Patio furniture.

We finally bought patio furniture! I have been waiting for 3 years to buy patio furniture for our backyard and the other day we did. Yippeee! We tracked down the set we wanted after intense investigation into what store offered the best deal at the Target on White Bridge Road. Ian was uncertain that the box would fit in the car but me in my optimism felt sure we could make it work. This is what we did.

There's no place like home?

Where is my home? I live in Nashville, London, sometimes Tulsa. When asked where I am from i always say Oklahoma but I haven't lived in OKlahoma in about 5 years and before that I was rarely there.
We have returned back to our "home" in Nashville after a fun filled, sick feeling, successful tour with the D? boys and there wives and kids. 14 kids on the road ranging from 7 months to 15 years. Wow. How nice it is to not hear a child crying for a few days. We had a fun and stayed married and are not wanting kids anytime soon. Here are few pics from the road.

Smooch

Time flies when you are blogging.

I just realized it is my one year anniversary of blogging. Wow it has been a wild ride. I wish you could order your blogs in a book format. I guess I could print them out and put them in a book if my printer was working properly.
i noticed as I was perusing my previous blogs that the comments have dropped to an all time low. Just wondering if you could let me know how much you enjoy the blog, what you would like to see more of, etc.

Happy blogiversary!

xxx

In the studio w/ Jeremy Bose

Bigger than Dallas

While in Tulsa I decided to get my hair done before I returned to Nashville to see Ian. I looked up the "nicest" salon in Tulsa and made an appointment with a "master" stylist. 3 hours and $200 later I left the salon looking like an secretary from the 80's hit TV drama Dallas. Luckily Heather was working next door and I ran next door barely containing my laughter to show Heather my new do. After a good laugh and the photos I wondered over to American Eagle and glanced in the well lit mirrors to admire my new giant hair. Only to find my roots were a lovely yellowey orange. Man I was pissed! I marched back over there demanding my money back, well some of my money back. BUt of course the yuppy stuck up salon said they would fix it. Whatever. The next day I decided I did not want to spend my last day in Tulsa at the salon. I have my priorities ya know. Early in the morning I went up and informed the young cute receptionist that I just wanted a refund and that was that. To make a very long and frustrating story shorter and less frustrating they refunded me some money and I applied a toner to my orange roots that calmed them down a bit. So the moral of this story is never go to Marylyn Ilhoff's in Tulsa to get your hair done!

Football in the Park

Football in the Park
Originally uploaded by Mizzie.

The day was beautiful, the park was busy, the football was fun, the swarming plague of little nats was annoying. The other day Heather and I took Maxwell to the park to play gently tackle football and play on the playground. As we played we were serenaded by a mexican percussion band with more cowbell then necessary. I did not need more cowbell. I love the weather this time of year and being in Tulsa holds so many memories for me. I have seen pictures of myself playing in this same park, at the same time of yea,r at the same age that Max is. The song memories is playing in my mind as I write this. Being there with my favorite nephew my favorite twin friend what more could I ask for. Oh, I know being there without the crazy amount of bugs sticking to my clothes and flying into my eyes and mouth. Yuck.

Click on the photo for more.

Sleepover at the Aquarium

Sleepover at the Aquarium
Originally uploaded by Mizzie.

On Friday night my Mom, Max, and I stayed over at the Oklahoma Aquarium in Tulsa. Most of my friends and Ian thought I was crazy to want to spend the night in an aquarium sleeping on a concrete floor. I on the other hand saw it as a unique opportunity to spend some quality time with my Mom and Max doing something I have never done before. The evening started slow and although I had been extremely excited about it I had to try hard to stay interested in the hula dancers and bad puppet show. Thankfully they didn't last long and we started craft time making fish frames.
Max was a little ill so he surprisingly went to bed at around 8:00pm. A little disappointed Mom and walked around and looked at all the fish checking on Max often. I enjoyed the time with my Mommy. She is a fun lady. Max woke up in full effect at about 10:00pm just in time for the flash light walk through of the tanks. They turned off all the lights and we got to look in all the tanks using our flash lights. I can't believe how much I enjoyed this. I usually rush through museums and exhibits but this way I took my time and soaked it all in. Max really liked it. We finally went to sleep at about 1:00am. I did not realize how hard concrete is to sleep on. My little egg crate sponge was little defense against the hardness. I made it through with only a little bit of stiffness. At 6:30am they turned on the fish tank lights. My Mom enjoyed laying in her sleeping bag looking at the fish peacefully swimming around. We went out for breakfast avoiding the sugary sweets they provided at Breakfast By Day. By the time we got home I was exhausted. I laid down in MAx's bed while he told Melanie about the evening and woke up 4 hours later. Max stayed up all day. All in all I had a wonderful time. I hope Max remembers the night he stayed at the Aquarium with Aunt Missy and Nana.

Click on the photo to look at more on my Flickr site.

Saturday Night at The Down Lounge

Last Saturday my sister, Grant, Sarah, Heather, and I went out to a poetry and singer song writer night and then headed off to a club night put on by one of Melanie and Grants friends. The night is called The Down Lounge. The music was house, the air was smoke free, the company was fun, fun, fun.

The Powderpuff Girls

Some of you may have heard that when in London I work as a Powderpuff Girl. Most of you wonder what this means and what do I do. Well let me explain. The Powderpuff Girls is a company that sends out professional makeup artists to posh parties to do makeup for the guests. If you are interested you can read more by clicking on the bold type title. Here are a couple of photos of me as a Powderpuff Girl.




Mom and Heather take a look at my knobbily knees. Do I win the contest?

Normal Heather

Heather
Originally uploaded by elvisripley.

I have freakishly long arms.

Heather
Originally uploaded by elvisripley.

This is a photo that Elvis took of Heather that went awry. She really does look like me especially if you compare the picture in which her arms a normal length.

Maybe I should look for a support group online for people like me.

Friday Night at the Lipstick Lounge

Friday night Ian, Tom, and I decided we wanted to go out. We had a nice dinner at home and called all our Nashville friends to see if anyone wanted to join us for a big night of dancing and fun. After two phone calls we realized we don't have many Nashville friends and the ones we do have are on the road or like staying home on Friday night. Coming to grips with the fact that the big night out would just be the three of us we made a collective decision to venture to unknown territory close to home....the mythical Lipstick Lounge. Located only a few blocks from our house the Lipstick Lounge has been a source of humor and mystery in our family for a couple of years now. One desperate night about a year ago a gang of us tried to enter into the cosmetic wonderland only to get to the door and see the Lipstick Ladies were taking the night off. As Tom so eloquently put it " the Gays must have night off." Yes the Lipstick Lounge is a predominatly Gay hang out mainly for lesbians, but lots of straight folk go there too and Friday night we found out why......Rhonda and Jonda (and the Lipstick Lounge house band). Rhonda and Jonda are identical twins in their late 50's with more soul in their voices than manliness in their looks. These bleach blonde, short haired, tie wearing, white girls can sing and the band was fantastic. They were so good that after a few Gin and Tonics Tom thought he would try his luck dancing with the locals.




"Hey I'm Tom I am going to dance with these local ladies!"

Hey Ladies would you like to dance with me...Tom Redman?"



"No? Oh you would rather dance with each other? What not me? What about me?"



"Please I have come to your hang out seeking sport from the ladies. Look I will un botton my shirt for you."

She said yes! Yay! I am Tom.

Put me in Coach

We have a brand new nick name for our little Tommy....Coach. He came to work the other day, which means he rolled out of bed and walked down stairs -traffic is real nightmare, wearing a wonderful new look I like to call Coach chic. It was a free shirt his brother had received and on realizing its magnitude passed it on to his "little" bro.
I think he's listening to the big game on his head phones. I have to be careful or he might make me to some push ups.

Still Looking

For those of you keeping up with the continuing saga of No House in the City here is an update. We still have not found a house in either city we are looking in...London or Nashville. Well that is not entirely true we have found a house in Nashville and put in an offer only to be outbid by someone else. Once again. We have been driving by the house almost everyday asking God to give it to us if it is His will. So we shall see. Other than that is life as usual at the Cattle house hold.

My friend Donella got engaged the other night at her 30th Birthday Party. It was amazing to be there and be a part of such a special moment. She had no idea it was coming.

It is frickin' freezing!

Holy £$%^ it is so cold. I think at one point today my face actually froze, it was so cold I could not move it. Crazy feeling. I spent most of today viewing flats in London. I lost the feeling in my toes about halfway through the day and am just know regaining feeling. Yikes! No great news on flats, but things are looking up. The good news is flats in London are much nicer than houses and flats out here. The bad news is the streets are unpredictable. YOu can have a bad street in a good area and a good street in a bad area. So the search continues.

The temperature gage in my car said -1.5 when I was driving Tom and his friend John to Berkhamstead so they could get drunk to fight off the cold. No wonder everyone drinks here it is the only way to stay warm or just stay numb to the pain. Seriously I have never been this cold. While waiting for an estate agent I had a vision of me falling to the floor into the fetal position and freezing there to the cement with little icicles hanging from my nose and eyelashes. I almost started screaming when I was walking back to the station. I would never survive the arctic. BUUURRRRR!

Please God help me find a house!

On the train to London.



This little boy, who looks like he is from another time, brought me some joy today as I walked behind him watching him skip.


It has come to this. I am asking for prayer. Something I do not do. The reason? I never feel like my needs are that important to ask others to take time out of their day to ask the Almighty, who definitely has bigger things on His mind, to help me with my pathetic, little, usually selfish needs. But today I have spent 6 hours in London looking at 3 properties of which none suited. I went into 2 estate agents offices to be told they were too busy for me but they could squeeze me in later this week. No one seems to want to help me find a property. My gut feeling, which is quite demoralizing, is that #1 - I am American, and #2 - I am not spending enough money to earn their time. I could be wrong. Maybe they are just really busy. But I just want to find a house, buy it, not have anyone gussump us, and move in. Is that too much to ask? Now I know some of you must be thinking "MIssy, your are so picky. MAybe you should lower your standards and you will find somewhere." And to that I say you are right. But I like being picky. And I know how much money we are spending and I want what I want. That sounds harsh, but hopefully you know what I mean. So I am asking from the bottom of my heart, whatever that means, for to say a little prayer for my house buying venture. It is a big mean world out there and I could use all the help I can get. Thanks. xxx

Family Ties

Ian and I are back in Nashville after a happening time in Tulsa. The longer I am away the more I hate leaving that crazy little town. I am missing the everyday life with my family so much it hurts inside my tummy. Especially Maxwell. When I am with him I cannot imagine how it is to love your own child. I truly cannot fathom loving a little human more than I love him. My heart literally aches with joy when he laughs and smiles. My sister keeps saying how alike Max and I are. She is right. I hope that the close relationship we have now continues for the rest of our lives. I miss him so much.

Bling Bling

Ian & I finally got our wedding rings cleaned. When we bought them the jewelers recommended we get them done twice a year. Unfortunately the jewelers is located in Kansas City, Kansas. Bluh. So we try to get them done every Christmas when we are home in Tulsa. Last year this did not happen hence our rings looked more like stainless steel than the shiny beauties they are meant to be.

Happy New Year!

IMG_2529.JPG
Originally uploaded by Mizzie.

Another New Year in Tulsa. I have questioned spending the last two New Year's in Tulsa when we live in London. I think why am I here when I could be in a fabulous city doing something crazy but then I think about the people I am going to be with...my sister and Grant..Heather...my family and feel are warm and fuzzy and then Tulsa seems much cooler and London seems very far away and extremely cold. Besides Tulsa has some wicked little clubs and bars. And Tulsa brings out the dancer in Ian, something that doesn't happen any where else. This year he managed to drink himself into thinking he was John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever. For once I had to stop dancing before he did. He was crazy! I loved it. Happy New Year to all. Peace and love.

Belated Birthday

IMG_2455.JPG
Originally uploaded by Mizzie.

We had a belated Birthday party for me in Tulsa at Tei Kei's. They have this fabulous party room with magnificent antique doors apparently from China. Wow.

IMG_2451.JPG

IMG_2451.JPG
Originally uploaded by Mizzie.

The weather in Tulsa was crazy warm. I loved it! Even Ian was impressed. He is not easily impressed with anything about America. I love warm, warm , warm, warm.

Kowabunga dude!

Max and I dressed as Ingine turtles (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) the other day and went out to eat at Q'doba. We had so much fun playing. Ian was a little embarrassed when we walked into the restaurant so to make him more comfortable we took off our masks but we left our shells on.


From Max: Aunt Missy dressed as an Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. And both of us had shells. And hmmm playing ninja Turtle games. And having fun being a Ninja turtle. That's it!

Note: All the Ninja parts are pronounced ingine by Max.

God Bless America

How much do I love America? Where else can you have a huge bowl of a frozen margarita, a giant corn chip the size of my hand, and a massive bowl of guacamole? I don't know but I do know you can get that in Tulsa, OK. Yummy for my tummy. I am on my usual mexican food marathon and loving every salsa dipped moment of it. Thank the Lord for Tex-mex.

Playing Catch Up...

Delirious? bought Ian noise canceling Bose headphones for Christmas. He loves them.



I have freakishly long arms...Go, Go Gadget arms.

Max loves Texas Football. He hasn't taken off this outfit since Christmas.

I am in Tulsa, OK. To be precise Owasso, OK. A brown wasteland with lots of big shops. I can't believe how much Owasso has grown since I was last here.

Since I last posted I have been to the Delirious? Christmas party, flown over the atlantic, had my first Christmas eve party at my sister's house and my first christmas morning not at my Mom's house. Well besides the time I was England for Christmas. I really don't have much to say about all the festivities...Lots of food, drink, and fun. I will add photo's and hopefully they will tell the story.

Merry Christmas! and I Happy New year.

Birthday Photo's

I have been trying to load my birthday picture's for two days now and it is just not happening. Not sure what the problem is and it is kinda pissing me off. Ian has left for about 5 days and tomorrow is our 3 year anniversary. Aaawwww poor us we don't get to be together on our anniversary. Oh well. I think we will survive.

I am having a focus issue today. I need to decide what I need to do and when. I am distracted by the fact that we have sold our flat and we haven't found one to buy. Bluh. I have kinda given up looking until next year.

Getting ready to go to the States very exciting!

Nothing else to really say. LAters.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Merryish Christmas Service.

I am slowly recovering from my computer drama. It does seem like everyday there is some new thing I have to download, write new, or change.

Yesterday was the Carol Service at St. Mary's which was nice, but I was a bit jaded because they did not call me to be in the choir. I had contacted the church about a month ago about being in the choir and had an email saying sure thing and they would call me and let me when the auditions were. Next thing I know I talk to my friend Mairi and she tells me she is singing in the choir in the carol service. I have not heard a word about it. Well I was a bit upset and decided to boycott the service as a result. My conscious got the better of me and when I was asked to help with the make-up I did. A little disgruntled I showed up at the church and waited for about an hour till the actor showed up and did a Panto make-up for King Herrod. Ian saved seats in the auditorium and when I was finished with the fabulous make-up application I sat down to find my view of the stage was blocked by a christmas candle chandelier. Oh well. It was a nice service ending with a great version of Joy to the World, my favorite Christmas song. The wonderfully joyous song was ruined slightly by the boring English people next to me who had no inclination to join in the song, the clapping or even a little swaying. Note to England.....singing Joy to the World is fun! Clapping is fun. Where is your Joy?

After the service we headed to see the movie I have been most excited about this year.....The Chronicles of Narnia.....The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. We caught the 8:30 showing. I have to say I was a little disappointed with the casting. Aslan was fab, Tumnus spot on, but the kids were losers. Such pansies. And I think the boys were gay. Not that i have a problem with that, but they weren't in the book. Lucy was a good cast thank goodness she saved the show. It is worth seeing but I would recommend reading the book before you go so you will know what is going on. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

I am going crazy!!!

AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! Seriously, I am so annoyed and feeling sick to my stomach and have been for a few days now. As you can see I have not been online recently and the reason is a booting up problem. Well that is what I was told. So I trustingly (probably not a word) sent my little baby and life line away to Applecare naively thinking they would take care of her. What a dummy I am. On Monday she returned just a shadow of her former self. All my info, pictures, emails, music and all my software had been erased. The shock and horror flooded my veins slowly as I desperately tried to find something familiar. UUGH. This horrible feeling was followed by quite a few cuss words. The real bad ones. I couldn't help it they came out like vomit.

It has been a few days and the horror has lessened and the cussing vomit has slowed down but the frustration is building. I managed to get apple to send me some software and the music store refunded my purchased music but the time and effort it takes to load everything back on is pissing me off. I want to be writing my book and I am haveing to wait for iwork to arrive and then i have to load it and then i have to figure it out since I am used to using word. Crap.

I am trying to get my emails to download into the apple mail app but it won't work so I am having to check my emails, three email accounts, online. How archaic. I know I should not be this upset so I am keeping my public display of annoyance to a minimum. For example I went to the salon the other day to get my hair done- something I have just realized I will be doing every 5 weeks for the rest of my life-and was there for about 3 or 4 hours. In that time I did not mention my computer drama once. I focused on more positive things like Christmas and going home. I think God was testing my patience that day. For some reason other than my lack of natural cushion my bum starts really hurting after sitting in the chair for more than an hour. When it came time to blow dry my hair, the time I am usually ready to run out of the salon screaming from boredom and a sore ass, I was sent to an intern to do the job. Now I have no problems with people learning but when it comes at my expense I guess i do. I think I could have walked home in the time he took to meticulously dry, shape, and style my hair. I am telling you I almost ripped the dryer out of his hand, pointed in his face to distract him and made a run for it. But fortunately i resigned to making subtle faces that said I am ready to go, please stop, I am just going to go home and wash it anyway. I guess he received my messages because he soon stopped and I was released form my stone chair and hot air prison. Hallelujah!

Other than that I am good. Ian has just returned from a grueling tour in South Africa only to leave again on Friday. No worries though. I have to finish my Christmas shopping and when I say finish i mean start. Trying to think of helpful, ethical gifts is doing my head in. As soon as i get my iphoto set up again I will post photo's from Thanksgiving and my B-day.

back to the beast that used to be my favorite thing.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my Birthday, it was a big one and if you don't know how old I am then that is fine with me. No just kidding...I am now 30! What a weird thing to say. I received some lovely, sweet cards and each one I read I was like "who is this for? who is 30? It is not mine surley." So aside from the denial I had an amazing time. For some reason though celebrating my birthday in a foreign counrty with out all the usual faces was strange. A bit like a dream. I had to keep remindig myself this is a celebration of your birth. Very strange. Ian arranged the party at a cool little underground club in Marylebone with the best Mojhito's (besides Heather's) and frozen margarita's. Yummy. I drank a birthday shot, my first shot ever (which i will not be repeating amytime soon)that the bartender gave me. As I sat in the little cave we were in looking around at all my new found friends I did feel a sense of peace and joy. They are all such beautiful interesting poeple that made time to hang with me on my day. I am so not worthy of that and am so intensly grateful.
All in all i had an amazing birthday and I hope to have another one in Tulsa with my best friend and family.
I will post some photo's of the big day when my computer is fixed in about aweek. Not sure if anyone even reads these anymore but if you do you can see the photo's then.
Thank you to everyone who called and sent cards and generally made me feel special on the special day. YOu are all amazing and I am overwhelmed by your kindness.

My Mom is so cute.

Not much to say today. Feeling a bit ruff not sure why. This morning I woke up with a head ache,thinking I might have an allergy to alcohol. I only had 1 glass of wine last night with dinner and a few nights ago had a g & t and both days woke up with a head ache. Not sure what is going on. Anyway Tom and I are doing a photo shoot hopefully this week or next week. Waiting on lights from London. Will be posting some of the pictures if they turn out Ok.

Thanksgiving is on Thursday and Ian is cooking. Woohoo. I am in charge of desert and decorations. Thanks goodness for Thanksgiving.

Back in the UK

Click on the title to see photo's of my wonderful Owasso parents visit to the MOtherland.

Guy Fawkes

Saturday night was Guy Fawkes night or Bonfire Night in the UK. Typically there are huge bonfires and Fireworks. Since my boys were away in sunny california lapping up the sunshine I had no one to go out with. Poor me. Don't feel sorry for me yet, because I was invited out by an old acquaintance named Jaci that has moved to London from Nashville. I new her from Raze days and hung out with her a few times in Nashville. We reconnected over My Space and had a fabulous time Sat night. We met for drinks at a cafe on the Thames with some people she new and then watched the amazing and very loud fireworks while we belted out our favorite American songs like The Stars Spangled Banner and You're a Grand 'Ole Flag. It is a good thing Ian wasn't there as you can imagine he hates it when I do that. When I see fireworks it just isn't right with out the right Anthems.

Mom and Ron are here for the week. My Mom is such a paradox that she is English, but has lived in the States so long she seems American and keeps talking about England like she doesn't know it. It is kinda weird, but fun. So the rest of the week wil be spent hosting the Rents around town. So Happy Halloween and Happy Guy Fawkes Day.