We must all be doing good, cause Santa came to our Sub D early this morning. There was honking and cheering to be heard all around. Even the Chick-fil-a Santa Cow came along for the ride! They were a little chinsy on the candy, but we were still happy to see them. Although, Justin said Santa was skinnier than he thought he should be.
Okay, well I have to get the kids ready to go meet Santa and Chick-fil-a Cow. Then, we are all getting ready for Santa Gabe to come home! Now, that is something to be merry about.
Okay, so many of you know that I almost did not leave my wonderful H-town during the hurricane warning. I was like, yeah, yeah, been there, done that, own the Rita t-shirt. BUT, after much persuasion from my in laws, I decided it was the thing to do. Besides, electricity is worth the drive.
My friends and neighbors chose to stay behind. If is was not for them, I would not have had so much foresight on what to expect and do before we came back home. My wonderful friend and neighbor,Susan, kept me updated on the whole situation, plus watched over our home. My friend, Laura, cleaned out my refrigerator for me! It was sparkling clean when I came back home. Everyone informed me what was for real on the news and what to do for sure before coming back home. Weezer and Papa took great care of all us while we took refuge in their home. All in all, we were very lucky. Others, weren’t.
Coming back home, I was not sure what to expect other than to be sure to fill up hours outside of Houston, because gas is scarce here. Also, to buy groceries, because most stores are stilled closed, and if they are not, then they sell out quickly. I guess Weezer said it best when she said how it was hard to believe how such a big city could be made immobile. Then, my friend, Linda E, said another best, that next to electricty, gas and groceries were a hot commodity.
Here are some videos that Savannah took while we came in. Video One is of two lines (North Bound and South Bound) of utility workers in a caravan on the Sam Houston Tollway. Video Two is some of what we encountered driving near our subdivision; gas lines (Chevron), packed restaurants (Johnny Carino’s) and closures (McDonald’s). While our area did not suffer as greatly as Galveston, it sure took a beating. Trees were uprooted. Roofs torn off. Fences blown into other yards (our back fence fell and some shingles stripped from our roof). I went running today and saw pile after pile of debris lined up around the neighborhood yards. I have never seen anything like it. Like with Rita, I will never forget the grid lock on the highway and the chaos and mad panic at the grocery stores. Ike will hold new memories. Like encountering signs on I-45S saying that the town had no gas or food, move on. This time, I came in and saw areas pitch dark spotted with areas of light, just to hit more areas stretched out into the darkness. Normally when I drive into Houston, all I see are bright lights. I will also remember seeing lines of cars stretched out for a mile into the streets just waiting to gas up. I will also remember seeing giants closed, like McDonald’s and Wal-Mart, and unusually packed restaurants that reopened, like Burger King and Denny’s, with lines and jammed parking lots, people just waiting to get some food, any food. I saw all of this driving in on a Tuesday night.
I will also remember that the people of Houston once again all pulled together to help each other out and that today on my run, people were going out of their way to say hi to everyone.
So tomorrow, I will venture out with my hubby to see if we can buy some food at a recently opened HEB. We are working on slim pickings at the house. We have no meat! Slowly, but surely, businesses are reopening. People are starting to trickle into work. Most ISDs are out until next week. My kids see this as an adventure, as many others do. As I write this, 1.3 million people are still without electricity, with no assurances of having it turned on any time soon. Gas is at a reasonable price, considering. The Dallas Cowboys are 2-0. And my hubby is on his way home!
The POTD’s are back folks! I know how much you all missed them and I didn’t want to let you down any longer. It also gives me something to look for throughout the day AND it allows gadget usage so it’s all good.
Up until this morning our car wouldn’t fit into the garage because it was stacked floor to ceiling with boxes and other crap that we didn’t quite know what to do with. MBM and I managed to get rid of lots and organize the rest so there would be plenty of room for the vehicle. So, your POTD is our nice, new, clean garage complete with Ford Explorer parked in it.
In other news, I had a slight run-in with our immediate neighbors (the ones that are complete jerks - they have probably Googled us by now and maybe they’re reading… Hi Jerks) because the boys were playing catch and bouncing the basketball around and it went in their yard several times. Soooo sorry. The guy came over and banged on our door like the house was on fire. I thought it was the young’ns so I went down to chew their butts for beating on the door. By the time I got there he was back in his yard but he came back and said he told the boys to keep the ball out of his yard and to put the dog on a leash. Of course Rocky was sitting there (on our property as he normally is) and the woman came around and said in a very rude manner "You know, there is a leach law." Strangely enough, their neighbors on the other side don’t always keep their dogs on a leash and neither do the ones across the street. It took everything I had to not go back over there and give them a piece of my mind. Strange thing is, our realtor warned us about these people before we moved in. The Jerks have a reputation for being… Jerks. Go figure. I’ll be much more prepared next time and tell them to pucker up and K.M.A.
The yard guy came today and will be mowing tomorrow sometime. He’s going to come back on Monday and trim the hedges, cut back the trees, clean the flowerbed, and all kinds of other stuff. Bad thing is I won’t be here to see my freshly trimmed house.
That’s all I have for today. Have you noticed the "What is Gabe Doing?" list over on the right hand side just below the baby? It’s kind of like a mini-blog that I can update from just about anywhere via the internet or my phone. Cool huh?
Well, the month of May has historically been a chaotic one for almost everyone’s household who has kids and any form of extended family relations. May is the month where you see your bank account dwindle. First, there are graduation gifts, end of season parties, last minute doctor’s appointments, end of school parties, and buying parting gifts for teachers, school personnel, bus drivers, scout leaders, volunteers, blah blah blah. Our family is no exception to this chaos and money sucking month. In fact, we not only have to celebrate two birthdays (James and Savannah), but we also managed to add a grueling move, two birthday cake projects due on the same day, driver’s ed for “the mouth”, a baby shower, and a VERY pregnant and moody woman (me) to the mix. Gabe and I have been hot, testy, and have gone from moments of elation to feeling just down right sorry for ourselves! Today, we decided to play hooky from unpacking boxes and cleaning and just go to watch a movie to be mindless and carefree for a while. So, what movie do two children from the 80’s go see? You guessed it, the new Indiana Jones movie. I think it is safe for me to say (with Gabe’s support) for all of you to SAVE your money! Use it to go towards your graduation gifts or something. I will not give much away except some good things should just be left a lone. To me, this movie made Indiana Jones seem more like King Solomon’s Mines (the awful movie with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone) genre and that is just not the way it was. However, I really loved being in the theater, next to Gabe, escaping with him while resting my head on his shoulder and munching on popcorn and M&M’s, sometimes together. Then, we went to a new dive and ate a huge BBQ lunch with fried pickles, chopped beef, pulled pork, sausage, fries, and fried okra. We will definitely have to take my in laws there! Of course, it was not healthy, but we were on a roll. We also had my 32 week doctor’s appointment. We got to see Gabriela again today! My has she grown. She is huge. She already had turned head down which explains why I feel more of her movements all over and more intensely. I get a lot of Braxton Hicks now and walk very funny because of her big ole head. But, I must say, she is a beauty. I could tell by the Ultrasound that she has my lips and Gabe’s nose. Gabe could not make any of this out to save his life, but we all could. The doctor and I kept pestering Gabe about how he could not make the images out that were so obvious to us. My poor baby. Oh, well, we have another picture of her which Gabe will put up for all of us. Anyway, the doctor ordered me on one year’s bed rest and no house work. Too bad, he was just playing. We had a great jolly visit. I even let Gabe go peruse the nearby Best Buy to cap off our excellent day. I, of course, stayed in the car and read yet another magazine that I stole from the Doc’s office. I think I have a problem.
Okay, well the house looks like a house now. The bedrooms look like normal rooms. We have a few “hidden items” to unpack still, but as long as they stay hidden, the house looks nice. I love my kitchen. Our neighbors are VERY friendly. The boys are outside more than inside, playing with the mass of little girls on our block! We tried to have a dog play date for Rocky with the other neighborhood dogs. Let’s just say, it was not a huge success. But, we are all happy, exhausted, but excited to be in our new home. Did I mention that I love my kitchen???
Although I did not care for the new Indy movie, Harrison Ford was still awesome. I just wanted to throw that in there.
*GABE’S EDIT* - I put the newest picture of Gabriela up. You can see it here. I can now tell what is what in the picture. Can you?
