Okie Sister

The Original Lawton High School

Toured the new City Hall building on Friday. That’s the renovated Central Junior High School. The original Lawton High School. How wonderful that our city kept this landmark, instead of bulldozing it down and building a mall, like they did  to our downtown main street. Anyway, I digress because it still upsets me that we lost so much history in the name of progress.

The City Hall building is now modern and spacious, with elevators and a new glass façade. At the same time, the integrity of the former facility has been preserved. That’s awesome! They even kept one classroom to act as a museum to the building’s past with photos of former Lawton High students.

The event I attended was a farewell reception for our current mayor, John Purcell. This project was built under his leadership, but he will not serve from the new mayor’s office. A desk was brought in for a final photo op and to fulfill a promise that he would sit in the new office.

The mayor was presented with a plaque that had a photo of the building, a special key to the city and encouraging mayor’s coins that he was so famous for. The photo of the building was taken by Hubby. It's stunning!

Outside, a bronze buffalo has been placed on the grounds and dedicated to this fine and likeable mayor. What a beautiful piece of art to add to the downtown landscape.

Ooh, Ooh That Smell

Note To Self...

Before next power outage, buy unscented candles or candles all the same flavor; because Apple Cinnamon, Bamboo, Banana Nut Bread, Eucalyptus, Pineapple Sage, Vanilla ... all burning at the same time ... is kind of gross.

I Love Love

Hope everyone’s Valentine’s Day was layers and layers of yummy goodness.

Our son gave his lady a diamond ring, so now both our kids are officially engaged.

Fiancée has a nice “ring” to it.

I think this means I need to buy some new shoes, because at some point one of them might actually have a  wedding. Although I’m not opposed to elopement.

Love is in the air.

It takes a lot to find that special someone  who completes you; who makes you happy and puts up with all your faults. The person that you know is going to be there for you in good times and bad. I feel they have both found that.

Or did it find them?

Hubby and I are tired of being the only “old married couple” in the family. We thought our gagging-ly sweet shining example of marriage would be an encouragement for others to following in our footsteps

...even if we can’t remember how long we’ve been married.

Snow Scenes

   

Survivor Man

My Hubby is incredible, but I already knew that. The recent power outage just reinforced my admiration. He's a real man who knows how to "do stuff." Plus he has his own tools, so he can also build stuff. He can take a power saw and cut wood. He can create fire; sometimes without even trying. He can cook a gourmet meal using propane. We ate very well during the blackout. I called him My Hunter Gatherer Man.

He kept a generator running for days; filling it twice daily with gasoline. One morning it wouldn't start back up. He took it apart, diagnosed what the problem was, found a replacement part and put it all back together again. It ran smoothly from then on. He's good at fixin' stuff.
 
We often comment on his knowledge of random stuff. He'll say, "Now, why do I need to know that." I'll say, "Thanks Cliffie," referring to mailman Cliff Clavin, who used to "amaze" his friends with his trivia at a little bar called Cheers. But knowledge is a wonderful thing to be able to access, especially when you are in survivor mode. Somebody needs to knows how electricity works.
 
In the past, I poked fun at Hubby when he would come home from Sams Club with a package of fifty batteries or 1200 forks. Mostly, because we don't have anywhere to store these items. Well, when you actually need that stuff, it is nice to have it on hand. I'll have to remember that next time he comes home with 100 rolls of tp.

 

"Well, Early cavemen, they went out and hunt for the very food that graced their simple table. The women stayed in the cave and developed art, culture, what-have-you. Men down through the centuries have always been hunters, doers, adventurers. Cogito, it is not in man's nature to sit alone and be passive and docile."- Cliff Clavin, Old Flames episode of Cheers.

Out of the Darkness

After 117 hours, the electric trucks showed up in front of my house. What a glorious sight!

I called them the Texas Cavalry. Just like an old western movie, when things look their bleakest, the cavalry ride in and save the day. I big thank you to these guys for restoring my power.

I was starting to stress a bit. I cleaned my desk yesterday and found the following cartoon that my oldest brother sent me last year. I can relate.

After all the Budweiser shoot-out is this weekend.