Writing and a Break With a Buffalo

March 9, 2012Katie

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It’s Friday evening and I just sent off my first deadline rough draft.  Over the past month, I’ve written exactly 26,053 words about the fabulous dining scene in Oklahoma City. I’ve written about 190 restaurants.


Yes, you heard me, I said ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY restaurants! (And Farmer’s Markets, specialty shops, etc.).

The scary news is, I’ve dined at all of them. Mercy goodness. Now it all makes sense…the weight gain, the dreams about creme brulee.  All of it.

During that time, we’ve had new windows and doors put in our house, a child has moved out, we’ve welcomed a new grandchild, nursed my two guys through the flu, caught and lived the flu myself and I’ve continued to work a full time job, do a weekly TV segment and try to balance and juggle home and family life.

You know that song “I Am Woman?”

I detest that song. The woman that song was written for is probably sitting somewhere armed with a straight jacket in a quiet padded cell.

I don’t really enjoy bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan.  My dream is to write and to only write for my one job…and I hope someday to do just that. But the past few weeks have been immensely pleasurable when writing. Sadly, I haven’t written much on here, but I’ve wanted to, and I will again as I can.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this madness,  I drove out to the Lazy W Ranch to meet with a remarkable group of Oklahoma women bloggers.  It really was such a breath of fresh air in a sea of insanity for me.

I wanted to introduce our little group to you. All of them so lovely and so talented in their own special way. We were a vastly diverse group but all with a common love…to blog.

Kelly  from Red Dirt Chronicles.  She writes so beautifully. I love to go to her page and relax. She also has a diverse blog of writers and subjects.

Sonya from Beyond the Screen Door. She is a decorator and I wish I was her in another life.

Laura from The Steen Style.  Beautiful, funny and stylish, she too is a decorator and make over queen…if I keep hanging out with these girls, I may get some style!

Rose from Rose Rock Oklahoma.  I was so excited to finally meet my friend Rose! She has done so much to connect me to great sights and facts about Oklahoma while writing my book.

Brooke from Rural Gone Urban. She is not a mommy blogger but she is doggone cute and funny. I can’t wait to get to know her better!

Dee from Red Dirt Ramblings I’ve been following her blog and her tweets for a year about gardening and suddenly realized, “OH MY GOSH! I just ate lunch with her yesterday!” Gardeners, you will love Dee!

Allison from Refunk My Junk. I want her to come and remake my house..and show where she gets her cool finds!

Marie from The Lazy W. Our hostess for the day.

Marie is organically beautiful and lives among chickens and horses. Marie’s kitchen walls are chalkboard painted which I adored.

I wonder what my family would write on the walls? That could be a whole psych study case at some point in time!

Anyway, Maria  is just a lovely lady!  (and she isn’t afraid to pick up a goose!) I know her eyes were shut, but for gosh sakes…she’s holding M.I.A., who pecked at my boots the entire day!

I found the ranch, thanks to my trusty GPS Martha.

Marie’s directions were to ” look for the yard with the baby buffalo in it”.  It wasn’t hard to spot. I think I was expecting something….smaller?

And there were these guys…what are these?

And roosters and chickens and …a parrot in a cage that I swear hollered something about Mickey Mouse at me when I walked by.

But the star of the show was M.I.A.

 I came a little late and missed the story of M.I.A.’s name but I think it stood for Most Inquisitive Animal because it didn’t want to leave us alone for a second.  Marie shared that it had joined her and her husband in the hot tub that morning.  But M.I.A.? He realllly loved Rose.
Everyone brought food and we headed into Marie’s lovely ranch house to eat lunch and yak, like all good bloggers like to do.
We introduced ourselves and we talked about blogging, and the challenges and the rewards and what we had questions about.
It was like AA meets a book club! I mean that in the best way! For those of you who write or blog know that getting out our thoughts into print or web version means a whole list of possibilities, mixing it with real life and having goals and dreams that only each other can relate to and understand.I felt right at home with Dee, who casually snapped pictures in the middle of conversation, JUST LIKE I DO!

I am blessed to have had a little time out of my maniacal themed life right now to have had a walk in the country with these “red dirt” women of Oklahoma.  I am looking forward to our next meeting.

And M.I.A.?

I think he has a “Rose crush”.

He hated to see her go as much as I did!

Tomorrow I am going to Tulsa to eat at 13 restaurants on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.   Just a taste from each place…but still.

Glad my hotel has a treadmill.

6 Comments

  • Red Dirt Kelly

    March 9, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    Katie, I loved the photos. Very nice job...this has been fun to read the various perspectives of the day. Lovely!
  • Fran J

    March 9, 2012 at 8:31 pm

    Katie, those grey polka-dotted animals were gienea hens (sp). We used to have some in our yard when I was a kid My mother used to collect their feathers to sew in feather leis/hat bands she made for my father. .
  • Marie at The Lazy W

    March 9, 2012 at 9:49 pm

    Oh my gosh. I have never cared so little about bad pictures, because they come with a GREAT story. LOL! Katie, I am really glad you were there, I so enjoyed meeting you and am inspired by all of your many projects and how gracefully you seem to handle everything. Best wishes on every details of your book. I can't wait to get my hands on it!
  • kelli parker-Rohla

    March 10, 2012 at 7:24 am

    loved these pictures looks like my place we have 1 of everything here. The 2 birds were guinees, we have about 13 here. what a great looking group, how fun, thanks for the pictures. Have a great Day! Kelli
  • Dee/reddirtramblings

    March 10, 2012 at 9:08 am

    Your write-up was wonderful. No wonder you've been writing a book these past months. Can't wait to read it when it comes out. I loved meeting every single one of you. So nice to talk to Oklahoma bloggers. I'm usually talking to gardeners and landscapers all over the U.S. Here, it felt like home. Thanks for the shot of me shooting. I love that one.~~Dee
  • Rose Marie B

    March 12, 2012 at 10:53 pm

    Loved this post so much! Your photos are gorgeous and it was so nice to finally meet you in person. Not that I'm a groupie or anything... Love, Rose

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