Tornado season

I had been awake since 3:30 yesterday morning (no reason, just couldn't sleep), had done errands, and mowed the lawn, so I had been tired. 

We went to bed pretty early, only to be awakened by the storm...and the sirens.

It was 11 pm.

The sirens go off when there is a tornado ANYWHERE in the county, so we got up and turned on the tv. 

It's pretty rare for a tornado to come through Oklahoma City, so I wasn't overly concerned, but then, the climate IS changing. 

There was a little one a mile from us a few years ago, when Annabel was a baby,  that blew the roofs off of some structures at the fair grounds.  That one MIGHT have only been a microburst.  We never heard for sure that it was actually a tornado.

Anyway, within minutes of getting up last night, it seemed like the violence of the storm got stronger....close lightening, thunder that made the house shake.  The power flashed off and on again.

Then we shook off the sleep fog, and connected with what was being said on the news...

This tornado had been in our area. 

The frantic weather man was talking about 10th street (we live on 15th).  He was talking about 23rd street (that's part of our regular travels to do errands, and so forth).

The twister turned out to actually be about 2 miles away by the time we tuned in (it was moving VERY fast), closer to the state capitol area, and it was moving further away-- at about 40 miles per hour. 

It lifted a few minutes later, and the tornado warning was canceled.

HOWEVER, we found out this morning that, while we were being awakened by the sirens, our tornado had been near the fair grounds (a mile away, as previously mentioned--10th street), then to around 23rd and Villa (which is somewhat less than a 1/2 a mile away), then lifted, then dropped again near the Paseo district (where there is an art festival this weekend), before moving on toward the zoo, and the capitol.

So, before we even woke up, it had had the potential of being RIGHT over our heads.

Our twister was small, so the damage it caused was relatively minimal, with no injuries or fatalities reported this morning.  They're calling it an EF2.

The art festival is underway this morning, with the artists cleaning up their booths, assessing lost artworks, putting their tents back up,  and getting ready for the crowd.

We might go later.  We try to go every year.

There are areas of mild to moderate damage around us, and all along the storm's path across the state, but our neighborhood is fine.

UNFORTUNATELY, the same storm created multiple tornadoes... some were what they call "spin up" tornadoes, that are typically short-lived, but can be devastating. 

A suburb to the west of us was hit hard by a spin up about a half hour before the storm came our way. 

People died.

That tornado was only on the ground for about a mile, but in that mile were trailer parks, businesses.... and a motel.

They're saying it came out of the sky like a drill bit. No warning.



We dodged a weather bullet. 

Change of plans for today

Last weekend, Dave fell off of the step ladder because it was set on soggy ground.

He refused to go to the e/r then, and kept saying it was fine.

Now, a week later, he can't stand the pain. SO... I am getting in the shower and we are going to the e/r.

Sunday is shot!
Wish us luck.

ADDENDUM.... so... it only took an HOUR at the e/r!  That's never happened to either of us before!

$300 out the freaking window....good GOD.

The leg is not broken, which we didn't really think it was.  He had a bad bone bruise.  Doc said to just keep doing what we've been doing (what *I* have had him doing), and it will get better by and by.

SO, we came home and I mowed with the power mower, and I really liked it.  Then I split up the succulent plant basket that I got for my birthday into different pots.  The plants don't all want the same amount of water or light, so I separated them.

Some are in the house where the cats can't get to them.

Smoking a pork shoulder in the Weber for dinner, and making broccoli slaw, the first time this year.  The pork smells great!

We got stuff done around the house, and had time for naps this afternoon.

Dave feels a LOT better just knowing that there's no crack in the bone.  It will hurt for a while, but it's not going to get worse.

The new dishwasher got installed yesterday.  It wasn't the one we ordered, because the one we ordered DIDN'T FIT the space.  UGH.

YES, Dave measured, but NO, Dave didn't realize that the measurement he took, even though it was 33 1/2 and the dishwasher was listed as 33 1/2 that, in reality, 33 1/2 actually MEANS that the washer is 34.

But we got some money back, because the only one that WOULD fit (32 1/2) is cheaper.  And noisier. And not as nice as the one we wanted...but what the fuck ever.

It's done.

I am so tired of being bled of money.  First the clothes washer, then the dishwasher, then the need for a lawn mower, and then the effing emergency room, and THEN, I got $1700 in medical bills this past week.

My nurse is helping me get assistance.  Hopefully it will work like it always has.  It's just weird that I got NO BILLS for January, February, or March, and suddenly...April is $1000 and May is $700.

Just freaking great.

Dancing queen?

Waiting to go on .....

Yesterday was International Shimmy Mob day.

Belly dance teams all around the world danced to the same song, doing the same choreography, wearing the same basic outfit (the official t shirt, black leggings, and a hip scarf of your choice), on the same day, to raise awareness about domestic violence, and to raise funds for local charities in each participating city.

Unfortunately, it was chilly and threatening rain here in OKC, so there were hardly any people for us to surprise at our location, which is usually bustling with activity on pretty Saturdays....

Then, last night, we had a fund raiser show to benefit our charity (I think most teams around the world did this too), at a local restaurant where our dance studio's "club dancers" perform regularly.

I did my first OKC solo in the fund raiser show.

It was great fun, and even though the turn out was somewhat smaller than expected, it was still a good night.

I got a surprisingly loud cheer for my performance, and total strangers spoke to me, and told me that I danced beautifully.  "Sass and class" was one of the compliments I got.  It did my heart SO much good!

I have to say, that cheering crowd gave me a little bit of my lost soul back. 

I don't have any performance pictures yet, but there were two photographers there last night, so I am sure some will surface eventually.

It will be nice to take a little break after all of the extra rehearsal time lately.  I'm experiencing a new pain/swelling in the underside of the ball of my left foot.  It started after the wedding on 4/20 where I stood on gravel literally all day.

I am hoping it will go away with a little rest.

Today should be an easy day....I will have time to do all of the chores I didn't do yesterday because of two dance events within several hours.

There are bills to pay and receipts to enter into the check book.  Yes, I am old school.  Oh, the first car payment is due.

SIGH.

The sun is finally out, and Dave is looking forward to mowing with our new power mower.  The grass is so thick and lush from all of the rain, and the gild is still on the new mower lily for now!  Haha!

The new dishwasher comes next weekend.  I am still not sure why our Lowe's store website showed that the item was IN STOCK, but we had to wait 3 weeks for it.  Perhaps their installation team is that far behind.  In the meantime, when we run the dying dishwasher, we just lay towels on the floor to soak up the water it is leaking.

Wishing you a lovely week!

Oops

Last Sunday, my birthday, was so hectic, that I forgot to post my usual Sunday blog entry.

Staycation synopsis:
Friday: Scans, pedicures, wedding rehearsal in Shawnee.
Saturday: Yoga, wedding in Shawnee, hung out with the neighbors.
Sunday: Errands, grocery shopping, mowing, started container garden, watched Game of Thrones.
Monday: More mowing, more working with plants, watched episode 2 again.  Annabel had a visit with the house-call vet, and got a steroid shot to treat her limp and her over-grooming.  Both cats got started on flea treatment again.
Tuesday: RAIN, so we worked inside on the conversion of my office to a guest room--mission accomplished.
Wednesday: Antiquing, found some really cool juice glasses.  Then, went to the car dealer and got my title transfer packet.  Then, got my car's tag, had a friend over for a cooking lesson, and hot tubbing that night.
Thursday: Dave took car back to the dealer for a few minor warranty items, and I learned a dance via video. Went to a rehearsal for that dance in the evening.I'll be taking part in a flash mob in OKC next weekend!
Friday: Errands, grocery shopping, more mowing, cooking projects, Dave changed the lights on front porch, and he worked more on digging out what will be the herb garden.
Saturday: Yoga, usual Saturday chores, then another dance rehearsal. Dave got his tattoo. Then, he worked a little more on digging out the herb bed, and finally, we went out for an early birthday dinner.
Sunday, my BIRTHDAY: Eric and Ricky came over, and helped Dave blow insulation into the attic, I went to lunch with a friend to escape the chaos, and got a REALLY bad sun burn sitting by the lake.  The lake trip was unexpected, so I had no sun screen. Then, I made a home made birthday dinner (hasselback chicken and brownies for dessert), and we watched Game of Thrones.

The herb garden never got completed.  The digging part was pretty tough, and is still only about half way done. The plants will just have to deal with still being in pots.

The insulation project was a huge mess, took many hours longer than anticipated, and there is still pink fluff embedded in the front lawn, and falling out of shoes when they come out of the closet where the attic hatch is.

The bonus is that Dave overestimated the amount of insulation needed, so he returned enough to get money back that will allow us to also buy a new dishwasher, since ours is suddenly leaking all over the floor now!

That's a new clothes washer AND a new dishwasher that we have had to buy in the past few weeks.  Ugh!!  Hopefully, we're finished replacing appliances.

Also, with all of the rain, we bit the bullet and bought a power lawn mower.  There was enough of Dave's bonus left to cover that.  SIGH..... this has been an expensive year so far.

Anyway, we don't want to have to pay someone to mow the lawn anymore when it rains so much that our reel mower can't deal with it.

I will still like to use the reel mower when we can keep up with the mowing, but given the fact that Jose raised his rates, and buying a lawn mower would be far less expensive than having to call him to come mow every couple of weeks, it was a good investment.

Plus, it's Cubbie blue!

Dave got it put together and charged up yesterday, and he voluntarily mowed the back yard.  WOW!!

More yoga and flash mob rehearsal yesterday, plus errands and a friend over for dinner again....

Today, Dave will go visit his dad, we are meeting other friends for lunch, and at some point I have to do my chores, and I HAVE TO PRACTICE DANCE!!!!!

Along with the flash mob, there is a fund raiser show that night at a restaurant/club.  I am finally going to perform my first solo dance routine in the city of Oklahoma City.

I danced in a show down in the southwestern corner of the state several years ago (was invited and paid, to perform two solo dance numbers in that show), but I have never done a solo dance for Aalim Dance studio before.  I've only ever done the bi-annual recital shows.

This is  because one of the "higher ups" at the studio said something snarky to me all those years ago after she saw pictures from my show down in Lawton.  I've allowed her unkind words to keep me from dancing for all of these years.

The director of the studio asked me to perform at the fund raiser, and she said such kind and encouraging things to me that I decided to say "screw you" to the person who insulted me, and take the stage!!

I also told the director the reason why I had never done anything but the recitals, and she was right pissed about it.  I am glad I told her.  It felt good to get that off my chest.

Oh, and I did NOT actually see my doc on Thursday.  That was just a visit for my injection.  I will see him in June.

On that note, I need to get my day started.

CLEAR!

They called me with the scan results on Friday morning!

ALL IS STILL STABLE!!

That's a full year without chemo, and with no changes.

My nurse was surprised by a fax that came less than an hour after my scans were completed.  We had just finished breakfast, and were headed home, when she called.

I figured the radiologist wanted to get his holiday weekend started, so he read the films right away.

What a lovely way to start vacation, without having to wonder about the results for the first three days!

I see the doc a week from Thursday, and will ask some questions about how much longer we need to do the monthly injections, and if maybe I can get the port out now without too much worry about needing it again.

The wedding rehearsal and ceremony the next day were sort of a cluster f*ck of disorganization and people not showing up, but, in the end, it went just fine.

If I can get permission to share some of the pictures Dave took, I will add them to this post.  Oh, look....permission is granted:

It was a pretty day, if a little windy. I messed things up a little during the blessing, but I don't think it mattered.

After the ceremony, our neighbors invited us to come hang out.  This was a first, and it was so nice!  They grilled up some chicken, and we brought potato salad and beers.

We've lived here for 8 years, and this is the first time we've had any social interaction with a neighbor.

Then, we came back to the house and got into the hot tub.  Ahhh.......

Today is a holiday for Christians, but for us, it will be yard work and grocery shopping at last.

The lawn really needs to be mowed.

It's supposed to start raining tomorrow night, and not really stop until Thursday, so we have to mow today, or spread it out over today and tomorrow.

I also REALLY want to get my herb garden in, put a barrier around my mint patch, and set up some container gardens during this coming week.

I got a cool stackable container garden thing in which I want to put strawberries and herbs, and maybe a trailing something in the bottom, like zucchini.  I'll place the stack in the end of the herb bed, so that whatever trails can run along the ground.

If it's raining, we now have half of a car port available for working outdoors in the rain.

We also might get the fence fixed this week, using some of the money Dave got for his car.  Our handy man hasn't given us a time yet, though, so we'll see.

It's a sunny, windy day today, and should be in the 70s by afternoon.  Enjoy your Sunday!

Short week

This coming week ends with Good Friday, which is a holiday that my office observes, so I am off work!

Since it's also time for my bi-annual scans, I successfully got them scheduled for Friday morning, so I don't have to miss work.

Now that my doctor has left the office I used to go to, that means that I will have to go to the "big hospital" for the scans, and wait for the results until the next week.

THEN, later in the day on Friday, I am leading a wedding rehearsal for an alternative ceremony that I am officiating on Saturday!

This will help distract me from worrying about scan results, and it will be fun and meaningful to participate in something so special.

In other news, this past week brought some changes at the Dragons' Roost.

The washing machine decided to die in the midst of doing a load of laundry with towels on Wednesday night.

OH, NO, it couldn't manage to die while it was washing shirts, socks, and underwear...it had to choose the most awkward thing possible to remove from the washer, carry to the bath tub, and finish by hand!  HAHA!

We managed to get the laundry moved using the buckets that we have out in the shed.  I got the towels and other items rinsed and wrung out by hand, and lugged back to the laundry room to the dryer.

Meantime, Dave got the shop vac and brought it into the house to empty the washer.

While the back door was propped open, our cats were secured in the bedroom.

With all of the going back and forth and in and out of the house, we didn't notice that someone came in to visit!

There were tiny kitty tracks on the laundry room floor from the spilled water.

One of our ferals came in to investigate!

We spotted the grey-tabby-with-white female (who is fixed) out in the back yard, and figured it was her.  She's one of the ones who is somewhat socialized, and lets us pet her.  We call her Arya.

It was sweet to think of her being brave enough to step in and give the laundry room a sniff!

After the mess was dealt with, Dave got on line, and we ordered a new washer from Lowe's.  Their bottom of the line Maytag was on sale, so that was perfect.

I'd always had Maytags in my previous life as a home owner (used ones, of course...couldn't afford new), and loved them.

The new washer was finally delivered on Friday afternoon (Dave came home to meet them), and they hauled away the old one.

I am grateful that we had some tax refund money left after the wiring job to pay for this surprise expense.

And then, Dave sold his car.

Yep.  Just up and sold it!

We never really talked about it in great detail as a decision process, and he placed it up for sale without us deciding on that together.

That had me a little miffed, just like when he BOUGHT the car without talking to me about it, but I can't expend any energy on being mad about it.  There's too much on my mind right now.

Basically, he had been thinking about the possibility for a while, we had tossed it about a bit, but I was not yet comfortable with it.

Logically, it is possibly a comfortable situation, with the advent of Lyft and Uber, and with the new trolley system between midtown (where I work), and downtown (where Dave works).

Also, with his dad now being in full-time residential care in a facility, there won't be any instances of us needing to drive to work separately because Dave has to spend the day dealing with issues with Pop, or the house.

(The house is under contract, too, by the way.  It took 5 days..... I can't remember if I mentioned that before or not.  Dave need never go back there.)

Anyway, the trolley stops right outside of my office, so the new, one-car commute will be me driving us to my office, and Dave getting on the trolley to get to his office.  He can buy a monthly pass.

On days when there may be severe storms, he will drop me off, and take the car to his parking garage, in order to keep it out of the hail.  Likewise, on days when he has his doctor appointments, or whatever, he will drop me off and keep the car.

We usually do errands together, and if there is ever an urgent instance when one of us needs to go somewhere while the other has the car, we can "Uber it" for roughly $10.

However, that is not highly likely to ever happen, unless one of us ends up in the hospital, gods forbid, and that person is the one with the car parked at work.

He keeps saying I'll get used to it.
Now, I have to get used to it!  *laughing*

Lots of people get by with one car.  Or no car.  Especially city dwellers, and we are, technically, city dwellers.

(even though OKC reminds me of the suburbs of Chicago, NOT of a big city)

His car wasn't really an expense, since it was paid off, and only carried liability and uninsured/underinsured coverage.

Getting rid of it won't actually save us any money, but now there is sheltered space under the car port for doing outdoor projects out of the sun, or we can use the grill if it's raining.

He sold the car to our friend Julie, in the long run.

She had brought her daughter over to look at it, and decided to buy it for herself.  It's kind of like keeping it in the family, haha...

We are using the proceeds to get the fence fixed, and finish insulating the attic.

AND THEN, the best thing of all.... the week after the wedding is our STAYCATION!  We will be OFF WORK for 10 days in all!

It will allow time to get out in the yard and get my herb garden and container garden started.  I hope things work this year, instead of most everything dying again....

Today, I hope to go thrift store shopping.  The bride wants me to NOT wear green, which is one of my best colors...AND she prefers pastels, which I do not have.  I will see if I can find anything.  If not, she'll probably not even notice what I am wearing!

Happy Palm Sunday to any readers who celebrate.  Today, I celebrate the memory of my dad, who was born on this date in 1921.

StormBorn

SO, this happened yesterday.  Blogger is acting up this morning, and this is the best I can do with the pictures.

I traded off my jinxed-but-adorable little green Mazda for a larger, somewhat ugly, Ford Focus hatch back.

Dave doesn't think it's ugly, and he actually spotted it and picked it out.

My car payment will go up about $120, but we can handle that.

This car is about the size of the Toyota Matrix that I had for 10 years.  It's MUCH more capable of doing long road trips with lots of luggage, and even of doing our big grocery running trips *wink*.

There were times when we could barely fit all of our bags in the Mazda when there were a lot of groceries.

We looked on the Carmax website,  found something to test drive, and made an appointment.

The salesman who met us was FAR more helpful than the one at the Mazda dealership last weekend, and was actually willing to work with me to find something that fit within my budget range.

The one I wanted (a Buick Encore crossover/mini SUV) at first was out of range, so he pulled up some other options, and I suggested we step down one size class to the 5 door hatch back idea that I loved so much in the Toyota.

Perfect.

Her name is StormBorn, after a character in Game of Thrones who has silver hair.

StormBorn is a 2016 Ford Focus SE (mid-range features), with almost 44K miles, 2 liter dual overhead cam 4 cylinder, 6 speed manual trans, with 160 horsepower.  No, that's not a typo.

I'll be "hexing her up" today, fending off all jinxes, and getting to know her via the owner's manual and possibly some driving around.

There are a couple of fancy features, like the back up camera, sunroof, and satellite radio, but some much appreciated basic features, too, like it still has a cd player (newer cars no longer have them), and nifty automatic headlights.

The two things that I want to add pretty quickly are window tinting, and a dash cam.  I've become accustomed to the privacy allowed by window tinting, not to mention the protection from the harsh Oklahoma sun.

The dash cam comes about for obvious reasons.  My paranoia about driving (and parking) around OKC in general is HIGH, after having my previous vehicles hit so many times.

(Not just the Mazda with its numerous times, but also the Toyota was run into in a parking lot once, too, and that Caddy loaner we had was hit while we had it, also when it was parked!)

We will be driving Stormy to Chicago in September, Colorado in October, and our cabin camping trip in November.

I feel a LOT better about having it for those trips than Dave's old Pontiac, which has been our road trip car, but which, as mentioned, OLD.

We had our lawn guy come and remove the bushes and tree suckers and stumps (oh my!) from the back yard that we have wanted to remove for years.  Dave said, every year, he was going to do it, and even bought a chain saw, but he was just feeling overwhelmed by it, and preferred to pay someone to do it.  He used some of the money he got from selling his musical instruments.

I hope to get out and mow today, if the grass dries enough.  We had heavy rain yesterday, and it's cool and damp this morning.  Maybe by late afternoon, it will be do-able.

Other than that, learning about the car and cooking are on my agenda!  Oh, and cheering on the Cubs, of course.

They finally broke their 6 game losing streak last night. Hoping things go up hill from here for a while!