John is Amazing!!

John is my hero!! He decided it would be easier for everyone if he helped make the kids lunches the night before now. The kids just weren't getting it done very well on a consistent basis so to take some stress out of all of our mornings, he just decided he'd take care of it. Perhaps you wonder hmmm... "Their mom could be doing it??" Sure I could.... but I'm a slacker and he's more organized than me. :-) Nah.. he's just that wonderful! The kids are pretty pleased as well and do take the time to thank him for making their lunches - as they should!! (THANK YOU JOHN!!)

This is a lovely picture of Rachel trying to do her Algebra 2 Homework tonight! I'm bugging her snapping a few pictures. (MOOOOOM! What are you doing?) We should let her get back to studying because SHE REALLY NEEDS TO STUDY! If you can't tell, Alg 2 isn't going all that well generally. For those following our fun Alg moments.. she scored a 90 on the last test. Not bad and apparently the 2nd best grade in all her classes. Not sure I believe that. It was just chapter 1!! Chapter 2 test on Friday. Joy!

This is just our normal nights. The kitchen table is transformed into the homework table each and every day/evening. Sometimes I wonder if we need another table nearby to designate as the "homework table". It sure would make it easier since eventually each day we have to clear off this table so perhaps we can have a meal! The kids moan and groan about it each and every time. Rachel is usually the one staying up late working on her homework. Stephen will usually finish his before dinner. Whether it's right or not is a different story.

Our Lake Charles trip this past weekend was a nice break from the norm. John's best friend, Rene and his wife Janie decided to meet us there for the evening. We played blackjack and various slots. Unfortunately, none of us ended our trip on a winning note, but we did have fun playing and enjoying each other's company. The lady next to us on one of the penny slots won something above $1,500!! On the PENNY slots!! Geez.... I kept wanting her to just push a little luck my way.

Of course... the other big news is the financial stability of our country. I suppose you can call this newsworthy!! The Bailout plan, that the media reported was all but a sure thing over the weekend, did not pass through the House on Monday. Citibank announced early Monday morning they were buying Wachovia for $1 share. Truly amazing. Unfortunately, the stock market responded to the various news with a dizzying 777 point slide on Monday. I was afraid to look at my 401K. It regained 485 on Tuesday. I'm lucky to work for Wells Fargo and while I can't say much on my blog about my company, it is the best financial institution in the US and I'm blessed to be working there. While I'm not terribly sad to see one of my competitors (Wachovia) fall, watching all this upheaval in the markets is a bit stressful. It's hard as a normal everyday person to really understand the ramifications of the government passing a Bailout Plan vs. letting the free market right itself eventually. Ultimately, time will tell which way it goes and the extent of our ultimate punishments for the wrong decisions made by both lenders & borrowers.

Later!
MA

Traffic in the Frontview

Traffic in the Frontview
Originally uploaded by maryaustincox

Sat, September 27

I apologize! I haven't had much time this week to blog. It's been a very LONG week. Life is getting back to normal this week. Well, the new normal at the moment anyway. I got back to work downtown this week after a bit of a break working at home since Ike. The kids went back to school Weds. after nearly 2 weeks at home. John went back to his school on Friday. Then, you add in all the activities:
Monday & Tues - marching band all morning since school was out, Tuesday - Scouts; Weds - marching band at 6:00 am, flute lessons at 8 pm, baseball practice at 6:30 pm; Thurs - band at 6:00 am, baseball practice at 6:30 pm; Friday - band at 6:00 am, football game at 6:30 pm; Saturday - marching band 8 am to noon. We're pooped!!

And just for the record.... John is the saving grace here. He takes Rachel most every morning to practice. He did it even when he didn't have to get up and go to school!! He's such a doll! A couple of other items I failed to mention in my earlier blogs (the he so graciously mentioned after reading the blog)...... 1) He (not so much "we") fixed the fences and 2) John originated the idea for me to go have lunch with Susan last weekend!

Ok - so the reason for the picture. TRAFFIC WAS HORRENDOUS this week. I'm used to normally bad traffic where my commute is typically 45 - 1 hour except for an accident. It's Houston -the 4th largest city in the country. You WILL have traffic. Those are the realities! BUT NO. My "normal" commute is currently 1.5 - 2 hours EACH WAY! It's absolutely crazy at the moment. Reasons: My own personal opinion here - 1) NO HOV lanes on my freeway. Something happened to it during Ike and they haven't reopened. So, all the traffic that normally goes on the HOV is on the mainlanes. 2) Relief Effort traffic in and out of Galveston and surrounding areas as there were just convoys of trucks (18 wheelers, electric, tree trimmers) heading up and down the freeways and 3) Lights out at major intersections still backing up onto the freeway.
Then, when Galveston reopened on Weds to it's residents, the freeway is now backed up BOTH ways at the high times of the day.

I had an appointment on Weds just north of Downtown and it literally took me 2 hours in traffic to get there. I really hope we get back to the "normal" commute soon.

The good this week - we got another cool shot of air come through Thursday!! Took the humidity down and it is goshdarn cool out there the past few mornings in the 60's! Feels great!

The COWBOYS won last Sunday night against Green Bay. The first time ever for Dallas to beat Green Bay at Lambeau Field.

John and I have this routine (not sure you can call it a tradition yet). We pick teams to win each Sunday during NFL season and this year, we're tracking it all on a big ole spreadsheet creation by MA. :-) Perhaps you all would like to know the record at the moment: By Week winner: MA 2 John 1; By Overall Winning Pick Avg: MA 59%; John 51%. :-)

More later ... John and I are going to Lake Charles today to the L'auberge du Lac casino for a day just to play and get away from here for a bit. I'm sure we'll have a few pics from us having fun over there.

Later!
MA

It's a Grownup Girl's Lunch!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

It was a lazy Saturday around here. Rachel spent the night with Jennifer Ingamells and so it was just John, Stephen and me hanging out at home. So, I called up one of my dearest friends, Susan, to see what she was doing and we decided it was a good day to meet for lunch. We live in the same city, but we don't see each other very often, so it's fun to get together when we can. We're probably at least 40 miles apart. When we meet, we try to pick somewhere in the middle between our two homes - with her on the Northwest side and me on the South side. Not knowing what was really open right now, we selected the Galleria area to meet and then we'd figure out where to grab some lunch. Ended up we went to a nice little French cafe in the Uptown shopping center. It was really good and surprisingly, a good value too! I always enjoying seeing Susan and we could literally spend hours talking about everything going on our lives, the kids lives, parents lives, friend lives... you name it. It's fun!

It appears the schools are starting to get back to life. Friendswood posted last night that they would be opening on Weds. 24th. Teachers go back Monday. The kids will have to bring sack lunches at the Jr. High & High School apparently according to the notice. Not sure if something happened to the cafeterias or if they just don't have food. ALSO - the Mighty Mustang Band will begin practicing again this week on Monday from 7 am - 10 am, and I'm sure all week. Thank goodness! They need to be out there practicing. Thank goodness John is still home, otherwise, we'd have a transportation issue getting her home from practice as I DO have to go back downtown to work on Monday!!

John's school announced a tentative plan yesterday - teachers go back on Friday, kids back Mon, 9/29. Goose Creek still has 11 campuses without power, so hopefully, that will actually happen.

We are cointinuing to pray for all of the kids, families & teachers in the hard hit Goose Creek School District and more specifically at Cedar Bayou MS and pray they are safe and sound.

MA

Scouts & Hurricance Assistance

Friday, September 19, 2008

Today we tried as a family to provide some assistance to others impacted by Hurricane Ike. We all (Rachel, Stephen, John and myself) got up and were at the Gateway Christian Church at 8:15 am. Gateway is serving through the weekend as a base for CORE - Christians Organized for Relief Efforts. It's an organization that comes when needed and assists the community in many, many ways. Although, I haven't been able to find them on the internet yet, many of our local churches are working through them for Hurricane relief efforts in a centralized fashion instead of trying to do it church by church.

The scouts were looking for a way to be of service during the relief efforts. CORE told us while they won't let kids into houses to help with home cleanup, they would allow them to go and help people cleanup their yards from tree debris. So, we were there at 8:15 am yesterday. Unfortunately, we stayed for just about 2 hours and they didn't have anything for us to be able to do as they had hoped they would. So, we just went back home and worked on things at the house that needed to be done like fixing our fences!

We were also invited to an impromptu party last night by the Reeders over in Pearland. They had a prior event planned for a policital fundraiser and it was cancelled but they still had a band paid for and coming. So, they just invited folks over who could make it for a relaxing evening. It was fun seeing everyone and my, how all these kids have grown. Some very beautiful & handsome young adults out there!! We enjoyed swapping stories with everyone and catching up on what everyone is up to over in our old neighborhood. We were home by 11 pm since there is still a mandatory curfew in Friendswood from 11 pm - 5 am.

SCHOOL is still OUT! The kids have been out of school now for 7 school days. It is very likely they will be out another week as many of the schools don't yet have power. Without power, they have been unable to really get inside and look for damage at the junior high and high school. Friendswood has officially stated "Closed until further notice." Clear Creek which is our neighboring school district came out yesterday saying they would open on Sept. 29 which is another week out. Friendswood & Clear Creek typically have the same schedules, so it wouldn't surprise me to see us out another week as well. While there is nothing we can do about it, this sure isn't good for the kids. Academically, we were just getting back into a routine and then poof. Also, Band has a competition on 10-4 and they will not have even practiced for over two weeks when they come back and face a competition literally 5 days later. Unfortunately, their show is not ready for competition at this point. Not to mention we probably now will have to go to school into June to makeup all this missed time. It's very unfortunate.

John's school situation is probably even worse. Baytown is still at 70% power outage. Their schools say "closed indefinitely" so who knows what is in store for them and when.

For me.... I start heading back downtown on Monday. Fuel is now mostly available with small wait times, so it's probably time for me to start heading back to my office.

If anyone wants to help those in need from Ike, I have a friend at WFB who I have worked with for years, Laura, who was displaced during the Hurricane and is now trying to find housing for her and her family (2 children and husband) up near the Woodlands. Unfortunately, a tree fell on their home causing massive roof damage, a natural gas line to break and the resulting water damage from the open roof. They are unable to live in their house until it is fixed. The offices of WFB took up donations for her and her family but they still have needs. If you are interested in assisting in any way, financial donations are welcome or physical donations are welcome as well. Let me know and I can find out what they might need or help get your donations to her family. Please keep them and others in need from Ike in your prayers.

Love to all -

MA

Interesting....

There will probably be two posts today. This one I meant to do on Thursday or Friday, just got busy and didn't. I found this pretty interesting. When our power came up on Monday evening, we had cable! We thought, wow, we're pretty blessed to get our power up and have cable/internet up and running. We very happily watched the Cowboy game and anything else we felt like watching Mon night and Tuesday. Tuesday evening, the cable/internet went out. Hmmm... ok, well, it was nice while it lasted and we'll just see how long it would take them to get back to us to get it working again. Wasn't a big deal and surely was not something we should expect during all this mess.

Weds. morning I went out to venture around our little city of Friendswood and passed the AT&T box as you see above. It was being powered by a generator with a propane tank attached to it. I was somewhat amazed actually! The reason our cable went out was because the tank was empty! I found this very interesting and really don't know the reasoning AT&T put generators on the boxes. I think all of us would understand no cable/internet for awhile. Shoot, we just went through a hurricane! All I could think of was there is some AT&T guy running around putting generators & propane tanks up at his boxes to power them so we would have phone, cable, internet services. Amazing! So, about midday on Weds., the cable was back up and running and then there were two tanks at the box. That lasted until Thursday evening at about 6:00 pm. Then the second tank was empty. However, by 8 pm, we were back up and running (third tank) and on Friday, both generator and tanks were gone and I guess our AT&T boxes are back online with the power grid.

Amazing what you notice.....

The Big Cleanup!!

Helping to clear brush....
Originally uploaded by maryaustincox

The kids came home midday from Rob's. We were so happy to see them! Rachel brought home some neat pictures she took from Rob's place up near downtown, so be sure to check them out in the My Pictures gallery.
John, the kids and I proceeded to get the yard picked up, trees limbs chopped and carried to the curb for pickup whenever Friendswood gets to it. It just needed to be done and why not, the weather is beautiful so do it now!
We couldn't post last night because AT&T went down. We have AT&T cable and broadband as well as landline phone. It's interesting... the AT&T folks have chained a generator and propane tank up next to their box to keep everything running. Apparently, the tank went empty and down we all went. About midday Weds., we noticed they had put another tank there and poof, we were back up. So, it's interesting that we have power but they apparently can't tap into it yet right up the street at the box. So, I suppose our TV & internet will be sporadic as the tanks run out and are replaced.
9-17-08
What a beautiful morning around here. Temperatures are really mild for this time of year. We slept with the windows open (there is irony there) and woke to temps in the low 60's. The kids and I put down the top & sides of the Jeep and went out driving mid morning just to see what's going on around Friendswood. Slowly, businesses are starting to be up and running. Shipley's was open so we swung in there and grabbed the kids some donuts. We also found that my favorite store, Starbucks, was up and running!! You'll see the pictures! A couple more gas stations had power and then the lines that go with it until they run out. I still haven't seen too many refueled from prior, but I think the supply is starting to even out with the demand. The lines are still there, but they aren't as long as they once were.
I'm working from home right now until the fuel shortage is gone and I know I can get gas pretty consistently between here and downtown. Don't want to get stranded somewhere low on gas. It works out ok because not too many of my clients/prospects have any need to talk about Treasury management services this week. Most everyone is just in recovery mode this week across the city and some don't have power yet. Perhaps next week will start to resemble some normalcy again.
Later!

Fuel.... Fuel.... Fuel...

Line of Cars waiting in the Gas Line
Originally uploaded by maryaustincox

First and foremost - - - WE HAVE POWER!!! YAY to Texas New Mexico Power who brought us up this afternoon about 5:00 pm!!! It feels so nice to have our power back and the air conditioner. However, we were ready for a few more days and with the weather the way it is right now, it was not bad at all.

Now...we were ready for the Cowboy's game regardless!! We had prepared the TV and fired up the cable boxes and had it all set and ready to watch ESPN. The generator was fired up , fully gassed and ready to go!! No way a little power problem would prevent the watching of the Cowboys!

Now .... with the power back, we can watch the game on the BIG SCREEN!! :-)

John's daughter, Laila and her husband, Justin, are on their way to the game in Dallas and had invited us to come up. We just couldn't leave right now the way things around here. They are going to have so much fun there tonight!!

Later!

command central

So this is our base primarily. We've been sleeping on these couches in front of the windows for maximum air comfort. Smll table with two fans, a small tV, battery operated radio and of course, my laptop operated sporadically.

Today's interesting tidbits:

• Our neighbors behind us in the neighborhoods on our South and East all have power. Just so you know... this is quite frustrating to look out your back window and see these houses with power last night and we dont' have it yet. It's also interesting as these neighborhoods are a level above ours - meaning their houses cost $500 - $1MM vs. our which are not shabby. Just an interesting tidbit that they have power and we don't. It's probably some structural method of how they are tapped into the electrical system vs our homes, but frustrating nonetheless.
• Gas - we were on search again this morning for gas. Love the generator but it needs lots of gas to run it. We only have 3 cans ( I should have bought more) so I think we have to fill them each day. Tough to find gas right now and when you do find it, long lines. However, everyone is being patient so no difficulties while in line. I'm concerned though that we haven't seen any fuel trucks coming in to replenish. Seems to be an issue across the area.
• Our WFB offices downtown - the building is open and it appears only damage may be some seeping water into the offices. I think the bank is going to ask those that come in to do so tomorrow. I'm not a critical function and without consistent access to gas and power, I'm a little hesitant to go downtown for work. If we get power, I can do so here.
• Kids - they are coming home later this afternoon. Rob's place does not have power or water yet. His girlfriend's, Catlin, place has water but no power, so they have been over there to shower, etc. I'll be glad to have them home. We have lots of stuff to do around here and could use their help to drag limbs, etc. to the front curb.
• Schools - Friendswood ISD says closed until further notice and Goose Creek says "Closed Indefinitely". So.... our summer will be a little bit shorter in 2009 as they have to make up these days.

More later!

MA

This is so cute!

I have to post from my cell at the moment so the pictures are sideways unfortunately.

This was really cute and cool. John and I went in search of gasoline today. We finally found a gas station that had power come back on and had gas. We very quickly got in line. While we were in line, these two cute young girls came walking down the sidewalk (with their Mom) offering lemonade in dixie cups to anyone who wanted it. It was free, although I did give them a little donation. They were really cute and just happy to be helping in the midst of all this chaos around this city right now. They eventually set up a little lemonade stand in their driveway. It was a bright spot right now!

So, why gas? Well... you know we have this power generator. It works really, really well. Was especially important last night when the low temperature was 78 and the humidity was 90%. We were so sticky and uncomfortable. Luckily, the generator provided some fans that allowed us (more me) to sleep. The generator is also keeping our food/freezers from spoiling, so important things. HOWEVER.... the generator needs GAS to run. Just for those who haven't had to deal with a disaster of some kind. Gas stations may physically have gas, but if they don't have power, they can't pump the gas. So.... until one gets power, you're out of luck.

Grocery stores have started opening without power just using their backup generators. They are only selling nonperishable items but most everyone has run out of water, ice, bread, etc.

It seems perhaps our State & FEMA (repeat.. FEMA) aren't quite as ready as everyone would have liked them to be. Both State government & FEMA had assured our city that supplies (all things such as food, fuel, water, ice, home protection supplies .. tarps) were prepped and staged in nearby cities and would roll in quickly after the storm went through. Well.... the story has now changed and it seems there is some fingerpointing going on between everyone, but the bottom line is nothing was staged very close and no one really knows (or is willing to say) when any of these supplies will actually reach the Houston area. There was a new conference just a few min ago with Michael Chertoff, Homeland Security, Mayor Bill White and several other State Reps and basically, someone screwed up. Time will tell if we will know which governmental agency didn't do what they were supposed to do. Bottomline: Nothing has made it's way into our community originated with our Government, either state or federal. However, many other private supplies have made their way in and been distributed by local churches and radio stations. The roads are not blocked... there is no reason they aren't here yet other than bad planning.

Kids are still at Rob's but think they will be coming home tomorrow. Although, not sure what we all will do. School is out through Weds. at this point and if power doesn't come up before then for all of Friendswood, then probably the remainder of the week. One TV station reported that John's school (Goose Creek ISD) is closed indefinitely but their website says only through Monday. They were in some of the worst surge... I'd tend to go with the former, but we'll have to wait and see.

Speaking of power.... I heard a bad rumor earlier. One of the neighbors around here has a relative who is the Chief of Police for Pasadena. He was speaking to the Chief of Police of Friendswood and the Texas New Mexico Power company (which is our line provider) has told the Police not to expect power for at least 4 days and perhaps even as long as 2 - 3 weeks. Well.. doesn't spell good news for us because typically essential services (Fire, EMS, Police, City Hall, etc.) will be brought up before residences. Lovely thought....

Let's just keep praying for all the fine men and women that are working around the clock right now to bring power back to our entire community. One large blessing.... the cool front came in this morning, our humidity has dropped to closer to 60% and it's not too bad here in the house right now.

Love ya!

Our Backyard

our backyard - sorry this pic is on its side. Sent from my cell phone as I can't upload pictures/videos at the moment.

6:30 pm 9-13-08

We've got the power generator working and have our refrigerator and freezer plugged in; one small tv working and two fans. Even plugged in the microwave to make some nacho cheese dip to have tonight. We can't run the generator 24 hours - we just don't have enough fuel for that, but for the warmer parts of the day, it sure has been nice. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, so it'll be nice to have the generator going then as well. We're supposed to get more rain tomorrow which hopefully brings in a cold front after it! Keeping that in my prayers.

Our cells phones haven't worked very well for actual phone calls, but texting does seem to go through most of the time. Lots of stress on the cell phone network right now as most folks dont' have land lines without power.

Later!

Noon - 9/13/08

Just for the record... the kids are fine as well. Finally got a hold of them via Rob and while they didn't have power, they are high and dry and were sleeping. They are not going anywhere for a little while since the areas around there are currently flooded. So, it's a good day to just stay in place.

Luckily, the temperatures are not too warm quite yet. Tomorrow is forecasted to be near 90 degrees but a little blessing from God is an expected cold front to actually make it down here Sunday night and bring lows in the high 50's/low 60's and high's in high 70's/low 80's. Will make not having air conditioning A LOT more comfortable.

We're starting to clean up around here... propping up fences, taking down the boards and just cleaning up. Can't really start cutting up the wood from the tree branches until power comes on, so we're just doing what we can. Next on the list is to get the generator setup to run a fan, the refrig, freezer, tv and a fan.

About to lose battery power in the computer, so have to signoff now.

Later!
MA

7:00 am - Whew!

So - it's 7 am. We're currently going through the South side of the storm. Not nearly as strong as the what we went through on the West side as it was coming through. However, still strong. We do not have power. No one around has power. Centerpoint is reporting nearly all 2 Million of their customers do not have power. Only folks with power are those in downtown Houston and the medical center because their power lines are buried not overhead.

I'm a little interested to see what all has happened around the house during all these winds. Really not much rain to deal with - it truly was the winds. We know we were getting definite Hurricane Winds. Hobby airport more to our north had winds at 92 mph.

We're ok... we're safe. John slept through most of it. I, of course, did not. :-)

2:40 am - Ike Update

It's 2:40 am, Ike is coming through and we are right now going through the eyewall of Ike. We didn't prepare properly expecting winds from the South instead of North. Since we are on the west side we are getting hurricane force winds from the North. So far, the windows are doing fine, but boy...the winds sure are whipping around. No power on my side of the street.... yes... the other side of the street still has their power!! Not sure how... but they do. Ours went out at 11:11 pm. If you're wondering how I'm posting this.... have a Verizon card in my work computer and battery. signing off now.....

10:00 pm 9-12-08

It's 10... we still have power... very little rain so far and yes, it's windy. Probably in the neighborhood of 35 miles per hour sustained with gusts nearer to 50mph. Kids called... they are with Rob near downtown and they have lost power, but no rain, just wind. Stephen says all the transformers are blowing in downtown so it's like a light show. Interesting..... we're closer to the coast, but their the ones without power at the moment. The storm looks to be going in a bit to the east of us - just a few miles make a very large difference! That's really good for us. The winds are still from the North so we're just hanging out. Waiting.....

Video #2

Video -

Trying a video upload

Current Events #1 from John

all the post slugged "current events" are from me.........we have oficially started the hurricane party....instead of watching the "chicken littles" on the tube we are watching that paragon of wisdom- andy griffith.........ooops, the remote has been confiscated by MA.......for our family, all is well.....i got the remote back!!!!. andy is dealing with the english butler.......ok....time for a check outside and another beverage.......adios

Boarded patio under our Texas windchime

Boarded patio under our Texas windchime
Originally uploaded by maryaustincox

My Ike Blog....

It's 4:30 pm... grey skies, no rain yet, but we're starting to get some good gusts. I'm sure it'll start picking up here shortly.

We were almost going to evacuate (as evidenced by the truck packed up). We had some concern about the storm surge that could be felt here in Friendswood. However, I checked with the Friendswood Office of Emergency Management as well as there were several questions about our area on the SciGuy's 2:00 Chat that made us feel more comfortable about staying. We don't expect to see any problems from the storm surge.

Just to give my family some comfort, we are not the lone rangers in Friendswood. Several neighbors are around including two that if someone felt the need to evacuate, they would. One of my neighbors is a Deputy Chief for the Houston Fire Department and while he is on duty downtown, his wife has remained at home with both his mother and his brother staying there leaving from the Clear Lake area. A couple more doors down, there's a family who the man works with the Harris County Flood District and he says the models are run with worst case scenarios with 30 feet surges. Not really what we are told through the media. He stayed and said we will all be ok from water.

So, all that remains is to go through some stormy weather and high winds for a few hours. We are almost certain to not have power at some point. All will be well..... :-)
MA

9-11-08

September 11, 2008 -

What a day in history. Yesterday was the 7th Anniversary of the attacks on America in New York and Washington. Do you remember where you were during those attacks? I sure do. I was in my car on the way to work and heard a radio announcement after the first attack. Then recall hearing about the second attack and watching TV reports at the office throughout the morning and watching the buildings crumble to the ground. I remember feeling a terrible sadness for the people who were losing their lives and their families having to watch it happen as well as personal sense of fear for the security of my family's and America's security. It's one of those memories that you always remember where you were.

For me, the only other significant event in my lifetime that I recall is when Challenger exploded after takeoff on January 28, 1986. At that time, the shuttle takeoff's were still televised each and every time. I was sitting in my dormitory watching All My Children when they broke in to televise the doomed takeoff. It was just awful to watch Challenger explode and know the lives lost. I'm told my mother put me in front of the tv when Neil Armstong became the first man to walk on the Moon in July, 1969, I was 2 years old. Another amazing American moment...but no personal feelings from this one.

Many people have issues with America and our extreme diverse political views play out those differences daily. But there is really no argument that all of us must vote for those who help to secure America's borders - securing our ideals and our freedom here. The mere fact that we are able to have such diverse views and speak them in public is an example of America's ideals that we must protect. It's freedom... it's the foundation on which America was established and how we expect to be live our lives. No one wants to lose this freedom. We have to protect ourselves from those groups/peoples/ideals who do not support our rights to be Americans. I do agree that many of our "American freedoms" are not good for us... nor are many of them good for society as a whole. However, the critical item is we (American people) have the ability to CHOOSE how to worship, choose our careers and how to live, speak our opinions without fear, and many other freedoms.

Right now.... we are preparing for Ike. Ike is now forecasted to be a Cat 2 at landfall, not Cat 3. We are staying here and boarded up the windows yesterday. See John hard at work cutting the wood to size for the windows. There are lots of windows..... it took many hours yesterday to get this done. The other preparations we had to take were to clear the yard of all lawn furniture, plants, etc. that could be otherwise used as missiles with strong winds.

Just to make it clear for my family and friends... yes, I'm in 77546 which was called for a mandatory evacation in Harris County. However, I'm in Galveston County and in Friendswood and Friendswood has only called a voluntary evacation, not mandatory. See the link for Friendswood http://www.ci.friendswood.tx.us/COF/news/default.htm?rel_id=10649

I'll keep blogging here and there until we lose power probably later tonight.

MA

Ike is coming to visit.....

So... it's pretty much assured we will get some impact from Ike. If you go with the NHC forecast at the moment, a pretty bad impact would be felt for our area in Friendswood and the general Houston area. If it goes to our South, lesser of an impact, but still a pretty good impact since we are on the NorthEast quadrant of this huge hurricane. If it swings, as Rita did a couple of years ago, over to Beaumont area, we'll get not much more than rain.

Depending on who you listen to and what you read, there are comparisons of Ike to Carla from 1961 with the size and low pressure that is indicating perhaps more strengthening to come from Ike before landfall. Ike is a large storm and much of the coast will have some impact just due to his general size.

The tough thing right now is figuring out what to do and when to do it. Various county/city officials have called for either mandatory or voluntary evacuations, mostly along the coastal cities/counties and then Harris county called some mandatory evacations as well starting at noon. So, now the traffic has started to build coming up 45 South from Galveston and we haven't even started the Harris County evacuations.

What are we in? Well, we're in the zip code 77546 which was called on the Harris County side as a mandatory evacuation, but the City of Friendswood has only issued a voluntary evacuation. So.... huh??? That helps doesn't it......

Our plan is this: we've been preparing as if we were staying here and riding it out and also packing up in case an opportunity presents itself to get out. We have a lot to do yet - cutting wood and boarding up the house being #1 and picking up all the lawn stuff and finding a home for it. I imagine if we try to get out it won't be until sometime in the wee hours. Right now the traffic is building and getting in it for hours won't help anything.

A couple of pictures - our new generator & the plywood we got yesterday.

Stay tuned!

Questions.... Questions.... Questions.....

8:00 Update - Model run moves everything more westward in Texas more towards Corpus Christi. So..... we'll see....

Original Post:

As you can see, we are currently in the middle of the "cone of uncertainty" for Hurricane Ike now less than 5 days out. While not always accurate this far out, it is a little disconcerting. Brings up lots of questions ..... that if we wait too long we can miss a window.....

1) should we buy wood for all 25 (yes... 25) windows and doors now and have it cut so that it's ready to go up should we want to leave?

2) should we evacuate for a Cat 1? a Cat 2? even a Cat 3? John and I differ on this point quite a bit. Cat 1 - no. Cat 2 - maybe. Cat 3 - John is a maybe, I'm a yes. hmmmmm..... the point is undecided. He doesn't have an issue with no air conditioner for quite a while. I do. Although, I'm am concerned about leaving the house unprotected and at risk from looters.

3) should we (and when) do we start actually packing the stuff we would want to take with us?

4) What all do we take with us and how much will fit in the cars?

Still too many questions out there to know what to do yet.....

Stay tuned.

MA

It's COWBOY Game Day!

The first week of the 2008 NFL Season has begun! And for anyone who knows us, that means Sunday is Football day at the Cox house. Rituals begin early around here in time for the Noon game. Yesterday we went through the process of determing what this week's Game Time Foods would be. We went with BBQ Sausages and BBQ Pork for sandwiches. Of course, Lone Star Beer, the official Beer of Texas and of course, John.

Next, John and I make picks for each week and track them over the season. I'm convinced the only reason we're doing it again this year is because I won last year and that kind of thing just can't happen!! :-) Different this year is John wanted me to put my Excel skills to use and create a spreadsheet to track it all. "More Official" ya know!!

Also... time for the Dallas Room Debut!! John got through many of the boxes of Cowboy's "stuff" and has done some decorating. Thought I'd show the results of his decorating! It's really cool up there.

New for my house now that we're married, the Dallas "stuff" started making its way out of their storing places to the kitchen counter - loads of coozies and cups, footballs, and bucket for ice & beer nearby. At 3:00 pm, the Dallas clothing is unpacked and donned. John has on his new season Dallas cap, #74 (Bob Lilly) jersey that John wears for every game, Dallas wrist wraps, Dallas Cowboys sports shorts, Cowboy's socks and Cowboy shoes. It carries over to me of course, but not too much - shirts, shorts & visor.

Then... GAME TIME!! 3:15 PM today!! Watching every play, every move ..... luckily for the Cowboys and more importantly, our family's sanity tonight, the Dallas Cowboys won today 28 - 10 over the Cleveland Browns. YAY Cowboys!!

Hurricane Watch Update: Hurricane Ike is still a LONG way away in Cuba but many of the models are forecasting Texas as a landfall late next week. Just where will remain to be seen. So, here we go with another week of hurricane watching, waiting and hoping it doesn't come here. Hopefully, we'll have a better feel on Weds/Thurs on whether we're going to have a nice weekend or whether we'll be evacuating.

Have a great week!

Mighty Mustang Band Traditions......

We learned about another Band tradition this morning! As you can see from the pictures above and in the gallery on the right, our house was TP'd!! And boy howdy, was it!! The young ladies who took on this task did a mighty good job. Rachel had fun cleaning it up this morning!! :-)

Apparently, there is a tradition after the first football game for the Big Sisters/Brothers in the Band (YAY Sidney, Rachel's big sis) to wrap the houses of the new Freshman in Band and deliver their SIGNS!! Any highschooler in Friendswood that is in a sport of some kind, cheerleaders, Wranglerettes, Band, etc. has a sign in their yard displaying their participation. So... this is a rite of passage for Freshman after the first game to have their houses wrapped and have their sign displayed in the yard!! Go Mustangs!

Friday Night is High School Football Night in Texas!!

Friday Night Lights are Here!

Well, another high school byproduct is Friday Night Football Games!! This was an extra special one as it's our family's first official football participation ever. Rachel is in the Mighty Mustang Marching Band!! This game was packed. Just to make sure everyone understands. This is a HUGE deal in Friendswood. I'm sure it is in many other areas as well, but it seems everyone in Friendswood is involved in some manner. Families with no kids in the high school yet come along to the games. Friendswood is such a community oriented city and many Friendswood alumni return to live and raise their families in Friendswood. So, the football games are just one of many community events. They even have tailgating in the parking lots and along the homes in front of the school. I've never seen that before!

Our experience yesterday was one of timing! I picked up Rachel from school at 3:45 when school lets out and she had to be back at school at 5:00 pm ready to start getting dressed for band. She had to eat before hand as well. Back at school at 5:00 pm and then back to the house. John got home around 5:30 pm and we all did a quick change of clothes and headed back up to the school for the evening's events. We supported the Freshman Class and had a good lasagna dinner from Stefanos and then went out to the stands. We learned a HUGE lesson tonight!!! BUY SEASON TICKETS!!! or GET THERE IN THE STANDS AT 6:00 pm!! If you don't do this, you will not find a seat except with all the unruly student section. Very frustrating! So, there were no seats near the band, the middle was reserved for season ticket holders, and then the rest of it was packed. So, we ended up having to sit on the extreme end away from the band with the studens which is not an experience I wish to repeat at the next game. They never sit, they are up and down the aisles/rows constantly and many of them are just plain rude. Anyway.....

Half Time was fun to watch with Rachel marching this week. I splurged yesterday and bought a camcorder so hopefully, I'll figure out how to edit it and get it posted sometime soon. She did a great job and the show is pretty cool. She's still competing for her position in the band and I guess we won't know for another couple of weeks whether or not she gets a permanent position. Don't get me started on this topic or I will stand on a soapbox for a long time. I'm quite disappointed with how the whole band experience has started for her, but we're getting through it and hopefully, all will end well.

As for the rest of us, we all are pretty exhausted! Getting up at 5:00 am each morning to have Rachel to marching practice by 6:00 am is a tough job. John, bless his heart, takes her each morning and then goes on to work. However, I'm up at the same time generally when everyone gets moving. So, by Friday, we're all pretty tired. The game was fun, watching her march was fun, but we're tired!!

Happy 44th Anniversary Mom & Dad

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

44 years of loving each other, living with each other and living life together. May God's blessings continue to be with you both and in your marriage for many years to come!

Love, MA

Rachel doing what all good teenagers do these days....

Rachel doing what Rachel does best.....
Originally uploaded by maharlow2002

The world of texting...... my daughter lives in this world. The age of talking with your thumbs and not your voices over a phone.

One would think that if you never spoke your interactions verbally but only typed them in an abbreviated manner, your ability to interact socially on a verbal basis might be impacted. I think you could make an argument for that belief and be successful in a debate.

However, I don't see my assumed implications in reality. Rachel spends a lot of time on the phone texting between friends. Amazingly though, she's just as conversant verbally as any other typical teenage girl. Maybe it's just because she has an overdose of inherited social skills already and they are just being tempered by the texting!! HA HA HA However.. her spelling has fallen victim to the texting world. It is atrocious!!

Other happenings for today: Stephen went out to ride his bike again this afternoon and when putting his bike back into the garage, somehow managed to knock over a can of white paint on the driveway which just happened to open up ..... so now we have a big white blob of paint right at the gate into the backyard. It's lovely..... I could finish it with a few black or blue dots and it would be a smiley face welcoming all to our backyard!

So... we dodged the hurricane bullet this time with Hurricane Gustav making it's landfall in Louisiana. Our only effects were some high clouds, a few spits of rain and a little more wind than normal. I was hoping for some rain for my poor parched yard. Not to be at this time. However, if you are not an avid watcher of the tropics (translated paranoid as I am), you may not have noticed there are 3 other named storms out there right now (Hanna, Ike & Josephine) and one or two others coming off the coast of Africa with potential for development. Lucky for us, the only one we will need to keep an eye on at the moment is Ike. A couple of the long range computer models apparently want to bring Ike into the Gulf of Mexico in about 10 days. So.... we will keep watching him to see what develops.