Christmas Songs

Well, it's after Thanksgiving, which means Christmas songs everywhere. I usually try to avoid them as long as I can before Christmas so that I don't get burned out. My favorite is "Silent Night, Holy Night". The best version I have heard (and it may be because I'm partial) is by Reba on her Merry Christmas to You album. Other favorites are "O Holy Night", "White Christmas" (especially sung by Bing Crosby), and what Christmas would be complete without Burl Ives' "A Holly Jolly Christmas" from Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. "This is My Prayer for You" and "The Secret of Giving" are a couple of songs from Reba's album Secret of Giving that don't mention Christmas, but are good songs to listen to during the season.

What are some of your favorite Christmas tunes?

Reba & Kelly On Tour

Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson are going on tour together. They are going to be at Tulsa, OK at the Mabee Center on February 1, 2008. Tickets go on sale December 8. There's a widget to the right that shows all of their tour dates.

Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular

Oklahoma turned 100 Friday and to celebrate the occasion, a spectacular was thrown at the Ford Center in OKC. It was filled with many great performances and appearances by famous Oklahomans. It started out with an "Oklahoma Swing" sung by Vince and Reba and accompanied by square dancers. In what is perhaps my most favorite thing in the world to see, they had a Bald Eagle fly from the crowd to the stage. Every time I see that it makes tears well up. I can't really explain why, it just always moves me. There were Native American dancers and an incredible acrobat that performed on two cloth strips hung from the ceiling. Willard Scott was present to announce 25 centenarians and one man who was 106 sang what was the Oklahoma state song before "Oklahoma". It was a very moving performance. For all of those who bought tickets hoping to see Garth perform were disappointed. He presented the tribute to the Alfred P. Murrah building bombing victims and introduced Reba singing "If I Had Only Known". Toby Keith sang "American Soldier" as men and women from the National Guard at Ft. Sill lined the stairway. Five of the six Miss Americas from Oklahoma shared the stage. Oklahoma has the most of any state. Shirley Jones was on hand to sing a couple of songs from the movie Oklahoma, in which she played Laurey Williams. The woman can sure still sing it. There was a tribute to maybe the most famous of our state, Will Rogers. It seemed like he was always chewing gum. Makes me feel a sort of kinship. The show ended with Vince singing "Oklahoma Rising", the song that he and Jimmy Webb co-wrote for the centennial, while a giant Oklahoma state flag was raised above the stage. It was then followed by "Oklahoma". The ending was quite exciting with fireworks and confetti filling the air.

I'm always proud to say I'm from Oklahoma. I really wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Where else on Earth can you get such a wide range of climates in such a small area? How many other places can go from 80 degrees to below freezing in one day (sometimes in a matter of hours)? Sure we have our problems, but as a whole it would be tough to find better people anywhere in the world. I encourage our generation, and younger generations, to look into the past and take up the values that have made this state so wonderful.

Here's my list of "You know you're in (from) Oklahoma when":

You say you're going to "the City" and everyone knows which city you are talking about.
You measure distance in time instead of miles.
The trees all lean towards the north.
You understand the real meaning of "bedlam" and are most likely crimson or orange (Go Pokes).

jan von holleben - dreams of flying

jan von holleben - dreams of flying

How did he get the dog to do that?!

Schoolboy Julian's lifesaving MythBuster moment - National - smh.com.au

Schoolboy Julian's lifesaving MythBuster moment - National - smh.com.au

There's still hope for our future!

Dolphins rescue surfer from shark - People: Tales of survival - MSNBC.com

Dolphins rescue surfer from shark - People: Tales of survival - MSNBC.com

This story is about a week old, but I'm just now getting to it. Dolphins are amazing creatures. It really makes a person think about how animals and humans interact.

I can't believe the guy went back out to the exact same place to surf. I had a three-wheeler wreck in junior high and it took about two years before I had the guts to get back on one...yeah, I'm a wuss. I like his thoughts about the shark and that he was in it's territory, not the other way around.

November 7, 2007

Today's my rest day from exercising. I'm coming to appreciate them more now that I'm exercising four days a week. The day off means it's time to get groceries. My list looks so much different now than it did six months ago. There are items on there that I'd have never thought about before. Yams? Ground turkey? Are you kidding?

I don't know if I haven't eaten enough calories today or what, but I'm wiped out. It's also really quiet in the office, so that might have something to do with it.

I need to find some new music to exercise to. The stuff on my mp3 player is getting kinda old. Not old as in years (that too), but old as in overplayed.

October Gone

I can't believe that October is already gone. The time flies by so fast. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas won't be far behind. I'm not looking forward to shopping. It wouldn't be so bad if I knew what to get everyone...but I really don't have any clue.

The first week of phase II of the diet didn't show much change. I lost a bit of body fat, so at least I didn't go backwards. I'm finding it really hard to eat. I just haven't been hungry lately.

We're down to 20 ewes with a few more people to come look at them. Although I'm sad to see them go, I'll be glad when it's done.