A delayed day back to school

Today my kids went back to school. Winter Break had come to an end.

Well, it had actually ended on Wednesday, but we got hit by snow and so Wednesday was declared a Snow Day. So was yesterday. The weatherman had been predicting snow for weeks but the snow never came. Sure, we got an ice storm, but no snow. (They are predicting another ice storm will hit tonight, too.) Well, we finally got the snow. I was actually surprised to see it finally snowed after they said on the news that it would snow. Even the weather app on my phone showed it would snow on that day.

It’s not like we had several inches of snow – I think it was like two inches – but it was still enough to declare the roads unsafe for driving. I was actually pretty grateful for that. I am not very experienced in driving in the snow and I tend to avoid it if I can. (Years of living in California spoiled me with snowless winters! I have lived in Connecticut, Illinois and Missouri and it snowed in all 3 of those states that I lived there but before moving to Oregon, I lived in California for 15 years. I got used to not having any snow! And, yeah, I know it’s been 12 years since I moved to Oregon but I’m still iffy with the snowy weather. LOL)

All the same, people still drove on those icy and snowy roads, only because they HAD to (jobs to get to and all).

My kids were actually pretty happy to have a Snow Day. I was the first to get up on that day, ready to go through the motions of a school morning. But then I saw that schools were closed. Trevor woke up next and she was excited that there was snow. So excited, in fact, that she woke up Jesse. They immediately got dressed to go outside and play in the snow. They had a lot of fun playing in the snow and I took lots of pictures. (It was not a good idea to go out there when they were having a snowball fight because they ended up throwing some of those snowballs at me!) I also made them hot chocolate after they came in from playing, all wet and cold from the snow.

The kids were so excited about the snow and very happy to play in it. Jesse has been playing in it every chance he got.

So yesterday there was no school and I thought that since there was still snow and ice on the roads, the kids would not be going to school today either.

Wrong!

Trevor woke me up at 6:20 telling me that she was confused about what it said on the school district website. (See, I was so convinced last night that there would not be school that I didn’t set my alarm clock!) It said “no news=no change” and that usually means there was school today. I was really tired and bleary-eyed, though, so it took me a while to wake up and see everything clearly. I guess it had been the wrong night to stay up until 3 a.m.

I double-checked the school district website AND the news and they did indeed have school today. The website had no news and it said on the news “Buses on snow routes.” I also checked on Facebook and my friends were posting about how there was school today. There wasn’t a notice about schools being closed in the neighborhood watchgroup, either.

So, I guess they had school today!

Even so, I was still nervous about road conditions. I have been pretty much staying at home as much as possible and my husband has been driving on the roads. He took the kids to school this morning and he picked them up too. This would be the first time I would be driving a minivan on a snowy and icy road, so I am really nervous and I don’t know what to expect. (Today marks one year since we got the van!) I know I would have to drive at some point. Jesse has basketball practice next week – well, that is, depending on weather! It was cancelled this week because of road conditions. But I DO need to get over my fear, my anxiety, and try driving the van on the snowy and icy roads. I will have to get used to it at some point, anyway. Maybe I can work on that this weekend. I DO need to get out to the library….

The kids were actually happy to go back to school today. I would much rather put safety first, but I do feel that the kids DO need to go to school. Their last day of school last year was cancelled because of weather and their first day back at school was also canceled because of weather. But they went back to school today and they came home smiling. They were both glad to be back at school and they both had a good first day back. I suspect they missed seeing their friends and they miss the routine of school days.

And I’m glad we’re all back on track with the school schedule, too. As for me, my new schedule officially started today with the kids going back to school and it has gone well so far. I had a good “first day back” too. And I am loving this new schedule! It is much better.

I don’t know how much longer we will have the snow or how hard we’ll be hit by the coming ice, but I do know we’ll get through it and just be extra careful. We are prepared and at least the kids are enjoying winter weather just like I got to experience when I was their ages.

“No news = No change” – But sometimes the news is late

Normally, during this time of year, I have to check the local news early in the morning to see if school is opened. However, I got a wake-up call earlier in the week that I should not JUST rely on the news for that info, because all schools in this district recently had a 2-hour delay, and this was not included on the news. It was, however, on the school district website. That was pretty much a good heads-up to me to not JUST rely on the news for that info, but to also double-check on the school district website!

This morning, I got another heads-up.

The school district has a common message to parents who inquire if schools are open for the day: “No news = No change.” And that’s what I thought when, at 5ish this morning (I think it was 5:20??), I checked the school district website to see if schools were open today. Yesterday the kids had what I call an “ice day.” There was no school because of cold and icy weather. I commented on Facebook yesterday that when I had gone outside to look around (after reading reports of fallen trees and downed power lines), it was like stepping onto the set of Frozen! Seriously, there was ice everywhere. The ice was covering everything – even the power lines! I almost slipped on the ice just walking on the grass. I called it an “Ice-pocalypse” because it was really icy and frigid yesterday. Brr!

So I didn’t think there would be school yesterday – although I WAS still open to the possibility. After all, today is the last day of school for the year, and the teachers might want to try to get any last assignments in or wrap up some ongoing projects. I asked Jen last night while I was working in the kitchen and she was sitting at the table working on an art project, “Do you think there will be school tomorrow?” She shook her head. She really seemed confident with her answer, but I still thought maybe there would be school. Even so, we still had to stick to the schedule and pretty much act as if there WAS school tomorrow. Because there still might be.

So I got up at the usual time this morning. I checked out my bedroom window and it looked like there was a spattering of snow on the ground. Hm, if it did snow, schools might be closed. (Don’t know if it was snow; it was dark and frost or icy grass could be mistaken for snow when there’s moonlight and/or lights from other houses shining on it.) Then I looked out the front door window. It still looked pretty icy outside.

Then I checked the school district website. Guess what? No news. Nothing about delays or closures. I also checked the district Twitter feed (I follow it on my personal Twitter account) and it said to stay tuned for news. But I didn’t exactly stay tuned. I figured, since that post was 9 hours old, there was “no news.” So I guess there was school today!

Now if there is school, that means I have to be in the shower by 6 a.m. (that is the normal routine – sometimes there’s things going on that delays my shower). But I wasn’t finished drinking my water yet, so I was not in the shower at EXACTLY 6 a.m. Which is probably a good thing because, at around that time, someone posted in the neighborhood watchgroup that all schools were closed today. I checked the district site again AND the Twitter feed and, sure enough, there was the announcement that all schools were closed.

Well, whaddaya know. Jen called it!

Seriously, though, I am glad there is no school. The roads DO NOT look safe to drive so early. They say we’re supposed to have sunny weather today, and that’s good because it will melt the ice, but when it’s really early and parents have to drive their kids to the bus stop or school, you gotta go with the CURRENT road conditions.  (That sounds kinda funny, though. Cold and icy one day, then nice and sunny the next. Ah, Oregon!) And the current road conditions did not look good! Even when the news showed a live video feed of an icy road, I really felt the current road conditions did not look safe for driving. And after already experiencing one episode of my car sliding on the ice and almost crashing into a bus, you can bet I am a lot more wary about driving during the icy and snowy weather. I am also a more cautious driver because of that. And these days, I’m driving a minivan, so “bus mentality” aside while I’m driving it, I have no clue what to expect if the van starts sliding on the ice.  

And as I type this, at 7:15 a.m., it is currently 27 degrees outside. Lovely.

So, yes, I’m glad we don’t have to go out in that weather. It’s too bad the kids won’t be able to wish their friends and teachers happy holidays before Winter Break, but I’m glad we don’t have to worry about trying to get to a destination in one piece. (And anyway, they already gave friends and teachers Christmas presents and I already gifted Jesse’s school, so that’s not an issue. And the other friends left to get gifts to are people we know outside of the school and we can just take their gifts to their houses.)

I am also glad I can take the time to enjoy my coffee this morning rather than inhaling the stuff and rushing to get the kids out the door. I can also spend time this morning, while the kids are still asleep, working on a couple of things.

Even so, I was curious about why there was a delay in getting the info about school closures. (Am I the only one at a computer so early in the morning on a school day?) When I posted about it in the neighborhood watchgroup, someone replied that I should sign up for the text alerts. Maybe that is a way to get a heads-up about school delays or closures so early? I don’t know, but it’s worth a try. (Sidenote: I don’t immediately jump on the computer or check my phone right after I get up in the morning. That’s a bad habit!) I will sign up for those alerts all the same, because I think it’s important to use every resource possible when you need to stay updated on things like that. After all, I don’t want to show up at my son's school with my son in the car when there’s a 2-hour delay at his school and there’s hardly anybody there again. And I REALLY don’t want that to happen should his school be closed for the day and there’s nobody there.

It’s all good, though. The kids get to sleep and I get to work. And I’ll also be extra prepared for school winter alerts when the kids go back to school in January!

It's raining trees!

As has happened many times lately, I woke up at 3ish in the morning. At first, I thought it was my dream that woke me up. But then, something happened that made me think it was something else.

Later, as I was lying in bed and trying to go back to sleep, I relaxed under the covers and closed my eyes. Then I saw a bright flash – while my eyes were closed!

I quickly opened my eyes and sat up, looking to the hallway outside of my open bedroom door. I figured one of the kids was up and had turned on the lights. But it was dark in the hallway.

Then I turned to look at the large window that is to the left of my bed. It wasn’t long before a large, expansive flash of lightning lit up my window.

Oh, it’s a thunderstorm, I thought, lying back down in bed. So I watched the occasional flashes of lightning that continued to light up my window every so often. When my husband finally came to bed, having not realized what was going on outside, he was confused when the flash lit up our room again. He asked me about it and I pointed to the window, letting him know it was from a storm. (Somehow, the storm might have woken me up. I can't hear the thunder or rain, but maybe something about the storm had awakened me.)

When I got out of bed at 5, I was too nervous to turn on the TV and computer like I normally do. I usually turn on the news when I get up so early. And even though I really wanted to turn on the news to check the weather updates, I wasn’t sure if it was safe to do so. I looked out the glass patio door and the kitchen window but I couldn’t tell if it had stopped raining. Finally, at 7, I felt safe enough to turn them both on. I hadn’t seen any lightning so I figured it was safe. Fortunately, neither of them exploded from a lightning bolt hitting the wires, or anything.

Now, I had thought this was just another storm. Nothing serious. But, oh my gosh, when I was driving Jesse to school, it looked like a tornado had swept through the neighborhood! There was tree debris everywhere, and one person’s porch arch had been knocked over, lying in the street. I had to drive around it. Some signs had been turned sideways and there were giant puddles here and there.

But the biggest form of damage was from trees! It turns out that trees had been knocked over in the storm. On Facebook, a local friend was talking about a tree being removed from her street. My husband told me he saw a tree that had been knocked over on someone’s house, and I drove over to see it for myself. The tree had actually been UPROOTED and it lie sideways over the roof of a house. Whoa! He also told me a tree had fallen on someone’s car on West 11th. I ended up seeing it on the news later on the day.

Apparently, a tree also fell onto a building at the University of Oregon, and tree damage also caused a falcon to escape at the Cascades Raptor Center. On the news, it showed other trees downed on houses, sheds and streets, and that the storm had even reached as far as Veneta, with more trees coming down over there. Yikes!

All of a sudden, I was feeling very grateful we only have baby trees in our yards. But there ARE large trees near our home. With another big storm headed our way again tonight, I’m crossing my fingers it doesn’t fall anywhere near our house or cars. And I hope our neighbors will be safe, too!

Inclemental weather

Yesterday, I was given a pleasant reminder that Winter has arrived here in Eugene. No, it wasn’t the weather app on my phone telling me it was snowing (even though it wasn’t snowing in my neck of the woods). It was my car sliding on an icy road. I couldn’t tell if the road was icy and I didn’t even think that it might be icy because I had just driven on that road an hour earlier and nothing went wrong. Well, that time around, something went wrong, and my car went flying.

Fortunately, my daughter and I were not hurt when the car bumped up against a sidewalk and stopped sliding (though I did wake up with some back pain at 2:30 in the morning), but it was enough to knock the steering in my car out of whack. It was so frightening, though, that I was no longer focused on getting my daughter to school on time. At that point, I just wanted to get her to school in one piece! I had to make safety our priority and slow down as I drove her the rest of the way to school. (I had to put safety first again after I dropped her off at school: I was planning to run a few errands but the steering in my car was off so I decided it was not safe to drive it around until it, and the wheel, was looked at first. It was pretty tense driving it home!)

Later that day, as I was watching the news (which I had also watched in the morning), I was surprised to see that there had been some crashes and car accidents here in Oregon due to cars sliding on icy roads. One accident was really bad: The front of the car was crushed in! Yikes! Another accident involved multiple vehicles. There is snow in some parts of Oregon but these accidents didn’t happen where there was snow, but plenty of ice! And even after city workers de-iced and poured sand on the streets, accidents were still happening!

It’s definitely that time of the year where we all need to be a little more careful when driving on the road. We gotta slow down and give each other enough space between cars for stopping at lights and stop signs. And even if it is not freezing cold outside or there is no visible ice anywhere, I have been advised that it's best to drive with the assumption that there is ice on the road.

Getting my kids to school on time is definitely important to me, but safety must ALWAYS come first. I tell the kids: “Safety first.” No matter what it takes or the cost, always put your own safety first. Even if it means they’ll be late for school or something. It’s like that quote in the movie Lucy: “I’d rather be late than dead.”

So. My kids might end up getting to school a little late during the winter. I’ll try to get them out the door earlier than usual, but there’s no way I’m gonna be speeding or rushing when I drive them to school. As it is, because of the damage to my car’s steering, I have to drive extra slower until it gets fixed.  I apologized to the kids about this. I told them there might be days that I won’t be able to get them to school on time because of bad driving conditions. (The schools do close if driving conditions get really bad but not if there’s a little ice on the roads.) But I also told them, you know, the school might understand. Heck, they might even expect some students to arrive late because of bad driving conditions. (To be honest, I really don’t like driving when there is snow and ice, but there’s not much I can do about it! Gotta get my kids to school, and all.)

And until my car is fixed, I can’t drive long distances, either. Which sucks, because I LOVE driving and I love driving long distances, too. (Lets me pretend for the duration of the trip that I’m traveling on the road. Ha!) So I had to cancel Jen’s violin lesson this week (it takes a half hour to drive out there) and I also had to reschedule Jesse’s doctor appointment that is later in the week. I am hoping my car will be fixed next week and I can go back to “jumping in and out of the car” to drive the kids to school and run errands or whatever.

Playing in the rain

Yesterday, I found Jesse outside, playing in the rain. My kids know that I forbid them from playing in the rain, but they never really asked me why. They just know that once it started raining, or even sprinkling, I’d be at the door calling them inside.

The thing of it is, though, we live in the Northwest, which is famous for getting A LOT of rain. And we’ve definitely been getting lots of rain lately! Buckets of it!

When you’re a kid, rain is like snow. It’s fun to play in! Never mind that you could catch pneumonia while out playing in the rain or getting your good clothes and shoes soaking wet – the two reasons why I don’t allow my kids to play in the rain. To a kid, rain is FUN! (Well, unless it’s a thunderstorm; that’s when it is scary!)

So this was why I found Jesse outside playing in the rain. The temptation of this kind of fun was too much to resist. I was angry at him, and let him know as much, but later on, I spent some time thinking this over.

This wasn’t the first time I had caught him playing him in the rain. So, rules or not, I had to accept that on occasion, he will sneak outside to play in the rain. And then I’d have to deal with the results all over again.

So, this morning, as I was driving him to school, I spent some time talking with Jesse about why I don’t want him to be playing in the rain. The first thing, catching pneumonia, was what puzzled him. He was convinced he won’t catch pneumonia from playing in the rain. Still, I keep thinking that could happen. (Jennifer had pneumonia once and it was awful.) Then I explained to him the second thing, about how he can’t wear his good shoes and good jacket while he’s out playing in the rain.

Predictably, he got his one good jacket and his shoes soaking wet while he was outside in the rain yesterday. I was able to get his shoes dry in time for school this morning, but not his jacket. He had to wear his Spider-man jacket to school today, and his Spider-man jacket is not the right jacket to wear when it’s raining. And OF COURSE we had more rain today! In fact, Jesse and I had to run through the pouring rain to the car at the post office. (It was REALLY coming down!) So I was upset he couldn’t have his good jacket to wear to school this morning.

I explained to Jesse that he must wear the proper clothing if he wants to play outside in the rain. If he really MUST play outside in the rain!! I told him he needs to wear a rain coat and his boots. He already has boots but no rain coat. I made a mental note to get him a rain coat soon. Jesse understood this and I was glad I was able to clear all that up with him.

Today he went outside to play again, when it wasn’t raining. And this time, he wore his boots. Now all he needs is a good rain slicker and he’ll be all set.

Three Snow Days in a row

Last week, on Thursday, the weatherman on the local news was asking, “Will we get snow tomorrow?” And, boy, did we ever! The kids already had no school on Friday, but it ended up being a “snow day” for them. We sure got an awful lot of snow! I was not happy about all the snow, even though the kids went crazy over it. I was pretty much bummed because all that snow meant no driving for me! I cannot drive on snowy or icy streets very well, even if there are chains on the tires. It’s just not something I would be willing to do again. (I DID survive driving on the snow before, but I really just don’t want to do it.) So I have been stuck at home ever since Friday. GAH!!

But so have the kids. Monday was declared a Snow Day by the Eugene School District. So were Tuesday and today! THREE Snow Days in a row! Holy cow!

They did have good reason for it, though. While the snow finally stopped coming down, we have had some frigid temperatures. It has been VERY cold! The other day, for one hour, it was –7!! It’s been icy and very chilly outside. There have been people riding their snow vehicles and even their skis on the street! And, of course, kids being pulled on sleds and toboggans.

So, yes, we are trying to just focus on the happy side of this wintry weather. Jesse LOVES playing in the snow; Jennifer is more interested in just trekking around through it in the backyard. We have been enjoying the Snow Days by watching Christmas movies, playing games and having some family time. Jennifer has even started writing another book! Miraculously, I have also still managed to find time to write. I am working on two books and I’m almost finished with both of them. Yay!

Still, the kids miss school. They are NOT happy they can’t be at school. They LIKE school! And if it was possible for me to drive them, they’d be at my friend’s preschool or even “snow day activities” planned in the city.

And while I have taken advantage of Snow Days by watching movies late at night, sleeping in until 8 and staying in my jammies until 11, I also miss the structure of a schedule on school days. And I miss getting out of the house. I DO go outside some of the time but hurry back in when the cold gets to be too much.

Up until now, we have been informed if the next day will be a Snow Day, but we won’t find out if we’re in for a 4th Snow Day until tomorrow morning. Next week is the last week of school the kids have until Winter Break and I’m just wondering if there will be any other days of this week they’ll be in school, too. If the snow is still here by tomorrow morning, I probably won’t drive them to the school or bus stop but will still make arrangements to send them off if tomorrow is indeed a day for the kids to be back in school.

Oh, no! Snow!

This week, we welcomed the first day of spring. That’s what it says on the calendar: “First Day of Spring.” Yet it would seem that Old Man Winter is not ready to leave us just yet.

I woke up shortly after 4 a.m. because of a bad dream. I decided that, while I was awake, I would let the dog out. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I did that! As soon as I opened the blinds and pulled them back, I was greeted with the sight of my backyard covered with snow! I thought we were done with snow! But, nope. Apparently not!

And they say to be careful what you wish for. The other day, I was thinking we didn’t get much snow this winter. A little, sure. But not a whole lot.

Well, today, we got a whole lot! Quite a bit of snow, in fact!

Because of the snow, I did what I always do on such days: I turned on the local news to find out if the school would be closed. Didn’t get that information until 6:30. Yep, school was closed. Today was a snow day!

I took a lot of pictures of the snow. Later, Jennifer went over to her friend’s house to play in the snow with her. Then she played outside with Jesse. They also managed to build a little snowman and I thought it was really cute.

My dog was NOT happy about the snow (he was born and raised in the desert, after all!) so he tried to avoid going outside as much as possible. Every time I told him it was time to go outside, he looked up at me from his little doggy bed as if saying, “But I’m all nice and warm and comfy here!” Heh.

Here are some of my pictures. I will post more until I have shared all of them. (Gotta get the important ones from today on here first!)

The snow at 4:30 a.m.!

This is one of my favorite pictures. I love pictures of snow-covered trees and I took A LOT of those. Will be posting more soon!

Me with my dog, Chewbacca (who turned 18 two weeks ago)

I actually went outside to see how deep my hand went into the snow. Hm, quite a hole!

Walking before midnight

We finally had some nice weather in Eugene this week. Yay!

It started yesterday, with a weather forecast of clear skies and even some sunshine. My friends and I were pleasantly surprised and one friend told me of how she planned to enjoy this nice weather. My own plan was to go for a nice walk. I love taking walks but I don’t get to do them often because of the bad weather.

But, unfortunately, it was not weather that kept me from enjoying a walk yesterday; it was pain. Stomach pain. For some bizarre reason, I had a sharp, stabbing pain in my stomach almost all day. It started in the morning and just got worse. It got so bad by the afternoon, I was doubled over and unable to keep my mind off of it with other things.

I was not able to pick Jesse up from preschool; the pain was that bad. However, I found a little relief just from lying down. So I did a lot of THAT yesterday and the pain finally went away in the evening.

This morning, once I determined there was going to be a repeat of nice weather today (yay again!), I was DETERMINED to get my walk! Pain or no pain!

But thankfully, I didn’t have any stomach pain or other pain, really. I set out for my walk and despite huffing and puffing as I made my way uphill, I was soon enjoying a brisk wall and just basking in the sunshine. It was WONDERFUL! And I was happy to get my heart pumping with some good walking exercise.

I was happy to be able to enjoy a nice walk in such beautiful weather. And I saw other parents walking with their young kids, too. Or pushing them around in strollers. It just felt GREAT to walk again!

Jennifer does not have school tomorrow so if the weather is good again tomorrow AND if there is no pain to deal with, I think the kids and I will take a walk in the neighborhood. We like to walk to a nearby bridge and point out the ducks, or even to a nearby park. I enjoyed a walk today and I’m hoping the three of us will get to enjoy a walk together tomorrow.

Stuff going on

Jesse is doing A LOT better now. His eyes are still healing from the surgery and the anesthetic is still making its way out of his system, but he's not stumbling when he tries to walk anymore and not walking into walls. He's been really fussy, though. Probably from irritation in his eyes. I give him Ibuprofen only when it's very bad and he's very uncomfortable. The post-op appointment went okay and he goes back next month for another check-up on his eyes. It will be some time before we see actual progress. I'm just glad the surgery went okay! Thank God for that!

I'm really nervous about applying the topical medicine under his eyes, though. Tonight, I did it for the first time and I don't even know if I did it right! Grr! I've watched hubby apply the medicine and he told me how to do it. I get really nervous trying to do it, though. I don't want to get any of it INSIDE of his eyes!

I have been sooooo busy all week. Writing, running errands, taking care of the kids and cleaning. CLEANING! The other day, when I picked Jen up from school, my hair looked like I just stepped out of a tornado because I went right from speed-vacuuming to going out to pick her up. I saw Jen's old teacher with my hair like that and I guess maybe I gave her something to wonder about. Haha. "Erm, what exactly were you up to??"

One of the cleaning jobs I had was Jennifer's room. It got REALLY bad because she's not very good at putting things away (she's a piler) and because she just doesn't take good care of her things or tidy up when she is done playing, or something. So I took it upon myself to clean the room. I was tired of not being able to walk in there and Jesse kept getting into EVERYTHING. It took me TWO DAYS to clean that room. What a job! I wish I could get her to keep her room tidy so it doesn't get so bad. Anyway, it's a lot better now and everything is put away and organized.

Jen started school this week. Yay! She really likes her class. Thankfully, there aren't any troublesome students in her classroom this year. Thank goodness for that! There is a boy who sits next to her and on the first day, he was messing around with her stuff. I gave him a dirty look and he just went about doing other things. I guess he is not giving her trouble and that's good. Last year, there was a kid in her class who caused trouble a lot. (The same kid who pushed a little boy in the hall) and I have been very concerned about her dealing with bullies. Believe me, I had to deal with them when I went to school! (They were in the public AND private school. Ugh.) Looking the way I do, I was an easy target for bullies. Even when I fought back on one occasion. But with Jennifer, I have always worried about it. I've even had nightmares about it! So I keep an eye out for things like that and I hope she doesn't have that problem this year.

Speaking of nightmares...I had a real bad one last night. It was horrible. Weather disasters were striking the entire state of Oregon. There were hurricanes, floods, mudslides, earthquakes, tornadoes. EVERYTHING! And in all of the state of Oregon! The whole state! It was awful. I saw so many people die in that dream. Being covered by mudslides, sucked into hurricanes. Homes being destroyed. People tried to evacuate but often the weather disasters hit before they could. So many people....all gone. It was just terrible to see all that. I woke up from that dream, went out to the living room and sat on the couch. Hubby was on the computer and he turned around to ask me what was wrong. When I told him my dream, he said, "Hurricane?" I nodded. Then he said, "Wrong side of the country." Yeah, tell me about it! Then I looked at the TV, hoping to get my mind off that dream. And, wouldn't you know it, there was a program on about rogue waves! ARGH!! I covered my eyes, shook my head and mumbled, "WHY did I have a dream like that then come out to see something like THAT on TV?"

Jennifer's BFF had a birthday party this week. At least, we THINK she did. Jen never got an invitation. I'm a little confused and angry about this. I sent the friend's mother an email and asked about it but, so far, no reply. I'm starting to get upset about this, because if the friend DID have a birthday party and decided not to invite Jennifer, then I think that's really uncool. It would make Jennifer REALLY upset and then there'd be problems with the friendship. I don't get it. So I hope it was a misunderstanding. I am going to call tomorrow and find out. If I don't end up hearing from them by email first.

Today hubby and I watched the movie Stardust. I heard so many good things about it. Even though I'm iffy with Neil Gaiman (some of his stuff is good, some of it...meh), I really liked this movie. It's a great fantasy story. The part where Victoria starts to like Tristan after he changes his looks, though, REALLY irritated me. I got all huffy and said, "She likes him NOW only because he looks good!" Hubby rolled his eyes and said, "It's just a movie!" That may be, but that kinda thing DOES happen in the real world. People are SO dependent on looks and beauty. I'm sick of it and I hate it. But I guess being a person with burn scars, of course I'm going to hate it. I often blame my lack of friends on the fact that I am burned. People think I'm too ugly to want to be seen with me in public. Or they are too uncomfortable around someone who is NOT beautiful or who looks unattractive because I am burned. Or maybe they think that because I look like a monster, I really am a monster. I know it's stupid to think that, but I do. Oregonians only love beautiful people!

And the same goes for love....Love is SO dependent on outward beauty. Or so many people in this world say it should be. You HAVE to be beautiful to be loved. If you are ugly, then you are shunned and ignored. One beautiful person will not love an ugly person. They BOTH have to look beautiful. Because outward appearances MATTER. It's just not right.

Which is why I would rather be with someone who would love me for my heart and not for my looks. I can't take these burn scars away. I can't make them disappear, even when wearing make-up. Love me for who I am and for the kind of heart that I have. Not for how I look.

That is my opinion, anyway....

I got A LOT done with the writing this week. Unfortunately, I was not able to do my article for SIGNews, because my source at Gallaudet refused to do an interview and so did anybody else associated with that topic. ARGH! I was really upset and NOT happy about losing the money I would have received for that article. Sigh. Fortunately, my editor was very understanding. I was soooo tempted to complain about it on the writing blog. But....I am a grown up. I can handle this in a mature, professional manner. (Those poopie-heads!)

As for the Ghost book, I am FINALLY allllllll caught up on the emails for it. YAAAAYYY!!!! Now to get caught up on the phone calls I have to make for it. I have two that I keep FORGETTING! But the email thing is good and it was a huge weight off my shoulders to get caught up on them. Hopefully, I'll be able to wrap up gathering all the stories I need VERRRRRY soon.

There are other emails I need to get caught up on, too. Hm. I'm working on it! So please don't think I am ignoring you....

I got an idea for a cartoon today. Imagine it: Writer goes into a printing shop and asks, "How much do you charge to print?"

Saleslady says, "How many pages do you need to print?"

Writer answers, "Oh, about 580 pages."

Saleslady faints.

That right there is how long the Totally Scared book is. Ayuh.

Pictures from today

The other day, I came across a news story about an image of the Virgin Mary being on some grill. I studied that picture good and hard but failed to see any resemblance to the Virgin Mary there. I shook my head and shrugged it off as being something that people will see what they want to see.

It reminded me of an item I saw on eBay a looong time ago. Something about a grilled cheese with the Virgin Mary on it.

Well, here ya go, folks. It's not the Virgin Mary, but actually a Scottie I saw in a piece of quesadilla my son threw onto the floor:


Isn't he such a cutie snookums? I think we should name him. Let's call him Hogarth.

I have wanted to start wearing contact lenses for some time. Partly because I'm so tired of "looking out of windows" so much every day. I don't wear my glasses every single minute of the day. Sometimes I take them off to rub my eyes, when I'm taking a shower, if I have to go out in the rain outside, when I go to sleep, etc., but I do wear them most of the time. I hate wearing them, though. I wish I could wear contacts. My husband says my life is too busy for contacts. And my sister-in-law told me her son used to wear them, but they kept popping out all the time and it was a big hassle. Sigh. We REALLY need to come up with something better! I don't think surgery could fix my vision.

Anyway, part of the reason why I hate wearing the glasses is because the big thick...thingy on the left-side band catches my hair and sometimes yanks off a strand when I take the glasses off. Yes, sometimes that does hurt! I swear, I'm going to go bald if I keep wearing these glasses! This is the part that I mean, the thick part, right at the very edge:

Maybe new glasses would put a stop to that. Still wish contacts were possible, though.

On Sunday, Jennifer bought this toy at Fred Meyer. It's a toy piece of cheese with plastic mice to go inside it. She went nuts over it at first. Then she decided to get creative with it:

I wonder if she gave their boat a name. It's bad luck to have a boat without a name!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I planned to make tacos for dinner. Jennifer hates tacos so I made her and her brother quesadillas instead. Well, when I took the chub of hamburger out of the fridge, I was dismayed to see that most of it was frozen solid:

It may not look frozen but, believe me, it was rock solid. I set it out to thaw, keeping a close eye on the time it was sitting out. When I was able to cut it up, I cut the portion for dinner, wrapped it up and put it back into the fridge. Then I wrapped up the other cut portions then put them into the freezer.

My refrigerator is always doing that. It freezes so much of the stuff put on the higher shelves. Sometimes I'll happen to notice the dial turned all the way up to 9, and Jennifer SWEARS she didn't touch it. (When she was younger, she had a bad habit of playing with the temperature dial in the fridge.) I'm beginning to think that maybe somebody just hits it by accident when rummaging around in the fridge. I don't think the dial would be turning itself up all by itself...?

It's a real headache to live with, though. And it seems that no matter where I put the eggs, they still get frozen, too! I hope we can get a new fridge soon, so that everything inside of it would not turn to ice or get super-cold.

Still, Jesse sure enjoyed eating frozen applesauce one day.

Today, when I took the trash out, I noticed mushrooms in the front yard. First I took pictures of the 'shrooms then flowers growing in front of my house.

Here are the flowers:



And here are the mushrooms:




It rained A LOT today. It's like the rain was on and off all day. I was not able to take a picture of the rain, though.

A downburst in Eugene

Today I came across a very interesting story in the newspaper:

Strong gust of wind lifts bench, scatters debris at South Eugene High

I have never heard of a downburst before. I was totally taken aback by the news story. I kept saying things like "oh, my gosh!" and "whoa!" as I read it. (I especially said that "whoa" when I read about the teacher being lifted off of the ground by the wind!)

Read up about downbursts on Wikipedia here.

One downburst actually caused considerable damage in one city. Go to the story and click on the pictures: Enterprise Civic center, roofs and signs damaged in down burst

However, the most famous downburst occurred on July 4, 1977, in Wisconsin. You can read about it here: The Independence Day Derecho of 1977

I thought it was really interesting stuff to learn about. Kinda scary how it can happen, though.