Sunday, May 26, 2013

We're Off to Hawaii

So we survived the storms this past week. According to NewsOK/the Oklahoman, the closest tornado to us was an EF1 that went up a major street near commercial businesses about 5 miles away. It knocked out power lines all the way up the street, causing tieups and road closures, but nothing major like the Moore tornado about 20 miles south of us.

Efforts to recover and cleanup have been overwhelming, with emergency responders and relief organizers requesting that people stay home and allow those already on site to assist as quickly as possible. The tornado was eventually determined to be an EF5 and 1.7 miles wide at its strongest point, hitting multiple businesses and elementary schools along its 17 mile path. According to the National Weather Service, Monday's tornado was the ninth deadliest in state history with 24 fatalities.

Hail from Acadia Lake Area

Friday, May 10, 2013

Muggy Heat and Soggy Spring

Wow, has it already been a month since I last posted?

I suppose testing made the time go by faster. End of Instructions (EOIs), or Oklahoma Core Curriculum Tests. A mouthful, no? At the very least, California's acronym of Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) actually makes a word. But, I digress.

The weather here continues to be random. A few days ago, we were in the low nineties, now we're in the high sixties. At least the rain continues to be consistent in volume, if not sporadic in timing and otherwise grouped with other severe events. It's helping with the drought that has plagued Oklahoma for the past few years.

My sister's performance in Canterbury Choral Society's performance of Lennon Bernstein's MASS was a huge success. It was quite splendid performance, if a bit long. The main cast was associated with Oklahoma City University's Theater and Drama Department.

In other news, standardized testing is now completed for the academic year 2012-13. Personally, I'm pleased with how my ACT and SAT scores turned out, although the writing portion on the SAT was less than I hoped for. Computer glitches and bugs were mostly avoided, although some other grades weren't as lucky.

Soon, school will be over (8 more school days) and we'll be off to Hawaii in 17 days. Funny how time can pass quickly, but the "now" seems to be interminable? I've got some new pictures of neat places in Metro OKC, so hopefully I can piece together a new look for this blog soon.