Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[crazy8s]

We attended a wedding last night for our niece. Bride had "her heart set on an outdoor wedding"  Wind, freezing rain and wet chairs. 9 pairs of attendants had to enter and exit while the guests sat there getting soaked and freezing.

Invitation gave no indication it was going to be outside.

For the $25,000 -$30,000 the wedding probably cost, a tent, some heaters or even towel to wipe your chair would have been nice.

side note - in conversations last night I learned both my brother & sister in- law and a nephew and his wife are building Barndominiums this year. 😂

[CalicoKitty]

I'm watching the Giants/A's game.  I'm sitting by the fire under a heated blanket, wearing sweat pants and sweat shirt, and both cats are on my lap.  But at least the sun is shining (at the moment) and today's snow on my sidewalk and driveway is nearly melted .  The weather is just plain strange everywhere this year.  Now if the insurance company would just get my last tax document ready, I could file my taxes.  The CPA is taking his sweet time.  Luckily this document is a one-time deal, but I am getting antsy to get filed.

Everyone stay safe, warm and dry.

 

[oliviabenson]

I am going to start posing like Jill Rodrigues. Big wide smile showing all my teeth, hand on hip and chest out! My other hand I will clutch someone tight so they can’t run away. 
 

 

[dariafan]

On 3/26/2023 at 3:47 PM, Salacious Kitty said:

Lucky you. It's January cold here (low 50s), and I am in a cozy sweatshirt. Boo! 

I’m afraid it will be nice then bam 5 feet of snow!    
and I f do not know whether to thank y’all or hate because I started listening to digging up The duggars 

[Salacious Kitty]

It JUST started raining here. Expected to continue pretty much unabated through tomorrow. 

[CalicoKitty]

The storm  started about 15 minutes ago.  The wind  has been blowing since yesterday afternoon, and is really fierce now.  Big fat snow flakes are blowing around.  I feel  like I'm in a snow globe.  I haven't seen wind like this for a long time.  Stay safe, everyone.

[oliviabenson]

https://www.oregonlive.com/advice/2023/03/ask-amy-my-overbearing-mother-in-law-is-so-passive-aggressive-she-makes-me-cry.html?outputType=amp
 

first question can be written about Jill Rodrigues lol

[lookeyloo]

5 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

https://www.oregonlive.com/advice/2023/03/ask-amy-my-overbearing-mother-in-law-is-so-passive-aggressive-she-makes-me-cry.html?outputType=amp
 

first question can be written about Jill Rodrigues lol

I saw that too!  Unless spouse is on board and couple present a united front it is going to be harder than the regular hard.

[BetyBee]

6 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

https://www.oregonlive.com/advice/2023/03/ask-amy-my-overbearing-mother-in-law-is-so-passive-aggressive-she-makes-me-cry.html?outputType=amp
 

first question can be written about Jill Rodrigues lol

Jill is a perfect example of "the Engulfer". Everything is about Jill in her mind! 

[CalicoKitty]

Woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine.  The wind has stopped (for the time being), but it is very cold.  They are predicting possible snow showers this afternoon, but it should be very light.  Another storm is expected next week, but I am enjoying the beautiful weather now.  This has been a very odd winter.  @Salacious Kitty, did you get a lot of rain yesterday?  I hope you aren't having much flooding.  I can imagine how green everything must be.  

[Salacious Kitty]

It rained pretty much non-stop yesterday. Today is more showery before it moves out tonight. I think we then have a break until Tuesday. 

Our area has been free of flooding, thank goodness. 

[Ohiopirate02]

Y'all, I went to a funeral today for a co-worker in a non-denominational Protestant church.  I sat in the back to avoid making eye contact with the preacher.  At one point during his sermon, he name drops The Spurge and reads an except from Spurgeon's writings.  

[awaken]

7 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Y'all, I went to a funeral today for a co-worker in a non-denominational Protestant church.  I sat in the back to avoid making eye contact with the preacher.  At one point during his sermon, he name drops The Spurge and reads an except from Spurgeon's writings.  

Hopefully Charles Spurge, and not #sayingsofspurgeon, right? 

[Ohiopirate02]

14 minutes ago, awaken said:

Hopefully Charles Spurge, and not #sayingsofspurgeon, right? 

The preacher was talking about the theologian.  I was glad I was hidden in the back.  It was hard keeping a straight face during the whole service.  

[SMama]

Speaking of sayings of the feral Seewalds, Jessa has been quiet lately. Same for the sisters, except Jinger. 

[oliviabenson]

Jessa is too tired to make up sayings of Spurgeon

[BetyBee]

Well, the snow is completely gone by us, so maybe spring is really here! Our kitty had his 18th birthday yesterday. I looked it up and that translates to 88 years old, which seems about right. He's definitely slowed down and sleeps most of the day, but he still has his spry moments. We gave him a new catnip toy. He played with it for less than a minute.

We had a wonderful visit with most of our grandkids earlier this week. We took the first long drive with the new car. We always text when we're close to arriving and my 7 yo grandson was watching from the big picture window when we arrived. He didn't wave. He looked doubtful that it was us because he didn't recognize the car! We had a great one day visit. And we got 50 mpg, so we were very pleased.

[BetyBee]

Big rainstorm last night in our area. It woke me up and although I got an 84 sleep score, I woke up in a rare crabby mood. It's still rainy, but we'll have a high of 65 today! I just may set up the screen porch. Can spring really have arrived? Woot!

ETA: I did set up the screen porch. We opened the slider and our 18 yo (88 in cat years!) cat headed straight out there! 

Edited March 31, 2023 by BetyBee

[sagittarius sue]

Whoopy, we're under a blizzard warning in the Twin Cities from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m!  They keep on increasing how much snow we're getting overnight from 5-8 to now 7-11 inches.  It's such fun being the bullseye of 2 storm systems with rain and some thunder/lightning from the southeast and snow from the west.  Fortunately it's supposed to reach the upper 40s on Sunday so it should melt before our next storms mid next week.

[Salacious Kitty]

No rain in the long-term forecast! And I spied a 70 degree day on the horizon. I think we're done with the tiring atmospheric rivers. 

[Minivanessa]

My goodness. I started watching the Weather Channel late yesterday afternoon. We were experiencing some fierce winds and I wanted to see the forecast etc. I tuned in just in time to watch much of their coverage of that huge and deadly outbreak of tornadoes that slammed its way across so many states well into the night. I hope that warning systems did some good and prevented more people from being injured - or worse.  This morning I again tuned into TWC for an update - and I see that the storm system's not quite done on its march to the NE. Yikes.

The on-air folks at TWC last night had quite a job. They had to just keep on providing updated info on storm after storm, warning after warning, confirmed tornados that just kept touching down.

This morning, though, I was appalled by one guy on TWC. He was in Wynne, Arkansas, which was devastated by a tornado last night. I can't BEELEEVE this guy. He stood there and just bloviated about all the drah-mah. Something like this: "Here's a school sports stadium, with the bleachers on top of the roof of the concession stand. This is where people went for refreshments and other ways to enjoy the games. Here are remains of houses, the people who lived in them are community members. Teachers, dentists, doctors, . .. " He want ON and ON with smarmy stupid obvious meaningless stuff and NO hard data. Like we need condescending lectures from some telegenic twit about how people live real lives in real towns and how horrible it is when tornadoes tear up a town. I didn't get his name, but IMO he's a worthy successor to Ted Baxter.  /rant [ETA: His name is Justin Michaels.]

OK - I'm editing this later to be nicer about Justin Michaels. Maybe he's not a total twit, but was sent to cover Wynne and was put on the air before he'd been able to get any hard information, so he was winging it to fill air time. Still? His time-filling talk today was not good. 

OTOH I'm becoming a fan of a storm chaser and videographer who appears on TWC a lot. His name is Charles Peek. He doesn't blow smoke, just gives info. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by Jeeves
Second thoughts.

[BetyBee]

The storms were crazy last night. We had pouring rain, followed by tornado sirens and then phone alerts regarding high winds and a tornado watch. It passed us by, but other IL towns did not fare so well. It had been such a nice day too. I'm sorry for all of the damage done and at least one fatality and injuries in Belvidere, where a roof collapsed on concert attendees. My nephew was at a movie theater in DeKalb. They stopped the movie and advised the theatergoers to take cover. 

[Minivanessa]

3 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

The storms were crazy last night. We had pouring rain, followed by tornado sirens and then phone alerts regarding high winds and a tornado watch. It passed us by, but other IL towns did not fare so well. It had been such a nice day too. I'm sorry for all of the damage done and at least one fatality and injuries in Belvidere, where a roof collapsed on concert attendees. My nephew was at a movie theater in DeKalb. They stopped the movie and advised the theatergoers to take cover. 

I'm glad they stopped the movie. This outbreak of storms has indeed been crazy! And horrible. I'm glad it passed you by.

[oliviabenson]

I grew a giant boil looking thing right next to my cut in the palm of my hand. I’m freaking out what to do. It’s huge and looks full. I wrapped it up and am afraid to pop it!

 

It grew in less than a day and a half. 

[zoomama]

2 hours ago, BetyBee said:

My nephew was at a movie theater in DeKalb. They stopped the movie and advised the theatergoers to take cover. 

i mean this in all sincerity, as i dont live in the area of tornadoes etc.  where does one find 'cover' in a theater?  you are already in a room with no windows so are you to just get down on the floor?  

[ginger90]

11 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

I grew a giant boil looking thing right next to my cut in the palm of my hand. I’m freaking out what to do. It’s huge and looks full. I wrapped it up and am afraid to pop it!

 

It grew in less than a day and a half. 

Do you have a fever?

[Minivanessa]

49 minutes ago, zoomama said:

i mean this in all sincerity, as i dont live in the area of tornadoes etc.  where does one find 'cover' in a theater?  you are already in a room with no windows so are you to just get down on the floor?  

I think you'd head for a much smaller enclosed room like a bathroom, or better yet a basement area. The theater auditorium is a very large space with a big roof span. I'm not an engineer, but those things are AFAIK much more vulnerable to tornado/wind damage than a smaller space would be. There's more to the issue of tornado safety in a building than an absence of windows. 

ETA here's this from the CDC page on tornado safety:

Quote

If you’re in a mall, theater, or gym, get to the lowest level of the building and stay away from the windows.

• Long-span buildings, such as malls, theaters, and gyms, are especially dangerous because the roof is usually supported only by the outside walls. Most buildings like this cannot withstand the pressure from a tornado—they simply collapse.
• Get to the lowest level of the building (the basement if possible).
• Stay away from windows.
• If there isn’t time to get to a tornado shelter or to a lower level, try to get under a door frame or get up against something that will support or deflect falling debris. For instance, in a department store, get up against heavy shelving or counters. In a theater, get under the seats. Remember to protect your head.

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by Jeeves

[oliviabenson]

12 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Do you have a fever?

No

[BetyBee]

22 minutes ago, zoomama said:

i mean this in all sincerity, as i dont live in the area of tornadoes etc.  where does one find 'cover' in a theater?  you are already in a room with no windows so are you to just get down on the floor?  

He went home, which was nearby. That's a very good question!

27 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

I grew a giant boil looking thing right next to my cut in the palm of my hand. I’m freaking out what to do. It’s huge and looks full. I wrapped it up and am afraid to pop it!

 

It grew in less than a day and a half. 

It's so hard to keep a palm injury clean. I'm worried about you, @oliviabenson! Can you go to the emergency room?

Edited April 1, 2023 by BetyBee

[Absolom]

Urgent care is your friend.  

[Salacious Kitty]

5 hours ago, Jeeves said:

My goodness. I started watching the Weather Channel late yesterday afternoon. We were experiencing some fierce winds and I wanted to see the forecast etc. I tuned in just in time to watch much of their coverage of that huge and deadly outbreak of tornadoes that slammed its way across so many states well into the night. I hope that warning systems did some good and prevented more people from being injured - or worse.  This morning I again tuned into TWC for an update - and I see that the storm system's not quite done on its march to the NE. Yikes.

The on-air folks at TWC last night had quite a job. They had to just keep on providing updated info on storm after storm, warning after warning, confirmed tornados that just kept touching down.

This morning, though, I was appalled by one guy on TWC. He was in Wynne, Arkansas, which was devastated by a tornado last night. I can't BEELEEVE this guy. He stood there and just bloviated about all the drah-mah. Something like this: "Here's a school sports stadium, with the bleachers on top of the roof of the concession stand. This is where people went for refreshments and other ways to enjoy the games. Here are remains of houses, the people who lived in them are community members. Teachers, dentists, doctors, . .. " He want ON and ON with smarmy stupid obvious meaningless stuff and NO hard data. Like we need condescending lectures from some telegenic twit about how people live real lives in real towns and how horrible it is when tornadoes tear up a town. I didn't get his name, but IMO he's a worthy successor to Ted Baxter.  /rant [ETA: His name is Justin Michaels.]

OK - I'm editing this later to be nicer about Justin Michaels. Maybe he's not a total twit, but was sent to cover Wynne and was put on the air before he'd been able to get any hard information, so he was winging it to fill air time. Still? His time-filling talk today was not good. 

OTOH I'm becoming a fan of a storm chaser and videographer who appears on TWC a lot. His name is Charles Peek. He doesn't blow smoke, just gives info. 

Justin Michaels is what they're calling a "national correspondent," no official training in the meteorology field. I think Charles Peek has a weather background. His drone footage of the derailed train in Wynne, AR was chilling.

eta Now they have dramatic piano music accompanying Michaels' narration. It's more like the Today Show than The Weather Channel. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by Salacious Kitty

[wilsie]

3 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

I grew a giant boil looking thing right next to my cut in the palm of my hand. I’m freaking out what to do. It’s huge and looks full. I wrapped it up and am afraid to pop it!

 

It grew in less than a day and a half. 

https://www.healthline.com/health/home-remedies-for-boils I found this.  You were wise not to pop it.  I hope this is a help.  Be well.

[sagittarius sue]

Well, we got about 8 inches of snow in the Twin Cities with 12-15 inches in northern Wi and MI, but with strong sunshine and above freezing the roads are wet, clear of snow.  Worst part is losing power for over 13 hours while across the street they had power!

[ChiCricket]

On 3/13/2023 at 10:53 AM, SunnyBeBe said:

I recently had reason to look into some accents.  I generally find them fascinating.  I found this site and thought I’d post it.  It’s interesting that my own accent is more like someone from an adjacent state and not the one I grew up in.  (The link is for North America, but you can back up on it and get accents from around the world.)
 

https://www.dialectsarchive.com/united-states-of-america

Thanks for that rabbit hole! 😁

(Seriously, though, I love accents and language)

[SunnyBeBe]

22 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

I grew a giant boil looking thing right next to my cut in the palm of my hand. I’m freaking out what to do. It’s huge and looks full. I wrapped it up and am afraid to pop it!

 

It grew in less than a day and a half. 

I hope your hand is better.  I had a finger infection a few years ago. It happened during a snow storm and the only place open was the ER.  I had gotten in touch with my primary, but his office and urgent care were closed due to snow.  It was extremely painful.  Sending you well wishes.  

Edited April 2, 2023 by SunnyBeBe

[BetyBee]

Boy, am I a dope! I posted in another thread this morning, thinking I was in Small Talk! Anyway, I set a goal to try and finish my library book (I'll probably succeed in finishing it tomorrow) and to re-organize my sock drawer. Drawer is now organized! I took a nice walk today in slightly drizzly weather. 

This book I'm reading, The Nature Fix by Florence Williams, is interesting. I'm not a big fan of non-fiction, but I've learned a few things. One is to try to blink 20X whenever you think of it. It helps with dry eye when you stare at screens too much. The other is how beneficial to our health it is to spend time outdoors appreciating nature. That's kind of a no brainer, but sometimes we forget to get out there. It kind of reminds me of a happiness book we read in my book club, as the author travels around the world, exploring different studies on the topic. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by BetyBee

[lookeyloo]

29 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

Boy, am I a dope! I posted in another thread this morning, thinking I was in Small Talk! Anyway, I set a goal to try and finish my library book (I'll probably succeed in finishing it tomorrow) and to re-organize my sock drawer. Drawer is now organized! I took a nice walk today in slightly drizzly weather. 

This book I'm reading, The Nature Fix by Florence Williams, is interesting. I'm not a big fan of non-fiction, but I've learned a few things. One is to try to blink 20X whenever you think of it. It helps with dry eye when you stare at screens too much. The other is how beneficial to our health it is to spend time outdoors appreciating nature. That's kind of a no brainer, but sometimes we forget to get out there. It kind of reminds me of a happiness book we read in my book club, as the author travels around the world, exploring different studies on the topic. 

I love those hints.  I am good about knowing to be outside, but not the blinking.  I am in a little book club, with unlikely but compatible members, but we are, and have picked some books I never would have considered, but, ended up really enjoying.  

[BetyBee]

3 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

I love those hints.  I am good about knowing to be outside, but not the blinking.  I am in a little book club, with unlikely but compatible members, but we are, and have picked some books I never would have considered, but, ended up really enjoying.  

That is how my book club is too! Once in a while, there's a stinker that I don't finish, but most of the time I've read the book and am ready to discuss. I love the people in my BC. 

[kaleidoscope]

For all of you creatives out there (and, by the way, that's EVERYONE), a wonderful new book is out called, "Your Brain on Art."  It is taking me forever to read it because I keep going back and rereading!

[ChiCricket]

On 3/31/2023 at 8:04 AM, BetyBee said:

...

ETA: I did set up the screen porch. We opened the slider and our 18 yo (88 in cat years!) cat headed straight out there! 

 I recently got hooked on YouTube videos of people making Catios. 😂

I especially like watching the first time their kitties try them.

 I've always had cats in my life that were in and out of the house all day. Now I have 2 indoor cats and I feel bad for that they've never experienced the outdoors.

   But I don't want them catching anything, and I don't want them to be the catchees (I have huge hawks in my backyard.)

I'm thinking of making a catio for them. 😁

Edited April 4, 2023 by ChiCricket

[BetyBee]

14 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

I'm thinking of making a catio for them. 😁

That sounds like a great idea, @ChiCricket! 

[sagittarius sue]

For those who expressed interest in the upcoming Houses with History series on HGTV, here's what I just posted on that forum.

Per my TV cable schedule episode 2-1 is scheduled on Saturday for 8:00 p.m. ET, and then an episode just labelled S2 at 9:00 p.m. ET  It appears that HGTV doesn't care much about this show as I haven't seen any ads on TV, and no recent tweets.  I imagine we'll have this season, and that will be the end of it.

[oliviabenson]

I’m so disappointed in Jill Rodrigues. Instead of feeding her mom she sat next to her hunk and ate and videotaped everything. Gee maybe be a good godly daughter and help your mom. 
 

Jill is awful and has no redeeming qualities at all.

And I noticed she didn’t say omg look at my precious Kaylee and her baby bump. I’m so looking forward to meet my third grand baby. Jill doesn’t like Kaylee in my opinion. Well at least she didn’t say: oh look how tiny Kaylee is and she is pregnant. 
 

And in her video Jill  said I lost our 14th baby. Ummm what about the other 5 losses? She has a shrine to the lost babies in janessas room/closet! 

[BetyBee]

Confession: I bought a heatless hair curler like the one that Josie Bates shills. I found a cheaper one on Amazon and gave it a try yesterday. It did not work great on my shoulder length hair. It might on super long hair. But it was no problem to sleep in it. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Happy Easter!  The rain has finally abated!  Nice and sunny in NC!  
 

🌞💐🐇🐣🐣🐥

[BetyBee]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Happy Easter!  The rain has finally abated!  Nice and sunny in NC!  
 

🌞💐🐇🐣🐣🐥

It's beautiful here too. Spring has sprung! I just got back from a lovely walk!

[CherryMalotte]

A lovely Easter to all who celebrate!

[Mindthinkr]

Happy Easter from my two bunnies 🥰

[sagittarius sue]

On the subject of cats (and after being loved up by 2 kitties at my brother's place for Easter), has everyone caught the cat that won the internetz this weekend?  A cat climbed up an Algerian imam as he was chanting Ramadan prayers.  He patted and held the cat as it climbed to his shoulder, nuzzled his cheek, and then jumped down right before the imam was changing his position.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xiKfAFxA0o

[CalicoKitty]

I wonder if their building has a rodent problem.  Many years ago, I was visiting in Moscow, Russia.  The church I attended was in an abandoned building where they had set up and furnished a very nice church in one section. The church had a cat.  It wandered around during the service, would rub against the pastor's vestments, and then roam around the parishioners.  You had to check your seat before you sat down to make sure the cat wasn't there.  The cat seemed right at home, and no one minded that he "attended" the church service.  I'm sure the building had rodents, so the cat had a full-time job. This video made me think the cat lived in their building.  I was happy to see the cat was treated so nicely.