Fun sites

Yes, I know SB, you're right... I haven't blogged in awhile. Please forgive me. Lots of late nights at the office, and nothing really to blog about. Things at the house are going well. We're just doing "house" stuff these days. Trying to get through our to-do list, and enjoying life on the island. Which means lots of golf cart rides. That is one thing we have been doing. And I love it. We had some furniture delivered last weekend (entry table and media console), and I just spent the last of the insurance money on some more furniture, so we're getting there. That's really the only update I have on the house.

Some friends sent me some fun sites this week, so I thought I'd share them with you all.

The first had my entire office laughing hysterically and rather loudly to the point of crying because it's so funny. I'll let you judge for yourself. It is a collection of people that grace us with their presence at America's favorite store - Wal Mart. The captions are what really make the pictures, although some pictures just speak for themselves.

The second is a quiz (of which I scored 75% on, I might add, which I thought was pretty good). Celebrity baby name or computer virus? Let me know how you score.

Hope you all have a great weekend and week ahead!

End of an era

Today marks the end of one of the greatest soap operas ever. OK, maybe not really, but it does mark the end of an era for Guiding Light. After 72 years (the longest running soap opera ever), the show will no longer air after today. Kinda brings a tear to my eye. Not that I watched it every day (hardly... who has time to do that when they work 10 hours a day?), but I know that my grandma and many of my family members do, and I think my mom did at some point in time in her life as well.

Is it the greatest acting in the world? Nope. Is it life-changing? Nope again. Can you pick up in the middle of the week where you left it one year ago and get all the latest story lines and find out who's carrying who's baby, and who killed who, and who divorced who only to marry someone's friend? Absolutely. And that's what I love about soap operas. When I'm home sick, or just taking a day off of work (um, never mind... that doesn't happen), I can turn on my soap operas and find out what I've missed in the last year.

With that said, and Guiding Light now going off the air for good, I'll miss Josh and Reva, Philip and Beth, Alan Spaulding (the jerk that he is), the Bauer's 4th of July parties, and all of the drama that comes with a soap opera. Like I said, I didn't watch it on a regular basis (although, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I scheduled my classes around it in college... I can't really remember), it is kind of odd to think that the light will no longer be lit on CBS at 2 p.m. in the afternoon.

To have been a fly on the wall

As Jay and I were taking our nightly golf cart ride this evening, we were reminiscing about this night one year ago. Jay took a nap on the floor in my parents living room. I went to bed and "slept" for a couple of hours before getting up at around 3 a.m. The eye of the storm moved over Galveston at around 2 a.m., which means water had already been in our house and receded by the time I got up.

As most of you know, we had two different, yet very distinct, water lines in our house, and from the stories we heard it's because the water came in once, went out with the eye, and then came back in when the back half of the storm moved inland. And as we were driving around tonight, we were amazed at just how much water that was. When you're diving the streets that people were riding in boats around following the storm, it kinda puts it into perspective, but it's still really hard to fathom. And all we kept saying was, "how cool would it have been to be a fly on the wall that night." Not because we wanted to go through hell, but because it really is hard to imagine that much water coming in your house, going out, and then coming back in - and not breaking a single window. It's like Santa Claus. How in the hell does he get down the chimney without making a word?!?! How in the world does 4 to 5 feet of water come in your house twice and not break a window? Amazing.

Thank goodness for football

Last year at this time I was a wreck as we really had no idea what was going to happen to our house. I remember blogging about it, and asking people to text me with Ohio State / USC score updates because that was the only other thing I had to think about. Ha! Text? During a hurricane? That's quite funny. Little did I know...

Anyway, that very exact game a year later is helping me get through this weekend. I can't wait to sit down in front of the TV tonight and watch some good football. That and all of the other football on TV this weekend. I mean really, THANK GOODNESS FOR FOOTBALL! For a number of reasons.

Enjoy the games this weekend. Go Bucks! Go Irish! Go Texans!

I shouldn't read old blog posts / Remembering Sept. 11

I really shouldn't read old blog posts, but I do, especially as they relate to Hurricane Ike, because like I said in my previous post, there are parts of days (and in some cases, entire days) that I can't remember. Reading old posts at least gives me an idea of what I was thinking at that particular moment.

However, one year ago today is one of those days I remember quite vividly. I remember seeing on the TV and getting the phone call from the City that we had to evacuate. This was the day that everyone realized Galveston was taking a direct hit from Ike, and we were pretty much screwed. Jay says this is also the day that we moved the stuff to the townhouse, but I don't see how that was possible if we had to be out of here by noon (note: neither of us can remember if we actually made it out by noon or not... somehow I don't think we did because we made two trips to The Woodlands with cars and stuff, but who knows).

Anyway, that's all I'm really going to say about Ike and today, because in the big scheme of things, me having to evacuate was not as big a deal as what happened to this country on this date in 2001. We all remember where we were on Sept. 11, 2001. I know I do. Like it was yesterday (funny, can't remember one year ago, but eight years? No problem... guess that explains a lot). It was horrible and still gives me chills when I think about it.

To all of our military, police, fire, EMS, first responders... thank you for what you do for us and this great country. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. You allow us to live the lives we do in the greatest country in the world. Thank you really isn't enough, but I don't know what else to say.

Hurricane Ike one year ago today

So, one year ago today, we really started to fear the worst from Hurricane Ike. We hadn't received our mandatory evacuation orders, but we were moving to higher ground at this point. This is one of the days that I remember bits and pieces of. I remember that it was crazy, trying to decide what to move (do we take the couch? what about the TVs? shit, don't forget the pictures... those were the conversations we were having), and then actually moving it (or not moving it). I think we were running on pure adrenaline all day. Picture albums, the bed, stereo equipment, and "important stuff"... it all got moved to the townhouse. And now that I'm thinking about it, I have no idea where we slept the night of Sept. 10, 2008. We hadn't received mandatory evacuation orders yet, so we weren't at my parents house in The Woodlands, but I know for a fact (ok, well, maybe not for a fact, but I'm pretty sure) that we moved the bed over to the townhouse on this day one year ago. Maybe I didn't sleep that night? I really have no idea.

At any rate, I'm not ready for the next three days or the weeks that follow. I don't like anniversaries of shitty events in my life. But I know that said shitty events have helped to shape my life, me as a person, my relationships, and who I am. And I know that I grew stronger from this experience, and that my relationship with Jay has grown and definitely gotten stronger through this, but I still don't like it. It brings back very vivid memories, and then some not so vivid memories (like not remembering where the hell I slept the night before I evacuated... how can I not remember this????).

Here's a picture of what Ike looked like on Sept. 10, 2008, as it was making its way towards the Texas coast. It brings back chills just looking at it. It was so massive. Once it got into the Gulf, it basically took up the entire Gulf of Mexico. Mother Nature can be a bitch sometimes, but at the same time She has an awesome power.

Remembering Ike

This week marks the one year anniversary of Hurricane Ike. Of course, the media is playing this up and making a big deal out of it (and yes, I admit, probably making a bigger deal out of it then need be), and I can't help but reminisce a little myself. After all, it was one of the most horrific - if not the most horrific - thing that has happened to me in my life.

I thought it might help me to try to recall the events of that week, and those after, as Sept. 13 approaches. As I was lying in bed last night trying to piece together the events of the week, I couldn't (and of course that made me mad). There are parts of the week that are still blurry. The day before we got our mandatory evacuation orders was crazy, I do remember that much. We were packing things up and moving stuff to the townhouse (that's where we thought we were going to evacuate to before we heard about the 15-22 feet tidal surges). I remember walking through the house before we left on Sept. 11 crying and praying. And as I'm typing this I'm crying again. It probably seems silly to those of you who don't live on the Gulf Coast or who have never experienced something like this, but it was the unknown factor that killed me the most. I am, for the most part, a planner. I like to know when things are happening what the possible outcome is going to be so that I can plan for that. And this was something I just had no control over and I couldn't plan for any of it. There we just too many unknowns. After all, we had gone through Rita, and at the last minute she hooked right and spared us. But a direct hit by Ike looked inevitable, and I had no idea what to expect.

I think it hurts still today because, while most of the area has recovered, there are still people who are living this hell. Everyday another house is demolished on the island. Every night when we drive around in the golf cart we see the houses that have gone untouched, or that the homeowners have gutted and haven't done anything else to it. Most likely that's because they didn't have insurance and don't have the money to fix it, or because they are still fighting with their insurance. We've heard numerous insurance horror stories, and feel very fortunate to have ended up in the situation we did.

So look for more posts this week as I remember Ike. I don't mean to be "Debbie Downer." Don't get me wrong, I know we're very fortunate to be alive and to have ended up with a house that is way better than anything we could have imagined, but it's still a little too fresh on my mind to move on completely. Especially when it's on every news cast and in every newspaper I read. I don't know that I will ever move on completely, but maybe this reminiscing will help.

Have a great week!

Swine Flu (a.k.a. H1N1)

First of all, I hope y'all are enjoying the Labor Day weekend. It's nice to know that I don't have to go to work tomorrow (really need an extra day off when I can get them these days) and I hope it's the same for most of you.

Speaking of work, we had a conversation this week with our safety director about the upcoming flu season, which made me remember this photo that I received last flu season when everyone was freaking out about the H1N1/swine flu.

This photo is classic. I absolutely love it. It's something that a kid would totally do, and it puts a little humor on a somewhat serious situation. And I say somewhat, because it's not as serious this season as everyone thought it was last season, or made it out to be. At any rate, I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't remind you to wash your hands thoroughly with warm, soapy water (sing "Happy Birthday" all the way through while washing your hands... that's usually about how long you should wash them), sneeze into your arm sleeve to help prevent spreading germs, and if you think you're sick, stay home... the people you're around on a daily basis probably don't want you to share your germs (no offense, of course). That's all the preaching I'm going to do for today. Man would my safety director at work be proud!

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Baby cries when she hears the Michigan fight song

I can't say that I blame her. It makes me cringe just thinking about it. Thank God for college football! GO BUCKS!