LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013: NO. 46

Posted on December 2, 2013 by peggylchambers

Our Thanksgiving was smaller than normal this year due to the flu.  It took out half the family in advance of our little get together.  But I still managed to eat enough.  We had six for a quick throw together dinner at my house instead of the thirteen that could have been.  We’ll try again after everyone gets well – maybe Christmas.    There’s always tomorrow.

Last-Minute-Shoppers    I’m not much of a Black Friday shopper.  I’m more of an early bird shopper a little at a time, slowly filling up the linen closet with gifts and checking them off my list.  I start sometime after the kids go back to school.  Boring I know but it gets the job done and I don’t stand out in the cold waiting to roll in the door with the throngs and possibly get a black eye all over a couple of dollars saved.  Where’s the fun in that?

My local YMCA http://www.enidymca.org/ always has a “Work Your Turkey Off” day on Black Friday and that sounded like a better idea than shopping.  Starting at 8:30 on Friday morning after Thanksgiving they offered Body Pump, Cycling, Boot Camp,  Zumba, or Yoga.  Each class lasted an hour each.  Everyone was welcome at no cost to members or non-members.  What a great opportunity!  Why go out in the cold and fight with shoppers when you could work out with friends?  I chose Yoga, 10:45 in Studio B.  It should be easy enough, much more so than fighting shoppers.

The instructor, Julie, told me that Yoga wasn’t for sissies.  She was right.  She seemed like such a sweet little person concerned about her students.  Did I saw students?  First of all I was the only person crazy enough to show up for class still digesting from the day before.  The room was dark and the music soothing.  So why were my thighs trembling and sweat running down my face in rivers?  Because Yoga ain’t for sissies!  I twisted and turned and stood on only one leg like a stork.  And then she gave me time for the Child’s Pose.  Ahhhhh.   Now back to standing on the other leg, now twist, now turn and switch!  download

When we were finished I lay on my back with my legs in the air up against a wall and the kind instructor put blankets over my bare feet and under my arms to warm them.  She talked her way through my body instructing each area to relax.  I’ve never fallen asleep with my legs in the air, but it almost happened.  When I finally did get up I felt relaxed, rejuvenated and that turkey hangover headache was gone.  Thanks Julie!

What did you do for Black Friday this week?

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013: NO. 45

Posted on November 25, 2013 by peggylchambers

cornucopia-thanksgiving    Cornucopias represent bounty and my life is full of bounty this week.

I’m back to having more time on my hands again just in time for the holidays.  Being semi-retired can be confusing.  This week after finishing a couple of months working for a young mother on maternity leave I suddenly realized I could write again, so I began a new novel.  Young Adult this time.  Something I wanted to try for some time.  I am so thankful to have the opportunity to do both, work at the office and work from home.  My great boss seems to know I am having trouble letting go and sometimes he needs extra help, so we support each other.

I received a great honor this week when I heard from my publisher that the art work on my finished novel had begun.  I was blown away with the expertise of his craft.  I hope my writing can stand up to the fantastic art that accompanies it.   I can’t wait to tell you more about this project in the months ahead.

I am so thankful to have my family in for the holidays this week.  I’m thankful for the food and the warm homes where we will eat it.  We have so many people with different places to go; we’ll have to have two dinners this year. Oh no!

I’m also thankful for the gym to work some of those calories off afterwards.  So, let the feasting begin!!!

What are you thankful for this week?

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myOGEpower and SmartHours

Posted on November 18, 2013 by peggylchambers

steaming cocoa   Jack Frost is on the way, a time of afghans, hot cocoa and fireplaces.  You can’t avoid winter but you can avoid giant energy bills.  Have online access to your energy usage with #myOGEpower and watch when you use the most energy in your home.  It will help you find ways to reduce your energy costs.   Keeping track of when you use the most energy helps most customers reduce their energy costs.  Go to http://www.ogepet.com/programs/myogepower.aspx  and sign up so you can watch when you use the most energy and find ways to save money.

#SmartHours is over for 2013, but if you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to sign up for #SmartHours in 2014.  The #SmartHour program extends from June 1st to September 30th but, if you sign up now, you can receive a free SmarTemp Thermostat; one of the best digital thermostats on the market today.  And on average #SmartHours customer save 20% or more than those without.  Sign up now for more energy savings next summer. Check out the OG & E #SmartHours program at   http://www.oge.com/residential-customers/products-and-services/Pages/SmartHoursCommunicationsCenter.aspx

OG&E has many new ideas to reduce your energy consumption like SmartHours, myOGpower and the Home Energy Efficiency Program (HEEP).  Just go to http://oge.com/environment/EnergyEfficiency/Pages/EnergyEfficiency.aspx and check out the new ideas for consuming less energy and saving money.  And be sure to follow them on Twitter @OGandE or like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OGEpower.

Compensation for this post was provided by OG&E.  Opinions expressed here are my own.

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013: NO. 44

Posted on November 11, 2013 by peggylchambers

menonite 3   Every year before Thanksgiving, Enid hosts The Mennonite Relief Sale http://reliefsales.mcc.org/sales/oklahoma-mennonite-relief-sale.  They are held all over the country but we are lucky enough to have one in our community.

I always find wonderful crafts, books, food and the pies are to die for!  A lot of people go just for the pies to put in the freezer for the holidays.  Just after lunch on Saturday the pie counter had a sign that read “450 pies sold this year, get here early!”  Obviously I didn’t get any pie.  I did eat bratwurst and New Year’s cookies (a lot like doughnut holes).  Menonite 1

And then there were the quilts. My mother used to quilt and I saw how much time and effort went into them.  They were auctioned off to the public. Some of these quilts went for over $4700.00 each, all for a good cause; education around the world, disaster relief, and many other projects to help people in need.  menonite 2

Menonite 5   The homemade ice cream, not hand cranked but machine cranked outdoors in large batches and then sold inside, had people lined up across the building.    Menonite 4

I always make time on the first weekend in November.  Come join us next year or attend one in your area.    

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013: NO. 43

Posted on November 4, 2013 by peggylchambers

Cultural center 1    Two weekends ago the family and I went to the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulfur, Oklahoma (http://www.chickasawculturalcenter.com/?gclid=CMDI_PbuyLoCFUhk7Aod33cAuA).  It was such a wonderful center full of artifacts, art (by great Oklahoma artists like Mike Larsen), Cultural center 2   (http://www.larsenstudio.com/) and more information that you could possibly soak up in a weekend.  And the food was wonderful too! This was the weekend of the OU Homecoming and we were on I-35 with everyone else.  And it rained.  No, it poured!  I understand the game was postponed for a while.  But if you had been in Sulfur, you would have needed an ark. We ran between buildings to make sure we could see everything but the one thing we missed out on, because we’re not fond of getting wet, was the village that was set up down the hill – where all the water was running.    cultural center 3

I thoroughly enjoyed the short film on ceremonial mounds used as calendars that have been found around the country.  They were built by the Native American people that lived there centuries ago before the Europeans came to this continent.  The theme of the center is that the Chickasaw people are still alive and well and living in Oklahoma.  They celebrate their rich culture and want to share it with everyone.  cultural center 4

I would love to go back someday and experience the center again when the weather cooperates.  My daughter and I make a “girls weekend” trip every year and think that may be the place next year.  There is a hotel in Sulfur called “The Artisan” (http://artesianhotel.com/) with massages and shops that might allow us to stay and then enjoy all the treasures that southern Oklahoma has to offer.

Just another great Oklahoma weekend!

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OG&E’s FanPower Program

Posted on October 27, 2013 by peggylchambers

ok_wind_2_30429a     Power derived from the use of wind turbines has been around for centuries.  In Persia (now known as Iran) windmills were used as early as 200 B.C. to run machines that ground grain or drew water from wells.    In 1887 the first recorded wind turbine used to charge a battery was created by a Scottish academic James Blyth to light his home in Scotland.

Today, wind farms dot the skyline all across rural areas and are a renewable source of energy for your home and business.  Everything old is new again!

As a residential OG& E customer, you can sign up for wind powered energy.  Your home can be powered with wind energy for as little as 25%, 50% or even 100% of your electricity usage just by signing up.  And after all, this is Oklahoma “where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.” The wind is blowing most of the time.

To get your enthusiasm up and running for wind power, OG & E is hosting a contest.  #FanPower could win you tickets to either OU or OSU football games. Just sign up for wind power and then tell your friends and family about the program.  Ask them to sign up too and you could win tickets to the games.  Go to http://www.ogepet.com/fanpower  to check out the #FanPower possibilities.

OG&E has many new ideas to reduce your energy consumption like SmartHours, myOGpower and their Home Energy Efficiency Program (HEEP).  Just go to http://oge.com/environment/EnergyEfficiency/Pages/EnergyEfficiency.aspx and check out the new ideas for consuming less energy and saving money.  You’ll be glad you did. Be sure to follow them on Twitter @OGandE or like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OGEpower.

Compensation for this post was provided by OG&E.  Opinions expressed here are my own.

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013: NO. 42

Posted on October 21, 2013 by peggylchambers

image001     Autumn has a special feel.  It is a wonderful time of year that never lasts long enough.  Every year I marvel at the colors, the crispness in the air and the fact that I can drag out my sweaters again!  I mean is there a better outfit in the universe than jeans and a sweater (unless it’s jeans and a sweatshirt).

But, the feelings I get from fall are restful.  The harvest is ready to be brought in and winter is right around the corner.  It is time for cuddling by the fire and not working as hard as you did in the hot summer months.

Okay, we’re not farmers and we don’t work out in the heat hoping and praying for every drop of rain, but  even city folks like fall.  Some like it so much they wind fake leaves around light poles downtown to celebrate until Mother Nature takes care of the real thing.  At least they do in Enid.  Fall leaves

There’s something about the cooling down of the heat baked summer that brings out the kid in all of us.  Raking the fallen leaves (we have a gas powered leaf-blower, blow them into a pile and run over them with a rear-bagged lawn mower) and jumping in them afterwards so you have to do it again is still fun, even though it increases your workload.

Autumn makes me want to go knit a sweater and I don’t knit.  Or maybe some mittens.  Maybe I need to learn.

I love fall.  Go jump in a pile of leaves.  Maybe your neighbors.

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013: NO 41

Posted on October 14, 2013 by peggylchambers

legal   I have the greatest job in the world.  In the last few years I have found myself unemployed twice through no fault of my own.  I worked at the local Air Force Base for fifteen years before my job disappeared one day.  They no longer need me or my boss.  We were shown the gate as they took our contract.

Then I went to work for an oil and gas company that left town without me after two and one-half years.

I’m too young to retire and too old to hire, evidently.  However, not everyone felt that way.  I’m working in the legal field again after a twenty plus year hiatus.  I’ve dusted off the paralegal certificate I busted my hump to get while working and raising teenagers, and I’m back in the saddle again.  Part time and temporary.  I’m filling in for someone on maternity leave, but have been assured they will need me now and then and maybe full time someday.

I recently felt like someone was trying to tell me something by pulling the rug out from underneath me so often.  When I was down, I always fell back into my writing and I have a couple of publishing contracts.  So, I think it was worth it.

However, back to the greatest job in the world; I work for the best legal team in the universe.  Not that they always kick butt and take names in the courtroom (sometimes they do), but because they are the best bunch of people I have worked with in a long time.  They care about each other and the people they represent.  They are an eclectic bunch and as a writer I see fodder for my next novel.  They love the fact that I write and applaud my efforts.  My boss’s wife has even become a beta reader for me.  I think I am right where I need to be.  I don’t make much money, but I have time for my craft and I am practicing being retired.

A few years ago, I began to wonder what I would do if I retired with no hobbies, and writing came back around to embrace me.  Now I have time for it, and I am making a go of a hobby that might make a second career (or third, or . . .).

What do you do for a living?  Is it just a way to make ends meet or do you love what you do?  Let me know.  We’ll discuss it.

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013: NO. 40

Posted on October 7, 2013 by peggylchambers

bottles    A few months ago I posted a blog about old friends being the best.  My husband’s friend had a milestone birthday and his family gave him a surprise party.  This weekend, my BFF from high school had a craft show (and cleaned out some closets) so I helped her.  Actually, it was an excuse to just hang out, visit, eat lunch, and drink her coffee.

You know you have a great friendship when you can just pick back up like the decades haven’t passed, and giggle about the same things you always did.  We haven’t aged, only our bodies have.  She looked at the pictures on my phone and said, “Who are the old people, are they our age?”  They were.  But,I came to a conclusion,  a soul doesn’t age, it’s only the body that ages.  Souls stay the same – at least the good ones do.

Martha is a wonderful, crafty person.  She creates crafts most people never think of. (https://www.facebook.com/FlonniesGirls) And it helps that she has a huge craft room of her own where she can work.  I write on the love seat in the living room.  I guess as long as your muse can find you, it all works out.

She and her husband are living the dream.  They work from home, are obvious soul mates, and their home is their castle.  She cooks, gardens, and crafts while her husband, Mike, paints and sculpts in his studio http://www.larsenstudio.com/.  And they still allowed me to interrupt their idyllic life for a few hours.    wine bottle garden

I filled the back seat of my car with crafts before leaving and she barely allowed me to pay her.  But, she’ll find a little something extra in her knitting basket when she looks.  When I asked if it was okay to blog about our day together she said yes, as long as I didn’t mention the discussion on our bra sizes.  Mum’s the word, Martha.  Thanks for the great day; we need to do it more often.

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WAYS TO KEEP YOUR HOME COOL IN THE SUMMER

Posted on September 28, 2013 by peggylchambers

Electricity-Prices   If you live in Oklahoma, and I do, you noticed a big change in the weather this summer as opposed to the last two.  It rained! And consequently it was much cooler.  That meant my lawn didn’t burn up, the water rationing was a little less stringent, and I used less electricity to cool my house this year than last.  That was good for my pocketbook and everyone’s energy usage.

Our OG&E bill is on the Average Billing cycle, but I know I spent less this summer than the last one.  There are only two people living in my house these days  – no teenage kids taking marathon showers using all the hot water, all the while keeping every electrical appliance in the house running at once – but we still use our fair share of electricity.

There are ways to save electricity whether the Oklahoma summer cooperates or not. At my husband’s insistence (and SOMETIMES he’s right) I shut the blinds throughout the house when the temps were expected to climb above 95° during the day.  They were closed before I left for work in the morning and they stayed that way all day.  It is amazing how much heat can come through those original 1980 windows that have not been replaced. Everyone knows it is cooler in the shade than it is in the sun.  Even though I love the great outdoors, no one was at home to look out those windows during the day anyway, so why not?  I could always open the blinds once it became cooler in the evening.

OG&E has many new ways to reduce your energy consumption like SmartHours, myOGpower and their Home Energy Efficiency Program (HEEP).  Just go to http://oge.com/environment/EnergyEfficiency/Pages/EnergyEfficiency.aspx and check out the new ideas for consuming less energy and saving money.  You’ll be glad you did. Be sure to follow them on Twitter @OGandE or like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OGEpower.

What innovative ideas have you come up with to save energy in your home?  I welcome your comments.  I’m always ready and willing to learn something new.

Compensation for this post was provided by OG&E.  Opinions expressed here are my own.

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