I'll start off by saying that there's no turning back: we're here to stay. I got my OK driver's license on Monday. It had such a final feel to it, especially since they didn't give me my CA license back. Not even for sentimental reasons. OK address, OK plates, OK license. It still feels weird.
I had another one of those "We're not in California any more, Toto" Moments at the Tag Office (OK DMV). While waiting for my license, a guy came in in cowboy boots (not an unusual site here)...and spurs! Really! I'm sure he wondered why this lady was looking at him funny. I had to do a couple of double-takes to make sure. Wendy would have loved it!
The battle of the bugs races in my house, yet I remain victorious. It all started a few weeks back when I had this "Circle of Life" tableau being enacted on my living room window. There are about a bazillion flies around here (I know, I counted!) and they are tenacious about getting into the house. Well, they'd buzz around that front window and a spider family (mom & at least three smaller ones) was taking advantage of that. Jonathan was fascinated watching the flies get caught and the spiders going to work. This was tolerable enough until the undertakers arrived. The tiniest ants you've ever seen...so small you hardly notice them. I'd had enough, they could take their show outside, please! So I called on my trusty, CA-proven Ortho Home Defense (It's not a paid endorsement, but if they wanted me, I'd so do it!) and we ended their off-broadway performance.
Still, those ants are...persistent, if stupid. Even when my A/C was out and it was 95 degrees in the house (I took a thermometer pic to prove it - at 10 pm!), those little buggers kept trying to infiltrate my laundry room and bathroom. So it was Ortho Home Defense to the rescue - again! And again! And again! Not like I keep finding live ones...nope. Just after I keep cleaning up the dead ones, the next day there's a dozen more. My laundry room is an ant crypt, apparently. The Ortho stuff works REALLY well, they say it keeps working for 6 months and it does. However, I am constantly working to keep the remains from piling up. But as long as they are contained there...I could really not handle it if they moved on to the kitchen.
The weather here is...weird. A gal from church said I should just make my peace with it and move on. However, the weathermen are shysters because they try to get us to believe one thing and they are never right. It's a wonder they even bother. I get rained on for all of thirty seconds (literally, Jonathan will swear it was that short) and that's it. No sprinkles or mist working up to dribbles and drops, just drop a few and move on. It's like the clouds can't make up their mind. People around here watch the radar and the skies themselves. You have to be your own on-the-spot weatherperson.
You'll want to know about our first 4th of July here. No biggie, though we want to try and make it better next year. We missed my parents' annual party on the 3rd, which was probably part of the downer-feeling we had about it. It just wasn't - couldn't - be the same. But, Ken had the day off, so he wanted to do something. We went to Lawton, our 50 miles east neighbor, that has all the big stuff. They are building a Target out there and people are so excited. It's funny.
Still, it has one of the two Carl's Jr. in the whole state (the other being in OKC). Since Jonathan had a GC for it and I still had coupons, we went there for lunch (sweet potato fries = heaven!) and then went to Sam's Club afterward. Now, if I don't mention this, Ken will be insulted, but we got the greatest deal on ground beef that was supposed to be sold by the 4th. We basically bought 30 lbs. of it for about 25 cents a pound! And spend the rest of the afternoon cooking & packaging it up for the freezer. Crazy.
Also, back at home, we decided to try our hand at homemade ice cream. We'd been given an ice cream maker, so...why not? A new tradition for the 4th, maybe? It was okay, we used a cookies & cream ice cream mix from Wal-mart, but it was a little icy and not so smooth. But it was a first try and there's always a learning curve.
Did we have fireworks? We didn't buy any from the stand...you're not supposed to use them in town, but Ken & Analiese went out to the reservoir and saw the city show (Jonathan didn't want to and my feet were killing me - but I heard them!). And at dinner we talked about how we could make it better next year.
Oh, one more thing...I met another homeschooler this week. Jonathan went to robotics 4H this week (glorified legos, really) and the mom of the boy he was teamed up with homeschools her kids. They are near my kids in age and she is also part of the local group, so now we can get connected. And guess what? Her name is Michelle and is has a degree in English like I do. We were very excited to find each other and swapped lots of info (they just moved to OK from IN). This was a connection I was very eager to make, so the kids have other outlets. And a gal at church is going to start homeschooling her kids this fall (they are younger), so she's been picking my brain.
Believe it or not, even with change, life goes on. There's still much to do, but there are things to look forward to. And that give spice to our lives.
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