Turtle Toys & Springtime Stuff

We just found the first turtle of the season. It was in the back yard. Frasier actually found it. He was walking around the yard and suddenly made a detour, I thought he was about to roll on something but then realized that he was actually licking something. It turned out to be a small female box turtle. Otter and I just relocated her to the cow pasture. Frasier keeps going back to the area where he found it, he wants his turtle toy back! Maybe he just wanted me to keep it to show to Froggy. And before anybody gets on me about it, I know that it was actually a tortoise! Turtles are the water variety, tortoises are the land version.

I also discovered that we have a volunteer sunflower growing in the back yard. It just appeared, behind the iris plants and might be from the birdseed we had out for our feathered friends. It's not a giant one, it's a couple of feet tall. But I'm thinking that two or three of the weeds I pulled in the last few days might also have been sunflowers. I hope not. But at least I'll have one, I really like sunflowers. I'll take a picture of it in the next few days, the bud isn't quite to the blooming stage yet.

And we have another dove family! Same spot. I don't think it's the same mamma dove, because this one flew off every time we went out the front door for the first few days and the previous one was used to us. We always enjoy our dove families.

Quit Bugging Me!!!!

I have a new toy. It's a bug. Specifically, it's a green bug. It's an electronic toy bug. I got it at Radio Shack the other night. It's fun, it walks and backs up if it runs into anything or if it senses a loud noise. We jokingly commented about driving Maggie crazy when we bought it. We were playing with it last night in the kitchen floor. Maggie came running to see what the buzzing noise was, then she stood there and looked confused for a while. Then when it was heading her way, she started backing up. And kept backing up. Then she started jumping up and down. At that point, we put it away since we really didn't want her to eat it. But it turned out that eating it was the last thing on her mind.

It took about 3 tries to get this picture. As soon as she sees the thing, she immediately leaves. When I started to take this picture, she was a whole lot closer to Otter. The bug is in Otter's hand.

This is about a half second later, right before she left the room! And it wasn't even turned on, just seeing it was enough for her. Silly pooch. Frasier wasn't too impressed, as you can tell - I think he's asleep. He came into the kitchen last night and watched it on the floor but then he got bored and went back outside. Not Mags!

Here's the bug. It fits in the palm of my hand. But the Magginator is afraid of it.

Oh well, maybe it will cure her of her appetite for spiders!

When Otter was little, she was afraid of bugs. Which was accidentally my fault. I was going to show her a cricket at her request. And all was fine. Until it hopped out of my hand. Right onto her head. Picture a small screaming redhead running around in circles, that's what happened. It literally took me years to get her over that! Bill still laughs over it, somewhere around 13 years later! What finally cured her of her mom/cricket induced bug phobia was the time we went to the State Fair a couple of years later and there was a man selling jewelry. He had his pet with him. It was a tarantula. I held it and showed her how it wasn't going to hurt me. But she wanted nothing to do with it. UNTIL I TOLD HER I'D PAY HER A DOLLAR! Even then, it was all the jewelry seller and I could do to get her to let the spider crawl on her hand - he figured out pretty quickly what I was trying to teach her and he didn't mind letting me use his pet. I think he was amused that I offered her money. She was scared, but that dollar was still on offer so she decided to be brave. Or bribed, whichever works. She said it tickled when it crawled onto her hand, then as soon as it was back in it's traveling case her hand was in my face and she was demanding her dollar! (Which she got, by the way). Problem solved, she stopped being afraid of bugs. Now she loves them, we regularly rescue assorted bugs and relocate them to the outside. Especially spiders! They seem to be high on her favorite list now. But I don't think we can convince Maggie that the Bug won't hurt her. I'm afraid we've scarred her for life.

Bill Update, Hack & Slash Visit Today

The doctor said that Bill's spots look good, the one on his leg is the slowest to heal but that is mostly because of where it's located at. He put silver nitrate on the spots which will speed healing. He said that they were all the lightest version of skin cancer, which I already knew because the lab called last week with the results. As the doctor said, if you have to have it then that's the type you want it to be! Bill has to be careful with it for a while, he can start leaving the dressings off if he wants to but he'll probably still keep it covered at night since he generally sleeps on his right side and it's on his right leg. The doctor also gave him a low-level antibiotic which he'll start tonight. The last two times he's been on an antibiotic he's also broken out in a rash. But he's also had fever those two times, which can sometimes cause him to have a rash. We have to watch for any rash signs, since if he has it now without a fever we'll know that he's developing an allergy to antibiotics. Which is a bad thing.

He also recommended another doctor who is in the same office, since there will be future visits needed. There just will. It's Bill's lot in life, both because of heredity and all the years spent out in the sun striping parking lots.

Otter went to work with me today, we met Bill for lunch at our favorite Tex-Mex place. So I have to be very good tonight! It was so worth it, though.

After work we still had time to kill before Bill's appointment, so Otter and I went to Salvation Army thrift store. Wednesday is half-price clothing day. She found 2 pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of shoes. I found a nice blouse that I needed to wear with the black skirt I bought last week. We spent under $12.00 for all of it. We probably could have found more, but we didn't have that much time.

Tomorrow, Otter is going to Grandpa and Sweetie's house. She's going to help them get their pool ready for the year. Her swimsuit will finally get to be worn and used! The only other time she wore it was when she went to her friend's church's summer kick-off party and that's when the weather got so bad. (See previous post about being reminded we live in Oklahoma). Of course, Otter will have to wear a t-shirt over ther suit and lots of sunblock because she's her father's daughter with the skin cancer herditary chance and because both of her parents are redheads with the skin to prove it!

Froggy, I still don't quite know what you meant about payback in relation to you spilling the water! 'Splain, please.

It's a Monday Tuesday

Translation: Monday was a holiday, but Tuesday at work more than made up for it.

Froggy, check the last couple of blog entries that you commented on. I commented back to you and I'm not sure what you mean payback about.

Otter and I took the dogs for a walk this afternoon. We discovered something fun about the Magginator. She's like a two-year-old kid - if there's a puddle anywhere in sight, she's gotta go jump in it! She is just drawn to them, she had to play in every puddle she saw and she tasted quite a few. She's a lot of fun, that's for sure. Frasier seemed unimpressed by the puddles, but he was very interested in a cat and also a few dogs that were barking at him from the safety of their fenced yards. Frasier's tail looks like maybe it was broken years ago, he wags sideways. That's the closest I can describe it. His new game is to try to get me to grab his tail. He seems to be daring me, he'll make sure his tail is right by my hand and then he'll yank it out of reach. When I do manage to grab it, he's very happy. Maggie might be nuts, but Frasier is something else!

We had thunderstorms very early this morning, I think I woke up around 2:00 and it was noisy for a while. I eventually went back to sleep, but I think Bill got up around 4:00. The t-storms lasted until about 7:30 this morning. Of course, Otter slept through them. One time she even slept through the tornado siren, and that was at our old house when the siren was a lot closer! We got a lot more water this morning, which caused quite a bit of street flooding. More of the neighbor's dirt is in our yard now. But they don't seem to want to come get it. :) There are still puddles everywhere, which is why Maggie was so happy on the afternoon's excursion around the neighborhood. She is normally pretty bouncy, but today she was just about flying.

My weather-achy toes have been hurting off and on for the last couple of hours. They are usually right, they seldom miss - hurty toes means rain in the next several hours. I'm hoping that they are just hurting from our walk this afternoon. We really don't need any more rain right now.

Bill has his check up with the dermatologist tomorrow afternoon. I'm going with him, but this is just a look-see and shouldn't be any cutting. At least I don't think so!

Later in the Day on Monday

We awakened to thunderstorms sometime early this morning, I'm guessing around 4:00 or so. We had a lot of rain. I haven't heard how much rain we actually got, but the yard was a swamp. And it caused me to have a Dad Moment!

The house that Mom and Dad bought in the late 70's didn't have much in the way of a yard. We put the back yard in ourselves. It was a lot of work and was messy! At one point, Dad had a load of dirt delivered and it was piled in the front yard. Then it rained! One of the "gully washers" that South Texas is known for. And all the dirt ran down the street to the cul-de-sac at the end of the street. Of course Dad being Dad, he got a shovel and his wheel barrow to retrieve his dirt - which gave his neighbors a laugh. Fast forward to today. Our new next door neighbors had a load of dirt delivered to their front yard Friday afternoon. They are building a water garden in their back yard and most of the dirt has been moved. Except for what they spread around their front yard. Which has now been repositioned to my front yard! I can just Dad giggling! He would have gotten such a kick out of this, I can just imagine how funny he would have found it.

We decided against grilling today. It was pretty warm and very humid, thanks to the rain. The humidity was really more of a problem, the heat isn't as much of a problem for us. But nobody really wanted to sit outside and grill, so I broiled some of the round steaks that were going to be part of the shishkabobs. We had some baked potatos with the steaks so it was a good meal. Just not the one we started out to have! Which is not unusual for us. I put the other package of steaks in the freezer and I'm going to make two packages of chicken fajita out of the chicken breast. They'll both go in the freezer as well, but we'll probably have one of them later in the week. There might actually be enough for 3 packages, it's a big pack of chicken.

Otter and I went to a thrift store today. She found a t-shirt as well as several more books. I found two books. I'm looking for blouses but I haven't found any that I like yet. I have several new skirts that I need blouses for. We also went to Michael's so Otter could get another sketch pad and we hit a dollar store. As well as WalMart again! But Wallyworld was for a couple of grocery items we needed. The rest were all fun shopping stops.

We were going to post some stuff on eBay, but we didn't quite get there. Probably Wednesday. I have a few things, Otter has a few things and Bill has some stuff that our friend's Larry's widow was clearing out and Bill is going to try to sell for her.

Bill's in disgrace. He mowed the back yard this morning. After telling me that he was going to go out and sharpen the blade, he mowed instead. I was getting dressed and could hear the mower, but he'd mentioned it needing a tune up so I thought he was just working on it. Then I realized that I'd been hearing it for too long and that the sound wasn't always in the same area. By the time I got out there to yell at him, he was done. And very proud of himself. I told him that I do not want to hear one word out of him tonight if his leg is bothering him. And I meant it! So he'd better not complain, or I might just make him sleep outside in the doghouse that Frasier and Maggie ignore!

Speaking of Maggie, I have a story to tell. I did quite a bit of laundry today. It's not put up yet, but it's all sorted out and it's waiting on my bed for me to get busy. The towels are all in a pile, and on top of the pile of towels is a dark blue sheet that also got washed. Maggie kept staring into our bedroom, she wouldn't go inside the door but she kept looking in there. Then she started growling. I couldn't figure out what she was seeing, we've had mice on occasion but I know that if she saw one it would not exist for very long. So I watched her for a while, then I realized that she was seeing the pile of towels with the dark sheet on top! Talk about goosey! Once I showed her the sheet, she was fine. She wagged her tail at me, turned around and went into the living room to find Frasier. Silly girl!

Memorial Day

A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life." That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it. -- Author Unknown

We're Going to Have a Hot Summer

Or as I like to call it, a Texas Summer! I haven't heard any official predictions, I'm just guessing because it is already warm. We've had 90's a couple of times, early to mid-May is pretty early. Last summer was wet and cool, I guess we'll make up for it this year. I hope it's not hot & dry!

Bill's not going to help his dad with the golf cart after all. Don had a change of plans and I am glad, because Bill really has NO business being out in the sun with the recent skin cancer removals. Bill never told his father that he was going to have more removed, by the way. The lab called last week, they were "normal" skin cancers. Which means that they were the lightest of the three types. That's a good thing. He's had some intermediate ones before, which is not good because they can turn into the bad kind if they get ignored long enough. We don't want that.

Did anybody read today's Dilbert cartoon? It's so perfectly Bill! I've said all along, engineers are not like the rest of us! They simply don't think the same way most people do. Today's cartoon is a very good example, and it's also one Otter and I cut out for our bulletin board in the laundry room. Engineers just aren't normal! :)

We did manage to get the front yard mowed this morning. Then we decided to finish tomorrow with the back yard. It was getting pretty warm. Of course, we didn't get out there until around noon. Probably has a lot to do with it. Bill put the sprinkler out in the front yard and it promptly broke. So we had to go to Lowe's to get another one. It's never hard to get Bill to go to Lowe's, I honestly think he would live there if they would let him.

Otter and I went to a thrift store this afternoon. I found a skirt and a book, she found a skirt, jeans and blouse. She also found several more Stephen King books and a pair of shoes. Her jeans were the day's magic number so they were 50% off. I had a 50% off coupon for one clothing item, and I had another coupon I couldn't use so I gave it to the people in line behind me. I hate to see those coupons go to waste.

And I now have a matching set of salt & pepper shakers again - the last salt shaker met an unfortunate end when Otter dropped it! They also had the matching pepper shaker, I figured that I'd better buy it while I could find it - Otter is still in a clumsy phase by her own admission. I remember those teenage days myself. I also remember a certain sister of mine knocking over a glass of water 3 times in a row! And she was well past the teenage years at the time. (I'm going to pay for that, I know).

I'm working on a craft idea. It involves tea cups and some type of a post, possibly a piece of rebar. It's an idea I have for a birdfeeder. I'm not sure if I'm actually going to construct it or not, but I have the resident engineer thinking about how it could be built. If, and that's a very big if, I actually get it made I will post a picture. But I'm not sure yet, it's still in the planning stages - also known as Bill trying to think of ways that it won't work and coming up with a better way. He is an engineer, after all!

Car Trouble of a Sort

We've decided against purchasing the cavalier we saw last week. It seems that the seller never put it in his name when he bought it several months ago, although he agreed to do that when we told him we'd buy it. He was going to go the next day, when I talked to him on Friday he still hadn't and he told me one story. Then he told Bill another one. And then his story still changed. So we decided to back out. Bill told him that if he did get the title situated in the next week or so, to call us and that if we haven't found another vehicle by then we might still buy it. Which he agreed to do. But then today we noticed that he's placed an ad in the paper for the same car so we don't think we'll hear from him again. Which is fine. I will call our loan officer on Tuesday and tell him. I don't think he'll be surprised. Then when we do find a new car for Bill, I'll call the bank back.

Otter had a choice yesterday, she could go to work with me and to the grocery store afterward. OR she could sty home with a chore list. She chose to stay home. So she had a long list of chores and she did them willingly - she hates grocery shopping that much! (It's not my favorite thing to do either!) So I had to go to the store by myself but I got a clean house out of the deal so I'm not complaining! But it seems like just about everyone else was at WalMart when I was, the store was very crowded. It also seems like I should have gotten a lot more than I did, considering what I spent!

We've had a quiet day. Typical Saturday for us. It was warm and windy, so we didn't spend much time outside today. I sat out on the back deck for a while this morning, but there was also a few early arrival skeeters to deal with so I didn't stay out long. I need to get the flea & tick drops for the dogs soon, and I think they might need a refill on their heart worm medication. They get it on the first of the month, so I have a few days to remember about it. They have spent a great deal of their Saturday snoozing in the living room. Frasier, as usual, parks himself on top of my feet whenever he gets the chance!

We are planning a quiet Memorial Day. We're planning on grilling shiskabobs but we'll probably have them tomorrow (Sunday), since Bill is going to help his dad get his golf cart from their place at the lake and I think that is going to be Monday. Yes, he's already had several lectures from me about wearing a hat, sunblock, the whole deal. Maybe he listened, I hope he did anyway!

Bill sees the doctor again on Wednesday for a follow-up. The two places on his face look pretty good, the spot on his leg doesn't look as good. Mostly I think because he has not been able to stay off of it this week. But it's better today, he's been off of it most of the day. Otter and I are going to mow the lawn tomorrow, I'm sure he'll try to help but he's going to have to deal with TWO red-headed Texan Women! Sometimes, I really think it must suck to be him - having to deal with both of us in full fury! :)

I have to post this joke!

WHERE DO RED-HEADED BABIES COME FROM?????

After their baby was born, the panicked father went to see the Obstetrician. "Doctor," the man said, "I don't mind telling you, but I'm a little upset because my daughter has red hair. She can't possibly be mine!!"

"Nonsense," the doctor said". "Even though you and your wife both have black hair, one of your ancestors may have contributed red hair to the gene pool.""It isn't possible," the man insisted."????? ?"This can't be, our families on both sides had jet-black hair for generations."

"Well," said the doctor, "let me ask you this. How often do you have sex??? " The man seemed a bit ashamed . "I've been working very hard for the past year. We only made love once or twice every few months."

"Well, there you have it!" The doctor said confidently. "It's rust."

(Sorry, I just couldn't resist that one. Being a redhead myself - as well as the granddaughter, wife, mother and daughter-in-law of one and the aunt of three of them.)

Bill's new car has been postponed a few days. Seems that the guy we're buying it from never changed the title into his name when he bought it. He thought that we would just hand him $$ and get the title changed from the previous owner's name to ours. Which might be ok if we knew the guy, but I don't even want to think about what would happen if it turned out that the seller wasn't honest. After Bill talked to him today, he agreed to go get the title switched and then it will take about 4 days for the title to get to him. At that point, we'll finish up the deal. I called our loan officer and he understood, in fact he strongly suggested that we do wait just in case - from what he said, there have been more than a few cases of people stealing cars and then selling them. But that probably won't happen in this case. So, sometime next week Bill should have a new car. I did check with the insurance company and it's only going to be a little bit more on our insurance than it is now with the van and my impala.

Otter had another day at home, but this time she had a chore list. She managed to get all her assigned tasks completed, including keeping the couch from flying away and keeping the remote control from being lonely. She goes to work with me tomorrow, then to the dentist. Then I think we're going to the library so she can get signed up for the summer reading program.

The library has a great summer program, it's designed for pre-school through high school age students. They have to read a minimum of 6 books over the summer. That has never been a problem for Otter! She normally reads that many in just a few days. The elementary age program includes extra prizes if they read a certain number over the 6. She usually had that part accomplished within about two weeks. There is also a reading program for adults, it's over the winter. I've done it before but not in the last couple of years. I might participate this next winter. The kid/teen program has better prizes, coupons for ice cream and stuff like that. The adult program prize is usually something along the line of a thermal coffee cup. But it's still fun. And since we absolutely love to read, it's nice to get something for it.

Of course, when she was in elementary school we sometimes had a problem convincing the librarians that a) yes, she really did read all those books and b) we were not exaggerating on some of the titles! Otter started out with small size books, but by about 2nd grade she was already into doorstopper size books. But then what else could we expect? She started talking (clearly, too) at 8 months, putting words together forming sentences at 10 months and was reading words by about 18 months. Can't tell I'm proud, can you? :) But it was hard at times to find books that were at her ability without being too grown-up for her as far as subject matter. Sometimes it still is!

One Problem Solved!

Specifically, the problem of Bill's van. The one that gets, oh maybe 10 miles to the gallon. If it has a tailwind. And if it's going downhill. He just bought a replacement vehicle. It's a '98 Chevy Cavalier, and it's a little smaller than my Impala. But it should get better gas mileage, and that's what he was after. When we bought the van, we needed the cargo space since we were hot & heavy with eBay. But we don't need that now and we also live a lot further from his work. We won't actually get the new one until tomorrow, the guy has to get the new license tags since he let them expire and then he'll meet us at the bank to get all the details finalized. All we basically have to do is sign on the dotted line at the bank and then I write the guy a check. I talked to the bank today and everything has been approved as far as the loan goes. It's not a big loan and the payments will most likely be under $100.00 so I'm not going to gripe! And we'll probably pay it off pretty quickly, the minimum the bank would do is a 3-year note but with a payment that low we'll probably pay it off sooner.

Oh, one more thing. It's a convertible. For the man who has frequent skin cancers removed off of his face (and elsewhere), from all that sun exposure in the past. But it's probably the only convertible that will likely never, ever have the top down! But the price was right, so I'm not too concerned. I'm sure that the top will be down at least once - Otter gets to have a ride in it with the top down (she's already informed me of that fact). But other than that, the top will mostly be up. We get a lot of rain in this area, which is another reason that the top will mostly be up.

But I think that the most important thing is that this is going to be Bill's new car - not mine. He had this idea a while back that we needed to buy me a new car and then he'd take my Impala. But I didn't really like that idea, I like my car and I don't want to replace it! It has a lot of miles, but it's in good shape and I don't want a new one! If it ain't broke... When we talked about replacing mine, I did look at a few and I found a couple that I liked. The Toyota Camry was one, the newer Impalas are another although I don't like them nearly as much as my current one. But I never really wanted to replace my car in the first place. This way, I won't have to!

Besides, all the new cars seem to be small. I don't like small cars. They are not safe, for one thing. I remember when Impalas used to be muscle cars, that's the size car I prefer. Don't see too many of them anymore, and with gas prices they are even rarer. (No gas price comments please, I work for an oil company and don't share most people's opinions!).

Otter had a nice, relaxing day at home today. She slept until about 7:45, she watched a few movies on tv and she spent a little time out in the garage at her craft desk. She's back out there now, she has the crafting bug big time. Well, that one is like red hair - she couldn't miss either of those, considering who her parents are.

I saw a report that Teddy Kennedy has a malignent brain tumor. I'm not a fan of his, but this is something that really has nothing to do with politics. I wish him and his family the best, they have a rough road ahead of them. They will be in my prayers. That family has had so much happen to them, they have seen so much tragedy.

Yes, Froggy - the dam is at Keystone. I'm not sure exactly where but I think it's either on the south or west side of the lake. If we do head that direction when you visit, be warned: It will most likely be a Toadly trip! In other words, we will possibly/probably get lost. Just so you know. :)

We Survived 9th Grade!

Today was the last day of school for Otter. She's now officially a sophmore. She said it still almost feels like the school year has just started, it seemed to go so fast. She's right, it was quick. Most of the local districts are still in, hers was about the first one to finish up. Not that she's complaining!

Otter gets to sleep in tomorrow, the first day of summer break will be a goof-off day for her. I'll wake her up when I leave for work so she knows I'm gone, but then she can go back to sleep if she wants to. And she probably will want to. Then she'll probably spend a lot of time on the couch with the remote control in her hand and a beagle at her feet. Wednesday will be a chore day, then Thursday she goes to work with me and to the dentist.

We managed to get the back yard mowed yesterday, with a little interference I mean help from Bill. I got somewhat ticked off at him, he wasn't supposed to be doing anything like that yet and as if that's not enough - HE WAS OUTSIDE IN THE SUN WITHOUT A CAP! Just a few days after having two holes cut in his face, and I let him have it about that. He did insist on mowing a little bit, but he didn't do too much. But he is still in the doghouse over it.

Our pastor was back at church yesterday. He looks great, he seems to have a good attitude about everything. They don't have their game plan yet, as far as treatment goes. We had a laying-on-of-hands prayer for him, and he was really touched by it.

There was also a laying-on-of-hands prayer at the end of the service for the youth leader. He is going off on a mission. We've been told that it is very dangerous, he will be with Special Forces soldiers (who won't be armed) and that it is in an area where even admitting to Christianity can be deadly. And that he had a 26 hour flight to get there. He'll be gone for 10 days. That is enough to make anyone worry! So along with prayers for Pastor David, remember a young guy named Wes who is going into harm's way to spread the word of God. After he returns, and we do believe that God will bring him back to us, he'll be able to tell us where he was.

Church was very emotional yesterday!

Otter and I also went to a thrift store, she found a pair of shoes and another tank top. I found a tiny, blue glass bucket that I've turned into a toothpick holder. For someone who doesn't intent to collect toothpick holders, I certainly seem to have a lot of them! But I think I'm going to stop where I am, I don't want anymore. Unless I find another Fenton, but that's different. You can never have too much Fenton!

Froggy, you were asking about Keystone Dam. Here's your homework assignment: Get your OK map out! See if you can find it. There will be a test on this later. :) It's not hard to find, this is NE Oklahoma after all and everything is right next to everything else!

Friday Stuff & Bill Update

Bill is much better, he's still taking it easy as far as his ankle is concerned, he's only been on his feet a few times today. Mostly, he's been parked in front of the computer or on the couch with the remote control in his hand. I informed him today that I will handle the mowing of the lawn on Sunday. I just haven't told Otter yet that she'll be helping! Among other things, she gets pooper-scooper detail to get the dog's yard cleaned up.

Bill should be well able to go back to work on Monday, but I don't think he's going to church on Sunday. Otter and I will go without him this week. He really wants to be there because our minister should be back on Sunday, the first time since the cancer diagnosis and we all want to show support. But I think it's better for Bill to stay home, since we are on our feet a lot at church and he has that deep gouge on his right leg just above his ankle.

The doves have flown the nest! We have been watching the last couple of days, and they are definetely leaving and returning. So we're satisfied that mama dove did not become a cat snack. We've enjoyed watching them. I haven't seen too many hummingbirds lately, though. My feeders are a little less full than they were the other day, but they haven't had too many customers. But I did finally get to see the oriole that has been visiting the hummingbird feeders occasionally.

But my bluebonnets are more than making up for the lack of hummers! They are lasting much, much longer than they do in their natural environment. There are still quite a few buds and blooms, and they are both forming seed pods and new blooms. I'm not complaining, I'm just enjoying them as long as I have them. They really are gorgeous flowers. We probably missed them almost as much as we missed family when we first moved to NE OK.

Froggy, Otter says that she wants to go to the zoo with you when she's in SA in July and also that she'd like to go shopping. Which is about what I expected her to say!

Also Froggy, did you get your latest Birds & Blooms magazine? Mine came this week but I haven't had time to do anything other than take it out of the plastic package. It's the annual hummingbirds issue!

I'm not sure what is up with the dogs today. They remind me of a couple of two-year old kids and they have hardly let me out of their sight! Usually, Frasier will be nearby and Maggie will generally be in the same room as Otter. But today they are both clinging to me. Frasier even followed me into the bathroom! When he wasn't trying to trip me by walking under my feet, Maggie was trying to get in my way. They eventually quit being quite so close to me, but I never did figure out what they were up to! Although they did come running back to me when I was making a sandwich for Bill - but that was just because they saw the lettuce container as I was taking it out of the fridge. Lettuce is about their all-time favorite snack. They only get a little bit once in a while, since it can upset their tummies and we really don't want to go there, but they act like it's heaven on earth if they get a piece of lettuce. Or an ice cube.

Only one more day of school! Otter's last day is Monday. Finals started today. She had science, language (literature) and spanish. Monday will be math, art and OK history. Then I think I'll let her sleep in on Tuesday and have a lazy day. However, on Wednesday she'll have a list of chores to accomplish before I get home from work! :) Then Thursday she'll go with me to work and then to the dentist after work. Friday is to be determined sometime next week. She'll get lots of goof-off time during the summer, although she probably thinks she gets worked like an unpaid slave! Well, maybe some of the time she does!

Playing Doctor

Now get your mind out of the gutter!

Bill's doing pretty good, he stayed home today and spent most of the day in front of his computer. That way, he stayed off of his foot. He was instructed to stay off of it, not necessarily to prop it up so he was ok. He did pretty good last night, he was awake a couple of times during the night but he did manage to get some sleep. We just got through redoing the dressings on the sites, which is what the title refers to. They look pretty good, not pretty but good, considering. Tomorrow will be a rerun of today for him. He is threatening to mow the lawn on Sunday, but I'm not going to let him. It's not my favorite chore, but I will do it. And Otter will help me - she doesn't know that yet and won't be amused. Bill's not sure about church on Sunday either - he can't really shave yet because of the two spots on his face.

Otter's Texas trip is set, she will be there for 10 days in July. She's so excited that she can hardly wait. She's going to have a busy summer, camp in late June then Froggy's visit the first week of July, followed by her trip to Texas later on in the month. She won't actually be home all that much this summer! But she'll be back in time for the now-annual sales tax holiday the first weekend in August, so we can get school clothes.

We had three baby doves in the nest under the front porch roof. For the last couple of days, we haven't seen any sign of mama dove and we were beginning to get concerned. But today there was only one dovelet there and it looked fine. No sign of deceased baby doves, so we think that the babies have already fledged - they will frequently come back to their nest until they figure out that they can be on their own. We think that is what has happened, since the numbers of babies visible keeps changing.

Maggie seems to have recovered from her run-in with the neighbor dog. She is her usual silly self. Frasier is his normal laid-back self. I haven't heard the neighbor dogs the last day or so, when I've been outside. I also haven't seen the neighbors so nothing has been said to them. Jan, I like your suggestion!

Froggy, you asked me how to find Hominy, OK on your map. Did you find it yet? It's not very big so it's easy to miss. But I know the way there and back, so you don't have to navigate. Now if Toadly were driving...

Bill's Visit to Hack & Slash Update

Hack & Slash is what Bill calls the dermatologist. It's better than Slash & Burn, or Nosering which are two of his pet names for previous doctors! The doctor he called Nosering was only very briefly our doctor, she was assigned by our then-insurance carrier and we were not impressed for a lot of reasons, the nose ring was just part of it. Slash & Burn is a previous dermatologist but he was not much of a doctor so we found the one we currently use. He's actually very good and Bill likes him, but he told us today that he's retiring at the end of the month. He said that any of the other three in his office will be good, and he wants to see Bill again in two weeks so he can do a final follow-up on Bill before he retires to travel.

Bill had two spots that I knew about and he told the doctor about a third one. I'm just happy that he volunteered anything about another place, he usually fights so hard to avoid going and getting them cut out. The place on his chin and the one on his lower right leg above his ankle are the two I knew about. The third one was on his face but it was hidden by his mustache so I hadn't found it. Yet. I eventually would have, but he saved me the trouble - smart of him. Anyway, he has three ouchy spots now and he's off work until Monday since the place on his leg was deep enough that the doctor didn't want him to walk anymore than he has to. Somehow, I don't think Bill will mind having to stay home and off his feet for the next couple of days!

I stopped at Wallyworld and got him some decaf coke after I left the doctor's office. I got me some chocolate! But I'll probably share it with him. He was a brave little soldier today! :) But he's getting grouchy now, the numbing stuff is wearing off. So I made him a drink and he said he'll be ready for dinner in a little while.

Otter's so excited, Nana's making her reservations for the flight to go to Texas in July. It's a longer visit than usual, about 10 days. But Otter doesn't care, she'll stay for as long as she can. She's going to have a busy summer.

We definetely have neighbors now. The house next door, which has been vacant since last August. They moved in about a week ago. And so did their dogs. Their dogs who spend all day running up and down the fence. And barking! I'm not sure how many they have, possibly three. One of them is a little bitty dog and "he" is not at all friendly. And "he" managed to break out a piece of the wooden fence, probably by ramming his head into it until it broke. The hole is big enough that he could get most of his head through into our yard. I saw him do that, so I am certain that he is the one. We discovered this hole because Maggie has an obvious BITE on her face that did not come from Frasier and she can't bite herself beside her nose. I put a small piece of a board against the hole, then I blocked it with a cinderblock. Is it cruel of me to hope that the small dog in question now has a headache? Bill's probably going to talk to the neighbors, their dogs bark a lot. I mean A LOT!!! Otter is very angry, her beagle got bitten. She wants to go next door and go "Texan Woman" on them, or possibly "Redheaded Woman" which is not a pretty sight either. (When the woman in question is both redheadad AND Texan, you best start running!).

Cloudy Tuesday's Rambles

We have a tornado watch until late tonight, but we hope that the possible storms don't develop. We will probably have to deal with thunderstorms tonight, but it would be fine with me if that's all that happens! I need to water a few plants, but I know that will make it rain so I haven't yet.

The stories out of Picher are really bad, the only reason the number of deaths is so low is because of the government buy-outs over the last several years. At one time, Picher had something like 20,000 people instead of the 200 or 300 it had as of Saturday. There will be no rebuilding allowed in the area, the government will still pay the people who lived there like it was doing beforehand but they will be paid to relocate not rebuild. They were being paid to relocate, it's just that there were some people who were resisting the buyout because they said it was home and they didn't want to move. I understand that, but when living in a particular place can hurt you and your children, it's not a place to want to stay! I think it's the best thing, the way the government is doing it. It is not a safe place to live, it hasn't been for many years due to the leftovers from the zinc mining - extremely high lead levels, etc. The tornado was probably an F4, which is the next to biggest measurable size. Also, it was at least a mile wide. I can't even imagine that, and I don't want to!

Bill got his eyes examined yesterday. His eyes are healthy, but he does need glasses for reading and close-up stuff. Which is what we expected. Tomorrow is the other doctor appointment, the one which he will gripe about for days and days. But he ain't getting any sympathy from me!

I have a prayer request. Pastor David, from our church, was diagnosed with cancer this week. At this point, they don't know how much or if it's spread, or anything else about it. So any prayers would be appreciated.

Now for the funny stuff! This has been making email rounds, I don't know who wrote it but it's funny:

As you may have heard, each of us will be getting a tax rebate check to stimulate the economy. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China. If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs. If we purchase a computer it will go to India. If we purchase fruits and vegetables it will go to Honduras and Guatemala. If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan. If we purchase useless stuff it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. We need to keep that money here in America. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it at yard sales, since those are the only businesses left owned by Americans!!

Works for me! Especially since I'm about to repopulate my closet. I've gotten to the point where I have hardly anything to wear besides church clothes (very nice stuff) and jeans with a few (very few) assorted blouses or t-shirts. I am still losing weight but it has slowed down quite a bit, which is probably normal. So I am going to have to break down and go shopping! But I don't want to buy a lot, and I don't want to spend a lot since I'm hoping to eventually lose more weight. So I think I'm going to Otter's favorite stores (and mine as well): thrift stores! At least to start with.

Stuff From Sunday and Lately

I have had a wonderful Mother's Day! We went to church this morning, my secret sister in my Sunday School class gave me some zinnas that are just on the verge of blooming, and as soon as I get more potting soil Otter and I will get them planted. Bill gave me the previously mentioned Fenton blue elephant, and Otter made me a heart shaped plaque with her Sculpey clay that says # 1 Mom in light blue sculpey that also glows in the dark. It's going to work with me tomorrow, I have a small table in my office with all my goodies from her over the years.

Don and Darlene came over this afternoon, we grilled (and ate way too much) and had a really nice visit. This is the first time we've seen them in a few weeks, I think that they enjoyed it as much as we did. Except for the fact that we all ate too much, but we don't do that too often. (As soon as they left, I got out of my blue jeans which were suddenly a LOT tighter than before the meal!).

It's been a bad Spring for Oklahoma. We didn't turn the tv on yesterday, except for a brief weather check early afternoon. At that time there was nothing, it was just extremely windy so we checked. We had rain in the forecast but we never really got any. We had no idea until we turned on the tv at 10:00 for the news, but there was a really bad outbreak yesterday. Near McAlester, which is about 1 1/2 hours (or thereabouts) south of us was hit pretty bad. Lots of property damage. But the really bad spot was a small town called Picher, which is in the far NE corner of the state. Picher is pretty much gone. There were quite a few deaths, both on this side of the Kansas border and into Kansas. It's really bad up there. Picher is a small town that has been on the EPA's list for years, it has a major pollution problem caused by zinc mining and the government has been slowly buying people out because it is literally dangerous to live there. I'm not sure what will happen now, I don't know if the government will still be financially reponsible or if the homeowner's insurance companies will be responsible. Either way, I don't see anyway that anybody will rebuild there.

Unless you have seen tornado damage first hand, the pictures don't do it justice. We have seen it before, Oklahoma City in 1999, and there are not words enough to describe the level of devastation that those things cause. I hope we never, ever have to go through that and I'd like to not ever, ever have even as close a call as we had Wednesday evening.

One week and one day left of school for Otter! She's pretty excited about that. Wonder why? :)

I am being a bully wife. I made an appointment for Bill with the dermatologist for this coming Wednesday. He's probably going to get carved on again, and he's not happy about it. But like I told him, I DON'T CARE if he's not happy! He really needs to get the spot on his face seen to, I'm sure it's another skin cancer. And while he's there, I'm going to have the doctor look at the place on his leg. I think we're getting his eyes checked tomorrow after work, at least that is the plan for now. The eye doctor isn't a big problem, I'll just go as moral support. But the dermatolotist is a different story - I have to make the appointment, then I have to meet him there and I have to go into the exam room with him, then I have to tell the doctor where/what the problem(s) is/are. Otherwise, he won't deal with it at all. And he's had enough of them to deal with over the years, the last couple have been the intermediate kind but he is always a candidate for the really bad kind. So he can get mad at me all he wants, but he will get them taken care of. And this probably won't be the last time, with his history. So I probably have more mad Bill sessions in the future! I used to know how many times he'd had them removed, but I've lost count. There are too many to count now, this is mostly the legacy of all the years he painted parking lots for a living.

Thought For The Day

In Case We Forget That We Live in Oklahoma

we got reminded last night. Specifically, that we live in the part of Oklahoma frequently referred to as Tornado Alley. Otter went with her best friend to the friend's church youth event so she wasn't home for the excitement. But she had plenty of her own!

I think it was around 7:15 or so, we were watching a satelitte tv station so we weren't aware of a weather warning. Until we heard what we at first thought was a sound effect on the tv. Then we realized that it was "the" siren. Trust me, that is a sound you don't ever want to hear! We turned the tv to a local station and then realized that we were right in the firing line of a storm that had previously been tornadic and was still rotating. And moving quickly. We thought it was going to go south of us, then we realized that it was coming FROM the south towards us. Which is unusual, that type of storm generally comes from the west. We're watching the tv reports, then Bill heads down the hall to the bedroom tv to see what another channel had. At that point, I look out the back door and realize that I can see the area that the news bulletins are about. So I go find Bill and he points something out to me that I'd missed entirely! And it was about to sprout, it was very low (almost looked like I could have reached it from the back yard), and it was definetely rotating. It went right over the house, but it was still terrifying and much, much too close for comfort! That's when we went to the laundry room, which is our safe spot in the house.

Within just a few minutes of that fun event, I get a frantic call from Otter. Everyone had been moved inside the church when the sirens sounded and they were all in an inside, windowless room. Some of the adults were upstairs to where the only tv was, so they knew at least that it was heading their direction. I told her to stay put, do what she was told and pay attention - which she was already doing. I also told her to keep in touch with me and keep me posted, I think she called me 3 or 4 times and I called her at one point when we realized that it was almost on top of them. But it passed over them safely, then her friend's parents brought her back home. I don't think I have ever seen her so glad to get home. She's a pretty brave girl, but this one was potentially very serious and I was as terrified as she was I think.

When we watched the news at 10:00, we saw a report that turned out to be a small tornado - after it passed over us but before it got to where Otter and her friend were. Not a comforting thought! There was a little bit of property damage, but nobody was actually hurt.

Yes, Froggy - I can hear Dad's voice so clearly. I know exactly what he would be telling me. To get my behind back to Texas, where I belong! Then he would tell me that he grew up in this area so he knew what he was talking about, and that I should listen to him and come home. I got that lecture from him several times after we moved up here. Always during the spring. And he always meant it from the heart. And I would dearly love to be able to hear him lecture me again.

Ok, back to the regularly scheduled blog posting!

Mother's Day is Sunday. I got my gift from Bill today. He's a smart man, he knew I'd want Fenton and he knew that he'd better ask me to get my own gift this time. Which is not because he just didn't want to go shopping, but because he knew he couldn't keep straight which one I wanted once he got there! So I said I didn't mind, and I went to the Fenton store at lunch today. I went in with one of two pieces in mind, one is a candle holder and one is a vase. So what did I come out with? A blue elephant! Which is another good reason that Bill didn't try to get my gift this year - he knew I'd change my mind once I got in there! Smart man.

I promised Otter I'd go for a bike ride with her, so I'd better get this posted now.

Bicycles!

We finally got Bill convinced to get the bikes out of the shed! Actually, I had to start taking them out myself yesterday for him to realize that I was serious about it. He was afraid I'd hurt myself, so he said that he would get them today if I would remind him as soon as he got home. So, as he was walking in the door Otter and I were standing right there and we said one phrase over and over and over and over and.... "Bicycles, we want bicycles!" It worked. Of course, the tires were flat so Bill had to take care of that for us. Then Otter and I got the seat adjusted on her new one (my "old" one - really just a few months old) and then away we went.

And about 20 feet later, the chain slipped off of my bike so I had to walk it back and get Bill to fix it for me. It's an old 10-speed, it was a pretty expensive brand at one point but I bought it at a yard sale for $5.00. It takes specialty tires, so I didn't actually get to ride it for quite a while after we got it because it took a while to find the tires. Now I'm thinking that it might be on it's last legs, but I'll ride it until it falls apart. If I do have to replace it, I'm getting a plain old one speed! I'm sure that my knees will be rebelling tomorrow, but it is actually good therapy for them. It may be rainy the next couple of days, but I am going to ride as often as I can.

Bill actually cleaned out an area of the shed so we can store the bikes there, then get them out easily when we want them. It was kind of a mess and still is in the shed, but one thing at a time!

I think Otter will enjoy her new one, it's a better size for her. The purple one is only about 3 years old, but she's grown a lot in those 3 years. The doctor said that she's probably just about at her adult height and the blue bike should work for her for many years - or until she gets a car and forgets about the bike!

I had a close encounter of the hummingbird kind this morning. I was watering the venus flytraps, which have been relocated to the deck. They are on the outside window ledge of the dining room window, right under the feeder. I heard a buzz and looked up, there was a male ruby-throat about 4" from my head. He was just suspended there, for several minutes then he landed on the feeder which was just a couple of inches higher and fed for several minutes more. I think maybe he's one of last year's crew returning since he was not afraid of me at all. It was a wonderful experience! It lasted until another hummer showed up and the first one chased the second one off. They will return to the same areas year after year, if the food source is one that they like. We also had an oriole on the feeder on Saturday. They will feed from hummingbird feeders. I've just never seen them here before.

That's it for now! I'm just waiting for Otter to get out of the shower so I can take one. But she's a typical teenage girl, she could stay in the shower for hours. Froggy, do you remember Dad yelling at you to get out of the shower because you'd been in there so long? I remember him telling me that he was going to start giving me the water bill to pay!

Early Sunday Morning Ramblings

I'm the only one awake at the moment. It's about 7:30 and I've been up about an hour. Bill said he didn't sleep well last night so I told him to go back to sleep. I'm not sure what time he came to bed, but I remember hearing him trip over Frasier! Otter is still snoozing, I was going to wake her up for church but my knees are really bad this morning so I'm thinking that we might skip it today. I did manage to get a load of laundry going and I've cleaned the kitchen. But those were easy and didn't aggravate my knees.

My knees were better yesterday but they are bad again this morning. I have caught myself crossing my knees lately, which is a no-n0 and might have a lot to do with why they are hurting so much. When I am losing weight the left knee will act up, Bill's theory is that it has to constantly adjust to my changing weight and that does sound logical. I've been back on my weight loss the last couple of weeks and it's possible that's affecting my left knee. But my right one has always been ok for the most part. Not lately! The plantar faciatis in my left foot was better but I think I'm walking differently to favor my left knee and I've noticed that my left foot is acting up again. It ain't fun getting older! And I'm not really old, I'm 46. But I'm seriously afraid of what real old age is going to bring! :) (Before you comment Froggy, just remember that you are older than I am!)

Movie review: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I might not have the name exactly right. Anyway, it's got a sock monkey. And that is about the ONLY thing it has to recommend it. Don't waste your time or your $$. It was badly acted, badly written, etc. and not one I'm going to want to see again. I'm glad that we only rented it instead of going to the theater to see it. Nobody enjoyed it. Otter gets to pick next Saturday's movie, I hope that she has better luck. Although with Otter, the movies tend to be vampire or zombie related. What can I say, she's her parent's daughter!

We finally have new neighbors, the house next door to us has been vacant since last August. It was on the market for a while, two different realtors and then the sign was gone one day. We saw activity over there on an off & on basis over a period of a few months, then there was a dumpster in the driveway for a couple of months and we'd occasionally see a car or truck in the driveway. We figured that it was probably sold, but there was never any sign of anyone moving in. Until yesterday. They have a pit bull. And Frasier spent most of yesterday running up and down the back fence yapping his silly head off as the dog on the other side of the fence did the same thing. I don't have a problem with pit bulls, I like them actually. I've had one before and may again in the future. I just have a problem with dogs that bark all day long! I'm hoping that it's just "new neighbor dog syndrome" and that Frasier and the pit will both get over it. Soon! Frasier just about ran himself into exhaustion yesterday. There had been other dogs over there once in a while, but they were with people who seemed to be working inside the house.

Check back, there may be more later!

Twisty Weather and Other Fun Stuff

We had some twisty stuff in OK last night. But not in our direct area. We could have easily gotten it, but the storms that started out in western Oklahoma went more north so we just got some thunder in the middle of the night and a little rain. It was very windy all day yesterday, and I had to put my patio furniture back in place this morning. I also had to refill a hummingbird feeder and clean the window it's hanging in front of, because the wind blew the feeder so hard that all the food sprayed out onto the window. I also had to adjust the straps holding the new oak tree in place, it was kind of leaning to one side. The straps probably kept it from falling over, the wind was so strong.

Yesterday's forecast was for very warm and windy, which is exactly what it was. We had a good chance of storms, and they were expected to be the bad stuff that this area is known for if they developed. Some did develop, but like I said before, it went north instead of northeast (which is what they usually do) so it missed us. For those of you who know where Hominy is (Dad grew up there), the main tornadic stuff was west of there and then north. It was mostly in rural areas, so there is damage but no loss of life. However, after the storms left Oklahoma they did a lot more damage and there have been some deaths.

Today was very pretty, nicely warm but not too hot and just a little windy at times. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, I intend to spend a great deal of it outside on the deck - hopefully watching hummingbirds! Otter and I went to the library after work/school today, so we have plenty of books to keep us occupied tomorrow. I also rented a movie, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. It's got a sock monkey in it, it has to be good! :)

It's been a busy week. I have been to three thrift stores and found a few things, including a really cute purse for $3.99 and a couple of glass things. There was a yard sale in the neighborhood yesterday where I found a few more glass things and also some fabric. Otter found a bunch of fabric there. Bill had some vacation time he needed to use, so he was off Monday through Wednesday. I think that the dogs have slept most of the week away, but then they usually do that. Right now, they are parked in the floor right in the middle of the office. Snoozing.

I guess I'll post this now and see if my creaky, aching knees will make it all the way to the kitchen! No idea why they are bothering me so much today, the left one frequently hurts but this time it's both and they are about to kill me. Which is just one more reason that I'm glad today is Friday and I don't have to go anywhere or do anything tomorrow!