Maybe Tomorrow?

The Fed-Ex guy will bring our new computers!

Maybe they'll be right.  Although with the way the Dell people have been acting, we're not holding our breath.  (Yes, Froggy.  I know.)  They kept messing up our order, I have lost track of how many phone calls/emails it's taken to get it (hopefully) fixed.  They kept getting it more and more goofed up, until Bill decided to let his TEXAN out to play and he told them that they either got it fixed and confirmed via email within 24 hours, or he'd cancel the order.  And then we'd go to someone else.  That seems to have done the trick, or at least he received an email with all the correct information.  And it didn't take 24 hours, unlike their earlier correspondence they got right on it.  It wasn't a threat or a bluff, he meant it.

I hope they do actually get it right.  We've never had a problem dealing with them before, but it seems like they are of the "go big or go home" school of thought.  Well, so are we!  But I'm about to spend considerable money with them, so I would really like it to be right.  I think it will be.

Now, we're just hoping that Fed-Ex does it's part right and a) delivers when we are here and/or b) doesn't just leave it all on the front porch!  There's been a rash of stolen mail, not necessarily in my area, but in the Tulsa area.

Bill's already lobbying me to get a wrap for my laptop.  I think my laptop might be the same size as Otter's, she has a sticker on the inside of hers (I think near the keyboard, I'm not sure) and Bill keeps teasing her about using her computer "accidentally on purpose."  They are having a good time with that joke.  I'll probably put some type of decoration on mine and it may well be a wrap.  I'm thinking Borg Cube would be appropriate, or possibly bluebonnets.  To be determined later.

It was warm today, around 80 or thereabouts.  Tomorrow will also be warm.  Then tomorrow night, everything changes and it could freeze.  Thursday is supposed to be in the 40's and I forget exactly what Friday's forecast is, but I think it's probably similar to Thursday.  I think the grouindhog might do better to stay hidden, otherwise he might just get turned into houseshoes!

I'm having allergy issues again.  Well, always actually.  But they are worse today, they were better but I decided to take Otter to the grocery store with me and I sat in the car with the windows down while I waited on her to get moving.  It was too warm to sit in the car with the windows up and I really don't like to just sit with the car running so no a/c!  The problem is that it was very windy and it's spring.  Which means allergies!  I'm so hyper-sensitized right now that the slightest thing is setting me off, and my skin allergies are on overdrive at times.  I'm itchy for the least little reason!

Nana comes to see us next week!  We can hardly wait. :)

Furniture

We've been moving the furniture around in the Otter's room.  Specifically, we needed to make room for her desk.  The desk has been in the office for a couple of years, but Billyboy wanted to use the space for a wall-mounted pachinko machine cabinet so the desk had to move.  Otter has been wanting to rearrange her room anyway, but she wasn't quite sure how she wanted it.  She didn't quite get it rearranged, but the desk is in there now.  She was trying to figure out how to put everything how she wanted it, and still have room to actually walk, but that didn't quite work out.  We're going to measure her bed and chest of drawers to see if we can still make it work the way she wants, but we've had enough heavy moving for the day today.  Otter's gone to one of her girlfriends houses for the afternoon, when she gets home she'll have a bunch of stuff to put away that is temporarily piled on top of her bed since she took out a plastic stacking basket-style shelf unit but it might go back into her room.

In the meantime, my tendonitis is a little on the unhappy side!  Not that I blame it, but I'll put up with it.  Not much else I can do, actually.  It isn't bad, I'm just aware of it is all.  Also, I have done a lot of crochet over the last two days.  I finished Nana's lap blanket yesterday.  My next UFO is Bill's lap blanket.  It won't take that long, once I actually get back to it.  Most of it is actually done, I just decided to make it a little bigger.  It's made with royal blue yarn in granny squares, with a light blue final row on each square and I still have three or four-ish that need the light blue.  Then I just have to attach them to the rest of the blanket.  Then the fun begins, I have to do tails on all of them!  Tails are what will take the longest, each tail has to be woven into the crocheted stitches and it's a pain to do.  But it will be nice to be done with it.

I've been having issues with my computer, and it's getting really frustrating.  For various reasons, we think it might be on the way to a crash.  Since I've had it for 6 - 8 years or thereabouts, it's time to replace it.  If it weren't acting up like it's been doing, I would be happy to keep using it but it's telling me that it's time to be replaced.  I'm going to get a laptop this time, Bill is actually on the phone with Dell at the moment and he is also going to replace his desktop at the same time.  Otter's had a laptop for a little over a year and she loves it.  Bill's computer has been acting up for a while, but he wasn't ready to replace it yet.  But since mine is also getting wonky now and we don't want to be without one at all - the majority of the pachinko business is conducted online, it's time to replace them.  I'm not sure how long he's had his computer, but it might be older than mine.  He's getting a desktop, mine will be a laptop but I'll probably use the regular keyboard with it.  At least when I'm actually sitting at my desk working on it, since it will have wi-fi capability.  I'm amazed at how the price has come down over the years, Otter's laptop was fairly inexpensive even with the extras she's got on it.  But the two that Bill's just ordered are about the same price as what we paid for hers alone.

Movie Review:  The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008).  I expected it to be bad.  I was not disappointed, it was awful!

Not that I'm ever planning on moving again, but this is where I'd probably want to have as my address:

Because, as we all know, Star Trek rules.  The rest is just entertainment.  Sometimes it's actually good entertainment.  But not always, as we discovered with yesterday's movie.

I'm going to surf the internet for a while longer, then it's time to go play with the puppies.  After that, it's time to make chili!

I Forfeit This Round

The allergies won today.  I gave in and accepted defeat, which means that I didn't go to work today.  Instead, I stayed home and attempted to cope with a sinus headache, stuffy nose, sneezing and coughing - you get the picture!

Froggy, I'm answering your question from the comment on the last blog post.  Corn on the cob:  cook it as usual, then you take a very sharp knife & cut the kernels off as close to the cob as you can.  Butter, salt, whatever you normally use.  It still tastes the same, even if you do have to eat it with a fork!  But it's kind of hard to hold up when you cut the kernels off - I usually still use a corn sticker (as mom called the holders) to hold it up on one end and then I cut downward.  I can eat a lot of things with dentures, corn on the cob is not one of them.  Neither is apples, they have to be peeled & cut into slices for me to eat them.

Since I was home today, I got my laundry done.  I'll still have some on Sunday, but the laundry basket is at least empty at the moment.  Not for long, I'm sure.  I also did some crochet on Nana's lap blanket and I'm thinking I might be able to finish it tomorrow.  Not much on tv during the daytime, but I did watch Steel Magnolias which I haven't seen in many years.  Mostly, I just took it easy.

The dogs mostly just took it easy as well!  But they usually do...

It's been rainy most of today.  I think I forgot to mention this, but my rain barrel is temporarily out of commission.  The wooden frame Bill build to hold it up was apparently not pressure-treated wood and it kind of disintegrated, causing the barrel to pull away from the down spout.  The frame needs to be rebuilt, Bill's going to use pressure-treated wood this time, but I'm not sure when he's going to actually have time to work on it.  He's got two pachinko machines in the process of refurbishment and he's at a point where he can't really stop for long.  The rain barrel needed to be drained and cleaned out anyway, we hadn't done that yet this year and then it started raining so it hasn't had it's annual cleaning.

Mama Robin is still on her nest.  I don't think that the eggs have hatched yet, but it should be soon.  She's there too much to have hungry babies, I think she's still sitting on her eggs.

Bill's turn to pick the movie on Saturday.  He wanted to see The Day The Earth Stood Still.  Not the original version, the one from a couple of years ago.  The one with the block of wood that pretends to be an actor!  (Not just my opinion, either.)  We saw a few minutes of it on tv the other day and it does look interesting, but mostly because the robot looked so cool.  I have serious reservations any time any of the classics are redone, but I'm going to have an open mind about it.  But the original is one of the best vintage sci-fi movies ever made.  One of the best, period.  So, we'll see.  I'm not too hopeful, but maybe I'll be surprised and it will actually be good.

On that note, I'm going to go find the bottle of wine that Otter and I bought the other day.  She went into the liquor store with me, since she's 21 now.  They did not card her, but I think it's because they know me and at least one of the clerks was the one who waited on me when I bought the champagne for the 21st birthday and we talked about the reason I was buying it then.  I think she'll be carded if she goes in by herself or if it's a different clerk, she doesn't quite look 16 any longer but she still doesn't look 21!

Thinking About Something

And I'll talk about it later.  Let's just say that it involves yarn, and public places.  And it's in June.

Anyway.  On to other stuff.

The concussion symptoms have gone away, which is a good thing.  However, now that they have gone away and left an opening - my allergies are back in full force!  I'm not happy about that.  I didn't exactly enjoy the concussion symptoms, but I don't like allergies either!  The concussion symptoms went away gradually, which is what they do.  I've had a bit of a headache off & on since about Tuesday which might still be the lingering effects but could also be allergy and since I've had other allergy symptoms, I'm leaning towards it mostly being allergy-related.

Urg.

At least tomorrow is Friday!

A new store opened yesterday in one of the nearby small towns.  Otter and I were apparently having a crazy moment, because we decided to go check it out.  On opening day!  Along with the population of approximately half of this corner of the state!  It's a nice store, smaller than we thought but not tiny.  It's a littler pricier than a "standard" grocery store but sometimes you do get what you pay for.  We didn't buy much, but we did stand in line for 30 - 45 minutes to check out.  We'll probably go back, but it's not going to be a regular stop for us.  They had a few different teas, which Otter is always in the market for.  They had several specials, since it was the first day of business.  Large eggs for $1.00/dozen, for example.  We bought two dozen, even though we didn't need them but they'll keep and we'll eventually eat them.  They had fresh corn on the cob, which was delicious with tonight's dinner.  Which was also made with something we got there - venison burgers!  Otter had never had venison, which I didn't realize.  She loved it.  Which we expected.  It was very good, but I think I actually prefer buffalo burgers although venison is always good.

I haven't had any crochet time at all this week.  I didn't want to even attempt it earlier in the week, with the headache I had for a couple of days.  But once the headache went away, things got busy and I simply have not had time.  I'm working on Nana's lap blanket and I can probably get it finished in one sitting.  Provided I can actually find the time to sit!  Then I think I'm going to get Bill's lap blanket finished and after that I'll have one UFO to work on, it's a hat for Otter.  The afghan is still in the UFO stage, although I have gotten quite a bit done on it recently.  But since it's now starting to get warm, and the afghan is getting big, it might go back into the stash closet until the fall.  Maybe, I might work on it some in the near future.  But I'm also going to get back to de-stashing, there are still more scarves to be made for the police donation and I also want to get started on chemo caps.

And I'll also need to get started on something else.  That won't be needed until after May.

Enough Already!

It's late April.  And we have a freeze warning for tonight!

Where's that groundhog?  He's got some 'splainin to do!

Our high for the day was around 51 and we hit it before dawn.  It's been on the low 40's all day and now I think it's probably in the high 30's.  Not going outside again tonight, it's not icy but it is plenty cold.  Which is why we took the bluebonnet pictures yesterday, by the way.  They might be ok, they are hardier than people think.  But we'll see what happens.  Mama robin on the back porch will probably be ok, her nest is up in a very safe spot.  It's not going to be a long cold snap anyway.

I'm having email issues.  I don't know what the problem is.  I can receive email, but it's not letting me send any.  I was able to send a couple test messages to Bill's email addresses and they worked.  That was last night.  Since then, I'm not able to send anything out.  Bill is going to see what he can figure out, but he hasn't had much time yet.

On a better note, my headache has finally gone away.  Mostly.  The headache that I've had since Sunday, when I actually gave myself a mild concussion.  I didn't realize it until yesterday, but I had all the symptoms of a mild one and the headache is the biggest complaint.  At this point, the doctor doesn't need to see me.  I just have to watch out for certain symptoms, but I'm on the mend already.  I should have figured it out, the headache that goes with a concussion is not like any other type of headache out there.  And, being a migraine sufferer, I do know headaches!  There are a few other symptoms, and I've had a couple of them but I'm not worried.  My bruised spot is actually barely visible, which is good because we al lthought I was in for a major league shiner!  (Had one of those before, too.)

Otter and I got to do something today that we haven't been able to do for weeks.  We went thrifting!  After everybody got home from work, we went to two thrift stores.  I didn't find anything, but Otter did.  Poor Bill, he had to wait for us to get back before he could get supper!  He didn't starve, in case you are wondering - the small amount of junk food we have on hand has been reduced in content.  I think I might know where it went, and the dogs aren't the culprit this time.  :)

We Got the Blues!

And they are all over our front yard!

We couldn't be happier about it.

Those are my legs in the background, so this must be one that Otter took.  This is from a few days ago, when most of them were still in the early bud stage but this one was one of the first to open.  It's also one of the plants that originall broke through the ground months ago, and we didn't expect it to make it by virtue of the fact that it was still winter.  They are apparently much more cold-resistant than we thought, because we've had enough freezes and some of them have been hard freezes.  But they are still there and they are thriving!

These are one of the plants in the yard itself.

This one is in the whiskey barrel and is the same bloom as in the first picture.  Just a few days later.  Also, there is another opening bud that is visible but slightly blurry in this picture.

There are some alien invaders with this, some type of weed.  But I didn't want to pull it out and risk the bonnet.  I think that might be my shadow.

This one is also in the yard.

They smell heavenly!  Like Home.  Also, they do not set my allergies off.  At all.  Which probably wouldn't matter, I'd put up with it happily!

As far as anyone taking one, they should know better.  Because in all probability, they are a TEXAN.  And, even if it weren't immoral to pluck one, it was from someone else's yard (mine!) and that alone should have been enough.  It's actually illegal to pluck/pick/damage/kill/etc. the plants, if you happen to be in the state of TEXAS.  It's also just plain wrong to take something that is not yours.

We're just glad that we have them, and that they have naturalized as well as they obviously have.  They make us very happy, in case that is not already obvious.

We're taking over, OK just hasn't quite figured it out yet.  :)

OK, Froggy.  You asked about the bumper sticker.  Here's the first one:

C O E X I S T are the letters.  It means that we are all supposed to get along, but it is frequently mis-used and the reason that the Cross is last is not "just" because it's the letter T.  It was originally meant to be just the last letter, but (at least here) it is used to mean that Christianity is supposed to be last and least important.  There is actually a school of thought that says that we are not supposed to get along, but I don't necessarily agree.  I do think we should get along.  But that does not, and never will, mean that we have to condone other faith choices.  It just means that we should treat each other nicely and recognize that we do have differences in our faith choice, but not that we as Christians have to cower to other religions.  But that is the way that I've seen this mis-used.

The other one, the one we like and I posted the other day:

They are all gun manufacturer logos.  Like I said before, we are a Second Amendment supporting family!

I'm not sure if I'm still a knothead or not.  It's still very tender but I think that the knot/swelling is gone now.  It's bruising slightly, but not as bad as we thought it would.  But it does hurt when I move my eyebrows.

These next three pictures were taken today.  Otter got these as we were coming back in from our bluebonnet photography session.

She was looking up at Otter, but then she looked down just as Otter pressed the button.

She looked up again, but she wasn't still.  However, I think this is cute.  It captures her Never-Still-Energizer-Beagle traits!  She looks a little derpy, in my opinion.

One of the few times he's been still long enough to actually get a picture!  If you look closely, you can tell that he only stopped moving because he ran into the beagle!

Knotheads

Dad had a phrase he used.  It was actually a name that he called people, but not derogatory.  He did it in a loving way, it was never mean or meant to be mean and it was usually accompanied by that cackle of his that I wish I could hear again.  Only certain people were called this, and they were generally family members or good friends.  The word?  Knothead!

Today, I am a Knothead.

Of course, I mean it in the literal sense and not like Dad would have.

Because I am now sporting a knot on my head.  Also known as a goose egg, but I prefer to use Dad's phrase.

What do you get when you cross reaching into the dryer for one last sock that is out of reach and over the open door of the dryer, long red hair that is in your face and the corner of the washing machine right next to the dryer?

You get a knot on your head, that's what.  In this case, it's on my left side just slightly center of the temple.  I did it before church this morning, so I had to sit through church with a nice, large red spot on my forehead.  I iced it when I first did it, and it did get smaller.  But now it's obvious that it's going to be a bruise.  And probably a big one!  Not surprising that I'm bruising, being a redhead.  We do bleed and we do bruise.  And because we are generally rather pale-skinned, bruises always look worse on us.  They don't take any longer to heal, but it appears that way because they are so much more visible.  I was already dealing with a sinus headache and it didn't help, plus the spot is very tender and I keep bumping it.

It's actually been that kind of day, I have lost track of how many times I've hurt myself today.  Aside from the knot on my head, I scraped my left elbow on the towel bar as I was walking into the bathroom (that was actually the first thing I did today.)  I stepped wrong walking out of church and it felt like I tried to separate bones in my left foot - something I did as a kid so I know what that feels like, although I didn't actually do it this time.  I banged my knuckles into the edge of the open trunk when I was getting something out of Bill's car.  I dropped a hand mirror which barely missed my foot.  (Not superstitious at all, but I didn't break the mirror.  Just the frame!)  And those are just the highlights!  Guess I've taken over for Willyboy in the unusual injuries department today, and I sincerely hope that it is only for today!  Not that I want him to hurt himself, by the way.

But I don't want to hurt myself, either!  (Otter, you are not allowed to get injured, either.)

On to other things.  Bluebonnets!  We have 10, yes TEN wild blues in the front yard!  There were actually 11, but one of them had an "accident."  It was in the whiskey barrel, as Otter and I were going somewhere one day last week we noticed a couple walking their dogs and it seemed like they stopped in front of our house.  We were down the street by then, but I stopped and watched them and then they moved on so we thought that the dogs had just stopped to water something.  But when we got home, I noticed that the front blue in the barrel was kind of wilty and then I looked closer.  Looks like they tried to take it out but then decided to just cut a couple of the bud stems off instead.  Which resulted in that plant's death and in all probability, they did not get blooms.  I'm strongly suspecting that they may be the same people who dug one up out of the front yard one time, and I'm watching very closely now.  If we see them again, I'm going to make a point of being out in the front yard and greeting them as they walk by.  Chances are, they are fellow TEXANS which infuriates me - TEXANS are better than that!  And I'd have willingly dug one of the plants up and given it to them.  There are at least two others TEXANS in the neighborhood behind us.

The point of all that is that we have blues and lots of them.  And they are blooming!  Otter's been taking pictures every so often and they will eventually get posted.  There's a TEXAN tradition.  We have a tendency to put our children in the middle of a field of bluebonnets and then take more pictures of said children and flowers than the law allows.  That has never been an option for us, seeing as how we live in Oklahoma.  Until now!  I don't care that she's an adult and not a child now, she is my child and we are TEXAN.  And we got blues!

(You can probably guess where this is going by now.)

We have finally, after 21 years, been able to take part in the Tradition!  Those pictures will not be posted here, since her face is in them.  But they will be sent to a couple of relatives.  I just glad we have the flowers, considering that the blues in the whiskey barrel came up last fall and shouldn't have survived.  But they have and judging from the number of blues in the yard itself, they are probably very naturalized now and we will most likely have them again.  Bill mowed the yard earlier, we marked where they are with plastic edging and he went around them.  Which is good, because Otter and I would probably have skinned him alive if he'd mowed them down!  So would Nana, by the way (his mom.)  But he's also a TEXAN and they are important to him as well.

We have a robin nesting on the back porch!  Same place as last year, up by the door.  Only this time, the nest did not get knocked down and torn apart by another bird.  Judging from the amount of time she spends on the next, there are probably eggs.  I don't know if the nest has yarn in it or not, I won't know that until well after the eggs have hatched and they have fledged.  But I did put quite a bit of yarn out this year and it has been used in the past.  So there have been multi-colored nests at our house and probably at a few others in the neighborhood as well.

I know it's been a few days...

Since I've posted anything.  It's been one of those weeks where it's been up one minute and down the next. 

Monday was such a bad day for our nation, with the bombing in Boston.  My first thought was that it would probably turn out to be domestic and that it might be environmental activists.  Don't ask me why I think that, I just do.  And as Otter says, we've all learned to listen to my "feelings" as we call it, because I'm generally right.  Not always, but most of the time.  However, until the lowlifes are caught and interrogated, the motives are unknown.  It was wrong, it was inexcusable and it was criminal.  Because of what happened in Oklahoma City 18 years ago tomorrow at 9:02 a.m., there has been a lot of "local" reaction.  It would have been big news anyway, but there is that local connection and it's been covered in a different way here than it seems to be in the rest of the country.

We've also been dealing with weather issues.  The bad kind.  It's been fairly cool but yesterday it was in the 80's.  Which is actually really bad this time of year, warm days like that when there are weather fronts moving in that are cooler are perfect breeding grounds for tornados and bad storms.  We were under a tornado watch most of yesterday and we expected rain although the chances of tornados was not actually high.  Otter worked yesterday afternoon and was scheduled to get off at 9:30 p.m.  Because of the weather issues, I took her to work and picked her up.  It was starting to rain around 7:30 or 8:00, and at that point it looked like all the storms that had already fired up were going to be heading straight north and would miss us.  There was one storm that was in the far southern part of the state and it was probably going to get to us, but it was expected well after midnight and by that time the temperature has generally cooled down enough so that the tornado chances are down considerably and sometimes non-existant.  I left about 8:30 to get her, it only takes about 15 minutes from the house but I expected them to close up early.  I got there about 8:45 or so and at just before 9:00, the lights went out in the store so I knew that she'd be out soon.  We got home about 9:15 and it was rainy but not bad.  We actually enjoyed watching the lightning we could see off in the distance.  The south storm was moving slowly and we didn't expect much although we were warned about hail and it did look like it was going to be in our area instead of going east of us.  At about midnight, I woke up for a potty trip and heard what sounded like hail hitting the roof but nothing else.  I was awake for a while after that, and I heard nothing but rain and there was a little lightning/thunder.  But nothing else, at least not that concerned me.  When we got up this morning, I turned the tv on about 5:30 to news reports of a house less than a mile from ours that had lost it's roof when a tornado touched down.  The storm came right over our house not too long after I think I went back to sleep, and we were literally right in the flight path of the tornadic storm and we heard nothing.  Nothing.  BECAUSE THE SIRENS WERE NEVER ACTIVATED.  AT ALL.  The tornado was small, but small can still be dangerous.  It apparently disappated shortly after taking off the roof and then another one sprouted shortly after it had passed over us and was a little east of the Tulsa area.  At that point, the tornado was probably an EF1 which is the next-to-smallest official size but it did quite a bit of damage.  Houses damaged badly, a train blown off the tracks, there was at least one mobile home that was picked up and deposited on a "regular" house that was next door to it.  No injuries have been reported, but everyone in this area is asking one question:  WHY WERE THE SIRENS NOT ACTIVATED?  No reason has been given at this point.  But there had better be, and it had better be a good one.  Even though it was not a big tornado, it was one.  The sirens should have gone off well before the actual tornado because the storm was already meeting all the signs that tell the forecasters that it could sprout one at any moment and the protocal is to sound them as the probable tornadic storms get to a set distance from each area of the towns in the path.  It's actually a good system.  When they use it correctly.  The tv stations were broadcasting the alerts and warning people and had been for a while because they at least were concerned about the possibility of the storm becoming tornadic, but very few people were actually up at that moment watching tv because the forecast had been that it would most likely not be that dangerous by the time it got to us.  The people who lost their roof were actually up, the father had seen the news reports and got his family out of bed and down to what has been described as their basement but I think it was actually the first floor of their home.  He said that he was actually about to send the kids back upstairs to bed when he heard the tornadic winds and felt the impact on his house, not because of sirens (because he didn't hear any) and based on what he was hearing on the news - that the storm was fast moving but not as dangerous as it turned out to be.  Because he did what he did, his family is safe.  Thank God.

There was quite a bit of localized street flooding as well.  We don't have any tree damage that I can tell and the roof looks to be ok.  I heard hail but it didn't sound like it was big, just a little noisy.

I have real and serious reasons for being private on here, I'm not mentioning any specific city names for valid reasons.  We're near Tulsa, but that is kind of general.  There are a boatload of little towns and small cities around and near Tulsa.  I choose not to discuss my privacy reasons, but they are real so I'm not naming any city/town names beyond Tulsa.

The explosion is TEXAS is also a bad thing, and because of the fact that tomorrow is April 19 and the Oklahoma City Bombing was a fertilizer bomb it's also generating more "local" news that it would have normally.  I know where West is, but I don't think we've ever actually been there.  It's tiny, and the destruction was horrific.  It doesn't seem to be anything other than a fire that caused an explosion because of the nature of the plant and what it produced, foul play is not suspected.

This wasn't meant to be depressing, it's just that there have been major things happen this week and most of them are bad.

Allergy Slugs

I have allergies.  I feel like a slug - lazy and hardly able to move.  Not cold & slimy, however - just draggy and sluggish.  And it's going to be that way for a while.  It's very windy, which only makes it worse.  I was out in the back yard just now, the construction behind us frequently means trash blown into our yard and there was a lot today.  I picked it up, but there will be more soon.  I am so tempted to take our own trash over to the closest house being built and dump it in front of the construction workers - and tell them that I was just returning the favor!  However, the ones working out there today probably wouldn't understand me as I don't really think that English was their first language and I've forgotten most of the not-very-extensive Spanish I used to know.

Is it too much to hope for that it will be winter again soon?  And that we'll have a really cold one?  Because that is what it's going to take to get rid of all the allergins in the air.

Otter's aren't as bad, which is a good thing.  She still has them, it's just that mine are worse.  Today, anyway.  Billyboy is even showing signs, which is a B.A.D. thing as he's the least allergic person I know.

Anyway.  On to other things.

Saw this bumper sticker on a car at Wallyworld this morning.  I happen to like this one, the original one it's based on is stupidstupidstupid.  But this one?  It's great:

(Probably comes as no surprise that we are very much a 2nd Amendment believing family.)

Otter's working today, she was hoping to have today off because her D & D group hasn't been able to get together for several weeks now.  They generally play on Sundays, but they haven't all been able to get together for 3 or 4 weeks.  She was off last Sunday but she spent the day with her (new) boyfriend and he's not actually part of the D & D group.  I don't think that they were even trying to get together to play last Sunday anyway, seems like she said someone else was out of town or something.  But she's hoping to be off next Sunday.  At least she is off next Saturday, she had to work yesterday.  Her days are staggered this week.  She has to be in at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow - that means that she has to be up at 4:30, eat breakfast and be out the door by 5:30.  A.M.  She doesn't have early days too often at least.  She loves the job, by the way.

Something Random to Think About

(I didn't write this, but it does reflect our opinions).

Lazy Guns:

Today I swung my front door wide open and placed my Stevens 320 right in the doorway. I set 6 shells right next to it.　 Noticing it had no legs of its' own, I even placed it in my wheelchair to help it get around. I then left it alone and went about my business.


While I was gone, the mailman delivered my mail, the neighbor boy across the street mowed the yard, a girl walked her dog down the street, and quite a few cars stopped at the stop sign right in front of our house. After about an hour, I checked on the gun.

It was still sitting there in the wheelchair, right where I had left it. It hadn't rolled itself outside. It certainly hadn't killed anyone, even with the numerous opportunities it had been presented to do so. In fact, it hadn't even loaded itself.

Well you can imagine my surprise, with all the media hype about how dangerous guns are and how they kill people. Either the media is wrong, and it's the misuse of guns by PEOPLE that kills people, or I'm in possession of the laziest gun in the world.

Alright, well I'm off to check on my spoons. I hear they're making people fat.

Busy Spring Sunday

It's Spring.  It's Sunday.  We've been busy.

It's also major allergy time.  We had quite a bit of rain last week and then the last couple of days have been dry and sunny.  In other words, the perfect allergy storm!  The rain cleaned out the air and we had a couple of days where we could actually breathe.  But that was all that the assorted allergens needed to bloom.  And they are blooming with a vengence! 

Yesterday, since it was Saturday, we were home and lazy all day.  Sometimes we do stuff outside, but the wind was blowing so strongly yesterday that even the dogs refused to go out.  We knew it was time to hunker down (that might be Texan dialect, I'm not sure) and so that's what we did.  Otter didn't even go outside the door at all, but it didn't help her much.  She hardly slept last night and was not very functional this morning.  She went back to bed right after breakfast, we left her sleeping and went to church.  She got up after we got home and did her one chore that required her to be outside - cleaning the dog yard - in record time.  I'm having allergy related asthma issues myself, along with a sinus headache that comes and goes.  Bill's been sneezing a lot and he's even more stuffy than he was earlier since he mowed the back yard just now.  Otter is better than she was, but I suggested she take an allergy pill tonight even if she doesn't think she needs one.

I have a new dishwasher!  Our old one died of old age, just over a year ago.  It was a few years old when we bought this house and we used it a lot, it was a pretty good one.  It just got a huge amount of use.  At the time, I didn't really want to buy one so we've been doing dishes by hand.  Which really isn't as much or a problem as it sounds like.  The main reason I wasn't in a hurry to get another one is that we've never had much luck with them lasting very long.  Expensive, cheap - it doesn't seem to matter.  Years ago, I had a lot of problems with me skin and a dishwasher was more or less required.  My skin improved over the years, but I've noticed that the last couple of months it seems like my skin is acting up more.  So, I was beginning to think it was time to get a new one.  We were not in agreement (major understatement here) over the type/price range/style, etc., so we hadn't actually gotten one.  But Grandpa & Sweetie are in the process of redoing their kitchen and are replacing theirs, which still works but Sweetie wanted a specific one to go with her kitchen redo.  (Her kitchen is going to be very nice when they get through and I'm going to be soooo jealous!)  The upshot is, they're getting a new one and they gave their old one to us.  Bill picked it up Friday, then it spent Saturday in the garage.  He pulled our old one out, it was still in place since we didn't want an opening there and it wasn't taking up any additional room.  He put the "new" one in this morning and I've already used it once.  Otter was overjoyed at the thought that she won't have to do dishes every day anymore!  We had a system - I did breakfast and she did dinner dishes.  Weekend lunch dishes were sometimes done right then or sometimes with the dinner dishes, depending on how many there were.  But now, it's just going to be the occasional small or meltable thing that will get washed by hand.  The new one is white and matches my stove, so (for once) I actually have two appliances that match.  Not sure what we're going to do with the old one, it's not fixable so it isn't really donatable.  It's in the garage for the moment.

I cleaned the floor where the dishwasher sits, when we took the old one out.  I found 5 pieces of elbow macaroni and a small piece of a ceramic cup handle.  Remember when I had a major pasta spill, months and months ago?  I kind of think that the macaroni is from then.

Otter bought me something at Joann's Fabrics last week.  Texas Longhorn logo printed duct tape!  No idea what I'll use it for, but I'm sure I'll find something.  She's at the mall with a friend this afternoon, she was still having some allergy issues when she left but she's very much her mother's daughter:  nothing stops shopping! :)

Movie Review:  The Rise of the Guardians.  If you get past the fact that it obviously has a political spin - as in the moon is God, Easter is about eggs & a rabbit and Christmas is about gifts from Santa Claus are a few examples, it's not a bad movie.  It's not the best movie, either.  But the animation was excellent.  It's probably not on our to buy list, but it was enjoyable.

OK, back to my laundry now!  Seems like that never ends.

Rainy & Sleeting. Sunny & Breezy.

What a difference a day makes!  Starting last Friday, we've had rain pretty much constantly.  Yesterday, it had sleet mixed in and it was C.O.L.D.!!

Today?

Sunny and breezy, and it will be for a couple of days.  Then next week will be warm to start, although wet, and then it will get colder and I think it will still be wet.  Maybe not as cold as it was this week, but still fairly cool for Spring.

And, in the midst of all that, the bluebonnets that came up last Winter (like December or maybe before) are still hanging in there.  And now they are budding!  Also, I discovered another one springing up today.  This one is outside of the whiskey barrel.  Not that it matters to a TEXAN where a 'bonnet is growing!

(OK, Froggy.  Now you can't get on me for not blogging for a few days.)

Twenty First and Stuff

Twenty First:  Otter's 21!  Her birthday was actually on Sunday, but that was Easter and I didn't want to do another post aside from my Easter one.  I was going to post something yesterday, but I was too busy. 

Otter's birthday was firmly celebrated, I'm the last person in the world to let a birthday be overshadowed by a holiday!  Both the holiday and the birthday are observed, I'm just not going to let the birthday be ignored.  Let's just say that I've Been There, Done That (or had it done to me) and leave it at that.  We went to the early service at Church and it was nice.  Lots of music, which I always love.  In the afternoon, the weather was absolutely perfect over the weekend, Bill got the grill out and cooked the burgers and hot dogs as Otter requested.  We also had birthday cake, and it was well worth the $$ at the well-known bakery.  I'm not posting a picture because the only ones I have show her name, but it was a three layer round cake, the icing was a pretty pale green color and it was decorated on the sides with tulips in pinks and purples like they were growing up the side.  The candles (she picked out at her store) were "21" and then letters that spell out her name - her "real" name, not Otter!  Although we call her Otter just as much as we call her by her "real" name.  Grandpa and Sweetie came over and we had a nice visit.  And ate too much!

She also had one other request.  Because she is 21 now, she is of legal drinking age.  We've always made it a point to try to take the mystery out of alchohol, she's had the occasional taste of wine, etc. over the years and she's paid attention to our talks and examples.  As a result, she's not inclined to want to go drink herself into oblivion, which so many younger people do.  So when she asked for champagne, we didn't have any problem at all with buying a bottle.  I got a smaller sized bottle at the liquor store last week, and Otter had about a half a glass Sunday evening.  She liked it, but she said that she doesn't think she's going to make a regular thing out of drinking.  That message/lesson has obviously been well received by her.

Stuff:  Among other things yesterday, I needed to go to Hobby Lobby and I know better than to go without Otter.  So, after I picked her up, we went to Hobby Lobby and a few other places.  Otter's camera died recently, she thought it was just the battery reaching the limits of it's recharging but then discovered that the camera wouldn't work at all, even when plugged in.  So we went to Best Buy after Hobby Lobby and she found a new one that she likes.  Of course, they didn't have it in-store and had to order it but it should be here in a few days.  The old camera was her gift from us on her 18th birthday and it has had a lot of use.  We also had to go back to Teavana, because they missed putting something we bought in the bag when we got her tea set.

By the time we got home and had dinner plus got a bunch of stuff done around that house that needed to be done, I was just too tired to even think about blogging.

There has been a lot on the news the last few days regarding a dentist in Tulsa.  Specifically, unsafe & unsanitary practices have resulted in several thousand people potentially being exposed to HIV and the two bad strains of hepatitis.  For the record, we think he should be jailed, at the very least.  Also, he is NOT a dentist/oral surgeon that we have ever seen.  His office is down the street from the dentist we currently use and he might be the one that she said was taking her emergency calls when I lost my crown a year or so back but I was able to wait until she got back so I never saw him.

It's cold.  It's rainy.  It's supposed to be Spring!  Where did that groundhog get to, I need a new pair of houseshoes and his fur should be nice & warm.  Probably soft, too.