School's out for...the remaining part of the spring....

School's out! Yea! Nice to sleep in until 6:30!
So far, I've only done laundry and today, bought a new phone. I will be months learning how to use the thing. I thought a camera was a step up. The camera on this phone is 3 times what my first digital was capable of doing!
Going tomorrow to start with the finishing touches on selling Mother and Daddy's house. Excited to see the new floors, bathroom and roof. Wish they could have seen the improvements. Work starts tomorrow to get ready for the garage/estate sale. Wish I had the guts to take my antique furniture there to sell it as well, but I may try to get a broker to look at it. I think it might be fairly valuable, but I just DON'T HAVE ROOM! There are still 3 houses worth of furniture in this house right now. Couches are pushed up against other couches and tables. Beds lean against the walls. BOXES! Boxes are everywhere. Hopefully in the next few days I will pick carpet, have 3 rooms done, and sell off some stuff.
Teaching a knitting class Tuesday and again next week. Stranded knitting. These poor folks are intimidated by the process. They won't believe me that if you can knit and purl, you can do colorwork. Please! If you can talk while you knit, you can do colorwork. You just might not be able to talk to anyone but yourself while you count! Personal projects somewhat on hold while I ready an example or two for that class.
Later in the month I will be teaching a tatting class. Lacemaking for anyone out there in televisionland who may not be conversant with very obscure needlearts. Most of the participants in that class are retired. You'd have to be to have the time to tie several thousand knots in microscopic thread to make a piece of lace.
On to more interesting aspects of life. Scott has been working on the motorcycle. We hope to ride to Lynchburg for the annual Bike Fest later in the month. After that, we will see. He is sort of hankering for a newer bike (0ne in the 20 year old range) but the only one that has peaked my interest has been a brand new Triumph Scrambler. Looks just like they did in the 60s. It is beautiful! Plenty of room for two fat people, too!
Lyn is home. Well, she isn't living in Arkansas anymore. Graduation was lovely. The president from when I was in school was the speaker. Current president was Burkett's school mate, Scott's professor, and Scott's dad's student. Lyn is currently visiting a friend in Alabama. They don't get to see each other much, so this is a nice treat for her. She is looking for a teaching job, or an artist job, or a burger flipping job...anything really. She's threatening grad school if something doesn't show up soon.
Aaron is STILL looking for work. The economy is in sad shape everywhere in the US, but it is getting pretty dismal at the Rushton residence. He is gone this weekend as well though. Concert festival in Georgia. It was so sad yesterday. Since the flooding has caused so much trouble on the interstates, repair work is going on 24-7. A normal 3 hour drive took him (and buddies) 10 1/2 hours. They were exhausted by the time they got there. Don't know if they had to put up the tent in the rain, but it followed them.
Tree is off of Teresa's house, but she still hasn't had her roof done. Not because there are not people ready and able, she just can't make up her mind on whether or not she wants a new porch to go along with fixing the house! FEMA didn't give her anything and insurance didn't pay that much, but she has to have a new roof and some of the exterior walls repaired.
Did I post about my sister getting married? We all went for a party on the boat and my brother wound up performing the ceremony before we all left! Cruise and a wedding. And it only took 4 hours. That's my kind of destination wedding!
Let's see, last thing, what am I currently reading. I have a couple of David Baldacci's going. The Camel Club and The Hour Game. Just finished a Phillipa Gregory, The Other Queen. I intended to go see The Other Bolyen Girl and never did. This one is about Mary, Queen of Scotts. Makes you have a slightly altered opinion of her if you are openminded. Just knocked off several Sister Fidelmas. Can't wait to find more of those. We bought lots of movies yesterday at the Blockbuster that doing the warehouse liquidation. Got The Secret Life of Bees. They got that movie RIGHT. It was very true to the book, and the book was fantastic. We also got Franco Z's Romeo and Juliet! Can't wait to see that one again after nearly 40 years! That Shakespeare character can knock out a story, too.
Everyone have a wonderful June! May will be over with a bang tomorrow!

Flooding in Tennessee

Hmmmm. Where to begin. The national news media seems to be ignoring Tennessee's plight. I just erased a sentence about us being considered hicks and rednecks, unworthy of attention from the media, but that is unfair. Keith Olberman mentioned us on MSNBC. Fox News momentarily had us on their top story, but we were quickly bumped by an arrest in NYC, you know THAT doesn't happen everyday. One of my favorite knitting blogs, Mason-Dixon Knitting mentioned us, but that really doesn't count since one of the writers lives right in town.

Aaron tells me I shouldn't be angry because to "those people" on either coast the world is NYC, Chicago, LA and "some stuff in between." That is just the way it is. It may be just the way it is, but it still ticks me off.

This is what I wrote this morning on a friend's facebook page when she reposted a plea for contributions to the Red Cross.
"Facebook may be the only way people are hearing about this. We, like Iowa, are being ignored by most everyone. Even the Weather Channel is paying more attention to the oil spill (granted, it is bad, but it wasn't weather related!) than to the massive flooding here. The rural areas are even more effected. Most of Hickman County still has no phones-landline or cell, electricity, water- if you do have it you're under a boiling order, MANY roads are still impassible because of actual road and bridge damage instead of blockages. Schools and churches which don't have damage are Red Cross shelters (THANK YOU RED CROSS!) and at the last count, there were over 2000 people just in Nashville proper who were in Red Cross shelters. That doesn't count the enormous numbers displaced to hotels, friends and family, their cars, campers nor does it count the 52 other counties hit by the flood. As of 11:00 this morning, I don't believe the president has visited or mentioned us or even yet declared us a federal disaster area, though our governor, Phil Bredesen-D, asked on Sunday for assistance.
Whew. Glad to get that off my chest. Feel free to repost"

Another friend posted KO's shout out to Tennessee and it just made me madder. Here's what I said about that before my son told me I "shouldn't be mad at Keith for being himself and he did say something." The previous quote isn't exact, but it is close to what he meant.

I said, "TN flooding was ignored because of 'bigger disasters' according to Keith Olberman. Bigger? Arizona passing a law? A bomb NOT going off in NYC? A oil spill from 2 weeks ago which is already being addressed? While I appreciate KO mentioning TN in the "Worse" report, truly, he engaged mouth before brain was in gear."

Look here for pictures from the air. Look here for video of "Flooding puts cars, trucks underwater" as well as a house that floats by said cars and trucks, from Saturday. I couldn't find the video I wanted of the people being rescued from their cars on Interstate 24 W by BOAT in the I-24 E lanes. Talk about dramatic. Here's a screen shot.
And here, we have pictures from our own experiences. Teresa's house has a tree on it and a subsequent leak. And, though the picture is blurry due to the falling rain, this is a picture from near the bottom of our driveway looking across the street at the 12 foot runoff ditch, which is full to about a 15-20 foot level at this point for fully a half mile from just out of the shot to below the springs toward Centerville. That brown streak is Old Hwy 46. The small creek on the right is the center of our driveway.

So, now I can sigh and go to knitting and get on with life for a few minutes because I've gotten that off my chest. But please do not mention the baseball fan getting tazered or the oil soaked seaweed in the Gulf. You may be surprised by the amount of ire I still harbor. I'm not mad about the flood. That is weather and beyond our control. However, we can let the media hear us from here in the South.