Homebound

We have been snowed in (well, iced in) since Monday night.  No school Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday this week and more bad weather is expected.  No telling when we'll return.  The weather hasn't been above freezing for almost 48 hours, so roads are still a mess.  We've been lucky to not be chosen as a part of rolling blackouts and hope it stays that way.

While the respite has been nice, we're all a bit stir crazy and COLD.  The pets wanted to say hi, though.  No pics of Todd and Kristin since we're having yet another pajama day.

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To make you laugh (or cry if you're Steve), here is a photo of Big Boy's rope frozen in the ice.

You can tell Steve has TRIED to dig up his rope.  Poor guy.

For Joyce

See, it is hot.

Alone in the Storm

We had severe storms last night, so with Todd out of town, I was prepared. I knew I would probably feel like a fool when it was all over, but I didn't want to take the chance. I closed the door to our back hall and gathered the following in our bedroom:

- the dogs
- the cat
- cell phone
- home phone
- laptop
- flashlight
- candle and lighter
- pillows
- ponytail holder

I put on my wedding ring & tennis shoes just in case . . . the shoes in case there was any damage & my wedding ring so it wouldn't get lost and/or my dead body could be identified. That kind of paranoia comes from being my sister's sister. :)

The severe weather alerts were on TV, but the satellite lost its connection more than once. The sirens began wailing, and the storm started. Sounds of strong rain, lightning, thunder and maybe some hail created quite a spooky symphony outside. I called my nieces to have them take cover, called my mom who didn't answer her phone, and called my Dad who didn't answer the phone. Luckily my stepmom answered my Dad's cell phone when I called it, so at least I had someone to talk to right then! The sirens didn't last long, so I didn't gather our three dogs and cat with myself in Todd's small closet. Dogs and cats in a small closet - that would've been almost as rough as a tornado!

Luckily it all blew through pretty quickly. I finally took off my shoes and ring and let the dogs back into the house. Then, after the storms were completely through our area, the freaking sirens went off again. What was that about?

I finally gave up and went to sleep after 11:00pm. Thankfully, there was no need for any of things I gathered to weather the storm. Not even my ponytail holder.

The Challenges of Blogging

Coming to you from our backyard . . . it's our blog!


The weather is GORGEOUS today!!! Rather than sit inside and blog, I decided to take our blog outdoors. However, I am learning that there are some additional challenges to this extreme style of blogging. Here they are in no particular order:


Exhibit A - Pippin




Exhibit B - Wine in the Waterford, combined with the loud and forceful swishes of the huge dog door you see through that clear crystal.




Exhibit C - Pippin & Steve fighting for attention. While practically in my lap. Yeah.



Exhibit D - The peace that comes from a bold mixture of the outdoors, foliage, wine, and a laptop.

EDIT: Ike WAS on his way here

EDIT: Ike hit our Gulf Coast friends pretty hard, but all we got was some rain. No trace of precipitation now!

I thought I'd be smart and go fill up since gas prices are going up so quickly. I was pleased to pull into my neighborhood gas station to see prices only $3.42/gallon of unleaded!

Right about the time I'm ready to pump, a nice man in an orange safety vest walks by and puts this on my pump:

Orange safety vest man said they'd be completely out of gas in about an hour. Guess I'm not the only smart person in North Dallas! So, I bought this instead:

I didn't mind, though, because an elderly man pumping his gas on the other side of my pump said his daughter is in Houston (actually, Katy) and he can't get in touch with her. You could see the worry in his face. I'm hoping and praying that our family & friends on the Texas coast are safe as are any of yours.

Come hurricane, rain, or shine, the dogs had a great time in the car!