Hey...

Hi all...

I hope that everyone is doing well.

I haven't had internet access for quite some time (four weeks!) and am finally able to sit down and browse for bit.

Our house in Oklahoma was sold and closed on Monday, February 18th. I drove up the Friday before and, with the help of a lot of friends and neighbors, we were able to pack our entire house into a 26' U-Haul truck in just two days.

*whew*

I couldn't have done it without all of you guys. God Bless Each and Everyone of You!!

The weather going into Oklahoma was a little dicey and we ran into some freezing rain. There for a while I wasn't for sure whether or not we were going to make it into Oklahoma City or not. But thankfully we got a break in the precipitation and were able to make it in okay. It rained almost all day on Saturday, but it was better than having the snow that the weatherman was predicting at first. Regardless of the weather, we were able to vacate our beautiful home so that the new occupants could move in.

The kids and I drove back to Texas pulling our car on a trailer behind the truck. This is when I discovered that all of the gas pumps have a $100 limit on them. Boy... did that truck suck down the gas! I estimated that I got about 6 miles to the gallon. Of course, it was probably because the truck was STUFFED full ~and~ was pulling my car as well.

We closed on our new home here, in Texas, on February 20th. Thanks goes to my realtor and the mortgage company for helping to pull that off. I really, really, didn't want to unload our stuff, put it into storage, and then load that truck again. So we were able to unload our stuff directly into the garage of our new home.

*double whew*

Things get done quite a bit slower around here to say the least. Thank goodness that I have a cell phone. While we have been here one month as of yesterday, it seems that I have been meeting installation people every week since we have moved in.

We had to wait almost three weeks to watch television. We weren't able to pick up any local stations so now we have satellite TV. The kids had quickly found our box of videos and so we watched "re-runs" every night. I have to admit, it was kind of fun, for a while that is.

Yesterday, the installer came and put in a new satellite dish for our internet service. There isn't cable out here and our only other alternative was dial-up, and well you know me... that was like sooo not happening.

;+ )

So now our house looks all "techy" on the outside with two separate satellite dishes. *sigh* I just hope that aliens don't start trying to contact me through them, because if they do they'll have to start contributing and pay on the monthly service bills.

I certainly have my work cut out for me here. Our yard has essentially been neglected for several years. It's full of weeds, grassburrs, thistles, and much more. At some point, someone didn't want to do any yard work and so they filled every spot possible with rocks so they wouldn't have to mow. Come to think of it, our house in Oklahoma was just like that too when we moved in. It also had rocks in the flowerbeds! (I wonder if there's any significance in this coincidence?)

Well... it's going to take a lot of work, but most of these rocks have got to go. It's springtime and I have to have flowerbeds to work in. I bet my daffodils and tulips in Oklahoma are beautiful this year.

I haven't taken one picture of our new house, yard, or anything. I really need to so that I can have before and after pictures. I've just been too busy to stop and take them. Hopefully, the dust will start to settle around here and I will be able to get some up for you guys to see.

later...

Imperial Moth Caterpillar...

Imperial Moth Caterpillar...
Originally uploaded by itsmetj

I received a friendly e-mail telling me that "the bug needs to go".

So...

I have replaced it with an "autumnal" creature. The Imperial Moth caterpillar.


Here is a great picture of the moth on Wikipedia.

The moth, Eaclis imperialis, is not very widespread and according to some reports that I have read it may be in decline in a few areas.

We found two of these caterpillars here at my parents' home in Burnet County, Texas.

These caterpillars burrow into the ground or crawl under leaves. I have some dirt and leaves in a mayonnaise jar and I am keeping the caterpillars in there. Early this evening, the first caterpillar shed its skin revealing an auburn colored pupa. I will try to get pictures of the pupa soon, but I want to be careful to not injure it. So I will leave it alone for a few days to allow the shell sufficient time to harden.

It is my hope that we will see adult Imperial Moths this spring. Which is a creature that I have never seen before.

While I was trying to identify our caterpillars I ran across a very interesting and interactive website that I wanted to share with you guys.

It's called What's That Bug?. If you find a bug, or a caterpillar, and you don't know what it is you can search their website for its identity.

But the best thing about this website is that you can send them an e-mail with a photo of your "magnificent finding", and they will post it on their website along with its name.

It's a really cool website and some of the photos that people have taken of insects from all over the world are really, really good.


I suppose I should also include an update about what's going on with me and my family.

For those of you who don't already know, the kids and I have partially relocated to the Texas Hill Country.

The kids are attending public school. Something that they have never done before.

I have started a new job at a veterinary clinic down here as well.

My home in Oklahoma is up for sale and all of our stuff is still up there too. We are currently living with my parents.

So...

Having lived in Oklahoma for almost 30 years (my entire adult life) I now find myself back home in Texas.


Dad is doing some better. At least he can see to walk around the house and the ranch. He still can't read, see the TV, or drive.

The kids and I have been helping around here. The kids do most of the chores after school.

The kids seem to have adjusted really well to a completely different type of school environment. I have been blessed to have found employment that is only 23 miles away. I was afraid that I would have to go to work in Austin and commute 65 miles one way.

But as always...

God has been good to us and He has been faithful.

I'm waiting for that perfect family to come and buy my house so that Sue will have a great neighbor. At least neighbors that won't cause her as much aggravation as I have.

;+ )


I also want to thank all the people who are currently helping me through this transition... Taking care of the house while I am gone, those who have helped do some much needed repairs and painting on the house, yard work, cleaning, and so much more.

What would I do without all of those wonderful Oklahomans?


God Bless You All...


later...

Forwarded E-mails...

I finished editing my paper that was due tonight.

It was 17 pages long, APA format.

Completed in plenty of time to go through some of the forwarded e-mails...

Delete the bad ones.

Forward the good ones.


Then I browsed the blogs.


It was time for my rather large piece of chocolate cake and my nice ice cold glass of milk...

Time to check for any last minute e-mails that had come through before I go to bed.


Uh oh...

I have a reply to one of my forwarded e-mails.


It's from my friendly, demure, grandmotherly neighbor Sue.


In fact, she's a great grandmother.


hmmm...


The message was written in VERY LARGE font in BOLD letters.


I have copied and pasted the message below:

TJ Morgan, you just had to do it again
didn't you.
Just wait I'll get even with you. You
better be watching out for me!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. I've been threatened by my neighbor Sue.


It's been a while since I have been able to get a "GOTCHA" by her.


How do the kids say it?

Ah yes...


~S W E E T~


BWAH HA HA HA!!!!


later...


BTW...

Here's what the e-mail said:

Follow the little tiny blue dot

This will drive you crazy! It's much harder than it seems.

Can only be done by about 1 in 10 people.

If you want to see what's gotten Sue so upset go here.

A Nice Day...

NASA Sunspot Number Prediction



Today's weather was absolutely perfect.

The temperature was perfect.

The light breezes were perfect.

And the sunshine was perfect.


My grass was knee high in places. It was needing to be mowed in a bad way.

No, I haven't gotten behind on my mowing because I was too busy at work, or because of huge research papers at school, or even because I was studying for finals.

In anticipation of a wetter spring than what we have had the last two years, I had put out some grass seed to help fill in the spots where grass had died from the multi-year drought that we have been experiencing.

We're due for an increase of sunspots in this next 11 year cycle of the sun.

Which could mean more rain for us.

Australian weathermen watch sunspots to help them with their rain predictions.

I suspect that the upcoming sunspots are going to cause problems for the charting of global warming changes. We've already just came out of the 5th most frozen winter in Oklahoma history.

My seed received their first good watering with over 5 inches of rain. The rain washed a lot of my seed away and instead of being evenly spread throughout the bare patches it was washed into clumps.

Because it was so wet I didn't get the yard mowed before the seed sprouted. Then the grass seed sprouted and I couldn't mow because it would kill the tender sprouts.

Even though the seeds didn't sprout exactly where I had wanted them to, I was bound and determined to at least salvage as much of the situation as possible.

More rain came.

The grass continued to grow and so did the seedlings.


Today I had decided that I was going to have to mow the yard, irregardless of how much the seedlings had grown.

The grass had become so tall that it was beginning to look like I was going to need to bring in a swather and bale the cuttings for hay.

Not only that, I was beginning to fear for my baby grass because it was being overshadowed and cut off from the sunshine.



The seedlings were just going to have to endure some trampling today from me and my mower.


Before the neighbors arrived en masse to do it for me.


later...


P.S.

Thanks Lynn for offering to mow my yard for me.

Thanks Guys...

I want to thank everyone who participated in my polls. It was greatly appreciated!!

I have completed both of my projects. I have coversheets for each section, tabs, and each project is in a nice presentation folder.

I'm really pleased with them.

I also have strange emotions about it all too.

Do you ever feel like you don't want to "give away" something that you worked so hard on? Especially something that you're proud of?

Oh well. I hope she likes my work as much as I do.

*grin*

So tomorrow, I will turn them in to the professor at the beginning of class.

I always have such a burden taken off of my shoulders after I complete big projects like these.

*big sigh of relief*



Also, I want to thank my neighbor Sue and her husband for trespassing on my property yesterday.


The winds were horrendous yesterday (60mph!!) and part of my fence had blown apart.


They came over, while I was busy at my desk, and made a temporary fix for me.


Of course, being deaf in one ear and concentrating on my work, I never knew that they were over here. Sue had to call and tell me that I needed to lock my gate behind them.

*laugh*

What would I do without all the help that I get from everyone?


Thanks again!


Have a great week!

later...