We are okay. The tornado has been determined to have been an F-5 (or EF-4) It hit in Moore, Okla, southwest of here about 90 minutes away. Two elementary schools were flattened! OMG it is horrible! All the kids in one school walked out of that pile of splintered rubble alive. Unbelievable. The kids in the other school were not so fortunate. Seven were found drowned in the basement where they were taken for shelter. There are still some 35 little children that they have not found yet. Some were in the hallway hugging the inside wall. The rescuers have been working furiously trying to dig them out. Some have been found alive, surprisingly, but many are feared to be dead, heavy concrete walls piled on top of them. They are K-5 through 3rd grade ages - just wee ones. One man came out of his storm shelter and found someone's baby laying in his front yard. He has no idea who it belonged to. My God. There was a horse farm near there where people kept their race horses. There were some 75-100 horses kept there and stabled in 6 large stalls. Most of the horses were killed by the tornado debris and those that survived were severely injured and had to be put down....all but one. The Moore Hospital was totally destroyed. Dozens of cars, suburbans, RVs, and trucks were thrown up against the emergency entrance and piled as high as the three-story building. Never seen anything like that! I am happy to tell you that no one there was injured or killed. The staff had moved everyone to a safe location north in OKC. They were paying attention to the weather alerts. Most of the 30 mile swath of destruction is just ground up rubble of what was once homes and businesses. The only things left are the streets and driveways. Even the trees and grass are gone in the worst hit areas. Some of the ponds even had their water sucked completely out of them. It is totally unreal and so sad. The families who have lost their homes are just walking the streets, dazed and confused. They are now homeless with no place to go. Nothing left. You can see hundreds of people walking the streets, with glazed over eyes...going nowhere in particular, just moving around. There is a steady procession of people walking northward toward OKC many, many miles northward. They remind me of war refugees. Lost and in shock, they walk around dragging what they could find of their possessions in the rubble, dazed and confused. They have lost all they had. Debris from these homes and businesses are now falling out of the sky all the way up into Missouri and over in northern Arkansas, littering trees and the ground. There is still more rain and thunderstorms to come later this week and weekend, but no tornadoes at least at this point, but possibly there could be flooding. ~Annie

Okay, I got THAT done. I really did read up on the stuff and visited the appliance forum AND took suggestions. So here's what I came up with: Frigidaire Freezer for the pantry (White)- Manual defrost. I'm either going to go with a 20 cu.ft or a 17. I have to measure the space I have. Right now, I have a small chest (freezer that is!) that I am also going to move into my garage in the new place. We have to buy meat and frozen stuff from the mainland and freeze it to cope with prices here! Washer and Dryer: Miele with stands (White). The guy sold me on these. They use very little water and soap and they have a honeycomb interior too, which will really save on the wear and tear of clothes. And they have a pretty huge rebate and energy cash back deal going right now on these. Refrigerator: GE Profile French Door w/ icemaker. (S-Steel) Really nice if you have lots of refer traffic (kids!) like we do. And it's got a nice freezer bottom drawer like my old SubZero, which I loved. (but...I HATE SUBZERO!--arm and a leg to repair! And a ROYAL pain to replace!) I'm also not buying ANYTHING built-in ever again! I got the one with the ice maker in the freezer. They have one with an icemaker and water deal on teh door, but that, for me, is a pain in the neck. The little ones think the water and ice maker are a TOY and I end up cleaning up the mess! No thanks! Microwave: GE Profile Spacemaker (Blk and Stainless): This is such a honey of a microwave!!! You can stop the turntable on it and it fits a 9X11 casserole dish in it or a 20 oz. cuppa coffee! And takes SO little space! I got 2 of these because we are microwave crazy in our house. I'm putting them on a shelf, side by side. Range and Oven (S-Steel) Dacor 38" 6-burner propane and electric: This thing really COOKS! And has convection too. I've had JennAir, Hotpoint, Thermador, etc and this tops them all and is SO easy to clean! Thermador and JennAir are the ones I would NEVER buy again---way too many drawbacks and the downdraft system just drives me NUTS--I will never do downdraft again! Range Hood: 42" Vent-A-Hood (S-Steel): Really SUCKY (and I mean that in a GOOD way!) and QUIET too! Nice design. I got it a little bigger than the stove because that's supposed to keep food smells, etc from wandering out of the kitchen area. Miele Dishwasher (S-Steel): Very cool. Love that the flatware rack is on the top and has its own spray thingy on top and has the ability to wash at 170 degrees. I got the one with the hidden control panel because the babies LOVE to tap, tap, tap on and buttons within their reach! So, anyway, that's what I chose. I'm so glad to be done with that part-my most unfavorite so far. Thanks for the help! It made a difference!

Happy Father's Day to all...if you still have your Dad enjoy, celebrate and cherish. Jan, I lost my Dad last May and miss him so very, very much. He gave so much great advice to me (and some not so great!) but I think answering the QOD, no matter what problem I went to him with, he would tell me "don't worry about it kid, we'll work it out" and that calmed me and we did always work out out one way or another. Today was a day of running errands. Yesterday was spent with a very dear old friend having lunch and wine at her beautiful home on the bay. We sat outside and enjoyed the weather and the boats going by. She told me not to buy golf clubs until she got her old ones down from the attic. She gave them to me yesterday and now I can finally get rolling on my lessons! Today another friend started putting the grill together...one part is too small believe it or not! Called Target where we bought it and off there tomorrow night to return small part and, hopefully, get the right one so we can finish up and start grilling!!! He brought is two 2 year old beagles (both boys) and my 14 year old Lacey was the perfect little hostess...I forgot how nosy and rambunctious young dogs are but they are sweethearts. Gotta run, fun stuff still awaits like getting the trash together and lunch for tomorrow. Will check in tomorrow..enjoy your evening. (((Hugs))) to all that need them - good thoughts and prayers are being sent your way. Donna

Hahaha............My computer was acting up (or my high-speed internet was in SLO-MO, I'm not sure), and I didn't realize that any of my post had appeared. I gave up trying to post and figured I would just check back later and try again. Tikanas - I can't wait to hear about your DS's reaction to his party. Have fun. Raeanne - You were close about the umbrella!! Here is the rest of my original post: and I didn't have the towel, umbrella or roll of paper towels that I usually keep in the trunk. I dried myself off with some napkins. I had to laugh though, cause I was really, really wet and I looked really, really funny!! LOL We had a fairly uneventful trip to take DD to school. I have talked to her every day and she seems to be settling in nicely. She is complaining about having to walk everywhere, but she'll get used to it. Her roommates are both really nice and they have already met some cute guys who live in their building. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing!! LOL (((Besh))) - I hope you are finding the strength to get through this weekend. NHSuzanne - Be careful with those bales of hay. Isn't this the time of year that you got sick after handling all that hay?? I will be thinking about you. Gotta run and get out of these wet clothes, but I wanted to check in while DS was busy elsewhere. Hello to everyone! Marci PS - I never did get out my wet clothes. I got busy and just air dried. DH looked at me strangely when he got home (from helping a friend move) until I looked in a mirror and realized how bedraggled I still looked. Oh well, after 27 years of marriage, he has definitely seen me at my best and my worst. LOL