Seven 7's as Requested and Promised

1. 7 Things I’d like to do before I die
Find a job
Retire
Tour historic Church sites
Take my wife to Brazil
Serve a mission with my wife
Write a book
Repent

2. 7 Things I cannot do
Play an instrument
Back handsprings
Eat beets, cauliflower, or asparagus
Curl my hair
Speak, read or understand French
Algebra or beyond
Snow ski

3. 7 Things that attracted me to my spouse
Her money
Her forward flirtiness
Her kindness
Her ability to keep me on the straight and narrow
Her dancing and musical talent
Her smile
Her friends
Her modesty

4. 7 Things I say often
I love you
Oh really?
Wasn’t Me!
Thanks for choosing the Hayes’. Will this be take out or delivery?
Vêm ca menino
Speak now or forever eat your peas
Kids, your pop-tarts are ready!

5. 7 Books (series)I love
BOM
LOR trilogy
Work and the Glory
Dragonlance series
Shanara Series
Harry Potter
Crime and Punishment

6. 7 Movies I could watch over and over
LOR trilogy
The Best Two Years
Send Me no Flowers
Back to the Future
The Incredibles
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Rocket Man

7. 7 (Actually it’s only five, but who’s counting?) People from whom I would like to hear 7’s from...but will never happen because my blogging world is too small.
Sonny
Bob
Carlos
Kevin
Steve

The Amazing Flossible Arm Hair

Here is another chance to poke fun at me and proof that radioactive fallout did land in Moab, Utah. Where else would I have been exposed? Just this very day, it was discovered that I had a hair on my arm (not arm pit) at least two inches in length (those that really know me can attest to the fact that I am not the hairy chimp type. All the other hairs on my arm would be considered standard arm length hair... But this, a regular Jack and the Bean Stock story folks. I swear it grew overnight, how else could it get soooo long without my notice? I think it is safe to assume that (if this thing grows back) by the time I am retired, this thing will be able to wrap around my arm like a kite string.


(The curved line is the actual hair next to the quarter...for size reference)

ps. I know that I am supposed to be working on posting my Seven-7's blog, but this had to come first.

The Picnic

As a mother’s day surprise for my FIL’s mother, all seven of her children gathered together (the first time in years) for a picnic at her house in Salina, OK on the Saturday before mother’s day. There was food galor...bbq brisket, ham, fried chicken, salads, chips, cookies, cakes, soda. If anyone went hungry, it was their own fault. We took lots of pictures at great-grandma G’s house, including a 4 generation picture with just my family, FIL and grandma.

After the food had time to digest and camera batteries were dead or in need of a re-charge, it was time for a showdown at the horseshoe pit. Too my astonishment, the list of challengers was short. I was partnered up with my FIL’s oldest brother and we commenced a throwin. Now I ain’t the best horseshow thrower in the world or even on a local level but I can score a point or two, usually with some consistency. Down went the first competitors (ol uncle-in-law threw a couple back-to-back ringers to blow them away 21-6). There was only one other team that had courage sufficient to challenge the undefeated champions for the Salina belt. While that second game lasted longer, the final score was 21-11. We stood victoriously upon the podium as the national anthem played and flowers were laid at our feet. Okay, so we went pretty much ignored by the rest of the bunch who were to busy shootin the breeze. My kids lasted about 5 minutes of the first round before they were off playing explorer or checking out the dogs, chickens, and ducks.

It was a fine and dandy Mother’s day celebration for those in attendance.

Seven 7’s coming soon....

Part V: Kindred Homes

This post will be for most of my readers, so bear with me as I write for the sake of memories. There sits in Pryor, Oklahoma the home of my wife’s grandfather. The home sits on about 20 acres and has been there for a long time. And the house is green. About 700 miles away, to the west, sits two homes that are well known to my family, Aunt Linda’s old home in Bedrock and Grandpa’s home in Paradox.

If you were to take the comfortable lived-in feeling from both homes, mix them together, and keep it all one level, you would have this home in Pryor. The furniture, pictures on the wall, dining table, beds, kitchen, furnace/stove, (the list could go on) were all similar. I could literally feel the bond between these three homes and I took great comfort and breathed deeply the sense of solace and simpler days. I was left looking for an orchard or calves to feed out of giant baby bottles. I settled for seeing the dogs, chickens and litter of kittens.

There is something unique about old homes of this generation. They are humble abodes and have silent walls just itching to share their tales of hardships and challenges of raising a family. This will be the second to last chapter about our trip to Oklahoma I was going to save it for last because of the memories that were stirred—happy memories in a time when everyone else was struggling. The fact that my kids enjoyed their brief layover in great-grandpa’s house was exceptionally rewarding. However, I have one final post about Salina, that is simmering on the back burner. Let's hope I don't burn it.



pss. Believe it or not, there is a billboard between Lubbock and Amarillo, that advertises Buffalo Chip Liquor. (I can only imagine why they call it that. Instead of a worm at the bottom of the bottle, you have a little ball of dung...?)

Continued from Oklahoma

We awoke early the next morning (Thursday) to make it to the funeral in Pryor (a good hour drive). Again we loaded up the kids in the van and followed my wife’s uncle to the church. In an attempt to not sound disrespectful, I will say that I have never been to a Catholic funeral and I was not sure what to expect. It was very different from the typical Mormon funeral, but those in attendance seemed to enjoy the services and the purpose was served. Afterwards, there was a luncheon at the church for family members before heading over to the cemetery (another hour drive) in a small town that I never found out the name of. This cemetery was so small...it probably fit on a ½ acre. Somehow we missed out on about half of the graveside service and one of our children discovered thistle. Fortunately, it was contained to just her finger.

We then returned back to our guest accommodations and visited with grieving aunts and uncles. It was an awkward situation for me; one, because of my lack of knowing the deceased step-grandmother, and because the closest person I have ever lost is my grandparents, thirdly, death has a different meaning for me [(I assume) a very loaded word]. I mostly sat back and listened as an outsider looking in, trying to asses the situation, hoping for a chance to join the conversation. That never happened. We retired early that night and slept very soundly for the next 10 hours.

On The Way There

See previous post
Leaving at 4:00pm to any place that is more than a couple hours away is rarely a pleasant experience. Because of our haste, we did not know our exact final destination. We were to call when we got closer to the end. I jumped onto Mapquest and entered Lubbock as our starting point and Wagoner as our finishing point (outskirts of Hulbert is where we ended up). As such, Mapquest sent us through the toll roads that bypass Oklahoma City on the west and lead up towards Tulsa. We had to shell out nearly $10.00 between seven different toll booths that covered less than 60 miles. Anyway, while in route on these toll roads we pulled into a gas station just moments before 11:00pm. One child (out of diapers) had pooped their pants (trying to hold it) and another (out of diapers, had peed their pants, while asleep in the van.). The gas station closed at 11:00. Bless the lady who was working and unlocked the bathrooms for us to get our kids cleaned up and in their pj’s. As we neared our destination (with only 5-10 miles to go) we heard a child exclaim, “I don’t feel good” (the roads at this point were full of twist and turns, ups and downs). Fortunately we avoided the barfing in the vehicle scene (which has happened a time or two or three) as we arrived sometime between 1:00 and 2:00 am. Tired and beleaguered, we were shown to our accommodations...

The Woman I almost Didn’t Know

Disclaimer: The following series of Blog postings will entail the adventures that transpired last week. Some postings may seem like ramblings, but due to the nature of a Blog and my lack of desire for editing more than one draft, you are stuck with what I dish out and this Blog may change quickly, pending on the time that I allot for telling this story (so commentors may be a day late and a dollar short). Also, pictures will be optional.

Last Tuesday, we received notice that my father-in-law’s step mother had passed away. Most of my father-in-law’s kin folk can be found in the north-eastern section of Oklahoma (and you can pass through the town of Okay, OK to get there). Now I had met this lady twice, both times, very briefly. The first time was at a family reunion in OK back in 2000 (the first reunion in 20 years) and the second time was when my father-in-law’s parents came out for a visit to Utah a couple of years ago. If you combine both visits, I probably spent a total of 30 minutes in her presence, talking and conversing.

Being Catholic, the funeral was scheduled for Thursday. We received word from my father-in-law, early Wednesday that he was in AZ, en route to OK. Now those who know me, can testify that I ain’t the most spontaneous person in the world (except when it comes to buying snacks in the grocery store) and it was decided that we would make the trip to OK and pay our last respects to this lady. So we spent the next four hours packing like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off, made arrangements for substitutes at church, picked chillins up from school, dropped stuff off at TTU, etc and headed onto the open road by 4:00pm. We arrived to our destination by 1:30am.

Ever Hear of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?...Morons.

The philosophy bug has taken hold yet again. My oldest asked a thought provoking question. The kind that a parent can not just shrug off and offer a simple response, so I open this discussion for other great minds and solicit your response to the following: If someone were to own shadows, would they own you as well because you are attached to your shadow?

*Bonus question: Who is the man in the picture?
(Please allow 6-8 weeks for your consolation prize. Prizes are subject to
availability)