The Dogs Made A Break For It!

The other day I was walking the dogs and guess what, they pulled really hard and yanked the leashes out of may hands. I was at the top of a large hill, nearly free of trees and covered with grass. They had a nice romp while I went chasing after them.

All of a sudden they stopped and started sniffing around the base of one of the few trees. This immediately concerned me. The last time they exhibited this behavior they had found a dead bird and were trying to eat it. I hurried over, thinking I would find a dead animal. Pluto, my little trouble maker, starts rolling around, as if he were a cat taking a dust bath . This is highly unusual behavior. I've never seen him do that before.

I approach the dogs and find out that the Pluto is rolling around in a big pile of "Shaving Cream, be nice and clean, shave every day and you'll always be clean." O.K., I cleaned that up a lot. It was Turkey Poo and it stank. Notice, that I say stank and not stink. It was rank.

Now you may wonder how do I know that it was Turkey Poo. As we walked home, I kept the dogs seperated by a wide margin (I don't need Ringo getting filthy too), I hear and then see a large wild turkey across the street and in the neighbors yard. It's yelling at the neighbors as they walk into their house. That explained a lot.

I finally get them home and wash up Pluto and his harness that was covered in TURKEY POO! Ohooey Poohey, I don't want to go through that again.

Surprise?

I received a call at work the other day asking me if I wanted some "Naked Ladies" I was so excited! I immediately said yes, "I've been wanting some for 5 years." I ran over to one of my co-workers cubicle and gushed, "I'm getting some Naked Ladies." Their eyes popped, their jaw dropped, and they responded with some rude responses. I laughed so hard I cried.

Naked Ladies are a regional name for 'Surprise Lilies'. During the spring they are one of the first plants that start growing. They have beautiful, deep green mounds of foilage. This foilage dies back and then about August out of this 'dead' ground springs tall stalks that are topped with beautiful pink flowers, SURPRISE!

For a look at the flowers follow the link on the Title.

The Crazy Weather

The Omaha area has undergone the wettest spring/summer that we have seen in 10 years. Last Friday, 6/27/08, we had some of the worst weather that I have ever seen.

As a teenager, I saw a tornado tear through the country side on the boundaries of the town where I lived. It was an incredible sight. But the weather that went through Omaha was totally different because I was actually in the middle of it.

Hearing and seeing it from a distance is a very different thing than actually being in the middle of of a force of Nature. As it hit the Northwest area of Omaha, I was getting ready to leave work. I had a 1/2 hour left when I thought I heard the sirens wailing.

I mentioned it to "J", my incoming replacement. Her response was, "I don't think so", but moments later she heard them too. The sky kept getting darker and the wind started to pick up. At about that time the phone started ringing off the hook. Several of the carriers in the extreme western portion of the area were calling their routes in late due to the extreme weather. They were taking cover in the local nursing home, stranger's houses (they made the carriers get out of the bad weather, thank goodness) and one person took cover in a ditch. There was a distinct possibility of a tornado.

Then it hit. The wind was blowing as if a 747 airplane was landing directly in front of me. The rain was blowing sideways with the force of a speeding car. The two sets of front doors that opened into our glass entry way were sucked out by the wind, blasting in a torrent of rain. The four people that were hanging out snapped their heads around as if they were attached with rubber bands that had sprung back to it's starting position.

I ran for the drawer where the manual key was kept that would lock down the handles and the doors. I asked everyone to help me with the locks. The four of us went into the entry way, which is entirely constructed out of glass and man handled the doors shut. It was really tricky. We had to pull on the door to keep it shut but we had to let up enough on the handle for me to turn the key. Three people to keep the door shut and one to turn the key, sounds like a fantasy story.

The hail hits! It was a thousand bullets hitting bullet proof glass, the pounding of a jack hammer on cement, it was scary! We all realize at just about the same time that we were in a position that could be deadly. The glass could shatter all around us and cut us to shreds.

We run for the inside. Once inside, I lock the second set of doors, which hopefully, will stop the vacuum that is formed in a storm and stop the doors from slamming open. From the inside we watch this deadly force of nature race past the windows. The hail was so heavy that a small "snow drift" forms at the L created by the entry way joining the main part of the building.

It wasn't until the storm was over that we found out that the wind speed was 72 miles an hour with gusts of up to 120 MPH. Sustained wind speeds of 120 MPH is the speed of an F3 tornado. Thousands of people were without power and the damage done will come to millions of dollars. Whole trees were blown over causing major damage to many familys and homes. Here it is Monday evening and there are still people without power.

My family often talk about the way CNN uses the TV to discuss every little thing into a major sensational story. I was actually in a major event and it totally trivalizes the coverage that CNN provides.

I still feel that CNN use the cable lines to sensationalize life, "The Paris Hilton" story immediately comes to mind, I mean, really, who cares, other than her immediate family, whether or not she seeks rehabilitation? But, now I can also appreciate the serious news that CNN airs. All in all, it was an experience I'll remember for the rest of my life.

The Neighbor's Pickup Truck

I'm sure you have heard about someone driving into another person's home. It happens periodically. It's a pretty freaky way to wind up a busy day. Well, several years ago the neighbor's pickup truck ended up in our front yard. This is quite a trick since we live on a hillside. The street level is actually above the level of the house.

We had heard a big bang but chalked it up to our imagination. It wasn't until I happened to walk into our bedroom and saw the reflected twirling lights of a police cruiser that we finally realized what had happened.

The neighbor is actually not a bad person but he did get carried away with a night of revelry. He ended his night at the local police station after he drove his truck off the road, down the hill and into the tree in the middle of our yard. As drunk driving stories go this one ended better than it possibly could have.

Ever since that happened if we hear a "big bang", we check it out. Because the one time that we didn't believe our own ears, someone had a large accident in our front yard. What do you know, live and learn.

And The Tree Came Down

My husband and I were laying down in the bedroom talking about this and that when we heard a loud crashing sound. This had us a little concerned because the last time we heard such a sound we found our neighbor's pickup truck in our front yard. We checked the front window and were relieved to see that no one was there.

We left the bedroom, hurrying to the windows, we looked out. It was dark and windy. I checked the living room window while my husband checked the kitchen. That's where we found that the tree had fallen down.

The steps that lead down to our back yard has a tree right next to it. Really, it was two trees. One of them is alive and doing fine. The other was dead and rotting. I say dead because this is the tree that had fallen down.

The dead tree had fallen on the neighbor's fence. All I have to say is thank goodness the wind was blowing into the east. It didn't land on the house.

We had the tree cleared out the very next day. Yep, that was some fast acting response. Now there is a hole next to the step. There are also a bunch of paving stones.

Who knew that there was an actual walkway under all the dirt and grass that had grown over the stones. Since all this has happened I've added dirt (to the hole), day lilies and repaved the "landing" at the top of the steps. I'm actually glad the tree fell down because I've been worrying about it for a long time. I guess that's looking at the bright side of life. Oh yeah, and there is more sun shining into my "very" shaded yard.

Obituaries

Something funny happened today at work. One of the carriers at the newspaper where I work came in and asked for an extra copy of today's paper. He wanted to look at the obituaries.

He asked me, "Where are the obituaries?" I had to admit that although I work for a newspaper, I don't always read it all the way through. I didn't know where the obits were in our newspaper.

I'm sure you are familiar with the fact that many newspapers are broken down into sections, such as "Midlands, Sports, and Living".

I commented, "Wouldn't it be kind of ironic if the obituaries were in the 'Living' section?"

Prom Dress 2008 Project Finished

Just a quick couple lines to let everyone know that we have completed the dress. It doesn't meet my levels of perfection, but it did turn out well. Much better than I anticipated after 20 years of not doing any complicated sewing projects. You can fudge a bit on elasticized pants but not so much on a Prom Dress. Shawna has big plans to have her hair done, her toes and nails done, etc. We'll get a picture of the finished beauty on Saturday.

Romantic Train Trips

A couple years ago we visited the West Coast and took the train to get there. I've traveled on the train before and it has been fun. This trip was interesting to say the least.

We left Omaha, NE at around 3 AM. We were on the road for about 45 minutes when the train pulls over. We doze in our seats for a couple hours when I realize that we haven't moved for quite some time. Two hours later we are finally moving and daylight is making an appearance.

Over breakfast in the "snack bar car" we began speaking with the attendant. It turns out that we had stopped for 3 and 1/2 hours because someone had passed away. The county coroner and police were called, the ambulance made an appearance and then they had to remove the body from the train. This took quite some time.

We are sorry for their loss but now we are behind our schedule by 3.5 hours. We hit Denver and that's when we discovered that the usual route to Reno, Nevada is under construction. We have to swing WAY north into Montana and Wyoming. The train tracks we are using are property of Burlington Northern Freight Rails. This means that the freight trains get priority. At one point we have to stop as there is a freight train moving on the rails that we need to use. All of this distance and the rails we have to use puts us behind by another hour. We finally reach Reno, Nevada 4.5 hours behind schedule. Thank goodness that my brother checked to find out if we were running on time.

Yes, that was an interesting trip but it's not over yet. We still have to get home.

We left Reno after a wonderful family reunion. It was sad leaving my brother and his family. However, we do have to get home at some time.

The main track back to Nebraska was still under construction so we head north along the freight lines once again. Did I mention that it's not the smoothest ride in the world.

While traveling through Wyoming we met a nice old lady. She is the crux of the next part of the story. The restrooms are on the bottom portion of the train. To get down or up from the rest rooms you have to navigate a twisty, turning stair well. This nice old lady was coming up the stair well when the train hit a good bump. The nice old lady fell and broke her hip.

Wyoming is a large state with many small towns and few hospitals. We were literally several hundred miles away form the nearest hospital. The train does have a trained emergency technician just for instances like what developed.

First they stopped the train, in the middle of no where, and then closed down the car, not allowing passengers to move from one car to the next. This caused a problem for the mildly hysterical, mentally challenged passenger whose parents were just beyond our car. The technician immobilized the nice old lady and then we got moving again but at a slower pace. About an hour and a half after she was injured we pulled into a decent sized town and were met by the local emergency fire paramedics.

The next problem arises. Remember the twisty stairs? The nice old lady is on one of the wooden/plastic back boards that will not allow an injured person to move. This means that they can't get her down the stairs and out the door. What do we do now?

We pop out the emergency window and move her out the window and lower her to the paramedics that life-flighted her to the closest hospital. The next step is to put the window back in place which was another hassle. After all we can't move with an open window. All of this commotion puts us behind by, guess what, 4.5 hours.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We arrive in Nebraska late but safe, yay!

Want to hear the kicker? About a week later I was chosen for a survey of my latest trip on Amtrak. Boy, did I give the survey person an earful. We spoke for a half hour. The question comes up, "would you take another trip on Amtrak?" Not on your life. I really do like the train rides but I didn't like all the time that was spent getting from one place to the other. If it was a MUCH shorter trip? Maybe!

April Fool's

It was 1926 in a small town in South Dakota, when a small boy came into the world at 6 PM on April 1st. He wasn't the healthiest boy. He had trouble breathing, he was underweight and they had to slap his behind a few times before he joined the world. The doctor had the sad job of telling his mother that the young boy would not be long for this world. "Say your good byes now because he won't make it through the night."

This was the young couple's first child and they were heart broken. They had spent months looking forward to this, their first child. The plans that they had made came crasing down around their ears.

The young mother huddled around the crib touching her child's hand as she watched him struggle to breath, tears in her eyes as she prayed. She could hear him gasping for breath, wheezing as he pulled air into his weak lungs. It hurt to watch him work so hard for each breath.

The doctor came in the next morning prepared to give the sad news to the young couple. He was surprised when he came into the nursery to find the baby moving and breathing much better. He was very pleased to be able to tell the young parents the good news that it "looks like he will make it after all." He proceeded to fill out the birth certificate.

As the young boy grew up his parents often told him that he was lucky to be alive and they would share this story with him. It wasn't until he got a copy of his birth certificate for his up-coming wedding that he finally connected the dots. HE was the April Fools' Joke. On his birth certificate it said that S. Sampson was born on April 2nd. He fooled them all and lived.

2008 Prom Dress Project

Back at the beginning of January there was a sewing store that went out of business. It's always sad to see something like that happen. Shawna and I hit it a couple of different times for various reasons. During one of these trips we found some material and a pattern that Shawna begged me to get. She wanted me to make her prom dress. I finally caved and agreed. I couldn't say no to the savings that this would entail.

Normally, Prom dresses can be very expensive. She wanted to remember this as the year that her mom made her prom dress--ahh... how special is that?

We had to buy 6 yards of Satin, 4 yards of lining and 15 yards of tulle. The prices were incredible. What normally would have cost approximately 90 dollars ended up costing us about $30.

Well, I practiced up on my sewing, which I haven't done in years and procrastinated like crazy. I was scared to start a project that could potentially be a disaster. Cutting the pieces out, sewing them together, turning out a dress that looks like a 4 year old pasted material to a manikin is not my idea of fun.

Here we are 2.5 weeks away from Prom and my daughter was getting nervous. We started to make concrete plans to start the project. Last Monday we started cutting it out and made plans to start sewing it on Sunday. We pinned the pieces to the Satin and cut. I held my breath as we made the first incision. That didn't go too bad. Shawna marked everything, which took an additional couple of days and then she laid out and cut the lining by herself. She checked with me before she started cutting and everything looked right.

Sunday arrived! I was so scared! I haven't done a serious sewing project like this in almost twenty years. We started with the bodice front, per the instructions. We had a few sharp words. We both managed not to totally lose our tempers. She began to listen to what I was saying and when I asked for her input I got good suggestions. She did some pinning, ironing, gathering and other odds and ends. After about 5 hours of work we completed the bodice. This coming up Saturday we will be going at it again.

Hopefully, when we are done our efforts will look like the picture of the young lady in the pattern above. We are doing it in different shades of blue, check out the material sample in the center top.