Funny Spring weather

I told Katie not to bring her parka to Oklahoma because the weather was in the mid-80's all last week. We have all these beautiful flowers and everything is so green. So of course, we get snow yesterday! Luckily, the temp at our house never went below 34 degrees so none of it stuck to the ground, but it was an overcast dreary day.

Katie flew out this morning to beautiful Chi-town. I had such a wonderful time with her here! She starts her last quarter as a freshman and is considering staying the summer up there. She got excellent grades and is doing well on her running. I love you baby.

Rick signed us up for the Red Bud bike race on Saturday (4/4) and the 10k run on Sunday (4/5). I'll be doing the 10k with Tammy and he is going to run the 5k with his brand new Asics I got him. The bike is only 10 miles, so that is pretty good, but I am worried about the run. Tammy and I are going to attempt the OKC Memorial Marathon Half on the 29th. I guess I can do it but it will be VERY slow.

Beth, I hope you are able to get out this week on the horse and maybe fit in a nice walk. I am thinking about you always.

AJ, I love you...

mommy

Friday, not the 13th

Dezi came through "The Operation" very well and is back home with his brother and A.J. the weather for this Spring Break has been quite lovely. I have been able to ride the road bike a lot. I am getting up to 10 mile a trip. My goal is to be able to ride the bike to school. The only problem I have with that is adequate shower facilities to pretty up.

Katie is coming home tomorrow for her week of rest. She has done very well this quarter at university. I have the first draft of my dissertation almost finished! I am hoping to wrap it up tonight and get it to my chair by tomorrow. I am supposed to defend to my committee on April 16th, but am not sure if I will make all of the deadlines to graduate in may. We may be looking at a Christmas graduation :) That is fine because i have not had a zillion offers for my services as a doc, so I can wait and buff up my vita.

Beth, I hope you got the package of things I bought you in New Orleans. The mask is so beautiful! I though it would like nice on a Barbie wall. Mike can grill you some goodies wearing his N.O. apron. I will be sending some Cafe DuMonde coffee and Beginet mix in a few weeks. We are gong to order it off the Internet because we didn't have room for too much in our carry on luggage. We definitely need to do a mommy-daughter trip to the Big Easy soon. (Maybe the summer???)

Hope you are all well, love,

mommy

Ready to Run!

Happy St. Patty's Day! A.J. took two days to grow a leprechaun beard and he looks so cute! Then he brought over my grand-kittens this morning because Mr. Desmond is going to the vet tomorrow morning to get the man operation. (But don't tell him because I don't want him to freak!) AJ brought him over in a laundry basket so that is why he looks so pathetic.

It's going to be a warm day. I already did my run on the treadmill, but I went out on a long bike ride yesterday. Still busy working on the dissertation, but it is almost complete. Beth, have a pint of that Johnnie Jump Up today!

love,

mom

Happy Pi Day!!!

Yes, it's the day that all good math geeks wait for every year...Pi Day! I know AJ got a pie, but I haven't been to Wal-Mart yet. Rick is putting the finishing touches on the living room. I did a 4.5 mile run at the Airport today. The weather is fantastic! Beth, I did get shin splints. i think it's because of the hard surface, because I usually run on the treadmill.

Tomorrow we are going mountain biking. I think we both have finally healed enough to get back out!

Beth, call if you need help with the dentist or the car....

love you all,
mommy

Happy Birthday, Amber!!!

Today, our little Airman is celebrating her 20th birthday in Misawa, Japan. Rick called over there and she was out for a P.T. run. Good way to celebrate!

Bruised but not broken

We had a wonderful adventure trying the bikes out at Bluff Creek in Edmond yesterday. Unfortunately, we both took some pretty bad falls and are quite beaten up. No broken bones, but plenty of bruises and scrapes. I was going to go running today, but I am too achy and sore.

So we decided to finish the living room. Well, more accurately, *I* decided that *Rick* should finish the living room :) We did go out and buy the flat screen TV he wanted so now the room needs to be finished. We painted the side walls a very light green. I would call it Mint. then we put on a dark hunter green on the far wall to make the room seem bigger. This pic doesn't do it justice as it is really pretty.

It is such a pretty day, that I let the cats out. So here is the obligatory cat pic on my blog!

We are getting winter back on Wednesday though as the highs are going to be barely above freezing, so we best enjoy this weather while we can.

Love,

mommy

Iron Horse Rocks!!!

We just got back from the bike trail at Stanley Draper Lake after trying out our new dual suspension bikes! They were not that expensive, but the suspension is SOOOO much better than the other bikes. They are now for road riding.

I tried to take a picture of the bike, but it is impossible so you get a picture of the cat AND a bike. Keiko didn't hit the bong today!

love,

mommy

Flogging Tuesday

We got home about 11:00 P.M. last night as the plane from Dallas to OKC was delayed. All in all, I had a fabulous time! New Orleans is really great, but you have to be careful. Yes, I got to see Mario, but I also had a lady accuse me of shoplifting a shot glass and she made me empty my purse! Rick had been out taking pictures with my camera and he came into the store and gave me the camera back. I opened my purse to put the camera away and she thought I pocketed the shot glass! Rick said I should have walked out, but then she would have called security on me.

The other bad thing that happened, was we were walking about 6 blocks away from the French Quarter because we wanted to see Louis Armstrong Park. It was pretty desolate and no one was on the streets. There were locks on the doors and burglery bars every where. This guy passed us and said, "You guys aren't from around here, you really need to get out of this neighborhood because it isn't safe here". We turned down the street to go back and walked in front of the park and there were all these homeless people and druggies. It was really scarey!

The food was great, the good parts of the city were wonderful and I had a fantastic time. But of course, I missed my Keiko. We did get to the Aquarium. Beth- you didn't tell me they had penquins there!!!

We also got in a ton of walking. I didn't bring my Nike + so Mini me is getting bored because SHE hasn't been out walking, but I sure have.

Love,

mommy

Happy Birthday, Rick!!!

Today is my honey's 50th birthday!!! Hard to believe. We are still here in festive New Orleans. We have seen so much and had such a great time. We went out and found two more caches last night while drunk revellers were all around, but we had more fun! Beth, the hotel we are staying in is just 3 blocks from the French Quarter and 1 block from Harrah's Casino. It is called The Pelham. I posted some pictures for you. Carlos Mencia has a restaurant on the corner of the hotel, but I haven't seen him yet!

Last night a cold front came through, but it was 80 degrees and humid before that, so I'd rather have the cold.