my dog (we really need to use the video camera more at all), i give you these vids that would almost fool me if you told me they were cooper.
sleep barking. i’ve seen dogs snore, make running motions, and even tail-wag in their sleep, but i’ve never heard this distinct warbly sound from other dogs. when coop does this we call it “under-water barking.” most dogs dream about chasing cats, but ours dreams of snorkeling.
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crazed running. lee & i were so amused at cooper’s spastic antics that we taught him to run his wild laps around the living room on command (with the order “run-run-run!”). granted, a few minutes of rough-housing on the floor sufficiently excites him to the same effect, but he clearly knows when we want him to sprint. he can run faster and jump higher than you might imagine for a dog with short pug legs. while we’ve finally established a no-banking-off-leather-couch rule with him, he occasionally loses himself in the glee and leaps from the floor directly to the back of the couch and down again just like this puggle does at about 00:39. (he often spins out in the same cartoonish way as well.) if the video is not streaming smoothly, you’ll want to use the link to watch on YouTube to get the full effect of those little legs frantically sliding in every direction.
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standing ovation. for peanut butter, the dog will do anything. he can actually hold this position, with a bit of spinning back and forth, for almost a minute without a break. we were so proud of our especially talented pet until we found a few puggle videos that show similar skills. must be something in the build that gives them exceptional balance.
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here is another common trait among puggles that can be endlessly entertaining, but this habit is something that i have never seen before cooper. he is a joy and makes us laugh every day without fail. what was life like before him?
april showers… check!
even though we’ve been a little water-logged so far this spring, my plants seem to know how to swim and i’m seeing some growth in my newly expanded dirt-patch. the cool weather lettuces i planted early have already been providing yummy contributions to my kitchen, and i’m hoping to get several more harvests out of them to tide me over until my summer greens mature.
- swiss rainbow chard
- cabbage and lettuce
- kale and romaine
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the raspberry bushes are no longer skinny brown sticks, and their teensy sprouts of green leaves are attracting garden-friendly bugs. now that i have some of the summer blooming veggies in place, i have to just be patient for the squash, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and berries to produce.
i’ve got my row of ‘maters and peppers (yes! a whole row this year!) all prepped with the proper support this time. while they do look a bit silly right now playing dress-up in their oversized threads, i’m not risking a reprise of last year’s fate.
- raspberry bush and lady friend
- tomato and pepper potential
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although i’m still debating the “to mulch or not to mulch” question, i think i’ll just keep slopping around in my crocs and follow the advice of my favorite organic farmer at the market: “mulch? if i see a weed i just yank it and leave it lying there to die. i figure if it’s gonna rob my soil of nutrients it should have to stay there and give ‘em back! that’s how i mulch.” well said, bob.
