Hog Wild

It was 1998 and it was a H-U-G-E success. Swine Week at Edmond Memorial. One of my dearest friends was the chair that year and the student body raised more than 100K, which was 30K more than any year before.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I'll explain: my high school had a student-driven fundraiser. It is a week- long campaign and includes everything from a live auction to a dance to contests between students and teachers to pig-kissing contest, etc. We (the student council) would come up with a list of recipients and vote on it, always trying to keep it local, and often times the recipient was or was related to the Memorial family. All money raised went to cover medical bills or research or something.

I just wanted to share about the 2009 Swine Week for a second - the students and community raised nearly $320,000 in ONE WEEK! Even in the tough economy, this is such a tribute to the compassion and ability to give in Edmond and a showcase for other schools to follow. How awesome is that? I'm including a few articles from the local Edmond paper from a few weeks ago (been meaning to post this for a week or so now!).

Article One
Article Two

It's just awesome to see how something that started small, raising $3,000 23 years ago has grown so significantly. Swine Week was a huge part of my high school experience and I am so proud to share about how wonderful the tradition has become to the community.

Honey Bunny

This is Stacy's mom! I just had to tell somebody - Stacy is such a lucky gal! Grant calls her "Honey" or "Honey Bunny" as much, if not more, than he calls her "Mommy"! It is the most precious thing I have ever heard! I wish you could hear it - it is VERY sweet!

The ironic thing is that I truly wanted my grandmother name to be "Honey" and my adult kids said No. Maybe now Stacy realizes why I wanted them call me "Honey"! It is the sweetest thing EVER!

Who knew?

• Who knew that a Bisquick box was so much fun to pull off of the counter and dump on the kitchen floor? Apparently, Kyle knew this!
• Who knew that when I was spanking my 4 year old and was really upset at having to do it (if he just would have listened!!!!) that I would get told that he was glad it was me giving him the spanking because I am the soft spanker. Who would have known? I surely didn't know that but you can bet that I wasn't so soft that time!
• Who knew that my parents remind me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears every day when I drive by Berry Creek? I can sense the story playing out in my head - "This one is too small. This was is too large. This one is Just Right!" And I am SO glad that is right! Regrets will never be made.
• Who knew how much fun it would be to babysit Erryn's kiddos! All four of them really had fun together and they were even able to grow the magic dinosaurs from Grant's party together (pictures coming, E). We played in a band, played play dough, ordered a pizza and ate fruit, pretended we were rock stars on TV, and lots of other stuff. Who knew that Erryn and I would be having our kids play together at the same age she and I met back in preschool decades ago?!?
• Who knew that my hair is finally long enough to reach in to a ponytail now? It actually works a lot better in two little piggy tails (hey, if I don't have a daughter to dress up then why not myself?!?) for the time being but it's on its way to being long(er) again.
• Who knew that running the past two days would cause my hips to ache so much this morning? Am I really this old already? Kind of makes you wonder how the heck life will be at 40, 60 and 80!
• Who knew that parent drama could already be involved in 3 and 4 year old soccer programs?!? Puh-lease!
• Who knew that Jason and I would come to absolutely love gardening and planting so much that we randomly decided to pull up the shrubs at his office so we could re-do it to be prettier. It was fun yesterday, and we bought the boys a little shovel so they would at least be able to move dirt for us (otherwise known as sling dirt around in the air).
• Who knew that finding a church home for our family in Stillwater would take 1 1/2 years? We sure didn't think it would. There are such great things about so many, but each has a lot of stuff we don't like. We are perpetual visitors to a few churches and are sick of it. We each deeply like a church - of course they aren't the same ones. And then there are still two we would consider but don't really like. We have one more new one to try and then it's go-time. We have got to decide, knowing we're going to have to give and take to come to a decision. I think it's actually a pretty easy decision - Jason just doesn't agree!
• Who knew a couple's devotional book wedding present from 7 years ago would still get used twice a week at our house? We just love it and have been through it 3 times.
• Who knew that I would decide to pursue the volleyball involvement that I mentioned earlier by becoming a coach at the YMCA? I still am kind of surprised that I signed up but I kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking about it, so I bit the bullet and am doing it. Not sure the age of girls I will be assigned yet... more to come! My Saturday mornings until May are busy!
• Who knew that I would find any online networking site better than MySpace? I did. I know, you guys talked me in to it and I finally gave it. There is so much more activity on Facebook than MySpace but I will still say myspace is easier to navigate and a much prettier site. I'm amazed at the flocks of people who through a friend of a friend know I am on there after just five days.
• Who knew that at 8:02 am that I would have already been up for nearly 4 hours! NOT ME and I don't like it very much. Tuesdays are long days at our house for everyone.

DWTS Shout Out!

I just signed off from writing about Fresno and then went to read other blogs for the first time in a while. My favorite blog of someone I don't know is a girl named Lincee Ray and I love her because she recaps The Bachelor/ette and I have followed her via emails for years. Anyways, I saw she had a recent post and I am SOOOO excited!

Yea for Dancing AND Melissa!

I'm a fan of The Bachelor but have given up on Dancing With the Stars a few seasons ago. I can only handle Samantha and Bruno talking for so long before I realize I have better things to do with my time. However, I will be setting the DVR to watch America's sweetheart (!!) on the show. I wish her all the luck with her new beau and I also wish Jason and Molly good luck. Melissa has said she wasn't blindsided by the breakup on tv - Jason isn't as evil as the world thinks he is. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, so sorry.

Way to go, Fresno!

Fresno did it! And they did it grandly. My cousins live in Fresno, CA, and their family was involved in the Extreme Home Makeover that aired last night. It is a show that is not set on my DVR but we did watch it last night and once again, like the few other ones I have seen, I got teary-eyed. It was kind of fun to have a personal connection to the story. Visit their blog to really see photos if you want to!