Arctic Vortex 2016

SO I guess 2016 wanted to go out in a bang!  Brrrrr

It was in the 70's yesterday, and by 7 pm last night, the wind chill/real feel was 11. The vortex came in with really really fast and loud winds. By 9, it was 17 outside with real feel of MINUS 1 and temp was 23.  

Sorry, no pictures. I'm NOT going out there. 

Sam slept by the kitchen window even though it was really cold. He didn't want anything to sleep on either. 

The wind chill/real feel is -1 this morning at 5:30 and it is 17 outside.
On the other had, the wind doesn't sound like a hurricane.

Very grateful that I am inside and I am blessed.

I sure hope all the first responders stay safe while the Arctic Vortex visits.  And hoping the second responders don't stay too busy. 

Thank you to all the shelters taking in those in need. And thank you to those that are fostering stray animals.

One of Many Thieves

The good news is they caught a porch thief.

The bad news is she lives on the street behind me.

The other bad news is there is more than one.

If they worked as hard at a job, they could be rich instead of in jail (or about to be in jail)

Good Morning Sunshine

Not much to say today.

Have a happy holiday season and Merry Christmas!

Almost lost my packages last night

I've been ordering for Christmas and birthdays lately. Normally I follow the packages so I know when to expect them to show up. Many fit in the mailbox so I don't worry about the small ones.

The slipcovers were ordered a few weeks ago and I forgot about them. Several neighborhoods around me have problems with thefts and it seems as though people are following the delivery trucks then snatching the packages.

Last night around 8pm I checked the porch - no packages. Around 9 I decided to head for bed and read a while. As I was walking past the front bedroom, I saw someone with a flashlight walking and it looked too close for them to have been on the sidewalk. I didn't see a dog so curious me, I walked to the front door and looked out the side window. I saw packages so I turned on the front porch light and opened the door. Just in time to see the guy at the edge of the front beds - he turned and darted in between the houses. I very carefully moved the packages inside while keeping my head up so I could see him if he came back.  Very scary.

Texted my next door neighbor to let her know and she said her dogs had gone crazy around 9 and she even opened the garage door to see what was going on. But she didn't see anything - of course, at night it is really easy to hide in the alley,

Then this morning, as I was perusing my email, I saw where the delivery status showed it was delivered at 8:41pm. That means the 'alleged' thief had to be following the delivery truck. That made me nervous!

Please watch for your deliveries!

Happy Thanksiving Everyone!

I hope you have a beautiful day today. 

 Grateful Millie shared my home. Sure do miss her. 

Goofy Sam

With some fun of course!

I am very blessed and grateful for everything I have (and some things that I don't have too).  

Well, it's over now...

No matter who you voted for or why, we have a new president. It may be hard to express opinions without hate and name calling but children are watching and learning. Discussion is healthy but what I've seen pre-election is not. Expressing fear and disappointment is valid. Please show everyone respect so we don't forget what respect and maturity are and the value of moving forward when events don't go your way. And the value of moving on. It's ok to disagree and show disappointment but for heavens sake, be an adult and a leader for our next generations. Please feel free to block or delete me if that adds a bit of joy to you today

Above is my Facebook post this morning.  No not Sam, above Sam!

Election Day is finally here and you know what that means.....

Sam - ignoring the world

It means I won't watch any TV tonight but I will read a book - you know, the old fashioned paper kind that you manually turn pages and don't get sea sick if you turn the page too fast?

I won't listen to the radio but I will listen to my iPod.

I will not open Facebook for fear I might have to torture ( as in the tease and prank kind of torture) some of my friends that want to kill those whose opinions do not exactly match theirs.

I will check after the election is over and ask friends if they have purchased their tickets to leave the country yet.

I will play with Sam (the cat).

I might even go to bed early.

Anything to avoid all the stupidity.

And yes, I voted. I voted the first day of early voting in Texas.

National Cat Day? Every day is a holiday for my cat!

Sam is not interested in National Cat Day at all.

 Every day is a holiday for him

He is funny and loves to sleep

He likes to chase rabbits in the back yard when we go outside

Vote and Heat

I voted yesterday - day 1 of early voting. There were 2 people in front of me but plenty of workers and voting machines.  I wasn't there very long.

Heat.  Summer is still here. Not much else to say.  

Other than Sam sure likes my bathroom sinks now. 

Rainy Saturday and a NOISY Sunday

Early morning storms and rain early on Saturday morning

sure did cool things off

and it messed up the unfinished roof tar paper

Roofers showed up unannounced on Sunday morning at 9am  yes, 9 am

I got the tar paper replaced - don't ask

but a nice quiet lazy Sunday was not in store for me

but the good news is that they are DONE.

I am glad and so is Sam!

I decided to take off a couple of days to make a long holiday weekend. That worked well - w.r.o.n.g.

Roofer called at 6 to say they would be here at daybreak.  Material had been sitting in my driveway (and on my grass and sprinkler head) for almost a week.  It had already been delayed because of all the rain.  

Sam went to vet and they kept him all day (he already had a appt) to relieve some stress from all the noise.  That was a good thing too.  I left for a while to go get lunch, then to get a mani-pedi.  The vet really didn't find anything wrong with him.  Of course he pooped on the way and peed on the way back. They wanted his pee too.  

Roofers back on Saturday and I watched as they lifted the arbor to roof under it. And panicked when one of the guys with a shovel removing the old stuff kept hitting a hanging glass ornament (gift from sister). Then the roofer called to say the delivery guy damaged some packages of shingles and he couldn't use them. And of course, being a holiday weekend, that meant new shingles couldn't be delivered until probably Wed.  Sure hope it doesn't rain. 

The rest of the weekend was quite.  

I'm trying to learn my new Rachio - love it so far. The sprinkler went off as programmed and I learned how to manually start it.

Note:  This is posted out of order

Happy Labor Day to everyone!

we had a lazy quiet weekend. 

Well, most of the weekend - they came on Friday to start the roof.  They are almost finished. Saturday they discovered that the delivery person ruined some of the shingles and those couldn't be used. Of course, being the holiday weekend, they couldn't any that could be delivered on Saturday. They hope to finish up on Wednesday 

Families are funny

So I just read on Facebook that my sister liked a Brad Paisley page.  LOL  Sorry, but I can't help but laugh. She hates country music. It makes her face do funny things. oh wait, I know what it is...her granddaughter loves it and sings it all the time!

She used to laugh at me because I kept saying I wanted to go back to Fort Worth because a) I was born there and b) it just feels like home.  She would laugh at me because she thought I was crazy. Guess where she is now?  You got it, her address is Fort Worth. Well, really, it is because her son and his family are there.

My brother and his wife can't decide where to move. They had 2 acres in Parker and are now residing in an apartment while they decide.  First they want land (they have 40+ acres in East Texas) so they can see the stars and be away from civilization. Now they are enjoying no yard work.  But they want a yard.  No wait, they don't want a yard but don't want to be next to anyone.  LOL  they are funny.  

My other brother cycles in his spare time in Arkansas going up and down the mountains. He's ridden here in the heat but not the Hotter than Hell right.  LOL he should have this year because it rained on them and it wasn't 100+ outside.  He may try next year. 

Finally.... Friday is here!

It took forever but at least it finally got here. 

It really was cool outside!

I ran over (not literally) to Fort Worth on Sunday to have lunch with my sister and brother-in-law.  We drove the long way to the stockyards where we stopped at Riscky's BBQ.  I had the chicken fried steak and they had BBQ and fried catfish.  The catfish looked really really good.  I had enough left over for dinner on Sunday and Monday!

We ate out on the patio. The breeze was cool and just right.  

By the time I got home though, the clouds were gone and the heat shot up.