Oklahoma One

Oklahoma wins!

OU vs. Mizzou for Big 12 Title

OU vs. Mizzou for Big 12 Title

No. 2 Oklahoma plays Missouri tonight in Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.  It will be aired on ABC starting at 7 p.m.

Go Sooners!

Advent Conspiracy-Christmas Can Still Change the World

Thanks to Ashpags!
If you, your church, or your organization would like to know more, just go to www.adventconspiracy.org

Christmas is about The Birth of Christ

What do you think about when you hear the word Christmas?  Presents, food, family, traveling?  All these things are what Christmas is about, but the number one meaning of Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ.  You can't leave Him out.  
Jesus' birth happened while his parents were traveling to Bethlehem to be counted in the census that Caesar Augustus had decreed.  So there was traveling involved.  Jesus was born in a stable and placed in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.  He was visited by shepherds after angels announced the good news of a great joy which was for all people:  "for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."  I have always loved how Charlie Brown's Christmas included Lionel reading this passage from the Bible.  It is always very moving to me.  

Jesus was also visited by magi (the three wisemen) from the east.  They were sent by Herod to search for the Child.  The magi brought Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.  "And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their own country by another way."  This is why gifts are given at Christmas time.  So Christmas does involve family and gift-giving and traveling to homes but never forget that it is the celebration of the Birth of Christ.  A Christian holiday.  A Holy Day.  

Wordless Wednesday-What's Your Name, Little Girl?

For more Wordless Wednesday, click here.

Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing

I realized after I posted questions about cornbread stuffing that people had googled about recipes and got my post (which was only questions).  So now I will post a recipe for cornbread stuffing.  It is called stuffing if it's in the bird and dressing if it's baked separately in a pan.  

2 cups cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, beaten

2 cups buttermilk

2 tablespoons bacon drippings, melted

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

12 slices day-old bread, crumbled

2 to 2-1/2 cups turkey or chicken broth

1 cup milk

2 large eggs, beaten

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage

1/4 teaspoon pepper

• Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; add 2 eggs, buttermilk, and melted bacon drippings, stirring well.
• Place a well-greased 10-inch cast-iron skillet in a 450 degree oven for 4 minutes or until hot.  Remove skillet from oven; spoon batter into skillet.  Bake at 450 degrees fro 35 minutes or until cornbread is lightly browned.  Cool; crumble cornbread into a large bowl.
• Saute celery and onion in butter until tender.  Add sauteed vegetables, bread, and remaining 7 ingredients to crumbled cornbread, stirring well.  Spoon dressing into a lightly greased 13 X 9-inch pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.  
  

If you like you can use some of this to stuff the turkey just before roasting.  

The Saints Are Coming

Just Nod If You Can Hear Me

Hello.
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?

Recipe for Cornbread dressing or stuffing

I have a request of anyone who reads my blog.  Could you tell me if you have a really good recipe for cornbread stuffing or dressing for Thanksgiving?  I make mine but I would like to know what kind and amount of seasonings that you put in yours?  Do you use eggs?  I usually use a cornbread made from a Jiffy mix because we are used to that and like the sweetness of it.  Then I also would like to know if you stuff the turkey?  or just cook the dressing separate?  I have done both and usually do both so there is plenty of dressing.  Another question is:  do you ever find that the dressing inside the turkey nearest the cavity of the bird is dark like the blood from the turkey? And do you not use that part?  Please answer in my comments and if you have a recipe on your blog already, just tell me.  Thanks.  I just wanted some actual personal input.  

She was Hungry!

We had to fell this pear tree to make room for a new garage building.  I hated to see it go since I planted it, but it was necessary.  Trees are beautiful creations.

She was hungry!

One of my favorite movies of all time.  I used to watch this movie every year and I couldn't wait for it to show again.  I can remember watching this from the age of five and upwards.  Life is so different now.  We used to have to wait for good movies to come on tv, now we're instantly gratified.  I can't say I'd want to do without all the technological advancements, that would mean there wouldn't be an internet, but that slower paced life might be nice once again.

Calvin Kitty thinks my leg is a tree to climb on.  His sister does too.  They are my new babies on the block.  A gift from my brother.  

Chris Martin

I know these are very sad camera phone photos and video but at least I got them!  We were sitting in Section 104, Row P, aisle seats 1, 2, and 3.  I was in seat 1 next to the steps.  We were happy with these seats even though they were distant from the stage.  Near the end of the concert, the ushers roped off our aisle with crime scene tape.  Then the ushers stood guard while Coldplay continued playing.  I thought to myself that someone had gotten sick and they were going to carry them out.  But then we realized that Coldplay was going to walk up the steps right next to us.  After that song they did.  I got a short video of the band walking past us with people screaming, of course!  I reached out and patted Chris Martin on the shoulder.  My daughter touched him too.  He was the last band member to walk up.  He was wearing a cream colored thermal shirt.  Very sweaty.  :D  

Then the band stood above our section and played three songs.  It was amazing.  This was the best concert ever.  

Viva la Vida-Coldplay

Hurray!! I am going with my two daughters to see Coldplay tonight.

Oklahoma City Ford Center and Bricktown.  We're going over 

early to get a parking place and eat at Bricktown.  

Musical Interlude

Wordless Wednesday-Bridge to Somewhere

The bridge to somewhere.  For more Wordless Wednesday, go here.

Somewhere so scenic, I'll be going back as soon as possible.

On My Watch Tonight

We are grateful for all Veterans past and present.
We would not be the country we are today without you.

All gave some...some gave all

On My Watch Tonight

In the arms of the angel

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month...

Fun Monday

Fun Monday participants:
Janis is the hostess this week.

"Here is the assignment!
Since Next Tuesday is Veterans Day, I thought it would be nice to salute our Veterans and show our appreciation. Photo requirement of something patriotic."

This is in honor of my dad.  Also, I do honor all men and women who have served or are serving in the military.  Freedom isn't free!  Thank God for you!

Here is my dad and his buddies shipping out.  
This is my dad in front of his barracks.  


This is my dad.  Please visit Janis for more Fun Monday.

Wouldn't You Agree?

Wouldn't you agree it's time for some more Phil Collins?
I've missed him lately. The world needs more of him.

Redistribution of Wealth-Will it Work?

I found this article in Newsweek magazine, written by Robert J. Samuelson.  You can go to Newsweek.com for the complete article.

Judgment Calls

As The Rich Gets Poorer

Making the rich poorer doesn't make everyone else richer

For years, we've debated rising economic inequality. On one side, liberals denounce it as unjust. Redistribute wealth to the poor and middle class, they say. On the other, conservatives minimize its importance. What matters most is overall economic growth, they retort. Well, the conjunction of the presidential campaign and the financial crisis is giving the debate a curious twist. Liberals have triumphed politically; soaking the rich has become more acceptable. But conservatives may have won the intellectual argument; making the rich poorer doesn't make everyone else richer.

If Barack Obama and John McCain agreed on anything, it was this: Greed is bad. They competed in denunciations of reckless investment bankers and avaricious CEOs. Obama proposed raising taxes on higher incomes (couples making more than $250,000); though McCain didn't, he suggested that much recent wealth accumulation was ill-gotten. Unintentionally, perhaps, he buttressed the moral case for more redistribution. Let's tap the gold mine of the rich.

Judged only by economic inequality, the financial crisis is a godsend. It will probably narrow the gap—though still vast—between the rich and everybody else. But what good will that do? Economic inequality also declined in the Great Depression. The country wasn't better off. By and large, the poor aren't poor because the rich are rich. They're usually poor for their own reasons: family breakdown, low skills, destructive personal habits and plain bad luck.

The presumption implicit in the criticism of growing economic inequality is that society's income is a given and, if the rich have less, others will have more.

Americans legitimately resent Wall Street types who profited from dubious investment strategies that aggravated today's crisis. And government properly redistributes income to reduce hardship and poverty. But that's different from attempting to deduce and engineer some optimal distribution of income. Government can't do that and shouldn't try. Scapegoating and punishing all of the rich won't do us any good if the resulting taxes dull investment and risk-taking, discouraging economic growth that benefits everyone.

But the redistributionist argument is at best a half-truth. The larger truth is that much of the income of the rich and well-to-do comes from what they do. If they stop doing it, then the income and wealth vanish. No one gets it. It can't be redistributed because it doesn't exist. Everyone's poorer.

To read the full story go to Newsweek.com

Congratulations Senator John McCain

Congratulations!  Senator John McCain.  You were so gracious in your concession speech.  God bless you!

Congratulations!  President-elect Barack Obama.  Your acceptance speech was gracious too.  May God bless you.  I hope you turn out to be the best President America has ever had.  Yes, you can!

This is actually my Wordless Wednesday post.  Go here for more.

Australian Pink Floyd

Camera phone shot.  Not bad!

We went to see the Australian Pink Floyd "The Wall" concert last night. They were very good.