Having a Blast in OKC!

I didn't expect to be blogging while in Oklahoma City, but here I am.  I have absolutely no idea of what is happening in the outside world, as I have only seen a late-night local news show since I arrived.  But I am having a ball...  Flew in with no problems on Monday, with Kathy and Jim taking me to the airport.  Checked my bag, got my boarding pass, and wandered down to the farthest end of Terminal C for my flight.  Ended up sitting in row 6, and had an extremely enjoyable flight.  The flight time was 1 hour and 9 minutes, and instead of calling my hotel for the shuttle, I took a cab.  Mistake.  It's pretty much a straight shot from the airport to my hotel, but that wasn't the way the young man drove me - and he seemed to be totally dependent upon his GPS, which kept going out...  Once we got on Meridian Avenue, where the hotel is, he kept saying, "It's not far, now..."  with each block.  I was watching the building numbers on the street, and finally told him, "It's 8 blocks down on the left..." 
  OKC is extremely spread out - the next time I visit I'll know to either (a) drive, (b) rent a car for myself, or (c) choose a hotel that's close to the places I want to visit...  Other than that one observation, I'm having a fantastic time.  Monday afternoon I wandered around the Stockyards area, poking my nose into the Stockyards, themselves, and visiting a large array of Western stores and saddle and tack shops.  I had supper at the Stockyards Cattlemen's  Restaurant.  I think that it was the best steak I've ever eaten - and I couldn't finish it.
  Yesterday I spent the day with my cousin Sarah and her family at the 45th Infantry Division Museum.  They had driven down from Wichita, and since they were visiting a history museum with their family, both girls were marked as being in class and getting credit for extracurricular activities.  The displays at the museum were fascinating - original drawings by Bill Mauldin; a collection of over 200 historic weapons (from Brown Bess blunderbusses to items used in the Gulf Wars); photos of the troops in action in World War I, WWII, the Korean War, and Viet Nam.  The Division liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp, with photos and mementos of that occasion; they were also the first American troops at Adolf  Hitler's vacation house, apartment in Berlin, and in the bunker where he committed suicide.  They also have a 15 acre campus outside with various Jeeps, tanks, trucks, artillery pieces, helicopters, planes, and a scud missile launcher.  We had a wonderful time, and I was able to meet Ashley, Kristie and James.  I think everyone had a great time.
  Today I was at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, and at the OkC Museum of Art - they have fantastic glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly - and also have a display of Italian masters covering 500 years that's on loan from the Glasgow Museum.  It is gorgeous!  After this quick library break, I'm walking down to Bricktown to wander around and look and shop....  And Mary should arrive tonight from Florida, so we'll be spending the next few days at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum...  Oh, boy!!!
  I'll be back on Saturday!

I Got to See Sarah and Jeremy!

Sarah and Jeremy arrived late last night, and drove immediately to Kathy's house to go to bed, after 12+ hours in their car.  I took the bus over to Kathy's this morning, and we spent the morning chatting around Kathy's dining room table and walking a bit in the neighborhood.  Kathy left at 9:30 to do her volunteer work at the Community Food Share, while I continued to get to know Jeremy better.  He's just as critter crazy as Sarah and I are - so he's definitely a super addition to the family.  They were not looking forward to another 8 hours in the car to get home to Wichita, but around 11:30, we left Kathy and Jim's to have brunch together.  (Where was Jim?  He was off flying the Piper Cub, so he would have enough flight hours to keep his pilot's license.)  So we hugged and laughed and said good-bye with full and satisfied tummies.  Since we were at IHOP, 2 blocks from my place, I just walked home - and as they drove by me on their way home to Kansas, and beeped and waved as they went past.  - I can't get over how much Sarah looks like her Dad.  There's no way he could ever have denied her parentage (not that he ever would have wanted to).

Since I spent the morning with Sarah and Jeremy, I didn't walk the red kids today; but I'll be there in the morning.  Lovey and Nedi have been quite clingy this afternoon - I don't know if it was because I was gone the whole morning, or if it was because I smelled like Suki, Boo, Mona and Shama when I got back home.  Mocha has come out for several bouts of loving - and my message to Coffeepot got through.  He called me twice (while I was gone) to see about picking Mocha up.  I'll have to leave a message for him, and let him set a time and day for Mocha to pick up Mocha so she can move back in with him.  I'll have her ready to go, with food.  She is a sweet darling little cat, but there just isn't enough room in this apartment for 3 kits - especially when one doesn't get along with the other two....  But Mocha will be back with her human.  And that's what matters.

Slow Sunday

I guess I'm mean....  I had hoped to see Alabama and LSU lose their games yesterday, but they didn't.  The majority of my teams won yesterday, with the exceptions of Colorado, Missouri and West Virginia.  Ah, well...   Today the Broncos play the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, and tomorrow night I'll be cheering for the Redskins and against the Cowboys.

We all had a pretty quiet day yesterday.  I read and watched football and played with the kits.  That means I need to clean and do laundry today. Yuck.   - But my cousin Sarah and her husband Jeremy are due to arrive tonight.  So I'm excited about that.  I don't know how long they plan on staying, but I hope to be able to take them to Ted's Montana Grill and feed them bison (or anything else they'd prefer), and let them try some of the local micro-brew beers.  They'll miss the Fall Festival, as it ends at 5 this afternoon - arts and crafts booths, free music (5 stages), and tons of things for children to do.  Of course Sarah and Jeremy are adults, and they don't have the girls with them, but they enjoy outdoorsy things, as well as museums.  I know; I'm blathering.  Mocha is on the sofa, Lovey is on the bed, and Nedi is in the sunshine on the patio.  I'm here at my desk, having had breakfast and taken my morning 5 mile walk.  We're having beautiful weather, but it might be a trifle warm tomorrow - the weather folks say it'll be 84.  Not much going on, so I'll just be quiet...

Poor New Orleans!

I really feel for the folks who live in and around New Orleans... Katrina three years ago and Gustav today... OUCH. The last I heard, the levees are holding, but the levee at the Industrial Canal was over-flowing (the folks keep emphasizing that the levee is not breached, it's just not high enough). Lovey is a Hurricane Katrina orphan and refugee, and I'm sure she can't figure out why I keep hugging and loving her as I watch the news.

Most of my college football teams won this past weekend, other than the two in Virginia. And CU at Boulder defeated CSU at Fort Collins in the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Invesco Field (or, Mile High Stadium) in Denver last night. As I was walking back to my apartment this morning, I was stopped by the owner of the Berry Best Smoothie shop, and he wanted to know where I had purchased my UF T-shirt. It turns out that he's a Gator grad from 1980.

Chokie, my neighbor, has yet to complain about the re-filling of the bird feeders and the placement of unshelled peanuts in the squirrel chairs. Several friends of hers have knocked on my door today by mistake, and I have directed them next door. My kits have had a grand time running out and about yesterday evening and this morning... it's cooler and there is supposed to be rain this afternoon. Our high tomorrow should be in the upper 60s or low 70s, according to the weather forecasters, and we should build back up to the lower 80s through next weekend.

I will be spending 10 nights and 11 days with the Spike-meister in Niwot, and close to the end of that time, our cousin Pete Nocks from Aurora, IN and his family will be stopping by for a visit on the way back from Yellowstone. It will be the first time we've met this cousin; our great-great-grandfather's were brothers - Benjamin and William Nocks. At the end of the month I have 2 weeks in Brighton with Nikki, Boris & Natasha, Abby & Shadow. Kohlbi will be at a Specialty Show for the first week, and the second will be back home with all the rest of the family. As I wrote yesterday: life goes on...