Cold Day

Did I mention that I have a bad cold? I stayed home all day yesterday with my head feeling like it might explode and that feeling of tingling my sinuses that you get when you dive into a swimming pool and get chlorine up your nose. Today is better, but not great. I am staying home again today and hoping that rest and relaxation will help. Maybe Toby will make me another hot toddy.

And I’m bored out of my mind. I’ve been surfing the net and leaving long messages on comments. I’m sure everyone loves for me to blog on their comment section. Although I am terribly dull and not a thing is happening, I thought I might as well come to my own blog and post something today. Besides the computer, the dogs have been my main source of entertainment. Ranger took over the new toy that I bought for the puppy. The puppy moved on to shoes, socks and gloves. After much debate and discussion, I think we will call the puppy Jack. – after Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. Of course there is also Jack Frost, Jack Roan, Jack be nimble, Jack the Ripper, etc. All of those seem to fit him pretty well. Jesse and I watched old Hanna Barbera cartoons on YouTube looking for appropriate sidekick names, since the pup seems to be a sidekick to our other dogs who ignore him as much as possible. We have Ranger, and we thought about calling the pup Tonto, but it didn’t fit. Bobalouie from Quick Draw McGraw seemed like a good name, but Toby didn’t like it. I liked Reddy from Ruff and Reddy (and the dog is red) but no one else liked the name. Huckleberry was a possibility, but not. Anyway, we had fun watching the cartoons on a Saturday morning. I have always wanted a pink poodle that I could call Ruby Tuesday, but it isn’t a good name for a male dog even if he is red. I liked Rubio, but got shot down on that one too. Jack will be a good name – if it sticks to him. A name has to fit and be easy off the lips. We will see.

The good news is that the weather is lousy – cold and windy – so I am not missing anything outdoors. Toby got in some elderberry plants to go with the huge garden and orchard he has been working on. If the weather is better tomorrow, we will plant them. He also started some plants from seed – something like 72 little plants. It is going to be a busy spring and summer. I feel like Claudette Colbert in The Egg and I. If you have never read that book, it is much better than the movie. I can picture myself canning more stuff than we could ever eat.

I got my card entries painted for the Soldiers Angel’s contest. SA wants to make more cards for the SA store. I don’t really know what they were wanting, but I painted four scenes from military life. Maybe one will work. I will post them soon. I am not on my desktop right now – leaving it for Toby to be working on tax stuff. – and the laptop has my paintings on it. I did post a couple of my paintings on my FaceBook page for Jake Woods to see, since I borrowed a couple photos from his blog and got permission to use them. Thanks Jake. Chris let me use one of his photos too. Thanks Chris.

Okay, enough rambling. I may go read my romance novel, since I don’t have an Amazon Kindle to download something really interesting. Or I may make the rounds of my favorite blogs and leave some more comments.

Chicken Menace

Since I had a dentist appointment yesterday, I dressed up a little - wearing nicer jeans, nicer shirt, and my good sandals. It was the sandals that were most impressive – I am tennis-shoe kind of girl. I’m sure I impressed the art girls who normally see me in my grubby jeans and a T-shirt. Actually, that is my normal attire any day of the week. The chickens were not so impressed when I went out to feed them wearing my fancy pants and shoes. As I was walking around their pen, I wondered at my choice of footwear, but I kept going. As I was hauling water to those thirsty chickens, who had been squawking at me to hurry with their water, I stepped on uneven ground and rolled my ankle. I went down, throwing the chicken water bucket and bending the rim. My first thought was, "Dang! Toby is going to be mad that I bent his chicken water bucket." Then my second thought was, "I hate those dang chickens."

Last week when I was feeding the chickens, there was a dead meadowlark in the pen with the chickens. I don’t know how it got in the chicken condo, but those chickens are deadly. They are territorial and vicious. Years ago, we were stacking small bales of hay in the barn. Toby picked up a bale and a little mouse went running across the next bale. Without thinking, Jesse, who was wearing gloves, snatched up the mouse. It was an amazing catch. She had that look on her face that said, "Wow, I can’t believe I caught the mouse!" The second look on her face was, "And why did I catch it?" She took it over to her chicken pen and dropped it in. The chickens went crazy chasing it. The mouse did get away, but I’m telling you that chickens are mean.

My first experience with chickens was years ago when Bo was a toddler. We had moved to a little farm north of Vernon, TX. My dad bought us 40 odd assortment of chickens, rooster, and guineas. At first it was kind of cool. Then it was a mess. They tore up the backyard leaving it looking like a war zone. They crowed at all hours of the night and day. They had fleas. They attracted varmints like skunks, snakes, and possums. Then they started having chicks and got really mean. Bo was afraid to go into the back yard after having a mother hen chase him and peck his diaper (little fluff was coming out of his diaper as he ran). Bo soon learned to take a handful of rocks to throw at the guineas so that they would go on and quit squawking. I can look back on it now and think that it was not so bad, but still, chickens are not my favorite. And goats are worse. As my neighbor says, "A man can’t walk the Christian walk and own a goat." But that is another story.

Dogs, Contests, Computers

I've been to the dentist this morning - just a routine checkup and cleaning. While in town I ran some errands like buying puppy food and a toy for the new puppy. He seems to be a sock dog. Rather then have socks with holes all over the house, a toy seemed in order. Go to Jesse's blog for photos.

I have art today. Today is also the deadline for the Soldiers' Angels card contest. I may have something to submit. I may post them for you later. My house needs some cleaning. And here I am on the computer which I missed terribly yesterday. Thanks goes to Shay, Lindz husband, for making the router work for me.

Router

Yesterday was so beautiful - 75 and no wind - that Toby and I broke out the bicycles and went for a ride. He wanted to ride further than the four miles that we rode, but I ask him not to kill me the first day out on the bikes. Sure enough, I am a bit sore this morning, but the ride was worth it. I am looking forward to more biking and more good weather.

Today I am having some computer problems. I think that crazy computer guy that came by several weeks ago jinxed me. He was amazed at my router saying it was old and surely it did not work correctly. I had to convince him that it worked fine - no problems with the router. He continued to look at it like it was prehistoric. Now, it seems to have bit the dust. That means a trip to town to find a new router. And lunch with Jesse - I can live with that. If you are wondering, I am in Jesse's room on her computer which is plugged directly into the modem. It makes me giggle to be on Jesse's new laptop.

The weather is suppose to be gorgeous again today. Yeha!

Bits and Pieces

Economics
The Diva and I were discussing economics last week and the causes for the hard times. Maybe I should give you a few minutes to LOL or roll your eyes at the thought of me discussing economics, but I am married to an accountant and my son does have a Masters in Economics so such topics are discussed in my home. If Toby is willing to listen to me go on and on about my students and art, I should listen to his economic rants. Anyway, Toby sent me this link to an article on the economy and how we got where we are today.

Computers
I'm not sure why I am able to post photos these days. Maybe it has to do with the size of the photo - the smaller the better. Does that mean that if the photo is too large that my Hughes connection is not able to upload it without breaking up? Mine is not to question why; Mine is but to post and sigh.

I have been using "my reading list" on the Blogger dashboard. It sure makes my blog reading go faster. Rather than having to go through my whole "favorites list" of blogs, "my reading list" shows who has posted and when. Now, I know who has recently posted and do not spend time going to some one's blog and finding that there are no new posts. The downside of My Reading List is that I have to remember where I left comments, if I want to go back and check replies. Sometimes the ol' memory ain't what she used to be.

GGs
I kept the GGs yesterday afternoon. We gathered seven chicken eggs and made it back to the house with five of them. Actually GBN2 dropped her eggs on the kitchen floor - to the delight of the dogs. GBN1 helped Toby plant blackberries, while GBN2 and I stayed indoors. GBN1 eventually got tired of the cold wind and told Crewcraw that she "did not want to get sick and was going inside." Jesse was home by this time, so I went to help Toby in the garden while the GGs helped Jesse with supper. When Toby and I came inside, the GGs were wearing aprons and helping Aunt Jes stir the dinner and set the table. It was a bit chaotic, but Jes was cool.

The GGs went home, and we set down to a nice supper. Toward the end of the supper I asked Toby to reach into the fridge and get the fruit salad. He did so without getting out of his chair. Then I turned in my chair to get spoons out of the drawer. Jesse made fun of us and our tiny kitchen by scooting her chair and reaching into the oven. We all got a laugh out of her antics. Toby said he kind of liked having such a small kitchen that you could reach everything without leaving your seat. One of the art ladies made mention that my house was much like "being in college and living in a small apartment." I was not offended by her comment, but I did find it funny what people will say. It makes you wonder what else they are thinking and did not say. Actually, my present house is larger and much more comfy than our college apartment.

The art lady comment reminded me of some other comments that I found humorous and reflect upon my housekeeping skills. As one friend was leaving my house, she glanced over and saw a spool of thread back behind one of the recliner chairs. She reached back and picked it up and handed it to me saying, "I bet you were missing this and wondering what you did with that spool of thread." I smiled at my friendand set the thread on the table, but did not tell her that I knew exactly where the thread was - I just had not bothered to pick it up - yet. My DIL once remarked, "Did you know that you have a pot-holder on the floor behind your stove?" My reply, "Why yes, that is where I keep them." And those spiderwebs, they are pets."

Stolen Photo

This is another photo stolen from my friend Sarah's FaceBook album. Last June, I wrote a post about John Gill. Sarah had this great photo of John on his motorcycle and Ricky (John's nephew) leaning against the Z. Who could resist the those Gill boys? That summer of 1976, I remember Janetta, Ricky's sister, asking me, "So, are you going to be my sister-in-law or my aunt?"

Blog Snob

You know, I struggle with Facebook, yet it seems to be the "in thang." Facebook has been a great way to find old friends and see what everyone else is doing, but I am not all that in to it. I don’t really understand all the "tags" and "pokes" and "invites" and such. I just like to look at photos and read the comments and see old friends. Today I was tagged in a photo (whatever that means) when my old friend, Sarah, posted this photo from 1996 (that is old friends, Sandra and Joy in the photo with me). 1996 does not seem like that long ago. We moved to OK from NM in the winter of 1996. Look at how slim I was when I left RR. Then Toby bought me a bread maker, and I knew no one in OK and I turned 40. Excuses, excuses…

Don't expect much from me on Facebook. Maybe I will get better at it; maybe not. I have had this blog for almost four years. Who would have thought that I could keep it going for so long. This is where I will continue to write my stories and post my photos. Truly I do not need to be on the computer any more than I already am.

This weekend was busy, and I did not get on the computer nearly as much as I would have liked. Right now, I am itching to get this posted and make my blog rounds and see what my blog friends have posted. I'm hooked on Blogger. Although I love seeing my old friends on Facebook, I love making new friends with Blogger.

Funny Morning Conversation

At breakfast this morning I was quizzing Toby and Jes on what their plans were after work. I knew they were both supposed to attend the local science fair. Jesse is to be a photographer and Toby is supposed to be a judge. But I did not know the specifics like what time they needed to be there, what about supper, were they coming home before all of this, etc. Jesse said that she was to be at the fair pretty quick after work. Toby did not seem to know much about the agenda, and Jesse informed him that he needed to be there right after work for the "initiation."

Toby questioned, "The initiation?"
Jesse, being funny replied, "Yes, they are going to beat you up."
We all got a laugh out of that.
Then she said, "Wait, it is the orientation."
Then we really laughed at her.
Jesse, "That is going on the blog isn’t it?"
Me, "Yep."

Be Smart

Someone brought up the subject of gangs in Lawton. I’m not sure my reaction was appropriate, so I had to do some rethinking on the subject. I thought back to my first dealings with gangs, which was in Taos, NM at the junior high where I taught. In 1991, the gang problem was just getting going in Taos, but it was a problem. With such a mix of races and cultures in a low income, welfare area, there was going to be problems. Drugs and alcohol were already prevalent. Movies made the whole gang image popular. It was a recipe for disaster. Yet people did not want to look seriously at the problem. I remember talking to a lady who had just moved to Taos with her son to "get away from the inner-city gang problems in CA." When I mentioned the gang problem in Taos, she was shocked. She thought that such a small, beautiful town could not have gang problems. I didn’t bother to tell her about the serious drug and alcohol problems per capita. People did not want to hear about the bad stuff. I remember being in a teacher/parent meeting for a young man named Richard. His mother and he met with all of his teachers to discuss his lack of enthusiasm for education. When I mentioned that his gang affiliations were part of the problem, his mother looked stunned as if it was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing. Although all the teachers agreed with me, the mom did not want to believe her son was in a gang. I simply said, "Ask him" and she did. He shrugged as he told her that yes, he was in a gang. My thought was, "How could she not know?" Years later I read where Richard was wanted in two murders of young women. This young man had been in the same classroom with my son.

There were lots of other gang guys that were real problems at Taos Jr. High in 1991-92. I had many confrontations with gang kids including taking a ball cap off the head of a kid who refused to take it off himself and pulling a young man off the bus when he ignored my instructions. Several teachers came running when I did this, because it turned out that the young man had been in Springer Boy’s School and was considered quite dangerous. My response was, "If he is dangerous, why is he here with other kids." I once confronted a group of young men who were behind the school building, which was off limits. After they walked off, I found a knife on the ground – what they were doing with it, who knows? I once turned in one of my favorite students because he came to class having obviously been beaten by someone. Little did I know that it was a gang initiation. I broke up more fights in the first six weeks of school than I had broken up in all my years of teaching. It was a mess, and I have not even mentioned the girls and their part in gangs.

For me as a teacher, I felt it was important to have strong discipline with the students showing no fear; treating each kid fairly and respectfully goes a long way. I could deal with it. But to have my son in the same school in the midst of the problem, was more than I could handle. Bo was instructed to always be with a friend, never to be alone, and always be in site of teachers. It was important to be alert to what was going on around you. What kind of school life was that? Eventually kids thought that life was normal – but it was not, and I hated it.

After one year of teaching and in Taos, we bought a place north of Questa and began homeschooling. The gang problem in Taos was not our reason for the move, but it certainly was a factor. Not too long after we moved, a neighbor that I did not know well, called to suggest that my son and her grandson get together since they were the same age. During the conversation she mentioned how bad the gang problem was in Taos and how her grandson had had a difficult time at the jr high. I said, "Oh, your grandson went to Taos Jr. High. What was his name? Maybe I know him." When she told me his name, I was horrified. He was a gang kid and had been one of the biggest problems for my son. Turns out, he had been kicked out of Taos and was now in school at Questa. The grandmother insisted that her grandson was not in a gang and not a problem – that it was those "other kids" – yeah right. We did not get together with them.

So when someone recently mentioned the gang problem in Lawton, my first reaction was to think, "No biggie – there are gangs in every city." Then I did my rethinking. Although I think it is important to not live in fear of things like a trip to the mall because of gangs, I do think it is important to be aware, be alert, and park near the entrance of stores. Stay with someone. Gangs are a problem, but don’t be deluded; they are everywhere. And make sure your schools and city councils take the problem seriously and deal severely with gangs. If my experiences with gangs was almost 20 years ago, how much worse are they now? Be smart.

Art Lesson

My beginner’s art class yesterday went well. They drew their little hearts out. I had them do a drawing exercise from the book, “Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain.” I copied a very funky line drawing by Picasso, turned it upside down, put a coversheet over it, and then moved the coversheet ½ inch to let the students draw only what they saw. They had no idea what they were drawing. The key was to draw only what you saw; then move the sheet another ½ inch to reveal more of the picture and draw some more. Sometimes breaking down a picture line by line instead of trying to draw the whole thing makes drawing easier. Sometimes students get overwhelmed with the whole picture, and the brain can play tricks and make you see things wrong. It was a lesson in drawing the lines exactly as you saw them. As more of the picture was revealed, the students could make adjustments to make the lines come together. They did very well with only a little whining. After this exercise, I took out the photo of Jesse (the one I posted a few days ago). It was really very simple without much detail, and I asked them to do a line drawing. It did not go well. They struggled to get the shape right. I teased them that maybe I should turn the photo upside down and cover part of it.

I think my students did great even if they did not understand the application of the lesson on the next assignment. We will keep at it. That is what teachers do. They teach over and over again the same principles until the light goes on.

For a big laugh, go over to Random Laundry and watch this Home Depot commercial.

Photo Madness and Finished Painting

I spent the better part of yesterday working on posting photos. After the Hughes.net person told me to check with "my host." I posted a comment to Blogger – fix it. Since Blogger is free, how can I expect them to help me quickly or have a real person come to my aid? There is no such thing as a free lunch.

I was really hoping to have an intelligent conversation with Daniel the Hughes person about how Hughes satellite works and what the possibilities could be concerning my photo upload problem. The conversation did not go well. Daniel said everything was fine on his end. I told him that I thought the problem was my end, and I thought, "it being severely chapped at the moment". You should know that I did use my teacher voice with Daniel, but I did not yell. That is the voice that Jesse hates. She says she can hear me perfectly fine without me using the teacher voice. But for some reason it seems to me that if your voice gets more serious, maybe a bit louder, slower, and direct, a person might think you mean business. It always worked in the classroom. Maybe it was the look in my eye that said, "you are about to die" that really worked. If only Daniel could have seen my eyes. I did not cuss or throw anything.

Toby came home early today feeling lousy with the beginnings of a cold. After letting him rest for a while, he listened patiently as I explained my conversation with Hughes and the frustration I felt. Toby asked if we still had Hughes as our server. Yes, we do, because it is all I have right now connecting me to the world (this shows that I have grown and do have control of my temperJ . Toby sat down and we went through the process of uploading on Blogger. I picked a random photo. Of course, it worked perfectly while he was watching. So I picked the photo that I had been trying to upload all day. It did not work. After looking at the properties, Toby opened my photo using something different, made the photo smaller in size, and it uploaded. I did this twice more and it worked both times.

My blonde head cannot quite wrap around the concept of why I was able to upload photos two months ago and then suddenly I was not able to. Why is one photo in my EasyShare a 20 KB and the next one 500 KB when they both come from the same camera and were handled the same way on my computer. They are both JPEGs. And I am able to upload the larger photos using other internet services. Jesse has a new computer with totally different settings and programs and we cannot upload easily from her computer either or my laptop. I still think it is Hughes. Who know? Only the Shadow knows!

The Painting:
My mom wanted a painting for her guest bedroom. She bought me a 24"x36" canvas and frame. I chose the subject matter as a surprise for her. This is Crathes Castle in Scotland. We toured through the castle and garden with Mom while she and Jesse were in Scotland with us last year. Mom loved the castle, but the gardens were dead in February. Although we took a photo from the same vantagepoint, the garden was just brown and dead. Later we saw postcards of what it would look like in the spring/summer. I used a couple of photos off of the internet to put together this painting.

Step one was to paint a background and cover the canvas completely with color - very simple. I used acrylic so that it would dry quickly, and I could move on to oils.

SStep two was to paint the darker areas and start establishing the trees and bushes. I also did a bit more work on the castle all using oils.

Step 3 was to add the lighter colors and also to paint the flowers and details – a few days after the dark under-painting had dried.

Step 4 would be to wait a few days, look at the painting again, and think, "what is going on there" and fix it. Or you could call this step refining the painting. At this point, you could jick with the painting forever. You have to call it quits sometime. I painted the Scottish flag on the top of the castle and gave it to mom. I think she liked it.

Frustration

Frustration seems to be the name of the game this morning. I spoke again with Hughes.net to see about my photo-uploading problem. I will rehash the problem:

1. When I try to upload a photo, I get an error message 506 – suspected satellite outage link
2. This happens on all three of the computers that we have here at the house – suggesting that it is not a computer problem.
3.This happens on Jesse’s blog too – not just my blog.
4.We are able to upload photos from our computers at other locations using other internet services - example: blogging from San Antonio on my laptop
5.I can by-pass the router here at the house and it still does not work – not a router problem.
6.Occasionally, it will work, but this morning I tried at least 7 times to no avail.

Today, Daniel from Hughes.net (or should I say from India) suggested that my problem is with "my host" to my blog/website. I’m not sure what he is saying or if he knows what a blog is, but he suggested that I contact my host and see what the problem is. How do you actually contact Blogger? And is there any reason to do so?

I wanted to share a photo of the painting I did for my mom, but I guess you will have to wait until I can go to town to use the library computer.

Valentine's Day Post

This being Valentine’s Day, or as GBN1 says, "I Love You Day," I realized that I forgot to mention that my parents would have been married 54 years on Feb.11th. I was reading through Joyce’s "five love languages" post and I thought how Toby speaks my language pretty well. The love languages also reminded me of my mom and dad. I think Dad was just pretty good at knowing Mom’s love languages, but I didn’t really understand that until he got sick.

Growing up, I knew that only Mom could break Dad’s rules and get away with it, but I didn’t realize it was love that allowed it. Dad had rules about things like putting up all of your sandwich makings before you sat down to eat your sandwich. Several times I took the heat for Mom when Dad thought it was me who had left out the mayo. Mom would quietly eat her sandwich while I was being yelled at. When I finally would point to Mom, she would grin and Dad would just stop his tirade and move on without a word to her. Dad also had a rule about coming to the breakfast table with your hair combed. This applied to all of us, except Mom. He never said a word to her about her messy do. Speaking of hair, Dad insisted that Mom put my hair in a ponytail before he would take me with him on his outings. Mom would scrape up my blonde wisps into the tiniest ponytail and slick Craig’s hair down, and Dad would take us kids off to run errands and drink coffee on Saturday mornings – letting Mom sleep in or have some well deserved time alone.

Mom was 23 when she married Dad. Craig came along two years later, and I was born one year after Craig. Most of Mom and Dad’s friends had a four to five year jump on my parents in the kid department. Mom felt a little behind everyone and wanted to have four kids and have them all together. Craig and I worked according to plan, but then Mom lost a baby. As soon as she could, she had another baby, my little brother Pete. Pete was always a fun kid, but I think after having him, Mom decided to re-think her kid plan. At 39, my sister, Kathy was a bit of a surprise to Mom and Dad, but a very welcome surprise. Mom did a great job raising us kids, but I don’t think it dawned on me how much Dad did for her and us until I was married with kids myself. Then when Dad got sick, I knew how much Dad loved Mom.

He paid the bills and did the heavy stuff. He cooked and cleaned when necessary to help Mom out. He bathed us kids. I remember how hard he laughed when he put the Easter ducklings in the bath with Craig and me. I came out of that bath as if it were scalding when those ducks started pooping in the water. Dad would get us ready for bed – carrying some us until we were teenagers. He got us up and fixed us coffee milk in the mornings. I’m sure he did those things because he loved us and wanted to help Mom, but it was a time when men did not do those sorts of things. He made sure Mom had career and something of her own – once again he was a man before his time. He grew her and cared for her. He sheltered her. He "loved her chairs." I could go on and on here on how he showed Mom love (and us kids too, but this is about Mom and him).
We kids made a special 45th wedding anniversary photo album for Mom and Dad. We had a little party with just us kids and gave them the album. We have some great memories of that evening. Maybe we had an inkling that they would not make it to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Dad did make it, and we did celebrate their 50th, but he was very sick by then. Not too long after the 45th anniversary Dad was diagnosed with cancer. He fought hard for four years. Mom was a great wife. She set a wonderful example of how to love and care for your husband. But during Dad’s cancer, the truth came out; Dad was her anchor and her strength. The ways he had loved her were everywhere including his will to live. I watched him struggle to live and I wondered why – why not let go, but then I knew it was for her. And I promised him that I would take care of her. He died the next day.

Dad, know that she is doing great. You did well in molding her into a wonderful woman and wife. She still cries, but she is busy and happy with her life – thanks to your love. And Dad, thanks for teaching us kids how to love.

The Computer Man

Out of six tries, I was able to finally post another picture (this one of Zoe). While I sat at computer with my new Watercolor magazine, I tried again and again, one right after another to post a photo. Ta-Da!

Yesterday, a young man from Wichita Online, a wireless company, came by the house to see if we could receive their wireless. The first thing the guy did was to climb up on the roof of my house and look around - I never saw him with any sort of gadget that might seek wireless reception. He looked off toward Bray (approx. 10 mi. away) and then said, "No, you cannot get wireless. You should try satellite." After explaining to him that I had Hughes and what my problem was with Hughes, he said he could take a look. Later he added that he used to work for Hughes - sort of , maybe, I kind of doubt it. But at the time, I told him that that if he could make my computer able to upload photos, I would gladly pay him. You know, letting a stranger look at your computer is a bit like letting someone look through your underwear drawer. It gave me an icky feeling, but I was desperate.

The more the guy talked, the more worried I became. He was very nice and polite, but I don't think he knew anymore about computers than I. He did look at my dish, run some speed tests, and tried updating something from Hughes - all to no avail. Several times his words were a contradiction to other things he said. At one point, he took the cord from my modem to my router and said it was "not right." He put my cord in his truck and brought me another one. Of course, the new cord did not change things either - I eventually made him bring back my cord. For some reason, he wanted to "get into my router" saying it was very old and outdated. I insisted that the router was not the problem, because we had bypassed the router several times and it still did not fix the problem. A couple of hours later, I still could not upload a photo to my blog, and my eye was twitching. It is hard to explain my feelings about this guy, but let's just say that he did not instill confidence. It was pretty much a waste of my afternoon.

This morning when I was able to post the painting below, I thought, "Yeha!" Then I tried to post the photo of Zoe - again and again. Although it finally posted, nothing has really changed. I was hoping maybe the guy actually fixed the connection, but I guess not.

Tuesday

Wow, I was able to post this photo today! At Tuesday's art class we did this little study of light and shadow. First we drew the picture out including drawing the lines of shadow. then we took a dark purple color and painted in the shadow. At that point the painting is very dramatic and yet very simple with just the shadows painted. I then let the girls wash in some skin tones, but we kept the painting very simple since the point was to see the shadow and the values therein.

My Day

My weight has been up. It is always up, but more so since Christmas. I find that I can move the scales around on the ceramic tile of the bathroom floor and lose up to three pounds. Since three pounds is not enough, I guess I am going to have to stick to a diet. Cuss words come to mind at this point, but I won’t go there.

I’m listening to a little Dan Fogelberg on Pandora this morning, and I am about to get out the paints. Might as well enjoy myself while I wait on the computer guy to come by. Maybe I will get a new server today. One can dream.

Does anyone else find it ironic that America's poor use of borrowing money and over spending got them into a mess. Now to get ourselves out of the mess, we are going to borrow money and spend some more?

Storms

Just to let you know, we did have some thunderstorms last night, but nothing serious here on the Lazy B. Duncan got pea sized hail that covered the ground like snow. The clouds were ominous. Lone Grove, which is about 45 minutes south east of here, was hit by a tornado that killed more than a dozen people. That is some serious stuff. We had watched Chicken Little on KSWO who was very excited by the area’s storms, and saw the storm cell and tornado warning for that area. I would have thought that the Lone Grove folks would have had plenty of warning, but then again, most of them watch a different weatherman. Chicken Little is obnoxious, but detailed. Tornadoes also hit Edmond and other parts of OK City area, but no fatalities. Once again, the Lazy B got some rain. We left the house in the middle of all of this to go to a neighbor’s house for dinner and all was fine.

Dear Charles

I may be behind the times, because I just now saw this YouTube video of Charles Barkley. I don’t know if it stirred up any controversy when it was first out, but it sure stirred me up. All morning I have been ranting around the house. But hey, I have a blog and what better place to rant.

Charles says, "I am not a role model. I am not paid to be a role model…Parents should be role models…. Just because I can dunk a basketball does not mean I should raise your kids."

It burns me up that people want all the fame, glory, and wealth, but no responsibilities as a good role model that often accompanies those things.

I am not a role model. I am not paid to be a role model. Parents should be role models:
A parent can be a role model, but a role model is not necessarily a parent. Parents and role models are two different things, and they have different responsibilities. Here is Wiki’s definition of role model: The term role model first appeared in Robert K. Merton's socialization research of medical students.[1] Merton hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with "reference groups" of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires.[1] The term has passed into general use to mean any "person who serves as an example, whose behavior is emulated by others".[2]

By this definition, Charles you are a role model. As a basketball player, your behavior on the court and off is emulated by others. Charles, you say you are not paid to be a role model. Maybe you should give up your TV appearances, your endorsements of products, and all the other things that go with being a famous basketball player – things that you does get paid for besides playing basketball. Face it Charles, when you are in the limelight, you are a role model and you do get paid for it. There are lots of good basketball players out there who do not get the big endorsements, because they are not good role models.

Parents can be and often are role models, and they are so much more. Their responsibilities are endless. There is no need for me to go into all that a parent does. Usually a child only has one set of parents, but he/she may have several role models. Face it, Charles. When a kid looks at a role model, he is not only looking at how well a person does a job, but also how that person conducts him/herself.

Charles, no one is asking you to raise their kids. You are in no way a parent to the kids out there watching you, but you are a role model. If you choose to pump your body full of illegal drugs or steroids or whatever, there will be kids watching and emulating you. These same kids may have great parents telling them not to do drugs and such, they may even be telling their kids not to emulate you at all, but it is you in the limelight getting paid the big bucks. You can be a good role model or a bad one, but what you choose to do on the court and off will affect others.

Charles you are a great basketball player, and I may come to watch your team play someday. Then again, I may not, if you are going to be an ass. I may boycott Nike for making such a stupid video.

Pony Carts

We got high winds, which blew over the calf barn, and heavy rains last night. The bar-ditches are full of water.

The summer of 1977 after my freshman year of college, I went to the mountains as usual. This time Toby went with me, and we got married in RR. Toby took a job in the early part of the summer manning the pony carts (tourist ride). He would harness up these little ponies to these little two-seater carts, and tourist would rent them by the hour and ride up and down the streets of RR. The ponies were pretty cute if not a little ornery. All the little kids hung out at the pony carts.

Jill Seward was a girl from Springer, NM who was working in Red that summer and sometimes helped with the ponies. She was a pretty girl with long red hair and a dry sense of humor. You could tell she was a farm/ranch girl ‘cause she knew how to work. She also worked with me at Texas Red’s. I remember one night we were in the storeroom trying to open a huge bag (like a feed sack) of peanuts. She taught me how to pull just the right string and the sack would open easily. She said, "My dad would kick my butt if I didn’t open the sacks right." To this day when I open a feed sack by pulling the string, I think of Jill.

One day while working the pony cart rides, Jill told how a group of tourist had gotten liquored up and rented pony carts and then proceeded to race the ponies. Some of them ended up in the bar-ditch. "Bar-ditch!" That was the first time I had ever heard that term before. (I was not the farm girl then that I am now) From Jill’s story I got the picture of a bar-ditch being a place where people who had been to the bar somehow ended up in the ditch. I guess my mental picture was not far off.

Jill lived next door to us that summer at the old Thunderbird Cabins, which were old duplex cabins in a horseshoe compound. The cabins were too old and sorry to rent to tourist; so they were rented to young people who came to work the summer in RR. The walls were paper-thin. The showers in the bathrooms were built out of cinder blocks stacked about four high in one corner. It was important to shout out that you were about to flush the toilet, and then give your neighbors time to scurry out of the shower or get scalded with hot water. You didn’t holler out that you were taking a shower in case someone decided to be mean.

One morning I was sleeping-in while Toby went to work at the River Ranch (the pony carts could not sustain us). He and several other guys and town workers were milling about outside, drinking their coffee, starting their vehicles, and shooting the breeze. I listened as Toby tried to start my old 63 Chevy pick-up truck. He tried again and again without success to start the truck. I threw on my robe and went outside, motioned for him to get out, and I got in. I gave it the usual three pumps on the gas (it sounded like wonk-it, wonk-it, wonk-it) and cranked that baby right up. All the guys laughed and hooted that I had started the truck for Toby – something he did not live down for a while.

Living and working in Red River with all the young folks was great fun, and I have some great memories. It was like one big family.

The Weekend So Far

It has been a busy weekend, and it is only Sunday morning. On Friday, my new art buddies came to my little house. I think they were a bit horrified at first by the size and the unfinished look on the outside of my house. But then they came inside and saw the bright airy room with wonderful windows and a beautiful view. I think they felt very comfy, yet I doubt any of them (with the exception of Jean) would want to live this way. In my comments, Bob mentioned cobwebs. Well, I had done lots of cleaning before the ladies came, but as I was walking them through the house showing them my art, I noticed cobwebs on several paintings. Yikes! It is funny what you notice when you have company. We painted and ate cheese enchiladas for lunch – it was a very nice day. Good things come to those who wait, and someday my whole house will be finished, and it will be awesome.

Saturday, Toby and I walked the pasture between the house and the barn deciding where to plant the fruit trees that Toby ordered. We staked out the future orchard and made a trip to town for peat moss. I fixed lunch and went down for a power nap. Toby got out the tractor to do some chores. When I awoke from my nap, he was plowing up the garden area. Do you remember last spring when I was horrified at how big our garden was when all I said was, "I would like a few tomato plants?" Well, this year he plowed up about three times the size of last year’s garden. It could be a quarter of an acre this year. My eyes rolled back in my head, but I did not say a word.

Next, we started digging holes for the fruit trees – sixteen trees to be exact. We dug nine holes yesterday and planted nine trees. Yes, I can work post-hole diggers and a shovel. Yes, I am sore today, but I have to admit that the orchard is looking very nice. It is just getting me in shape to build my house…

There has been some debate on Valentine’s Day on a few of the blogs I read. Should we celebrate such a silly thing? Should we fall for the commercials and buy our lovers something or should we avoid the holiday as a commercial gimmick? For me, VD is just a reminder to show your love and appreciation to your special honey. Toby and I may or may not actually buy each other anything – nothing is expected. It has become a joke between us for him to ask me what I want for Valentine’s Day, and for me to laugh at him. It looks like this year I am getting an orchard. Hmm, maybe I should ask for a massage – my shoulders hurt.

Freak

Jesse left this morning, not for work, but for a ski vacation with friends. She managed to wrangle an invitation from a family at our church whose oldest daughter backed out of the trip at the last minute. The trip came at a good time and Jesse will have a good time.

Today is art. Last week no one came to art due to the big snow/ice storm. I am ready to see my girls who keep me entertained and laughing. This evening there is an Art Guild meeting that I may or may not attend. There is line dancing class tonight, which gives me incentive to go to the AG meeting and then hotfoot it over to line dancing. We will see.

Tomorrow I have my new painting friends coming over to paint at my house. It does mean serious house cleaning. I am a bit freaked, but I did invite them. We just live so differently. They live in nice homes and discuss hiring or have hired decorators to do their homes. I built my house with my own hands. If I did not hire a homebuilder, why would I hire a home decorator? My house is so different. It is very small, but we do have plans to build on. It is not finished – no trim work, no closet doors, no cabinets, etc. But we do have plans to finish it. We did get the barn built, and we will get the house built. If I waited until it was all finished and beautiful to invite people over, I would be a lonely lady. My house is a part of who I am – a work in progress.

I’m not actually freaked by letting these ladies see my unfinished house, although it is like letting them see the unfinished me. No, I’m more freaked by the amount of cleaning I need to do between now and then. Better get at it!

Febrrrwary

Wouldn’t it be nice to just type out something profound and intelligent every time you sat down to the computer? Well, it just ain’t gonna happen today. Thoughts roll around in my head, but they are just not coming together. Even my comments left on other blogs are just not acute or cute. Sure, I have lots of Grand Girl stories, but in writing them out they lose something in the translation. When someone asks what is happening in my life, I have to admit that not much is going on. Sure there are some things in the fire, but nothing I can put pen to or even much brainpower to. If I could post some photos to take up space, I would. Instead, that is a very frustrating subject. Oh yeah, it is February. No wonder I have the blahs!

February is when you are tired of the winter. You get a taste of spring now and then only to be dashed by winter again. I’m glad February is a short month.

The Big Events

I attended two major events this weekend. On Saturday, I attended a workshop for my American Sign Language class in Sulphur, OK. Because there is a deaf school in Sulphur, there is a large population of deaf people in the area. The workshop included about six deaf people who were brought in to communicate with us and teach us more about the deaf culture. For me, learning language is not easy. Watching someone’s hands to communicate is very different – you have to pay attention – you have to use your body as well as your brain. It takes great concentration. It is intense. Being thrown in with people who are deaf is a great way to force you to communicate through ASL. I really enjoyed getting to know the deaf, but by the end of the workshop, my shoulders were tight, my eyes hurt, and I had a headache from concentrating. Sometimes I think I should go take Spanish classes instead.

The second big event this weekend was the Super Bowl party at the Junk Diva’s house. The Diva lives out in the country in a big comfortable home. Several other friends were there, and we all brought food. She made homemade rolls and sweet rolls – her specialty. I brought pico de gallo and chips – my specialty. Some of us gathered in the den with the big screen TV. Others stayed in the kitchen with the food and the smaller TV. Some hung out in the living room and played games. Besides the Diva’s family, my other two partners in crime were there with their families. We thought about putting on our own half-time show and dancing for the group, but we decided NOT.

Everyone picked their spot to watch the game and their team to cheer for. Most everyone was for Arizona, except for Janice and Aunt B (sisters and my two dance partners). It was funny that all through the game there was yelling and visiting and eating, but when the commercials came on, someone would holler, "Commercial!" and we would all get quiet. Janice and Aunt B set on one side of the room with the Diva and I on the other. There was lots of good ribbing and teasing throughout the game. At one point Aunt B said something about the "Robins" meaning the "Cardinals" showing her true football knowledge and her blonde-ness. It will be a while before she lives that one down especially when she said it in front of the Diva and myself. I thought it was an excellent game. There were some great plays and lots of excitement, and it was close right up until the end. When the game was over, I wondered if the game had really been so great or was it the friends and fellowship that was so great. It was probably a combination of the two, but this was one of the best Super Bowls in a long time.