Monday Madness **(EDITED)

People are crazy.  We've known for several days that there was a very good chance of a winter storm.  But what do people do?

They wait until the last minute to run to the store and stock up, that's what they do.  And the last minute is today.

I decided to fill up my car this morning, and it was just me and one other person.  Nice older gentlemen, we had a nice chat about how it was so easy this morning but would be so overcrowded this afternoon.  This afternoon, there were lines at every station I passed by.

I realized this morning that we were running low on dog food, so Otter and I stopped on the way to school this morning.  Not too crowded, we got in and out quickly.  This afternoon, it looks like all the store parking lots are full to the point of not having enough spaces left!

I did have to run into Wallyworld for one thing that I just wanted to get, my thought was that if the lot looked busy I could skip it.  But I couldn't see the lot from the street unless I actually turned towards it, because it's behind some other buildings.  So, I turned down the street and the lot was full.  This store is situated where my only choice was to actually drive through the lot, it borders a neighborhood and the streets are one-way in that area.  So we (Otter was with me) turned in and managed to snag a fairly good parking space on our way to the exit.  So we parked, ran inside and got what we wanted and managed to get out quickly.  But that was a fluke, because all the check out lanes were packed.

What were people buying?

Storm staples:  B-M-T!  (BreadMilkTolietpaper for anyone who doesn't know the Oklahoma Winter Weather Code Words for Storm Intensity).

The post office was really crowded, but that might be normal for after 4:00.  I had to mail a few things that couldn't wait, but we were in and out in 20 minutes.  (Froggy, the hats should be there Wednesday more or less - don't cut the box open!)

It does sound like we are going to get Winter.  How much and how soon, that's anybody's guess.  The school district Bill works for has already announced for tomorrow, so he's off.  In all probability, Otter and I will be home with him.  At least tomorrow.  But that's not certain yet.

We brought the bird feeders in.  They will get filled and taken out in the morning.  We don't want to take them back out tonight because we've had enough of chipping ice off of them so that the birds can get to the seed.  We don't want to fill them tonight because we've also had enough of having to clean up after a dog got sick from eating too much birdseed!  The feeders are parked on the table, but Frasier is tall enough that he could probably get at least one off of the table.

No use tempting fate, dog's too smart for his own good.

**EDIT: Otter's school has also announced for tomorrow. And shortly after that, my boss called me and told me not to come in tomorrow. So, we're all home on Tuesday.  And maybe Wednesday, depending on the storm duration and temperatures.

Sunday Readiness

Today's title is inspired by something that Pastor David said at church this morning.  He was referring to the fact that the weather is expected to remind us that it's still Winter, and not Spring like it's felt the last couple of days.  He said that he knew we'd already all been to the grocery store and were prepared.  But that he hadn't been, so he was going this afternoon.

I am prepared, but I did have to run to Wallyworld for a couple of things that I forgot the other day.  I knew that they would be crowded, but I also knew that if I waited even until later today, they'd be a madhouse.  Well, more of one anyway.  So, I hit Wally about 11:15 and it still took me over 30 minutes to get 2 or 3 things.  They were very crowded, I don't think that very many people are actually ready.

The forecasters never know, but we have to pretend that they do because occasionally, they get it right.  IF they are right this time, we'll be socked in starting Monday evening and lasting until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.  I prefer to err on the side of caution, but I generally do anyway.  It's a Borg Queen thing, I can't help it.

IF they are right this time, we will get anywhere from 4 to 10" of snow.  On top of possibly a couple of inches of ice.

Or we might not get anything.  It's anybody's guess.

But it is pretty cold.  Especially after the last two days of 70's & sunshine!

Frasier's leg has been an issue again lately.  He's been chewing on it, so we're back to spraying it twice a day with the spray the vet gave us.  It has made a difference.  He's still too interested in licking the spot but he's bouncy and feeling better.  He's gotten to the point where he sees me coming with the spray, and he extends his leg for me.  I still have to sit with him for about 10 minutes to keep him from chewing, but he is better.  He doesn't seem to object to 10 minutes of affection, for some reason!  Of course, Maggie has to get in on the attention.  Can't let Frasier get all the love, now can she?

I think I am going to put the specialty french yarn on eBay, the stuff that came in the bag I got last week.  It's pretty, but it's very fine and I think it would be difficult to work with.  Fine as in small & slippery!  I crocheted one hat yesterday and still have one more to make, then I'm going to start on something else.  I'm going to attempt socks.  They are usually knitted, but they can be crocheted as well.  I bought a pattern book a couple of months back, along with cotton yarn.  We'll see how it works.  I know I'll be able to make them, but I'm not sure how they'll be as far as being worn.  The cotton yarn might not be stretchy enough, but the recommended yarn is a wool blend so I can't use it.  Bill's my victim for the socks.  He's used to it, he is frequently subjected to my prototype when I come up with a new project.  The cotton yarn that I got in last week's goodie bag is for something else, but I'm not going to start that yet.

Prayer Request

I have a prayer request.  Toadles is how we refer to my brother on here.  His father-in-law has had a health emergency come up and has been hospitalized.  I'd like to request prayers for him, his first name is Charles, and also for Toadles & Mrs. Toadles.

I don't know any details yet, but any prayers will help.

Steak-ing My Claim

Well, it sounds like a good title anyway!  It's a play on the word Steak and Staking.  On account of we just had dinner.  And it was steak.

It's # 26 this year, not a "big" anniversary but we celebrate them all.  We went with the default celebration meal:  steaks, baked potatoes & green beans.  We have ice cream, but nobody has any room for it at the moment.  (Relax Froggy - it's not Braum's!).

I am still de-stashing, but I have bought yarn lately.  I have a project in mind, I'm not quite ready to start on it but I'm getting there.  I'm not quite sure what it's going to be, either a shawl or a scarf but it's more of a spring-type garment.  I found the yarn on sale, so I went ahead and bought it.  It'll keep!  It's a teal blue and it's a smaller-gauge yarn, as well as a very soft yarn.  I went to a thrift store today and came home with more yarn, but again it's for a specific project.  I had been wanted to get a certain type of smaller gauge cotton yarn for a couple of specific items, and I found some today at a thrift.  In a bag with a whole bunch of other stuff, mostly yarn (OK, all yarn!) and for $3.98 (the cost of one cotton skein if I could find it on sale), I got 3 or 4 skeins of cotton, three skeins of a very fluffy & soft yarn (polyester? I can't remember) a bag with a bunch of ribbon yarn (neat stuff!) and the really fun part is the 7 or 8 skeins of very expensive french yarn that is almost as fine as a small gauge (jewelry) chain and very slippery.  Several of the french yarn skeins were tangled, Otter and I attacked it and got it all detangled.  Each skein is now in a seperate baggie.  No idea what I'm going to do with it, but it's not cheap yarn and I got it for nearly nothing.  I also bought a second $3.98 bag that did have yarn in it, but it had a bunch of stuff I thought Otter would want (which she absolutely does) so I got it as well.  The 2nd bag has some yarn, but it's a big tangled mess and I'll eventually take it apart.  It also had several pieces that are already made, and a whole bunch of sewing stuff for the kiddo.

Think I need to stay out of the thrift store for a while!  I was actually looking for components for a craft project I have in mind.  But yarn rules...

I have de-stashed.  I used a lot of spare yarn on Bill's blanket, and I've been finding things to make out of yarn that I've had for a while.  I've also donated a small amount.  Then I discovered something:  the alpaca yarn I bought a while back makes me itch!  It took a while, I held it for a longer time than I would have been able to hold wool, but my skin still reacted.  So, it went into the donate pile. :(

Speaking of yarn.  (Yeah, I know.)  I've decided to abandon the Dr. Who scarf.  I never really wanted to make one, Bill really wanted me to make one but Otter had no interest in wearing it.  While it would be a way to use up spare yarn, it would also use up quite a bit of time that I'd rather use on projects that are actually wanted or needed.  I thought about frogging it, but I decided to just tie off and leave it as it is.  Maybe someday I'll work on it again, but it can also be used in a different way than as a scarf.

Anyway, with that in mind:

(Otter, this one is just for you!)

Otter was home today.  She woke up with what was probably a migraine.  She had the headache all day, she had motrin, chicken soup and rest.  She's feeling better but they can be very debilitating.  She hasn't had a bad one in a while.

OK, I might have room for that ice cream now!

Sunday Caffiene!

Today's title is courtesy of Otter.  We didn't get moving in time to go to church this morning, and when we did manage to get out it was to head to the grocery store.  At which time Otter decided that she'd welcome a caffiene IV.  I think I probably could have used one as well.  Otter's caffiene is usually in the form of a coke - keep in mind that she is a TEXAN, so coke could also mean Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew.

Along with the grocery store, we also went to Walgreen's and took advantage of their sales & coupons.  Walgreen's is fun!

Our high temperature for the day is in the mid-30's.  We've already reached it.  We hit it fairly early on, and it's been heading down ever since.  I think we're in the high or mid-20's at the moment.  We have a chance of white stuff, but I don't think it's a strong chance.  Mostly, it's just really really cold.  The air is at that temperature that makes my lungs quit working, so I'm trying to limit my time outside.  We loaded the car with the recycling stuff and had the grocery trip, but I haven't been outside much and won't be.  Which is really hard for me, I need my outside time!

For consolation since I can't go outside and play, we watched a Dirty Jobs marathon on tv.  It's a great show, but I'd really love to see him attempt to either lay seal coat on a parking lot that has been baking all day in the hot S. TEXAS sun, or stripe it.  Or both!  That's a really dirty job, and not one I'd care to ever have to repeat!

We rented the latest Shrek movie for yesterday.  It was cute, not as bad as I was expecting but it also could have been a lot better.  It was pretty obviously a money-grab.  But it was funny.

Along with groceries, we bought more bird seed.  The last time I looked out, the yard was full of sparrows with a couple of red-wing blackbirds thrown in for good measure.  We saw a few robins yesterday, as well as a whole bunch of doves.

I have nearly finished all my UFO's.  I finished Bill's blanket yesterday.  It was a way to use up spare yarn and I didn't think I'd be through with it for a while.  But I finished a row yesterday and decided to put it on the bed to measure it.  We realized that it was big enough so cover the bed, so it's now a completed UFO.  I have two left - one is Otter's quilt and will get finished soon, and the other one is a teddy bear face pot holder I made for Froggy.  I took it with me last summer, left it in it's unfinished state and she was going to finish it.  But she got busy with quilting, so I had her send it back to me.  I was going to work on it last week, but I don't have anymore of the yarn I used so I'm going to have a re-think.  I'll eventually get it finished, Froggy, but it might have different ears.

Otter's busy at the moment, she's cleaning out stuff in her room.  Her room is not that big, her room at our old house was pretty big but she had a postage-stamp sized closet over there and she has a much bigger closet now, so she's happy with the trade-off.  But she has a lot of stuff that has been stored in her room, old toys, craft stuff and so forth, since we moved.  Over 6 years ago!  She's tired of having to move it around, so she's cleaning out and getting stuff ready to store in the attic.  She might go so far as to clean out her books, but I don't think she's decided about that yet.

We do have a spring or summer project planned.  Otter has a doll house that she bought when she was in early elementary school, I don't remember the grade.  She saved her money for a very long time, and then when she had enough, we took her to Hobby Lobby and she bought a doll house kit.  It was a family project, mostly Bill's project actually because it was a kit and not a completed house.  She played with it for years, until she outgrew it.  But she didn't get rid of it.  It's in the attic.  We're going to get it down when the weather is warm.  Then we're going to see what needs to be repaired and she probably wants to repaint it.  It's pink and bright purple, in case you were wondering.  She's going to go through all the furniture and accessories, see what needs to be repaired or tossed and then we're going to store it correctly so that she'll have it for her kids.

While we're at it, I might see if I can motivate the resident Engineer into cleaning out and rearranging the contents of the attic.  I'm sure that there is a lot of stuff up there that we don't need and won't use, and it is kind of hard to find things like it is.

Or maybe that's just the Borg Queen talking.

Cold Birds

We got the forecasted snow & ice overnight.  Wow, they got it right!  Statistically, they have to get it right at least some of the time I guess.  I'm not sure how much snow we got, I'd guess a couple of inches and came down until mid-morning.  There is ice underneath the snow, freezing rain & sleet came in first.  The paper was delivered, which surprised me.  When I went out to get it, all the way at the end of the yard, the ground was very crunchy in places because of the ice under the snow and slick in other spots.  The tire tracks from the paper delivery vehicle were already covered up.  I don't know how much snow we actually got, but I don't think it was more than a couple of inches.  The problem was the ice, not the snow.

When I went out later in the afternoon to check the mailbox, the street was partially thawed.  The yard was still icy & crunchy, and there were kitty prints all over the driveway.  Along with bird prints.

I have been looking out the dining room window at the birds.  At one point, there were something like 5 male cardinals and 6 females.  There have also been sparrows & chickadees, I've seen "regular" doves and also a ringnecked dove.  We don't get too many ringnecked doves.  There are red-winged blackbirds as well as another bird I haven't identified yet.  It looks similar to a sparrow but it's a lot larger.  There are a few varieties of sparrow, that's probably what it is but I haven't looked up info on the internet yet.  The starlings were around, but not in huge numbers - not that I'm complaining about small numbers of starling vermin!  I haven't seen the woodpecker today, but he'll probably show up sooner or later.  He likes the suet feeder, which also had a cardinal on it this morning and then two starlings fought over it.

Since we're all home today, I made waffles for breakfast.  I made extra, they get put in the freezer and then popped in the toaster whenever somebody wants one.

Our lunch plans were hot dogs, at Bill's request.  He roasted them in the fireplace.  They were pretty good, actually.  I think he just likes playing with fire.  :)

This post mostly seem to be about food today!

I guess I'd better change the subject.

I know!  Crochet!  (Bet you didn't see that one coming).  :)

I am working on hats today.  I've made two today, that will make three that I've done, in my quest to de-stash.  I have gift plans for them, as well as a few other ones.  They are easy and go fast.  I still have one more that I want to make, then I'll see about a few other de-stash projects.

It never got above freezing today, and I expect that the roads will be dicey tomorrow morning.  But I'm planning on going to work anyway and if school is open then I'll take Otter on the way in.  Bill and I both woke up at 4:30 this morning, hopefully tomorrow we'll at least get to sleep until 5:00 when the alarm goes off.  Otter's school was the last to announce closing this morning, but I expect school to be open tomorrow.

At least tomorrow is Friday.  That's always a good thing!

Ear Flaps

I'm pretty much over the cold.  I still have some outbreaks of coughing and my nose gets stuffy at times.  But I don't have the major symptoms anymore, although my throat is not quite up to singing yet.  That's a hard one for me.  I do have one other, fun thing to deal with.  I have ear flaps!  My left ear is noisy, which is not uncommon with the congestion.  I just wish that particular symptom would hurry up and be gone!  It's annoying.

Winter might be on the way.  Or maybe not, remember we have less than brillant weather forecasters to deal with.  Although they might get it right this time.  Frankly, I hope that they are right and we get snowed in tomorrow.  I am in desperate need of what Otter calls a Mental Health Day.  You know, a day off from work (when I'm not sick) to just do whatever.  It's a possibility.  If not, then I guess I'll go to work tomorrow!  Mostly, I think she just wants the day off from school - and I can't say I blame her for that.  :)

Anyway.  We are prepared for winter weather.  We generally always are, which is a result of the first winter we lived here and we got caught unprepared.  Never let it be said that the Borg Queen gets caught twice!  I had to stop at the grocery store this morning for two or three things I just needed (efferdent and guacamole, not really what I'd call storm supplies), and they were pretty crowded already.  Before 7:00 a.m.!  I also needed to fill the car, and the gas station looked to be a popular place as well today.  When Otter and I were running our after work/school errands today, we noticed that many places are busy and most of them are either food or hardware related.  So we went to a craft store instead!  Actually, we went to two of them.

We just refilled the bird feeders.  With lots of puppy help, that is.  The dogs did such a good job of cleaning up any spilled seed from the ground.  Don't know what we'd do without them. :)  (Be bored, that's for sure).

I'm having skin issues.  Not unusual, especially this time of year when the air is so dry.  But two splits at once is not fun.  Well, I'm not going to let it stop me from crocheting.  That's what latex gloves are for, after all.  At least, that's what they are for in my world.

Resistance is Futile, after all.

Sunday Tiredness!

As in, tired of being sick.

I'm better, I'm just not 100% recovered yet.  I am still congested and having to blow my nose frequently, but not as frequently as it has been.  My voice is rough, but at least I still have it - when I get colds, it's not uncommon for me to lose my voice completely.  I've still been dealing with sinus pressure and related headaches, but they don't last all day anymore.  I have been having some asthma symptoms, but nothing major.

Mostly, I just feel really tired.  Which is also normal for me.  I don't get little colds, I get big ones.  And this one has been a "normal" big one.  I'm ready for it to go away!  I went to work Thursday and left about 2:00, then I managed to stay all day Friday but I was absolutely exhausted by the time I got home, after getting Otter at school and making a quick stop at the video store.

I did manage to get a lot of crochet done yesterday.  I am just about finished with my UFO's.  Now, it's time to start some other projects I've had planned for a little while.  Froggy, your hat is finished!  I'll get it mailed to you in a few days, I have to make the other two that I mentioned to you, which I will send with yours.

Otter's off with BF today, they are going to the movies.  I think that they are going to see Season of the Witch.  It sounds pretty good, but I don't know if we'll actually get there or if we'll wind up seeing it when it comes out on video (most likely).

I was kind of concerned about Frasier earlier.  He and Maggie had been outside for a little while, Otter was cleaning out the dog yard (her chore, which she hates and I don't blame her).  That meant that she had the gate open, and they knew it so they took advantage of the chance to run around the big part of the back yard.  They came back in on their own when they got tired of chasing each other, and Frasier parked himself on his blanket.  But he looked like his teeth were chattering.  He wasn't cold and he wasn't shivering, it wasn't a seizure and they had been inside for several minutes.  It wasn't constant, but he did it several times over a couple of minutes.  He acted fine, he was happy and friendly.  But it was something we've never seen before.  It didn't last too long, but we'll keep an eye on him.  Maggie was just glad to be inside, and she mananged to get herself in between me and Frasier in an effort to soak up all the attention for herself.  Little bratty beagle!

Otter is off from school tomorrow.  She's going to work with me.  I'm going to take her over to see Miss Dorothy after work, Miss Dorothy said that she hasn't seen Girlfriend in too long.  So it's a command performance, but I'd already planned on it.

Bill's off, too.  But he's going to spend the day at home with his pachinko machines.  And probably power tools!  So, think safe thoughts for him...

Still (have a) Cold (weather)

It's still cold.

And I still have a cold.

It's better, but I'm not well yet.  I did go in to work this morning.  And at about 10:00, I gave up and came home.  I did consider calling the doctor, but I really am feeling better than I was.  Mostly, I think at this point that I am just really, really tired.  I haven't slept too well the last couple of nights, it's kind of hard to get any rest when you are stuffed up!

We've been below freezing for something like 96 hours, according to the 5:00 news tonight.  We might get into the mid-30's tomorrow.  Heat Wave!  Of course, it's supposed to get down to 5 degrees tonight.  Brrr.

The snow is pretty much gone from any area that gets sunlight.  There is still some in yards, but it's patchy.

Froggy commented about the dogs enjoying the company.  They are happy that I'm home, but mostly I think they are happy because the fireplace is being used.  Maggie especially likes to get in front of it and snooze.  Fraiser likes the warmth, but he doesn't sleep in front of it like she does.  I spent a couple of hours laying down on the couch when I got home today, he was right there with me.  He got up in my face for a few minutes and then he parked himself right beside the couch.  My puppy is taking good care of me!

Maggie has spent a lot of time keeping Bill occupied lately.  Because he's got a pachinko machine refurbishment taking place in the living room and she's very interested in it.  Which is potentially hazardous to her health - not the machine, but Bill's attention!

OK, back to my couch now.

Tales From the Cold Side

As in, I have a cold.  But it's also cold outside.  And white & fluffy!

We got a dusting of snow overnight, just enough to cover the car windshields but the coverage on the ground was patchy.  The streets were ok today, or at least there were no school closings.  Not that I went anywhere besides my couch!

It's been snowing off & on this afternoon, and it's been pretty cold.  We've been below freezing long enough that there may well be some street issues tomorrow and maybe school closings.  I don't know if I'm going to go anywhere tomorrow, either.

Depends on how I feel.

Which is cruddy at the moment.

I've gone through 3 1/2 large boxes of kleenex since yesterday afternoon.  My nose is probably about as red as Rudolph's!  I am tired of sneezing.  My throat is sore off & on, but I've been pouring down the liquids and it helps.

Otter rode the school bus today, which was not her first choice.  I don't really blame her for that, but I was not really up to getting out in the cold if I didn't have to.  I stayed on the couch pretty much all day, with a roaring fire going and a couple of dogs to keep me company.  They alternated between (Maggie) parking on my feet (blanket covered) or under the blanket and the fireplace, and (Frasier) snoozing on his blanket or practically getting in my lap, as he likes to be veryclose to me.  Especially when I'm not feeling well.

After Otter got home from school, she made an interesting discovery.  She was taking some clean clothes out of the dryer and a stinkbug fell out of it!  It was probably a warm bug, and probably dizzy, but it was also still alive and there is no evidence that it fumigated anything.  She put it out in the back yard.  Now, it's probably a pretty cold bug.

She also brought in my bird feeders so I could refill them.  Which caused Maggie immense joy, she was wired and wound up more than usual for some reason.  Who knows what goes through that dog's mind!  Or, if she even really has one.  Fraiser was happy, he went outside for a few minutes and so did beaglebrat, but he came back in after a little while and went right back to his blanket.

Since I was home, I did some crochet.  I worked on Bill's blanket, I figured that today was a really good day to work on a nice, big, warm blanket.  I'm just about out of small spare amounts of yarn, so there probably won't be much progress on it in the near future.  I finished up the lap blanket yesterday, although I didn't get the tails woven back in.  I started that this afternoon.

That's about as energetic as I got, unless you count changing tv stations with the remote control.  And making dinner, but meatloaf is easy and Otter helped a lot with it.  She usually does help a lot, she loves to cook and I enjoy teaching her.

She's taking cooking this semester in school.  She already knows quite a bit about cooking, but she is always looking to learn more.  But we're not sure about this teacher.  One of her first instructions to the class was THAT EVERYONE ALWAYS HAS TO BE POLITICALLY CORRECT.

I'm not sure she has a clue who she's dealing with!  Well, somebody will educate her.  And it might not only be Otter.  :)

Sunday Sniffles

What a great way to start the new year!  With a cold!  Well, it might be allergies.  But, whatever it is, I'm not feeling too good.  I am sniffly & sneezy (extremely sneezy), and my nose alternates between running or being stuffed up to the point that I can hardly breathe.  And my throat is pretty sore.

I did get out of the house, though.  We went to Walmart.  I bought stuff to make chicken noodle soup.  Bill needed something for his pachinko rebuilding project.  So Otter and I went with him, we went to the grocery side of the store and he went to the paint & hardware side.  We weren't gone very long.

It's pretty cold.  We could get a winter storm.  Or maybe not.  It could hit us and it might skip us, but it is supposed to be very cold the next few days regardless.

I'm working on some of my UFO's.  I don't really make New Year's Resolutions, I think that the idea is kind of dumb.  But I do have general goals that I like to accomplish, and one of them (well, pretty much the only one at the moment) is to get my UFO's converted into FO's.  I really don't have that many, the afghan is a long-term project as is the Dr. Who scarf.  I have a pillow cover and two hats planned, and I have a lap-sized blanket that I started a few months back and am now nearly finished with.  It's made up of smaller granny squares and I was going to work on it yesterday and start assembling it but I realized that I was short 4 squares.  So I made them yesterday and started the assembly process this morning.  Well, it was before lunch anyway.  It's going fast and I should be able to get it finished up today.  I also have a clothes hanger cover that needs to be repaired and I might have one that needs to be attached, I can't remember.  And there's also Bill's blanket, but it's being made from scrap & left over yarn so it's more a work-in-progess than a UFO.

Now, I think I'll go join Otter and Maggie Moo in the living room.  They are in front of the fireplace, which has been going pretty much non-stop since yesterday morning!  It's pretty warm in there.  Unlike the room I'm in right now.  Bill's out in the garage, he got a new saw last week and he's got it running.  I think he's making something for his current pachinko rebuild.  I just listen for screams, but so far so good.  :)

Bird Brains

No, I'm not talking about the dogs.  Or Bill!

I'm talking about the feathered, flying kind.

We've seen some interesting ones lately.  Monday morning, on the way to take Otter to school, we were driving up what is basically a country road.  An owl flew across the road in front of us, it was probably just a few feet higher than the top of the car.  I'm not sure what kind it was, it was still too dark to tell details.

There are also bald eagles in the area.  They have a nesting spot that is not too far from Tulsa, and they are frequently seen south of Tulsa and in our area.  Bill's seen the adults before, but I had never managed to see them.  Until shortly after the owl.  We saw juvenile birds, they were perched on power lines.  Apparently, there have been several sightings of young baldies.  They are very pretty birds.

On to other things.

Dogs!

Sidekick (also known as Maggie) needed some attention paid to her rear parts.  The vet had an opening today, so I ran her and SuperChupa (Frasier) up there.  He went for moral support.  But I'm thinking that the next time I have to take a dog by myself, I'll only take one and the moral support puppy can just stay home.  It was easy loading them into the car, then they rode well.  But once we got there, that's when the trouble started.  Maggie was easy to get out, she always goes out the front door and Fraiser waits for me to open the back door and get him out.  Not today!  He could see inside the vet's glass windows and there were two other dogs in there.  One of them was really hyper, and I think Fraiser wanted to play with it.  He was out the front door before I was even all the way out myself.  I managed to pin him between me and the car, but his leash was wrapped around him and caught on something inside the car so he was pretty well stuck.  I got ahold of the leash and got it unstuck, but the fun continued.  I had to pick up my cell phone, which had gone flying when Fraiser tried to get out of the car.  Then I had to deal with two doggies that wanted to walk on opposite sides of a very wide support post.  I seriously considered just strangling one of them and leaving them tied there!  (Not really).  I finally get them going the same direction at the same time, and Frasier runs right up to the vet's door.  Which opens out, so I couldn't get in because he wouldn't move!  The vet tech had to push open the door and then it took both of us to keep Fraiser from running over to play with the other dogs - and it was play, he was not being aggressive.  She opened the exam room door and we went straight in there.

Where I spent the next several minutes dragging Frasier away from the exit door because he still thought that he should get to go play with the other doggies!  Maggie's treatment just took a few minutes, she had to be literally dragged out of the room - once she figured out which end she did NOT want the vet to see!  Then when we exited the exam room, Frasier went right back out to where he'd seen the other dogs.  And there was a lady holding a cat!  At this point, it stopped being play.  Well, it was probably still play to him and he still wasn't being aggressive.  But he desperately wanted that cat.  It took both me and the tech to hold him still and get him out of the way so that the lady and the cat could get out of the lobby.  Then, it was nearly impossible to hold Maggie Moo back because somebody came in the door and she was overjoyed to see them!

At least Maggie Moo smells better and hasn't dragged her behind across the floor since we got home.

We are in for some possibly very cold weather.  The front is expected to come in late Friday night.  I was going to hit the grocery store Friday on the way home for a couple of things, but on the news tonight the forecaster commented about how busy the grocery stores will be this weekend, because the snow potential is Monday and Tuesday.  I just need a few things, milk and so forth.  But I'm not going to wait until Friday.  I'll go tomorrow after work.  Because people can get kind of stupid about weather up here!  You'd think that they'd be better prepared, because we do get enough winter each year that we should have all learned our lesson by now.  But, apparently not.  So I'll go get my stuff tomorrow, and I'll also make sure that the car's tank is filled because that's the other place that people tend to get stupid about.

At any rate, I'm really glad we bought all that firewood.  We've used a lot of it, but we still have a huge amount left.

The way it works is, Bill builds a fire.  Somebody usually roasts marshmallows, makes 'smores, etc.  Then the beagle camps out in front of the fireplace, right in the middle.  And then she won't move for anything!  :)

Guess she's not so dumb after all.  At least, not about her creature comforts!

2010 Review & December Books

It's only January 2nd, so I'm not too late!  I just didn't have time on Friday.

Anyway.

Here's the highlights of 2010:

January

We got a freezer.  Which we use quite a bit.

We had quite a bit of cold weather and ice a few times.

On one of those cold days, the battery in my car quit and it was so cold that the El Camino simply wouldn't start, so I had an unexpected day off.

Bill was named Employee of the Month at work.

We celebrated our 25th Wedding anniversary.

We participated in the church-wide Fasting & Self Denial at our church.  It was hard at time, but it was also very fulfilling.  We probably all need to learn a little self denial.

February

Bill was sick this month.  I know he was really sick because he even asked me to take him to the doctor!  That never happens with him.

When he recovered, he went to Oklahoma City.  For a pachinko machine.

It was still really cold weather.

I guess I shopped a lot, because my notes for the month include lots of Fenton finds. :)

The Winter Olympics was the main thing we watched on tv.  We enjoyed it.

Otter started Night School.

My skin was really bad this month, I tried wearing latex gloves to crochet and it worked great.

The tulips we didn't know we had started coming up.  That was a really nice surprise.

I had an unpleasant encounter with a stray cat at work. Bad cat.

Otter had a bad experience with a boy at school.  This is on the list because it's the first time that the teachers actually backed her up!

March

Otter had a spectacular check up with her allergist/asthma doctor.

I found a tamale source!  That's a major one, for us Transplanted Texans.

Otter turned 18 on the 31st.

The day of her party was very cold, we had an ice storm the day before and had to deal with ice on party day.

It was a bad month for my knees.  Cold weather affects them.

I made a pink & white granny square afghan for Sweetie.

April

This was a fairly quiet month.

The resident frogs showed up, which is a good thing.

Bill transplanted the surviving 3 banana plants in the back yard.  While they did grow and were pretty, we probably won't have them again.

Otter finished and passed night school!

May

This is the major Wild Weather Month of the year.

It was also a bad month for Maggie.  She chewed up Otter's cell phone charger, got evicted from Otter's room and eventually both dogs were put out at night (but it was Maggie's fault, Frasier was just caught in the crossfire).  But since we'd started the month by Yarnbombing Maggie, maybe she was paying us back. :)

I crocheted lots of potholders for Froggy.

Mother's Day.  We had tamales!

The hummingbirds showed up for the summer.

We bought a blu-ray player.  We use it quite a bit.

The end of 11th grade for Otter.

San Antonio had some bad weather, including one near-miss twisty storm.

Our weather was really bad.  We had 2 days of severe weather, Spring Storms as they are known.  One of them was fairly close, but the second day of it was terrifying.  It was Very Close and we really thought we were going to get hit.  Thank God we didn't.

June

It was a rainy month.  Also, it was a warm month for this area.

Bill realized that he could make a little money by repairing pachinko machines for other people, so he started that this month.

Otter's big thing for the month is that she and BF went to an anime convention.  She made a set of cat ear headbands and they wore cat-tails.

Billyboy turned 49!

Father's Day.  We had barbecue.

I cleaned out some of my yarn.  That won't happen too often, which is why it's on here.

The big movie of the summer for us was Toy Story 3.

Otter's hamster, Helena, died.

July

This was a really hot month, we had heat alerts most of the month.  The temperatures were warm, but it was the lack of wind that was an issue.

I went to Texas for a week to see Froggy and Nana.  We shopped a lot.  We ate a lot.  Puffy Tacos! I got to see Virginia, we went to the Pig Stand with Toadles & Mrs. Toadles. I found a lot of Fenton and some wonderful yarn.

The census worker came to the door.  "THREE!"

Frasier got another cat, the neighbor's hairless one.

Otter went to Texas for a week, she stayed at Nana's and saw Froggy & Crew.  They shopped and she swam a lot.

Otter tried contact lenses, but they didn't work for her.

August

Still a hot month, more heat alerts.

Otter started 12th grade.

I took advantage of the dry weather and cleaned out the rain barrel.

Tax Free Weekend.  Shopping frenzy.

We decided to refinance the house, we started the process towards the end of the month.

Flu shots were available this month, so we got ours.  And the Red Head Curse struck again!

September

We had all sorts of inspections for the refinance process.

Bill made us a book shelf for our many library books.

The drive in theater in Tulsa burned to the ground.  In a matter of minutes.  The police think that it was copper thieves that caused it.  At this point, it's still uncertain if it will be rebuilt.  It's a very expensive process.  We hope it comes back, but won't be surprised if it doesn't. :(

Our favorite barbeque place closed! :(

San Antonio had 5" of rain in one day, which is a lot for them.  We didn't get any rain.

Our wonderful neighbor called the cops on our barking dogs one night.  Except that the barking was coming from her own back yard!  We decided to go ahead and let our dogs back in at night at this point, we were going to let them back in when the weather turned anyway.  I'm sure that they did some barking, but I'm also sure that our dogs didn't start it because I know them and how they act.

Bluebonnets came up in the whiskey barrel!  They were transplated to clay pots and two of them are still alive.

October

The Texas/ou game.  Major persecution this year.

Otter had a bad sinus infection.

We closed on the refinance of our home!

We went to the State Fair, first time in 4 or 5 years.  It was a lot of fun.

There was an earthquake.  It was a mild wiggle, but it was a big story.

27 years since Bill and I met.

Maggie Moo had a bump on her head that came up fast and stayed.  The vet thought it was a cyst but he was unable to aspirate it and it needed to come off.

Our church started a 9:00 a.m. service, so that's the one we go to.

Billyboy started an actual website, for pachinko machines.

November

Otter is now a registered voter!  She excercised the privelege for the first time.

Maggie's spot on her head was surgically removed.  We forgot to ask the vet to insert a brain while he was at it.
We got the tulips planted.  Unlike 2009 when we were busy with the rent house and didn't get bulbs.

Otter's remaining hamster, Nadine, died.

I finally started crocheting on the afghan I wanted to make.  It's on on-going process.

We went to Texas for Thanksgiving.  We had a great time and the dogs had their own vacation.

We got a whole bunch of firewood delivered.

December

It was a cold month for the most part, but a dry one.

Otter had strep throat. :(

We saw the new Harry Potter movie.

My wedding band broke!  The jeweler was able to repair it, fortunately.

Christmas!

I turned 49.

We had a home vacation and enjoyed it.

Our exploratory rambles took us to Ft. Smith, Arkansas to shop.  We make a lot of these type trips, but they are usually in the same state.

We celebrated New Year's eve with more tamales & chili.

2010 was a pretty good year for us.  It wasn't perfect, nothing ever is.  But it was a good year.

December books:

1.  Dyer Consequences by Maggie Sefton.  I started this series in November by reading the last book, I thought that I should catch up in order.  It's ok, it's not the best but it is entertaining.

2.  Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton.

3.  Drop Dead Stitch by Maggie Sefton.  OK, I'm now caught up.  But I'm thinking I might need to re-read the last book in the series just to stay straight.

4.  The Rose & The Beast, Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block.  Interesting.  Makes you think.  Otter recommended this one.

5.  In the Still of the Night by Ann Rule.  I skimmed this one, I didn't have time to read it in detail.  But I will read it again when I have a chance.  It's a little different than her usual books, but it's very good.

6.  The Lobster Chronicles, Life on a Very Small Island by Linda Greenlaw.  OK.

7 - 9.  Crochet.

10 - 12.  Star Trek.

13 - 15.  Crochet.

16.  A Catered Wedding by Isis Crawford.  I think I have her name right.  This was the second book in a series, I had requested the first one but read this one first.  Then, my next step was to go cancel my request!  Not very well written and a stupid plot.  I skimmed the next book in the series to be sure, and it confirmed my low opinion of this author's writing skills.  Don't bother.

17.  Batman

18.  Mixed Media Explorations by Beryl Taylor.  Interesting, but nothing I want to do.

19.  Chic Sweats, 22 Ways to Transform & Restyle Your Sweatshirts by Webber & Marshall.  Otter is always looking for crafty sewing related ideas and this was originally on her shelf.  Not anything either of us wanted to do, but it was interesting.

20.  Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot by Starr Smith.  Biographical and really one I'd suggest.

21.  Triumph, Life After the Cult - A Survivor's Lessons by Carolyn Jessop.  She wrote a previous book, Escape, which dealt with her escape from the FLDS cult.  This one, like the first book of hers, should be required reading.

22.  Terrorist Cop, the NYPD Jewish Cop Who Travelled the World to Stop Terrorists by Dzikansy & Slater.  This is a true story and it looked interesting, but it was so badly written that I simply couldn't read it.  Maybe the number of words in the title should have been my first clue!

23.  Witness to Roswell, Unmasking the 60 Year Cover Up by Carey & Schmitt.  I knew that this was going to be a "Roswell UFO is a True Story" book, but it looked interesting.  Let's just say it's not what I would consider a serious book!  Otter and I have been looking for conspiracy-type stuff, because they can be a lot of fun.  This one wasn't, it was not well-written and I'd have to seriously wonder just what the authors/researchers were smoking the day they decided to write this one!

24. Japanese Braiding, the Art of Kumikimo by Jacqui Carey.  This was on Otter's shelf but it looked interesting.  It's an art form that is a lot harder than it looks.

OK, that's the year-end and the book list.  I guess that's it!