7 Reasons I'm Excited for Fall

Fall is upon us! Today marks the first day of fall.

Here are my top reasons I'm excited for fall. Alas, I realize some of these are still dreams at the moment because it's still a tad too warm, but it almost makes me smile day-dreaming about it:

1. Making Soup — I'm not much of a chili person (yet, maybe someday I will be) so for me, vegetable soup is the way to go. When we were newly married, having never had to buy stew meat before, I accidentally bought veal stew meat. I came home, Jarrod pointed it out, to which I said "So THAT'S why it cost so much! I was wondering..." I completely missed the little veal label on the front, haha. We had one crock pot of very lean, very pricey soup!

2. Doing More Things Outside — Whether it's exercising, or just sitting still with a book, these things are always best enjoyed outdoors if you ask me. Near some trees, preferably.

3. Blankets — I don't think this one needs explanation.

4. A Nice Stout — After finally growing up and realizing not all dark beers suck and taste like tar, I had my first stout. And I really liked it. I won't be having as many this year, with the cancer and the chemo, but I've been told I can enjoy a drink from time to time. Stouts have slowly become my favorite beers, and this time of year they are in abundance.

5. Candle Scents — Fall is my favorite time for home scents; smells of cakes, cookies, pies, and pumpkin all make me feel very homey in my home. And I love my electric candle warmer since it doesn't require a flame. 

6. Wearing Scarves Again — A scarf is the perfect way to control my personal thermostat. If it's cold, wear the scarf. If it's too warm, ditch the scarf. Easy-peasy. And plus, I just love scarves.

7. The Beautiful Leaves — Duh!

Anyone else excited about fall now? Anything I missed in my list that might be on your own?

Fall Preview

Who else is excited for the cooler temps we have right now? I know I am. I know it will warm back up, but this is like a mini preview of fall. Saturday when we were in Kansas City, we were both a little chilly when we left supper. I wished I had brought a long-sleeve shirt with me, but I didn't.

This morning was so nice. I left the deck door cracked open overnight, so the house (the kitchen area, at least) was cooled off. Jarrod made a pot of coffee, and then later this morning I treated myself to some tea. And I had an idea... I should take some tea with me to chemo. Surely they have hot water there, and then I can make myself a nice cup of tea :).

Earlier this year, when it was cooler weather, almost every night Jarrod and I would wind down with either some hot tea or some decaf. I'm really looking forward to that again.

At the candle shop I wrote about, we picked up some fall scents, so I am stocked up and ready!

Friday Fast 5

Time for this week's Fast 5!

1. I'm sure many of you have wondered how I'm doing. Answer: I'm doing pretty good most days. Still no nausea, so that's wonderful, and my weight is ever so slightly up (yay!), which as you know is a huge deal with my CF, let alone this cancer crap. However I've had some pain come and go, and ended up in the ER last Saturday because it was so bad. I called my cancer doc and he wanted me to go in to make sure nothing serious was going on. It wasn't serious, but basically this might be something that pops up from time to time. It's been slowly better and better each day since then.
2. I don't think it's going to rain that much this weekend. I feel like the weathermen are trying to save face at this point, going on about how it's still going to rain so much. Because when they play out their models, it's not like there is a large blanket of rain over the area. It just doesn't make sense to me that it's going to be the buckets of rain they said. It was supposed to start raining overnight, and it's still not raining. So... yeah.
3. This is my first 'off week' of chemo! Next week, back at it again on Thursday.
4. I recently posted my doilies on Facebook and sold all four I had made so far. I hope everyone enjoys them :). And sounds like some more people are interested. I have one in progress right now. It's red actually, for fall or Christmas. I think it's going to turn out really nice in this color! If you are interested in one of my future ones, shoot me a text or email.
5. Many people have wondered where I learned how to crochet these. I am self-taught. My grandma taught me how to crochet when I was in eighth grade, but as far as making these doilies, I taught myself. Up until last year or so, I had told myself that I didn't know how to read crochet patterns. Then, I started to give it a try. I started with easier yarn patterns for blankets or dog sweaters, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was (proof that most times, when we 'think' we can't do something, it's really just in our head and we are the ones in the way.) And from there I thought Hmph, I wonder if I could make a doily? and gave it a shot. And I picked a really complex pattern as my first one, haha. But then it turned out great! There is just one small error in it, maybe you can spot it. But I really, really enjoyed it! I honestly didn't expect to have that much fun with it. I've described it as a small sculpture that reveals itself slowly, row by row. I love making them. I use my grandma's old crochet hook, and think of her often when I'm making them. I hope she's smiling down :).

   

   My first doily!

Friday Fast 5

Five quick things!

1. We saw Hamilton on Sunday! It was really good, a very impressive show. The writing/music is quite a masterpiece. That being said, I can't say it's my new favorite musical. My favorite either has to be Wicked or The Lion King. This is up there as one of the good ones, and I'm really glad I saw it, but I don't know... I guess I've been conflicted with this because there is so much hype around it. What am I missing here? But if I'm being completely honest, it didn't totally blow my socks off. I chose to NOT listen to the soundtrack and familiarize myself with the music ahead of time, which I've done on nearly any other big show I've seen. I mean, I knew a couple of the songs, I could have sung you "Alexander Hamilton" in the specific notes, but I didn't listen and memorize it all. I've been wondering if that was why I felt how I did? It was REALLY good, but for me it wasn't the best show ever on the face of the earth. 
2. I also went to see Godspell at Borgia last night, and it was good. They took a slightly different spin on the show, but a very modern one that felt right with the times. 
3. I finally was down in Chesterfield valley and drove past where they are building Top Golf... Holy. Crap. What a monstrosity that thing is. I can now understand why some locals weren't too happy about it being right there. That being said, I'm curious to try it. I've never played golf in my life, and don't intend to, so this would be my only opportunity to swing a golf club outside of putt putt. I expect I will be equally as bad at it as I am at bowling...
4. ...the last time I bowled, for Jarrod's birthday, I got a 68. I'm just that good.
5. I'm really bummed it will be cold again on Sunday, gosh I'm ready for this spring weather to stay here!

Friday Fast 5

Today's is EXTRA random and semi-pointless, but nevertheless, here's what's been plunking around in my brain:

1. This fall weather has been great! Although it was a bit on the cold side last weekend.
2. Monday, I noticed a bunch of juncos—aka snow birds—hopping around on the deck! It's a good sign when the juncos have arrived from Canada. In other bird news, the squirrels continue to be a nuisance no matter how many times I send Josie out on the deck to scare them off. Those buggers just never learn... Anyways, it made me laugh the other day because there was a line of birds on the deck waiting for the squirrel to be done pigging out. They kinda hop around and turn their heads, looking at the squirrel like "Hey, you done yet? This is OUR food ya know!"
3. There is a new majong club at the library here. For half a second I thought that'd be fun—I play majong on my iPad, learning how to play in real life could be cool. Then I looked at our Missourian photo gallery from their first meeting, and it was literally a bunch of people sitting around, instructions out, trying to figure out how the hell you play majong. Maybe they figured it out eventually, but it didn't look encouraging.
4. I just did a small load of Josie laundry. I washed all of her sweaters in preparation for the cooler season. They kinda smelled, all piled up together. I probably should have washed all of them at the end of the season earlier in the year, but oh well.
5. We are getting a new paper shredder, and I could not be more excited. We had a tiny one that bit the dust a few weeks ago. It just stopped, mid-shred. I couldn't get it to back up or advance, nothing, so there is a mostly-eaten Walgreens paper just stuck in the thing. It was never a great shredder anyways and was so annoying because it constantly quit, saying the bin was full when it wasn't. I hated that thing. I have probably 3 boxes worth of stuff that have piled up over the years and I am so ready to get rid of it!

Eclipse Day Has Arrived!

Wow, that was incredible!

It's 2:20 as I write this right now, and the eclipse is still happening. It's almost over (23 minutes left), but the moon is still passing over the sun.

At 11:48 this morning is when it got started. I went outside, and sure enough, you could see a tiny blip over the sun where the moon was!

As we neared totality, the temperature dropped a few degrees as they said it would, and it was noticeably more comfortable outside. Today was hot and humid, but it was amazing that the clouds stayed away for the most part. Initially the forecast wasn't looking good, there was a good chance it would be cloudy. But pretty much the whole time it was clear, and though there were clouds in the sky, they weren't blocking the view.

So initially, as stated in a previous blog, I wasn't planning to take a photo during totality. Or any photos, really, since I would need a special filter the rest of the time. That all changed on Friday...

On Friday, my supervisor sent out an email to myself and other photogs in the company saying if we hadn't gotten filter material from him, he still had some. I didn't realize he had any! I ran by work and picked some up, in case I changed my mind.

I cut it out and got it in place yesterday, set my camera up to the specific settings I wanted it at, and was ready to test it out. I wasn't sure if I'd get any images or not, but as the moon was moving over the sun I figured I'd give it a try.

So this morning, I got it set up on a tripod, out on the deck, and started testing things out. Amazingly, it worked! Not only was I getting images to show up, they were actually GOOD. You can even see some sun spots.

As the morning progressed, and my photos were turning out far better than I expected, Jarrod pointed out that maybe I should rethink things. Ahead of totality, we could remove the filter, prep my camera, and get it all in place so once it happened, all I needed to do was press a button. So that's what we did, and it was nice having Jarrod here to help me with it, otherwise it surely would have taken longer.

In the final 5 minutes of the partial, it was noticeably dark, in the middle of the day! I had Pink Floyd playing in the background (because I'm a nerd haha) and as the final song on Dark Side of the Moon, "Eclipse," played, we were watching and watching as the moon seemed to speed up to cover the sun. Then the glasses went black, and when I took them off, it was incredible.

Almost there!

The sky was a beautiful dark blue, like at dusk. I was trying to take it all in, looking at the horizon to see the colors of the sunrise, and also keeping my eyes to the sky. I snapped my pictures, checked the viewfinder to see they were in the frame and all was good, and stared in awe. I almost cried, my eyes were tearing up I was so moved. The feeling this provokes in indescribable, and it's different for everyone. And there are some that aren't really impressed, too.

It still went by quick. I wish I could have stared at it longer, but time is fleeting, right? If nothing else, witnessing this proves just that: 2 minutes and 28 seconds flies by way faster than you think. As I tried to revel in the last moments, it became clear the moon was moving away, the diamond ring was about to appear, and it was time to put our glasses back on, and to recover the camera.

I took a few more photos as the moon continued on, but soon decided to take my camera down. I was excited to download my photos to my computer. Though they looked good on the viewfinder, sometimes it's another story once you look at them in larger scale.

But they all turned out amazing!

I am so glad I did get those photos. Taking a photo is a very technical thing. There is planning and there are so many settings you can change and tweek to get the perfect photos, essentially: it takes hard work to get it all right. It's hard to explain that to the average person when you just say "Hey I got this photo!" but that's part of the excitement and, I don't know, accomplishment behind it. These images were taken by ME, not someone else, and that is very special to me.

Today is something I will never forget. I might even try to travel for the next one in 2024, to experience it again. It will pass through southern Missouri, and that's a fairly short drive compared to most. The Missourian got a photo of some people here from France, from Spain, and my doctor had a couple staying with her from Holland to see this. I was skeptical about the crowds they kept claiming would come, but I guess it's true. And I guess you could count me in that club too, if we do travel to Cape in 7 years.

What an amazing day!

My photo!

Friday Fast 5

Five quick things...

1. We've rediscovered hot tea in this house. Coffee in the morning, hot tea in the evening to wind down. It's quite nice and usually easy to do since so many varieties (or, varie-teas, hahahaha) are caffeine free. For the longest time I stopped drinking hot tea because I ended up preferring coffee over tea in the mornings, but this is an easy way to have both. It sounds obvious, but for some reason I never really thought about it before. I also bought a sampler of tea so we could try some different flavors; I didn't really want to buy a full box of 20 and then find out we hate it. So far we've tried about 4 of 20. 
2. Allergies are starting up already... wonderful. I actually noticed a visible layer of pollen on my car yesterday, and I've started coughing more at night. I took a walk with Josie yesterday, and it was great, and the weather was so nice. But I paid for it later. Yay...
3. Jarrod and I finally got to check out the Washington Coffee Shop a couple Saturdays back. Since I couldn't have caffeine while I was on meds, and also while I was on meds back during December, we never made it around to the new place until last week. It's a great addition to Washington! I love what they've done with the space, it's comfortable and easy to get to. 
4. I bought 'normal' eggs from Walmart the other day... not doing that again. A few years ago, I started paying more attention to the chicken industry. I learned about the conditions factory chickens live in, especially egg layers. It bothered me. I started paying more for my eggs, paying for ones that came from reputable farms that let their chickens truly have "free range" and live happy chicken lives. The proof was visible, these eggs had much more yellow yolks, almost orange sometimes, due to the rich diet of bugs, worms, and everything else chickens normally eat. I'd say we eat a good amount of eggs here. We frequently cook breakfast on the weekends or for dinner during the week, and these eggs tasted better! Who knew? Well, the other day for whatever reason, I decided to buy the Great Value cage free eggs. The yolks are so pale, I forgot that's how they looked. And they are flavorless! The scrambled eggs I made tasted so bland. Bleh.
5. Speaking of California, Sunday are the Oscars! I always watch them, though I admit watching it without a DVR to play/pause the show is much less enjoyable. They're just soooooo stinkin' long, and I don't always care about the acceptance speeches. I have a hunch that viewership will be down, simply because many people don't want to hear about politics anymore, and every awards show is always speckled with politics to some degree. Artists, for decades, tend to lean to the liberal side, and typically have "liberal" causes they are passionate about. This is nothing new, neither is speaking out for causes which actors believe in, it's just that everyone is incensed over it even more right now. But I really do hope the politics is kept to a minimum Sunday night, not because it upsets me as in How dare they say something opposing to my view of the world! but simply because I think all of us are dying to not hear/read/think about political commentary 24/7.

Friday Fast 5

1. Wow! It's been a month since I wrote anything on my blog.
2. I've decided to try and cook one new recipe each month, and on Tuesday my new dish for dinner was Mongolian Beef. And it turned out awesome! I was so happy. I made the sauce, cooked the beef, got the rice and noodles ready and it all tasted so good. Jarrod said it tasted better than the restaurant versions he's had, so woo hoo! If anyone wants the recipe, email me. 
3. A bit of advice when making Asian food at home: Jarrod and I have found that you must make your own sauce. It's more ingredients and a little more time, but it makes your kitchen smell oh-so-good and tastes 100 times better than sauce you can buy in a jar. I have another copy-cat recipe for PF Chang's Spicy Chicken where you make the sauce, and it also tastes great. We've tried going the easy route and buying the Panda Express orange chicken sauce and another General Tso's sauce with lackluster results. It doesn't end up tasting like takeout, and it doesn't taste all that great either. So, it's all in the sauce!
4. Last week was a stormy week. Thankfully, we were spared some of the worst. But Josie was stressed out a bit more with the bad weather. I went downstairs with her a couple times, which seems to be the best way to handle her storm anxiety so far. We sit in the back treadmill room where the wind, rain, and thunder cannot be heard much. More than anything, I'm trying to establish a consistent place for her to go, and hopefully this bit of training is catching on... slowly. I watch the radar on my phone and once the coast is clear we come back upstairs. 
5. This year midway through Lent, I decided to give up Facebook on my phone. Once Lent was over, I talked about how I might keep it up most of the time in another blog post. Lent ended almost two months ago, and I am still keeping up with it! I am very, very happy with my decision. I log out of my Facebook app every time I am done using it, and for me that has been the key to keep me off of it. Being met with the login screen each time I open the app is like a stop sign for me to mentally ask myself Do I REALLY need to check Facebook right now? Why am I doing this? and sometimes I log in and see what's up, and sometimes I just close the app and leave it alone. On the rare occasion I don't log out when I'm done, it's like my brain knows that the cookie jar is wide open so it just wants to keep going back for more and more treats (excuse my metaphor, but I thought it worked haha) and sure enough, I find myself coming back to Facebook 3-4 times in an evening, just like old times, scrolling through hoping for something new. If you're wanting to reduce your social media time, this plan of attack would be my suggestion. It still allows you to get on there, but that tiny little pause is enough to break the habit of just opening the app over and over without thought.

OMG You Guys!

I just found out today that we here in our little city will be in the pathway of a TOTAL Solar Eclipse next year, the one happening on August 21, 2017.

What an awesome, once in a lifetime event! The last total solar eclipse to cross the continental United States from coast to coast like this one happened in 1918... so yeah, kind of a big deal.

If you weren't aware, I'm a bit of a space junkie. I have always loved space, it was one of my three topics I was really interested in as a kid (the other two being Native Americans and the Titanic.) My favorite planet is Jupiter, and I felt sad the day they announced Pluto got demoted from being a planet.

Pathway of the entire eclipse.

Now that I'm older, I still love space and I am constantly in awe with the news and discoveries coming from the universe, like this year when scientists announced they had proven the existence of gravitational waves, which is a theory by Einstein. They constructed this massive detector with lasers and math beyond my comprehension to measure the waves, which are ripples in space time, hoping they might find one, and just for like a nano-nano-nano-second of time they had a blip on the charts which thus proved that indeed a wave had passed over the earth from a black hole that formed 1.29 billion years ago. Like, does that not just totally blow your mind? Mind officially blown.

OK, back to eclipse stuff. I keep saying total solar eclipse because that "total" part is a big deal. Partial solar eclipses are more common, where the moon blocks out part of the sun's light, making the sun look like a glowing cookie with a bite out of it. Total eclipses are rare, and even less common during daylight when it will be noticeable, like the one coming next year. This is the kind where the entire sun will be blocked, you will only see a ring of light around the moon, and the land will be in total darkness during the middle of the day. How. friggin'. cool.

In our particular spot (this is important) the sun will be completely covered for 2 minutes and 28 seconds, quite a long time. The longest duration is 2 minutes 40 seconds, and that will happen near Makanda, Illinois. So we've got a nice long chunk of time to observe the eclipse. And if my calculations are correct, it will happen from 1:15-1:18 p.m.

You can see the path of the eclipse in the map below. The red line is the central path, the blue lines are the limits of where you'll be able to see it. As you can see, we are very near the central path; St. Clair and Leslie are nearly dead on, St. Louis proper is just out of reach.

So that's my excitement for the day. I'm marking my calendar. Maybe I'll listen to some Pink Floyd. Space nerds from all over the world will travel to the US to see this. We just need the weather to cooperate. How disappointing would it be if it was raining that day?!

Friday Fast 5+5

It's been so long since I've blogged, I'm going to have TEN things this time!

1. I have barely been on my laptop, so I realize I never caught you all up regarding my recent hospital stay (and to the people I need to email back, I will get to it soon I promise :). I'm DONE, I finished my meds at home on the 31st, and am feeling really good. Actually, I had the best PFT I've had in years! The last time I had numbers this high was in 2011! I was able to achieve a 38% FEV1, which is just crazy. I can't stress how awesome and important this is. Now, I just hope to keep it up.
2. I felt the power of prayers this time, I must say. I started out with very, very resistant bacteria as stated in my previous blog. But midway through the course of treatment, the results came back with my cultures and showed my bugs had become more tolerant, and lo and behold they were responsive to the drugs we chose to use! I also have to really hand it to the parishes of Columbia. I was visited by a priest twice, who administered a blessing, a deacon, and volunteers who brought me communion. All told, I was there for ten days, and for probably 6 of those days someone came by my room to pray and bring me communion. Really great.
3. I've finally started reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I really like the movies, and the story. I'm really excited to read it and it's keeping my interest.
4. Once again, I have really struggled with a Lenten resolution this year. I think part of it is that I feel like I should do something new and different year to year, but I've pretty much run out of ideas. Honestly, last night I still hadn't come up with anything—I know, Lent started on Wednesday! Augh! But this morning, I decided. It'll help give me some needed inspiration day-to-day. 
5. I started a new prayer shawl the other day with a new, fancy stitch! I'm very excited. Jeff & Johanna gave me a book for Christmas with 500 crochet stitches in it! So I'm trying a new stitch from the book, and it's turning out quite nice.
6. I've complained on here before about the TV news just perpetuating fear, and the other day was proof again of what I've been saying. CBS This Morning had a report about the zika virus, and it was titled Zika at Mardi Gras. They sent a reporter down to New Orleans to talk all about the zika virus and the mosquitoes. The report went on and on for about 5 minutes, then at the very end he said "Now, officials say that they're not concerned about mosquitoes at Mardi Gras because it's simply too cold. But the threat of the zika virus will continue as the year goes on." So basically the report was about absolutely NOTHING because it's not even a concern anyways. But it might be. At some point in time. Everybody stay scared!
7. I've often thought Josie looks very fox-like. I looked it up, and contrary to popular consensus, dogs are split in two groups: those related to wolves and those related to foxes. Josie is definitely from the fox category. Just look at her!? 

   

   Josie shows her good side to the camera, haha.

8. Does anyone else forget to drink your coffee in the morning, haha? Almost every morning, I pour myself my cup of coffee, take two sips of it, then I forget about it. And then it's cold, and I reheat it, and forget about it again. 
9. I feel like our tolerance for snow here is going down, likely it's caused by the TV weather people, and we're all drinking the Kool-Aid, including myself. I'd love to watch a weather broadcast from the 90s or 80s, and see what they said then. Because now, even the mention of snow in Missouri sends schools canceling classes sometimes. Many people freak out over 1 inch of snow. But I don't feel this was always the case. Snow-freaking-out-ness is definitely relative and dependent on where you live. If you live more north, it takes a great amount of snow for things to shut down, if you live more south it takes a dusting to freak everyone out. We've always been in the middle with snow totals, but it's still expected that it will snow a few times a year here. Why are we all such wimps about it now?
10. With our recent snow, I've had a TON of birds on my deck and coming by the feeder. I assume it's harder to find food when snow blankets the ground, so I've been happy to give them some easy-to-find bird seeds :).

It's an Uplifting Day

Well, I am on the mend. The meds have started to kick in, I've got my med-induced nausea under control now, and I haven't felt as short of breath. So far, so good. Hopefully they continue to improve me!

I've been napping a lot lately, partly to give my body rest, and also because the meds do make me more fatigued.

Today's weather is downright out-of-this-world: it is the middle of July and it's only 70 degrees. The windows are open, I'm wearing long sleeves, and I'm actually cold. It's been a great day; listened to classical music while the birds chirped this morning, the dog snoozed on her pillow next to me while I worked, cool breeze wafting through the house, coffee brewed... sigh... it was uplifting and good for the soul.

In this wonderful gift this morning, I also realized that God has granted me with another gift: work hasn't been that busy the past couple days. Which means, less stress and more getting-better.

Here's hoping for another wonderful day tomorrow!

It Was A Good Day

Tuesday was a pretty great day, all in all. The weather is finally decent. It got to be about 80° and the sun was out most of the day. I actually got a little sunburnt too, which is ridiculous; I guess I'm just that flippin' pale. Then after lunch, I brought my laptop out and worked outside on the deck which was fantastic. It was perfect in the shade, and I know the dog enjoyed being outside too. She sniffed around all over the deck for an hour or so, then finally settled down on her mat next to me.

After work, I had a dentist appointment and all is good with my teeth. That's always a bit of a relief, isn't it? And this is the first time they didn't ask me about my flossing frequency, which must mean I am actually flossing enough these days! Woo hoo! I'm averaging about once a week, really, but it's better than nothing. I'm not saying I can't try to do more, but I'm not talented enough to just sit on the couch and do it while I watch TV like some people suggest.

After that, Josie and I took a short walk, but it was kind of hot, relatively speaking with the temps we've had. I joined mom for supper and then we went for another, longer walk though this time it had rained. But we made it pretty far, and all uphill for a while, so I was satisfied. Josie was ready to go the entire time; I don't know if she didn't like walking on the wet roads (which are still covered in tons of cinders) or what the deal was. When we got back she had the zoomies and was charging all over the house for a minute.

Today it was 80° like I said, right now it's storming, the temperature is dropping overnight, and by tomorrow morning it will be 30° and snowing. Can the atmosphere quit having such mood swings?

Correction on Previous Blog

I stand corrected. My mom tells me that she "is pretty sure" Schnucks and Walmart offer free cookies to kids. Now that she says that, yes I've seen that at Walmart; people walk up to the bakery counter and an employee hands the child a cookie. But the employee didn't hand them out in the incident I wrote of, so I assumed they were taking them. Maybe they cleared it with the worker before they walked over, who knows. Either way, I apologize for bring you along on a rant. This DOES, however, make me glad that I minded my own business haha.

In other news, boy this has been an odd winter! I think it's that way for the entire country. Even my friend in Alaska said it was too warm up there last week. We had thunderstorms last night, thank goodness it wasn't all snow. And previously we had the -30 wind chills, a foot of snow, and our temps in general have been fluctuating on a grand scale. I'm ready for spring. 

Cold Tuesday

It is a whopping 14 degrees outside, bitterly cold once again. Luckily it wasn't too windy today, or else it would have felt like it did right after New Year's. It sure was windy overnight though.

We got a dusting of snow overnight and schools were called off today. When I woke up, I thought that sounded ridiculous! Once again, it seemed that everyone was scared away by the tiny amount of snow. Then I learned from Jarrod that his drive to work was kinda rough, hitting a solid sheet of ice on the way. And the weather lady said that the snow fell on warm roads, melted, and then refroze as it got colder. Oh... now I get it.

Not wanting to risk it, I cancelled my doctor's appointments today and will do them in a couple weeks. The nurse understood completely and didn't want me to try and venture west (where they didn't get any snow). So I stayed in and worked from home all day and then went to Walmart tonight. I must say, that was possibly the best Walmart experience I've had in a while. Turns out no one shops at 6-7 pm, there was hardly anyone there. It was great, and I was out of there in less than an hour.

I also finished a book that I've been reading like crazy; I don't think I've ever attacked a non-fiction book so quickly. It was Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer. It was such a good book. The author did a fantastic job researching (he listed his sources, broken out by paragraph) and you could tell he strived to give an accurate portrayal of the Busch family, unlike the media coverage that they received in the newspapers (especially in recent years) which sounded as if it was practically dictated by those in charge to spin things in a good light.

But it is a sad tale, really. In a nutshell, I'll give you my thoughts: To go from the founding father Adolphus, with his glamorous over-the-top-ness, to his son who was just as flashy, to "Gussie" Busch, the stubborn man who was respected by most of St. Louis and who turned the company into a booming business, to August III who ousted his father, yes, but still had a good work ethic and believed in quality and being the best, to his son August IV, the hard-partying cocaine-addicted mess of a CEO (and mess of a guy in general) who never really cared enough about the business to take it seriously—that is a sad story. None of these men were perfect people by any means, or very moral, and they spent/wasted a lot of their millions, but they all believed in their business and their community, except for the last guy, IV. A-B was a source of pride for StL where a man could get a job, make a career there, buy a house, send his kids to college, but now that pride is mostly gone and everyone says it's just not the same since InBev bought them out. I feel like I learned so much St. Louis history in this book and like I said, it is a sad story to go from so much pride to so much disgrace and scandal. I highly recommend it especially if you are from St. Louis, like non-fiction, or enjoy a good well-rounded story.

The Weather, A Rant

Alright folks, I promise (outside of this paragraph) this blog will not have anything to do with my health. Now that I'm out of the woods and doing well, mostly back to normal, I think I need to take a break from talking about it. CF does not define who I am, and I don't want it to be the only thing I blog about either.

So, how about all that snow we were supposed to get? Maybe it's still coming tonight, but at this point I'm doubtful. I bet those schools who cancelled already this morning or who let out early this afternoon, which was most of the public schools in our area, are feeling pretty darn stupid.

Which brings me to my rant: Is it just me or are the schools getting wimpier and wimpier with winter? It seems at just the mention of snow, schools are calling the day off. Really?! We all know how unreliable weather forecasters can be, and their incredibly poor track record, especially when it comes to snow and ice. Good gracious, how on earth did we ever get anywhere "back then" if it snowed? These days no matter the amount of snow, the weather people are calling for everyone to stay inside and don't, I repeat DON'T, at all costs, venture out in this stuff.

I like to stay informed on the weather, which proves difficult because in order to actually hear the forecast I have to also put up with their ridiculous amount of winter weather coverage, which I have written about before here. I wrote that blog two years ago, and yep, it's still the same; maybe a little worse. So I blame the news channels for consistently blowing things out of proportion. Supposedly today we were expecting much snow and ice, and conditions would be drastically worsening as the afternoon wore on. Let me tell you about how that's going...

I can see maybe 1 one-hundredth of an inch of frozen anything on my deck, and that's my deck—which will always be colder and quicker to freeze than a road. I have yet to see a snowflake as well. Maybe the southern part of the state is seeing snow, but still. Ok, I just looked out the front door and there is indeed snow falling. But there is no need to freak the entire area out when it only applies to a tiny portion of said area. Sheesh...

Last night's storm

So how did everyone fare last night? We were fine.

I was hanging up some clothes when the lights started dimming. I thought to myself "Oooh... I should probably turn the TV on." I checked my phone, which gets weather alerts, and saw we were under a tornado warning. And I suddenly realized the storm was getting much worse. While waiting for the TV to turn on, I proceeded to turn off the dryer and came back to see the line of storms was almost on top of us. The weathermen were saying possible rotations between Washington and Union.

Meanwhile, Jarrod was in the garage, with the door up, my car in the driveway, just vacuuming his car. If I've never told the story: There was one time in Wentzville when they were under a tornado warning, and the storm was right over Wentzville. Jarrod was just standing on the porch watching it, eating a bowl of cereal. Once I found out what was going on last night, I went out to the garage to tell him the deal and that he needed to bring my car in, close the garage door, and come inside.

I went back in, Josie was shaking a few times, she was getting nervous. I'm sure she picked up on my own nervousness too. And as I was glued to the TV watching the updates, the storm kept getting worse and worse. It finally hit me I needed to go in the basement, so I grabbed Josie and her chicken toy and we went down there. A short time later, Jarrod joined us, soaked obviously.

We waited it out down there for probably 15 minutes. I don't think the house was damaged, though I want to take a walk around today just to check. But it was still a little nerve-wracking at times.

Welcome to the spring storm season!

Fair Shutdown

Well tonight was an experience. I'm kind of bummed out, now that the craziness is over, that the only night I care to go to the fair, it gets cancelled.

It was sprinkling, then raining, and I was so glad to have my umbrella. Me and my aunt huddled under that as long as we could until... REO Speedwagon got two songs in before a fair member got on stage to inform us a storm was heading here in 20 minutes, and everyone needed to seek shelter now. Not tents, but permanent structures.

Jarrod and I got separated from our friends, though we knew they were supposed to be in the livestock pavilion. I finally understand the complaints about AT&T and their unreliable network after this hullabaloo, you couldn't call or text ANYONE. You'd walk past a couple people who had success, but I don't know how.

It was pouring and supposed to hail, so we stayed put despite many people leaving the pavilion. I'm not sure if they had some info we didn't or were deciding to leave on their own.

We finally started wandering around, since there was nothing better to do, and found our group. Not long after that the sheriff came by and said we had to leave, they were closing the grounds. Another storm was set to come through in a half hour and everyone needed to "get to safety" and leave.
We had parked out in the lot next to the stage and weren't too far away, which was a blessing. So we didn't have too far to go, and I'm glad that my leaving the grounds was not at the fate of a bus shuttle. We got to my car (side note, thank GOD I had just done my inhaler about five minutes before all this began) and waited. And waited.

I mean, I guess the whole 'evacuation' went as best as possible, but the parking lots were another story. First of all, no one would let me out. I guess they aren't aware of the 'every other car' unspoken courtesy rule. Or they're just selfish... yeah I'm going with that one. Long story short, we sat still for about 30 minutes before we even moved much. The cops had finally started directing traffic, so things began to move at a good pace. Once we were out of the lot it was fairly smooth sailing. Except for one detail let's not forget about: there was a severe storm going down.

As we continued on to our friend's house it intensified drastically. The final road to his house was the worst. Sirens blaring, the wind was just swirling all around us, rain was blowing sideways, and I could barely see the road. We made it to the driveway and got soaked while dashing for the front door.
Let me also add to this that I hate storms. As soon as that officer told us they were shutting down and we needed to leave, I went into flight mode. I wanted out. I don't like storms, so I really don't like to get caught in them. I like to be at home, with a basement if it's needed. Add to this the cell phones not working aspect, not knowing what the weather was avtually doing, since I am not near a TV, or when we might finally make it out of there, plus knowing my mom is freaking out at home because she knows I hate storms and can't get ahold of us... and I was freaking out way more than I let on to everyone at the time. My leg was actually shaking when the storm got worse while we were driving.
I am so glad we didn't get completely stuck out there. And pretty thankful that my lungs held up. And for my umbrella. I'm so glad this storm is over. Goodnight

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

We woke up to a rare sight this morning: rain!

I started waking up to some thunder, so I hoped that would mean there were actually some raindrops accompanying it. Once I did get up, I went out the front door to look, and yes! It was raining! I stood out there for a while just to enjoy it; the smell, the gentle sounds, the cool air, the peacefulness of it all. I've always loved the rain smell, and this was such a wonderful sight to wake up to.

I can't even tell you the last time we had rain. I've been getting so excited each time there would be rain coming across the state, only to have my hopes dashed by watching it dry up on the radar when it got closer. The air here is so dry that hardly any rain clouds could make it. It would always be so close, so close!

Today is finally an answer to everyone's prayers. I was beginning to think we needed to call for a state-wide rain dance or something, haha. Is it enough rain to make up for weeks without? No, but it's great to see it nonetheless.

Wise old creatures?

As far back as I can remember, I have always liked turtles. I can't explain it. And if the Buddhists' version of creation is correct, I was probably a turtle in a previous life.

So since I love turtles so much, I love it when I see one, and I am on the lookout, perhaps a smidge more than your average person.

You've probably heard the old saying "When you see a turtle cross the road, that means it's going to rain." (And if you haven't heard, well let me introduce you to this.) I don't know about you, but more times than not, this turns out to be true! Strange coincidence, right? I'm not so sure that it is...

I've had this theory for a long time that I believe there may be some truth to this. I've tried to do a little research on google from time to time when I think of it, but with no results. Either I'm not typing in the right search criteria or no one has ever done a study on it. But my theory is that the reason you more than likely see a turtle is because they are on the move, trying to find safety, a better shelter, or... something. Turtles are, by nature, kinda shy if you haven't noticed. Why would they continuously put themselves in harm's way crossing a road if they didn't feel, in their being, that it was necessary? I think they do this because they can sense the changes in the atmosphere, and therefore start moving to take cover, or whatever. It's long been thought that many animals have strange sixth senses connected to mother nature, so why not turtles too? They've been around for so long and most of them live until they're 100; I'm pretty confident they have some sort of connection with mother Earth.

But, the entire reason I'm bringing this up is because in the past 3 days, I saw more turtles than in a long time. I had multiple spottings every day. And it definitely isn't raining here; it's one of the driest, hottest weeks yet. Now it makes sense to me: they were on the move because they could feel the earth trembling. This morning we had a small earthquake not too far from here. It was a 3.9 or a 4.2, depending which website you read, but it still woke me up and lasted about 30 seconds. Just like cats supposedly do something strange before an earthquake, I think these turtles were responding too. What do you think? Am I crazy?

Icetopia

There, I just invented a new ridiculous term for this storm we had. Or rather... semi-storm. Talk about a major disappointment and major goof on the part of the weatherman.

Should we be surprised though? No! Of course not. Every time it snows, their guess is as good as yours or mine as to how much snow will actually fall.

I gotta say that the entire sequence of news coverage just annoys me, and I'm to the point now where I don't really want to watch the local news anymore. Too bad I kind of have to in order to catch what the weather 'might' do.

Every frickin' time it's the same damn thing:

Day 1: Weatherman reports storm will be coming in 3-4 days

Day 2: Weatherman gives better 'estimates' of snow totals for storm that is 2-3 days away.

Day 3, the day before: Each separate news channel sends 3 different reporters to 3 different locations around the metro area. These locations include 1 grocery store, 1 hardware store, and either 1 more grocery store or a store where you can find salt or window scrapers. Proceed with ridiculous "storm mode" coverage of how the bread, milk, and eggs are flying off the shelves like wild monkeys so everyone can go home and make French toast! Observe! The Lowe's on Watson Road as customers flock out of the store in triumphant glory with their new snow shovel! And let us check in wiiiitthhh... Kathy, who is standing outside of the Walmart on Clayton, conducting boring interviews of maniacal shoppers about what they purchased before "the big storm."

Day 4: The snow/ice happens. We viewers are told to stay at home if at all possible. Don't venture out into the danger of all dangers. They treat us as if this is our first snowstorm ever and we have never heard this advice before, nor do we have any common sense. They remind us time and again that if you MUST venture out into this terrible weather: take it slow, keep a good distance between the person in front of you, and allow extra time for your commute. Again, all as if we've never heard it before.

Later on day 4: The snow amounts start to come in. Round two of each separate news channel sending 3 different reporters to 3 different locations commences. Kathy is in Illinois and says "Yes, the snow is in full swing. It is really coming down over here." John is in Ballwin and says "We are having quite a bit of snow over here." Steve in Wentzville says "The snow has hit, we are in the middle of the storm! Stay in folks, this one's gonna be a doozy." Steve bends over to pick up a handful of snow to further prove his point that: snow is indeed falling. We are left to conclude: the snow is falling. And we didn't even need to look out the window to figure it out! (And do I need to mention the irony that just 2 minutes before these reports, they reminded us not to travel in this stuff if we don't absolutely have to?)

Night of day 4: Snow totals are not as expected. They are lower. Weathermen launch into a laundry list of excuses as to why the totals are lower. Way lower. Way long list.

Likely scenario for day 5: Kids are home from school because school was called on account of predicted snow totals that did not happen. Therefore: a free snow day for no reason and another day to make up in June.

Living in Missouri is great...