Pictures (finally)

Amelia "driving" a pink Jeep, Nick on a giant slide -- both having a blast! (Read previous post.)

Family Fun, Country Style

This weekend we went to the Creek County Fair. Creek County is a "collar county" next to Tulsa and includes Sapulpa, a few other small towns, and... lots of farms and cattle and stuff. We got to see real longhorns!

Amelia's favorite part: looking at the pigs, cows, ducks, chickens, etc. Nick's favorite part: riding all the rides once the Midway opened up. At least there was something for everyone! We all had a great time. Corn dogs and apple pie for dinner, too. Ain't that America?

Pete managed to sneak in a fried Twinkie; I resisted the fried Oreos. If you can poke a stick into it and dip it it batter, you can fry it! Better yet, how about a do-it-yourself fry bar? Bring it in and we'll batter and fry it for you! I think it could catch on.

I have a few pictures but haven't found the cable to download them onto the computer yet. It must be hiding in the same box as the keyboard and mouse...

Toto, we're definitely not in Berwyn anymore!

At last, we are connected again! Still haven't found all of the components of our main computer setup -- how could I forget where both the mouse AND the keyboard are packed?? -- but at least we have our trusty laptop, and finally, a working connection. I hate unpacking almost as much as I hate packing.

So we're all here and getting settled in, and there is now one room in the apartment with no boxes in it. Bathrooms count, don't they? Besides letting you all know that we're still alive and functioning, I thought I'd share some of our first few weeks' observations on how life in Sapulpa is different from life in Berwyn.

1) Driving to the grocery store: I have to go farther, but it still just takes me about 15 minutes, because I can go 60 mph for half of the trip.
2) Weird local things we've found in the grocery store: ground bison, anyone? You can get it at the Wal-Mart Supercenter!
3) Driving on the expressways (in and around Tulsa): 65 mph in the city!! And do you know what you see at the end of almost every on-ramp? A yield sign! How the $%#* do you yield when you're trying to merge at that speed?!!? There is plenty of room, anyway. We have yet to get caught in anything even resembling a real traffic jam.
4) Gas is less expensive (around $2.80/gal.), milk is more expensive ($3.60 to $4.00!). I haven't figured out yet if we're saving or not!
5) Going to church: all church is "high church" here. We visited both Methodist and Lutheran congregations, and didn't see another soul wearing jeans in either place. Everyone was friendly anyway, but we can't get away with being ignorant Yankees for long...

That's all I can think of tonight. More to come!

Safe Arrival

Just wanted to let you all know that we arrived safely in Tulsa at about 10:30 pm last night. We got a later start than we had hoped, but the drive went pretty smoothly for everyone. Even the animals did well; each of them slept for the majority of the trip. That's what they do at home during the day, anyway! We are all packed into a hotel room-with-kitchenette right now, so it's going to be crowded for the next few days, but hopefully the apartment will be ready by Thursday or so. We're just happy to be here safe and sound, with all of our family together again.

Forget gas stations, find an Office Max!

This is Sarah's official "moving disaster narrowly avoided" story...

I had a little adventure the day of the closing on our house. I had looked up directions to the title company's office, where we were meeting, very briefly on Mapquest. I decided that I knew a better way to go, so I didn't print the map. So, you know what's coming next, right?


To make a long story short, I was wrong, and got completely lost in Glenview. There are no square intersections in Glenview. Apparently, no gas stations either -- and yes, I am a female, and not afraid to stop and ask for directions. So, I was starting to panic, and came to a shopping plaza that had an Office Max in it. Okay, I thought, Office Max sells maps, maybe I can figure out where I need to go.


When I realized how far I'd gone, I very nicely asked the guy behind the desk if I could use their phone to call the lawyer's office and ask them to please wait for me. (Nope, no cell phone with me -- oh the horror!) After the call, I kind of offhandedly asked the guy if he knew where the intersection I was looking for was. He had no idea, so he went to the computer, entered the address on Mapquest, and printed out both directions and the map for me. No charge. Wow, what service!!


It still took me another 45 minutes to get to the title company, thanks to a nasty traffic jam on the Kennedy, but at least they were still waiting for me! I owe that guy at Office Max a big thank you -- and no, I am NOT going to miss Chicago traffic jams, AT ALL!! I'm ready to move to Oklahoma now!