Otters, Lions, Lambs

Otter is 23 today!

Bill took the car back to her today, I met him at her apartment so he could get home. But first, I took her a small cake!  3 or 4 bites, but she was happy to get it.  I also took her and Roomie a radio.  It's am/fm/weather and is both electric and battery operated.  I put batteries in it and set it to the best Tulsa station for weather reports.  They are keeping it in a specific, easy to grab spot in case they need to run down to the basement or we have any storms at all - which do happen here, in Tornado Alley!

March came in like a lamb this year.  It seems to be going out like one as well.  After all, the lion hit last week and was on the high end of EF2, nearly a 3.  I sincerely hope that we don't get anything else, but as I said before - this is Tornado Alley, after all.

At least it's not Monday any longer.  :)

It's Taco Day!!!

That means that tomorrow is Otter's birthday.  She'll be 23.

Taco Night was still celebrated, even though she is now living on her own.  We just didn't have it at home.  We wanted to have her birthday dinner when J and Roomie could go, and that was tonight.  She gets to pick where/what her birthday meal is, and this year she chose El Chico.  So, Taco Night With A Twist!  I think I'm the only one that actually ordered tacos, although Roomie did have the fajitas.  Bill and J both had burritos and Otter had tamales.  The waitress was a little unorganized but when she heard one of us say that it was Otter's birthday, she brought her a free sopapilla and then she also brought her a free fried ice cream.  Yes, fried ice cream is real - it's an ice cream ball in a hard shell batter which is how it survives being fried.  It's topped with chocolate sauce and a little whipped cream type topping.  Otter, J and Roomie shared the ice cream.  She took the sopapilla in a "to go" container and will probably have it for breakfast tomorrow - if it survives that long!  Roomie's fajitas were a lot bigger than she thought so she also had a "to go" container and she was planning on making quesadillas tomorrow with her leftovers.  It was a lot of fun and the food was really good.

I made her a certificate for her workbench, although she already knew about it.  I put it in the card we gave her and she thought that was fun.  I'm not sure when we'll actually get the workbench, it depends on her schedule and also Bill's since he and the El Camino will be needed to pick it up.  She wants to put it together herself, but she also requests that Dad be there in case she needs help.  Possibly this next weekend.

We had an appointment scheduled with the associate pastor at the church we've been attending, but Bill had a lady who wanted a pachinko repair and she was going to be in town today.  We were going to meet at 4:00 and then pick up the Birthday Girl and crew but we rescheduled the church meeting.  Which was fine with the associate pastor, this is a very busy week for her.  I told her I'll call her one day next week and we'll see what works for a meeting to talk with her.  We have a few questions.

Our Easter dinner plans have changed.  Originally, I was going to pick up a small ham.  We were going to make either rice or mashed potatos and gravy.  But we decided to "go a different direction."  Bill's going to grill steaks!  We'll also have baked potatos and something to be determined later for dessert.  Otter is 100% in favor of steaks!  She'd have been happy with ham & mashed potatos but she is very much a steak fan as well.  I'll pick up a a few steaks and the assorted fixins when I hit the grocery store this week.

Bill shaved his winter beard last night, so I think that winter is officially over now.  Otter remarked when she saw him at the restaurant this afternoon that he no longer looks like Santa Claus!

This Monday night is very different from another Monday night in late March 1992!  But we had the taco celebration, so the tradition continues.  :)

Buzzing

It must be Spring.  Because my redbud is blooming out all over the place.  It was covered in honeybees today.  There were about 10 or so when I looked out the first time, then a couple of hours later there were what looked like millions!  They were also checking out some of the blooming weed in the back yard.  Honeybees are wonderful little creatures.  Otter isn't too concerned with them being close to her, they aren't aggressive.  If we got in the way, they just went around us.  (That's a stock photo, not my tree.)  We don't get too close, but we get close enough to watch them.  I'm thinking that someone in the area may have a bee hive, because there were a whole lot of the little buzzers.

Otter came over with her laundry after work and we got the new insurance situated while she was here.  I guess it's a law now, probably to keep people from claiming benefits they don't actually deserve, but in order to put her on our health insurance she had to be here when we made the call.  The insurance specialist talked to her and also to Bill to verify his participation and now we are all signed up for the new insurance.  The old one ends at midnight on March 31st, the new one takes over at that point.  It's $211.00 more per month, but (thanks to noboma!) we don't have a choice.  Our current carrier is leaving the state and we had to replace the policy.  I've been looking at different carriers and coverage for a while, insurance companies (large ones) that used to offer nationwide coverage are now having to reduce their coverage areas by huge amounts.  Premiums are also skyrocketing, which is another (not so) lovely effect of nobamacare.  Also, the enrollment period is very short.  Just a few months.  After the enrollment period ends, unless you have a qualifying event such as our situation, you are out of luck on getting new insurance.  How is that fair?  How is that constitutional?  It's not.  At all.

Otter and I went to a thrift store while her laundry was in the dryer.  We didn't find anything, but it was fun anyway.  It was really cloudy when we were there, at one point we heard thunder - and then we heard a very nervous lady ask if that was really thunder she was hearing?  That's actually pretty common after a tornadic storm like we had last week, it can take a few thunderstorms before people relax again.  There were at least 2 confirmed tornados.  The one that hit the trailer park in Sand Springs, and then there was also a very weak one that was just south of the Tulsa Airport but it was short-lived at least.

The dogs have lost their backyard privileges again.  Friday evening, Maggie Moo came running into the house like she usually does (full speed ahead!) and her feet were covered in mud.  And so was the carpet!!  There are now at least 10 holes that weren't there before.  They all seem to be over mole trails, but the yard is well on it's way to looking like a moonscape again.  So, I closed the gate.  And Frasier pouted for a while, he eventually came back for attention but he was not happy with me for a while!

The inernet company is coming out this Friday to bury the cable.  Finally.  They said it would be 30 days, but it's been closer to 60 or so.  Bill really needs to mow, but he hasn't been able to because of the cable just laying across the yard.  The weeds have gotten really tall, and now he'll also have to worry about what looks like sinkholes!

Broken Glass(es)

My glasses broke yesterday.  It was very strange.  I was sitting down on the couch, watching tv.  (STAR TREK, of course!) and they fell off my face.  In 2 separate pieces!  Shortly before that happened, I'd heard a cracking sound but I was standing in the kitchen at the time and I thought it was something Billyboy was working on out in the garage - he was casting parts.  But apparently what I heard was my glasses breaking.  They broke on the nose piece, but more to the right side and very close to the part that holds the lenses.  It was about 4:15 or so.  Bill was able to glue them together, but it took "super" super glue and about 15 minutes of him holding the 2 pieces in place.  Then he was still not sure it would hold, so he used a small piece of painter's tape.  I was able to put them back on, but I wasn't able to adjust them when they slid or take them off for any reason because they were so fragile.  It was too late to go get another pair, I knew I'd need to get my eyes examined because it's been 2 years.  I wore my now uncomfortable glasses until bedtime, I left them in the bathroom on the counter so that I didn't have to fold them up.  This morning, I got dressed, got my dentures in and brushed my hair all before I put them on - my hair looked like it, too!

The eye doctor we use is in the mall, right next to Lenscrafters.  I called them yesterday and they didn't have any open appointments but they take walk-ins.  They told me that if I could get there early I would have a good chance of being seen and maybe not have to wait too long.  They opened at 10:00 and I got to the mall about 10 minutes before that.  The mall was full of early morning walkers, so I joined them and got a little exercise.  At 9:59, I went upstairs to the eye doctor - the escalators were not turned on yet!  They said they could see me about 10:45, so I walked next door to Lenscrafters and found a pair.  I was back in about 5 minutes and they were able to see me right then, so I didn't have to wait until 10:45.  I did not have to get my eyes dilated.  There is a new procedure where they can take a very detailed photograph of the retina and it does not involve dilation.  I chose that as soon as it was offered.  I had a very detailed exam, my retinas look good and there are no signs of the cataracts growing although I have had a couple of times when I've been aware of the right one because of a slight glare occasionally.  He said that's normal and that if it's grown at all, it's very hard to tell.  My prescription is nearly the same, if the glasses hadn't broken I would have been ok to still wear them.  I went back to Lenscrafters and when I gave the tech my prescription, she said that the glasses might be heavier than I wanted and she suggested I pick a different pair.  I looked around and found another pair that I actually like better, they are metal and are smaller than the ones that broke.  The old ones took several days because they had to be sent off to another lab for a non-glare application.  I asked the doctor about that and he said that if I don't do much night driving I really won't need it.  So I skipped it this time, and my new glasses were ready in a couple of hours.  I went back to work and then picked them up after work.  I can tell a difference in the prescription, but it's not much.

Wednesday's tornado has been rated at an EF2.  It was very high on the scale for a 2, and was nearly a 3.  It was still very bad, but it could have been so much worse.

We have a meeting next week with the associate minster at the church we've been attending.  We have a few questions, mostly since we've been away from the Methodist church for a few years.  We'll still attend there this Sunday.  Sometime after that, and after the meeting, we'll decide.

Now I'm going to park myself on the couch and get a glass of wine in a little while.  I need to rest my eyes and I have a very slight eye-strain headache.

Weather Recap Mostly

First things first:

On what would have been his 83rd birthday, we remember Leonard Nimoy with utmost love, admiration and immense respect as well as our thanks for his sharing of his gift with us.  LLAP.

I wanted to go into a little more detail about last night's weather.  The forecast called for possible thunderstorms late afternoon into the night but the forecasters were all saying the same thing:  that the main threat would be high winds and hail and that the chance of any tornado forming was slim to none.  Obviously, they got that part of it wrong.  Otter was supposed to work from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 but her shift got changed and she wound up working noon to 5:00.  It was a cloudy and cool day until mid-afternoon, when the sun came out.  Which was actually not a good thing, because warm could make any storms intensify.  When I left work at 3:30, it was clouding up quite a bit.  Otter actually got off work a little after 4:00, she was getting what could have been a migraine so her boss let her go a little early.  So she was home well before the bad stuff started, but Roomie was still at work.

I'm not sure what time it actually was, but I think it was before 5:00 p.m. or somewhere around it because I got home around 4:00 and we ate dinner as soon as I got home.  I was working in my craft room and Bill was watching a movie in the living room.  I heard thunder when I got home and it was cloudy but nothing else at that point.  I had the radio on when I was crafting and the reports suddenly changed from watching the weather for "later possibilities" to "indications are a tornado is forming west of Tulsa" and they started the serious discussion.  I told Bill and he turned off the movie, we switched the tv to the local stations and it was a little scary.  It always is scary when the warnings include areas that are very close to us!  I was texting with Otter and she had her tv on.  She was still dealing with her headache but it wasn't as bad as they can get.  Roomie had not made it home yet, but was on her way.  When the reports changed, we told her to get ready to head to the basement - her apartment complex is one of the few in this area that actually has basements, the basement serves two purposes:  the laundry rooms and storm shelters.  She got dressed, got her shoes on, grabbed her purse and cell phone and shortly after that we heard the sirens.  She went down to the shelter and said that most other residents did as well, except for a few (males) she described as "redneck idiots" who were standing outside in hopes of actually seeing a tornado!

The sirens sound for a couple of minutes and then they shut off.  A lot of people think that means "all clear" but it doesn't.  Otter thought it did, Roomie was there by that time and they went back upstairs to their apartment.  We told them to go back downstairs, and the did.  The tornado track was originally going to go north/northeast of us/Otter but the storm itself was on a track to go right over the area Otter lives in.  The tornado destroyed a trailer park in Sand Springs, which is on the west side of Tulsa (and not where we live) and it was bad.  One person died there and there were several injuries.  Lots of homes have been destroyed.  But the tornado dissolved before it actually got the the Tulsa area, although the storm itself went through downtown Tulsa and at one point the weather forecasters thought that it was about to re-form while it was still over Tulsa.  The storm shifted more south and went right through Tulsa and it was pretty big so most parts of Tulsa were affected by rain, hail and strong wind.  That storm went on east of Tulsa.  I don't know if the size of the tornado has been determined yet, but even a small one can do damage.

There was a children's gymnastics studio somewhere in the Sand Springs area, classes were ongoing and it was full of children.  The tornado struck it as well, it took the roof off and destroyed the building.  But they'd had enough warning and the owner was able to get all the children and parents into the basement.  No lives lost and no injuries there, thankfully.  It was one of the first places that the first responders were able to get to, each child was carried out individually by firemen and anybody that was able to - they were barefoot and one of the main dangers after a tornado is broken glass and debris on the ground.  All safe and accounted for there.

Otter and Roomie eventually were able to go back up to their apartment, and Otter texted me about 8:30 that she was going to take a nighttime allergy pill to help her sleep since her head still hurt although it was a little better.

There were a couple more storms following the first ones, I took these pictures before it got dark last night. They are all taken from my back deck and descriptions are below the pictures:

Looking south from  my deck, the clouds were very low.

I turned around and took this picture to the east, that's our chimney visible.

Over the roof of the house.

To the west.  Visible is what's left of the woodpile and that is the dining room window.

Back to the east again, that's the shed that is full to the brim with pachinko machines.  What looks like a window on the side is actually a mirror that Bill put there a few years ago.

These clouds were the edge of the storm that had gone through Tulsa and was heading east rapidly.

The next storm system came through from the south/southwest and we got a lot of rain out of it.  Possibly some hail, we couldn't tell for sure but it might have hailed.  The rain barrels have both overflowed again, the rain gutters couldn't handle the amount of water coming down and it was very windy.  Also very noisy, there was a lot of thunder and some of the lightning was beautiful.  It rained pretty much all night and it was still barely sprinkly this morning.  Bill checked the trees and we didn't lose any limbs this time.  I'm surprised at that actually.  No sign of hail damage on the cars so if we did get any hail, it wasn't much.  It was pretty bad in some spots.  Some people are still without power and it might not be restored until Saturday.

This is pretty early in Tornado Season.  I sincerely hope that it is not an indicator of the rest of the Season.  It was bad.  But it could have been so much worse.

One thing we discovered:  the girls (Otter and Roomie) don't have a radio.  We're going to buy them a battery operated radio.  I've seen some that are electric with a battery option, that is probably what we'll get them along with extra batteries.  Nobody in the basement with them had a radio or any way of known when it was safe again.  If they have to go through this again, they'll take it with them to the basement.

Tornadic Storms in Tulsa Area. We are ok. **EDITED**

There is a little town west of Tulsa called Sand Springs.  It is not where we live, but I wanted to mention it because they have had a tornado go through and there is a lot of damage.  Injuries, but not major.  No deaths, but there are still a lot of people who have lost homes.  Please pray for them, as well as for the emergency workers who are trying to help them.

It's been a rough evening.  We were in the firing line for the thunderstorms that sprouted the tornados (there have been a few) but the tornados themselves went north and northeast of us.  The north track took them over into the areas east of Tulsa and there are still people who are in the track of at least one tornado.  It's 7:02 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 as I type this.

We are now getting the thunderstorms but the tornadic chances are just about gone, at least for us.

But other parts of the state are in danger, specifically the Moore/Oklahoma City area.

Please pray.

(EDIT:  There was one death in Sand Springs after all)

Rocky

This is a box of rocks:

And so is this:

Or at least they both have about the same IQ!

Yesterday we decided to start leaving the gate between the dog's area and the rest of the backyard open.  It used to be an open area, but then the construction behind us started and that meant that the moles & gophers moved in search of quieter territory.  Under my back yard was one of the places they moved to.  The dogs did what dogs do, which was to dig up every mole trail they could find.  And they found plenty!  Sometimes they would actually get the moles or gophers, not that often but they would usually present me with a dead mole or gopher.  They were very proud of themselves!  We got tired of the back yard looking like a moonscape, so we fenced off a small area and put a gate on it.  That became the dog's yard.  Now that the construction is done behind us, we've been letting the dogs have more access to the back and we decided to try leaving the gate open and see how they do.  (This is where Maggie shows her smarts.  Or lack thereof!)

I blocked their gate open and Frasier immediately figured it out.  But then he's smarter than most people, so it was really not a surprise that he got it so fast.  Maggie Moo?  I took her outside through the back yard.  When she was ready to come back in, she parked herself by the back door and eventually I let her back in that way.  Then I walked her through the garage (she went through the dog doors), through their yard and through the gate out into the wide open back yard.  I walked her back in through all that and then back out again.  When she got ready to come in, what did she do?  She came back to the back door and pawed the door!  More than once.

Rocks in the head, for sure.  Cute but still not smart.  :)

Not Ready For Monday Yet

But Monday is on it's way, even if I don't like it.  :(

I spent Friday hiding from the world.  In other words, I was home.  With spring allergy induced asthma!  Except for when I went to Wallyworld to get Otter's allergy medicine and talk to the pharmacist to see if there was anything that I could take.  That would actually work on me!  The pharmacist was not exactly a redhead, but his beard had quite a bit of red in it and he was familiar with the Care of Redheads.  He knew all about the way we metabolize things and he said he has some of the issues with the Redhead Curse.  After talking to him, I think I'm still stuck and unable to take anything for my allergies since they will either not work or work in unexpected and unpleasant ways.  I'm just glad that Otter has a couple of things she can take.

Bill worked on Otter's car again today.  He bought the specific part that he replaced once already, which is supposed to be what the "check engine" light was coming on about.  When we took it in to chevy a couple of weeks ago, the manager cleared out the system and the light went off.  Bill was afraid it was going to come back on again so he went to the auto parts store and bought the part again.  He got it from a cut-rate internet based auto parts company that we've used before.  Cut rate only implies the general price, we've always had good luck with their parts before.  Except this time.  So Bill was expecting to have to replace the part again.  Yesterday Otter texted me that the "check engine" light was back on.  She came over after work to do laundry and she talked to Bill about the car.  He told her to bring it back today since it was cloudy and threatening to rain all day yesterday.  But she had to work all day today, so we went to her store and Bill got the car then.  He brought it home and let it cool down for a few hours.  He replaced the part today and also cleaned out a specific hose that could be contributing to the problem.  The hose might need to be replaced as well, it looks like is might have been crushed a bit by either Chevy or (more likely) the crooks we used before.  The light is out and Otter's going to watch to see what happens.  If the hose does clog up again, Chevy will probably be where we take it to get it replaced - but not the Chevy dealer we've been using.

I did manage to get some crochet in yesterday.  And my arm hurts today.  It was already hurting, the crochet made it worse but I have got to get one specific project completed by June because it's for Froggy's daughter!  I hate tendinitis.

Movie Review:  The Book of Life.  Don't bother!  I was disappointed with this one.  It looked so good from the previews but it was not very good at all.  They did get a few of the cultural references right, but not all that many.

Bill got out the grill this afternoon.  We had steaks for dinner and he has leftover steak for lunch tomorrow.  He also grilled chicken breast and that will be dinner tomorrow night with some rice I made.  While he was at it, he grilled hamburger patties so that will probably be Tuesday's dinner and since there were 6 patties it will probably be a couple of day's meals.  I won't have to cook much this week, which was the general idea!

We went back to the Methodist church today.  We enjoyed the service.  At this point, we are seriously leaning towards joining this church.  It's time to talk to the minister about a few things and then we'll decide.

I went to Michael's today to get paint.  I am going to put up new outlet covers and a new switchplate in the craft/front/guest/YARN room.  Bill said he would get me something printed up on the sheets he uses for backgrounds on the pachinko rooms - the same stuff car wraps are made from - but I couldn't find a picture that would work.  I was looking for a specific yarn or crochet pattern, but the only things I could find were either knitted patterns or the definition was not very good.  But Otter and I went to the dollar store yesterday while her laundry was in the dryer and I found some really neat stickers.  I think they are made for scrapbooking, but they are going to work perfectly - they are crocheted doilies!  They are almost white color on a clear background, I bought some pinkish paint and I'm going to put that on the outlet covers and switchplate.  Then I'm going to decorate them with the stickers.  But I have to finish the other painting project I have started, the shadow box.  I did a little more on it today, but I have to wait for the paint to dry completely before I can get back on it.  After it's finished, I'll get the outlet covers and switchplate done

That is about it for today.

Sprung!!!

And not a moment too soon.

Bye, groundhog!  Get some glasses before next February rodent - otherwise...   :)

Still Running Behind the Times!

Although in this case it's because I didn't know something about March until Froggy told me.

March is International Quilt Month, as well as Crochet Month.  I posted a few pictures on the craft blog just now.

Froggy, I'd post pictures of yours if you'd send them to me!

I'm Kind of Behind the Times

I just realized that March is International Crochet Month.  It's the 16th!  Talk about being behind...

Just wanted to get that information out there!

Spring?

I know it's not officially Spring until this coming Friday.  But it sure feels like it today.  It was rainy all day Friday, into early yesterday morning.  Then it was cool and overcast most of yesterday.  But today started out nice and has stayed that way.  Warm-ish but not hot, the sky is blue and beautiful.  It's slightly breezy.

Unfortunately, things are beginning to bloom and I'm a little sneezy when I'm outside.  But it's worth it, at least so far, just to get to be outdoors.  The ground is a bit soft from all the rain and it is muddy in places - my dogs have spent quite a bit of time decorating the kitchen floor with a paw print pattern!

We had intended to go back to the Methodist church today but we overslept.  We'll go back there next Sunday.  Bill brought me a cup of coffee in bed this morning, it was nice to sit in the dark and wake up slowly.  I still am not a fan of Daylight Saving Time!

Otter came over yesterday to do laundry. We went to Wallyworld and I got sheets for the futon, as well as a couple of pillows.  I also bought a desk lamp which is very similar to the Pixar logo.  I didn't realize that until the cashier mentioned it - he was a friend of Otter's from high school, which explains why he always looks so familiar to me!  Anyway, the lamp works very well beside the desk.  Bill checked the light fixture in the ceiling and found out why it was so bad - two of the three bulbs were burned out!  Amazing how much brighter it is in there now...

As we were walking out of Wallyworld, there was a girl scout troop setting up a cookie booth.  Needless to say, we bought some.  I have about 7 or 8 boxes in the freezer, I'd like to get a few more boxes, hopefully I'll see at least one more booth but they only sell them through the end of March I think.

My tendinitis is really bad in my left arm.  It's actually better than I've had it in the past, it's just that I keep forgetting about it and using my left arm for something I shouldn't and then it hurts.  So, I'm forcing myself to take a crochet break.  Believe me, it ain't easy!  I had a few craft projects I had on the shelf but hadn't gotten around to yet so I'm working on them now.  I got the base coat of paint on the shadow box and part of the first coat of blue.  I was hoping it would only need one coat, but I think it's going to need two for an even color.  Otter always says that it is not a good day unless she gets paint (or markers, glue, etc.,) on her hands.  So I guess it must be a really good day for me!

Movie review: Big Hero 6.  I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  It's funny and the storyline is good.  A little predictable, but still good.  The animation is pretty good.  The best part?  The Stan Lee cameo!  It's actually an end-of-credits scene but it's really great.  Bill told me to put this one on the "to buy" list.  It was cute and I highly recommend it.

March 12, Doggie Beffday and Mom

March 12 is Mom's birthday.  She's been gone for 14 years now, which is kind of hard to believe.  Mom loved animals and she taught us to love them as well.  So, we remember her by calling her birthday the dog's birthday as well.  Or, as the dogs would say, it's their Beffday!

(Mom would like her day being celebrated in connection with animals, it's not disrespectful.)

The dogs got extra treats tonight, we visited their treat can and they got multiple milkbones so they are happy.

Otter/Bill's car is fixed!  I took it to the tire place yesterday morning, I got there just after they opened and they were waiting for me.  The car was fixed in less time than they said and it was also a little bit less $$ than they thought it would be.  It seems to have been fixed right, also.  We've used this particular tire shop before for actual tires, including last week for Otter/Bill's car and we've never had an issue with them.  Otter met me at the tire place to give me my car back, then I drove her to work (across the parking lot!) and when the car was ready she walked back over there and got it.  She said that the steering feels much tighter and that she realizes now that it had felt like driving a boat before.

Frasier is entertaining tonight.  He's currently curled up in the floor, napping.  He's talking in his sleep, I think he's chasing something?  Maggie Moo is curled up on her blankets and underneath one of them, she hasn't been heard from in quite a while but it's a safe bet that she's asleep!.  Oops, there is a nose!  A beagle nose!  It just stuck itself out from underneath the blankets but that's all that I see of her. :)  Yesterday, the beaglebrat got stuck underneath the shed and I was really beginning to wonder if she could get herself out - she finally did, but I noticed that she was not quite as interested in getting underneath the shed this afternoon when I let them out, for some reason.

I was going to rearrange a bit in the front room.  My idea was to move the steampunk pachinko machine to the opposite side of the room (the door side) and then to move the yarn drawers down the wall to where the pachinko had been.  I was thinking I could move the futon against the wall/corner and that way it wouldn't be right at the doorway.  So, I took the pachinko off the table it sits on, moved the table to the spot I had planned and then I had to take everything (decorative) off the top of the yarn drawers.  I had to unstack the two smaller drawers off the top of the taller drawer units.  Then I moved the yarn drawers down to where I wanted them.  And that's when I realized that it wouldn't work!  So, I had to put it all back in place, in reverse this time.  At least I'll know why I have sore muscles tomorrow!

But we did have a discussion about painting that room and I think we probably will.  Not until after your visit this summer, Froggy!

Car-ied away

(Carried away, in case you don't get the pun!)

(Car issues, too.)

A while back, Bill's/Otter's car had an issue with the Check Engine light coming on.  He took it to the auto parts store since they use the same equipment to check it that Chevy would - but Chevy charges and they don't.  It was a "minor" part that had to do with the oxygen sensor and it was easy for Bill to replace it.  A couple of weeks later, the light came back on and the auto parts store checked it again.  It showed as being ok but they suggested he clean it with a long skinny brush.  He did that but the light stayed on.  Last week when he took it to get tires, they told him that it needed some front end work and also an alignment.  Which was not a surprise, that was a common issue with that car in the past and it's still a potential issue.  We decided to get a 2nd opinion from Chevy, mostly to compare the price we were quoted at the tire place.  I picked the car up from Otter on Saturday, I was going to get it from her when she got back home after work but she recognized my car when she drove past the antique store I was at - there are not too many other silver Impalas in this area with Longhorn emblems on the back window!  She took my car from there and I took hers.  We only drove it to Church on Sunday and then I took it to Chevy yesterday morning.  They were beyond booked so I made an appointment to take it back this morning.  At 7:15.  I was there before 7:00 so there is no excuse for the garbage they pulled on me today.

(Yes, this is a rant!  About Chevy!  The specific dealership in Tulsa, actually.  They have the word "south" in their name.  And "point" is in their name also.  The service rep will be referred to as D because that's his first initial.)

Yesterday, I had to go to the post office and a couple of things on the way home.  As I was pulling into the driveway at home, another light came on: Service Engine Soon.  According to the guidebook, that usually means either a) the engine has damage that has to be dealt with soon ($$$) OR the trunk latch was bad.  Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum!  So, I asked D about having that checked when they were looking at the front-end.

D told me that it would be a couple of hours at the most.  The first 30 minutes is free, after that they charge $85.00/hour for just looking around and plugging the equipment in.  Which is why Bill usually goes to the auto parts store for that!

At right before noon, I called D because they'd had the car 5 hours.  I had to leave a message and he called me back.  He said that they had just gotten through with the front-end check and he confirmed what the tire place told us - he didn't know that I had already gotten a specific quote or that I knew what he should have told me was needed.  Chevy's price was about $700 higher than the tire shop, by the way.  He was very pushy and tried to get me to ok them doing the work today.  NO.  I asked him about the check engine light, and he said that the car was still waiting on that to be checked but that it was "in line" and should be soon.  I asked him how soon that would be and he said it wouldn't be too long and that he'd call me.  At 2:15, I made the first of about 4 calls to him.  I left messages each time.  At 3:45, I called him again and he answered.  And immediately made a bunch of excuses about lots of calls being returned and I was the next person he was going to call.  Yeah, right.  Then he told me that the car was still waiting on the check engine light being checked - and the told me I should leave it overnight.  Guess what?  He met **RHTW!  And I don't think he liked Her. :)  Upshot is that I told him I was coming to get the car as soon as my husband picked me up and that yes, THEY WOULD HAVE IT READY FOR ME.  Bill got me and we went right there.  And I was met by the manager - the manager of the entire dealership!  Seems that Younger Boss called his friend who happened to be the sales department manager to complain on our behalf, and the sd manager called the dealership manager with the issue.  When Younger Boss called, he was asked if the service rep I'd dealt with was by any chanced named D, before he even had time to say who it was.  The dealership manager took our file over at that point.  He personally took the car over to get the check engine light situated, which is just the issue that we had with it earlier and it might be that the part itself is not good but it's working fine now and we don't have to worry unless it acts up again - and it's still a minor fix; he cleared the system to turn the light off and then he took the car to the car wash.  He was nice and apologized, but we will never use them again.

As soon as I left, I called the tire shop and made an appointment to get the front-end work done tomorrow.  I'll have it there when they open at 7:30, it will take about 45 minutes.  Otter is going to meet me there so I can get my car back from her, then they'll call me when the work is done and I can pay for it over the phone.  Otter will just have to walk across the parking lot from where she works to the tire store to get the car when she gets off work.

She will eventually actually own the car, for various reasons she wants to wait a little while longer.  But we were really afraid that the light I saw yesterday might mean that the engine itself was damaged.  In which case Bill was going to take the two front tires off and put them on my car, and we would not have done anything else as far as repair on the '02 Impala.  We would have then helped Otter find a car, because we didn't want to let her have the 02 if it was on the downhill slide.  But it's still got a lot of life left and we're glad to know for sure that the engine is ok.

**Believe me, you do NOT want to mess with Her.  She does not take prisoners.

Ugh

Unfortunately, it's been Monday.  All.Day.Long.

'Nuff said.

Furnished

Froggy, you don't have to sleep on the floor when you come see me!

I think my guest/craft/YARN room is just about done.  Yesterday, I went to the store where we first had our booth and noticed that they had two futons for sale.  One of them was exactly what I was looking for, so I told Bill about it and we went up there this afternoon to look at it.  We took the El Camino in case we bought it, and since we did actually buy it I'm glad we took the truck.  It just barely fit in the back of the truck, actually.  It's a tanish color, but I put the crocheted blanket I made for Bill a few years ago on it since it's in my YARN room.  The yarn stash is going to be moved slightly, the steampunk pachinko is going to move to the opposite side of the room and the yarn drawers will be slid down a bit so that I can get into the drawers easily.

It's a futon, so the back of it can be reclined for sleeping.  I might get an egg-crate foam pad for it, I'm not sure about that yet, but I do need to get a couple of pillows.  And sheets!

Now all we need in that room is better lighting, which will probably be a ceiling fan with a light and I want to put a miniblind in the window.  The miniblind will wait until I get all my doilies assembled into the drape style curtain, which will be a while because I'm still in the process of acquiring enough.  I got a few yesterday at a church rummage sale, but I still don't have anywhere near enough.

This was one day last week when the snow was first starting to come down, it might have been last Saturday.  Anyway, the resident woodpecker finally discovered the suet feeder.  He was sideways because the suet was almost gone, I put a refill in it after that but I haven't seen him on it since then.  But it's had regular visitors as it is rapidly emptying again.

A slightly closer shot.  These pictures were taken out of the window, it was too cold to go outside and I didn't want to scare the bird off.

This was also taken one day last week, Frasier isn't normally a big fan of blankets but he seemed quite happy when I covered him with my afghan when I was sitting on the couch one day.  This was a day or two after the vet visit and he was already showing signs of improvement from the anti-inflammatory, but it was still pretty cold and he seemed to relax and enjoy the extra warmth from the blanket.  There is a bumpy spot right by his visible foot - that's Maggie Moo!

Frasier is almost completely different than he was right before the vet visit, he's happy and playful again and acting like a puppy.  I haven't given him a pain pill in a few days and I'm only giving him half of an antibiotic once a day.  He's very happy and affectionate, he doesn't act like he's in any pain or discomfort at all but I'm still watching him closely.

I think I've mentioned before that we were dissatisfied with our church and were considering looking for a new one.  We haven't actually attended church in several weeks, because our church discontinued the early service which is the one we went to.  The early church service never quite took off, which we thought it would have.  We used to belong to a United Methodist church in Tulsa and were quite happy with it.  Then we moved to our smaller town and changed to a closer UM church.  We attended there for a couple of years, but then something happened that we were not happy with.  The youth leader (adult, salaried employee and not a youth member) started telling the kids that the Bible is wrong about a lot of things.  We didn't realize it at first, until Otter told me that she was confused because she knew what the Bible said and she thought she was hearing something wrong from the youth leader.  That's when we decided it was time to change.  We looked around and decided to go back to the Southern Baptist church - back to in my case because that's where I was originally, but it was new for Bill and Otter.  We went to a specific SB church because a lot of Otter's friends from school went there and she wanted to be with her friends.  She liked it, but it was a huge church and was way too big for us to feel comfortable.  But we stayed there for a long time for Otter.  Eventually, it was even too big for her and we started looking for a smaller SB church.  We found the one we belong to currently and joined it pretty quickly.  It was fine for a long time.  But then things changed.  The minister had a major health issue, he was diagnosed with a fairly rare form of cancer but he beat it eventually.  Sometime after that, we realized that the pastor didn't seem to be "in charge" anymore and that he didn't care about that either.  The music leader was taking over more and more of the operations and seemed to be making a lot of the decisions that the pastor should have been making.  It was pretty obvious, at least to us, that the music minister just wanted to be in charge and that it was becoming a power trip for him.  But then the music minister's wife had a job transfer and they moved out of state.  We thought that things might change then so we hung around a while longer.

Things changed alright.  And it was even worse.  Somewhere in there, pretty much ALL mission work, community involvement, evangelism, just about every form of outreach had been discontinued and it never returned.  We realized that the minister didn't seem to care, his sermons were becoming reruns frequently and there were times such as Easter and Christmas when the sermons were almost like "just another day" instead of even acknowledging that they were special days!  I take notes on sermons in my Bible, and I discovered that I was making the same notes in the same places over and over again and in the same spots.  The last Sunday that we attended with Otter, the weekend before she moved out, the announcement was made about the early service being discontinued because there were so few people attending.  That's something else that should not have happened the way it did, but the minister never did anything to attempt to increase attendance and neither did anyone else.  We have wondered at times if maybe the minister might have personal problems based on various things he's said about his son and his marriage.  We think it's also possible that he is suffering from clinical depression.  But the upshot is that we were getting nothing out of attending that church and we finally realized it was time to attend elsewhere.

We took a long break to figure out what we wanted to do and we've decided that we want to re-consider the United Methodist church.  We went back today, to a local UM church and we really enjoyed it.  It was nice not to hear a doom & gloom message that we haven't already heard multiple times.  It was nice to actually get to take communion, which I think we only had twice or maybe three times in several years at the SB church.  It was nice to see more than (literally!) 10 people (and usually less than 10) in the congregation.  It was nice to see a good age range, from young children to older people.  The sermon was good, the people were very friendly.  (And the music minister didn't act like it was his stage and his forum to be worshiped at!)  We'll probably go back there again next Sunday and then we'll decide it we want to stay there as visitors for a while or if we want to go to another UM church that is in the next town over but is still very close to home.  We did consider going back to the UM church we belonged to in our small town, the minsterial staff is different now because of a couple of retirements (we liked the ministerial staff, it's just different now) and the youth minister is not there anymore, but at least for now we aren't going back to that church.

I have not addressed TEXAS anniversary yet, it was the day before yesterday but I was not feeling well at the time and didn't want to just toss something up that wasn't good.  I'm just going to post this: 

 Our Story.

Hard Week

Glad it's over.

I've spent too much time nesting on the couch because of my stupid cold.  I'm finally on the mend, although I'm still dealing with the residual effects of any cold or URI in my world:  asthma!  It's not bad, it's just "there" and I know it.

I went in to work this morning, but I really just wanted to go back to bed!  I didn't stay all day, I made it until about 11:30 before I gave in and came home.  I actually ran out of steam about 10:30, but I had a few things I needed to finish up.  Even with being off most of the week, I'm just about caught up at work.  It's not a particularly busy office.

This is still on my mind as well.  It's on a lot of people's minds still, ST fans tend to take anything connected with the show very personally.  Especially when we lose someone so important.

I am kind of tired of winter.  I'm kind of tired of snow and ice.  I'm really looking forward to spring finally showing up.  (Not SpringLikeStorms!)  Starting last Friday, we had snow and/or ice coming down 4 out of the last 7 days and it was still on the ground/streets most of the last 7 days.  We were iced in on Wednesday, I probably wouldn't have gone in to work anyway because I was sick.  Yesterday, I might have tried to go in for a while but we were still iced in and nobody wanted to brave the roads.  But then the sun came out yesterday afternoon and a mass melting occurred.  Otter came over yesterday afternoon with her laundry.  While her clothes were in the dryer, we got out so I could see how the streets were and they were pretty good by that point.  We went to the grocery store, but that was only because I absolutely had to and could not put that off any longer.

When Bill took his/Otter's car to get the tires replaced, they told him that it needs a front end alignment and some serious front-end work.  I have no doubt that it does, that was really the only complaint/issue/problem we had with that car - it was known for needing expensive front-end work but that seems to be a fairly common issue in that year/style Impala.  I'm going to take it to Chevy one day next week to get a 2nd opinion and a price quote, but I expect them to say basically the same thing the first place did.  If Chevy's quote is in the general price range of the first place, we might have them go ahead and fix the car while it's there for the estimate.

Frasier is doing very well.  He does seem to have a little less discomfort since he's been on the anti-inflammatory.  It does make him a little stoned, however! :)  The vet said that I might be able to discontinue it on a daily basis after a while.  I'm going to see how it goes, he's definitely showing signs of improvement so I'll see how he does after several days and then decide about stopping it daily.  When they called me to check on him today, the vet tech said that I can go to watching him and giving it to him when he needs it.  When I got home today, Maggie Moo came in happily.  Frasier still hasn't come in - he's happy out in their yard.  Last time I looked out there, he was snoozing in a sunny spot.  He was so still that I had to watch to be sure he was actually breathing!! He loves to stay outside, much more than any other dog I've ever seen.  I think it's probably the coyote heritage.  Maggie didn't miss out on the nap today, she's curled up on her blankets and I hear her snoring.

There's probably more but I don't remember!

LLAP

Don't You Just Hate It When... EDITED

You have to sneeze but can't?  I've had that feeling for about 20 minutes now.

I also have a cold.  I could have done without it.

It hit when I was on the way to work this morning, I started sneezing and pretty much sneezed all the way to work.  I lost count of how many times I sneezed, but it was probably at least around 50 - not exaggerating, either.  I couldn't figure out what the problem was, but after I got to work and started to feel really cruddy I realized that it's probably a cold.  Which really sucks, because there is not an allergy or cold medicine that exists that works on me.  So, I'm having a glass of wine!

Lovely.

When I got home from taking Otter back to her apartment yesterday because Bill had the car, I noticed that "their" car was in the driveway which meant that Bill was home.  Then I noticed that the driver's side front tire was just about flat.  Bill said it felt strange when he was driving home, but he thought that was because there were still some icy patches.  It was probably getting flat then. He got the small air tank he has, filled it up from his compressor and then filled the tire up.  And in the time it took him to walk from the car back into the garage to store the small tank, the tire lost all the air he'd just put in.  I could see bubbles in the small wet area the tire was parked over and after Bill looked at it, he decided it was time to just go buy new tires for it.  We were going to do that when Otter officially becomes the owner anyway, but Bill thought that the tires had a little more life left in them.  Obviously, they didn't.  He took an emergency day off today and went to the tire shop.  He filled the tire up and headed straight up there, he got there just as they were opening - I went to the gas station and then had to drive past the tire shop and he was just parking when I went past.  Anyway, he got the two front tires replaced.  The back ones might need replacing later on, but they are ok.  The front ones were not ok, however.  It also needs a front-end alignment, which we'll get very soon.

I left work about 10:30 or thereabouts, and I picked Otter up at her apartment - I was very careful and did everything I could NOT to expose her to this cold.  We were going to get the car to her tomorrow, Bill was going to head over there after work and then I was going to go pick him up.  But the weather is probably going to be bad again tomorrow (will this winter ever end?) and since I'm not even going to attempt to go in tomorrow, he'll drive my car.  So, Otter got the car today.  When I took her back home yesterday, we stopped at the grocery store so she could get milk and a couple of things but one of her best friends had a birthday this week and Otter picked her up on the way back to her apartment.  Friend will stay there tonight and probably tomorrow night as well, because of the weather.  Otter and Roomie were going to have a small birthday cake for Friend and then they were going to make tortilla pizzas.  When she picked Friend up, they stopped at Wallyworld for the cake and pizza fixins.*  Otter is off work tomorrow which is good, but she does have to work Thursday morning.  7:00 a.m., not 4:00 a.m. like she sometimes has to go in at!  (EDIT:  Bill's employer just announced that they are closed tomorrow, so I'll have company at home).

I did have to get back out this afternoon.  The dogs had an appointment at the vet.  Frasier was due for his rabies shot and I wanted the vet to check him over.  Maggie got her rear parts squished and he said she was pretty impacted just like the last time.  We are probably going to be getting her in for her "rear alignment" every two months instead of every three now.  She also got her pedicure while she was there, those claws were really getting long but she absolutely would NOT let me/us trim them.  Maggie weighed in at 25.8 pounds, which is about what she was last year and she is right where she should be.  Frasier is 66.6 pounds, and he's down about a pound or two but it's probably not anything to worry about.  The vet examined him very carefully and very thoroughly.  He does agree that Frasier might have some minor vision issues, but not very bad.  He didn't find anything in the dog's spine or legs, but he's pretty sure that Frasier does have arthritis in his hips.  Which is not uncommon in shepherds and we aren't surprised.  He gave me an anti-inflammatory that Frasier will probably be on from here on out, and a pain pill because Frasier has quite a bit of coyote and they generally don't show pain because they can't afford to be considered weak by either their den mates or any potential predator.  The pain pills will be given to him for a few days, then I'll probably be able to space them out two every other day or every three days and I might be able to stop them entirely unless he needs them occasionally.  He also gave me some more tranquilizers since I'm just about out.  Frasier doesn't need them too often, but I have given them to him the last couple of nights.  But now that I know he really needed a pain pill, I'm not surprised he was so antsy the last few nights.  Frasier has also discovered blankies, between him and Maggie I'm going to be lucky if I ever get to use my afghan again!

Also, the vet showed me a picture of the dog he had as a child.  It was half German Shepherd.  The other half was coyote!  We knew he was knowledgeable about coyotes, now I'm even more convinced that Frasier is in very good hands with him.

*Fixins.  Don't leave home without them!

Lion or Lamb?

I think March has come in like a lamb.  Yes, there are still piles of snow and some icy spots on the streets.  But that is from yesterday, today was cold but nothing falling from the sky beyond a light amount of sleet in some areas north of Tulsa.  So, I think it came in like a lamb.  So, maybe March is going to go out like a lion - I hope not!  Because this is Tornado Alley, after all.  We don't want Lion-ish storms.

Anyway, here are a few Trek-related lols.  In the light of Friday's sad news, these are just a few I felt like posting.

(This one is from Saturday, it's what we are all thinking actually.)

LLAP!

(I'd like to live on this street)

Apparently, not everyone can do the Vulcan salute.  But I never had a problem with it.  Also, not a lot of people realize that it is actually an ancient Hebrew/Jewish blessing.  Which Leonard Nimoy knew, as he's the reason it was "invented" for Mr. Spock.

IDIC

I haven't made a sock monkey in years, but this one would be fun to make.

---------

OK, enough with the sad stuff!

Officially, we only got 2" of snow in my small town.  But I think we got a lot more.  It was about beagle belly deep, which I discovered when I let the dogsters out this morning for a romp in the back yard.  The snow was powdery and dry and there was an ice cover on top of it.  Frasier is big and heavy so he had no problems with it, although it did slow him down a bit.  But Maggie Moo wasn't quite able to navigate so well in it.  She would take a step and her foot would crash through the ice, then she'd take another step, crunch through, etc., and she finally just started swimming/hopping through it.  She came back in almost immediately, but Frasier wasn't in so much of a hurry.  He figured out how to run across it pretty fast and got his speed up quickly.  He was going so fast that he didn't crunch through the ice and I was afraid he might lose his balance but he seemed to enjoy himself.

Otter was supposed to work yesterday but her boss called her a couple of hours before she shift and told her not to come in because the roads were too dangerous.  So she had an unexpected day off, which she really enjoyed.  But she was feeling housebound by this morning and so was I.  So, after I got the pushbroom and de-snowed my car, we went to her apartment.  We stopped by the booth place first, then we took Bill to get the carsince she had for yesterday.  She had gotten out and cleared the snow off of it for Bill.

Our neighborhood street was pretty bad, but the main roads had been plowed, scraped and sanded although there were a few patches.  The parking lot at her apartment complex was iffy, but there had been enough traffic through it that it was driveable.  The apartment complex is next door to the police department so the street was probably one that was plowed first.  She and I went to Big Lots, which was fun because they were having a 20% off of everything sale today.  Big Lots is next to a WalMart, and their were girl scouts setting up a cookie booth in front so we had to buy some.

Bill got the car because it's possibly going to be a little icy in the morning from re-freezing and he doesn't want to drive the El Camino.  Otter does work, but her hours are good for me to get her to/from work.  She was originally going to bring her laundry today but she's still got work clothing for a couple of days.

Since I wasn't able to get out yesterday and go to the antique stores like I had planned, I might do that next Saturday.  I need a shopping fix!