I've linked the Oklahoma map from the latest U. S. Drought Monitor Map below. The good news for this week is that additional portions of Oklahoma moved completely out of any drought category and back to "normal" on this week's map. This mostly affected folks in northern or eastern portions of the state. Slightly under 25% of the state has made it back to "normal" and are not categorized in any drought category. The bad news for this week is that some other portions of the state showed little to no improvement and some areas moved into a more severe state of drought. You'll notice that the part of the state in the worst form of drought, Exceptional Drought, increased from less than 2% of the state to over 5%. Both "Extreme" and "Exceptional" drought are extremely serious conditions in which people who make a living from agriculture can struggle mightily to keep their farrming and ranching businesses afloat. Also, the higher your drought category remains, the higher your wildfire risk, even though the wildfire risk generally drops once significant green-up occurs. When you have Extreme or Exceptional Drought, you don't get enough green-up to end the fire risk and any green-up you see in mid-spring may not last if rain does not continue to fall. I hope the rainfall pattern shifts a little so folks from central OK westward will get some rain to alleviate their drought conditions and the folks in eastern OK won't have continued flooding. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Oklahoma Drought Monitor Map

Zone4 - I love a lot of things about that plan. I'll list the immediate things I see that wouldn't work. If anyone has any way to make those things work then I would gladly suggest it to my builder. I like the exterior a lot! -I would like the main level laundry (we hope to have an upstairs laundry with kids rooms) to be near or even in the master. -Not sure about kitchen. Would have to work on the layout. Are the dimensions wall to wall? Does anyone know? -We are hoping for at least 16 feet (would love 20 but don't think it will happen) for dining space to accommodate our large table. -Upstairs beds and baths seem to be on the small side but not terribly small. -Would like a laundry upstairs. Reno-I'm finding that to be very true. It has made me stay in check on size though. When I would make plans before I would bump a wall out here or there and end up with 8000 square feet. LOL Okay, well not 8000 but you know what I mean. I'm not sure I understand what you mean about "thinking about the spaces created between the room you are moving around". Do you mean the room I am moving to another location in the plan or the main focus room (ie., living room or kitchen or...) that we think is highest priority and making the plan work around that? I keep reminding myself that things that take a lot of work are usually worth it. I'll keep trudging along. I appreciate your help!

Mine has always been nice. I got A+'s in penmanship in grade school and I still have good writing. I'm a Calligrapher as well, so having good handwriting helps me to be even more proficient when I do my artwork. And, one of my talents (if you want to call it that) is that I can copy anyone's handwriting and it looks just like theirs. I used to write all our "hooky" notes in school because I write just like my mom, now 72, who's handwriting still looks just as nice now as when she was younger.

cattlelettuce, organic maria,end of rope When DH told me tuesday night that his oledst daughter said they wanted to come over on thursday night....he saw my reaction, believe me! He was really tired and had worked hard all day. He was so tired that he really didn't want to go out and see his grand daughters play soccer that night but of course he still did. What would his daughter have said if he hadn't shown up at the game!!! Oh my God. DH would have felt guilty for days. He often does things to make himself look good in front of his children. I'v told him this multiple times. For instance, he won't drink in front of his adult children except on a very rare occasion. That's not what he does when they aren't there though! Anyways, when he came home on tuesday night and told me his oldest daughter told him they wanted to come over on thurdays night, ... i replied. What the .... is wrong with her. I've told her 18 times it wasn't convenient, that we needed to do things, etc. etc!! After a while, i calmed down and i said to DH: look, this is not right. This is what i mean by disrespect from your oldest daughter towards me. What is wrong with her? It's not like i told her i don't want her over, i told her any other night would be great but thursday nights! She always does that. She ignores totally what i say and then she puts you in an awkward position between me and you. You think this is respectful! I wished him good night, said i was sorry if i had kind of ruined his evening with my reaction and then i went to bed. Last night, when i heard him call his daughter to tell her he had to cancel supper for tonight....I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! He has never never done this in the past. NEVER. He always makes every effort to grant to his adult children and espcially her...whatever she wants. I've seen him cancel our xmas holidays because she wanted her father to do a 5 hour plus trip to go and get her so whe could be in the same city as him at Christmas. Back then, she was married and lived in another city with her children and husband. It wasn't like she was all alone in a city at xmas. But she was lonely, She wanted to see daddy and mommy. Can you believe it! Married with two children. No wonder she is divorced today. Was i ever upset at him for cancelling our holidays. That's when i started coming to this board and i started reading everything i could on detachment. This has been going on for 19 years. Why do i endure it? Because i care and love DH. Have i ever felt guilty for my actions towards his children,..oh yes i have, but what i regret the most and what i ask myself often is this: why did i get so involved with his children in the first place? I could have been a step-parent, kind and nice, but not take part so seriously in these children lives. Oh yes,,...i did the parties for them, bought them gifts, etc. etc. I did everything a mother would do if it was for her own bio children. I treated the oldest one just like i treated the two other step children. I gave her gifts, etc. etc. and the day she got married....she traeted me like a DOG. Her mother had a corsage, her grand mother, her aunt, her father ...you name it...but not me. She never thanked me for the money WE gave her for the wedding, etc. You must all wonder what kind of a husband i have that would let these things happen. Well, he is just like many other divorced father i have met or read about. He never, nver wants to say or do anything that could affect his relationship with his children. He did admit that what his daughter did for the wedding was wrong but he didn't say anything to her and he knows that despite the fact that my relationship with this SD is a bit better today than it was in the last years, he knows one day i will tell her what i truly think about her and what she did to me. This girl is spoiled rotten. She has NO friends at all except perhaps for one girl she talks to sometimes and her younger sister! Knowing what i know now of step children, would i ever be in a relatioship again with a man who has children....the answer my friend is NO. Tonight, i will not be the most cordial person in our home! Believe me! Keep posting.