Yada yada yada.... and I'm back!

Now I know this is a really poor excuse for a 1-year absence, but the desktop I am writing this long overdue post on has literally not worked in over a year. And no that doesn't mean I deserve your pity because I have been cut-off from the cyber-world since then. It's just when I got it back today, up popped my long neglected blog as my home page and I suddenly felt the inexplicable urge to blog again - go figure!

So here's a quick recap on what's happened to me since I last bothered to post:

My job as an Event Coordinator at a new $7 million Conference Center in NW Okieland has been a complete blessing in my life. I think it's possibly the best fit in a job I have ever had and I NEVER expected to find something like it out here.

One of the reasons I have not been around is due to the quite frankly astounding success the Conference Center has enjoyed and continues to do so, since it opened last March. We were expected by our City bosses to do somewhere between 25-50 events in 2012, we did 147 in 9 months! We already have around 110 booked for 2013 and since the New Year have received an enquiry daily and sometimes two.

Christmas decor at work

I love my work as it's just so varied. Our events have included weddings, family reunions, trade shows, seminars, safety meetings, banquets, church services, birthday parties, a PBS premiere, fundraisers... in fact there really isn't much we won't turn our hand to if asked. My friends and family would tell you I was born a planner and organiser and so it's no surprise I enjoy it so much.

2012 was also the year I took control of my life long weight issues. I gave WeightWatchers the time and effort it deserves and it has rewarded me richly. I lost 60lbs in 9 months and it has made such a difference in so many ways. I slipped somewhat in the last 3 months when we were crazy busy at work and I let it lead me astray, gaining some 18lbs back. But nothing disastrous and I am now back on the wagon and aiming for a very achievable 40lbs gone in 2013 which will put me where I want to be for good.

Tip: Huge baubles make a girl look skinnier!

I'd like to thank WeightWatchers for living up to its promise, "because YES it works" if you commit to it and you really do not feel deprived. I'd also like to thank Jennifer Hudson, who I personally feel is the best ambassador they have ever had, she has certainly inspired me.

December 2012

 

The Hubster is still my better half and we have now been happily married just over 7 years. 2012 was a difficult year for him, with the sad loss of his mother and a stressful few months leading up to it. Then in November he had an alarming health incident known as Transient Global Amnesia, which gave us both a very scary week until the tests were complete and we had an answer. But there are no lasting after effects and it will hopefully never re-occur, so life has returned to normal.

In May we joined a new church and it would be true to say in my case I have finally found my spiritual home. It has renewed my faith, strengthened it and I now find myself growing in my faith on a daily basis. I am in no doubt it's one of the main reasons I am finding the trials of life we all have to face easier to handle.

I finally found an American sport and team to love, like I had back home. Come on down.... NBA Basketball and the Oklahoma City Thunder.... I am now a huge fan! We got to attend a couple of games last season (including a play-off) and are going again in a few weeks to see them play the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On April 15 a massive tornado hit the west part of the town where I work within a 1/4 mile of my workplace, causing extensive damage and loss of life.

The storm claimed six lives and injured 36 people. The storm impacted 224 homes and businesses in the area. Of those, 73 were destroyed, 22 sustained major damage and 21 had minor damage. My workplace was in the center of the damage field and for 3 days I had to drive through Police barricades to get there. Believe me, it looks so different than on tv when it's somewhere you drive through daily and I was pretty emotional for a few days immediately afterwards.

One of the damaged homes in this picture belongs to someone I indirectly report to, he had a narrow escape without injury. I know a young girl who was sucked out of her house and miraculously survived being blown a 1/4 mile away! There were others affected who I work with or know personally, and the whole experience was an eye-opener for me on strength of community, faith and moving forward after a natural disaster.

I got to vote for the first time in 2012 and was proud to do so.... and I exercised one of my constitutional rights when I bought this!

Some things happily remained the same, our very own fur-babies on the right over there are all still with us and thriving. I'm still part of a great book club and I still regularly get a laugh or a kick out of life here in the USA from a British perspective! And yes I'm still confusing the locals with Brit'isms like chuffed, car park and loo.

In fact just today I had a giggle when I passed a Plant with a large sign proclaiming it to be the 'Snubbing Division'! I commented to the Hubster that us Brits are all experts at snubbing.

So that's the highlights and lowlights of 2012 in a nutshell, it's a year we won't forget.

As for 2013 - well I already know it's going to be crazy busy at work, we have our very own HGTV project having inherited Gary's moms home which is in need of major refurbishment, and we will become grandparents in May.

Plus it looks like I'm blogging again!

Saturday night in the cellar!

This was my view on Saturday night for an hour or two, the storm cellar window that overlooks our backyard - as I have said before this window's just so you can watch your house blow by.

About 8:30pm the town tornado siren went off, somewhat to our surprise as we were watching the volatile storms closeby on the radar and from the porch, and they seemed to be just north of us.

Now my outlook on storms has changed alot in the almost 6 years I have been here and this is only the second time the siren has sounded in that time. In the early years I would have been packing stuff for a hour or two before, just in case. This time I was sitting on the porch watching the storm pass by, nothing gathered, nothing prepared including the cellar.

So we grabbed the important things - weather radio, scanner, radio, 3 cats (Buddy was awol), wallets, keys to vehicles, cellphones & charges, rx meds and headed down there. As it became clear it wasn't directly on us still, we took it in turns to run back into the house and grab a few clothes, proper shoes ( the recent tornado hits have educated me on no flip-flops afterwards), lap-top, wedding rings, water, cameras.

And here we are above, well the cats anyway (spot the cat eyes of Cal Jo in the carrier), surrounded by assorted junk and clutter we either store in the cellar or took in there.

This was the Hubster sprinting up the stairs to peek out the door into the yard and see if he could spot anything. I was busy texting local friends for info and cellar/weather comparisons.

And then the whole County lost power and we were all plunged into darkness in a helluva storm. So the extension unit we had setup to power the scanner, lights, fan (it was damn hot down there) phone chargers went down. Luckily we have back-up batteries in the weather radio which was a god-send and the Hubster turned his Pick-up radio up loud on the local station so we could hear it above us.

We didn't get back into the house until about 10:40pm, after a massive lightening show (this picture is lit by a big flash), hail, torrential rain and 70mph winds, but thankfully no tornado.

The tornado went through 3 miles north of us and a number of people we know sustained damage. In fact one lady called me to see if she can visit our storm cellar, as she has now been convinced to put one in having lost a barn and had roof and tree damage. We had no damage, but the power did not come back on until 7:30am the next morning. Buddy arrived on the porch at 4:30am none the worse for wear and so it was a very disturbed night, but thankfully damage free for us.

You'd have been proud of me though - no panicking like a headless chicken, or rows with the Hubster because he wasn't in the cellar with the safety door down.

I must now be officially Okie, as I repeatedly chanced returning to the house in any lulls (I wasn't about to pee in the yard and get struck by lightening), stood in the shelter of a door watching it all blow by at speed and only retreated into the cellar fully to check on our kitties.

Skywatch Friday 3rd Birthday!

"Tornadic Storm Cloud Heads East"

This week it's Skywatch's 3rd birthday and it's a great reason to celebrate the most successful weekly meme on the web. They have asked all participants to put up their best ever Skywatch entry to celebrate and this is without doubt my best, despite the fact I took it in pink furry cowboy boot slippers in a public cemetery!

So please make a special effort to visit Skywatch this week and be prepared to be amazed at the best skies ever from all around the world.

Happy Birthday Skywatch!

Double click piccie to enlarge

And down we go!

Well there's nothing like a tornado warning and trip down to the storm shelter, to enliven an otherwise dull Monday night!! There we were quietly watching TV with a storm rolling around us, when the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning for our town and instructs us to take immediate cover underground if possible!

I wasn't even watching the weather until a friend tipped me off earlier, which tells you how far I've come in the past two years. Another local Okie friend even had her bag packed ready! All I did was grab two of the cats, shove them in a carrier and then grab my handbag as an after thought.

The Hubster had to hunt up Bon Bon who had hidden herself away with all the thunder, but in the end we all made it safely to the shelter within a few minutes. Then I got a text from my good bloggy friend Pam OKC to check on us, as the weather reports on TV were showing it right over us.

But all was quiet, well tornado wise, the cats stayed in the shelter, I stood on the steps updating Facebook (!) and the Hubster sat in the truck in the garage listening to the local emergency management team. We had a big thunderstorn and lots of heavy rain and after various texts, calls and listening to the stormspotters on the radio, we headed back into the house.

And of course all this  happens right in the midst of the season finale of 24, which we missed, no spoilers!

Anyhoo, just got to make it through tomorrow at work and then I am free until August, maybe then this will return to being something other than an Okie severe weather blog!

Just a small taster

This was the backside of a smaller non-tornadic storm east of us, but despite being small, it still looked very impressive. You do see the most amazing cloud formations here in Okieland! What I need to do though, is figure out how to post video here. The thunderstorm last night would have blown you away with the intensity!

It's been another bad night for tornadoes in Okieland , there have been many touchdowns all over the state and it's still going on. One of my stepson's is hunkered down in a shelter in Tulsa as I type this, with a tornado bearing down on him. The other stepson had sirens going off and also had to take precautions. I was also very worried about my good bloggy friend Dee at Red Dirt Ramblings, who had a close shave too! These storms all originated out here, but we were behind them thankfully.

We never did get a nap today after our 2 hours of sleep last night, so tonight it looks like we will thankfully have a quieter night.

Spring storms in Tornado Alley, you just gotta chill, or so they tell me!

Who needs an alarm?

When you have a weather radio broadcasting severe weather statements all night!

Between 11pm and 4am the darned thing must have gone off 8 times with the siren. But when you have one of the biggest thunderstorms since I got here going over you and it's already produced tornadoes elsewhere, you just can't risk turning it off. Many of the broadcasts were for tornado warnings just south of us on the same storm.

There was one clap of thunder so loud I woke with a shriek lol and immediately went to gather up the cats in case we had to head into the storm shelter! We had 2.25 inches of rain overnight, a quarter of our total for this year and the road is underwater.

Thank goodness school gets out at 11am, because I may be asleep by 3pm!

A very awe inspiring & scary weather day!

So a couple of weeks ago I complained about the crazy wind we'd had here. Well I now know that was literally nothing compared to today, without doubt the worst winds in my almost 5 years here!

This was the sight that met me when I got home today!

A big branch had snapped off our huge Cottonwood tree and hit one of the back fence panels knocking it out into the alley behind.

Typically the whole mess happened in front of our gas main/meter which was hit, so we had to call out the gas company to give us the all clear. Two planks were ripped out of the panel by the strength of the wind!

One of the branches snapped clean off, and we can't even see where it came out of the tree.

This picture gives NO IDEA of the 60mph wind gusts we were fighting as we made this repair. At one point I was leaning on the panel holding it in place, when another gust tipped me and it over the gas meter again. Luckily the Hubster arrived just in time to save me from being squashed under it!

It took us about 90 minutes to fight it back into place!

But we were the lucky ones! There was a widespread tornado outbreak southeast of us around Oklahoma City, an estimated 10 tornado touchdowns. This monster tornado was captured by one of the news helicoptors, from 3 miles away!

This was a mobile home park that was more than 2 miles from the actual tornado. All this damage was caused just by the inflow (the winds being sucked into the tornado) where wind speeds were thought to be over 90mph! So to reiterate this wasn't even in the tornado path and it was destroyed - very very scary!

Tragically there have been 5 fatalities, 40 homes totally flattened and another 40 damaged. But also a miracle - 100 people got into the cooler at a Loves Truck Stop which was totally destroyed, they all survived.

You can't help but be in total awe of natures power living here in Okieland! But without any doubt we also have the best weather reporting in the world (deservedly & justifiably!), and today they undoubtedly saved many lives with their accuracy and excellent early warnings.

My World - Tornado Damage

A few weeks ago I reported on a tornadic storm that went southwest of us by about 70 miles. It put down a tornado that stayed on the ground on and off for about 40 minutes and it hit the outskirts of Hammon.

Last weekend we were in Hammon for a festival and as we drove down the highway I suddenly spotted this home. My reaction "Oh my god! What happened to that house?!"

The Hubster immediately realised it was on the track of the tornado and had taken a direct hit, it was quite a sight and more than a little sobering when you live here.

You can see from the pattern of the glass left in the windows, how it was just blown outwards. But most amazing of all, you can tell the bricks were literally individually sucked off the timber frame!

And then there's that tree stump on the right that was just snapped off. Yet the satellite dish appears to be unharmed, despite all the bricks from the wall just behind it having completely gone! This clearly demonstrates the craziness that is a tornado and this is 'my world' I chose to live in!

To see some great sights around the globe or join in the fun, go to My World Tuesday

Tornado season is upon us

Last night saw the first tornado of 2010 in Okieland, which was about 60 miles away from us. This morning I had an email from my mum who had seen it on the news in England apparently, and as she knows it was close wanted to check on us! This has tickled us, as it's a small tornado for here and so for it to make the news abroad is funny. But as the Hubster said, a tornado is still a tornado and newsworthy for those who don't get them like we do.

Above you can see one of the amazing storm prediction tools our weather forecastors use. Okieland is rightfully home to the National Weather Service HQ and the warnings we are given are the best in the world. The map shows the exact path they know the storm will track along, the time it will arrive and the strength. The only thing this doesn't show is whether a tornado is on the ground. But some even show the 'hook echo' a radar image of the strongest circulation, which pinpoints where a tornado is likely to be on the ground.

This was the end result (taken off the TV), a probable F2 tornado on the ground for 30 minutes, mainly across sparsely populated land. Sadly though it did destroy five homes in Hammon, but narrowly missed the centre of this small town and there were no injuries.

I was predictably driving all over town for photo's as the storm clouds rolled into our area. I took this 5 miles north of town and it shows the huge cloud formations, but all that came out of this was some lightening.

But the view in this photo perfectly demonstrates why I am excited for the first time at the the arrival of storm season. I never thought I'd say it, but I had a ball tonight chasing the spectacular skies and the wide open space here allows me to capture the grand scale of our storms.

With more time here I have learned to read the weather, I trust the forecastors and I know what to do in an emergency situation. Now if a tornado is ever bearing down on my hometown, there's no doubt I'll be a headless chicken. But I have enough knowledge to ensure my own safety and can therefore appreciate natures grand show at moments like these.

Ya never know, I might be a storm chaser yet!

Skywatch - Big ol' storm!

'Backside of possibly tornadic storm'

This was taken at sunset last night, 1/2 a mile up the road from home. We were under a tornado watch, and this was the backside of a huge storm heading East to scare others! A spectacular sight but impossible to capture the full scale, even with my 10-22mm wide angle lense. We could also clearly observe the rotation within the storm, in addition to some wicked lightening.

I submitted this to our KOCO channel 5 TV station and apparently it was featured during their morning news show, I'm hoping it may appear tonight so I get to see it. UPDATE: Yay it was on again!

Double click to get the full effect

To see more wonderful skies from around the world or to join in, go to the Skywatch site.

I was a little freaked last night

When the power went off here for most of the evening after some wicked lightening, we stepped out onto the porch and it was just SO dark.

In the time I have lived here, I have always marveled at the stars being so visible, due to the lack of an 'orange city glow' in this area. But this was the first time we have lost power after dark and it was just pitch black, especially with the storm clouds blocking any moonlight.

It was hard to even see the homes across our street and the silence was eerie. I realised if we lose power in a tornadic storm after dark, which is likely at some point, I'm going to be pretty scared.

I have really come to rely on our wonderful local TV stations and their weather forecasters in these storms. Their accuracy is amazing and undoubtedly saves many lives, and being cut-off from their storm broadcasts would make me feel much more vulnerable. With all their information available to me, the days of panic at a tornado watch are long gone for me.

So we spent the evening with candles, oil-lamps and the weather radio! It's been a rocky 24 hours (roll down to read more about it) with two twisters in the southern part of our county (35 miles away) last night, which is thankfully sparsely populated. But we escaped unscathed and are prepared for another possible round of storms tonight. This is without doubt the worst it's been since I moved here and the closest to home.

One cool thing we did see though, a storm chasing vehicle came down the road that looked just like this one. Even for the Hubster this was a first, but we reckon they don't like to take any chances LOL!

Starting to build rapidly

Well you know you're in the place to be, when the storm spotters roll into your town!! Or not if you happen to live here and have a nice home you'd like to keep like that.

This was the view from my front yard a few minutes ago, it's looking pretty ominous right now and we have just been told tennis ball size hail and 75mph winds could hit us. We are under a severe thunderstorm warning and tornado watch, but no tornado spotted out here yet today. They expect it to continue building all afternoon in this area.

In the meantime, I have almost finished the laundry, so at least we'll have clean sheets if all hell breaks loose!! Next up is some house cleaning, so anything that gets blown around is at least clean, I'm my mothers daughter.

But right now I'm just off to check our storm cellar and stick some essentials down there. I'm a planner, so if I'm prepared I can cope relatively calmly. If I'm not ready, then we're talking ranting headless chicken mode and that's not pretty!!

A day for reflection here

Today is a day for remembrance in our area, which was hit by the deadliest tornado in the state of Oklahoma on April 9, 1947. The devastating tornado slashed a deadly 221-mile path across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, before they had proper warning systems.

It left in it's path 169 dead, 890 injured, and $9,700,000 in estimated property damage. In Oklahoma, 101 persons died, 95 at Woodward, the others in Gage and Shattuck. One of the ladies I occasionally quilt with lost a sister, who was carried away by the twister. The twin brother of another local man I know, was found wrapped around a telegraph pole, apparently his body was just smashed.

In Texas, 68 were fatally injured, 51 at Higgins and 16 at Glazier. Both towns virtually obliterated, in Glazier the only thing left standing was the hospital shell and tiny jailhouse untouched, it's still there to this day. My mother in law lived in Canadian Texas, the next town. When she heard of the devastation she and my late father in law drove along the path, trying to get to relations in the area to ensure they were okay, which they were.

First reported at 5:52 p.m. CST a half mile southeast of White Deer, Texas and disappeared 6 miles north of Nashville, Kansas (Whitehorse) about 11:00 p.m. Witnesses tracking the devastation in a small plane, claimed it never lifted off the ground for 221 miles! The NWS dispute this as not possible, but locals believe it.

In Woodward, the path was 1.8 miles wide, "one of the widest on record." Forward movement of the storm averaged 42 miles per hour, givinig the people in its path little time to escape.

Between 4,000 and 5,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged, including 626 houses razed and 920 damaged.

Woodward had 430 homes demolished and 650 damaged. Below are the final damage totals to buildings:

Ellis County - 52 homes destroyed and 133 damaged.
Woods County - 25 destroyed and 25 damaged.
Lipscomb County, Texas - 83 homes leveled and 116 damaged.
Hempill County, Texas - 36 flattened and 1 damaged.

This morning our local radio station was playing interviews with victims so that they are never forgotten. One was with a lady who lost her husband and 5 yr old son, she reported finding their broken bodies and the heartbreak of putting her dead, naked son in the back of a pickup truck going around town collecting the dead. Even now it was heartbreaking to listen to her sorrow. There are also 3 little girls buried in a local cemetery who were never identified.

So as we enter tornado season here, we now have dopplar radar and the best early warning systems in the world for which we are thankful. But even as a new resident of the area, it has even been impressed upon me that we should never forget April 9, 1947.

Tornado season may have arrived?

Photo courtesy of KOCO.COM

The Hubster has always told me we could have a tornado anytime of year in Okieland, if the conditions are right. Well I guess yesterday proved his point, although most people interviewed seemed somewhat surprised it happened quite this early.

The two tornadoes that touched down were in central and southern OK, well away from us. The first one touched down in the Oklahoma City suburbs at 2:30pm and then forged a path on the ground for ten minutes. In it's wake it left a badly damaged shopping area; Chuck-E-Cheese lost a wall, Target lost part of it's roof, and Hobby Lobby sustained some damage after the doors were sucked off.

The worst damage was in the Edmond area, where six homes were totally lost, others were badly damaged and some minor injuries sustained. But the thing that struck me repeatedly, smiling Okies that had lost alot, but were still able to laugh it off and just be grateful they were alive.

Sadly though things were alot worse for the small town of Lone Grove in the south of the state. The second tornado tore through there just after dark and caused much more destruction. The trailer park in town was hit badly and there have been 8 confirmed deaths and 50 injured, with possibly more to follow, as some are still unaccounted for. Until dawn breaks it is hard for the emergency services to really assess the damage, but the funnel was a half-mile wide.

Tornadoes are a fact of life here, the people we saw interviewed perfectly demonstrated the resilient, fighting Okie spirit.

However the idiotic quote of the day, was won hands down by the weatherman on the local 9pm Fox News. And I quote, word for word if you can believe this - "The good news is it's now moving into Eastern Oklahoma, well good news for us in Central Oklahoma, but bad news for them"!! Us Brit's have a word for this man - DICKHEAD!