Category Archives: Uncategorized

Full circle

I just finished watching Jesus Christ Superstar on TV again and it reminded me of a really cool thing I got to do. Last year I did a brief stint with KJRH, setting up BartlesvilleLive.com and providing hyperlocal coverage of what was going on in the ‘Ville.

I knew that Jesus Christ Superstar was coming to the Bartlesville Community Center but didn’t think a lot of it until station manager, Mike Vrabac, suggested that I try and get an interview with Ted Neeley, the star who has played the role of Jesus since the beginning.
I humored Mike, thinking that there was no way they would ever agree to my interview so I would try and that would be that.
Wrong. I got a phone call from Ted Neeley’s manager asking when we could set up the interview and covering some other details I needed.
OMG! I’m going to interview TED NEELEY! (extra excited) OMG! I’m going to interview TED NEELEY! (utterly terrified) And so it went for the intervening weeks. The fear of actually being in the presence of Ted Neeley woke me up some nights in a cold sweat and panic.
Let me give you a little background. My mom loved to take us to the theater when we were kids. She took us to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Schubert Theater in Chicago when I was 12. Coincidentally, or not, that was the first year that the show was on tour and the star of the show was, yep you guessed it, TED NEELEY!
The year after we saw the show on the stage, the movie came out and we went to see it. My sisters and I became huge Ted Heads, although they didn’t call them that back in the day. I will tell you that I learned there is a huge community of active Ted Heads in the present day.
So on the fateful day, I drove to the hotel to have my 30 minute interview with Ted Neeley. I’m not going to lie, he was great. We had such a good time that I think we ended up talking for an hour over my 30 minute time. He said I reminded him of his sister, to which I replied it must have been his goofy, gabby sister.
At the end of our time, the tornado siren went off. I started looking for the escape hatch. He leaned over, put his hand on my arm and said, “What’s wrong? It’s going to be okay.” I said, “It’s going to be okay because I’m talking to Jesus? This is Oklahoma in April and THAT is the tornado siren.”
My back was to the window and when I turned around I saw the deep purple sky. I was totally freaked out. Ted laughed. He said, “We are in hotels all over the country and you never know what is going on in the hallway. I thought that was the vacuum cleaner.” We both got a big laugh out of that and, in the end, we did not get blown away by the tornado and we were able to go see the show that night.
David had never seen Jesus Christ Superstar, not even the movie version. He was skeptical. But by the end, I think we had a converted Ted Head on our hands. We were able to go backstage afterwards because Ted really wanted to meet David. He was so nice and gracious and I was really beyond thrilled that I had gotten an opportunity like this one.
I asked David later if he thought that we had moved to Oklahoma so that I could complete the full circle and he just laughed to think that I thought that Ted Neeley was my life’s purpose. But meeting him, talking to him, hearing how this show has impacted him over the almost 40 years he has performed it was not only a career high point, it was a personal high point in my life.
P.S. I wrote a great article, one of the favorite things I have ever written that I thought would be on the internet forever and I’m sad to say that it’s gone. I’ll make sure to keep copies next time. 🙂
Update 6/9/10 – While looking for something else, I found the article I wrote! Click here to read it.

All alone in the car

What do you do when you are all alone in the car? When no one can see you (or so you think)?

I listen to Rage Against the Machine. Every song that comes on the radio from start to finish.

I love mangling the lyrics:

Feeding all my family
With a pack of taco shells

(real lyrics)

They rally round the family
With a pocketful of shells

and seat dancing to the noisy, funky beat prevalent in each tune.

David knows country music.

He doesn’t know any of the music I listen to (everything but country) with the exception of Rage. When it comes to songs by this band, David can name that tune, or at least the band, in one note. It’s the one thing he absolutely, positively, refuses to listen to.

I’ll never forget how happy I was when I heard a Rage song, the whole thing, and realized I didn’t have to turn it off at any point. Happiness.

So, what do you do when you’re all alone in the car? Do you have as much fun as I do? 🙂

Memorial Day – not just for barbeques

How about a loaf of FABU chocolate sour cream bread? Yes? It is amazing. I topped it with raspberry jam and made it even better.

Chocolate Sour Cream Bread

1 cup Sour Cream (not non-fat)
1 cup Sugar
4 tablespoons Butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
1 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/3 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 + 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup chopped Walnuts, optional, for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Using a hand mixer on low speed beat together sour cream, butter, sugar and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs one at time beating after each addition.

On low speed beat in cocoa, milk, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix in flour by hand until smooth. Batter will be fairly thick. Mix in chocolate chips. Pour into loaf pan.

Scatter walnuts and chocolate chips evenly across top. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Yes, I enjoyed my trip

And I did take pictures. Well, one picture.

I was sitting in the truck while David was inside Copeland Appliance sending a Federal Express package. As I sat there, I realized I had left a couple of things off of my shopping list. I looked around the truck but couldn’t find anything to write with. I figured they would have a pen I could use inside.

So I got out of the truck, opened the door to Copeland’s and tripped into the store. Somehow I missed the fact that there was a step right there. Now let’s look and see if we can figure out why.

Here is the door:


I’ve circled some important clues that should have alerted me to the offending step.

The first sign boldly warns “CAUTION” complete with a trippy guy and three downward arrows. Watch your step!


The next sign fairly screams “STEP” with four more arrows pointing down to the, um, step.


This sign is repeated in a smaller version at the bottom of the door which is right on top of the actual step which is bright yellow and about six inches high.

So how did I miss all of these clues? I can’t answer that question but they don’t call me Lauri Grace for nothing. 😉

Coffee 911 Oklahoma style

We ran out of coffee yesterday. Really. It was like a state of emergency around here. We’ve been gone for a month and just didn’t realize how precariously low our coffee supply had become. We had to go to the City and we didn’t get a chance to get any groceries when we got home on Tuesday night.

Between appointments in the City, we were at Walgreen’s because David needed to get new passport photos taken. I thought I’d grab some coffee there because I knew that we wouldn’t feel like stopping at a grocery store on the way home. They had the usual suspects: Folgers, Maxwell House, Chase and Sanborn. Nothing I like.

And then I see the Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. We don’t have Dunkin’ Donuts here so it’s been a while since I’ve gotten coffee there. I have heard people raving about their coffee and thought, okay, this will certainly be better.

Well guess what? It’s not. It’s more drinkable than the stuff we got in Fiji that is from Papau New Guinea but not something I would drink if I didn’t have to. It has that weird oily mouthfeel that coats the inside of your mouth. It reminds me of McDonalds coffee.

You know what we drink? We get the French Roast in the red and white can from Great Value at Walmart.

It’s the most awesome pre-ground coffee on the shelf and I’m picky. But I haven’t wanted to tell anyone about it. There are usually around six cans on the shelf and they have run out before. For some reason, the thought of having to buy three one pound cans puts me into survival mode when it’s really the same amount of coffee as one three pound can. The only reason I think it’s there all the time now is that my neighbor is a department head at Walmart and I think she keeps an eye on it for me. Either that or have to listen to me. LOL!

During Katrina, the shelves – all spaces – were filled with Maxwell House. That’s all that was available. It was a blue, blue section. I learned then that this coffee that I love is produced by Folgers in New Orleans. Somehow, though, it’s far superior to Folgers in taste. When they finally got it back on the shelf, I was coming in for a landing and there was another guy coming from the other direction and he said, “Ah you drink my brand”. Freaked me out. I would have fought him for it.

I’m taking a huge risk here now. I wanted to write this blog post but I don’t want everyone rushing to Walmart and taking all of MY coffee. So I hope you won’t believe me. 🙂

La Cage aux Doggy

I love the Sky Mall magazine. I have never purchased anything from it but I never fail to look at it when I fly. Why? Because you can see all kinds of things you would never see anyplace else.

For instance, wouldn’t it be fun to have an underwater pogo stick?


And how about this life sized King Tut sarcophagus for your entry hall?

Garden gnome? Stop thinking so small. Get yourself a garden giraffe!

But none of that stuff comes close to the very BEST item that I found in the Sky Mall magazine on this trip. It is, La Cage aux Doggy!


Yes, it’s a spindled Dog Crate that doubles as a stylish end table. Oh. My. Gosh.

I looked at this and laughed until I cried. Twice. Then I forced myself to stop looking at it lest the flight attendants think I needed la cage aux folle.

Imagine, you purchase this stylish table/crate for your dog and you invite your unsuspecting friends over for dinner some night. You put the dog in the crate to make sure he stays out of the way. Your friends come in the room and wonder, “What in the heck is that dog doing in the table?”

Oh my gosh. I’m dying here. LOLOLOL!

I totally want to call the company and find out just how many of these tables they have sold only I’m not sure if I can stand the thought of all those dogs stuck in all those tables. I just might kill myself laughing. LOLOL! 🙂

Lamington!

We went down to one of my favorite places today, The Hot Bread Kitchen. We would have made more trips there by now if the one that used to be close to JJ’s was still there. But we have to walk down across from the Central Market to find one now.

We got the standards. A mother lode of them. 🙂

Chicken pies. These little pies are like miniature pot pies. They are warm and yummy. We also got some chicken quiche which are the same size. Honestly? The quiche was so good, mine was gone before I got a chance to take it’s photo. These little savories are David’s favorite.

Me, I have a sweet tooth and so I got my personal favorites. Cream buns. Nom! These are basically dinner rolls filled with sweet whipped cream.

And the coconut rolls are my other favorite. These are extremely filling on top of being really tasty.
But the few times we’ve visited The Hot Bread Kitchen on this trip, I have been intrigued by something they call a Lamington. I had no idea what it was but I wanted to try it anyway. They come in chocolate and raspberry. I love chocolate but I’m not going to lie, I was totally drawn in by the flaming pink color of the raspberry Lamington. So that’s what I got.

You can see that it’s got coconut on it so I expected the raspberry and coconut tastes but when I bit into it, I was not expecting it to be squishy spongecake. Oh my! It was awesome. Again, I ate it so fast, there isn’t even a photo of the inside to share with you. And I must have looked a sight eating it, too, because while I have a big mouth, this cake would have been better eaten with a fork which I didn’t have. 🙂

I have looked up the recipe for Lamingtons and I can’t wait to get home and try them on my own. The are totally fabulous and my new favorite purchase from The Hot Bread Kitchen.

Rainbow!

This morning, I went out on the balcony thinking I was going to get a photo of the very red sky.

When we were kids, my mom taught us the old adage:

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.
Red sky in morning, sailor’s take warning.


I’m always curious to see if this warning will hold true as the day of a morning red sky progresses.

Imagine when I turned a little to my left and saw…


The most GIANT rainbow I have ever seen! And from the other balcony, you could see the whole thing. It was too big to be captured in one photo frame so I used my video to try and capture it’s glory.


http://www.twitvid.com/player/X9R9D

Sorry it’s a little rocky but my knees were weak on the balcony as I was trying to record the rainbow because…


Far is a long, long way to fall!

We have seen a lot of rain on this trip but never thunder and lightening until last night. Sometimes it rains when the sun is out but we have never seen a rainbow before. I asked David why that was about the third day we were here and he said because it’s too far away and the leprechauns don’t want to come this far.


But it’s nice to see that God’s promise is with us EVERY where we go in the world!

Mom, Donna, Grandma

This is the first Mother’s Day I’ve been without my mom who passed away last October.

Mom was an amazing, strong woman who impacted more people than she ever knew. She told me shortly before her passing that she always wanted to be a mom but that she had never really wanted to be a wife. The happiest time of her life, she said, was when I moved home with Brandon and Geoff when they were small, Becky was still living at home and Jonny came back, too. It was a FULL house but she loved it.

While I was staying with her, she received a letter from a girl who worked at the sweets shop in Forks, WA that had apparently attached herself to Mom as a mother figure she didn’t feel she had in her life. She said, “I would look at your bald head and want to wrap you up and take you home with me to be my mom and start all over again.”

Mom was always collecting “kids”. She worked as a waitress at the Magic Pan while I was in high school. All the kids that worked there loved her. I swear my boyfriends always liked her better than they liked me. My girl friends thought she was so cool.

Brandon and Geoff couldn’t have had a better grandma. She loved them so much and was such an integral part of their early years. She watched them for me while I worked, took them to Sesame Street Live and the circus, etc., took them to doctor’s appointments. She was totally there for them. Going through her things I found a notebook. It contained every email I had sent about the boys or they had sent to her, printed out. Looking through it made me cry to again understand the complete love she had for my boys.

Over the years, Mom’s relationship with David grew and changed. It was contentious at times but towards the end, more and more I would hear her say, “You mean I agree with David?”. I know that she was a better mom to David than his own mother has been.

Mom was always trying to find herself but, you know, she was there all along. An amazing mom, an amazing mother in law and an amazing grandma.

Mom, I miss you. Happy Mother’s Day.

Love, Lauri

It’s currently Sunday, May 9th – Mother’s Day – 9:30 a.m. in Fiji. 🙂