Kay's Daily Journal
May 2006
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May 31, 2006 - Tuesday
Well, so much for safe-keeping. It can and does happen to everyone at some point. We got a call after midnight that Seth's car had been broken into. They stole his stereo and another item. But fortunately, they didn't damage the vehicle when doing so. It's so frustrating when thugs do stuff to you. You feel so violated when some jerk takes something of yours that you worked hard to get.
He tried to make a police report, but the dispatcher told him to call back tomorrow. She had 42 reports and only 15 policemen on duty. So he did that this morning after he returned to his apartment and got, hopefully, a couple hours of sleep.
When he called this afternoon, he was coping. Insurance won't pay to replace the items, so that was sad. He's going to replace one item and just wait to replace the stereo. It just has all happened at a bad time, with moving and such.
But he is handling everything well. I know how frustrating this can be, since I've been through having my vehicle broken into, damaged and stuff stolen, on a couple occasions. I'm very proud of him for taking care of everything that he has had to do today! And on top of getting back to work, moving and all the hassles of that!
But it's like our pastor tells us, it's just stuff. Stuff can be replaced.
And I want to add a word of thanks that we have AC and that we didn't lose power today! It hit 100° at our house today. See??
Well, today is the last day of the month. What have I accomplished this month? Well, I read several books! Five were in the romantic fiction area, two of self-help type books, yes, dieting and such, and one was a true story! I tracked Seth's flights to and from New Mexico. I tracked his Storm Chase 2006! I tracked my brother Earl & his wife Gail on their flight to the East Coast from California. I've also been working on my webpages. I've learned several new songs. I've painted some pictures. I've worked on my photos on the computer and scrapbooking a couple times. I've started working on my genealogy again, too. A lot of catch-up work to do in that arena.
My house is still a mess. My music room is worse than ever. But I've had fun!!!!
May 30, 2006 - Tuesday
I drove Seth to BWI. Since you have to be at the airports 2 hours before the flight and we live 2½ hours away, we left 4½ hours before his flight. But no problems, smooth drive to the airport. Well, there was one detour due to an accident, but we still managed to get there in plenty of time.
We tracked Seth on his flights to first- Dallas and then to Albuquerque. However, we lost power for about 2 hours so didn't get to track him the whole time. "Wide-spread power outage due to sub-station equipment failure." Whatever. It happens routinely here.
Seth called us when he landed and was in the process of getting his bags. His friends were there to give him a ride back to his vehicle. He was going to take them out to dinner for all their help in taking him and picking him up at the airport and allowing him to park his vehicle at their place for safe-keeping while he was gone.
May 29, 2006 - Monday
Happy 69th Anniversary, James & Carman!!!!!!
Happy Birthday Lex!!!!!!
Today is special. Not only is it Memorial Day, but it's my brother-in-law's birthday as well as my in-laws 69th Anniversary! In this day of quick divorces and broken homes, what a treasure to see a couple stay together, work together, love and raise their sons, enjoy all their daughter-in-laws and adore their grandchildren. 69 years. Congratulations!!!
Busy day, glad to have Seth home, even if it is for a couple of days!
May 28, 2006 - Sunday
Jim took Seth over to the Eastern Shore to visit all the grandparents. He hasn't seen them since Christmas and won't get to see them again till next Thanksgiving. So, though it's a short visit, at least he'll get to see them.
Jimmy had to work today, Memorial Day weekend is a very busy one. They're having almost record sales this year! A lot of folks on the highways on this official beginning of summer. But people have forgotten what this holiday is all about.
Let's talk about tomorrow, Memorial Day. Officially, the last Monday in May. You can read all about it at this website: Memorial Day.
"Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country."
"There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years."
"To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps'."
"The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country."
This information is from the above website and there is additional information there that every American should see. And Jim sent me links to a couple other websites, one about the Vietnam Wall and the other on Memorial Day and the wars we've fought for freedom.
Visit these websites to see what this weekend, what tomorrow REALLY stands for.
And above all, please take time over this weekend to remember our fallen heroes.
May 27, 2006 - Sabbath
It's funny how miserable I was last night from the humidity and how determined I was that the AC was going to be turned on today. Well, guess what? It's 79° and only 55% humidity today, so guess I got a reprieve. But if that temp goes over 80°, that AC is coming on!!!
I actually wish in some ways that I didn't have to turn it on. With the windows open and a light breeze (if any), I can hear the birds singing and the squirrels fussing in the woods. Sometimes you can hear the turkeys in the woods and the hawks in the sky. Footsteps in the leaves of the woods normally turn out to be 5-7 deer moving around. So that's all cool. We have these little song sparrows, that have a real loud song they sing, mostly at dawn and dusk. That's also when you hear the cardinals high-pitched chirp. So there are real nice advantages to not having the AC turned on. Once you close up to run the AC, you lose all those marvelous sounds. Once the AC is running, I run the TV more for background noise. Spring and fall, with the windows open, I rarely turn the TV on until noon or so to catch the news.
Jim went down to Blacksburg today to pick up Seth, who is back from the two week Storm Chase 2006. I'm excited to see his photos and hear the stories about the trip. It's always so neat!
Seth showed us lots of photos and told stories about the chase. Hopefully, in the next few days I'll get copies of some of his pictures and be able to send out a sampling. They said this was one of their better chases. Yes, they saw some funnel clouds, but the best stuff was all the supercells and storm lines that they saw. He really does have alot of beautiful storm photos this year. He will also have all his photos posted on his website later this summer.
It's night and the humidity and temperatures kept climbing, so I gave in. It hit 93° in the sun, upper 80's in the shade with humidity rising into the 80-90% regions. AC is running and humidity inside has dropped to 49%. Hallelujah! Outside, the humidity is currently at 97%. All of us are breathing better and our allergies are already less of a problem. It's amazing how much humidity and pollen can affect you. I struggle with it due to allergies, yes, but also the asthma. It seems the humidity and pollen both aggravate my asthma to the point of relying on the inhaler more. Not so in the winter and when the AC is running in the summer. And I have a better personality, above all, when I'm not suffering from the humidity. I swear, nothing makes me more short-tempered faster than sticky hot, humid weather! Anyway, I'm happy now and I'll be able to get a good night's sleep tonight!!!
May 26, 2006 - Friday
Yesterday evening summer arrived. I'm not talking so much about the heat. It did, however, hit 85°. I'm talking about one of the other "H's" in our HHH summers. Humidity. Came in, suddenly, and the air is so thick, it feels like you could cut it with a knife.
And today, well, it got up to the low 80's. That's bad enough, but then add 87% humidity on top of it. I feel like I just can't stand it. I'm miserable. Everything is wet in the house, paper, material, and me. It's too miserable to do anything and too miserable to sit still. Hate, Hate, Hate this weather.
Seth and his chase group are back in Blacksburg tonight. And over the weekend, we'll have more photos and details of the chase. I'll post stuff as I get it and send a final "update" to my Storm Chase 2006 emailing list.
I love watching Riverview on SkyAngel. It comes on AngelOne at 8:30 pm on Friday evenings. Not only do I love listening to Phil Baker preach, but the music is awesome. So soothing to my soul. And Phil Baker, well, though sometimes he uses words I'm not sure what they are (he's in Australia), his messages are very good. So though I am frustrated with the humidity and short-tempered for the same reason, Riverview soothed my soul. I can go to sleep now and have a happier disposition in the morning.
And tomorrow, when it heats up, I'm puttin' on the AC.
May 25, 2006 - Thursday
Seems like I've been "tracking" all day. Tracked Seth's chase group all through Illinois and Indiana today. There were some pretty good lines of storms there and currently in Ohio, headed East. Only a couple tornadoes reported in the southernmost part of Indiana (a couple in other states too), but fantastic storm lines! Many, many reports of hail and wind damage through out both states also. Things are starting to pick up more, now that the chase time is about over.
Then I've also been tracking my oldest brother and his wife as they flew into Philadelphia today. So that was cool. He called when they landed, but I had already seen the landing online! So he thought that was neat.
Well, not the "actual" landing, but a simulated version of it.
Looks like we might have a stormy day tomorrow. Laundry and housework won't be interferred with though, regardless, so I'll just have to bite the bullet and try to get some work done.
May 24, 2006 - Wednesday
Happy Birthday James!!!!!!
Got my car back this afternoon. No problems, went through inspection and also had an oil change.
Worked on laundry today. Will work on it again tomorrow and the next day. Is that a surprise???? But I want to work in my music room to see if I can sort through all the papers and get them filed, stacks on the floor and wherever else I can put them. Seems like I'm so piled up with stuff that I need to do as well as stuff that I want to do. It just never ends. But in doing the "have-to's" then enjoying the "want-to's" is what life is all about!
I also have about 20 new songs I'm working on. The new ones, plus some others that I have recently worked on and I have enough to do 2 CD's. One more like what I did before, should we call is soft country gospel? And the 2nd CD, more contemporary gospel? Beyond that I still want to do at least one CD of my religious songs that I've done at churches for years. And then there's a fourth one of my own written songs, probably in the soft country gospel category, except these would be all originals. Just need to catch up on housework so I have the time to work on them.
Well, it's surprising, but I'm suddenly very tired tonight. Must be all this talk about all that I have to do!!!
May 23, 2006 - Tuesday
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, you must put your vehicles through inspection once a year. It's actually a good idea and gives you some peace of mind that your car is somewhat safe to be on the highway. So every vehicle has a sticker that has a month and year on it according to when you purchased the vehicle or when it was inspected by the dealership that you purchased it from. Mine, though it purchasesd in July, has May as it's inspection date. So today I took my car in for inspection. It is actually going to be tomorrow, but I had a ride back home today and will pick it up tomorrow afternoon after it has gone through inspection. Make sense???
I'm hoping there won't be anything wrong. I asked the owner to check it out good, because this past 12 months I put some mileage on her!
Haven't talked with Seth, so haven't done any updates on the Storm Chase. If I haven't heard from him by tomorrow night I'll just send a note out, just to let all know that we're still tracking, just haven't gotten any real updates for awhile.
Tonight I updated the 50th anniversary photos by adding brief explanations on each "thumbnail" photo. That way, at least some can see who was there. It was a lot of fun. Seeing people I haven't seen in 30-40 years!
May 22, 2006 - Monday
So, today is catch-up day. Got my laundry all sorted, ran a couple loads this morning. Ran to town for prescriptions and groceries. Home by 5pm and still have dishes to do now at 11 pm. Well, I had to see the 2 hour season finale of "24".
Speaking of season finale's...I am extremely disappointed at the way they are all ending. Desparate Housewives, is Mike still alive? What is Bree getting herself into? And Boston Legal, is Julie leaving the show? What about the squid, is she a new-comer? And is Gibbs going to have a change of heart and return to NCIS??? And Charmed? They ended the entire series! Well, I suppose, truth be known, that they had played out every possible scenario that could be done, but still. A clean cut show where the bad guys get their just desserts.
Well, seriously I guess Dallas started the proverbial "cliffhangers" years ago. I never watched it, but heard from others that I worked with all about it. Problem is, I'm getting old enough now that I have trouble remembering what's happened with an episode in just a week. Leaving me hanging for the entire summer, well, that can't be good.
On Saturday night, after I got back from Dad's, we watched the new King Kong. Now I love the old movies and the original King Kong was a classic. The newer version with Jessica Lange was good, but the setting was slightly different. This new King Kong is very well done. I really liked it. They followed the classic story much closer and added some neat stuff that had me on the edge of my seat for the entire time. I won't go into details, in case you want to see it, but it was really great.
Something else I want to say about it. No bad language. Now I'm not saying that it's appropriate for a small child. Quite the contrary. It would definitely give a child (and some adults) nightmares. But no bad language, no nudity, nothing. Goes to show you that you don't have to cuss a blue-streak to have a blockbuster! It's a great movie!
Well, guess I'll go do the dishes. Can't stall any longer.
May 21, 2006 - Sunday
Got back last night around 8 pm. It was probably a few minutes before that, but by the time I unloaded the car, it was just after 8 pm. Jim was glad for me to be back home, off the road. It actually wasn't a bad drive at all, since it was a lot heavier traffic on Friday than it was on Saturday evening.
I really enjoyed myself seeing old friends. We laughed about the old days, cried for those who are gone, wondered over the ones that were missing. I was the only one present from my class. But, being a small school, I was also very close to those in classes above and below me. We really all were like a big family. Many of us attending there from the time we started school up through 10th grade. I started there in 2nd grade and was there for 9 years, through 10th grade. The bonds formed during those years are rooted deep in your soul. And though many of us had lost touch over the years, once together again, it was as if we'd never been apart. Addresses and emails all exchanged we've promised to be better about keeping in touch!
And God-willing, I'm looking forward to the 60th anniversary of the school.
May 20, 2006 - Sabbath
I will update the last couple days tomorrow. Right now, I just want to say that it was a GREAT day. The 50th Anniversary of W.C. Moffett School was wonderful. Kim, the woman who organized it and did so much of the work pulling it all together, did a FANTASTIC job!!!! And WHAT a TURN-out!!!! There were alot of people there!!!! I'd love to know what the head count actually was! I know that everyone there had a wonderful time.
It was so great to see old friends, family members and teachers. I will tell more about it tomorrow, details, complete with photos. I will do a WC Moffett 50th Anniversary page on my "School" pages this week. But for tonight I am very tired so will call it a day.
May 19, 2006 - Friday
Well, today was busy. Just did some housework and then went to Dad's for the 50th Anniversary of my school. Not MY 50th, but the schools. I have to admit however that I was there in the late 50's.
No problems with the drive, sang my songs, learning some new ones on the trip. Took my paintings over to show everyone!
May 18, 2006 - Thursday
Funny how a color that is so pretty when you first use it, becomes tiresome after a few days! I'm tired of this yellow background. Already. It was so pretty when I first designed it. Now I'm tired of it. Well, good thing the month is half over. Now what should I do for June???
Seth called me last night to let me know they had seen several funnel clouds in Illinois. Pretty cool.
May 17, 2006 - Wednesday
There is no way that I can get much done for a few days. I'm GLUED to the computer. Tracking Seth's travels, watching the radars, checking the predictions and watching for storm damages! It's just SO COOL!!!!
Seth also just emailed us to let us know he has another article being published in the July QST Magazine!!!! Congratulations Seth!!!!
Well, I'm in the process of recording some more of the Bob Ross tapes, some for me, some for Dorothy. I watch the program everyday, trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong on my oils. I really need to see someone do it in person. I've always had better luck learning something by seeing a real example and then doing it myself. That's why I had some trouble with some subjects in school. If it's a theory or a formula, well, my brain just doesn't work that way. I'm a visual person. I have to see it and try it, to learn it. My family would all testify to that except they don't call it visual. I think the term I've heard used is "hardheaded". Yep, that's me.
But back to the oil painting, the method used on the Bob Ross show is the "wet-on-wet" method. Some artists scoff at this method. Personally, I think it's a great idea. When inspiration strikes, it's a real pain to paint it on one color at a time and have a week or so dry time between each layer. My "inspirations" don't last that long! The "wet-on-wet" method is done all at one time. Bob Ross could do it in 30 mins, actually a little less.
The problem I'm having is I'm using too much paint and therefore it gets difficult to layer other colors on to the canvas. I start off with the thin layer of liquid white or clear or black, depending on the painting. By the time I get from the back of the painting (the far away scenery) to the front of the painting (the close up view), well, the paint is quite thick and difficult to work with. That's why I need to see someone paint with this method up close.
I will eventually find someone teaching the class later this summer or fall. But I just keep trying in the mean time and watching the show everyday and re-watching the tapes.
Well, tons to do tomorrow. yeah right! Lots of tracking to do tomorrow. Now that's being honest! Tired, so will call it a night.
May 16, 2006 - Tuesday
Tracking Seth today until this evening. Lost tracking when they left Missouri and entered into Arkansas. That was about 5 hours ago, so I don't know where they ended up for today. They could still be chasing that one line of storms that moved north to south through Missouri and Arkansas. I don't know what kind of territory it is, so don't know what chasing is like in that part of the country. But a storm line is a storm line!!!
I know a line of storms also went through TN, but that is so hilly and wooded that it would be downright dangerous to track there. At least the part of TN that I saw on the way out to NM last summer!
The SPC is still not predicting anything big for the plains states, so we'll just keep watching. The pattern is bound to break in a few days.
I don't think I really accomplished anything today....just kept running in to the computer to see where they were, checked radar to see where the storms were, checked SPC to see if the weather pattern had changed, checked the aerial view so I could picture the vans rolling down the highways in search of the storms....Wish I was there!!!
Noone could possibly expect me to get anything done the next couple weeks, could they? I rushed around last week trying to get ahead on some stuff, knowing the chase was coming!!! I LOVE IT!!!
May 15, 2006 - Monday
The month is half over and I feel like I haven't accomplished anything. Yes, I've done some things, but the "to do" list is growing faster than I can mark things off!
Today I added some more pencil drawings to my art pages. These are some doodles I did on Sabbath while I was waiting for Jimmy down in Richmond. I also added another oil painting that I did at the beginning of May. So check them out if you are interested.
Seth is not sure whether he will keep his webpages active or not. So, you know me, I hate to see the info not be online. So I've taken the liberty of copying his photos and chase information over to my website at my N4KUP website. (You can click on it to go directly there.) Then you click on "weather" and you will see links to the Storm Chases, listed by years. So far, I've only gotten the 2003 chase copied. He has a ton of photos! I've given him full credit, since it is all his work, photos and the chases. But just wanted to see that the info stays online for those of us who are amateur weather people, who chase by surfing the internet!
Well, even though it seems the list is growing and I'm not getting the things done as I should, I am none-the-less tired, so will call it a night.
May 14, 2006 - Sunday
Happy Mother's Day !!!
I've been a very lucky person. When life has dealt me a bad blow, well, the Lord has always provided for me. For that I'm so thankful.
When I was 14 my mother passed away suddenly. That was a horrible thing in my life. But again the Lord always provides for us. When I lost my Mom, a few months later He provided me another Mom. Now I can't say that I was real accepting of His gift at the age of 15. I really gave her alot of trouble for several years. (She may feel I still do that too!). But she has been patient and ever-loving, enduring through all the trials that I have laid upon her. And she is a GREAT Mom!!!
A few years later, when I married, I gained a 3rd Mom, my mother-in-law. I may not have been the ideal person she would have picked for her son, but she has never let me know that in any way. From day one, I became a member of her family in every way. You hear tales about in-laws on TV and from other folks. I can honestly say that I am the luckiest woman. My mother-in-law is GREATEST Mother-in-law you can imagine!
Now you see why I say I am so lucky. Though I lost my real Mom, I gained 2 wonderful Mom's in my life. How blessed is that? Dorothy, Carman, you two are the greatest Mom's ever! Thanks for always being there for me.
And now, being a Mom myself, I can say that I have the best 2 sons in the world too. I'm so proud of both of them and love them so much. They have grown up to be two young men that make everyday of my life worthwhile! I love you guys!
Now I'm not forgetting the Dad's either. My Dad, my Father-in-law, my husband, my brothers, cousins, nephews and uncles, you guys are wonderful too. Your day is coming in June, Father's Day. But today is Mother's Day and that's what this is all about.
And there are other "mothers" in my life, my sister-in-laws, Eunice, Penny, Gail, Linda, nieces, cousins, aunts and friends, too many to name. All of you are special to me. So Happy Mother's Day to all of you!
May 13, 2006 - Sabbath
Well, it's evening and I'm home. I only got to visit with Seth last night for about an hour or so. They got in from the airport around 9:30 pm and Seth was exhausted. He's been working and doing final exams and packing for this trip and packing to move. When he returns, he & JoAnna & Joey will be moving into a house they have rented. So alot going on for him. So he went to bed and Jim was tired after driving up and back to BWI. I stayed up until about 11:30 pm, just getting some stuff ready for today and dishes etc.
Today I got up at 4 am, actually it was more like 4:10 am before I heard the alarm. Jimmy also got up about 4:30 am. Jimmy had to be in Richmond before 7 am this morning. So we left a little after 5 am, with Jimmy handling the maps and me driving, we made it to the location at 6:45 am. He had a regional competition to attend as a judge today, so it was a big deal!
I stayed in Richmond all day, but I had brought a book to finish reading, papers with which to draw on, genealogy papers to be studied, contesting paperwork to be caught up and a couple of granola bars and a bottle of water! I fell asleep in the lounge area on the sofa and slept for almost 3 hours!
Meanwhile, back at home, Jim & Seth had to head for Blacksburg which is a 5 hour drive. They left around 8:30 am and stopped in to the church so Seth could say hi to everyone and they had a special "Chase and Safety" prayer before they left. I thought that was cool!
Jim called me around 4 pm to say the vans were loaded, wired and ready to go. Said they looked like a couple of porcupines with all the antennas on them!! I hope Jim got some good pictures!
I called Carman, my mother-in-law, to let her know that all were safe (because I knew she was worrying about all the traveling) and trips all sucessfully done, and she said, Jim taking Seth to one place, me taking Jimmy to another. She said it's a good thing we didn't have 4 children! I told her we'd just have to be twins if that had happened! It's funny but it's like the old days when they were younger. They were both in cubscouts and both in Little League, also Adventurers and later Pathfinders, plus band & orchestra and so many other extra-circular activities! There were evenings when we had to go several different places for each of them. Jim would get one and transport to first location, while I transported the other one to a 2nd location. Then Jim would pick up the 2nd one to take him to another thing while I caught up with the other one to get him to his next appointment. Man! Don't know how we did it!!! Guess when you're younger you just don't even think about it! You have more energy or something maybe. Yes. Definitely something.
Well, I'm asking questions and answering myself, so you know I'm tired. Going to call it a day. Tomorrow, I'll scan my couple of drawings and put them online. I also do a preliminary Storm Chase 2006 email so that everyone is up to date for the chase. Seth is going to email as often as he can on happenings and photos, if all goes as planned. And of course, tracking should be live as of tomorrow morning.
May 12, 2006 - Friday
Busy day today. Trying to get some laundry done, cleaning, vacuuming and so forth. Scrubbed 2 bathrooms, vacuumed, scrubbed the kitchen floor and various other housework items and three loads of laundry. I always leave the bulk of my cleaning for Fridays anyway but pushed a little harder today. The house isn't clean or organized by any stretch of the imagination. Just a little less dirty today. Seth is coming home and wanted him to at least have a bed to sleep in. I had my scrapbooking stuff all over his room and bed, so got that picked up, too.
Jim is going to the airport to pick him up this afternoon. It's about a 3 hour drive up to BWI, but it's the best one to come into also less expensive than Dulles or DC. Busy weekend!
May 11, 2006 - Thursday
Happy Birthday Eunice !!!
Very humid, have had a little rain. It's slightly breezy and the atmosphere is quite unstable. We're under a tornado watch until 10 pm tonight. It's stormy all around. But nothing here yet.
I run 3 different weather things on my computer. Ambient Weather, WeatherBug and The Weather Channel. They all are flashing and chirping and beeping at me with the alert about the tornado watch with hail to 1" and wind gusts to 70 mph. Absolutely COOL!!!!
The low pressure system that is spinning these bands of severe storms over the mid-Atlantic, the center of it is sitting almost exactly overtop of where one of my brothers live, in Michigan. They're getting storms there too.
The sun has popped out and that is just the formula needed to cause the storms to grow. The more the sun shines on a day like today, the more likely to get some good lift. Going to be an interesting evening.
I need to watch "Twister" again. I always watch it when Seth goes chasing, just to get me into the spirit of things! Maybe over the weekend sometime!
It's now 7 pm and there is a tornado on the ground north of us here in KG county. Storms are closing in and it's dark as twilight outside. Rumbles of thunder are being heard in the distance. Storms to the north and storms to the south and looks like the southern one may just barely clip us. Worst of both are going around us.
We could see the shear in the clouds. There were high clouds moving extremely fast from SSW to NNE and closer to us were more clouds moving very, very fast from the East to the West. It was awesome!!! I've never seen anything like it before in my life! Jim got the video camera and tried to film it. Unbeliveable!!! It has started to rain and is really getting dark so I'll upload this before I lose power or satellite for the evening. AWESOME EVENING!!! I do hope no one is hurt or loses their homes and property. That's always the downside of the excitement.
May 10, 2006 - Wednesday
Jim had an oil change done yesterday, cost him $300. Actually he also had a tuneup, new sparkplugs. So everything was about about $100 but $200 in labor. UNBELIEVABLE. They also said his tires were all dangerous and dry-rotted. So today we went somewhere else and got two tires replaced at another $300. It would've been more to have the tires done at the place that did the oil change. Rip-off artists is what they are. I'll say no more, since we occasionally have to deal with them, no other choice locally. Actually, we have a really good guy locally that we normally go to, but he is so good and so honest and so reasonable with his prices that it takes anywhere from 4-6 weeks to get your car into his shop for any reason. When we can plan ahead, we always prefer to have him. He is the only honest car person that I've ever dealt with. But sometimes things come up and you can't wait....
I got a letter today in the mail from someone researching the same names that I am in genealogy. Turns out she was born and raised in my home territory and currently lives in my local area!!! So COOL! And another "cousin" sent me via email a copy of Catherine Thomas's death certificate and her husband, Lucien Thomas's naturalization records! They were my great-great grandparents! This has been a GREAT day for genealogy!!!!
Didn't get any census records downloaded today, worked on laundry, took garbage to the dump and got tires on the truck, so was a full day. Plan to get more housework done tomorrow, then some downloading in the evening. Forecasting storms for us tomorrow, so we'll see. Then rain. Then a couple days of sun, then more rain over the weekend. At least Friday is supposed to be mostly clear. That's the day Seth is flying in from New Mexico!!!
And more good news!!! Jimmy has almost all his grades. Only missing one and that professor has been in the hospital so couldn't get the final grades posted. They're hoping she'll be able to post them next week. All subjects, including Accounting are A's with one B in Chemistry! AWESOME!!!! We're so VERY PROUD!!!! GOOD JOB JIMMY!!!!!!
Well, it's not as late as I normally stay up, but I'm extra tired tonight so will call it done!
May 9, 2006 - Tuesday
How many times in a month can I say it's just been a routine day? Well, this month, I suppose I could say it 31 times. Today was just a routine day, laundry and such. Didn't get as much accomplished as I'd planned. Didn't get as much accomplished as I'd hoped. Yep. Just a routine day.
Last night I was downloading the census records for Pennsylvania. They actually have quite a few done in many of the counties. I successfully got the C, D and E counties downloaded, at least for the years they had completed, which was 24 different years and 15 counties. Now to give you some perspective, it should be a total of 15 years for each county (1790, 1800,1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920 & 1930) These are the years that are currently released to the public. There is a 70 year privacy thing, so 1940 census will not be released until 2010, 1950 won't be released until 2020 and so on. So 15 counties times 15 years is (hold on, let me get my calculator!) 225. So there should technically be 225 census records for the 15 counties. But honestly, 24 of 225 is a very good number, considering that the census work has really just gotten started in the last few years.
Another example is Virginia. There are 101 counties plus 25 city districts where census records were taken. Times that by 15 years each equals 1,890 census records for the state. Of that amount only 44 are completed at this time. So you can see what a major undertaking this project is and the people doing this work have my utmost respect and thanks! Very tedious work.
Ok, I'll give you all one more state statistic. Maryland has 23 counties and 1 city district census records, times 15 years equals 360 records. So far, only 59 are complete. Actually, that's a pretty good record!
One last statistic for you. Yeah, I know, I said that Maryland was the last one. But this is interesting. Well, at least to me. What state has the most counties? Can you guess? States like California, Alaska and Texas are pretty big! So are Arizona and New Mexico. So which one has the most counties? Give up????
California has only 60. (Remember that VA has 101.) New Mexico has 33, Arizona has only 14. Wow. They must be HUGE counties! Alaska has 6 counties. Texas wins. It has the most counties of any state. 263. Yep. Pretty amazing. Now. Can you guess what state has the 2nd highest amount of counties? Give up????????
Well, you'd never guess the answer to that one. So I'll tell ya. It's Georgia, with 162. How's that for a lot of counties!!!
Hope you enjoyed my little state trivia for the evening.
May 8, 2006 - Monday
I'm so excited!!! My CD's came today!!! Already!!! I ordered them on Wednesday afternoon online and received them today!! That is AMAZING. WOW-I'm so impressed.
Next I'll rip them to my computer and change the keys if necessary in my music software program that I have. Then it's just a matter of practice.
Well, had to run today to finish the shopping I didn't do on Friday, so took care of that. There was a particular paintbrush that I wanted to get, called a feather or rake brush. It's to help you with painting things like grass or weeds or animal fur. I found it at Michael's today, so I'll try using it on the next painting I do.
Got lots to do this week. Seth gets home on Friday for just one night and then he's off for his "Storm Chase 2006". I'll be sending out some emails to people with updates from the trip and tracking information.
Each night I spend about an hour or so downloading census records. Not all years are available for all counties yet. Folks are working on them, but many have not yet even been assigned. But of the ones that are available, I'm slowly downloading the completed census records. I keep a chart of which years for which counties in each of the states that I'm researching in. So once I have what's available downloaded, then I can check once a month or so to see if any new ones have been completed. It's really pretty phenomenal. What a big job those folks have undertaken. If I had the equipment I would help, but I don't have a microfilm machine yet. Someday....it's on my "to save up and buy someday list". Yes, yes, I know, another one of my lists!
Well, tons to do, tired tonight, so will quit typing and get some sleep.
May 7, 2006 - Sunday
Cool today, temps currently in the upper 50's. Nice. It could stay this way as far as I'm concerned! However, the humidity is currently 53% and climbing. It's supposed to rain by late this afternoon and through the night, into tomorrow. So it will be very humid. It's the kind of humidity that makes everything in the house seem wet. Paper gets soggy and limp, clothes feel heavy and things in the dryer take forever. Humidity, yuck!
On the brighter side, I seem to have less allergy symptoms when it's humid. But asthma wise, I have more trouble in my lungs. So it's really a toss up. Nah, get rid of the humidity. I'll deal with the allergies!
I'm still downloading census records. I finished the ones for Maryland that are currently available. Delaware doesn't have any completed yet, so I guess I'll start on Virginia this week. These census works are so wonderful. Many people put in long hours transcribing the data from microfilm, typing it into a given format and then another person or persons proofread the entire works from microfilm before it is uploaded to the website. These gracious folks put in weeks and weeks of work so that people like me have free access to the census records without having to pay some huge fee to an online service or purchase the individual reels of microfilm, one by one, from either the National Archives or another company. So my hat's off to these hardworking, dedicated folks. My thanks for their hours of diligent work. It's so very wonderful to be able to search these records!
I also did some research on lightning photos. The one painting that I started back in April that had to dry between layers is going to have a large lightning stroke through the center of it. So I looked at literally hundreds of lightning photos last night to see if I can paint one. We shall see. That layer will also have to dry before I add the finishing layer to the painting. It looks good in my mind, now I just need to transfer that mental photo to canvas.
I love trying the landscapes and seascapes are another area I would dearly love to learn how to paint. But, I believe the things I'd love to paint the most are animals and birds, butterflies, flowers and trees, you know, things of nature. Course I'd also love to paint stormy skies, tornadoes and the old time ships, like the clippers and so forth. Boy, do I have alot to learn. And then there's portraits. Don't know if I'll ever be good enough to do that, but it would be cool. Practice, practice.
Painting and drawing are just like any other thing. If you want to play the piano, 99% of the people just can't sit down and play immediately. It takes literally years of practice. It's the same with painting. You just don't sit down and paint a masterpiece the first time. You keep painting and painting, and hopefully, if you're that interested in continuing, it's because there is a certain basic raw talent hidden somewhere. But not necessarily. I believe our minds are capable of much more than we realize.
I saw a young child, years ago, that didn't have much talent for music. This child just really didn't have the naturalness that you see in some students. But this child was determined to play the piano. And so, practice, practice and even then it seemed like the piano playing was very wooden, or learned, not flowing. That child is now an adult and one of the best pianists I have heard. It's a lesson to all of us. If you want something bad enough, you will work towards your goal and you will succeed. A wonderful lesson.
You'd think that with all my hobbies and interests that I could figure out a way to earn some money. Maybe I should try selling stuff on eBay or something. You'd think that I could come up with some kind of idea.
OK, I've rambled on again enough for one day.
May 6, 2006 - Sabbath
We had some very mild storms go through late afternoon yesterday. I fell asleep on the sofa around 6:30 pm and didn't wake up until after 8 pm. Blood sugar was high, that's what causes me to zonk out! We ate Chinese for lunch yesterday, hadn't had it for awhile, I love it so, but I just can't handle it. I didn't even overeat, it's just a high sugar content I guess, maybe in the sauce. I had the Hunan Chicken, which is broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, celery, chicken, hot peppers, green peppers, chinese cabbage and a little hot spicy sauce that it is cooked in. It's very good, but I have to sleep after I eat it.
The Ten Commandments sermons are being aired on 3ABN this weekend. I slept through the 1st commandment sermon accidentally....didn't realize that it was being aired this weekend...but managed to get the 2nd and 3rd commandments watched. We recorded the 4th one since it was getting past our bedtimes! Will watch this afternoon or tonight if we get a chance. The sermons continue today from 9 am to 9 pm. I'm hoping that they will air the entire thing again, so that I can catch them all.
I only walked on the treadmill 3 days last week. The pain in my knees, ankle and heels has gotten so much worse. I feared doing damage, so I'm going to try some other forms of dieting and exercise. More emphasis on diet than exercise. I still need to exercise, don't get me wrong. But even my doctor says that until I lose more weight, I could be damaging my joints. He recommends the bike and other ways for now. I did walking for 3 months solid and I have more trouble walking now than before I started....
So for the month of May, I'll try some alternative methods and see if I have any forward progress. I was pretty discouraged anyway with the walking. Pain, pain and more pain, plus I just wasn't losing the weight. Don't get me wrong, as soon as I can tolerate the pain, I'll go back to it. I feel that it is the best and most steady method of successful, permanent weight loss. Plus it's good for my health. But not if it ruins my knees. Not with the pain in my heels and achilles. I have some exercises that are supposed to help the heels and achilles pain that I'm experiencing. So will give that a shot this month.
No, I haven't quit.
Man, am I getting long-winded or what?
May 5, 2006 - Friday
Routine day. Just did a little grocery shopping and picked up a few prescriptions. Nothing exciting. Storms are on the way towards us for late afternoon. Jimmy is working today until about 8 pm. Jim took today off to finish working on an outside project. It is done and wired and we now have our programing back for the weekend. Cool. Very Cool.
I was lamenting to Jim about how I feel like I'm not progressing with things that need to be done. It's not a matter of what can I do today but more like, what has to be done today. It's kind of like, which thing has fallen the most behind and has the highest priority to be completed.
That is exactly why I started my paintings. I kept putting them off and putting them off, waiting for when the house is clean, waiting for this or that to be accomplished. I decided that if I keep on waiting, it will never happen. Housework never gets done. There's always tons to do. So....I stopped and did some paintings. Kinda like stoppin' to smell the roses theory, you know? The housework will always be there, no matter what. It is perpetual and forever.
I'm not saying that I'm going to totally ignore my housework or projects that need to be done. (Though if you saw my house right now you might wonder!). I'm just saying that sometimes, you just have to step back and take some time to soothe your brain. Understand?
Now with that said, onto more interesting things. Guess it's going to be cloudy tonight so you won't be able to do the astronomy thing I mentioned the other day. Well, we'll see.
I ordered some new karaoke songs this week. These are more along the contemporary type. Several songs I've been hearing on the local religious radio station, which plays people like Newsboys, Mercy Me, Nicole Mullen, Nicole Nordeman, Natalie Grant and so on. So I ordered a couple contemporary ones that I like alot and also a couple Jeff & Sheri Easter songs, which are more country or southern gospel style. One of the new songs that I got was "What If" by Nicole Nordeman. I think that is a very haunting song and really like it. So we'll see if I can sing it!
I'm thinking of doing some sort of update each month next year, similar to what Seth does each month on his journal. His is a listing of things he has accomplished during the month as well as some weather statistics that he keeps a log on.
I want to do a weather one for our house, temps, rainfall etc. But I also was thinking about my many projects and many hobbies that I juggle. Why not keep a running log of progress or lack thereof on each of my hobbies, as well as New Year's resolutions and miscellaneous household projects that I want to accomplish. I don't know. It gets complicated, but maybe by typing them into my journal, it might help me or give me more incentive to work on them throughout the year. Who knows?
On the other hand, if I play devil's advocate with myself, as I often do, maybe, just maybe if I didn't spend so much time rambling on and on here in this journal, I might actually accomplish some things on those l-o-n-g "to do" lists!
So many projects, so many things to accomplish, so many hobbies, so little time........
May 4, 2006 - Thursday
Jim worked on an outside project today. So that was cool. Jimmy had his last day of classes and exams today. He has done SO good!!!! Still waiting for all his grades but looking like mostly A's!!!
Today I concentrated on housework and laundry since I goofed off all day yesterday painting. Seems like I didn't get much accomplished but that is normal for me. By the time I do 3 loads of laundry, fold and hang up stuff the day seems shot.
I did practice some songs today, which I haven't done in awhile. My voice has been so bad with the asthma. But as soon as I started singing, well, at least by the 2nd song, I had worked my way through it, so there's still hope for me I suppose!
It got up to 91° today, but thankfully the humidity was only around 45%. There was even a small breeze for awhile, though we don't get much breeze here in the woods. This evening the breeze died and the humidity has started to rise. It's at 53% and you can definitely feel the difference. Won't be long and that old AC will have to come on. Then I'll be able to breath better, which will help me sleep better too. Good old AC.
May 3, 2006 - Wednesday
And from my space-weather newsletter, the following is about to happen. Visit Space Weather for sky maps and more information.
METEOR SHOWER: Earth is about to pass through a stream of dust from Halley's Comet, and this will produce the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. The shower peaks on Saturday, May 6th, with 10 meteors per hour in the northern hemisphere and as many as 60 meteors per hour in the southern hemisphere. The best time to look is during the hours immediately before sunrise on Saturday morning.
PHOTO OP: On May 7th, the biggest fragment of dying comet 73P/Schwassmann Wachmann 3 will glide by the Ring Nebula in Lyra. The view through backyard telescopes should be wonderful. This is an opportunity for astrophotographers to take some rare photos of a comet and a planetary nebula side by side.
And on the homefront....the story I promised to tell you. Well, I've decided not to post it. I'll tell you when I see you. It would even be better for Seth to tell the story, it IS his story afterall. But, in case he doesn't get chance to, well, remind me when you see me.
I have posted my latest oil painting on my artwork-oils page. I've also posted my two acrylic paintings on the acrylics page. I found a tablet of charcoal drawings I did in class when I was pregnant with Seth, so those are also posted on my charcoal page. I'm still learning, OK?
Today I also did 3 more paintings, one of the larger size and 2 of the smaller sizes. Not happy with the 2 smaller ones but it's still more practice. I am very happy with the bare tree that I did on the larger painting. And one of the trees on one of the smaller ones turned out good. I photographed the larger one, but the two smaller ones will have to wait until they are dry to be photographed. I've got wet paintings on top of kitchen cabinets, bookcases and now on top of books on the shelves of my bookcase. I truly have no place else to set a wet painting!!!!
May 2, 2006 - Tuesday
Tomorrow I will tell you Seth's story. Let me give you a hint. He called us at midnight knowing we would still be up on a Saturday night. He had participated in a shooting match earlier and was making the two hour drive back to his apartment, across the desert alone, in the late afternoon, when the story begins. Have I peaked your interest?
Man, I have so many things I want to do and learn. Why is that? What drives me to try new hobbies, learn new skills?
Years ago when I worked for the government and was pregnant with my first son, I had let the folks know that I probably wouldn't come back to work after the birth. I planned on being a stay at home mom. A couple of the women that I worked with told me I would get bored and be back in 6 months. It was then that I told them a fact about my personality. I never get bored. I may not be in the mood to do something or even in a bad mood and not do what I planned. But bored? Never, I told them.
I didn't lie. I don't get bored. There are always so many things to do or learn or try. How can anyone EVER get bored???? I have so many hobbies that I've developed over the years. Crocheting, knitting, quilting, sewing, rubberstamping, scrapbooking, genealogy, music, collections, dollhouse stuff, paint-by-numbers, painting, drawing, cake decorating, candymaking, gardening, latchhook, plastic canvas, macrame, decoupage and I could just go on and on. (Ever hear the expression "Jack of all trades, master of none?") And if I'm not in the mood to be productive, then I can always watch an old movie or pick up a book to read. Now I'm not saying that I currently do all of these hobbies. Over the years I may slip from one hobby to another. I haven't worked on gardening since I've lived in Virginia, but the love of it is still there and I always get excited about it when all the seed and flower catalogs come out in the spring. Many times I will concentrate very hard on one hobby over a long period of time. Like a couple years ago, I practically lived and breathed scrapbooking for 10 months, while I was making the gift scrapbooks. Over the years I have spent hours on genealogy. Music is one of my more basic hobbies, I've always had music in my life. Scrapbooking, music, genealogy are like the core hobbies. Some are new hobbies, some are older hobbies. I started genealogy basically in my late teens, early 20's. I've tried painting in the past, about 30 years ago, now it has re-surfaced. See how that works?
Bored? Never!!
And one sad and nostalgic moment for the day. My mom died when I was 14 years old. (I have a page dedicated to her accessed through my family pages.) I still have some more photos to add. She was only 40 years old when she died. Today would've been her 81st birthday. I still think about her everyday.
May 1, 2006 - Monday
Well, did the April showers bring May flowers to your house? My jonquils (daffodils) and tulips and grape hyacinths and full sized hyacinths are about gone. However, my azalea bush, which looked dead as a doorknob, is coming out in full bloom! I thought it had died with the drought last year. It didn't even have a green leaf on it till just a couple weeks ago. Now it's doing really well. My wild dogwood trees are starting to bloom also. So it truly looks like spring. And of course, here in Virginia, we're already cutting grass back in April. Some years we've actually, well, Jim has had to cut it in March. But we had a cooler March and April than normal. (I used to cut grass alot when we lived in Westminster, but I didn't mind it then and in the open field. But Jim handles it completely here in Virginia, for which I am so very thankful!!!!)
So shall I tell you Seth's story today? Or make you wait another couple of days? It's definitely a wild story. Hm-m-m-m, I think I'll make you wait.
Otherwise today was a typical Monday. Housework, laundry, all those "good" things. Can't you tell I'm being sarcastic???? But seriously, it was a gorgeous day, mid 60's, bright and sunny. Can't ask for much more. Guess it could be a little cooler but I only say that for the bees and spiders. This is a very pleasant temperature.
So how do you like my May background? I was personally getting a little tired of the April one, especially with the rabbits jumping out of the eggs. So this one is a calmer, more peaceful background with non-animated clip-art for a change.
I'm hoping to paint tomorrow, if I get some of my housework done off my list early. But we shall see. I tend to move slowly, especially on housework!
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