unexpected boarders....

 Mommy siamese with tuxedo and tabby

 Black and siamese babies exploring outside their den under the house

The whole family...sorry the shots are bad...taken with phone through closed window

50

 just another butterfly on the privet (thanks, Mary, for solving the shrub mystery!)

 and another

 Birthday beverage, came with saurbraten and spaetzle

after dinner walk on the new footbridge...answering the call of the mothership

just thought this one turned out nicely, with the heavy clouds at dusk

My 50th birthday was a very nice day.  While I acutely missed being with my friends and family back home--we were always together for everyone else's 50th... it was very nice.

Dave took me out for breakfast, then we went to the down town Festival of the Arts, an annual event that's always the last weekend of April. 

There, we wandered and looked at the amazing (and some not so much) art for a while, then sat at the stage where the dancers from AALIM dance academy were performing the "festival set," which I don't know yet.  Maybe next year, I'll be on stage with them.  We'll see.

Met up with my friend Johnny (who helped us move) from work, and his boyfriend.  Wandered some more.  It was overcast, but extremely humid, so by the time we headed home, I was completely soaked in sweat, and had unexpected sunburn.

Came home, showered, put on fresh clothes, rested a bit, since I am still sick with the most recent local challenge to my immune system, then headed out to the Royal Bavarian for some real German food and microbrew.

Sadly, in the state of Oklahoma, all microbrew beers have to be 3.2 alcohol content.  I tried the Oktoberfest, and the Pilsner. Both were pretty good, just no beer buzz.. LOL.

Then back home for a quiet night, with a glass of eiswein.  I just remembered, Johnny and Tracy gave me fancy cupcakes on Friday, and I still have one left!  Gonna enjoy that later today.

I got a few more cards than last year....even one from my old office back home, where someone was thoughtful enough to circulate a card for everyone to sign, and mail it to me.  How sweet was that?!

Heard from my family, and on line, heard from numerous friends.  

All in all, it was a very pleasant day. 

My brother asked me "So, what reflections do you have on turning fifty?"  My answer was that it seemed to go by like an eyeblink.....but when I really think about specific things, I think "wow...that was a REALLY long time ago."  It's weird.

He says the rate of acceleration only increases.  Great.

I see the changes in my face and in my hair that are inevitable.  No amount of face cream and make up can make me look like I did just a few years ago.  Stress and change have worn on me.....but still, most folks are kind, and say "you CAN'T be 50!!" and I sincerely appreciate it. 

Good fortune? I hope so....

So, some kind of nasty virus burned through the office this week, and I was one of its victims.

Sudden onset overnight on Tuesday of a fever, sore throat, headache, and chills.  It was nasty, and had me in it's clutches for 2 days.

I made it through the work day Wednesday, but it was tough.  Then, when I got up yesterday, I felt even worse.

Unfortunately, there were supposed to be interviews yesterday for that promotion I applied for at work, so I decided to tough it out and get to the office.

As it turned out, I was too sick to stay at work, with a fever of 101.  When I found out that the interviews were not going to start until 1 pm, and my boss's boss told me I looked horrible, and that I should go home, I did as she said.

I didn't feel bad about doing so, though, because 3 of the supervisors all had the same thing, one of my coworkers had called in with it, another had been sent home before I was, and yet a third was sent home after I left!

The fever came and went several times over the course of the day and night, with that awful dizzy headache and sore throat.  But at about 4 am this morning, I broke into one of those full body cold sweats, and it just....felt better after that.

Whatever it was, it hit several of us at work all at once, and we all had the same symptom profile.  Very weird.

I felt OK today, but not great.  By the end of the day, I was pretty wiped out.  Dave is taking care of the grocery shopping without me, so I can just rest. 

Anyway, they did the interviews yesterday as planned, but since there were 3 open positions, and 7 applicants, they needed a second day to get through the interviews anyway, so it worked out okay.

I was the last one to be interviewed, this morning around 11.

They said they'd announce their decisions by the middle of next week.

However, they apparently didn't need that long to decide.  I got the position!

I will be part of a newly formed team that will focus on processing insurance denials of claims.  It should be far less boring that what I am doing now, and it will also provide a step in the right direction in regard to my pay scale.

I will now be making was I was making 8 years ago, instead of what I was making 10 years ago!  Wheee!

So, I still don't feel great, but the news that I got a promotion, and the new pay starts with the next pay period, instead of on July 1, when the job officially starts....so that's a fantastic way to start my birthday weekend!

beauty etc.

This shrub grows in my back yard. I have no idea what it is, but it smells heavenly, and it attracts hundreds of butterflies....like this one (and the two others in this frame). I took this shot yesterday, along with a dozen or so other shots.

I really need a book of insects and butterflies for this region. I've never seen one like this before, and he was stunning.

So...Auntie Caca? If you see this, your expertise in gardening and insects will be needed!

In other news, last Thursday, we got tickets to see the movie of a Grateful Dead concert from Alpine Valley in July of 1989 (that was the one summer tour that I missed going to Alpine).

Some friends of ours from "Radio Paradise" pass through Oklahoma once a year for some kind of seminar, and they were here at that time.

We had been planning to go to dinner with them, but then I realized that they were due here on the same date at this "meet up at the movies" thing, and that one of them was once a Dead Head.

So, I got in touch, asked if they'd be interested, they said yes...so, we met at the theater instead of at a restaurant.

I had hoped that there would be lots of people there, and that it might sort of be the old festival atmosphere...but, sadly, there were only about 12 other people in the theater, and they sat down the whole time during the film.

I suppose theater security would not have let us dance at our seats anyway....

The viewing experience was very, very nostalgic and emotional for me. The show was mostly great, except for some rough spots...which, if I recall correctly, were normal parts of every show I ever saw in person.

It was fun, but it was a very late night for a work night.

I was so tired Friday after work that we didn't go out and get our errands done like usual. We just waited til yesterday to do everything, which we don't like to do, because it takes up half the weekend.

We got everything done yesterday, though, and still had some time to relax.

Did I mention that I was having a really hard time finding a dance costume for this next performance that is in May...my first AALIM dance world performance?

For some reason, my size, in gold, is popular enough to be sold out by virtually every web site that sells such stuff.

I finally ended up finding a costume on a website that was pricier than I had wanted...but they posted an item that was SUPPOSED to be big enough to fit an adult woman....in other words, the hip belt was bigger than 32 inches (HIPS...yes, I was having a hard time finding hip belts bigger than 32!!), and a bra with a ribcage measurement bigger than 28-30 inches.

Where do these tiny, tiny belly dancers live, because I have never, EVER met one.

Anyway, I ordered the costume I ordered because they website said they had it in gold, and it was supposed to have a 41 inch belt (3 inches too big, but no big deal, it's easy to move hooks), and a bra with a 37 inch rib cage (way too big, but again, easy to alter).

After waiting about a week longer than I was supposed to, I discovered that this website was in TURKEY, and my costume was coming FROM TURKEY (one drawback of the internet, is you often don't know the location of the warehouse from which your merchandise is going to ship!).

I emailed and they responded immediately that my order had been shipped, and they gave me a tracking number. Of course, the package arrived the next day.

I took the items out of the shipping bag, and I was appalled. The belt is 38 inches....thank GOD my hips are 38 inches!! It was supposed to be 41 inches, but instead, it barely fits around me.

The bra, which was supposed to have a 37 inch rib cage band was 30 inches. THIRTY!!! That would probably fit a 12 year old....

SO, since I had gotten immediate response on my first email, I emailed them again, and asked how it happened that the item that I had ordered was not shipped to me...but instead, items that were substantially smaller.

Of course, no reply what so ever.

I don't have time to ship this thing back to Turkey and wait for them to send me a new set that's the one I ordered...so I am trying to alter this one myself.

I bought a "bra extender" that I have sewed to the back strap. It gives is JUST enough length to get it around me. But now, I have to figure out how the hell to make the white bra extender match the gold sequined bra.

What a crock of shit.

All of that money for something that doesn't fit. I am PISSED.

I have sent them another email and made it very clear that I will never do business with them again, and neither will any of my friends in the dance community...so...

For anyone out there, never, EVER order anything from bellyfun.com.

All clear

The horrible storms that were predicted to wipe out Oklahoma City passed to the north of us. They wiped out a little town called Woodward, and then went up into Kansas, where they did substantial damage.

3 dead in Woodward, 20 injured.

We had a thunderstorm at about 4 am this morning at the back trailing edge of that system, with high winds and lots of rain. No hail damage, and only a few twigs down.

We're fine.

The storms that came through Friday sent a mile and a half wide tornado through Norman. Last I heard, that took out the high school, and some other buildings. No injuries or deaths.

Then there was another one later that passed north, no tornado activity in OKC proper, and then again later, the sirens went off at 2:30 in the morning Saturday. That tornado was up in the northwest corner of the county. Never heard what kind of damage, if any. Chances are, it was just in open country.

Today, all's quiet. Just cloudy.

Our home phone got blasted by lightening or something on Friday, and has been dead since. We have a call in to the phone company, but Dave's pretty sure it's just the actual phone itself. The lines seem to be okay, because the DSL works. So today, we will most likely be going out to buy a new phone.

So, the first round of tornado season storms has come and gone. Early.

But then, everything has been happening early this year. The non existent winter is probably at fault. Daffodils that came up in January, redbuds done blooming by the end of March, roses currently in full, bright bloom.

In other news, trying a new recipe tonight from the South Beach diet collection. Whole grain lasagna noodles, low fat cheeses, and spinach.

Created a new soup recipe yesterday, after Dave went grocery shopping by himself and looked at the wrong list at first, so brought home a couple of "unplanned" items.

This has to be the yummiest soup recipe I've come up with in a long time! See recipe below, and let me know if you try it! It's flavorful, silky....exquisite! If I do say so myself!

ADDENDUM: the death toll in Woodward continues to rise, as the injured pass away. Very sad.

Curried Vegetable Soup for Two

I developed this recipe after Dave went grocery shopping without me, and came home with stuff that wasn't on the list.

1 small, or 1/2 large sweet onion, diced fine

1 pat of organic butter

1/2 pound fresh asparagus, chopped

1 cup fresh broccoli florets, chopped

1 pot "Knorr" homestyle stock concentrate, beef

2 cups water

salt

pepper

yellow curry powder

garam masala

1 container fat free plain Greek yogurt

Saute` the vegetables in the butter until onion is translucent, and greens are bright. Add stock concentrate, seasonings, and water, stir well, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until all vegetables are tender.

Using an immersion blender, or a container blender, puree the soup to a creamy consistency. Add yogurt, blend completely, and serve immediately.

Substitution: use 1 cup beef broth and 1 cup water instead of the "Knorr" product.

Finally, video evidence.....

...but blogger won't let me upload it.

I finally captured Jack the Cat doing his famous "waving" routine. He will try to get my attention, by sitting up on his haunches, and waving at me with a front paw.

It's completely adorable, and he stopped doing it when we moved. He is now finally himself again, after a couple of years of stress.

Yay! Wish I could share it here. Will try to post it on my Facebook page.

Oh, and by the way, the tornadoes were far away from us yesterday, and we hope that tonight's predicted storms do the same thing. All we got was lots, and lots, and lots of rain.

Great weekend

Ready for Jessie's certain kind of company!

Seriously?

At the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

At the foot of the Survivor Tree, OKC Bombing Memorial

Jessie and Linda came into town on Saturday.

When Jessie stepped out of the van and into my arms, we both burst into tears, and I felt instantly, utterly loved.

My nerves had been rattled, just in general from stress at work, etc...but I was also anxious about having house guests; would there be enough of the right kind of food, drink, stuff to do.... but all of that vanished when I saw her.

We instantly fell into our comfortable way of being together. The tequila helped with that, but, honestly, we were already in that zone before we ever opened the bottle.

Eventually, chicken and asparagus was grilled, and the laughter began.

Linda, Jessie's mom, is hilarious, and their rapport with one another is unique, to say the least.

We laughed for pretty much the whole time they were here. Except when we cried, or slept...hah!!

There was just enough to do, and the weather was mostly cooperative.

It was super hot (90 something, I think) on Sunday, when we went down to Norman to the Medieval Faire. Hot, dusty wind made us thirsty and overheated, and probably caused us to go home earlier than anticipated, but that was okay. We stopped at a pub and had some cool drinks and a late lunch. Home made Albondigas soup for supper....YUM!

Monday, we did breakfast at Cattlemen's, visited the Memorial, and a western store (where the above box with the sign is), and did some OKC sight seeing. Then came home, left over soup for lunch, and a long, relaxing afternoon...and then, we played Trivial Pursuit for most of the evening. Somewhere in there, I cooked up some smoked turkey sausage and peppers.

Mostly, though, we laughed.

Tuesday, it poured rain almost all day, perfect for the Cowboy museum. Then, that night, dinner at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, then home for a viewing of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

It turned out to be just the right amount of running around doing stuff, and hanging out at home, just relaxing and having fun. (and for most of us, drinking and taking naps as well! Giggle!)

Jessie brought some of her favorite local craft brewed beers, which we drank all up, and some lovely soap (which I want more of!), a jar of locally made jam, which we loved at breakfast, and, finally, some hot fudge sauce, and some wine, both of which still haven't been opened.

They left here on Wednesday morning, when I had to go back to work. Dave took Wednesday off, though, and was here to help them load up their stuff, and to take down the air bed we borrowed for them to use.

The time spent in the company of Jessie restored a certain part of me to myself. It was very, very good medicine.