JUST A FEW RANDOM THINGS

Hi, Everyone!

WARNING - - - BRAGGING AHEAD!!!

Well, today is Hunter Bean's last day of school. If we keep our fingers crossed, she'll get a good report card and move on to the 6th grade next fall. Actually, I want to share something that happened this morning and caught me totally off guard. I was sitting in my recliner, enjoying my second cup of coffee, and my cell phone rang. I looked at the number and recognized it as Hunter's school. My first thought was that Hunter had forgotten something and wanted me to deliver it to her. My second thought was that Hunter wanted me to get pizza and bring it to her and her friends to celebrate their last day of school. Hmmm, should I answer or ignore? (just kidding) So, I answered and was surprised that it was not Hunter, but it was Mrs. Balderama, the assistant principal.

Being a PTA volunteer, I'm used to getting calls from other PTA parents to discuss one activity or another. But, I can't recall ever getting a call from one of the principals in Hunter's 5 years at the school. If you've had kids in school, I'm sure you remember that uneasy, nauseating feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach when you feel like you're about to hear bad news. Well, I guess Mrs. Balderama could sense my alarm, and she immediately told me that her reason for calling was not bad, but in fact, it was just the opposite.

She had been visiting with some of the teachers at their end-of-school luncheon and had heard Hunter's name come up numerous times, from different teachers. Her homeroom teacher this year, Mrs. Ross, could say absolutely nothing bad about Hunter. She said Hunter was such a good student, she was intelligent and excited about learning, she was always willing to help when asked, she never needed to be disciplined, and she was excellent with all the other kids. Mrs. Balderama then went on to say that the main reason she was calling was to "thank Hunter's dad and me for our hard work and for sharing Hunter with everyone at Wayland Bonds Elementary."

Yes, as you can imagine, I was sitting there in my recliner with my mouth open, wondering what to say next. I thanked her for the call and told her how much I appreciated hearing all those kind things about my 11-year-old. I do realize that I wasn't the only parent called, but it did impress me that one of the principals would take the time to thank ME for sharing my daughter. I hung up and just sat . . . with my eyes a little misty, and reflected on that call. Although my husband and I have noticed an occasional "pre-teen attitude", overall we couldn't be more proud of Hunter and everything she's accomplished. She is a beautiful blessing to us, and she brings us more joy than she could ever imagine!

11th BIRTHDAY

HUNTER AND AUNT TAMMY 

Sorry about the quality, but it was really dark inside the restaurant. 

This past weekend, Hunter and I stayed at my sister's house to dog-sit. I've decided that between Tammy's dogs and my daughter, Ryanne's, dogs, who needs grandchildren?  :)  But, while dog-sitting, I got to crochet a little bit and made a couple of fun things. 

Supposed to be a crown. I checked gauge and 

everything, and I'll be lucky if it fits a newborn! 

This pattern came from the same book. It was supposed to be a beanie. I made the largest size available and even went up on my hook size, but it was still squishy on Hunter's head. So, I turned it into a pillow. 

My husband, JC, has been putting a lot of work into the field behind our house. Recently, he took the mower back there and made three, long and winding trails. I'm not sure of the total distance of the trails, but each one is three-mower-widths. This is a push mower, by the way, not a riding mower. Anyway, on one of his excursions to his little oasis, he discovered a huge patch of blackberry bushes. I've never made jam or jelly, but I think I'll be learning pretty soon! :)

JC AND HIS BLACKBERRIES

And, finally . . .

Remember Disney and her puppies?

Ryanne kept one of the puppies, and he 

is the cutest thing ever!

NEWMAN AND MAMA DISNEY

Well, that's enough random stuff for today. Hope you all are having a super-duper day. See ya soon!! 

CONGRATULATIONS, PAMMY SUE!

Pammy Sue, over at Scotty's Place, is celebrating her Four-Year Blogiversary. In honor of that worthy achievement, she is hosting a terrific giveaway. Check out Scotty's Place for all the details, and sign up for a chance to win some really neat prizes!

Hope everyone's doing well. I haven't been ignoring you. I've just been up to my eyeballs in work, birthday, and end-of-school activities. I need to earmark some time on my calendar to update my blog and put some pictures on here. I'll jot it down on my calendar to earmark some time on my calendar for blogging!  :)

Have a great Sunday! I'll be back to visit soon . . . . . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAN!

Gosh, I'm busy, but I just wanted to take a quick minute to jump on here and wish my baby girl a very happy 11th birthday. She's growing up way too fast, and I don't like it one bit!!!  Love you, Little Bean!

THE WRATH OF MOTHER NATURE!

Not far from my house

We dodged the tornadoes, but got hammered by these!

This one touched down in Yukon, where Baby Sis lives.

This one was 2 miles north of my daughter's house
in north OKC.

Look at the power of the rotation!

This used to be a Love's Country Store . . . totally gone! 

It's Springtime in Oklahoma!

Hi, Everyone!  I've missed you. I've been in the weirdest funk lately . . . not like my usual "just-don't-feel-like-blogging" funk, but really just a gigantic "oh-woe-is-me" funk. I mean, SERIOUSLY!! And, you know what? Today I really kicked myself in the butt for feeling this way. After riding out the storms here yesterday without a scratch or speck of damage and just some frayed nerves, I looked around at all the other unfortunate souls just a few miles from me who woke up this morning to complete devastation, and for some, the loss of their loved ones. And, once again, I am reminded of the many blessings I have, and I am ashamed that too often I take that for granted.

Yes, it was a wild and crazy afternoon, but we’re all present and accounted for. JC was working and unavailable, and Hunter and I were home. She was sick and home from school, so she had control of the remote and was watching something on Disney channel. Suddenly, we started hearing clunks of hail hitting the windows. We changed the TV to a local channel and discovered that all hell was breaking loose! At that point, even though it was sunny outside, the storms were all around us, so even if we’d wanted to take off in the car (which was Hunter’s suggestion), there really wasn’t anyplace to go. 

Right then, the weatherman announced that a tornado touched down in Yukon, which is the little ‘burb just west of OKC, and it’s where my sister lives. I tried calling her a number of times, but the phone lines were all jammed. Then, the tornado sirens started blaring, and the Greyhounds went crazy. About that time, as the hail was pounding the living daylights out of us, it was announced that a tornado was on the ground, crossing I-44 and Hwy 37, which is exactly 2.5 miles west of us. So, Hunter grabbed her bike helmet, flashlight, pillows, candles, and radio, and I grabbed the dogs, and we headed to the bathroom for safety. It seemed like an hour, but it was only 10-15 minutes! J

Sometime while we were in the bathroom, JC happened to call and asked what we were doing. I told him we were hunkered down in the bathroom because of the storm, and he was totally shocked. This was coming from the guy who actually works for our local NBC affiliate TV station and was at work while all this was going on!!! He had no clue all this was happening in south OKC!!  

Well, the tornado that touched down close to us had lifted back up and ferociously made its way on to the east, causing unbelievable destruction. As of now, there are at least 5 confirmed fatalities and still more people missing. During just a few hours, there was an outbreak of 30+ tornadoes. We've had a very mild spring, for Oklahoma standards, but Mother Nature made up for lost time in one day. 

My thoughts and prayers go out to the many families who were affected by the storms