Conrad's Dream

Conrad told me about a dream he had Sunday night. I don't know if the debates are getting to him or if he is just really, really all about gun control.

He dreamed that Obama became President and of course, pretty much killed the Second Amendment- and took away all guns for private citizens. Not only did he take away the guns, but the ONLY people he allowed to continue to own guns, were the felons and criminals.

He dreamed that he refused to give up his arms (good Texas boy!) and that Obama and his croonies came to the door and took all his guns away- and they beat him up pretty badly as he was defending his weapons. Then he dreamed that it was all over the newspapers and TV and since people knew we had no defense, people kept breaking into our house over and over and over again.

WOW ... um, I don't know what this means. I'm not really a dream interpreter ... but it sounds like he does not want Obama to be President ... he is VERY concerned about gun control AND that he would take it to the limit to protect his firearms. Listen, I don't want to get beat up or feel pain of any kind. Besides my family's welfare, I don't know exactly what I would be willing to get beaten for ... I don't know if that makes me smart or selffish or stupid or what ... but apparently, Conrad would go to the mat for his guns.

Atta boy!

Kah

Fillin' Up

Hi.

I took Friday off. I actually had a day off planned but ended up working after the hurricane. So I took off this past Friday ... I needed to sort of fill up again.

I watched two movies: A Walk to Remember ... good ol Nicholas Sparks and then another one that was on my radar with Elizabeth Shue called Gracie. It was about a girl who's older brother, a soccer champion, dies and she fights to take his place on the team- true story ... the likes of Remember the Titans, Radio, Rudy ... etc ... it was good. Worth putting on your Netflix.

I also got the house back in order. We got the generator put away, candles and flashlights put away ... bathtubs scrubbed, floors vaccumed, clothes washed, etc ... I felt like I sort of had my life back.

No good garage sales- I guess people are still getting branches and things out of their yards or maybe, like us, enjoying their first "normal" weekend.

Saturday night I watched 27 Dresses- cute. Then yesterday we went to see Tropic Thunder. OH MY GA- that movie was FUNNY. We are so buying it AND the soundtrack. We laughed til we cried. We needed it.

Kah

Basics

Funny how you forget about the basics until you are without them.

Weird how when I didn't have access to a washing machine, all I wanted was clean towels and when I couldn't cook all I wanted to do was cook. Last night we had our first meal at home since this whole mess began. Boy was it good! Just plain ham sandwiches. I got some of the good, soft, white bread ... some mayo, mustard, cheese and ham ... DELICIOUS! I bought three different kinds of Pringles (for the record, I am not impressed with the Loaded Baked Potato one) ... and we went to town. Simple, basic and delicious. We are so tired of restaurants.

Tonight is tacos- from a taco kit.
Friday- Hamburger Pie
Saturday- Chicken N Dumplins
Sunday- Homemade Pizza

It's also sort of pleasant to see the fridge looking so clean and rather empty. When you have it packed full, it's sort of overwhelming. For now, for us, it's good to limit the choices. It seems like everything is overwhelming.

My coworker told me yesterday in the elevator it feels like everyone is sort of wound up. People crying at the drop of a hat, short tempers, frustrations. We are all feeling that. After all, we had two weekends of pretty much stress. No one had electric or air, we didn't even have water. People who had kids had to keep them entertained and lots of people were repairing their homes ... there has been absolutely no "rest" on these weekends. I bet everyone here this weekend just .... lays around. It will be good for us all.

I'm looking for a volunteer opportunity this Sunday .. but other than that, I'm laying around too!

Kah

Three Hours

That was my commute TO work today ... THREE HOURS.

They have not yet fixed the stoplights ... they are still blinking or completely out. So it's taking everyone way too long to get to work. HR has approved new Hurricane Hours and I am taking them! Starting tomorrow it's 6-3 if you want to work those hours and I DO ... because either way I have to leave my house at 5 - I may as well get here, work and go on home. GEEZ.

It took me 1.5 hours to get 10 minutes down the road. I called Conrad freaking out and he told me the next highway I took to work looked clear (from the news) Thank goodness he was right! I was about to turn around and go home.

Went grocery shopping last night and got SOME stuff, but didn't replace it all. I did the ketchup, mustard, mayo, jalepeno, sour cream, taco sauce, salad dressing route last night. Next week I'll do the minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, worcheshire, teriaki, marinade route. I can't replace it all at one time. I did have coupons that ended up taking about $20 off the total.

I also had to get milk, eggs, bread, butter and those sort of things ... not to mention enough dinners to take us to next payday. It's going to be soup and sandwiches for awhile til we sort of get the budget back on track. I ate out enough to last me awhile anyway.

Kah

Restored

Well, *Sigh* so now you know I have a bit of a temper.

Conrad and I have tried to really maintain our normal behavior through these very abnormal experiences. The traffic is CRAZY- the tollroad has been free for something like 12 days now, so it's absolutely packed everyday. We have had to go to work even though we didn't exactly know where we were going to sleep or shower that day. We had to eat out for every meal, which is expensive and gets old ... it's so hard to see your neighbors sitting in their garages being eaten alive by mosquitos ... at 7PM it's dark, candles make the house HOTTER and the mosquitos are outside, there's nothing really to do but lay in bed. I think we did ok the first week. After day 7 we were really angry with the water company. The day after they said we would be restored, was terrible. We were both snappish. I cried a lot. It was hot, he was calling Center Point Energy and when he wasn't, I was ... it was a really bad time.

I would never expect ANYONE except maybe my family in SC who went through Hurricane Hugo in 1989 to understand how hard and sad and frustrating this has been ... but I would at least expect SOME compassion and to say that from some people all I have gotten is judgement would be an understatement. There are people I talked to everyday when I lived in Dallas who haven't even called or emailed or responded to MY update email to see how we were doing. A full week had passed before I sent the first update. It looks like a diaster movie down here. If you're watching your televisions, what you're seeing is TRUE and it stretches about 90 miles north of Galveston. We were in some dire straights and the night OF the storm, was a nightmare I don't know if I will ever forget. I'll never forget how the wind sounded, how the house shook, how it sounded to hear debris hit your roof or how it felt to look at your ceiling for almost nine hours PRAYING it wouldn't peel off. That's a lot to go through ... and there are about I'd say five to seven people I really thought by now I'd hear from- even if just a brief "are you ok" phone call ... but so far, nothing.

NOT at all to say that family and friends have not contacted us. Oh gracious, our parents and our siblings and friends from high school and fellow bloggers have checked in us and it's been so comforting. We have gotten LOTS of email from Dallas .... just a few I was expecting, never came ... Our friends here in Houston, after power was restored to them have offered their homes and showers ... it's been really nice and we have felt very supported. I am just saying *I* had several close friends in the Dallas area that I expected to hear from and have not. So to say I am a little hurt and very disappointed and slightly offended would be putting it mildly. I guess all that came out yesterday when I did finally have SOMEONE contact me and berate me and tell me I had mental problems. I suppose when you reach out for contact, sometimes you get what you ask for.

Power was restored as well as water sometime yesterday. It was on when we got in from work. I washed clothes, ran the dishwasher, dusted and cleaned for hours. It was a good night.

Kah

Oh that's rich

and now I have "Friends" from Dallas who are happy in their air conditioning, probably washing their clothes and drinking water from their fridge with ice from their freezers ... telling me that I need to stop complaining. That I CHOOSE to remain here in Houston, even though um having to find somewhere to stay, having to LEAVE OUR JOBS seems like maybe not such a big deal ... and leave our house and what do we do with our dog? TELL ME THAT... and telling me that if I cried about it on Saturday then maybe I have some deeper issues than just this no power/no water thing.

I have a DEEPER ISSUE FOR YOU- STOP READING MY POSTS AND MY BLOG. If you can't handle what I have to say then GO AWAY and stop concerning yourself with me. Why don't you come down here and live for a few days how I have lived for TEN DAYS.

I am not a princess. I am not spoiled and I have worked really hard to maintain my composure ... but until you have lived in this mess, don't judge me. GET OFF MY SITE.

KARYN

Ten Days- Nothing

So I guess when they said we'd have power back on Friday it was a lie. With no power = no water. We are miserable. We called all day Saturday and they tell us we have been moved down the list- to MAYBE Thursday. But it's just an "Estimate" you understand. I am so angry I can't see ... I am so upset, I can barely breathe. All I did Saturday was cry. I finally came out of it enough to sit on the back porch with Conrad and play Battleship for a couple of rounds ... I won TWO of THREE. So I guess I'm the champ, for now ... then the mosquitos came. I don't know if we have ever been this miserable.

The water in the bathtubs is getting low. I'm starting to worry about flushing the toilet and since we have no fridge, we're still eating out. It's getting expensive and I don't know how much longer this can go on. Even when the power does come on, do I have the money to replace the food? Conrad says we can- just slowly.

I miss my house. I miss my life. I am so very depressed.
I just can barely get out of bed.

and oh yeah- the Cowboys beat the Packers. I guess there's a silver lining.

Day Seven

No Power, No Water.

My company put us up in a hotel, and it is GROSS. Not saying I'm not grateful, because I am. It has power and water - and at least the local channels. But it's dirty and damp and nasty. I WANT TO GO HOME.

We are still on the list to be restored today and I can only hope that is true. Our clothes are dirty, damp and wrinkled. I feel like I've aged about 10 years and I'm sure I look it too. I am uncomfortable, sad and depressed and if you want to eat around here, you have to buy it at a fast food place or a restaurant. So, money is becoming an issue too. I think they said most grocery stores have everything except dairy, eggs and meat. But I wouldn't know- I've had no occasion to walk into a grocery store. My fridge has been just sitting there since 3AM on Saturday morning.

This is enough to make me want to leave Houston. Or really any place where a hurricane can come. It's enough to send me to the mountains of Montana. I can't remember a time I felt more displaced, more depressed or frustrated. I know just about everyone in the city feels the same, but it doesn't make me feel any better.

Last night we were in the elevator, wrinkled and rumpled ... coming back up from taking Blanca down. This couple got into the elevator with two suitcases and a 6 pack of beer, looking worse than we did. They lost their entire house ...

Kah

One More Day?

Ah, good times last night. I called our water company and discovered they had hired themselves an answering service. Who knows where they are- safari, Hawaii, Grand Caman?! I am TICKED. So I asked the lady if they were getting their messages and she said yes and she said they had provided a note for them to read to residents. I asked her to read it. "Your water and sewer services have been suspended until we regain electric service." REALLY?! NO JOKE .. YOU DON'T SAY. Um, if you are a UTILITY company, shouldn't you be available in times of crisis?! I was so angry- but I was polite to the lady because it wasn't HER fault, but I did leave behind a BLISTERING message for the water people.

Next I did the big no no and called the electric company. They are asking you not to call, they know where the outages are- you are only supposed to report downed power lines. But I called anyway ... and I asked them woman if they knew our water service ran off of electric. She said no. I told her that it was my understanding that the City of Houston restored water FIRST ... all of the water plants were restored first- she said right. I said well if you knew we had no water, you would have made us a priority- she said most likely. I said has our water company, Inline Utilities, called you to tell you we are without water? She had no record. Of course not, it's hard to call from the island! So I reported it myself. She then looked up our address and said we were actually on the schedule to be restored tomorrow- Friday. So I am HOPEFUL if not Friday, then this weekend at the longest. Please pray for that!

My new concern is I wonder if anyone needs to be at Inline Utilities to flip the switch- or is that automatic? Conrad sat down and wrote them an UGLY email last night letting him know how displeased we were. We also went ahead and called our neighbor who is also outraged. I think that Inline Utilities will be getting a little visit from Mr Conrad when they get back from sunning themselves.

Being without power is uncomfortable, of COURSE- but being without water is impossible. I hope the neighbor we called, calls another neighbor who calls another ...


I CAN NOT WAIT TO MOVE! JERKS

Kah

Today I ask you donate to the SPCA of Houston ... many many pets are not a lucky as Blanca. https://secure2.convio.net/hspca/site/Donation2?idb=1042820399&1400.donation=form1&df_id=1400&JServSessionIdr012=uxltgfg111.app13a

Back In the Saddle

If that saddle can be run with no power and no water.

We came back to Houston yesterday ... and still no power or water. Conrad has a party to go to on Friday night and I REALLY don't feel up to it. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do ... but getting dressed up and going out doesn't sound super wonderful right now. I just want a hot bath.

I am tired. I am depressed. I am just out of sorts. Conrad and I are starting to snap at each other, but really, we've done pretty ok.

We had water get into the house the night of storm and it wet the carpet in the living room. I thought closing up the house and leaving it in 93 degree weather was a bad idea, but then that cold front came through. It dried it all up and our house didn't even stink when we got in yesterday. We are grateful for that ...

In the meantime, just trying to get by. Back at the office today.

Kah

Monday Night

HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS???????

Working Remotely

Don't let news reports fool you. The situation in Houston is dire. FEMA lines are long ... if and when FEMA even shows up. They have stations for water and ice but they run out quickly ... schools are shut down, grocery stores are shut down ... it's a nightmare.

No food, no ice, no water, no gas ... no nothing. 2.6 million people were without power following the storm. Houston is set up on some sort of a block by block grid. Just because your neighbor across the street has power, does not mean you do. They are handling this block by block. As of last night, almost 150,00o customers had been restores, by this morning, 500,000. I know they are working on it and people are coming in from all over the country to help, but HURRY.

Our water system runs on electric pumps, so we lost both and it's hard to live that way ... the blessing has been a cool front that came in.

Conrad and I are still working remotely in a town between Houston and Dallas and its so hard to know what to do. We can buy a generator here, and get gas and gallons of water and plenty of fruit and canned food to bring home. Then the problem is simply gas - we can not drive to work where there is no gas. My supervisor just called me and told me she sat in line for two hours before the station RAN OUT OF GAS and turned everyone away ... so do we stay here or head home? We just don't know.

I am working as hard as I can from where we are ... but I know my company would feel better if they could SEE me sitting there in my chair ... and THEY have full power and water ... it's just so hard to know what to do. Employees who did come in, I'm sure are wondering why the rest of us didn't ... I feel like a refugee with nowhere to go. The shower I had last night was the first in three days and the stop at Jack in the Box was the first real food in 22 hours and WE are the LUCKY ones ... it's so weird to be here, you feel so out of sorts ... I don't have any of my stuff, living out of suitcases and wearing old T-Shirts and work out pants ... feeling and looking old ... and again, WE did just fine, so many people lost everything.

It's a very scary and weird situation. But we are here for now ... I'll keep posting if I can.

Kah

Alive

WHEW!

Well I think that may have been the worst night of my life ... it was the scariest thing I have ever been through. The wind just howled and the rain came and it sounded like the end of the world. I sat up all Friday night just listening to it pound on our house. We lost power at about 3AM and water shortly after we woke up. All the hurricane prep in the world isn't enough when one of those babies hits. I am no longer a fan of extreme weather. I no longer think it's cool or in any way fun or exciting. It SUCKS.

Anyway, after two days of hot, humid, muggy and gross conditions... no showers, all the food spoiled, heating canned food in the cans on the grill ... no water, so washing with a cup of the water we filled the bathtubs with ... we decided we had to go. It's SO hard to live like that ... I feel so bad for the Katrina victims now. We hopped in the truck and headed north - and found a hotel that's pet friendly and has internet.

Every coworker I know is in the same situation ... and I'm not sure if they can get into work or not. Most that I talked to can't ... and since I AM on the hurricane team ... I decided to head North to see about getting some internet, etc so I can work remotely. We found it and I hope we're not here too long. We're anxious to get back and get back to normal. In some places they are saying it could be four weeks. If that's the case, I think work is going to try to get us some hotel rooms. I sincerely hope so!

Anyway, we're ok ... tired and hungry and confused- a little beaten up but it is so so so so much worse for so many other people. Oh, and we lost some shingles and have a leak in the bathroom ceiling, that's our only damage. It really could have been SO much worse.

Til I can post again ...

Kah

Galveston

Twelve hours from the storm HITTING, NO RAIN whatsoever and you would not BELIEVE the storm surge. Galveston is getting hammered and not a drop of rain to be seen. Already roads on the west side of the island are completely impassable and the news is showing houses up on stilts with waves so high they are hitting the decks. It is WILD Stuff.

They are saying where we are the winds will be 60mph ... before they were saying 100. Looks like Galveston is going to get the brunt of it. So many times I have dreamed of a beautiful beach house and then I see THIS and I think hmmm... looks like an insurance liability to me!

Weather here in Tomball is bright, sunny ... little breezy. Like nothing was coming ...
I can imagine it WAS like this 100 years ago. People had NO idea what was out in the Gulf.

If you have not read Issac's Storm ... read it! It's about the Hurricane of 1900 in Galveston.
Kah

Hunkered Down

Still here!!!!

I am working from home this morning ... and it's busy. We may all be at home cowering, but the rest of the world goes on.

Galveston is already starting to get high surf and another sea-side community called Kemah is getting some pretty big waves too. One of the rollercoasters there has a fence around it and the gate from the fence is almost in the water already ... it's just blowing back and forth. They are gonna lose that gate!

Latest news is that we should have some gusty winds by about lunchtime and it's still really BEAUTIFUL outside, very disarming ... and around 6-8PM the rain will come. Where we live, maybe 5-10" .... but we are 2 feet up ... we're in a pier and beam house- YAY Conrad.

By midnight, full landfall and then we just hang on tight!

Conrad actually got us a room in College Station and if conditions are worse by lunch we're packing up and getting out for the night. He's worried about wind and the roof blowing off. That would NOT be fun.

Peace and Love!

Kah

Update

Leaving work in thirty minutes- they are shutting the building down at 3PM
No work tomorrow.

Storm Timeline:

Friday 11AM- Tropical Storm Force Winds Arrive (they stretch 255 miles with this storm)
Friday 8PM- here comes the rain!
Saturday 2AM- Landfall- as a Cat 3 or 4
Noon- Storm subsides

Everything in the city is closing, all coastal areas are evacuating and all us northerners have been told to stay PUT ... and let the other people go.

This one may be a really, really bad one.

Kah

IKE Yikes

Hurricane Ike is barreling right towards us. Stormcasters are saying it's over 200 miles wide, that means pretty much where ever it lands in Texas, we're going to get it.

They are likening it to Hurricane Alicia which hit in 1983. I remember that storm- we lived in Beaumont which was about two hours from here. Water was in the hallways at school. It was BAD. Even those of us who don't care about hurricanes and never think much about them are a little concerned.

We live about as far north in Houston as you can- and they are calling for 100mph winds. The city is asking us to stay put and let the people in Galveston and people on the coast go first ... it not actually be AS bad where I live ... but it will be bad.

I think tomorrow we'll just be hunkering down and waiting. I better make sure we have food ready we don't have to cook! Poor Conrad and I will starve to death. Oh well, I have enough fat on me to last awhile. HA!

Kah

Traffic

Traffic in Houston has gotten REALLY bad. It's taking me an hour and a half to get to work these past two days. Yesterday the lady in front of me crashed into a truck, but this morning it was just a LOT of people. I guess I'm going to have to get up earlier and come in earlier. Oh well- overtime, right?

Last night we did nothing. I cooked a pretty darn good dinner, we ate and then just stared at the TV all night. I am emotionally drained from all this anger and stuff going on. I wanted to dust and vacuum last night and get some things done, but it did not happen. I guess I'm ok with that, maybe I needed some peace and quiet. I'm trying to keep busy to keep the anger at bay ... but ... sometimes quiet works too.

Tonight I have a list of things I'd like to accomplish. I'm going to make a quick and simple dinner. I got these REALLY good rolls at HEB last weekend for 25 cents each- I got 4- we ate 2 last night as garlic bread. Today I think I'll split them, use some Ragu spaghetti sauce and some HEB frozen meatballs and some mozeralla cheese and make some open-face meatball sandwiches. I also have the makings for a salad and using my coupons, I got some salad dressing last week for 7 cents - $1.07 with a $1.00 coupon. So it will be a nice, quick dinner and then I really need to get my house back together.

It's so true that your home, your body, everything you are and surround yourself with really does reflect what's going on in your head and heart ... and my house is dusty, it's getting cluttered and I think that reflects how I feel right now. I guess I have a problem because other than this situation, life is good right now. I am very blessed, but I tend to really focus sometimes on the bad things.

Kah

Calming Down

I had some funny emails and calls and comments about my blog yesterday.

All I am prepared to say is that many years ago I was stupid and someone wandered into my life that was BAD news and that I never ever knew I'd still be conversing with five years later. I am tired of this person, tired of the shennanigan's ... tired of the repurcussions ... and tired of being taken advantage of. TIRED.

I went through the why me? stuff, I had my hurt feelings, I had my frustrations ... but now I'm also mad. I mean red-faced, heart pounding, show no mercy, take it to the mat, ANGRY. This weekend was the absolute last straw. I'm so tired of being nice, patient and an all around good person. I think when I was younger I was a bit of a doormat ... and a person who took in wounded people and all the problems that come with that. I have reached my limit. I am prepared to be as unpleasant as I need to be. What you don't understand is that I'm not alone anymore ... you're not just messing with some girl. Not only do I have a husband now, I have my family, his family- a virtual army that you will have to get through to hurt me again.

In other news, we have a hurricane sort of semi-headed in this direction ... we have a nice relaxing, drama free weekend planned, I got the movie 27 Dresses on my Netflix to watch-even though it's been out for over a year ... I'm starting to Christmas shop ... and I may get out to a yard sale or two ... footballl season is HERE and I could not be more happy! Look how my BOYS did this weekend!!!! Even Texas A&M won. I am SO thinking of having just a football, snacking weekend ahead and of course, fun with the Wii.

Kah

No Rest

There was no rest for me this weekend ...

I wish there had been, because I feel worn out. This afternoon is also filled with obligations and appointments ... it seems like it won't ever stop.

Also, I don't like cleaning up other people's messes ... it's not right and it's not fair. I've devoted an entire weekend to cleaning up your mess, only to find out it stretches on and on and on ... and I have no idea if you read this blog, but if you do ... you know who you are. You are NOT going to take me down and I WILL win ... never fear that. I've about had enough of the "bad people always get away with everything". You won't get away with this.

No more Mrs. Nice-Girl

Kah

Busy Night

WHEW!

Conrad and I had our blood tests/medical tests last night for our life insurance policy. MetLife came to the house and did the whole thing, which was nice. I made Conrad leave the room when they weighed me and Conrad made me leave the room when they took the urine sample. HA- just kidding, we BOTH left the room for that. But we had to fast for six hours before and nothing but water after lunch- and for the Diet Coke hog, Conrad, that was hard.

By the time this man left, we were ready to munch on the table legs. Which is SO funny because we've eaten lunch and then eaten nothing else until 7 or 8 before ... but because we COULDN'T last night, we REALLY wanted to. So weird.

So we ran to Chili's since it would have taken way longer for me to cook anything- scarfed down dinner and headed back home to check out the NFL opener. At 9, we switched over to watch John McCain. Um ... the first little bit there, where they played the video, seemed a lot more like an info-mercial ... UGH ... I can't STAND when people toot their own horns ... and sadly, he is my only choice. I sort of HAVE to vote for him ... so I waited for his speech, hoping it would get better. It didn't ... I almost fell asleep. I had to get up and go take a bubble bath and was in bed by 9:40 - THAT'S how much I don't like his public speaking skills.

It is pretty cool though that his mom is 96 - that sort of makes me feel like he may live through the Presidentcy ... I know people were concerned because he's 72 and had some melanoma scares - but WOW, he has some longevity in his family! Conrad reminds me that Reagan was older as well- and went through two terms ... I am VERY comfortable with Sarah Palin, however, so either way, I'm ok and ready to vote in two months!

That's all folks!

Kah

Test Results

Thyroid level off again- too low; increasing meds
Vitamin D- no problems
NOT Diabetic or Pre-Diabetic ... everything is ok there

YAY!

Yesterday ...

I had nothing to talk about, today I have too much.

First of all, I fell in the parking garage leaving work yesterday. My knees are banged up- one more than the other. Getting old sucks ... I fell HARD on my knees and I'm hoping one day they will be back to normal. Today I feel like I was hit by a truck.

Second of all, I placed an order with Sephora a week or so back because they were offering Free Bare Minerals makeup samples with an order. I had been wanting to try the Bare Minerals and have been using the cheap Maybelline stuff which I DO like. Um wow- Bare Minerals is absolute swill. They charge $60 for a kit of that stuff and I can get my cheap stuff for $5-7 and NOT look like I'm about to vomit at any minute. The Bare Minerals puts a very weird sheen on your face and to me, you look sort of green and sweaty. I don't know if that's the new look the cosmetics industry is going for, but if so, then I will just have to be uncool and try to look healthy. WOW.

Third of all- we watched Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin last night give her speech. I was pretty impressed. She's fiesty as all get out ... and she did throw some pretty low blows to Obama. I'm not a fan of low blows coming from ANYONE. I don't think they have a place in adult society ... but she's a real smart-aleck and I do like that. Conrad likes her because she can skin a moose and is a member of the NRA (as is Conrad) .... I'm not going to go so far as to say Conrad doesn't care about issues like abortion and health care and the war. He's never said a cross word about Obama or McCain ... BUT the issue most near and dear to his heart is the Second Amendment ... for all you LSU and OU grads - that's the right to bear arms... in case they didn't teach you that. :) So, without preamble, McCain gets his vote. PERIOD. There ARE no other issues, according to Conrad.

The conversation in our house, while watching Sarah, when I looked over and discovered my dear Conrad with eyes glazed over and an expression of rapture on his face ... went like this.

Karyn: Why are you looking at Sarah Palin like that?
Conrad: Huh?
Karyn: Do you loooooooooooooove her?
Conrad: No
Karyn: Right
Conrad: Ok - in God's way
Karyn: Here you go with 'God's way' again
Conrad: Ok, in the NRA's way

Classic Southern (i.e. Texas) Republican

Kah

Busy

Nothing much to say today, but I always feel guilty when I don't post.

I am just incredibly busy right now ... both at work and at home. That's how it goes when you go out of town. You come back to laundry and basic every day things that are a few days behind. I also had to catch up on my sleep ... and Blanca did too ... she must have gotten a lot of exercise and playtime in at the doggie daycare she was at.

But we're back to everyday life and it just gets busier by the day. Conrad and I are starting to think it's the city we've chosen to live in. It's not this way for a lot of our family and friends ... so we're going into soul searching mode ... something to make sure we work hard and play hard, but that we get plenty of time to relax too.

I know what all those psychics like John Edward and Lisa Williams say- and really, I pay attention to most of it. But I disagree on one thing- and that's what I think we only get one pony ride. I don't believe in reincarnation - if that were true, it would completely freak me out. That could mean my coworker is my grandpa or some such nonsense- and I'd like to think that after we're done here on this earth, we get a little bit of rest. Who wants to come back and do this all over again? So- when Conrad says this is our one chance and we need to do it right- I tend to agree ... and we are creatures of comfort and habit ... we want a place to be able to detox and call home. We're working on it.

Kah

Back from AR

Hey!

We are back from our Arkansas trip. I never like to post when Conrad is out of town or when we have a vacation- because it's sort of like a big red sign to the entire web community- HEY COME ROB OUR HOUSE! ... or HEY COME ON IN, CONRAD'S GONE ... COME SCARE ME GOOD!

So ... you probably didn't know we had gone. But we did- we went to NW Arkansas for Labor Day to see some friends I have up there, from my Wal-Mart days. I hadn't been in about three years and for the life of me, I don't know what made me stay away so long. Maybe because when I left Pro Pac and when the other job in Dallas turned out to be such a disaster I felt really sad to leave my marketing career behind ... never knowing I would find an entire new one. Marketing doesn't have to go away forever, but it did for awhile ... and that was too much for me to take, I guess...

But we went and enjoyed our stay- THANKS TRACY! ... and I got to see my friends that I hadn't seen in forever- LOVE YOU DARLENE! ... and it was fun. Conrad says he hasn't ever seen me so relaxed. He said when I'm up there I'm like a completely different person and he's probably right. It occured to me this weekend that although I love South Carolina with all my heart and frequently wish (especially when it's 93% humidity here) that I was still enjoying a nice Dallas fall ... I am completely in love with NW Arkansas. I have been since my first trip. If I could live anywhere, I think that would be the place ...

We ate good, slept good, played good- I took Conrad up to the University of Arkansas and got his picture in the stadium - we drove around Dickson Street and of course, saw the lake. It was a perfect weekend.

I am not staying away that long ever again! I'll be back soon Razorbacks!

Kah