Breathtaking

Well, today is my last day in Las Vegas and I never get tired of the view outside my parent's house. Looking to the left you see the Strip and looking to the right (and a lot closer) are the Red Rock Mountains. My mom is recovering nicely and my dad's cold is improving. I hope I don't get the cold!

The girls found out around 5:15 pm yesterday that they had to go to school today! I think they were actually HAPPY about it. There was only so much you can do without electricity, and even when it came back on, I think they were bored.

Paulie finally ate this morning. Doug said he has been depressed and missing me. I suggested he bring him in the car when he picks me up at the airport. That should make him happy.

Well, that is all for now. Later in the week I will fill you in on what the girls have been up too.

Beth

Let there be Light!

Well, finally, our house has power. Just a few hours shy of being ONE WEEK without electricity. We are not the camping out type of family so this was a big deal to not have power (microwave, tv - DVR, computer, LIGHTS, etc.)

The girls have missed six days of school. Out of all the schools in the discrict (approximaltely 70), thier are 17 still without power, and of course each one of the girls schools have NO power, which means no school for either of them on Monday. Who knows when they will go back. Thankfully they are wanting to go back since they are so bored.

I am still in Las Vegas helping my mom, and now Dad, who came down with a bad cold. I told them I am charging them DOUBLE for taking care of them both!

I saw the most amazing show tonight - LOVE - a Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage. All the music was from the Beattles. The show was just the neatest thing.

Well, that is all for now. Just wanted you to know that we finally are getting back to normal (although Doug has yet to go to the food store to buy stuff to put back in the refrigerator and freezer).

Beth

The Start of Something New

Reading other people's blogs is something I spend way too much time doing. I never thought that my life was interesting enough for a blog, until this past week.

Living in the Houston area and experiencing Hurricane Ike, I realized I have a story to tell, and family and friends scattered around the USA should have a place to go to get updates.

Late last Friday (9/12) we lost electricity and until today, and only for an hour, we are still without power. Camping out and roughing it for a day or so isn't so bad, and can even be considered 'fun', but for almost a week, enough is enough.

The actual hurricane was pretty bad. Our house handled the winds and rain with minor problems. I think we remembered that we had a little leak in our bathroom window after Hurricane Rita (3 years ago) and I guess we never got around to fixing it. Besides the annoying drip every 10 seconds and the hollowing winds and creaks of the windows in our bedroom, we weathered the night just fine. The girls slept on matresses on the floor in our room and for most of the night, they slept. Paulie snuggled closer to me then usual (which I thought was pretty impossible since he practically sleeps on top of me).

Saturday it continued to rain for most of the day, but in-between the raindrops we were able to see that parts of our fence were down. Should I mention that the parts DOUG built were down and the parts the professions built were still standing??? Our 13 year old jungle gym didn't budge and neither did the shed. Besides leaves and a few branches, we had little clean up. The pool looks gross with all the leaves in it and with no power the vaccuum isn't working nor is the pump. Thank goodness that the swimming season is behind us.

My sister who lives around 3 miles from us got power around 1pm on Saturday, but my brother who lives about a half a mile from her still is without power. We started eating the food in the fridge and bringing the stuff from the freezer to friends to cook for meals. For the most part we camped out at my sisters and took full advantage of all the outlets so we could plug in our laptops, cell phones and dvd player.

The girls have been out of school since Friday and after speaking with them today, they are looking forward to going back to school. We know that many schools suffered damage and are still without power, but we are not sure on each of thier schools. School is scheduled to resume on Monday, so time will tell.

I know that we will look back at this and laugh at the all the food we had to consume over a short period of time. But I won't be laughing at how much food we had to throw away. Due to a scheduled trip I was taking to Las Vegas to see my parents, I stocked up on stuff for the girls to have for lunches and dinners. The idea of throwing away hundreds of dollars of food is so sickening, but after 48 hours, we had no choice.

Making a blog was something I've thought of doing for a while, but time has always been an issue. I decided that now was the perfect time. I am in Las Vegas playing nurse to my mom while she recovers from a recent hernia surgery. She is doing well and is making my job pretty easy.

I know my first blog is kind of long, but the main reason for starting this was to keep family and friends updated on our status, and the timing couldn't be more perfect.

Stay well,
Beth