Let's Panic people!

Well we survived the rest of the storm without losing any electricity. And we only got about 8 inches of rain as opposed to 50+ inches that Houston and that area got.  Thankfully!

But today, because of all the panic that there is a shortage of gas, or there will be, there has been a run to the gas stations. Lines and lines of cars and then yup, gas stations closing down pumps because yes they ran out of gas.  This is ridiculous. There wasn't a gas shortage but now thanks to the panic there is. At least temporarily.  I am almost on empty too, but I wasn't worried about it because I don't drive much these days since I work at home.  So I did not go out and wait in any long lines. Hopefully within a few days, the panic will subside and then I will fill up my tank and be set for a while again.

I have been catching some news stories about Hurricane Harvey and feel so bad for all the folks who have been flooded out of their homes.  I can totally relate to them since I grew up in a house that was located in a flood plain (though they never told anyone for years), and we had water in the basement many times. The worst was when we had 5 feet in the basement and it rose up to just 5 steps from the living area.That time the door to the garage gave way and came off the hinges and busted inward (due to the force of the water). I remember my brother sitting on the washing machine or dryer, I don't recall which. He trying to keep it from floating away.

The smell after the water subsided was something I never will forget. And the mud and muck that just seeped up from the tile floor kept seeping up even after mopping. Ugh. Yes I feel for those poor people in Hurricane Harvey's path. And there were so many that got flooded too. I heard today 100,000 homes were affected. I also hope that the death toll doesn't go way up because nobody knows if some chose to stay in their home and never got out. Today they showed rescue folks going door to door and knocking.  If someone was holed up in their attic or upstairs closet, they may not hear a knock or doorbell.  I hope I'll be wrong but time will tell.

Been trying!!

I have been trying to blog for several days now on my laptop and it wasn't working. So I downloaded Chrome and that seems to work so I will try to catch everything up in this blog.

Sunday - I don't remember much about what I did Sunday so sorry but nothing to say.

Monday - I did not watch the eclipse other than what was on the Internet and the TV.  It really never got dark here either as it was only like 40% covered during that time frame.  It looked like maybe partly cloudy at best.  Hopefully any of you that watched used the proper eye wear to see it.

Tuesday - I remember working late on Tuesday as there was much to do.  That is okay with me. I really do enjoy the work I do and used to work a lot more a few years ago than I do now.  Back then it was working 7 days a week but that is rare now-a-days. I got caught up with the oldest on a book series that we just finished reading.  It was sort of a lame series but I really enjoy chatting about it with my oldest.  Between the two of us, we figured out who murdered someone before we got to the end.

Wednesday - Wednesday I went out at lunch to take care of some banking,  I found out if I had opened a certain type of savings there at the branch I could have gotten some free money!  I sure wish they would have told as that was already done.  Oh well. The place I bank at was having a sort of customer appreciation event on Friday where they had free food, etc., but I generally only take a 30 minute lunch so I didn't go even though they gave me a flier on it.

Thursday - I met one of my sister's for lunch. In order to not spend a ton of time, we ate at a local Subway.  They were so slow!!  There were only 3 people in front of us but we waited over 20 minutes just to get to our turn in line.  I was almost going to suggest eating somewhere else.  I ended up being gone the entire hour which was unreal to me.  But we had a nice lunch.  My sister was headed out to NC to visit a friend the next day so she is missing a lot of this hurricane crap!

Friday - It was pizza and beer night as usual.  I usually never work late on Fridays bur I had some work to finish up but I got it done relatively quickly.  Hurricane Harvey was in the news the last few days and was hitting Rockport,TX badly.  We were expecting some rains but nothing seriously major.

Saturday - brings me to today. Although we are in what I would say us the outer cone of Hurricane Harvey the power went out today just before noon, and you guessed I was working. It isn't like we had high winds or tons of rain either.  I have no clue why it went out.  It didn't come back on until 4:15PM.  I heard some popping noise coming from the small fridge in that room and here a bunch of water had melted and gotten under the fridge and around the back and a little on the floor. I'm just very glad there was no electrical fire once the power came on and it went back on. I cleaned up the mess and it was back on and functioning. I didn't bother to do anything more because the power was on then   Just now about 6:52PM, the power went out again.  I'm only able to keep blogging because for some reason the laptop is keeping my blog open so I can type.

I went ahead and turned off and unplugged that fridge and put a tray in the bottom to hopefully catch any melted ice this time.    Sure hope they get it back on before Pit Bulls and Parolees comes on.  It just came back on at 8:45PM!  Fingers crossed it stays on!  Posting this now while I can, sorry for any typos!

Saturday before Solar Eclipse 2017

Today I scrubbed the kitchen floor and changed the air filters for the 2 air conditioner systems. I wasn't going to really do any cleaning today but  that needed to be done.  When we run the air conditioner most of the time, mainly due to over 30 days of 100 degree temperatures so far this year, the filters get dirty pretty fast, even though we only have 3 dogs now. And the floor was pretty dirty too, again due to 3 dogs, 2 people and what seems like never ending dust in the area.  Even though hubby does do a lot of the cleaning, our house really isn't as clean as I'd like it and so I pitch in when I can.  The weeks I work 7 days, there is little time for cleaning.  I haven't had very many 7 day work weeks this year actually, but I do really hate cleaning.  I'd rather work than clean.  LOL !

I went through some more paperwork in my old office as I still have some things to go through although I've got my new office nicely situated at this point.  I'm happy with the progress I have made. 

I have been watching all the hype about the eclipse coming up on Monday.  I saw on the news all the people that were traveling to the areas where there is going to be a total eclipse and pitching tents in the fields.  That part sounds neat to me. Just going to see all those other people waiting for that event together.  I would be going for that more than the event itself as I don't plan on trying to watch it (other than when it replays on the news). 

I am happy to say that an Orchid plant that was in the flower arrangement on my mom's casket last month (funeral was July 27th) is still doing pretty well. I just keep it in the sink in my new office and water it occasionally when it is needed.

This and That

I have today and tomorrow off work as the year is speeding by and I have to use my vacation (or lose it).  I started out the day helping hubby drop off his truck for inspection (bringing him home).  School started today around here so it was fun (not) going through the school zones.  The timing was bad as the school zone lights were also blinking when we went to pick up his truck this afternoon when it was ready. The line of cars waiting to picking up the kids was very long and even went down the street and around the corner.  Ah...the first day of school when parents pick up the kids.  Doubt that will last very long.

When we got back this morning, I exercised and grabbed a shower and then proceeded to clean our 3 1/2 baths.  I should have waited until after I cleaned to take my shower because I really worked up a sweat cleaning as our bathroom especially needed everything  deep cleaned.  Hubby made breakfast for me (egg and English muffin) which was a nice break from the cleaning and gave me energy to finish up the rest. 

Later we went out to have a nice Mexican lunch.  It was good and I had a frozen margarita (YUM). I got in some singing late this afternoon on singsnap and just had some cheese and crackers for dinner as I wasn't really hungry since we had lunch on the late side.

All in all I'm happy with what I got done today. Tomorrow I don't have plans yet but one thing I do know is I won't be cleaning any bathrooms!  :-)

Nice dinner

We just got back from a nice dinner out at Cotton Patch.  It was really nice just being able to go out, relax, take our time and not have to rush back for any reason (for my mom).  Although I miss her every day, it is nice after over 2 years of being confined to the house or her house every day/evening to not have to worry about eating out.  I got grilled shrimp & rice and also took home the peach cobbler to have in a little bit for dessert.

I worked this weekend but also had plenty of time to get some singing in on singsnap and read some of the book my daughter & I are reading.  The medical bills for my mom have been trickling in.  I have to call one place tomorrow as they are double billing for some of the things she had done and were already paid for. I wonder how many seniors get double billed and don't even think twice about paying them because they don't double check to see if they had already been paid.

I have noticed the disparity in billing depending on a person's insurance too.  My hubby was only at the same hospital as the one my mom went to for one night.  His total bills to the insurance company were over $110,000!!  This was for a herniated disc operation and overnight stay.  Yes it was unreal!  My mom was there for 6 days from the time at the ER, a hip operation, several nights stay and then  discharged to the rehab center.  Her bills to Medicare were less than $20,000.  Although I am relieved/happy/grateful about that, I guess Medicare has much better coverage than the insurance I have through my employer.  I don't know why but I thought they'd be about the same. Silly me!!

Catching Up

Wow.  I didn't think it had been since Saturday that I blogged.  Oh well.  Let's see. Sunday we saw the movie Kidnap with Halle Berry at the theater.  Hubby hadn't been to  the movies in a while and we thought the previews for it looked good.  Halle Berry doesn't seem to age at all!! She was beautiful once again!  But other than that the story line became unbelievable and was for the most part a long car chase movie. By the 3rd time she was in a crash and walked away, I was sort of rolling my eyes.  It was entertaining enough I guess but I was a bit disappointed.

This week itself has been spent working, still adjusting to my new 'office' and getting hot temperatures again although on Monday we did get close to 5 inches of much needed rain.  The rain came and actually hung around and reminded me of the rains back east where it rained all day and didn't budge.  Most of the time the storms move in and out fairly quickly here in Texas. It was a much needed help for the abnormally dry/drought areas around here, although it does smell very moldy for a few days after it rains like that.

Today I had the day off.  I took it off purposely to get some things done to start taking care of my duties as executor of my mom's will.  I did get a lot accomplished and was pleased to cross off everything on my list.  Although everything is not fully completed, I have at least put things in motion.  I also had a nice visit with my sister as I had some things to drop off there anyway.  I was able to enjoy a piece of her son's leftover birthday cake. 

When I got home from my sister's house the mail was on the counter. I opened our gas bill which is usually around $30.  It was $222 !!!   I was like what? #@$@$    I called the gas company and she asked if we smelled gas anywhere and hubby did say that once in a while he thinks he smells it outside at the meter.  So we were connected to the gas emergency line and someone was dispatched to come out and check the gas.  I was trying to think of why else the bill could be so high.  It isn't like it is winter and we've had the heat on a lot. That is when it is its highest although it has never been more than like $85.

While waiting for the gas company to come out I looked at the beginning and end reading on the bill, went outside and the end reading was way off, by 200 units (measurement)!  So that is what the issue was. The gas line was checked since they came out to check that anyway and the gas line is fine.  So now I just have to wait for an adjusted bill to come in a week or two. Phew?!  That was making me panic!

Now I can finally relax for the evening and get some reading in.

Hungry I was!

Woke up at 8AM today but could have slept longer.  I did some work today so I went ahead and got up. I also am in the process of transitioning my old office to my new one and so went through a few shelves in the old office and only moved over what I really want in the new one. My old office was packed with knick knacks and I don't want to totally junk up my new one.  I dug in to do some work around 9:30AM.

So we were supposed to get together with this couple that hubby met when he went to buy some things from them.  They were going to call by this morning but when they didn't get a call, he tried to call them to no avail.  So I told him let's just forget it and if they contact us make it next weekend.  I thought he was in agreement but the husband called and I heard hubby say 2:30?  That's fine.  So he gets off the phone and tells me at nearly noon that they are coming at 2:30.  Well that was not what I thought we agreed to.  I worked until  around 1:30 and then started getting ready (a little make up, bra), tidying the house, spraying with febreeze (hey we have 3 dogs), etc.  I didn't have lunch because I had a late breakfast at 11AM since I got up so late. 

Hubby had told me the man offered him a glass of wine when he went over there and knew a lot about wines, etc., so we were going to offer them wine and cheese and crackers.  Hubby went and bought 4 kinds of cheese and 3 kinds of crackers and I had already put two bottles of wine in the fridge yesterday to get chilled.

They got here around 2:30PM and we talked some and showed them around.  They are very nice and I'm happy that we met but when I asked them about a glass of wine, she said that he didn't drink anymore and she doesn't very often (and certainly not in the afternoon).  GREAT!  So I was pretty much starving because I didn't have lunch and thought that would be fine because I'd have some wine and cheese.  Hub asked her if she wanted a soda or anything and neither wanted anything.  I SHOULD have said that I was having a glass of wine and cheese so that I could get something in my stomach, but I didn't want them thinking that I had a drinking problem.  LOL !!   Oye!  They stayed until about 4:30PM and like I said we had a good time chatting with them but the gathering didn't go as I had expected (with wine and cheese).  We talked about getting together for dinner out sometime soon.  I'm not holding my breath though.  If it happens fine, but if not I'm not going to be disappointed.  I've learned to have low expectations.

Finally Friday

Glad it is Friday!  :)

I actually got to work in my new office today (thanks Mom) the whole day.  It is coming together pretty nicely.  This evening I spent some time putting a collage of photos together into a frame I bought like 5-6 years ago at the local animal shelter garage sale.  I'll post it here too.  I have a spot in that room that I know I want to hang it. Notice Ditzy has found her new favorite 'doggy bed'. 

Ditzy's new favorite 'bed'

PHOTO COLLAGE OF OUR FURKIDS PAST AND PRESENT

August already?

I was looking at my calendar today trying to figure out what day it was. Then I realized it is AUGUST and I turned the calendar to a fresh new and probably HOT month. 

Although I got through my work day fine today, it has already seemed like a long week.  I had a feeling this would happen after being out most of last week due to mom passing away.  Oh well, it is what it is.

Dare I say that once again we are looking to get something done to our house? Well not really our house, but the front yard.  The bushes in front have been the same for 12 years and I really would like to get then all pulled, a few cactus put in and gravel/pebbles so that it would be low maintenance.  We are getting a few estimates and we'll see what happens. One guy we are getting a quote from is new to the area, but not new to doing the work and I think will give us a good quote. 

Before mom passed away, hubby and I were already talking about what to do with her room. It really is not practical to keep it as a spare bedroom as we rarely have company and when we do, we already have one spare bedroom upstairs.  So we are turning it into an office for me.  I have been working in a tiny room in the garage ever since we moved here and it will be nice having a large room.

We sold the bed and dresser on Saturday and got a fainting couch which could sleep one if needed and we could always use an air mattress if we did have more company so it could still be used as a guest suite.  Here's a picture of the couch and a desk I got at the local consignment shop.  I am getting a wireless computer to use in there (hopefully signal will be strong enough), so that there are not a bunch of wires everywhere.  I also picked up a ladder style bookcase (which is behind the desk) as it was unusual, having different width shelves.

I'm not adding much more in the way of large furniture but there are things from my office now that I do want to display there so there will be more things on the walls.  ;-)