Brrrr

I headed out this morning to take the Gabriel to school and noticed that I was on empty. Oh, it’s Murphy’s law … the coldest morning in recent history, and my tank’s on empty. I got out to pump, and could only stand 7 dollars’ worth. Any more and I swear, I’d have frozen to death. The wind chill is 25, I found out upon arriving home.

I just can’t handle cold weather. I’ll take long hot summers over long cold winters any day. But unfortunately we get cold days here too. Maybe we could get a winter home in Mexico … ha.

Ike

So it looks like Ike might be headed our way. The last couple (or few?) hurricanes – or the remnants thereof – that have wandered over Texas have completely dissipated before getting to our area. I don’t want death and destruction or anything, but I want to see a good storm out of this one! I love storms so long as I’m in the safety of my own home. Unless they start looking like a tornado and then I get scared.

Anyway, I guess I’d better hurry up and get my weekly grocery shopping trip out of the way before people start going out to stock up like they do every time someone whispers a word about a hurricaine, snow storm or ice storm headed our way.

Storms

We got some nasty storms here in central Texas today, complete with tornado sightings right to our north. I can’t remember the last time I saw clouds that were quite so black; the pictures really don’t do them justice.

Wacky weather

A couple of days ago, we had record-breaking high temps – Austin got up to 92! Tonight is getting down to 28, though. I would prefer that each season was like a switch flipping on or off … this fighting between winter and spring is killing my sinuses.

I drove by the area scorched by the fire last night and it is quite impressive. The news reported that 100 acres burned. The high winds downed a power line, and that started the fire. Anyway, I’m glad that’s all over. That’s not something I ever want to see out my back window again!

That’s what I’m talking about

Southeast tornadoes

I just read on cnn.com that cities across the southeast have been hit by tornadoes, killing and injuring over 100. My prayers go out to them.

One city that I noticed in cnn’s list of cities with tornado damage – Jackson, Tenn. – has been hit by tornadoes at least twice before (that I remember) in the last 15 years. That’s kind of odd that it seems to almost be a tornado magnet. I wonder if something somehow causes that, or whether it’s pure coincidence?

Gotta love Texas

Okay, well you don’t, but I do. There’s not many places it’s pleasant enough to play outside on the playground on New Year’s eve.

We took the kids out to the playground today, and it was nice enough for them not to wear jackets. I think we’re getting a cold front tonight, but we never seem to stay cold very long.

Okay, I know … I can make fun of you now while you’re freezing your butt off, and you can call me in mid-August and ask me if it’s hot enough for me. Deal?

Nice

After dipping into the 20s for lows the last two nights, this is what our weather looks like for the rest of the week. My kind of weather.

Indian Summer?

We’ve had a few cold snaps up ’till now, but for the most part, central Texas has still been enjoying warm weather. We recently purchased a used playscape we found on craigslist, and the kids have been having a blast playing on it.

Fall, finally

Down here in good ol’ Texas, our daily highs have still been, for the most part, in the 90s. But we’re supposed to be getting a cold front this weekend, and the highs Monday are in the 70s. Woo hoo!

Mikaela has been saying her feet are cold, so I got her a pair of bunny slippers yesterday. She’s been hopping around in them all day, saying “super ‘Kayla!”

Baking in Birmingham

My parents are having a very unusual summer in Birmingham, AL. They’re in the midst of a serious drought and have had many days of temps at 100 degrees or more. My mom says it’s the hottest, driest summer she can remember.

What really stinks is the fact that my parents are trying to sell their house (my childhood home) and have recently landscaped the yard to add to the curb appeal. My parents are afraid the continuing drought/high temps are going to kill off the plants they just planted.

It’s funny … it’s like Birminham and Austin, TX have switched places – the rainfall and temps we’ve had this summer is more like they would normally have, and vice-versa.

Where I’m at

I am gearing up to home-school the kids this year. I want to start when the public schools start, but we are still trying to figure out where/when/if to move, and I want to be settled before starting.

I have been accumulating lots of material and finding lots of great resources on the web. But I’ll expound on that in another post.

More on moving: Jay and I looked at our lease and figured out that we need to figure out what we’re doing in the next 30 days, so we can give 30 days’ notice and be out by the end of our lease Sept. 30. I’m not normally so commitment-phobic, but this decision has my stomach in knots. We can’t find anything I like in our price range. And by “like” I mean, “not a total piece of crap.” I’m not being super-picky at all.

Say a prayer that we can find a decent place in a decent neighborhood … man, this has been such a long journey!

In other news, my 17-year-old niece is coming in for a short visit tomorrow. I’m excited about her coming, but I hope we don’t bore her to death.

It’s storming again here (right now). All people can talk about here is the crazy amount of rain we continue to get. At least it keeps everything nice and green!

Oh! I almost forgot. I went into a new children’s consignment store here this weekend and wound up having a long conversation with the owner. I forget how we got on the subject, but after hearing that her 4-year-old daughter has autism, I confessed that I suspect my son may possibly have a high-functioning form of autism. The woman chided me for stalling and said that I need to have him evaluated by a pediatric neurologist. I guess I do, but every time I gear up to make the appointment, he does something that makes me think maybe he’s catching up and doing fine. Then I go hear other kids his age talk and interact with each other and it makes me think, he is NOT fine, and I need to do something. His ‘symptoms’ include a speech delay, odd mannerisms, texture aversion and extreme pickiness with food, an obession with lining up/ordering things, and the fact that he won’t potty-train. Among other things.

This is such a gut-wrenching thing. It’s not that I would ever love him any less if he was diagnosed with autism or anything else, but as his mother who loves him dearly, I don’t want him to have to deal with a lifetime of difficulty from being “different.” Not that the problem doesn’t exist just because I’m in denial. It’s just hard to face.

Lord willing and creek don’t rise

We live fairly close to a creek. It’s about 3/4 of a mile away, downhill from here. But with the rain we have had lately, it’s got me wondering if we could get a flood here. I guess anything’s theoretically possible.

The last two hours, it’s rained like crazy. Just a nonstop very heavy downpour. I’m curious to see what the rainfall totals are going to be tomorrow.

Storm’s A-Brewin’

Sunset after the storm

View from my back deck tonight …

Yuck.

It’s supposed to be 95 degrees tomorrow. Something tells me this summer’s going to be a long, hot one.

Last summer, I coined a new state motto: Texas – the Hell State.

It hasn’t quite caught on yet.

Speaking of state mottos, I got this in a forwarded email once and thought it was funny:

 New State Mottos

Alabama: At Least We’re not Mississippi

Alaska: 11,623 Eskimos Can’t be Wrong! 

Arizona: But It’s a Dry Heat

Arkansas: Litterasy Ain’t Everything

California: As Seen on TV

Colorado: If You Don’t Ski, Don’t Bother

Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only Dirtier and With Less Character

Delaware: We Really Do Like the Chemicals in our Water

Florida: Ask Us About Our Grandkids

Georgia: We Put the “Fun” in Fundamentalist Extremism

Hawaii: Haka Tiki Mou Sha’ami Leeki Toru (Death to Mainland Scum, But Leave Your Money)

Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes… Well Okay, We’re Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real Good

Illinois: Please Don’t Pronounce the “S”

Indiana: 2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free

Iowa: We Do Amazing Things With Corn

Kansas: First Of The Rectangle States

Kentucky: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names

Louisiana: We’re Not All Drunk Cajun Wackos, But That’s Our Tourism Campaign

Maine: We’re Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster

Maryland: A Thinking Man’s Delaware

Massachusetts: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden’s (For Most Tax Brackets)

Michigan: First Line of Defense From the Canadians

Minnesota: “10,000 Lakes and 10,000,000,000,000 Mosquitoes”

Mississippi: Come Feel Better About Your Own State

Missouri: Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars at Work

Montana: Land of the Big Sky, the Unabomber, Right-Wing Crazies, and Very Little Else

Nebraska: Ask About Our State Motto Contest

Nevada: Whores and Poker!

New Hampshire: Go Away and Leave Us Alone

New Jersey: Ya Wanna ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right Here!

New Mexico: Lizards Make Excellent Pets

New York: You Have the Right to Remain Silent, You Have the Right to an Attorney…

North Carolina: Tobacco is a Vegetable

North Dakota: We Really Are One of the 50 States!

Ohio: We Wish We Were In Michigan

Oklahoma: Like the Play, Only No Singing

Oregon: Spotted Owl… It’s What’s For Dinner

Pennsylvania: Cook With Coal

Rhode Island: We’re Not REALLY An Island

South Carolina: Remember the Civil War? We Didn’t Actually Surrender

South Dakota: Closer Than North Dakota

Tennessee: The Educashun State

Texas: Si’ Hablo Ing’les (Yes, I Speak English)

Utah: Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus

Vermont: Yep

Virginia: Who Says Government Stiffs and Slackjaw Yokels Don’t Mix?

Washington: Help! We’re Overrun By Nerds and Slackers!

Washington, D.C.: Wanna Be Mayor?

West Virginia: One Big Happy Family — Really!

Wisconsin: Come Smell Our Dairy Air

Wyoming: Wynot?

This post could contain stunning photos

… but, it doesn’t because I forgot to take my camera with me today.

Jay had the day off and we did some driving around out in a rural area of the county. Before too long, some really nasty looking clouds blew up. A wall cloud formed, and I just KNEW it was going to drop a tornado any second (it didn’t). (For those not in the know, I am terrified of tornadoes…but I’m also fascinated by them at the same time.)

Even though I was nervous, trying to get back home before the storm caught up with us, the clouds were breath-taking. I wish I could’ve gotten some pictures.

It was funny – I sped home and we all made it inside about 30 seconds before the bottom fell out. We got a severe thunderstorm, but nothing more.

Sick and twisted

So today’s a big weather day in the plains. There are two tornadoes on the ground as I type this, according to NOAA.

I’m a complete weather dork. I’m always checking weather.com, noaa.gov and weatherbug.com. I’m not exactly a meterologist, but I know enough about it to carry on an intelligent conversation.

I would love to be a trained weather spotter. But, here’s what’s strange: I am terrified of tornadoes. At the same time, they’re exciting. I like it when they get close - but not too close.

I guess that sums up my personality. I like risk until it gets too close for comfort!

Lame

We were supposed to get severe storms today, but nada. I’m so disappointed. I love a good thunderstorm.

I don’t know what’s in the air here, but allergy season is in full bloom. My eyes itch so bad I want to claw them out. They’re so red and watery I’m afraid people are going to think I’m smoking pot.

What’s that, up in the sky?

It’ s pouring down rain here. We never get just a shower here, it seems – it’s either drought or flood. We had some good storms here tonight, but nothing too bad. I was kinda hoping for at least a severe thunderstorm … oh, well – spring is still young.

Well, Tuesday will make two weeks since my interview and still no word. That can’t be good. I must not be as charming and witty in person as I think I am.

After a full week on this Kimkins diet, I’ve lost 16 pounds. I can already tell a difference in the way my clothes fit. How’s that for fast?!? I joined a gym today, so hopefully, I’ll maintain the quick loss. I know it will slow down some, but I’m determined to finally get rid of this “baby” weight.

I went out to a movie Friday night with one of my girlfriends. That was the first movie I’ve seen in a theater since The Terminal with Tom Hanks (I think that was 2003?) Needless to say, I don’t get out to the movies much! Anyway, my friend and I went to see Music and Lyrics, which was pretty cute. The whole thing was especially worth seeing for the hilarious cheesy-80s-band love ballad video at the start of the movie. What a riot.

Let’s see .. .what else? Oh, Mikaela made me laugh out loud the other day. I was changing her diaper, when she looked over and said very clearly, “Oh my gosh! I pooped!”

Saturday morning we had a pretty successful yard sale – we made $361 and gained a lot of storage space from selling some large items. Note to self: learn how to speak enough Spanish to communicate prices before next yard sale!

Mending

My kids are a bit better today, thank goodness.

Today is GORGEOUS - it’s warm and the trees are in bloom. This afternoon while the kids napped, I sat out on the back porch and blew bubbles with a friend. Yes, I’m five. I forgot how fun bubble blowing was. It’s very therapeutic. You should try it.

Speaking of weather, I’m ready for a good storm. I love sunny skies, but I also love a good thunderstorm. If I’m at home, that is. Don’t like to be caught driving in them (who does?) Austin could use some good storms – we’re in a drought that seems like it’s been going on forever.

I still haven’t heard back about that job. Sigh.

Open letter to summer

Dear Summer,

I’m sorry I complained about you. My toes are freezing off. Can you please come back?

Love,

Me

More icy fun

Above: this was the block of ice on top of our trash can!

 Below: anyone seen a vampire?

Jay is home from work today. We all have cabin fever but are trying to make the best of it. I just keep thanking God we aren’t huddled around a fireplace trying to stay warm in a power outage!! A good number of people in our area lost power, but we dodged the bullet.

Icy hummingbird feeder

Icicles on our icicle lights

So far, so good…

Well, for me, anyway. I’ve still got power.

The roads are icy, but it’s not bad enough to cause widespread power outages yet. Expectedly, there have been a lot of wrecks around town.

Jay has been gone for 2 days and is about to try to make it home from work. I’m sure he could use a good hot shower. I just hope he can make it home without sliding off the road.

It’s started to snow, but I don’t know if it will be enough to go outside and play in. This is Mikaela’s first time to see snow. So far, she seems under-whelmed.

More later, if the power’s not out …

… waiting anxiously

What a day.

After seeing today’s weather forecast, my sister decided she’d better leave early, so she flew back home tonight. Just minutes after her flight left, one of the major roads in Austin was closed due to icing, and since then, several more have been closed.

My husband is stuck downtown. With the inagural events tomorrow still set to take place, he is one of those responsible for making sure everything is set up just so. That means he has to be there, ice or no ice. With the forecast being what it is, he and a few co-workers have rented a hotel room downtown.

So, that leaves me here with the kids. I am well-stocked on diapers and food. And prozac.

I am nervous about the prospect of the power going out, though … I do have fire logs, but I have never made a fire in a fireplace before. I know the concept, but I am famously klutzy, and I’m hoping I don’t screw it up and burn the house down or something.

The forecasters don’t exactly know how much ice will accumulate – they’re saying between 1/4 inch and 2 inches. The weatherman makes it sound like the apocalypse is coming. He said that this could be the worst ice storm the area has seen “in decades.”

I hope and pray he’s wrong.

Prepared to hunker down

Firewood – check

Flashlights – check

Ice to put in cooler – check

Candles – check

Lighter – check

Enough food to feed half the neighborhood for the next week – check

So, it looks like Austin’s about to see a heckuva ice storm. Yea for having a gas stove for once. And a fireplace. Shoot, it’ll probably be nothing, and I’ll have bought the bread, pop tarts, cereal, and extra cans of veggies and tuna for nothing.

My sister and nephew flew in for a short visit – they got here today and are leaving Tuesday afternoon, if I can ice-skate them over to the airport to get them back on a plane! (That was a really bad run-on, wasn’t it? Oh, well, I’m too tired to fix right now. My apologies.)

Noah says hello

It’s “wainy ‘side,” as Gabriel says (translation: it’s rainy outside).

Boy, is it ever. It’s raining dogs, cats, aardvarks, and llamas.

I guess this is a normal mid-winter rain, much like the kind we often got in central Tennessee. But, living in Texas for the last two years, I’ve gotten used to the warm, dry weather. I already knew I’d become a weenie about the cold weather (50 degrees = parka weather), and I guess I have to admit I’ve become a wimp about the rain, too. I don’t like it.

I especially don’t like driving in it, as I had to do tonight to take Gabriel to the after-hours clinic for a nasty cough. They prescribed him a $40 decongestant/anti-histamine. And that was WITH insurance. Geez. Well, I hope it does the trick. He’s had this cough since mid-December, and this was his second doctor visit for it. I was afraid it had developed into pneumonia, but thankfully, it hadn’t.

Only in Texas

One of our top news stories here is … the cold.

Not a snowstorm, not ice on the roads … just cold weather.

It is amazing, though – yesterday was 83, today we were in the 30s, with a wind chill in the 20s. My sinuses are threatening to revolt.

Poor Jay had to drive home in a car with no heat today. Hopefully the temperatures are back in the bearable range soon.

Watch what you wish for!

Well, I’ve been schlepping around in my flip-flops this last week, complaining about how it’s hard to get in the Christmas spirit when walking from your house to the car makes you break out into a sweat.

I’ll be singing a different tune come Thursday – after a cold front passes by, our lows are forecasted to be 29 degrees. Our first freeze.

I’m breaking out the cocoa and the parkas!!

Brrrrrski

It got chilly! I actually had to break out my closed-toed shoes tonight, as well as put jackets on the kids.

We went shopping tonight during the ‘Horns game. I shop while my husband rants and raves at the TV; it’s a great arrangement and probably keeps us from killing each other.

I enjoyed the shopping, but my excursion ended on a sour note at Wal-mart. Let me pause here and clarify my hate for Wal-mart… I wish I could convince myself never to walk in that place again, but alas, I am a cheapskate (oh, all right, I’m poor) and keep caving to their low prices.

I digress. Every time I go in that place, I wind up choosing the lane with the slowest cashier. Tonight was no exception, and when I was next in line, the people in front of me made a request that the cashier couldn’t figure out. So she called the manager. He couldn’t figure it out, either (even though the problem was relatively elementary), but the two of them bumbled around for TWENTY MINUTES before the customer just said to forget it.

So, I guess Wal-mart’s math goes: Low prices = lousy employee pay = lousy employees. Well, there’s also much to be said about the near-slave labor that products are manufactured under to maintain those low prices too, but I’m not going to get into that.

Hot Hot Heat

It was 104 here today. You can talk all you want to about dry heat, but that’s HOT.

I just went outside to water our plant and it’s still very warm … I’d say probably 90 degrees. When I started watering the plant, a bullfrog hopped out of the planter. Guess he was trying to stay cool in there. You’d think he would’ve stuck around for a nice, cool shower.

Come on, rain!

What is UP with this lack of rain in the Austin area? I mean, we all like sunny skies, but when everything is dry and brown, we could stand a little rain.

I really miss thunderstorms. We haven’t had a good one in ages.

When we first moved to this area, we lived for a while with my husband’s family in their modular home out in the country. Modular homes (some people call them mobile homes or manufactured homes or pre-fab homes) don’t get along with strong winds. I am a big weenie about tornadoes. I love storms, but I am terrified of tornadoes.

So, when we were living with Jay’s folks, we seemed to get a lot of extremely severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings. So, every time I saw a bad storm coming on the radar, I packed the kids up in the car and headed to Wal-Mart. Yep, Wal-mart was my tornado shelter. How white-trash am I?

My husband tolerated my insanity, thankfully. He doesn’t usually cross me when I’m crazed … and feeling like my babies are potentially in danger turns me into a crazy woman.

So, now that we’re in a place of our own with a permanent foundation, at least we don’t have to leave the house when bad weather is on the horizon.

Cold snap

It’s 88 here in Austin, TX right now. I might have to go find my mittens.

The weather man keeps saying it’s going to rain, but it hardly ever does. I’ve been waiting for a good thunderstorm for quite awhile. We’ve had very few this year. It seems like the only good one we had, I had to drive in, which is no fun. I only like storms when I can see them safe from home.

Jay and I are both weather buffs and have talked about becoming storm spotters, but I’m sure that won’t happen until the kids are up and out of the house – or at least old enough to take care of themselves.

I’ve always been deathly afraid of tornadoes, but I’m fascinated by them at the same time. I think I’d like to see one from a distance, as long as it wasn’t headed my direction.

My husband, on the other hand, isn’t afraid of anything (except for spiders, but that’s another story), so when I’m running for cover, he’s wanting to go outside and look for the potential tornado.