Today (June 8)  is the son's 26th birthday.  I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by since he was born.  He, Ritzy & I just "celebrated" at home with a nice dinner and one if his favorite cakes......a strawberry-jello cake.  The kid loves strawberries.
Now, if we could just find him a girl to catch his attention, hmmmmm.......
The daughter seems to be doing just fine living in Tulsa.  She and her "significant other" are happy.  That is more important to Ritzywife than anything. 
I want my kids to be happy........with their lives, jobs, etc..
I watched Ritzy split wood tonite.  He just does not know how to "do nothing"........I think he was having fun tho, playing with that log splitter.  
I had quite a busy day.  I had to make a trip to Pryor for the daughter, while there I shopped for the son's birthday present.  I went back thru Claremore to stop at Walgreens.  After leaving there it was lunchtime so I stopped at Arbys and got me a Turkey & Swiss sandwich.  I decided to go home thru Oologah (the scenic route)....So, I just make one big circle.  After getting home it was time to bake the cake for the son.  I baked the cake, mixed up the jello and poured it in the cake, then set that in the refrigerator.  I was ready for a nap by that time....so that's what I did, for a couple of hours.  Then, it was time to start supper for the "guys".  Hey, I just realized that with the daughter gone Ritzywife is outnumbered.  I may be outnumbered but I will never be outsmarted!!!   hehehehe!!!!!
Ritzy and I will be going to visit his family soon.  I just hope it is cool this year.  Last year the hot weather just followed us to Wisconsin. 
That's about all I have at the moment........Ritzywife out...........................

We all say that, but do we realize what it took for us to even "celebrate"such a day.  Nowadays everyone decorates all their loved ones graves.  That is a good thing I guess, but somehow I think people have forgotton the REAL reason we have a holiday called "Memorial Day"....It was originally a day set aside to remember all those who had given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today.  We need to take a moment tomorrow and thank God for such brave and unselfish men and women who stood for and fought for their (& our)  country, our great USA!!!!
Also say a prayer for those serving today......and don't forget the families left behind....
I think that sometimes it is harder on the family than the soldier.   When called to duty, the soldier has a job to do and 100% of their focus is on their mission,,,,yes, they are away from their loved ones, but the family members left behind have to go through their daily routine with that family member gone.  It can be very hard sometimes.  I know because I have experienced it.  I would not ever want to have to go thru that again, but I would not trade the experience for anything in the world.  When I see a flag flying, it makes me  think about all the soldiers, (past & present) and thier families  who make that possible and how thankful I am for their sacrifice and service.
We are going to Mom & Dad's for lunch tomorrow.  It will be the same thing we always have.....brisket, ribs, chicken.  I am going to take some crappie up there and cook it.  Have it thawing now..... Ritzy picked some cherries off Dad's tree tonite.  After pitting them we helped mom get some ready for a cobbler and put a couple bags in the freezer.  That cobbler sure is going to taste good with the vanilla ice cream my brother is bringing. yumm yumm!!!!  As we were leaving I told mom that no "sampling" had better take place.......I guess we'll see, huh???
Its going to be pretty hot.  Probably just sit around and watch the little ones play.  They are so fun to watch.
May have to take a nap too. 
Woo Hoo!!!!  The daughter  moved out of the house this weekend.  She and her boyfriend are much closer to their work in Tulsa.  I would have liked to see them married first, but they are young adults and make their own choices.  Oh yeah, I must not forget her little dog Senor.  I don't miss him at all.   Anyways it's just Ritzy, the son and I now.  Sure is quiet here.......
People in this house just don't understand the fact about me not missing that dog, but I just don't like dogs.  Senor and I just tolerated each other, hahaha!!!!
Told the daughter when the dog went, his "chair" went with him.  Her boyfriend asked what was wrong with the chair and I proceeded to tell him that the rocker-recliner was an excellent chair but it has had a dog sitting in it and for that reason I would not have it in my house.  I think they think I am nuts.  But, as they say---to each his own......it's my house and that's the way I like it.........Needless to say, Senor and his chair are in their happy new home..............
I guess that's about all I got for now......Ritzywife out..................

I wasn't going to go fishing today.  I had to get the financial report ready for our church business meeting tonite.  I also had to prepare something for the meal so I figured fishing was out for today.  I had just finished the report and ate my lunch. And...............around 3pm my sister-in-law calls and says they are biting.  Well, that's all it took for Ritzywife.  Told her I'd see her in a few minutes.
I got down there and caught 2 two-pounders right off.  They were big!!!!!  I told her I was going to have to figure out something that would not take any time to fix for the supper tonite,(if i even went, haha!!).....
Well, around 5:30 I called my son, and asked if he wanted to come down there to take my spot and I would return after church was over.  He came down there, I left at 6pm (church starts at 7), came home (only a half a mile away, thank goodness) changed clothes, threw some Schwan's fried rice in the microwave for 6 minutes and wa-la....I have a dish for tonite. 
After church, I went back down there and the fish were still biting pretty good.  It started to get dark and no one wanted to leave.  My brother, sister-in-law, & nephew were down there, along with her dad and step-brother.  My son and I also.  These weren't small crappie we were pullin in either....
The spot we were fishing was on around the bank from where I have been fishing the last month. 
As you can see in the picture, they are pretty good size.  I put my (dirty) hand beside them to compare..
We stayed, everyone got out their lights, the sister-in-law's dad pointed his truck toward the lake and turned on his lights, haha!!!!
We started to hear thunder in the distance, but at 9:30 we started to notice the lightning in the south.  We all loaded up right before the rain hit. 
The son and I got home, took care of the minnows and cleaned the fish.  While I cleaned the fish, Matt took pictures of the pretty light show.

Finally at 11pm I was able to go and take my bath after cleaning and putting up the fish, and cleaning up after the daughter and her supper dishes.  We ended up with 18 nice sized crappie.  Not too bad for an evening of fishing.
Don't know if I will be going tomorrow, I'll have to wait and see how the weather is.  Fishing tomorrow nite is out tho, because the daughter's boyfriend wants us all to watch a John Wayne movie together.  That sounds like fun to me.  I like John Wayne.....
For now.........Ritzywife is out...............

I have been pretty busy the past couple of weeks.  I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post.

Last weekend Ritzy and a friend of ours refinished my countertops. I had old formica which was still in good shape but it was {{{{{orange}}}}}.  Dad put in those cabinet tops in 1972.  They were built in the '50'-'60's.   I was ready to see them go......Here are a couple of before and after pics.  I also put in a new sink.  One with only one basin.  It is so much better that the standard stainless steel sink. 
Took the guys the whole weekend, but they finished the job and Ritzywife was happy.  I spent Monday finishing the cleaning and sealing the grout.  Finally --- everything in my kitchen matches.  That Orange had to go!!!!
Besides redoing the cabinets, I have been fishing.  I got up a 5 this morning to go.  Last night when I told Ritzy I was going to get up that early, he just laughed and said --"yeah right, you can't get up at 5 in the morning".........I told him that I could get up when it came to fishing ;-)        I stayed until 10 this morning and only caught 5 fish.  One of my nephews was down there and he asked if I wanted his fish cause he did not want to clean them and I said--You bet I do!!!!!!  I don't turn down crappie.  The daughter came down there for a little while and a little before we left she asked if She and I could meet her boyfriend in Owasso to eat lunch.  I was hungry and that sounded like a pretty good idea to me so, We hurried home, I cleaned the fish and myself and we headed to Owasso.  Before leaving the fishing hole, tho, as I was gathering my gear I happened to look in a hollow spot in the rock I had been sitting on all morning and a dad-gum snake stuck his head out.  I thought, O my gosh I have been sitting on or by that thing all morning.  I was ready to go!!!!!
After returning home I headed for my bedroom to take a nap.  We ate supper, went to church and as soon as church was over I returned to the fishing hole.  No one was really catching anything.  My brother, his wife, her dad and my two nephews were down there and I just found a place next to them to fish.  As the sun was setting, we were all leaving and one of my friends pulled up and we started talking about our catches.  During the conversation he asked if I wanted the fish he had cause he did not want to clean them and you can guess what I said.............so at 10pm I was out in the garage cleaning crappie.  There were 14 of them.
Yesterday morning I arrived just as the fish stopped biting.  After a little while my sister-in-law's dad came over and said I must be bad luck.......I said- Gee thanks!!          
Well, tonight I get down there and he says here comes Bad Luck Cheryl.  I thought... it's gonna take some work living that down. hahahaha!!!!  But as I was thinking about his comment while cleaning the fish I thought --Heck I haven't done too bad.  Twice in one day I was given some pretty good sized crappie and they would make about 2 meals for us................so.............if you ask me, I think that is darned good luck!!!!!!!
With that, Ritzywife is out for the day...............................

I have spent the morning catching up on housework.  Vacuuming and sweeping the floors, unloading the dishwasher, dusting,  got one load of laundry done, and gonna go put it in dryer and start second load.
All this fishing has me a little behind on my "chores"......I spent yesterday fishing and caught 7 fish.  They weren't biting for anyone...... (I think it had something to do with the low pressure system that came thru late last nite and this morning.....)  I called Dad and asked him if he wanted a "mess" of crappie and of course he did not turn that down.  The deal is----Wednesday nite after church he was hinting to me that he was ready for some more fish just like the ones I gave him last week.  They were cleaned, cooked and ready to eat by the time he got his hands on them.  So when I caught those fish yesterday I decided I would cook them and Dad could pick them up on his way home from work, which he did.  There were some left over for us.  They sure tasted good.  Nothin' like a fresh batch of crappie......
I was thinking earlier about going down there after all my work was done, but I think I will wait till this evening, so the weather will have a chance to settle a bit.  Plus, I don't want to drive my truck down there in the mud.  I'll wait till Ritzy gets home with his truck and drive it down there, hahaha!!!!!!!
I sure do have quite a "fisherman's tan" going.  The past couple of times in the sun I have worn long sleeves to protect my arms.  Someone asked why I didn't use sunscreen and I told them that sunscreen wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind when I was headed to the fishin' hole  ;-)
Don't know if anyone believes it or not but with all this fishing and pulling in all the  fish and taking tackle in and out of the truck, I seem to have aggravated my "tennis elbow".  In a way it is kind of funny, but when the arm is hurting there is nothing funny about it.  After the second day of fishing, I noticed my arm would hurt expecially if I was lifting or putting pressure on it.  I then realized that I had stirred up my tennis elbow.  I did not ever have a problem until 2 years ago when Ritzy was on active duty in Iraq that the son and I would mow the lawn.  He would mow and I would do the weed eating.  Handling that weed eater is what started it all.  I finally found a "strap" that goes around my arm.  So I ordered it and started wearing it.  It took a few months but the pain finally went away........til last week when I started fishing.  I am now back to wearing the black band around  my arm until the pain goes away.  It hurts to make a fist  or straighten out my arm, and I don't have the strength to lift anything very heavy with that arm.  (Fishin' was worth the pain, hahaha!!)
I wonder if Ritzy would let me take off for "rest and recuperation" leave till it heals.....hehehe!!!!
Well, I better go put those clothes in the dryer and start the last load washing if I want to get my work done for the day. 
With that, Ritzywife is out............................

I don't know how else to express it.  My grandmother who was 89 years old in February passed away yesterday evening.  I was at the "crappie hole" fishing when I got the call from mom.  I was sad to learn of her passing, but she had lived a long and happy life, and most important of all........ she was ready to go. 
I was telling one of my uncles today that I always remember Grandma as being easy talking and kindhearted  to everyone.  I don't ever remember seeing her mad.  When I was about 12 years old she made me and mom matching red gingham aprons.  I still have mine and it helps decorate my kitchen today.  In fact I have something from both my grandma's.  My other grandma made me an "Indian Costume" out of feed sacks and scrap material 40 years ago when I was in grade school and in a Thanksgiving play.  It hangs in my and Ritzy's bedroom.  Those items are very special to me. 
The picture is of the fish I caught today. 
I got to the fishing hole around 9:30 this morning and left at 5 only because  I HAD to leave to come home to clean the fish and get ready for Wednesday night church service at 7.  I also have one heck of a sunburn.  Stick a fork in me---I"m done!!!!!!
I had decided that the fish caught today were going to be given to our Pastor and his family.  They have 3 young children.  Those 15 fish made a good "mess" of fish for them.  I think they were very happy with them.
I think I had better stay home tomorrow and stay out of the sun.  I look like a ripe tomato, hahaha!!!!!
The housework doesn't do itself, darn it......I will be catching up on that so I can justify going fishing some more......
My grandmother's funeral service is Friday, so that day is going to be a busy day. 
One thing I will always remember about her is that she did NOT want to be called "Granny" and she let us kids know that little fact ;-)
I think the name "Granny" is sweet, but Grandma did not see it that way.........
That's about all I have for today.
Ritzywife out...........................

That's what you could say about the daughter and I today.  We spent the afternoon and evening fishing.  I had a funeral service to play the piano for this morning.  After that I came home and loaded up the truck with fishing gear to head down to the "crappie hole".  We go to the bait shop across the road only to find out they are out of minnows, and learn that everyone else is out too.  We proceeded to drive to Oologah Dam to see if the bait shop had some bait.  They were out also.  As a last resort we decide to go to Nowata and find a tiny bait shop that had what we needed.  A 30 mile round trip to go 1.5 miles away from the house to go fishing.  As you can see, we did pretty well.  We ended up with 34 crappie which made a gallon of fillets.
Tonight I was supposed to cook fish that the daughter and boyfriend had caught over the weekend, but once Ritzywife gets to fishing and as long as they are biting, there is no going home till it's dark.  So......everyone was on their own tonight for supper.
My nephew came down there to join us this evening and caught a few. 
While leaving, he asked how I was going to clean them and I proceeded to tell him that I would use my trusty fillet knife.  He told me I needed to use an electric knife.  I tried that once and butchered the fish and didn't try again.
After I got home, he called and asked if he could come help me clean the fish, I didn't turn that down.  I tried to give him some of the fish, but he refused so I told him I would give him a call when they were ready to eat and that was ok by him.......
There is nothing like hauling in a good sized crappie.  I love it!!!!!!!
I should have put on the sunblock or wore sleeves, tho.  I got a "little" red after spending all afternoon and evening in the sun.
After getting home and putting everything up, the daughter was still bent on frying up some fish, so I told her how to do it and while I took my bath she cooked.  That fish sure tasted good!!!!!
The weather has been beautiful.  This week will be perfect fishing weather.  The crappie are just starting to move in and will be spawning soon, so there is a short time frame to fish in this "spot."
I hope to be posting more pictures of our "catches".....
Ritzywife out....................