Suzie, Fortunately we were west the worst ones. My step Father 60 miles due east got 4 tenths of an inch of rain and some light hail but not enough to do any damage. Many formed along a line that ran just west of him and then moved to the north east. About 20 miles east is where the real severe stuff started and kept rolling through. To the north of us and especially NE they kept popping up and caused some damage. Then a few formed in CO to the west but moved N-NE and didn't enter KS till at least 60 miles north of where I live. I was very fortunate this last week got another nice slow rain. In fact almost everyone around use got a half inch or more. I was talking to friends in Guymon and Boise City and like they said we were so close to the bad stuff several different days and I believe it was Tuesday night when it was straight west of us and had traveled straight east for miles and then veered to the SE and missed us with very heavy rains and large hail. That one in Woodward was terrible. My step Fathers sister lives in Buffalo and he talked to her several times and they had a severe storm move through in the afternoon before the one that hit Woodward and it went on up into KS and formed some tornadoes in KS. That is a common track for them. The Greensburg tornado traveled a similar track. Thanks for your concerns and yes I'm fine and heading out to work on cold frames when the light rain stops. I have some dwarf plants that need potted up into larger pots. Hope you, your family and everyone on this forum manages to escape the bad weather. I have a feeling there is going to be a lot more of it before it calms down. Depending on what the weather does and how I'm sitting with my gardening I hope to make a trip down to the Tulsa area and hopefully the OKC area around April 28th or the weekend after. But if there is the threat of severe weather or I'm tied up here with gardening chores I won't be going. Jay

Thanks, y'all. It was a very long day and I am glad it is over. I'm just flat tired. We left our house at 11:30 in order to be at the fire station by 11:45 (we'd been there earlier in the day to get the truck ready), so we could leave the station no later than noon, so we could be at the Valero truck stop in Marietta by 12:15, in order to line up the caravan and be on the road by 12:30! The schedule stayed pretty regimented for the rest of the day. Just from Marietta, the Love and Marshall County fire departments drove between 25 and 30 fire trucks and rescue trucks to Ardmore. There, we were joined by other trucks from Carter County, and Murray County too I think. It was amazing. Just one HUGE long line of trucks. Terry would have been so proud to see everyone in their "best" trucks, the ones he helped us get. Would you believe those protesters from Kansas showed up (the ones that have been going to the funerals of soldiers)? They were stationed up the road a bit and the funeral procession was supposed to drive right past them. Grrrr! We were so upset we couldn't stand it. I know they have a right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, but I disagree with their methods. More about them later. The funeral was spectacular. There were several chartered buses of folks that came down from OKC and Stillwater (because of Terry's long association with the college, where he worked for 13 years), including more dignitaries and government officials (including the Governor, Lieutenant Govenor, and Speaker of the House) than southern OK will ever see gathered together in one location again. Flowers...dozens and dozens of flower arrangements and sprays....and some really fancy and gorgeous ones. It was a three-hour long service, and I know that sounds long, but it was part traditional funeral service with the preachers speaking and some religious songs sung by one of the state representatives who had a great voice. Another part, and it was my favorite part, was more of a memorial service, with friends, family, former students, members of the House of Representatives, at least one senator, the Lt. Gov., etc. speaking about Terry. We went from tears to laughter and back to tears numerous times. After the funeral, there was a LONG wait for all us firefighter types. I believe the family was meeting, greeting and speaking with the busloads of people from OKC and Stillwater, because they all were going to board the buses and head back home from Ardmore. Finally, after a long wait outside in the hot sun (during which time our VFD carried bottles of water and Gatorade to eveyone else), the procession left the convention center.....and, instead of turning south, as expected, we turned north. OOOPS! Guess what? We didn't drive past the protesters.....instead we turned north, drove about a quarter-mile, then went east about a mile, and THEN headed south as originally planned. I don't know if it was a deliberate route change to bypass the protestors OR an error by the lead fire truck, but I have a hunch! So, the fire trucks served as a sort of honor guard, leading the funeral procession all the way to the Leon cemetary. All along the way, there were people pulled off the side of the road, some standing outside their cars, hands and/or hats over their hearts. Very, very touching. When we reached Marietta, more fire trucks and firefighters in their bunker gear, were standing alongside the roads (a great way for the ones who couldn't take off an entire afternoon from work to still be able to pay tribute to him). Some citizens stood alongside the roads too. All the way to the cemetary, I was concerned as the funeral procession seemed to be made up of the firetrucks, the hearse, and the family cars and little else. I was pretty disgusted...thinking to myself "I can't believe there's not a huge procession of vehicles behind us". THEN, we rounded that last corner before the Leon Cemetary....and there they were, dozens and dozens and dozens of people. Probably a couple of hundred people.....more people than live in Leon, I think. People and cars everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. So, the joke was on me....I guess while the firefighters patiently waited to lead the caravan, everyone else pretty much headed to the cemetary and waited there. (Some of them told us that stopped and ate fast food along the way 'cause they were hungry and knew they had plenty of time!) So, Terry really had a big funeral/memorial service in Ardmore for EVERYONE and then the smaller (but still very well-attended) graveside ceremony in Leon for "the people" who lived there near him and loved him dearly. He deserved no less. It was an honor and a privilege to be a small part of it. Scott, I am concerned that whoever succeeds Terry as the District 49 representative will not be as dedicated to the rural communities as he was. I hope and pray I am wrong. He was a very strong advocate for agricultural interests, including Agricultural Tourism as a way to "save" family farms. And, I worry about people like you out there on the tractors. Everyone around us uses them, and accidents are fairly common occurrences, although only maybe 1 every year or two is fatal. One nice thing about today was that those of us who live here and greatly admired and respected Terry were able to see that other people statewide shared our feelings for him. His wife and daughter and other family members have been amazingly strong and have handled this extemely well. We finally got home abour 7:45 p.m., I think. So, tomorrow we try to get back to the normal routine. Dawn

Sometimes, things just..... "Make sense" ...whether they are part of a series of Decorating Rules, Feng Shui, Granny's Gems of Wisdom, or Your favorite professional painter's observations while painting 25 different houses. Seriously. For example....dark colors CAN make an already low-light room look dreary and depressing. (That's why you need lots of light sources to offset the effect of using deeper colors) Or.....Using the same nice color throughout the main living spaces creates "flow". Well, of course. Anytime your eye doesn't have to stop to take in a different color, things tend to look more organized and seamless. And Sweeby made an important point about the use of color that also makes sense. She said, "I've come to the strong conclusion that there's absolutely something about the quality of light coming from different directions that influences how different rooms handle color" But will certain colors bring you Good luck? Will hanging mirrors in your bedroom bring you Bad luck? Will breaking a mirror bring you 7 years of Bad luck? You can call it anything you wish........but some things make sense and some things do not. I have only enjoyed just over 50 years of a very, very happy and good life thus far. My bed was placed (according to one friend who quoted Feng Shui stuff to me) "Coffin Style" with the head of the bed visible from the doorway, for many, many years. That's Many, Many, years of a great marriage, wonderful, obedient, respectful, children, good friends, nice job, and thousands of "good hair days". Currently, I have a gold, not blue, bedroom, with mirrors on most every wall. My bedroom desk has nice square corners, as does my dresser, tv armoire, and nightstands. I watch t.v. in bed and type on my computer a few feet away. I think a lot of people are looking for some sort of guidance or principles or direction in their lives, but sometimes, all this stuff just obscures what's really important. Red

Thank you for posting your daughter's flooring pictures. She has a beautiful place. I am going to buy this floor. I selected the "Hammer Glow" which is a medium brown. I hope I don't regret not going with the RInging Anvil. Geesh, It is so hard to decide. Especially when it is going through an entire house (except for the bathrooms).