5:05 p.m....Right down the road from us about 2-1/2 miles, there were some strong winds that took out some carports and downed trees. This was during the storm we had about 3:00. I have not heard yet if it was actually a tornado, but there was large hail, so it would not surprise me if it was a tornado. Here's a short news report. Our phone went out right after lightning struck somewhere very near.
3:00 p.m.....I'm home for a short time. God is good. But I didn't get to yell at anybody! 
So I'll tell you how it went. Last night I had prayed for God to just take care of everything and let us get in and out smoothly, without problems. I really didn't want to have to get confrontational, but I would have if it had been necessary.
We went to the storage place, which is owned by a husband and wife. They've always been very nice. Last Monday they had told Rach and I that we would have 5 days to come in and get the stuff out, without being charged for another month, once they called and said the bill was straight. So they called Tuesday. Five days was through Sunday, but on Sunday, their code would not open the gate, and it said it was suspended. Let's just say Brandon was not happy. 
We went in and the man was polite. I told him we thought we had straightened out the billing problem last week, but they still could not get in., and I wanted to know what the problem was this time. The woman said the system automatically locks the gates if the payment is late. But that's the point...they called and said come get the stuff, and the bill was straight....so why didn't the code work?  Can we say "made up an excuse on the spot?"
I told them we just wanted to get in and get the last item out and we were supposed to have through yesterday to do it, without getting charged another $104.00. The woman was gritting her teeth when she told her husband, "Just go take the lock off and let them get their stuff." So he did. But we still had to go in through the automatic gate. The code still didn't work. So I had to go back to the office (Rachael waited at the gate), and told them the code still didn't work. I let them know by the tone of my voice that I was not very happy, but I didn't yell or anything. She told him, "Just open the gate and let them in." She was getting snippy by then. I thought, "Why didn't you do that the first time?" But I didn't say anything.  By the time I drove back over to the gate, it was open and she was driving in, so I had to hurry.
We got inside (this is an inside storage - climate controlled - the AC felt wonderful!), found the cart and hauled the desk out of the storage room. We had to lift this pretty heavy computer desk up onto the cart. Rachael and I are both pretty strong for women, but I was worried I wouldn't be able to lift it, because I have a rotator cuff problem in my right shoulder. It hurts constantly now, and sometimes nearly unbearably. There is a bone spur, raking across a tendon every time I lift my arm.
But you know what, we loaded the desk in the truck, strapped it down, went to the church where we are temporarily storing it, got one end out of the truck onto a chair, and then I held the desk up by myself while Rachael drove the truck out from under it. Worked great. And you know something? My shoulder did not hurt AT ALL! A couple of days ago, I was having sharp pain and weakness in it, just lifting a coffee cup!
Now....how's all that for answered prayer? My shoulder feels a little stiff right now, but I also went grocery shopping and lifted 3 20lb. bags of pet food, with my right arm only. So it's entitled to be a little stiff right now.
Rachael and I were both headed to Walmart, and Beth still had my checkcard from buying groceries for me on Saturday. Beth was going to lunch at 12:00, so Rachael got my checkcard from her before she left the store, and we met up in cosmetics. Later I was browsing in the fabrics, and Beth walked up. She had just clocked back in. Then Rachael walked up, and Beth said we should just have a family reunion right there.
She wanted to show Rachael something cute in the toy department, and I told her I didn't want to walk that far because I had to head to the other side of the store. That's when Beth said, "Good, 'cause you weren't invited anyway."  
Beth is going out to dinner with friends tonight and I'm going to see if Brandon will come re-key the door locks while she's gone
Right now it is storming really bad, and I am trying to post this before we lose the computer, so ignore any typos.
I just had to add nearly a gallon of coolant to the car. I was going to do it at Walmart because the "check coolant level" warning was staying on all the time, but I decided it was only a mile to the house, and it was 90-stinkin-4 degrees out there. I didn't want to stand out there in the heat. And this is just spring...summer will be hotter.
Oh, and while I was at Walmart, I didn't get to check out the guy that asked Beth out. I never saw him. I did see Manuel, though.
I'm headed to the post office to get stupid 2 cent stamps, since the stupid 39 cent stamps that I still have 15 of, aren't good by themselves anymore
(I know, I know, E....now you've got a headache.  )
Read TJ's post on being a military spouse. I don't think I could do her job. Billy will be going back to Iraq this year.
I like the look of the cobalt blue and lemon yellow so much, I thought I'd just use this triple again  And I love sunflowers. These are the main colors of my kitchen. I have Fiestaware in the blue and yellow, lined up on plate rails that Steve built around the tops of the kitchen walls.
The morning hasn't started out well. I didn't sleep much last night. In a little while I have to go with Rachael to straighten out yet another problem with their storage unit. This has been a pain in the neck. One month they were double billed (it was an automatic withdrawal from their checking account), and that started the snowball of problems. He tried to tell them they paid twice, and the storage company denied it. So they got slapped with late charges. Last week, Rachael and I went and straightened everything out....we thought. But yesterday they still got locked out. I'm tired of this. And if they don't give us the other item in the storage without trying to charge for this month, I am going to cause them some problems. None of this was the fault of Brandon and Rachael. It was the fault of the storage company. Today I will cause a scene if I have to, until they do it right. They will be glad to get rid of me today.
This is Taz. We have a basket sitting by the front door, because Brandon and Rachael still get some of their mail over here. So we put it in the basket and they pick it up when they come over. So last night, Taz apparently thought she was a piece of mail. She is the kitten Brandon found living under a dumpster at a nursing home a couple of years ago. She was so hungry, so he fed her and gave her water. But he couldn't leave her there. She was all alone, and would have been run over, because it was at a very busy intersection. So....we added to the cat collection
This is Brandon and Taz in June 2005, not long after he brought her home.
We started out calling her Dumpster, but it just didn't sound right for a kitten. Beth didn't want to have to go outside, calling "Duuuump-ster!" when it was time for her to come in. So one day Brandon was talking to my brother-in-law's brother (they work together) and said, "We were going to call her Dumpster, but it didn't sound right....." Well, all Ray heard was "Dumpster Butt" and that's what he thought we had named her.
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