Where the penguins waddle

just wow.

He did it

I am only 9 years younger than this man and feel like SUCH the slacker in comparison.  I will work to do what I can to be a part of the change he is promising.

Flash floods are nothing new in Houston, but I have been lucky enough to avoid trouble spots during those times. Until last night when we almost got swept up in the action.

We were taking the kids out to dinner and it had been raining a little bit on and off, but never for long. As we got closer to the highway we needed to get on I noticed the sky had that ‘green’ tint to it – you know, the color that means it is going to pour buckets – but it also looked like we would miss it. About 2 minutes after that the rain started coming down – we moved to the middle of a three lane road to avoid the side of the road where it was ponding.  We only had one more light to go before we were to the highway.

Before that light there is a train bridge that we had to go over and that’s where things got interesting. We couldn’t see because of an 18 wheeler in the way but started getting in line to get through a flooded area. Then when the 18 wheeler cleared (and the water was up to the top of it’s tires), we saw a 4 door sedan stuck in the water. Yeah, it wasn’t going to happen – especially w/ the kids in the car, so I quickly got out of line and started to back up on the bridge.

10 minutes later the spot I left had water almost up to the doors of the cars sitting there. A big ‘tough’ truck tried to barrel his way through the water, made the 4 door sedan bob up and down a bit in his wake, and stalled out shortly thereafter. It was still raining and I didn’t want to stay stuck on the bridge, esp. w/ the kids in the car, so I turned around and stared down 3 lanes of headlights for a way out. Another car did the same (I let him go in front of me to be my blocker!) and in about 20 minutes we got back to wet, yet non-flooded road.

During all of this, we gave Ethan his bottle, but he somehow opened it and flooded his car seat (appropriate no?). The rain was slowing down so we stopped at a gas station, got him changed, and started to head home – hoping to stop somewhere to grab some food. The streets on the way home had water above their curbs. Again, we stayed in the middle and followed the leader, but some asshats who were in a hurry (wtf?!?) were going to my left splashing water up everywhere. Soon enough even the middle of the road was in deep water and I could hear my engine NOT liking it one bit. I was so afraid to stop and thankfully I think everyone else was too. We finally got to the intersection where we wanted to turn left to get some food and I couldn’t get into that lane because of the asshats, so instead I turned right, got my car’s nose in deeper water and just gunned it into a Chili’s parking lot. We got everyone out (even with sliding doors and umbrellas we all got soaked!) and just rode out the bulk of the wet weather there. Best $45 I ever spent (to include a glass of wine for my shot nerves!)

An hour, one blowout diaper, and Chelsea fit later, we took some back roads and finally made it home. An hour after that the news ticker at the bottom of the debates said ‘warning: flash flooding in NE Houston’. They are SO timely around these parts!

I am still not 100% sure what this means, but Tater uses it almost EVERY day to describe taking turns.   Most typically it is used when talking about sleeping in our bed:  ‘but mommy, I said we’d do each of each!’, wanting a toy:  ‘dad – CJ isn’t playing each of each!’  or trying a new food ‘ugh – mooommmm!  I didn’t say each of each!’

This interesting communication tactic is then combined w/ Nate trying on various faces to get JUST the right effect.  I’m trying to capture those faces with my camera, but it’s hard when I’m laughing at him to get a good shot.  His character is really shining through (both the funny and hard-headed parts!) and I hope to capture as much as I can.

So we are officially ‘whole’ after Hurricane Ike took away our electricity for 2 weeks and our satellite for 4.  Well, I can’t give Ike all the credit for the satellite.  I mean, typically when you call the company for service, they’ll set a time up for you.  And I understand when a major disaster strikes, it will take awhile to get everyone back up and running – really that is not my issue.

However, our provider (cough cough DirecTV cough cough) is a national provider.  They have a count of how many customers need help.  They have pulled in workers from across the country to work on their customers dishes.  They know where our report stands in line (right?).  So why on earth could they not provide us with an estimated time of fix?  We got pre-recorded messages telling us ‘you will be contacted soon’.  After the 3rd one, we called back and just asked for an estimated wait time – 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months – we really just wanted something.  Nope – we can’t provide that to you was their standard response.  Nothing?  No.  Really?  Sorry.

To us that meant:  we’re on our own.  Three calls and 4 hours later, we have a guy up on our roof and voila – our system is restored.  No charge because he works with DirecTV so we’re under our service warranty.  Interesting to say the least, wouldn’t you agree?

Now having had my rant about that, please let me add that this was an annoyance and if our worst case hurricane scenario involved watching Elmo on a continual loop all over again, I’d sign up for it in a heartbeat.  There are people who have it worse – a lot worse.  Homes destroyed, animals displaced, people still living in shelters or hotels, and unfortunately, lives lost.   No one person can do it all, but if you have an annual pre-Christmas purging of unused goods, please consider doing it a little early this year and donating the items to your local charities.  Regardless of who is helped, it will make things a little brighter everywhere.

• funniest sign I’ve seen:  Get out Ike, don’t beat us like you beat Tina!
• it’s now almost 11pm cst, IKE is either hitting the coast now or about to (we’ll get it about an hour after Galveston
• electricity – check, sleeping family – check, somewhat frazzled nerves – check check, wine for frazzled nerves – hell.yeah!
• trying to force myself to sleep but I know the hurricane force winds are on their way and it’s tough to WANT to sleep, but I must
• here’s to hoping (praying!) I’ll be back here tomorrow with a report of any aftermath.
• more praying…

To celebrate my promotion and raise, I decided to book a flight to Lincoln, NE to watch my Virginia Tech Hokies take on Nebraska.  ok, so I was going to do this before all of this, I just won’t have to sell my first born to the credit agency.  (however, if anyone else is interested, I am willing to haggle).

I had to hold my brother back, but he finally relented to join me, and random as it may be he has a connection in Houston – JUST LIKE ME!!  weird, huh?

Last year a trip to see us play LSU – this year, it’s the Cornhuskers.  Things are looking up already.

Sampling #1:

me: yeah, BFF is turning 40 in December – she told me she’s not really looking forward to it.

him: why?

me: well, not sure. I told her I wasn’t really dreading it, but of course wasn’t looking forward to it. She said that’s probably because we are at different places in our lives.

him: you should have told her not to rub it in.

Sampling #2: During a conversation as I was driving, he invented the word ‘dramastically’ (reference: SNL from 2000 when they invented the word ‘strategery’)

Sampling #3: (background) B plays poker with some friends – some of which just happen to be gay (NTTAWTT!) and one of them (R) just happens to own a place that, and I don’t care who you are, invokes drool and penile envy. He lives there w/ his partner (L) whom he married in a different state (because TX is all about allowing that):

R: one of my coworkers saw a picture of me and L at our ceremony. She asked me if he was my son.

B: (after being given the Heimlich maneuver) did you tell her the truth?

R: well, yeah, I didn’t want her thinking I had a son

B: you should have told her that he was your daughter.