Snow pictures

These are a couple of pics from what things looked like when I got back to Tahlequah. One is my house and the other is the fountain outside our building. From what I understand the fountain was much more impressive before I took the picture, but it still looks pretty cool in this picture.

Music 2

The trip back to Tahlequah this weekend was no different when it comes to music. I promise not to make a habit of posting what I have been listening to and what it reminds me of, but I popped in my 90's mixed cd and it really got me thinking about days of old.

• Baby Got Back. Do you like this song? Well, does Sir Mix-a-lot like booty? Heck yes you do! This song brings back lots of memories, but one in particular springs to mind. When I was a sophomore at A&M the Chelsea Street Bar and Grill was still open in the mall. They had karaoke every night, except Monday's, which were apparently sacred. One Wednesday night my roommates, Scott and Chris, and I went in for dinner, not knowing about the karaoke. None of us sang, but one big black guy did get up and sing Baby Got Back. He did a heck of a job with it, and had a lot of fun. I'm not sure if he had practiced it or not, but he certainly had his choreography down! I always think of him when I hear that song.
• "Early in the morning, rising to the street. Light me up that cigarette and I'll strap shoes on my feet." Everyone I know who is my age knows all the words to Sublime's "What I Got." What a great song. In high school, when we still used to drag Main street, we would stop and congregate at one of two places, the courthouse lawn or Peter's Dad's workshop one block South of the courthouse. Whenever Peter, Nolan and Justin would get the band together to play, we would meet at the shop and listen. They would always sing this song and everyone who was there would sing a long at the top of their lungs. This song, more than any other, reminds me of the good times and friends I had in high school.
• Chumbawumba reminds me of all the goofy music I used to listen to. I'm sure in another ten or fifteen years I will look back at what I'm listening to now and think some of it was goofy too. In fact, I'm sure I will. For the time being however, I will continue to listen to it just like I used to. I guess bad habits are hard to break. But then again, getting any of Chumbawumba's songs out of your head is hard too.
• 500 miles by The Proclaimers. "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more. Just to be the man who walks a 1000 miles to fall down at your door." What is it about a one hit wonder that we all love so much? That may be a bit presumptuous. What is it about a one hit wonder that I love so much? I'm really not sure. Others spring to mind. Livin' La Vida Loca, Mambo No. 5, Come on Eileen, Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm, Bitter Sweet Symphony, Informer . All of these were songs by one hit wonders, and I know all the words to those songs too! (Well maybe not Informer. That white boy could rap!) They all remind me of goofy times in high school. I sometimes miss high school, but I would never, let me repeat, never want to do it again! Some people say they would. Some people are wrong! College? I would do that again in a heartbeat!

1st Anniversary!

It was one year ago today that I decided to start this blog. It's amazing what a year in your life can bring. I am looking forward to many changes and exciting things in 2010, but all in all, 2009 was a pretty good year.

I started the year looking to leave New Mexico and move to another store with Barnes & Noble. I went to my annual meeting in Orlando with the express intent of coming home with a new job. I had my eye on a possible new account in Utah, but that did not pan out. However, a new account and opportunity presented itself in Oklahoma. I dove on the new job like a fat kid grabs for the last piece of candy. In May I moved to Tahlequah, OK and I absolutely love it there. And not like I have said I liked other places. I always said I liked Portales, NM, but let's call a spade a spade. It sucked! I have really enjoyed living in Tahelquah. I have gotten more involved in the community in Tahlequah than I have in previous cities where I lived. I have made some new friends and have a great team at work too!

Happy Anniversary blog. I promise to spend more time with you in 2010. I said that in 2009, but I really mean it now. I have changed. I realize what my blog means to me now. Do you hear me blog? I will see you soon.

Lots of changes were in order for the whole family this year! Lindsay moved to San Antonio, Clay moved to Baton Rouge, LA and Shea and her husband Byron still live in Florida. For anyone counting, that puts my siblings and I in four different states! While communication has certainly gone down, we do seem to enjoy being around each other at holidays much more, which is no small miracle!

Les also started a new job in the insurance business. He has been all over the state and even traveled to far away lands like Montana! I think it makes him appreciate the Texas panhandle all the more!

I will be updating the blog again soon with my New Year's resolutions. I think I blogged about doing that last year, but never got around to it. One of my resolutions this year is to stop procrastinating, so this will be an immediate test of my resolve! We will not have to wait long to find out what happens.

Music

I drove home to Panhandle today for Christmas vacation. I love traveling, especially when it means I get to be in the car for an extended period of time. I enjoy riding with others, but I really enjoy driving by myself in my own car. I let my mind wander a lot and I am usually pretty surprised at where it takes me. This trip was no different.

Just like every trip, I usually end up holding a concert in my car to a variety of cds that I have not listened to in a long time. One of the first I busted out from my ridiculously large repertoire of music was an old Clint Black cd. One of the first songs I listened to was State of Mind. "Ain't if funny how a melody, can bring back a memory. Take you to another place and time, completely change your state of mind." I have listened to that song a million times, but for some reason it struck a chord with me tonight. I thought a lot about this the rest of the trip as I listened to many other cds that had not been in my player in a while.

• Blues Traveler reminds me of junior high and how I used to be an active member of the Columbia House cd and record club. That was one of the first 12 cds I got with Columbia House. I think I also got Yanni: Live at the Acropolis. You win some, you lose some.
• Journey reminded me of a couple of things. Don't Stop Believin' always reminds me of good times with my Barnes & Noble family. The rest of the cd, however, reminds me of my dad. Needless to say, I skipped around on this cd and replaced it quickly. Sorry Steve Perry, but you had to go!
• Clint Black harkens the better days of country music. I love country music, but some things have changed over the past twenty years. Clint Black and others from his hay day are no longer the chart toppers they were. George Strait is still hanging in there, but I do not like his new stuff. I know every word to every song on Black's Killin' Time album and listen to it repeatedly.
• Bob Schneider! Lonelyland is such an amazing cd! I always think of the great times I had with my college friends and the fun we had seeing Bob in concert. The first time I saw him was at the Willie Nelson Picnic. It was an all day affair and hot as all get out. The weather began to turn around as he came out onto the stage. He played "Blue Skies for Everyone" while clouds rolled in and the wind started to blow. It began to rain and cool off and it totally re-energized the crowd. I have seen him several times, but this is the one that will always stick with me.
• Jack Johnson. I listen to Jack Johnson a lot, but have not heard anything from him in about six months. I used to go to the beach in Corpus Christi with a cooler, a six pack and a book. I would prop open the back of my car, crank up the tunes, pop a top and kick back in a lawn chair. Good times.
• The Judds. I know what you're thinking. The Judds? Seriously? Yes, seriously! "Grandpa, Tell Me Bout the Good 'Ol Days," makes me think about my Granddad and what a great guy he was. Pappy lived with us for about a year when we were kids in Denton. I used to go to the fishing barge with him every Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m. to fish for catfish with his own concoction of stink bait. That stuff would singe your nose hairs, but it attracted a lot of catfish! I have been fishing a few times since he passed away, but I have never really enjoyed it. I really miss him.
• I also listened to lots and lots of Christmas music. Harry Connick Jr., Kristin Chenoweth, Straight No Chaser, Burl Ives, and many, many more. I love Christmas music. I have fond memories of Christmases past. Some were great and some were not, but I appreciate the memories all the same.

I'm looking forward to the drive home now.......

Derington Christmas

I just got home a little while ago from a great weekend with most of my family. This weekend was our Derington Christmas. And while I do realize the reason for the season, and I certainly enjoy being with my immediate family on Christmas day, our Derington Christmas is the highlight of the Christmas season for me.

This was the 8th Annual Derington Christmas held at my parents house in Panhandle, TX. What an incredible tradition we have going here! I love being around my whole family. A close second to this event is our June family reunion. While we have more extended family at our reunion, the number one place is reserved for our family Christmas.

This year I was almost not able to make the party. Fortunately, Thursday night I was able to get coworkers to cover me and was able to make it for the weekend. I drove to Tulsa Friday night and stayed with my Uncle Joel and Aunt Gayle and then drove in with them early Saturday. While I would have loved to have gone home Friday to have fun with family who came in that day, I had a great time riding with the two of them. We laughed and shared stories the whole way there and back. As I get older I realize how nice it is to be able to spend time with family. I have always enjoyed being with family, but so many people my age do not take the time to spend time with their family, let alone their extended family.

We started out the day with food and drinks, which are never in short supply at any family function. We have a gift exchange of mostly homemade gifts. This is where the fun sets in! We have a white elephant, or dirty Santa, gift exchange. For some reason I have a problem with Dirty Santa, so I prefer white elephant, but I digress. We all draw numbers and then take turns opening gifts and stealing gifts from each other. Our matriarch, my grandmother, who we call Sudy, is the last to go. When we started this Christmas tradition we decided that Sudy would have the last draw and that she would be able to steal anything she wanted, even if it had been stolen enough times to be locked and no longer stolen by anyone else. What makes it even more fun is the fact that she will steal things from people and not just end the game! I am sure we have probably had some hurt feelings over the years and silent grumblings about the gifts we received or received and had stolen from us, but all in all we have a great time with lots of laughter!

I wish the whole family enjoyed this tradition as much as I do. Certainly everyone who comes for the weekend does, but not everyone comes. As in every family, their are those that choose not to participate in reindeer games and family traditions. They come and go occasionally, but for the most part they do not come to family gatherings. While much can be said, and has, it really just makes me sad that people I was so close to as a child have drifted apart from the rest of us. Maybe someday that drift will narrow, but perhaps it won't. Until then, we will continue to enjoy the company of those family members who do get together.

It does make me very happy to watch our growing family get bigger every year. My cousins have almost all married. It is so much fun to add a new member to the family. My cousins have married some great people and have started making families of their own. And the kids are awesome! While technically I am their second cousin and not their uncle, I relish in being called Uncle Man. It started a few years ago at our family reunion when my cousin Keith and wife Wendi's daughter Emily screamed "Uncle Man" from the pontoon boat while on the lake. It has stuck with me ever since and I really love it. Now all the kids call me Uncle Man.

This year I came home with a great gift! While I always enjoy and like the gifts I take home from our family Christmas, it is always nice to get a gift from an unlikely source. My family is full of Aggies, but I love to get a homemade Aggie gift from a true blue Red Raider. I got a framed "Saw 'Em Off" Picture made from leather and stingray skin, which is pictured in this post. I wish I had been able to make a gift this year! I put my gift on hold two weeks ago when I thought I was not going to be able to come. As it turned out, I was able to come. Guess I should have finished my gift anyway! Fortunately my dad had a gift that everyone knew I did not make, but was homemade nonetheless! Welding is certainly not my forte! I hope the person that got the wine rack enjoys it! A future post that I have been working on will include my New Year's resolutions, one of which is to stop procrastinating! I guess that could have come in handy in regards to my gift this year! (or any other year) Oh well, next years party is a long way away! (or at least that is what I tell myself every year until the week before)

Well, it was a great weekend! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did! I am already looking forward to next year.

What happened to me?

I had just gotten into bed last night, turned off the lights and pulled the covers up to my chin when my phone rang. I grumbled a bit as I reached for my glasses to see who would be so audacious as to call me after 11:30 at night. (it was 11:34) It was my cousin Paige, who is in college at Oklahoma State. I was surprised to get her call, but immediately excited that is was her. I answered and we said our hellos and then asked what was going on. She told me she was at a bar in Stillwater and needed the ingredients to make a Water Moccasin. Paige had ordered one and the bartender, not being from the Dry Bean Saloon, had no idea what was in it. In case you are wondering, a Water Moccasin is equal parts Crown Royal, sweet and sour and Peach Schnapps. It is an awesome shot! Not too hard and not too sweet.

I had gone to Fayetteville, AR in October to visit my cousin Katy and her husband Jimmy for their son Jackson's 1st birthday. Paige was in town for it too. I met all of them downtown on Dickson Street the Friday night before the party, minus Jackson who stayed with his grandparents. Dickson Street is a lot like the Northgate area of College Station. University of Arkansas is a stone's throw away, so their is lots of college activity. We had dinner at a German restaurant called the Brew Haus, which brewed its own beer. We then went in and out of several bars, each with their own unique attributes. One was a small bar with a huge metal rotating fan that spread out across the entire ceiling. One was your average sports bar. The last bar was really nothing to write home about, but they had live music and they were playing Sublime, which we all started singing as we ducked inside. I ordered a round of Water Moccasin's for everyone because I love them and figured everyone else would too, which of course they did! We had a great night. We shared several drinks and even a round of cigars. Eventually we went home a little after 1:00.

Fast forward two months, and my cousin was calling me from the bar to find out how to make this drink I had gotten for her. It certainly gave me a warm feeling inside! However, it also got me thinking. What happened to me? It was 11:30 on a Friday night and I was already in bed watching tv and half asleep. Even tonight, while I was watching the Big 12 Championship, I found myself looking at the clock and thinking to myself that it was time to go to bed. Is this a bad thing? I really don't think so, although it does make me miss nights that were so noteworthy that my friends and I refer to them by name. "White Trash Night, Northgate Crawl or the Weekend we drank Panhandle dry" are a few of the most notable. I had some good times over the last 10 years, and I'm sure the stories will continue. However, now that they do not occur with as much frequency, it has made wonder if I have lost my edge. I can still party like a rock star, or a 20 year old college student, when I go to Vegas, but then again, so can everyone. I guess the fact of the matter is we have all moved on. We do not all live in the same town anymore, which is probably the single biggest reason none of us party like we used to. That is certainly true in my case. As I get older I have also grown quite fond of my liver and the vital functions it performs for me on a daily basis. I suppose I'm not taking that for granted anymore, which my liver seems to appreciate. All in all, this is really no big deal, but definitely got me thinking about how my life has changed. So, what happened to me? I guess I grew up. I guess we all did. Nothing a trip to Vegas won't fix.

Not my high school reunion

I never posted anything after attending the Denton High Class of 99 10 year reunion. What a night! It was kind of a letdown to tell you the truth. I graduated in Panhandle with 52 people, and we had 28 show up to our reunion and about 45 there all together. It was a pretty good turnout. We only charged $10 a person too. The Denton class reunion was a little different.

For starters, you had to have tickets to the reunion in order to attend. You could pay $50 by mail before a certain date, or $55 at the door. I chose to go the $55 route since I was not positive I was going until last minute. I wanted to leave myself an "out" just in case. However, my best friend from elementary, and his wife, were going to be there so I decided I would go. I stayed the weekend with Margaret in Ft. Worth and drove the short distance to Denton for the reunion Saturday night. I got there late, which was planned. I did not know how many people I would know at this reunion since they graduated with almost 400 and only a small fraction of those went to Sam Houston Elementary. I got there and painfully handed over $55 and then scanned the room. I saw Eric and his wife, so I went over and said hi. They had saved me a spot. They were eating, so I went to get a plate too. I was disappointed in the buffet options. I'm not sure what I expected, but for $55 I was hoping for more than chips and salsa and fajitas. Not even any guacamole! Geez! I made my way back to the table, which was filled with people I did not know. I got to meet some new people, which was nice. One of the girls I met flew in from D.C. with her fiance. They ended up winning the "Traveled the Farthest" award.

I could not help but think about how few people were in the room. The reunion was held at the Denton Country Club, which was probably not the best place to have it. For starters, the DCC is not in Denton. It's in Argyle, which is very close, but still not in the same city. The room was not very big, but was staged to host maybe 200 people. I was there most of the night and there were never more than about 50 people in the room. 50 people! That's only 5 more than we had in Panhandle! And there was no splinter group hanging out in the bathroom or on the front porch. Everyone was inside! What's going on Denton High School Class of 1999 reunion? Where is the love? Apparently not at the DCC!

I don't have to be critical of everything though! I did get to see people that I had literally not seen since I was in 6th grade, and that was well worth the trip! One girl I reconnected with on facebook a couple of years ago, and has since never answered a message I posted, came over and said hello and sat and talked to me the entire night. I suppose I can chalk those two years worth of facebook ignores out the window.

Another thing I really enjoyed was being looked at by people in the room and knowing that they were trying to place me. "I just don't remember him? Did he go to school with us? Maybe I sat next to him in Mr. So and so's class?" One guy came up to Eric and said hi and chatted for a few minutes. Then he turned to me, looked down at my nametag, stuck out his hand and said, "Cole, I don't remember you." I laughed and said, "if you didn't go to Sam Houston Elementary then you don't know me." I appreciated the honesty though. I probably would not have gone up to someone and said that. I would have convinced myself that I knew that person, and then probably made a fool of myself when I pretended we had a past in high school. That's just how I roll. I did get to see one girl that I had a huge crush on in the 5th grade. Her name was Vanessa. I made her a mixed tape and I think she was my girlfriend for 2 weeks. She looked fantastic! And before I go on any more, she's married. Happily. With kids. Enough said!

Their were some people I was really looking forward to seeing that did not show. For starters, two girls that I reconnected with on facebook told me about the reunion and asked if I was coming. I had not even thought about it until then. They did not even show up! Another couple of friends that I thought were going to be there ended up not showing up, so it was kind of a lackluster night. Totally worth going, but not necessarily something to write home about. Just interesting enough to blog about. I think?

Weird dude

It has been almost a month since my last post, and that was hardly a real post. However, I as I sit at my desk at work at 3:21 in the morning, I find myself with an abundance of time on my hands. We have been remodeling the store for the past three weeks, so my assistant manager and I have had a lot of early mornings and long days since. The crew has been working 6:30-6:30 for three weeks straight! What dedication! And the store looks phenomenal. They will have about a half day tomorrow and then the store will be ours again! I did finally have a day off last Friday, so at least DeWayne (my assistant) and I both had a day off in the last few weeks.

That brings me to tonight. Since today was the last full day of work for the construction crew, they scheduled a cleaning crew to come out and strip, seal and wax the floors and then dust everything and just do general cleaning from the remodel. However, the "crew" turned out to be one guy. He got here a little before 6, which is when we close. We got everything moved off the floor onto a carpeted are so that the floors could be finished. He started working on them about 6:30 and here we are almost 9 hours later still plugging away. The "crew" had estimated that they would finish around 1 or 2, however, when the "crew" turns out to be singular rather than plural, we are now looking about 6 a.m. Guess I will be here to open the store in the morning!

Something about this guy is just a little weird. And when I say a little I really mean a lot! When he got here I introduced myself and told him I was the store manager and that I would be here through the night until he finished. He told me his name and I immediately deleted it from my brain. Of course, 10 minutes later I needed to ask him a question, so I had to ask him his name again. This is when it got weird. I said. "I'm sorry, can you tell me your name one more time?" And he replied, "It can be whatever you want it to be." Excuse me? I shot the construction foreman a "what-the-f kind of answer was that?" look. He chimed in quickly and said, "Timmy. His name is Timmy." Riddle me this readers? What's creepier, his response to my question or going by Timmy at the age of 40? Of course, the foreman could have been pulling my leg when he said Timmy. I have been calling him that all night and he has not corrected me. Either that is his name or he enjoys being likened to Lassie's boy master.

Then things got a little weirder. The building we are in closes at 10:30 and is locked down tight. I was in my office and Timmy was on the floor doing his thing. The night manager, who is a student, knocked on the door to let they guy know that the building was closing. Timmy told him that he had to leave the side doors open so that he could bring his equipment in and out. Next thing I know my phone is ringing and the asst director for auxillary services is calling me telling me that they cannot leave the side doors open because people have wandered in after hours before. Of course, this is the first I am hearing any of this. I walked out to the floor to find Timmy having what can only be described as a temper tantrum. I suggested he pull up to the back loading dock, which I have key to, and we can unload his other equipment there. His response? "So you think you can unload a 3,000 lb machine up onto your loading dock from my van?" Uh, no, I never claimed to Hulk out after 10 p.m., but surely their is another solution to this situation. I was still on the phone with the asst director and she is giving me other options. Meanwhile, Timmy "pissy pants" was talking over me and saying there were no other options than to leave the doors open. We resolved to bring all the necessary equipment in through the side doors and then call campus police to let him out that way when it was needed, presumably around 3. "What's that Lassie? An alternate solution? Good girl!" At the rate we are going now, the building will reopen before he is finished, so Timmy threw a tantrum for no reason! I did tell him he needed to chill out and that if he had something to say to staff that does not work for me, but instead NSU, that he needed to go through me first. This did not sit well with Timmy. "I have never encountered this many problems on a job!" Must be his first night. Sounds like somebody needs to change their dirty pee pants!

Once Timmy had a second coat of wax on the floor he decided he wanted to be buds again. I was moving furniture in our cash office and I head him say something, so I popped my head out. He began rambling on about waxing floors and shines and other things I did not care about. I zoned out and nodded, but I was not listening. He stopped talking for a while, so I thought it was my turn to say something. "Is this water or oil based wax?" I got as far as "This is water based. You wouldn't want to.......," before I zoned out again. He was snacking on some trail mix that I told him he could take from the floor if he got hungry. Timmy needs to keep up his strength! He asked me if I wanted some and I said, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm allergic to nuts." He gave me a sad look and said, "Well that stinks! I had some peanuts out in the car that I was snacking on on the way here." I'm not sure why that story had to be told, but I rolled with it.

I am not sure where this story will go from here, but I am quite sure it is not over. We are about to round 4 a.m. and only the tile has been finished. He has not started on the Toli (fake wood looking tile) which takes a different kind of wax. I could probably tell you what kind of wax if I had been listening to him several hours ago, but that was the part of the conversation that sounded like any adult on Charlie Brown.

My favorite video clip

I have passed this video around for years and thought it might be a good thing to post. Hope you enjoy. It always makes me laugh, a lot!

Weeds

I am up a little later than normal this evening working on some clothing orders for work and decided that I "needed" an iced tea and a snack.  Since I am out of tea at the house, which never happens but seems it has, and have not been to the grocery store in weeks, I decided to go the convenience store down the street.  I went in and got the necessities, and then headed outside.  Another car was pulling up when I got to my car.  I looked over as I fastened my seat belt to notice that the two guys in the car were smoking.  This is nothing out of the ordinary for Oklahoma, especially my area, as it seems that everyone here smokes.  However, I did think it was weird that two men were sharing a cigarette in a car with all the windows rolled up.  You guessed it, not a cigarette!  They were sharing joint.  A joint!  Maybe I am a little naive, but I was shocked. Who drives around and smokes a joint?  Seems like that could be a little dangerous, not to mention stupid!  To tell you the truth, it also made me think of this comedy cd that I have listened to several times over the past couple of years.  In Daniel Tosh's routine, he does a bit about drugs, marijuana in particular.  As roughly as I can remember, he says "Legalize it!  That's right folks, I am an advocate for the legalization of marijuana.  Then all the lazy stoners in the world would not have anything else to complain about.  Most people don't see me taking this approach, but it's time to grow up and do coke like an adult!"  That last line always makes me laugh. Maybe it's because we all know someone who used to smoke a lot of pot, and maybe still does?  So what did I do?  Nothing.  Except drive in the opposite direction! 

Yep.....I'm a fan.

Previous to this last weekend I had not heard the new Miley Cyrus song "Party in the U.S.A."  I had heard a 30 second clip on iTunes, but that was enough to know I did not want to download it......or so I thought.   I was in Dallas this past weekend for a wedding, and stayed with a couple of friends of mine.  Margaret and Dana knew the song and played it no less than 20 times over the course of the weekend, with improvised choreography and top of your lungs singing.  You know, after hearing a song that many times, you either love it or hate it.  Turns out I love it.  Margaret made Dana and I travel cds so that we could listen to the song the whole way home.  I did not listen to the song the whole way home, but I have probably listened to it 15 times since I got home Sunday night.  I am now burning it to a cd to take to work, so I guess I can get my fix there too!

High School Reunion

So I went to my 10 year high school reunion last weekend and I could not have had more fun! I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about going, but probably because of the same reasons anyone gets nervous about going to a reunion.   I was 10 years older, so were they.  I gained weight, so did they.  I was pretty much the same person, and so were they. (for better or for worse!)  We had two parties, one Friday night after the game and another Saturday night.  Both parties were a lot of fun, but to tell you the truth I think I had more fun the second night when their were less people around.  Regardless, I got home after 3 a.m. both nights, so you know I had fun!

I am planning on going to the Denton High 10 year reunion in a couple of weeks.  I went to elementary school there and a had not thought a thing about their reunion until a couple of people on facebook asked me if I planned on going.  Now I am really excited about it!  

I do know these two reunions will be very different!  Our reunion in Panhandle was in a barn outside of town.  We had tables set up to sit, food around the sides on workbenches and beer and other beverages in various coolers.  We also charged $10 a person to cover the costs of food for two parties.  The second party was at a friends house and was just as fun!  Inversely, Denton is having their reunion at the Denton Country Club, planned by a party planner, with a DJ, a full buffet and a cash bar.  It also costs $55 to attend. Now to some people this might seem like a better option.  While I do agree that this party will be a lot of fun, I'll take a party in a barn in the country any day over that!

I think that is the beauty of growing up in a small town.  We went to a small school where we were actually able to get to know everyone in the school, not just in our own class!  We were missing information on 6 people in our class.  Now, 6 out of 52 is still 11% of our class missing, but it seems different when the Denton class facebook page has to send out four messages just listing names of people they have no contact info for.  I am not sure how many they were missing and how many graduated in the class, but I know it was more than 11%!

Every time I am in Panhandle I wish I had a job that would allow me to live, and maybe even work, in Panhandle.  I am, by no stretch, in a large town now, but 25,000 is certainly larger than 2,400!  Maybe someday I will have a job that allows me to live in Panhandle.  Right now I cannot imagine what it would be, but I guess time will tell!

Leprosy

I seriously doubt anyone likes having fever blisters, but I truly hate it!  Nothing makes me feel like more of a leper than having a fever blister staring back at people when they look at me.  I feel like I should be banished to a vacation on leper island with the other unwashed masses. When I was a kid I would stay home from school when I got a fever blister because I was so embarrassed about how I looked.  I would go to school sick, but not with a fever blister!  But now I have no choice but to go to work and pretend that my fever blister is not "that big" and people are "looking intently at me" and not my lip!  Most people are pretty nice about it.  I say, "Sorry, I have a fever blister."  As if I had some choice!  And they say, "Oh I didn't even notice."  I can almost convince myself of the fact that it is not that big until one person with verbal diarrhea looks at you and says, "What happened to your face?"  That's the reality check.  

This is really not much of a story.  People get fever blisters every day.  I am trying to blog more, but maybe this one could have been left out.  Maybe not.

Test: Do Something Truly Good! Result: Total Failure!

I have had a lot of interesting things happen to me in the bookstore over the past 8 years.  I have seen customers who were happy, sad, crying, angry, irate, lackadaisical, drunk, stoned, and homeless, although technically the bum was not a customer.  I have had people arrested in the store and even had someone threaten me with a knife once when I blocked the door when they were stealing a book.  I suppose the better end to that story would be that I fought him for the knife and the book and won, and then said "and don't come back!" as he scurried away.  However, it was only a book, so I let him pass.  I did follow him into the parking lot to get his license plate number.  He got his!

However, I have never had the opportunity to do something really great!  I have certainly gone above and beyond for people before, but the opportunity that presented itself last week would truly have topped them all.  

I got a call last week from a police officer on campus.  She introduced herself and then said these exact words, "I'm calling you in regards to an open murder investigation from 2005."  WHAT?  I'm pretty sure I have never killed anyone, and certainly not in 2005.  I lived in Las Vegas then.  If anybody was going down it was the hick in Sin City!  I stayed quiet on the phone, thinking I was about to be accused or punk'd.  After an absurdly long pause, she kind of laughed and said, "I bet you are wondering how this pertains to you?"  It was like she was reading my mind!  I laughed too, and agreed that I was, indeed, interested to know how this pertained to me.  She explained that a student had gone missing in September of 2005 and his body was never found.  She continued, explaining that his then girlfriend had stolen books out of his truck and sold them back at the bookstore.  They knew she had done it, but needed paper proof in order to solidify their case and charge her with his murder.  Obviously, they had more than this on her, but were trying to gather as much proof as they could. We talked a little more and agreed that we would talk again soon after I tried to find out some information.  

This may not have been an appropriate response to a request to help with a murder investigation, but I was stoked!  My mind immediately ran away with this one!  All those years of mystery novels and who-dun-it television were finally going to pay off!  I was going to do James Patterson, Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clark all proud!  I was going to be Matlock's assistant sleuth or one of Angela Lansbury's junior detectives!  Even Perry Mason would have been impressed with this one!  

I'm sure this will surprise all two of you reading this blog, but things did not turn out how they would have on Murder, She Wrote.  First of all, we are a new B&N store and our systems do not have any information from before this past June.  Secondly, the previous computer system has been totally wiped clean.  Even CSI couldn't crack this one!  And lastly, the whole case hinges on whether or not an audit trail from December 2005 was even printed.  If it was, it is filed somewhere among 30 or so banker boxes spread out in storage closets all over campus.  

Quite anticlimactic, huh?  That's what I thought!  Hopefully something will come to fruition with the files.  Until then, my one change to do something good that could have truly long lasting effects was an utter failure!  Maybe next time!

Age is a state of mind?

I have never been one to whine about my age and needlessly worry about my impending 30th birthday, which happens to be only 11 months away, but I suppose that is what this post will be.  The whole thing just does not bother me.  My sister loves to comment on the fact that I will be 30 a year and half before her.  The joke, however is on her!  She is 27 and is more worried about turning 30 than I am!  However, I have begun to notice that my age is coming in to play.

I have no problem with people calling me sir.  I was brought up to say sir and ma'am, so that is really just a sign of respect.  However, I have never had anyone call me mister.....until today.  I was in line at the drive up at the bank when this college student in the car behind me leaned out the window and said, "Hey Mister, your tire is low."  As much as I appreciate him letting me know that my tire was low, I could not help but think of all the other ways he could have gotten my attention.  "Hey Dude" or "Bro" or even "Hey Man" would have all been appropriate.  I would have even been fine with a honk of his horn, but perhaps he thought it would jump start my pacemaker and decided not to risk it.  

It really is amazing how one little word can make you wonder about things like your age.  This, coupled with my 10 year high school reunion later this month, have really had me thinking.  A lot of things have changed over the last 10 years since I left high school.  I don't drive a beat up car anymore, but I pay the price for that.  I don't drink as much beer anymore, instead turning to a delicious gin and tonic.  (However, I do still enjoy beer, let's call a spade a spade!) My taste in jokes has certainly changed, but I think I will still laugh at fart jokes when I am 80!  

Their are advantages to becoming older though.   I do not get carded for alcohol anymore, which drives some people nuts.  One less thing to pull out of my wallet!  I get a better price on car insurance, which is always a bonus! I seem to have more spending money these days, although I'm sure that will change once I settle down and start having kids. (keep your fingers crossed!) I'm sure I could find more practical things to do with this money, but I do enjoy a yearly Vegasfest trip! So really, things are not that bad!  

I guess all in all, I still really don't care about turning 30.  My close group of friends are all turning 30 this year or next, so at least misery can enjoy some company, right?

The Battle of the Bulge

I was flipping channels last night and saw a movie called The Battle of the Bulge on one of the cable channels. This immediately made me chuckle and I'm about to tell you why.  

When I was in College Tuesday night was pretty much always game night.  We would meet at different houses and play whatever board game we all agreed upon.  We played games like Scattergories and Balderdash, and on one night decided we would play Catchphrase.  Have you ever played this game?  It's pretty fun.  I think the point of the game is for one person to read a "catchphrase" and for the group to then guess words associated with that particular phrase.  If the group gets all the words then the person reading the card does not get a point.  If they do not get all the words, then the person holding the card gets a point.  

I was feeling pretty good this particular night  I had been playing well and getting lots of the right phrases.  Then I flushed it all down the toilet!  My friend was reading the card and the catchphrase was "The Battle of the Bulge."  Knowing all the answers I immediately starting spouting off phrases before anyone else could.  Jenny Craig! Weight Watchers! Slim-Fast! Who knew their were so many!  I just kept spouting them off while everyone else started laughing at me.  "Why are you not saying anything! We're gonna lose!  The time is almost out!"  

What an idiot! My friends then let me in on a little secret that was glaringly obvious to everyone else!  The Battle of the Bulge had more to do with World War II than it did weight loss.  Shocking!

Needless to say, I have not played Catchphrase since.  However, if you are playing against me in the future, you know what card to pull!

New and Old Digs

I meant to post this a long time ago, but I forgot!  This is a picture of the new place in Tahlequah and the old place in Portales.  Did I trade up?  You tell me!

What's going down in Tahlequah

It has been entirely too long since I blogged!  Sorry I have let you down Kristi!  I promise to be better!  

Well the move to Tahlequah is complete.  Not every box is unpacked and the furniture is bound to move again before I am totally happy with it.  (Preferably out the door, but we'll see if new furniture is an expense I am willing to bare this month.)

So over that last month and half since I moved I feel like I have made myself at home here.  I really like it here, which is more than I can say about the previous places I have lived.  It's not that I hated where I have lived before, but it always felt very temporary.  Of course when you move once a year for 4-5 years, anywhere can feel that way.  Will this be where I live out the rest of my life.  Probably not.  But will I be here for more than a couple of years?  I hope so!

I floated the river with some friends the first weekend I was here.  How fun is that?  We took the six mile float and it only took us about 2 hours.  Well worth the money, and we finished well before anyone got too much sun.  For those of you who know my alter ego, Lobster Boy, this was nothing short of amazing to come off the water with no sunburn!

Thanks to the family reunion I got to go to the lake too!  I escaped without the dreaded sunburn here too!  I was suppose to have another trip to the lake this last weekend, but that ended up falling through.  Dang it! 

Instead I went with another friend and saw the comedian Kathy Griffin in Tulsa Friday night.  She was hilarious!  Afterward we went to have a drink downtown in Tulsa at McNellie's.  It's an Irish bar and they have a ton of beers from around the world on tap.  My favorite is a Black Velvet, which is a mixture of Guiness and Ace Pear.  You should try it!  

Another reason I love this bar is the fact that they are never short on characters.  We sat down at a table near the bar.  Their was a group of three people at the bar, two girls and a guy.  One girl left as I went to the bar to get my second round.  The other girl at the bar, Kelly, grabbed my arm and asked if I was having a good time.  I said I was and she said she was too.  She introduced me to the guy she was with, Fred.  I got my drink and then she let me know that she and Fred would be joining me and my friend Bettina at our table.  We all sat down and talked as if we had know each other for a long time.  And when I say we , I really mean Kelly.  The first thing she asked me was who I voted for.  I told her I voted for McCain, which was apparently the right answer.  Turns out Kelly is quite the conservative and is, I kid you not, a card carrying member of the NRA.  I think this is great, but I have never met a girl my age who has not one, but three memberships to different NRA organizations.  

We end up sitting and talking till about 1:45 in the morning.  Kelly got up from the table several times to talk to other people she "knew."  She asked the bouncer about his dreadlocks and how he felt about being the only African American in a predominantly white bar.  She talked to another girl at the bar about the differences between being a baptist and catholic. She topped it all off by talking to a group of 5 Asian people and their thoughts on why Harry Truman was the greatest President to hold office.  She was a trip! 

Somewhere between the dreadlocks and Harry Truman, we decided it was time to go.  I told Fred it was nice to meet him and that is when the truth came out. I am, undoubtedly, one of the most gullible people I know, so what I soon found out should have come as no surprise.  Kelly and Fred, the couple who were high school sweethearts, had dated for almost 10 years, and had told us about numerous vacations they were planning to take, were not even a couple!  Kelly met him the same way she met us, only about 15 minutes before we got there.  Fred has only lived in Tulsa for three weeks.  Fred was playing along with Kelly cause she was cute and she asked him too.  Also, Fred's name is actually Matt!  It was a good night!

The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxed.  We went to see The Proposal, which was funny, and Bruno, which was not. Maybe you will, but I would not bother!

I also had a blind date last week!  My assistant manager, Shanna, set me up with one of her friends and we decided to go on a blind double date, which really makes it not so blind.  Shanna, her husband and I all made the trek to Dave & Buster's in Tulsa last Wednesday to meet her friend Sarah.  We had a lot of fun.  Great meal.  Great conversation. Great games.  We played skeeball, car racing, and basketball, none of which I won! They have one game where a light spins around in a circle and you have to hit the button for it to stop.  The goal is to get it to stop on 1000, which means the machine will spit out 1000 tickets.  It is surrounded by low numbers like 20 and 40.  Everyone hit the 20 and 40 except me.  I hit the 1000 light and since all the tickets Sarah and I won were going to her, I figured that equated to winning a teddy bear for your date at the fair.  All in all a pretty good night.  We are going out again this Friday, so I know I will have more to blog about this weekend!

That's it for now!  Take care!

I'm about to be an Okie.....near Muskogee

I'm glad that one of my New Year's Resolutions was not to blog every day, because I would have failed miserably!  However, I do have some news to share.  I am moving, again! I have accepted a new job in Tahlequah, OK as the store manager of a new account we just landed.  The school is Northeastern State University, with the main campus in Tahlequah, and branches in Broken Arrow and Muskogee.  I'm moving the last week in May.  

One of the coolest things about this is that I will go from being one of the farthest away from our family reunions to being the closest!  That's right, I'll be less than half an hour from Tenkiller!  Woohoo!

Anyway, that's all my big news.  

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

I have not posted in forever, but I saw this video last night and thought it might be one everyone would like.  I can't figure out how to post the video, but the link is posted below.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Daytona

This is  a picture from this morning!

Rattlesnake Roundup Pics

Horrorpalooza

This post is from last week.  Thought I posted it and turns out I saved it in drafts.

I got way too excited tonight at the possibility that their may be a fourth installment of the Scream movie series.  You heard me right.  Scream 4!  It's not a for sure thing right now, but if it comes out next year like the internet says, then I will finally have another Scream after 10 long years!  

I know, it's ridiculous!  But I think I may be addicted to horror movies.  I always fall asleep with the tv on at night.  The tv in my room has no sleep timer so I always watch a video or dvd because they will play through and shut themselves off.  No big deal.  However, I watched the first half of Scream 3 monday and the second half tuesday, the first half of Scream Wednesday and the other half when I woke up at three this morning.  Is that normal? Falling asleep to horror movies I mean, not the waking up at 3 a.m. I know that's not normal!  And as soon as I finish watching Grey's Anatomy I am going to fall asleep to Copycat.  Have you seen that one? An oldie, but a goodie!  Speaking of sequels, a Copycat sequel would be awesome!!!  

Since the beginning of the year I have seen My Bloody Valentine in 3-D, The Unborn and The Haunting of Molly Hartley, not to mention countless horror movies on dvd.  I still want to see The Uninvited and The Last House on the Left, but we'll have to wait and see.!

Is anyone else addicted to horror movies too?

Rattlesnake Roundup

I took off early this Saturday morning with my friend Adria and headed south to attend the 51st annual Sweetwater Jaycee's Rattlesnake Roundup.  We got to Sweetwater before 11, which was lucky because when we left at 2 the line to get in the parking lot was miles long!  Anyway, it was awesome! I have never seen so many snakes in one place in my life!!  They had a snake handling pit, a milking pit, a skinning pit and the weigh in pit which contained the most snakes.  You could not even see the floor of the pit at the weigh in. 

We watched and learned how to properly handle a snake.  Now when I encounter a snake in the wild I can put it on a table, taunt it with a red balloon and watch it strike and pop that balloon.  But seriously, the wrangler did just that!  He was taunting the snake with a red balloon and when the snake struck and popped the balloon, the big piece of balloon snapped back and smacked a kid in the face.  He jumped out of his seat when it happened, but the whole audience did too!

Then we watched as the milkers milked the venom from the snakes.  It was amazing to me how many people asked how the venom was used.  Anti-venom anyone?  Not much else going on there.  

The skinning was pretty neat.  It was just basic skinning, but it was neat to watch if you like that kind of thing.  

The weigh in pit was the coolest just because it had the most snakes!  They totally covered the floor.  The had caught thousands of pounds of snakes and here they were, hissing, rattling and striking.  Each tank had a couple of  windows in them.  The tanks came up to chest level, but the windows were about 3 foot by 3 foot, plenty of room to squat down and get a face to face with a snake!  And we did!

Their was also a peddler's show, tons of fair food and the gun, knife and coin show.  This truly was Redneck central!  If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it!

The Story of the Picture or How I Made Aretha Feel Like a Natural Woman

The new picture I posted was taken almost a year ago at our last annual meeting in Orlando.  It was the last night of the meeting and all 600 of us boarded buses for The House of Blues.   It was fantastic!  Great food and music, followed by lots of games and goofy stuff for us to do.  You could have your fortune read, although I opted out for that one.  I like surprises! Their was a Pop-Noggin booth which uses a green screen to put your head onto another body that is dancing and you sing along to the music.  Several of us were singing I Love Rock 'n Roll and got a great novelty dvd out of it.  But that's not really the story.

The mainstage at the HOB is sunken so that you stand and look up at the main act on stage.   The curtains opened and that beautiful woman in the picture came out on stage. She was an Aretha Franklin impersonator and she was great! She sang all the classics!  I made eye contact with her during Chain of Fools.  I gave her the thumbs up for her performance and she gave it right back letting me know she saw me.  Instant connection!  She brought a barstool out on stage and said she was going to need "a little help from the audience." Of course she looked right at me and said, "Come on up here, sugar!"   She asked me my name and I told her.  She said "Do ya'll know Cole?"  They all cheered, but it was pretty loud so they probably would not have noticed if she had yelled "Who want's a cold?"  Anyway, the music started as I sat on the barstool not knowing what might happen.  She put her arm around my shoulders and started singing.  She would look at my eyes and then roll out to the audience and then back to me.  She was singing You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman.  And then came the chorus!  Just as she was starting she grabbed the back of my head and thrust it forward into her chest.  I was shocked! Not unhappy, but shocked!  The crowd roared with laughter and to tell you the truth I was laughing so hard she probably thought I was trying to give her the old motorboat!  Anyway, long story short, cause we all know how long winded I can be, Aretha put my face in her chest every time she sang the chorus to You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman.  But to tell you the truth, Aretha made me feel like a natural man and quite honestly provided me with the best networking tool I may ever have.  I met more new people with Barnes & Noble that same night than I have in the last year!  Right after she finished singing she said, "This is Cole, my new husband!"  That really was the cherry on the top of my night.  Can it get much better than that? Thanks to our home office camera crew and my friend Bettina, I have the whole thing on dvd.  I also have that great picture and an even better story. 

This year's meeting will most likely not top last year's for me, unless of course they have a Dolly Parton impersonator.  If that happens, all bets are off! 

Colonoscopy Sweepstakes

So I was just watching The New Adventures of Old Christine and saw one of the funniest commercials I think I have ever seen.  It happened in a flash, and I thought maybe it was a joke, but it wasn't!  CBS is having a Colonoscopy Sweepstakes! This is a real contest!  If you win, you and a guest will be flown first class to New York and receive free colonoscopies.  Seriously?  I read up on the details of the sweepstakes.  It includes three nights in a very nice hotel and that special laxative you have to drink the night before the procedure.  WOW!  I think it's nice that in these harsh economic times our sweepstakes become more practical.  Do I want a million from Ed McMahon? No thanks.  Should I buy a couple of extra lottery tickets? Unnecessary! Sign me up for the free colonoscopy!  

One of the funniest parts of this whole commercial was that they had Patti Lupone in a hospital gown on a table holding her dog.  Okay, I know who Patti Lupone is, but does the general public know that Corky's mom is on the table peddling free colonoscopies?  She was fantastic in the commercial, but it was amusing that they included her name in the bottom corner of the screen.

Food Network

Does everyone like the Food Network like I do?  It made me laugh this morning.  I am sitting in bed in my old room in Panhandle and woke up really early thanks to migrating across the time zone.  I was watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives last night so of course the Food Network was on when I turned on the tv.  Jamie at Home was on and I sat and watched him cook some pretty interesting things.  He made fish (normal) with flowers (abnormal) and fried vegetables (normal) with fried lettuce (abnormal). I get it!  This is why you are on the air at 6:30!  Although who am I to judge?  I would probably try (and like) all of it!  Obviously people are watching.  It had  me "glued" to the tv at 6:30 on a Saturday morning. In my defense, at this time of the morning on a Saturday my choices are pretty slim.  Between this and Dora the Explorer, I think I made the right choice.  Although, Dora may have been visiting some exciting land that I'll never know about.  I guess that is a chance I will have to take!

Next up, Nigella Feasts. This one I like. Although I probably would not make much of the stuff she makes, but let's face it, do I really make that much of anyone's stuff on here?  The first time I ever saw her show it made me laugh.  She came into her kitchen looking like she just got out of bed.  Come to find out, she just did!  It was a Saturday morning show she taped and she was making a breakfast to cure a "Friday Night Hangover."  She went on to say that this is the perfect, quick hangover cure for a Friday night out with the gals.  The even funnier part was how the breakfast made her feel better and she made plans to go out Saturday night.  

This is a bit of a side note, but do any of you watch At Home With the Neeley's?  If you don't, you should! They have more cooking in that kitchen than food and it is hilarious to watch!

New Year's Resolutions!

I can't believe I forgot to post my new year's resolutions.  I will definitely post them this weekend.  Right now I am in desperate need of a better movie.  

It's about time!

So it has been almost two months since my last post.  I could equate this to being an irresponsible 10 year old with a new puppy that he keep forgetting to feed.  Well if this blog were a puppy this would not be a pretty picture!  Fortunately for all of us this is not the case. 

To tell you the truth, I am watching a movie right now.  The Haunting of Molly Hartley.  It made me jump once, but since then my mind has been wondering to other things.  What should I make for dinner (sausage and eggs with peppers and onions), how fast is the wind blowing outside (gusting to 54 mph) and should I have a drink (always a yes, margarita tonight).  Obviously this is a fantastic movie that has really held my attention.  If you run out and rent it, please don't blame me for not picking up on sarcasm. 

So I decided to get on my blog and do something unusual.....actually blog!!  It should probably be said that my friends Dana and Amy have guilted me back into blogging.  Thanks ladies, this puppy needed to be fed.  I suppose you would think a lot has happened in two months since my last post.  That's where you would be wrong!  Work, work and more work!  As most of you know, Jan, May, Aug and Dec are the busiest times of the year for my business.  Jan proved to be a particularly pesky month for my patience.  When we opened back up for business Jan 5 we did not have internet, registers or phones.  The only thing we had going for us that morning was electricity and I was not holding my breath!  Good thing too, because we did not get them back for a week. Now I can do without the phones at work until the end of time, but no internet and registers put us at a complete standstill.  We continued to have all sorts of mechanical mayhem until the end of the month.  For some reason Feb seemed to be a reset button for the store.  All systems seem to be working again!  Things have definitely slowed down at work too, which is always nice after a busy period!

I took a trip to Austin over the President's Day weekend.  We had a three day weekend for work (thanks ENMU).  I went to visit my friend Dana and had a blast. Sadly we did not take any pictures.  Their was a great video taken on my phone of Dana and her friend Brian singing the theme song to The Golden Girls when we went to karaoke at the Chicken Coop.  It is too large a file to email out to anyone, so I will have to sync up my phone to the computer.  Note to self--learn how to sync up your phone to your computer.

Other than that life is pretty much the same.  Tennis has started back up, and although not as much fun as in the past, still worth the effort.  I think I may have a racquetball partner soon.  That would be awesome.  I used to play a lot, but have not since I moved to Portales.  

Well ladies, I promised I would post this weekend.  Maybe I will even post again!  Sorry Amy, I will try to come back from being the worst blogger in the world. 

Welcome 2009! (I'm not sure I like you!)

My favorite week of work is the week between Christmas and New Year's.  We are able to get so much done during this week. We come in around 9 and leave around 4.  Pretty easy week, right?  Not so this year!  Our computers were down at work for  a week and half.  When we opened back up last Monday we had no registers either and just for fun our phones went out too!  The only thing left was the electricity and I was just waiting for that hammer to come down too.  We finally got everything back up and working today and should be back on track soon!  

I had planned to share my New Year's resolutions with you on this next post, but I think that can wait until this weekend.  Hope everyone is well and had a great new year!