Men's Dress Code Violation

The Husband and I pulled into the Northwest Inn parking lot in Woodward, OK this evening and saw a grown man getting into a truck with another man wearing a tee shirt, basketball shorts like these and workboots like these.

Really?

We went for dinner at J B's Steakhouse, which is a nice restaurant. There was a family of four waiting for a table. Father, mother, son and daughter. The father was wearing the same outfit as the man at the hotel, except his boots looked like this.

Really? Couldn't you dress a little better to take your family to dinner on Friday night?

It wasn't just me thinking these thoughts, as there was another family of four waiting for a table and they were talking about it when he left the waiting area. I heard the daughter from that group say "His son is going to grow up thinking it is okay to dress like that in public."

Casual dress has become way too casual. Let's go back to the time when people put some effort into dressing before going out.

(I won't even tell you about the guy at the steakhouse whose untucked shirt didn't cover the bottom of his belly, which was hanging over his pants.)

What do you think? Do you think a return to more formal public dress is in order?

We are almost home from our trip to New Mexico and I'll have a few vacation stories to share with you during the coming week!

Updated to add:

Dinner at J B's Steakhouse was excellent. We are happy to recommend it for a nice meal and good service.

The Northwest Inn is a good place to stay. It appears to be recently renovated and was clean, with lots of amenities. The free hot breakfast for hotel guests was excellent. We are also happy to recommend this facility!

Note: These are our opinions, we were not compensated for these recommendations.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

The Husband and I just spent 3 days with Albuquerque friends enjoying the 40th annual Balloon Fiesta. There were 600 balloons registered for the event.

The pilots had weather to contend with during fiesta, but they did manage to ascend on the last Saturday and Sunday mornings for us. Yes, I did say just for us!

Here's how you "do" Balloon Fiesta, as explained by our friends. You wake up early and turn on the local news to see if the balloons are launching. If launch is a go, you put on your clothes (no breakfast, showers, make-up, etc), get in your car and chase the balloons, in which ever direction the wind blows them. Chasing:

STOP! We see balloons! Our friends T & V checking their pictures.

We've gotta move, the balloons are drifting. T & V at our second stop. Balloons behind us and balloons in front of us.

Stagecoach!

Third location of the day. Action shot of T helping a balloon land safely.

Here's a great shot of the inside of this balloon as the pilot was firing the gas to keep it inflated and upright.

The Husband says "I want to do that!" Here's an action shot of T and The Husband walking away from the balloon they just helped land. Look at that grin on The Husband's face!

Time to move again. Fourth location. The Husband, T & V waiting for balloons to land. We were in the field across the street from T & V's neighborhood.

Here's a shot of the balloons in the sky. See that flag balloon?

It ended up on the street 1/2 block from T & V's house. They live in a gated community, so T had to run across the parking lot to open the gate to give the chase crew access. Chase crews get clearance just like emergency crews. I never realized how important it is that people are on the ground when a balloon lands to stablize it so it does not tip over. Here are crew members running to assist.

Of course, once it landed and the pilot kept firing the gas to keep the balloon inflated and upright, the neighbors all came out of their houses. Yes, it is okay to wear your pajamas, as long as you bring your camera!

The chase crew encouraged the neighbors to help them deflate and pack away the balloon. They started by showing us how to spread out the tarp the balloon is laid upon. The Husband and V are helping.

The tarp is ready and I am awaiting instructions.

We didn't get a picture, but there is a line from the top of the balloon to the basket that they use to pull the balloon down onto the tarp. Here's a pic of the balloon ready to be deflated. That's one of the chase crew talking to T.

We didn't get a picture of how the balloon is deflated, but we do have this photo of me and The Husband holding the deflated balloon waiting to shove our part into the storage bag. Look at our grins!

After we finished shoving our part into the storage bag, we snapped this shot of everyone else in line. See, the tarp is still laid out.

The deflating of the balloon is much like what needs to be done when the tarp is folded up, because the air has to be pushed out of it. The woman on her hands and knees is doing that. There's The Husband again right in the middle of the action!

Once the balloon and tarp are deflated and folded into their storage bags, one of the last important steps is that everyone has to sit on the bags to get the very last bit of air out of them!

And the bags are then loaded into the truck and the balloon pilot thanks everyone.

Afterwards, you must get breakfast. After all, it's still early and you've been been chasing balloons since 7am!

Let me just say, this was a FANTASTIC experience. Our friends, T & V, did a great job of showing us the exciting Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We were thrilled to be able to actively participate and had so much fun.

Thanks, guys! We'll be back next year. (har de har har)

When Do You Clean Out Your Purse?

I dump the contents of my purse out every morning. I throw away any trash and make sure I have everything I need for the day. When I return the items to the purse, I make sure they are put into the correct compartment to make them easy to find.

If I go out in the evening, I dump my purse again and remove anything I won't need. I may use the same purse or I may switch to a smaller purse for the night.

This habit of mine stressed out my niece during our trip to California in August. Perhaps because I dumped out HER purse in my enthusiastic effort to help locate a lost item.

How often do you dump the contents of your purse?

If you don't empty it completely, what is your trick for keeping your purse organized?

Tulsa State Fair

The Husband and I went to the Tulsa State Fair Monday afternoon.

We each ate a corn dog. Plus, we shared a pork chop sandwich from the Oklahoma Pork Council.  Oh. My. Lord. Delicious!

I've always been a big fan of the fair, but I said to The Husband this time that I might be "over" it. I'm 52, so it's taken me approximately 51 years to make that statement.

Why, do you ask, am I over my local fair?

It's because within the hour we arrived, we saw multiple examples of all the worst stereotypes of Oklahoma residents.

Do you attend your local fairs?

Are they large or small?

Are still happy with them or are you "over" them?

Pumpkin Town

Recently we took a couple of our nieces to Pumpkin Town.
Let's hug the scarecrow.
Big Sister A

Sweet Baby L

They turned into little tigers.

Big Sister A

Sweet Baby L

There was pouncing in the grass, as only tigers can pounce.

(Disregard the pumpkins!)

There was running crazy in the hay maze.

There was riding ponies, after promising the Tigers would not bite the ponies!
Big Sister A

Sweet Baby L

After rides on real ponies, there was a ride on fake ponies.

And a good time was had by all.
Wait a minute, where is Uncle Steve?