Only in Oklahoma--Baseball

Well, it's been a bit of time since my last Only in Oklahoma post. But last night at Patrick's t-ball game I was presented a situation that just screamed "ONLY IN OKLAHOMA!" I'm not going to tell you the name of the team we were playing or where we play because a). I don't want some weirdo coming out to the ball field and b). I don't want "Coach" to come get all redneck on me. Okay? Ok.

Let's just say in Oklahoma it apparently is okay for your baseball team to wear camo shirts, and for the coach to wear sweatpants and work boots and a half cocked hat. There may or may not have been chewing tobacco involved, I'm not totally sure on that, I felt like my life was on the line as it was by taking this pic. I was acting like I was taking a pic of Patrick playing in the field...but he was playing 3rd base, so....

I'll give the guy credit, he seemed to be great with his little team, even when half of them were crying.

But still, being good with kids is no excuse for dressing like a redneck. Unless you are a redneck, then I guess it's okay.

No, never mind, it's never ok.

We Want to Know--Random Randomness

I'm all about linking up with others this week, and today is no different. I'm linking up with Impulsive Addict, Mamarazzi, Seriously Shawn and Janette to do another installment of We Want to Know Wednesday. They don't have a theme this week, they just want to know a little about random things in our lives. So link up with those gals and check out what other people and thinkin'.

Here are today's questions:

1. What is the first thing you notice about he opposite sex. Are you an eyes or a smile person? Another body part? Two things...hair and smell. I know that's weird. But if a dude has nasty hair...yuck OR if his hair is full of product and perfectly styled...double yuck. I don't want a dude who spends more time on his hair/appearance than I do. Puh-leeze! And of course, the smell thing. I am super sensitive to smells (it was dreadful during my pregnancies), so if a guy smells yucky...bleck! Or worse, if he's drowned in colonge...gag me more!

2. If a movie was being made about you who would you like to see cast as you? And would your movie be a comedy, drama, romantic-comedy, action film or horror movie? Well, it would probably be a comedy and I'd think Gwenyth Paltrow or Charlize Theron or Uma Thurman might be cast as me, but just because of the height and hair color thing. OH--no, Lisa Kudrow...she's probably who should play me (when Friends was the popular TV show, everyone said that I was a lot like Phoebe. Not sure if that's a compliment or not...but I like Phoebe).

3. Does your high school yearbook include a senior comment section? If so, share what you shared about your future goals. Have you met those goals? If you do not have a senior comments section, share what your goals were when you were 18 years old and if you're brave enough share your senior picture. We didn't have a senior comments section in our yearbook, but our local paper ran the Senior Class section the week before graduation where our senior pic and our future plans were listed. I said that I was going to attend University of Oklahoma and major in Business Administration. Well, instead I graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Broadcast Journalist and public relations. So I didn't exactly fulfill my 18 year old goals...but really, what do you know when you're 18? Regardless, I had a successful career and now am doing exactly what I want as a stay at home mom.

And here's my rockin' 1988 senior portrait. You're jealous.

4. What latest trend simply baffles you? Ok...this one really got me going and there simply isn't enough room for me to do all my "what the heck?" thoughts. Boy did you gals open a can of worms with this. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fashion and love to put outfits together and give advice. Here are just a few thoughts:

Jeggings: these thankfully are going out of style. Who the heck ever thought that spandex made to look like jeans was a good idea? Stupidest look I've ever seen! Even if wore with a tunic or long top/coat/sweater...looks silly. Jeggings=2 thumbs down.

Maxi dresses: I know I'm going to get some serious grief over this one. But I have seen some super duper fit and skinny women wear these dresses and it makes them look hippy and big. Seriously, ladies, if you've got curves, quit trying to hide them under drapy, flowy fabric that is somewhat clingy at the same time. It just makes you look bigger. These dresses always look weird around the feet. Sorry if you love your maxi...I don't.
Gladiator shoes: Again, I know I'm going to hear it about this one, but these shoes always seem to make women's feet look enormous! I love me some Kelly Ripa, but she had some of these on the other day and her feet looked huge (and she has itty bitty feet). So, if you want everyone to look at your big ol feet, even if you wear a size 5, go ahead and wear these. They're distracting.
And meat dresses. They seem inappropriate for all occasions. Even the VMAs.

5. When you walk into a room how do you present yourself? Do you walk in with confidence and command attention or do you slink in and do your best to go unnoticed? I walk in with confidence but not in an attention getting way. I don't like to be the center of attention and have everyone look at me. But I present myself in a confident, inviting manner. Hopefully people will talk to me. Ha!

Go visit the gals and link up today!

My Neck of the Woods--The Trail

I'm hookin' up with the RHOK again today to do In My Neck of the Woods. Go visit them to see what's going on in other people's lives. It's interesting!

So, what's in My Neck of the Woods you ask? Well, today I'm going to share with you one of my favorite things about the area where we live. We, unlike all the other Tulsans in our age bracket, live in midtown. I love the uniqueness and quaintness of midtown and how each home has it's own little unique quirk and charm. I know our days here in midtown are numbered as we've outgrown our home (yes, that's the draw back of midtown--the houses are small--even the houses that) and that we'll be moving sometime soon. Midtown just has a special feel to it that we love.

The city has really invested time and money into the River Trail that runs along Riverside Drive. It's literally a hop, skip and jump down from my house to the trail. And since I'm a runner (not a Runner, but I run) I use the trail several times a week. The city has repaved the trail and separated the walking/running portion of the trail form the bike portion. Which I LOVE because I remember just a few short years ago when I'd go run and would have to be on high alert for cyclists to come flying by me. Yikes! I love the new lights along the trail (and how each light has a number on it. For me as a runner, I use it as a tool, "go to light #260 today", etc). There's a nice gravel portion to the trail for those runners/walkers who don't like running on asphalt--I hear it's easier on your joints--I still prefer to run on the paved surface.

No matter if you want to go for a long run, a nice brisk walk, a family bike ride or push your kiddo in the stroller the River Trail is a great place to go. Even if you live in other areas of Tulsa, it is worth it to pack up the fam and drive down and enjoy the portion of the trail from 11th Street to 71st Street (I will warn you that from 47th Street to 61st Street is under construction). There are is a play park for the kids at 41st (this one also has a nice splash pad) and 18th and the new Blue Rose is open and right on the trail. If you time it right you can even catch a rugby game or ultimate frisbee game on the rugby field that is located right on the trail. Or if you're into disc golf, there's a disc golf course, too. Really, you need to hope on your bike or lace up your sneakers and take a stroll around the newly fixed up trail.

This pic was taken yesterday afternoon after the rains moved on...so things are a little wet and mucky looking, but still you get the idea.

All along the trail are bronze statues. Most are of wild life (I'll do a post on them another time), but there's also this guy...I like to tease WM that it's a statue of him. HA! (Trust me, WM does not look like that). I think it's a nice touch to the trail.

I hope that you'll take time this spring to come spend some time on this part of the trail and My Neck of the Woods.

Getting to Know You

I promised Impulsive Addict that I'd do her new Wednesday thingy, but yesterday I had a total blonde moment and posted something else before I even remember. So I begged her to forgive me and promised her a couple gallons of th' Cap'n (not of the Crunch variety) if she'd say it's okay for me to post the Wednesday thing on Thursday. (Ok, so I didn't really promise a gallon of Captain, but it was going to be my ace that I was going to pull if she was going to try to get all nasty and tell me "NO--only on Wednesdays!" Betcha she's wishing she'd have held out a little longer. Hee hee!

Anyway...so here's my first We Want to Know You Wednesday, sponsored by Impulsive and her buds Mamarazzi, Janette, and Seriously Shawn. So even though we're a day late to the party, go on over and check out the others who played along!

What they are wanting to know about this week is Friendship. They give you 5 questions and you answer them. Here's the 'Friendship Five.' But let me tell you...I mixed it up a bit. Instead of me answering the questions. I asked my 7 year old daughter. I wanted to see what was important to 7 year olds when it came to friendship. Here it is:

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1. Do you make friends easily? (remember these are Katie's answers), "no, it's kind of hard, especially when I go somewhere I don't know people. I get kind of shy. But usually people come talk to me."

2. What 3 qualities are a MUST in a friend? "They have to be nice and friendly and fun."

3. What makes YOU a good friend? "Because a good friend makes good choices and I make good choices. Because I stick together with my friends."

4. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life? I'll go ahead and answer for her here...no, she has not. She does not blog and has no 7 year old bloggy friends. I'll answer for myself, that I've met Dawn IRL and she's super great, though our time together at the par-tay we were at was cut short due to an accident her daughter had. And I've met Yogi. He always buys Girl Scout cookies from Katie and he's super funny and has a dry wit IRL. He's also a fellow runner, though I'm pretty sure (100% positive) he would kick my rear in a race. I've met Baloney, too, but I knew her before I entered the blogosphere, so that's kinda cheating. I would like to meet Impulsive, though.

5. Who is your best friend? Tell us about them. (back to Katie talk here). "I have a couple, but my very best friend is Maddie. We always play together on the playground and we make cards for each other. We like to play Barbie's and she showed me her special rocks. We take tap together."

Here's Katie with her BFF.

Aren't they just full of 7 year old cuteness! Gosh--I can hardly stand how precious and innocent they are.

Kids Need Parents, Not BFF's

If you've been on Facebook in the past few days you've seen this. I hope you read the article, if not, I'm posting it here. It's one of the best things I've read in a long time. I hope you'll read this all the way through. I'm sure that the people who need to read this aren't reading blogs, they are probably out at Abercrombie buying their 8 year olds push up bras. Geesh.

Kids need their parents to be parents...not their BFF's.

Parents, don't dress your girls like tramps

By LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor

April 19, 2011 8:52 a.m. EDT

Editor's note: LZ Granderson writes a weekly column for CNN.com. A senior writer and columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, he has contributed to ESPN's "Sports Center," "Outside the Lines" and "First Take." He is a 2011 and 2010 nominee and the 2009 winner of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation award for online journalism and a 2010 and 2008 honoree of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for column writing.

Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- I saw someone at the airport the other day who really caught my eye. Her beautiful, long blond hair was braided back a la Bo Derek in the movie "10" (or for the younger set, Christina Aguilera during her "Xtina" phase). Her lips were pink and shiny from the gloss, and her earrings dangled playfully from her lobes.

You can tell she had been vacationing somewhere warm, because you could see her deep tan around her midriff thanks to the halter top and the tight sweatpants that rested just a little low on her waist. The icing on the cake? The word "Juicy" was written on her backside.

Yeah, that 8-year-old girl was something to see all right. ... I hope her parents are proud. Their daughter was the sexiest girl in the terminal, and she's not even in middle school yet.

Abercrombie & Fitch came under fire this spring for introducing the "Ashley," a push-up bra for girls who normally are too young to have anything to push up. Originally it was marketed for girls as young as 7, but after public outcry, it raised its intended audience to the wise old age of 12. I wonder how do people initiate a conversation in the office about the undeveloped chest of elementary school girls without someone nearby thinking they're pedophiles?

What kind of PowerPoint presentation was shown to the Abercrombie executives that persuaded them to green light such a product?

That there was a demand to make little girls hot?

I guess I've been out-of-the-loop and didn't realize there's been an ongoing stampede of 10-year-old girls driving to the mall with their tiny fists full of cash demanding sexier apparel.We've been here with Abercrombie before -- if you recall, about 10 years ago they sold thongs for 10-year-olds -- but they're hardly alone in pitching inappropriate clothing to young girls. Four years ago the popular "Bratz" franchise introduced padded bras called "bralettes" for girls as young as six. That was also around the time the good folks at Wal-Mart rolled out a pair of pink panties in its junior department with the phrase "Who Needs Credit Cards" printed on the front.I mean, that is the purpose of a push-up bra, right? To enhance sex appeal by lifting up, pushing together and basically showcasing the wearer's breasts. Now, thanks to AF Kids, girls don't have to wait until high school to feel self-conscious about their, uhm, girls. They can start almost as soon as they're potty trained. Maybe this fall the retailer should consider keeping a plastic surgeon on site for free consultations.

What's that you say? Ten-year-olds can't drive? They don't have money, either? Well, how else are they getting ahold of these push-up bras and whore-friendly panties?

Their parents?

Noooo, couldn't be.

What adult who wants a daughter to grow up with high self-esteem would even consider purchasing such items? What parent is looking at their sweet, little girl thinking, "She would be perfect if she just had a little bit more up top."

And then I remember the little girl at the airport. And the girls we've all seen at the mall. And the kiddie beauty pageants.

And then I realize as creepy as it is to think a store like Abercrombie is offering something like the "Ashley", the fact remains that sex only sells because people are buying it. No successful retailer would consider introducing an item like a padded bikini top for kindergartners if they didn't think people would buy it.

If they didn't think parents would buy it, which raises the question: What in the hell is wrong with us?

It's easy to blast companies for introducing the sexy wear, but our ire really should be directed at the parents who think low rise jeans for a second grader is cute. They are the ones who are spending the money to fuel this budding trend. They are the ones who are suppose to decide what's appropriate for their young children to wear, not executives looking to brew up controversy or turn a profit.

I get it, Rihanna's really popular. But that's a pretty weak reason for someone to dress their little girl like her. I don't care how popular Lil' Wayne is, my son knows I would break both of his legs long before I would allow him to walk out of the house with his pants falling off his butt. Such a stance doesn't always makes me popular -- and the house does get tense from time to time -- but I'm his father, not his friend.

Friends bow to peer pressure. Parents say, "No, and that's the end of it."

The way I see it, my son can go to therapy later if my strict rules have scarred him. But I have peace knowing he'll be able to afford therapy as an adult because I didn't allow him to wear or do whatever he wanted as a kid.

Maybe I'm a Tiger Dad.

Maybe I should mind my own business.

Or maybe I'm just a concerned parent worried about little girls like the one I saw at the airport.

In 2007, the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls issued a report linking early sexualization with three of the most common mental-health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. There's nothing inherently wrong with parents wanting to appease their daughters by buying them the latest fashions. But is getting cool points today worth the harm dressing little girls like prostitutes could cause tomorrow?

A line needs to be drawn, but not by Abercrombie. Not by Britney Spears. And not by these little girls who don't know better and desperately need their parents to be parents and not 40-year-old BFFs.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.

I'm A Little Scared

So I have a question for you all. I know that you all use Facebook...you're lying if you say don't. Or you're living with your head in the sand. Well, you know those little ads on the side? I know how they work so that ads that are applicable to your life/interested are on your Facebook page.

But I want you to look at this screen shot that I took of my Facebook page. It's a little small, so you'll need to enlarge it or just look real close. There's and ad that says "You want to go to France?" Yes, please. I do. That makes sense for me. There's one Nordstrom dresses. That one totally makes sense. Even the ad for Tulsa Fun makes sense--I like to have fun in Tulsa. But take a look at that creepy one of that girl that is in serious need of an exorcism. Where did THAT come from? The ad says "Help addicts find God." I'm all for spreading God's word and helping others, but, my-oh-my...that girl. She's just...just...just...scary! I don't think I would be able to help her find anything. So I'm wondering why Facebook thinks that ad appeals to me. Maybe because I'm a Christian. But still, Facebook, I scare easily.

So my question for you...go to Facebook. Is that ad on your page? This isn't a one time deal, either. It keeps coming up over and over!

Do Not Disturb

Remember last week when I told you that we got two new kitties a couple months ago? And how I told you our black kitty, Percy is a lazy bones and thinks he's a dog (except from 9-11 p.m. when his nocturnal side comes out and he goes whacky and rips around the house). Well, I guess he's taught his brother a few things about being lazy.

This is Toby. Also known as Lazy Bones #2. I need to hang a Do Not Disturb sign around his neck.

Seriously, these cats are 5 months old--aren't they supposed to be frisky, frollicy kittens? What are they going to be like when they are big, fat adult cats? They are going to be big, fat, lazy spoiled cats is what they are going to be.

Wish I could lay in the sun and sleep all day.

Punk.

My Neck 'o the Woods

I'm hookin' up with the gals over at the RHOK. They have a new thing called Your Neck of the Woods (or something like that), where you're supposed to just give a little glimpse into what's going on in your 'neck of the woods', a.k.a. life. They do this on Tuesdays, and since today is Tuesday I decided to give it a try.

This is my Katie. She's 7 years old. She has always been a girly, girly, girly girl. Princesses rule her world (and still do), and she's counting down the days until the Royal Wedding (hmmm, wonder where she got the obsession with the RW **looks away innocently**). Anyway, lately she's turned into a total GOOFBALL!!!! She makes these crazy faces all the time and says the silliest things. I can hardly get a straight answer out of her anymore--everything she turns into a joke! This new emerging personality trait is what's been going on in my world.

Doesn't she know that's not how she's going to capture a prince to marry?? Manners...etiquette, my dear. (She does have a perfect curtsy, though).

What's going on in Your Neck of the Woods? Go over to the RHOK and let them know!

Perfect Pairings--Romans 15:33

I haven't done a Perfect Pairing in awhile, so that's what you get today. Go see Baloney for more.

I love this picture of little Josie, she has such a peaceful look on her face.

The God of peace be with you all. Amen. -- Romans 15:33

Stop! Smell the Flowers

Spring has sprung! Whooooopie!!!!

It's getting to be that busy time of year, baseball games, fundraisers, end-of-the-school-year activities galore. Not to mention bike rides, picnics, family barbecues, mowing, yard work, Easter egg hunts and much, much more. It seems like every one's life is buzzing with business.

As you go through your busy life this weekend and the next few weeks, don't forget to slow down long enough to witness the small miracles of spring and to stop and smell the flowers.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Only in Oklahoma--1-2-3-4-6-5-7-8-9-0

I snapped this pick at the Sonic near our home. Here in Oklahoma we haven't learned to count.

It's 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. Come on Okies, we can do it.

Repeat after me "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10."

**sigh**

Drunken Yoga

My hubs sent me an email the other day with the below images comparing yoga poses to drunken poses. Maybe you've seen these, if not here's your laugh for the day (hopefully you've laughed a couple times today). Maybe I'll quit doing yoga and just start getting drunk more often.

Balasana pose

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana pose

Marjayasana pose

Halasana pose

Dolphin pose

Savasana pose (not to be confused with the "completely passed out pose").

Namaste or drink up---whichever works for you!

Percy, If You Please

Been awhile, huh?

I haven't really told you all about the newest members of our family. About 3 months ago we adopted two, TWO, tiny baby Manx kittens. Google Manx to find out more about this unique breed of cat, they are quite interesting and they certainly aren't your typical cat. Where it says they act more like dogs than cats, yeah, that's true. I'll show you more pictures later and tell you a little more about them, but today I'm going to introduce you to lazy bones, a.k.a. Percy. He's crazy. He thinks he can take on our dogs (he can't, but he thinks he can). He's a lap kitty and when he decides to take a nap he makes himself comfortable where ever HE pleases!

This is a normal sleep position for him.

Raise your hand if you're spoiled.

That darn cat!