What a weekend I'm having. Friday, Dave and I got the opportunity to see Gene Watson (or Uncle Gary, to me) over at the Chactaw Casino & Resort in Grant, OK. This is the first time I've been to one of his shows outside of our local fair. The atmosphere wasn't as family oriented as it is at the fair (a lady sitting in front of us was kind of loud and boisterous), but it wasn't too rowdy. The singing, as usual, was right on. After the concert, the line for autographs was very long, so I didn't get to visit with him, but I did get to speak to Terri, his daughter and my cousin. It was overall a fun night.
Today (Saturday), I got to go to the radio station with Dave. He was board operator for Steve, the KOYN morning host, who was at Scott's Colision Repair. They were having an ugly car contest, and inviting anyone who owned a rusted out old junker to participate. The vehicle didn't even have to be in working order. They also had Curtis Grimes concert, who some of you may remember was a contestant on The Voice. He's from the area, and had agreed to return, and play for his local fans. Very nice of you, Curtis. :)
Tomorrow, I'll be heading over, with other singers from my church, to sing at Springlake Baptist church, here in town. We've visited thier church before, and have had members of thier church visit us many times. I always enjoy these times of getting together. It doesn't matter what name in on your church door, because we're all believers in the same God. Blessings to you all...
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Soup's On
Dave made some of the best chicken and rice soup for lunch. He started with some stock he had made on sunday, and diced up some chicken. He, then, added plenty of carrots, celery, and onion, plus a whole cup of jasmine rice. If that isn't enough to make your mouth water, there was an added bonus. During a recent Kroger shopping trip, we found several packages of precut baby bella mushrooms, that were marked down for quick sale, and had picked one up. Dave sauteed those up, and added them to the soup. The flavor they added was pure delight.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Nobody's Watching Me
I was sitting here, thinking about webcams. Why? I have no idea. When Dave is at work, or napping, and I'm left to my own thoughts, things just pop into my mind. Sometimes I think up whole situations, and imagine myself in them...but I'm getting off topic...
Back to webcams. I know lots of people have them, but the more I thought about it, the creepier the idea of someone watching me seemed. Then I had to remind myself that nobody would be watching me. At least not for long. Here is a typical day in the life of me...
Being an insomniac, I don't get out of bed til around 11am, then I feed the cats. I turn on my phone, and Dave and I have a little texting conversation, while I look on the web for free knitting and crochet patterns. Dave comes home around noon. We eat lunch together, then kill time until 2, at which time we head for the Sonic for my daily happy hour diet coke. If we have any errands, we take care of them while we're out. After we get home, Dave likes to take a nap. I give the cats thier afternoon canned food treat, then sit and watch Everybody Love Raymond repeats, while I knit or crochet. I'm always surrounded by sleeping cats by this time. Around 6, Dave wakes up and turns on his computer to gather his news, while I continue to kill time until 7, when I go for my walk. After that, I shower, then either more computer searching, or more knitting (depending on my mood) until bedtime. Dave and I say our prayer, then do the crossword from the newspaper together. He goes to sleep, and I either knit or read until I fall asleep. Sometimes that isn't until he leaves at 4:30am.
So as you can see, a webcam is out for me. Watching my life would be more that just boring. It might actually be painful.
Back to webcams. I know lots of people have them, but the more I thought about it, the creepier the idea of someone watching me seemed. Then I had to remind myself that nobody would be watching me. At least not for long. Here is a typical day in the life of me...
Being an insomniac, I don't get out of bed til around 11am, then I feed the cats. I turn on my phone, and Dave and I have a little texting conversation, while I look on the web for free knitting and crochet patterns. Dave comes home around noon. We eat lunch together, then kill time until 2, at which time we head for the Sonic for my daily happy hour diet coke. If we have any errands, we take care of them while we're out. After we get home, Dave likes to take a nap. I give the cats thier afternoon canned food treat, then sit and watch Everybody Love Raymond repeats, while I knit or crochet. I'm always surrounded by sleeping cats by this time. Around 6, Dave wakes up and turns on his computer to gather his news, while I continue to kill time until 7, when I go for my walk. After that, I shower, then either more computer searching, or more knitting (depending on my mood) until bedtime. Dave and I say our prayer, then do the crossword from the newspaper together. He goes to sleep, and I either knit or read until I fall asleep. Sometimes that isn't until he leaves at 4:30am.
So as you can see, a webcam is out for me. Watching my life would be more that just boring. It might actually be painful.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
I'm Still Here
I just realized I've been absent for almost a week, so I thought it was about time I posted. The problem is I really don't know what to write about. I've not been in the best of moods lately, and I thought it best to spare my readers the details of my troubled thoughts.
I am happy to report that the second lap throw I made for the church was well recieved. To be perfectly honest, I like it much better than the first one. It has an old fashioned look to it that reminds me of my childhood, and I'd love to fill the church with blankets just like it. That's not likely to happen, because it was such a pain. I had seamed the squares together, only to find large, unattractive gaps in the corners. I continued on, hoping they'd all even out in the end, but it seemed to get worse instead of better, so I packed the blanket away. Later, as I was looking through the groups on Ravelry, I found one dedicated to granny squares and people who love them. I peaked in to find a whole thread about joining squares, and in the thread, I found a link, Which took me to a blog containing the solution to my problem. I could join my squares with a slip stitch.
So I got my blanket back out, pulled out all my seams, then rejoined my squares using this slip stitch method. Much better! Now I can join the long, proud list of crocheters who have completed a granny square afghan. Now, if I could just find a way to avoid weaving in thousands of threads....
Oh, before I leave, here is the link to that slip stitch tutorial. I hope it helps someone as much as it helped me.
I am happy to report that the second lap throw I made for the church was well recieved. To be perfectly honest, I like it much better than the first one. It has an old fashioned look to it that reminds me of my childhood, and I'd love to fill the church with blankets just like it. That's not likely to happen, because it was such a pain. I had seamed the squares together, only to find large, unattractive gaps in the corners. I continued on, hoping they'd all even out in the end, but it seemed to get worse instead of better, so I packed the blanket away. Later, as I was looking through the groups on Ravelry, I found one dedicated to granny squares and people who love them. I peaked in to find a whole thread about joining squares, and in the thread, I found a link, Which took me to a blog containing the solution to my problem. I could join my squares with a slip stitch.
So I got my blanket back out, pulled out all my seams, then rejoined my squares using this slip stitch method. Much better! Now I can join the long, proud list of crocheters who have completed a granny square afghan. Now, if I could just find a way to avoid weaving in thousands of threads....
Oh, before I leave, here is the link to that slip stitch tutorial. I hope it helps someone as much as it helped me.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Lap Throw #2
Yesterday, I finished my second blanket for the church. I had set it to the side, because my seams were off, causing the squares to pucker. I got if back out, after reading a tutorial on how squares can be joined using slip stitch, so I took out my seams and tried this. It looked so much better. After my stitching was done, I just did a border round in each of my colors, and finished with gold, where I added a pecot between each dc group. I love it!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
A Giant Step For Annie
Bringing Max home was such a happy day for me. I realize by going over to the apartment building every day to visit him, I shouldn't have missed him so much, but I really did. My cat family was just so incomplete without him.
Of course, I knew that bringing him home would be a challange, especially for Annie, who had grown so fearful she wouldn't leave the linen closet. I'm happy to report that she hasn't let him drive her into hiding. At first, she was staying in the hall in front of the bathroom door. I guess this was so she would have easy access to her closet, should he decide to chase. I just want to stop here a minute to clarify something. I've been watching him closely when he encounters her, and he's only interested in chasing her if he's in play mode. She, of course, wants to be left alone, so she hisses and growls, then she runs away. This is when he chases her. He doesn't see her, fuzz up, and aggressively persue her. And, even more important...he doesn't chase her everytime he sees her out. Now, back to Annie...
Shortly after Max started going outside for short visits, Annie started coming out of the hallway, and into my craft room. I'd fixed a basket with a blanket in it, and put it on my quilt trunk, Where she loves to lay and look out the window. Max hardly ever goes in there, so she's pretty much left alone. I guess she's beginning to get braver, because last week, she came into the living room (with Max in the house, mind you), jumped up onto the window perch, and took a nap. I was overjoyed, when she did the same thing the next day...then the next...
I'm happy to say that she has taken her afternoon naps (and some evening ones, too) on that perch in the living room, for the last two and a half weeks. The happiest surprise is that she doesn't jump down and go running to the linen closet when Max enters the room, and guess what? He doesn't chase her when he sees her up there.
So it looks like my Annie is taking her life back. I'm so proud of her. I still desire your prayers, because she's still scared when Max is in play mode, and he still will chase her if she runs. So even thought things aren't perfect, she at least hasn't let it send her back into hiding.
Of course, I knew that bringing him home would be a challange, especially for Annie, who had grown so fearful she wouldn't leave the linen closet. I'm happy to report that she hasn't let him drive her into hiding. At first, she was staying in the hall in front of the bathroom door. I guess this was so she would have easy access to her closet, should he decide to chase. I just want to stop here a minute to clarify something. I've been watching him closely when he encounters her, and he's only interested in chasing her if he's in play mode. She, of course, wants to be left alone, so she hisses and growls, then she runs away. This is when he chases her. He doesn't see her, fuzz up, and aggressively persue her. And, even more important...he doesn't chase her everytime he sees her out. Now, back to Annie...
Shortly after Max started going outside for short visits, Annie started coming out of the hallway, and into my craft room. I'd fixed a basket with a blanket in it, and put it on my quilt trunk, Where she loves to lay and look out the window. Max hardly ever goes in there, so she's pretty much left alone. I guess she's beginning to get braver, because last week, she came into the living room (with Max in the house, mind you), jumped up onto the window perch, and took a nap. I was overjoyed, when she did the same thing the next day...then the next...
I'm happy to say that she has taken her afternoon naps (and some evening ones, too) on that perch in the living room, for the last two and a half weeks. The happiest surprise is that she doesn't jump down and go running to the linen closet when Max enters the room, and guess what? He doesn't chase her when he sees her up there.
So it looks like my Annie is taking her life back. I'm so proud of her. I still desire your prayers, because she's still scared when Max is in play mode, and he still will chase her if she runs. So even thought things aren't perfect, she at least hasn't let it send her back into hiding.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The Obsessive Mind
Many years ago, before my regular doctor moved her practice out of town, I was being treated, and taking meds, for depression and anxiety. Being the curious sort, I googled depression so I could learn more. Of course that lead to the desire to read and learn about other mental challanges. During this period of personal research, I discovered one disorder that discribed me so closely that it was scary. OCD. Once a thought or image enters my head, it's there. No matter how hard I try, I cannot move on until I feel it's resolved. It's annoying, but doesn't become a problem unless the issue cannot be resolved. In those cases, I have to constantly remind myself not to give in to the fears that occur when I allow myself to exaggerate the seriousness of the thought. Despite this tendancy to obsess, I've still never believed I actually have OCD, because of one important detail. I've never engaged in compulsive behavior. One can't have OCD without the C...
It was probably two or three days ago. I found a pattern in one of my knitting magazines for a beautiful, breezy summer shirt. I decided to knit this top using the Comfy yarn in my stash. Comfy is a beautifully soft pima cotton/micorfiber blend yarn from Knit Picks. The only problem is that the yarn is black. Now, I didn't think I had a problem with black yarn until I started knitting this up. As my project grew, I noticed cat hair stuck to the fabric. I carefully picked out the cat hairs, and continued knitting. I look down just a few minutes later to see more cat hair. I stopped to pick that off, and continued knitting, only to look down again to see more cat hair...Well, you can see where I'm going with this...
Of course, I could knit the whole top, then run a tape roller over the finished project, but I guess that would be too reasonable a solution, because I can't make myself do it. I can't stop picking the hairs as I go. As I'm trying to make myself stop, I realized something. Could obsessive cat hair picking be a C? Do I actually have OCD? Actually I don't think so, but it is a pretty scary thought.
It was probably two or three days ago. I found a pattern in one of my knitting magazines for a beautiful, breezy summer shirt. I decided to knit this top using the Comfy yarn in my stash. Comfy is a beautifully soft pima cotton/micorfiber blend yarn from Knit Picks. The only problem is that the yarn is black. Now, I didn't think I had a problem with black yarn until I started knitting this up. As my project grew, I noticed cat hair stuck to the fabric. I carefully picked out the cat hairs, and continued knitting. I look down just a few minutes later to see more cat hair. I stopped to pick that off, and continued knitting, only to look down again to see more cat hair...Well, you can see where I'm going with this...
Of course, I could knit the whole top, then run a tape roller over the finished project, but I guess that would be too reasonable a solution, because I can't make myself do it. I can't stop picking the hairs as I go. As I'm trying to make myself stop, I realized something. Could obsessive cat hair picking be a C? Do I actually have OCD? Actually I don't think so, but it is a pretty scary thought.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Celebrating America
Each year, the Rotary Clubs of Paris, puts on an amazing fourth of July event, and each year, Dave gets to broadcast the event. We arrived at Noyse Stadium, on the Paris Junior Colledge Campus, around 5:30. I helped Dave get set up for his interviews, then I was free to walk around. It was unbelieveably hot, but we had plenty of water, and the shade of the radio station's tent. As time to begin the celebration drew near, lawn chair carrying people began to file in, and by 7 we had quite a crowd. At 7:45, the Paris Municipal Band began to play. By this time, Dave had finished broadcasting. We set up our lawn chairs to enjoy the concert, and the rest of the evening. As the band played, the planes carrying the Blue Skies Parachute Team flew over, climbing to a height of 6000 feet. During the last patriotic song, the parachuters jumped. It was amazing to watch them circling gracefully to land on field. I wish I could do it justice with my discription. As darkness fell, we sang our national anthem as our flag was raised. We enjoyed an amazing fireworks display, then watched our flag lowered to the tune of taps. An amazing night. I truely love my country.
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