Have you ever wanted to learn to dance? I mean REALLY dance..not just some little club beat that you might have picked up watching others. I have always wanted to learn ballroom dancing, both traditional and Latin. When I was in pre-school, I took tap dance and ballet, but after moving to a small town from the big city, my parents were unable to re-enroll me since it was simply not offered until I was much older.

As a child, I would often visit my grandparents, who happened to be very active members of their local VFW Veteran’s of Foreign Wars) post. Every Saturday night, they had a big dance that had a concession stand. I  would often help my grandmother in the concession stand while she was on duty with her Ladies’ Auxillary unit. Later, I would sit at our table we had reserved, reading books or playing with toys while my grandparents “danced the night away.” They were so good at it…along with all the other couples there. It wasn’t just older couples there, but younger ones too. They played everything from country slow songs to rock songs to genuine waltzes. I was always quite embarassed to dance because I was so shy, but my grandmother would make me get out there with my granddad when she was too tired due to her arthritis. Now, I am glad she did because until recently, I did not know that I actually had learned how to waltz.

To be honest, I had forgotten about it. I asked my mom about some catchy tune that was stuck in my head, and she said it was a waltz from an old movie. I asked her later if she knew how to waltz, and she said no..but that her father had when he was alive. She told me something about how it goes 1-2-3. It dawned on me, I DO know this..and slowly, I remembered all of those Saturday nights as a child, dancing around that big room with my grandfather at their local VFW; which included, all the times I stepped on his toes, and he never said a word about it. I also found out that one of his favorite songs was a waltz, so maybe I get my love of classical music honest. I have also always wanted to learn the other ballroom dances, including the Latin steps. I think it all looks so beautiful, refined and elegant, but it will have to wait until I am able to afford some sort of lessons at a later period in time.

A few years ago, I used to go dancing at local clubs a lot. As I became serious about my college studies, clubbing had to be side-lined, and will probably stay there for a bit longer as well. But I do miss some of those fun-filled nights. I was often surprised at the number of compliments I would get from friends and strangers on how well I danced or picked up new steps. And although I have confidence issues in my looks and relationships, I have never lacked for a dance partner at any club. That is really funny though because I feel more comfortable dancing in front of a bunch of strangers, than around a bunch of people that I DO know. At middle/high school dances, I was just a wallflower, sitting back, watching everyone else. To those who saw me later, they were very much surprised to learn that I had any sort of dance rhythm at all.

When I hear music with a beat, it makes me want to just get up and move to it. I tend to work out with certain tv shows on FitTV, but have discovered a show called Shimmy. It actually teaches belly dancing..so I think that until I can afford those much wanted ballroom dance lessons, it is time to try to learn a new dance brought to me courtesy of my FIOS network. Not only does dancing a GREAT form of exercise, it brings a joy to my life that I seem to be missing. When I was attending the local Arts & Jazz Festival this past weekend, I heard some Hispanic music playing that just made me want to do some basic mambo moves…or even a little merengue. Hmm..now to just find myself a dance partner…

I myself have lived in Tornado Alley my whole life. You may ask just what Tornado Alley is. It is an area in the United States that has a significant outbreak of tornadoes in that area every year. Most of them occur in area covered from Texas north to the Dakotas and east to the Appalachian Mountains. The states usually included in this area include Texas (due to its shear size), Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Ohio, southern Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, northern Alabama, and the western halves of Kentucky and Tennessee. Below is a copy of a map from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Alley in which it shows the prevalence of tornado activity in the U.S.

Recently, my part of Texas has been experiencing the development of many supercell thunderstorms. These are the storms that spawn many of the tornadoes seen throughout the U.S. This is largely due to the area of the midwest sitting between two mountain ranges, the Rocky Mountains in the west and the Appalachian Mountains in the east. Warm, moist, sub-tropical air comes flowing up through Mexico and Texas and clashes with cold, polar air flowing down from Canada. When these collide, they form rolling thunderstorms, usually along a dry-line. A dry-line is the boundary between a warm, dry air mass and a warm, moist, sub-tropical air mass.

I overheard a young lady recently mention being afraid of all of these storms. She was not from here. I am not scared of these storms, but I do respect them. A favorite quote I like is from the movie, “Reign of Fire.” The quote is, “What do we do when we are awake? Keep two eyes on the sky. What do we do when we sleep? Keep one eye on the sky.” This is typically true of people from this area of the U.S., and as long as one pays attention, harm to oneself can usually be avoided. In fact, once a month, usually on Wednesdays, they test the sirens. 

What sirens are you talking about you may ask. Well, if you remember watching old movies about World War II, particularly that took place in Europe/Great Britain, in the background of air raids, you would hear a siren. This is pretty much the exact same sound because that is WHAT we use to warn the public of imminent danger from tornadoes. It means to take cover immediately, and that usually a funnel cloud has been spotted. A funnel cloud is the precursor to a tornado..it is basically a tornado that has not reached the ground YET, and if you’re lucky it never will.

The ideal storm shelter is in an underground concrete bunker, which many homes in the countryside have. But if that is not available, to take cover, you should take it in an interior bathroom or interior closet. These smaller, interior spaces tend to stay protected and intact if a tornado actually strikes. And although building codes in the alley area are more stringent than other parts of the U.S., 100+ mph winds can still force shrapnel through exterior walls and make windows deadly, leathel objects. Make sure to curl yourself in a ball, close to the ground, and protect your head and neck as best as possible. If out on the open road, seek shelter in a drainage ditch. Do NOT stay in you vehicle! The flatter and lower to the ground you are, the less likely for you to incur injuries from debris flying through the air. I wish my own family members had known this 44 years ago. My dad’s sister, brother-in-law, and 3 kids were all traveling in a car when a tornado struck. It picked their car up and slammed it like a toy into an oncoming pickup truck. My uncle and the 2 people in the other vehicle were barely injured at all, but my aunt and her 3 children were instantly killed. You cannot outrun a tornado, so please do not try. Being in a vehicle is one of the most dangerous places to be when a tornado is striking. Plus, don’t forget, it can go back up into the cloud, and drop back out at ANY other point as well. So running away may turn into running INTO the tornado.

Also, there are myths out there that should never be done. Such as opening a window to equalize the air pressure in your home. Duh, you just created a vacuum with suction doing this. Plus, if a tornado is hitting your home, it will probably break all the windows regardless of being opened or closed. Don’t waste your time on this, instead use it to protect you, your loved ones and your pets if you can get to them in time. Believe it or not, animal nature will tell most pets to seek shelter if it is available. Also, do NOT seek shelter under overpasses. Yes, a few lucky people have survived doing this, but many more have been killed than the media has let everyone know. Most people are sucked out from underneath those overpasses and DROPPED miles away, usually causing death or serious injury. Also, most tornadoes travel southwest to northeast thanks to the weather air currents, so seeking shelter in a basement is a good idea, just NOT the southwest corner of it. For more on myths or misconceptions, see http://www.tornadoproject.com/myths/myths.htm .

I suppose another reason people these days don’t fear them as much is due to the National Weather Service being able to issue warnings and hopefully give ample time to seek shelter. Also, in schools in these areas, tornado drills are frequently performed, teaching from a very young age what to do to be prepared. For us, it is a normal, everyday part of life..probably as much as earthquakes are to those on the west coast and hurricanes for those on the east. And yes, hurricanes do spawn tornadoes, but they are usually more in the form of water spouts and usually a lot less powerful. That means Florida also gets a lot of tornadoes, but a different kind.

A funnel cloud trying to form…

Above is a picture of a wall cloud that I took. Usually, the place where the strongest tornadoes form.

I don’t want people to fear tornadoes, but to simply respect them and be well informed. Fear causes people to act on rash thoughts and ideas in times of crisis. Keeping a cool, well prepared stance is what is best and needed when it is time to “keep both eyes on the sky.”

So, recently, through discussion on NK’s blogsite, we were discussing what we look for in a potential date/mate/etc. So instead of cluttering up her blog, I thought I would just write a blog post about it….

As for the dating scene, I would have to say I am totally inexperienced about it, along with being somewhat naive. My parents did not allow me to date until I was 16. They had to know where I was, what I was doing, and who I was hanging out with. That is not to say that they knew my whereabouts every moment in time…but they had a general idea.. at least they thought they did. We used to go over friends houses and play video games a lot, listen to music, etc. My mom would have freaked out to know that I was in a BOY’S bedroom, unsupervised. But the thing is, she should and could trust me. We were not doing anything more innocent than the above mentioned. We were just hanging out.

As time has progressed, I look back on high school and realize just how sheltered I really was. It was a blessing and a curse. I had a really horrible best friend that if I liked someone, she would go after him until they were hers. Then she’d tell me why I never wanted to date them because of the guy’s real opinions about me. I defended her until she broke me… I just let the rest of my small high school bash her..and I won’t say she didn’t deserve it, but that didn’t mean I took part in it. She’d hurt me too bad. She ruined me having a prom date my junior year..she was just never satisfied. I am too nice I suppose. My guy classmates never thought of me as dateable material, but instead as their little sister. I have heard so many times, “oh don’t worry, she’s just one of the guys..”

I act tough emotionally because instead I am as fragile as a flower inside. I am scared to let someone past my shell. I have absolutely zero confidence in my relationships. Everytime I get close to a guy or admit I like him, to him.. I get, “I just don’t think of you like that…I like you, but just as a friend. It’s like you’re my sister or something, you know… you’re just one of the guys…” I try to never let others see my disappointment or hurt… I just want my friends to be happy. But I guess, I am too nice. My weight has also never helped with the matter, I hate having hormone problems that have caused me such misery, but I could have a worse plight I suppose. In fact, one of the most hurtful things I have heard recently is, “do you have any friends that you think would date me?” Inside I am screaming, “what about me?” and then I go on and say..”sure, I’ll see what I can do…”

I am very skittish about getting close to anyone..once you’ve been burned by someone you consider close enough to be a sister, and have been backstabbed as much as I was.. you just don’t know who to trust anymore. I have an elite few people I consider my closest friends, but I never tell them the whole story for fear of letting them past that innermost shell. In fact, someone that I was getting to be good friends with about 1 & 1/2 years ago, let her real opinion show when she was drunk. She made the mistake of commenting that she was smart, she only hung out with people uglier and fatter than she was so that we made her look good. Needless to say, I’ve had more than my fair share of mean friends that just use me.

So what am I looking for in a guy someone asked… well here’s the list..

1) Honesty

2) Truthfulness

3) Not using me just for me to “hook you up” with my friends

4) Intelligence.. I want to be able to have conversations, but not have to explain every single thing with a definition.. I do have patience, but it is not infinite..

5) A non-smoker because I have asthma

6) Someone caring, but not controlling, and who can get along with a cat

7) Not a jealous person, but one who just wants me to be genuinely be happy

8.) Someone who likes to laugh/smile

9) Kind eyes

10) Sense of humor

I consider my list to be fairly simple, and I don’t think I am asking for too much..but then again..maybe I AM too picky. Do I have a feeling that I will see positive results..no not really, I am realistic, but a forever optimist as well. I can always dream….

This thread is entirely dedicated to those who have been scammed…in hopes that others don’t fall for the same thing.

Recently, my aunt by marriage, I’ll call P, had a sister that got involved with a con artist. We’ll call my aunt’s sister, R. R owned her own home, it was paid off. She worked as a home health care aide, and made just enough to pay the bills. Then, one day, she met a man we’ll call, Jon. Well, Jon just swept her off her feet. Supposedly he has a degree from Clemson, and was from S.C., USA. He told her how he’d just sold his company there for a lot of money, and had decided it was time for a change in scenery, so he moved to Texas. He got a job in a plant, but later just quit.

R, let the guy move in with her. They bought a motocycle…in her name. They refinanced her home… THAT WAS PAID FOR.. to get some money needed to finance for a business he decided to start up. The bank put both their names on the title after that. R and Jon never officially married, but there is a law that many people don’t know about called “common-law marriage.” In the state of Texas, if you live and share the same bed with a person of the opposite sex for 6 months, you are legally, common-law married. That means, anything Jon bought, scammed, etc, R is ALSO now liable for. Such as Jon carrying a cashier’s check to a local bank for $100,000, and keeping out $20,000 for himself. First of all, whoever at the bank that allowed this, needs to be prosecuted because I personally feel it must be an inside job. I have used that same bank for years, and they put a hold on my own payroll checks from a major corporation that I received weekly. They even put a hold on IRS refund checks..so who in their right mind would knowingly fall for that? Yeah..right.. inside job I say.

Needless to say, Jon did not really have that money in another bank. He owes so much money now..and had it all financed in R’s name. She moved in with her sister now because she doesn’t have the money for the utilities. She’s also having to file for bankruptcy because he stole all that money from the equity of her home. She called the police, but they said since they LIVED together..common-law marriage was in effect, so there is nothing they can do. The officer told her on the side though (off the record), to move the motorcycle and sell it before Jon could get a hold of it. At least she can get some of that back with today’s gas prices..and it doesn’t have many miles on it. Obviously R has no common sense because my aunt kept telling her that this was all too good to be true. If Jon had soooo much money supposedly coming in from a sell out of his business in SC, where was the money, why did they need to re-finance R’s home..etc? Turns out, according to the police, Jon has been convicted of all sorts of con-artists scams all over the country. He seems to get away with most of it, simply because he cons an unsuspecting needy-type lady. Mom kept telling my aunt P, her SIL, that something was up with the guy because he had prison tattoos, and needed to have him checked out, but R was madly in love, and wouldn’t listen. Now she’s paying for it…49, broke, bankrupt, and nothing the law can do for her all because of her being common-law married. Plus, R, is not real smart, and we suspect maybe some mental learning issues, although she won’t get tested for them. This is just HORRIBLE! All we can do to help her is pray at this point.

Then, the other day at work, mom’s boss, we’ll call A, came in talking about some wonderful man that she’d met. That she had a date this coming weekend with…and his name was Jon.. from S.C., etc. My mom told her immediately that it sounded just like this other “Jon.” A was clearly upset, esp since she doesn’t know if they are one and the same. A’s Jon said he has a motorcycle, that he went to Clemson… hmm sound familiar. I told mom to remind A, that he is STILL common-law married as well.. so maybe, A can help the police some how set him up in a sting operation if it is the same Jon…which is what we suspect.

Another scam I was made aware of.. the jury duty scam. Early last fall, I was visiting my mother, and she received a phone call asking for my older brother, W. She asked what it pertained to, and she was informed that W had missed jury duty, and they need to verify his information to send him his ticket for failure to show. We had heard on a radio broadcast about a jury duty scam going on just the previous afternoon. Mom was immediately suspicious. She refused to verify anything about my older brother’s information. She then asked for the caller’s info, and he identified himself as investigator M. He gave her a case number and a phone number to call. She then asked why he called her, and he said that W listed her as a next of kin person to contact. All I can say is warning bells went off…

My older brother, W, is my dad’s son by a previous marriage..so he’s my mom’s STEP-SON. And although his mother has passed away, he and my mom are not close..and probably never will be. Also, he lives 8 hours away from us..why would we be his nearest contact when his wife’s family lives across town from him?!? Investigator M wanted to verify my mom and dad’s names and addresses..she wouldn’t..then he wanted to get in contact with me..not knowing I was sitting there listening to the speaker phone. She wouldn’t verify my address either. As soon as she hung up, we immediately called W. He was very upset. He called the county he lives in, along with a neighboring county, and they have no record with that number, nor has he missed anything. After calling mom back and telling her what he discovered, mom decided to contact the state attorney general’s office..as the radio program had suggested, but it didn’t say if it should be state or federal.. and they acted like they had no idea what to do. So she called the sheriff’s office and asked if they knew who to call.

The sheriff’s office had her come down to the station and give a statement. Mom had also taken down the phone number off of the caller ID where the “investigator” called from, and it was a New York area code. She looked up the number the “investigator” said to call, and it was all over the internet that it is a SCAM. The sheriff said anytime something like this happens, immediately give them ALL of the information. They filed a report and turned it into some federal division dealing with it because it had crossed statelines. We were told we did the right thing by NOT verifying anything and by not giving out any information. We were also told that you will NEVER be called by phone for anything to do with jury duty.

The best we could figure out, is they used a phone book to find the information. I guess because of all of the genealogy research I have done, I know that you can look in old telephone directories, but I will not tell you how because I will NOT help out any scammers that might decide to read my post. Another major warning flag that went up for us, they had forgotten to mention as a contact..my younger brother that still lives at home with my parents due to financial reasons. He doesn’t have anything but a cell phone..so they used lan-line numbers to look up the info..my older brother works for a company that puts together phone books, and said that was the best guess he could come up with..because it usually lists your phone number and address.

The next step we all took to protect ourselves was to get a hold of www.equifax.com. It is one of the major 3 credit bureaus. Basically from that, I took their phone number, called them, and had a warning placed on my credit/SSN#. I also had the option to have them call me if someone tried to access my credit, and I placed that on it as well. The warning is only good for six months from the time I did it, so I will place it again soon. I tried contacting one of the other credit bureaus first, but could not get through the long automated phone system. I found equifax to be the easiest to deal with. Also, equifax contacts the other 2 for you, and they put up the blocks/warnings as well. Each person in my parent’s household did this, and each person in my older brother’s household did it as well, including his 8 year-old child.

There are companies out there that will help protect you from identity theft as well. One such is called Lifelock. Their website is http://www.lifelock.com/ . Basically, they do what I told you about above. They actually contact the credit bureaus every 90 days from what I read and provide a million dollar guarantee to clear up your name if you do become a victim. As for the reduction in junk mail and credit card offers, when you place a warning/block through the credit bureaus, they actually are the ones who stop that for you.

Another thing I was also told to never do…never fill out to win free stuff in malls, grocery stores, etc. They “say” someone wins, but I have never actually met someone who has. It is simply a good way for them to get your infomation not only for mailing lists, but for persons wanting to steal your identity. Because if you think about it, it asks for your name…including maiden/married, address, phone number, email address, and good contact times. Well, you have just basically told someone where you live and just when you’ll be home. Other kinds of thieves can use this information to their advantage then, especially since no one stands guard over those win free stuff boxes. It is easy for them to just grab a few names out of the box and walk away with YOUR information.

The lessons I have learned from this, if it SOUNDS too good to be true..then it probably is! And to be paranoid in today’s society is to be safer.

As a child, I never had a single allergy. I only suffered from sinus infections. I never went through the sneezing, itchy-water eyes, etc that I saw so many of my classmates afflicted with. I never broke out in the hives from being outside when the cedar trees were pollinating. I could smell the flowers, and ENJOY them. My mom was allergic to everything it seemed. All types of evergreen trees, periwinkle flowers, dog dander, erythromycin, tetracyclin, penicillin, etc. I was very PROUD of not being allergic to anything, well except to carrots, but it was a very mild reaction. Then one day, my life changed.

When spring rolled around, my eyes would either water or dry up. My skin would get all dry and itchy, no matter HOW much lotion I applied. And then, after having a cut on my arm and playing among the trees, I actually got a poison oak/ivy outbreak. It spread like wild fire. Now, I can bring in firewood, and if there is residue on the wood, I break out from it. If someone is burning poison ivy/oak, I break out on all sorts of areas of my body. As I have aged, it seems like now I am allergic to EVERYTHING. I have become.. dum, dum dummmm….my mother ARGHHHH!!!

 People come through work wearing certain perfumes, and it sets my allergies on crazy alert. Freesia especially sends me into orbit. Also, I seem to be allergic to medications that my mother is not..such as cephalexin (keflex), augmentin (but not amoxicillin which means I must be allergic to augmentin’s other half or a filler of it), to zoloft, and any sulfa antibiotic. That being said, not all medications containing sulfa will cause an allergic reaction, it just depends on the specific type of sulfa medication because of its chemical make-up. I am also allergic to sulfur itself. You want to see an itchfest, then just put me in a non-ventilated room, and strike up a bunch of matches. I can’t breathe and my skin just breaks out in rashes everywhere. And not all doctors know exactly which medications contain certain things.

I was on zoloft for many years, but as time went on, I started having itchiness all the time, plus, it got to the point where it felt like bugs were crawling in my skin. Do you know how scary that is? I called up my pharmacist, he asked if I had any allergies, and I said sulfa..and was told to immediately stop the medication because of the MAJOR allergic reaction I was having to it. My doctor was upset that I stopped my medication suddenly when it should be tapered off, but after explaining my reaction, apologized to me for not knowing that it contained sulfa.

I also enjoy eating Mexican and Tex-Mex food. Unfortunately, it seems that many restaurants want to place cilantro in all of their dishes. WHY? I scream! Parsley is one thing, but cilantro?!? It is not a necessary herb to the dish. I have asked my Hispanic friends and been told that traditional Mexican food doesn’t use cilantro. You want to see anaphylactic shock, then put cilantro in my food. It turns out cilantro AND carrots are both part of the parsley family..DOH!

And you can forget me walking into Hallmark or Bath and Body Works. I LOVE the lotions from Bath and Body Works, but all the fragrances from both places not only give me a sick headache, but they start up an allergy attack, and when it gets to that point, my asthma usually flares up. Plus, lots of companies kept putting fragrances in their products now, which is almost just as bad, especially detergents. I jokingly tell my friends that I really need to trade in for a new body, but they like to point out, I could end up with much worse. I know some kids outgrow their allergies, but I’d like to de-evolve mine