Caitlin Goes to State

On Friday April 25th Caitlin went to OSU to participate in the State Career Development Events. She competed in the Landscape and Nursery division. In a competition the students either participate individually or on a team. Allen competed as a team. When competing on a team you are also judged individually. There are 95 plant specimens, 10 diseases, 13 insects and related pests, 7 physiological problems, 15 weeds, and 102 equipment and supplies that they have to memorize. At state they only ask about 50 of those combined but at the other competitions they were asked from 50 to 100. After the named above are IDed they are given a test with 50 questions to answer. The questions range from a wide variety of questions concerning horticulture. The next part of the competition is a practicum. At the regular competitions the only practicum they have is judging which is when there are 4 plants of the same kind and they have to be placed in order of quality. But at state each participant on a team had a different practicum. Caitlin's was a written practicum. She was given a letter from a "customer" who needed help in deciding which kind of tree to plant at his home given his specific desires. She had to look through a book of plants to find the ones she thought would be best. Then she had to write back in business letter form answering the questions and also explaining the care and keeping of the trees. They were given 30 minutes. Caitlin said it wasn't very hard but she didn't have time to finish. Overall, the team placed 3rd and Caitlin received 4th place and a $1,000 scholarship.

Memorial Marathon

On Sunday April 26th Jessie and I were up at 4:30 am and headed for downtown Oklahoma City, 6th and Robinson to be exact, for the 8th Annual Memorial Marathon, to honor those who lost their lives in Murrah Building Bombing. A misty rain was falling as we parked and walked to the starting line and it was cold. A little over 16,000 people had signed up to either run the marathon, half marathon, relay, 5 k run and the kids marathon. It was an awesome sight to see the "sea" of people and it was very emotional to see them all stand quietly as 168 seconds of silence was observed. The marathon, half marathon and relay runners were off and then the 5k was ready to start. Jessie ran the 5K along with several other students from Allen Middle School. I was at the finish line to cheer them on. We warmed up as we enjoyed pancakes at the First Christian Church then headed home. Boy, we were tired, but glad we participated.


Jessie & Beyla with their medals.

Oh What A Night!

I'm not talking about the old 60s song. I'm talking about what a night we had here on the ranch last night. TV and radio stations had been forecasting possible thunder storms and the temperatures had dropped into the 50s and the clouds started rolling in. The 6:00 o'clock weather showed thunder storm warnings for most of the state. Being good Oklahomans we started watching the clouds and listening to the weather updates. About 7:30 we got a call from Nana saying the sirens were going off in Allen and they were in a safe place and almost at the same moment the NOAA radio sounded and we were in a tornado warning. As we prepared to go to our safe place we heard the warning say that a thunderstorm with a rotation was 5 miles south of Allen moving northeast. It was headed right at us. It started raining so hard we lost our satellite feed so we lost our TV. Suddenly lightning started flashing and we saw it hit the ground south of the house and we could see the the circulation in the clouds and suddenly there was a loud crash and the lights flashed and popped! Scared us all! Thank the Lord none of us were hurt. Lightning struck the transformer by the house and the meter coming into the house. We were without lights until this morning when the electric company came out and replaced the transformer and meter. After assessing the damage we have lost 2 TVs a VCR and a bunch of light bulbs and we are going to have to have a few wall sockets replaced. It could have been worse, but the Lords was watching over us.

Today the sun is shinning and it is in the 70s. That is Oklahoma weather for you!

Spring is Here!

We always know when spring is here to stay because the dogwood trees bloom. Mike and I went riding on the 4 wheelers Saturday to look at the dogwoods and red buds in bloom.



The dogwood tree in the backyard usually blooms on Easter Sunday but since Easter was early this year it just started blooming along with the jasmine. The grass is turning green and the leaves are coming out on the trees. Spring is here!

Jessie's Creations

Jessie's creative streak has been shinning lately. She has made a cow, pig and a bird on a birdbath from clay. My favorite is the cow! What is yours?

Birdbath

Cow

Pig

Visit to State Capital

March 26th Caitlin, Jessie and I traveled to the State Capital in Oklahoma City to participate in the 14th annual Disability Awareness Day. We were there to talk with our legislators about funding for programs provided by the Department of Rehabilitation Services (the agency I work for.) After registering, picking up the information packet to give to the legislators, identification pins and attending a short training session we were off to the House of Representatives. We met with Representative Todd Thomsen, George Faught, Wes Hillard and Dale Turner's assistant. Our next stop was the Senate where we were able to spend some time with Senator Susan Paddock.


Caitlin, Senator Susan Paddock & Jessie

While we enjoyed lunch, provided by several Oklahoma City business, we were entertained by the Oklahoma School for the Blind Jazz Band, Oklahoma School for the Deaf Performing Arts Company and Singer/Songwriter Sarah Getto. We also enjoyed visiting with Department of Rehabilitation Director Linda Parker and Field Coordinator Susan Hawkins.



Caitlin, Director Linda Parker & Jessie


Caitlin, Susan Hawkins & Jessie

Hopefully when bills involving disability issues are presented our representatives and senators will remember our visit.