A Rainy Saturday

There's a 40% chance of rain today.We had a hard rain last evening. I was hoping to go to either Owasso or Joplin for an Olive Garden lunch but not in the rain. So I guess I'll just come home after breakfast at Eggbert's. I have some ironing to do and I need to dust the apartment too.  I cleaned floors yesterday and Thursday.

The war worries me. It appears the military is hoping for some more ground action to keep Iraq from falling back into rebel hands. We have wasted eleven years of manpower/womanpower and finances in fighting a war we should never have been involved in at all. None of the 9/11 terrorists were from Iraq. Most of them were from Saudi Arabia, one of our allies.  The Islamis from all the Muslim nations should be handling this crisis by themselves. It is a political/religious war and cannot be ended by anything but negotiations and certainly not by Americans and Europeans who are considered infidels.

My sons were both involved in the war and the futility of trying to train an uneducated people became obvious when my younger son was running an Iraqi police academy.  How do you train people to use sophisticated weapons when the bulk of them cannot even read? It's impossible. We simply made a bad situation even worse. Thank goodness they are both being discharged and retired. 

Enough political opinion.

Later...

We met Bobby and Karan at Eggbert's for breakfast. They are on their way to Oklahoma City for a grandson's wedding.  But they met us for breakfast before they left.  We had a good visit.

I have been ironing. I had several pair of crops that were heavy and needed an iron set to them. I have them hanging in the closet now and the iron is cooling. Now I need to dust.

Friday At Last

It's Friday and I was happy to see Friday come. Today I will go to exercise class and I don't know what the rest of the day will bring. I have stripped my bed and I should get around to dusting and also washing my kitchen floor.  I am just so happy to have a long weekend. Next week is Interstate Fair and Rodeo week and we should be very busy. I rather dread that. I was so busy there by myself yesterday that I never found time to have my lunch.

Missy and I went out awhile this morning.  I watered my flowers in front of the apartment and let Missy come around the corner with me.  That may have been a mistake but I was sweeping. Then I went around to the patio on the east and swept it off. She came too...very cautiously.  We went back to the carport after that. She's a lot more comfortable there. I had to get my broom to herd her to finally get to come back in so I could put my laundry in the dryer and do this blog.

My younger son lives in Honolulu and so I am watching the weather channel now to see when the storm finally hits his island, Oahu.  I called him last night and he was taking his chairs off the lanai and into his apartment. They would probably get soaked. I hope his sliding glass doors don't break. It's only 2:30 in the morning there now so the storm has not yet hit Honolulu or even Oahu.

More later.....

Bob was over for lunch at noon today and we warmed up the tuna noodle casserole. It had peas in it. We had his salad and another of the banana bread muffins for dessert.

He came back over at dinner time and we walked over to Braums for an ice cream cone for dinner. He stayed and watched the news afterward and went home about 8:00 because it was raining cats and dogs.  We had only a 40% chance of rain but evidently that was enough.

A Long Thursday

This will be a long Thursday. It's one of my 9:45 till 4:15 days. If there are visitors in the museum at 4:00, I have to stay until they leave.  This is also a day when the Brown Mansion is open and offering tours so we always suggest they buy a combo ticket.  It saves them $1.50 on each ticket.

I will just fix some creamed beef on biscuits for this evening unless the hamburger is thawed out. If it's thawed, I will make a meatloaf instead.  Then I will fry some potatoes and have chopped broccoli and a salad with it. I have those banana bread cupcakes for dessert.

I am so glad I don't have to work Friday or Saturday because the rodeo starts on Friday and runs a week.  It will be a very busy week next week. On top of that, I am required to attend a job fair on Wednesday where Aime has a booth. If I don't show up, I will be written up. It requires me to drive back to Independence that day.  The job fair is from 10:00 till 2:00 and I have a 2:00 hair appointment then too and it is in Independence too.

I got quite a bit done this morning before I even go to work. I did a load of laundry and am drying it now. I also vacuumed the apartment and washed the bathroom floor.  I vacuumed the kitchen floor but will need to wash it later when I dust.  I took Missy out on the carport twice and got an old comb and combed her good.  She simply loved that.

More later this evening....

I had help this morning but Christina left at noon and so did Wendy. I did the afternoon by myself.

I got home about 4:25 and was exhausted. Nevertheless I made supper. I was so busy I didn't find time to eat lunch. 

A Busy Wednesday

Today was very busy too. I went to Wal Mart early on this morning and bought my groceries for the week. Then I went on to exercise class at 8:45. I left about ten minutes early to get to the museum. First I always have to go by the Chamber office and pick up the key. Then I opened before Wendy got there. She let me do the entire routine by myself today. John had done that yesterday.  Another volunteer worked today too.

We had a busy morning again with many visitors. I left a little after 1:00 and took the key back to the chamber office. Then I went by Sonic and had the child's chicken strip dinner for my lunch. Then I came back home.

I fixed some banana cupcakes for dessert and later I fixed the tuna noodle casserole with peas. Bob brought cottage cheese and applesauce and we had peach tea. Then we had some of those banana cupcakes for dessert.

We had dinner at 5:00 and Bob came over for some TV. He went home when he got sleepy and I continued to watch Nature on PBS. I Bobby and he came over and picked up some of the tuna noodle casserole for his lunch tomorrow.  I sent home two of those banana cupcakes too. Bobby has been so good to me over the years since my Bob died. He has fixed several things for me over these past four years. Karan is on a strict Nutrasystem diet  She has lost over 30 pounds and still she has to fix some kind of a dinner for Bobby each day. I try to save some of our dinner foods for him for his lunch.

I will take my bath in a little while and put my PJ's on. Then I will watch another program.....Nova....if I can stay awake long enough. 

Tomorrow I work 6 1/2 hours. That's one of my two long days.

I prefer the half days. I am on my feet so much  during the long days that I come home very tired.

What A Tuesday!

I was looking forward to a quiet afternoon but all that changed when Juanita called this morning all worried about her bills. Since she is nearly completely blind, she has a terrible time getting anything straightened out that needs straightening out. I told her I would come up right after work at 1:15. So, although I had already been to Independence once to deliver the cakes and get my hair done after work, I stopped at the post office just long enough to  mail the Church School books off to Robert and Kathy. (They wanted to study them and we were finished with ours).  Then I went on back to Independence.

Anyhow, I got up there to find that she had called the bank just as it opened to inquire if those three bills had been taken out. They had not yet taken the amounts out and she started worrying that they were not going to do it. When I called all three accounts they said for her to do her checking her accounts later in the day. They all three assured her that they had the correct account number and would be taking the premiums out later in the day on the 5th of the month each month.

She was very relieved. 

Then I came home again to help my brother -in-law to figure out his "bill pay" on his website. He did fine and scheduled three bills. Then my cell rang and it was my friend, Phyllis, who had locked her car with her remote and could not get it to unlock.  She called a locksmith who was going to be late getting there because of a previous appointment in Independence. She called me back to come take her home until he was available. Her cell phone was dying and she needed him to call her on her home phone.  Bob and I jumped into his car and went out to the church. When we were nearly there, she called back to say he was on his way and we didn't need to come after all.  But Bob and I were already there. We stayed awhile and I asked her for her keys. I tried locking and unlocking her door and suggested she open the trunk and try to get in that way since her back seats folded down. Suddenly a light went on in her eyes and she opened the door with her key.  (I thought it might make the alarm go off but it didn't) and get ready .  We locked and unlocked it several times to make sure it was going to work then she called the locksmith and cancelled the call. She was mortified!  She was terribly embarrassed but we assured her that we all have those moments.

I got home just in time to go buy gas and then fix dinner for Bob and me.  After that, we went to vote. Then we came back home and he went home and I came home to work on this blog and get ready for bed.

What a day!

Back to Work Monday

This is another work day...one of the longer ones. I hope to get comfortable with the routine soon. I need to memorize the code for the security system.  That has to be turned off within one minute of the unlocking of the door.  If it goes off, the police will come.

When the dollar store opens I want to get a couple of get well cards. Gay's mom has been in the hospital for a week and is home now but enjoys cards so I am going to send her one and I want Bob to send her one too.  She is 96.

Then when the bank opens I need to check with them about Scott's allotment. They were supposed to have intercepted it and put it in the new account but it would have been in on the first and I don't see it in the new account.  I'm not tremendously impressed with this bank yet.  They have made a lot of little errors.

I go in to work at 9:45. I stop at the Chamber of Commerce office and check out the front door key.  In this program, I am not allowed to have a key.  I work until 4:15 this afternoon.

I soaked the beans overnight. I washed them and put fresh water on them this morning and started  them in  the slow cooker.  Bob will check on them about 9:00. If they are done, he will add the onions and salt and turn the slow cooker down to "warm". When I get home from work, I will bake the cornbread.  I have fixed pistachio pudding for dessert.

Then this evening, I will need to bake my cake for the First Christian Church in Independence. I will take them up a little earlier tomorrow. My10:00  hair appointment has been moved to 8:30 because of the job. After that I will take in the cakes and come home for work.

More later....

I got the beans finished up  as soon as i got home from work and set another place at the table.  Marilyn is coming too. Luckily I had made several puddings for dessert.  Marilyn had brought a wonderful bottle of wine and we drank some of it during dinner. We didn't have many beans left so I didn't have enough for Bobby. I hated to do it but I called him and told him "next time".

After dinner I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up and then made my strawberry cake for tomorrow.  I will ice it in the morning. I am exhausted. I took my bath and then ran the trash cart out to the curb.
Today was easier at work but still I am very tired.  Thank goodness I only work three and a quarter hours tomorrow.

I did get the photos of the Dalton room today. I will download them to the computer.

This is the way the four men of the Dalton gang were laid out after being killed during the raid.

And this is an oil of the four Coffeyville citizens who were killed defending the two banks and the town.

This is the safe that was in one of the banks they were attempting to rob.

This is one of the display cases with artifacts enclosed. One of the artifacts is a rifle taken from one of the outlaws after they died.

Another display case in the Dalton room. Notice the pistol taken from one of the outlaws.

This case displays two of the guns taken from the body of Grat Dalton. It's his rifle and one of his pistols.

Some photos and documents depicting the outlaws

More photos of the outlaws.

The saddles taken from the outlaw's horses. The horses were shot dead during the raid. The gunfire from the citizens was coming from several directions.

I'm sure I will like working here as soon as I get comfortable with the routine. It's just a couple of hours longer then I'm used to working.  And I'm on my feet a lot more then I'm used to.

Sunday, and no Work Today

Thank goodness it's Sunday! Yes, I have a full day but at least I don't work today. I will go to church this morning and afterward out to lunch with a group from the congregation.  Then I will come home and do my letters. Then the rest of the day, I can rest up for tomorrow...another 6 1/2 hour day.

Here are some more of the photos I took yesterday.

This is in the foyer and is depicting another old building that existed in Coffeyville during the 1892 raid on the two banks where the Dalton gang met their end.

This is a scene at the end of the foyer showing how the livery stable would have looked back then.

This is the scene looking into the museum toward the east from the foyer. It depicts the general store window.

This is a photo of an old hearse and coffin from that era and was sent to Coffeyville a couple of years after the raid so it would not have been used to transport any of the deceased at that time.  But it is indicative of the method they were transported at that time. The coffin was to be only for "show". After the funeral or trip to the cemetery the deceased would be moved to a pine box before burial.

These men were the defenders who were killed by the Daltons on that fateful day on October 5th 1892.  The museum is dedicated to them.

This case shows some antique typewriters. There are many things on display that are from that era but not connected to the Dalton raid. The historical society of Coffeyville just want people to be aware of the way the culture was in that day.

This case shows some old flatirons and depicts the way women had to iron before electricity. They put these irons on their old wood stove and heated them up to iron.

This case is in the east room of the museum and has much information about old Coffeyville and the culture at the time of the raid.

This is an area showing KGGF, the towns radio station in later years and some of it's programming. It was a 10,000 watt AM station and won many awards before FM was introduced. I worked there for 11 years in the 1980s and early 1990s as an advertising executive and was their top salesperson during most of that period .

This is an old record player on display there. If we had a needle, it would still play. These photos are of the museum main room and Coffeyville room (east room). I could not get photos of the Dalton room because it was full of visitors. Perhaps tomorrow will be slower and I can get photos of the displays in the Dalton  room.

There are three rooms at the museum plus the foyer where the wall paintings depicting the town in 1892 are found.

The first room is generally about Coffeyville and that era in history .

The second room is also about primarily Coffeyville's early history and has artifacts contemporary with that period in it's history.

The third room is the Dalton room. It has the guns they used to try to rob the two banks that fateful day in October in 1892. It also has a 40 minute video done by the History Channel of the history of Coffeyville but also of the raid that day. The History Channel gave the museum a copy of their program. The last 15 minutes is strictly about the raid itself and many more patrons watch just that part.

Patrons are able to purchase tickets for both the Dalton Defenders Museum and the Brown Mansion as a combo for $9.00. The Brown Mansion tour is a guided tour and the museum tour is self guided. Everything is carefully labeled there at the museum. Children can do a scavenger hunt in the museum and get a certificate for doing it. 

Anyhow, this gives my blog visitors some idea of the Dalton Defenders Museum where I am now working part time.