Spoiled Rotten

It's not because of the 'things' you 'get', but because it is nice to know people like you.

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First great birthday gift was that three kids went back to school. Thank you School District!

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Next was lunch and a facial (including childcare) from Awesome Neighbors. Thanks neighbors, you really are awesome. We're so lucky!

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Geoff came home early and we went out for dinner with friends. Not cooking a single meal in a day is a great gift!

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Each child gave me a gift that they chose especially for me (way to go, Geoff. Mega points for that!)

*Getting old isn't so bad. People like me. It makes me feel pretty darn good. Thanks for a great birthday everyone!*

I've resorted...

... to "drinking" Trix cereal out of a cup.



I'm just in a funk. The kids have been out of school for two weeks. They only started up about two weeks before that. They have been really great, actually, and I haven't felt the need to physically hurt any of them, or me. Nor have I had the desire to run away. (Except for maybe today). I just really like the structure of a schedule. I really like school. I like vacuuming and not seeing footprints on it for a few minutes afterward. Just silly things like that.

Stores are opening up more and more each day, but gas is still difficult to come by. So as a result, I'm "rationing" my going and doing. Hence the Trix from a cup. Don't want to use the milk, cause then I'd have to go to the over crowded and understocked stores to buy more. And, I haven't gone to the store to stock up for the 4 pm sugar rush - that's totally my fault for not preparing! My one saving grace has been that Sonic close by home has opened and so Happy Hour Diet Coke is available. (Honestly, the withdrawal headache was not pleasant.)

The schools supposedly start on Thursday. I keep checking the website for fear of a delay. So far it is on schedule for Thursday. I can see an end in sight. Now I just need to get out of the funk. Anyway, don't mind me. I just needed to vent. I'll be okay. Maybe another cup of Trix...

I have a gripe

A couple weeks ago, a neighbor (this guy actually was my PTA vice president my first year on the board. We didn't get along. It's a whole other story for another day...) asked if I would pick up his daughter from the bus stop one day after school because he had a job interview and couldn't make it to get her. (The wife works too.) I said that I'd be happy to help out that day. Then as we continued to talk (I should point out here that this neighbor doesn't despise me like I do him), he said that he would most likely take this new job and would therefore need to find before and after school care for his daughter, and asked if I would be willing to do it -- of coarse he'd pay me for it. I said; "Oh, no. Sorry, I can't commit to that! Some days we are going and don't even come home after school. When we are home after, it's all about music practice and homework and all that stuff. I'm not in the child care business." So then he says: "Well, yeah. I just thought I'd ask. I figured you already have so many children that what's one more!"


What's that!?!


I'll tell you what's one more, buddy! (Can you see a little why he's not my favorite neighbor?) One more means one more person to herd into a car and one more voice to either zone out or talk over. One more is one that I haven't crafted, and guilted and scarred into obeying my every command the second I command it. You can't just throw in one more after 6 or 7 years of non-Nic training! One more....


What if I said to him: "Huh, you only have one child. How about if I give you two of mine, then that makes us even. One's not enough. You need at least three. Besides, you only have one, what's a couple more?"

It's just really weird.

Like, Twilight Zone weird, sort of.


In my home and in my small community, life is normal. Except not really normal. Other than the fact that school will be out at least until next Thursday, life seems normal when I am within the walls of my home or at least in the confines of my subdivision.


Outside of my bubble is a completely different story. Approximately 60% of the residents in my town have no electricity still. That just makes me so sad. The hurricane struck one week ago tonight. In the greater Houston area, 2.21 million customers still are without power. That's customers! You average 3 people in every home, that triples the number of people living without electricity.


Within our ward (congregation) boundaries, things are slowly picking up. At this point, there are only a handful of people without electricity. (A good portion of the folks in town without power are on the east end of my town and therefore are in the other ward -- not that we can't help them too!)


Some friends and I have coined the term "electricity guilt". To ease the guilt, I have offered and tried to help out as best I can. Sadly, I am not the most charitable of women in the Relief Society - women's organization at church (maybe that's why I love the primary - children's organization at church). We've got one couple's freezer plugged in our garage, and I've done laundry for a couple people. I've got frozen food of another family in my freezer.


The other night, a lady in the ward who is basically our adopted grandma, came over and asked if I would do her a favor. I was thrilled that she asked! She and her husband live in a retirement community and at that point had been without electricity for about five days. Despite my pleading for her to stay with us, she said that a couple people had generators and they were all sharing those so as to plug in refrigerators and turn on a fan once in a while, so they were doing fine - (especially since the weather has graciously turned very unseasonable cool and nice). She and her neighbors were all taking turns cooking each night. So anyway, it wasn't her turn to cook, but she said they were desperate for chocolate and so she asked me to bake a cake. She brought over a pan, cake mix, frosting, and eggs. (Little did she know that the majority of my food storage is cake mixes and frosting so she could have had her pick!) I just thought that was so cute. So the next day, she came after work to pick up her cake and I gave her some cupcakes too -- we were needing a bit of chocolate too. (See how selfish I am!?!) I was so impressed with all these, um, mature people roughing it and having a great time doing so! (They got power in their community finally yesterday evening - yeah!)


So, just the little things that I am able to do make me feel a bit better about it all. I feel like there is so much more that I could be doing. Tomorrow I am going to try to volunteer at a relief center for at least part of the day. But I am also making myself realize that Geoff is out each weekend with the Mormon "Helping Hands" crews working in ours and neighboring communities, so by being home with the kids and allowing him to go, I am helping in a way. (I'm not looking for kudos here, I'm just saying what's going on in my world and in my head...)


Anyway, back to the title of this post (I realize I'm rambling. There's a lot of emotion going on with me right now, so bear with me.), it's weird because although I'm 'normal' in my little bubble, it all seems to be an abnormal domino effect on the outside of that bubble. For instance; I am limiting my driving because there is limited gas, so I am rationing what I have and only going places that are essential -- okay, yes, the zoo the other day was essential because the kids have been home for a week and we are looking at another week out of school, so I'm wrapping my brain around basically still being on summer vacation.


Also, I get a little panicky when we are running low on milk and/or essential groceries because the stores are still so thinly stocked. It's getting better and better each day, but as it is, I am trying to stay out of grocery stores for as long as possible and leave that for people who are still without power and such. That all goes back to the 'electricity guilt'. But, I know, when I need it, I need it, electricity or not. Not trying to be a martyr at all, I'm just saying.... Anyway, I'm going to attempt to get to the grocery store at 6 tomorrow morning so as to try to get the things I need. Wish me luck!


Any WAY, it's weird and crazy and I just want everyone to be happy and housed and back to normal. I want to go to Target and browse the isles, not because I need or necessarily want anything, but because that is normal (for me at least)! Maybe if I just act normal... And I can do that. As long as I don't go out of my subdivision. How long can that be possible?

I told you. It's just weird. Twilight Zone weird.

Hurricane Ike (aka: Bill and Ed's excellent adventure)

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for your prayers, concern, phone calls and thoughts. That means so much to us and we really appreciate your concern.

Secondly, I have to say that Mayor Bill and Judge Ed did not steer me wrong by asking me to "hunker down". However, I say that as one who weathered this storm very fortunately.

And third, I must say that the city of Houston (and surrounding cities/towns) ROCKS! I'm sure there are those who have complaints (and again, I have electricity, little damage, etc...) but over all, I think this horrible disaster was handled wonderfully.

As far as our little family goes, it was all (THANKFULLY) pretty under-dramatic. (Can I make that a phrase?) The power went out at about 8 pm on Friday, September 12th. Shortly thereafter, we put Christian in his bed in his room with the windows facing north (the storm would be coming from the south). We let the other four camp out on the living room floor just outside our bedroom. It was hot already. We put a movie on the portable DVD player for the kids and Geoff and I went outside to stand and commune with the neighbors. It was eerie and a bit scary. When the wind got to where we couldn't hear each other and we were being knocked off balance by the gusts, we bid each other good luck and went to our respective homes. Geoff and I read for a bit by candle/flash light, then decided to try to get some sleep knowing that we would most likely be up throughout most of the night. We said some of the most fervent prayers we ever have!

At 9:30 pm the rain started and the wind picked up greatly. By 11:30 the windows were shaking and the rain was pounding straight into the house. Samantha came into our bed about this time. At around 2:30 am (Saturday the 13th), we got up to check the house. Christian was sleeping like a baby. The storm was all at the back of the house, so he probably heard nothing. Eric had made a cave out of pillows and blankets so despite probably being suffocatingly hot, he slept through most of it. Maren slept through it all, except she did do quite a bit of talking in her sleep. And Logan took every opportunity to play Gameboy DS. As I said before, Samy was in our bed and came in and out of sleep.

As we checked out the house, we found water coming in under and around the back door. The rain was just pounding it, so it would have had to be some special door in order to keep that rain out. We shoved towels at the bottom. At one point the door was shaking so much, I put my hands on it as if to hold it shut. It felt like a very strong man was trying to push against me and get it open. Weird and scary. There was also water coming in through the stove vent. It's totally our fault for that one. The kids long ago knocked the vent cover off playing ball and we never got around to replacing it. We will now...

Everything else seemed in tact and fine, so we slept as best as we could off and on for the next few hours. Geoff had gone out on the floor with the three kids and I was in my room with Samy. The windows in my room were getting pounded so hard and rattling and shaking so badly, that I finally picked her up and went to huddle with the rest of the family in the living room. Now, before you decide how horrible we are, I will say that we checked on Christian frequently and literally, the storm was at the back of the house, so he heard virtually nothing. Also, we are in a fairly new community so there are no mature trees that were in a position to fall down on the second story of the house. His bed was well away from any windows. Plus, it was just better for him and all of us, that he was in his own bed and sleeping as normally as possible.

When morning came, the wind and rain were still ferocious. It finally laid off at around 9:00 am.

At that point, we found that a part of our fence had blown down, and there were a lot of roof shingles in our yard, but none from our house that we could see. Geoff checked out our house and finding no damage, went to check on the church families that live in our area -- this was all pre-determined and assigned.




Geoff spent most of Saturday checking on/finding ward members and their houses to do a first assessment of damage. When he got back and told me what had happened to some of the homes, I realized how very fortunate we came out of this.

The kids and I spent the day drinking water and being as still as possible in order to keep cool. Christians naps were whenever and wherever he felt like it. I put a cool cloth on him when he was sleeping in the middle of the living room once. Check out his damp curls. He was one little sweat ball!



Every few hours, we'd get into the car in order to charge the cell phone (one of the best things we've ever bought is a power converter/adapter) - I could receive text messages at this point, but had no reception and could not send anything out - and listening to news on the radio (bad planning is that we didn't have proper batteries for a radio in the house) while we cooled off in the car air conditioning.

As I said, we were very fortunate. Our electricity came back on just 24 hours after it was initially cut off. By Saturday night, we were back on power and cooled off. At this point, the "disaster" was by in large over for our little family.

We surveyed our immediate area and took some photos. They are absolutely nothing compared to Galveston and the coastal communities, but it shows a bit of what happened directly near me.

Stay tuned for a post regarding the aftermath and our personal efforts to try to help in recovery...

Hunkering down

This post was begun the evening of Friday, September 12. Power went out before I could finish and publish.

So here we are. The wind has picked up and the sky is very overcast.

The wind is picking up significantly. The clouds are moving at an eerie pace. It's howling, actually. We've made all the preparations that we can/can think of. We've got a stocked pantry,



water,

flashlights galore.

72-hour kits are at the ready and in my anxiety driven state, I made cookies (priorities!) I had to do something, and nothing says comfort to me like homemade chocolate chip cookies...

Everything that we may possibly need to be charged is being charged. Now we wait. This is the part that is bugging me. The news has completely gone berserk and is so excited for themselves it is hard to watch. They have been doing continuous coverage for the last almost 72 hours it seem, bless their hearts. We're hunkering down.

I'll admit it. I'm a bit nervous. I'm totally a tough chick, but this is a little nerve wracking. At this point, I can say for sure: I'd still take a hurricane over an earthquake any day. At least you know it's coming and can make preparations. But, like I said, I'm a little nervous, so ask me again in about 8 to 12 hours. I may need to reassess.

As for now: Game on!

The Verdict

We're staying. Throughout last night and into this morning, I was still going back and forth as to whether or not to leave. I've prayed and thought and watched news and thought and prayed some more. Then the Houston Mayor (Bill White) and County Judge (Ed Emmett) conducted a press conference this morning wherein they told us the zip codes that were mandatory evacuation areas - mine NOT included - and said that everyone else should "shelter in place" (unless, of coarse your place is like a mobile home!). So, we're obeying/trusting our local leaders and "hunkering down" as they said.

I'm not really that concerned. I feel like we are going to be just fine. And hey, if it does turn real bad and we are put in danger, then I am totally going to blame Bill and Ed! Ike is gigantic, and we will get a lot of wind and rain. I've put all of the patio/outside 'stuff' into the garage, so there are no foreseeable projectiles. Plus, at this point now, if we felt that we should leave, the possibility/probability of getting stranded on the freeway parking lots would be worse than if we stayed at home.

As for today, the laundry show must go on! We are actually enjoying beautiful weather - the calm before the storm? - and are celebrating Awesome Neighbor Mary's birthday. Tomorrow, we will watch TV and play Wii at Awesome Neighbors until the power goes out. From then on, the plan is to have a massive Mexican Train Domino's tournament (via candle light?).



We've got water, food, birthday cake, and good company. It's fine.

And again, if it's not; It's you Mayor Bill and Judge Ed!

Snow days

Let's talk about Ike. I'm not particularly happy with Ike or his behavior at the moment. Just this afternoon, I sent a big informational email out to my family telling them what's going on and what our evacuation plans are (currently not to evacuate). I felt the need to let everyone know my point of view because the national and especially the local media/meteorologists tend to get overly excited about these things and blow them out of proportion.

However, now here is my dilemma/problem with Ike: 1)Ike is huge. Although it is not as of yet, nor is it predicted to be a really strong hurricane, the span of it is enormous, so no matter where he makes land fall, we will feel it. How much we feel it depends on where landfall is. Not to mention that we are on the "sloppy" or "dirty" side of it, so we're looking at a lot of rain and wind most likely. 2) He keeps jumping all over the place. He is being pushed by fronts and troughs and stuff so that he isn't just staying on one track. Currently, he is supposed to go to the southwest of us, but if he is pushed or moved, it is usually to the northeast. And that 'IF' would bring him right to us.


So, the big question is: do we evacuate? When we evacuated for Rita in 2005 (that's a story for another day if you haven't already heard it), she was a CAT 5 barrelling right for Galveston. We high tailed it (it was just me and four children). At the last minute, Rita shifted to the northeast, and we barely got our lawn watered. However, I'd still do it again.

Now with Ike, right now I don't FEEL like we are in any sort of danger. We are stocked with food, water and batteries. We are in a 100 year flood plain (which means it would take a lot for us to flood), and we're a pretty good distance inland. BUT, stranger things have happened. And the biggest issue of all, for me, is power outage. Yeah, I can handle being cooped up for a few days and eating all the junk in the pantry by candlelight. But I'm sorry; I can not go without air conditioning for any amount of time in this place!

So now Kelly calls me to tell me that my school district has closed for the next two days. (There is a chance that I wouldn't have known until I went to drop the first group off at their bus stop and noticed there was no one around, so thanks, Kelly!) Now. granted, a good part of our district is in low-lying areas or nearer to the coast, but dang it. Two days! I didn't tell any of my people. We just had normal homework/bedtime routine. I have to prepare myself mentally before I can let them in on the snow days and see the glee shining in their eyes. I did, however, turn off every one's alarms so they won't be woken up so early -- here's hoping...

I'm so confused. I will make my final decision as to weather we stay or go by tomorrow early evening. I've reserved a hotel room up north just in case and hope to/plan on canceling it. (I have learned to do that because for Rita, there were no hotels in Texas and we had to drive to Oklahoma City for a room!) Anyway, if we were to leave any later than that, we'd be stuck on the freeway for hours on end anyway, and I'd much rather be stuck at home with no air conditioning than on the hot pavement with car fumes and a few million of my closest friends.

I'll let you know. I need some serious chocolate. Maybe I should head to Target before the flood waters rise and I can't get there...

Dang you Ike!!!

The hills are alive...

Okay, there's no hills where I live, but there are freeway overpasses. Anyway, Maren had her first piano lesson this week. Oh, the joy. I am so excited and jealous, and vicariously living through her!

Her teacher is the music teacher at our elementary school who happens to live right around the corner from us (hello one thing I don't have to drive people to!!!). When she walked home from her first lesson, she walked up to the back door, I was standing in the kitchen and saw her approach. The look on her face was pure and unadulterated joy. The smile literally stretched from one ear to the other. Oh, so cute. (Didn't have the camera handy, dang.)

So, she did her worksheets while she ate dinner, then went straight to the piano and practiced for an hour. I know it will get less exciting real quick probably, but for now it is good. Real good.

So, between Maren pounding out the keys and Eric's oboe sounding like a duck in heat, we are totally an instrumental version of the Von Trapps! I L O V E it!