Snoballs from angels

Yes yes yes yes!
It finally isn't 1000 degrees! Houston almost feels like fall.

On a most glorious day, a sweet-toothed certain someone begs her hubby for a Mam's run. He can't say no (cause he knows what's good for him- sometime- sorta).

There was no line. Not a single person. We had a nice little chat with the snoballer, she sneezed.

Super soft snow with light, unique flavors. I must start and end the season with orchid. It's my favorite flavor- very purpley.  Mixed with soft & sweet nectar and a shot of cream.

Wednesday treat for me!

green

Remember when green used to be a color? The color of grass, money, Rainbow Bright's buddy Patty O'Green, and asparagus.

Instead "Green" is a movement.
Is it just me or is it less about Earth and more about being trendy?

Don't get all activist on me.
I'm a gen x-er so I'm fairly environmentally conscious. Ronald McDonald came to my school in 2nd grade and rapped to me about the 3 Rs, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It made an impression. We have a compost bin, recycle and watch Whale Wars.

But I'll be honest. I've never thought about buying a Prius. I use real chemicals to clean, yup, I have Drano under the skin. I take long showers. AND I throw batteries in the trash. If you just cringed, please stop reading. Follow this link and look at some kittens and bunnies.

Yes, yes, I know the planet is dying and the polar bears are balding due to global warming and something about forests disappearing. Maybe McGruff should have talked to us about the environment, sure we'd all be kidnapped and taking guns from strangers but the air would be so clean!

My office building is LEED Gold.  It is like Energy Star rating for a 76 story building. It is kinda funny to me cause we live in the most air conditioned city in the world how can that be energy efficient? (I'm not sure if we are still the most ac-ed city in the world anymore. I guess Dubai could have snuck ahead of us cause we all know how nuts Lil' Prince is and may have fully air conditioned the UAE desert)

Anyway, my office building installed low flow toilets and purchases eucalyptus TP. For that they got a little decal for the doors to let everyone know how green they are. Impressive. Of course, eucalyptus TP doesn't dissolve, its pretty much cardboard. And low flow doesn't really care for the green paper either so it takes 4 flushes to equal 1 naughty normal flow flush. AND we recently got new green lighting. It is bright like the sun. And not very flattering. I think the term insane asylum has been tossed around.

Crazed and white blinded we flush the 4th time and shout "For the Trees!"

Luckily we are a LEED Gold building.
I'll be sure to send a post card to the polar bears, on recycled eucalyptus toilet paper.



*ok, maybe i went overboard. i like my planet. and i'm sure polar bears are quiet the pleasant companions. and i work in a great building and even scored a christmas ornament of my building and hang it up every year. and the extra flushes keep me away from work which isn't that bad.

We love you Houston oh yes we doooo...

Per the new Spring Crate and Barrel:

Look out America! Houston is THE place to live. C&B says so!

I can't take anymore...

This week traffic has been awful. Just bad bad bad.

Monday- Wreck on the drive home
Tuesday- Wreck on the way to work
Wednesday- 2 Wrecks on the way to work- I swear.
Thursday- Wreck on the way to work
Friday- No wreck but fog which I guess means it should take me about 50 mins to make it in. grrrr

But! Yes a but!! Wednesday the Sheriff was observing my 4 way stop by our apartment.

It has always been bad, people driving on the shoulder and stuff. We got a signal light at the freeway which helped alot, but they left this 4 way just a couple hundred feet away. Big mistake. And with the grand opening of our gas station at the corner of the 4 way, it has been mayhem. People going loco and cutting through the parking lot, driving on the shoulder, not waiting their turn. Loony.

So yesterday the Sheriff was directing traffic!! I think we did need a lesson in how to operate at a 4 way stop, like the weeks after Ike weren't practice enough? Did I see any shoulder driving? Nope. Did I see any cutting through the gas station parking lot? No. AND did I spend 15 minutes stopped at this 4 way? NO!

So why can't we get a signal here please? I am begging. Or just have the Sheriff direct traffic every day.


**Oh and please follow this link and vote for MD Anderson! It will help kids with cancer in Houston. THANK YOU!!!**

Crashing and dashing....

So this weekend was interesting.

:: Friday night I crashed a party. My dad was invited and it didn't say not to bring a guest so me and David tagged along. So after MexiFriday, yum, we crashed this party. The jazz band was huge, too huge. You couldn't even see the guitar player behind the brass section, and the keyboard guy was on the floor behind a pillar.

:: Saturday we went to the Museum of Fine Art for a project David is working on. I forget how huge that place is. Well, after the museum we stopped by the sculpture garden and kinda got kicked out. I know. It was embarrassing.

Although things are not attached to sculpture, you can't touch anything nor walk anywhere or stand anywhere. I am not sure what I did wrong but the museum employee yelled at me and pointed (I think growled/hissed too) till we left. It wasn't like I touched a sculpture, I was standing next to it, like 3 ft from it, next to what I thought was a bench.

The lesson being you are only allowed to be in the sculpture garden if you hover 20 ft in the air.

:: Sunday, like most of Houston, I had a headache. Stupid front moving in.

Early Rising...

I left early this morning to be at work early and let some workmen into our office... early.

Ok. Maybe that was seemingly an over exaggeration, well, it was. I had to be here 15 minutes early at 730. In my mind if you need to be there 15 minutes early you leave 15 minutes early. Too early. I got to work at 655, but sat in the car and did my make up till 725.

Normally I spend a little more than half of my drive in the dark. Today I got to see our beautiful skyline twinkling. The medical center, downtown and reliant park and even the galleria/greenspoint all lit up. It was gorgeous. I made it to the Pierce right as the sky was turning light blue in the east with a small line of yellow. It reflected off the buildings. So pretty.

Something I never would have seen if I didn't leave early.

There are so many opportunities to see beauty out there if you take a look around.

P.S.- A small confession: All the twinkling lights put me in a happy mood and I listened to more Christmas Carols. I know! This is bad. I am supposed to wait for Thanksgiving day after the parade when we decorate.

Slow down...

It has been a slow week at work. Deals are just now starting to pick back up after Ike.

Post Hurricane Terms
*After Ike- "Traffic has been horrible after Ike."
*Before Ike - "It was right there on the desk, before Ike."
*Hurrication- Children and employees were out of school/work for so long it was a vacation... a hurrication.
*Shelter in Place- "I sheltered in place at my parent's house."
*Got Power?- The most commonly asked question in Houston last week. Seriously. Everyone wanted to know.

:: David has more to do at school these days so he busy studying. I think he is doing pretty well.

:: David also has a part time job at the call center on campus. So if you are a UofH alumni get ready David might be calling you for donations.

:: I am getting ready to put out my fall decorations. So ready for the decorating season!!!

:: And I have been secretly listening to Christmas carols lately. I am just too ready for it. I can't wait to have a Christmas with the nephews. Their first Christmas. he he he

:: Mystery Kitty would you please stand up. There is a kitty hanging around my mom's house. It is a sign. It wants a home. And it wants me to be it's caregiver when my parents travel. Yup. That is what it told me.

:: My kitties are doing wonderfully. Just hanging out in the sun. They seem to be dealing with our comings and goings pretty well. What perfect little kitties I have.

Spinning...

I am spinning.

Ike slammed into my city 10 days ago. It feels like it was just a few days ago.

Houston is getting power back slowly. (We have it.)

But our city is scarred. And I am still trying to figure it all out.

It was a scary experience that lasted 12 hours, I didn't expect it to be so loud. And the following days without power cut off from the city and family were jarring. Coming back to work today has been difficult. I don't know why Ike left such an inprint on me, but it has. My home is intact, and my family safe, kitties couldn't have cared and were actually happy to spend sometime at my parents house... stairs!!!!, and for these things I am thankful. But my hometown is not back to normal. Signal lights still dangle and point in wonky directions, stop signs are flattened, twisted or upside down. Trees are everywhere.

Our whole city is leaning. I try to think is that pole suppose to be leaning? What about that tree, is it straight or am I just tilted? Signs over the freeway are just missing... oh wait (1/2 mile down the road) there it is.

And poor Galveston... it is a mess down there. I am sure they are spinning as well.

Don't blow away...

Hold on little Gazebo. Don't blow away.

We are still doing well. We all all prepared and ready to have an interesting night.

Ready for Ike

Ike is coming.

And I was right, the end of the week was crazy. Wednesday we were still thinking it might go further south. But Wednesday night it was clear it was turning north, towards us.

When I made it up to work I checked and our apartment was in a mandatory evacuation zone and Ike was headed towards us.

We rushed to get the office packed up and ready and I came home at noon and we started getting ready. We taped the windows and moved breakable stuff away from the windows and put anything important in the closets.

David and I are weathering the storm at my parents, for the simple fact of more interior spaces. Plus I just feel safer in a house. I am pretty confident we will ride it out fine here.

They told us that about noon conditions would start to deteriorate, and they were right. The winds are really starting to blow. We are hoping to keep power for as long as possible.

Here we go.

I don't like Ike.

So another Hurricane is comming for us.

Our office has strict guidelines for how to handle storm preparedness.

:: My poor boss has to have conference calls with headquarters whenever there is a storm in the gulf.
:: We have a clean desk policy, nothing on your desk before a storm.
:: We bag up our computers and peripherals in trash bags.
:: We lower all the blinds and turn them up.

It is just more a hassle than anything. Actually it is pretty smart, having a detailed plan. But since we just bagged up the computers and lowered the blinds before Gustav, it seems too soon to have to do it again.

Something to look forward to on Friday. Maybe something will bump it away from us.

There is a bright golden haze on the meadow...

Expecting to be hit with a hurricane yesterday and today it was a great surprise to wake up to this morning.

Instead of the low misty fog along 288, and moist morning clouds clinging to the buildings of Downtown Houston, it was clear. The sky was bright blue, soft sweeps of purple clouds with sun icing sat just above the shining buildings.

What a morning. And what adorable nephews I have. I am overwhelmed. Take a look at their 6 month photo shoot. Just precious.

Home is where...?

*Home is not a word easily defined for me these days. We have been back and forth from Houston and Abilene so much recently.

*We are slowly moving down, coming down to Houston for job interviews. And no, I have not found a job yet.

*This drive we brought down the cats. Although better than the 14 hr plane trip (commute/airport/airtime) I don't want to have to travel with them anymore. I moved to the back seat around Cross Plains, which helped my little Indiana Jones wanna be, Rigby, from climbing around in the back. Abbey settled down after a while, and it really wasn't that bad. Just the stress from the whole ordeal is driving me nuts.

It has been a weird time for us. Not knowing what is in store, what to do, where to go. I can only hope we are doing what is best.

There are lost of changes on the horizon for us. And for me particularly some big decisions to make. I ask for prayers that doors open, and the road may be smooth for good things to come my way.

Hopefully by the end of the summer my life will be back on track.