Cows

Didja ever wonder why cows always are facing the same direction? Here's info: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26395876/.

Geneology

One of the cool things about Ancestry.com is that sometimes you come across family stories. I've posted one on the genealogy link. As I research the tree, I have to remind myself that people in the 16-17-1800's who migrated West didn't have moving vans or even cars or buses. This write-up talks about moving a family using 6 Conestoga wagons and gives a lot of interesting detail on the ordeal. Some of the references to Indians make me cringe, but it is what it is, so no censoring.

The story is about the John Blunt family. You can see here where he is in the tree - being in Dad's Mom's line. (Click on it to make bigger)

2007 Christmas card of Dorothy, Sue & Ryan

Sad news...

Very sad news. Aunt Dorothy passed away today. She had been fighting complications from breast cancer treatment for quite a while. The chemo had created havoc with her immune system - she had developed leukemia, among other things. Last week Mom, Helen, Dick and Bonnie had driven to Dallas to see her. Helen was on her way to Dallas today, but Dorothy died shortly before she arrived. Here's my version of an obituary:

Dorothy was born in 1931 in Woodward and graduated from Mutual High School in 1949. She moved to OKC in 1949 and attended OCU. She dropped out after a year and worked for Farm Bureau as a secretary. This is where she met her first husband, Jack Baldwin. Dorothy and Jack had a son Kurt, and divorced shortly after. Dorothy was a single parent to Kurt for many years. I was always impressed that she was a single woman living in the big city. I remember one time when I was very young we drove to OKC to visit Dorothy. She had gotten really frustrated with her hair, and took scissors and cut it all off to about 1/2 inch all over. I remember being shocked that someone would cut their own hair!

Dorothy married Bill in 1964. They had Sue Ann in 1969. Bill was a computer programmer, so he and I always had something to talk about at Christmas. Kurt died when he was 18 from a car accident. Kurt is the only relative I remember who died from an accident, and so young. Then Bill died in 2006 from prostate cancer.

Sue and her son Ryan live in Dallas. Sue is expecting her 2nd child. They're going to have Dorothy cremated and her ashes will be buried next to Bill at the Woodward cemetery.

Kitchen Update 2

Well... this kitchen remodel has been slow. Since I only used professionals to lay the counter granite, all the prep work, and all the backsplash has been done by me and Tim (who is often out of town). I had to pull out some cabinets over the range in order to install a chimney-style range hood that I got a great deal on. Then, because I had them put the black granite all the way up behind the range, we had to then figure out how to hang the range hood without ripping out the granite just installed. Yesterday, I finally completed putting the tile on the backsplash. It needs to sit for 24-36 hours before I can grout, so I will probably do that on Sunday. For some reason, I'm very fearful of the grouting. I think because I'm counting on it to hide a multitude of sins, so if it doesn't, I'll be very sad. I haven't peeled the protective paper off of the range hood yet, but it is stainless. Click on the picture to make it scarily big.

(you see Oreo in the botton left of the pic. That's Tim & Cindy's border collie who I babysit when they're out of town. Oreo is 14 and deaf. Riley is just to the right of Oreo, but I can't figure out where his head is or what he's doing. I'm pretty sure that's his fully tail though.)

For those of you who have never tiled before, but are really wanting to, I have a few tips, now that I've been through the process. When you go to lay the tile, do the edging first, then make the main tile work within it. I did the edging last, not knowing what I was going to do. I think it's going to be ok (depending on the grout), but I now know to start with those darn edges. Also, you probably do want to shut off the electricity to the kitchen while you mess with those outlets. I got shocked 4 times before I finally decided I needed to. Yes, I'm a slow learner.

Hopefully next week I can post some finished shots. I'm tired of living in this chaos!

Happy Birthday Tyson!!!!!

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

Wednesday, July 30th was Mom and Dad's 26th wedding anniversary! I am so disappointed that I didn't think of posting this on here last Wednesday. Anyway, enjoy the pictures. I love this picture because the pastor is saying something to everyone and mom and dad are stealing a look at each other.

First kiss as husband and wife.

New little family.

Bride's cake. Groom's cake.

Dad suprised mom with a band for each side of her ring. I think it's beautiful. If I remember correctly, the wedding was at Grandma and Granddad's old house. Anyone remember that wallpaper?=)

Mom says that the first time I met dad I told her that I liked his hair.=) Now I like his head. And at some point in the courting phase of their relationship I am quoted as to have said, "Mom, you be the mom, Ted, you be the dad, and I'll be the little kid." I'm so glad they took my advice!