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.

The Stone Has Been Rolled Away!

Amen.

Good Friday

It is Finished

By Bill & Gloria Gaither

There's a line that is drawn through the ages

On that line stands an old rugged cross

On that cross, a battle is raging

To gain a man's soul or it's loss

On one side, march the forces of evil

All the demons, all the devils of hell

On the other, the angels of glory

And they meet on Golgotha's hill

The earth shakes with the force of the conflict

And the sun refuses to shine

For there hangs God's Son, in the balance

And then through the darkness he cries

It is finished, the battle is over

It is finished, there'll be no more war

It is finished, the end of the conflict

It is finished and Jesus is Lord

Yet in my heart, the battle was still raging

Not all prisoners of war had come home

These were battlefields of my own making

I didn't know that the war had been won

Oh, but then I heard the king of the ages

Had fought all the battles for me

And that victory was mine for the claiming

And now praise His name, I am free.

It's Getting Closer!

I'm talking about Otter's big birthday this coming Sunday.  She got her gift from us today.  I tried to get just a picture of it, but I wasn't able to.  So, here's the page from the store.  I'm not responsible for any comments made, they were "family friendly" when I posted this but I don't know if they will stay that way.  Anyway, here's what she wanted:

Otter's gift from us

It's very pretty.  We also got her several teas and a refill on the sugar she likes from Teavana.

She's thinking that she'll probably want to put her tea set in the china cabinet, I told her we could rearrange it slightly and she thinks that's what she'll do.  The china cabinet needs to be cleaned, everything taken out and wiped off, the shelves dusted, etc., and that will be accomplished soon.

After we went to Teavana (where we bought the tea set from Otter's friend who works there so he could get the commission), we hit our "favorite" party supply store.  We had a few things to get there and I also informed Otter that I will be coming in on Friday after I get off work - she'll be working then.  I'm going to get at least one mylar balloon.  She's just hoping that she's not the one on balloon duty that day, apparently baloon duty is scut work that nobody really wants to do.  After that, I'm going to continue on down the road to the bakery and pick up the cake I ordered a couple of weeks ago.  Said cake will be coming straight home and  going into the refrigerator - Otter has requested that I cover any visible spots on the box so she won't see it before Sunday.  She likes surprises.  Since that is what I've usually done, I don't think it's going to be a problem! :)

Our annual observance of Taco Night has been changed slightly.  Otter has to work Saturday afternoon/evening and I think she'll get off at 10:00.  So, we've decided to have Taco Night on Thursday since she won't be working that night.  Last Year's Entry for Otter's Birthday (Taco Night Explanation)  Otter said that there is no way she's going to miss Taco Night, and we agree with her.  It's one of our fun family traditions.  Even when she's out on her own and has her own family, we will still celebrate Taco Night.  Even if it's just me & Willie Boy!

I saw the latest trailer for the new Star Trek movie.  This trailer has not made it to the US yet, it's being shown in Europe but our local paper had a link.  I'm hopeful.  I'm also fairly certain that they did at least one thing right:  The bad guy does NOT seem to be Khan.  I am not so certain anymore that it's actually Gary Mitchell, but it does at least seem to be inspired by the Mitchell character.  It looks good and I'm thinking that it might be what I want to do on Mother's Day.

Although it might not actually be ON Mother's Day anyway since I think it starts later on, but also Nana (Bill's Mom) is probably going to come see us over Mother's Day.  We are excited that she is coming to see us and it will be nice to see her on Mother's Day, we just are eager for her visit and it's going to be hard to wait until mid-May.

The Pachinko herd has increased.  Again.  On top of the 16 he got two weeks ago, he acquired another one today.  And he may be getting another one tomorrow.  Bill thinks he has 61 now.  He does sell them, it just takes longer depending on the level of work/repair/restoration they need.  He's also been casting parts and selling a lot of them.

But my stash is still easier to handle.  Yarn is squishable, after all.

Palm Sunday (and Other Stuff, Too)

(We'd actually forgotten that today is Palm Sunday, until we got to church and Otter noticed the palm leaves up at the alter.)

Other stuff:  I'm still celebrating International Crochet Month.  Just not as much as I'd like to!  My new glasses are slightly smaller than my previous pair, so I made myself another pouch to hold them at night.  That was yesterday's project.  I had planned on working on one of the three blanket projects I have going, but I needed to do something that I could actually get finished so I made a new pouch for the glasses and it's about half the size of the old one!  The old one was a little too big anyway, but not that big.  I might work on one of the blanket projects today, but that depends - I've been fighting off a mild migraine so I'm not sure.  Sorry is this is a rambling post, but I do have a headache after all.

I read an article in the paper yesterday about an indictment issued against the groundhog, since he forecasted an early spring and it's wintery in lots of places.  The article was in fun, but it certainly is cold for this time of year.  We had 2" - 4" inches of snow forecast overnight as a possiblity, in other words the forecasters were covering their behinds and forecasting a "possibility."  When Otter got off work at 9:30-ish last night, it was cold but other than a little rain (off & on all day) to make the streets wet there wasn't anything.  She got home about 9:45 or so, and the weather front was supposed to hit sometime between 2 & 4 this morning.  When we got up, it was cold but dry.  When we headed to church, it started to snow but it was just an occasional flake.  Small flakes.  It was colder, and when we left church it was even colder!  There were more flakes and they were bigger, but they were melting before hitting the ground.  It snowed for a couple of hours, but they never made it to the ground and now it's stopped.

Otter's gone to her D & D game, they try to play on Sundays but this if the first time in about a month that they've all been able to get together at the same time.  Bill's working on pachinko stuff and I'm (what else?) doing laundry.

The Chupacabra vs. the Alamo movie was on Scy-Fy last night.  It was so bad it's hard to find the words to describe it!  I saw bits & pieces of it, we generally enjoy Scy-Fy's stupid Saturday night movies but this one was so bad we couldn't even watch it all.  I saw the beginning and the end, Bill saw more of the middle of it than I did.  But it was still just so bad as to be indescribable.  Frasier is not happy, he chupa relatives were insulted and he is demanding an apology.

One week from today is Easter.  It's also Otter's birthday.  We are going to observe Easter, obviously.  But we're also going to observe Otter's birthday on her birthday.  The original plan was that she was going to have some of her friends over and we were going to grill burgers & dogs.  But that was before we realized that her birthday actually falls on Easter this year.  So, the plan has changed a bit.  She'll get together with her friends a little later and they may do something other than grill.  But she still wanted to have the original meal plan since it is her birthday and that is what that meal plan was for (it's the "big 21" after all.)  (Also, having had more than I care to remember in terms of my birthday being treated as an afterthought with a holiday being so close, her request was not a problem!)  So, we're going with her request as far as the food is concerned.  I've already ordered her birthday cake, I'll pick it up on Friday.  And this year, it's from a well-known local bakery with an excellent reputation so I really don't think it'll be a cake wreck.  She knows what she's getting for her birthday, she picked it out herself and we'll go get it this week.  Her store is closed on Sunday, she was going to request it off since it's her birthday but they are closed on Easter so it was never an issue.

We're just trying to figure out where the last 21 years have gone, shouldn't see just now be about 5?

Adjustments

It's been a full day.  I've been running since I got up, which was actually about 10 minutes early.  Bill had to turn off the power to one part of the house yesterday so he could replace an electrical outlet, and we totally forgot about the fact that it always messes up the alarm clock we use.  The clock has a battery back up so it never actually turns off, but it always speeds itself up when the power is restored.  But I didn't mind too much, I was already awake but still in bed.

Otter's annual lung/asthma recheck was this morning.  She was going to take herself, but they kept calling me yesterday (4 times!) to confirm the appointment and each time they had it wrong.  They apparently scheduled her for allergy testing, although that was never mentioned.  Then they thought that she was just going in for allergy shots, although that was never part of it either.  The other two calls were the same.  After that mess, she said she wanted me to go with her in case they tried to start testing, etc. but they managed to get it right.  Her allergist was amazed at how well she's doing.  He said that this is the kind of appointment he likes, and for her to keep up whatever it is that she's doing.  He didn't make any changes, she still uses her daily inhaler twice a day and the rescue inhaler if/when she needs it - but she hasn't needed it in over a year!  She goes back in a year.  Hopefully, by then they will have gotten on the ball!

We met Bill for lunch at our favorite TexMex place.  The waiter was bringing our drinks and he managed to spill an entire glass of water - almost on me.  I just barely managed to get my purse (the Coach!) and feet up out of the way, I got a little splashed on my legs but I wasn't upset.  He was embarassed, but it was just an accident and no harm was done.  We had fajitas, which were (as always) good.  After that, Bill was heading home but Otter wanted to go to the library so I dropped her off on my way back to work.  And the Teenager wasn't happy that I didn't bring her back!  He saw her between the doctor appointment and lunch, so he wasn't as unhappy as he'd have been if he had missed her entirely.

After I dropped her off and was heading back to work, the rain that had been threatening finally started.  And swiftly turned into sleet!  I thought it was Spring?  Well, there is a reason we say that Oklahoma weather is bipolar and today it certainly was.  It has been cold all day but the sleet stopped quickly.  It's just cold and grey now, and will be for a few days - we have a chance of snow late Saturday night into early Sunday morning.

After I got off work, I picked Otter up and we went to the mall.  My new glasses came in yesterday but I didn't have time to go get them, so we went today.  Otter wanted to get her glasses adjusted and she did that when I got my new ones.  I think I'm going to like them.  I haven't had plastic frames in a long time, but they are comfortable.  They're also smaller than the previous ones.  The prescription isn't that much different, but now that I've got the new ones I realize that they were worse than I thought.  After the glasses, we wanted a coke so we hit the food court and Cinnabon had freshly made cinnamon rolls, so of course we had to get one!  And because we are TEXAN, our cokes were actually Dr. Pepper.

As if all that wasn't enough, we went to the grocery store next.  We were discussing which Wallyworld we wanted to go, since I needed to get Ridex, allergy meds, toothpaste, vitamins and a bunch of other stuff that is actually quite a bit cheaper there and we realized that there is a Walmart right next door to the mall.  So we didn't have to drive very far.  We managed to miss the bulk of the afternoon rush-hour traffic and got in and out quickly.  I really prefer the regular grocery store, but sometimes it's a Wallyworld trip and today was one of those Wallyworld days.  They weren't too crowded.  I don't like to wait late in the week, but I just didn't have time earlier or I'd have already gone.

The dogs were crazed when we got home and let them in.  They are pretty playful most of the time, but they love the cooler temps and today was no exception.  They were invigorated and nutso.  I had to bend over to pick something up, and Frasier was suddenly right in my face - sniffing my new glasses.  Silly boy!  But since we bought (many) bagged pasta and they each got a couple of pieces when I was putting it in the container we keep it in, they were happy dogs.  Now, they are probably snoozing dogs.  Smart puppies, actually - at least Frasier is.  Maggie Moo is sometimes as dumb as a box of rocks, but they know a good thing when they see it and naps are good things.

Bill's at an auction in a neighboring small town.  There are a couple of specific things he wants, and hopefully they'll go pretty cheaply (and he'll get them.)  I don't miss the eBay/auction days at all, but sometimes I still like to go to auctions.  Just not on the massive scale we did when we were actively selling huge amounts on eBay.  It was fun, but it ran it's course and I'm glad that we've moved on.  Well, Bill has - to pachinko machines!

Now, back to my laundry.  Otter likes to have clean clothes for work, for some reason.  I have a deal with her:  I iron her work clothing and then she does whatever household chore I come up with in return.  Since she started working, I don't have a maid any longer!

My allergies are better today.  I've realized that I'm probably not actually allergic to aloe vera.  I can use things that have it in them, the sunburn gel, hydrocotisone cream and lotions for example.  It doesn't bother me.  But if I use it straight from the plant itself, I think it's just too strong and that's why it irritates my skin.  We have odd allergies, in the family.  No doubt about that.  I'm allergic to ecinachea (sp?), acai and a couple of other things that are supposed to be good for me.  But they aren't.  I can't eat kiwi or have any contact with lavendar.  Those are just a couple of examples.  Froggy is allergic to bananas, but I could eat them every meal and never have a problem.  She likes kiwi (I think), but I will scratch off every bit of my skin if I eat it.  Otter can't have honeydew, cantaloupe or blueberries.  Weird.  But we just have to deal with it, it's just kind of hard when we either accidentally come into contact with our eat something bad or, and this is the really "fun" part, find out the hard way that we're allergic to something.  There's only one type of beef jerky that Otter can eat, something in the spices used will send her into a migraine faster than the speed of light.

Fun!

Allergies Should Be Illegal!

They really should be.

I've been fighting mine for days, they were tolerable until Friday evening.  Then they started getting worse, and I've woken up with sinus headaches every morning since Saturday.  Today's headache wasn't as bad, but the rest of the day was worse!  I've lost track of how many times I've sneezed, I've gone through innumerable kleenex and my nose looks like it's been sandpapered.  And I can't take anything for it!  None of it works for me.  NONE.

And, in an ironic twist, I happen to be allergic to echinacea (sp?) which is supposed to help fend off allergy attacks so I can't even pre-empt them.

I think I need a drink.  Then I think I need an early bed time tonight.

Day Off

I took today off.  Bill is off this week and Otter was coincidentally off today, although she's run off for the day.  She's gone off with one of her girlfriends, they were at the mall I know because Otter texted me a picture of something she'd bought.  Brat bought the new David Bowie cd!  Yes, I do mean BRAT because I'm jealous. :)

Bill and I ran a couple of errands this morning, including Braums to get lunch to bring home.  We also went to Ace Hardware, which is one of his many Home Away From Home stores.  He bought oil for the lawn mower, big spender I guess.  He also mowed, after lunch.  I put out several pieces of yarn a few days ago, the birds use it for nest building.  I cut it into small pieces, but I like to get it out before he mows because the mower will shred it more and spread it out more.  The birds seem to like it, I've found it in several nests over the last couple of years.

We also went to Hobby Lobby.  I managed to avoid the yarn aisle, but it wasn't easy - Bill's as big an enabler as Otter is!  But the lady ahead of us in the check out line was buying a skein of yarn and a book on teaching yourself to crochet, I talked to her for a while and I hope I encouraged her.  I gave her a few suggestions and also told her about one of the local yarn stores that has lessons.  Always fun to start another yarn addiction!

I did manage to get some crochet in today.  Then I got busy cleaning a pachinko machine background and now my arms hurt.  Especially my right elbow, usually it's the left one.

I've also done a couple of loads of laundry and vacuumed.  Otter vacuumed the living room before she left this morning, but I did the rest of the house - except for her room, that one is her job!  I put a little more potting soil in the plants in the bedroom, which is why I needed to vacuum in there...

The dogs have most spent the day snoozing.  They did go out to play in the backyard for a while.  Actually, there were out there for a long while.  Because I forgot I'd let them out!  Maggie Moo was standing with her nose up against the door, there was no way I could open it to let them in without smooshing her nose but she didn't seem any worse for wear.  Of course, they came in and went right back to sleep as soon as I let them in.  Dog's got their priorities, that's for sure.

Well, the dryer just finished up so I guess I'd better go get it emptied and then I guess I'd better get the laundry put up.  Then I have some ironing to do.

Since Bill and I had Braums for lunch and Otter won't be home for dinner, I'm not making anything spectacular tonight.  Homemade sloppy joes probably.

Even with having to do laundry, it's been an enjoyable day off.  But I'm not looking forward to having to get up at 5:00 tomorrow morning!  Well, at least I won't be along - Otter has to get up early for work also.  :)

Greenies

I'm wearing mine, hope you are wearing yours!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I guess I could have not said that, since Poohbear already did.  Oh well.  :)

Bill doesn't have any green on, so I've been pinching him frequently.  Otter doesn't have any green on, but she is wearing her uniform and is at work so she gets a pass.  Although I'm sure Bill will make her pay when she gets home this evening!

(Notice the new ticker at the top of the page?)

Froggy, you asked me a question via comment on the last post.  Blogger never told me that there was a comment waiting, when I signed in just now I saw it.  Anyway, the Chupacabra vs. The Alamo is on movie that was made by/for the Scy-Fy network.  Formerly known as the Science Fiction channel but then they changed their name a couple of times, you might have it as part of your cable/dish package.  It looks really stupid, but then the Scy-Fy movies generaly are.  I thought it was supposed to air yesterday, but it might actually be this coming Saturday.

It was warm the last couple of days, windy and sunny.  Spring has sprung, and my allergens are out in full force.  It has gotten warm enough that we've started using the fan at night.  I took the humidifier apart yesterday, cleaned it and put it up until next Fall.  We changed the bedspread from the heavy camo quilt (Bill's) we use in the winter, and put the lighter patchwork quilt (mine) on the bed.  So of course it's cold & rainy today!  Back in the 50's and it's been misting off & on all day.

Movie Review:  Red Dawn.  Bill and I remember the first one, this is the remake.  It was pretty good.  In fact, I think it was better than the first one.  There are a few lessons we took from it.  1)  An unarmed populace is easy to control and 2) don't trust the media/politicians in the event of an invasion.  Also 3)  fight back.

As I mentioned earlier, my allergies are bad.  Really bad.  I spent Thursday and Friday feeling like they were coming on, and Friday evening is when they hit big-time.  I've been sneezing, coughing, congested, hoarse and had a sore throat since then.  I also had a small nose bleed Friday, first one I've had in a while but probably not the last!

Otter has to go to the doctor on Thursday, her annual lung recheck/asthma appointment.  She's trying to avoid exposure to any of her allergens if at all possible.  Her asthma has been so good the last several months that I don't expect any bad reports Thursday.

Bill's off this coming week.  He has comp time that he has to use or he'll lose it.  I'm taking Monday off and Otter is already off on Monday.  She's probably going over to one of her friend's houses, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  I'd like to crochet, but I might not have time.  Bill has a pachinko repair/cleaning job and I usually get roped into those.

Also, he's got plenty to keep him busy.  He got a call from someone last week, this gentlemen lives in a neighboring town that is about 30 minutes away.  He has been collecting pachinko machines and was ready to sell his collection.  Bill went up there Friday.  He brought home 16 new machines (well, new to Bill anyway) and about 3,000 pachinko balls.  There were 20 in the collection originally, but the man either kept 4 or gave them to a friend that wanted them, I'm not sure.  But the point is, Bill got 16 machines in one whack!  They are all in the garage, which is pretty full now.  With those things, you kind of have to get them when you can and that sometimes means that it's months between machines or finding a whole bunch of them at a time.  Although I don't think he's ever gotten this many at one time before.

At least my stash is squishable!

Seriously?

I mean, really?

ScyFy, what were you thinking?

The Eyes Have It!

(Alternate Title:  The Eyes of TEXAS Are Upon You.)

I got my eyes examined today, in case you are wondering about the title.  Or the alternate title.  I knew I needed new glasses, they were never really right and I could tell that my eyes had changed a bit.  Not much, but enough that it was time.  The eye doctor's office opens at 1:00 on Sundays and we got there just after 1:00.  I was the 2nd or 3rd person, so we had to wait but not long.  I did need a new, slightly stronger prescription.  I thought about skipping the bifocals and just getting two pairs of glasses but then I decided to just stick with the bifocals.  Glaucoma test was fine and my retinas look good.  But he found something.  I have the beginning of cataracts in both eyes.  He said that they are "baby" still and he can just barely see them, but that I will eventually have to deal with them - like about the time I hit medicare age, so 10 - 15 years from now and maybe not even then.  I'm not surprised.  I wasn't happy about it, but Mom had them and they can be hereditary to a point.  But I'm glad that I do know, so that I can plan for the future and having to deal with them.  I ordered my new glasses, they'll be back in about 10 days.  Normally Lenscrafters makes them while you wait but they are just enough over the line past that so they are sending them off to be made.  Whatever, I don't really care.  I'd prefer not to have to get them back while my eyes are still dilated anyway, it's easier to be able to see clearly when I get the new ones.

While we were at the mall, we went into Teavana.  Otter has been thinking that she wants one of their china tea sets for her birthday and she finally decided which one she wants.  One of her friends works there, I asked him if they get commissions for sales and he said that they do so I told him that we'll make sure he's there when we go back in to get it.

Movie Review:  Wreck It Ralph.  This one is cute, we really enjoyed it.  Of course, we are the generation that invented Video Games and this movie is in many ways a tribute to the early games.  It was very well done, the early games characters had the right graphics and way of moving, the new ones were correct for their original game.  The story was cute.  We've been disappointed so many times lately, this was a nice surprise.  I think it's on Otter's list of movies to buy.

Otter's about over the bug she had last week.  I fought it for a couple of days myself, and Friday night I felt really bad.  But it's pretty much gone now.  And not a moment too soon!

Today's the time change day.  The one that we don't like.  Frankly, I think the whole thing should just be scrapped but that's probably not a surprise to anyone!

I worked on my afghan yesterday.  I got about 2 1/2 rows done on it.  It's probably just over half-way done now.  I haven't worked on it much because it's basically a blanket now and it is warm.  I would prefer not to work on it when the weather's warm, but since we haven't really had winter in two years I haven't been inclined to work on it much!  But I am going to force myself to work on it and get it finished as soon as I can.

After all, March is International Crochet Month!

Margaritaville

It's been a week of Mondays!  Or at least that is what it felt like to me.

Otter probably agrees, seeing how she had to go to the doctor on Wednesday.  She was really tired after work on Tuesday, but she was probably actually coming down with something.  She woke up Wednesday with a very sore throat and almost no voice at all.  I went in to work and she went back to bed, I checked on her a little later (by text) and she said she was feeling worse.  So I came home and tossed her in the car, since I was seriously worried about strep throat.  It's not strep, but it is a strep-like infection and the doctor said that he's seen a lot of it lately.  He told her to stay home and gave her an excuse for work, since she was supposed to work Wednesday afternoon.  She went back to work yesterday with her excuse in hand, but they were ok about it.  She worked late yesterday, she got off at 10:00 p.m.  I took her to work yesterday since she was feeling so cruddy and we knew she'd be exhausted by the time her shift ended.  At 10:00 p.m., she more or less dragged herself to the car and I'm really glad that I was her transportation because I don't honestly think she would have been able to drive herself home.  She took an allergy pill and went to bed, then I left her sleeping when I left for work this morning.  She woke up about 10:30 ish.  She had today off already and she's spent most of it in bed and resting.  She goes in tomorrow, noon to 9:30 p.m. and I'm thinking I'll probably take her then as well.  She is a lot better but not well yet, but she probably did overdo it yesterday but she really needed to be at work.

Of course, I had a hard time getting to sleep myself last night.  But that was probably due to the caffiene I consumed in the form of iced tea and then diet coke with and after dinner.  Otherwise, I'm not sure I would have been able to stay awake until 10:00 either! :)  Also, I've been fighting a sore throat myself for the last day or two.  Well, that is what happens when you drink after your sick daughter!  Although I didn't know it at the time, Tuesday evening when I used her tea cup to get some water.  I have a thing about not eating/drinking after anybody, and I almost never actually do it.  But the one time I do, it comes back to bite me.  OK, I guess I'll go back to not!

Frasier has been tranquilzed the last couple of nights.  I have him 1 1/2 pills two nights in a row and then one last night.  I'm not sure if I'm going to give him a pill tonight or not.

Now, I think I'm going to Margaritaville!  Although I can only use the "good" tequila, because I am apparently allergic to something in the cheap stuff...  (Yes, Otter.  I know that there is a joke in that.)

March 2, 1836

(I am aware that I am late with this, but given the week we've had I figure that I'm lucky to even get it in the correct month.)

(I didn't write the parts in italics, see the Source Page link if you want more info.)

Declaration Source Page

 The Texas Declaration of Independence

(March 2, 1836)

The Texas Declaration of Independence was produced, literally, overnight. Its urgency was paramount, because while it was being prepared, the Alamo in San Antonio was under seige by Santa Anna's army of Mexico.

Immediately upon the assemblage of the Convention of 1836 on March 1, a committee of five of its delegates were appointed to draft the document. The committee, consisting of George C. Childress, Edward Conrad, James Gaines, Bailey Hardeman, and Collin McKinney, prepared the declaration in record time. It was briefly reviewed, then adopted by the delegates of the convention the following day.

As seen from the transcription below, the document parallels somewhat that of the United States, signed almost sixty years earlier. It contains statements on the function and responsibility of government, followed by a list of grievances. Finally, it concludes by declaring Texas a free and independent republic.

The full text of the document is as follows:

The Unanimous Declaration of Independence made by the Delegates of the People of Texas in General Convention at the town of Washington on the 2nd day of March 1836.

When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted, and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of those inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression.

When the Federal Republican Constitution of their country, which they have sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed, without their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed of sovereign states, to a consolidated central military despotism, in which every interest is disregarded but that of the army and the priesthood, both the eternal enemies of civil liberty, the everready minions of power, and the usual instruments of tyrants.

When, long after the spirit of the constitution has departed, moderation is at length so far lost by those in power, that even the semblance of freedom is removed, and the forms themselves of the constitution discontinued, and so far from their petitions and remonstrances being regarded, the agents who bear them are thrown into dungeons, and mercenary armies sent forth to force a new government upon them at the point of the bayonet.

When, in consequence of such acts of malfeasance and abdication on the part of the government, anarchy prevails, and civil society is dissolved into its original elements. In such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable rights of the people to appeal to first principles, and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right towards themselves, and a sacred obligation to their posterity, to abolish such government, and create another in its stead, calculated to rescue them from impending dangers, and to secure their future welfare and happiness.

Nations, as well as individuals, are amenable for their acts to the public opinion of mankind. A statement of a part of our grievances is therefore submitted to an impartial world, in justification of the hazardous but unavoidable step now taken, of severing our political connection with the Mexican people, and assuming an independent attitude among the nations of the earth.

The Mexican government, by its colonization laws, invited and induced the Anglo-American population of Texas to colonize its wilderness under the pledged faith of a written constitution, that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United States of America.

In this expectation they have been cruelly disappointed, inasmuch as the Mexican nation has acquiesced in the late changes made in the government by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers us the cruel alternative, either to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny, the combined despotism of the sword and the priesthood.

It has sacrificed our welfare to the state of Coahuila, by which our interests have been continually depressed through a jealous and partial course of legislation, carried on at a far distant seat of government, by a hostile majority, in an unknown tongue, and this too, notwithstanding we have petitioned in the humblest terms for the establishment of a separate state government, and have, in accordance with the provisions of the national constitution, presented to the general Congress a republican constitution, which was, without just cause, contemptuously rejected.

It incarcerated in a dungeon, for a long time, one of our citizens, for no other cause but a zealous endeavor to procure the acceptance of our constitution, and the establishment of a state government.

It has failed and refused to secure, on a firm basis, the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen.

It has failed to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources, (the public domain,) and although it is an axiom in political science, that unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty, or the capacity for self government.

It has suffered the military commandants, stationed among us, to exercise arbitrary acts of oppression and tyrrany, thus trampling upon the most sacred rights of the citizens, and rendering the military superior to the civil power.

It has dissolved, by force of arms, the state Congress of Coahuila and Texas, and obliged our representatives to fly for their lives from the seat of government, thus depriving us of the fundamental political right of representation.

It has demanded the surrender of a number of our citizens, and ordered military detachments to seize and carry them into the Interior for trial, in contempt of the civil authorities, and in defiance of the laws and the constitution.

It has made piratical attacks upon our commerce, by commissioning foreign desperadoes, and authorizing them to seize our vessels, and convey the property of our citizens to far distant ports for confiscation.

It denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience, by the support of a national religion, calculated to promote the temporal interest of its human functionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God.

It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defence, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments.

It has invaded our country both by sea and by land, with intent to lay waste our territory, and drive us from our homes; and has now a large mercenary army advancing, to carry on against us a war of extermination.

It has, through its emissaries, incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our defenseless frontiers.

It hath been, during the whole time of our connection with it, the contemptible sport and victim of successive military revolutions, and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of a weak, corrupt, and tyrranical government.

These, and other grievances, were patiently borne by the people of Texas, untill they reached that point at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. We then took up arms in defence of the national constitution. We appealed to our Mexican brethren for assistance. Our appeal has been made in vain. Though months have elapsed, no sympathetic response has yet been heard from the Interior. We are, therefore, forced to the melancholy conclusion, that the Mexican people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty, and the substitution therfor of a military government; that they are unfit to be free, and incapable of self government.

The necessity of self-preservation, therefore, now decrees our eternal political separation.

We, therefore, the delegates with plenary powers of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, Sovereign, and independent republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.

Richard Ellis, President of the Convention and Delegate from Red River.

Charles B. Stewart
Tho. Barnett
John S. D. Byrom
Francis Ruis
J. Antonio Navarro
Jesse B. Badgett
Wm D. Lacy
William Menifee
Jn. Fisher
Matthew Caldwell
William Motley
Lorenzo de Zavala
Stephen H. Everett
George W. Smyth
Elijah Stapp
Claiborne West
Wm. B. Scates
M. B. Menard
A. B. Hardin
J. W. Burton
Thos. J. Gazley
R. M. Coleman
Sterling C. Robertson
James Collinsworth
Edwin Waller
Asa Brigham
Geo. C. Childress
Bailey Hardeman
Rob. Potter
Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Chas. S. Taylor
John S. Roberts
Robert Hamilton
Collin McKinney
Albert H. Latimer
James Power
Sam Houston
David Thomas
Edwd. Conrad
Martin Parmer
Edwin O. Legrand
Stephen W. Blount
Jms. Gaines
Wm. Clark, Jr.
Sydney O. Pennington
Wm. Carrol Crawford
Jno. Turner
Benj. Briggs Goodrich
G. W. Barnett
James G. Swisher
Jesse Grimes
S. Rhoads Fisher
John W. Moore
John W. Bower
Saml. A. Maverick (from Bejar)
Sam P. Carson
A. Briscoe
J. B. Woods
H. S. Kimble, Secretary

We've been Queened!

Otter treated her father to dinner tonight.  We went to Dairy Queen.  Which is actually not as cheapyish as it sounds, we haven't had Dairy Queen in this area for years (like before we were here) and now we have one.  So, it was actually an outing and not "just" fast food.  (I wasn't ignored, she bought me green apple Jolly Rancher candy which I absolutely love but almost never actually get.)  We also had ice cream, since it's the rule at Dairy Queen:  you have to have ice cream!

Otter was texting with a friend of hers, and she was telling him how as a Texan, she is contractually obligated to eat at DQ.  So then he wanted to know what else that entailed.  Her answer:  Whataburger, steak, chicken fried steak, fried chicken, biscuits and/or gravy, pecan pie and Tex-Mex.  I think that covers most of it.

We also had another errand, Bill had to get his driver's license renewed so we did that before we went to DQ.  The rest of the story is that his license actually expired on the last day of January!  But nobody realized it.  I mentioned that I have to get mine renewed this month, and Bill wasn't sure when his was due so he checked it this morning.  Can we say "oops"?  He didn't have any trouble, mostly because it was "just" expired and not suspended.  He had to take them a certified copy of his birth certificate, which we did have fortunately.  If he'd been further from the expiration date, he could have possibly had to take either the written or driving test again.  (No, I won't wait past the end of the month to renew mine!)

Frasier's getting talky again.  At night.  He's done it every so often, and I've usually given him a tranquilizer the next couple of nights.  Then he would be fine.  But he's done it a few times lately, and the last two in a row.  But he's not barking, just talking and not that much.  I heard him the other night but ignored him, then he did it early one Saturday morning but I closed the bedroom door since it was somewhere around 4:00 a.m.  He might have heard Bill when he got up this morning, we're not sure.  It wasn't a lot of noise and it was pretty close to breakfast time.  So, I'm hoping that he's not ramping back up again because nobody wants to go through that again.  If he does get back to where he was at last Fall, we're probably going to see if letting him into our room at night does the trick.  Mostly, he's just wanting Mom.  But Mom needs her sleep, and so does everybody else!  We'll see what happens.  The anti-gas pills the dogs are on do seem to be helping somewhat.  At least now we don't have do wear gas masks to sit in the livingroom and watch tv!

Assorted Sunday Ramblings

It's Sunday.  We went to church.  Otter is on a date.  Bill is working on pachinko machine cleaning and I've been helping.  Really exciting!

I was going to get back to weeding the edges of my rock garden, but it's just windy enough to cause allergy issues.  Or actually I should say that it's just windy enough to make my allergy issues worse!

Frasier's not happy.  He's not happy at all.  With me.  Because I gave him a bath!  He needed it badly.  He apparently rolled in something nasty yesterday and he stunk.  I mean he was really bad.  He stunk, to High Heavens, as Mom would have said.  He's been a gassy dog lately, and we thought that was his problem when we first noticed an odor yesterday evening.  This morning, I realized that he was actually stinky, and not just his rear parts.  So after we got home from church, I tossed him in the tub.  Literally tossed him, after dragging/pulling/carrying him (all 72 pounds!) to the bathroom and then shutting the door so he couldn't escape.  He was really filthy, the water was black almost immediately.  After I let him out of the tub, he wouldn't look at me.  He got a major towelling, I used 4 or 5 big towels on him.  Then I got his collar back on him and opened the door.  He ran outside immedately, and he's spent most of the day out there.  He comes in every so often, but then he turns right around and heads back outside.  I also washed the dog's blankets, since they also had a little odor.  Maggie doesn't seem to mind them being clean, in fact she could hardly wait for me to put their blankets back in place so she could curl up on them but they were still pretty warm from the dryer and that might have been part of her haste.

They have had a flatulence problem lately, I went to Petsmart and bought a supplement pill that is supposed to help them.  Frasier gets two pills, since it's weight-based.  Maggie Moo will get one.  She's not as bad as he is, but it won't hurt and it might help.

March is International Crochet Month.  It's also International Craft Month.  I posted about it on the craft blog, but I have to mention it here as well.

My personal motto!  (Right after Resistance is Futile, Y'all!)

Twenties Part Two

Twenty years ago today, a lot of things happened.

Twenty years ago today, we got up and put just about everything we owned into a U-Haul truck and pointed it north.

Twenty years ago today, that same truck wouldn't start again after we'd filled the tank near Dallas.  Fortunately, we were at a truck stop at the time and were able to at least get a meal and stretch our legs a bit while we waited on the U-Haul mechanic.  By this time, baby Otter had figured out that her daddy was back and she did not like it when he was out of her sight while she & I were in the restaurant and he waited with the truck - we took him food, so he didn't starve.  The U-Haul mechanic eventually got it running and then he offered us two choices:  another truck, which would mean that we'd have to unload it all and then reload it - by ourselves, or to head on but not turn it off for any reason until we got where we were going.  We chose the 2nd option, which meant that the next time we stopped for gas meant that one of us (me) stayed with the truck (and baby Otter) while it was being filled up and Billyboy found the restroom, then he stayed with the truck (and baby Otter) while I found the restroom.  Our original plan had been to spend the night somewhere, but two things happend:  Not being able to turn the truck off with the very real possibility that it might not start again and the fact that Bill took the one of the two highway choices availiable that didn't have any hotels we could stay in!  Baby Otter spent most of the trip playing in her carseat while it was light, with a lot of reaching over and patting her daddy's arm and she was happy about it.  We got to Grandpa & Sweetie's house (which is now our house) somewhere around 3ish - AM.  OK, so that was actually not Twenty Years today, but it was a Leap Year and still the last day of February even though it was not the 28th any longer!  And the truck did start that morning, which is good because we were able to drive straight to our apartment and move in.  But if it hadn't started, at least we were in a safe spot and would have been able to get help if we needed it.

It's been a busy 20 years, we left TEXAS with an 11 month old baby and she'll be 21 in a month.  She's gone through all 12 years of school, 1 1/2 years of college and is now working.  We've had 7 dogs, if I'm doing the math right and that does include the two poochies we have now.  We still had my parents with us then and we've also lost Bill's Grandmother on his mom's side and Grandfather on his dad's side in the last 20 years as well.  All the grandkids on "my" side are grown, most of them on Bill's side are grown.  Some of them are now parents themselves!

We've had two business ventures, eBay and Pachinko Restorations.  Also, we had a rent house for a few years.  Bill's had two jobs, I've had one.  Otter's been through three school districts, she went to elementary at a private Christian school and then middle & high school were public schools.  I'm on my 4th car, Bill's on his 5th but one of them is also my previous car so I'm not sure if that actually counts of not!  We briefly had a boat, for one summer.

We've learned to deal with actual winter, including more than one blizzard.  Also, ice storms.  And there are always those "other" storms that this area is known for.  It's not called Tornado Alley for nothing!

We've belonged to four churches, although there are two others that we attended for a while but didn't join.  We changed demoninations once.

We've dealt with asthma and scoliosis (Otter), asthma (me), pneumonia (me, Otter and possibly Bill as well), a serious illness that put me in the hospital for a week and ended with surgery to remove my gallbladder followed by a week at home to recover from a life-threatening illness (me, pancreatitis).  I also had my original teeth 20 years ago, now most of them are gone and replaced with plastic ones I can take out.  Bill, being Bill, has had stitches more than once but he's an Engineer and it goes with the territory!  There have been a couple of broken bones (Otter, left arm.  Me, foot & toes.  Me, probable broken rib(s) but that did happen in TEXAS when we went home to visit and I was stupid enough to get on a see-saw with Toadles - not that it's his fault, he was just on the other end of it.  OK, it is partially his fault because he decided to leave me hanging in the air, but it was still my decision to get on the thing in the first place so I don't really blame him.)

We've moved three times.  Four, if you count the original move and then three since.

While there are times that I would like to go back and redo, there are also times that I wouldn't trade away for anything.  The last 20 years have been good overall.  TEXAS is and always will be Home, but Oklahoma is also home.  Just not with a capital "H" but it's still home and we're happy here.  We could have landed in a lot of other places, and they might not have been good or as good.  We feel like this is where God wants us, or we wouldn't be here.  But we are and will always be TEXAN.

(There was also something else that happened twenty years ago today, it affected all of us and not necessarily in a personal way but it still affected us all:  Waco.  Waco was not entirely the fault of the government, although the governments actions in the stand-off did affect what happened.  But what ultimately happened caused repercussions that were felt in Oklahoma City two years later on April 19, 1995 - the Waco stand-off started on February 28, 1993 but it didn't end until April 19, 1993.  It was, unfortunately, not the last terrorist attack that we has a society and nation have had to deal with, but it was the worst to that date and I think it was probably the first real "homegown" terroristic act.)

Twenties Part One

20 years ago today, I quit the last job I held in TEXAS.

20 years ago today, I was sick with an allergy/sinus infection and had to go to an emergency clinic before I could go to work for my last day.

20 years ago today, Bill flew back to TEXAS from Oklahoma (where he'd been for 2 months, getting a job and finding a car plus an apartment for us) and I was too sick to meet him at the airport so I had to get someone else to do it.

The Groundhog Lied!

I know this because we've had 3 episodes of winter since Feb. 2!

Including yesterday.  We were expecting snow and possibly ice, it was supposed to hit Monday evening.  Then Monday night.  Then it was expected early Tuesday morning, like around 2:00 a.m.  When we got up yesterday, there was nothing on the ground and nothing coming down and the forecast had been changed to 7:00 a.m. and that last one was accurate.  It wasn't bad, it wasn't a lot and the roads were fine.  But it was rainy all day Monday and Monday night, and then with the 1" of snow we did get much needed moisture.  The snow melted almost as soon as it hit, it was just around long enough to be admired and then it was gone.  It's still pretty cold, we're in our winter coats.  The wind is the main reason for the coats.

I'm out of birdseed and probably won't get any more for a while, but I did get 4 suet cakes and put those out last night.  I don't usually feed the birds in the spring/summer/early fall.  But they like the suet cakes and they did need feeding yesterday.  We have a resident woodpecker, we've seen him a lot lately and usually on one of the suet cake feeders.

Guess Bill was right about not switching out quilts on our bed yet.  But I still want to get my patchwork quilt out!

Otter and I went to the Dollar Store this afternoon.  Among other things, we bought a dog toy.  This one is a rope toy and it's for Maggie, she loves to play tug of war.  Only problem is that it looks like a hangman's noose!  The beagle is not a smart dog, but she knew what it was the second I took it out of the bag.  She was dancing and wiggling so much in her excitement that she could hardly stand up, then she immediately grabbed the end of it and started pulling.  Frasier tried to do what he's known for - take the toy away.  So that he could take it outside.  No idea why he does that, but that's what he does.  The toy is still inside, after we had dinner I noticed that Maggie Moo was on one end of the tug toy and Bill was on the other.  Then when he got tired of it, he handed it to Otter and the beagle was still attached.

Froggy, the last comment you posted actually showed up!  But keep emailing me, at least for a while, when you leave a comment.  I'm not sure what the problem is, but Blogger told me this time that you'd left a comment.  Hopefully, it will continue.

Buds & Beans

The trees are budding.  It's only February, they shouldn't be at this stage for several weeks yet.  One of the maple trees in the back yard is starting to show colors in the buds, leaves are not far behind.  The redbud hasn't started pinking up yet, but it's probably not too far off either.

I told Bill that I think it will soon be time to switch from his camo quilt to my patchwork quilt on our bed, but he disagreed.  Silly boy! :)

I made a pot of pinto beans for dinner.  I also made rice, we had beans & rice and it was delicous.  (Otter's gone to her regular Sunday Dungeons & Dragons game, but beans aren't her food of choice anyway.)  I decided against cornbread because I just didn't quite get around to it, so we had rice instead. :)  It was still good!

Froggy, I'm not sure what the problem is regarding comments you've left.  Blogger still shows that it's set to email me when comments come through, I've checked the spam settings and there aren't any comments that were sent to the spam file instead.  I just doesn't show any other comments other than the one you left on the snow post.  I emailed you already, but you might email me to let me know you've left a comment and you also might email me the comment as well.  I don't know what the issue is, but Blogger has made a bunch of changes and not all of them seem to be working.

Otter seems to be enjoying working.  She's working for a party supply store and she's learning a lot.  She's a hard worker, that's never been an issue for her.  But she does have one complaint:  she said that if she never, ever sees another heart-shaped mylar balloon, she'll be happy!  She had to fill literally hundereds of dozens of them in Valentine's week.  Apparently, Valentine's is one of the biggest seasons for party supply places.  Halloween is also heavy, Christmas and Thanksgiving are also big weeks.  In between, there are many other times that people have parties and the summer is a busy season.  She has worked one Saturday so far, she just uses one of her days off in place of Saturday as a day of rest.  She was off yesterday and is also off next Saturday.

I can hear Billyboy sneezing his head off.  We've all been having to deal with varying degrees of allergy issues.  Still too soon!  Also, the Tulsa Health Department made an announcement the other day.  Seems that there is a strain of the flu going around that has just enough symptoms to make people think that they might have the flu but not be sure if they actually do - which is why I no longer think that I had to deal with RSV in January.  The main strains are the two that the shot was for, plus a few others this year.  Including the milder one, which I had and then Bill decided to get as well.  We're just glad that Otter didn't get it!  She was sick enough last year, we don't want to go there again.  And I'm sure that she doesn't want to, either.