And finally, at 12:42 am Sunday morning…it’s the weekend. Two bartending shifts, back to back. I’m thankful that I have this opportunity. I’m equally thankful that they are both behind me and I’ve only one more on the books before I take a graceful bow off of the schedule.

I want to see my boyfriend.

I need sleep.

I’m so glad that tomorrow will bring both of those things.

After this week, it seems essential to do a Thankful Friday post. It feels like months and months ago that I was sitting in an interview at Girl Scouts on Monday afternoon. Feeling so excited about my future and hoping that it was going to come to fruition I met Lynn for swirls on the patio. I got the call from HR with the official offer as we sat there, smiling, silent high-fiving.

It was a major day of change.

That afternoon we in Oklahoma learned of the death of Officer Chad Peery, as well as the attack on Boston.

Going to bed that night, swirling thoughts of the good and exciting mixed with the devastation, we all were tossed around via about elevently million earthquakes.

The rest of the week brought Oklahoma Spring weather, the explosion in Texas, turning in my notice at work and beginning the process of saying goodbye to my clients.

I bartend my first weddings of the season tonight and tomorrow night. I wish I was looking forward to it. After this weekend I want to just be in Norman, and curl up and try to find the balance. I’ll be happy once I get there. I like doing it.

I am however, looking forward to Sunday, and being with Mark and making plans for our future and gearing up for another week.

I’m thankful to have made it through this one. I’m thankful to have finished and turned in my final research paper. I’m thankful for the support I’ve seen in the world, responding to  crisis. I’m thankful for the support I’ve felt personally, as I begin to move in another direction.

Have a beautiful weekend ya’ll. Thank God, it’s here.

 

Our cast got to meet for the first time today. It was a last minute schedule on my part, and I will do things differently next year. However, most everyone made it. We had boxes of delicious pizza from Hideaway. We had some mimosas. We had some chex mix and brownie delight that I will dream about tonight. (Thanks Erika!) We covered some business things like social media, staying in contact with the group, communications, posters, ticket sales, performance day clothing…

But mostly we talked.

We talked and laughed and felt the excitement begin to build towards this thing we are creating. I’m so excited for our next meet up in two weeks. That’s when we’ll share our stories. We’ll stand strong in our vulnerability and we will all know what it is, this Listen To Your Mother Thing, and we will begin to prepare ourselves for what it is to be a part of something like this.

I’ve said it so many times I feel sure that it falls on deaf ears by now. Eyes roll, snark comes. But this group of people have stories that are going to just knock your ding dang socks off. I love the energy that they bring to the table.

We’ve got support and networking and advice flying. We’ve got potential new bloggers, and potential new friends and . . . potential. We’ve got that in abundance.

It feels strange to be in my house today. It’s gorgeous outside. I’ve got numerous chores that need to be done here. I’ve got a paper to finish and turn in by Tuesday at 2:00 pm. I’ve been to the store and bought exactly four things: toilet paper, beer, moist cat food and pretzel chips. I paid my house payment and a credit card payment (I know it’s late. I’m broke, ok?) I got an extension filed on my taxes. I’ll tackle those after the paper…that I’m not writing right now. I need to finish writing my own LTYM piece, and work again the show order, the program design, the sponsor emails, the punchlist for the final three weeks before the show.

But here’s what I’m going to actually do.

I’m going to sit here. In this quite house with the windows raised and the fans blowing. I’m going to have some cold beer and just think about this cast and this show and what it is that I can do for both of them so that they may reach their highest potential.

 

 

*do you have your tickets to our show? Have you decided who you’re going to bring? Your mom, your sister, your aunt, your husband, your barista, your banker or your babysitter? You’ve got three weeks. Don’t be the one who has to wait until 2014 to see a LTYM show. 

Ohmygod, it’s finally here.

Mark has been working full tilt and overtime to bring Shawn Mullins to the Depot for the final concert of Winter Wind series. And it’s FINALLY HERE.

Seriously.

It’s been Shawn Mullins for 5 months. At least. I’m going down early to help with hospitality and general gopher-ing.

I hope that the crowd shows up and that the band has a great time and that everything works out. I really have no doubt that it will be a great night of music.

If you’re in the Norman area, do come out tonight. Buy a ticket. Sit and enjoy the music. I would be ever so much appreciative. My boyfriend has worked his heart out on this show.

 

It’s always a crazy life, isn’t it? I’m going ninety miles per hour, doing eleventymillion things with forty gazillion people…

I do slow down.

I do take the time to hear the words, and let them fill me up.

“come have a beer and sit with me while I work the crossword”

“quit dawdling and come to bed”

“I got a camping catalog today, we’ll look at it tonight!”

These words may seem simple, trivial, maybe they’re nothing to anyone else.

To me, they fill me with warmth. I play them on loop in my head. It assures me  that this life, this quiet life, this good life that we are building…is true and strong and real. The moments between the big trips and concerts and productions…those quiet moments together are more meaningful to me than anything.

In the moments of crazy, when I begin to doubt…I seek solace in these words.

We.

Us.

I love you.

What do you love to hear?

A full weekend full of family and birthdays and hair bangin and ninja turtles and hiking and bouncing on the trampoline…a full weekend indeed.

Wonderbaby turns 5 officially tomorrow, but we got to celebrate at the bouncy place on Saturday. Surrounded by the cutest little motley crew, he opened presents, ate pizza and cake, and bounced his cheeks red and his hair sweaty.

The weather was perfect, we spent time on the deck sipping coffee and watching the nature. On Sunday, after the final head of hair was cut we took off for some relaxing time looking at some sights, getting some Vitamin D and exploring some nature.

Plans for return trips and future vacations mixed in with talks of the future and as always, it was really sad to leave. Really sad.

I’ve got a paper to finish tonight and a pretty busy rest of the week. I’m going to get some tea and get settled back into the writing. I’ll leave you with some pics from the weekend.

 

We began spotlighting our cast members on our blog. Have you met Amy or Erika or Suzanne yet? Three great women with stories that are so good you just almost cant STAND IT!!!

Our ticket sales are steady. Do you have yours yet? It’s easy. It’s online. We’re not even printing paper tickets, so go here and get yours! Get some for your friends and sisters and moms and babysitters and aunts and uncles and brothers and husbands and boyfriends and daughters and sons and…you get it right? Go get your tickets.

Our sponsors are helping out with their amazing sponsorships. Have you been to Sara Sara Cupcakes yet? Go in and thank them for their help bringing our show to OKC, won’t ya?

We wouldn’t be able to do this thing without your support, so THANK YOU!!! Keep banging that drum! Keep sharing the blog posts and telling everyone you know about it! We’re in the final haul and this is the time to reinforce our energy and forge on!

LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER YA’LL!!!

This week…like last week has worn me down. and it is a short one, even.

There is no time for respite. Running to Arkansas for a quick weekend if hair bangin and Ninja Turtle’n, school deadlines on Monday and Tuesday, LTYM deadlines next week, and none of those are at the whole “last minute push” place on the clock, but I feel like I wasted this week or didn’t make any school or LTYM progress let’s put it that way. And I haven’t seen my manfriend since I left early Monday morning.

Combined with the loud smackin raccoons, the three solid days of rain (not complaining–just not productive-inducing weather) and this week is just…woof.

It’s 10 pm. I’ve yet to start packing. I must be completely ready to go when I walk out the door in the morning.

Up early to buy supplies for the family hair, supplies for work tomorrow, and to clean my kitchen, and throw stuff in a piece of luggage.

Several pieces of news coming from my/family camp. Some good. Some absolutely terrible. I’ll share it when I can.

All these things have combined tonight.

I’m worn.

sleep tight ya’ll

 

I had raccoons in my house last night.

Let me go ahead and repeat that for ya.

I had RACCOONS in my HOUSE last night.

THREE TIMES.

Who here is smarter than a raccoon?

Misti, put your hand down. 

I’m sitting here, thinking now how to barricade the broken cat door that leads into the garage. Trying to blockade the door that leads to the kitchen did keep them out…THEM. There were TWO of those little masked bandits…and into the garage before they skedaddled after their third visit.

I was in the best sleep last night. Like real sleep, no ambien, no crazy dreams just the deepest most blissful sleep ever. And I could feel myself being pulled up and out of it by this smacking, unruly noise in the kitchen. Feeling around on the bed, I recognized that the boy cats were sleeping on my feet. There was no way Kikimama was smacking like that. What the hell was in my kitchen? I stumbled out of bed, and made enough noise that I scared it out before I saw it fully but I caught a glimpse of the tail. I never really went back to sleep. About 30 minutes later, I hear the cat door flap again, and hear some hissing and run in the kitchen and see it head out of the garage. This time I think…block the door!

I have nothing with which to build a barricade in this house.

I found this log sign that my dad made me out of a tree he chopped down at my house when I bought it. That might work…back to bed to lay. Awake.

Sure enough I hear the attempt. I’d left the garage light on and as plain as day, two big fat bandit loud smackin assholes are looting around my garage.

Once they left via the broken cat door, I pulled my kerosene heater in front of it and tried to go back to bed. That would for SURE make it impossible for anymore break-ins.

Now the cats are pissed.

They want out. Being used to coming and going as they please, they pretty much thought my barricades were bullshit.

After a stern talking to, I went back to bed.

Only to hear after a solid five minutes of Sammy rooting around trying to get out, a huge CRASH. There goes the log sign. What a little jackal. But then he’s in the garage and can’t get out because of the heater barricade. . . no one was happy. . . and ohgawdno NO ONE was sleeping.

I finally fell into some weird slumber where I dreamed that the new Nicholas Sparks movie about this old lady pilot who changed history with her flying and being all ahead of her time was actually MeMe Lois and all of my family thought the movie was a stupid political liberal Hollywood hippy statement. I was all like, “That’s MeMe’s story!” and they were all like, “Stupid Hollywood liberals. We hate it.”

Then I woke up.

It had been a solid 45 minutes.

I am exhausted.

And I have a huge day tomorrow of research, LTYM work, school and salon work. I must be sharp.

I gotta get some better barricades. Because I bet anything those jokers are coming back tonight.

Has this week lasted for three months…or is it just me?

I sit here this morning, sipping coffee, listening to the impending thunderstorm heading my way and I am feeling so grateful.

Grateful to be surrounded by support, near and far. For your quick comments that lift me up, for the crazy way that life works, for a love that is steadfast and stronger everyday.  Much up and Much down this week, and perhaps that’s not anything unusual…perhaps that is just the way it is.

This weekend I spend some time with Bonusmom. It’s our tradition. I’ve missed her.

Next weekend I get to see the Arkansas family and the WonderKids. Wonderbaby has a birthday. (#wtffiveyearsold???) I will bang some hair. All will be well.

The calendar is about to zoom out of control. Our One Hard Month of school will be in the rearview before we know it. Great things are coming, live music, LTYM, trips to see family and friends. I’m ready for it. I’m ready.

I want to tell you though, that this week, I am just humbled and so grateful for my partners in crime on Listen To Your Mother:OKC. Julie and Heather really make this team the thing that it is, bringing equal parts of calm, snark, and steady faith to the realization of this project. We all have specific skills that we are bringing to the table. This experience…well it wouldn’t be anything nearly as fun without them.

Happy Good Friday, ya’ll. I hope that however you spend this weekend, that you take a minute and breathe. All of the other muck will still be out there, but for a moment…let’s all laugh a little and enjoy the good.