Breakfast at School

Talon's school invited all the moms to a breakfast in honor of Mother's Day.   

Breakfast with my little boy. What a lovely way to start the day!

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A Birthday!

Talon is very excited to be seven! 

His birthday was the last weekend of our spring break so our little holiday ended with a big bang.  

This year, instead of a decorated cake with a toy on top from the bakery, he asked for a homemade tiered coconut cake. What a funny boy!  I did the best I could-- at least the cake wasn't too lopsided.  Talon thought the cake was very fancy. He was so thrilled with it that he has already put in an order for a cake with eight tiers for his next birthday.  Yeah, right... 

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Crazy HHR Door Lock Drama

Our Chevy HHR is possessed... really.

Both key fobs stopped working a few months ago. Even with new batteries.  Fobs are pricey so we started  locking the door with the inside button  and unlocking it with the key-- old school style. 

But what to do when the actual key won't unlock the door?!

Yep, you read right. On Friday night, the key went in the keyhole but wouldn't turn. 

Have you ever heard of such a bizarre thing? 

And scary! What if a mean dog or killer was after you! Yikes!

Our situation wasn't that dire, thank goodness.  My hub and I had met in a nearby town so luckily we had two cars.  But it was after dark and we were exhausted from work and grocery shopping at Walmart. 

Funny how bad stuff always happens when one is exhausted, isn't it?   

So what did we do?  

We drove sixteen miles home-- hub soldered three spots inside each fob and put in new batteries to give us four possible shots. Two keys and two fobs.  

We drove back to the car to try but expected to have to leave it overnight. 

Guess what? The first key fob tried worked!  And seeing the headlights flash on was a beautiful sight to see!

I don't brag on my hub enough but let me say now for all posterity: He is a soldering genius!!

Have you looked inside a key fob? The insides are tiny. Don't know how he did it. 

And actually, both fobs work now but we are too gun shy to lock the door. It is still a mystery why the door wouldn't unlock with the actual key and we don't want to take any chances.  

Online research shows many complaints concerning keyfobs, doorlocks and even an ignitions that won't turn off so probably the HHR is just a poorly made Chevy-- it is being discontinued, after all.  

But my hypothesis is that the car is possessed and in need of an exorcism. 

What is the weirdest car glitch that you have experienced? Have you or anyone you know had bizarre problems with an HHR?

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Lovely Yellow House

This is my brother's new house in Portland, Oregon. Isn't it beautiful?! 

So charming and so much character.

And it is yellow!!

But can you guess what else has me swooning?

That lovely wraparound porch!   Us southern girls do love big ol' porches... and this one is just perfect for reading, thinking, visiting  and, of course, tea sippin'. 

Oh, I can't wait to loll about on this porch with a good book. (and visit with my brother)  

Here is a photo of the house in Portland's snow storm last week:

 Definitely too chilly for porch sittin'! 

My brother emailed this with the title 'Life in a Snowglobe'. It does look like a winter wonderland.

Heehee,  and very funny in a karmic sort of way. Why?  Because my brother lived in Hawaii for years... whenever it was stinking hot or frigidly cold in Oklahoma, he would call and tease us with  perfectly balmy island weather reports. 

So far, Oklahoma is having a very mild winter with lots of 'no jacket' days.  

So in accordance with official big sister code:  Hahahahahahahahahaahaahaha!




Linking to: Weekend Reflections

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Winter Swingtime

Look! Nary a jacket-- in January!!

So far winter here has been temperate-- no snow or ice storms or minus 0 windchills. That is just fine with us.

Well, Talon would like at least one decent snow but he is enjoying all of the out of the ordinary winter parktime and outdoor playtime. 

 

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Lesa Loves... Hawaiian Tea Time!

Nothing better than a cuppa to make a winter day more cozy. And to make it cheerful as well? 

A happy yellow cup. 

And tea from Hawaii. 

Isn't the packaging beautiful?  Takes me away to one of my favorite places on earth. Blue ocean, fragrant flowers, fresh fruit, warm sun, balmy breezes... mmm... okay, okay, I'm back.

My sweet grown up baby brother sent this tea to me.

Love. Love. Love. 

The gift and the giver.

Do certain colors brighten up your dreary winter days?  What happy warm place do you drift off to on a cold winter day? Please share.




Also, linking to Ruby Tuesday 2. The RT button wouldn't work for some reason.

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Merry Medley Photo Diary 2011

Oh my, after a week long bloggy break, I uploaded my Christmas Eve/Day photos. Guess how many there were. 

Over 300!! 

Can you believe it?!  Silly question, eh? Of course, you guys believe it. Most of you are crazy camera clicking bloggers too.  But still. That is a lot.  

Between getting back to work, parenting and housekeeping, it took another week just to edit.  Whew, I'm worn plumb out so without  further ado...

The Official DustyUs Family Merry Medley!

The main event?  

Talon, of course!

Stocking surprises are almost as cool as Santa toys.

 In the top right quandrant: A cool sportscar computer mouse with working head/tail lights;  Talon slicing a tiny Darth Vader candy dispenser with a light saber; Wonka bar!

One of my favorite things?

 giving Hub funny stocking stuffers. The paint sticks and gloves are hysterical... well, to me anyway! Don't worry!  My hub isn't only a skilled bone idle procrastinator... he is also a good sport! 

We love our...

MamaGram!  And not just because she gives great gifts!

A little bit of Lesa too.  And more Talon, of course... that little scene stealer! Making his mama share the limelight! For shame! 

Love me some Christmas merry making!

Can you tell?

Until next time...

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Trimming the Tree

A mosaic of our tree decorating fun. Talon hangs most of the ornaments but I always hang my favorite little red cardinals. 

Which reminds me... I need to put out bird seed for our colorful little feathered friends. Cardinals always cheer up the drab winter view out of our kitchen window.

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Life Is About... Surviving Bad Juju!

If the Universe sends a strong message... you better pay attention! 

And by a strong message, I mean bad juju. Have you ever been stalked by bad juju? Like one bizarre incident after another? And after awhile it doesn't seem so coincidental, does it. Cue Twilight Zone theme.



Thanksgiving week was one big bad juju extravaganza for my family. (Yes, I know it is time to blog  December fun but I can't move on till I make peace with blog about the bad juju. Blogging is cathartic, you know.) 

Anyhoo,  back to Thanksgiving. We get a week out of school to deerhunt  celebrate Thanksgiving. Oh, how my family loves this week. We don't hunt. We travel, dine, shop and frivolously entertain ourselves. And spend time with family and give thanks, of course. We aren't totally shallow, after all... just partially shallow.


This year, our destination was New Orleans (NOLA). Did we make it to NOLA? NO! Such a disappointment since I was so looking forward to introducing the delights of NOLA to my mother and my little boy.




So how did the bad juju begin?


It was a dark and stormy... Ha! Just kidding! Actually, it was a beautiful sunny day when we headed south towards my mom's house in East Texas.

What could possibly spoil such a promising beginning?

Forgetting our NOLA music (Harry Connick, Louis Jordan ect) to set the festive mood of the trip, that is what!  



Just an inconsequential bummer, or so we thought at the time. But from that point on, the Universe thwarted us at every turn.

Really, it was as if the Universe channeled the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld: No music? No NOLA for you!

It took three loud clear messages before we finally got the hint. Yeah, we can be a bit thick, unfortunately. 

Bad juju one:  Hub forgot his blood pressure pills-- but he was able to get an emergency week's supply from a pharmacy in Texas.


Bad juju two:  A tiny scrape on my knuckle, that I spotted as we left our house in Oklahoma, morphed into a raging painful swollen oozing staph infection by the next morning at my mom's house in Texas. A red stripe was actually streaking past my wrist. Scary! Thankfully, a Saturday clinic set me on the road to recovery.

At this point, we should have seriously rethought our travel plans. But no, so...

Bad juju number three:  Four plus hours into the trip, between Lafayette and Baton Rouge, the check engine light came on.  Oh, yes, it did! And it took two cranks to start the car. Not a good sign. All this at a Welcome Center too... some welcome!  

Finally, the Universe had our undivided attention.

Way too much weirdness on top of a weird day so since it was almost dark we stopped at a hotel in Baton Rouge hoping the car would magically unglitch over night. Of course it didn't--- in fact, the car was even more difficult to start the next morning so we headed back towards Texas. 


We did not turn the car off the rest of the way back which meant tricky bathroom and snack scrounging breaks at convenience stores. Hub even put gas in with the engine running-- Now that was really taking a big chance considering the bad juju!

No explosions but the Universe sent one last parting shot to make sure we kept skedaddling out of Louisiana.

Bad juju number four: At one stop, my little boy noticed a hubcap was missing! Who loses hubcaps anymore? Actually, we think it was stolen at the hotel because our hubcaps are held on with screws. 

Bizarre, just bizarre.

After crossing the stateline back into Texas, we felt less on edge and things started looking up. The car needed a new fuel pump which, thankfully, was covered under the warranty and was repaired the next day! Yippee!

We may have missed streetcars, pralines, beignets, po-boys  and jazz but we ended up having a wonderful hometown Thanksgiving week anyway. Lots of laughs, eats, movies, shopping and games... so there, big bad juju! 

Whew, did you make it this far? If so, thank you. I love all my readers but you are my favorite reader! 

I certainly feel much much better... festive and merry even!

Wishing you and yours a holly jolly and good juju only holiday season! 

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Monkey See Monkey Do...

 

 

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Father's Day

Talon loves choosing gifts for people. Can you guess the gift he always insists on giving no matter what the occasion?

There is a hint in the mosaic.

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Fun Around OKC

Guess who I married?

Tom Thumb! 

This table and chair is part of the optical illusion exhibit at Science Museum Oklahoma.  We all sat in the chair but hubby looked the funniest in it. But then again, he always looks the funniest...

Talon loved the new Segway exhibit.  He rode five times!  I rode too and it is so easy and so much fun. Those mall cops are definitely having a blast whizzing around on Segways!

 A Talon mosaic! I was so busy doing that I didn't get too many photos. Sorry Gram!

Bottom left:  Talon was absolutely thrilled when a nice lady at Cracker Barrel taught him how to play checkers.  He always depends on the kindness of strangers.

Did you enjoy your visit? Please click daily to vote for Dusty Us Diaries at the free-ranked blog directory Picket Fence!

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Muck and Bubbles

Egg hunting in Oklahoma is always unpredictable. Sometimes, we wear sweaters. Sometimes, we wear shorts.  This year, we wore muck boots.

The bunny navigated the floods just fine...

Talon keeps his eggs all in one basket...

A tie dye egg and bubble eggs.  I've been wanting to try bubble photos since seeing these amazing shots at Flower Photography 365 blog.

These were the first bubbles I encountered-- have a long way to go, obviously, but the experimenting and striving is most of the fun.

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Talon is 6!!

My mother has been waiting over a week for photos of Talon's birthday.  Sorry, Mama!!

Thanks, Gram!!

A Spongebob cake for Talon's family party. Walmart did use buttercream on this one as requested. The colors are more vibrant.

See the next post about the frosting-- I posted out of order. My excuse is my crazy cold head



Sneaking a little frosting! Talon isn't particular about frosting-- he likes it all!!





Top left photo: Talon thinks a flat as a flitter present isn't too promising.  But it is a book. Talon loves books. Cars and Star Wars-- two of his favorite things!




Not a bad haul-- and a few things fun things to share with mom and dad too! Funny, that... 





Time for the Treasure Hunt! Talon gets more of a buzz out of finding the clues than the actual treasure as you will see in the second video. 

Actually, a treasure hunt wasn't in the works this year but Talon requested it so I guess it must now be a tradition.



Be sure and watch for Talon's celebratory 'hip swivel'--- that is what he called it when he watched the video.

Happy Birthday, Talon!

We are so happy to know you!!

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Monster Truck Ride!

A couple of weeks ago, we attended the Daryl Starbird Custom Car Show and Monster Truck Show again!

Yes, again. It is held every February and Talon started planning to go last October

Talon loves it! Jim loves it! I tolerate it!  Ha! Actually, I do like it but every year is too much--- once every five years would suit me.  (I need to remember to take a book)

Last year, I rode with Talon in the monster truck. This year Jim had a turn...

Calmly climbing up...

Roaring around the track! Hang on!

What a wild ride! Talon is ready to go again! Jim may be a bit queasy from all the donuts. He didn't eat to many donuts the truck did lots of donuts!

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Hat Crazy with Mr. Yukkinmuffin!

Today, we visited a fabulous antique store in Checotah. So many treasures to tempt: books, gadgets, jewelry, tooled leather bags, fishing lures, tools, furniture, china, embroidered tea towels, toys and oddities galore!


Talon rummaged through a basket full of retro cookie cutters and found a mystery one.  I thought it was a rooster and he thought it was a man and dog--- so we asked Jim.  Guess what it was? A witch riding a broom! Obvious when turned the right way! 


Talon and I almost didn't resurface after landing in the vintage clothing nook! So many funny old fashions-- Too bad I couldn't play dress up!

Talon is hat crazy like his dad so couldn't resist trying them all on. He cracked me up with his antics. Gram, you are going to love this!!







Talon thought the gold on this on meant it was a hiphop hat! It is really a turban!!




and last but not least, Mr. Yukkinmuffin, the star of the hat show!! 

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A DustyUs Christmas



Merry Christmas!



Talon gets jazzed about everyone's gifts. If he knows what it is, he can barely keep from spilling the beans.

My mother always finds the cutest little gift containers!



Tweet Tweet! I like my little cardinal ornaments. Cardinals flock the feeder outside my kitchen window all winter.




Talon placed a pinecone with a missing string in the bed of this cute little truck ornament.



I don't usually eat candycanes but they sure are festive!



a student gave this guitar playing Santa to Jim years ago



Santa left a few crumbs

Opening gifts from each other

Talon is ecstatic over the XBOX games from Dad

Dad on the other hand...

is not too sure about this gift from Talon!
It is a self-inflating whoopie cushion-- quite the hoot! 

Merry old me! How many years are these pjs gonna last anyway? Talon outgrew his Christmas penguin pjs three years ago!

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