Welcome to Blanchard!

My grandparent's live just outside Norman, Oklahoma, home of OU. They also live just outside a town of estimated 1000 people. Blanchard. Now Norman is pretty cool, aren't all college towns? But Blanchard.... The stores there are Dollar General, Spencers, Video Rentals, and a "Day Spa". The "historic downtown" is 10 rundown brick buildings with a Subway, flower shop, a store-front church that runs the bubble tea coffee shop next door... and a salon. The library is tiny, which is a big problem for me.

But the youth is even weirder. The latest trend for teen girls is casual... too casual. It involves t shirts and sweats, big football jackets, fake maroon uggs, and huge, godzilla size designer bags. no kidding.

Class of '88

So, here I am blogging from Blanchard Oklahoma, home of the Winslow Homestead. We are staying down here for a week with my Mom's parents for thanksgiving.

Mom promised to dig out her Senior Yearbook when we got down here. We flipped thru pages and pages of cheerleaders, debate club, and homecoming pictures, along with all the badly taken senior photos. "That's my friend Stacy, and that girl was nice, and I recognize that girl... I dated that guy once.. There's Koby Zahn. Jerk."

The year book is titled "Keeping it Casual". The cover is of Jeans. Nice.

This is a guide on how to not look. Big hair, mullets....

I heart fall.

Ok, so there is a little sadness mixed in with the leaves falling. In our neighborhood, we have big oak and sycamore trees. Oaks and sycamores are the kind of tree that goes from green to brown in two days. By next week, nearly all the trees in the neighborhood are bare. :(

So, today Mom and Dad raked all of the leaves. All of them. Front yard, back yard, by the curb... They brought in tons of leaves and put them into one big pile in the corner of the yard. 10 feet wide, and more then 5 feet tall. As tall as me, and it's awesome to jump in.

Gingerbread and puzzles. Yum.

So, okay. Last night, after dinner Mom let me get on the computer, with the condition that I find a recipe for gingerbread. I found this great one on Epicurious. I went on to make it, while Mom ran to the store for coolwhip. She returned with coolwhip, and a 300 piece puzzle. Why? We will never know. So while we spooned gingerbread and coolwhip into our mouths, Mom, Sophie, and I frantically pieced together that puzzle in about an hour.

Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Possible.

So, I was all inspired after taking that Basic Acting Class at our local children's theatre. So when they passed out fliers about the latest auditions, I was soo excited. They were doing the Best Christmas Pageant Ever. That's my most favorite christmas story in the world.

I was a bit daunted at the fact that more then 100 kids tryed out, not to mention all the adults. So I ended up in the Angel Choir. I get to wear an angel costume (with a fashionable giant gold bow on the front), and sing christmas carols. Pretty much what my church is doing the christmas pageant, except six more times and a lot more stressful. The little old lady directing it is a tyrant, and the kids there are snobs. And I can't quit I'm in this for the next two months. This is what my December calendar looks like:
That is all practices and performances. They have now also added one more on a Wednesday. Argh.

A few weeks Dad came home and started singing to himself a song: "Yes, we have no bananas". Now the whole family is singing it. We have worked it into our conversations. It's true. We have bananas. It's following us everywhere. I actually saw this in the fridge, while humming it. Hmmm... It's some kind of sign.