Hanging Out in the Sooner State

You would think a trip to Oklahoma would be to my sister's new place but not so much. I'm in Tulsa near Broken Arrow for a conference. The software we use at church has released a new and much improved accounting system and I'm here for training. I've never attended any training for our software...I've just self taught. But this new system is COMPLETELY rewritten and has no resemblance to the current one so I thought I would go to training before converting our data and making the switch. So, I'm sitting in a hotel room, all alone watching TV and catching up on blogs. I might even go to bed early for a change...what else can I do, right?

I saw some funny signs on the way here. The funniest one was a road sign that said "Do Not Drive Into the Smoke." What's that supposed to mean? There was no smoke around. Of course I had no idea where I was and what was around that could potentially create smoke. But don't drive into it people! Another sign said that bridges ice before roads. Now if a Texan knows that shouldn't the drivers in Oklahoma know that without the need for a sign? It does snow and ice in Oklahoma rather often in the winter, right?

Now for something crazy. I experienced "what comes around goes around" on the way here. Before the days of toll tags I used to get so annoyed at the drivers I would have to wait on in front of me at the toll booth who didn't have a clue what they were doing. I don't know how many times I would say, "just run it!" when they couldn't figure out how or what to pay but still wanted to wait for the green light. And with no attendant in sight. Well, that happened to me. Just as I pull up to the booth (mind you I've never ventured in these parts) my phone rings. It's Covenant Kids! The one phone number that I ALWAYS answer no matter what because I don't want to miss the opportunity for a baby. Well, 'no matter what' meant answering as I approached a toll booth in foreign territory. So as I'm talking to her and pulling into the booth I realize there is no attendant. I was hoping to just hand over my money and take care of business not knowing how much the toll even was (never saw a sign!). But that didn't happen. There was a dollar bill taker thing (what are those called anyway?) then a booth with no attendant then a coin bucket. And no sign, that I saw anyway, on how much I was supposed to pay. Mind you I'm still on the phone. And too far away from the bill taker. So I had to undo my seat belt and open the car door while on the phone trying to sound like I'm really paying attention and figure out this money issue. And with a trail of cars behind me. So I stuck a dollar bill in the bill taker thing and no green light. And not another dollar bill; just a $5. I pulled up a little after putting in my money and the green light didn't turn green. So I panicked and just ran the darn thing. I would have to back up anyway to get back to the bill taker thing and I wasn't about to give reverse lights to the car behind me! Can I just add one more fact to this story? It's 5:00pm...when ALL the cars come out to play! Turns out it was just my caseworker wanting to move up the time of our scheduled visit for Thursday because her husband bought them tickets to a ball game. That one could have gone to voicemail!

Oh well, I'm settled in for the night and will be in training ALL DAY Tuesday. I am excited about this training by the way. That's the bean counter in me talking. Then I'm making the 4 1/2 hour trip home following the conference. I should get home around 10pm then up with the birds to pick up Justine from Grandma's house in Pleasant Grove in time to make it back to Murphy to school at 8:00am Wednesday. I'll let you know how that one goes...I'm not very hopeful. We know I'm not an early bird!