No Air, The Park, Tornado

Tuesday afternoon, April 10th, I noticed that it was feeling kind of warm in our house. I turned the air down, but it didn't come on no matter how low I turned it down to. So Charlie contacted someone and they sent out a repair guy the next day. (It got down into the 40s that first night and was chilly in the house that Wednesday morning, but warmed up later.) He said something about a transformer and a fuse maybe and whenever he did get it running, something would trip and it would quit working. They had to order some parts, which they said could take two to three days for them to receive. So, we'd have it fixed by Saturday or Sunday? No. No weekend delivery or something. They weren't able to come back and fix it until this past Wednesday. We went more than a week without heat or air.

It got pretty warm in here during the day and we had a lot of fans going. Most rooms had two fans each. Of course, it was only cool in front of a fan or below a ceiling fan. But thankfully it's not summer yet or an above average spring. We've lost our air a few times in the summer (and at least a couple times in winter) and it was kind of miserable. I don't know how people survived without a/c or fans before they were invented.

Saturday and Sunday were the warmest days in the house. (About 77° or 78°.) Saturday night was pretty uncomfortable, too. It only got down to about 74° inside. We live in a one-story house and can't leave our windows up at night. It was either Monday night or Tuesday night that it got down into the 30s. It was kind of cold in the house when I got up the next morning (about 66° inside), but tolerable with the proper clothing and blankets.

Anyway, as I said earlier, the repair guy came back Wednesday afternoon and got it fixed pretty quickly. It's been nice having a/c (we'll need the heat at night as it's supposed to get down into the 30s and 40s) and not hearing multiple fans running in the house.

The repair guy said that since our heat pump is so old (20), the next big thing to go wrong, like a compressor, could be it and we'd have to buy a new one.

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Thursday, April 12th, Kelly and I went to the park. We brought Milo (Charlie's Jack Russell) with us. He's getting fat and needs the exercise. lol Plus, he enjoys it. We didn't stay long, but it was a nice walk. I took only three pictures. Here's two of them.

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Sunday, April 15th, we had some wind and rain. They said there was a chance for hail, severe lightning, and possibly tornadoes. Sometime after 5:00 that evening, I heard a strong gust of wind (stronger than how it had been blowing), but didn't give it much thought. A few minutes later, I looked out the living room window and saw that the chair that's normally on our front porch was gone. It had been blown into our side yard. We get strong winds from time to time, usually with thunderstorms, but that chair has never been blown off our porch. Even with gusts in the 40-60 mph range.

Shortly after that, a tornado touched down about 10-15 minutes northeast of our house. It was a high EF-2, nearly an EF-3. It's not unusual for us to get tornado watches every spring and occasionally there will actually be a tornado, but rarely one as big and strong as the one that hit our city this past Sunday. Over 1000 structures have been damaged, some schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year (possibly longer) - students from those schools are being sent to other schools, many are without power and can't live in what's left of their houses. I imagine some houses will have to be bulldozed because there's not enough left to just repair. The worst the thing about it is the tornado hit a mostly low-income area of the city. Thankfully, only one person died. Though even just one death is too many.

It's quite a shock, not just because of the damage, but because it's so rare for this area to get a tornado like this. Even with tornado watches, tornadoes don't usually touch down and when they do, they're smaller than this one and short-lived. I read that tornadoes here usually only stay on the ground for about 5 miles. This one was on the ground for either 16 miles or 33 miles. (I've heard both.) A tornado touched down in South Carolina from this same line of storms that came through here. After the tornado in SC and then the one here, a tornado also touched down in a town north of here. It did some damage there too, but it's a smaller town with much fewer people and didn't destroy as many structures as it did here.

Clean-up will take some time - weeks or months. Places are being opened as shelters for those who can't stay in their homes. Churches and other groups are cooking meals and providing water, clothing, and other necessities. People are donating money to the Salvation Army. Money that will go directly to the people affected by the tornado. The electric company is working hard to get downed power lines up, poles fixed or replaced, and the power back on.

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I'm almost done reading After You by Jojo Moyes. Less than 100 pages to go. It's not as good as the first one (Me Before You), but I like it.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Anniversary and Christmas

Sunday, December 17th, was mine and Charlie's 23rd wedding anniversary. We got each other cards and he gave me flowers. Neither of us felt like going out. Mostly me though. With all the busyness lately, I just wanted to stay home.

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Tuesday, December 19th, Charlie, the kids, and I (and Milo) went to Tanglewood Festival of Lights in Clemmons. We hadn't been there since the kids were little. It was really beautiful. I took lots of picture and videos.

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This past Friday night, Charlie went with me and Kelly to get groceries. (Sean was at my mom's house.) We then went to a few stores and got something to eat at Brixx Pizza. After that, we drove around the Sunset  Hills neighborhood and looked at the Christmas lights and Christmas balls. (You can find some videos on YouTube.) I took pictures and a few videos.

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Charlie and I did the Christmas shopping together on Wednesday, December 20th. I usually go alone. It was nice to have the company. The kids didn't ask for much. We got Kelly an LED potion desk lamp, a white tiger dream catcher, long sleeve Hogwarts shirt with matching toboggan (knit hat/beanie to non-Southerners), long sleeve Batman shirt with matching toboggan, Fawkes the Phoenix action figure/statue thing, Skyrim Alduin Funko Pop figure, and a plush blanket throw with a wolf and wolf cub on it.

We got Sean three video games (Star Wars Battlefront II, Need for Speed Payback, and Project Cars 2), and a year's Playstation subscription. He also wanted a Flash jacket from Hot Topic. We'll take him to get it sometime soon.

I got my mom two pairs of soft, purple pajamas (what she asked for) from Macy's. She gave each of us money. I got Charlie an Ancestry DNA kit. At first I told Charlie that I couldn't think of anything I want (that's realistic lol) and then I thought it might be nice to get a new dress. So I'm going to go shopping for a dress. If I can't find one I like I'll get boots or something else.

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 For Christmas dinner tonight, I'm making Lidia Bastianich's chicken and potatoes, green beans, and stuffing. For dessert we're having blueberry pie and cookies and cream pie.

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I'm almost done reading Scythe by Neal Shusterman. I want to finish it before the new year so I can have it on my list of books I've read this year. Since I started it this year, I want to finish it this year. I have 156 more pages to go.

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That's it for now. Merry Christmas!!!


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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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This and That

No new dishwasher yet. I didn't see one I liked. Almost all the dishwashers we saw were stainless steel. We don't like or want stainless steel. The one we have now is black and I want another black one. There were only a couple black dishwashers to choose from and I didn't like them. Charlie said he was going to work on our dishwasher again, but he's yet to do that. :-/ I'd rather have a new one. Not sure when that's going to happen though.

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No vacation this year. Between a new roof, vet bill, and college costs for Sean, I figured it'd be best not to do a vacation this year. Charlie did take a week off a couple weeks ago and mess around with one of his cars he's been working on for years.

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I'm hoping we can go to the mountains for a day next week. Possibly Wednesday, if Charlie can get the day off. I'd like to have him with us.

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I post things for my church friends on Facebook on a regular basis. My pastor often "likes" what I post. At church this past Sunday, he came up to me, thanked me for what I post, and told me that I'm an encourager for him. :-)

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I'm still working on The Race for Paris. It's not a long book, which I guess is why I didn't stop reading it long ago lol, but it's taking longer than it should to read it because it's just not an exciting or very interesting book. :-/ There are a few exciting moments here and there, but not nearly enough.

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I got some new songs on my iPod since my last entry.

Do Not Pass Me By -- MC Hammer
Draw Nigh -- Fred Hammond
He Delivered Me -- Daryl Coley
He Will Deliver -- Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers
Holy Ghost Power --  Chicago Mass Choir
I Will Trust - Fred Hammond (featuring BreeAnn Hammond)
Let God Do It -- Chicago Mass Choir
New Name -- Chicago Mass Choir
Oh How Precious -- The New Life Community Choir (featuring John P. Kee)
The Potter's House -- Tramaine Hawkins

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Kelly and I each got a couple T-shirts since my last entry. I found pictures of both of mine, but only one of Kelly's.

One of Kelly's. She recently did a binge of the Friends series. The other shirt she got was of some Anime show she likes.

Han Solo. Unfortunately, this was very itchy, even after washing it. I'm going to bring it to Goodwill.

Wonder Woman. I'm wearing this shirt right now. :-)

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Sadie seems to be doing okay at the moment. She's still eating and even has running fits a few times a week. It's funny to see because she never used to have as many running fits as she's been having lately and because she's such a mean, serious old lady. lol I especially love it when she chirps during her running fits. It's so funny and cute. If she's still alive, they'll want to do another check up on her in a few months. We'll know then how much her disease (kidney failure and possible cancer) has progressed.


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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Thanksgiving, Caves, The Last Kingdom

Can't believe I went a whole month without blogging. I kept meaning to, but just never got around to it. Well, here it is December now. Just 21 days till Christmas. And then 2016. Seems like the older I get, the faster time goes by.

Anyway, a couple November happenings to blog about.

There's Thanksgiving, of course. Charlie, the kids, and I went to my cousin Shannon's house in Fayetteville. (My mom had to work and we never see my brother's family for unknown reasons. :-/ ) We had a nice time. Family who were there were Shannon, her husband Scott, Shannon's sisters Christine and Kim, their parents (who divorced many years ago) Kathleen and James, their dad's girlfriend, Christine's husband Billy and their three small children (Magen, Matthew, & Nathaniel), and Kim's two teenage daughters Julie and Caitlin.

We stayed until nearly 5:00. We watched the first several plays of the Panthers vs. Cowboys football game before leaving, listened to most of the game on the radio on the way home, and finished watching it when we got home. Go Panthers! :-D

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Last Saturday, November 28th, Charlie, the kids and I, and Sean's girlfriend Ashley, went to Daniel Boone's Cave Park near Lexington. (Less than an hour from our house.) The cave is right next to the Yadkin River. The story goes that when Daniel Boone was a teenager, he and his family and some other people hid in the cave from Indians their first winter in the area in 1751. I was surprised by how low the ceiling (not sure what that's actually called) of the cave was and that it didn't go back very far. There was another, smaller cave next to it.

Ashley (purple shoes) and Kelly entering the cave. I went in after taking a few pictures.

Second, smaller cave. A little more difficult to get into.

After leaving the caves, we walked/hiked some of the trails. They turned out to be much steeper than we were expecting. But we enjoyed it and I took a lot of pictures.

 The Yadkin River.

We're hoping to go to Pilot Mountain soon. I've passed by it many times on the way to the mountains, but haven't actually been to/on top of the mountain in many years. Maybe about twenty. It's been a long time. It's only about an hour away. We may go tomorrow since the weather's supposed to be nice - near 60° and sunny.

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For years I went through autumns and winters without boots because I couldn't find any like I wanted in terms of where the tops of the boots stop. (I like them about mid-calf or so.) They were either too high or too low. Or the boots I tried on were uncomfortable or too expensive or whatever. Things have been different for me this year. I've found several pairs that I like, but have only bought a few. I can't remember if I bought the first pair late last year or earlier this year, but I don't think I ever posted a picture of them.

Over the past couple months, I've bought two more pairs of black boots (one is more on the casual/rugged side, the other with fur) and finally, after searching and searching, I bought a pair of brown ones. :-) I got both pairs of black boots below at Shoe Dept. (around $35 each) and the brown boots at Shoe Carnival.

 I wore these on Thanksgiving and got compliments on them. :-)

Originally about $80-$90. I paid about $60.

Last week, I bought a faux leather jacket at Stein Mart (originally about $100; I paid $42) that will go better with my brown boots. A black jacket (I have one that's faux leather and one that's denim) with brown boots doesn't look good to me.

It's actually a little darker than this. Kind of with touches of gray or dinginess to it.

I like the plaid scarves you can get at Target right now and have bought a couple of them.

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I'm still reading The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. It's not a long book at all (about 329 pages), so I thought I'd get through it pretty quick. But it's been 2½ months and I'm still reading it. I only have about 40 pages left though. Hopefully I can finish it soon. The story is really interesting at times, but I don't really care about any of the characters. I read in bed and keep dozing off after a page or two, so that's not helping.

The Last Kingdom is one of those rare books where I prefer the TV show or movie to the book. The Bourne Identity was another one. (The book was so boring that I never bothered to read the sequels.) Seems like there was another, but I can't remember what it was at the moment.

This and That

Charlie wasn't able to come home last month after finishing the job in Atlanta. He was sent to Morgan City, Louisiana, less than an hour south of Baton Rouge and about an hour and a half west/southwest of New Orleans. He was in Morgan City until a week ago when he was sent to Baton Rouge. Then last Wednesday, he flew to Atlanta for a class for a couple days. Then flew back to Baton Rouge this past Saturday. Yesterday, he had to drive to Corpus Christi, Texas.

We're really hoping he can come home after he finishes the job in Corpus Christi. This week will be 5 weeks that he's been gone.

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I bought a couple cute shirt dresses at JC Penney a few weeks ago. They were on sale for $36.

This looks navy to me, but the tag said something like "dark blueberry".

Both dresses go below my knees by a couple inches.

Kelly and I did a little shopping a few days ago and I got this skirt at Forever 21 for $14.99.

Kelly got this skirt at Macy's, on sale for $13.

She got this tank at Kohl's to go with it. Also on sale for about $13. She wears a black silky t-shirt underneath it.

Kelly's really been into plaid/flannel shirts for the past year or so. She mostly finds them at Kohl's and JC Penney. Here are a few she's most recently gotten.

Kohl's

Kohl's

Kohl's

JC Penney

She has other colors as well, including aqua, light blue, and I think black and gray.

I'd been wanting a denim jacket for a few years now, but never did find one I loved and wasn't sure I could pull one off anyway. Then I saw a black one at Kohl's and I thought it was really cool and looked good on me, but I wasn't sure about the flag (black and white American flag) on the back of it, so I didn't get it. I searched several other stores (a few I thought for sure would have one, but surprisingly they did not) and did find one at Macy's, but it was too smooth and clean and plain for me. I wanted something a little more rugged looking, but not one that was so faux-worn out that you could see through the "worn out" places. (I've seen a few like that recently in regular blue denim.) So, I went back to Kohl's and got the one I saw there anyway. I was thinking maybe I could take it to the seamstress I go to and have the flag removed, but I'm still thinking about that. Sean told me he thinks the flag is cool. lol

Anyway, here's a picture of it. I got it on sale. Marked down from $72 to $57, though their website says it's marked down to $54.

By Rock & Republic.

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After much thought and going back and forth on dates, we finally decided on a week to go on vacation and Charlie made the reservations a week or two ago. We'll be going to Southport and Oak Island in less than a month. We can't wait!

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I've been reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel for a few weeks now. I heard it was really good, but at more than halfway through, it's just okay to me. I have less than 100 pages to go.

Ceiling Damage, Refinancing, a Book, and Other Things

Saturday night, June 27th, we came home from a conference we'd attended at our church that evening. After changing clothes, I went to my closet to hang up the outfit I'd worn and couldn't believe what I found. The ceiling coming apart and some of my clothes soaking wet. The floor was also wet. It had rained hard pretty much all day and night. *sigh* I called Charlie, who was still in Georgia, to tell him what had happened. Thankfully, we got very little rain (and no more leaks) before he was able to come home the following Wednesday, July 1st. Charlie fixed the leak, which was coming from a cracked seal around a pipe sticking out of the roof.

The rain had begun flooding our road, and many other roads in our city, hours earlier.

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Charlie had to go back to Atlanta this past Friday, but may be coming back home today. A surprise to us both as he's usually gone at least a week or two when he gets sent out of state. Though there is a chance he may have to go to Louisiana.

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July 4th, Charlie, the kids, and I (and Sean's girlfriend Ashley) went to the home of some church friends to shoot off the fireworks Charlie had bought in Georgia. They were really great and everyone enjoyed them.

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We were contacted by our mortgage company recently about refinancing our home. We received the papers early last week and signed them and had them notarized this past Thursday, July 9th. That will bring our interest rate down a couple percentage points and save us $23,000, according to what we were told.

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Book recommendation: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I really loved it and gave it five stars at GoodReads and added it to my favorites. The best book I've read in months. It was moving, inspiring, heartbreaking, and beautiful.

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I bought a new dress a couple weeks ago at Macy's. It was originally $129, but I got it on sale for $41. Later that week, I bought a light pink shrug at Dillard's to wear with the dress.

I'm short, so this dress is below my knees by several inches. Click for larger view to see details.

Kelly and I went to the mall late Sunday afternoon (after coming home from church and eating) to get a cherry icee for me and a strawberry smoothie for her. We went in through Dillard's and on the way out I wanted to look at purses. I saw three that I really liked. I didn't want to get all three though (too expensive and it may have been a little ridiculous to get all 3) and it took me awhile to decide. They're all the same purse, but different colors. One was pink in the front and back with gray sides and white handles. One was gray in the front and back with white sides and black handles. The third was white in the front and back with black sides and pink handles. I chose the third one.

I think the charms are really cute. Originally $128. Got it on sale for $90. I love Guess purses.

Recent photos:

Milo and Sam sleeping next to me and on my lap. This was taken a few hours before I started this blog entry.

Rainbow on July 5th.

Also on July 5th. Kelly took this with my phone. View large to see rays.

This and That

In a previous entry, I wrote about being sick with a sinus/allergy thing. That lasted a couple weeks. The following week, I had a migraine that lasted for three days. Ugh. That was miserable. Thankfully, it was gone by Saturday morning (two Saturdays ago) and I was able to go to church and vacuum, then get groceries.

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This past Saturday was my cousin Shannon's son Cody's graduation party in Fayetteville. (My dad's side of the family.) I told her I was going before I knew that it was going to be outside.

Outside. In June. In North Carolina. Fayetteville, North Carolina. (Possibly the hottest area in the state in the summer.) In the middle of a heat wave. I sent her a private message on Facebook asking her if it would be okay for me to stay inside during the party. It was supposed to be close to 100° and I don't do well in the heat. I tend to get lightheaded and nauseated. I told her that I would understand if she didn't want a bunch of people in her house. It's her house. She can do what she wants. She messaged me back, laughing, and said that it was fine and that I wouldn't be the only one inside.

I had to vacuum the church first, which was fine since the party started at 5:00. Unfortunately, I got a late start and after vacuuming the church and then coming back to the house to let the dogs out one more time and pick up Sean (Kelly went with me to the church), we didn't get on the highway until after 4:00. We arrived at Shannon's shortly before 6:00. Which turned out to be a good thing since they'd just finished having a water balloon fight that I knew about ahead of time (though I didn't know what time they would be doing it) and didn't want to get wet.

Though I was inside almost the entire time, I still began feeling sick and dizzy after about an hour or so. It was warm in her house, even with the A/C on and fans blowing, because of everyone going in and out of the house.

It was nice to spend some time talking to my family. Aunts, uncles, cousins.

The kids and I left shortly before 8:00, making a couple stops on the way, and got home a little after 10.

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The next day was Father's Day. Unfortunately, Charlie was (and still is) in Georgia. He wanted to come home for the weekend to spend it with us for Father's Day, but his boss wouldn't let him. :-/

We had a special speaker preach for us on Sunday. It was an awesome service!

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Kelly's been on kind of a T-shirt kick lately; wanting new T-shirts from Hot Topic. I've gotten her several over the past couple weeks. (They were on sale.) I also got her a black skirt at H&M for church and I got Sean a red tie (to wear with his black suit and white dress shirt) at Dillard's.

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I'm almost halfway through The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and I'm really enjoying it. It's about two sisters in France during World War II. Vianne is married with a little girl named Sophie. Her husband has been captured by the Germans. The younger sister, Isabelle, is helping the resistance, despite Vianne wanting her to behave (Vianne doesn't know what Isabelle is secretly doing) so that the Germans won't harm them.

I can't wait to find out what happens next. The other night I dreamed I was in France during World War II. I had been captured by Nazis and held prisoner in a home. I escaped, but the Nazis found me and began firing at me, but thankfully missed. :-)