Sometimes They Want Back In

I felt so bad for Sophie last night! She spent most of it underneath the bed because of the thunder. I wondered for awhile why she didn't hide by us, but then I reasoned it out. When she hears the thunder her instincts are "That is WAAAAAAAAAAY bigger than mommy and daddy!"
Howl apparently got frightened last night. Glenn heard a cry, saw Howl whiz! by the door. By the time Glenn got in the hallway, little Howl was already on the third floor of the cat tree. We're thinking he jumped straight up. Maybe this will deter him from sneaking outside.

C'mon Granny!

• Free pizza!
• Teacher assigned us to make transformers...with wood.
• Helping others re-live my blog.
• Walking thru the cold rain and seeing the rushing water go by.
• Playing with saws!
• Appreciating other's prettiness.
• I know nuclear engineer chicks and they rock.

Seeping Time

My tea is gently seeping and it is freezing outside. On Monday I was considering wearing shorts. Oye.

I have no idea what was going on with Howl this morning. Either he had the morning crazies, or he was doing flippies on the cat tree. But I think whatever it was he was trying to accomplish work. Not only did Glenn and I get out of bed, but I also picked up the little piece of poop he left stranded in the hallway.
My next camera is going to come from B and H. Not only do they give you the best price, but they also offer bundles so you don't have to worry about getting the right card or cable for your camera.

Which leads me to announce that I believe my camera is officially dying. The little screen had tons of lines running over the image, and that's how the image turned out. Unless it was just the cheapo batteries I had in it. I was literally able to take three pictures before the batteries died. This is the last picture it took.



I'm really addicted to my Google homepage. All day I watch a little Japanese fox go about his chores. My favorite is mid-morning when the giant tortoise comes to hang out and eat.

Yesterday I went on a labeling rampage on the blog. It felt SO. GOOD. I get teased taht I have OCD. Sometimes I wonder, but I think I just really like to clean and organize stuff. Think of it as Martha Stewart organized. Everything that you see is organized except for that one room in her house where scraps of paper line the floor and are falling out of her desk.

Pollen + Light Rain = Pond Scum

My car has turned green! There is so much pollen in the air that within the last four days it has turned everything green! The clouds have been threatening to rain the last THREE WEEKS but all we got is a sprinkle. Do you have any idea how hard it is to see out of a windshield alredy covered with pollen when it rains and turns the pollen into a thick muck that would normally be found in the deep ponds of Dagobah? Huh? Do ya?
*sings* At the car wash! Ooa! Ooa!

The One Where I Blog About the Weather...

In true Halloween spirit, it will rain and thunder this year. Hurrah! At least some things never change. It cannot be Halloween until you are freezing your tootsies off in a little fairy costume.

Weather for Fayetteville, AR 32°FClearWind: N at 0 mphHumidity: 93% Fri 66° 37° Sat 67° 43° Sun 67° 48° Mon 62° 36°

Happity Hoppity

I can't wait to wear my new tights soon! I also picked up a pair of purple and black striped ones! Might need to find heels to go with them. And before you ask, of course they aren't just for Halloween! I'll wear them whenever I get a chance. Yes, yes, I am such a fashionista!

Who knows, maybe I should just go as my old favorite for Halloween and be a witch. And yes, I do mean in the old fashioned witch, the kind that Willow hates. It's just so fun! I already have the hat, culdron, and a really cute pink/braided wig. I have a black dress...but I might need something better. Maybe this red strappy top and a black skirt. What a color combination! We'll see!

I would like to thank Miss Emily for lending me four Lisa Loeb cd's! I promise to have them back to you soon! Wheeeeee!

Excellent! I have already received rsvp's for the Halloween shindig I'm throwing! The lovely Ms. Schlufferly and James. I'm getting pretty excited about it. ;)

The cold has come! I couldn't believe it when I walked out my door this morning just how cold it was! Didn't pay any attention to weather warnings, just walked straight out to my car, already freezing! Think it might be time to switch over to the leather jacket, or possibly my cute little red riding hood jacket. Now, if only I can find the red leather....

I've been working on cleaning the seashells from my trip to the ocean. They are currently soaking in a water and bleach concoction. I'm working on a shadowbox for my dad's birthday. All I need to do is finish enlarging the picture and attach the sea shells. I'm still debating whether or not to put some kind of a fabric behind it. Any suggestions?

Complain Here

I caught an article about this at the Huffington Post.

The Foundation For Taxpayer & Consumer Rights (FTCR): "Hurricane Katrina could be made worse by insurance companies that attempt to limit their losses by refusing to pay claims that are due to homeowners. Insurers have already told some homeowners in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast that it was flooding not the hurricane that did the damage, so they are not covered. Of course, the flooding only occurred because of the hurricane and insurers should be required to pay claims."

Needed Items

Need to know what to give to shelters? Here is a list: Hand sanitizer
Hand wipes
Shampoo
Soaps
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Feminine Hygiene Products
Ziplock bags
Towels
Washcloths
Diapers
Ready-to-feed baby formula
Pre-paid phone cards
Baby food stage 1 & 2
Band-aids
Clothing for men, women, children; all sizes
Shoes; all sizes
Socks
Sharpie markers
Batteries; size D, AA
Flashlights
Individually packaged snacks
Baby bottles
Reading material
Bibles
Backpacks
Duffle bags
Pillows
Anti-septic cream
Brushes
Games, toys & coloring books for children
Bottled water
Toilet paper
Paper towel
Cleaning supplies

I found it via the Northwest Arkansas American Red Cross Chapter.

Web Site of the Day, take II

Our New Neighbors in Northwest Arkansas
Another site for Northwest Arkansas with a lot of helpful links.
We are being made aware of needs every day that are not yet being met. Since this website is designed to provide only links to existing resources and programs, we ask you to read through this list and see if there are gifts or services you can provide to help our new neighbors. Our hope is that this "wish list" can spark your imagination, and create a new area of giving:
Transportation Coordination
Computers for shelters (internet-ready)
Resume' writers for assistance
Insurance counseling/guidance
Childcare for displaced families
Extra vehicles for use by victims to get to new jobs
Mechanical work donated to get 'extra' vehicles serviced
Bikes and scooters for victims to get to jobs nearby
"Welcome Packets" of supplies, etc. for app. 60 new UofA students from the affected areas.

Web Site of the Day

Open Your Home
For anyone in the Northwest Arkansas area. Their website also provides many helpful links. I've noticed a lot of talk about people needing to collect money from their insurance companies and FEMA, this site has some links for that.
It's about damn time we see Americans reach out to each other.

Storm Aftermath

Storm Aftermath is a blog about Katrina and the aftermath.

Storm Aftermath:
"We have become a nation of yellow ribbon patriots whose support of anything never goes beyond buying a cheap ass bumper sticker, and we place the interests of money, politics and religion above the value of human life. It sickens me and it saddens me. I've heard some fanatics say that this hurricane and flood was God's way of washing the sin city clean. I beg to differ. If God wants to clean up the American part of the human race he would flood the whole damn country and put all gas guzzling Hummers and SUVs with yellow ribbon patriots in them eight feet under water."

I'm starting to hear a lot of scary things, thanks to NPR. This morning I heard how supplies had not been sent to the areas that did not need it the most. People are being told to leave their pets behind while they are being rescued. Yet there are adoption networks open for the animals that have been found.

Whole Lot of Shakin'

When I moved to Arkansas I quickly discovered that we live on a huge fault line like that of San Andreas out in California. It is called the New Madrid fault line. I know in my mind that we have little earthquakes all of the time and that these are necessary during the continental shifting. However, it's always in the back of my mind that the big one could hit...again.
The damage area for the 16 December 1811 New Madrid earthquake was 15 times as large as the area of similar damage for the magnitude 8.3 San Francisco earthquake of 1906. And the third of these great earthquakes, in February of 1812, is the largest known earthquake in the continental U.S. Only Alaska has had a larger one, the Great Alaska earthquake of 1964.
I'm a little nervous to read the reports. I figure that it is better to just not know when it is going to hit, and be prepared. Of course, if there are any kind of warning signs, then please, send them my way.

Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

An analysis of satellite records and surface monitoring instruments shows the ozone layer has grown a bit thicker in some parts of the world, but is still well below normal levels, the scientists report in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research.
I can't believe this. The world seems to have been turned on it's ear, the ozone is repairing itself and I have already done ONE THOUSAND POSTS!!!

Rescue Operations

WWLTV.com | News for New Orleans, Louisiana | Local News: "The governor said that at midnight, all of the boat operators trying to rescue people from rooftops were told to take a break.
'They refused. They couldn't do it,' Blanco said.
Blanco said rescuers were unable to get to people stranded in one tall building because so many other people were 'calling to them and jumping from rooftops' into the water to be rescued first.
Things are so bad, Nagin said, that rescue boats are bypassing the dead. "

Blog of the Day

Ever wonder what the weather news crew is thinking as they chase the storms and try to get the message out that hurricanes like Katrina are real and deadly? Read their own thoughts and fears while they do their job.

Clouds

050828nrl,
originally uploaded by cactus23.

I don't think I will ever ignore a hurricane again. Hopefully no one was caught unawares.

Katrina

Katrina nears N.O. overhead NASA 22-rec.large,
originally uploaded by lakerae.

I cannot believe how massive this hurricane is. I hope that everyone on the coast finds a home to go to after Katrina has passed.

Current events - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

'The strongest tornado in Britain in 25 years hits Birmingham, damaging homes and injuring 20 people.'
I read tornado as tomato. And it didn't faze me.
Current events - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coming Our Way

An asteroid, headed our way | csmonitor.com: "Humans live in a vast solar system where 2,000 feet seems a razor-thin distance.
Yet it's just wide enough to trigger concerns that an asteroid due to buzz Earth on April 13, 2029 may shift its orbit enough to return and strike the planet seven years later.
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In the Monitor Tuesday, 07/26/05
Illegal entry by non-Mexicans rises
States, feds clash over Guard
Terror shifts Muslim views
Controversy dogs terror tribunals
An asteroid, headed our way
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The concern: Within the object's range of possible fly-by distances lie a handful of gravitational 'sweet spots,' areas some 2,000 feet across that are also known as keyholes.
The physics may sound complex, but the potential ramifications are plain enough. If the asteroid passes through the most probable keyhole, its new orbit would send it slamming into Earth in 2036. It's unclear to some experts whether ground-based observatories alone will be able to provide enough accurate information in time to mount a mission to divert the asteroid, if that becomes necessary."