If you are a member of the Gabby Shippers Forum, the deadline for 2011 secret santa is Sept 25th. Don't forget to sign up!! :D

http://gabbyfans.freeforums.org <---- DOOOOEEEET!

I've been sorting through a bunch of old stuff in my room before my move, and I decided that sorting through my closet wasn't enough. So I did a friendslist cut as well. I would say a *majority* of the people I cut are people who don't post anymore. A few others were cut becuse we just don't talk or seem to have anything in common. I'm not saying we've gotta comment on every little post, but... a little interaction now and again is the whole reason we're LJ friends.


If you're using your LJ again and were cut due to inactivity, let me know, I'll gladly re-add you.  So really, if you were cut by mistake or if you want back on my flist comment/pm/send a smoke signal and I'll re-add you to the list.



Best wishes.

starshines is here visiting me, and today we went to the beach over at the coast. We drove to Westport, which is about 2.5 hours away from here. The city itself is pretty sad and run down (and the gift shops were awful). But it was a beautiful day and the beach was lovely. And I got to play with my stunt kite!

Then we took flat!Gibbs to the state Capitol Building.

( Few Pics - check out FB for the rest. )

My mom just called!

So last night they ended up putting a chest tube in (yuck) but since then, she's been doing really well, and they've moved her from ICU. They spent the morning with her, and the two pain meds shes on (one for surgery & one for her back) are working pretty well, so she's been feeling good, talking lots, and planning all sorts of crap for my cousin Jason's baby (he's the one that got his gf preggo after dating two months). So I guess that's all a good sign. Still no talk of a release date, but they knew from even before surgery that she could be admitted for 10-14 days. So now my mom, aunts & uncles were just out for lunch - and from the sounds of it, having a good time.

Guess I'd better get back to changing sheets, and picking up around the house so starshines doesn't walk into a complete construction site/mess!

Updated Tuesday 6:25 a.m.

All that's left is the kitchen sink.

Less than 24 hours after the wettest storm in Western Washington in nearly two years, a strong line of thunderstorms moved through the greater Seattle area, downing trees and power lines with wind gusts of 40-55 mph overnight.  It was the tail end of a "one-two" punch from Mother Nature, as the rain saturated the soil, making the toppling of trees that much easier.

This was not forecast, so you deserve an explanation:  The first signs of strong thunderstorms hit the coast at 10:30 last night, as Hoquiam recorded a 70 mph wind gust.  Most of the time, coastal thunderstorms do not maintain the energy needed to stay alive all the way to the Puget Sound lowlands.  In this case, though, we under-estimated how much "juice" was still in the air in the wake of the Pineapple Express and tropical moisture that hit us this weekend.  There was enough energy for those storms to thrive all the way to the Cascades, and widespread 40-55 mph wind gusts knocked out power to thousands of folks overnight.

On a personal note, I've covered two hurricanes and three tropical storms, but have not seen winds as strong as the ones outside my house last night since Hurricane Frances in Florida in 2004.  In a word, it was scary.

That tropical air is now gone, and the threat of more severe weather is gone with it.

A cold front swept through with the thunderstorms, and cool air is rushing in behind the front.  It's still unstable enough for scattered showers to form over the next few days, but any flashes of lightning should be confined to our coastal communities.  I expect some peeks of sunshine, and daytime temperatures will be markedly cooler today with highs only reaching the mid 40s.  It'll be even cooler on Wednesday and Thursday with highs in the low 40s.  Overnight lows will be in the mid/upper 30s and the snow level will drop as low as 1000' at night.

It will be mostly cloudy but mainly dry on Friday (low 40s) before more showers return on Saturday and Sunday (mid 40s).  Long-range forecast models keep us showery and seasonably cool through most of the week leading up to Christmas.

Be safe, and make it a great day --

I loved watching this when I was younger - glad to find it on youtube.