Wet, Rainy Day

It was in the 70's today, the low 70's.  It was supposed to be in the mid-80's.  Guess they missed this one!

 

I took my car into Chevy today.  It's been making a noise for a while that we thought was probably the air conditioner, and since the extended warranty is about to run out we decided to get it in there asap.  The a/c system has been problematic before, but a lot of that was when we were using that other shop that we quit going to.  That particular shop was making things up, there were a bunch of things that they said were wrong but Chevy never found any sign of.  We also wondered at the time if maybe we had work done that wasn't needed.  Today, the Chevy mechanic  said that the noise was the same problem the other shop had fixed - and it might well be one of the repairs that we paid for but they might not have actually fixed, he couldn't tell if it had ever been repaired or not.  (It's too late to worry about that, but it has been making the noise off & on ever since we left that place.)  The deductible on our plan is $200.00 and I can just about guarantee that it would have been over that, if we'd been back at that other place.  Chevy charged me $157.00.  And they had it fixed before they said that it would be ready.  They also took me to work and picked me up when they said they would, unlike the other place!  Wish we'd come to our senses before we did, but at least we finally did get there.

 

The major news story is still the tornado and the aftermath.  The death toll is probably final, and it's bad but at least it is not as high as originally feared.  Now, the rebuilding starts.  That can and will take months.

 

I got my two new hummingbird feeders up yesterday.  Of course, it immediately got cool & wet!  But they'll eventually show up.

 

The honeysuckle that we transplanted to the trellis last summer is blooming.  It's barely big enough to start trailing up the trellis, but it is covered with blooms.  The morning glories are all over the trellis as well, I'm not sure if the trellis will be a combination or if one of them will overpower the other.  We'll just have to watch it and see what happens.

 

I will have ST thoughts, but not yet.  I have the thoughts, I'm just not ready to post them.  But they are not positive, at least not where the movie is concerned.  The Borg Queen is not happy!

Oklahoma

By now, I'm sure that everyone knows what has happened Sunday and Monday in Oklahoma.

How to help:

Salvation Army

United Methodist Relief

Southern Baptist Relief

(The Red Cross is not on my list and will never be.  They have a well-earned bad reputation, the above places will help and they do what they say they will do.)

 

Oklahoma is where we live and is our adopted home, although TEXAS is and always will be Home.  But that doesn't mean that we don't care about the people here and what happens to them.  Sunday's tornados were bad, but it wasn't over as there was an even bigger outbreak on Monday.

 

The forecast on Monday was pretty specific and it turned out to be right.  We were already aware of the possibility although we weren't expected to be under the gun until later in the afternoon to early evening.  About 3:15, shortly before I was to leave work Bill called me because he had access to a tv and the stations were showing the beginning of the monster that hit Moore.  Bill was supposed to work a board meeting, so he'd taken the other Impala since he would have been getting off late and probably about the time it was supposed to get really bad here.  That meant that I was Otter's transportation which turned out to be a good thing.  She got off at 4:30.  I got to her store about 4:00, I went in to tell her that we were not going to have our shopping errand so she didn't need to change out of her uniform when she got off work and to let her know what was happening.  Their manager was not in, but she was calling them with frequent updates so they were aware of the weather situation and the fact that they might have to close suddenly.

 

In the space of about and hour and a half, the tornado had grown to over a mile wide.  It was also obvious that it was hitting the same general area as the F5 May 3, 1999.  Except that this time, it was worse.  By that time, it had already taken out at least one of the two schools and I think it had already obliterated the hospital.

 

There was another storm system, this one was northwest of Tulsa and it was heading northeast so it didn't affect us, but the city of Bartlesville was in the firing line.  There were two confirmed tornados out of that storm.  The highway patrol was stopping traffic on Highway 75, which is the main way into and out of the Bartlesville area.  They were "lucky", in that there is a lot of undeveloped land in the track that those two took.

 

While that was developing, I was talking to Froggy while I waited for Otter to get off work since Froggy was able to watch a television and could see what was actually happening, as well as updating me on what was happening with the Moore storm since the Bartlesville area was the bulk of what the radio was reporting on since that was closer and of a more immediate impact to the Tulsa area.

 

About 4:15, the weather service started asking employers in Tulsa and the surrounding areas to close early and let their employees get home, since it was beginning to look like the Moore storm was going to take a track that would put the Tulsa area right in front of it.  Just like the May 3, 1999 storm did - we were in TEXAS then, but that is what that storm did.  I talked to Bill just before Otter got off work and the board meeting had been cancelled, so he was heading home.  We got home right at 5:00, there was a lot more traffic than normal so most employers were heading the weather service request.

 

The storm was on the track to hit our area head-on, but it started weakening quickly after it got to about Stroud, which is a small town to the west of Tulsa.  Stroud was just about wiped off the map on May 3, 1999.  The storm probably weakened as fast as it did because our temperature was dropping, probably due to the rain we were already getting.  That fact probably saved a lot of people, as the storm was immense and since it already had a history of a tornado it's very possible that it would have sprouted another.  All we got was a little rain and thunder for a few hours.

 

The death toll was originally over 100, but a lot of those were probably duplicate reports.  At the moment, it's just over 20 with about 9 children.  But that will change, there are still missing people and after this long they are probably no longer alive.  There were over 100 survivors pulled out of the rubble overnight.  But it's been pretty long now, although miracles are still possible.  The original reports said that the monster was an F3 or F4, then this morning the weather service was calling it an F4.  This afternoon, they revised it:  It was an F5, the biggest on the scale.  The May 3, 1999 monster was also an F5.

 

This type of event doesn't happen very often.  Although tornados were possible and even expected yesterday, the monster sprouted fast and grew fast.  A lot faster than it was expected to do.  There is no such thing as lightning not striking in the same place twice, and that also applies to tornadic storms as well.  But it's very rare for something like this to happen twice, on this level especially.  Moore is a smaller town, but Okies are tough and they will recover.  It just won't be fast, but they will make it through this.

 

If you are not in a position to help with either a monetary donation or supplies, please pray.  Pray anyway, that will help more than anything.

Sunday. Humid. Tired. Hot. Busy.

That just about sums up my day.

 

I've actually been above average temperature for days now, and it shows no sign of stopping.  So, I've decided to just go with the flow.  The deep freeze has been in need of defrosting for a while now, but I've been putting it off.  However, since I seem to be in a near-constant hot flash it seemed like a good time to take care of that.  So, I unloaded the freezer this morning and crammed just about everything into the freezer compartment over the fridge.  We have a big refrigerator, so the freezer is fairly big.  But it's still on the verge of being over-full.  There are a few things that were in the deep freeze that are ok just being left on the counter, such as several chocolate bunnies that we've had since Easter but forgot about!  The freezer is now de-iced and I'm going to transfer everything back in a little while.  Hopefully, I will remember to defrost it a little sooner this time, it has been too long.

 

It's also humid.  Has been for a couple of days, in fact.  Humidity and my asthmatic lungs just don't go together.  I have more or less been confined inside for days, with just brief spells of being outside for things like running to the car while holding my breath and that sort of thing.

 

I'm tired, but that goes with the fact that I'm still warm and the fact that my allergies are on overdrive.  Also, that goes with the busy part!

 

Typical Sunday, in other words.  Too much to do and not enough hours to do it in. :)

 

I'm in the middle of a very frustrating crochet project.  Otter found some beautiful cotton yarn at the yarn store last weekend when we went shopping with Nana.  It's a smaller gauge than most cotton yarn, but she wanted a cap and I love a challenge.  I started out with my standard pattern but made several adjustments for yarn size as I worked each row.  Then I decided I didn't like the way it was turning out, so I frogged it and started over without the adjustments.  Frog # 2 was the result of that!  I found a pattern online at Lion Brand's website and it was for the specific cotton yarn size.  Of course, it's too small - even though it is supposed to be an adult-size hat and what I've made is the measurements/size/row/stitch count it is supposed to be, there is no way that this is an adult-sized pattern.  Frog # 3 is probably happening later today, I think I'm going to remake it with the Lion Brand pattern because I like the way it looks, but I'm going to go up 3 or 4 hook sizes which should make the difference.  I hope so anyway!  It's a gorgeous purple color with opalescent metallic flecks and is going to look wonderful on Otter's red hair.  When I finally get it made, that is!  It will be on the craft blog, when I finally get it finished to size.  It's a slightly different pattern than the one I usually use and I really have enjoyed the crochet process - just not the fact that it's a kid-size!  I've noticed that with patterns before with online patterns.

 

I have some more thoughts on the new ST movie, but I'm not quite ready to post them.  But I will say this:  Those sharks are well-fed!

Thoughts About a Lot of Stuff on Friday

First off, the North TEXAS tornadic storms are on my mind.  Obviously, because it's TEXAS.  But also because of the specific area of TEXAS.  Bill has some family connections to the area and it's an area I/We've always loved.  TEXANS are tough, our history has shown that.  We can handle a lot, there's no doubt about that.  But this is more than "a lot" for most people, TEXANS included.  All we can do at this point is pray for the people who have lost homes and the families of those who lost their lives.

 

There were a total of 16 twisters Wednesday that hit the area.  16.  The Cleburne tornado was probably an F3, which is mid-range on the scale.  The Granbury tornado was worse, it was most likely an F4.  Those are both bad numbers, there is only one number higher (F5) which is what his Oklahoma City in 1999 and Joplin in 2011.  Even an F1 can do damage.  But F3 is very bad and F4 is even worse.

 

Other stuff:  My post yesterday referencing the new ST movie and sharks was based on some early reviews I read.  Yes, I did read spoilers!  But only enough to answer a specific question.  I didn't like the answer.  They did what I (and many, many, many others) hoped they would not do:  Khan.  The movie itself might be good, but it does sound like they changed Khan's character too much.  Khan is an iconic character and one that they should have just left alone.  The Borg Queen is not pleased, even if turns out that I like the movie I still say that they should have stayed away from Khan.  From what I read, it also sounds like they were trying to remake the TOS episode that introduced him, Space Seed is the title, and not the TOS:TWOK movie that brought him back.  TWOK was inspired and was without a doubt the best movie in the TOS movie series.  That is largely due to the character of Khan.  From what I've read, he's been reduced to a) a terrorist, b) an environmental terrorist possibly (hope not!) and/or c) a generic terrorist.  Instead of the rich, strong character he was in TOS.  I will in all probability eventually see the movie.  I'm waiting a bit, I want to see how it does at first and then I'll decide.  The first weekend is not always a good way to judge, because so many of us (and we are legion) will rush to see it just because it is Trek.  But Trek movies are traditionally judged by the number of repeat viewers.  That's the best way to judge a Trek film.  So, I'm reserving judgment (only to a point, I am the Borg Queen after all!) and will decide a little later about it.  Otter's majorly bummed out about it, she had no choice:  she couldn't avoid being indoctrinated into ST fandom.  But we're going to (try to) keep an open mind in the (possibly slim-to-none) chance that it turns out to be good.

 

The other thing we're watching for is what is known as the Star Trek Curse.  A/K/A Even numbered Trek films don't suck!  This one is an even number.  The first one of this series was number 11 or you could say number 1 - both odd numbers.  The first movie may well have done as well as it did for one reason:  It's Trek and we'll see it.  It's the Rule:  we must see all Trek.  Even if it sucks.  We just don't have to repeat.  But we do have to see it.  And at some point, I will.  Even with the fact that most of the actors in the first of this movie series were woefully miscast!

 

Birds:  The robins have fledged.  The nest has been empty for a couple of days, the last time I actually saw the babies I could tell that they were pretty close to flying.  The wrens are definitely nesting in the front planter again.  Third year in a row for that.

 

I haven't gotten my hummingbird feeders out yet.  I intended to do that last weekend, but we were running around with Nana on Saturday and Sunday morning, then I just never quite got around to it after that.  I am not sure if the hummers have made it to this area or not, but they will be here soon if they aren't already.  So I'm going to get my feeders up and then watch for birdies.

 

I guess that is it.  For now, anyway.

 

RIF, y'all!

The Sharks May Be Circling

Specifically, the sharks that the new ST movie may have just jumped.

'Nuff said.  For the moment.

Good Gravy I'm Tired!

With a capitol "T".

 

For the last two days, I've been dealing with a very cranky toddler in a 96 year old body!  Seems that the Teenager hurt his back several days ago but didn't tell anybody.  He eventually said that his hip was hurting.  It wasn't his hip, it was his lower back and he's been ignoring it for days.  He thought he could walk it out or that it would eventually go away.  After listening to him gripe Monday, Younger Boss finally said he'd had enough and that he was taking his dad home.  However, he still gave us just as much grief from home because he was only a phone call away.  I finally convinced both of them that yes, he did need to see the doctor.  Teenager wouldn't admit that, he thought that he could just call the doctor's office and talk to him and that the doctor would order physical therapy.  WRONG.  He had to go see the doctor this morning, which lasted for several hours because the doctor ordered x-rays.  It's "just" a strained muscle, but he's ignored it for days and treated it incorrectly so it's worse, more painful and will take longer to recover than if he'd just gone last week when I told him to!  He spent just as many hours on the phone with me today as if he'd been in the office and I got very little done.  Then he called me after I'd left the office and when he didn't get me at the office he called my cell phone.  Except that he called Bill's and not mine, which was in interesting conversation to say the least.  Bill called me, I called the Teenager and he asked me to go back to the office so I could get his doctor's number.  He wanted to call the doctor (again) and tell him that physical therapy will help him.  Which it probably will.  But not yet!  I told him that I'd wait until I got in the office in the morning, but I'm going to tell him then that it's too soon and we'll see about therapy when it's time.

 

Geesh.  I'm exhausted just from typing that!  It's been a very tiring two days and the week's not over yet.

 

Love him to pieces, but I told Younger Boss today that I thought I maybe had opened a babysitting service and didn't realize it! :)

 

Otter saw the new Iron Man 3 movie today.  She and the boyfriend spent the afternoon at the mall, he survived a shopping frenzy!  They enjoyed the movie, she said it's very good and that Stan Lee's cameo is unexpected but it's there.  She's not going to tell me anything else about it, I don't want to hear it and she doesn't want to ruin it for me.  We'll eventually see it, maybe we might even make it to the theater while it's still there.

 

I'm going to surf the 'net for a while.  Then I think I might have a drink and put my feet up.  After I get my laundry out of the dryer, that is!

Happy Mother's Day (and other stuff too)

First things first:

I've had a really nice one.  Actually, I think its been Mother's Days because Nana visited and we had a great time.  For Mother's Day, we went to church and then to the Hog Trough (Golden Corral) for brunch.  Otter had to work today, she went in at noon and the restaurant is on the other side of the shopping center she works in so she changed into her uniform at church and then after we ate we dropped her off at work.  She gets off at 7:00 tonight.  We came back home for a while, then took Nana to the airport. :(

 

We had planned on taking Nana to a specific restaurant on Friday, but they close at 2:00 and get very crowded so we wanted to be there about 11:00.  However, Friday morning was spent waiting on Nana's luggage to be delivered so we wound up going to a place other than we had planned.  It was still a good lunch, just not the place we intended!  Otter wanted Nana to see where she works, so we went a little before Otter was to get off and she got to show Nana the store.  Then we had a couple of other shopping stops on the way home and got Domino's pizza for dinner

 

Saturday's activities included making Monkey bread for breakfast (yum!) and then Otter and I took Nana to the Tulsa Flea Market.  We had a great time.  I found a huge paper shopping bag full of yarn, it was marked $5.00 but as soon as I started looking at it the lady selling it told me I could have it for $3.00.  Sold!  I also found a Fenton piece, a small rose bowl style vase in clear green hobnail for $3.00 so it came home with me as well.  Otter found a few things and so did Nana, then we went to lunch at On the Border before going to a local shopping center in Tulsa.  We didn't buy much there, but we still had fun.  We came home, watched a couple of movies on Blu-ray and then decided we wanted fried chicken for dinner.  We were on the way to the only fried chicken place we could remember, when we drove by a KFC so I turned around and we went there instead.  We got there about 8:25, and after we went inside and placed our order the clerk started locking up because they close at 8:30 on Saturday night!  We still got a bucket of chicken and various sides, it just seemed early to close on a Saturday night.  But it was good, we were planning on bringing it home anyway so it didn't matter that they were about to close.  I'm just glad we were not there after 8:30 because we wouldn't have been able to get in.

 

I'm to chill for a while and goof off, then I might do a little crochet.  Or read.  Or just relax, I'll figure it out at the time!

Interesting Rambles

Nana got here, but the flight was later than we thought it was going to be.  But she arrived safely, so no complaints there.  However, we did discover that the 3-minute parking rule is NOT enforced at the Tulsa airport.  We were in the 3-minute area for over an hour, but so were a lot of other people and we were blocked in most of the time.  But since we were spending most of that time waiting for Nana's flight, it was ok that we were blocked.   We sent Otter inside to wait but Bill and I sat in the car.  Nana eventually arrived and was greeted by an overjoyed Otter.  Then the discovered that Nana's luggage hadn't quite gotten to Tulsa so she had to go fill out the official request for the airline to search.  She gave them her cell phone number, and they called her shortly before midnight to tell her it had been located.  She told them to deliver it in the morning.  Which turned into 12:30 because they apparently didn't get moving on time!  But her bag eventually got here so she could at least wear something else today!  She borrowed a t-shirt from Otter to sleep in last night.

 

We did get to the steakhouse last night, just a little later than we expected to.  It was so good and we ate too much, but we don't eat there often.

 

We had a thunderstorm late in the night.  I slept through it, but Nana heard it and Bill might have.  There was apparently a lot of wind, because a tree at a house outside of our subdivision was split in to many pieces and it looked like some of it might have actually been on the house it was formerly in front of.

 

The surveyors were unable to find their buried metal spikes yesterday, the only thing that Bill actually removed were the wooden spikes after they were finished.  The utility marking companies were out today and they had to get in my back yard.  The surveyors sent out another crew, they weren't too good.  They were going off of the fence as the metal spikes were supposed to be 4' off the fence.  But that was off of the old fence, the one that was removed when the builder put up the privacy fence.  Bill tried to tell them that they were marking from the wrong place, but they were kind of rude and he figured that they'd have to deal with their own mistake.  We saw the grader out there earlier, leveling the lot.

 

Nana liked her crocheted afghan.  She's requested a pair of house shoes and I found a pattern that she liked.  I'm not going to be able to get them done while she's here, but they will be fairly easy.

 

We took Nana to Otter's store this afternoon.  Otter was happy to show Nana where she works.  Then we went by Domino's Pizza to pick up dinner on the way home.  We also had burgers & fries for lunch today, so we're piggies!

 

Tomorrow is shopping and we intend to have fun.  But then Nana's visits are always fun!

 

We Knew It Was Only a Matter of Time...

Until a house was built behind us.  The bulldozers started scraping off for the foundation today.  I talked to the guys, they were trying to find the survey pins from when the area was surveyed at the time of the fence going up, they were digging around in my back yard but they were polite and covering up after they dug holes.  They didn't find the stakes, they were looking along the fence line but the stakes were originally put at the old fence line.  Bill also thinks that the pins/stakes were removed (by Bill) after the fence was put up.  Anyway, the bulldozer operator thinks that it's at least going to be a one-story home.  They generally get those houses up quick, so it's only going to be a few weeks if they are true to form.  I still prefer when we had cows for neighbors!

 

Otter has been busy today.  She made cupcakes for Mother's Day.  She bought decorating stuff at work the other day but she told me I couldn't see it.  Now that the cupcakes are made & decorated, she did let me see it.  But I don't think I can eat any yet - we're waiting on Nana's arrival tonight.

 

Nana's flight was delayed about 30 minutes, which always seems to happen to her.  We'll still go out to a particular steak house we all like, it will just be a little later on.  Of course, I'm starving!

 

I bought moonshine today.  Relax, it's legal!  I got it at a liquor store, there are a few legal distilleries in the country and a few of the liquor stores are starting to carry it.  We aren't going to be in a hurry to drink it, but I was amused at the sign at the liquor store.  The sign was to warn people not to drink any locally produced, illegal stuff because it may well be poison.  Which is true, if the person making it doesn't know what he's doing.  I took it back to work with me, I was on my lunch hour when I got it, and my bosses both were very interested in it.  (They weren't worried about me drinking on the job.)  The Teenager especially was interested, he tried to tell me that it was really just apple cider - of course, he was trying to sneak it away from me at the time!  (It's apple pie which is basically moonshine with a small amount of apple cider for flavor and cinnamon.)

 

It's rainy again this afternoon.  We had a loud thunderstorm at about 4:30 this morning.  I know it was at 4:30, because I was awakened by the sound of the fan going off as the power cut off.  It came back on in less than a minute but we were awake by that point so we just got up.  A house in the neighborhood had a big tree basically come apart, but the tree looks like it wasn't healthy to start with.  We don't have any tree damage, beyond one smallish limb that was broken off months ago but we couldn't reach, it's now in the yard but that is all.  No actual damage.  It might be rainy tonight and into tomorrow morning.

 

OK, I'm going to go find a snack now!

Just Chilling Out on the Couch

Have I mentioned how much I like this laptop?  Well, I do.  I think I like the portability of it a lot.

 

Busy day.  Busy week.  It's only Wednesday, but it should be Friday.  I only have one day of work left this week, I'm off on Friday and so is Billyboy.  Otter has to work, so she won't get to spend Friday with us (and Nana!) but she's off on Saturday so she'll get to spend time with her TEXAS Grandmother.  No idea what we'll be doing, but with Nana it usually involves shopping!

 

The evildeniziensofhellbadbugs also known as yellow jackets have made their arrival.  My younger boss was outside of the duplex where our office is and he came in with a request that I look at his back and tell him how it looked because he thought something stung him.  I could tell that he had two stings, I put some of my always within reach hydrocortisone cream on the spots and then he went outside to finish what he was doing.  Then he called me on his cell phone to tell me that he'd just found a squashed yellow jacket where he'd been standing when he felt something sting.  I was hoping that they would just skip this year, but I guess not.  I've been seeing bees for a while, but we try to ignore them and let them do their thing.  Yellow jackets are a different story, they get killed as soon as we see them.  I trimmed some limblets on the tree in the front yard when Bill was mowing this evening, I didn't see any but I did look carefully.

 

I did see something else:  wrens are starting a nest in the planter on the front porch!  There are two baby robins in the nest on the back porch, and sparrows have built a nest on top of the bat house.  Not in it, on top of it.  Lots of little bug eaters!  I'm thinking I'm going to put up one of my hummingbird feeders this weekend.  Bill and Otter each gave me a new hummingbird feeder for Mother's Day.

 

Froggy, KN#3's box should have arrived in your mail today.  Let me know please.  I hope she likes what's inside of it.  It's an exciting time for her, starting out on her own.  I'm sure she'll do well in nursing school.

 

Bill's hammering away at a pachinko machine.  He's putting the pins in the machine that is our family project:  Steampunk!  (Google it if you don't know what it is.)

 

Otter and I are thinking that we might want to see the new Superman movie.  Which sounds strange, if you know anything at all about us you know that we think Superman is a wimp!  Actually, we usually use the word "weenie" but it is kind of impolite.  But the movie looks good.  We'll wait until after it's opened and see what the reviews are, but it looks good so far.  We will eventually get to the theater for the new Iron Man movie, I'm just not sure when.

Froggy, you mentioned Frasier being lucky.  Yes, he was.  But so were we, he's a spectacular dog.  Just spoiled rotten!  And so is beaglebaby known as Maggie Moo.  They are supposed to be spoiled, so they are.  Very much so!

I Guess it's Just Monday?

Can't think of a good title, so whatever! :)

 

I'm really liking the new laptop.  I probably should have given in and got it earlier, but I'm glad that I finally listened to Bill and got one.  (Don't tell Bill I said I should have listened to him!  I'll never hear the end of it!)  It makes me realize that the old one was a lot worse than I realized.  Old age and a lot of use, mostly.  Just keep in mind that I'm still adjusting to Chiclet keys, frequently I'll be typing and the cursor will vanish because I've somehow managed to put it on a different line.  So, nonsense in the middle of a word or sentence are not on purpose!

 

My errand yesterday that allowed me to take Otter to work was to PetsMart.  They are in the same shopping center as her store.  Because it was a weekend, they had various pet rescue groups there. We always, always have to visit with all the doggies we can.  We pet most of them and quite frequently fall in love with many and want to bring them home - we don't, we just want to.  I mentioned to one of the ladies working with one of the groups that we'd adopted one of our dogs at that particular store and she asked me which one.  I was not prepared for her next remarks:  "you probably saved that dog's life."  Not the usual way of saving him from not having a home, either.  She elaborated and there are a lot of questions I had that were suddenly answered.  The group in question is essentially not in business any longer.  They never filed the required paperwork to be recognized as a rescue group, including the tax forms that the IRS requires.  They never were able to produce records that proved that their dogs had ever had any vet care OR inoculations.  When we adopted Frasier, we were told that he had been placed with a family that would never get proof of shots & care to the group but what I found out yesterday is that the group in question didn't usually use individuals to foster the animals and that the group itself was responsible for ensuring vet care and shots.  When she told me yesterday that I'd saved his life, she meant it.  Apparently, they also have a bad reputation for animal survival rates, probably due to not getting them the vet care they need.  We wondered at the time, Frasier came with a few health issues that should have been addressed and didn't seem to have been - his ears being one of them, he still gets ear infections occasionally but not as frequently as he did at first and his ears were really bad the.  He had been fixed and he was house trained - although we were told he wasn't housebroken as far as they knew.  Their ad, which is where we first became interested in him, stated that he did NOT dig or jump/climb fences - but he's a natural-born escape artist and he does dig.  A lot, in fact.  About the only thing we know to be true that we were told is that he does not like cats.  Well, he likes them - as toys, he kills them but a lot of that may be the coyote instinct and he can't help that.  But he's always had health issues, among other things he had a spot on either his leg or his tail (I can't remember) that didn't have hair and looked odd but wasn't mange.  We brought it to the attention of the person we got him from when we picked him up for our "try him out" visit and she acted like she'd never even seen it.  It wasn't huge but it was visible.  It healed up eventually, now I wonder if it might have been whatever it is that causes him to have those tumor-like spots.  I told the lady yesterday about some of his health issues, she basically told me that she isn't surprised and suspects that he never had vet care while he was with that group.  (His "try it out visit" was supposed to be several days but we knew within an hour or so that he was ours.)    They were also supposed to check references on us and follow up, but they never did.  Needless to say, when I got home I had to have a long play/petting session with him!  Which he liked, by the way.

 

I finally have house shoes!  Probably sounds like a strange thing to be happy about, but I have had a flare-up of Plantar Fasciatis and going barefoot is not an option for me at the moment.  I was going to get a new pair in December, but decided my old ones would last a while longer so I never did.  When the old ones did wear out, we discovered that most stores don't keep them in stock beyond Christmas time.  So, I've been using padded shoe inserts from the dollar store and they worked ok but they eventually get flat and need to be replaced.  At lunch today, I finished with my errand earlier than I though so I decided to waste some time in Tuesday Morning.  And they had a large selection of house shoes.  Otter was in the same boat I was, she needed new ones badly.  So, after I picked her up from work we went back and she found some immediately - she picked the red ones with black polka-dots that I thought she would as soon as I saw them.  I tried on almost every other pair there, and none of them worked.  Either my high arches, weather toes or they didn't have enough padding for my heel because of the PF issues.  I was about to give up when I realized that there was one pair I hadn't tried and they fit, don't aggravate my toes and are very softly padded.  They are a kind of maroon-ish red, but I wouldn't have cared what color they are.  So, it's not so strange that I'm about house shoes.  Sore feet can kind of be a problem!

 

When Otter and I got home, we got the vacuum out and took care of the car.  It needed to be vacuumed out badly, we hadn't done it in so long I can't remember.  It was pretty bad, but now it's nice and dog-hair-free.

 

Mama Robin has two babies, Bill thought that there was just one when he was hurridly cleaning the rain gutters the other day.  He was in a hurry so that she could get back to her nest and didn't look closely.  But I went out on the back deck yesterday and could see two little alien heads popping up.  Not sure when I'm going to put the hummingbird feeders up, but soon.  Maybe this weekend.

Figuring It Out (Edited and Added To)

I think I'm really going to like this new laptop.  Learning Windows 8 is not as hard as I thought it would be, it's just different.  But the computer itself is nice.  The old one was good for a very long time, but it was acting up (badly at times) and it was time for a new one.  The Chiclet keyboard is going to take some getting used to, since it's smaller than a "regular" keyboard.  (There may be typos, as I learn the keyboard I keep finding the cursor moved to somewhere other than where I think it is!)

Last week was kind of chaotic.  We got finished moving all of Otter's furniture around in her room, but with her work hours we haven't had time to get everything back in place on her bookcase, desk, etc. so it still looks kind of messy.  She's working until 7:00 tonight, we're going to see what we can do in there when she gets home.  I say "we" very lightly, since my part is mostly going to be handing things to her as she arranges them.  She has more room to move around now.  She has a blank wall that she wants to put something on, but she's not sure exactly what.  Artwork of some type.

The next step is to move my desk and rearrange my corner of the office room.  I want to turn my desk so that it's facing the window, it was like that originally but I got kind of tired of having to turn my head to the left the entire time I was on the computer since the cord wasn't long enough to have it where I wanted on my desk.  I'm going to enjoy the wireless Wi-Fi.

I had a couple of errands earlier, so I took Otter to work today.  Her hours this coming week are the same as mine, so I'll be her transportation this week.  I'm just glad that she doesn't have any late hours, one of us always takes her and picks her up then.  It's a safe enough spot, but it's very isolated especially after dark.  When she gets off at 10:00 p.m., which has happened a couple of times, there is nobody else there as the other stores are already closed.  Tulsa isn't particularly high-crime, but there have been enough carjacking and so forth that she's not comfortable with having to walk to the car across the dark parking lot and neither are we.  She's been working around 35 - 38 hours a week, so she's definitely keeping busy.

Bill's gotten as far as taking his new computer out of the box.  He probably won't actually have time to get is set up until sometime next week.  He has a board meeting to work tomorrow evening, then Nana (Bill's mom) will be here Thursday and the next several days will be spent visiting (and shopping!) so he's trying to get as many pachinko related projects done as he can with what little spare time he has.  He did say that we'll probably have to get a newer printer but that can wait a few days.

I did get some crochet done yesterday.  I finished up Bill's lap blanket.  It's made up of granny squares, they are royal blue with a light blue finish row and they are then stitched together with the light blue.  Because they are individual squares attached together and there are two colors, there are a lot of tails to be done.  Burying tails can take longer than the actual crochet work, and this is one of those projects that will.  I started doing tails yesterday, but it's going to take me quite a while.  I won't have all that much spare time this week, either.

OK, the Chiclet keyboard is getting annoying now, so I'm going to post this and go get back to laundry.

 

(Edit and additional info):

 

Ok, the printer will not need to be replaced after all.  Bill thought it wouldn't work, but it has a usb cord which will work with all the new computers after all.  Good, we don't want to replace it if it's not necessary. 

 

And Bill got my desk moved!  I can now use my lamp on my desk, which I didn't have room for before.  I had to do a little rearranging to get my plastic drawer unit by the desk, but I can also put the phone on top of it now.  The shredder was by my desk, it's now going to the other side of the office.  My desk looks nice now, it was a little cluttered because the old computer and speakers took up so much room.  But these Chiclet keys are still a pain!  :)

Records are Falling!

Specifically, the ones about the latest day of snow in Tulsa.  May 2, 2013 is now the new record.  EEK!

Actually, it was just a trace and probably melted about as soon as somebody actually saw it.  But, it still counts.  I saw sleet, when I had to run to BigLots about 6:00 tonight.  Again, it was melting as soon as I saw it.  But, it still counts.

Yesterday was warm, today wasn't.  We hit our high temp of mid-40's early, like before dawn.  It's been heading downward steadily ever since.  It will be in the 30's tonight, although it might not get quite to 32.  It's been rainy off & on today.  Tomorrow will be the same, although I'm not sure about the rainy part.  We'll have a cold weekend, at least for early May.  It should be nicer by Monday.  It's just kind of odd to have to wear sweatshirts and coats this late.

Froggy, we've usually had better experiences with Dell.  It's just this particular transaction.  Fed-Ex came yesterday, about 10:00 in the morning.  They weren't supposed to come until later in the day.  Of course, Bill didn't get home until about 12:30 and they left a note on the door.  He got online and arranged for the re-delivery to be after 7:00 p.m. tonight.  Otter was home today, and it's a good thing because Fed-Ex was on our doorstep about 10:30.  She signed for everything and Bill's now working on my laptop.  It's a slow process, much slower than I thought.  The errand to BigLots was because he needed to create the rescue disk and the only choice was to get a usb drive.  We have plenty, but none of them are big enough.  So, I ran to BigLots and got two because he'll need to make one when he gets his new computer set up.

I'm not sure when I'll actually get to email you, so Froggy this next paragraph is for you also:

I'll get back with you regarding a visit.  It's still what is referred to as "season" and in this area, that means Tornado Season.  We'll have company next weekend, Nana will be here over Mother's Day weekend.  After that, we'll have to get together with our calendars and see what we can come up with.  Did you have any particular time in mind?  Let me know, we'll get something figured out.  I know you did want to go to Oklahoma City at one point, to the Memorial.  And you already know that there are lots of thrift stores, antique shops and flea markets here.  (No, I'm not forgetting Braums!)

Maybe Tomorrow?

The Fed-Ex guy will bring our new computers!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Furniture

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I Forfeit This Round

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thinking About Something

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

Anyway.  On to other stuff.

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

Urg.

At least tomorrow is Friday!

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

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

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

Enough Already!

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

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

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

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

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

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

We Got the Blues!

And they are all over our front yard!

We couldn't be happier about it.

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

These are one of the plants in the yard itself.

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

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

This one is also in the yard.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Knotheads

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

Today, I am a Knothead.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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