Winter Blast 2011 - Round #3

As I write this a third winter storm is bearing down on Oklahoma. It was only one week ago that Tulsa got the largest snowfall in a single day that we've ever had. The previous record (set in 1994) was 12.9". In a 24 hour period, we received 14". Strangely enough (which really isn't so strange now that I think about it... it's pretty typical for Oklahoma to have wild temperature swings because we're located right along the jet stream) two days before this storm, we had balmy temperatures reaching 76 degrees. I worked in my yard, prepping the vegetable garden area for spring. I was ready to break out the sunscreen. Then we were thrown into the deep freeze. Our high temperature was 10 degrees and winds were blowing at 35mph (-15 degree windchill). It was officially a blizzard!



Of course Scott and I get out and do our best to clear the snow from our very steep driveway. On day 1 after the storm, Scott manages to clear one pathway from the top to the bottom of the driveway. This took one hour. On day 2, the same. On day 3 our next door neighbor, whom we share a driveway with, came out to help (which he might as well have just stayed inside drinking a beer for all that he did). On day 4, Scott knocked out most of the driveway and I helped a little there as well as doing the path from the front door to the mailbox. So, about the time that I finish the path from the front door, it starts to snow... and snow... and snow. Our weathermen (who are generally very accurate) predicted that we would get a dusting of snow. Well, 5+ hours later, we had another 3.5" which totally destroyed any work that Scott and I had just done. I guess I shouldn't be complaining too much. I did get a good workout.



So, I'll try and sum this story up... We were all trapped in our house. Scott was able to work from home which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good that he doesn't have to drive in to work, bad because this means I have to keep the kids quiet (good luck with that) while he's on conference calls and bad because I can't get on the computer or watch TV. I know, I know... I should find something constructive to do with my time (like baking or cleaning or something...whatever). On day 3 post-snow we started to run out of milk and desperation was beginning to set in. Scott made it out to get groceries and came home safely. On day 4 post-snow, Scott went over to check on our old house to make sure the pipes hadn't burst or anything. On day 5 post-snow I couldn't stand it anymore... I had to get out... somewhere... anywhere! So, we loaded up the kids and went out to eat and then we went to get some more milk. Fun stuff! Up to this point, I hadn't seen any other adults besides Scott for days!





Needless to say, I've had it with snow for the rest of the year. As of today, school has been out for 6 consecutive days and after we receive this next round of snow... which is supposed to be 5-10", I'm assuming school will probably be closed for the rest of the week. That's epic! I heard a weatherman say that 17.5" is twice the amount of snow we receive in an entire year! If we receive only 3 more inches of snow, it will be the snowiest season in Oklahoma on record since they started keeping records 100 years ago! Oklahomans are just not used to this kind of weather. We can't drive in it. We obviously aren't prepared for it. I mean, for Pete's sake... we didn't get mail for 5 days and we haven't had trash service for a week (my trash is out today, but it remains to be seen if it will actually be picked up!). At this point, I think I'll just opt out of the snow thank you very much!

So, on a lighter note... it was beautiful. That can't be denied. And I didn't really have to drive in it, which is another plus. So, maybe it really isn't that bad. No... who am I kidding?! I'm going nuts inside my own house! All I want my sanity back!

Time stops for no man (er... or woman!)

Well, I'm a little disappointed in myself. I had grand ideas of blogging on a regular basis if for no other reason than to keep a running journal of little things happening in my life. I guess that didn't happen now did it?? I looked at the last journal date (well, the last one before my previous post) and it's been almost 2 years since my last post!! I would like to say I took a haitus or something, but really I guess I was just lazy. Did I not have anything going on in my life? Nothing to say you ask? Ummm... not entirely. We bought a new house... that's pretty monumental I'd say! My daughter has started school. A few things. I read my old posts (and I have to say it didn't take long!) and I did enjoy reading them. So... I, Dayna Karas, do solemly swear, to do my best to post to my blog as frequently as I can. In sickness and in health. In good times and in bad... blah, blah, blah... We'll see!

Sofie Rose's Big Day Out

The weather has started to turn warm here over the last several days, so I thought it would be a good idea to air the kids out a bit and go outside. Since we have the new house, I really enjoy being outside and working in the yard. I was pulling vines out of an overgrown section of the yard when something ran up to me. I looked down and it was a Cairn Terrier. Those of you that know me have heard me talk about the two dogs I had when I was a kid. Both of them I loved dearly and both of them were Cairn Terriers (Tasha and Cassie). What are the odds of this particular type of dog wandering into our yard? I looked at her and she looked a whole lot like my dog Cassie. It was uncanny. The only noticeable difference was that she had a stubby tail (usually for that breed the tail is kept long). I also noticed that she had no collar, although it looked like her fur had an indention of where a collar might have been before. She was a bit skiddish and ran away when I bent down to pet her. She seemed harmless enough, so I wasn't too concerned that she would be agressive towards the kids. They were enjoying chasing after her and everyone was having fun.




I went back to pulling weeds thinking that she would probably go back home or wander away eventually. Well, we were outside for a good hour and a half. The dog would wander away to explore, then she would dart back and run up to the kids or to myself to be pet. By this time she was comfortable with all of us and she would come up to us with her ears back against her head to show she was ready to play. I couldn't figure out how old she was, but I knew she had some puppy left in her because she was darting around and jumping off of high places in our yard. It reminded me of how my dogs used to be. I kept thinking to myself there would be no way that my dogs would have stuck around (with no fence to contain them) for this long. They would have bolted long before now. They also would have barked at anything that moved. I never heard this dog bark. That's pretty amazing for a Cairn Terrier!




Well, it was starting to get dark and it was getting colder. I was sure the dog was probably hungry. I decided to take her inside and give her a bath. About this time, my husband came home. The dog liked him too. She obviously wasn't afraid of men as some dogs are. I asked Scott if he would mind going to get a small bag of dog food while I gave the dog a bath. The kids and I took the dog in and gave her a bath. She sat perfectly still. Again, I'm having flashbacks to my dogs and how they did NOT like to have baths. They would pace the bathtub and claw at the sides of the tub to get out. This dog stayed in one spot while I shampooed her. Amazing! What a well behaved dog she was. I noticed that she had been well taken care of. She smelled as if she might have had a flea dip fairly recently. Her toenails were a little long, but it's very hard to cut Cairn's toenails correctly without cutting them to the quick, so I can understand having a professional do that. After all the shampooing, I dried her fur with a hairdryer.

Now that she was all clean, I decided to let her wander around the house. For some reason, from her disposition alone and how well behaved she had been, I didn't have any problems letting her explore the house by herself. I assumed she was housebroken, which she was. The kids enjoyed following her around and making a dog bed for her.




Scott came back and we poured some dog food and water into two plastic tupperware containers. She drank some water, but when it came time to eat some food, she would nose the bowl like she was trying to turn it upside down. It was only when I put a few kernels out on the floor that she would eat it. We ended up giving her a few pieces of chicken as well, which she gladly ate.

It was time for the kids to go to bed and they were fighting us all the way. There was way too much excitement with a dog in the house to go to bed after all! We finally got them to go to bed and for the first time, the dog was able to relax (because no one was following her!). She lay down nicely at the foot of our bed as if she had done it a hundred times before.

At 9pm I figured she hadn't gone to the bathroom since we brought her inside at 5:30pm. I decided to take her out one last time before settling in. I took her outside and immediately I heard someone yelling... "Sophie... Sophie...". I looked out the gate and saw someone driving in their SUV in our cul-de-sac. I immediately yelled out... "Did you lose a dog?". I was thinking that I would put up flyers around the neighborhood the following morning. I had taken some pictures of the dog for just this very purpose. I took the dog down the street where the car was and immediately, the woman inside yelled "Oh Sophie!" and began to cry. She told me that she had been driving around and looking for Sophie for her parents who lived 2 streets away. Her mother and father just had to put their other older dog down this morning and in the chaos of the day Sophie got out. Because they were so distraught about putting down their other dog, they didn't notice that Sophie was gone until maybe 6pm. She had been reluctant to come down our street because it was dark, but she decided to try and that happened to be the exact time that I came outside with the dog. It almost seems like destiny. I told her that Sophie had been a perfect guest. She wanted to get my name and phone number because she was certain her mother would want to call and thank me.

Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, Sophie's owner called me. She was an older lady and we talked about 30 minutes. I told her that Sophie was a wonderful dog and that my kids really enjoyed her visit. She mentioned that Sophie was rescued from an animal shelter when she was just 6 months old. She was now 6 years old (older than I had expected). She told me that Sophie didn't like to wear a collar while in the house, so they usually took it off (she had been stamped for identification). She was the apple of this woman's eye you could tell (in fact, she said her full name was Sophie Rose!) and she told me that it would have gone down as one of her worst days if she would have lost both her dogs on the same day (Sophie and the one she had to put down).

Some things are meant to be I suppose. The Cairn that found our family made me remember how great it is to have a dog around (and I didn't even have to potty train her or anything!). The kids were great with her and she was great with them. Maybe someday when our kids are a bit older we'll get a dog. We have lots of things to get in order before that day comes however (we have to get a fence for one thing!). I briefly thought about what would have happened if Sophie had never been claimed. Would we have kept her? After all, she was such a great dog and I did have experience with Cairns. Would we have given her up to an animal shelter or a rescue foundation? I guess we'll never know. I just knew that someone must have been very sad to be without her and I was right. In the end, I'm so glad we found her family. As I told her owner, Sophie can come and visit us any time!

So, what do you think? Do these dogs look alike? The picture on the top is Sophie and the picture below that one is Cassie.




And here's a picture of my two, very loved, Cairn Terriers. Tasha is on the left and Cassie is on the right (she was just a puppy in this picture). The girls liked to forage around for goodies under my brother's bed (hence the mess).