Swine Flu?

So, the World Health Organization upgraded the pandemic to a level 5. Plus, they think Americans aren't taking it seriously enough. Really?

I'm a little freaked out.Garrett thinks I'm reactionary. Of course, I think it's a good time to be so. I keep thinking of this book my book club read about the Bubonic plague. It was gross and terrifying. Plus, I love Stephen King's book The Stand. It, too, is terrifying because most of the planet is wiped out by a horrible illness.

Would it scare away customers in the office if we wore masks and gloves? Should we post a sign that asks people not to enter if they feel unwell?

I don't know. Maybe I'm a bit "reactionary."

Garrett and I have nearly been wiped out by Oklahoma allergies this year. Can you imagine what a little swine flu could do?

They say to stay home if you're not feeling well. How does one do that in Oklahoma? Tulsa is ranked the #1 worst place to live for allergies. If you're affected by allergens, how can you tell if you have the flu or just the seasonal gunk? So far there haven't been any cases of swine flu in Oklahoma. It's probably here. People probably think the pollen is extra high or something.

Go Bulldogs!

I had a wonderful time today with the fifth graders at Okmulgee Elementary. Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Mitchell! They were great kids.

Since Okmulgee was where I attended school, I was excited to return. It showed in my clothes. I was so full of "bulldog spirit" that I dressed in the school colors of red and black. I told the kids the tiny bits of truth that were in my novel so that they could look around town and recognize the inspiration for an idea. For example, the town square in Forrester is based on the town square in Okmulgee. In most classes, we had the opportunity to do a brief writing activity. It's so much more enjoyable for me to encourage kids to write than to talk about myself.

Mrs. Dove, the media specialist, invited me to return this summer and fall. I'm looking forward to giving writing workshops. One of the workshops will be on journaling and the other is yet to be determined. I'm certain a good time will be had, though!

Baby birds

On our patio tucked under an eave is a nest of robins. The mama and daddy birds bring worms to the four babies. Garrett thinks one of the little ones is a little deficient in brain capacity. Even when the parents aren't around and a worm is nowhere in sight, this little one has his head sticking out of the nest with his beak open. He could be the smart one, though. The parents bring him worms. Maybe they think he's the hungriest.

Is this the early bird getting the worm?

Cousins

One thing I love about being here is being so close to family. I've scheduled lunch dates with my friend/cousin's wife and have thoroughly enjoyed them. Even Max's cousin joins in by taking care of him. I don't know if she'd ever fed a baby a bottle before, but I was impessed with her prowess at three years of age. He took the whole bottle!

Below Max is being cuddled by Lisa.

Happy Easter!

Good morning!
Max is crawling all over the place and loving every minute of it.
Plus, he really seems to like hats. This fact thrills me because I think he looks adorable in them. His dad insisted on putting his hat on backwards. I guess Max preferred it that way, because when I turned it around, he did this:
Yep. As you can guess, the hat went back around immediately...after I snapped the picture, of course.

Later, we changed his clothes. His second outfit was courtesy of our sweet friend Sonia. Below, he found what the Easter Bunny left him.
The green duck seemed to be a big hit.

He immediately stuck it in his mouth.After Easter dinner, I set out a plastic tablecloth and the contents of the egg decorating kits.
While we decorated, we gave Max some plastic ones to play with. Here's what he had to say.

"An egg?"

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Oh! Bang them together. Good times."

Grandma has decorated eggs more recently than the rest of us since she's hung out with my cousin's twin girls. She knew the tricks. It's only been twenty-something years since I've done this, but I think those kits have changed a bit. For example, I don't remember the dyes coloring my fingers.

Here's Max and Garrett and me. Max is examining one of the many eggs that had his name on it.
Here he is with the Tahlequah grands.
And after a long day of fun, here he is napping on his Papa.

Paparazzi on St. Patrick's Day

A baby can't even drink a cold one on his first St. Patrick's Day anymore. Here's a lucky shot the paparazzi took of our little leprechaun.

Inkling Critique

Every January my writing group gathers for our big critique session. We have a contest deadline in February for Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. So, in January, we review our entries, drink a little wine, eat some food, and enjoy the company.

This year, they traveled to our new home and warmed it with friendship. The fact that boxes filled our dining room and all of our furniture wasn't here didn't seem to matter. After a year away from my Inklings it was great to get together.

Hopefully, we'll do well in the contest this year, too!

7 months and crawling!

I was told yesterday that Barbie's birthday post has been up long enough that everyone know she's 50.

Sorry.

I 've been distracted lately and have even considered stopping this blog completely since I'm not doing it regularly. I've REALLY neglected my blog on my brandibarnett.com site.

So, I'm giving a try at updating while I'm waiting for Max to either stay asleep or start crying again. Poor guy. He's teething. For a while we thought he was having separation anxiety. Or he was training us. Nope. He was in pain. I finally gave in and followed my mom's suggestion to give him Tylenol. I'm so grateful we did because we've actually had more sleep this week. Whew!

The real news, though, is that two days ago, while he was still six months old, he crawled. For weeks, he'd been crawling backwards. We didn't count that. He'd take a few steps forward and then get confused and go backwards again. We didn't count that, either. However, two days ago he took off.

And the kid can move.

I've gotten into the habit of putting him in the hallway in the doorway while I do laundry. I looked up and saw him crawling toward me. Then I saw him knocking over laundry baskets. Then he was moving all over the laundry room and I was trying to beat him to the lint that had fallen on the floor. Some part of me thought that he couldn't really be crawling. Later that night, when Garrett and I were in the playroom, Max took off and knocked down a tower of blocks Garrett built. Since someone else shared the experience with me, I knew it was real.

As my dad said the next morning, our lives will never be the same again.