"What is my perfect crime? I break into Tiffany's at midnight. Do I go for the vault? No, I go for the chandelier; it's priceless. As I'm taking it down, a woman catches me. She tells me to stop. It's her father's business. She's Tiffany. I say no. We make love all night. In the morning the cops come and I escape in one of their uniforms. I tell her to meet me in Mexico but I go to Canada. I don't trust her. Besides, I like the cold. Thirty years later I get a postcard. I have a son and he's the chief of police. This is where the story gets interesting. I tell Tiffany to meet in Paris by the Trocadero. She's been waiting for me all these years. She's never taken another lover. I don't care. I don't show up. I go to Berlin. That's where I stashed the chandelier."
Today? I'm melting! Triple digit heat means summer in Oklahoma. So, to cool off I thought I'd share a little bit of Christmas in July.
We had some amazing blizzard and ice storms here in Oklahoma this past winter.
On Christmas Eve I left Oklahoma City at 7:00 a.m. to make my way to Altus to meet up with Randy. I was leaving early enough to beat the storm and Dot and I were ready.
Oh but oh...was I ever wrong. As we drove the snow got worse and worse until it was near white-out conditions. At one point I actually spun 180 degrees and went off the road, but somehow was able to keep the forward momentum going and got out of the ditch and back on the road without getting stuck. I have no idea why I was that lucky given that so many cars were off the road, stuck in the snow.
After THREE HOURS I got to Lawton (this usually takes me about an hour) and was right here...1 miles from my exit!...where they shut down the highway and I sat for another THREE HOURS!
Luckily while the blizzard raged around me I had plenty of gas and a good heater and finally three hours later the state troopers let us exit off of the highway and I crept along to a convenience store where I called Randy and told him I was done! All of my I-grew-up-in-Montana-and-know-how-to-drive-in-snow! bravado was long gone and my shattered nerves were having no more of it. I told Randy I was sitting right there until the storm passed. Christmas Eve at the Quickie Mart! Woo hoo!
But Randy would have none of that so he saddled up and my knight in shining armour came to my rescue, driving from Altus to Lawton to save me, and together we drove back to Altus with Randy following closely behind me in case I ended up in the ditch again. (I couldn't decide if I was mad at Randy for risking his own life or completely swept off my feet by the sweetness of it all!)
Finally, NINE HOURS after leaving OKC, we left my car in Altus and headed south to Eastland, TX where we drove through some of the worst snow I had ever seen in Texas, ever. At least 18 inches of snow on the road at some points. Luckily, with Randy's 4-wheel drive and my constant freaking out encouragement, we made it to the Last Stop in one piece. Can you say frazzled? That was me.
But the next day? Christmas 2009? Wow...the blizzard passed, the sun came out and we were gifted with one of the most beautiful days ever. I have never seen so much snow at the Last Stop and we had a great Christmas day being outside.
Big Jack probably had more fun than anyone.
Even Dot was having a good time.
She was on high alert around those shifty cows!
Dad spent most of his day with the flame thrower burning off the needles of the prickly pear, which the cows love to eat. It's their favorite candy.
It is written that you must celebrate a rare Texas blizzard by building snowmen. And who knew that I was marrying the valedictorian of snowmen builders?
I thought I was doing pretty well...
But Randy and Jack had me so beat.
So we went for a spin around the Last Stop to check out the snow up on Scorpion Ridge.
And when we returned? Something had gone wrong...very wrong! The sun was getting to our snowmen.
So the snow didn't last long, but our white Christmas was fun while it lasted.
And if you're still hot from today's blazing sun, here is the entire snowy set to offer some chill.
Is there such a thing as too much togetherness? The Holliday Clan seems to think not.
The true humor here? This is totally normal. This wasn't a how-many-clowns-can-you-fit-in-a-clown-car gag or a there-aren't-enough-seats-for-everyone-so-we'll-all-pile-on-the-love-seat thing...this was pretty much just everyone coming into the room at different times and being drawn to the couch.
There's papa on the couch, with his crutch because he just had major knee surgery - no danger for damage there! And there are two pretty fabulous under-tenners in the forms of Mason and Ruby who everyone wants to be close to, plus there's Matt who decided to check out his "crutch" from a play he was in 30 years ago, and best of all there are animals everywhere including three dogs and two cats, and Shana who was at least smart enough to position herself in the "eject" seat so that she could get out of there fast when Jack - who weighs 150 pounds - decided to jump on board.
Okay everyone..."Say cheesy"...I mean "cheese!"
Sure Cooper, there's plenty of room for you. Come on up. Jack, I know you want to but you would sink the ship, buddy!
Poor nervous Dot doesn't know what to make of the whole thing.
So she just jumped up on Randy's lap instead because it was much less crowded on his chair. What, Randy? You look a little freaked out. You aren't used to having crazed animals and under-tenners crawling on you when you are relaxing in the living room? Well welcome to the family My Dear! I'm not sure who looks more terrified...you or Dot.
So where was mom during the family meeting in the den? Not too far away....
I am currently in the process of deciding which of my books stay and which go.
So of course that means that I get easily sidetracked and end up falling down a rabbit hole that eats up hours of my life because I have to go through each and every book in excruciating detail to decide its fate. And I know myself...I'm never going to get through this process and will end up keeping all of the books! Yet I press on.
Tonight I got into my University of Colorado yearbooks and chose to focus on the first one I grabbed. The year was 1989 and I was a junior at CU. Flipping through the pages I ran across this pop-out piece and had to laugh because I remember so distinctly that it was that year - 1989 - that we got a computer at home. For me, in 1989 computers were still unfamiliar, magical, mystery machines that I wasn't sure I could completely grasp.
And apparently my beloved University of Colorado felt the same way.
Check out the picture and notice the line of students wrapped around the field. This was that infamous day in 1989 when CU's new, fledgling, mass computer system crashed and EVERY single students' schedule was affected - classes deleted, randomly substituted, added, etc. It was a serious nightmare for 25,000 students and it paralyzed CU for weeks as they tried to sort out all of our records.
The way this particular event will forever be immortalized in the 1989 Coloradan yearbook is priceless because according to author Gary Jugert this was proof positive that computers were going to be the ruin of civilization as we knew it! And I quote,
"In twenty years, nobody will care about the day a giant black cloud descended on the University and paralyzed it. In twenty years, the entire University will be one big fat computer and the students will be completely replaceable parts. But for the record, when Big Brother took over our Disneyland of Higher Learning on August 30, 1988, he f****d up almost every single schedule and the powers that be grovelled helplessly at the feet of their almighty Student Information System. It was so bad, that President E. Gordon Gee was forced to apologize and it's gotta be bad if he actually takes responsibility. Welcome to the Machine, Gordo."
That is some AWESOME stuff, right?
In twenty years - aka 2009 - students would be completely replaceable parts! Because Big Brother was taking over and computerizing our lives, and the man was going to render us all slaves to the almighty Student Information System!
SO TRUE, CU, SO TRUE!
But my favorite part? Turning the page in the yearbook and seeing the full-page picture of the marijuana plant. Yep, that's my Alma Mater for you.
Take THAT Big Brother!
It's true...I was as square as they come in 1989... but even then I found endless humor in the awesome hippiness that has always been the University of Colorado and the Republic of Boulder.
When Randy and I were driving back from Washington we stopped at Las Vegas for a couple of days. From there we headed home. It was hot in the truck. I was kind of dozing. We were traveling down a small highway and all of a sudden we turned left.
Randy had seen a sign that said the Grand Canyon was only 45 miles away! We were going.
The Grand Canyon? Seriously? Definitely in my top 100 Life List Things to Do! And definitely one of Randy's best moves.
A fun adventure ensued. Very narrow, windy, gravel road. Desolate. No traffic or tour buses. Lots and lots of cactus. It was stunningly isolated and beautiful.
We ended up at the Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai Nation Reservation. This was the home of the Grand Canyon Skywalk that I had heard about on NPR!
We bought our tickets, hopped on the bus, headed out, and ended up at a truly beautiful spot overlooking some amazing Grand Canyon scenery. It was really awesome. If you haven't seen it, it's hard to explain how humbling it is to be surrounded by such vast beauty.
But the Skywalk? TORTURE! Pure, raw pain! And no, I'm not even exaggerating...
Much...
So, I'm not a squeamish person. I'm really not. I'm not afraid of heights. I enjoy new adventures and trying new things. I like a little adrenaline rush every now and then. But when I put on the little booties they give you and got to the rim of the Skywalk I froze like a statue. I couldn't do it! There you are looking through the Skywalk 4,000 feet below you to the Colorado River and it's like you have to step out and walk on air. I just couldn't take that first step!
Randy went right out with no fear. He walked fast, and slow, and jumped up and down.
Show off.
Finally, finally, finally, after a few falst starts, I decided that we had paid a small fortune for this opportunity so I was going to do it. I crept out and literally hugged the rail all the way along. Every time I looked down my stomach flipped and I felt like I might throw up.
But it was awesome. And beautiful. And awesome again. Breath taking in every sense of the words.
The rub? THEY WON'T LET YOU TAKE YOUR CAMERA OUT ON THE SKYWALK. Can you even believe that? They make you leave your camera behind! They claim it's because too many people were dropping their cameras and scratching the plastic walkway. Oh please. The truth is, they want to keep the crowds moving and have a reason to charge you another $30 PER PICTURE that they will take for you! $30 per picture, people! On top of the already spendy ticket you purchased to be there! Of course once you get out on the Skywalk you want your picture taken so we sucked it up and got one but not without some eye rolling and grumbling. The photographer took the first picture and then said, "Okay, this time let go of the rail and look a little less petrified!" Randy has our picture packed away so I wasn't able to scan it for this post, but it's a pretty funny. I only have a little bit of terror in my eyes.
But check out this video! I can't believe how easily and freely these people are walking on the Skywalk.
Show offs.
I was a major wuss, no doubt about it.
Once we made it safely off and didn't plummet to our deaths we spent some time climbing on the rocks. And we summited on the top of the world!
Look! Over there! There's another place to drop more cash!
Just kidding. This adventure was awesome and totally worth it getting to check such a great experience off of the Life List.
Here are some pictures that will never do the Grand Canyon justice.
The Dotopotamus is 1) my slightly neurotic and often crazy dog, Dot, and 2) my space to share stories and pictures from my slightly neurotic and often crazy life. And Dot and I have a sidekick...my husband Randy. He fits right in to the crazy mix. Welcome everyone!
