What happened to Global Warming?

I think it's a lie! Still cold here! It started snowing at 8:30 this morning. I had already called and ordered more firewood, and was going to meet Bubba & Bubba after work. But they called me early and said that it was snowing pretty hard, so they wanted to deliver early. So I left for lunch about 11:30 and drove past more than one accident due to slick roads, but the wood got delivered & stacked. We were completely out, we had already used the entire rick (1/2 of a cord) that we bought in the fall and what we had left from last winter! But now we have plenty more. I called my boss to tell him I was about to head back, but he told me to not come back since the weather had gotten bad. Fine with me! I was also going to get groceries after work today out of necessity, so I went to Wallyworld and then decided to get the Otter from school early. Then we slid most of the way home!

It is very cold and I am ready for spring. Except that then we'll have the other storm possibility that this area is known for.

Anybody watching Heroes? We love it. Really fun show.

Still cold but the ice is gone!

Well, mostly gone anyway. There are still small patches here and there. But it's still pretty cold. We did have a couple of days about freezing and it has been sunny, but it's back to being winter again. Not that it ever really wasn't! We have another cold front on the way in but it is not supposed to be anything other than cold. However, since the forecasters never quite get it right.....

Interesting news article. Here's the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16891832/
My only comment is that if this does become law, it will be one that we will NOT comply with.

If anyone has tried to email the Otter for the last few days, it might not have gone through. Her computer crashed last Friday and it's now up and running again but she lost nearly everything. Her email is not working at all right now, she is getting some emails but she is unable to send any out at all. So if you sent her an email, don't take it personally if you didn't get a response! Bill's working on it but it might be a while.

I'm watching Huckabee, whose first name I forget, as a potential Republican candidate. He seems to be very conservative, absolutely pro-life which is extremely important to us, and looks good on a few other areas as well. But it's early still and who knows what will happen between now and the election!

I have a prayer request, one of our very good friends (Larry) has a biopsy scheduled this week because of a suspicious spot on his lung. It does not sound good. So I would like to ask for prayers for him.

And I get to make another sock monkey! That makes two I need to work on since both sides of the family are expanding - my brother is going to be a grandfather again! Les & Jacque and Kim & Kenneth. No promises that either monkey will be ready by the time the babies arrive, however! I'm just glad that sock monkeys will be needed.

Rain!

We got rain instead of snow today, which is a good thing. The storm stalled out way west of us and is heading north so this is probably it for us. I'm not complaining! The streets will be icy & messy in the morning since we'll be below freezing tonight but they will improve after a few hours and a little traffic. There are still several inches of ice on the ground, but it's melting off the trees and things that are off the ground.

I just read that a certain Democratic senator is forming an exploratory committee. We all know what that means, that she is going to run. I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST HER. Just letting everyone know my opinion at the start, so that we don't have any misunderstandings later on!

Is it going to be spring soon?

We are still frozen over. The schools are still closed and will be again tomorrow, probably Friday as well. The main roads are clear in some spots and not touched in others, the neighborhoods have not been touched at all and it is really treacherous out there. I was going to work yesterday and taking the Otter with me, but at breakfast the Otter had a sudden onset of what we thought were flu symptoms so she went to bed and I stayed home with her. It was just a bug, she was fine by the evening. She went to work with me today. And as bad as the roads are today, I think I'm glad I didn't even attempt it yesterday!

We had a small snowfall today. We have another shot at winter weather this weekend, so I am going to the grocery store tomorrow after work and not take any chances! I need to go anyway, but I was going on Friday however I have decided not to wait.

The dogs are funny, they are very playful when they get outside and Maggie bowled Frasier over yesterday. She was running at him like she does when they play except that she didn't realize that she wasn't going to be able to stop - and she slid right into him, they both fell in a heap! It's also funny when the Magginator decides she needs to run for whatever reason, it's like watching a cartoon where the character's feet are in a blur!

BRRRRRRR!!!!!

It's cold! We were supposed to get an ice storm that was to hit about 6:00 p.m. The forecasters seldom get it right, this time they were right about the storm but way off on the time. It started sleeting about 11:30 this morning, I left work at noon and drove to school to get Otter. I got there about 1:00, the roads were ok in places and bad in places. Lots of parents were getting kids early. The ice wasn't too bad at home, but the storm is big and it is heading our way. For about the last hour I've been hearing sleet on the window and the yard now has white spots. The street looks wet, Bill just got home and he said that it's really getting bad now. Lots of accidents and traffic is terrible.

I already had been to the grocery store but decided I needed more milk so I went to Wallyworld on the way to work this morning. So did a lot of people! They were nearly out of milk, I noticed that eggs were in short supply and I saw a lot of people buying bottled water & also things like toilet paper. 3 very important things: bread, milk, toilet paper. You don't want to run out of any of them! I'm glad I went this morning, for one thing I would not want to be driving at the moment and for another thing, I might have been out of luck if I'd waited!

We should be well below freezing until at least Tuesday. With the fact that this storm is mostly ice, there are probably going to be power outages. Our lines are buried, but Tulsa - where the power comes from - are not buried. We brought in a huge amount of firewood yesterday, so if we do lose power we are all going to sleep in the living room because the fireplace really does warm it up in there. I noticed that the dogs are not at all interested in going outside! They'd rather stay inside and sleep, for some reason. Very spoiled.

We've see a lot of birds, the back yard feeders had sparrows earlier and there was a large number of cardinals in the front yard. Otter's parakeet is talking to them, they apparently hear him chirping because they seem to be answering him.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!

At eBay that is. We took December off, it's not a big selling month for the type of stuff we sell and we wanted everything to be cleared before our vacation over Christmas. But now it's January, so I'm back to selling. Well, hopefully selling anyway! Not a lot of stuff, and unless I can find more stuff to sell it might not be a busy month! I think I might hit a thrift store or two this weekend. Also I am probably going to clean out my craft supplies and hopefully find my candle making stuff, since I haven't had time to touch it in about 4 years. I figure that if I haven't used it in that lenghth of time, I probably won't!

Morning Headlines

What a nice headline to wake up to this morning, Saddam is dead! Guess he knows the TRUTH now!!! Someone I know mentioned their opinion: Saddam was greeted by someone who said "Welcome, my name is Adolph and I'll show you around. Watch out for hot spots."

Home at Last!

We left SA at about 4:50 this morning and got home at about 1:30. This is the shortest drive time we've ever had. We had a great Christmas and I really enjoyed my birthday, but it is still good to be home.

We got home to a couple of very excited dogs! Frasier hasn't tried to jump up on me in months, he immediately stood up and put his front paws on my shoulders - which made his head higher than mine! Maggie would not leave Otter's side for a long time, although she did eventually curl up in the middle of Otter's bed and go to sleep.

We unloaded the car and then went to Wallyworld for groceries. Which is always an adventure with Bill! But I'm glad we got it done today, because that is just one less thing that I'll have to do tomorrow. I did get one load of laundry done, but the rest of the unpacking will still be waiting on us in the morning. We could get cold and/or wet weather starting tomorrow evening, so Bill will get firewood inside in the morning.

I saw a report that Saddam is to be executed within 48 hours - ABOUT TIME!

Is it still Monday?

This has been the day I feel like I've been in the trenches! Work was kind of crazy, I have a bunch of little things to do so I can be off next week. Stuff that I would do next week I have to do today. None of it is major, it's just a lot of things. So I'm just a little on the frazzled side!!

We started wrapping gifts tonight, which is the one thing I absolutely can NOT stand about Christmas! I do not like to wrap, but it doesn't do itself. I will probably pack for the trip tomorrow evening, I am still not quite finished with laundry yet. Laundry isn't a job I mind, it just is time consuming. But until it's all finished I can't pack. The dryer doesn't seem to work right, so laundry takes a loooooooooooooooooong time to get finished. I think we need to get the vent cleaned out, it is put together strangely but we can't move it because it goes under the house through the foundation. The company that cleaned our chimney 2 years ago can do it, they have done it before we bought this house.

We looked at weather forecasts for the trip down, Friday should be good. We might have to be a little careful the first part of the trip because it will be just right at freezing Thursday evening. But it looks like the forecast is for partly cloudy pretty much the entire way. The car is ready, I took it in for an oil change last Friday and the fuel filters were due to be changed so I had that taken care of at the same time.

Otter has one more day of school, but Bill is off until January 8. He worked today but they had nothing for them to do so he took off at 11:00 and is off the rest of this week with vacation days, then next week is holidays and the week after is vacation days. And he still has over 100 hours of vacation left! Some people are very spoiled! However, he did get cookie dough mixed up this afternoon without making too much of a mess.

I'm Done!

With my Christmas shopping. After dealing with the crowd at Wallyworld today, I am in a somewhat Grinchy mood so I've decided to make dinner easy - pizza is on the way! Now all I have to do is wrap everything and get last minute stuff done to be ready for our trip.

The Otter was baptised today, with three of them now she's an old pro at it. But this one was necessary because it was immersion and we are now Baptist. I think I'll tell her that she has no more excuses left if she ever decides to be bad! She has to be good now! :)

Christmas is when? Can't tell by me!

I'm not ready for it to be Christmas yet. Because of the trip, I told Bill I didn't want to put up the treet, etc. He did ask me twice, and I told him no. Next time, somebody slap me! (No, not really).

It doesn't feel like Christmas because it doesn't look like Christmas. Although with the two poochies, it's probably easier to not have the tree up. Frasier just might try to take it out the doggie door, like he does with all the dog toys. I don't know why, he just doesn't want them in the house. He will take things away from the Magginator and take them out, she can play with them outside and he won't take them from her. He just doesn't like anything inside! Never heard of a Borg dog, but he certainly has some of the tendencies!

Bill made about 2 dozen cookies last night. I put them in the cookie jar after they were cooled down. They were still there this morning. Tonight, the cookie jar is empty. Any guesses were they went? Otter & I weren't home when they dissapeared, smart as Frasier is I don't think he's quite mastered the trick of getting into the cookie jar yet! Bill is claiming to "no nozzing" about where the cookies might have gone but I don't think I believe him!

Happy Doggies!! And other stuff

We had been discussing changing vets in the new year, but the Magginator didn't seem to feel well and was suddenly dragging her rear across the carpet. So I called a new vet that is less than 2 miles from home and they told me to bring her in today. We took Frasier with us, and the vet checked him over too. Maggie had to get her glands cleaned out, she was not happy about that! But she is back to her bouncy self now. Frasier was on the verge of another ear infection, so I'm back to treating him for a few days but other than that he was fine. Maggie weighs 27 pounds, Frasier is 62 pounds. When we got home from the vet, Otter got the shovel and filled in several holes that the dogs have made that were by the fence line. The rest of the yard looks like a moonscape, so the moles must be on the move again. Wish they'd move right on away!

This is our church's website: http://www.arrowheights.org/ The otter will be baptised this coming Sunday. Third time's the charm, right?!!? This one is necessary because the first two were sprinkling and the Baptist church only recognizes immersion. She was baptised as a baby which was the first one, then she went through Confirmation about 3 years ago in the Methodist church we belonged to at the time and she decided to be baptised then as "the one that counts" so she said that the next one is really just "for show" anyway. I told her that since she'll have 3 to her credit, she will have to be super good for the rest of her life! William will eventually get around to his own immersion baptism, he just isn't quite there yet.

December 7th Pearl Harbor Day 65 years

I just wondered if anyone realized what today is. I realized it when I was signing a check at the grocery store this morning, I asked Otter if she knew the significance of the day and before she could even answer me the clerk said something along the lines of "she won't care, it was before her time" and I was not amused! Otter knew, she knows her history.

Is it spring yet?

We're still a tad bit on the cold side - I think we actually made it above freezing for a brief time today. But it was just a tease, and now we are back below 32 degrees. But it's been sunny so that the snow has melted in some spots and the icy roads are greatly improved. The city finally got around to sending the plows out to the roads in our area. I went to a funeral yesterday morning and it took me 45 minutes to get about 12 miles. Then we ran an errand yesterday evening and the streets had been scraped sometime after my morning trip. Figures!

Bill's spent a lot of time today with his head in the toilet. No, not what you think! The high dollar toilet has a leaky valve and we have been to Lowe's FOUR TIMES today to try to get a part that works. Problem is that this particular toilet is apparently a very exclusive style and most places don't carry the parts it needs. Bill found one on eBay for $100.00 - the part, not the toilet. The guy at Lowe's suggested a couple of places in Tulsa that might have the part, because I really don't want to spend $100.00 on a leaky valve! Just for grins, when we were redoing the bathroom in January we priced that style toilet. They ain't cheap! Let's just say that several hundered dollars would be in the ballpark. Someone gave it to us when we were still in the old house, they were remodeling and didn't like the toilet because the flusher is on the left side so we took it off their hands.

BRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's cold! It rained quite a bit yesterday, then the temperature dropped below freezing at about sundown. It was 72 in the morning, then it was 42 about 3 hours later and it just kept going down. It didn't stop raining after it hit freezing, and the rain turned into sleet. It sleeted (is that a word?) all night and is still coming down. We have probably 2 more waves of frozen storm to hit and probably will get snow later on. The schools are closed and most businesses are too. Needless to say, we are not going anywhere! :) But I was prepared for an ice storm, so we are going to stay home and spend the day together. Otter and the dogs are curled up in front of the fireplace.

I got my birdfeeders up and filled yesterday, Frasier decided that he needed to help keep the yard clean so he hoovered any spilled seed he could find. The Magginator mostly reacted to the ice & cold by becoming like the Energizer Bunny on speed. Eventually she ran out of steam and came inside, only to park her little furry behind in front of the heater vent.

Bill mixed up some cookie dough and I have a loaf of bread in the bread machine. Gonna make chili later!

TGIF

I'm typing around a dog's nose, Fraiser thinks he has to help me. He is very stylish now, sporting his bright orange reflective collar!

Website recommendation: http://www.ncvc.org/src/Main.aspx Anyone who has a daughter or is female should check this out.

I hope we all survived Thanksgiving's pig out fest! We ate so much we could hardly move, but it was all wonderful and we had a great day.

Busy Sunday

Today started out with our final decision being made regarding church. We officially joined the S. Baptist church we've been attending since July. So I guess we are back where we started from, since I was originally S. Baptist! But that's not unusual for us.

Driving Lesson # 2 today, my turn to be the instructor. Otter did pretty good, she needs to work on turning and knowing when to start the turn but in general she did pretty good. Although I probably have a few more grey hairs just because! There was a lady jogging on the streets we were practicing on, I noticed that she stopped until we were well past and then she gave me a big grin - I got the feeling that she'd been there herself!

Maggie Beagle is not in disgrace anymore, but it's Frasier's turn. He managed to slip out of his collar Friday night, we discovered it on Saturday morning. I finally found his collar tonight. Or I should say I found what's left of it - it looks like they played tug of war with it! Fortunately, the part that was still intact was the part with his tags on it. I might see if I can find a bright, flourescent orange collar for him so the next time I have to look for it I can find it sooner. This isn't the first time we've had to search for it.

Taking an eBay break

We are done for the year with eBay, we put stuff up tonight and might post an overhead or two in the next week or so but we are through for the year. Possibly a little longer, who knows!

Also, I made beans and jalepeno cornbread tonight. Talk about delicious!

The cold weather we were supposed to get last night never quite made it. It was in the 40's last night and the high was the mid-40's, about 7:00 this morning! It's been rainy off and on, cold and very windy but not the bad cold & icy weather the forecasters guessed at. Fine with me, I'm not ready for ice. But I could do without the wind, it is playing havoc with my asthma and also the Otter's.

Ready for Spring

The tulips are planted! We bought quite a few bulbs this year, and the bed is bigger than the one we had before. If any of them get eaten by underground furries, we are going to have gopher stew! After all the work we just did, it would be infuriating if they don't come up because something ate them!

Maggie Beagle is in trouble. She got into the trash again. She has a knack for finding the tiniest things to eat, they are generally in the very bottom of the trash bag. So she has to take everything else out to get to what she is after. But she has no manners, she leaves the mess for someone else to clean up. That's Otter's job since she's Otter's dog. Bad doggie! She's actually a sweet little dog, and she likes to chase bugs. And eat them when she catches them. She is fun to watch, especially if she's stalking grasshoppers because she hops along after them.

Veteran's Day is Saturday

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a veteran.

THANKS DAD. I MISS YOU.