Sometime later, a guy came by and handed out Roker Faces. I ended up wearing mine like a turtle shell when I needed to put my hands in my pockets (or take a selfie).
* Mostly organic....one way to describe me and my life!
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
31 March 2017
Ruh Ruh Roker Face
Earlier this week, Emi and I participated in Rokerthon 2017! I wasn't sure what to expect from the description of the event, but I had friends there and also, AL! We got up way early, getting to the stadium before the 4:45 deadline, and the wind was whipping around already. The students were giving out breakfast burritos, water and Kind bars (yum!). We were ushered to a specific section to sit and await further instruction.
Sometime later, a guy came by and handed out Roker Faces. I ended up wearing mine like a turtle shell when I needed to put my hands in my pockets (or take a selfie).
Sometime later, a guy came by and handed out Roker Faces. I ended up wearing mine like a turtle shell when I needed to put my hands in my pockets (or take a selfie).
10 May 2015
Mother Lode
This past week we hit the mother lode on things: rain, thunderstorms, food and ...mothers!
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| Lola came to visit... |
03 May 2012
Blue Skies
Never saw the sun shinin' so bright
Never saw things goin' so right
Noticing the days hurryin' by
When you're in love, my how they fly
Can I just say that I am soooo glad that soccer is over? This week the only activity we had planned after work/school was Emi's choir concert the other night. And it was lovely. Emi got up and scatted while the choir was singing Blue Skies. My sweet little girlie...
13 years ago it was a different story for us...
On May 3, 1999 I was working on test procedures at the National Severe Storms Lab in the "tornado bait" trailer on North Campus. As I was wrapping things up for the day, a concerned co-worker asked if I had a safe shelter to go to that afternoon because the weather was ripe for tornadoes. He showed me the radar image and there was a big red circle around Oklahoma. He knew that we didn't have a shelter and we had joked about me having to dive into a ravine for safety. I reassured him that I'd be at my FIL's office in the city and that we would probably be safer there than at home. My FIL is an optometrist and his office was located at 119th and Western.
On the way to the city I heard the weather warnings on the radio and I was getting a little panicked. When I arrived we turned on the TV in Scott's mom's office to have a look at the radar and hear what Gary had to say. Gary was telling us that if you weren't under ground, that you might not make it...to get underground now!
My husband, his parents and I were huddled in a circle and praying because we didn't have time to do anything else. We thought this might be it for us and I fully expected to feel bricks from the building falling on our backs any second. The wind and noise got really loud outside and as the tornado passed (over/around) us, it sounded just like a freight train. Somehow the building stayed intact and instead of being crushed to death, we found ourselves outside, incredulously watching the tornado churning with debris over the nearby neighborhood... where my sister and her family lived. I had such a feeling of horror seeing that...
After the storm, there was a eerie silence and darkness. I tried to called my sister immediately and there was no answer. We left my FIL's office to head towards their home, but first we wanted to see if we could get through to my sister's neighborhood. There were power lines across the streets on Western so we couldn't drive through. We were outside at Scott's parents house trying to get in touch with my sister and listening to the helicopters flying overhead. I imagined that this was what it might be like in the middle of a war at night.
We got a hold of my sister finally and after we confirmed that everyone we knew in the area was safe, we took the back way home (I-44) to Norman and headed straight to the Red Cross. We felt so helpless but we wanted to help so we gave blood. And then we went home (way out in the country by the lake back then) and rested. We got up early the next morning to head up to my sister's neighborhood and I remember it was pouring rain so hard that it was difficult to see. The National Guard turned us away and my sister's neighborhood was cordoned off to outsiders.
My sister's church was in a huge metal ball across the street from its original location. I took off work the next day to help clean up debris on her church property and I remember the mud and the mess and the smell. No one tells you about the smells after an F5 tornado (or any tornado) hits. Even though there were no human casualties in the vicinity of her church, there were plenty of animal casualties and the smell of death was thick in the air. I heard they found a dead horse in the West Moore High parking lot after the storm.
My mom called from Florida a few days after the tornado after she'd seen the images of the truck wrapped around the tree on TV (and after she'd already confirmed we were safe) just to make sure we were really ok...again.
I feel very fortunate to have made it through such a historical meterological event unscathed (and another smaller event partially scathed). Did I ever mention that I survived Hurricane Camille?
Here's hoping for nothing but blue skies for a while...
Never saw things goin' so right
Noticing the days hurryin' by
When you're in love, my how they fly
Can I just say that I am soooo glad that soccer is over? This week the only activity we had planned after work/school was Emi's choir concert the other night. And it was lovely. Emi got up and scatted while the choir was singing Blue Skies. My sweet little girlie...
13 years ago it was a different story for us...
On May 3, 1999 I was working on test procedures at the National Severe Storms Lab in the "tornado bait" trailer on North Campus. As I was wrapping things up for the day, a concerned co-worker asked if I had a safe shelter to go to that afternoon because the weather was ripe for tornadoes. He showed me the radar image and there was a big red circle around Oklahoma. He knew that we didn't have a shelter and we had joked about me having to dive into a ravine for safety. I reassured him that I'd be at my FIL's office in the city and that we would probably be safer there than at home. My FIL is an optometrist and his office was located at 119th and Western.
On the way to the city I heard the weather warnings on the radio and I was getting a little panicked. When I arrived we turned on the TV in Scott's mom's office to have a look at the radar and hear what Gary had to say. Gary was telling us that if you weren't under ground, that you might not make it...to get underground now!
My husband, his parents and I were huddled in a circle and praying because we didn't have time to do anything else. We thought this might be it for us and I fully expected to feel bricks from the building falling on our backs any second. The wind and noise got really loud outside and as the tornado passed (over/around) us, it sounded just like a freight train. Somehow the building stayed intact and instead of being crushed to death, we found ourselves outside, incredulously watching the tornado churning with debris over the nearby neighborhood... where my sister and her family lived. I had such a feeling of horror seeing that...
After the storm, there was a eerie silence and darkness. I tried to called my sister immediately and there was no answer. We left my FIL's office to head towards their home, but first we wanted to see if we could get through to my sister's neighborhood. There were power lines across the streets on Western so we couldn't drive through. We were outside at Scott's parents house trying to get in touch with my sister and listening to the helicopters flying overhead. I imagined that this was what it might be like in the middle of a war at night.
We got a hold of my sister finally and after we confirmed that everyone we knew in the area was safe, we took the back way home (I-44) to Norman and headed straight to the Red Cross. We felt so helpless but we wanted to help so we gave blood. And then we went home (way out in the country by the lake back then) and rested. We got up early the next morning to head up to my sister's neighborhood and I remember it was pouring rain so hard that it was difficult to see. The National Guard turned us away and my sister's neighborhood was cordoned off to outsiders.
My sister's church was in a huge metal ball across the street from its original location. I took off work the next day to help clean up debris on her church property and I remember the mud and the mess and the smell. No one tells you about the smells after an F5 tornado (or any tornado) hits. Even though there were no human casualties in the vicinity of her church, there were plenty of animal casualties and the smell of death was thick in the air. I heard they found a dead horse in the West Moore High parking lot after the storm.
My mom called from Florida a few days after the tornado after she'd seen the images of the truck wrapped around the tree on TV (and after she'd already confirmed we were safe) just to make sure we were really ok...again.
I feel very fortunate to have made it through such a historical meterological event unscathed (and another smaller event partially scathed). Did I ever mention that I survived Hurricane Camille?
Here's hoping for nothing but blue skies for a while...
13 April 2012
Too Close for Comfort
This afternoon shook us up just a bit. For the past 2 days we'd been hearing that Oklahoma and Kansas were going to get some severe weather on Saturday, but the skies looked a bit ominous today as I was picking up the kiddos from school around 4pm. The skies poured rain on us as we headed home and we got stuck behind a postal truck that was partially pulled over. We were listening to the radio when Emi asked "What's that?" pointing just to the south of us. She said she thought she saw a tornado but I assured her it wasn't a tornado just as the power lines started flashing and popping! That got our attention and then - BAM! - a trampoline came out of nowhere and smashed our windshield!
That's when we left the Disco and ran for shelter in the school across the street. The Little Ones were crying and Emi lost her flip flops, but we were safe - and the sirens were going off a little late. After we calmed down and the severe weather dissipated a bit, we went out to survey the damage (and find Emi's shoes).
When Scott came to get us, David refused to get back into the Disco after all of the terror we'd experienced. David went with Daddy and we girls drove Salty home and then got into Beulah to continue with our plans to celebrate Scott's birthday at The Garage. We also celebrated surviving some severe weather tonight. It's not over though, tomorrow's supposed to get rough too.
That's when we left the Disco and ran for shelter in the school across the street. The Little Ones were crying and Emi lost her flip flops, but we were safe - and the sirens were going off a little late. After we calmed down and the severe weather dissipated a bit, we went out to survey the damage (and find Emi's shoes).
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| Trampoline on Disco |
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| Traffic was diverted around us until we could remove the trampoline... |
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| This hole was the scariest because it was in front of Emi! |
When Scott came to get us, David refused to get back into the Disco after all of the terror we'd experienced. David went with Daddy and we girls drove Salty home and then got into Beulah to continue with our plans to celebrate Scott's birthday at The Garage. We also celebrated surviving some severe weather tonight. It's not over though, tomorrow's supposed to get rough too.
Stay safe, friends!
31 October 2011
A Fall Weekend
We opted not to buy costumes this year so Emi had to get really creative with stuff we already had around the house. We nabbed the rasta mouse ears at Disney a couple of years ago and Emi went with it...
We started the weekend with a trip out to my friends' place to experience their Haunted Forest. All week we'd been prepping David with the knowledge that yes, it will be frightening, but they will give you candy!! Every day this week we talked about the fact that the props were fake and emphasized the candy-giving portion of the event, but even with all the prep, David still freaked out walking around with all of us in the forest. Aubri would shake with a scare and walk past the terrifying prop to grab some candy.
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| Emi dressed up as Minnie Marley |
23 August 2011
17 August 2011
Double Rainbow
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| Double Rainbow (if you squint and use your imagination) |
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| Under the Rainbow |
My children were straining to see the South side of the rainbow so it wasn't quite as fantastic as this guy's double rainbow but it was still a sight to behold.
My timing and my BlackBerry were not much help in capturing the miracle this morning but it was beautiful for a moment.
09 August 2011
In My Yard
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| We once called "her" "Happy Feet". He now goes by "Ozzie"...it's so obvious NOW but it really wasn't before... |
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| My Butterfly Ginger is coming up... |
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| Another view of the emerging plant |
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| The moon looked strange around 8:30 |
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| And the skies looked ready to rain down on us... |
16 June 2011
Stormy Weather
This first video shows when it began raining hard and we were mildly concerned about the chickens. Their coop is to the left (south) of the Pecan tree and they decided to take harbor under a smaller tree behind the Pecan tree (to the west). We had been eating dinner when it started sprinkling and the electricity flickered on and off a few times. No big deal...
But a few minutes later, it was a big scary deal.
You can see the continuation and aftermath from earlier this week.
But a few minutes later, it was a big scary deal.
You can see the continuation and aftermath from earlier this week.
15 June 2011
Oh, What a Night!
Last night was WILD around here. So much so that I thought those rapture folks might have just been a few weeks early in their predictions! At work I had heard there might be a chance for a little rain and I was praying for a 30 degree drop in temperature and a nice gentle rain. It was almost 100 degrees (again) after work so I picked Emi up and told her we were going to the grocery store. When we pulled into the grocery store parking lot I parked at the sno cone place where we met Daddy, David and Aubri. We successfully surprised them with a cold treat before dinner.
Afterwards we went home to prepare dinner and do some light yard work. We let the chickens out of their pen to wander around and while we were eating dinner the wind picked up outside. I let the dogs in because it was starting to sprinkle. Before too long the wind picked up so I checked with friends on FaceBook to see what was up with the weather. Some friends on the NE side of town posted about piles of hail and extreme wind and that's when it really picked up in central Norman. The winds gusted to 70-85 mph and it started raining hard and hailing like I've never seen it hail before! For something like 30 minutes it hailed pea to golf ball sized hail in my neighborhood and according to our rain gauge, we had 1.5 inches of rain. I can't imagine being trapped in my car during this storm but I had several friends who experienced just that because the storm came so suddenly.
We were worried about the chickens because instead of going into their house, they stayed under a pine tree for the duration of the storm. The hail was pounding down sideways and we were certain that our bird brained pets were not going to survive. After the hail subsided, Scott went out and rescued the chickens. While outside he said he felt like he was in a tornado. [Today we found out that we experienced microbursts with winds up to 90 mph]
The yards were covered in fallen branches and shredded magnolia leaves, pecan branches and ice pellets. There was steam coming up from the ground and the pool and the water in the pool was moving hypnotically back and forth long after the hail storm ended. It felt creepily like we were in a Stephen King movie.
It was strange to walk around and step into the freezing cold puddles when it was sweltering earlier.
My garden was hammered pretty good so I am not sure if we'll get watermelon, but if I'm being honest, I was not too sure we'd get watermelon before any hailstorm. I think my herbs will be okay and all my animals were accounted for. The creek swelled up about 1/3 of the way up the alley (which is why we can't use the detached garage located on the creek).
Many people on the NE and Central part of town were without power and some places in NE Norman looked like a war zone. We feel lucky that our damage was minimal.
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| Eskimo Snos |
We were worried about the chickens because instead of going into their house, they stayed under a pine tree for the duration of the storm. The hail was pounding down sideways and we were certain that our bird brained pets were not going to survive. After the hail subsided, Scott went out and rescued the chickens. While outside he said he felt like he was in a tornado. [Today we found out that we experienced microbursts with winds up to 90 mph]
The yards were covered in fallen branches and shredded magnolia leaves, pecan branches and ice pellets. There was steam coming up from the ground and the pool and the water in the pool was moving hypnotically back and forth long after the hail storm ended. It felt creepily like we were in a Stephen King movie.
It was strange to walk around and step into the freezing cold puddles when it was sweltering earlier.
My garden was hammered pretty good so I am not sure if we'll get watermelon, but if I'm being honest, I was not too sure we'd get watermelon before any hailstorm. I think my herbs will be okay and all my animals were accounted for. The creek swelled up about 1/3 of the way up the alley (which is why we can't use the detached garage located on the creek).
Many people on the NE and Central part of town were without power and some places in NE Norman looked like a war zone. We feel lucky that our damage was minimal.
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| Oklahoma Sky in the Spring (almost Summer) |
08 February 2011
Hold Me Now
So, last week...was not good. And the jury's still out on this week. At the end of January the Littlest One started to come down with something so I pushed fluids on the kids to try to fend off any sickness. This started a chain reaction of events that I have yet to recover from. In the middle of dinner the next to littlest couldn't sit still because of the influx of fluids, so being the understanding mom that I can sometimes be, I escorted him to the bathroom for relief and then we came back to finish dinner.
When I sat back down my chair shattered and I landed on my elbow on the brick hearth. I was stunned and scared (of a trip to the ER); we iced my elbow and determined that it had not been shattered, but that I got lucky in that I landed on the elbow meat (woot!).
The next morning Breezy had a slight fever and runny nose so I kept her and Damien home with me to rest. By the time Scott came home at lunch it was obvious that we were not well. And so for the next 2 days 4/5 of the Morgan household were achy, feverish, suicidal (maybe that was only me) and bed bound. Emi stayed healthy and I can't help but wonder if her fish oil supplements kept her protected. When I was her age my parents forced us kids to take cod liver oil and as disgrosting as it was, it kept us from getting sick too.
Luckily for us, the weather and streets were bad enough to warrant snow days so Scott and I caught up on the first 2 seasons of Dexter. We ended the week with a bad case of Cabin Fever - the kids were especially afflicted... but we are all doing better now!
When I sat back down my chair shattered and I landed on my elbow on the brick hearth. I was stunned and scared (of a trip to the ER); we iced my elbow and determined that it had not been shattered, but that I got lucky in that I landed on the elbow meat (woot!).
The next morning Breezy had a slight fever and runny nose so I kept her and Damien home with me to rest. By the time Scott came home at lunch it was obvious that we were not well. And so for the next 2 days 4/5 of the Morgan household were achy, feverish, suicidal (maybe that was only me) and bed bound. Emi stayed healthy and I can't help but wonder if her fish oil supplements kept her protected. When I was her age my parents forced us kids to take cod liver oil and as disgrosting as it was, it kept us from getting sick too.
Luckily for us, the weather and streets were bad enough to warrant snow days so Scott and I caught up on the first 2 seasons of Dexter. We ended the week with a bad case of Cabin Fever - the kids were especially afflicted... but we are all doing better now!
24 December 2009
Christmas Eve (aka Okie Blizzard 2009)
Today was crazy weatherwise and forced us to hunker down at the house. I tried to work a half day but only made it to 2.5 hrs hearing about the freezing sleet on the roads. By late afternoon we had white out blizzard conditions and were forced to cancel travel to my parents' house for Christmas Eve dinner. Instead of a nice traditional Cuban pork roast with black beans and rice, we got 2 different kinds of queso for appetizers, biscuits and gravy for the main course and chewy raisin bran cookies for dessert...also some cava. It was a nice peaceful night in watching The Hangover and waiting for Santa...so glad we didn't venture out because all of the major highways in Oklahoma were closed.
We let Emi open one gift tonight following our Christmas Eve tradition and she just happened to love it!
We let Emi open one gift tonight following our Christmas Eve tradition and she just happened to love it!
02 May 2009
I Love a Rainy Night (and day)
Mother Nature OBviously didn't want us to play soccer this season! At least 4 games were rescheduled this season mostly due to weather, and today's game was canceled due to rain. Hallelujah! We needed a rain day to catch up on chores.
Here's a list of what was accomplished today instead of showering and running to and fro the soccer complex:
Here's a list of what was accomplished today instead of showering and running to and fro the soccer complex:
- A fort was erected in the living room
- A puppet variety show was given
- A batch of beer was brewed
- The kidlet's carpet was steam cleaned
- Basement was mopped
- Bathrooms were cleaned
- Much laundry was done
- Bills were paid
- Patches were sewn onto Daisy smock
11 December 2007
Hallelujah!!
We have electricity!! When the Ice Storm came in on Sunday evening our neighborhood trees were devastated by the heavy ice forming so quickly. We lost power Monday at 3am and in the dark we listened to the crack, pop and crash of limbs falling to the ground. It was eerie and much like being in a Stephen King novel (specifically Lisey's Story). We had phone service until late Monday afternoon when our pine tree snapped and took the phone line down with it...
We were without power until Friday evening. Lucky for us we had my sister's house to go to the first night, then my parents' house for the next 3 nights. So we were warm and fed, but being displaced was no fun. Our dogs wondered what they had done wrong when they had to stay in the garage. I guess now they will be on their best behavior. ;.)
Coming home every day in the cold and the gloom of the weather that followed the storm was depressing when we were still without power. The routine became, come home in the morning to feed the cats and drop off the dogs, head to work, come back home after work to pick up the dogs and clothes for the next day, feed the cats and assess the situation. We were getting ready to head out to the lake on Friday evening when the power clicked on. Had we been running on time, we might have missed that.
Our neighborhood looks like a war zone. Sad to see so many of the old trees completely gone or missing much of their limbs. We were lucky that our neighbor's mostly dead Silver Leaf Maple tree didn't fall onto our house.
...
We were without power until Friday evening. Lucky for us we had my sister's house to go to the first night, then my parents' house for the next 3 nights. So we were warm and fed, but being displaced was no fun. Our dogs wondered what they had done wrong when they had to stay in the garage. I guess now they will be on their best behavior. ;.)
Coming home every day in the cold and the gloom of the weather that followed the storm was depressing when we were still without power. The routine became, come home in the morning to feed the cats and drop off the dogs, head to work, come back home after work to pick up the dogs and clothes for the next day, feed the cats and assess the situation. We were getting ready to head out to the lake on Friday evening when the power clicked on. Had we been running on time, we might have missed that.
Our neighborhood looks like a war zone. Sad to see so many of the old trees completely gone or missing much of their limbs. We were lucky that our neighbor's mostly dead Silver Leaf Maple tree didn't fall onto our house.
12 June 2005
Storm rolling in...
During the clean up after the lake party, the sky turned dark and a cool wind blew down from the north. It was weird because the storms were moving E-N-E of us, but the wind gusts were straight from the North. We were sure that we were in for some severe weather, but we didn't have any tornadoes...
Tessa took this cool pic of the kids fishing...
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