Anyone know a good way to post a .wav file? (youtube doesn't like it)
In the meantime, for your downloading and listening pleasure, we have:
THE GIGGLES.
No SIMpathy For Them
2 hours ago
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
WE HAVE POWER! and other updates
Yesterday while we were at the mall, our house got power again. It was glorious. We're still celebrating each time we flip a light switch. Finding a store that was powered and carrying milk, eggs, and meat was pretty hard, but we're once again stocked and SO happy. It'll be a long while before we take electricity for granted again.
Church today was combined with other congregations in the area, as not all the buildings have power yet. The AC was broken, and the room was very full, so it got a bit uncomfortable. Apparently, about half of my congregation is STILL without power (going on day 9 now). So we're feeling very blessed.
Kenny doesn't start school back up til Wednesday, so he's had a nice little break. He's had lots of time to play with the baby (and I think he gets more smiles out of him than I do these days):
I've definitely enjoyed all the time with him home.
Daniel learned a new trick this week: sitting up on his own!
Well, kinda. Still working on the posture thing:):
Oh, and the drool on his chest? That's a constant thing. He is a drooly drooly boy. I keep thinking he's teething, but so far no sign of new teeth.
Work is going well- I've been working on a huge new project in my new role (did I mention I changed jobs within my company?) and it's gone well enough, other than I went a week with no internet (thank you thank you thank you Kevin for letting me camp out at your place) and my work lappy keeps giving me the purple screen of death (you know you have problems when the Blue Screen of Death is too good for you).
Things are good, life is returning to normal, and we just feel so lucky!
Church today was combined with other congregations in the area, as not all the buildings have power yet. The AC was broken, and the room was very full, so it got a bit uncomfortable. Apparently, about half of my congregation is STILL without power (going on day 9 now). So we're feeling very blessed.
Kenny doesn't start school back up til Wednesday, so he's had a nice little break. He's had lots of time to play with the baby (and I think he gets more smiles out of him than I do these days):
 |
| From Sept 08 |
I've definitely enjoyed all the time with him home.
Daniel learned a new trick this week: sitting up on his own!
 |
| From Sept 08 |
Well, kinda. Still working on the posture thing:):
 |
| From Sept 08 |
Oh, and the drool on his chest? That's a constant thing. He is a drooly drooly boy. I keep thinking he's teething, but so far no sign of new teeth.
Work is going well- I've been working on a huge new project in my new role (did I mention I changed jobs within my company?) and it's gone well enough, other than I went a week with no internet (thank you thank you thank you Kevin for letting me camp out at your place) and my work lappy keeps giving me the purple screen of death (you know you have problems when the Blue Screen of Death is too good for you).
Things are good, life is returning to normal, and we just feel so lucky!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Still no power!
As Lori said, we weathered the storm OK. We only lost a chunk of our fence and the "cap" on our chimney. We may have lost a front yard tree, but I think it'll pull through.
Unfortunately, we are still without electricity. It was scary and intense- we were both pretty sure we'd lose a window there for a while and we stayed away from the North side of the house for a few hours, but no real damage was done. Now we're just dealing with the inconvenience of not having power. We lost the contents of our fridge/freezer, but fortunately we don't keep much in there and probably only lost 50 bucks worth of food.
We are spending our days at my brother Kevin's house so that I can have access to internet and do my job. But I'm trying to make the best use of that time and you won't see me posting much or commenting on your blogs much until we get power back at our place (possibly another week or so). We are SO grateful that Kevin is letting us camp at his place.
We do have some pictures up at the web album. This one nicely sums up what we experienced- it was dark and wet (just imagine it's accompanied by the sounds you hear when driving through a car wash):
Here is the retaining pond before the storm:
And here it is after (the tree on the far left of the above picture is the bent tree in this shot):
Unfortunately, we are still without electricity. It was scary and intense- we were both pretty sure we'd lose a window there for a while and we stayed away from the North side of the house for a few hours, but no real damage was done. Now we're just dealing with the inconvenience of not having power. We lost the contents of our fridge/freezer, but fortunately we don't keep much in there and probably only lost 50 bucks worth of food.
We are spending our days at my brother Kevin's house so that I can have access to internet and do my job. But I'm trying to make the best use of that time and you won't see me posting much or commenting on your blogs much until we get power back at our place (possibly another week or so). We are SO grateful that Kevin is letting us camp at his place.
We do have some pictures up at the web album. This one nicely sums up what we experienced- it was dark and wet (just imagine it's accompanied by the sounds you hear when driving through a car wash):
 |
| From Hurricane Ike |
Here is the retaining pond before the storm:
 |
| From Hurricane Ike |
And here it is after (the tree on the far left of the above picture is the bent tree in this shot):
 |
| From Hurricane Ike |
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Hurricane has passed and things are okay.
Hey, this is Jen's sister Lori. Before they lost power, Jen asked me to make sure to update her blog for anyone who has been following the hurricane and were wondering how they faired.
They're missing a chunk of their fence and lost the cover to their chimney... but overall things turned out as well as they could have hoped. They dont have power, but at least their water is still working- though it's not recommended for drinking just yet.
She said they really couldn't see much of the storm because it set in in the middle of the night, but it definitely made their house sound like it was going through a car wash.
Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know that they're okay and are mostly just waiting to see what they need to do next. Thank you for all of your hopeful thoughts, prayers, and kind wishes.
They're missing a chunk of their fence and lost the cover to their chimney... but overall things turned out as well as they could have hoped. They dont have power, but at least their water is still working- though it's not recommended for drinking just yet.
She said they really couldn't see much of the storm because it set in in the middle of the night, but it definitely made their house sound like it was going through a car wash.
Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know that they're okay and are mostly just waiting to see what they need to do next. Thank you for all of your hopeful thoughts, prayers, and kind wishes.
Friday, September 12, 2008
8 o'clock pm- and pics!
*Update: we're going to bed. Yeah, it's exciting:). We're hoping if we go to bed now we'll sleep through some of the anticipation, also knowing both of us can't sleep naturally past 7 am these days anyways and probably will be awake for the brunt of the storm (the center of the storm should hit about 7 am). Daniel is sleeping on our bed with us tonight.
What the clouds and a sunset before a hurricane looks like (and I didn't mess with the color of these particular photos one bit. It felt like it was glowing outside for a while there):
The house is starting to rattle a bit and the electricity has flickered a few times. We're still comfortable enough to walk around outside though. No rain- just a lot of wind and crazy clouds.
For some odd reason, Daniel has been REALLY fussy today. Not cool.
What the clouds and a sunset before a hurricane looks like (and I didn't mess with the color of these particular photos one bit. It felt like it was glowing outside for a while there):
 |
| From Sept 08 |
 |
| From Sept 08 |
 |
| From Sept 08 |
 |
| From Sept 08 |
 |
| From Sept 08 |
The house is starting to rattle a bit and the electricity has flickered a few times. We're still comfortable enough to walk around outside though. No rain- just a lot of wind and crazy clouds.
For some odd reason, Daniel has been REALLY fussy today. Not cool.
6:30 Friday night
Starting to get pretty windy, got some on and off sprinkles... we just watched the movie Miracle to distract us a bit (first time we've had time to watch a movie in two weeks). We've got some cookies ready now too.
We got to know some neighbors, we all hung out and chatted in the street for some time. Only one house in our neighborhood boarded their windows. Fortunately its a new enough development that there aren't a ton of trees. I am a little worried about the porta-potty down the street;).
It's fun to look out the window into our backyard because the grass is so tall and the slightest wind looks SO dramatic. It's also fun looking at the trees and figuring out which way the the wind is blowing- one tree will be blowing one way, then two trees down, blowing another way. With the way the lower clouds are moving I feel like I'm in a snow globe someone just shook up.
The projected path no longer goes through my subdivision, so that's nice:). Abc13.com says the forecast for my neighborhood is: "Sustained winds 60-90 mph, 5-10" rain with flooding in poor drainage areas, isolated tornadoes." Becky sent this link, kind of fun to see all the coverage.
I don't anticipate sleeping a lot tonight.We've got some Dr Mario on Game Boy ready:).
Lucy just figured out something is up and has gone a little crazy. About ten minutes ago she just snapped and has gone a little haywire.
We got to know some neighbors, we all hung out and chatted in the street for some time. Only one house in our neighborhood boarded their windows. Fortunately its a new enough development that there aren't a ton of trees. I am a little worried about the porta-potty down the street;).
It's fun to look out the window into our backyard because the grass is so tall and the slightest wind looks SO dramatic. It's also fun looking at the trees and figuring out which way the the wind is blowing- one tree will be blowing one way, then two trees down, blowing another way. With the way the lower clouds are moving I feel like I'm in a snow globe someone just shook up.
The projected path no longer goes through my subdivision, so that's nice:). Abc13.com says the forecast for my neighborhood is: "Sustained winds 60-90 mph, 5-10" rain with flooding in poor drainage areas, isolated tornadoes." Becky sent this link, kind of fun to see all the coverage.
I don't anticipate sleeping a lot tonight.We've got some Dr Mario on Game Boy ready:).
Lucy just figured out something is up and has gone a little crazy. About ten minutes ago she just snapped and has gone a little haywire.
Hurricane update
First, it was bound to happen eventually but the timing for this was horrible: coming down the stairs last night from my 3:30 am feeding, I misjudged a step and rolled my ankle. Landed on my tailbone, got a rug burn, then promptly passed out. I like to pass out when I'm in any pain. I don't think I sprained my ankle, I can put weigh ton it and move it fine, but it has a nice dull throbbing sensation. If it weren't for the fact that all of Houston has shut down, I'd go to a doctor.
On to the storm:
the current forecast once again takes the storm right through my subdivision as a category one (this image shows my subdivision with a red arrow and the projected path with a blue line) . Google shows the track here; abc13.com also has some great up-to-date neighborhood-specific forecasts. We're in the town of Spring, the neighborhood of Klein, if you want to look us up after we lose power (zip 77379).
I want to clarify that we're no where near an area that they'd ever have a mandatory evacuation. They've only ordered an evacuation for zone 1, then zones 2 and 3 come more into the city... if we were in a zone it'd be like 6.
So far it has been a nice, pretty day. Sunny morning, very serene, though the wind is picking up. Kenny went to walmart this morning and of course the shelves were pretty much empty (they did however have crispix;)). No one is on the roads- EVERYONE got the day off work.
Overnight, they bumped it down to making landfall at category 2 and then recently back up to category 3. At least there is less talk of a Category 4. The current forecast for my little town of spring: "Sustained winds 75-100 mph, 5-10" rain with flooding in poor drainage areas, isolated tornadoes."
The last time my area saw wind like that was in like 1932. Still, it's not enough to cause significant structural damage, they say. A friend in the ward oh-so-helpfully told us that tornadoes are easy to predict because when they start coming, it sounds like a freight train. We don't have a single room in our house that does not have at least one external wall- not even a bathroom or a closet.
We've been warned to expect to be without power for at least three days- it isn't a matter of IF we lose power, it's more a matter of WHEN. Most of our preparations are around the expectation that we may be without power for a week or so.
We've got ice in our ice chest and don't plan on opening the fridge. We've got cash, water, food, a crank radio (thanks mom). We don't have wood to board up windows and aren't about to tackle home depot (not like they have any left, I suspect). If worse comes to worse we'll dismantle part of our back fence.
They just emailed that they've canceled church on Sunday for the whole Stake.
Last night I called the single ladies in my ward to check on how prepared they are. May I just say how glad I am we stress preparedness so much in our church? Of the 5 sisters I called, only 1 did not have what she needed. We're trying to make sure everyone has 72 hours of food and water and a fair amount of cash on hand (since without power credit and debit cards are useless).
We've got our cell phones, game boys, laptops and anything else charged. Baby and dog are freshly bathed:). We're making the most of electricity while we have it: vacuuming, making cookies...
Ill keep updating as long as we have power. Hopefully tomorrow morning my cell can at least text message Lori and she'll let you all know we're alright.
On to the storm:
the current forecast once again takes the storm right through my subdivision as a category one (this image shows my subdivision with a red arrow and the projected path with a blue line) . Google shows the track here; abc13.com also has some great up-to-date neighborhood-specific forecasts. We're in the town of Spring, the neighborhood of Klein, if you want to look us up after we lose power (zip 77379).
I want to clarify that we're no where near an area that they'd ever have a mandatory evacuation. They've only ordered an evacuation for zone 1, then zones 2 and 3 come more into the city... if we were in a zone it'd be like 6.
So far it has been a nice, pretty day. Sunny morning, very serene, though the wind is picking up. Kenny went to walmart this morning and of course the shelves were pretty much empty (they did however have crispix;)). No one is on the roads- EVERYONE got the day off work.
Overnight, they bumped it down to making landfall at category 2 and then recently back up to category 3. At least there is less talk of a Category 4. The current forecast for my little town of spring: "Sustained winds 75-100 mph, 5-10" rain with flooding in poor drainage areas, isolated tornadoes."
The last time my area saw wind like that was in like 1932. Still, it's not enough to cause significant structural damage, they say. A friend in the ward oh-so-helpfully told us that tornadoes are easy to predict because when they start coming, it sounds like a freight train. We don't have a single room in our house that does not have at least one external wall- not even a bathroom or a closet.
We've been warned to expect to be without power for at least three days- it isn't a matter of IF we lose power, it's more a matter of WHEN. Most of our preparations are around the expectation that we may be without power for a week or so.
We've got ice in our ice chest and don't plan on opening the fridge. We've got cash, water, food, a crank radio (thanks mom). We don't have wood to board up windows and aren't about to tackle home depot (not like they have any left, I suspect). If worse comes to worse we'll dismantle part of our back fence.
They just emailed that they've canceled church on Sunday for the whole Stake.
Last night I called the single ladies in my ward to check on how prepared they are. May I just say how glad I am we stress preparedness so much in our church? Of the 5 sisters I called, only 1 did not have what she needed. We're trying to make sure everyone has 72 hours of food and water and a fair amount of cash on hand (since without power credit and debit cards are useless).
We've got our cell phones, game boys, laptops and anything else charged. Baby and dog are freshly bathed:). We're making the most of electricity while we have it: vacuuming, making cookies...
Ill keep updating as long as we have power. Hopefully tomorrow morning my cell can at least text message Lori and she'll let you all know we're alright.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Not to be an alarmist, but...
I'm just going to keep updating this post as things happen...
**UPDATE**
We've decided to stay for sure. Some families from church need some help preparing for the storm, and I have a full work day tomorrow. We're feeling well prepared.
*********
Since I first posted this morning, the path of Hurricane Ike has changed, but this morning it went literally about two blocks from my house.
Now, I know the projected path will change even more, probably a lot, between now and Saturday. But still- it went right through my street!
We're not in a potential evacuation zone or a flood plain.
School was canceled for Kenny tomorrow.
We're just outside of the Cat 3 zone. For the record, Katrina was a 3. So yes, I'm following this very closely. I'm trying to go off the reactions of some area veterans- for instance, my relief society president has lived here 20 years and she's sticking around.
If we lose power, we'll have our cell phones handy. If anything huge happens I'll be sure to get this space updated.
**UPDATE**
We've decided to stay for sure. Some families from church need some help preparing for the storm, and I have a full work day tomorrow. We're feeling well prepared.
*********
Since I first posted this morning, the path of Hurricane Ike has changed, but this morning it went literally about two blocks from my house.
Now, I know the projected path will change even more, probably a lot, between now and Saturday. But still- it went right through my street!
We're not in a potential evacuation zone or a flood plain.
School was canceled for Kenny tomorrow.
We're just outside of the Cat 3 zone. For the record, Katrina was a 3. So yes, I'm following this very closely. I'm trying to go off the reactions of some area veterans- for instance, my relief society president has lived here 20 years and she's sticking around.
If we lose power, we'll have our cell phones handy. If anything huge happens I'll be sure to get this space updated.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Storm Front comin *updated*
I've had a few people express concern about us and Hurricane Ike, so I figured I'd let everyone know: currently, we aren't too worried but are being cautious. We're keeping our gas tank full, we've got our 72-hour kits, flashlights and 55 gallons of water.
I don't think Kenny's school district has announced any plans to close school yet (especially since the storm should hit on Saturday), but if we need to evacuate, his sister Jeannette has graciously offered us an escape route to Fort Worth. So I think we have all our bases covered.
**UPDATE**
This morning's forecast is fun. Check out where the new forecasted path puts us (Kevin's town of Tomball and my town of Spring are both in the yellow box):
(image taken from google map's hurricane tracker)
Weeeee!
I don't think Kenny's school district has announced any plans to close school yet (especially since the storm should hit on Saturday), but if we need to evacuate, his sister Jeannette has graciously offered us an escape route to Fort Worth. So I think we have all our bases covered.
**UPDATE**
This morning's forecast is fun. Check out where the new forecasted path puts us (Kevin's town of Tomball and my town of Spring are both in the yellow box):
(image taken from google map's hurricane tracker)
Weeeee!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
