ohhhh...pretty glass!

We went to the Tiffany: Color and Light exhibit and the Virginia Museum of fine arts and I was transfixed by the amazing skill and beauty of the pieces. I even struck up conversation with a total stranger about how pretty it was. The texture and depth of the pieces of glass were cool enough by themselves, then they molded them together. Right after we walked out of the exhibit we looked at a book that had pictures of the entire exhibit and it was shocking how unimpressive the photos were compared to what it looked like in person.

I remember seeing a stained glass Tiffany style lamp somewhere before and thinking it was ugly and sort of old-lady style. I have totally changed my perspective. SO if one day you walk into my house and see an old-lady lamp that you think is ugly, just know that it is because I am totally inspired after this exhibit and also that it must mean that I am very rich, because those things are EXPENSIVE! I just found the Wisteria Lamp on Ebay for $550,000.00. WOW!

Oklahoma

Every time somebody at work would ask me if I had any vacations coming up I cringed at the thought of trying to explain why we were going to Oklahoma...for vacation...in the middle of the summer. When people would say, "Oklahoma?!?!" (usually with a wrinkled brow). I wanted to grab a pot and pan and yell, "OHHHHHKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA!!!" As did Steve Martin in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (If you haven't seen this movie it is totally worth it for that scene and where he...uh...relieves himself at the dinner table.)

Anyway, the reason we went is because Rich's Mom and Grandmother grew up in the Tulsa area and after hearing their stories I wanted to go back and visit. It was great to see the area and hear the stories from Mammie. The only bummer is we spent A LOT of time driving around on dirt roads only to arrive at our destination and have Mammie glumly tell us that they must have torn it down.

Mammie showing us what used to be.

We did get to go swimming in the Grand Lake which is beautiful. I can't wait to go back to Tulsa and next time we will rent a boat and waterski the Grand Lake.

Another highlight was lounging in the Illinois River and skipping rocks. Two funny stories about that:

1. As Mammie was trying to get out of the river she tripped and fell forward on her face. We all busted up and were laughing at her. She was hurling curse words and rocks at us as if we were the ones who tripped her. We all thought it was HILARIOUS, but there was a guy that we met and were talking to that clearly felt awkward and didn't know how to respond to our cruelty to the elderly. (If you know Mammie this makes it all that much more hilarious).

This is Mammie right after she fell and a cute little girl that we met and was playing nearby.

2. Nancy was driving after the river and after an hour of driving she said she felt like she had a rock in her swimming suit that she was sitting on. When we finally arrived at our destination she pulled out this:

TOO FUNNY! We joked that it was round before she sat on it for hours.

It wound up being a family event with everyone gathering together. It was very fun.

This is Mammie in front of her old restaurant. She owned Judy and Marty's and I think she spent the entire time hearing all the gossip of the town, because she had MANY stories of scandal and intrigue. It was entertaining.