Camping

We had our annual family camping trip to a lovely little municipal park outside of my husband's hometown this past weekend.  It is a weekend of fun for all with golfing, fishing from the spring fed pond, nature hikes....

And food.  Lots and lots of food.

On Sunday we had a little shindig for my Grandma Irene for her 91st birthday which will actually be June 8th.  However we will be unable to all see her on that day, so I bullied the siblings into all coming and nagged my Grandma into traveling to see us for a little celebration.  We had hot dogs and hamburgers, and I had made a delicious sheet cake that appeared perfectly normal when we left my house, but apparently it had a mishap somewhere after it left my house, whether it was the trip in an ice chest or the day in a cabinet of my mom's camper.  The temperature was over 105 degrees on Sunday.  I'm thinking the combination of moist refrigeration followed by heat in my mom's cabinet somehow melted it...Of course she had her A/C running, but with temperatures that high, it is nearly impossible to keep a camper cool!

Anyhoo, I chatted with my Grandma while I helped with lunch, but as soon as lunch was over, my cousin Ben informed me that he was taking all of the kids fishing and swimming at a local farm pond that was about fifteen feet deep.  My dad informed my husband and I that we were both going to help chaperon/life guard.  I know he didn't want to go, and Paula was going to be gone for the summer, and he didn't want her kids to miss out on the fun, so that left Studmuffin & I to help Ben lifeguard.  I may be 35, but if my Dad points his finger and tells me I'm going to do something, I do it...Even when he phrases it as a request.  I know it's really NOT a suggestion.

Logan in a paddle boat.  We later realized the paddle boats were missing their rudders.  That made steering interesting to say the least.

That farm pond was the coolest!  My brother David had tagged along, and we made a dash for the paddle boats...As we lifted it to drag into the water I screamed because a water snake slithered out from under it and into the water.  I informed him I was NOT getting into that boat until they lifted the boat completely off of the ground and I was assured no more snakes were under it or getting IN IT with me...

After that was ascertained I happily hopped in with my brother and merrily paddled away...We had a few issues with steering, and we later learned the darn thing didn't have a rudder.  After a few minutes my brother's bottom became wet.  And a big puddle formed under his feet...He jumped up on the back of the seat, because he obviously could NOT get wet.  In a farm pond.  In 105 degree heat.  Never fear, Gentle Reader.  I peddled his sorry carcass to shore.  I needed to burn a few calories anyway after eating nearly nonstop all weekend.

Ben wished he had a camera to take pictures of their faces.  He said Bookworm's face said "I MADE IT!" every single time.

We drug the boat up on shore as far as we could (which was much harder since it was full of water now.)  The little ones ended up taking over the other paddle boat, and I headed for the raft that my cousin had drug from the shore to the middle of the pond.

See the moss?  Well, right where it stops, the ledge drops off and it gets deep.  Obviously they had to jump BEYOND the moss.

Did I mention that the pond was cold?  It is spring fed, and about 15 feet deep, which is down at least 6 feet from it's normal level due to the drought, and believe me, it was COLD!

So, my maniac 6'4 (guessing here, I just know I have to tip my head to talk to most of my cousins and I'm 5'8) cousin did a swan dive off of the lovely high dive built of high line poles and bridge beams.  I made him jump off of it two more times before I would let my kids and Paula's boys jump off of it.  Feet first.  With Ben in the water right beside where they were jumping in.  It was a good thing, as Aiden's water shoes were making it hard for him to swim.  But of course, he couldn't take them off!

My cousin Diane's husband showing how crazy he is.

My Uncle JimBob and I talked about how stressful it was if the kids failed to swim immediately to the top and instead felt the need to swim under water to the raft...Like Popcorn.  That kid was the first to jump in, and she jumped the farthest, and she was upset that I wouldn't let her do back flips like Phil.  Thanks Phil.  Thanks a lot...She got over it and had fun anyway.

I'm not entirely sure this is the face of a stressed out man...

After watching the kids, my cousin Diane's husband decided the kids were having too much fun.  He climbed up there and did 1 1/2 flip...three times.  The picture indicates the safety of that decision...Yes, that's black mud all over his shirt.

The pond was down, and the wind had been up.  That is why there is so much junk on the shoreline.  60mph winds will blow stuff into the pond that is meant to be enjoyed on the shore.  Like that once lovely folding chair.

Monday we had to pack up and come home after three fun filled days.  Thankfully the weather was great until yesterday, as the other two days we actually needed jackets off and on to stay warm...Until Sunday into the night, when we suffered in heat until about 1:30 am, then suddenly I needed a blanket to be warm.

If that ain't class, darlin' I don't know what is.

Anyway, we had a great time.  I hope any family on the Richard side that's reading this will feel jealous and join us next year!  We were up to 8 campers parked in our circle this year.  Be sure and mark your calendars for next Memorial Day!  It was great fun!  Sure the cotton is flying!  I say take a Claritin, 1200mg Mucinex and 30mg of Pseudoephedrine!  It will cure what ails ya when the pollen is high...Of course, you may not be able to keep up with your thoughts, but you will feel great!

The Plan..And No It Wasn't Mine

We went to help our friends clean their house yesterday.  How overwhelming.  When we arrived Tamara was in her car on the phone with the insurance company and Richard was on the roof working...And staring into space.

Where to begin?

Strangely, the first time I nearly broke into tears was when I met her sister.  My first thought was, "How awful if I was doing this for my sister."  Isn't it weird to have little moments like that?  One of my best friends has a sister who is suffering from cancer.  Every time we talk, I just can't imagine what I would do if my sister were suffering that way.  So I always end up crying right along with her.

It makes me remember that Romans 12:15 tells us to "weep with those who weep."  This verse flits through my  mind often at work, but I seldom truly weep with patients.  My walls are up and I'm in full nurse mode.   I think I would fall apart mentally if I wept every time I saw tragedy at work.  But when I see this tragedy happen to those I love, those walls aren't nearly as strong.

I asked what they wanted us to do, and as so often is the case in the face of such destruction, they didn't really know what to tell me...I just ended up doing what I knew to do.  I spent most of the day packing the kitchen and Studmuffin helped clear the roof of debris so that more of it would not fall in on those trying to clean the house.  The kids bedrooms each had walls falling in along with the roof, and one of the bathrooms had the roof cave in while they were trying to salvage things inside.  He also helped load the undamaged or slightly damaged belongings into a trailer to move to a neighbor's garage.  It seems the storage containers were in such high demand that our friends would not get one delivered until Friday.

Tamara had said she needed all of her important papers packed away before the rain began.  Of course their was only a twenty percent chance of rain, but that only means that twenty percent of the people have a hundred percent chance, and who wants to be that person with no roof over their belongings?

I left Tamara and her sister to pack up the office while a friend and I tackled the kitchen.  Tamara was amazed at all we got packed, but really packing a kitchen is easy.  Simply assemble boxes and wrap, wrap, wrap in paper...

I was stressed that some of the people dropping in and out to  pack were being conservative with paper.  Obviously these people had not moved many times, or had not had their things stored for a length of time.  Paper is your friend!  Use it generously!

Richard's great grandmother's china was untouched.  The dishes in the cabinets were unmoved, yet the master bed was stripped bare and the linens were on the rafters above the kitchen.  A Halloween jack-o-lantern had the cord severed off it, but looked otherwise undamaged.  The kitchen drawers were inexplicably full of water, yet the cabinets above and below were dry as a bone with nothing broken...

The windows were shattered, and occasionally a strong wind would come through and bits of glass would fall out and fly through the air...to join the insulation flying around like snow.  I kept my sunglasses on and wore a dust mask a good chunk of the day as I quickly realized being in the house made me cough.  An older gentleman told us to be sure and shower in cold water so that we didn't open our pores for the glass in the insulation to get in our skin.  That really seemed to help as I was very itchy, particularly in the bend of my elbows before showering, and I felt good as new after.

Tornadoes are so fickle.  Several church members live in that particular neighborhood and three families in our church had their houses demolished while four had minimal damage (minimal in the sense that it is cosmetic and can be fixed later on, or just need a small patch job on the roof.)  One lady voiced her guilt that her house was virtually untouched and yet this house is destroyed.  I could sympathize.  I felt guilty and we lived three miles away...

I know at least two other families in our church live just up the street from the school and their houses have lots of damage too.  I did not see it with my eyes, as the police have those streets blocked off with only residents allowed in.  If we want to go help, we have to call the friend/family member who drives to the end of the street to let you in.  I know that is to help slow down tourists and looters.

Studmuffin stayed at the church from 12:30 to 2:30 am last night.  The back half of our church gym was completely ripped away, and the structure had not been deemed safe for people to enter so they could board up the entrances so nobody could get into the church.  How sad that we have to guard the church against looters.

School is officially out for summer due to the damage.  How strange to think we were in a shelter right next door with no idea what was going past us other than the lights went out and the a/c quit working.  My car was covered in leaves and shredded paper when I went outside.  At first this baffled me, but Studmuffin pointed out that the recycle bins were all right there.  Mystery solved! 

I fear I was my usual bossy self yesterday.  Studmuffin told me this morning that if that had been my house, I would have been like a drill sergeant issuing orders to everyone around me.  As if he' not just as bossy as me.  Believe me, he is.

When we got the phone call (several months ago) that they were flying my mother in love to my hospital due to an aneurysm, but we had two hours before she'd get there, I immediately gave every family member a chore to do, and kept them all moving until it was time to leave.  I have no idea why I do that.  I do it every time a storm is rolling in also.  I guess if I keep busy, my mind can't dwell on the stress that is encroaching, so I just think everyone else should stay busy too!


All I know is that when a crisis kicks in and my bossy nurse mode just takes over!  And maybe sometimes (very seldom, mind you) when a crisis isn't impending if I'm totally honest.

The Schwann's man showed up and passed out treats.  People dropped in with boxes of pizza and cases of water.  The generosity of others was overwhelming to me, and it wasn't even my house!  I think that sometimes we are allowed to have a crisis in our lives so that we can realize how God really blesses us.  Not with things, but with people.

Richard and Tamara lost their house and many of their belongings.  But the entire family was safe.  And I heard Tamara say over and over, "I'm not worried about this stuff.  It's just a house and stuff.  We still have each other."

I'm tearing up thinking about it.  Me, who never cries.  I was so blessed to get to help them in their time of need and see their faith that it was all going to be all right.  God was taking care of them.

Studmuffin and I talked about what our original plans had been for our week off to celebrate our anniversary.  In typical weird fashion for us, we had planned to be home just the two of us, eat a light take out lunch and work on our fence.  But God planned for something entirely different from our selfish little plans.  I'm glad He made me part of this plan.  I'm glad He gave us the time and ability to help out.  I only helped with a tiny fraction of what needed to be done, but I was blessed to be able to help in that small way.  I'm glad my God is the God who provides for our every need, in ways we never expect. 

What a humbling experience.

Lessons from a Tornado

We had several tornadoes roll through our part of Oklahoma yesterday evening.  The damage was sobering and humbling.  We were fortunate in that we were all safe.  Our little  family of four sought refuge in the community storm shelter that my husband's company built several years ago.  It was designed to withstand winds up 250 mph.  We discovered that over 1000 others decided to take shelter too.  I think in the aftermath of the Joplin tornado everyone was on high alert. 

We were packed in there like sardines, standing room only, shoulder to shoulder.  It was hot and miserable as the storm knocked power out and we had no a/c.  There was a poor pregnant woman unable to squeeze through to the bathroom who was sick all over herself.  The babies were hot, scared and wailing at the top of their lungs. 

The emergency manager only announced that they were working on the a/c and for everyone to remain calm...No update on what was happening outside.  We would ask what was going on (they were in an office with radios and would just walk by without making eye contact with any of the miserable crowd) and the answer was "we're working on it."  I felt kind of sorry for them, knowing that they were stressed and this was the first time a huge storm ahd come through since the town built the shelter so they were probably overwhelmed and burdened with over a thousand lives under their care.

Okay, that being said, and acknowledging that our church lost  the gym and school is probably out for the rest of the year (three whole days) due to damage, and knowing that my dear friend lost her entire home, it is time for me to kick into nurse mode.

You know how nurses are.  We find dark humor in terrible situations.  It's how we survive...

We were finally allowed to leave (again, no announcements or explanations, the doors were just suddenly opened and people were flooding out.)  I was parked in a crowded area (I had met the family there on my way home from work.  I got there a few minutes ahead of the storm, but it felt like I was stuck in there for hours not, 45 minutes) and people were walking behind my car.  A punk with a flat billed cap, low slung pants complete with underwear hanging out and no shirt was standing in the back of a pickup ntext to me looking around.  As I was getting in my car I noticed there were three barrier poles behind me, but I couldn't see them once I was in my car as my SUV is too tall, and they were only about three foot tall.  "Could you watch those posts and make sure no little kids are running behind me as I back out?"  He said, "sure."  I crept back.  No word.  I crept some more.  I saw a family approaching from my right rear side and was watching their little ones making sure they weren't going to run behind me.  Suddenly the dad yelled "Look out!"  Dang if I ddin't graze the stupid post.  The paint rubbed off with my fingers, so it was not lasting damage, but really kid?  What were you ging to do?  Tell me before I backed completely over them? 

For any of you who need a refresher, here's my trials in driving in reverse...

Now for a list of lessons I have learned from a tornado.

1.  Apparently strong winds and rain wipe the scent of Oliver the cat off of the neighbors houses.  I let him out when we got home and he immediately set to running around and peeing all over ever upright object he could find.

Oliver is shaved for the summer.  I had a friend surprised that he could run last night:  Are you saying my cat is fat, Megan?

2.  Nobody took a cry for financial assistance regarding our damage seriously.  I sent the following text to the most generous family members I knew and have yet to recieve any serious offers of assistance.

Title:  Our damage.
Text: We are considering filing with FEMA.  Any financial assistance is greatly appreciated.  Cash or check is welcome, payable to Andi not Brent.

I had a friend from work reply in earnestness:  I don't think FEMA replaces yard swings.

Ya think?

Yes, the reply was from a nurse.  He has just never learned to embrace the dark humor side of our profession.  Sadness.


Gentle Reader should you be feel led to aid us in our hour of need, email me and I will get my address out to you right away.

3.  Kids will not sleep in their beds in the pitch black after a storm.  They will sleep on the couch where the sun comes up directly in their faces and be up by 6am.

4.  Do not go outside with your cup of coffee in your nightie if you live in an area struck by disaster.  News helicopters are flying around like bees.  I quickly dashed in and grabbed a robe and THEN went back out to drink my coffee.  I would hate for them to mistake my cellulite for hail damage.

5.  Do not whine to your child that school is canceled and now your 15th wedding anniversary is ruined since the kids are home.  Bookworm's response:  Well Mom, your friend lost her entire house so there ya go.

Excuse me?  I am the voice of brutal honesty in this house.  Since that role is being fulfilled quite effectively, she may fill the role of sympathetic enabler...Everyone knows that each family member has a role to fulfill and she better step up and act right or her role will be neglected!  Good grief.

That's all I've got for now.  I'm sure more lessons will come as the day progresses, but my husband has finally drug his carcass out of bed at 9:26 am, so I'm off to spend quality time with him!

Quality time that he assures me does NOT involve tearing out carpet.  He is so the rain on my parade.

Tom Sawyer's Got Nothing On Me.

I'm typing this on Saturday morning.  I just made the near fatal error of going into the garage to ask Studmuffin a question while he was cleaning.

He tried to put me to work.

I ran in the house lickety split and made a fresh cup of coffee and called my Grandma Irene on the phone.

I rattled off my reason for calling and she said, "Well, honey, there's nothing in the world I'd rather do than talk to you on the phone, but right now June is here and we are going to decorate."

Grandma always decorates graves the weekend BEFORE Memorial Day so that everyone can see how pretty her family's graves look when they are out on the day...I say she misses lots of socializing by being such an early bird...

Anyhoo, there went that excuse for not helping...

But if I went to help I would have had to put on shoes.

And a bra.

Neither of which I had any desire to do...

Now I'm going to call one of my sisters...Or my mom.  Maybe some friends from Texas.

All I can say is somebody better pick up the darn phone so I can be occupied when he comes back in.

Question:  Do you think he'll help me clean house later today?

Pea gravel, Mowing, and Salsa.

My husband and I were discussing my dream flower garden Saturday morning.  He informed me that nobody needs to "get rid" of pea gravel, so I will be unable to find it cheap/free.  He feels I must resign myself to paying for it.


Drat.


I say we wait and see, because two years after first discussing and then ditching the extremely pricey aerobic septic we are doing it for 2K cheaper than if we'd done it the first time we couldn't flush our toilets!!  "God always blesses me in very unexpected ways." 



Studmuffin had no comment.  God knows my tightwad heart and that finding things super cheap makes me super happy...God will bless me in this. I just have to wait and see.

Is being cheap a spiritual gift?


I just hope He doesn't make me wait too long.  I hate waiting.



I fear my old garden area will be quite unsightly if I wait two years for the bottom to fall out on the price of pea gravel.  See it's not just impatience!  It's practicality!


I'm guessing I will be mowing with a push mower for the rest of the summer considering we are dropping a hefty sum literally down the toilet in a few weeks.


My thighs will thank me for it.

Speaking of thighs:  I made salsa at 9pm on Wednesday night from the last of my tomatoes from last summer's garden.  I had a craving and no salsa, but the ingredients to make some fresh.



I ate an entire jar Thursday.

 Yoiks.

Down the Toilet.

So my husband is cleaning out the garage.

I'm in the house "cleaning." 

Out my email that is.  I'm proud to say that I went from 183 messages to 40.  Soooo no.  I may have not read all of the new ones. 

I did read in PW that I'm supposed to blog nearly daily to have a successful blog.

Oops.

And I should blog like I talk.

Let's see:  Rambling.  Flight of ideas.  Dramatizing.  Incessant thought process sharing.  Over sharing....

Check that off my list...

I posted about an end to our drought...And I posted that it had been a LOOOOONG time since we had to monitor water due to our septic.

We had seven inches of rain Thursday night into Friday morning.  At least that's what the weatherman said.  I know our pool rose 5 inches, then overflowed the skimmer, so that's my most concrete estimate....

Studmuffin said I cursed us with that silly post.

For all of you who are keeping up with/care about our septic issues, here's the latest.

The city said call the Department of Environmental Quality.

Taken a year ago during a heavy downpour.

The DEQ said it's agricultural and there's nothing they can do. 

The NRCS said it's agricultural and we can't do anything unless the farmer behind us wants a pond.

The farmer behind us refuses to have water drain through his field to his pond that already exists on his property.

Andi thinks the farmer needs Jesus in his heart...

The DEQ said that they "never recommend anyone in this part of Oklahoma to have a traditional septic as our soil is just too poor."  

Yet another sign that the developer of our subdivision did not care about what was "best" but rather what was cheapest for him.

The good news is that with the economy the way it is, we can now install an aerobic septic system for $2000 less than we could last year...

Hopefully that will happen in about 3 weeks.

Anyone know how two tight wads can get an aerobic system as a hand me down?

Me neither.

About This Picture

See the flower pot in the corner to the right of the grill?  I fear I have never successfully grown a single flower in it.  No, not one.  You see, when we moved in, it was sitting there full of trash.  Somehow, we continued to use it for trash.  And that has been it's purpose ever since.  The flower pot trash can.

See that round thing to the right of the air conditioner?  That is our old pool filter.  The very same filter that a certain dog who is now gone chewed a hole in.  It has been moved from point A to B all over our yard.  We can't seem to part with it as it must have a purpose.  We were just unsure what purpose it had...But now that my husband is all set to make our back yard an outdoor living space he has decided to use it for a water feature. He has attempted to explain the details to me numerous times, but I fear my eyes glaze over and I begin to fantasize about what to cook for dinner, and I lose track of where he's going.  I just know it will someday be a fountain.  And it will be made well, because Studmuffin does nothing halfway.  That is enough for me to know for now.

See that table and chairs with the lovely turquoise bench?  I got that table at a junk store for $25.  I painted it with a can of outdoor paint I had to buy because I was utterly in love with the color.  I had no concrete plan for the paint when I bought it.  Studmuffin rolled his eyes and lived in secret fear that I was going to paint the house that color.  Or the door.  Or the shutters that we have plans to build...Imagine his relief when I came home with that table and announced I had found a purpose for the paint!  The bench was from Aunt Aleta's basement.  It was brown, and you could see flecks of blue, green, and even white paint under it.  I sanded it down and slapped some paint on it, and called it good.  I love that bench.

See the flagstone under our grill?  Originally that was a flower bed filled with white rocks.  It was full of weeds.  It was unsightly.  Last summer Studmuffin tore out the rock and went to a local store to buy pave stone.  The guy practically gave it to him along with the crushed granite we used to grout it in place.  It looks so much better now, and the grill is in the perfect location to cut through the garage to the kitchen with our burgers!  I love that flagstone.


See the awning on our gazebo?  It originally had a canvas awning that did not last through one summer of Oklahoma winds.  I went to a home improvement store to find a cheap remedy to the problem.  I found this sunshade fabric on clearance for about twenty bucks and bought some electrical ties to anchor it down.  One day we ripped off the old, tattered canvas and guesstimated a pattern for our clearance sunshade fabric.  We strapped it down and have been enjoying it ever since.  Oliver the cat loves to get up on it and sun.  It is his personal hammock.  I love this gazebo.

See the flower pots?  I planted zinnia and wildflower seeds in one of them.  I'm not sure how well they will do, but right now it's exciting to watch the little sprouts grow bigger each day.  In another I put in the salvia that I got for Mother's Day from my girls.  In the other I dug up the marigolds from around my yard and planted them.  They are doing wonderfully.  Why buy flowers when you can just pull the dead heads off of your existing flowers?  They will come back year after year from seed.  The challenge is when spring comes to know what's flowers and what's weeds in your beds!  I love flowers.

See the freshly painted siding and trim?  Studmuffin and his brother painted the house one weekend.  It was fun to have his brother and two of his children spend a few days with us.  I love how the tan and dark brown make our house look fresh and new.

See that man sitting on the newly built flower beds?  The one with the hideous burnt orange Browning hat that he swears he makes look good?  I despise that hat and he knows it.  That man works very hard to make things for me that I will love.  He is meticulous and a perfectionist when I would build everything out of duct tape and bailing wire.  He takes his time and works hard to make things look beautiful.  He is methodical and organized where I am impulsive and carefree.  He balances me.

I will have been married to this man for fifteen years in one week.  He has put up with  my remodeling ideas and endless paint schemes and even responded gracefully to coming home to find things ripped apart in a moment of inspiration.  His patience will surely be greatly rewarded in heaven!  He gets more handsome every year and I grow to love him more with each day.  I am so glad God gave him to me.

I love that man.