Lopez Weekend Update

This past weekend was a whirlwind of busy, fun and responsibility. The days flew by, even with  an extra day off (Friday) that I took to move out of my house and back in with my parents.  Good times, good times.

After an exhausting day of moving big furniture and multiple small trips, I went on a girl-date with Chanel.  (Have I mentioned lately how incredible this girl is?)  We went and had a steak dinner in Bricktown and then to an art show in the Plaza District.  We ended our night at a dive bar called Blue Note where a 90's cover band was playing.  It was a really great time.

Saturday was a day of me trying to catch up on my DVR shows so I could watch everything I could before canceling and then my daughter had her first Fall soccer game.  Her team dominated--but it was fun because both of my parents went, my sister was down from Tulsa and my beautiful little niece came to support her cousin. 

Here is a picture of Auntie Lopez and her favoritest niece ever!

Since Saturday night was the last night in my house, I had some of my favorite girls come over for a Ribbon cake from Raspberries 'n Creme (omg yum!!!) and champagne.  Then we went to dinner at 1492 and had a delicious latin cuisine.  Yes, we had dessert first...because we are adults and we can do whatever we want!

Here we are at dinner...with our crazy straws!

After dinner, Chanel, Roxanne and I had a horror movie watch party and that's how we closed out Saturday.  Glorious...

Those are my weekend highlights.  Like I said...blog diary.  I can write about whatever I want :)

Kickball - Public Enema No. 2

Yes, yes...more kickball...but the best thing about having a blog diary is that I get to write about whatever I want.  It's pretty fantastic.

In the Oklahoma metro area, there are a couple of different kickball leagues in which one can participate. Our league is recreational at a sports complex in north Oklahoma City. Other leagues, located downtown, midtown and in Edmond, are WAKA leagues. The rules are a bit different, the ball sizes vary and WAKA is more competitive; yet, at the same time, I feel like WAKA focuses more on drinking and it's a bit less organized. A friend of mine plays on WAKA and because his team was the champion team, they are flying to Las Vegas in October to play in the championship. That's pretty cool.

When I tell people I play kickball, they laugh. They think it's so silly-- "Oh, I played kickball...in THIRD GRADE". I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten this response or very similar responses. When you play as an adult (alcoholic consumption included), it is so different. I can hardly even put into words how much fun I have out on the field--I look forward to every Wednesday night. Even when my team wasn't that great, I couldn't wait to get out there and play ball. So, unless you are a kickball player, you will never appreciate the love for the sport. All types of people are out there. It's a wonderful experience.  A great time.

Last night I played four games of kickball--that's four hours straight of nonstop madness.  I loved every second of it.  Since my team was playing at 7:30/9:30, I had the 6:30/8:30 slots open and a friend of mine was in need of a girl on their team (one rule in kickball is that you have to have a minimum of four girls to play or you get automatic outs), so since his games were opposite mine, I happily offered my services.

My friend's team (pictured above) is called Public Enema No. 2.  They are all doctors, so the name is pretty cute...but their athleticism is marginal--only because they spend so many hours in the hospital.  They have a couple natural abilities, but other than that, the team ranks pretty low in the league.  These are just facts, they mean nothing to me, I am not the best kickball player myself (although I am the best female catcher in our league)...but I love the sport.  I also enjoy the people I have met, they are all so different from each other. 

Anyway...we (Public Enema) lost our first game by one run.  We played an excellent team, so the fact that Public Enema lost by one run is pretty amazing.  My second game was with my team and we run ruled our opponents.  It was a fantastic game and I was completely warmed up.  My catcher skills were stellar and I continued through the rest of the night on top of my game.  The third game I played was with Public Enema and they won.  THEY WON!  Their first victory of the Fall season and I got to be a part of it!  I love it.  The last game I played (again, with my team) was an easy win.  I think the final score was 16-1.

So.  Kickball to me is like crack.  I am addicted--but being addicted to a good time isn't so bad.

[As you can see in the picture, I have my regular team's uniform on...and my friend is the guy next to me. He's a cutie, for sure.]

OU Game Day - September 8, 2012

Let me preface this post by saying I DO NOT wear crimson and cream...but my friends do and they shine beautifully in it!  I am an Oklahoma State girl, orange and black all around.  This shirt made me break into hives.  Guilt and shame sat on my shoulder all day as I walked around as a traitor...but you know what?  I had fun!  Also, staying true to my pokes, I had my O-State panties on ;)

Saturday was my first tailgate ever and I went with Chanel and Amanda.  A day of drinking, eating, looking cute and football...and so many girls in cowboy boots and booty shorts/dress combos. 

It's a football game..do you really need THAT MUCH make up???

The Oklahoma Sooners won (good job!), but my Oklahoma State Cowboys lost (what sadness)...

Side note:  I love these girls more than anything.  They are amazing, beautiful souls and I'm so happy to have them in my life.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand is a powerful book. This is story about the phenomenal life of Louis Zamperini (“Louie”), a former Olympic 1-miler, one of the fastest of his era. His feats as an Olympian are astounding, but when he goes to war, his will to survive is beyond anything I’ve ever imagined.

When his bomber plane was shot down over the ocean during a rescue mission, Louis and two other men survived the crash and began a perilous 47 day journey over 2,000 miles of ocean fighting heat, starvation, dehydration and sharks. Aggressive sharks. On the 47th day, when a Japanese ship came up on their torn raft, only two men remained and thus began over two years in Japanese POW camps. Two years of torture that one only reads about, much less survives. Beating after beating…illness, wretched living conditions and near starvation…it is incredible what Louis endured. It is amazing to read about what all of the POW’s had to experience. So many lives lost. So much torture, sadness and pain. Completely unnecessary torture.

Before this, the only material I had read on WWII were novels (a lot of times with happy endings) or non-fiction books based around Germany. I had no idea how vicious the Japanese were during the war, taking the souls of more soldiers than any other country. Sadists to the extreme—beating, humiliating and demoralizing their captives. My heart broke reading this—even though it happened over half a century ago.

After the war, nightmares and alcoholism consumed Louis. Post-traumatic stress and the memories of one captor in particular (“The Bird”) kept Louis from being happy until he discovered faith through evangelical speaker, Billy Graham. I am so grateful that he found happiness…something that alluded so many other survivors that could not deal with their demons.

Louie’s family went years assuming he was dead, although remaining hopeful that a miracle would happen. I can just imagine the families of countless soldiers who prayed day in and day out that the same miracle would happen for them. It never did. The Zamperini’s were lucky. They endured years with torment of the unknown, but in the end, they were all together. Moving forward as a whole.

Ironically, Louie ended up outliving them all—he is still alive today. Louis Zamperini is the ultimate survivor.

Books: Paper vs. Electronic

IPad:

For over the past couple of years, I have read my books on my IPad.  It's amazing how easy the Kindle app + Amazon.com have made purchasing a book, the quick download.  Instant gratification for millions and millions of titles.  The expense can also add up...but I read pretty slow, so it is rare that I buy more than one book over a two week period. 

I love swooping my finger across the screen to turn the page.  I love putting my book mark in the corner and seeing the line at the bottom of the screen to show how far I've gone through the book, the percentage of completeness as well as my current location.  I love being able to highlight a word I am unfamiliar with and the definition popping up at the bottom.  I love highlighting a name or event and having wikipedia bring me to the exact page where I can read on about it.

Electronic books are amazing.  I can carry my entire library with me at all times.  A book lover's dream.

Books:

I still pick up the occasional book...when someone lends one to me or a book I've had lying around the house that I haven't gotten to.  Also, re-reading one of my classics (Catcher in the Rye) causes me to use a book rather than my IPad.

However, I miss the smell of a new book.  I miss the first moments where I flip the pages and smell the crisp paper...and indication that every time I pick it up, I'm going to be lifted from my life and deposited into a world in which I know nothing.  Meeting characters that I love or hate...or love to hate.  I miss walking into the office of my home and seeing my bookshelf lined with my conquests.

What I don't miss, is carrying a giant book such as Shantaram or War and Peace with me everywhere I go...having to carry an extra large purse to fit my current read. 

So...books, be it electronic or paper, have their advantages and little perks...but I will say that I absolutely love having information at my fingertips.  I love reading on my IPad, but also the nostalgia of laying in bed with paper in my hand.

Um...random?  Yes.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was a rather twisted read.  A woman goes missing and all of the clues point directly to the husband.  An ironclad case...but is he really guilty?  The reader is left wondering in the first half of the book, mind going in every direction. 

Maybe this happened...or maybe that.  Different theories flying through the mind, the author having done an excellent job guiding the reader to like this character more than that and think multiple scenarios were possible.

18% of the way through the book, I decided I knew what happened.  I was right.  Flynn threw me for a loop one time where I thought maybe something different may have occurred; however, I ultimately became right and knew what was going on early on.  I just didn't know the reasoning behind it all.

You would think I was disappointed by that.  Everyone likes a good twist.  I was not.  The reasoning for WHY the action occurred made my blood flow, my heart beat faster.  During the second half of the book, I thought "wow...maybe I am Amy Elliott Dunne" more than once.

I can't go into detail of the plot because of the mystery aspect of the book, but if you have read this far, you might not want to continue.

I am a woman who was deeply betrayed.  I was hurt beyond anything I could have ever imagined by a person who was supposedly my best friend...and another person who played the part of BFF like a fucking sociopathic piece of shit (classy, I know).  So when it came to light that Amy Elliott Dunne was framing her husband in the most elaborate way for his infidelity, I was proud of her.  You go girl.  Her strategic planning and patience almost sent her husband to death row.  What scorned woman doesn't want the most terrible thing to happen to a cheating man? 

Turns out, though, that Amy was a bit of a psychopath.  I did feel bad for her husband every once in awhile, but not bad enough to think that what Amy was doing was wrong...until the end.  When she comes back.  Her narcissism couldn't keep her away.  I was happy that the husband wasn't going to prison, sure...but she comes back and is in control of everything.  She never gets caught for a single lie that she made (by the right people, i.e. the police) and she moves on with her husband as her prisoner.  Unhappiness.  Everytime the husband finds an out, she has another trick up her sleeve.

The last sordid thing Amy did was get pregnant, using semen she got at the sperm bank from years before.  Her husband was trapped.  They stay together in this miserable life, supposedly 'addicted' to each other.  No.  She was addicted to him...he was a 34 year old sucker who was going to have to be with this insane woman for the rest of his life.  He was going to raise a child in an unhappy home.  He was going to have to fake it for the rest of his life.  Angerness, bitterness every time he looked into his wife's face. 

The book ended.  Nothing was resolved.  I felt cheated, as a reader, for not having the ends neatly tied up.  I realize this is very trendy thing for author's to do, but who doesn't like a nice, happy ending?  I do.  I feel incomplete with the ending of this book.  To me, these characters are stuck in a house, unhappy and about to bring a child into the world...a woman who has murdered and lied her whole life never being punished for anything.  No consequences for Amy.

I will always wonder why the marionette dolls didn't put Amy away...

You have to understand something about me.  I like to read.  I like a good story.  I only get surface deep, though.  I don't go and read reviews before and after a book.  I don't try to find underlying meanings or compare characters and actions to huge themes and life lessons.  I read for entertainment purposes only...so this book may have some deep meaning that I didn't pick up on.  One thing that I do like is discussing a book with someone else when I'm done to see what they thought--but it's hard when nobody reads the same books as me.

Room by Emma Donoghue

Room by Emma Donoghue is a novel about a young woman who was abducted as a teenager and held captive in a storage shed. The story begins seven years after her abduction and she has a five year old son, Jack, who is unaware that anything exists outside of the room. He believes everything he sees on his television set is imaginary, including the people, and knows that a man comes to deliver supplies and a bonus ‘treat’ on Sundays. The mother has built a routine for the child and created impressive imaginary games to keep them occupied throughout the day, but when Jack starts to question things he sees on television, the mother devises an elaborate plan for their escape—and it works!

Their adjustment to the outside world is the second part of the book and things we take for granted such as sunlight, fresh air and special relations, are experienced by Jack for the first time and so scary for him. The media is hard on the duo and almost proves too much for the mother. The book was a reminder of the real life story of Jaycee Dugard that was splashed all over the news a couple of years ago.

At first, the book was difficult for me to get into. I was thrown off by certain aspects of it and felt incredibly sad for both mother and son; however, when I read on, I could hardly put the book down. It was a great read and I recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different.

Kickball Play-offs: Summer 2012

*That's What She Said.  The Plex's Second Place Champions for Summer 2012*

For the first time since I began playing kickball (circa Fall '08), we had playoffs and championship games.  Last night was the big night.  Very exciting. 

Our team, That's What She Said, went into the tournament in the second tier since we had done so well during the season.  (side note: only two teams made it to the second round to begin).  Our first game was played against a team called Multiple Scorgasms, that won their first game.  We run ruled them, which is always awesome; however, the very last play of the game was when I was at homeplate (I play catcher) and the ball is coming to me to stop a runner from scoring.  I caught the ball, turned and he plowed into me.  This guy (hot, athletic) was pretty big.  I went straight to the ground, took one for the team and now my already aching knee is really messed up.  All I can do is stay off of it for a couple of days and hope it heals in time for my next race. 

Here is the sexy accessory that I got to wear to work today:

After owning Multiple Scorgasms, we played a team with the lamest name ever, JV.  Don't let their name fool you, though--they are a bunch of 25 and 26 year old soccer players who dominate the kickball league at The Plex in OKC.  If I wasn't injured, the mistakes I made at homeplate would have been avoided and we wouldn't have lost AS badly as we did...but we were always going to lose to them.  They are phenomenal...looking forward to squaring off with them in the fall.

Here's a picture of a few of the girls from our team after one of our games.  I don't really like posting pictures of me looking disheveled and worn out (um, or ever in the back of a pick up truck)...but I'll go ahead and take another one for the team, since the other girls look cute as ever!

Midnight Streak 5K - August 11, 2012

I haven't run in over a month (since the Stars and Stripes 5K), so I was dreading the results of the Midnight Streak that I participated in this weekend. I even decided not to wear my shoe timer, but instead let Chanel wear it, since she was running rogue anyway.  I don't like to record failure; however...I did surprisingly well and my knee didn't give me any trouble at all, which was a shocker.  Plus, it was a beautiful, windless and not-too-humid evening here in Oklahoma City.

BRAG BRAG:  I finished before all of my friends and that's a small victory in my book for certain.

Here is our group of girls -- Stephanie, me, Chanel and Monica (finally, a picture debut for Monica!):

It's a dark picture (hence the midnight part of the race), but please take note and appreciate our beautiful glow sticks.  And what do girls do after they burn some major calories during a race?  IHOP of course...and despite our slimey little waiter and his bitchy little attitude, it was pretty delicious!

PartyGirl

I have amazing friends.  I can't even put into words how utterly fantastic they are.  I have been going through a lot lately...more than just a divorce and an adjustment...and my friends have been keeping me busy through it all.  I know that when the party stops, shit will get real, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. 

Until then, over the past couple of months, my friends have been by my side and I love them so much for it.

Swim day with Lacy, Amanda and Chanel:

Tulsa time with my sister and Evan:

My best friend Julie came up from Dallas for a weekend.  We went to dinner and then out to the dueling piano bar -- as you can tell by our air guitar and microphone display on top of the piano that we are clearly playing with our feet:

Amanda, Chanel and me at JJ's Alley, right before we went and got our groove on at Candy club:

Mustache Bash Music Festival with Roxanne and Chanel:

And...to top it off...a night at the Copa with Chanel and her friend Micah.  Let me tell you something about Micah.  He is gay...and he is completely awesome.  I love him!  I'm pretty sure he told me how pretty I was and how young I look about 100x that night--and for those words to come from a gay man with no ulterior motives is priceless.  Not to mention he is super hot...

So...keeping myself occupied is working for now.  Mostly, at least.  I have good days and bad days, as you saw in yesterday's post...but let's hope the good begin to outweigh the bad...in a major way. 

That's What She Said

I had to leave my long term kickball team due to divorce.  He inherited the team because his sister and brother in law are the originators and I had to look for a new team if I wanted to continue to play.

A guy I met during my final season with BTTW played for a team called Balls Deep and, through him, I found my new team for the Spring of 2012.  My contact with the team ended up not playing, so I met new people--some of which I really like--but I never felt like I really, truly fit in.  Although I tried.  I went out of my way to be friendly, even stepped out of the box to meet a couple girls at a bar one night.  Solo.  It was very hard for me, but making new friends has always been hard for me.

Balls Deep seemed to acquire many subs over the season, all of which fell in love with the sport (um, kickball is freaking awesome) and since there wasn't room on the team for EVERYONE, they defected and began a new team for Summer 2012.  They liked my little ninja move at catcher and asked me to come along...and since Balls Deep was going to fall apart, I said yes.

So my new team is called That's What She Said.  Each of our shirts has a different (dirty) quote on the front and "THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID" really big on the back.  At first, I didn't join in with the tailgating festivities and hung out with BTTW during our breaks (my best girlfriends are there)...but lately, I've been coming around and truly enjoy these people.  Here are a few of the girls on our team (sans two) and our cute shirts.  Oh, and my quote is "Put it in the trunk"...as the picture is a bit blurry. 

Weak

I am not strong enough as a person...as an individual...to handle my current circumstances.

Please God give me strength.  Please God help me find happiness. Please God just help me.

The last 14 years of my life seem to have crumbled into nothing.

Please help me get through this.

Color Me Rad - July 14, 2012 (Oklahoma City, OK)

Over the weekend, a few friends and I ran the Color Me Rad 5K in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Much like the Tulsa event, this was more of a walk--and because of that fact, it will be the last color race I attend. It was fun, sure...but $50 of fun? Nah...but I'm glad I got to experience it, and this race was more fun because we had additional people with us!!! (Monica once again missed her photo opps...she's like my invisible friend here!!)

Fortune July - 2012

I had a very low-key Fourth of July this year.  The random weekday off started with a 5K at Stars and Stripes park in Oklahoma City with my friends Monica and Chanel.  My knee has been giving me so much trouble that I haven't run in awhile, so the fact that I finished the race under 30 minutes amazed the hell out of me.  Also, running always makes me feel like I can stuff my face guilt-free for the rest of the day!

Chanel and Me before the race (Monica was late, so she didn't make the photo op):

After the race, the three of us went to Jimmy's Egg for a very delicious breakfast...and then i took a nap for a few hours before heading over to my parents house to host some of my favorite girls at the pool.  We proceeded to hang out at the pool for hours...drinking and eating snack food all afternoon.

Chanel, me and Becca:

The day was capped off with a dinner at Bourben Street Cafe and Fireworks in Bricktown, Oklahoma with my darling friend, Ashley. 

All in all...my lazy holiday was pretty perfect.

My Beautiful Niece, Linden

I love my niece. She is beautiful.

I also like pink and purple...both represented well in this pic!