Surprisingly (to some people) I have a slight interest in watching sports, specifically basketball and football. The only sport I enjoy playing is probably volleyball, but that's a different story.
I lived in Houston during five years of my childhood and that is where I picked up following major league sports. So when Oklahoma City was deemed big league enough to get a NBA basketball team I was stoked. However, I was not expecting any playoff games during the first 3-4 years because they of course need to build up the team.
Now they're in the playoffs of their second season against the Lakers. I'm so excited for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even if they don't win again in this playoff series, I think they have worked really hard and have proved themselves.
It's nice having a home team to cheer for and follow. Last night we went to Bricktown for our date night and everywhere we went we saw local businesses with Thunder logos painted on the windows. This team is well supported, hopefully enough so that they won't return to Seattle.
I've seen NBA finals where the other team gets swept 0-4. At least the Thunder have one win over L.A. Here's hoping they can pull it off again tonight. Good luck Thunder!
It's two weeks before state testing for public schools in our state. In my classroom we have been doing test practice in the morning and doubling up on our math lessons each day.
Today there was a small interruption in my lesson plans when they took more than a quarter of my class out of the room for ESL testing. Keeping in mind that we only have so much time until testing, but I don't want to start something completely new with people gone from the room, I decide to pull a lesson up on my Smart Board on Haiku poetry (which is a component of Figurative Language/Poetry that is on a portion of the reading test).
The students learned about the format of a Haiku (3 lines with these syllables in each 5, 7, then 5 in the last line). I was surprised by their collaborative efforts. The class helped write this poem:
Beautiful water Trees around the waterfall Waterfalls are cool.
I just think the poem is pretty and simple.
Poetry is actually a strength for some of my students. Here is another example. Earlier this week a student came up to me and said she wrote me a poem:
Mrs. Kennedy Always giving someone praise Quietly in her gentle ways
I'm hoping she actually came up with this herself, but it wouldn't surprise me if this poem was inspired from another piece of work.
Last Friday I finally mailed off my portfolio entries for National Board certification. They were received today in San Antonio and signed for by Jessie.
Now I just need to take a test for it sometime in May or early June. Then I get to find out if I passed in December. If I don't pass no need to panic. All of the points I earn count toward the 2nd attempt and I only redo the parts I don't score so well on.
Since Friday I've been able to finally get around to getting the house back into order.
For example we did not eat at our dining room table for a while due to this:
We have been back to sitting and eating at it since Saturday night. Yea! (Not sure if hubby shares my excitement on that one)
Now for a random story. So, I bought a new celebratory pair of jeans Saturday. Celebratory because 1 I met my deadline for turning in my entries and 2 I am back to my smaller sized pants (I went up a size while working on my project). They seemed a little snug in the back, but I was able to zip them and I just thought well, new jeans are tight they'll stretch.
I go to wear them for the first time and remove all the tags and almost forgot the sticker they put down the back of the leg (I forget that one a lot!) All the tags are off and they just seem weird still. I touch the back pocket and it has something in it. The pocket has a button and I open it up and I find these:
They were not attached to the pants they were just sitting inside the pocket. Very weird! It's amazing I did not get poked by one of those while trying them on and also amazing that I did not set off any security alarms. Very bizarre.
Today I am jealous of Snow White and not just because she is a Disney Princess. I wish I could be cleaning today, but instead I should be writing my last entry for national certification.
So why am I on here? Well, I have to do something FUN on my computer to help keep my sanity.
This afternoon was my second outing from the house since Sunday. I went to Target to purchase Princess and the Frog on blu-ray with my birthday money that I haven't had time to spend yet.
Then I wandered over to the cleaning supply aisle. It smelled so wonderful, so fresh, so clean. It's sad, but being around those wonderful smells excited me. So I stocked up on everything!
Look out! Once my entries are post marked and in the mail I am going to attack the dust that has been all over the house. Can't wait.
Good news! I now have a job lined up for after I graduate!
And the not exactly great news, we may be moving away from Oklahoma someday.
This means it is official now, I’ve signed my contract with the US Air Force and I’m now 2nd lieutenant Kennedy. They’re going to pay for the rest of my tuition and I have a minimum commitment of three years, although I will likely serve longer.
We’re not going anywhere just yet. I’m still going to finish all of my classes at OU and graduate from the pharmacy program in 2012. After I graduate and get licensed I’ll go to Commissioned Officer Training at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama then begin my career as an Air Force Pharmacist. We’ll be able to ‘preference’ our bases, but ultimately where I work is dependant on where I’m needed.
Why go to work for the Air Force? Why not a local chain pharmacy? Ultimately it came down to a lengthy series of interesting coincidences that has led me to believe that this is where God wants me to be and I believe this is where I can best provide for our future.
This was one of the more interesting coincidences. Over the summer I was volunteering with my current Retail Chain Pharmacy employer (now referred to as RCP) at an event at the Bricktown ballpark. At that time I was still weighing the pros and cons of staying with my RCP after graduation or going to work for the Air Force. I went for a walk around the ball park to clear my head, the volunteering wasn’t going very smoothly, and just as I was asking myself “what am I doing here tonight?” I felt something weird on my back, (this is a little gross) I looked back and saw that a bird had pooped on me and the ‘stuff,’ was now covering the RCP’s logo that was on the back of my company t-shirt. I couldn’t help but laugh, the last time a bird ‘expressed,’ themselves on me, I was in my first semester of college, unhappy, at an engineering major picnic, debating if I should stay and stick it out, or transfer to OU and pursue the science/medical field. Those birds didn’t make my decisions for me, but I feel like they may have summed up how I was feeling, but had trouble admitting to myself.
Last Friday I was sworn in and took the officer oath.
No, the Air Force hasn’t decided to change its colors to purple. I was sworn in by Lieutenant York, a 3rd year student at the college who also happens to be a proud Kansas State alum (KSU is doing pretty well this year in basketball).
Thank you all for your encouragement and support throughout my application process. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to and we’re very excited about our future.
A small break from the usual blogger, Bob will now be filling in for Becky until April. I apologize for the break in Disney themed blog entry titles, Becky is awfully busy with her National Board Certification work and I’m afraid I’m just not that well versed in Disney Literature.
This entry was inspired by a recent visit to the website:
If you don’t feel like clicking on the link, I’ll just tell you that Tarahumara’s of Norman is the number 1 ranked restaurant in the OKC metro. While I was happy to see a Norman restaurant in the number 1 ranking, I was a little un-eased seeing that it was Tarahumara’s.
I should start by saying most of my pre-college memories where I was first introduced to Mexican cuisine come from a medium for Oklahoma sized town of Bartlesville. We really only had two Tex-Mex restaurants. One called Monterey’s and the other called Alfredo’s. Two years after I graduated the owners of Alfredo’s were arrested by the FBI on money laundering charges (no joke). People at church joked, “Oh that must have been why their food tasted so good,” I never got the joke, because I thought their food sucked. Monterey’s on the other hand was pretty good for a medium sized town Tex-Mex. The rice wasn’t dry and they had just enough spice to satisfy my taste. I mention Monterey’s (I think there’s three locations in Tulsa now) to say “I’ve had some decent Tex-Mex to compare to.”
So back to Tarahumara’s, to be fair, the last time I ate there was maybe 5-6 years ago, so maybe their recipes have changed, maybe my taste buds have matured, I don’t know, I just remember the last time I ate there thinking, “well, I guess this is ‘okay,’ Tex-Mex for Norman, man, I wish Monterey’s would opened up here.” Are they getting more hype than deserved because where else are you going to go in Norman for Mexican food? Or is my judgment too quick and too harsh for someone who hasn’t been back to Norman recently?
To be constructive, here’s a small list of some of our favorite places to eat for South OKC:
-Belle IsleBrewery*
-Lemongrass Asian Bistro
-Alvarado’s Mexican grill
-Bricktown Brewery*
-Sodapop’s (Not Pop’s, although Pop’s is good)
-Papa Murphy’s Pizza
-Dan McGuiness Irish Pub
-Louie’s
*I know, these are north of I-40 but I think they’re still worth the drive
I do think the great majority of the restaurants listed in the top 100 belong on that list, and if we haven’t been to one of them, it’s on our ‘to-visit,’ list.
