Falling flat

Ok, so today, the snow total is at 0%. How can it just fall flat like that? I don't understand, but then I guess I'm not supposed to. Is it one of those phenomenons that you just don't question?

Oh, & Nick got a "new" car today. I'll never be able to understand big boys & their toys. He traded in his awesome 2008 Impala for a 1994 or '95 cherry red Corvette. D-Mike took his entire day off & spent it with Nick wheeling & dealing. I'm not happy, but … Nick is.

Even higher!!

It is an even 10,000% today in the Bear River Basin. I thought Don said it was finally going down today, but I guess not yet. He looked at the Weber-Ogden snow totals which said 8,500%. When I looked the 10,000 was under Bear River. My mother said her sister Maxine told her they couldn't camp at Willow Flat this weekend because the campground was under water.

And the big question: did we go to Wal-Mart on Saturday? Yes. We did & I found the ice cream. Yum! I may have to buy some chocolate drumsticks the next time we get paid. They were good. Did we buy anything? No. That wasn't the reason we went. I actually wanted to see the Cruise-In parade, but didn't make it. that far down.

Gigi, aka Gloria, our sister-in-law, came up last evening, stayed at the Plaza Motel here in Preston, & then went over to Paris, Idaho, to the Taylor Reunion today. She brought her daughter Bonnie, Bonnie's children, Ethyn, who is not quite 6 weeks old, & Kyrin (not sure of the spelling), her 10-yo step-son. Matt came & brought his daughter Jazmine, 5. It was fun to see them. I felt bad that we couldn't be hospitable & offer them a place to stay, but Gigi said the Plaza Motel was nice. They had adjoining rooms.

Gigi said she told Arline, Don's aunt, that we were being anti-social today, sigh. Oh, well, even if we could have afforded the trip over, I doubt we would have gone. I stayed here & took a nap most of the afternoon.

Boycott Wal-Mart day

Today is boycott Wal-Mart day & shop the Mom & Pop stores. Well, my favorite scrapbook store was not run out of business by Wal-Mart. I seldom make a special trip to Logan for Wal-Mart, but I'm almost tempted to today because they are giving out free ice cream. I would love to see the Cruise-In parade, but … I don't think I'm gonna do that either. I'm going to get dressed & go see Mother in the hospital. Oh, & take my pills before I go.

And the water? How high's the water? Well, it's melting away, but there is still snow in them thar hills.The total is 8,167% today. Updated just a few minutes ago.

It's getting old

I had to ask for the snowpack totals today & Don couldn't remember. Then he found them, told me & I forgot & had to look them up. It is forty-eight seventy-three (4873%). I don't know where he gets the inches & he & Nick are having a very LOUD discussion, so I'm not asking. It doesn't help to have broken hearing, it's too loud to ignore!

Forty-four something

I worked almost a 12 hour day today. It felt like the old days, when we did everything in one day & worked until we were done. Sometimes it was 1 or 2 in the morning. But that is what it is again, do everything on one day & work til you're done.

When I finally got home, it took me a while to ask for the snow total for today. When I did ask, Don said, "Forty-four something." He was busy with his game or whatever he's doing & so I asked if it is ksltv.com or ksl.com. He said it was ksl.com, but he'd be there in a minute. Sure enough, he beat me to it. Today's total is 4,429% & the snow depth in Franklin Basin is 15 inches.

Four-one-two-four

And today's total is four-one-two-four or 4,124. It's a lot easier for me to remember when he tells me the total by individual numbers. A total of 5 inches in Franklin Basin or 20 inches. Tony's Grove lost 4 inches & is now down to 3 feet.

When I cover the elections for the AP (Associated Press), that's the way we report the totals, not eighty-four, but eight-four or one-one-two not one-hundred twelve. Franklin County doesn't get very high numbers in elections. We have 18 precincts & they are all Republican.

Three-three-zero-four

Today's total is being reported a little early & that is just how Don reported it, three-three-zero-four (3,304)!!! The snow total has dropped to 2 feet in Franklin Basin & 3.5 feet at Tony's Grove. The snow is melting, but because there is normally nothing there or very little, the snow that is still there is driving the percentage up. Make sense? It didn't to me until it was explained. I kept thinking the rain we were getting was sure dropping a lot of snow in the mountains. I'm relieved to hear it is melting.

Now, I just hope people stay off the wet, muddy roads. We ran an article in The Preston Citizen a week or so about it. It was just below the Rural Route (rowt) News in hopes that it would be noticed.

It sure was nice sleeping weather last night. This morning Don & I got up earlier than Nick did. I usually get a can of soda pop first thing in the morning. But I didn't want to go out through the kitchen & into the laundry room & risk waking Nick up by fussing with the door. We keep the soda pop in the extra fridge in the furnace room. I went out the front door, around to the side of the house & through the side door into the laundry room, retrieved the pop & came back the same way.

By 9:30 Nick was still asleep & I was getting worried. He's been sleeping poorly & last night he took some Zyrtec in addition to his usual night time meds. So, I tiptoed out to the kitchen & looked in through Nick's door. I thought he said "Hello," so I asked him really quietly if he was ok. Well, that did it! I woke him up & it was like waking a hibernating bear. I told Don it was ironic that I had tried so hard not to wake him up by taking the long way around to get the pop & then woke him up, checking to see if he was still alive.

Still going up.

Today's total is 2,781%. What goes up, must come down, doesn't it? And Montpelier again has a severe weather warning tonight. There was a funnel cloud reported over Montpelier yesterday, June 23. Yet Blackfoot only had high winds according to the weather service in Pocatello.

Any guesses?

Up or down? Still going up. Today's total is 2,424%. I asked Don if 2424 wasn't the name of an old song. He said no, the song was named "In the Year 2525." He said the total might be that tomorrow. So, I went off to YouTube to find the song.

I have had 2 visual disturbances today & I woke up with a migraine. I fixed supper & went & laid down. Of course, once I had relaxed, I remembered this blog entry was still up & not finished. I also remembered I forgot to get one of Nick's meds today at the pharmacy. It's one of the meds he needs. He's not gonna feel very good until he gets it. I have one like that. I get sick if I don't take it.

So, I got back up to finish this, & make a note on Cozi (online calendar) to send me an email tomorrow at 11 a.m. so I'll remember to do the things I forgot to do today, sigh.

On Facebook this morning I saw a photo of my aunt's camp trailer tipped upside down & a note that a tornado had gone through Moreland & on into Blackfoot (Idaho) on my cousin's daughter's account.

Maxine Lund's camp trailer 6/22/11 after tornado.

Maxine is on the left holding the child's hand. I'm not sure who is in the huddle between Maxine & the camp trailer. Don said that a tornado warning was in effect for the Bear Lake Valley, this evening, but it had moved off. I remember when we lived in Randolph (Woodruff), Utah, we saw a funnel cloud touch down on Bear Lake back in 1993-95. Don't remember which summer, probably the summer of  '94. I think that's the only complete summer we spent there.

Well, back to bed. Supper was good. The recipe called for 3 TABLESPOONS of lemon juice, so I added 3 drops of lemon essential oil. I could taste it, but Don said he couldn't. I thought it was 1 drop per Tbsp. Maybe it's 1 drop per teaspoon? Hmmm, don't know, I'll have to find out.

From ksl.com

today's total is 2,212%. Don says this can be found on ksl.com's KSL Weather Center & this is found in small print at the bottom under snowpack totals. He is tracking Bear River.

Today is Don-Mike's 26th birthday & he has the day off. He's been a little bored. I told him he & Nick need to take the snowmobiles out & go snowmobiling. How often can you go snowmobiling on June 22?

And the total is

2,040%. I asked Don if he had looked at today's total. He chuckled & said, "Two thousand & forty." I repeated it in disbelief.

Karen Child said a couple of weeks ago some people went snowmobiling up Franklin Basin, I think. They built a huge fire & went off & left it. A week later they went back to check on their hole & it was 14 FEET deep!! Now, I want to know how the fire kept burning in the snow that deep. Wouldn't the water have doused it? What would have kept it fueled?

When I went to the grocery store about 3 p.m. the paper was already out. I, of course, had to check it out. The paper went out just fine without me. I did get a phone call this morning, after 8, but I slept through it. I slept in this morning. I had nightmares & dreamed of dead men, Walt Ross & Wayne Bell, & woke up sweating.

It just keeps rising

And the total for today is 1,755% of normal. It just keeps getting higher. When will it start to reduce, or will it? Maybe we're entering a new ice age.

Work today didn't go as bad as I had been dreading. It's kind of nice not being able to make the copy fit. Of course, I didn't leave at 6. I didn't expect to, really. I took an hour lunch, and clocked out at 6:59. I only left 4 pages, with copious notes. I got there at 8:15. I was only the 2nd person there. I had to unlock the door to get in. Not bad for waking up at 7:55.

I was laying the Social page & they wanted to start Rural Route News on that page. I always say rowt, Rural Route (rowt) News. Today Bob kept correcting me with root, Rural Route (root) News. So, I looked it up when I got home. I thought this was an interesting observation:

Recently I heard someone point out that "root" is more common in the eastern US and "rowt" more common in the west. I think that's true - I grew up in the east and it was always root. 

I actually use both. It irritated me that every time I said Rural Route (rowt), Bob said root. I felt like cheering (rooting) for the home team, LOL.

Anyway, I digress. I decided to put the missionaries right under the only wedding we had this week. By doing that, I could use 5 columns for Rural Route. But it would leave me 3 columns for missionaries & I only needed 2 columns. But I had a Young Woman Recognition Award or a military announcement I could put in the space. I left it without too much of a qualm, thinking I'd get back to it. I started laying out Rural Route & Ann came to the door & asked if we could get another missionary in. I promptly answered yes & got up to go get the missionary form so I could type it in. I told Rod as I was leaving the office, "The Lord does too care about The Preston Citizen."

He said, "No. The Lord cares about his missionaries." I agreed that the Lord does care about his missionaries & didn't pursue my premise that the Lord also cares about the Citizen.

Another update

Don turned away from his computer & said, "RaNae, do you want to update Facebook with today's total?" I told him yes, but it isn't Facebook I've been updating. Today's total is 1,570%, which says it is not melting, but accumulating. This happens at the end of April or May, not June.

It's nice not to have to water our lawns though. It's also nice not to have to worry about going in to work today :D Dreading tomorrow though.

How high's the water?

The update today is 1,406%!! Whoa! There is also a flood alert issued!! I haven't seen "Lake Franklin" lately.

Reminded me of the old Johnny Cash song, "How high's the water, mama?" When I googled it, the name of the song is "Five Feet High & Rising." The first line is very appropriate:

My mama always taught me that good things come from adversity if we put our faith in the Lord.

I'm glad the Lord is taking care of us with cool days interspersed with warm days or we'd have all the snow pack in the mountains wash right down out of there & Lake Bonneville would return.

Note: Lake Bonneville was a prehistoric pluvial lake that covered much of North America's Great Basin region. Most of the territory it covered was in present-day Utah, though parts of the lake extended into present-day Idaho and Nevada.

One more day

I found my cool stainless steel water bottle, under some clothes in the front room. So, I'll wash it out & start on my water habit 6 weeks late.

Also, I found the money order for the audiologist. It was not made out, so since Mother paid that bill, I'll make it out to her & deposit it in her account.

Now, I need to find our marriage certificate, so Don's insurance won't drop me.

Swishing & swiping is coming along very good. It happens almost every day. Maybe by the time the end of the month comes, the toilet will be sparkling clean. Basin still needs a new finish. It is still hard to swipe that up, when it doesn't even look like it's been cleaned.

Tiffany did the dishes on Sunday, did I already mention this? The sink was sparkling clean & the dish drainer was empty!! Wow! I could've cried. She even got Eddie & Nick to help. I'm sure I already blogged about this, but it was just so amazing. Today is the first day the sinks are even filled up & it's FRIDAY!!!

I went to bed at 9:30 last night & slept til 9:30 this morning. Fitfully, but still slept. I didn't feel much better when I got up this morning that I did when I went to bed, sigh. I was going to go to bed early tonight too, because the headache is still with me.

Not posting much

So, I missed some comments, sorry about that ladies. Since the April Rose fiasco, I put some restraints on my blog. I think I'll take off the comment moderation though.

FlyLady's habit for June was to drink water. I was going to find my stainless steel water bottle, but no luck, even though I have half-heartedly looked. I think I need to look a little harder for it & for a few other things.

Today I took my mom to Ogden for an audiology appt. to have her hearing checked, wax cleaned out & renew the insurance on her hearing aids. I have had an outstanding balance of $49.95 since last June there. About six weeks ago, the secretary/bookkeeper asked me to please pay. I said I would. I pulled money out of my savings, had 3 money orders made out, one for McKenzie Law Office for the Cache Valley Specialty Hospital, one for the plumber, & one for audiology. I didn't send the audiology one. So, today, first thing before she even said hi, was to ask for payment. I said I planned on paying it, then she was all gushy & friendly. Made me mad, then dang it, I couldn't find the stupid money order. Where oh where did it go? I wrote out a check on Mother's account. Dr. James took the check so I wouldn't have to deal with the secretary. I've GOT to find that money order to repay Mother. Otherwise it's like I lost $50 cash.

The secretary was barely civil to me when I made the appt for Mother. I didn't want to risk trying to make an appt for me & be told I couldn't be seen until I had paid my balance. Today I said I'd find another audiologist. I also told Dr. James that a doctor is only as good as their support staff.

The good news is, I was able to drive all the way to Ogden & back without getting sleepy. Which is a major accomplishment for me. We went through Weston Canyon, which I think adds about 40 miles, but we didn't have to go down through Logan. Since it was a new route for us, it was more interesting.

Mother didn't sleep either. Usually she nods off & sleeps, but she enjoyed the scenery. By the time I got home though, I was nearly batty after listening to the puff-puff of the portable oxygen. I told Don I could still hear it when I got home.

Nick had told us that we had a bald tire & Mother was nearly sick with worry about it blowing out on us. I had looked at the tires, every single one of them have tread. I told Mother to pray then, because we didn't have time to get new tires today.

Another baby blog

Dave & Tanya's blog for their baby Jonah opened a whole new addiction for me - blog surfing. Is there such a thing? I "subscribe" to & read way too many blogs. And one blog leads to another.

One journey sent me to Little April Rose, a young single mother, whose unborn daughter is diagnosed with Trisomy 13 and Holoprosencephaly & isn't expected to live through the birth experience. This young mother, "B," is amazing. A few weeks ago she started a prayer register, if I may call it that. People were emailing her ASKING for HER prayers. So, she started "His Will Wednesday." Through yesterday's entry I found little Gwendolyn Strong who has spinal muscular atrophy or SMA. I have buttons for both of these blogs in the sidebar on my blog.

I try not to read through them all at once. I admit, I did Dave & Tanya's, I couldn't stop reading. Little Gwendolyn is 20 months old & since I didn't find her until tonight, there are almost 2 years of entries to read. Her parents celebrate each month's birthday, as children with SMA don't usually live past 2 years old.

Through a cousin's blog, I found a really cool website. Janelle writes:

I tend to read the emails that come to my inbox. I read my blogs. I read my facebook page. But I struggle "finding the time" to read the scriptures. I just forget. So this site sends me an email with the days scripture chapter. I can read it or listen to it. Then tomorrow it sends me the next chapter. Today it took 6 minutes for it to read the first chapter. If I have the time to spend 10 minutes on facebook (at least), 10 minutes on blogs (multiple times a day) and however many minutes on email, then I have the time to read 6 minutes a day before all of that.

So, I subscribed to Read The Scriptures & decided I'd "read" the Doctrine & Covenants, since Don & I are in the library & don't get to Sunday School, Relief Society or Priesthood. I tried listening to it, & found that I'd just as soon read it to myself. So, today I read the first chapter of the D&C.

I haven't really kept up on my "moving" since May is over, but I'm still thinking of it & still don't park close to the door, unless I have Mother with me. I walked the stairs at the clinic on Tuesday, but took the elevator down with Mother. June's habit is drinking water. Ewww :( that's a toughy. One I try ever few months, but Lent taught me something. I can focus on a "habit" for a set period of time. I've also kept trying to make it to bed at midnight & most nights I do pretty good.

One more day of moving in May

Can you believe May is almost gone? I can't. The good news is - there are 5 Sundays in May & Don-Mike gets to cook tomorrow. He's taking the easy way out - a picnic up the canyon, probably Willow Flat. He's going to grill hot dogs & hamburgers. I'd be tired to death of grilling, that's his daily job. But, at least he'll be outside. Now, let's hope the weather cooperates.

Anyway, no formal walking the last couple of days. Today I just didn't feel like it. We went to the Franklin County High School graduation last night. Zach Kent graduated. OMG, the flashes from the cameras were deadly. I knew I wouldn't make it through the night without a migraine once those cameras started flashing. Sure enough, I got one. One particularly lethal flash happened when I was looking directly at a camera. It was dark & I didn't know there was someone lurking over there that was going to blind me. I have known for years that flashing lights trigger a migraine. I wanted to see what was going on, so I didn't shade my eyes. I was wearing a hat, but ... the idiots were taking pictures of the slide show!!!

Fly Lady's habit for June is drinking water. I need to find my stainless steel water bottle that an online friend, Terri from Colorado, gave me one year for Christmas. Fly Lady gave an idea of putting ice cubes in the stainless steel water bottle. What a clever idea! Why didn't I think of that? For one reason, we don't have any ice trays in our freezer, sigh. I guess I'll have to put ice trays on my to do list. If I put ice trays in the freezer that means I have to clean out the freezer in order to put the ice trays in there. I don't want to do anything drastic, LOL.

Today, I have a hangover. It feels like someone bashed me in the head & I'm nauseous. I didn't sleep well last night either, sigh.