Fifty-first

I've started my fifty-first book for the year, Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace!

I love the illustrations by Vera Neville! :)

I've been on a Betsy-Tacy kick for a while now.  I read a few of these books when we lived in Santa Clarita, but the library didn't have the complete series, so I only read two or three.  I'm happy that I now have access to all of them via the Tulsa library system and Mobius. :)  The stories are set at the turn of the twentieth century in Minnesota, and Maud Hart Lovelace, who based these books on her childhood and young adulthood, mentions many now-unfamiliar things (floating island dessert, princesse style dresses, peas in timbale cases, jabots, Magic Wavers, chopping bowl hats, etc.).  I've googled most of these, and my favorite discovery was a set of old postcards or prints referencing Merry Widow hats.

http://prettycleverfilms.com/files/2014/04/The-Merry-Widow-Hat-Card-1.jpg

Haha!  The size is exaggerated, of course, but I love the old picture and the little poem. :)

Tulsa living

We have been up in Tulsa for over a month now!  Here are some things that I am enjoying about living here...

Tulsa City-County Library
One of the best things about Tulsa is the library system!  Tulsa has a lot of books, and a good portion are housed in the library right across the street from us.  The library system is also a member of Mobius, a free inter-library loan service.  I've already used Mobius twice!

Hardesty Regional Library
This is the large, fairly-new, bright, two-story library right across the street from us.  Because it is a regional library, it is open on Sundays!

Reasor's grocery store
Grocery stores can look very different depending on the area of the country you are in.  I think Reasor's comes closest to the West Coast look.  The best thing about Reasor's is the bulk section, containing dried, cinnamon-sugar apple wedges.  These apple wedges are NOT the typical fluffy/foamy/puffy/stretchy dried apple pieces.  These are dried to moist, candied magnificence.

Recycling
Tulsa has made a point to provide many recycling bins around the city.  One is across the street in the library parking lot.  I used to recycle a lot of stuff when we were in Santa Clarita, so being able to recycle again is very nice.

Raising Cane's Chicken
This restaurant is down in Oklahoma City, too, but we've eaten more of it here in Tulsa.  It is pretty good!  We haven't been to Chick-fil-A in a while.

Hills!  Hills!  Hills!
THERE ARE HILLS IN THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA!!!  When we lived in OKC, whenever we would drive down one particular street, I would tell Amos, "Look!  We're going down a hill!"  It wasn't quite that bad, but almost; OKC is built on a few low, sloping hills, so you don't really notice them.  (We were back in OKC a few weekends ago, and as we drove down that same street, Amos pointed out that I hadn't said anything about it.  "Ehhhh, there are lots of hills in Tulsa.")  Tulsa has a lot of high, steep hills, one of which I can see from the library parking lot. ;)  Tulsa isn't in the mountains, but it is much, much better than flat Oklahoma City.

Trash, or lack of it
Tulsans use garbage cans to dispose of their trash, rather than the common pile of trash bags stacked on lawns, waiting for the dump truck.  There are also very few mattresses lying around...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving...but to Canadians it is just Thanksgiving.

Some of our downstairs neighbors are a little...volatile...today.  I was stalking watching them through the blinds this morning as they argued out on the lawn and then in one of their cars.  A while later our upstairs neighbor comes out on our shared walkway and calls down, "Can you guys stop slamming your front door?!"
"It's none of your business!"
"Shut ******** up!!"
Upstairs neighbor goes back inside without another word.
More stalking watching through the blinds and through the front door peephole...

Josh, Grace, and Jaden are coming to Oklahoma on Thursday and Friday!  I knew that but was reminded of it just now.
"Hmmmm, what will we do this week...we need to find a dentist...I should ask Amos about our insurance and going to the den - JOSH AND GRACE ARE COMING!  Whoa!  Only three days away!  Whoops!"
They will be our first friends to visit us, making a special stop on their way to Minnesota or Michigan or one of the other M states.

I'm listening to my Little Women audiobook, which I got for free from AudiobookSync this summer!  Little Women is one of my favorite books, but I am more aware of how preachy it sounds, after my Children's Literature professor made that observation earlier this year.
Oh well.
I still love the part where Meg loses her bangs.

Quite a bit of the house is set up now, but I feel like I need new eyes in order to see all the things that are still out of place.  Better be off to do that!

Done and to do

Today's accomplishments:
-Paying rent (less than $500.00 this month!)
-Fixing Amos' library card and account
-Putting together a small cabinet for our office supplies
-Eating lunch (leftover tilapia piccata!)
-Unpacking several boxes of books
-Delivering recyclables to the library across the street
-Eating white cheddar popcorn chips
-Writing this blog post

What I need to do:
-Rearrange the closet...again
-Find the small envelopes
-Make chicken salad for lunch tomorrow
-Call Amos and ask him to bring home a few more boxes of books
-Rearrange the living room...again

Here's that cute sailor turtle again, back to brighten your day!