Where did the second half of this month go? I understand that this month is always short, but it was dragging a bit.
The city was shut down for a couple days last week because of ice storms. We returned to the office on Friday, but
I had to run off to NOLA for my uncle's funeral. I didn't get to make the sugar cookies for the boys like I wanted to.
The day just took forever and I wanted to relax. Every time I come home, Mama Nguyen loads me up with her eggrolls
and other goodies. We have food for the next week. I shared some with Sharon. She's always a fan of my mom's food.
February 16, 2018
Happy Lunar New Year or others like to say Happy Chinese New Year! I'm ready for the weekend. This week has been
nonstop with meetings after meetings. Sometimes I just want to run into a hole and not deal with anyone.
I've been asking for a meeting with someone and he finally got back to me. He wanted to talk today but I pushed it
to next week. Fridays are my days to work solo and to unwind in preparation for the weekend.
February 14, 2018
February 12, 2018
Mama Nguyen departed early this morning. Our house smells like a combination of a Vietnamese restaurant and a fried
wings shop. The smell should slowly go away in a couple days. She is obsessed with Bambu...more so than I am. It's
some good stuff. Instead of going home after dropping her off at the airport, I went straight to the gym and ran
7.5 miles in an hour. I need to up the speed since it shouldn't take me two hours to run a half marathon. Mrs. Diaz
inspired me to run the extra miles this morning. I can't stay at 3.5 miles forever if I want to do the half.
It is months away but it will be here before we know it.
February 9, 2018
If I can't get McDonald's for breakfast, another option is Elemental Coffee. They are located a couple blocks
from my office. Their breakfast tacos are delicious and you get two in one order. I save the second taco for lunch.
This is why everyone is fat in Oklahoma. We don't need to eat two tacos for breakfast. One should suffice.
Although I notice that people who live in the urban core of OKC are mostly fit. I think when you get out to the
suburbs, that's when the weight gain happens. Happy 40th Brian! Welcome to Club 40. Jim is right behind us. Mama
Nguyen gets into town tomorrow morning. She is going to stay until early Monday morning. I plan on taking her
to the grocery store and pick out stuff to make at the house. We also have plans to go to the salon on Sunday to
get our hair did. She said she never has time to get her hair done in New Orleans. Well, she's on vacation this weekend
so there is plenty of time to do what she wants. No grandkids and a husband to take care of.
February 8, 2018
I'm obsessed with McDonald's mobile ordering. Download the McDonald's app on your phone and order from there.
When I have my drives to Tulsa in the morning, I like to get their iced
coffee and a sausage mcmuffin. If I am going straight to work from home in the morning, I'll also pick up their
iced coffee. The mobile app allows you to take advantage of their "mobile only" deals such as $1 sandwiches or
buy one coffee, get one free. You place the order at home and drive to a McDonalds nearby. The McDonalds location
will automatically sense that you are nearby. You have three options of picking up your order. You go through the
drive-thru, park at one of the designated parking spots for mobile orders and someone will bring the order out to you,
or you can go inside and pick up your food. I tried the designated parking spot and no one came out. I went inside
and picked up my order instead. On my second attempt, I went through the drive thru and gave them the confirmation
code that was tied to my mobile order. Once I gave them my confirmation code, this is when they prepare my order.
When I arrive at the payment window, this is when they charge my order and hand me a receipt. There is no exchange of
money needed since the purchase was made through the app. My
suggestion is to do the drive thru. The designated parking spot thing didn't really work.
The advantages of McDonald's mobile orders
are the specials they have and the convenience of not having to grab money from your wallet to pay them. Also,
if you drink a lot of coffee, the app tracks the coffees you have ordered and the fifth one is free.
February 7, 2018
Happy Birthday, Paul! Your Jesus Year has finally started. It's all downhill from here, sir. Because I craved sausage
balls yesterday morning right after the gym, I decided to make some after work last night. Lucky for us, we had
the three ingredients handy and ready to go. You basically mix 4 cups of Bisquick, a pound of sausage (I used
spicy Italian sausage), and 4 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. The batter consistency was dry so I added
some melted butter to fuse the three ingredients together. It worked! Kaci stopped by to help me eat the sausage
balls. I also had to run home yesterday in the middle of the day because the motion detector went off inside the
house even though the windows and doors were still intact. I got home and realized that the big birthday balloons
were sitting right in front of the motion detector. The balloons moved and tripped the motion detector.
February 6, 2018
Paul was completely surprised and had no idea about the dinner. He thought it was just another Yelp event where
he saw a familiar face through the room's window. Oh, Katie Morgan is here...she must be an elite too. After dinner,
we made it to Ponyboy for some drinks, then to Tower Theatre for some live music, and we ended the night at
Insomnia Cookies because Katy wanted cookies. She was craving them since Ponyboy. All in all, it was a fun night
and we paid for it the next day. I don't think I was back to 100% until the Miss Mustang Pageant. Darwina and Tess
did a great job judging the girls. Winston was also there and so were Janet and Candy. Instead of eating out, Tess
brought Taco Bell to Jim and Sarah's. Baby Colin was fast asleep so he didn't stay downstairs to receive us.
Paul finished his dinner with Charli and made his way over to us. The next day, we had brunch at Iguana before
the Thunder game. After the Thunder game, we hurried home to fry up egg rolls and chicken wings for the Super Bowl.
The game was pretty good and I was glued to the screen for 80% of the time. JT did a great job with his performance
and I'm glad the Eagles won. Let's share the wealth guys. I tried watching the Cloverfield sequel but was too tired
to stay up. We finally finished it last night.
February 2, 2018
The meeting in Norman went well. We tend to go overboard with the prep but I'm glad we did because we rocked it.
The carpool karaoke was a fail. It was all talk but when i brought the mic, no one wanted to sing. No one wanted to
rock the rose champagne mic. We made it back to the office just in time for the super pulse. It was basically a
cheerleading session for the firm. The Chocolate Decadence was fun thanks to Plenty Mercantile. Marci is drinking
again and the wine she picked was excellent. I normally don't do white, but the white wine was pretty good. I won
a silent auction item. Iguana is going to host a house party for 10 people. It will be a five course meal.
If you have dietary restrictions, you are not invited to this house party.
February 1, 2018
January was too long of a month. It dragged on and on. We literally had 31 whole days in January. Coming back
from the winter break and having to work four full weeks was a challenge. I miss the days when I had MLK day off.
Not here in Oklahoma...only if you work for the public sector. We have an annual MLK Parade that rolls down the
street where my office is located, but I never step outside to watch. I definitely need to check it out next year
since it's right here.