Air Show

We finally made it back to the Air Show this weekend -- last time we went was TEN years ago, I knew it was long ago since our nephew was tiny....but until I dug around for photos, I didn't realize it was a full decade.

I had a great time, but unfortunately Kevin's day went downhill quickly (more on that later).


Kevin remembered to bring folding chairs (score!) and we made good time getting there.   We followed directions on the freeway and went to the park n ride to take a shuttle to Ellington Field (that is the way to go!), and when is the last time I'd ridden in a school bus?  also easily decades...

After getting through security (National Guard members are EFFICIENT, TSA could learn something), we walked around the planes and helicopters on display.  We could walk through some and even talk to crew members -- there is one plane there that has flown so long it is the same plane a man and his GRANDFATHER have both served on.

After getting our fill of looking at planes and being ready to sit, we went and set up spots near the runway to watch the air performances (also happened to be near a smoothie stand to get some shade). Once we got settled Kevin put on sunscreen (I'd already applied while in line to get in -- I burn so quickly) and that's where his day went badly.  Its the same sunscreen we've used before, but he got it in his eyes and it just burned so badly he couldn't even open his eyes.  He missed most of the best performances since he just had to keep his eyes closed...I could've really used a chemistry class eye wash station


He tried flushing it with bottled water and even went to the medical tent (a first for either of us), they did help him but he was still hurting so badly we had to make the decision to leave, it was also hot and the ATM line was long - which we'd have to wait in to get enough cash to get much food.

We saw a tiny bit of the Blue Angels when we came out from eating (at a restaurant, with plates and full bathrooms).

Once we got home, I bought an 'eye wash' at the store, and that gave him a lot more relief.

We will return to the Air Show in the future, and won't wait 10 years.  Here are a few notes for the future/lessons learned:

• go later (with lunch already eaten) - so we can stay late enough for Blue Angels and not be limited to food options on site
• bring bottled water (clear bottles can be brought in)
• bring kleenex - works as toilet paper if needed, porta potties were out
• bring cash - ATM line was long
• bring different sunscreen for Kevin

Funniest moment -- at dinner, I was trying to make Kevin's eyes tear up to help flush out the sunscreen, and the saddest thing I could think of  to describe was  the part in the movie Dumbo when his mom gets put into a small cell as punishment for trying to protect her baby, and him going up to her and being soothed, rocked by her from outside.   Just describing it makes me cry, and it was sort of working on him,  but also making him laugh at me crying...we must've been quite a sight.....

Under the Radar brewery

We'd read about a brand new microbrewery in Midtown, and being a 3- day weekend, Sunday seemed like a great day to check it out.  

We could've ridden our bikes there but with chances of rain we chose to drive.   It was a funny, "who's on first" conversation -- whats it called, Under the Radar; Kevin thinking I'm talking about its not known yet so its under the radar, but no that is its name (and its not well known yet).

We had a great time -- they have a large open area with large picnic tables (and shade umbrellas over a few), a tailgating game set up, and it is even dog friendly!   We left our not so friendly dog at home for our first trip out there.  Also: clean bathrooms with a/c, nice little break from the outside area.     It will likely get more crowded as people learn about it, there was already a steady stream of people for our visit.   

A beer is $5 or you can do what we did -- buy tokens for 3 beers and get a free pint glass ($15) -- if you don't use all the tokens you can bring them back another day.

We started at a table in the shade, but moved to a table under the roof before some scattered rain showers came through -- marrying a novice weatherman has its perks!    The rain let us get to know some folks who joined our table - they had found the place as they were interested in the food truck next door after they went to the zoo.

We had a great afternoon there, and bonus -- we ate some German food from a trailer parked in the parking lot.   The family that had joined our table included a man who had been stationed in Germany in the Army and he said the food was pretty authentic -- I had a brat on a pretzel bun with a cucumber salad; and we split a pretzel.

Looking online today I realized this was the second year in a row we went to a microbrewery on the first weekend of college football (last year we went to 8th Wonder in Eado) -- I could make this a tradition!    Houston now has a ton of microbreweries and there are several we have yet to visit.   

Many people go out of town for Labor Day, we take it as an opportunity to explore our own city.

Tax Day Flooding

It was a very hard week for Houston this past week with the flooding, apparently to be called the "Tax Day Flooding".     I was actually out of town (work conference) when most of it occurred, but my mind and heart were very much with my city.

The recovery for many areas will take a long time, and sadly some of those most affected are the very people for which a recovery will be the toughest.  

All the photos and articles out there have summed up the situations better than I ever could.  My favorites are those that show the many ordinary people coming together to help others - people and animals - in need.  Please take time to find ways to help.  I personally plan to donate and also need to make time to go donate blood, not necessarily for this disaster but a good supply is always needed and the local blood center lost 2 days of possible donations with all the closures.

I do love this image, a man rescuing an armadillo, based on a real man's actions during the flooding.

behind the scenes

My sister had tickets to a Rockets game but her hubby had a test that night (its just mean to put a test on Saturday night!).   We went in their place and had a great time. 

We actually sat on bar stools set up behind the camera/media area and had fun seeing that layer of the game.   Look at all the giant cameras!  

 The one closest to us was the main view that was projected on the jumbo tron.   We also saw the guy who manages the live twitter feed and found ourselves watching when he would post and seeing what he'd said --- it takes a special talent to be able to live-tweet.    There are so many behind-the-scenes folks involved in putting on a professional sports game.  

Bonus of the seats we found -- it was really nice to have easy access to the bathroom and no battling with strangers over armrests or crawling/being crawled over to get to your seats...we may've found our new favorite seats.

It was a close game, but the Rockets lost :(  we'll get 'em next time!

This weekend it is finally starting to feel like fall/winter in Houston, and I am so happy....chilly when I walk Smokey, but happy.

I hope to have more fun posts soon...its been a long year....

almost Wordless Wednesday

Houston skyline at night, from a local bar we visited for the first time last night (Dogwood).

Settling in

Today marks 3 weeks since we moved in!

It has been a busy and wonderful 3 weeks.    As of today we have all the boxes unpacked or put away. I'm not gonna lie, we still have a few to go through, but we've looked at them and decided they can be dealt with at at a later date, including wall hangings - we did get our clock hung on the wall today.

We are LOVING our new neighborhood and Smokey likes it too.

A few of our recent adventures:

- Kevin took Smokey to get his haircut and they didn't have to get in a car, he was able to walk him there and back.

- we saw the dog haircut place on our bike ride to a large park nearby.

- Smokey gets 2 walks every day

- tonight we walked to a nearby wine bar.

- we are now close enough that when my brother came through town I was able to see him since I had enough time to come home on my lunch break and visit!

It has taken some getting used to from all of us.  The first few days my legs hurt, not used to living in a 3 story place.  The stairs are good for me and we are getting good at being efficient in bringing things with us when we move from floor to floor.  Smokey still cracks us up when he can't get traction on the wood floors, but he's getting better (and he can run up and down the stairs like a champ!)

Its finally beginning to feel like home and we'll enjoy exploring and finding places for years to come.

Oktoberfest

We are finally having some fall weather! It was so nice, we just knew we had to spend Saturday outside. We've been wanting to go to an Oktoberfest and a google dive a few weeks ago told us there was one going on in town on Saturday.

Its only the second annual and was held in the parking lot of a mall so we weren't sure what to expect.   We got there right at opening time (2pm) and did good by not buying tickets ahead of time since the cash ticket option sent us to a general admission tent and we were able to go in through a gap in the fence rather than wait in line with the pre-sale tickets.   I'm still not sure why we got in so much sooner than the main entrance line, but took advantage of it.   We also made sure to get food and drinks before it got too busy - very glad we did since there was a HUGE turnout of people (and lines for food and drink after not too long).

There were several food options, we had a hard time deciding but we knew we had to get something German and so we tried a 'saussibon', it didn't look very appealing in the photo - the way the sausage is rolled it reminds me of a cinnamon roll, but looks can be deceiving because it was quite tasty - the sausage was not greasy at all, it was served on a pretzel roll  and it came with homemade potato salad (again we went German rather than trading it out for chips).   We split one sandwich (just in case we didn't like it).   First time I've had a pretzel roll....won't be my last.

We got settled at a table -- bordering sun and shade since the wind actually made the shade kind of chilly and this way we had the best of both worlds.  We got a pitcher of Oktoberfest beer from Austin (live oak I think) and enjoyed the surroundings.  There was some recorded music playing (some German, some remixes), lots of costumes, and great people watching.    

Craziest moment of the day  - the guy next to Kevin getting a bunch of beer dumped on him by his "friend" as punishment for taking a pour from his pitcher of beer.  oh, early 20-something logic...

Weekend winery

We had a great weekend!  On Saturday we decided to finally check out La Fuente winery, I’d first heard about it a while back and had wanted to get down there to taste some wine.

The place was even better than expected.   I am a little confused why they call it a ‘winery’ since the wine isn’t made there, it’s made in Chile and imported to this place (and to restaurants and hotels in the area).  Honestly, I don’t care what they call it, we enjoyed the place whatever its called.

It is located in an office park, but once you come inside it’s a little oasis – K said it’s a ‘hidden gem’.   They have a back room set up with tables of all different kinds – we sat at a couch with a coffee table in front of us – very cozy.    We were able to taste 6 different wines (each tastier than the last) and we took our time and enjoyed them – the staff would bring over the next one once we were ready for it. Something new for me – they’d rinse the glass with the new wine, not water, so that there was no chance the wine was watered down.   We met and spoke to the owner (and wine maker) for quite a while during our tasting.  He’s led a very interesting life and is friendly to talk to, he clearly loves his work.   A surprise treat, they also brought over food to munch on -cheese/crackers/grapes, and some enchiladas made by the owner.  

It was a great place to pass an afternoon, and we purchased some wines from them.  It was a great way to stock on some good (and affordable) wine and is much better than my usual approach of picking up whatever bottle i think looks interesting at the grocery store – a hit or miss approach.

They will be moving soon, its worth checking out if you’re ever nearby!
 
Its interesting to me how many wine/beer establishments are in that area – Saint Arnold's used to be in that same complex and we saw where Karbach brewery was, just down the street.

best patio in Houston

Its starting to feel like fall and we could not be happier!
 
K and I had plans to meet for dinner after work, and when I saw how nice it was this morning I started thinking that we needed to go to eat somewhere with a patio.  He agreed and we both put our thinking caps on....

Too funny, we both separately looked online for what places have the best patios and came up with the same answer:  Backstreet Cafe

Neither of us had ever been there, but we will definitely be back!   The patio is pretty wonderful - large with plenty of seating, and with it being walled in you don't realize you're right off a busy Houston street (Shepherd).   Its large enough that the wall doesn't make it feel too closed-in.   We were there early (good since we didn't have reservations) and didn't see it all lit up - they lit candles and lights were coming on in the fountain and trees as we were getting ready to go, but I'm sure its pretty at night.  


The food was outstanding as well!    We each had a seafood dish - his was pecan crusted trout and mine was a special of the day (grouper).  The ingredients were all very fresh, and I was amazed that K ate (and liked) some butternut squash that came with his meal.   I may dream about what I had, and saw several other things I want to try.  

I'd read that they have an award-winning sommelier, so we had to take advantage and get a drink.   The wine list was long, but instead we each got a specialty drink called "what the angels drink" - wine and moscato, lime juice, bitters and cointreau and watermelon ice cubes....it really might be what they serve in heaven, and strong WOW.

Neither of us wanted to leave.

Wordless Wednesday - blueberry picking

This was my view for about an hour and a half on Saturday.   My dad and I went blueberry picking.  Kevin and my mom went with us, but left the picking to us.    We went earlier in the day than I'd planned (about 4:30) and I think it was a good thing we did - we had the place to ourselves since it was the hotter part of the day.    As we got closer to finished we heard more and more voices - when we first got there all we heard were birds, and an occasional far off voice.   All together we picked over 12 lbs of berries!  They are much larger than last year - the rain did the plants good.

Its a fun outing, and the price can't be beat - $2/lb for what you pick and bring out and no limit on what you eat while you pick.   The farm, Moorhead's, is open daily in June until the crop is picked out.   It is so popular that they ran out of buckets in the morning!!

Houston eats

I got to have lunch with a dear friend, Delena, and my sister yesterday. It was a great break from the work day and we went to a place that I'd been wanting to go back to but couldn't remember the name of - its tough to find a place when you can't even remember the NAME.

It finally came to me - Dharma Cafe and so when we made plans for lunch I suggested it. Second visit for me, first visit for sis and Delena. Delena was nice enough to pick me up from work (parking at work is tough to leave during the day) and we had a great time chatting and eating. I had the Italian grill sandwich and a curried lentil soup. I didn't think I liked lentils but really did like this soup. The place is pretty easy to get to, even with the construction on north main - now, when that street is totally shut down for lightrail construction it may be a different story.

After our meal they gave us gelato, turns out they give out free gelato on Fridays, vanilla cinnamon yum...It was frozen so hard they must scoop it and then freeze the bowls, otherwise they have someone with arms of steel working the ice cream scooper. Vanilla cinnamon may have to be our next homemade flavor.

I was so glad that the restaurant was still there, earlier in the week I tried to take a friend to a Vietnamese place I love, and we got there to see that the marquee said "Closed - thanks for 3 great years". I was so sad, I loved their food -especially an eggplant tofu dish. Pagoda, you will be missed. We had to settle for a Mexican place nearby since we'd already taken part of my lunch hour to drive over there, it was good but disappointing after I'd set my tastebuds to Vietnamese food. Houston has lots of restaurants, but unfortunately in some areas they seem to be every changing...there are several places that we refer to as "it used to be xyz"

If you read this you'll think all I do is go out to eat, I assure you I don't...most lunches are brought from home or leftovers (in fact the Mexican food leftovers were my lunch on Tuesday) and Kevin and I do a fair amount of cooking at home, I'm constantly on the search for good easy meals so we can have a set of 'go-to' meals during the workweek.

Texas Exhibit and more

Its been a VERY busy weekend! My side of the family came over to visit and stayed with us the whole weekend. We love having the space to have my entire family stay - my parents get the guest bedroom, my brother and his wife take over the media room and sleep on our queen size air mattress, and my sister takes over the library on her smaller air mattress. Its a lot of people for the house, but makes it possible for us to see each other for a longer period of time.

Friday was a work day for most of us, so we didn't do a lot, just went out to eat (and waited for my brother to get there...making the trip from Austin he got in pretty late).

The real fun was on Saturday. We went to see the Texas exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It was a great exhibit - we saw the actual cannon that started the "Come and Take it" slogan. There were a few places where I'd go into the room and not be sure which sign I should start reading first to follow the chronology. After I read a few I'd realize I'd started in the wrong place (further ahead in the history of Texas then other information in that room was) and have to backtrack. I learned quite a bit - and saw some names I recognize from street signs and buildings around town (Travis, Lamar, Beck to name a few). It was amazing to see how many places the items are on loan from and I have to wonder how (and how long) this exhibit was organized. I also could've done without the random costumes from the 20th century, but must admit a dress made with turkey feathers and tape was quite a sight to see! Thank you Groupon for the HALF-PRICE tickets!!

There is a new dinosaur set up in the lobby which was impressive to see, a flying one with a 30' wingspan....good thing for us they are extinct. This is the musuem that we'll have a membership to soon (won at the casino night), cannot wait!! I'm also excited for a NEW wing to open in Summer 2012!!

Later in the day, we introduced my mom to Thai food. She and Kevin stuck with peanut chicken, but did enjoy it and the rest of us had various curry dishes...yummy! Thai and Indian food are what my brother and his wife crave after their extended time in Nicaragua, unfortunately for us we haven't found Indian food near us, but do have some good restaurants of other kinds near us.

After that (told you we were busy!) we went to pick blueberries. Laura and I had been earlier in the season. Our first trip was a scouting trip to see how the crop was, its been so dry we weren't sure if they'd have a good crop this year. It was slimmer pickings this weekend - more moving from tree to tree to find ripe ones. The person who updates their website (owner?) had said he thought NEXT weekend would be better but we were committed to this weekend. We still had a good time and picked over 18 lbs of blueberries in about an hour and a half. I needed to replenish my supply (about half of the ones I picked two weeks ago have already been eaten, and made great muffins!), but I think Mache was on a missions, she filled her bucket completely! We brought some towels this time to put between our neck and rope for the bucket, it was more comfortable and came in handy to wipe our faces. I do think twice in one season is my limit for blueberry picking, but had a great time - and it was my dad's first time to go.

Today's plans changed when we realized that bugs Kevin had been seeing around the house were coming from our pantry. They'd gotten into some of our food - even Smokey's! - and so today was taken over by that project. We tossed some of our food and took EVERYTHING out of the pantry, sprayed it down with bug spray (after putting both of our creatures outside) and then re-organized it as we put it back. This was something I'd wanted to do, but not today.....

Houston Roller Derby

This month is flying by!

Last night I was finally able to check out Houston Roller Derby with my hubby and my sister. Lucky for us, my sister had heard a player being interviewed on the radio and they mentioned something about bringing chairs, so we did. I'd also put a question on my facebook to get some feedback, and heard from a ocuple of people who had been. facebook may be a timewaster but can also be a quick way to get a question answered when you don't really know who to ask.

The chairs were just what we needed! It is held at Kick's (indoor soccer field) so there are some bleachers, but to get up close you either sit in a chair you brought, sit on the floor, or stand. None of us wanted to sit on the floor or stand for several hours, so those chairs were worth their weight in, well not gold, but something more than what canvas is worth!

We got there early enough to get seats up front, and had a great time watching the bouts. Its a full contact sport, and from someone who could barely ever skate, seeing what they can do on skates is really fun to see (all were wearing old school skates, no roller blades). It was a fun atmosphere, I said later that it is sort of a sport for people who usually don't like sports. Its very unique and the people-watching is fun too. I won't claim to understand all the rules, but was glad I read a short overview of the rules so I understood the basic idea.

Kevin also had a lot of opportunity to play with his camera, trying to get some action shots of the girls. Can't wait to see how they turned out.

If you get a chance, check it out! with these recommendations:

• figure out where the free parking is so you don't have to valet
• get there early
• bring chairs and cash (if you want something to drink)
• dress comfortably and for warm weather, it gets hot in that place with all the people in there

I think our drought is over, at least for a while. We've gotten at least seven inches of rain in the past two days - 2 on Friday, and 5 on Saturday. We needed the rain so I was glad to see it, but wish that it would be spread out over several days or weeks rather than all at once.

Unfortunately I had to drive in it quite a bit.

I had a meeting in Waco on Friday so I drove up Thursday and came back on Friday afternoon. For some reason each time I go to Waco there is bad weather coming back (based on only 2 trips), hopefully I'll break this streak. I want to see the Dr. Pepper Museum, but wanted to get out of town and ahead of the rain as much as I could more. I made good time the way there (~3 hours) but took nearly twice as long coming back since there was so much rain...from Bryan on I drove in rain, and once I hit 290 it was a deluge. My request to everyone else driving in rain: turn on your headlights! I am amazed at how many people drive along in rain without their headlights on. It will help other cars to see you and avoid possible accidents so just flip that switch and turn them on. I finally got home around 6 and we still had to go feed my sister's cat. I was glad to get into Kevin's SUV, being higher up is better for visibility and in case there is standing water.

Saturday I got to stay home most of the day, but did venture to the store so we could make our chicken tortilla soup (so good on a rainy day), and had to go to the airport to pick up my sister from her vacation. I was really surprised to see that her flight was listed as being early, because earlier I'd looked at the status online and saw that it was delayed nearly 2 hours. They got in and out of the San Jose airport quickly so that they could get in the air on time. Getting to the airport was an adventure - my usual route was underwater, so I had to call Kevin to figure out a different route (he is my weather and traffic man!), and after finally getting her and heading back out we saw there was high water at the feeder we were on and even in the SUV I didn't feel safe driving through it. I don't know if my alternative was any safer, but we turned on the hazard lights and went up the exit ramp to get onto the highway. I hated to do it and was nervous the whole time, but thought it was the only safe way to get on the road to head home.

Her neighborhood was clear, so she and i each got home safe and sound...and we stayed in the rest of the night.

Debris Pile

I had never thought much about where all of the trees and branches that are torn down by a hurricane end up after they are gathered up, put at the curb and picked up by the city/county. But, I now know where some of Hurricane Ike's debris is going. On my way into town from home on highway 288, I pass by this open area that is now a huge debris pile. Look at how tall the piles are compared to the truck and other equipment around it! It makes the vehicles look like toys. I'll have to keep an eye on how big this pile gets. I wonder how many piles there are like this in the area.

The photo quality is not very good, but its the best I could do - I pointed my camera towards my passenger window and hit the button to take the photo several times in quick succession. I will give up a lot of photo quality to give more attention to driving :) A better idea would've been to take the photos when Kevin was driving, but I didn't have the camera with me then...

Wonderful Normal Weekend

Losing a week at work made last week very hectic and long. So Kevin and I were very glad when we got to Friday and could look forward to a “normal” weekend. We had the whole weekend to ourselves and no hurricane to prepare for. We took full advantage and had a great time!

Friday night we went to check out the Thai Cottage restaurant that recently opened near us. We split several dishes, and fell in love with the green and red curries. I think the green curry is my favorite! Then we hurried home to watch the first presidential debate. It almost didn’t happen, since McCain was saying he wouldn’t come so that they could concentrate on working through the financial crisis, but in the end he did show and they had a good debate, never really talked to each other like they were supposed to, but still interesting to see. The topic was supposed to be foreign relations but went all over the map, especially with the Wall Street crisis in the front of everyone's minds. Aside -- the crisis became the top news story while we were still dealing with Ike, so for a while we didn't even KNOW about it!

Saturday we did our chores (grocery shopping, mow the lawn) and then grilled our dinner. The sky was a clear blue, and since its starting to cool off we decided to take advantage of it and eat outside. The patio, with the canopy above us, makes for a great outdoor dining room! Later, we decided to check out a pub we’ve driven by for quite a while and never gotten over to, The Maple Leaf. What a great idea (all credit goes to Kevin), we stayed there much longer than expected because we were having fun just hanging out and they have board games so we played Trivial Pursuit 80s. For growing up in the 80s (and loving trivia), I know surprisingly little about the decade! I blame some of that on my being so young for much of it, though Kevin isn’t that much older so I think it has more to do with me not being as informed as I should be.

Sunday we watched football and again grilled and ate dinner outside. The Texans played a better game than I expected, but lost in overtime. Later in the day, we went for a bike ride around the neighborhood and into the older part of the neighborhood that connects to ours. There are lots of piles of branches and debris, and tarps on a large number of the roofs. On the way home, I felt like my bike was riding weird and yep, I got a flat on our ride. So I need to get that fixed, but am so glad the weather is finally cooling off to where I want to ride the bike. That night we were watching a movie and suddenly the power went out! We went and sat on the patio to enjoy the cool night, but were wondering how long it might be out for. It came back on after about 40 minutes, so we think they had to bring our power off to bring someone else’s power back on, but I really don’t know. The power going out makes me think about those people who STILL don’t have power back since Ike. I hope I never have to experience that, but know that it can’t be easy. How quickly I take for granted that I can flip a switch and the light comes on or the cold air keeps coming out..

Light is Good

My parents and in-laws got power back last night, yay! They each had generators, but like all of us were so glad to get electricity back - must remember this when I take for granted I can just flip a switch and I have lights, a/c, etc.

Keith and Julia are going to stay with my in-laws today. Kaden can play with Nana, and maybe even swim! Hopefully they'll get power back soon, its been 11 days since they've been home a long time for anyone and a lifetime for a 3-year-old. It will be a very quiet house when I get home tonight. Its been good to get to spend time with them but I hope they get to go home soon because that is a long time be gone from home, and frustrating since Julia has all this time off but can't get any of the stuff done she'd like to at the house since she doesn't have power. Patty and Smokey (the dogs) are probably going to go into mourning, they've had the most fun being together. Its also made me wonder if I really want two dogs (we'd been considering it). This week has been a good trial run for that, they definitely keep each other company, but I'd be concerned that they'd tear up the house playing all the time, and Smokey never leaves Patty alone, good thing he's fixed - he's always trying to get on top of her, trying to dominate and/or play with her, but its just embarrassing.

Yesterday was my first day back at work. I was very pleased to see that my office is just as I left it when I left early on Thursday, 9/11, to prepare for Ike. We got permission to move our reporting day to Friday since we were closed for a week, but that makes us lose a week in our already busy fall, so it'll be hectic..I think right now is the "calm before the storm", I was busy but nothing like I will be once we hit 20th day.

At lunch, I walked over to see Julia's building, and it is a mess. They are doing a LOT of work on it. Most of the windows facing the Chase tower are gone and there are large yellow tubes coming out onto the sidewalk, trash chutes or wet/dry vacuuming is my guess. The sidewalks all around it are taped off, on travis because of all of the work going on and on the other sides for safety I guess. The streets around it look like they're open. Pretty much every window on the Travis side of Chase tower for 15-20 stories up is boarded up. Since I was there, I ate at Azuma (sushi), good but expensive.

Kevin's offices were messed up, they're in a temporary office space for 30 days and after that they'll figure out what they want to do. He'll be working at home since they only have space for the office workers (he's a consultant). Hearing about all the damage to office buildings, I''m lucky we only missed a week and a day here.

Hurrication

My school is closed the rest of the week, someone in the neighborhood called it a "hurrication", kind of a funny word for a very serious situation. I am glad to not have to use up gas to get to and from work, but know that its going to take quite a while for everyone to get back to normal, and I'm very lucky to be even able to partly think of this week as a vacation. It will take many people weeks and months to get back to normal, and some will have to find a new "normal".

My parents got home yesterday. Kevin and I picked them up at the airport and visited his parents’ house while we were up there. His parents don’t have power so they’re using a generator, and got it working again. It took us a while to get back to the airport from their house because the traffic lights are all four-way stops, and at one point we were in a gas line without realizing it - the right lane leading up to almost every gas station is stacked up with people trying to fill up their cars.

My parents were glad to be back in Texas, and went pretty quickly on to Lake Jackson to see their house. They have branches all over their yard and one branch on their garage, but the house is ok. As expected, they don’t have power, but they own a generator and have gas for it and the tractor to begin starting the cleanup. They were lucky to get on the first flight out from Nicaragua and my brother and sis-in-law flew back today.

Laura was able to go home yesterday, she has power and was able to get gas. She's been working from home for her job and will be more comfortable at her own place, and without a 3-year-old wanting to play with her while she works. Kaden is doing well, but really just wants to go home (understandably).

I saw on the news earlier today that we are in an area that still needs to boil water (after theyusi told us earlier that all houston water was safe to drink). I'll need to remember to do that if I use tap water to drink, been mostly using bottled water.

Watching all of the coverage of the devastation is really depressing at times, but we want to keep up with what all has happened and all of the people who are affected. and we see how lucky we really are.

Full House

We have a full house. My sister came over on Saturday, and my brother-in-law, his wife, our nephew and their dog came over yesterday since none of them have power. We picked up Laura's cat and some more of her stuff (and food) at her apartment yesterday. We realized the only one of us with their own room is the cat! We're very fortunate to have power and are glad to share that luxury with others that we can, we'd planned to go to someone else's with power if we didn't have it back. Much of the city is still without power (the Chronicle says 1 in 4 customers have power), and people are waiting in line for hours for groceries, gas, and at "pod locations" (FEMA supplies). My university is closed through Tuesday, and I'm guessing it'll be closed longer since so many people are without power and its tough to get gas, etc.

My parents are now supposed to fly in on Tuesday, and they'll probably need to stay with us too. Lake Jackson is telling people not to come back yet, so we'll wait and see when my parents can go back and then assess what is going on there. Keith and Julia saw my in-laws, they are fine just have no phone service, so no one could get hold of them. They have a generator to run the fridge and a window a/c unit. We are glad to have finally heard from them, we were all getting worried.

I posted some pics of damage to our neighborhood. We were very fortunate to have just our fence and a tree to fix. The fence will have to wait til it dries out and we can add sand to make it stay straight up. our neighbor and lots of others have roof damage and a few have siding damage.
http://picasaweb.google.com/minut78/HurricaneIkeDamage#

The weather is cooler today, good for everyone still without power.

Keith and Julia were even able to get some groceries - we saw a Kroger on the news that didn't look too crowded, so they went there and got some food for all of us.

After Hurricane Ike

Kevin and I are safe after the hurricane. It was a very long night. We lost power about 10:30, and were able to sleep a few hours before being woken up by the wind and rain (about 3:30 am). The wind was vicious, howling and just very loud and with lots of rain. I actually hunkered down in the hallway for part of the night to be away from the windows and the noise of our bedroom. Since its an interior hallway it was quieter there. Smokey ended up under our bed at one point, and we tried moving to the living room to get some sleep but without much luck. We also saw a very bright flash twice during the night, still not sure what it was. While I was in bed I reached up and felt the wall behind my head and could feel it flexing with the wind. It was very scary.

We spent much of the night just listening to the wind, and occasionally looking out the window to see how things were holding up. Most of the morning was still very heavy winds.

We lit candles and had our radio on most of the day to find out what had happened and where the storm was. With cellphones we were able to text friends to let them know we're ok and find out how they are, but service is very spotty (overloaded and with broken coverage I'm sure).

We haven't been able to get hold of Kevin's parents, and my parents are still in Nicaragua. I just checked and their flight for tomorrow is cancelled. We will keep trying to get hold of his parents. I haven't seen any coverage of my parents' area, but I know that they have large oak trees all around their house and its a very low-lying area and closer to the coast. I have no idea what they'll be going back to. We think K's grandpa's house may be underwater but he is safe in Dallas, and the rest of his family in other parts of the Gulf Coast are all accounted for and fine.

My sister is fine too, I was able to speak to her today.

We are very fortunate. We had only very minor (and easily repaired damage) to our fence and a tree. This afternoon, we rode our bikes around the neighborhood and saw a lot of fences and trees blown over, and some siding and roof damage. We are actually lucky that we have no significant trees around us. The bayou near us is pretty high but within its banks. We were also able to prevent water from coming in around the door by putting duct tape up around all 4-sides.

We got power back about 3:30 pm, much better than the 2-4 weeks they'd told us it could take! The water pressure is still very low, but by and large we are back to normal.

I know that not everyone was as fortunate as we were, that there was a lot of damage from the storm and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone who went through this storm with us.