No, but at least two of my students in CPR classes have made saves that they later told me about. And another tried, but the man died despite his efforts.

I was working a football game when a man collapsed from (we found out later) a massive heart attack. I was monitoring his heartbeat and breathing while waiting for the ambulance. But, he never stopped breathing, so I didn't have to do anything. But I was ready!

I honestly hope I never have to do any of these three on someone, but after teaching a hundred or so CPR classes, I think I could do them in my sleep.

I'm signing an offer on a house this afternoon. After the party next door went on until 1:00am last night, my resolve to move (the sooner, the better) is stronger than ever. I really, really hope we get this place.

 

You may recall that at the end of May/first of June, I went to Maryland for a work conference and stayed to enjoy the wonderful hospitality of shimmeringstar1 for a few days after. She picked me up Saturday evening, and Sunday we went shopping in the morning, then went to climb Sugarloaf Mountain in the afternoon. The mountain laurel was blooming again, only more beautiful than it was last year. Plus, it had a pinkish tinge to it, whereas last year, I remember only white. Click on the pics for full-sized versions.


Mountain laurel.

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This made me laugh out loud.

 

I always associated Spanish moss with the southeastern part of the U.S., the swamps and high-humidity areas of the old south. But in Santa Ana, you'd walk walk past a spectacular pile of cactus into a ghostly, swaying forest like this. It was eerily silent except for bird calls and a slight breeze in open areas.

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Off to Texas, but I thought I'd make a brief post on the house-hunting Kate and I are doing. I think I've mentioned before how dissatisfied we are with the turn of our neighborhood. Most of the families who used to live in their houses surrounding us have moved and turned their homes into rentals. So, we never know who our neighbors will be, and they aren't always good. We're tired of picking up beer cans from the front yard after parties. We're tired of barking dogs. The kid to the north has somewhat moved past the novelty of his new drum set, but the neighbor across the street and one house down still likes to blast the stereo on his truck with the windows down. The construction on 12th street leaves everything in the yard covered with thick dust.

So, we'd like to follow the example of our former neighbors, and move to greener pastures. Literally. We've looked at a bunch of places already, none of which are ideal. We found one place that we'd almost decided to make a bid on, but then we met the neighbor lady, and realized we did not want to live next to her. That was pretty disappointing, actually, but we loved the land as it was, and the first thing out of her mouth was a plee to please change it. And anger when we suggested we liked it the way it was. So, no, we've already had enough issues with neighbors to last us a while.

We have options since we're actually willing to look at manufactured and modular housing.  Standards have improved in recent years, and in some cases it's hard to tell the difference between stick and brick homes and the modular ones. We're even considering looking for land with the possibility of purchasing an i-house. Kate and I are both environmentally conscious, and the green aspect of this house appeals to us greatly, if not the entire design. But, going green is expensive, and this would be a way to do it within our budget. It's unfortunate that the i-house doesn't have a long enough history to develop a reputation over time... it's not like we'd know going into it that it will fall apart in 5 years or that all the systems will function fine over time. So, it's risky. But, it's an intriguing possibility if we find the right plot of land.

So, lots of big things happening right now.

Mimosa tree with a thunderhead building in the distance. In past entries, I think I've mentioned missing the Oklahoma sky when I've lived in other locations. This is why. 

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Yesterday Kate and I headed back down to Indianola to say a final farewell to her brother (who is heading back to California next week) and her old family homestead. We walked the pastures, and I took pictures. It was a beautiful, yet sad walkabout. This is where Kate grew up.


Looking towards the house and barn.

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After two months of rain, it has finally dried up and the yard is starting to show it. But, it was a very pretty April and early May. Oddly, I still have a few irises blooming, and a penstemon beside the pond is flowering for the first time. My water irises decided to bloom after all.


One of many water irises.

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We went to see Star Trek last Friday. I enjoyed it, despite the lack of female leads with important roles to play. The Romulan ship sort of bothered me, though.

( Thoughts about the Romulan ship here. )

Three of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Moon, Pat Hodgell, and Robin McKinley are keeping blogs, much to my delight. I had no idea Robin McKinley was online until Elizabeth Moon provided a link to her. Weeee! 
Can't wait until their next books come out. 

I see it has been a while since I last posted anything.  Let's see, I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to handle Mom's manuscript, but I think I'll take estrill  up on her offer to scan the first chapter into pdf format and go from there. Thank you, Estrill!

I had a weird dream several days ago about being trapped in a manor house with several people from my flist (whom I've never met in person, but have posted pictures of themselves at some point or other). There was a giant plant that looked suspiciously like my night-blooming cereus that kept wrapping around people's legs and dragging them off into the duct-work and walls, screaming. (Perhaps I should clarify that the people were screaming, not the plant.) I kept thinking, "This wouldn't be a problem if I just had a damn sword!"  Anyway... katcorvi , it was a heroic effort trying to ride for help. I'm sorry you and POTU ended up as plant food. If it's any consolation, I was quite horrified to see you both dragged off into the woods. majorsamfan and seldear , it was nice meeting you both, even if it was under stressful circumstances...

greenwomanok is now on LJ, and I have to say that a small part of the universe has righted itself. It's about time, woman!

The terrorism book has sold around 2,000 copies so far. If sales remain good, management might forgive me for taking so long to finish it.  Maybe. I hope.
 
Last weekend Kate and I went to Indianola to finish moving stuff out of her parents' old house. Had a lovely lunch with meganwaters2004  and her husband. Our last trip to the house will probably be this upcoming Sunday. It's sad to close that chapter of life, and I regret that Kate and her brother had to sell the land. But, life goes on... 

I took Tuesday off to drive Kate to a doctor's appt. in OKC. That turned out to be good news, and we both did a happy dance the whole drive home.  Of course, she then went and got a tooth pulled that afternoon. Ouch.  But good news!  Weeeee!

Wednesday I attended a class on using new features in 2007 Powerpoint. It was interesting, but I was having trouble concentrating, and I'm not sure how much of it I'll remember.  Stupid brain. 

A group of facultyand staff are in the process of forming an official organization for gay/lesbian/bi/transgendered faculty and staff. They asked for volunteers for various positions and committees. I mentioned that I wanted to serve on the policy committee, but explicitly stated that I did not want to be chair, because, you know, I don't want to be chair. So, ballots went out, and I was rather displeased to note that I was the only candidate listed for chair of the policy committee. Um.... what part of, "I don't want to be chair," did you not understand????  

I thought this comment on beccalynnlaw's journal was very amusing: Saw an advertisement for the new show Glee tonight. Thought they said Ghee. Wondered how you make a show entirely about middle eastern clarified butter.  

I do so love my friends.

I spent the weekend in gardens, both my own and my parents'. Saturday I transplanted a butterfly bush to the back fence where it might get enough sunlight to grow. I also staked up the dame's rocket that Sara destroyed in a squirrel chase. I found an azalea on sale at Lowe's for $2 and decided, what-the-heck. I've been thinking about putting one in on the north side of the house for a while, but hesitated because azaleas just don't do well in the dirt around here. But, I dug out the clay, replaced it with decent soil, and mixed in a bunch of azalea food before planting the poor thing. We'll see how it does. The dirt and food cost more than the plant. Lowe's also had columbines on sale, so I picked up a few of them. They aren't the same as the one I put in last year which did so well this spring, but they look very similar. If they survive and take off, I will have gotten a very good deal.

Sunday I put on my fireboots, trudged down the street, through the construction mud and muck on 12th street, and into the field of bachelor buttons on the other side, where all the construciton hasn't destroyed them yet. I dug up two buckets of flowers and took them to my parents. Along with the bachelor buttons, I also put cosmos in the field behind their house, and planted some impatiens in a bed near the window where my dad sits most of the day. When the ground is saturated like it is, it's pretty easy pulling stuff, so I did a lot of weeding. It really needed it. I'm sure it has been years since some of the beds were weeded.

Time to post my Wichitas landscape pics! Click on the pic for the full-sized version.


From the top of the "pass" on the Narrows Trail.

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Just some critter and people pics tonight...


Mama prairie dog. She had at least two pups that we could see. Prairie dogs have a wide range of vocal signals/warnings, and, while I hate it that so many people feel entitled to chase them around the refuge (despite posted signs discouraging this behavior), it is entertaining to listen to them 'bark' when people get too close. Mama didn't feel too threatened by me since I stayed behind a fence and didn't make any sudden moves.

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The no-weenie campers went back to our roots, camping out at the Wichitas Wildlife Refuge despite threats of weekend storms and high winds. Thankfully, it didn't rain until Sunday morning, and then only a few sprinkles, but we did persevere through hardships such as a blown gasket on our Coleman stove (cue violins). All meals were cooked entirely over a grill and/or campfire; Saturday breakfast was a campfire only affair: biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage.  I swear that all food tastes better outside, and even better with a light sprinkling of ash.

Andrea and I had an amazing bird adventure Saturday morning in search of the extremely rare black-capped vireo. We didn't see any, but we did find lots of other interesting birds. The weather was cloudy and cool, so the birds stayed active all morning. We were serenaded by a randy tom turkey, watched a warbling vireo eating breakfast, stalked many spotted towhees, and saw song sparrows, a great blue heron, rufous crowned sparrows, cedar waxwings, caroline wren, bewicks wren, canyon wrens, blue-grey gnatcatchers by the dozen, yellow-rumped warblers, black and white warblers, blue jays, cardinals, titmice, ruby-throated hummingbirds, red-headed woodpeckers, and many other things that I'm forgetting off the top of my head.

Saturday afternoon, I persuaded Andrea to hike a trail I'd never taken before called the Narrows. It was beautiful. Pics will follow, with a teaser now.

Saturday was the OSU Horticulture club plant sale. I've gone the past several years because they have lovely, Oklahoma-tested plants for sale at very reasonable prices. This year I decided to try some new annuals that I'm very excited about, scaevola, or fan-flowers. Supposedly they are fairly easy-going and relatively heat tolerant, important features for surviving July and August in Oklahoma. We'll see.

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