Exercise - day 3

Well, I have go to the activity center three times now. Hopefully I will keep it up.

On another note, Dave and I have been married for five years now.

Exercise

Starting a resolution. I will walk at the Activity Center every day that I can. There is an church across the street from our apartment complex (about two blocks away) where we can walk on a track and use exercise equipment (if we want to). They open at 7 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. most days. I am going to try to walk first thing in the morning. I am already. I bought a 2 gb MP3 player and loaded it with music to walk to. I think I have the right shoes. We will see how much my feet hurt afterwards. The track seemed to have a shock absorbing type of material on it, so that should help. I have to walk 15 times around the track for a mile. I might have to get a counter or something, or just make sure that I walk for 30 minutes or so.

Hiking in Glass Mountains

Dave and I went exploring today and had a little adventure. The Glass Mountains are called this because of the gypsum and selenite cause the sun to reflect and make the mesas look like they have glass on them.

We wanted to climb to the top of the mesa. There seemed to be stairs to the top. But at the very top, the steps stopped and there was just rock to climb and it was fairly steep. I think that we were more worried about how to get down once we got up. Both of us are out of shape and need a little more conditioning. But still it was disappointing to get almost to the top. After we climbed back down, we decided to hike around the valley a little. Then we went back to the car and got our lunch to eat. The PB&J sandwiches hit the spot.

Then we thought it would be good to explore some more. We found a path. At least we thought it was a path. But it turns out it was a small creek bed and as we walked along it it became slightly muddy. Then all of a sudden Dave stepped into a very muddy spot and sunk into the mud up to his ankle with one foot. While pulling out his foot, his shoe stayed in the mud and his other foot sunk into the mud. We were laughing quite hard by this time. Dave got out of his other shoe so that now he was on dry ground in her stocking feet and his two shoes were buried in the mud. I took off my shoes and socks and rolled up my pant legs and went into the mud to get Dave's shoes after we tried unsuccessfully to tried to pry the shoes out of the mud with our walking sticks, but they were stuck too tightly. I was unsuccessful. Dave's shoes are still in the mud, left for posterity.

We headed back to the car, barefooted and sock footed, carrying my muddy shoes. My feet were cold and caked with mud. We cleaned off our feet as much as we could and threw my dirty shoes in the trunk.

Exploring with Dave is always an adventure. Stay tuned for next weeks' adventure.

If you find time, check out the pictures of Glass Mountain.
http://s525.photobucket.com/albums/cc331/koalahug15/Glass%20Mountain%20Oklahoma/

Xmas in Oklahoma - Kingfisher Lights

Here I am in my Xmas finest and new hairdo. This was last Sunday when we went to Dave's boss's open house.








Tonight we went to the town of Kingfisher, about 40 miles south of Enid. They have a large light display. So we decided to go see it after we had a lovely dinner of ham, macaroni and cheese, corn bake, and crescent rolls.










This is a swinging walking bridge that is very well lighted.

This is a picture of some of the lights along the driving road, but taken from the swinging bridge.

Another shot of the swinging bridge.

I tried to get a picture of the lights as we drove through the lighted arch.

Life is good

I found some shoe inserts that make me heel not hurt. I am happy now.

Also, Dave bought me a new purse. It is awesome.

http://www.travelonbags.com/7283.html

It is so comfortable. I can wear it while I am driving, shopping, walking, and it has compartments for everything. Thanks Dave.

pictures of apartment in Enid

I thought I would let you see that we did get some snow here in Enid. Of course, it is gone now. The first picture is Dave scraping the snow off the car. The second is our front door. The third is a picture of a pretty tree across the parking lot. The fourth is a picture of our unit from a little farther away. And the fifth is Dave at the mailbox, not far from where I took the fourth picture.

Xmas in Oklahoma

We are getting prepared to have our first Christmas in Enid. We have our scant decorations set up. Tomorrow we will get the Xmas cards set up to send out and do some online shopping. We will have to get creative this year to "spend" Christmas with our family.

I want to get a menu set up for Dave and I. Probably ham and macaroni and cheese and some appetizers.

Right now I am just waiting for Dave to come home from work. Probably won't be home for another hour and a half.

my political opinion

My political opinion.

The government is going to heck in a handbasket. I think that the arrest of the Illinois governor is just the tip of the iceberg. I believe there are many, many political figures that have been getting away with shady and illegal things for quite a few years and they are getting bolder. Now some of them are getting caught. I predict that we will find out that Obama is one of these people. He sure seems to be linked to quite a few of them. How can one man have that many acquaintances that are on the take or doing illegal things or just are not nice people without him being like those friends. And I think things are going to get worse before they get better. Wait that is what Obama said? Does that mean he knows what I just suspect? And just to weigh in on the automakers bailout - NO, do not bail them out.

explain to me like I am an 8-year-old

The Office

Michael - "Explain to me like I am an 8-year-old." "Okay, now explain to me like I am a 5-year-old."

I am sad - miss detroit

This is the first real sadness that I have noticed. I am intermittently watching the MAC Championship game on the TV. The game is played at Ford Field in Detroit. If we were still living there, I would be on the field taking pictures and Dave would be in the press box. Then they showed the people ice skating downtown. I have never done that, but it made me wistful. Crazy I know. I miss my family, but I get to talk to them and I will have the web cam going soon, so I will see the grandkids and they will see me. Maybe we can even do a show and tell at Christmas.

The saga of the critters - stuffed and otherwise.

Charly gave us two little stuffed animals to keep us safe on our trip. They seemed pretty comfortable in the car and didn't complain much.



When we got to the apartment, we showed them around. They seemed to like the fireplace. Although today the wind is blowing a lot and making the fireplace flue crash and bang, so they are in the bedroom listening to music so that they aren't scared.



Riley the green-cheek conure also had a good time in the car. After arriving at the apartment, he decided he wanted a bath, so I got a picture and a video of his first bath in the new apartment.

Then we went to Kari's on the way to Oklahoma

On our way to Oklahoma, we stopped at Kari and Mark's to see the grandkids. Kari had prepared chili and corn bread and hotdogs. The chili was delicious, but a little spicy for my taste. Dave probably would have eaten more if we weren't going to be cooped up in a car for many, many hours together.

Charly gave us two little stuffed animals when Kari told her to tell us goodbye and that she wouldn't be seeing us for a while. See the next post.

Packing before our move

Mindy and Luke came over on the Saturday before we left for Oklahoma so I could see Luke and to help pack. Luke kept us all busy. Kari also came over to help pack.

I still have to get the pictures to post

Well, the pictures are still in my camera. I know, it isn't that difficult to take the memory card out of the camera and upload to the computer, but right now it seems like a lot. I promise I will get to it. Probably tomorrow, but don't hold me to it.

It has been a nice day. Dave had the day off so we could hang out together. We went to breakfast and then drove around Enid checking out the sites. Dave tried to find the spots that his editor showed him, but it took us a while.

We also checked out an Italian restaurant to see if their pizza was good. It was pretty good.

We then came home and rearranged the living room and emptied a box or two.

I have a list of positives about Enid and the new apartment:

• Almost unlimited garbage bin.
• Drains that drain faster than the house in DH.
• Larger bathroom.
• Malls within 2 minutes of apartment.
• Warmer weather.
• Fireplace in the apartment (probably won't use it, but you never know)

Oklahoma move part 2

Well, we are here. I wanted to blog sooner than this, but it has been crazy. I have pictures to post and stories to tell. So much to say, so little time to get it all said.

A quick recap: We had everything packed by 10 a.m. on Friday. The guys who were going to load the truck for us came about 20 minutes later. Mike came about 10:10 or so. He was a wonderful help. Then Dad and Uncle Tom came so Dave could go with them to take their car to the airport parking. By the time the got back from the airport, the truck was loaded. Mike left for Lansing with the couch and loveseat and we all went to the UHaul place to get the autotransporter attached to the truck and the Hyundai on the autotransporter. Then Dad and Uncle Tom took off for Oklahoma. Dave and I went back to the house to finish closing it up and then we were on our way. We arrived in Oklahoma on Saturday evening. The moving men to unload the truck came Sunday morning. Dad and Les flew back to cold Detroit Sunday evening. We unpacked most of Monday. Tuesday we went to work, me to my take-a-long job and Dave to his new job.

I will be filling in the blanks in future posts. The stopover at Kari and Mark's, the fall I took on my front porch, the misadventures of Les and Tom and all the aches and pains that have accompanied the move.

Oklahoma move

We have made one of the first steps to moving to Oklahoma. We found an apartment complex that has an available apartment. This complex, Seven Pines Village owned by ERA Nicholas Real Estate, will have a house available for rent in February and they have many homes for sale which if we decide to rent or buy, they will release us from the lease on the apartment. The apartment is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment for a 6-month lease of $475 a month. You can see pictures of the place at the link above.

Now we need to figure out how we are going to move and sell or rent our house here in Dearborn Heights.

Go West Ruthenbergs

Looks like we will be moving to Enid, Oklahoma. Dave has been offered a job there at the Enid News and will be starting November 25. I will be moving down there as soon as I can. I have to sell the house (or rent it) and pack everything up. I might be contacting family members to see if they want some of our furniture so we don't have to take everything.

More to follow.

Poem by my Grandfather, Willis McMillan

My dad, Jerry McMillan, gave my sister a poem that his dad, Willis McMillan, wrote. Cindi sent it to me. I would like to share it here.

Those Golden Years
By: Willis McMillan

Some fifty years ago
When my heart was all aglow
I met a little girl named Lucille.
She was so neat, with much eye appeal.
She lived with her sister, mother, and father on a hill
In a little town called Waynesville.
At church and socials she played the piano,
And very popular as you all may know.
On Sundays and holidays, rides we would take
In her father’s new Model T.
They asked me to go along for company’s sake
And that made me as proud as could be.
Four sons was all we had –
Wendell, Gerald, Irwin, and Richard Eugene.
They all were healthy fine lads.
That made six of us on the team.
When brother Dillon lost his mate,
Lenora and Jo Ann we did take.
We loved them like they were our own,
And we all tried to give them a happy home.
In 1942, Lucille not feeling her best,
We moved to Cincinnati for a rest.
Our four sons in the service for U. S. A.
Thank God, all safe home, we did pray.
Wendell, Martha; Jerry, Gerry Ellen; Dick and Pat –
All found homes with a welcome mat.
Grand children: we’ll say seven.
All good children go to heaven.
Linda, Tommy, Debbie, Cindy, Mike,
Dale and Timmy;
All together that’s a good many.
Oh, yes, one great-grandchild.
Right now that’s putting it mild.
Now Johnny in February 1964 died.
Then at that time all of us cried.
Mom was my secretary and kept the money.
She from the start was my honey.
Wonderful golden years together liven.
And I thank God for all blessings given.

What Brett and I do for fun on the weekend

Brett and I were taking pictures of the Western Michigan vs Eastern Michigan football game today. If you want to see the actual action pictures check out www.macreportonline.com/mrogallery tomorrow. We should have all the pictures up by then.





I caught Brett walking back to my side of the field.













Then I accidentally got a slightly blurry pic of him from across the field.

Brett caught a pic of me in the background of a play from across the field

More pictures from the visit

Mindy talking to Grandpa Ken.









Kari took these pictures of the cousins getting into things.








They are pretty darn cute.









Everyone loves to make some music.








Kari and Aydan.