The story is in the post below, but here are the goods.

I am still sitting in the car here, the rain is coming down pretty good, and all the guys are running around trying to see if they can help.









Here is Whit trying to pick it up and put it right side up...LOL








That's an upside down pontoon boat on the right



That's another boat upside down on the right.


This is what boat slips should look like. Pointing in the direction of where we rode out the storm.








It took me forever to notice that boat turned upright, Titanic-style. See the black bottom, then it turns white? That's a big ol' boat


Huge overturned pontoon


Divers in the water checking under the boats

I will have pictures as soon as Tom gets home, but I gotta write about it now.

We had our first Lewisville Fishing Forum get together tonight. We started at Willow Grove park for a cookout and some fishing. Once we were sure the storm was coming in, we went to our marina next door to ride it out on the dock next to our boat slip.

Well, that storm was a doozie! Tom and I plus some members of our fishing board sat in chairs while the rain blew in sideways and the dock and boat slips were rocking like crazy. The wind was so hard, it felt like we were about to be lifted off the dock in our chairs. I really started panicking when I could tell Tom was worried, which rarely happens. He was talking to another guy about what we would do if the roof blew off. :-O

Rusty (my brother-in-law) walked to the very end of the dock, and he was the first to discover what happened. What happened? One of the sets of boat slips had been picked up by the wind and flipped upside down, boats and all. I was still too scared to leave my seat at that point, but all the guys walked down there with Rusty to check it out. They were all freaking out, like, "Oh my god! Whoa!" Finally Tom walked down there with me so I could see the damage.

Shortly after that, we drove closer to that area of the marina to check it out. There WERE people in some of those boats! There was one couple in a boat that flipped over all the way. They were fine. I took a ton of pictures. One cop showed up pretty quickly, but it took a long time for a fleet of fire trucks and police cars to arrive. It seems like they tended to the people who were in the water with their life vests or on their boats still first. Then, they put divers in the water to check under the boats that were in the water but no one had come out of them yet. In all likelihood, no one was in those boats.

You gotta understand, these boats were sitting in the water perfectly still and picked up and flipped over. Oh my gosh! I still can't believe I just saw that. Even more, I can't believe it could've been us. This area of the marina was probably more vulnerable to a storm like that. Ours seems more strongly connected to the land, or at least we are in the middle of a long line of boats, so it's unlikely that ours would be flipped even if the right wind hit it. Still, I sat there the whole time telling myself, "Oh, the marina is pretty solid, look at all these boats holding it down, we'll be fine." I won't be able to tell myself that next time!

I'll add pictures to this post probably tomorrow. I took a ton. I am pretty tired and don't think I'll wait up for Tom. Nearly dying is hard work!

Hard to believe it's Friday already! I snapped some new pictures of our garden this morning.

First, say hello to our neighbor's backyard courtesy of that crazy, fast moving storm that came in last week.



This is a flower on my pumpkin vine. Nothing could make my year better than if I grew my own jack-o-lantern. Keep your fingers crossed.


Sneakin a peek at some jalapenos



OK, this is what happens when the wind blows for several days straight, and your tomato plant starts growing sideways to the point that you can't set it straight with the cage without breaking the stem. This is more like a huge tomato shrub! It's putting out though, so who cares!


Look, our watermelon vine is starting to take off.


But the stars of this weeks show are the okra and flowers. Here is the okra!


And here is my first flower. EVER. Have never had luck with flowers.


Have a great weekend!

Saw the Hulk last week with my mom. It was good!
Trailers: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800080/trailers


I am already behind on Get Smart, which opened last Friday.
Trailers: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425061/trailers


Wanted opens June 27. It looks good, plus I'm in love with James McAvoy since Becoming Jane and Atonement.
Trailers: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493464/trailers



Hancock, with Will Smith as an unlikable superhero, is July 1st. Of all of them, this looks great but is probably lowest on my priority list.
Trailers: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448157/trailers

July 11th (and THIS is high priority) is Hellboy II. Check out THAT trailer!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411477/trailers

Also on July 11th is Journey to the Center of the Earth. It has dinosaurs in it, so I'm sold.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373051/trailers

Two open up July 18 (the day after my birthday).
The Dark Knight, with the late Heath Ledger. I know it'll be sad to watch. I was so upset when he died.
Trailers: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/trailers


And a more likely birthday celebration choice, Mamma Mia.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795421/trailers


And finally, Mulder and Scully are back for another X Files movie July 25th!!!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443701/trailers

I am alive! I didn't pass out or throw up on anyone Friday. Actually, it went well. Luckily my advisor was there and she is a projector expert. Aside from her, I had three captive audience members, and they were great. They all contributed a lot, and I was counting on that! I had said that if I had to shut them up because we were going past our 45-minute time slot that I'd consider it a success, and that's what happened. So, it was a success!


Mine was in the first group of breakout sessions on Friday morning, so I got to relax and enjoy the rest of the conference. We had a nice luncheon with prime rib that day, and I had a good talk with my advisor. I'm going to stick with her and work with the other professor as well. They both seem OK with that. I think my main project (of the moment) will be with the other professor, and my old advisor is just gonna put me on some of her papers.

I learned something I never would've guessed by reading the literature. No Child Left Behind isn't a dirty word to all educators. I'd heard all the bad things about it, but here, for the most part, they support it. Granted, this was a special education conference, and NCLB is great for special ed. But still, at the AERA conference in NYC this March, it's all professors & researchers. Actual teachers are few and far between. So it was nice to be at this conference with real teachers who work "in the trenches" as they say.

Yesterday, the conference wrapped up at noon, so I headed home and was in the mood for a tasty steak. I must say, I have mastered the steak. I have always overcooked the steaks, and, get this, I remedied the problem by cooking them for a shorter amount of time!!! Can you believe it?? Then let em rest under some foil so they aren't mooing at us when we cut into them. I cook them for 2-3 minutes on each side at high grill heat. Mmmmmm!

Lots of good movies coming out in the coming week, so I'm about to summarize those in another blog. Today, I'm chillin' for now, then meeting up with Amanda to go to that True Colors tour with Cyndi Lauper. Tomorrow it's back to the grind at work/school.

But most importantly, it's 2 weeks til our river trip! Please pray for a couple of good rains in the hill country in the meantime so we aren't tubing in stale beer and pee. Right now, it's flowing but not that fast.

Why there is an exclamation mark at the end of that, I don't know. I guess because I'm so excited for it to be OVER. My first REAL presentation is tomorrow from 10:15 to 11am. My advisor isn't presenting with me, so I found out last night. I don't have nice things to say about that situation. Can you imagine is this had happened at my "real" junior-in-college age, 20, and without some of the work experience I've had? I would have DIED when she told me. I feel pretty well prepared. I have nice handouts, a great outfit, a new short haircut, and a pretty thorough presentation. The only thing is I haven't practiced it very much. But some of it is stuff I already presented to the other scholars in April, so at least that stuff should come out OK. I've got it all typed out too (dang, it's 6 pages single spaced), and I'm not afraid to use it if I have to. LOL

One good thing is, they asked for volunteers to facilitate other sessions. So I volunteered, and I get to "facilitate" a session Friday and Saturday. I'll introduce the speakers, help them with whatever setup they need, and make sure the attendees turn in their evaluations. For whatever reason, this makes me feel a lot better about the whole thing. It's like, even if my presentation is a disaster, I have something else to focus on when it's over.

And I've got a new advisor all lined up, and it's already going about 1000% better.

So that's been the focus of my week! I'm going to this concert Sunday with Amanda. LOL

Will post more IF I survive tomorrow.

I just developed my reception disposable cameras today, and there was one that I knew I'd had forever! Here they are:

Emma's baby shower

Amanda's wedding (these aren't exactly in chronological order)

Hawaiian Falls with Danyelle, Reade, Chase & Miranda

I was dying for an excuse to get on that slide!!

LOL

Miranda, baby doll, and Cuddles the cat