Happy Leap (Year) Day!

Photo posted especially for Froggy!

Leap Year is confusing.  February is a busy month for me, I have so much stuff at work that has to be done at certain times and on certain days and then February comes along and rearranges everything!  Leap Days make February even stranger.  It's still fun, just confusing!

Bill and I were discussing Leap Year this morning.  Otter's birth year was not a Leap Year, but the next year was.  If it had been Leap Year when she was expected, I firmly believe that Billyboy would have had me out running laps or doing strenuous excercise in an attempt to bring on labor so she'd be born on Feb. 29th!  However, he had to be content with hoping for April Fools Day.  She was born the day before April Fool's Day, which was not a bad thing.  He'd have gotten a lot of mileage out of an April Fool's Day baby, but I did an end-run around him and had her the day before. :)

Speaking of Otter, yesterday's comment about how she'd never had a "real" hamburger at home was meant to be jokey.  But I don't think it came across that way.  The cooking part was not a joke, I started teaching her when she was tiny (teeeeiiiny in Texasspeak) and she's pretty much able to cook everything.  But she really had never cooked a "real" hamburger!

Ashes

I cleaned the fireplace this afternoon.  Usually, I just scoop out most of the ashes so that it's clean enough to be used again soon.  But, with this nice warm winter we've had, I don't think we've used it more than a handful of times.  And since the next several days' forecast is for warm weather, I really don't see us using it again any time soon.  Like probably not until next Fall!

So, this time it got the full cleaning.  Which involves finding a towel that I won't care if it gets ruined, because I need to pull out the wood rack and bricks the rack sits on.  There is also a metal grill that fits over the wood rack, which helps the smaller logs & pieces to stay in place so that they burn and not just smolder.  The next step is to scoop out as much ash as possible, then get the small broom/brush to get as much remaining ash into the scoop as possible.  Fireplace ash is a very fine dust-like substance.  It's messy.  It also tends to fly into the air.  Which is why I put off the full cleaning as long as I can - I've been coughing my head off for a while now.

But, it's clean and probably will be that way for months!

Today is Pancake Day.  Local IHOP stores are giving away free pancakes.  We didn't participate in this one, but they use it to raise money for the Shriners Burn Unit Hospitals.  The Shriners are a wonderful organization, they help so many people.

Otter had a learning experience today:  she's never had a "real" hamburger before!  At least not at home.  We've always (at least as long as she's able to remember) used the Foreman grill.  But we're grill-less at the moment, since the last one died.  I think we had it about 7 years, and it was basically worn out from use.  I did look at the store to get a price idea for a new one in case I find one at a yard sale again, and the new ones are so flimsy.  They looked and felt like they would fall apart at the slightest touch, so unless we are able to find an older one in good shape, we'll probably just do without.  But we still like hamburgers!  Usually, it's turkey burgers but they are the same thing.  I bought gound beef last week to make chili with after Bill gave blood, and Otter requested that I leave her enough to make a hamburger with the next time we had something for dinner that she didn't want.  I made sloppy joes tonight, so she decided it was time for her burger.  Today, she got her first "real" homemade hamburger.  She also got another cooking lesson, I'm always on the lookout for something else to teach her but I'm rapidly running out of things.  Froggy, it brought back so many memories of Mom.  Specifically Aunt Jessie's meatless burger!  We've already discussed that on the blog, so I'm not going to tell that story again..

But it did make me realize just how many Mom stories involve food and cooking.  Or inadvertently making alchohol when she didn't realize that the "Recipe" she was given was actually ferminted fruit!  And that she'd been feeding it to her kids.  I don't think she ever really got over that one!  :)

Twisty Sunday

No, not the kind of Twisties that this area of OK is known for!

I'm referring to twisty ties.  The little plastic strips with thin wire inside, that are found on all sorts of things from bread wrappers to tortilla packages and just about everything else.

I hate twisty ties.  They are just one more piece of not-necessary to have to deal with.  I usually take them off of whatever they are on and toss them in the trash.  Bread wrappers can be twisted closed and wrapped back underneath the loaf, and the same goes for the tortilla packages.  In fact, just about everything can be closed without twisty ties.

(There is a point to this).

We've been meaning to pull the refrigerator out so we could replace the water filter we use on the ice maker.  We moved into this house in 2004, and the filter has been on the ice maker ever since.  We figured it was probably past time to change it.  So, we went to Lowe's this morning and bought a new one.  My plan was to clean behind/underneath the fridge when Bill had it pulled out.  It was pretty dirty.  Lots of dog hair, a few magnets, several stray pieces of pasta and just general dirt.  And about 40 million twisty ties!  Multi-colored ones, ones that I have never, ever seen/used!  I guess that they have had their revenge for me throwing away all the ones I come across.  Not that it's going to stop me, I really don't like the things.  But multi-colored ones?  I have no idea whatsoever where they came from.

 While I was at it, I also cleaned out from underneath the stove.  Instead of Bill pulling it out, I grabbed sock from Frasier's pile and put it over the end of a yard stick.  Then I just slid the yard stick underneath the stove and found even more dog hair.  Along with a piece of cereal, broken glass, a pretzel and what might have been a potato chip in another life.

Bill is thinking he might have to mow the weeds in the back yard.  There is some grass growing, but we also have a healthy crop of chickweed.  It's pretty, little purple flowers.  But it's still a weed and it spreads "like a weed."  After he gets finished, Otter and I are going to spread yarn pieces out for the birds.  The are starting to collect nesting material, and yarn was a very popular item last year judging from what we saw in the nests we had.  I guess the birds want to be multi-colored, too!

Lola!

Lola is a cartoon strip about a grandmother who knits.  She's popular among both types of yarn addicts, knitters and crocheters (I hate that word, it just doesn't flow right) both love her.  She's funny and usually is right on, the strip is written by a man and the character was existing in the strip before the Lion Brand (my favorite yarn company) started featuring her in some of their product newsletters.  It's now a collaboration between the artist and the company, there are a couple of books that are compilations of Lola involving yarn and her knitting stories.  It's always funny, and it's also usually always 100% correct.

It might be from the mind of a man, but he must be a yarn worker himself because he gets us.  And not a lot of non-yarny people do.  Lola is a woman after my own heart.

Here's the latest strip that was in my Lion Brand newsletter today.  It's so perfect!

Click on it if you can't read it, it should enlarge.

Today is Chili Day!

Who knew that there was an official day set aside for Texas lifeblood?  We certainly didn't.

But, now that we do know, we of course had it for dinner.  I used the following recipe:

Ottermom's Chili Recipe

Bill gave blood at work today, so I decided that he needed to recoup some iron and that meant that we had beef chili today and not made from ground turkey.  Specifically, we had ground sirloin!  It was so good, I use hot rotel and more chili powder than the law allows.

My sinus headache that I've been fighting all day is clearing up rapidly.

Guess it's all that chili powder.

Can't complain about that!

I Thought Yesterday Was Monday?

It might be Tuesday according to the calender.  But this is a perfect example of the day I've had: 

My Stress Fairies came to visit me today.  They had puppies!

They weren't as cute as this one, however.

But a puppy belly will make up for just about any stress that happens.

RIF, after all.

Otter and I had an unscheduled Girls Lunch today.  It was one of those "get out of the office before I strangled someone" days, so I bribed Otter with lunch at Arby's.  She agreed pretty quickly!

Bill had his dental visit yesterday, for what we thought was the last of the fillings he needed.  But as we were checking out and getting ready to leave, they told him that he needed to make another appointment for two more fillings.  I called their office today, and he actually has three more that he needs.  Two on the next appointment, then one remaining.  They are supposed to be smaller than yesterday's, but considering that we were originally told that yesterday was the final work needed, we really aren't sure.  He was NOT a happy camper yesterday, but I don't blame him.

We did get the taxes finished up on Sunday.  We filed them online, and we got the official receipt from the IRS and state tax agency so now Otter can get her FAFSA filled out.  FAFSA is the form that needs to be filed to unlock the keys for financial aid for college tuition.  We came out ok on the taxes, but we realized something:  when we had a business and/or rental property, we always had to pay.  Always.  Even with all the deductions we had.  Now that we don't have either, because the Pachinko business doesn't really qualify as a "business", our taxes come out much better.  Strange.

OK, I think I'm going to go find a puppy belly to rub.  I'm thinking that a certain beagle will probably agree wholeheartedly to being stress relief for me!  And a big, furry coyote might agree - although he's really more of a scratch-my-chin-and-I'll-follow-you-anywhere pooch.

Taxing Sunday!

(Bet you can't guess from the title what Bill's doing today!)

The sun is shining!  It's really nice today.  Not quite as warm as it looks, but it's still very nice.  Sunny and pretty, the birds are chirping and the dogs are lazy.

OK, so the dogs are always lazy!  But the birds are chirpy today.  They are also possibly looking for nesting material, so I might get some yarn scraps out soon.  It's still  a little early and we might still get winter weather, but the birds apparently don't think so.  Otter and I were out in the back yard earlier and we saw a few assorted bugs, so I'm sure the birds are happy.

I attempted to crochet just now.  It's doable, but I'm not going to be in a big hurry to get back into it.  I just did a few simple single stitches on my scrap-scarf-turned-lap-blanket project to see if it hurt my arm.  I definitely felt it, but it didn't hurt exactly.  I just did a few dozen stitches, just enough to test.  I probably won't do any more for a while yet.  But, it was nice to be able to crochet at all!

Bill goes back to the dentist tomorrow.  His appointment is at 9:00.  We'll take Otter to college and drop her off, then head to the dentist's office.  I think I'm going to take a book or two with me, normally I take crochet but it's going to be reading material this time.  Then after we get home, I'm hoping that Billyboy will get some rest.  He's not going to be in the best mood, understandably, but he's got to get it done.

Otter and I will be in need of our teeth cleaning soon.  I'm going to talk to the dentist at that point and see if she can give me a better idea of when Otter's two remaining wisdom teeth will be ready to come out.  I'm really hoping that we can schedule it sometime other than 4 days before the next semester starts!

OK, back to my laundry now.  And then I think Otter and I might make brownies.  We have 3 partially used cans of frosting in the fridge, I think we're going to have multi-colored frosted brownies this time.

Thursday Thirteen? Well, I'll Try Anyway

OK, 13 facts about myself.  That's the idea behind the Thursday Thirteen that is running around the internet at the moment.  I'm not making any promises, but here goes:

1.  I love to crochet.  That's probably already a well-known fact.  But, it's still a fact so I'm posting it.

2.  I am/We are TEXAN.  Always will be, no matter where we live.  Texas is Home, it is part of us and we are who & what we are because of it.

3.  I am/We are all redheads.  Although I have a bit of grey and refer to myself as calico occasionally.  Bill's got a lot of brownish shades mixed in with quite a bit of grey.  Otter has a glorious head of red hair.  It has it's drawbacks, frequently referred to as the Redhead Curse.  But, the good points outnumber the Curse!

4.  Along with being obsessed with crochet, I'm also an original Star Trek fan.  My earliest memory is in fact Star Trek, so even though the show was off the air for many years and I didn't really get into it until reruns, I'm one of the original fans because I did first see it when I was fairly young.  (And Otter had no choice, she's a Trek fan because she was raised to be).  My "other" nickname comes directly from Star Trek:  I am the Borg Queen!

(This is harder than it sounds, coming up with 13 things.  At least original things!).

5.  I love to cook.  I like to experiment and try different things, but I don't do enough experimenting.  Well, not as much as I'd like.  Bill has learned to be afraid at the words "it's an experiment" when I'm referring to cooking - but that's because he is fairly simple when it comes to what he likes and doesn't like as far as food is concerned.

6.  I was a Girl Scout leader for Otter's troup for 3 or 4 years.  I'm not sure exactly how long, I think it was 3 years.  But I really don't remember.  It was a lot of work but it was also a lot of fun.

OK, 6 is all I have!  There are other things, such as our marital history but that's been mentioned before.  I think everyone already knows where our politics are (as conservative as it gets).  Otter and I have Cherokee heritage, which has been discussed.  I read a LOT but that's well known already.  That is really all I can come up with.

I did not originate the Thursday Thirteen, I've seen it on several blogs.  But, if anybody else wants to participate, go right ahead.  If you don't want to, that's ok too.

Yawn

It's Wednesday.  It's rainy & foggy.  It's cool.

In short, it's what Mom would have called Good Sleeping Weather!

We did not get the spring-like storms forecasted for last night, but we did get rain.  Not hard and not a lot, but just enough to be messy.  Probably enough to nourish all the pollen-ish things that are starting to perk up.  It's going to be a bad year for allergies, I'm afraid.  Probably also for bugs, since we didn't get the cold/snow/ice that normally kills a lot of bad bugs.

We've already started having to deal with spring time allergies.  They are hitting Bill really bad, and he is not very allergic at all, so I expect that it's going to get really bad this year.

We had a nice Valentine's Day.  Otter especially had a nice one.  HP did not have classes yesterday, but her picked her up at college after her classes were over.  Witih flowers, which he presented to her in front of all her friends (thereby earning millions of brownie points with all her girl friends and showing up just about every other guy there).  Then he took her to Olive Garden for lunch and they went to a bookstore.  There was also a mylar balloon, but Otter was pretty much already floating about 3" off the ground just from the flowers!  Otter made fudge to give to her friends, and a special container was just for HP.

We had lasagne and garlic toast last night, along with some chocolate I picked up.  But I still think that Otter had a better day!).  :)

Bill has to go get 3 more fillings next Monday.  I'm taking the day off and going with him, I think he's earned a little pampering.  Then I think he'll be done with the work he needed.  Otter and I are due to get our teeth cleaned soon, I'm going to ask the dentist then if she can give me a general timeline on Otter's remaining two wisdom teeth and when she thinks that they will be ready to come out.  I'd really like to get it done well before Otter's next term starts at college, and not 4 days before it starts.

Over a month now since I've crocheted.  My right arm is much better, although it still has a way to go.  My left arm is now beginning to bother me, which is normal when I have to use it almost all the time and not my right arm.  I have been keeping an elastic bandage on my right arm and I've used one on my left arm some.  All part of the joys of tendonitis!  But, I'm thinking I need a new hobby to keep myself occupied until I can get back to my yarn.  Any suggestions?

(I'm not asking Bill for an idea.  He'd probably suggest taxidermy and that I use the dogs for practice!)

I Guessed Right!

(See yesterday's post.)

It was b).  We had a little snow, and the schools, etc. were still open so I had to take Otter to college and go on to work.  But since we probably had around 1/2" of snow and the ground was warm to start with, there were no traffic issues at all.  There were a few accidents, but they were caused by people speeding and might have happened anyway.

It's pretty much melted now.  But it was and still is pretty cold today.  Just not icy.

We could get Spring Storms mid-week.

There is a reason that we say Oklahoma weather is bi-polar!

Sunday Anticipation

We're anticipating either a) no snow/ice/winter and everything proceeds as normal tomorrow; b) snow/ice/winter and I still have to get out to take the kid to College tomorrow which will mean that I'll go on to work since they are pretty close together; or c) everything is shut down and we stay home to keep the dogs company in front of the fireplace.

I'm expecting it to be b), but it could be any of the above.

It is pretty cold today, it was sunny earlier but it never got past the mid-30's and now it's cloudy again.  The temperature is dropping.  The forecasted front is on it's way, the forecast at the moment is that we will have snow starting sometime after about 10 p.m. and continuing all night.  Snow itself isn't necessarily a problem.  It's the possible ice that is an issue.

Either way, we're bringing the bird feeders in tonight in case we do have something white & cold.  Then, they'll be filled at taken out in the morning.  As I've previously stated, Frasier is smart and I don't put it past him to figure out how to get them off the table.  I've had enough experiences in cleaning up after a dog that got sick because it ate too much birdseed!

We went to a nearby town this morning after church.  In search of a pachinko machine!  The owner of a flea market where we've shopped at before called Bill because he had a machine, so we went to look.  It was $125, which is nearly 3 times what Bill was willing to pay.  The owner actually called from out of state, and the lady who was running to store in his place said that he'd probably go down to about $100.  Bill has one like it already, he paid $40 for it and it was in slightly better shape.  So, he passed on this one.  But, what I expect to happen is that he'll hear from the owner again in the near future and the price will have been dropped.  That's happened a couple of times.

We had hamburgers for lunch today.  They were what I call "old fashioned" burgers.  I had to actually fry them on the stove, because my Foreman grill quit!  It went out in the middle of cooking, so most of the grease had already drained out.  I'm not sure if I'm going to replace it any time soon.  We do use it, but I think that they cost a little more than they are worth.  This is the 2nd one we've worn out, and it took something like 7 years for this one.  I bought it at a garage sale for $10 so we definitely got our money's worth out of it.  If I see one cheap enough at a thrift store or yard sale, I might get it.  We will probably replace it eventually.  I don't mind paying a little more for things, but the Foreman grills are pretty expenseive for what you are getting.

Otter and I ran a couple of errands also, we went to the dollar store (where it was apparently screaming unwatched bratty child day) and were heading to the Wallyworld next door to it because we needed milk.  But the Wally parking lot was pretty full so we went up the street to a grocery store.  Which was a little busier than normal for a Sunday afternoon as well.  I'm thinking that a lot of people remember last February, which is still being referred to as Snowmageddon.

Whatever, we're prepared.  But then, the Borg Queen always is.

Resistance is Futile, y'all!  (Yes, the Borg Queen is a TEXAN!)

Maybe?

The part you are supposed to look at is the 29 at the bottom left corner of Monday.  And then you are supposed to look up at the 70% on Monday.  The 70% refers to our chances, and it is not rain that we have a strong chance of.  However, if we do get anything - and it's an "if" because our forecasters aren't great - it will probably not hang around because the ground is still too warm.  Although that doesn't mean that it won't be messy or possibly a travel concern Monday morning.

The other part is the 29 for tomorrow.  The forecast has been revised, and we'll be lucky if we get up to 29.

Bill brought in a bunch of firewood and we are probably going to spend most of tomorrow in front of the fireplace.  Of course, we'll probably have to fight the dogs for room!

Better go get those marshmallows ready.  We just might need them.

Better Day Today

It's not Friday yet, but it's close.  Thursday is still not Baby Friday, however!

It was a better day today.  I was really tired yesterday, which is probably obvious from what I posted!

Today was busy at work, but I have a couple of things that have to be done at a set time and it's always busy when that happens.  I went to the library at lunch, so that was a nice break.  Also, after work I picked Otter up at college and we hit the grocery store.

One of my coupons didn't want to scan and the clerk was joking about it.  She was really amused and surprised when I told her about the less-than-intelligent clerk at Wallyworld!  Today's clerk, like pretty much all of them at the grocery store we prefer, had no problem remembering how to punch in individual details to take the coupon.

Bill's been stuffy the last couple of days.  It's only February, but stuff's starting to bloom and sprout.  I'm thinking that it's probably not going to be a good year for allergies.  I might set the second humidifier up on Bill's side of the bed tonight, he thinks that might help.  He was pretty noisy last night, but I always have (lots and lots of) earplugs on hand so I had a relatively quiet night.

Along with blooming stuff, we've also noticed one other thing that is rather unpleasant:  mosquitos!  Something tells me that this is going to be a very bad year, as far as bugs go.

We had a nice, quiet dinner tonight.  We bought a rotiserie chicken and I had a couple of boxes of stovetop stuffing, that along with a can of peas made a pretty good meal.  Bill's going to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, can't complain about that!

Such an exciting life we lead...

Whine Wednesday?

I'm just really getting antsy, not crocheting since 1/14/11 will do that to me!

I probably could crochet, but my arm is not completely recovered and I don't want to push it.  It'll get there, I just have to be patient.  I don't want to use my arm too much when it's not ready, and wind up having to wait even longer.  (Been there, done that before!)

I hate tendonitis.  It's not fun.  It's not quick.  It's painful.

Well, the light is beginning to shine at the end of the tunnel.  The tunnel is still long, but at least I am on the way to the end of it.

For now, I'll just whine.

Or maybe I should say "wine" instead? :)

Yeah, "wine" it is!

We Made It This Year!

We managed to get to McDonald's this year, for the one time we will willingly eat their food.  It's their annual fundraiser for the local Ronald McDonald House.  We didn't make it last year, we were snowed/iced in and couldn't even get out of the driveway.  But they still managed to raise a good amount last year, even with the blizzard.  The one we went to today was very crowded, it's a big deal for them and most people in the area support it.

We had our cheeseburger/hamburgers (tiny!) for dinner and splurged:  I had fries!  The rest, because we buy a lot for this, are in the fridge and will probably find their way to Bill's lunch box over the next couple of days.

Froggy, Frasier has no comment to your comment about his socks.  He's trying to ignore them.  He's being a bit of an ostrich at the moment.  But it won't work!  He'll probably be wearing them again soon.  Recently, Bill cleaned out his rag bag and we found a whole bunch of socks that Otter wore years ago.  They are way too small for her now, but they are the perfect size for Frasier.  So he's got quite a variety of colors and styles, should he feel the need to wear them. :)

Maggie has zero interest in them, but then she doesn't seem interested in chewing on herself.  Except for her feet, but that's part of their normal grooming.  Besides, she seems to like being dressed up so she'd probably not complain.

Otter and I had our Girls Lunch today.  We try to do that at least once a month, I picked her up at college (she only has class in the morning on Tuesday) and we went to Cici's Pizza this time.  Then, I dropped her off at the library and got her when I got off work.  She had several hours and she got several books!  But she'd have found a boatload of books even if she just had a few minutes, she's got it down to an art form.

We have a chance of the "s" word tonight.  The chances are slim, but they forecasters don't usually know much anyway.  I don't expect that we'll get any, although the fact that they said a slim chance has me concerned.  I cleaned the fireplace out this afternoon, which I would have done anyway, and I (as always) have plenty of milk, etc. on hand.  So, we are prepared.  But in all probability, we won't have anything.

I hope not, anyway!  I think we're all still remembering last year's blizzard and I really don't think anybody at all is in a hurry for another round.  At least we're not.

Sunday Socks (Also Post # 1200!)

This is why the Sock title:

Also known as Pouty Puppy!  Or Mr. Dignity, although he has none and probably never has had any.

But, it keeps him from chewing on his legs.  He sees the socks and immediately just falls over.  Sometimes, he won't fall over until I get the socks on him but at some point, the pouting will commence!  This was taken Friday evening, after I'd stopped him from attempting to eat his leg a couple of times.

I guess Frasier's forgiven me, because he spent most of Saturday begging for affection.  Even when I was trying to take an afternoon nap on the couch!  Or maybe that was his revenge, I put socks on him so he sticks his nose in my face.  And that's usually when he belches - talk about paint peeling!

We had buffalo burgers for lunch today.  They were very good and we're kind of stuffed.  Buffalo is very filling.  Friday night's tacos were also made with buffalo and it was very good.  It has a little more grease than the turkey we normally use, but it's actually fairly lean for "beef" and his quite a bit of iron as well as protein.  Good stuff!

It's in the mid-40's now.  It was in the low 40's earlier and was pretty cold, but now the sun is at least out so it looks a little warmer.  It's not really, but it looks like it.

I'm not sure how much rain we got on Friday, but Froggy reports that San Antonio got about 3" overnight on Friday.  Which they need badly!  They probably could still use more, but at least they got some rain.

I haven't attempted to crochet yet, I probably won't for a few more days, but my arm is a lot better.  I've had to deal with tendonitis before, I probably shouldn't be surprised that it showed up.  The original problem was from getting my arm/elbow smashed in a door but the problem now is the tendonitis.  Which can take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks (or even more sometimes) to heal.  There's not a whole lot that can be done for it in terms of medical intervention, mostly it's just going to take time.  I'm using an elastic bandage on my arm for it, which helps a lot, and heat when it needs it.  Also, motrin on a regular basis.  I'm also thinking that a serious amount of chocolate therapy is called for.

Well, it's a good thing that Otter and I bought ice cream today.  We needed milk, and there was a request made to go to a specific Wallyworld (can't imagine why!) so we did that this afternoon.  While we were there, we decided that we needed ice cream.  So, we got 3 small containers.  Mine's Rocky Road!  We had to pretty much fight our way through the store, they were really crowded.  Especially the aisle that has the chips on it!  Super Bowl shoppers, I guess.

I think we might be the only people in the country who really have zero interest in most sports.  We probably won't even watch it at all.  Sometimes, we might see a few minutes.  But mostly we just wait for the next day and then watch the commercials online.  We've seen a couple that were put out early, our favorite so far is The Bark Side.  Go look it up, it's funny.  Turn on your speakers!

Friday. Raining.

At least it isn't snowing!

For some reason, I'm having problems typing.  I have been mis-typing all day,   It was one of those days where I wish I'd stayed in bed with the covers over my head.  At least as far as work went.  Major Stress Fairy visitation!  I was so glad when 3:30 rolled around...

Anyway.

It's been raining off and on today.  It was supposed to start late last night, but it didn't get here until around 9:00 this morning.  It's been periods of hard rain followed by periods of light rain followed by a very intense & loud thunderstorm followed by periods of hard rain followed by periods of light rain...  We do need the rain, but it always seemed to start getting really hard whenever I had to walk outside.  It would quit while I was in the car, office or Wally on my lunch hour.  But then it would start up again as soon as I was outside or out of the car.

Well, my two surprise bluebonnets are probably happy.  And also the tulips and daffodils, which are already beginning to sprout.

When I dropped Otter off at school this morning, the resident flock of geese was waiting.  They were all standing more or less in a row, on the sidewalk, like they were watching a parade.  Well, I guess they were - all the cars coming in and leaving!  Those geese are evil anyway, from what Otter tells me.  But they are also entertaining.

I did have a post up yesterday, about how I thought that the Susan Komen Foundation made the right decision in pulling their funding from one of the murder providers.  But they gave in and caved to the pressure today, so I took it down.  The murder provider claims that they used the funding for mammograms and for breast cancer treatment.  Except that that particular place did not and does not provide those services - what they do is refer women to other places that actually do provide the specific services.  But they claim the credit!

Anything to pretend that they are not what they really are:  a murder factory.