Lookee!! I got a new puppy. Her name is Chloe and she is a red merle Miniature Austrailan Shepherd. My husband says she is actually a red merle alligator disquised as a puppy. Those teeth are sharp and they LOVE my socks.

Ladies and Gentleman, say hello to Chloe!

Shes interested everything and BITES everything. Durn little snapper!

She's interested everything and BITES everything. Durn little snapper!

DRATS! I dropped my Razr in the water and fried it. Drats, drats, double drats.

I go into the US Cellular store to file a claim on my phone and learn my contract is up for renewal. Well, yay. I can pay $50 to get a refurbished Razr or I can pay a little more (really… only a little bit more) and get a Motorola Q9c with Windows Mobile on it. Tough decision, huh? New phone, here I come!!

Here’s a pic of momma’s new baby. Isn’t she pretty!

Motorola Q9c

It is taking me a bit of time to figure it all out but I will get there. I also am going to figure out how to make custom ringtones using free software. That’s my goal anyway!

My granddaughter thinks I am her walking coloring book. Whenever she thinks of something she wants drawn, gramma will do it. I cannot imagine why she would think that. *rolling eyes at myself*

The other night she asked for an indian woman. I don’t know why other than they were studying native americans at school. I drew this up for her in about an hour and a half. I thought once she got it, that would be that. Evidently she really likes it because she keeps it put up and protected.

Do you doodle? Do you find yourself on the phone drawing whatever it is that has captured your eye? I do. I do it all the time. I thought it might interest someone to see what my doodles look like.

This was done over a couple of days while I was on the phone at work. It’s a small piece of paper, 4″ x 4″. The eyes are from various photos which were on the internet.

eyes

My sister and I went to a Taylor Hicks concert this past weekend. We had so much fun! Given the really tough times we’ve had in our family this past year or so, the trip to Dallas was a welcome break. We enjoyed the catching up on the way there and back. It was the perfect girl’s out weekend.

I was able to connect with some friends I have made over the past year. I think I was looking forward to that as much as I was the concert. We have emailed back and forth pretty consistently but had never met in person. I was a little nervous that the conversation between us would be awkward. Nothing of the sort happened. They picked my sister and up at our hotel and from the second we climbed into their SUV, it was as if we had known each other for years.

Here’s a picture of us at the House of Blues.

We meet!

I finally compiled some little clips of Kaylea playing ball at a tournament this summer. In the very first clip she is playing short. She makes a stop and throw it to first for the out.

In the next two clips she is playing thirdbase. In the first, short misses the grounder and Kaylea runs to help. She runs back to cover third. I cut the camera too soon but the ball was recovered and thrown to third for the out. In the second, the ball is thrown to third but time is called before Kaylea catches it. The runner went back to second.

The last clip is Kaylea running after a really nice hit. You can see as she is running from first to second that her ball landed in the right outfield. She makes it to third before her coach has her stop.

Kaylea Plays Ball

When I was 13 - 14 or so I rode my old, second-hand Schwinn bike everywhere. I was on that bike constantly. YEARS later my daughter Misty got a new bike and I got on it. I got right back off it again, too. It hurt to sit on it. Do you suppose when I was 13 I had calluses on my behind? If so, they are definitely gone now!

To get some exercise, some friends from church and my family have been going to a two-mile path around the lake we live near. They walk and I ride Misty’s bike. I have a problem with the heel of my foot and can’t walk for very long but I can ride! I think the calluses are coming back.

My husband and I are talking about buying two bikes and a bike rack to go on my car. The thought is we will go on trips, park our car, and head off on our bikes to see the sights. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it.

All the rain in Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma has raised rivers and lakes to near record level. The runoff is converging into the lake 10 miles from our house. Lake Oologah is expected to crest at 109% above flood pool. In 1986 Lake Oologah released 300,000 cubic feet per second which resulted in a 100 year flood. Our bottomland was more than 10 feet under water.

This flood will be nowhere near that level of disaster but it is plenty bad enough. We are watching the lake levels closely and the release of water into the Verdigris River.

Here are some pics:

David and Kaylea watching the water rise at the lake. It rose 6 inches in an hour.

David and Kaylea watching the water rise

This area of the lake has boat ramps, a large parking lot, volleyball nets, changing areas and bathrooms. It is now all underwater.

Oologah Lake July 4, 2007

Another view of this same area.

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The channel below the dam. The channel is about 50′ deep. There is about 6′ left to the top of the channel.

Oologah Lake July 4, 2007

The Verdigris River about 2.5 miles from our house. It is typically 100′ or so from the bottom of the bridge to the river. Today it is 20′ below the bridge. You can see it is nearly out of its banks and will soon be seeping into the pastures near the river.

Verdigris River - Old Highway 88 bridge

Given the horrible drought over the last three years I never thought I’d be saying those words. I’ve been trying to keep a positive outlook on all this rain we’ve been receiving and thanking God for the “rivers that flow”.

However, now it is cutting into our pocketbook and it is beginning to hurt. My husband bales hay in the summer and the money he makes then pays our bills the rest of the year. Here it is the end of June and he hasn’t baled three days so far. Our cattle will not be able to eat water this winter and flood waters will not pay our bills.

God kept us through the dry times and He will keep us through the wet.

Here are some pictures of our wet times…

The Creek 50' from our house.

Some heifers wanting to cross the creek.