As It Was In Winter, So Shall It Be In Spring & Summer...

It appears our year of crazy, bizarre weather is not done with us just yet. Last night it rained and hailed like crazy although nothing like the one we had last spring. Today, it is dark as night outside and so far we've had torrential rains and more hail, with a tornado warning as an added cherry on top. The electricity has gone off numerous times but has thankfully come right back on (I say this as I'm crossing my fingers and knocking on wood.) If you click on this picture you can see the hail from today.

We haven't had a tornado warning in at least 10 years, so when we do have one, you'd better take it seriously. I called Mr. Snoots to tell him about the tornado warning and he said he knew something big was coming because this morning he saw the Weather Channel Storm Chasers spread out all over the Hilton parking lot and they almost never come here since no one wants to hear about dirt storms (which is what we mostly have).

I've only gotten to play golf twice this Spring because of the weather, which makes me really cranky. Now, our back yard is completely flooded, which I've never seen in 25 years of living here. This means the town is flooded because we live in one of the higher spots in town, so there will be no leaving the house again today. Argh! I'm starting to feel like a prisoner between the workmen and the weather....



 

Off To Galveston We Go...

As it turns out, there is no electricity (STILL, more than a year after Hurricane Ike) in our friends' sub-division on West Galveston Island, which means that we won't be able to raise the window storm shutters for light. We're going to work by candlelight and flashlight. There is also still no plumbing, so you know what that means. Sounds like a fun time, doesn't it? There will also be no place to use the restroom. WHAT? We're all staying at the same motel, which is the closest one to their beach house. That would be 15 minutes travel time to the nearest restroom. So, I guess we won't be having Bloody Marys.




There are still no roads and there are nothing but gigantic chunks of what used to be their street (concrete and blacktop). Therefore, we are spending the extra moola to rent an SUV (which is a completely outrageous cost per day in Houston), from the airport. That way, we can hopefully pull right up to the house. We would ONLY do this for our best friends.Trust me.



Our other friends are driving their Suburban down, so last night we got together and devised a plan for a *make shift* port-a-potty. They have one they use for camping as well as a canvas screen they put up around it for privacy. God forbid anyone should see my baggy old arse. Thank. The. Lord. I do just love our friends, quirky and eccentric though they may be. They know how go almost anywhere in style. Necessity IS the Mother Of Invention.



Honestly, this is not going to be any fun and none of us are taking anything nice to wear. It's going to be nothing but a working weekend, where we fly there, get the job done, and fly home. I'm missing two Christmas Tea(s) parties and we get back home a mere 3 hours before THE Christmas party of the year, which I refuse to miss. Period. Whether or not I feel like going is entirely another story. Houston and Galveston are always so hot and humid that I usually arrive home feeling *sticky-icky*, so we'll have to wait and see. I haven't even bought a new outfit to wear to the party, but I'm sure no one ever really notices what I wear anyway, so I'm good with wearing an old outfit. If anyone does notice, and says something, I'll just thank them for pointing it out.



To tell you the truth, our friends have handled this whole tragic mess far better than I ever could have. I'd still be a blubbering mess anytime someone brings it up. What am I saying? I'm that way now and it isn't even our house...




So, today we had the winds from Hell... gusting up to 65 MPH, wreaking havoc all over town. Another huge limb was snapped off our Texas Laurel tree, which is right by the kitchen. I was standing there preparing dinner, at the kitchen windows, when it happened and it totally freaked me out. Thank Heaven we have screens on those windows because when the limb snapped, it fell to the windows and basically bounced off the screens then hit the ground. Whew! Disaster averted. I checked, and those are the only screens we have on the entire house. I'm dead serious.








Also, they were re-roofing the house across the street today and I was just sure that one of those guys was going to get blown of the roof. However, I think they must wear boots with weights in them. I never saw an ambulance. :-)

We aren't even taking our laptop, so I'll read you when I get back home....

Yesterday 61 Degrees... Today 27 Degrees... Tomorrow 61 Degrees

The wind chill is 11 degrees. If this isn't the kind of weather to make you sick, then I don't know what is. My outdoor plants are most likely dead after this little cold snap, even though they were covered with heavy blankets. I'm not even going to leave the house today, it's so cold. I have a wonderful fire going in the fireplace today and this is where I'm going to stay. Even the cat agrees. The local Widiots (weather idiots) predicted snow mixed with feezing rain but, as usual, they were wrong.

On another note... We've been smelling the most awful odor around our house. Really. It smells like rotten eggs. First thinking it was the old pipes, we poured huge bottles of Clorox down the drains, which would work for a day or two. Then, the nasty odor returned in full force. It's been driving us nuts. So, I finally did a Google search and came up with all kinds of possibilities for what might be the source of this problem. Over the weekend we tried several of the suggested remedies. Yesterday, the odor was back with a vengeance. So, today I'm waiting for the plumber to arrive. He gets to crawl under the Peer & Beam part of our house in search of a broken sewer line, which is what they predict the problem to be. Sometimes I really hate old houses...

Colonoscopy Update:

I survived my first visit to the Gastro Doctor. Actually he's quite nice and is originally from India. We have an abundance of Indian doctors here and they are all very good doctors. We chatted a bit about my family history & other unmentionable histories. He explained that they will knock me out with Demerol for the procedure. Thank God. He also explained that the worst part of it will be the night before the procedure, when I must completely cleanse my insides. Oh Yeah! That sounds like a hot time. Then, he explained that if they find any polyps during the procedure, they will go ahead and remove them. Thank God I'm going to be asleep.

Anyway, after my first visit with this very personable doctor, I feel much better about the procedure. Sort of. I go in for my colonoscopy on Thursday, February 5th. I figure I might as well quit putting this off.

Next thing you know, I'll be doing crazy things like scheduling appointments with my Gynecologist, whom I haven't seen in a while....