More Questions, which I really love, because it keeps me from having to come up with a "real" post

Liz in Sumner asks: One more question: I'm a clueless, pacific northwesterner(sorry, but not my fault - I was born here), and someday when my son is out of school, I'd like to leave the state and live elsewhere. All we ever hear about the midwest up here is TORNADOS!!! Do you guys down there all have storm cellars or basements or something for when those storms hit? Because they SURE look scarey! And, how are the bugs? We're (relatively!!) bug-less up here......in other words, nobody uses Orkin on a regular basis.....

Liz, this question hits particularly close to home because as I type this, I have an eight-year old asleep in my bed, as she has been every single night for the past four months, due to her obsessively paranoid fear of tornadoes (which trickles down to an obsessively paranoid fear of thunder, lightning, rain, and even dark clouds in the sky--- which, quite frankly, is exhausting. And makes me hate the makers of The Wizard of Oz for putting ideas in her head.) Like I’ve tried explaining to Kendrie, I lived in Oklahoma for the first twenty-one years of my life, and have never seen a tornado, or been anywhere near a tornado. The closest I’ve ever come to a tornado, ironically, was when we lived in Georgia and a small one touched down a few miles from our house. Although I was out running errands at the time and didn't even know it until the next day. And one time we came home on vacation and were at my sister's house when one touched down a few miles away. Some people here do have storm cellars (my sister does, and at that party, we had about fifty-eleventeen people crammed in there, which was actually a hoot) but the majority do not. Yes, storm season here can be scary, and nothing *quite* gives you an adrenaline surge like hearing the tornado sirens go off. But thanks to Doppler radar, the meteorologists here can tell you exactly where a tornado has touched down, the route it is traveling, the path it is taking, and when, within a minute, it *might* be in your area. That’s not to say it’s not scary, because it can be. But I equate it to the earthquakes in California, or the hurricanes on the coast. Just pay attention, know what to do in the event of an emergency, and use common sense. Now, if someone could help me get that message through to my daughter, and get her back in her own bed, I would be most grateful.

As far as bugs, they’re no worse here than anywhere. Although we do have a weird roly-poly infestation in this house ever since we moved here and I’m about sick of it. The first two or three I picked up and threw away were cute .... the next seven billion were not.


Cindi asks: I do have one more question though...do you ever read other blogs? Leave comments? I don't know how you'd have time, unless your request for 36 hour days was approved. And if it was, let me know what to do to get it approved. They keep turning mine down.

Cindi, yep, I love reading other blogs. I lurk way more than I ever comment, but do comment at least occasionally because I know how fun they are to recieve. I check out new blogs on pretty much a daily basis, including the links people leave here. As far as those I read regularly, you can see the list in my sidebar. Although, I should probably update that list. There are a few there that I no longer read, and a few others I should add. And really, I should add the Caringbridge sites that I still check. But, I confess to being impatient with other bloggers who don’t update on a regular basis. If I check back daily, and several days or a week goes by without an update …. And that happens often enough …. I typically quit checking. Um, fair-weather friend, anyone?


Donna asks: Are you getting the full-blown Photoshop or just Elements? I can't afford the big one, but Elements seems to have more stuff than I could ever learn to use.

Donna, a copy of Elements came with my original Rebel camera, and I was pretty content with it for quite a while. A little cropping, zooming, and contrast work was about all I did. Then, I … um … “borrowed” a copy of Photoshop 7.0 from a friend, and starting getting a little more adventurous with my work. I was juuuuuuuuust entering the wonderful world of actions a few weeks ago, and my “borrowed” copy died. So now I’m back to using Elements, and trying to work up the nerve to spend the money on my own version of Photoshop. I don’t think, however, that I’ll get the full-out version with all the bells and whistles. Too much money, too much of a learning curve, too much stuff I’ll never use.


Abbie from IA wants to know: But I am curious...did Nicholas fly out by himself or did his parents come too?

Abbie, we were lucky and the entire family got to visit! Unfortunately, thanks to airplane mechanical glitches and weather trouble, they spent more time (literally) in the airport in Atlanta and the airport in OKC than they spent actually visiting us. I’m pretty sure it won’t go down as the smoothest travel they’ve ever made. But we were happy to have them and hope they’ll come back soon. After Nicholas left, Kendrie brought me a picture she had drawn and colored, titled “My favorite place in the world! Gagia house” with a picture of our home in Georgia. Broke my heart a little bit, truly.


Nancy from Ontario asks: is barley the family dog, or, the hunting dog? whichever one she is she is absolutely beautiful. have tons of fun.

Nancy, she’s both. Although for now she’s “the dog that better quit nipping at us before things get really ugly.” Seriously … does anyone have any suggestions for teaching kids to train a dog? She does well with Blaine and I because when she tries to bite us (playfully, yes, but those sharp little puppy teeth hurt!) he and I know to grab her mouth and forcefully say no, at which point she stops. The kids start squealing, and running from her, and she thinks they’re playing, and she gets even more excited and jumps and bites some more. If we try to intervene and pop her on the butt, the kids get upset with us “because we’re hurting her!” But then they cry because *she’s* hurting *them*. So far, Kendrie has a bruise on her thigh where Barley got skin, and she actually drew blood on the back on Brayden’s neck yesterday. So I think in addition to training the puppy, Blaine and I need to work on training the kids, also. But thank you, she is cute. When she’s not peeing on the carpet.


Mama Bear says: I'm saving up to buy my first digital SLR, having only recently given up my Minolta Maxxum (which was the greatest film SLR I've ever used). Still sitting on that Nikon-Cannon fence trying to decide which way to go. Any reason why your professor prefers Nikon?

I think for the same reason most people prefer one over the other … it’s what they started with, it’s what they know, and it’s what they’re most comfortable with. Obviously, they’re both really good cameras … how many times have you heard someone say, “I just hate my Canon!” ?? Or, “This Nikon is a piece of crap!” ? Relatively never, because bottom line, they’re both good cameras. They both have neat features, and they both can capture high quality images. But after you choose and buy one, and begin to accumulate the lenses and accessories that are interchangeable, I think it would take a pretty strong incentive to get someone to change. I’m just not sure why “some” people can’t acknowledge they are both good cameras, or why they feel they must be critical of whatever brand it is they DON’T have. So if you ask me, I’m going to tell you to buy a Canon because I love mine and it makes me happy. But I’ll also be the first to tell you I have plenty of friends that use Nikon (or Olympus or Sony) who are perfectly happy as well.

Dear Twenty-Four at Heart, thanks for the invitation to come by your site and take part in your contest .... I love contests! Unfortunately, Blogger informed me when I clicked on your link that your profile is set to private, so I'm afraid I couldn't do it. Which made me sad, because I'm all about the give-aways. Unless you're giving away $50 worth of massages, or pedicures. Then I think I'll just bow out gracefully.


And now, my question-comment section is empty once again. Which means I've got to think up something "real" and interesting and funny to type about. (sigh)