Name Change?

 Amanda didn't change her last name when she married.  I never changed mine, but it was entirely up to her what she chose to do.  She has had lots of academic success in her maiden name that will be important while she works on her PhD at Berkeley next year.  (In French Lit.)  Not changing her name started me thinking about what a huge responsibility giving a child a name is.  Her brothers' names are Nicholas and Zachary.  If I had any idea that I would ever have a girl, she would have had a "Z" name - perhaps Zoe.  But I used the "Z" name for Zachary and she would have been Cameron, since I was absolutely convinced that I was having another boy.  My husband has said that the most surprised he has ever seen me was when (after 40 hours of labor) (no sympathy, please - I got a baby out of that weekend, and that's all that matters now), they told me "It's a girl!"
And more about the wedding.  Isn't that bouquet wonderful?  My niece Amy did the flowers for the wedding, even though she is due any minute with a girl of her own, and couldn't travel to it.  My brother Tony played guitar and my brother Don performed the Lutheran Ceremony.  My sister Lynne scoped out the vista and my nephew Eric did pictures.  My point, and I do have one, is that there's nothing like a family pulling together to make a memorable occasion.
PS: Does anyone remember that old (1949) Susan Hayward movie, Tulsa?  (Filmed in Ada, OK.)

Look What I Won!

Look what I won on Sanda's lovely blog, Halcyon Days.  It's a fabulous Brahmin bag.  How very generous of her!  I'll get some better pictures of it in action soon, because it is a thousand times more beautiful in person.  I was in that bad Internet Zone when I won it and the way I found out was that my daughter told me.  Who knew she read the same blogs as I did??  And I was out of town with it waiting for me to get home and unwrap it.  Worth waiting for!

Back In Oklahoma

Left Sacramento yesterday morning and just got back to Tulsa.  I forget what a long ride it is, but when you are driving through heat over 110 degrees, there's no desire to stop and waste time.  Which actually makes it faster.  So two full days instead of three almost full ones.  Went by one of my favorite sites - "the biggest cross in the Northern Hemisphere" in Northern Texas this morning.  Why does Texas have Picnic Areas?  They have signs just like the Rest Areas, and you think there will be bathrooms, but there aren't.  Just Picnic Tables.  Do Texans wonder why the other states wreck a perfectly good "picnic area" by adding bathrooms?  I've tried to ask about it, but it doesn't seem to be polite conversation.    

Free Wine Tasting Does Still Exist In California

This is my mother's 90th year - so instead of using it to plan the big 90th birthday party, she is having as many celebrations as possible.  This month, it was a trip to the Holly Hills Winery, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains - just up from Sacramento.  They make some great wine in the area.  Lots of "Old Vine" Zin, which is possible because the gold miners got homesick for wine and planted these vines over 100 years ago - then the new wine makers brought these old abandoned vineyards back to life.  From there they have branched out into so many different varieties that I have lost count.  This area still has plenty of free wine tasting, and most of them know my mother by first name.  John did the driving, and this was the first time I was not the designated driver, so by the end of the day, I was very happy.  I knew what I liked while I was still in the area and could buy it.  Good Times!

$1000 PHONE BILL SCAM - UPDATED

When I first Googled $1000 Phone Bill Scam, all I got were tons of posting by people who actually had used their phone so much, what with data charges and roaming in Foreign Countries, that they really did owe over $1000.
My husband just told me he also got an email saying that our family cell phone bill was over $1000.  He only knew to mention it since he saw I'd made a big thing about it in yesterday's post.  I asked if he'd clicked on any links in this email and he said, "Of course not.  The cell phone bill is your business."  He lets me do the business stuff, since I'm good at it.  And he does the vacuuming.  That's what works for us.   

If Oklahoma Had A Shoreline

Flew to Hawaii out of San Diego.  Gorgeous place!  The one thing missing in Oklahoma is a real Ocean Beach.  If you could move the Ocean there, everyone would live in Oklahoma.  I know there's not enough livable Ocean Beach for everyone to be right at the shore, but one should ideally live within an hours drive.  Of course, if you've never lived near a beach, you don't know what you're missing.

 This ship can be hired out for Pirate Parties - don't think Pirates are fun anymore, since Somali got into it.

The $1000 Phone Bill Scam

Last month I got an email announcing that I had an upcoming phone bill that was over $1000, with a link to inspect/pay it.  Since I was in the midst of wedding chaos, and plagued by inadequate Internet service, I chose to just go over to the phone store and talk to them in person.  Guess what??  It was a scam.  My phone bill was the same as usual and the Link would have exposed me to possible viruses and/or identity theft.  This type of thing has to be stopped.  What if I had a weak heart?  Or was already so far in debt that this was the final straw?  How can these criminals continue to prey on our citizens?

Puzzles

Do you do Sudoku?  How about Brain Training?  Crossword Puzzles?  Jigsaw Puzzles?  Solitaire?  I always have something going - Math Puzzles magazine in my purse.  Logic Puzzle book for the plane or car ride.  Something I can pick up and easily put down to pass the time.  It's a good subsitiute for patience.
Once, about 3 years ago, I was waiting for my daughter to get out of class in a French Café enjoying the small plate of most excellent pommes frites, that 5 euros will buy, when I had my hand snatched excitedly by a French woman close to my age.  She dragged me over to her table and fussed in her purse until she produced her own version of the hand held video game I had been playing.  The French version of the Nintendo DS complete with Brain Training, exactly like mine - but hers was in French of course.  She told me that her son had gotten her this to keep her brain active.  (Better translation of what she said, was "to keep her brain from dying".)  I told her that my son had given mine to me for the same reason.  She then told me that she was taking painting lessons in the same garret that could have been used by Gauguin and told me that I must come and see it.  Which I did.  Pretty amazing.  I always thought that the attics were used for painting because of the light.  But according to her it was actually because the paints were lighter than the other art mediums (granite, marble, iron, clay) and wouldn't come crashing down.  Since I am only half French, I only half believed her!  One of my most wonderful memories, and so I keep brain training to keep it available.  

Glad I Didn't Have To Embroider This Myself!

Close up of the embroidery on the gown.  What looks like tiny sequins are actually very flat faceted Swarovski crystals.  Perfect chain stitches.  So exquisite.  

Wedding Picture

Thought On The Adult Bedtime

Back from a relaxing week in Hawaii.  Found out that I am not the kind of person who drags a laptop to the local Starbucks to access the Internet, even to read my email, much less to post anything.  Since over 90% of my posting is done while I'm in bed, unless there is free late night Internet available, I'm probably reading a book instead.  (Have I ever mentioned that my husband and I are a mixed couple - he's a (ugh) morning person?  But we go to bed at the same time, so I have spent a lot of time watching him sleep.)

No Picture Today

Yesterday was my daughter's wedding.  We had two photographers.  As I was Mother Of The Bride, I figured prominently in plenty of pictures.  When I got back to the hotel, I had a Baileys and fell asleep quickly and soundly.  When I woke up I felt a little twinge in my chin. - could one sprain their chin?  No, but one could get the hugest, Mt Everest of pimples on ones chin, where a hated Crones Hair had sprung up and been unceremoniously plucked out with the nearest available tweezers.  Was this hideous creature with a life, (and possible family) of its own there yesterday for all of these treasured pictures?  Could no one have warned me?  Are they going to airbrush hundreds of pictures?  Did no one have extra-strength cover-up cream to lend me?  Or a nearby construction site with extra-strength Spackle I could borrow.  Could I have held my finger up to my chin a la Shirley Temple to obscure this blight on the landscape of my chin?  (Or in this case, three fingers!!)
But my point, and I do have one, is that when I lived in Seattle, my Crone Hairs were grey, a product of the stress of dealing with the weather, traffic, and the expense of living in such an expensive city.  The friendlier, slower, less expensive pace of Oklahoma has turned them back to black.  A Grey Crone's Hair I would have ignored!
On a side not, why is the Crone's Hair not studied more by the Bosley Institute on Hair Restoration?  At noon, your chin can be clear as the proverbial baby's bottom, and in less than 4 hours, one of those beauties will be half an inch long!  Let's put those toupee makers out of business.

Winning Wedding Planning

Last night at Amanda's Wedding Shower, she asked me why, since I maintain that I do very little work in keeping up a blog, it had been an entire week since I had last posted??  Well, I realized that the only times I had been on the Internet at all were to check my Bank Balance - at least once an hour - and to look for local bead stores to supplement the elaborate beading on The Gown.  (Beads Beads is the winner in that category!)  I will put up some pictures of this incredible find after the wedding when I am relaxing in Hawaii next week.  But suffice it to say, I am remaking the most amazing dress for her.  It is a little short, as befits a dress that is going to be worn in a Barn Reception, but a fairly simple style.  I was reminded that my love of elaborate fancy dressmaking with high quality fabrics started when I was in college and desperate for cash.  That's when I discovered The Drag Queens!  Or maybe more accurately, they discovered me.  They bought silks and sequins and feathers.  I made them into Judy Garland or Connie Francis or numerous other stars.  (Did I mention that I was a teenager, but even so I am really dating myself here.) And my point, and I do have one, is that I have no qualms about ripping up a new, never worn Monique Lhuillier that originally retailed for $2500.  Which I found in the dumpiest thrift store with the size mismarked for $75.  (A size 0 [zero] doesn't have a 30'+ waist.)  Doesn't this make me The Thrift Store Winner of the Year?  On a separate note, does anyone remember past Miss Oklahoma, Anita Bryant?