Mushroom Flower

Continuing with the "orange" theme, here is another mushroom we found on our morning walk. My eyes keep being drawn to the center of the "flower." The darkish orangish/reddish middle is beautiful. That color found in nature and contrasted with the green grass is so striking.

Believe it or not, this isn't the last of the mushrooms! I don't know if that scares you or fills you with anticipation. I'm trying to space them out because so many mushrooms in a row might be too much. A little mushroom goes a long way.

OSU vs Troy 9-27-08

My parents are OSU alumni (I was born while they were in college), so we've grown up attending the football games (which has always been a lot of fun). They get four tickets now and we're invited to go with them a couple times per season. This game, it was my sister, Dad, Pooker, and I. (If you'll notice the little, empty section behind Pistol Pete you'll see that this is the section of Troy fans.)

Their tickets are right on the 20 yard line. There is only one row of people in front of us. However, with the renovations to the stadium, it seems like they have packed the seats in even tighter this year and you really end up with lots of sweaty parts touching whoever you are sitting next to (family or stranger). They had a record breaking number of people in attendance at this game, and boy, did I feel every one of them (I am slightly claustrophobic.)

It is always nice when the action is closer to our end of the field, but from the second row of the 20 yard line, one really can't complain.

Before the plays, the team looks to the two coaches and two players with headsets who are calling the plays. Only one of them is calling the true play, but one of the highlights of my being at the game is watching the play callers flap their arms and do all these crazy signals. Quite fascinating and actually quite beautiful, too.

You'll probably notice a lot of the pictures of plays that I took had to be before they were nearing a touchdown, because when everyone jumps up, there would be no way I could get a picture of it. I contented myself with snapping pictures while everyone in front of me was seated.

My sister and my Dad

My sister

My sister and I
Pooker

My sister checking the roster to follow the players.

You'll notice the nice, new west end zone with the sky boxes still in the process of being finished inside. Last year, no one could sit in the west end zone at all, so to be this far along is great! The new stadium is pretty amazing. The bathrooms were even nice (and you know how public restrooms at stadiums can be).

This is the guy who was timing the television commercials. I watched him as much as I watched the play callers and snapped random pictures.

The guy in black is the main play caller I like to watch (again, don't know whose plays were the official plays), but this guy is so fluid and graceful with his motions. They had many movements I liked, but I was struck by the one that looked like he was smoking weed. What kind of play would that be for?

This gives you an idea of the row in front of us and my view of the field and stadium. They only thing they didn't do this time that they have done a lot in the past is the wave (all the fans standing in a "wave" around the stadium). I guess since OSU was winning pretty easily, they didn't feel the need to rally. Neither did they feel the need to have one side of the stadium shout "Orange" and the other side shoult "Power." It's a lot less tense of a game when they are clearly winning, which is nice. Then you don't have to spend the walk back to your car trying to release the tension from between your shoulder blades. We sure had a lot of fun and look forward to going to the next game!

Merry little mushrooms

I can't say these are the most beautiful mushrooms I've ever seen, but there is something quite merry about them. They just peer up at you from the ground, content with their lot in life, little faces turned up to the sun.

I need these little touches of beauty, of grace, to help me keep going when the journey gets a little rough. I haven't been sleeping very well. Last night was dreamless, but I tossed and turned and woke up two different times with alternating eyes being wet. Maybe I was shedding the tears in my sleep that I haven't let myself shed while awake. I'm believing for and expecting good things.

Update this morning on Grandad

Please pray for Grandad. His body seems to be healing, but the anesthesia and the morphine combined have not been a good combination for him and it is making him act and say mean things, which is not really like Grandad at all. It has been very hard on my Grandma as she is one of the few he recognizes and he says mean things to her, too. It is acting like a fog on his mind and he doesn't know that he was okay with the surgery and thinks that everyone is out to get him. This is not the Grandad who went into surgery.

We need the fog to lift from his mind and body, for him to start eating and to be himself again (the sooner the anesthesia and the morphine get out of his body, the better). Please pray for him and Grandma. We want the old Grandad back personality wise with his new heart and the increase in health he'll get from the increased blood flow to his body.

Purple/Blue Flower catching the light

I loved the way this flower was catching the light! How beautiful! We found this flower in our barren park (Yes, it is still bare dirt through most of it, although they have leveled it off and they aerated it this week. I guess they figure we'll have grass next year? What's a year without grass in your neighborhood park.)

Startled Squirrel

We came across this squirrel on our walk. I know the picture isn't the best, but I had to share it because I think we startled this squirrel as much as the squirrel startled us. If you'll look closely, you'll see the squirrels right "hand" (our left) over it's heart in kind of a "Good grief, you took ten years off my life" type of gesture.

Update on Grandad's surgery

Halfway through the surgery, the nurse came out and spoke to my Grandma and my parents and told them everything was going well, they got the veins from his body and were continuing on (they took some veins from his leg and from his back to replace the clogged veins). After the surgery was over, the surgeon came out and told them everything went well, that they didn't have to stop his heart. The surgeon seemed really pleased and confident that all was well.

Mom said they were keeping him in ICU, with the breathing tube in place, through today or tomorrow (probably just to keep him still so his heart could heal). Last I heard, they were bringing him up from the anesthesia, but as everything went well, there is no reason to suspect anything else.

Thank you for your prayers and continued prayers for a quick and complete recovery. I'll continue to keep you updated.

Assorted Mushrooms

You'd really think I'd run out of mushrooms after a while, but I have to tell you, they're all around me with no signs of leaving anytime soon. You wouldn't think mushrooms would be such an interesting/beautiful thing to take pictures of, but these sure are! I especially love the mushrooms in the first picture, those spiky little mushroom balls!

Three beautiful butterflies!

I've been running across lots of butterflies lately on our walks (leaves, mushrooms, and butterflies have been rampant). They are so beautiful. These were so involved in whatever they were doing (resting?) that they didn't fly away when Brownie and I came closer and squatted down and started snapping pictures of them. We ran across them on different walks during this past week.

My Grandad is having heart surgery

I wanted to ask you to pray for my Grandad. He is having a triple bypass tomorrow morning (Fri. Sept. 26th) at 7:30 am. We are believing for a successful surgery, a quick recovery, and that he will feel better than he has felt in years. Grandma is taking him to the hospital today and checking him in tonight. My parents will go be there tomorrow and be there through the surgery. I'll give you an update as soon as I hear how it went.

This is the only Grandad I have left and he is very precious to me. He's got many years left in him and I want him around for every one of them.

(And if you'll remind me after this is all over, I'll tell you the story Grandma told me yesterday about going to get dentures for Grandad in Elk City. It was pretty funny.) (To clarify--there is nothing funny about getting dentures in and of themselves, it was the place they went, etc. and how Grandma described it that was so funny!)

(Special "Happy Birthday" wishes to my two cousins, Sherri and Cynthia (not twins), who have birthdays tomorrow! Have lots of fun, girls!)