WP Basketball: Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

One day last month, I took the boys to bowl, and play in the arcade.  This is one of their most favorite activities, and is the one that eats through $20's like they were bite-size snickers....

So, we pay the machine, and WP steps up to shoot some baskets.  He swishes the first 4, and stays on fire, though a few of them do rattle and bounce in; they still go in.  He does not miss, hits 100% of his shots (probably 20? in a row), and scores the high score on the machine of 45; the previous high score had been 39.

Normally, it is The Natural (o'Mike) that swishes every basket on the shorter goal, but today, WP owned the court (machine), it was his! 

I only have a picture of the machine, as WP refused to pose for a picture.  He was beaming though, and he had his smile on from ear to ear.

He was so happy, and this machine is all he wanted to play after that, but after my $25 gift card had been emptied, he still had not beaten his high score of 45, so we called it a day.  He did great all the other times he did it, but never again pulled off the coop of not missing a basket.  That was one for the ages.

Great shooting WP!  Great shooting.

Duct Tape: Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

Leave it to my Diva's to find designer duct tape at Lowe's.  And guess which kind of Pappy will actually buy it for them if they ask for it?  Duh. Yep, this one.

I take them to Lowe's with me to pick up some Gorilla glue, and I walk out with designer duct tape (and the glue).

My question is this: Why does Lowe's even sell designer duct tape?!  Surely there are not enough Pappy suckers out there that purchase this so frequently that it requires inventory refills.

And, on the same day . . . of course food was involved for my sweeties.  Emma Jo here is enjoying donut holes at QT, and earlier asking the cashier for more soy sauce at Panda.

The cashier episode was a major step forward for my little drum beat.  She is exceptionally shy, and usually would rather eat mud than ask a stranger for soy sauce.  But not this day, today she was empowered.  And she didn't just walk up, she lifted herself up onto the counter to make sure the cashier saw her!  Way to go Spaz!

I love you girls!

Lacrosse: Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

This was my 1st time to see/watch/attend a Lacrosse game.  It so happened that Jared Henry was the goalie, and I had heard his team was great, and was fun to watch; so I went with Nini.

I must say, it was very enjoyable.  Lacrosse is also known as field hockey, and it is played almost the identical same way.  I love watching hockey in person, so fast, so furious.  Lacrosse is the same too; this game went fast, and tho the players were only 10, they were already quite good at the nuances of the game.

Jared only allowed 1 goal, and his team won 8-1, and I look forward to watching them (Jack & Jared) play more Lacrosse.  It was infinitely more fun to watch than soccer.

Way to go Jared Henry!

Cheerleading: Mike Fournier - Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

Ava Corinne will be a Cheerleader for the OSU Cowboys in 10 years.  She has the lungs, the looks, the smile, the strength, the spirit, the drama, the talent, the will, the drive, and the gymnastics skill to "nail that landing."

IF she is not chosen by OSU, it will be their loss, and they will be dealing with one mad (and sad) Pappy.

Personally, I think she is too good for OSU, and ought to devote her time and talents for OU, but hey, that's just my opinion (too bad her Dad does not share that opinion).

But, don't get me wrong, I love OSU too, as long as they are not playing OU :-).  AND...., when she is OSU's cheerleader, I promise you this, my conversion will be complete, and I will never again cheer for OU; well, not as long as Ava is a cheerleader for OSU anyway. :-)

Ready?! OK!

I love you Ava Corinne.  I am so proud of you.

The Gauntlet: Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

There are actually two areas of Tulsa roads that drivers routinely call The Gauntlet.  The first starts at the intersection of 71st & Memorial, and heads due east for 2 miles to 71st & Garnett.  In that little gem of traffic engineering, a person will experience 13 stop lights, and endless amounts of retail commerce, with nary a foot of the 2 mile stretch not being occupied by someone wanting/needing to sell you something.

On any given day, it will take you up to 10 minutes to traverse this 2 miles.  Of course, if it is a weekend, the time just easily doubled.  And if it is Christmas season, it can take over an hour.  It depends on how many of the 13 stop lights are red when you make it to the intersection, which will be blocked by traffic from the other intersection waiting in the middle to pass.  (This is the prime reason why you will NEVER find me on 71st street from mid-Nov to mid-Jan.)

The 2nd Gauntlet, (and newer in terms of longevity) is the 2 mile stretch of road that starts at 91st & Memorial, and heads due south for 2 miles to 111th & Memorial.  This is another gem of traffic engineering, as it boasts a whopping 12 stop lights in only 2 miles.  And it too is a stretch of road with endless amounts of retail commerce.  What is truly amazing to me is hearkening back to all the naysayers that thought the Ford car dealer was nuts for building his dealership at 96th & Memorial when it was just a prairie.  (This was before the Creek Turnpike, and was when Memorial was still 1 lane of traffic on each side.)

On April 1st, 2015, beginning at 6:36 a.m., I shot the Memorial Road Gauntlet!  Had I wrote the blog then, it might have been dismissed as an April Fool joke; but nope, this is 100% truth.

Starting on Memorial, heading north at:

131st, green light.
121st, green light.

Now, The Gauntlet:

111th, green light.
109th, green light.
104th, green light.
103rd, green light.
101st, green light, but it was turning yellow as I was passing through the end of the intersection.
99th, green light.
98th, green light.
96th, green light.
95th, green light.
94th, green light, but it was turning yellow as I was passing through the middle of the intersection.
93rd, green light.
91st, green light.

End Gauntlet.

81st, RED light, arrived for my breakfast destination.

My joy ride was over.  I had just hit 14 green lights in a row.  I had shot The Gauntlet!  I had accomplished something that will never again happen in my lifetime, and rarely happens in anyone's lifetime.

Tulsa's traffic lights are not synchronized, and never will be.  It is one of the things that maddens Tulsa drivers more than anything.  Well that, and traveling on 1 lane roads that should be 5 lanes.  Or, losing filings each time you hit a pothole the size of a wheelbarrow.  Or, dodging idiots trying to race and cram in front of you before they plow into construction barrels.  Or, risking your life with the 99.7% chance of a red light runner(s) blowing through your intersection at 52 mph just as you start to ease into the intersection.  Or, getting behind someone traveling 30 in a 45 on a no-passing 1 lane road.  Oh my, the list is nearly endless; no wonder Tulsa roads are rated F for 18 years in a row ~ but that too is for another blog.  

At that time of the morning, the roads are at about 65% of rush hour capacity, so that made it even more amazing to have accomplished what was done with that much traffic.

And yes, I was looking for movie camera's to see if I was being filmed for a sequence of The Truman Show.

That was fun.

Zorro & Ironman: Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

On July 17th, 1998, Pam and I went to see the opening of "The Mask of Zorro", at the then brand new 20 screen AMC Theatre.  At the time, it was the very first stadium seating theatre in Tulsa, and also featured THX sound.  It was an amazing experience; now passe, surpassed by the Cinemark, then Starworld, and most recently by the Warren Theatre in BA, which (s.f. wise) is the largest theatre in the world.

As Pam and I were walking in the parking lot that afternoon, a grandfather and his 5 year old g'son were walking into the theatre to see the movie too.  The young boy was decked out to the 9's in his Zorro costume, complete with mask and sword.  It truly was an adorable sight.

Pam made a comment to me, something like "One day that will be you Mike", and I remember thinking at the time, at the ripe old age of 40 (not 41 until October), that that would be really cool when it did happen.  Neither of our daughter's were yet married or out of school (Jackie was 19, and Angela was 17); but I did think about what it would be like.

Fast-forward 17 years, and it finally happened!  And . . ., it was fast . . ., mercy, 17 years is a whisper.

Owen Michael Kueny (aka Iron Man) and I took in a movie and saw Avengers: Age of Ultron, at the new Warren Theatre (a spectacle of a theatre worthy of its own blog).  Also in attendance was Dad Steven (in red), and a long time family friend (Chris in pink).

For this movie, Iron Man decided not to wear his mask inside.  But man oh man, was he pumped!

We could barely get through the trailers as the excitement was building so heavily.

FINALLY, the the movie opens with a cold-open (more movies ought to do that!) and with an action sequence that was one for the record books. It went on for 12 minutes, and was accentuated by Caveman's (and myself) repeated hooting, hollering, screaming, laughing, kicking, screaming, jumping, throwing popcorn, and general all around cajoling.  I was worried that the Management was going to escort me away from the action; but it seemed like the whole theatre audience was rocking right along with us!

I loved the movie.  It was incredible.  And I loved most that Iron Man / Hulk / Wolverine / Spider Man / Hawk all went to the movie with me.  Because you see, o'Mike is all of those, (he LOVES super hero's) rolled into one little 5 year old boy (well OK, he will be 6 next month), and he is far from little, as he is taller than every 2nd grader in school, and he just 'graduated' pre-K......

I love you Owen Michael, and I cherish the thought of many-many more 'guy' movies with you over the forth coming decades ~ what a blast we will have!

I am a blessed man.

Garth Brooks: Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

I went to see Garth Brooks with Art & Terri Mace (family 1st, great friends 2nd), and we had a blast.  The light show, the theatrics, the sound, the songs.  What a tremendously fun and memorable night.  It is now my new 3rd favorite concert of all time.  Shania Twain is still #1, and Michael W. Smith is still #2.

The show lasted well over 2 hours, he played every one of the hits; and seeing the energy of the band and from Garth himself was amazing.

It was nice of Garth too to cap the tickets at $75, and we did get really good seats on the upper left side.

If he has not yet been to your town ~ plan on going when he is close by ~ you won't be sorry.

A great memory for the ages.

Wounded Warrior Project: Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

In honor of Memorial Day, please consider giving to this great cause. You can give a one-time donation, or join with an on-going monthly donation of only $30 per month.

The real-life stories of lives changed is truly inspirational.  I double-dog dare you to spend 7 minutes on the website, and 'try' not be moved, touched, and humbled by the stories of these men and women and what the WWP means to them and their families.

Over 90% of your donation goes directly to helping these Warriors.

Truly, a GREAT cause worth donating too.

 I am proud to be an American when I know these guys (and gals) had my back.

Perfect Smiles: Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

The original 4 of our family; sans grandchildren, and before in-laws and out-laws (yes, we have one set of each).

Top, from left: Angela Corinne (34), Pappy (57), Nini (25)*, and Jacqueline Renee (36). 

*Nini takes a daily anti-aging serum that takes years off of her age at each birthday! 

Lots of money was spent by my parents for my perfect smile.  Lots of money from my wallet paid for Jackie and Angela's perfect smiles.  And Pam was blessed to have a perfect smile without the need for expensive dental work.

Other than the perfect smiles, you might not know that my daughter's came from the same set of parents, but I promise they did.  They are my night and day.  They are as different in looks as they are in personality, and yet I easily find my 50% contribution to their DNA soup in each one of them.  God's sense of humor is in play.

I love you girls!

I am a blessed man.

My Beauties! Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

Angela, my youngest daughter, helped to produce two of the best looking daughters known to the world; the level of beauty not seen since she and her sister Jackie had been produced 34 & 36 years ago :-)

As you might remember, this is Ava Corinne (9), and Emma Jo (7)(next month), and this is a random compilation of some of my favorite morning pictures from this school year.

Angela is so faithful to send me (and Pam) a photo every morning of what the girls look like before they head out to school.  I look forward to the picture every day, and I do get sad in the summer, as the pictures stop.  A few times this year, the girls sent me video's of their morning clothes, and that was way cool too.

I love these girls with all my heart.  They are my dueling diva's, but man oh man are they precious.  And when Spaz locks lips with me, it sends me into orbit.  I melt at the ankles.  It does for me with Ava too, but let's just say that she is much more on the reserved side when it comes to doling out kisses (like her Mom, and like her Nini); whereas Emma Jo is over the top (like her Paps). :-)

I love you girls; hope you can stay the night again with me soon! I have a special dinner and breakfast planned just for you!

I am a blessed man.

WP: Mike Fournier Tulsa

Mike Fournier Tulsa

I have been away from blogging for 5 full months now, and hopefully over the next 20-30 blogs, you will better understand my story of "why" as I will randomly disperse the personal happenings of 2015.  I have missed it dearly, but I have kept many pics and ideas for subjects that I will write about. After spending an hour on a lazy Sunday morning looking at pics, I decided that WP was a great place to re-start my blogging journey.

As I was looking through my phone photo albums, I was stuck in the ones with my g'kids (shocker), and all of the multitudes of great memories that I have with them.

Last Friday, we had dinner with Jackie's family, and as is typical of Will, it was a quiet meal from him, with him hardly saying a word, but looking so kissable that I could barely keep my lips off of him.

So pretty, so quiet, so shy, so demure, and with such a smirk.  Most of those adjectives are reserved for girls/women.  But, they fit WP to a T.

Out of the 100's of photo's of each of my g'kids that are on my phone, these are 7 of my favorites of WP.

I love you Will Parker.  You (as well as the others) steal my heart each time I have time to sit and think about, and each time I get to see you.  My gosh, my "hands Kueny" is now a 3rd grader.  Wow.

I am such a blessed man.