2008 Reflections

It has been an eventful year for us.  Tyler is now in 8th grade - he's growing up so fast!  Stephen is still working for VMware and enjoys his job.  Shanda got cut from Taylor Corp. in another restructure and is currently unemployed.  She graduated this summer from Concordia St. Paul with a degree in Marketing Management and had begun to look for a job then found out she's pregnant!  The job search has been put on hold. :)  We are expecting a baby girl in May 2009. Everyone is VERY excited!

Wishing y'all a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year!

Crying Goo

Magoo went to the doctor today to have his teeth cleaned and ears checked. We noticed some "selective hearing" so thought it would be best to have him checked again. He's home now with sparkly white teeth and a big bottle of ear drops. The doc wants him to do long term anti-inflammatory steroid ear drops to see if it will make the swelling in his ear canals go down and open them up. He said that his ear canals are so tiny that he could barely see his ear drum. So, this means I get to fight Goo every night for the next 3 months and try to shove drops in his ears. 

After being back home with him for about an hour I was quickly reminded of the other fun we will have tonight with him. Magoo cries the entire night after he has had anesthesia. Ugh.

Return to Normal

Life is starting to return to normal around here. Tyler went back to school today. I think he was ready to go back - he was up on time and in a good mood when he left. The tree has been removed from our backyard, but now we are left with the rootball sticking out of the ground. It will be a while before we are able to remove that. The fence should be fixed this week and then I can start looking for a new tree to plant by the fence and get all of the bushes trimmed and cleaned up.

The trees leaning on houses have been replaced by blue tarps. There are still quite a few trees near the streets that need to be cleaned up and all of the neighborhoods have yards filled with debris waiting to be picked up. I'm sure this will all be taken care of soon. It's amazing how much has been accomplished in just this past week!

The local TV stations are still showing "After Ike" coverage all day. All areas of Houston have been affected, but everyone is making progress. People will begin returning to Galveston this week to cleanup and rebuild.

Home Sweet Home

We are back in The Woodlands. It doesn't look much different around here today than it did on Sunday. People are starting to get their trees removed and we are waiting our turn - hopefully within the next few days. They are working on the tree across the street right now. The yard is already full of debris and they only have 1/4 of the tree down so far. The whole neighborhood is going to be piled with chopped up pine trees by the end of the week.

We found out quickly after we got back that our neighborhood is one of the lucky few that have power. Less than 10% of the power has been restored and it is spotty. A restaurant on one end of Market Street has power, but the HEB at the other is still running on generators. Grocery shopping was an odd experience. The usually bright and open store was dimly lit and structured to keep shoppers moving in the same direction. I was impressed though, the shelves were surprisingly well stocked, they had a ton of people working, and they were doing a great job getting people in and out.

Gas is still tough to come by. Without power, the gas pumps do not work. The few stations that are open have cars lined up for blocks waiting for gas. One of our cars has a full tank and the other is a little over half full so I'm hoping that we can hold off for a couple days and maybe the lines won't be so bad.

The local channels are still covering Ike all day. Some of the pictures coming out of Galveston are unbelievable... completely wiped out in areas. You can only watch the media coverage for so long though before it starts to drive you nuts. The press conferences are the worst. The reporters are trying to find some dirt for a juicy story to put blame and anger on someone. There are the usual critiques of the government and FEMA, but they'll attack whoever happens to be speaking at the press conference.

So, for now we are home... with power. We had random power outages after Rita, so I wouldn't be surprised if that happens again, but so far so good!

Let There Be Light!

Just got a text message from a neighbor saying that we have power! Now, we need to decide when to go back. We just returned from Bryan and the boys rented video games while we were there. They want to stay so they can play their games, but I have to be in The Woodlands tomorrow for an appointment anyway. Guess we'll get it figured out tonight.

Ike Hit The Woodlands... Hard

We got up early this morning and drove to The Woodlands to check on our house. We haven't been able to get in touch with anyone so we weren't sure what to expect. Driving into town we saw a bunch of uprooted trees and down power lines. The first sign of property damage we saw was a SUV in our neighborhood that had been crunched by a fallen pine tree. Everything appeared fine at our house until we opened the front door and saw the view out our dining room door. The near 100 foot pine tree had uprooted and fallen toward our neighbor's house. We are so lucky that the wind was not blowing the other way, but unfortunately our neighbors did suffer damage from it. As the tree fell, it split another tree in our yard in half, plowed through our fence, and pierced the neighbor's roof before finally snapping in half and creating a bridge from our yard to their pool.

After talking with various neighbors, we quickly learned that this was some of the more minor damage in our neighborhood. Two of the houses across the street had trees fall on the back of their house, a house down the street was sliced by a tree in their yard, another tall tree fell and took out my friend's fence before landing in her pool... the list goes on. I would guess that about 1 out of every 3 houses in the neighborhood suffered some sort of significant damage. The people with roof damage were hurt even further by the HUGE thunderstorms that passed through last night. Two of our neighbors have water damaged walls and another had multiple rooms that flooded due to the large hole in their roof.

Since The Woodlands area is still completely out of power, we have decided to stay at the ranch for a few more days. Woody brought his commercial-size generator with us incase we needed it and ended up leaving it with the neighbors to use. They were extremely grateful to have a power source. Besides the food from my freezer, we also brought another child back to the ranch with us. Tyler's friend from the neighborhood jumped on the invitation - he is grateful to have video games.

We feel very lucky that we didn't have any damage to our house and feel for those who do. It is not going to be a quick recovery. The latest reports we are hearing is up to three weeks before power is completely restored. As of now, schools in our area are closed Monday and Tuesday. I'm sure the return on Wednesday will be dependent on if power has been restored or not.

I'm still a bit in shock from what I saw today. Nobody got hurt and the damage done is fixable, but being in the middle of the situation is a feeling I am not able to describe. Right now I feel like I should be back at home with the rest of the neighbors, but I also know there really isn't much I can do there until power is restored. So, for now I sit here at my in-law's beautiful, comfy ranch home feeling a bit displaced.

view from my dining room / tree in our backyard
 
tree split by falling tree / assessing the damage with the neighbors
 
our tree through the neighbor's roof / neighbor's pool
 
house across the street / tree sliced through roof few houses from us
 

Click here to view these photos and a few more on my shutterfly page

Ike - The Woodlands

I've been surfing the internet trying to find info on damage in The Woodlands. Looks like there are quite a few trees down - some of which landed on houses. Click here to read the initial report from the fire department. I've also found quite a few bloggers reporting trees down on or around their houses. Wish I could get ahold of one of our neighbors, but nearly 100% of the power in The Woodlands is out which renders cordless home phones useless. I need to put "get neighbor's cell phone numbers" on my to do list.

Uneventful Afternoon with Ike

It seems that most of the storm has passed the ranch. It's still raining and a bit windy, but nothing more than a heavy rain storm. We are all amazed that we still have power and I now have hope that we will be watching movies in the theatre tonight! We will leave here tomorrow morning and head back to The Woodlands to see how our house stood up to the storm. The reports I'm hearing so far say that pretty much the entire Houston area is without power and it may be up to two weeks before it is fully restored. Bleh. Houston without air conditioning is not a comfortable situation. If there are major power problems and school is cancelled, we may come back to the ranch for a few days. Right now though, everything is still pretty much up in the air.

Waiting out Ike

We're out at the ranch watching the news. The wind is blowing and it's raining fairly hard here, but we know it will get worse before it gets better. Right now we're on the edge of it. The eye won't pass through here but the winds should pick up and we're expecting to lose power. We all got showers in this morning and Mimi washed clothes last night since we don't know when we will see power again after it goes out. I taught Grandma Hodges how to play train dominoes last night so that we have a candlelight activity for later today. We played a few rounds last night and she's kicking everyone's butt!!!

From watching weather reports, it looks like the eye of the storm went over pretty close to our house. I really wonder what things look like there and what I will be going home to tomorrow. 

Hello Ike!

It looks like we will be impacted by the next hurricane in the gulf. We are on the north side of Houston and far enough away from the coast, but it is still predicted that we will feel hurricane force winds. All of the schools in the area have closed for tomorrow, so we will be heading out to the ranch this evening. I'm not expecting much damage in our area, but I am fairly certain we will lose power - and no air conditioning in Houston is NOT a fun time.

This afternoon will be spent packing up snacks and drinks for the road since I'm sure the trip will take us longer than usual due to evacuation traffic. We also need to haul everything from the backyard to the garage to keep it from blowing through the neighborhood. Stephen and Tyler will re-arrange furniture when Tyler gets home from school - moving my beloved breakfast table to the center of the house and away from windows and rain. Other than that, we just need to grab MaGoo, update the ipod with lots of Prairie Home Companion, and hit the road.

I'll keep y'all updated on Ike's visit!

Backyard Pineapple

A couple summers ago, I planted the top from a store-bought pineapple. This summer it produced a baby pineapple and I noticed yesterday that it had finally turned yellow. Stephen said "it's probably not any good." Won't he be surprised tonight! I cut it open and it is really nummy!

I crossed the finish line

I just finished writing my very last paper for school. All assignments are done and submitted. All class meetings are over. Now what?

I walked at the graduation ceremony in May which helped motivate me through the last few classes I had, but now I'm left with the feeling of crossing the finish line after everyone else has gone home. I don't think the finality has set in yet. Perhaps it will next week when I find myself chatting with my mom and NOT asking her to edit a paper or be my human thesaurus. 

Thanks Mom! It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without you. :)

Don't Mess with the Teacher

Woody got a new "hog-killin' gun" and Stephen's cousin Melanie jumped at the chance to try it out. Posting this photo on the blackboard the first day of school should keep all of her students in line!

More photos can be seen in the 4th of July album on my shutterfly page - including some great pics of the kids!

view Shanda's photos

Grandma Pat's 90th Birthday

This past Saturday Stephen's family had a surprise 90th birthday party for his grandmother (Dad's side). Glynda and Woody's house was full once again with about 60 people this time! Grandma Pat seemed to really enjoy the party. She visited with family and friends that she hadn't seen in a very long time and reminisced over some old photos that we had displayed on the TV screen for her to see. As the day began to wind down, the family gathered around Pat to share stories. Somewhere in the conversation she thought she heard someone say they saw a mouse. Daryl had been video taping portions of the conversation and the video below is the hilarity that ensued. You can view the entire photo album of snapshots from the party on my shutterfly page.

Hawaii Photos 2008

I finally got all of the photos from our Hawaii trip uploaded to my shutterfly account... in no particular order. Enjoy!

view Hawaii photos

She Who Swims With Turtles

I just picked up my underwater photos from Walgreens and am pleasantly surprised that a few of them turned out. Photos from my last turtle encounter turned out blurry due to my panic in avoiding being eaten. This year's swim was much more peaceful and the photos I have show the true, graceful beauty of these creatures.

Sun and Sand in Kauai

Aloha!

Today I awoke with the realization that in less than 48 hours we will begin our travels back to real life. Kauai has been wonderful - gorgeous weather, beautiful scenery, and soft sandy beaches... until you hit the water. We have a few battle wounds to show from snorkeling, but nothing more than burns and scrapes. The injuries were definately worth the experience. We have seen a ton of fish right off the beach and I was fortunate to swim with a couple sea turtles yesterday! I had a quick flashback to our trip to the big island in 2005 when one bit me, but these proved to be friendly.

Besides snorkeling, we have visited Wailua Falls, Opaekaa Falls, Spouting Horn (blowhole), and the Kilauea Lighthouse. At the lighthouse we spotted a monk seal on a nearby island and were visited by a couple nenes when we left. Today we are headed out for bannana macademia pancakes followed by some time at the beach and shopping. We've made reservations for a luau tomorrow that looks awesome! You can see a video preview of it here.

The boys have been enjoying the resort. We are just a short walk across the property to the beach. The beach there is too dangerous for swimming, but the boys are happy to just play in the surf and sand. Each morning we are awoke by crowing roosters (not one of my favorite highlights) and ducks waiting on the patio for breakfast. An especially friendly cat has found us and we've adopted him as our vacation. Grandpa Woody was thrilled. In fact, the cat got his name from Grandpa Woody... the first night we were here the cat snuck inside when Woody opened the back door. Stephen and I were out getting groceries, but the boys informed us of the fiasco when we got back - "The cat snuck in and ran in the bedroom and Grandpa Woody was cursing! He was mad!!!" For this, the cat was named "Sneak."

We leave Kauai early Wednessday morning (afternoon for most of you) and will be spending the day in Oahu before the 8 hour plane ride back home. Below are a few photos for now. I'll have an album to post later.

Why did the Nene cross the road?

Missing Tomatoes

The tomato plants have continued to grow and are now too tall for me to reach - I will need a ladder to pick them. Of course, based on what they have produced, that may not be an issue. I've gotten a few good-sized cucumbers, but only a couple cherry tomatoes. It seems that all of their effort is going into height. The plants are flowering, but most of the flowers are falling off without producing fruit. Any ideas?

Giganto Tomato Plants

Last year my excitement at finally having a salsa garden died a quick death. Even with fertilizing and regular watering, the plants didn't grow much larger than the initial planting, then quickly turned yellow and shriveled. My luck has changed this year! I added a couple bags of good 'ol cow compost to the bed before planting and now I have tomato plants as tall as I am! Stephen and I joke that we will be picking tomatoes from the staircase windows shown in the photo below.

Besides the standard salsa ingredients - tomatoes, peppers, and onions - I also planted a couple cucumber plants. They too are growing like weeds and I'm hoping to have a few fresh cucumbers ready to eat next week. Stephen waters the garden for me every night and I'm certain that these are the healthiest plants I've ever had - including the gardens I had in Mankato. I've become obsessed with my success and even have nightmares about waking up to dead plants!

Keep your fingers crossed that my green thumb last through harvest.

Air Travel: Checked Baggage Policies

I just checked in for my flight back to Houston from Minnesota and discovered that Continental has changed their checked baggage policy to only allow for ONE bag checked at no cost. Checking a second bag will now cost you $25! I'm already paying increased fares because of gas prices and now they want to charge for baggage? This new policy is going to result in everyone (including me) trying to bring their second piece of luggage as a carry-on, increasing the time it takes to go through security and the hassle of gate-checked bags. Anyone want to make predictions on how long they keep this policy?

View new Continental checked baggage policy

So, I'm a bit odd...

I still have to finish my business plan for my undergrad degree and I'm already thinking about grad school. (Don't worry fam, I'm not planning to jump into anything soon.) I have an absolute fascination with why people act the way they do. I suppose this is what attracted me to marketing and advertising. With my job I get to develop marketing pieces and monitor consumer reaction - my own sort of experiments I guess. Anyway, this fascination has created a desire to do graduate work in social psychology.

I found a story on cracked.com today that recaps experiments I saw a while ago in a documentary. The author puts his own spin on the interpretation and has used a bit of creative license in his writing, but you get the basic idea and its a fairly entertaining read. The article covers the exact types of experiments and research that I would like to do - though some of it would not be possible today and would be considered unethical.

The Miligram Experiment is one of the most fascinating. I saw video of this experiment in the documentary and you get a much better understanding by watching it than reading about it. I hadn't heard of the puppy version and don't approve of it for multiple reasons.

Click here to read the story.

Graduation and the Size of Things

After $1,027 in books, 54 formal papers, and 1,350 hours in front of my computer, it looks like I might actually graduate!

My cap and gown arrived in the mail today, which I immediately tried on. Graduation is only a few weeks away, but if I gain 300 pounds before then my gown will still fit. Why in the world do they make those things so big?

The highlight of my little dress rehearsal was finding that my honors medallion was included. Unlike my gown, the medallion is a little, tiny thing. For how hard I worked, I think that I should get to wear something resembling Flavor Flav!

Seeing myself in my cap and gown made me realize how close I really am to being done... and I can't wait! I miss having time to read, cook, garden, and even clean. (Yes, Mom, I did say clean.) Freedom is so close I can almost taste it!

More Texas Hockey

Neighborhood street hockey has become a daily after school activity. Tyler is really enjoying it. He will even pull himself away from the video games and computer to play!

Hockey Season in Texas

As I sit here counting the hours until the Wild playoff game, Tyler is outside playing hockey... Texas style. This is the time of year when the neighborhood is full of kids playing outside - the three weeks between too cold and too hot. I live for these weeks when...

Tyler spends his afternoons outside playing and building friendships...

Magoo spends afternoons sunning himself between chasing squirrels...

Stephen finds some time to spend outside - even if he's working...

And I get to take out the camera and record it all :)

on a side note... finding a hockey stick in Texas is not an easy task!

Air Travel: Big Tall Guy in the Center Seat

I have a bad habit of forgetting holidays when booking travel. Tonight I found myself battling my way through airport security among families of infrequent fliers. I knew that my flight from Houston to Minneapolis would be completely full because of the Easter holiday, but my outlook became even more grim when I realized I would be spending the next 3 hours scrunched against the airplane window with a big, tall guy in the center seat. Halfway through the flight I found out that I was sitting next to Sidney Rice; a player for the MN Vikings.

Now... I'm sure a few of the guys reading this immediately recognize this player, but I had no clue. This man could have been the MVP from the Superbowl and I wouldn't have known any different. The woman sitting on the other side of him was just as clueless. It must have been a bit of an ego bust to him, but he took it in stride. The in-flight conversation was typical of any other... are you married? do you have kids? where are you from? When he found out that I was from Mankato, the grin on his face clearly told of training camp memories.

I've never really followed NFL football and I don't have any plans to start, but the next time I'm stuck watching a Viking's game with a die-hard fan I'll at least have a anecdotal tale to share about the time that one of the players was stuck sitting next to me on a cramped flight from Houston.

Oh... and for the rest of you that have no clue who I'm referring to... view Sydnie Rice on the Vikings' Web site

Da Boyz

All 3 of my favorite boys... all in one spot. :)

Giddyup - Rodeo 2008

Stephen and I spent the afternoon yesterday at the Rodeo. What a fun time... and a great opportunity to try out my new camera. :) We didn't wait around for any chickens to hatch this year, but we were getting close to seeing piglets born! I also watched a sheep be a mom to her new babies. She would pat them with her hoof to make them stand up and then push them with her nose to make them walk.

As for the rodeo itself, you could definitely tell it was opening night. There were a few technical glitches, but the animals made for the most excitement of the event. Two longhorns are saddled and ridden out in the arena before each show. One of them decided that he wasn't having too much fun and kept bucking until his rider flew off. It took a while to get everything calmed down, but the show went on. The other animal related event was during the bucking broncs. One of the horses fell shortly after the gate opened and pinned the rider under him.

The entertainer for the night was Tim McGraw. He rocked! The show went by too fast - I wish he would have sang more. No surprise appearance by Faith though... she is performing tonight.