Report: Tornado kills 15 in Oklahoma – Weather- msnbc.com

its that time again … 

Report: Tornado kills 15 in Oklahoma – Weather- msnbc.com

around here

roy fits in pretty well. he likes the cats, but doesnt bother them much. he loves cinnamon, and follows her around pestering her and trying to play. he really likes a lot of attention, and wants to be in the middle of everything we’re doing.

he only has one major issue. he likes to tear things up. he has plenty of toys to play with, and he doesnt seem to get bored. i had barricaded him and cinnamon in the den during the day while we were at work, and cinnamon still got out and urinated on the floor after the postman had been there. roy did ok. so when we went to a movie one saturday, i made a better barricade, and cinnamon still got out, and roy emptied the contents of my little lunch bag that i keep a few things in that i like to have with me at work, that i dont want in my purse. he chewed up one of two pill bottles, but didnt ingest any. then a few nights later he tore up a couple of select books from the book shelf. both were old medical books, one was from the 1800s. the pages werent that bad, but the covers were shredded, and there are a few red stains on the carpet. the beau was not pleased. roy has also showed an interest in my shoes. so on days they cant be outside, they are both in crates, and roy is in his crate at night. perhaps we can come up with a better plan, but this will have to do for now.

the other day at work there was an escapee from the nearby mental health facility in handcuffs on the ground, surrounded by police and EMSA workers. seems he climbed into a small truck as it was going down the street toward the main road. that would not happen to me, because i drive to fast to allow access, and i keep my doors locked. no one was hurt, and he was returned to the facility. i dont know anymore about it than that.

there was a truck driver here in town whose load, some big metal thing, got snagged on a cable line. he got out of his truck, climbed up and attempted to unhook it from his load. as he did, the cable touched a close power line,and he was electrocuted. sad he didnt just call for help. now he is beyond it.

we have had in one week a range in temperatures from 16º on monday to over 75º on friday. but the wind blows on and on.

today we are going to see ‘coralline’ in 3D. it will be my second ever 3D movie. i went to see ‘my bloody valentine’ in 3D with some coworkers last month. it was fun.

that about sums up the last few weeks around here.

google Tags: daily life,dogs,accidents,3D movies

december 13

Ice storm leaves 1.2 million waiting for power – Weather- msnbc.com

this time last year we were in the dark and cold. i think the whole state was iced over. i had heat from a gas fireplace, and hot water from a gas heated water tank, so we were better off than many. my granddaughter sienna was born today last year. i certainly feel blessed not to be in the throws of an ice storm this time. i can appreciate what those in new england are experiencing, having been through it myself now. there was such a storm one year in portland, when i was a child, but i wasnt so bothered by it, seeing it through a childs eyes. i remember the frozen drifts of snow that covered cars and buried the city, solid enough to walk on – and talking my little dog out in the back and sliding him all over the ice hills in the yard. im sure he laughed when i slipped and hit my chin on the same ice. he was more a little brother than a pet.

this time, all i see are leaves blowing madly along the street, across the dry yards, and in mindless circles in the air. as much as i love winter, it isnt pretty here. but then, it isnt ever pretty here to me. many of the trees still have broken limbs from last years ice, because they often arent cared for unless they pose a hazard. there is much litter, and because it is often very windy here, and the land is rolling but flattish, trash is always blowing around. as is dust. ah how i long for the evergreen forests that cover the coastal mountains. the wind blows there as well, but the trees provide cover, and the mountains break the straight lines. the people there are more likely to secure their trash cans, so that they and the trash they hold arent strewn about haphazardly. one drives down the street in ones own neighborhood here, and has to dodge the big green bins rolling around in the way.

can you tell im homesick?

Technorati Tags: weather,ice storm

google Tags: weather,ice storm

sweet relief

 

the rains have come back, at least for now. they have driven the heat back to hell. i was able to get some work done in the front flower beds, thinning out the wandering jews, pulling weeds and unauthorized vines, and trimming the grass around my hydrangea with a pair of scissors. one of my clematis has blossoms on it, deep reddish purple flowers. the other has buds, and they should be some kind of pink. im hoping to get the last three trees in the ground today. they will go in the back yard. they are all smaller trees, and will provide shade without bothering the power lines. however, i think the power company has plans to bury the lines in town, because one day last month we came home to find orange lines and orange and yellow flags in the back yard. and ive heard talk. that would be a long overdue good thing for here. power lines should never have been in the sky in the first place.

im changing my eating habits. it may be challenging, because i dont like to eat all the time. but apparently thats something i need to do to change my level of fitness. eat more proteins, and eat more often. so i will have to learn to like different things. thats fine. the pay off will be worth it. food isnt that important to me. my biggest challenge wont be having to give anything up, but rather having to eat more. food is really important to the women i work with, though. one who has health challenges went on this diet that is designed around your body type, and it has done wonders for her and her husband. they have seen changes in their weight, and their over all health. she jumped right in and made the changes immediately. but in considering any diet change most of the other women in the office balk at changing what they eat. are people so attached to their food? they get really pissed if a scheduled lunch gets canceled. gawd! its just lunch. half the time i dont even eat lunch, scheduled or otherwise. i rather walk. not that there arent things i enjoy – but i can do without them. so my challenge will be eating enough to kick up my metabolism. but i am going to do it. i want the changes.

so im off to wrap up my week end. two weeks and two days from now i have a vacation coming. august 27 to september 1. every one always asks me where i will be going on my vacation. i like to spend my vacations at home. not that i like it here so much, i just have a house i really like now, and i like spending time here. when i get back to the pacific north west it will be even more so.

i can hardly wait for that …

google Tags: summer, hot weather, rain, gardening, weight loss, fitness, diet

as summer wears on

this was a long four days at work. it seems like when you have a holiday three day weekend, you get five days of stuff on the following four days at work. and us with one person on vacation all week. ya! but next week i have a four day week again, because im taking friday off. so that will make up for it. i scheduled a visit to my doctor friday to see why this bump i incurred five weeks ago, on my shin just above my ankle, wont go away. i think i may have a bone chip. the beau and i had an argument that evening, and i was trying to take a shower and forget about it. i guess i bumped my shin on the tub. i really dont know what i did to it. all i know is the next day i had a painfull bruise and a hard little bump on my shin the next morning, and it hasnt resolved itself. stupid briuse.

then there is bougar. our funny old chow. she has lost some weight in the last month, and was acting like she didnt feel good. the vet did an ultrasound, and it showed that her liver and her spleen have nodules. the vet seems to think they started in the spleen and metastasized to the liver. friday she had a needle biopsy and an aspirate to check the liver and spleen tissues, and the fluid in her abdomen. we will get the results early next week. but our stand as soon as we knew there were health issues was to stand on psalm 145, as we have for the cats in times past. God opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living creature. bougar qualifies as a living creature. her desire is to be well. ask, she’ll tell you. we have received that from the open hand of God. she will be fine. this will pass.

this morning we had a raucous storm. it blew through around 2:30am, and rained hard on everything. by 5:30am, when i took the beau to work (had to work this saturday), there were garbage cans and branches, stalled cars and standing water everywhere. after a storm, its a surreal and strange trek to the west side of tulsa and back early in the morning. it almost feels like a nightmare, except im not scared. i am rarely ever scared. but it is strange to drive my routine route to take him to work on those early days when he has to be there at 6am, and there is so much weird stuff on the roads going and coming. and its still dark, so its even stranger. later, after i had couple hours more sleep, i found an electrical problem. seems when i had more than one major thing on the lights blinked a lot. the air and the computer. the fans and the blow dryer. sometimes just the air or the blow dryer. so i called PSO, and they resolved the problem. weather covers. i think they are little shield things that protect the connections where the main lines and the transformers hookup. they replaced them, and no more problems. happy me.

tomorrow we are going to look at two houses for sale in our neighborhood. and we are getting miss nibbles. the comic book store owner where the beau goes most fridays after work has this sweet kitty that he keeps at the store. she really has personality. trouble is, the cats he has at home wont accept her. so he has been keeping her at the store. but they are about to expand the store space, so her environment is going to shrink. besides, she has been getting upset at being alone at night at the store. so we are taking her. she’s a lovely little tortishell shorthair with skin allergies. thor will love her right off. he loves every one. gizmo will not like her. he doesnt like anyone except people. maggie, it will depend on what day it is. the dogs will love to have another cat. and sammy wont care either way. whats one more?

tomorrow i will take pictureas of the new cat and the houses we look at. i will post them as soon as i can.

updates

this has been a strange year weatherwise. it was so rainy this spring and into the early part of the summer. sad that a lot of people lost their homes and possesions during that time, when some of the creeks and ‘rivers’ overflowed their banks and flood neighborhoods. it finally got hot in late july and into august. it got pretty hot for the duration of the month, but has already started cooling down. this was also a year for several groups of cicadas to emerge, and the ragweed was early too. i dont know that much about cicadas. i just know there is more than one kind. one stays buried for seven years, one for thirteen, or something like that. i guess several emerged together this year. they always make the trees sound like theyre live with electricity. 

temps are starting to cool down now. im not disappointed that we had such a short summer. im relieved. today started out much cooler, even though it was a bit sticky still. its only 80º now, at 11:30am. it may get up around 90º+, but the trend is cooler.

bougar has had a bout with something. she lost some weight, and was acting like she didnt feel good. she has kinky hips anyway, and they bother her. but then she had some diarrhea, so we took her in for a check up. seems her liver enzymes were too high. wednesday she goes back for an ultra sound, and we are awaiting more results from blood tests. vet put her on liver pills, and it has made a difference. she acts like she feels better, and no more squirts. oh thank God for that! well, we thanked God for more than that, because as always we laid hands on her and claimed the promise in psalm 145:14-16

 

“the Lord upholds all that fall, and raises up all those that are bowed down.

the eys of all wait upon You, and You give them their meat in due season.

You open Your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.“

 

later today, when the beau gets back from the postal office, we are going to look at a house for sale. its seems like a pretty good deal, and theyre asking $65k which is a great price even here. i wasnt looking for a house, because we are planning to move back to oregon/washington next year. but this one fell into my lap. my friend at work has a daughter who just got her real estate license, and although she isnt the realtor for this house, still told her mother who told me. so far im liking what i see. but im staying reserved until i see it, and find out a few more things. im going to take a few pictures.