Desperately Seeking Pepto Bismol......

I think I got hold of a bad can of baked beans last night when I made supper, because this morning at about 4:30 AM, I awoke to the classic symptoms of food poisoning.

And at 9AM I'm still up and making the bathroom my home away from(?) home.

Fresh out of Pepto- and not a snowballs change in HELL of making it to the pharmacy to get more before I get sick again.

If it weren't for bad luck....etc...etc...........

And Then......

When my mom heard about the storm, she said she would come over this weekend and bring us her Weather Alert Radio since she's living somewhere else right now.

Bless her heart, this afternoon she was in an accident- rear ended by someone- and she was thinking about us and our safety.

Not Quite As Cool As I Thought-(Or Just Call Me Dorothy)

Well, it seems I'm not quite as cool and level-headed as I thought. Not when I'm at home, that is.

At work, when disaster hits, I have a plan, and a back-up plan, and several more plans all the way up to PLAN F just in case I need them. I know what to do, and in what order depending on the situation. I'm Ms. Cool, Collected and Together.

But yesterday, here at Home, I was sitting at the house on the desk computer while Paul played a game on the TV. I heard a train coming by the house as we do on a regular basis since we live only about a hundred yards from the railway track.
Then it dawned on me..........I was hearing the train from the WRONG side of the house.
OH CRAP!!!!
I jumped up and ran to the front door and opened it just in time to see my brother's Canvas Freestanding awning come flying over his home and slam onto his chain length fence. The grass and smaller trees were bending over sideways and above the stand of trees towards the railway was a huge dark swirling fast moving cloud.

I TOTALLY freaked, yelling for Paul to come quickly, and that we needed to go up to the safety of mom's brick home basement. Then I just dead stopped when I realized I had no way to GET to the safety of mom's basement because no one was here or near that had a key to her house.
So I just stood there in the wind and rain with my mouth open and my brain totally went blank. I didn't have a back-up plan. Not a single, solitary one.
Paul pulled me back into the living room til the storm blew past and held me til I calmed down a bit. But I was totally unprepared.

And THAT scared me more than the storm. Luckily it was just a Severe Thunderstorm with high winds that blew past in about 30 minutes and not a Tornado, but even so..........

We don't have a lot of warning if the TV isn't on when we have these storms blow up, we live too far from Town for the Tornado Sirens to be heard, and we live on the back side of a hill so we can't see what's coming til it's right on top of us. How the Hell can I keep us safe if I'm blindsided on every level?

I'm STILL freaking out about it.......Just Call Me Dorothy-Caught without a plan!!!!

Camping =

Tent
Skillet
Small Saucepan
Cooler (stocked with sammich fixins,eggs, bacon, ice & drinks)
Box (stocked with chips, bread,tins of potted meats,beans, instant coffee & creamer &,extra sodas & plastic eating utensils)
Can Opener & Pocketknife
Fishin' pole & Tackle box
Sleepin' bag
Charcoal & matches or lighter
Small basic first-aid kit
Water(?)

....and if you wanna get posh and cushy about it- take an airbed and a pillow and a camp chair.
Am I forgetting anything important?...Oh and the makins for S'Mores.

Overnight or Weekend Hiking trips for ME are even MORE basic.
A tent and/or sleeping bag, lots of granola bars and nuts, a few tins of potted meats, crackers, water, a first aid kit and matches......... in a backpack.
That's MY kinda camping. Just pack up and go. No Fuss- No Muss- and most importantly, No housework on vacation.

Where Have They All Gone?.........

Paul made a comment a couple of days ago while we were out having a bit of a ride. He asked if I had noticed there were no fireflies(or Lightning Bugs as we call 'em here in the South) anymore.

So the past few nights I've paid particularly close attention and he's right. I haven't seen the first lightnin' bug. Nary a ONE!

Where have they all gone? Have they all flown back to the Mother-ship and headed back to their own solar system?
Is it just here in the south or have they disappeared in your neck of the woods too?

Lord KNOWS the mosquitoes haven't went anywhere....they're still here and in excruciatingly fine form. Doing their little job of just bleeding us dry each and every chance they get.

I just don't understand.......

Southernese.

Okay, today I had to explain to a Yank........I mean a Northerner, what the phrase Y'all All means.

Let me explain it to y'all.

Okay "Y'all" can be a plural or a singular noun and yes, you DO need the EXTRA "All" in there.

Example:

You have a group of people. You have two jobs. You direct them by dividing them into two groups.

Then, you tell them, motioning to the first group......"Okay, now Y'all start cutting the hay." Then you motion the the second group and say, "And Y'all start baling the hay." Then you motion to the entire group and say, "And Y'all All are stayin' for supper tonight!"
The first two are used as singular nouns referring to a group as a single entity. The last one is used as a plural noun referring to them all as a group.

Any questions?

I WANT It!!!!!

Paul just showed me the coolest thing EVER on the 360.

Right now it's sort of like a prototype project.....But it's the coolest thing I've ever seen!!!
Sort of like a Wii- but with no controllers. It works by scanning your body, and it has a voice recognition program. YOU are the controller with body movement and talking to it . As it says in the demo- The only experience you need is "Life Experience".

I want it- and we'll be getting it as soon as it comes out. Promise!!!!!