Observations

Here we are with the food journal again, things went well again today in terms of my eating, vitamins and water.

(Click to enlarge)

I did notice something disturbing that I've got to figure out how to combat. I have a compulsive urge to eat right when we get home from work... and while I'm cooking dinner. Hopefully in a couple of days, I'll be working out straight in from work so there will be a distraction. Things right now are still hectic when we get home because of other commitments.

John is also in the process of figuring out what plan he'd like to get on for his own weight loss - so I am really excited about having him on a plan again... it really does make a difference in my own plan as well. So basically - I'm going to forgive myself for any mistakes that I might make, and just do my best to continue to get back on track every day - and do a little better each day.

I'm a little worried about what it is that triggers me to want to eat the second I get home... I guess it has something psychological to do with getting home and being back in control of my surroundings... who knows?

I've been tracking my food on DailyPlate.com the last couple of days - a few small snacks might have been left out, but I'm striving to get better and better... the new version of the program allows you to have friends that can watch your food diaries - so I've got three friends on there now - Lacy, Renee, and my sister Cindy. If anyone else wants to join in the fun - email me or leave a note in your comment, and we'll get you hooked up. (If you're not someone I email with regularly you'll have to give me your screen name for dailyplate in the comment.)

This is so tough - but I'm trying, and I really want to make it all work... but I want to make sure to do it slowly enough to not shock my system entirely... in terms mainly of becoming overwhelmed (like in the past) and quitting everything. If I can get various parts working and add in a new step slowly - I think I have a better shot at success.

I know that it's always going to be a struggle - because it doesn't seem that I'm going to be one of those lucky people that gets addicted to working out... because believe me the times that I've gotten it really on track - I have felt great about the progress both physically and mentally - but something gives in about week 2 and I lose momentum.

I pray that getting everything working in the same direction will help in getting John and I both on track and moving toward our goals. I know I'm ready to move further toward our ultimate goal of having a family. It is consuming a lot of my time and thoughts lately...

Getting Started

Today, I started working on getting back into my healthy eating plan... and continuing on with the other goals that I've set for myself. I've been successfully taking my vitamins everyday for almost a week now, and stayed right around my calorie goal for today too. As a bonus - I am right on target with my water as well!

Here is my daily food diary for anyone that is interested.

(Click to enlarge)

For those of you that might be new to my blog - I'm trying to keep my calorie intake around 1,200 for the day. I am supposed to keep my protein level around 90 grams for the day - today I did really well, but I got a big boost from my shake this morning. I shoot for at least 64 ounces of water... and my vitamin list consists of:

1. 2 Flintstones multi-vitamins (they are recommended for WLS patients)
2. 2 Caltrate with vitamin D (1,200 mg calcium)
3. 1 B-12 dot (500 mcg)
4. 1 Biotin (1,000 mcg)
   

I hope that in a few more days, I'll be back to feeling great - and be ready to kick start my workout plan as well. I'm trying to take it all in baby steps, because I read somewhere that if you overwhelm yourself with everything at once - it's harder to keep up with things. If you add a little bit at a time it isn't as big of a shock to the system... so here's hoping!

I so desperately want to get this going and keep it up... I just might have to work out everyday for the rest of my life, because once I get things moving in the right direction - any changes from my routine tend to send me spiraling off into losing control of my whole program.

A Gremlin Turns 2

We rounded out our weekend with Renee's daughter, little "L" (aka The Gremlin) celebrating her second birthday. The party was at a park not to far from our house, and it was nice to enjoy the fresh air - the only negative was the mosquitoes toward the end of the party. I thankfully didn't get bit, but I saw a ton of them - and they are HUGE! (Like jumbo jets!) Here are a couple of pictures from the party...

This was L's cupcake cake... we all thought it was just adorable...

Swinging is so much fun!!

Me with my best-est buddy, Renee. (Yes, I know that best-est isn't a word...) Renee has some of the other good shots from the party on her blog as well.

This kiddo is so cute - some of our favorite things she says are: "We Eat!", and when you even mention birthday around her she'll get a really excited look on her face and say, "Cake!"

Here she is wondering why the bow won't stick to her... the sticky part was left on the box.

Brooklyn Turns 1

I'm getting caught up on my blog photos as promised - I wanted to get this done during the day today because I've got some other things to talk about this evening. So without further delay - lets take a look at some of my favorite pictures from Miss Brooklyn's birthday party.

This is the cake, her paternal grandmother worked on this cake until 3 AM the night before the party!

The birthday girl enjoying the process of opening presents. She isn't quite big enough to do it on her own - so her big sister, Taylor got in there to help.

Playing with one of the toys that Aunt Kim & Uncle John gave her...

One last clean shot before the cake destruction...

Sharing cake with Taylor... hysterical!

I don't know that I've ever seen her look happier - or messier.

Playing with her new toys as the party guests start to leave.

A picture of Brooklyn with Mommy and her new baby doll.

The hero of the day was Uncle John for putting together the bigger toys so that she could start breaking them in!

And she's off... probably headed to Wal-Mart in her little imagination.

Too Tired

It has taken me the last two hours to upload pictures from the weekend to my main photo site - so I will have to cut this post short - and just call it a courtesy for my blog 365 challenge. I will share pictures from the parties and things hopefully tomorrow - now it's time to get some sleep before work!!

First Year Celebrated

Brooklyn's first year of life has been celebrated to its fullest, and the birthday girl seemed to have a wonderful time... the gifts were a hit, and boy - the cake was smashed all over her! She wasn't shy about the cake portion of the party.

I've been to my fair share of first birthday parties, and I don't think I can remember one with as much of a cake mess. I guess I am surrounded by lots of little girls that don't like getting sticky... but Miss Brooklyn didn't have any problems of that nature! HA!

I've got tons of pictures, but quite honestly - I'm just not in the mood to upload them tonight. I'm going to be taking more tomorrow at little "L's" party - so I'll just work on them all at one time.

For those keeping me honest...daily vitamin intake was completed. :-)

I got to have some minor contact with my friend Maria last night - she's the one in the Navy and was just shipped to Japan for 24 months. This first week has been hard on her, change is never easy - but when your whole world changes at one time... new job, new country, new living arrangements, and having to tell your fiance goodbye while he's sent to his own ship... very tough to deal with at one time. She does have email, and we were trying to chat via Facebook last night - but the connection was not very good.

I expressed my frustration that our armed forces don't have the best of the best to my Dad, and he wasn't super sympathetic - when he was in the Air Force - he had to communicate via mail... or heck - it might have been carrier pigeon... HA! (Kidding Dad!) I just could tell that my friend was hurting and it irked me to not be able to be the best friend I can be in that moment. I tried, and believe me - she knew that I was there for her... but when her connection went out like every other minute - not easy to instant message!

Full Week

My first full week at work is finished. It was good... but long! I can see so much work in my future - and places where I can truly make a huge difference in the organization. It must be a God thing because I haven't ever seen an organization where there was so much work to be done within my expertise.

I took my second round of vitamins this morning - for those monitoring my progress back to model patient. :-)

I'm getting the menu for next week completed as my first order of business tomorrow is to get the grocery shopping finished before we need to head to Brooklyn's birthday party. We've got two very special birthday parties this weekend... Brooklyn's tomorrow, and Renee's daughter's on Sunday. This will be a high volume picture weekend, for sure!

I'm really seeing the beauty of riding to work with John - not only for the speed and ease of getting to/from work... but we have some of our best talks in the car. There isn't much else to do - so it gives us a chance to focus on talking. We talked about investing in a treadmill with my first full paycheck - so in another week or so - we might be in the market... anyone that uses a treadmill regularly want to tell me the essential functions that I want to look for?

Fortune

In an effort to have more time for Grey's... we ordered Chinese food for dinner. My fortune tonight was more relevant than any I've ever had... in light of my recent realization that it's time to get back to being serious about taking care of myself and getting the most out of having my guts re-routed...

I've found my new motto:

"Act as if it were impossible to fail..."

Have you ever read anything from a cookie that actually applied to your life?! Me either!!

Getting Back on Track

I started my road to getting back on track this morning - I took all my vitamins this morning... it's a baby step, but hey - I'm trying.

John and I have been going back and forth starting to plan our menu for next week - so that when I go to the store this weekend... I'll have a plan. No detours for me into the sugary snacks aisle... although they do disperse them throughout the whole store - don't they?

After I get that planned - I will start working on getting my workout plan together... I'm hoping that I can hit the ground running on Monday. I don't know exactly what my workouts will look like at first, but I do know that if I stick with it things will progress quickly.

Things at work are going really well, and the new schedule is AMAZING!

I think that for about the last month - I've been circling around a crazy mood - and of course my life got a bit crazy with starting a new job and then Ike came to town... but now I'm going to try my best to get into a routine that I can live with and learn from.

Hopefully, in a week or two - we'll all see some good changes both in my weight loss ticker but also emotionally.

Grey's Anatomy is back tonight - so I've got to get myself ready to enjoy some entertaining television... Seriously!

Taking a Moment

Today, I got some tough love from my weight loss surgery buddies. It was needed, and tonight - instead of trying to come up with something interesting to write about... I'm going to try to get my life organized.

We started my new schedule today, and we can cut our commute down to about 2 hours a day - which puts us leaving the house around 6AM and getting home around 5PM... so I should be able to figure out a way to get in a workout and dinner with that extra time in my day.

I want to plan some better meals, and of course get my vitamin regimen back into my schedule - I also need to up my water intake... which I've always struggled with. Nothing seems to work consistently, but we'll give it a shot.

It's just a matter of planning it out and making it happen... so that's what I'm focusing on tonight. Pray for this time to be different and that I can finally make all facets of my life come together and work in a healthy way.

Home Again

Some of you might find this offensive, but sadly - I can totally relate - it's EXACTLY how I feel being faced with the traffic mess of the last few days. I have to say that for some reason - this video is absolutely hysterical to me - I laughed so hard that I cried when I saw it the first time. (If you have trouble seeing it because of the small size - email me and I'll send you the file.)

I started a new group with some of my friends on Facebook for weight loss accountability. (Shout out to Marie too - I just found out today that she's been reading!) I've got so many wonderful women in my life, and a good number of them are trying in some capacity to lose weight or maintain weight that they've already lost... and I thought that I should bring them all together in one forum.

My own personal weight loss journey is getting harder and harder - even with the surgery - you've got to really work at it... so I'm trying to find ways to commit to that - not only for myself, but for people depending on me too.

If anyone that is reading on here wants to find me on Facebook - feel free. You can drop me a comment if you want to be part of the group, or can't find me on your own through Facebook. (You can understand why I don't want to put my email out here for everyone to see.)

Tomorrow we're going to try the 7-4 schedule at work - so hopefully we'll be home and cooking dinner shortly after 5. (Pray for that, please!) The HOV lanes opened up again today - we wish we would have known before our evening commute, but whatever - they're open for tomorrow!

Absolutely Nothing

You guys - I have absolutely nothing left tonight... our carpool lanes haven't reopened since the hurricane, and everyone in the city is going back to work this week. What does that mean to you? Well, that it took me 2 hours to get to work - then 2.5 to get home tonight!! So as you can see - I'm ready to sit and do absolutely nothing but watch television and not move again until bed.

Pride

For some of you - this will be a glimpse into where I come from... and what shaped me into the person that I am today. In so many ways, Texas A&M University changed my life - for the better.

I consider it a family history for me - I never really thought that I'd get a degree from anywhere else... but I can't say that I'm much of a football fan (which is not a surprise to anyone). Yesterday however, I had a rare opportunity to go back and remember what it is that shaped me, and experience a place that brings a great sense of pride to my heart.

I'll start you off with some pictures from the game, and then give you a chance to watch a video of something that I dearly love.

This is the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, marching into Kyle Field before the game. (Yes, anyone that is asking - it is a military band.)

This is one outfit from the Corps of Cadets at A&M, this outfit is the Parson's Mounted Calvary. They are the only outfit on campus that uses horses, and are responsible for firing the cannon every time the Aggies score at a game.

This is another part of the corps march into the stadium - notice - they are carrying sabers!

The first kickoff of the game. This picture is taken from our seats with a minimal zoom... so we do have great seats!

Here John and I are at the game... it was SUPER hot and sunny - so disregard our appearance.

This video shows the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band performing at the game. John was a member of this incredible band during his years at A&M. Whenever I hear them play it truly gives me chills and an indescribable sense of pride. I hope you enjoy it!

Scrap Pages

Here are some scrapbook pages that I did while on the hurricane vacation... aka being trapped at the house! Enjoy!

Last Ike Pics

These are my last remaining pictures from Ike. Mainly pictures from our trip to get the generator, and 3 of our refugees. Enjoy!

Update

Tonight I truly am exhausted, and pretty sunburned too - so I'm going to keep it short and try to rebuild some energy for church in the morning. We didn't get to have service last week because of the storm, and we're all pretty excited about getting back in the morning. John is leading worship in the morning too!

I've got lots to tell ya'll about the game, and some pictures to share too - but I'm going to save that for tomorrow - because I just don't have the energy to get the pics off the camera tonight.

An update on John's Memaw - because Kim asked and I thought I'd already written about it... but I guess not in all the craziness of the past week. (My days are still blending into one... so bare with me on that until I can get myself back to normal.)

John's grandmother came through the surgery very well, and spent the last couple of days in ICU. She was trying to get out of bed and had to have 24 hour watch from the family - or the hospital was going to put her in restraints... so John's Mom & Dad have been putting in a lot of time at the hospital helping make sure that Memaw is well taken care of.

I haven't personally seen her since the night before I went back to work - but from what I've heard she has moments of clarity and moments where she talks about completely random things... which I would think is to be expected when you've had brain surgery at 92 years old... or at any age, really.

She was moved to a regular room today, and I think started physical therapy as well - so hopefully she's on the mend again. I know that God is with her, and has really been helping her through this as only he can.

That is about all I know on her recovery - and praise God - John's parent's power came back on today... I'm so glad that his Mom doesn't have to try to get ready for work on Monday without power! Can you imagine? I know people at my office have managed this week doing it, but I certainly wouldn't want to do it!

One final note - today is Brooklyn's 1st birthday - so from Uncle John and Aunt Kim - we wish her a very Happy Birthday, and many more to come... it's hard to believe that she's already a year old... but time flies when you're having fun!

Can't Do It

Well, I've made it through another week, but am virtually brain dead at this point. I'm heading out tomorrow for a full day again... going to my sister's to see my Dad, and then off to the A&M football game. I was planning on a quiet afternoon at home, but I don't want John to go to the game alone - so maybe I'll spend Sunday afternoon doing ABSOLUTELY nothing!

I'm going on to bed because I'm seriously lacking on my sleep at this point... even though I know you can't catch up once sleep is gone... I'm hopeful that at some point I'll stop feeling utterly exhausted.

Respect

I don't have to tell you that Houston has been through a major hurricane within the last week. I don't even have to tell you that it's a scary thing, but I do want to give some insight into the situation.

You'll notice that this happened less than a week and it has literally dropped out of the national news. Not that I think that it should still be in the news, but seriously... lets all remember back to Katrina and how long we heard stories about that.

Now, I have a lot of respect for most of the state of Louisiana - but unfortunately during that time some of their worst citizens were seen all over the national news media doing things that were just unimaginable in most cases. They did go through some major trauma in the city of New Orleans, but lets face it folks - the people in the other main areas of destruction got overlooked because they went on with their lives and worked to get their cities back to normal.

I have to admit that even through the wake of that hurricane tragedy - I was unable to understand what those people had seen and experienced. Just like with the storms that go through all other areas of our country and neighbors - I just never understood what that experience was like.

Sort of like a blizzard or earthquake - I've never truly experienced it at a time that I remember. Now, I did live through Hurricane Alicia in Houston... and that was the storm by which all others were compared to in our area of the country - but I was 3 1/2 years old. So lets just say the only thing I remember was that I thought it was strange for my parents to open the windows of our house during a "rain storm".

I now understand that they were trying to prevent the pressure of the storm from shattering our windows, but did I remember the experience on a level where I knew what to expect from Ike - not one bit.

I think that the people of our area had been through so many false alarms with hurricanes in the last 3-4 years that we all had a little bit of a jaded approach to the preparations. I know I did - we've been warned so many times that a storm was coming "straight for us" only to watch it turn away at the last minute. So I've never really taken precautions like are advised... that being said - I did rush out for a few items the day before the storm hit, but it was too late at that point to truly have a plan.

As the storm drew closer and closer - we watched the news and saw the pre-storm coastal flooding and knew that this wasn't going to be a false alarm... and with each hour my anxiety got more and more intense. (I hopefully hid it a little from those around me... but probably not.)

When the wind picked up and the whistling/howling started - things got very real. We were sitting in our living room for what seemed like days... it was only about 6 hours or so... in the complete dark, and all you could do was watch transformers blow and pop in the distance providing a blue glow to the skyline for a second. Other than that - you were forced to listen to the power and sounds of the storm. Those sounds are almost indescribable - it literally sounds like a freight train is running over your house!

If there had been a train whistle - I would have sworn that was actually what was happening. In the end - all you can do is sit there and pray. We prayed (silently) for safety, for our house to be intact when it was all over, for our families, our friends, and our city in general.

In the aftermath, we realized that we hadn't suffered any major damage - but that didn't exclude us from power outages within our family and friends... or other minor storm displacements like no grocery stores or gas to help us get back to complete normal. (Not that any of us will ever be exactly as we were before.)

The thing that comes to my mind the most right now though is pride for how things are being handled by our citizens. Yes, we have some of the same disgraceful citizens that other cities do - and naturally they're the ones shown/talked about on the media... but the majority have so much to be proud of in the wake of a major natural disaster.

I feel confident that these types of stories were going on in the wake of Katrina and other major storms in areas like Florida... but the media didn't put them out there for the rest of us. I don't know what the rest of the country and world are seeing about our recovery from Ike, but remember to take it with a grain of salt - because for some reason the major news media in our country doesn't think that anything is news worthy if it's a positive story. Only the negative can be shown... and if they can't get it naturally - they will invent it.

There are two news reporters (probably more - but I only know of the two from ABC 13) in our area that I'd love to choke because of the way that they have attacked everyone they can to force a story. They desperately want to play the blame game on why they couldn't get to certain areas of destruction right away... they want to blame someone in government because the FEMA points of distribution were running 3 hours behind... and I just would love to shake them and tell them that people are doing the best they can in a bad situation - LAY OFF! (ok, end media rant)

I've seen stories, and watched with my own eyes within my work environment - of people stepping up to help. People also got out there as soon as the wind died down to start cleaning up around their own homes... neighbor helping neighbor... just to clean as much debris up as possible to help get the utility workers a path to get about restoring power.

People in the most heavily destroyed areas aren't whining about what has happened to them - they just want to get on with rebuilding their lives, and I feel confident that once some basic structures of water and power are restored to their areas - they will be allowed to do just that.

Sure, at times things are frustrating during this process - but over all we have weathered the storm very well.

The fundamental difference for me now though is that my life is forever changed... I will never see a story about a hurricane coming ashore and not feel something profound for the people going through that storm. I now know what it's like, and will remember that for the rest of my life.

Needing a Break

Tonight, I find myself barely able to comprehend what has gone on in the last week. I've hit the wall, my friends... at 90 miles per hour without any brakes!

It was a little over a week ago that I started back to work, after 4 months of leisure... stressful in and of itself, right? Three days later - we're gearing up for a major hurricane.

Lived through the storm that, I swear, wanted to terrify even the biggest cynics about hurricane preparedness. I think it'll be a loooooooong time before anyone in the Greater Houston area shrugs off a hurricane again.

Since the hurricane - John's family has been staying with us, which by itself isn't bad - but it is very different from what I'm used to... 6 extra people in the house for a couple of days is a lot to handle when you're used to it being just John and you.

Susan and her family have since gone home because they've gotten power restored at their place... but in the midst of that we found out that John's grandmother was sick... so last night we went to the hospital to check on her.

I had to go back to work this morning, which I'll tell you about in a minute... but John's grandmother had brain surgery this morning too - which was stressful for me because I desperately wanted to be at the hospital supporting my husband and his family during a tough time. Being so new to a job though - it wasn't a good idea to rock the boat just yet.

Going back to work has been eye opening and draining. We are the largest human service organization in the Greater Houston area - we have 60 different service locations providing everything from senior care to childcare... and our clients are in some of the hardest hit areas from Ike. So, my office is helping to coordinate some of the FEMA relief efforts among other relief efforts as well.

While I was carrying on my day - there were people running all over the place worried about getting our centers back up and running to serve the public, but also to help make sure that the population gets the help they need to start getting back on their feet.

Today, I truly became a useful part of the team though - they finally had a critical need for my position and I've been working nonstop all day on a project that lends itself well to my expertise. They have been very happy with my work so far (thank goodness!) and it was nice to be busy for a change... it certainly passed the time!

The work is so much more in line with things that I'm good at and interested in - so it was really nice to have things to do and not loathe the projects like I did at my last job. I hated it so much there for so many reasons that I just couldn't bring myself to do the work some days... I don't think that will be the case here... it's MUCH more in line with my interests.

So if I can't teach right now - at least I'm doing my second favorite thing, right?

That's pretty much the last week in a rundown - and the rest of this week and weekend don't show any signs of slowing down much... I might be brain-dead by the time we get done with church on Sunday...

Twists of Fate

Today is going to be another quick and dirty post because we're headed out to the hospital right now. We got in touch with one of John's Aunts today and they had to take his 92 year old grandmother to the hospital in the midst of the hurricane.

She apparently has a subdural hematoma, and the doctors are planning to do surgery to remove the clot from her brain tonight. This is a very scary time for John and his family - and I pray that God answers our prayers and safely carries Memaw through this.

I'm going back to work tomorrow as long as things go well tonight, and right now I'm going back to my regular office and not out to work with FEMA... but there is a possibility that things might change depending on the needs of my organization.

My in laws still have no power, but I think that my sister in law has gotten her refrigerator opened up so that the mildew doesn't take over... and she's gone over to John's parents to do the same... so hopefully that will help in some small way to speed up their cleanup process.

Correction

Well, FEMA isn't quite ready for us to hand out supplies at the location that we were to report for duty at tomorrow. So I've been released for the day... but am to stand by for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as we might be doing the FEMA volunteer work - or if the power is restored to my building... I might be going there to work and do whatever is needed for my department.

This new organization that I work for is much more of a human services organization, and therefore is more mission driven to help in the community. I've never worked for a place that steps in this quickly to help, but it's actually a little bit refreshing to see that it's not all about business as usual... it's more about where the greatest need is and filling those needs for the people.

In the meantime - I am still hanging out with John's family - we've all been fed for the evening, and some are watching the Dallas Cowboys game while others are upstairs watching The Jane Austen Book Club. I'm somewhere in between doing what I can to keep the place clean and everyone happy.... but work or no work - I'm quickly making my way to have a LONG meeting with my pillow.

The last few days have certainly been a ride that I will never forget - I can only pray that we don't have to go through it again... if we do - please God let it not be for a long while. For as long as I live - I will always know how it feels to go through a hurricane, and will pray harder than ever before for each and every soul going through that particular crisis.

Back to Work

Well, I'm back to work in the morning, but not my regularly assigned duties. One of our neighborhood centers is actually a FEMA Point of Distribution (POD) so they've asked us to come hand out Meals Ready to Eat (MRE), water, and ice to the people of the area that are without. It ought to make for an interesting, enlightening, empowering, and just all around eye opening day.

If there is anyone in the area that would like to take part in this with me - drop me a comment and I'll send you the information as to where we'll be and when.

Unbelievable

Well, Ike decided to go right through Columbus, Ohio on his way to where ever he decided to track through the US... and my poor Dad now doesn't have power for what they're predicting to be about a week! That is craziness!

The storm still had 70 mile per hour winds when it reached Ohio... certainly less than when it came through here - but unbelievable none the less.

Displacement from Ike

We're all still here and kicking, but we've started to spread out around the house for our entertainment. Susan and Brooklyn are upstairs watching lots of television and napping... Taylor has taken over the Wii and is playing with various opponents - either John, Paw Paw, or Maw Maw... and me a little bit. I've done some scrapbooking and continue to be interested in the news coverage of how things are going around the area.

Last night was so sweet, just about the time that the majority of us were going to bed - Taylor decided that we all needed to pray together. It was really nice to see her bring us all together around the bed that my in laws were going to be using... just a moment for us to all to thank God for how fortunate we have been throughout this storm. The six of them are displaced from their homes because of the power outage, but we still have plenty of food and water... and maybe even a little extra time to spend together.

There certainly are people everywhere you turn in the house, but at least we're all healthy and doing well. No major damage to speak of at any of our homes... there isn't much more we can ask for at this point.

Hawkins Shelter/Hotel

This evening we've taken in 6 refugees from Montgomery County, Texas... John's family is here with us because they don't have power at their houses. They rolled in about mid-afternoon... and immediately started cooking.

We've made a big pot of soup, baked a frozen pie that had partially thawed... and have plans of grilling some steaks this evening as well.

Naturally, we've had the news on all day - and I have to say that people are really hammering on FEMA and what is perceived as a lack of response... I find it really sad that in times like these the media really stirs the pot on issues.

I mean - the officials told us to prepare to be self sustaining for up to 3 days, and sure - we've been very lucky at our house... but it's been 24 hours since the storm hit, and people are already trying to blame the government for failing them because the FEMA trucks haven't arrived to all our citizens. I just find it flat amazing.

The vast majority of people are out there making due for themselves and doing the best they can. Stores have opened in some areas and people are doing the best that they can to provide for themselves... BUT relief has gotten to Galveston which is an area of great need... so I think that they are doing a great job.

I guess it is our nature to blame someone when we're hurting, but I hope that in the end people will realize that in reality things could have been so much worse.

My boss called earlier and our offices don't have power so we'll be closed tomorrow. She will call again tomorrow to let me know if they get power tomorrow, but none of us really expect that it'll be on there that quickly.

Cruel Joke

** I know that a lot of my readers are from the Houston area, and already know all of this information - but I'm keeping updates for family and friends that are watching to see how we're doing. **

Well, we had power again for a few hours only to lose it again from 11 until about 9 this morning. It seems to come back on whenever we start getting the generator ready to hook up. Poor John got it on the back porch, and had the fridge ready to plug in - but that's when the power came back on. If it weren't so frustrating - it would be funny.

I am so incredibly proud of how our city is handling this - whenever I'm able to watch the news coverage - everything looks orderly and people are hanging in there... so unlike the things we saw after Katrina.

We are watching the weather continue to be a mess as the rain is back again today, and threatens to get really bad this afternoon as a cold front moves in to the area. We got 5" of rain during the height of Ike, and last night got another 2" of rain... so we'll see what our total ends up being by the end of this whole situation.

Now we just have to see what happens now... and we'll see later when we will be asked to return to work. The main bummer for today is that our church had to cancel services today - and it would really be great to be able to get together as a group and thank God for getting us through this storm without any major events.

Retrospect

I have to say that overall - it might actually be a good thing that Ike came through over night while we were without power. I know that might seem strange to you, but here's my reasoning... I think it would have been worse if John and I would have been able to see the looks on our faces.

I know I would have been more scared to know that my strong, tough, protective, and loving husband was scared. He is after all my safety net!

Back in Business

Well - we lost power around 3 this morning while the storm was getting started... and can I just tell you that the sounds of a hurricane are some of the most frightening I've ever heard! From the sounds of the wind whistling and howling... to the sights of transformers blowing out every few minutes - it truly is nothing to take lightly.

John and I didn't sleep much more and nodding off for a couple of minutes in between the wind and water hitting the windows, and/or a flash of light that scared the mud out of us. Literally - in the dark of night while you're scared to death that your windows are going to blow out - and an orange light flashes... it will literally make you think that your house is on fire. Scary scary stuff!!

I've gone through the day vacillating between two extremes in my emotions... I've been weepy for what we've been through, and at the same time grateful for the community spirit that I've already seen around town. I guess it's normal to experience highs and lows after going through something semi-traumatic.

We took off this afternoon to my sisters in Brenham, to pick up their generator in order to get our fridge working and a few basic necessities... only to arrive back home to find our house fully powered up and cold!

It's a great problem to have all things considered - but surreal anyway.

On our way to Brenham, we saw caravans of state police and ambulances headed toward Houston... and it just made me weepy to watch that - we live in such a great state and country - to see people roll up their sleeves and jump right in to do whatever they can to help.

God Bless America... and Houston!

Part of me thinks of this as an opportunity for us to come together as a community again - just as we all get so wrapped up in our own lives. Just this evening, we had a guy just walk over to help John unload the generator from the truck... we've never met any of our neighbors... so I just thought that was great.

Beauty Before the Storm

Here are some pictures of the calm before the storm. The sunsets and sunrises during hurricanes can truly be remarkable... so I thought I'd take some pictures while it is safe. The wind is starting to pick up a bit, and is gusting... so as it gets dark - things will get crazy. We're praying that we don't lose power... but if we do - I'll see ya'll on the flip side!

Update

For those of you following our ride through the storm - things are looking very bad for Galveston Island already... that is about an hour from us. The rain hasn't started yet at this point, but they are saying that the rain bands are going to be beginning to make their way across the city very soon.

We're about to cook dinner while we have power and enjoy a hot meal before things start looking bad in our area.

John has turned the AC down to 70 in preparation for the power going out in our area - he figured that at least when it goes out... we can have it as cold as possible in here. So I've had to go outside and thaw my body out several times today!

It does look like this is coming in at the worst possible place for our area, but that doesn't mean that John and I are in any danger. One thing the news media has been saying over and over again is that this is something that we haven't seen in our area in modern times. It's sort of like a cross between Hurricanes Carla and Alicia... which were 50 (Carla) and 25 (Alicia) years ago... not to mention that our house is only a year old - so we don't know exactly what to expect in terms of wind and/or flooding.

The only thing that does help us feel some relief is that we have a retention pond at the back of our neighborhood, and we have a pumping station on our street to help remove any built up waters.

The scary thing is that this will come in during the night - so if we lose power -we'll have no way of watching to see what is happening out there. So hopefully we won't lose power for quite some time and can monitor how things are happening.

We have heard that 10,000 people in our area (the Greater Houston area = several million people) have lost power already at this point... so we're thankful that we aren't in that group.

Ready & Waiting

We've completed our preparations for the storm at this point, and I've taken some pictures to share with everyone. Right about now we're doing a lot of what you'll see in this first picture - watching the news... the storm hasn't even started to come in yet, but Galveston Island is already flooded - so this could be a long couple of days.

Missy is sitting with John - she's been very clingy... so I'm sure she won't get too far from either of us. She is afraid of storms to begin with - so a prolonged storm will mean lots of cuddling and shaking!

A closer view of Missy sitting with John, and of course Maggie's tail is in the way here.

Our patio furniture is all wired together and then strapped to the porch. The cushions are all in my breakfast room...it's a new look for September in Houston decorators!

The grill is strapped down as well... at least until we need it for cooking.

Maggie is sitting watching toward the coast in this shot - waiting for Ike to come in...

The girls are playing here - burning up some energy before we get stuck in the house.

Still playing here - and probably hoping that they don't have to potty in a flooded yard - like during Alison!

Here is a shot looking into our garage... and yes - that's a tree!

Our new tree - we bought this on Monday to replace the one that died, but didn't get it planted because of my interview at the school - so it's laying in the garage for now.

Our neighbor across the street is boarding up, and I thought I'd take a picture of that. They don't really have any cover over their windows to block the rain - we have porches covering almost all of ours.

I'll post more as things progress - I'll take as many pictures as I can of the sky and anything else that we see... I'll be sure to stay safe - so no one think that I'll be out there like a crazy reporter or anything!

Scrapbook Pages

I created these pages last weekend, but hadn't gotten them off of my camera before now... so I just thought I'd share for those of you that are interested.

Ike & Craziness

If you open this picture up - toward the top portion of the red section - you'll see a 6... I live in the red dot attached to that 6... or just above the 290... it's hard for me to tell exactly because I can't open the application to get a better view at my office.

In the last 24 hours or so - Ike has taken a turn for Houston. It actually might not be a direct hit on Houston itself, BUT if it goes through Freeport, Texas or anywhere north along the coast - we're in big trouble. (Which is exactly what we're looking at now)

In all honesty - I live a good hour to hour and a half from the coast, but believe me problems with these storms are widespread. My office has already closed for the day tomorrow, and it still remains to be seen if we end up working the entire day.... but that's not where the crazy is.

I started off this morning thinking about all the things that they tell us to have in our "Hurricane Preparedness Kit" - you know, the one that for at least the last 8 years... I've ignored needing. I'm not sure that it matters - because it doesn't matter what happens - every time a storm looms... people are out there stocking up on everything imaginable.

So anyway - this morning, I dropped John off at his office and started driving to mine... we had decided to fill up the car in the event that we have an extended power outage or gas problem and need to get by for a few days - or get out of dodge!

I pulled into the gas station, and start to get out of my car... and this lady in a ginormous SUV starts honking, shaking her finger, and yelling at me... apparently she wanted the pump I pulled into, and like a moment out of Fried Green Tomatoes - I must have swooped in and taken her spot. It didn't exactly happen that way - the pump was open and I pulled straight in... I don't even think she was there at the time! Crazy #1...

I then decided to use my lunch hour to get some supplies to make sure that John, the dogs, and I will be fine for a few days... and cue Crazy #2-2,000... I work in a smaller very yuppie-ish side of town now, and you don't typically expect people to act like they are today. I got to the store, and it was a complete madhouse! They still had water, but most of the other basic necessities were gone... so John and I have a few protein bars, water, peanut butter, crackers, and Oreos. (Yes, because you can't survive a hurricane without Oreos!)

I stood in line to check out for literally like 45 minutes for those few things!

Now, when you think about hurricane preparedness - what would you put in your cart? For me - it's water and some food items that we can eat for a short period while the power might be out... not these people! They were buying huge family packs of meat... yeah, cause when the power goes out - that'll be helpful. More than that though - the number 1 thing I saw people buying was alcohol.... wine and beer a plenty for these people.

I'm talking about several cases of beer in carts, or 6-8 bottles of wine... it's not a wedding people... it's a hurricane! Maybe I'm over sensitive to this because it's been literally 8 years since I've had a drink... and I'm not opposed to people doing it, but seriously - that's part of your survival kit?!

I worry about my dogs running out of food - but these people are worried about their buzz wearing off!

I just hope that the evacuation is going better this time because - I don't cherish the prospect of sitting on the freeway for hours to get home tonight.

On a very serious note:

You guys while you're praying over the next few days, please pray for safety from the storm, the relief efforts, and all those that will be recovering from damaged homes... or worse.

Also, please keep my friend Renee over at Right Foot Forward and her family in your hearts and prayers - she lost her uncle yesterday very unexpectedly and is dealing with the grief and mourning process.

I will update you guys on how we're doing with the storm as much as possible... but if for some reason - I can't blog - know that I'll be back as soon as is humanly possible.

Sleepy Goings

Exhausted, Party of 1... yes - that would be me! I haven't slept the last two nights for various reasons - including new job jitters and an unexpected addiction. The first one is self-explanatory... the second, not so much.

Hi, my name is Kim and I've got some sort of addiction to nose spray. (Who knew this was possible?!) Say it with me now... Hi Kim... ok, so that's my little introduction to what should be known as Nose Spray Users Anonymous.

Apparently, your body becomes addicted and physically dependent on nose spray if you use it for more than a couple of days. A few weeks ago, or maybe a month... who knows at this point - I started getting some congestion, and used my old trusty bottle of Afrin to give myself some relief.

Well, I guess I used it a little to much - and for the last week or so I've only been able to breathe by way of using this product to clear my nasal passages. Well, yesterday - I found myself at work with no Afrin. (sad, I know.)

So, being that I had several hours to go before the end of the day - I had no choice but to start a recovery process that has been a little intense.

It started at first only with congestion. I made it through the rest of my day, but it must have sounded like I was having some sort of allergic reaction to my cubicle to those around me... a cubicle that is absolutely HUGE, ya'll! (story for another day)

By the time I got home, I had the beginnings of a massive headache - I was able to cook dinner for my wonderful husband, but by the time it was done - I couldn't eat. The headache had taken over and made me nauseated.

I did what I thought was best - I stayed away from the computer for the night, and stayed on the couch... I tried to watch some recorded television stuff, but really couldn't focus on it.

I took my doctor's advice and used a saline solution to flush out my nasal passages - I know - more than you EVER wanted to know... but it really isn't that bad... it's sort of like a warm massage for your nose.

When I went to bed though, I couldn't sleep - my nose was rebelling in all sorts of ways that you don't want to know about... so I maybe got in a nap at most.

Here I sit halfway through the day, and the headache is back - possibly because of exhaustion, or maybe a side effect of the detox... who knows?!... but I can only thank God that John has worship team practice tonight - because I probably will be asleep on the couch the second he pulls out of the driveway. (or at least I hope so!)

Slow Start

My first day back at work has been a slow start, which can be tiring/boring at times - but I know that as time goes on more and more will be put on my plate.

My boss is hysterical - I heard her on the phone this morning telling someone that in our initial meeting... she heard me ask some questions about projects that almost made her cry. Not in a bad way, but just so relieved that someone "gets it" and can truly help move this organization to the next level.

I guess that speaks to her telling me in our first interview that she truly believed that I could become a hero in the fundraising world of this organization. I sincerely hope that is the case... and I'm ready to be busy.

I'm one of those people that wants to be busy from the moment I get here - to the moment I leave so that the time passes quickly, and I feel productive. I think that is what makes starting new hard... but also good because it did take me most of the morning to figure Outlook back out and get all my preferences set up again.

It's funny how quickly you forget things when you have been at a job for a long time - I was at my old job for 3 years... so it's been that long since I've even looked at email preferences and the like - so I guess it's not all that weird.

I've met some cool people today, and sort of have the lay of the land... is there much more to know outside of where the bathroom and the kitchen are? I hope not - because that's about the extent of what I learned today! Wait that's not true...

At one point during the day - I was brought a letter and asked to make it a PDF. She told me that the copier would do that for me, but that she didn't know how it worked... so I stood there for a while and figured that out. It basically scans it right there on the machine and emails it to you... ahhh to have nice technology!! I find it funny that being at a smaller organization brings more organization and better tools to equip us to do our jobs.

I just thought that I'd write this post while I'm wrapping up the day at the office - because I know that my time at home will be precious now, and I'll want to spend as much of it as possible relaxing. Which tonight means catching up on my Facebook notifications, and hanging out on the couch.

I guess the only downside so far is that I already know that both of my bosses are on the opposite side of the political spectrum from me, as they discussed it a little this morning... so John thought it was funny that I'm basically "in the closet" in terms of my politics for now. I thought it might be best to let them get to know me and all before I let any of my personal beliefs out into the open. I guess that means no bumper stickers for me... although I didn't honestly plan on getting any.

I hope that you're all doing well - and that this post wasn't completely boring - I promise that I'll have some good stories and things soon... and possibly a day off on Friday depending on what Hurricane Ike does. It's good to know that when Hurricanes threaten the area - they are respectful of their employees needs to take care of their families!

Back in Action

It is sort of bitter-sweet going back to work after all this time, but exciting at the same time. I'm going to miss the freedom that came with my time being all my own, but will enjoy the financial benefits that come with the salary.

So, I'd planned on spending my last day of freedom in my pajamas - on the couch doing absolutely nothing other than watching a lifetime movie marathon...but that wasn't in the cards. I spent my morning out running errands with John - we went to Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowe's and to a nursery. One of the trees John planted last year died, so we wanted to get it replaced. Thank goodness for a 70% sale at the nursery!!

My email was buzzing away while we were out today, and the principal from my friend's school emailed me to come in for an interview. So off I went - the interview was at 4:15 this afternoon, and was for the kindergarten position that I've written about before. I met with 5 people at the school, and the interview went really well. They will let me know by the end of the week what they decide about the position.

In the meantime, I'm off to my new job tomorrow - I guess it wouldn't be my life if it weren't completely up in the air! What a crazy month this has been in terms of finding a job!

I'm praying that God leads me in this - and presents me with a clear message about which job would be a part of his plan for me at this time. If that is the teaching position - I pray that he'll give me the words and strength to handle the situation at the other organization with grace and humility. If the job for me is the other one - I pray that I will feel peace about that decision, and that the environment be a supportive one... very unlike the last job that I held.

More immediately, I'm praying that my transition back into the working world is as smooth as possible, and that I don't get to wiped out to enjoy the weekends when they come around. I'll be sure to let ya'll know how things went in my next post... or maybe even check in sometime during the day tomorrow if there is time.

Sunday Review

Well, today brought on some of the usual activities - church, a second grocery store run, and some rest... but I also checked out facebook and joined up. I don't know why I hadn't already done this - probably because of my hatred for myspace - but it is actually much cooler. Those of you that know me - feel free to look me up if we're not already connected.

Hopefully when I get to work - I'll be able to check messages and things from there, but we'll have to see what type of security they have at the new office. I've been starting to think about what things I'd want to take to the new office - and it'll just depend on if I get a cube or an office... but I'm definitely thinking that I'll keep it on the lighter side...

We also had our first leader training for our new Growth Groups at church - and it sounds like this new program is going to be great! I am excited about the possibilities that are going to come along with this new group of friends... I hope that we'll learn a lot from each other and build our circle of close friends at the same time.

I also wanted to say that I'm overwhelmed at the love and support I received both from comments to my before/after photos and via email as well. I posted most of the email responses as anonymous comments so that I could save them for my own reflection - but also to share with my friends too.

Hysterical

I just wanted to share a new blog I found with you guys - it truly is one of the funniest things I've read/seen in a long time. It chronicles mistakes made on cakes... so check out Cake Wrecks when you get a chance!

Loss for Words

Let me start by telling you guys that I ended up going way farther with the hair-stylist than I intended to... but I LOVE it! She really didn't cut much off, but we did a deal called a texture fusion perm... which means that I can now wear my hair curly or straight. When I wear it straight - it'll have more body than it does naturally... and when I wear it curly - it'll be more like hot rollers when it relaxes a little.

Right now it's pretty curly, but we'll see what happens tomorrow when I'm responsible for styling it. I'll try to get John to get a close up of it (if it's cute!) so that you can really get an idea of what it looks like.

As promised though, and I've been meaning to do it for a while... here are some new comparisons between me yesterday and the day before my surgery. I am really without words because I think part of my problem is that I never realized before surgery what I truly looked like to the outside world.

I still feel really fat, and am only halfway to my goal... but these pictures are painfully obvious reminders of how far I've come already.



Lets all just take a moment on this - because words escape me!!