Just one thing...

I only have one thing to say to Congress after the ignominious defeat of the immigration bill:

were in ur republican base, killin ur billz

Hope this whole debacle makes you think twice about the crap you try to foist on us.

Cue the theme music

Here Comes the Rain Again, by the Eurythmics (1983, Touch)

Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion
I want to walk in the open wind
I want to talk like lovers do
I want to dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you

So baby talk to me
Like lovers do
Walk with me
Like lovers do
Talk to me
Like lovers do

Here comes the rain again
Raining in my head like a tragedy
Tearing me apart like a new emotion
Oooooh
I want to breathe in the open wind
I want to kiss like lovers do
I want to dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you

So baby talk to me
Like lovers do

Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion
(here it comes again, here it comes again)
I want to walk in the open wind
I want to talk like lovers do
I want dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you

I know it doesn't look like much, but when it's EVERY DAY, it gets old. I'd be more than willing to share this with the folks down in Florida who are hurting so much, or anywhere else y'all need it.

Get yours today!!! Don't delay!!!

Fred Thompson t-shirts on sale at ThoseShirts.com!!!

And no, Steve H., I'm not supporting Fred because I think he's that tough guy on Law & Order. I love Fred because I heard what he had to say when he spent time this winter & spring substituting for Paul Harvey on the radio, and it resonated with me so much that I wanted him to run for President even before anyone else was talking about it. And I've read his columns on ABC's site. He says what he thinks, and he says it plainly and eloquently.

Fred's my guy.

Yet another flash flood warning

Just sitting here, listening to the rain pouring down outside... checking Weather Underground and noticing we're under yet another flash flood warning.

[sigh]

I won't complain. Honest. The drought of the past several years was unbearable, and all this rain is filling up the reservoirs nicely. There aren't any lakes anywhere in the area that still need any water.

Local news station's report here. My parents have a cabin on Lake Texoma (it's not in a flood area, I don't think) and we've been up there a few times to fish. The usual fishing area we like to frequent has been underwater for a month or so already; I can't imagine what it looks like right now.

I used some Key limes that were in the fridge and made some limeade today. I even went so far as to do it the real way, making a simple syrup and everything. If I can't enjoy some real sunshine, at least I can sip some in a glass with ice.

Forget the iPhone, I'm standing in line for this one

Savage Chickens is one of my favorite daily reads.

Comfort food

My humble apologies to you purists who would never, EVER consume miso soup made from a packet of dried powder. I'm just a poor backwoods 'Merkan who doesn't know any better. I love this stuff.

Okay, not so much when I inadvertently pour a third of it onto the carpet. At least it's the hideous pink carpet... a miso soup stain would probably improve it. I know that the green squares of seaweed have definitely made a difference for the better.

Anyway, Kikkoman's Miso Soup -- it's a comfortable and very tasty companion on an unseasonably cool and soggy Texas summer evening. I got this packet from my Aunty Ada, so now I'm going to hunt for more like it. YUM.

FYI

If you're an internet troll, you really should choose a target that is less formidable than Charles Johnson.

Honestly.

That man will eat your liver with chianti and fava beans if you try to harass him. If I didn't adore him so, I'd be terrified of him. As are most of the Kos Kidz and the Jew-Haters of the world.

Rightfully so.

Home... albeit sixty pounds lighter

I lost sixty pounds today!

All of it being my SUITCASE, misplaced by the good folks at American Airlines.

But I made it home safely, and since I was on the homeward-bound portion of my trip, I can probably get by until tomorrow when AA is supposed to hand-deliver my suitcase to me here in Collinsville.

Apparently, the bright-eyed individuals in charge of luggage at Dulles saw fit to put my suitcase on the non-stop flight to DFW, since I was flying on a light commuter jet and was going to be making a connection part-way through. Funny thing, though, my commuter jet sat at the gate at Dulles an extra half hour waiting on some ballast for the luggage compartment because we were too light in back.

It was all just too humorous. I'm still laughing.

Oh... and the miles-long line at the baggage claim desk? Not only was it glacially slow (they can't really help that; the ladies up there were very cordial and polite and did everything they could to find all our luggage), but there was a husband behind me who just might win the award for insufferable rudeness and nastiness to his poor wife who patiently bore it. I'd guess they were in their late sixties, more or less, and if I'd've been that man's wife, I'd've punched him in the nose. Her name was Joan. I know this because he kept repeating it acidly (along with obscenities and insults) as she gamely walked through the aisles and aisles of misplaced luggage that was strewn about the claim area. I hope that the mega-bling perched on her left-hand ring finger was worth the vitriol. I'm sure it wouldn't be for me.

It was a jolting end to an idyllic trip, really. My time in DC was about as pleasant and perfect as a trip could be, even considering the daunting subject matter of Holocaust study. I hadn't been to DC since the Carter administration [gesundheit], and since I was in the seventh grade at that time, there's a lot I needed to catch up on. I don't think the trip could've been more relaxed and uncomplicated, although my physical condition (or lack thereof) prevented me from seeing all I might've.

Back in 1978, I remember being amused by a t-shirt reading, "A woman's place is in the House... and the Senate." That, and the little domed trashcans painted to look just like R2-D2. It was a Spring Break trip and was in March, so all my fuzzy photographs taken on my little 110 camera had gray skies in the background. Not so much this time around -- HOT and sunny and chokingly humid.

It's good to be home, but I had a wonderful time.

Last day

George's house... at least for a little while longer. There were beaucoup motorcades whizzing by today, so he probably waved at me out the window of his limo and I never even knew it.


Spent most of the day on the National Mall, where the Smithsonian had sponsored a Folk Life Festival. Fun! But it was sooooo hot, I didn't want to spend much time out there at the festival. The museums which surround the entire mall, now THAT was where the coolness awaited. Literally, of course, but also because that's where plenty of nifty stuff is housed. Stuff like the Hope Diamond:

Whadda rock!!


Not to mention T-Rex himself...


The *original* George's duds.


And a beloved prop from a beloved (if rabidly left-wing) television program from the 70s.


The original Lindbergh plane.


The Museum of the American Indian. I didn't go in because I had a few other things on my agenda, but it's one of the numbers of things in this town that I'd like to do if I had more time.


The deeply moving Vietnam Memorial. Not a typical monument-y kind of place, but very effective nonetheless, and fitting, I think.


I ate Russian food for lunch (rabbit meat cooked in some sort of sour cream sauce), and Chinese food for supper.

Early tomorrow morning I'll be flying back, and hopefully I'll get a chance to put my feet up and REST from my vacation. I don't think I've done this much walking in a really, really long time.

Never forget.

The conference has been very productive so far. As for describing what I've seen, well, that won't be happening for a while -- if ever. But if you ever take a trip to DC, you really should carve out a couple of hours or so to go through the USHMM. It may not be pleasant, but people need to see it. They need to see it, and they need to remember what they've seen.

And then they need to make sure it NEVER happens again. To anyone. Anywhere.

The National Gallery

Spent most of today touring the National Gallery. I love Calder's mobiles... they're just cool. Most of my photographs, however, didn't fare as well. The lighting was just too dark to capture things clearly with a point-and-shoot. Meh. I still got to see it with me own eyes, even if I don't have the photographic proof.

Saw lots of Van Goghs and Vermeers and Rembrandts and Mings and other coolnesses. I love art museums... I can spend hours trysting with the marbles and the bronzes and the oils. This marble sculpture has always been one of my favorites, and to come around a corner in the National Gallery and see it with my own eyes, well, that was just nifty:



She just has the most delightful facial expression, as if she's either about to burst into laughter or she's just done something hilarious and she's waiting for someone to notice. Anyway, "Girl With a Shell" by Carpeaux is treasure I discovered today.

And I am soooooooore from so much walking. I'm really not accustomed to so much exercise... I should be ashamed of that fact, but to be perfectly honest, I just don't like moving around that much. I'm just about as Type-B as a human being can get without becoming a tree sloth, yanno? Whaddya gonna do aboudit?

Tomorrow I'll be at the Holocaust Museum. I'm assuming they'll let me sit down at least once in a while there...

Who knew?

I arrived here in DC a little before noon today and was totally beat. I spent the night at Motel 6 near DFW airport last night, for a couple of reasons -- first, I needed a place to park the van while I was gone, and second, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get up early enough to make the drive from Cville. It was a good move, but I probably didn't get much more sleep than I would've at home. I just don't sleep well on the night before I travel, regardless of where I'm sleeping.

A generous guess might say I got three hours of sleep. I would've slept on the plane, because I really was pretty tired, but there was this adorable toddler in his mom's lap right next to me, and he varied between brilliant smiles and piercing shrieks. You just can't sleep when an icepick is being bored into your right ear. Can't be done.

After a satisfying nap and after watching the series finale of Stargate SG-1 on Sci-Fi, I went restaurant hunting and found a little Burmese restaurant. Burmese... it was something I'd never tried before, so I took a chance. And I honestly think I have never eaten anything so absolutely outstanding in my LIFE. I kid you not. I had a slow-cooked beef with curry and coconut sauce, and I am going to HAVE to try to make something similar when I get home. WOW. I don't normally get so wound-up about food, but I think I could eat that same dish every day for a really, really long time before I got tired of it. It's just that good. Who knew Burmese food was so unbelievable? And why did they keep it a secret for so long? Sheesh.

And now I'm going to bed. Tomorrow I will be going to visit the National Gallery; someone recommended that I build at least a couple of days into my schedule to see things that are important to me, and the art museum in my nation's capitol is one of those things. Sunday thru Tuesday is pretty packed with the conference, and Wednesday I'm going to the Mall. They're supposed to be having a folk-art festival of some kind down there, so it should be interesting.

I don't know how much I'm going to be able to blog about my time at the Holocaust Museum, to tell you the truth. For one thing, they've pretty much packed our schedules from early morning to late at night, so there won't be much (if any) free time. For another thing, even though I've tried to inoculate my emotions sufficiently, I'm not sure I won't be pretty wiped-out emotionally from the experience. We shall see.

For now, to bed. I am, as some of my wayback relatives might've said, plumb tard.

What... is your quest?

Archaeologist sparks new speculation about location of Holy Grail

Alfredo Barbagallo, an Italian archaeologist, claims that it is buried in a chapel-like room underneath the Basilica of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura, one of the seven churches which Christian pilgrims used to visit when they came to Rome.

Mr Barbagallo based his claim on two years spent studying mediaeval iconography inside the basilica and a description of a particular chamber, in a guide to the catacombs written in 1938 by a Capuchin friar named Giuseppe Da Bra.

And therefore it is time for Something Completely Different:

Bridgekeeper: Stop. Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
Sir Lancelot: Ask me the questions, bridgekeeper. I am not afraid.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your name?
Sir Lancelot: My name is Sir Lancelot of Camelot.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your quest?
Sir Lancelot: To seek the Holy Grail.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your favourite colour?
Sir Lancelot: Blue.
Bridgekeeper: Go on. Off you go.
Sir Lancelot: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.
Sir Robin: That's easy.
Bridgekeeper: Stop. Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
Sir Robin: Ask me the questions, bridgekeeper. I'm not afraid.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your name?
Sir Robin: Sir Robin of Camelot.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your quest?
Sir Robin: To seek the Holy Grail.
Bridgekeeper: What... is the capital of Assyria?
[pause]
Sir Robin: I don't know that.
[he is thrown over the edge into the volcano]
Sir Robin: Auuuuuuuugh.
Bridgekeeper: Stop. What... is your name?
Galahad: Sir Galahad of Camelot.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your quest?
Galahad: I seek the Grail.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your favourite colour?
Galahad: Blue. No, yel...
[he is also thrown over the edge]
Galahad: auuuuuuuugh.
Bridgekeeper: Hee hee heh. Stop. What... is your name?
King Arthur: It is 'Arthur', King of the Britons.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your quest?
King Arthur: To seek the Holy Grail.
Bridgekeeper: What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
King Arthur: What do you mean? An African or European swallow?
Bridgekeeper: Huh? I... I don't know that.
[he is thrown over]
Bridgekeeper: Auuuuuuuugh.
Sir Bedevere: How do know so much about swallows?
King Arthur: Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.

Hat tip to Blue Crab Boulevard.

Affordable digital SLR cameras

From the International Herald-Tribune:

To an ordinary person, summer might mean barbecues and trips to the beach. To a photography nut, however, it means longer periods of sunlight, brighter subject colors (like on beach balls and bathing suits) and more people who do not have to be told "Smile!"

Nothing has turned more ordinary people into shutterbugs than recent price drops in digital single-lens reflex, or SLR, cameras. These big, black, interchangeable-lens cameras may not fit in your pocket, and they may scream, "I'm a tourist" as they hang from your neck, but their photos blow those little shirt-pocket cams out of the water. Digital SLRs turn on instantly, can take three shots per second, offer every manual control on earth, go for weeks on a charged battery, and have zero shutter lag. In short, they are awesome.

I've been in DEEP LONGING for one of these... probably not anytime soon, of course, but eventually. Sometimes you have to get creative with your finances, yanno?

Crashingly funny

Truck slams into building in St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg, Florida - A woman followed her boyfriend's directions a little closely and ended up crashing her truck into a building this morning in St. Petersburg.

The woman says she and her boyfriend were running late to an appointment for his probation at the Salvation Army Correctional Services building at 4950 U.S. Hwy. 19.

She says her boyfriend told her to make a quick turn, but she lost control of her truck and slammed into the building.

The woman and her boyfriend were not injured, but their vehicle is heavily damaged.

It turns out that the couple was later than they thought for the probation appointment... it was actually scheduled for yesterday.

Fred Thompson's cruisin' for a big fat Fatwa...

I canNOT wait to vote for this man. It's about time someone in our government said things the way they were and didn't mince words or pull punches. His Fred Thompson Report on the ABC radio network today:

I've talked before about the Council on American-Islamic Relations -- most recently because it filed that lawsuit against Americans who reported suspicious behavior by Muslims on a U.S. Airways flight. Better known just as CAIR, the lobbying group has come under a lot of scrutiny lately for its connections to terror-supporting groups. This time, though, The Washington Times has uncovered some very good news about the group.

For years, CAIR has claimed to represent millions of American Muslims. In fact, they claim to represent more Muslim in American than ... there are in America. This has alarmed Americans in general as the group often seems to be more aligned with our enemies than us -- which isn't surprising as it spun off from a group funded by Hamas. As you know, Hamas has been waging a terrorist war against Israel and calls for its total destruction. It also promises to see America destroyed. Nowadays, Hamas is busy murdering its Palestinian political rivals.

Even with this history, and CAIR's conspicuous failure to condemn Hamas by name, it has been treated as if represents Muslim Americans by our own government. The good news is that the financial support CAIR claims to have among American Muslims is a myth. We know this because The Washington Times got hold of the group's IRS tax records.

CAIR's dues-paying membership has shrunk 90 percent since 9/11 -- from 29,000 in 2000 to only 1,700 last year. CAIR's annual income from dues plunged from $733,000 to $59,000. Clearly, America's Muslims are not supporting this group -- and I'm happy to hear about it.

Of course, every silver lining seems to have a cloud; and this cloud is that CAIR's spending is running about $3 million a year. They’ve opened 25 new chapters in major cities across the country even as their dues shrank to a pittance. The question is; who’s funding CAIR?

CAIR's not saying. The New York Times earlier this year reported that the backing is from "wealthy Persian Gulf governments" including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Obviously, we have a bigger problem here than the one with CAIR.

Sometimes a snappy title just doesn't float to the forefront, yanno?

A work by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei lays [sic] on the ground at the major contemporary art show Documenta in Kassel, central Germany, on Wednesday, June 20, 2007. A severe storm caused the collapse of the 8-meter (26-foot) tall work, organizers said. "Template," an archlike structure being exhibited outdoors, collapsed in on itself "in astonishingly aesthetic fashion," said Catrin Seefranz, a spokeswoman for the Documenta show. Ai already had seen the collapsed work and pronounced it more beautiful than before. (AP Photo/Dieter Schachtschneider)

I thought this was fall-down funny, myself. So funny it made me collapse in a very aesthetic heap on my bedroom floor, holding my sides.

Eulogy Contest!!

Naked couple die from South Carolina rooftop fall

A small original watercolor painting goes to the best eulogy you can come up with for the funeral of that couple...

Let's get serious about what a church really is, K?

Go and read this post over at Kamp Krusty... pretty insightful stuff, and a lot of what I've been seriously pondering over the past number of years.

I think American churches will spend, oh, $30 billion plus this year on staff and buildings. Apparently that's somebody's issue.

For every dollar donated to churches in America, 85 cents goes to pay for "internal" spending, for congregational operations. That means at least 85% goes to something that trumps help for, say, the poverty-stricken. So yeah, that stuff is certainly a big priority, but not so much for me, at this point in my life.

Just a sample of what you'll find there.

Couture craziness

I haven't posted any fashionblogging for a while, mostly because there hasn't been a great deal of runway activity worth noting. We can thank Sao Paolo Fashion Week for turning that tide, however.


Here we have a woman who appears to be in the early stages of being sucked into a tuba which she's carrying down the runway --or-- Enormous Sousaphone Hottest New Trend In Fashion Accessories.



And this, kids, is why you and I don't wear super-absorbent diapers in the swimming pool.



This designer, taking a cue from Marilyn Manson, orchestrated the models' appearance even down to making them wear white contact lenses.

Mmm-hmmm, the fashion freaks haven't gone away... they're all in their studios, designing new weirdnesses to grace the hallowed runways of Fashion Weeks all over the globe. Can't wait to see what they serve up next!

Kitchen geekery

Did you know that you can measure the speed of light with pretty good accuracy in your own kitchen?

Here's how.

The Naked Scientists podcast is still my favorite podcast EVAR and I eagerly await the uploading of the new one each week. They last just long enough to span the time between here and whichever grocery store I happen to be heading toward, and I learn something new every single week. I love Dr. Chris and Kat and Helen, but my all-time fave is whenever Phil Rosenberg comes on, because he just has the yummiest accent I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

LALOLKFATYK

Yet another stupid meme. This one I saw over at Blog d'Elisson and thought, what the heck, might as well post it here too.

According to Elisson:

LALOLKFATYK, not surprisingly, is not some unpronounceable Eastern European word; rather, it is an acronym for “Learn A Lot Of Little Known Facts About Those You Know.”

Were you named after anyone?
Um, I think that my mom knew a girl whose name was Kristi and who went by Kris, but I never really knew who that was. Maybe it was someone she knew in college? I'm sure that if she reads this (which she never does) she'll let me know.

When was the last time you cried?
A couple of days ago. I don't want to talk about it.

Do you like your handwriting?
I guess. It's somewhat chaotic, which is a pretty accurate representation of myself, so yeah, it'll do just fine.

What's your favorite lunchmeat?
I really like finely shaved roast beef. I hate turkey.

Do you have kids?
Yep. Three of 'em. Durned expensive, too.

If you were another person, would you be friends with you?
Depends on that other person's personality. I don't mix well with just anyone, you know. Oh, I can be friendly and cheerful with pretty much anyone, but that's not being a real FRIEND.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?
Do you always ask stupid questions? Duh.

Do you still have your tonsils?
Nope. Had 'em out when I was four. They put me up on the gurney to wheel me back to the OR and they told me to lie down. I told them, "I will NOT lie down." So they anesthetized me while I was still sitting up. Hey, whatever. I probably got a bit of a pass because my dad worked as a lab tech at that hospital. Those guys were all accustomed to seeing me hopping like a grasshopper down the hallways of the hospital because once I was an actual grasshopper, I refused to behave as a human. I think I was rather a character when I was a wee lass.

Would you bungee-jump?
Not if I wanted to live, because I'd die instantly of heart failure. No way, Hozay.

What is your favorite cereal?
Cold: Cheerios, plain
Hot: Cheese grits

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
No, I just kick them off and they land wherever they land, and I untie them when I'm getting them ready to put back on the next time.

Do you think you are strong?
Not really. I'm soft and lazy.

What's your favorite ice cream?
Blue Bell homemade vanilla with strawberries -or- Braum's Pistachio Almond.

What is the first thing you notice about people?
Shapes and colors

Red or pink?
Hmmm... pink, I guess, although I'm not overly fond of wearing either color.

What is your least favorite thing about yourself?
My shape

Who do you miss the most?
Probably my Grandma Johnnie. There's a lot I'd like to be able to ask her.

What color pants and shoes are you wearing?
I'm not wearing no stinkin' pants. I'm a blogger, remember? I'm in my pajamas. And no shoes. I don't wear shoes in the house much.

What was the last thing you ate?
Some pistachio pudding

What are you listening to right now?
The sound of my snoring son

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Brown or green

Favorite smells?
Fresh air right after a thunderstorm... and freshly-bleached sheets

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
My mom

Favorite sports to watch?
College football, professional hockey

Hair color?
Well, my natural color is kind-of a medium dull reddish brown. Currently it's "Caramel" with peroxide blonde streaks

Eye color?
Golden brown

Do you wear contacts?
Never. Glasses, yes, but never contacts.

Favorite food?
Nacho cheese dip

Scary movies or happy endings?
Happy endings. I hate scary movies.

Last movie you watched?
Ocean's Thirteen

What color shirt are you wearing?
I'm not wearing a shirt. I'm a blogger, remember? I'm wearing a nightgown, and it's coral pink.

Summer or winter?
Summer

Hugs or kisses?
Depends on who they're from

Favorite dessert?
Ice cream. Any kind.

What book are you reading now?
Message In A Bottle by Nicholas Sparks

What's on your mouse pad?
I don't use a mouse pad. My laptop has a touchpad built into it.

What did you watch on TV last night?
The Closer

Favorite sound?
The freight train as it roars through town

Rolling Stones or Beatles?
Beatles. No question.

What's the farthest you've been from home?
Probably Munich, Germany in 1985.

Do you have a special talent?
I have perfect pitch. Not that it's particularly useful to me, since I hardly get a chance to play anymore. But it's there.

What is a pleasant surprise?
An opportunity to have a midday nap

Where were you born?
Houston, Texas. In Methodist Hospital.

Shoes I will never wear

Not because I don't like them... they're quite lovely. And they're all the rage in Hollywood. That's right, I'm talking about Christian Louboutin shoes. Everybody who's anybody is wearing Christian Louboutin peep-toes or pumps or wedges.



Angelina Jolie, wearing a vintage velvet dress and accessorizing with Louboutins on her feetsies.

They're also anywhere from $600 to $900 a pair. Meaning, unavailable to regular unwashed folks like me.

Guess that means I ain't anybody. I can admire them from afar, I suppose. They are very stylish, after all.

Season premiere tonight

Tonight was the season premiere of TNT's series The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick. I can honestly say that I don't really follow much television, particularly current stuff. I prefer to wait until they're in syndication on USA or Spike or somewhere like that, since the stuff that makes it to syndication is usually the decent, watchable stuff.

With The Closer, however, I was hooked immediately the first time I saw it. Yes, I know that Sedgwick's southern accent is fake. It doesn't bother me, though, because her character is still believable and wholly engaging. Her style is sly, disarmingly charming, and very, very smart. I love how her femininity, foibles and flaws get turned around to her advantage, and I love her quirks and oddities. I could work for someone like this, because even though they may bark out orders from time to time, the trust and loyalty I'd feel would outweigh my distaste for authoritarian behavior.

I hesitate to say this, but I think I actually like it better than the Law & Order: SVU re-runs I like to watch. I like it enough that I want to set aside time to watch it when it first airs, which is a HUGE switch from any other television programming there is, period. I'm not even that interested in Idol or Survivor like others in the house are... I'll watch them, but I don't keep up with them as they happen, and I kind-of resent having to set aside time for them. With The Closer, not so much. I love it and I want TNT to keep making more of them.

Spectacular!

Since today was the last day that we'd be eligible for the Wal-Mart employee discount, we bit the bullet and took Martha in for her annual eye exam. While I was sitting in the optometrist's office, however, I remembered that we needed to have Isaac's eyesight checked, too.

Guess what?



The doctor said he's far-sighted and has astigmatism... just like me and just like Poppi. We were actually kind-of surprised; he's never really complained or seemed to have a problem before. At any rate, the doctor said he needs to wear them all the time. So we picked out the coolest, bendiest frames we could find. He thinks he looks like a scientist. Wouldn't you agree?

Miss Martha also had to get new frames and lenses. She's kinda hard on pretty much anything she owns, really. I think the new ones make her look even more grown-up than before:



The optometrist office is in Sherman, where they had to do a number of high-water rescues and where one woman actually died when her car was caught in rapidly rising flood waters. At the optometrist's, they had had quite a bit of water in the office and had spent the morning cleaning the place up. I thought it looked remarkably unscathed, considering.

Gainesville, which is the same distance west of us that Sherman is to the east of us, also seems to have been hit pretty hard. Rooftop rescues, etc... pretty horrible. That's where I do about a third of my shopping (split fairly evenly between Sherman, Gainesville and Denton).

For now, and we hope no more rain of that quantity decides to pour onto us all at once, the Collinsville area is very, very soggy and there's quite a bit of standing water, but we're okay. Our rent house seems to be of the pier-and-beam type, so it's kind-of like we're up on stilts a little bit.

Okay, anyhow, enough rain already. The area is starting to look like a tropical rainforest, it's so green and lush. I'm wondering if waterlilies would be the most appropriate choice for bedding plants this summer. I've no doubt they'd grow and thrive there.

HOW many inches of rain?

The NWS is reporting that we got over eight inches of rain since 5 AM.

EIGHT. In the past four hours.

I don't have a rain gauge, but I'm going to differ with that because I absolutely KNOW that it's been pouring down rain since just after midnight here in Collinsville, and Mom just called to say she'd heard we got twelve inches.

How can t w e l v e inches of rain in nine hours fall in a place where, just last summer, we were suffering the effects of a multi-year drought?

Rick still isn't home from Sherman. I wonder when he'll be able to?

A FOOT OF RAIN. Not a foot of snow, mind you. A foot of RAIN.

And we still have electricity and internet. Hooray!! I can survive a LONG time if I have those. hehe

Glub, glub, glub...

We're underwater today. It's been crashing and storming since midnight, and it's still crashing and pouring rain at twenty 'til eight. Rick just called from the store in Sherman and said he can't get home because the roads are flooded over between there and here. Here's what our radar looked like a couple of minutes ago:

The little circle with a plus-sign in it? That's us. Here's one of the NWS warnings we're under:

Statement as of 5:20 AM CDT on June 18, 2007

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...
Cooke County in north central Texas...
Grayson County in north central Texas...

* until 915 am CDT

* at 520 am CDT... National Weather Service meteorologists detected very heavy rain thunderstorm 8 miles south of Collinsville... or about 15 miles south of Whitesboro... moving east at 15 mph. Another thunderstorm with very heavy rainfall was near Gainesville. Cooke County emergency management reported water
partially blocking northbound Interstate 35 near Valley View... with numerous County roads under water. Grayson County officials reported high water rescues underway in Collinsville. This extends the Flash Flood Warning previously issued.

* Other locations in the warning include but are not limited to Gunter... Dorchester... Knollwood... Howe... Sherman... Tom Bean... Bells and Whitewright

Excessive runoff from this storm will cause flash flooding of small creeks and streams... Highways and underpasses. Additionally... country roads and farmlands along the banks of creeks and streams and other low lying areas are subject to flash flooding.

Like I said, we're underwater here. I dare not get out because I don't want to be one of the high-water rescues (Collinsville is the actual name of this place that I've been calling North Ruralville all this year). I'm just glad we still have electricity and high-speed internet... the staples of life, yanno.

Ocean's Thirteen... and brand-new Michelins

After lunch today, I headed on over to the Wal-Mart in Sherman for new tires. They were able to get me right in, and instead of sitting around being bored, I walked about a hundred yards to the entrance of a movie theater and treated myself to a movie -- something I have not done since I moved here. Yes, we've been to the movies a couple of times, but both times have been kid flix. I really wanted to see Ocean's Thirteen, since I adored the first two Oceans.

This one I thought was lacking some of the outrageousness and humor of the first two. The second one spanned the globe; I thought surely they'd be in some new exotic locale not touched on by the first two, but no, they were back in Vegas.

I did think it was a nice touch to bring Andy Garcia's character back in and (sort-of) work with him instead of against him... and Pacino as the new target was, well, Pacino. I was terribly excited to see Eddie Izzard come in, but I was rather disappointed that he wasn't a more major player. He is under-used, in my opinion, and is definitely so in this movie.

Bringing down yet another casino... I was entertained, and I did laugh out loud a few times, but all in all it was less brilliant by comparison to the first two.

But I'm glad I went. It was nice to enjoy a pop and a bag of popcorn and a fun flick. When the movie was over, it was POURING rain, so I waited a few minutes and it slowed down enough for me to make the trek back over to Wal-Mart to pick up the van with its spanking fresh Michelins installed and ready to roll.

Checkin' it twice...

It was recently brought to my attention that there is a web site devoted exclusively to discarded grocery lists that have been picked up and photographed. GroceryLists.org has collected over 1600 such lists. An example:Okay, so that one was pretty normal and unremarkable. How about this one:A sushi list?

There are lots of odd ones and lots of ordinary ones over there... check it out! (h/t BlogDog)

Safely home

I must've just been too tired; Isaac heard the alarm (I usually just set my cell phone to ring) and got up, but I never heard it... and I woke up in a dead panic, two hours late -- I knew we would NEVER make it to camp on time to pick up Alice by 9 AM.

We dashed around the house madly and were out the door ten minutes later, and began our trek to Parts Unknown. By 8 AM we were in Fort Worth, and I was able to get someone to answer the telephone at camp. "Okay, that'll be all right; just get here safely and we'll keep track of her 'til then," the nice lady on the other end of the line said.

It was raining cats and dogs, which it seems to be doing a lot lately, and my near-bald tires were skimming and shimmying all over the wet interstate. I managed to keep it together, however.

At about 9 AM my cell phone rings, and it's Rick. "Um, some weird news. I went online to check the credit card statement (at this, my heart sank because I was afraid he was going to chew me out over some purchase or other, but this was not the case) and the site had all kinds of red-letter warnings to call immediately. I did, and they had had to cancel our card because it was among a large batch of cards whose information had been compromised. They promised that our new cards were on their way. I knew there was no way you would be able to get back home without a card, though, so I got them to turn ours back on for another couple of days at least."

WTH? I guess I'm glad they were pro-active in shutting down our account before someone could do damage, but it would've been nice to have *some* notification. He would never have known had he not by chance decided to check it this morning, and I would've been stuck at a gas pump somewhere in the nether regions of Texas with no way to pay. Anyway, it was solved and I was clear to fill up the tank.

All the counselors were still there, doing de-briefing and such, so Alice was being well-cared-for when I arrived. She was bubbling over with chatty conversation (not at all typical of her!) about how much fun she had had, which made me feel a thousand times better about having sent her there. She definitely needs a shower, and I'm not at all sure when she last brushed her teeth, but she's in one piece, which after summer camp is really all that matters, right?

And mom gets a nice pile of laundry to do. Whee! I am so tired I can barely see straight. I attempted to drive over to nearby College Station (home of the Texas A&M Aggies) and get the guys at Wal-Mart Tire & Lube to put four new tires on my van, but they had a three-hour wait. As did every other Wal-Mart between there and here; I suppose Saturday is the most popular time to take care of such needs. The van did make it home on the questionable tires, but tomorrow after church I will be heading straight for the Wal-Mart in Sherman to get it taken care of. Once Rick is finished on Tuesday morning, our employee discount dries up, so I want to make sure we get as much out of the way as possible.

But tonight... at least tonight I don't have anywhere else I have to go, and I can just curl up here and chillax.

This won't hurt a bit

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Summah-time... and the livin' is... UNeasy

It's been a weird, uneasy day. First, we have a minor meltdown in the house because Dr. Alexander isn't in our insurance network. So I have to go through the list of providers and try to find ANOTHER surgeon. Difficulty: none of the other guys will take a patient who's had a previous bariatric procedure done by another doctor. Which means I pretty much don't have a choice. Oh, I could show up in an ER somewhere and they could do another DX on me which would indicate I'm obstructed, but if they did decide to operate right then, I'd be stuck with whoever they got. I'm not willing to live with that, just to get insurance approval. So for now, I'm still with Dr. Alexander, who seems to be the only bariatric surgeon in the DFW metroplex willing to take my case.

Honestly, it makes me second-guess EVERYTHING. Is Dr. Alexander really a good doctor? And how can I know, other than my impressions of him and my knowledge that he's performed thousands of these procedures? I hate healthcare and insurance. I really, really do. It's all enough to make me think perhaps a lifetime on a liquid diet ISN'T such a bad idea. Me 'n my blender could be best friends.

Couple those concerns with this: the epilepsy camp has finally posted their Wednesday pictures, and Alice isn't in a single one. There have been approximately 150 pictures posted from each day, so it's up to 450 pictures now, and Alice is only in ONE? Is she being neglected, ignored, allowed to sit out of everything, is no-one slowing down to give her a chance to keep pace? I mean, honestly... shouldn't her little face just be in the background somewhere? I'll be leaving before dawn on Saturday morning to go pick her up; once I get there, I'll have a pretty good idea whether she'll ever have to go back or not. But suffice it to say that I'm not a particularly happy mom right now. I realize it's free and I am grateful, but at what expense? We can entertain and sing silly songs right here in North Ruralville at the Methodist church's vacation Bible school for free, also... and less than a block from home. It's hard for me to look at this objectively; am I being an overly picky Mom?

Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

Stress test

Went back to Dr. Alexander's office today for a pre-op stress test. I was a bit nervous... okay, I'll say it, I was STRESSED... because the stress test I had last year was rather traumatic. It was right after they figured out that my BP was sky high for no apparent reason, so they ran me on the treadmill until they got my heart rate up to the target level (with no complaints from me), then took me off the treadmill and did an ultrasound exam of my heart. While I was on the table, my BP dropped down super-low and I kinda left consciousness behind for a while. Not fun.

This stress test was less, well, stressful for me. I think it's because it's geared toward people who are severely overweight and are in very poor health as far as respiratory function. For this one, they used a stationary bicycle instead of a treadmill, and I had to keep the RPMs at a certain level for a certain amount of time. They had a mask on my mouth and nose and were checking my output and intake of air, and I had the usual cardiac leads all over my torso.

At any rate, it just didn't have the same effect that the other one had on me. I was tired, a little, but not terribly so. Mom had accompanied me to the appointment, thinking (as did I) that I might be pretty worn out by the procedure and would need someone to drive me home, but I was fine. We went to a little Indian restaurant afterwards and I enjoyed some Lamb Saag which was absolutely tender and delectable... and yes, LJ, I had a mango lassi to cool it off. Splendid. Wish you'd been with me.

Isaac spent the day with Pop, fishing at a pond over near Paris (TX), and I heard they caught quite a few. I should have photos tomorrow of the event.

I guess she made it down there...

As with all summer-camp photographs, I have no idea what this means, and Alice may or may not be able to explain it to me. But on the super-secret camp photo site, this is the first evidence I've seen that she's participated in anything at all.

Nightmares for teachers

Night before last I had a truly terrible dream which I remember vividly. I had gone to Ballyhoo to speak to the principal, and when he showed me my classroom, it was only a 10 x 10 room AND it was joined to another teacher's classroom -- and the other teacher was the woman who I had had to do my student teaching with 15 years ago. This woman, of course, was a living nightmare for me at the time, and her face often shows up in my dreams during times of severe stress. I'd describe what that time was like, but it was too awful. I don't know if I'll ever talk about it again if I can help it.

Thank goodness it was only a dream. He showed me my actual classroom today and it was just fine.

I just read in the Philadelphia Enquirer's online newspaper site, however, of just the sort of thing that will give a teacher REAL nightmares:

High stakes in teacher-parent clash

This whole thing, unless it's just the reporter's slant, smacks of a set of wacked-out parents with way too much money on their hands. It does, however, point out the precarious nature of a teaching position. I'm very, very vulnerable to the caprices of those in power over me (administrators, school boards), and their decisions (which can affect my entire life and the life of my family) can be based on nothing more than fear or whim and may literally have not one thing to do with my skill or success as a teacher.

Couple all that with a panicky bureacracy at the state and federal levels who make sweeping changes meant to make things appear as successful as possible every few years, and you've got a fairly risky occupation. Teachers end up doing a complicated dance... taking extra and usually meaningless college courses... re-wording the same old lesson plans to reflect the "new objectives" which aren't really new, they're just ways to sound as though things are happening... spending precious time piecing together ridiculous "portfolios" to display to disinterested administrators... it's gotten almost suffocating in some places.

These are the things which keep me awake late some nights. There are some times I don't like being a grownup.

Which random object are you?

You scored as Box, You are a BOX.
You like to be alone and do things on your own.
You don't mind the dark, nobody can see you there. You may seem rather ordinary on the outside, but on the inside you are full of suprises.

Box		100%
Match		75%
Lemon		67%
Paper		50%
Pillow		42%
Tampon		0%

Which Random Object Do You Represent?
created with QuizFarm.com

Dental serendipity

Weird title, I know, but it's true.

Headed on over to Ballyhoo to speak with the HS principal, then went on a house hunt to see if I could find anything at all for rent. After less than stellar success, I went to Sanger, just a few miles to the south, to see what I could find there. Not much there, either, although more possibilities than in Ballyhoo Proper. And then, I drove by... a dentist office.

I have a miserable broken filling that's just giving me fits, and so I pulled into the parking lot and went inside to see if I could schedule an appointment sometime soon.

"You won't believe this, but we just had a cancellation. How does right now sound?" the receptionist asked.

So I plopped down in the chair at Dr. Stacey Test's office in Sanger, Texas, and she took a look at the tooth.

"Hmm, it's pretty deep and possibly broken," she said. "I'll clean it out and we can take a look to see if we'll be able to fill it or whether you'll have to schedule a root canal." Then she turned to the hygienist. "Be sure and take her blood pressure, ok?"

"It's liable to be on the high side now, particularly since I heard you say 'root canal'," I joked.

She drilled it out and said that it wasn't ALL the way to the nerve yet, but that there wasn't any room left to go. She would fill it for me and we'd see how it went from there, if that was acceptable to me.

Heck, at this point, I'd like to be able to sip cold water on that left side again. Do what you have to do, I said. And she did.

And now I have a happy new filling and a numb cheek and I'm out about $260. At this point, it's worth it to me.

Tomorrow, Mr. Isaac goes in to see the ENT doc about his snoring issue. My guess is that he will have to have his tonsils out.

This is shaping up to be an incredibly expensive summer.

And she's off!

Miss Alice boarded the bus this morning in Dallas to head down to Camp Spike 'n Wave, a camp especially for children with epilepsy.

[sniff] I know she's going to have a good time. It's just hard to let your baby go, particularly when it's the most fragile one.

Next Saturday, I have to travel down there to pick her up.

And in the meantime, I have a TON of stuff to try to get done. Hopefully that'll all keep my mind off worrying. :)

Summer Camp

Tomorrow morning, Miss Alice leaves for epilepsy camp. I have spent all day getting her gear ready to go... packing each day's change of clothes into its own Ziploc bag, making sure she's got everything on the list, praying I haven't forgotten something huge and important.

I'm trying not to worry... to remember that this is a big rite of passage for a kid, and that they learn lots of independence skills that they might not otherwise have mastered had they not been forced to do so.

Lord, please let her be okay.

Road Trip Redux, day EIGHT IS ENOUGH!!!

Okay, here are Mom's pictures that she took on the day the girls and I had to leave. They got to go on up to the northern part of the park and see Mammoth Hot Springs, which I had really wanted to see, but I'll just save it for another trip, I guess. If you want to see ALL our vacation photos, go here first, then here (Picasa won't let me put so many photos in one album!).


Mom & Dad at Mammoth Hot Springs.


This fellow was hunting for those Bear Necessities, I guess... and he had lots of paparazzi, but didn't seem to care a bit:




And on our left, ladies and gentlemen, a Petrified Tree:




After leaving the park, the route through the Bridger-Teton National Forest was quite snowy indeed... enough for a brief snowball fight:




And in Dubois, they enjoyed buffalo burgers for lunch:




And something I missed on the way home due to the whiteout conditions... a wind-farm:


These windmills may look tiny, but they're actually enormous. Probably three stories high or thereabouts.

Gotta rest from all that sight-seeing:




And that, dear friends, is THE END. Hope you enjoyed our Yellowstone Trip!! Tune in next summer for the continuing saga.