Dancing With Old Man Winter

Coming off a two week holiday hiatus, has the kids and I back in school and soon to be facing the full onslaught of Old Man Winter. I've got my dancing shoes on and I'm ready to tango with the old fella. I've stocked up on a bit of water, organic chips and salsa, cans of water packed tuna, instant coffee, apples, oranges and I've made a few quarts of soup. I've wrapped exposed pipe, gave my trees a drink to insulate the ground, rounded up all the furry creatures and made cozy beds for them inside the house, left the shed door open for any wild creatures that may need to take shelter for the next two nights and have rented a movie just in case the worst case scenario presents itself.

Grandma Mohler phoned me just a few minutes ago. We wished each other a Happy New Year and then she began excitedly to tell me about a mishap, some sort of explosion by the airport near Jackson. She was worried because it was a gas line and her kitchen stove functions with natural gas. I found the article and read it, told her they had turned off the gas and extinguished the fire quickly. I also told her there were no injuries reported. She wanted to know who owned the company, I told her Gulf South and that they were based in Houston. She said, "Well, that figures, they do all sorts of things wrong in Texas."

Well, I didn't argue with her, I mean she is my grandma.

Was Feeling Under The Weather Now Feeling Much Better

Last Tuesday, I could not gain warmth. I wore slipper socks, slippers, sweatpants, sweatshirt and a sweater. I crawled under three blankets, piled the pets on top of me and hoped for a bit of warming. Finally, a few hours later the coldness in my fingers and toes subsided and a coziness spread all over.

Around 5:30AM, I awoke to a stabbing pain radiating from my shoulder, under my breast into the ribs and was felt in my back on the right side. It hurt especially bad to take a deep breath or stand up straight, so I hunched over and breathed rather shallow to minimize the pain.

Straightaway, I ruled out a heart attack. No numbness and I was able to walk. I took three 800mg Motrin and waited patiently for the pain to subside and it did. I then considered that more than likely, I'd experienced muscle spasms. I didn't think about it again, although I continued to pop more Motrin and had the feeling that someone had punched me in the back.

What concerned me, was during the hike on Saturday at the Tandy Hills, I became winded quite suddenly. I didn't tell anyone, because I didn't want anyone thinking I wasn't a wild woman or that I was suffering from Gar the Texan's vapors.

I decided that maybe I hadn't experienced muscle spasms after all and a trip to my doc was in order. So, here's your public service announcement:

If it doesn't feel quite right, then it isn't!

My supposed muscle spasms diagnosed by moi, was actually a touch of PNEUMONIA! Yikes! Now, I'm on a healthy round of antibiotics and all should be well soon again.

ExxonMobil Adding Some Hmm? To The Benzene Symposium

A few weeks ago I blogged about reading an article that had an environmental oil & gas spokes person say something really incredulous. I also remember thinking how similar that was to what the tobacco companies had done. Didn't the tobacco industry fund their own health studies to prove that there were no ill effects from smoking? If I remember correctly the method the tobacco industry used was erroneous thus leading to provide false conclusions that smoking didn't lead to lung cancer.

Imagine my surprise then when finding out that at the 2009 Benzene Symposium, two members on the organizing committee happened to be ExxonMobil employees from their BioMedical Division. Hmm...makes one wonder what the heck they had to say about Benzene?

The document I read was 63 pages in length, and a lot of it discussed the tests that were run and how they were conducted. I read and processed a bunch of information from it, and on page 36 I read this:

Benzene causes a spectrum of hematotoxicity ranging from reduction of peripheral blood cell counts to aplastic anemia and leukemia in humans.

I've heard about Benzene before. Isn't Benzene found in the toxic emissions of oil and gas drilling operations? And hasn't there been evidence showing that high levels of Benzene have been found in the air over the Barnett Shale? And isn't there quite of bit of oil and gas drilling going on in the Barnett Shale? Curiouser and curiouser...

Now, as I put two and two together...like those two ExxonMobil employees at the Benzene Symposium, Michael Bird and Robert A. Schnatter,...what do ya suppose they were posing as? Concerned benefactors of society? Shocked and amazed polluters turned environmentalists? Unbiased and impartial contributors? Eh, I highly doubt it.

Being De Christmasized

I've spent the afternoon taking down the Christmas tree, putting away holiday decorations and removing all things Christmas like. Being de Christmasized didn't hurt that much and it definitely wasn't at all what I had expected, but it had to be done.

Having lunch with Durango and Annie yesterday after the hike on Tandy Hills gave me good soup ideas. We had lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, a lovely little salad, soup & bread/pizza place. I love soup, and I love salad, but not necessarily in that order. Since I'm on the HCG Diet, I sorta strayed a bit from my narrow list of foods, but not too far from home. Anyway, after having that most pleasurable lunch, I decided that in the woes of undecorating that I'd put a pot of soup on. Mine was caramelized onions, garlic, beef broth, brussels sprouts, broccoli, parsley, sea salt and a bit of lean stew meat. I was thinking of calling it the 3B soup, but I haven't decided yet.

Then there was a rap rap at the door. It was Ms. Jones. Sometimes I help Ms. Jones with her newspaper software, something called Adobe Indesign CS4. I have some kind of innate ability to intuitively know how software will behave...er wait, that's not me that's this fellow. I just read very well and am sometimes able to figure things out, after a few hours or days. Well, she was not coming by to solicit my help for the newspaper, but to write a grant for the Rig Theatre.

The Rig Theatre was built in 1925 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. It was a fully functioning movie house way back in the 20s in Wink and now the group that owns the theatre would like to bring it back to life. Ms. Jones had a lot of great ideas for uses...family reunions, summer playhouse, classic film festivals and maybe even special premieres.

I'm in the market for a new job, this has me wondering. Do you think I can get work as a grant writer?

Doing The Hills With Durango, The Youngs and Many Others

I received an invitation from Mr. Don Young to attend the Wild Women and Manly Men hike at the Tandy Hills. Anyone could have attended, in fact I believe that Mr. Durango blogged about it and made it a well publicized event. The kids and I had two weeks off for the Christmas Holidays and by the beginning of week two Annie had this to say, "I just want to go somewhere and do something fun." I responded, "How far are you willing to drive and what kind of fun."

The invitation from Mr. Young made sense. A little driving and sight seeing, a little hiking and running around was what Annie and I needed and boy did we ever get it!

Not only did we get to meet Mr. Young and his lovely wife Debra, but we met a whole host of other people. I only have one picture from the event it's of Olive the Prairie Dog, Kimberly Clark and Ariel posing with Annie. I forgot to charge the camera, thus no other pictures could be taken.

Annie and I got a special treat, we got to hang out with Mr. Durango. Did I tell ya I find physical fit white haired men irresistible? Mr. Durango is such a wonderful tour guide. We got to see all sorts of sites and also saw things that weren't so wonderful such as some of the damage done by the oil and gas drillers. I don't understand the treatment the Trinity River gets. Why if we had such a nice river in Wink, I don't think we'd treat it so badly. Well, I'd hope we wouldn't.

Annie and I liked our visit to Ft Worth so much so, that we plan on visiting again.

Below is a YouTube video put together by Mr. Marshall, a wonderful Tandy Hills supporter, of the Manly Men & Wild Women hike.

Broken Coffee Pot and Dancing With Regina

An old wives' tale from long ago says that whatever you do on the first day of the New Year will be what you'll be doing all year. Here's my morning so far:

Fed the kitties. Made coffee, except the coffee pot went kaput, but not to worry I keep several spares. Washed clothes. Folded and put clothes away. Texted some friends. Sent some emails. Fed the kids. Washed dishes. Read a chapter in a book. Did some lunges. Chased the kitties off the kitchen counter. Danced and sang to Fidelity.

How am I doing so far?

2009 A Stroll Down Memory Lane

I thought it would be kinda neat to go back and pick my favorite posts from each month of the year. Okay, I didn't start the blog until April, so I've cheated a little and have selected a few stories from a fellow blogger. Here goes:

January 2009
Zombie Problem In Austin Texas

I love zombie movies, yeah, I'm morbid like that.

February 2009
Getting A Good Poke In Texas, Polly The Parrot And A Heat Wave

The fine art of Face Book poking is very well explained, and you know how much I like to poke.

March 2009
Rural Texas Women Are Getting It Done

What can I say, Texas women are just plain HOTT!

April 2009
Resentment Reaps Rancid Rancor

Not a really great post, but it's when I figured out how to successfully add pictures!

May 2009
Wink Texas and Ghostly Tales

I tell a pretty good ghost story in this one!

June 2009
Roy Orbison Festival 2009 Wink, TX

The first time I attempted writing about some local news.

July 2009
Wink's Children and Their Ongoing Relationship With Scottish Rite

These kids were fabulous and I enjoyed writing about them and taking their pictures!

August 2009
Up Not So Early To Do Turner Falls

My I am woman hear me roar road trip...by myself!

September 2009
Annie Draw Inspiration From The Tandy Hills

Our first encounter with Don Young and Annie's idea to have her own prairie.

October 2009
Final Home Football Game and End of the Pre Game Meal

What West Texas is truly all about...high school football!

November 2009
Touring the Second Wink Sink and Predicting the Next

This was a really cool post. There's pictures and a private tour of the famous Wink Sink Hole!

December 2009
Fracking Zombies

What can I say? I'm a freak for zombies!

Reflecting On My Year

I began 2009 with several resolutions and an end to a 10 year marriage. The end of my marriage was fully realized during the summer of 2008. Why is it that when you know something is over, you've been preparing for it, that when it happens you're still so hurt? I spent a period of several months going through I suppose clinical depression. Yeah, I think that describes it.

When a person only moves to get food, only moves to wash dishes, only moves to wash clothes...only exists because deep down she knows there's people that depend on her. If those people weren't there...what purpose then?

I did manage with lots of reading, lots of walking, lots of listening and finally lots of talking to push through that awful time.

Back to my New Year Resolutions. Well, there were several. First, I wanted to exercise daily and lose a bit of weight along the way. That one, I accomplished...yay! I still go to the gym three to four days a week and in the warmer months was running three to five miles in the evenings.

Second, I wanted to do a bit more writing. I started this very blog. Of course, it's nothing special, but through the blog I've met some fantastic people and have learned so many things I wouldn't have known otherwise.

Third, I wanted to do a bit more traveling than I had been doing. That was also accomplished and even though it was only to places in Texas, it was still enjoyable and lots of fun.

Fourth, while I was married, I distanced myself from friends. I wanted re-establish friendships and make new friends. I've been able to do both and wow...I'm very thankful.

So, now here comes 2010 and a whole new set of resolutions to make and not to break. Some people say that the last day of the year is just like any other day of the year, and that may be well and true, but for most it's symbolic for a new beginning. A chance to make strong resolves. An opportunity to hone hearty habits and a last ditch effort to bash bad behaviors.

From out here in West Texas...Happy New Year!

Understaffed And Overworked

After reading ProPublica's latest article entitled: State Oil and Gas Regulators Are Spread Too Thin to Do Their Jobs, I decided to do a Google search and see what other sectors are plagued by this problem. I found that this same problem exists in a lot of different industries, here's a short list:



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Securities Exchange Commission
The Nursing Industry
Most Regulatory State Agencies
The Food and Drug Administration
IT Departments

So, I don't understand. I know, I know...I'm not a dumb blonde anymore, but I still don't get it. With all this work to be done, and with such an enormous problem of being understaffed...how come we gots LOTS and LOTS of unemployment?

Oh, and if you could, sign up at ProPublica and leave a comment. ProPublica is a stand alone not for profit agency that focuses on stories where the weak have been exploited by those who have the power to protect, but don't...it's in your best interest.

A Rolling Brigade To The Rescue

I believe that the idea of having lots of men and women on motorcycles riding to the rescue of Steve Doeung and the residents on Carter Ave is gaining support. Now, let's see if I can track down some of those well organized motorcyclists and pick a day for a ride to Ft Worth.


Hey, George, Dan, Shane...you up for a ride?