Lillian Sophie Henrichs Wojahn

Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother.  You will be missed, Lillian.  1914 - 2011.

Lillian with five of her six great-great-grandchildren, July 2010.

It's only money

Just got a call from some sort of marketing company that had a great offer that the guy was certain I could not pass up.  This marketing company helps businesses like mine take their clients to various sporting events such as the Final Four, The Masters, the Super Bowl and the World Series.  We could take our special clients and let them attend the events, meet the players, take photos and get autographs.  He had a special offer for next year's Masters tournament.  We would have unlimited access to Augusta National for the entire tournament, including the practice rounds and par-3 tournament that is held before the Masters.  Unlimited access to a hospitality tent about a block away from the country club.  The offer includes the use of a four bedroom executive mansion for the entire week before the Masters and during the tournament weekend.  If we need more space, hotel accommodations can be made at nearby hotels.  The cost of this special deal is only $28,400 with 25% down today.  Can he sign me up? 

Um, no.  I'll pass. 

Why not, sir? 

It is out of my price range. 

What kind of client entertainment do you do? 

Nothing like that.  A joke and a stale cola is about all we have to offer. 

Thank you for your time, sir. 

Um, yeah. 

Baby Horses

Some nights on the way home, we pass the OSU equine facility west of Stillwater.  Tonight, we drove past the field where the new babies and the mommas are hanging out.  The babies were close to the fence, so we pulled over to take some photos.  One of the babies immediately came up to the fence.  Another came up, too, but a little more cautious.  I didn't get a photo of it, but the first one came right up and let me touch it.  Or, maybe it touched me.  Not sure how that goes.  Anyway, it tried to nibble on my hand.  After a few minutes, one of the mommas came closer to the fence and made a low snort.  Both babies went back to their mommas.  I guess the "snort" was a momma's stern, "Get away from over there." 

Birthday cards and other goodies

Debbie gave me a Wii version of the James Bond Goldeneye game that we all had so much fun (well, I had alot of fun) playing on the Nintendo. 

Tara mailed this card to me from Evie, Maggie and Oliver.  You should be able to click on the card to see a larger version that is easier to read.

Went to dinner with Debbie, Megan, Kelsey and Jeremy at Bad Brad's BBQ in Stillwater after work.  Good food.  Megan and Kelsey were very sneaky about hiding my birthday card.  They gave me a $50 gift certificate to play golf at the public course in Stillwater.  So, John needs to take his clubs along when he and Tara come to Stillwater next time.  We can go play some golf with Jeremy and Nolan. 

Pretty good family day.  Thank you everyone for the birthday cards and gifts.  Love ya'll bunches!!

Peanut butter

I am a peanut butter fan.  Creamy or chunky.  With or without jelly.  On bread, saltines or graham crackers.  Peanut butter and saltine crackers with a glass of Ovaltine flavored milk.  Toasted bread with peanut butter and tomato soup.  Cookies.  Reese Cups.  All good.  We ate Peter Pan peanut butter for years until the salmonella problem a few years ago.  Now we have Jiff. 

Folks on the radio today were talking about organic foods.  Heard somewhere that Jiff peanut butter is not as healthy as "organic" peanut butter.  My first thought is of course, what is unorganic about a peanut?  What makes "organic" peanut butter better than Jiff, Peter Pan or Skippy?  I mean, is the organic peanut a free range peanut?  Is Jiff made using commercial farm peanuts that are somehow deprived of freedom in neatly planted row upon row in Georgia while their free range cousins grow wherever their roots take hold somewhere in Bucolic County, USA?   Is organic peanut butter produced by barefooted peasants stomping peanuts into butter in a manner similar to the way some grapes are stomped into wine?  The commercial farm peanut is squashed into an undignified butter using some sort of giant, mechanical press. 

Well, it turns out there are two significant differences between organic peanut butter and commercial peanut butters like Jiff.  One difference is our friend, sodium.  Jiff, Skippy and Peter Pan have about 150 mg of sodium in each 2 tablespoon serving while an organic peanut butter has about 85 mg in the same serving size.  Calories are about the same between the two types of peanut butter as are other dietary items such as saturated fats, protein and carbs.  The other difference is sticker shock.  An 18 oz jar of Jiff creamy peanut butter is about $8.  An 18 oz jar of O Organics creamy peanut butter is about $25.  That's just crazy. 

I'll stick with Jiff.  I mean, who am I to argue with choosy mothers?

Share the music

Debbie made a pot of musical fruit last nite.  Very tasty meal with cornbread and homemade tortillas.  I am alone at the office wishing I was with family and friends so they could enjoy and appreciate the music with me.  This is something that truly must be shared with others. 

Golfballs and bullets

After work this afternoon, I went to a driving range a few blocks from the office to hit some golf balls.  The office is at the edge of a rough neighborhood.  There have been several shootings in the past 10 years that we've had our office there.  I was almost finished hitting the bucket of balls, when I heard three gunshots behind me.  A few seconds later, I heard two of the bullets zip over my head and one of the bullets hit the trees behind me.  The last bullet hit the ground somewhere behind me.  There were five other people at the place hitting balls, too.  I squatted down when the first bullet zipped by.  The rest of the people stood around looking toward the sound of the gunfire.  One of the people said, "Was that gunshots?"  Another said, "I think something hit the ground back there."  A guy said he thought it was firecrackers.  I said, "That was definitely gunshots and those were bullets zipping past us."  One of the women was the daughter of the guy who owned the place.  She had her baby in a carrier.  She grabbed the baby and went to her SUV.  The husband, who thought it was firecrackers, grabbed their clubs and went to the car, too.  They left.  The other three people - a woman, man and their son - were standing looking toward the north, where the gunshots were from.  They discussed leaving or staying.  I finished hitting the rest of my golfballs - not very well, either.  The driving range manager came over and asked if everyone was ok.  He said he saw three guys running away from the trees behind us.  I don't think they were the ones shooting because the shots came from farther away than those trees.  Anyway, he called the cops.  The cops showed up in the area about the time I left.  There were a bunch of Mexicans doing some lawn work about a half block north of the driving range.  With all the cops milling around, they looked kind of nervous.  Anyway, guess today was just another day in the 'hood.

Oh, by the way, I was hitting the balls fairly well after not hitting a ball in about 3 years.

Favorite Spring Fruit

Saw something on the www this afternoon that asked the question:  What is your favorite spring fruit? 

All I could think of was "musical". 

National Geographic Photo Contest

Pretty cool photos from the 2010 photo contest. 

National Geographics photography contest photo gallery

Barn Renovation

In 2000, I worked on a project in Michigan to renovate an old, large barn into a residence.  The architect is gh2 Architects in Tulsa.  I looked at their website today looking for photos of another project that I worked on with them and saw photos of the renovated barn.  I did not get to visit the barn after the renovations.  Turned out pretty cool. 

Chocola Farms

The link above shows the "after" photos.  The three photos below are the "before" photos.

Mr. Fix-it

Yesterday after we got home, Deb was trying to do some laundry.  The dryer decided to quit working.  Thought maybe the motor went bad but decided to replace the belt and see if that fixed it.  Bought a new belt today for about $30.  About 20 minutes of dismantling and reassembling the dryer to install the new belt... dryer is working.  Yahoo!  Beats $100+ to have a repairman work on it.

New Toy

After about 20 years, I finally bought a new lawnmower today.  New Troybilt.  Purty nice.

Great Weekend

We had a great weekend in Fairland at Lillian's.  Debbie made some good food.  Eleanor made some good desserts.  The youngest kids played hard outside.  Fun day.

Trying to figure out what the little house is for.

Everyone was outside near the barns taking photos.  A couple of the kids went around to the front of the house after we finished taking photos.  I went around front to check on the kids and Lillian was on her scooter to go out back.  I went inside the house and when I came out, everyone was in the front yard.  Lillian went around the north side of the house at the same time the rest of the group went around the south side of the house.  Eleanor went to get Lillian.

The kids had a blast with the tractor.

The kids created alot of sidewalk art.

Five generations.

Enjoying come cheese dip.

Stephanie and Brooklynn took a hike through the wheat.

Nana and Oliver watching the trains.