Rain day

Other parts of the country have snow days, we have rain days...

I knew it was going to storm, but I think the amount of rain surprised everyone.  I went to work like normal and the rain wasn't too bad - some rain, mostly a lot of thunder and lightning, but later in the morning it looked like night outside it was so dark!

There is a bayou right outside my window at work, so I watched the water creep up and up - and overflow into the parking lot of a local restaurant.  I'm quite lucky to have a window, I know many offices don't and I think I'd feel so disconnected from the day without it - I like knowing if its sunny, rainy, etc.  outside.   Last week I couldn't figure out what was going on - it was hazy from a grass fires miles away.

Back to today, I use the level in the bayou as an indicator of how bad it might be getting home, especially since one way out of work goes right over the bayou and is notorious for flooding.  That way did flood, like expected.  They decided to close the school at 2pm, so I headed on home.  I was glad to be able to get home pretty much like usual - many streets around town were underwater.

It was a great day to have done a crockpot soup - our trusty chicken tortilla soup was ready to go this morning and all K had to do was put it in the crockpot and turn it on.

We did make a new meal this weekend - stirfry and it turned out great.  We did a lot of chopping to have everything ready to cook all at once, and used our new electric wok.   It turned out great and is a good way to get some veggies in our day - bell peppers and mushrooms for me!   I don't really have a recipe since K was the main chef and he likes to 'wing it', I'm definitely a stick to the recipe cook, but both work.

I know that he used soy sauce, hoison sauce, red pepper flakes, sesame oil, and curry powder in the sauce. I may've left out an item or two, we had all those items on hand from various cooking adventures!

He cooked the meat first (chicken and beef - good mix we usually have one or the other in most of our meals), then did onions, garlic, and ginger then added the veggies (red and green bell peppers, and later mushrooms for me), that cooked for a bit and then he added the sauce.  I did get a picture of the peppers, so pretty with the different colors!  

Playoff win

What a game!!!!  The Texans beat the Bengals 31-10!!!  We got there early as requested, and as soon as we walked on the premises it was a party atmosphere.  Tailgaters were everywhere, with smokers going and music blaring.

We went on into the stadium and you could just feel the energy.  Everyone was keyed up, Kevin had so much nervous energy at the house that he couldn't sit still.......we've been waiting 10 years for this..

There were special guests - Bum Phillips led the team in to lots of cheers, Dennis Quaid was at the coin toss with a cute little kid on his shoulders (grandkid?  Thanks Delena!).  They also did a quick stage set-up and Clay Walker performed the theme song he'd written years ago, "It's Football Time in Houston," we’ve heard it for years so everyone was able to sing along.

All of the special guests got everyone more excited for the game, and it didn't disappoint.  It was a close game for most of the first half, but then the Texans just dominated!!! 

When we came into the stadium, we were given signs and rally towels and everyone quickly figured out the signs could be folded into great noisemakers.  They'd kept the roof closed so we could make it LOUD and we did, with the noisemakers added to our cheers and yelling every time our team was on defense it was just deafening in there.  According to this article in the paper, the decibel level reached 110 "the sound of a buzz saw 3 feet away", no wonder my ears are messed up today - worth it!

Adding to the noise was the fact that everyone was actually in the stadium (not out tailgating) and it was the biggest crowd in team history.

After Andre Johnson’s touchdown everyone was cheering and jumping so much, I swear the floor under our feet was moving (or at least vibrating).  Not a comforting feeling, but exciting to realize the entire stadium is rockin!

We stayed til the very end, and saw the team rush the field to celebrate.

After the game, the feeling outside was even better – leaving the stadium was just as loud as inside, we took a set of stairs out and once outside we could hear the full ramp of people coming down cheering just like they were still inside, I will never forget it!

The excitement is city-wide.  We went home, took care of the dog and then back out to grab a late dinner.  There were Texans jerseys everywhere!   From news coverage and my facebook wall, everyone in town (and many out of town) was watching the game.

It feels weird not to have a game to watch today, Sunday.  It will actually be nice, we can watch the playoff games that are on and be relaxed during them knowing the team we care about is already onto the next round!  I am glad the game was Saturday so we have another day to rest before going back to work…I’m sure a lot of Houstonians are hungover today!

GS cookies

I dreamed about Girl Scout cookies the other night, then read the next morning that they have a new cookie this year to celebrate 100 years of Girl Scouting. I love lemon-flavored things so will have to check them out if our area has them (I've heard we don't :(   ).

They kind of go against the new year's resolution of being healthier, but if I count my calories and have space for one (or two) I can have them, just can't sit an eat the whole box like I want to do.

What is your favorite kind?  K's is thin mints, I love tagalongs (peanut butter and chocolate) and samoas.    I usually don't get samoas since K isn't a fan of coconut and I don't need a whole box to myself....still struggle with self-control.

We'll see if we get any girl scouts at our door this year, we haven't in recent years and no one at work brings them around....thank goodness for booth sales!

Good luck to all the girls (and parents) selling them!!  I sold for years and years, and got so tired of a dining room full of cookies..

Playoffs

Its a huge football day in the Tucker house, and in all of Houston!  Kevin's school is playing for the national championship in Frisco (near Dallas) and the Texans are playing in their FIRST ever playoff game and they get home field advantage!!

We'd originally wanted to go to see his school play, but since we knew that the Texans game might be the same weekend, whether or not we'd go was always in limbo.   Before the NFL schedule was set we considered trying to go to both, but that would've just been too much driving and take away from the enjoyment of either game. The decision was made for us when the Texans game was scheduled for 3:30 Saturday, Sam Houston's game is at noon today so no way could we do both, and it was no contest - K has been a Texans fan since day 1 of the franchise.

It has been so much fun seeing the excitement in the city this past week as they get ready to play.   Flags, shirts, even haircuts and tattoos - you name it someone has it.

and, since his aunt and uncle will go to the Sam Houston game, I am buying one of their tickets so I get to go too!!!  The other ticket is going to good use too, a friend of K's brother's.  One day I need to just buy my own ticket, but I admit I like having the Sunday to myself some days when K attends the game.

Here are some bits of trivia for you:
- the last playoff game played in Houston was in 1994 (I was in high school!)
- the Texans have the record of the longest its taken a new team to get into the playoffs - 10 years, no wonder we're so excited!!

I hope we're this excited tonight because we have TWO wins to celebrate!

2012

Hello 2012!   We had a very low-key New Year's Eve, we didn't even stay up until midnight.   We watched the New York ball drop and called that good enough.  I think our young nephew stayed up later than we did!

We did enjoy the fireworks in the neighborhood, people must've dropped some major $$ on them!  They were  impressive to watch and I didn't know which way to look there were so many going off.   Smokey was NOT a fan, poor thing fireworks scare the wits out of dogs (and little kids). He got a lot of laptime.   If you don't know what is making all the noises, it sure does sound like a war zone!

Speaking of war zone, I recorded all but one of the Band of Brothers episodes that were on right after Christmas and we're working our way through them, great show and amazing to see what so many young men went through in WWII...makes me wish my grandfathers were still around so I could ask them about their experiences.  My mom's dad never wanted to talk about it, and my dad's dad died before I was old enough to ask.

Doing pretty well on resolutions so far, I know only 4 days in...but keeping with them each day is the way to make them stick!

I think Smokey must've made a new year's resolution to make bath time easier on us, he got a bath last night in the tub and he was so good and still.  I end up in the tub with him so I was still soaked, but a hot shower afterwards takes care of that.   Maybe he finally realized bath = treat!

Traffic is back to normal and everyone is back to work and school.  On Monday traffic was so light I started wondering if I actually did have work that day, I did...but hardly anyone else did