Sunday, August 31, 2008

Texas Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus Emergency Information System

This is a fantastic resource which I only found out about this morning. When we evacuated for Hurricane Rita, we were competing for hotel rooms with the population of the Houston and Galveston area which were also evacuating. All hotel rooms were booked all the way to Dallas.

Click here to see hotel room availability in Texas during emergency situations. I can't vouch for the accuracy, of course, but I'm going to assume it's a good indication of room availability.

Update on our evacuation plans: My mom, dad and sisters and I are staying put. My aunt and cousins in Port Arthur are going to Dallas. I don't know, yet, what my cousins in mid-county are doing. My guess is they won't be evacuating either.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

In case you're wondering about my hurricane plans...

My son, daughter-in-law and grand fabulous daughter have evacuated with my daughter-in-law's family to a safe location.

Tomorrow, I'm going to my mom's with my sisters to help her and dad get things off their patio. Mom recently had back surgery, so we're hoping we don't have to evacuate. A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for our county, but we'll see what happens overnight. At least this time, they're letting us use Interstate 10, which should help matters tremendously...I hope.

If we leave, we'll be going to Dallas where we have family and a few hotel rooms booked. I bought a laptop, but updates after Monday night will depend on power and internet connectivity issues.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Hurri-Schizo-Cania

As a coastal dweller, when a hurricane is headed toward the Gulf of Mexico my brain begins to split into several pieces. The biggest part of my brain doesn't want the hurricane to go towards my little piece of the gulf coast and fuck up my life for weeks or months or, possibly, years.

However, there's another part of my brain that feels bad when I realize that wishing the storm doesn't hit me equals wishing it will hit someone else. I justify my wishing the storm on others by knowing that they are also wishing the storm on me. Bastards.

Then, I also have a part of my brain that enjoys the anticipation of the small storms so I can miss a day or two of work and hang out with family and friends watching the wind and the rain. Of course, when the small storm turns into a big storm I feel guilty for having accidentally willed the big sunovabitch into existence.

I also have a mental double standard when it comes to weathermen. If the forecasted path of a hurricane is away from me, then I think the weatherman is a genius. However, if the path looks like it's headed straight toward my front door, then all weathermen are assholes and don't know what they're talking about. I believe in staying in denial as long as possible.

Hurricane? I don't see no stinkin' hurricane.

New Orleans - Hurricane Katrina - Three Years


Lifted from Tim's Nameless Blog. Read his blog for a first hand look at New Orleans after Katrina.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Shut My Mouth

As I was walking into my office building this morning, I noticed a construction worker type guy looking at me. I smiled at him and thought he looked familiar. He smiled back and I suddenly realized why he looked familiar and stopped myself just before I said...

"You remind me of my gynocologist!"

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Guess what I found at Kroger


I have a friend currently living in England who did a fabulous post a few months ago about Marmite (click here). While my friend and her dog (the fabulous Trudy!) didn't like the Marmite, the ingredients, description (salty, oniony, soy saucey, savory, caramely, beef boulliony) and nutritional information sounded intriguing.

My friend sent a jar back to the states through channels which got clogged at the BFF Jack juncture, so we agreed to meet for lunch sometime when my friend is home for the holidays.

Though I still hope to keep the lunch date, one less item will need to be packed for the trip home. While shopping at Kroger Friday, I didn't have a list so I went up and down each aisle. As I walked up an aisle I seldom travel, my eyes were drawn to the bright white letters on the red background that you see above: MARMITE!

As luck would have it, I have my son's dog Oakley here with me for my Marmite tasting experiment. Don't worry Cory and Jamie, I only gave him a small taste...in the interest of science.
  • The experiment began on a questionable note when I opened the jar and the Marmite jumped out of the jar, ran down my hand and onto my kitchen counter. Evidently, it made the trip from England upside down.
  • I carefully leaned over the jar and took a cautious whiff and thought, "Mmmm...smells good."
  • Oakley, who rarely stands on his hind legs, danced around the kitchen with his nose in the air intrigued by the savory goodness.
  • I dipped my pinky finger into the jar and took a little taste and thought it tasted interesting: color of soy sauce, texture of melting caramel, taste was salty, beefy and yeasty. Not bad.
  • Oakley was beside himself with excitement.
  • I toasted a couple of pieces of bread and spread a tiny bit of Marmite onto the bread.
  • I tasted it and...uh...yuck. Something about the heat from the bread caused my Marmite experience to take a turn for the worse. All the things I thought I liked about the condiment were now multiplied by about 200 percent and not in a good way.
  • I gave Oakley a tiny taste and he ate it. No problems there. He is part Jack Russell after all. Isn't that a British breed?
  • After two pieces of turkey lunch meat, three grapes and a strawberry and thirty minutes later, I still feel the Marmite in my throat. I'm not kidding. Some of it is clinging desperately to the back side of my esophagus and won't let go.
  • Not only that, I still taste it and can't get the smell off my hands from when the stuff originally jumped out of the jar at me.
  • Since I paid $6 (!) for the tiny jar, I put it in my refrigerator so that my guests can be amazed at my sophisticated tastes.
  • I put it right beside the Coors light and a jar of salsa.

"Just a Plane Ride Away," I hope we're still able to keep our Christmas time lunch date, but we shall never speak of Marmite again.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Little Girls Will Do Anything for a Stuffed Animal

The countdown begins

Exactly five weeks from now, I'm going to New Orleans with my cousins Zina and Kara and some other people I've never met. We're going to do one of these...



and we're going to do one of these...



and I'm going to do a couple of these...



and probably a few of these...



then, I guess I'll come home.

Dammit.


Thursday, August 21, 2008

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

This is the pic I used for the Yearbook Yourself Post


This is the pic I used for the "Yearbook Yourself" post below.

Yearbook Yourself

You must do this immediately. Click here to "Yearbook Yourself."

Ning!

I do realize that I keep going on and on about this high school alumni site I joined, but this post isn't about that site specifically. This post is about the fact that you can create your very own social network.

Go to www.ning.com and check it out. Family reunion? Friends from previous jobs? Cousins you want to keep up with? Start your very own MySpace-type network. Everyone can upload pictures and groups and discussions can be formed on specific areas of interest.

I haven't created my own network, so I'm not sure how simple it is to do that. However, based on the ease of use as a member of a Ning network I'm pretty sure it's a snap to set up your own space.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Sunday, August 17, 2008

"St. Anthony, something is lost and must be found."


When something is lost, you should say a prayer to St. Anthony to help you find it. When you want to sell your house, you should bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down in your front yard, facing your house, near the for sale sign. You didn't know that? Well, now you do.

After the house sells, you are supposed to dig up poor upside down St. Joseph and place him in a place of honor in your new home. When we got to my son Cory's house yesterday to pack it up, one of the first things we wanted to do was find St. Joseph. Cory remembered where they put him in relation to the for sale sign, but the realtor had moved the sign.

My sister Bonnie and I fooled around out there for a while, but couldn't find anything. Bonnie said, "We need to call mom and tell her to pray to St. Anthony to help us find St. Joseph." Made sense to me.

For your future missing items searches, the prayer to St. Anthony my family uses is "St. Anthony, something is lost and must be found." Click here for a positively riveting recent personal St. Anthony experience.

Bonnie and I eventually gave up. Later that afternoon, Cory walked into the living room smiling, with the little St. Joseph statue in his hand. He sort of remembered where they had buried the statue and went right to the spot and found it.

Cory tossed the little statue to Bonnie who was sitting on the floor. Bonnie missed the toss, St. Joseph bounced once, flew a couple of inches in the air, flipped over and landed on his feet...his tiny little feet...on carpet.

Cory said, "I guess he's tired of being upside down."

Friday, August 15, 2008

Earworm!

Puny blog post excuses:

Here's your earworm...

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Call Mulder and Scully!!!


It's chupacabra!! No, really...

Mmmmmmmmmm...Wasabi and Soy Sauce Almonds


These are strangely delicious...


Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Rambling


I recently joined a Port Arthur Thomas Jefferson High School Alumni Site and while I was on that site I created a group for all Thomas Jefferson alumni who also attended William B. Travis Elementary school which made me think about the fact that although I was born and raised in Texas I'm much more in touch with my Louisiana heritage and that when my sister and I went to the ghost hunting continuing education class at University of Louisiana in Lafayette with my cousins how we felt so at home when the "teacher" called roll and it was all Thibodeauxs and Heberts and Boudreauxs and Breauxs and well you get the idea and we related to all of the cultural references and the Cajun accent and French words thrown in here and there and how I don't really feel like a Texan most of the time even though I've lived here my whole life and we had to take a whole year of Texas history in seventh grade and that even though I've lived in Texas my whole life and with all that Texas education and even though I attended William B. Travis Elementary School that until last night when I read about William B. Travis on Wikipedia that I had no idea he WAS ONLY 26 YEARS OLD (!!!!) when he died at the Alamo.

26 years old.

Wow.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Where to begin?

  • Last Thursday, I saw Hayes Carll, John Evans and Jimmy Kaiser at Courville's.


  • Last Friday, I celebrated Becky's birthday with friends then saw Southern Embers and Longneck Road at Outlaw Drinkin' Club.


  • Saturday was an Ava day.


  • Sunday was a "help Cory at the house in Houston" day.


  • Monday is a "what shall I blog about first" day?

    • Let's just start with the best of the pics, shall we? Then we'll take each fabulous day one at a time...eventually. I even have fabulous videos. Which reminds me, I never did finish posting about the 2008 Stingaree Festival did I?

      Oh, you have so much to look forward to.

      Jimmy Kaiser



      John Evans and Hayes Carll



      Becky and Laurie



      Longneck Road



      Doug of Southern Embers



      The Grand-Fabulous Ava and her new friends

      Saturday, August 09, 2008

      This is one weird-ass song

      I have a Bobby Darin CD that I love. Every time I listen to it, when this song comes on I think to myself, "That's a weird-ass song right there." (Actually, I think to myself, "That's a weird fucking song," but I thought I'd clean it up a little.) Listen to the whole thing.

      Friday, August 08, 2008

      Thursday, August 07, 2008

      The Fearless Explorer


      "Come on Nanny Bonnie! We're almost there. You can do it!"

      Did you know...

      ...that if you get on the elevator in your office building and don't push the button, you won't go anywhere?

      OR, if you do go anywhere, it will be up. Then, when you come back down, the elevator will inevitably stop on your floor and when the doors open and your co-workers see you, they will automatically know what you did and will taunt you the rest of the day.

      Wednesday, August 06, 2008

      Ball Girl - False



      Click here for the Snopes site.

      Tuesday, August 05, 2008

      Tropical Storm Eduoard...uh...Edouard...uh...Eddie

      A little tropical storm blew in this morning. You know how I'm always calling those reporters idiots for taking video out in the storm? Here's my contribution to the idiot pool.

      These winds were only about 30 m.p.h. to 40 m.p.h. I can't imagine what it's like during an actual hurricane. We had a little category one come through last year (Humberto) and it was frightening.




      Sunday, August 03, 2008

      Gino's Pizza & Pasta

      I recently bought a new teeny-tiny Nikon Coolpix S550 camera. I bought the teeny-tiniest 10 megapixel/5x zoom camera I could find so I could take it with me everywhere. The one flaw in that plan is that I forget to grab it as I'm walking out the door.

      Saturday, my sister Bonnie, my son Cory, my daughter-in-law Jamie and my grand-fabulous-daughter Ava went to a new Italian restaurant and I have no pictures of the inside of the restaurant or of the grand-fabulous-Ava with spaghetti and marsala sauce all over her gorgeous face.

      Gino's is located in the same shopping center as Honey-B Ham. It is absolutely, positively in some way related to Frankie's, Joes and New York Pizza & Pasta here in Beaumont. The restaurant is adorable, the food is magnificent and it's BYOB. What more could a person ask for? It's also practically in my back yard.







      Gino's Pizza & Pasta
      6385 Calder, Suites J & K
      Beaumont, Texas 77706
      (409) 861-3330
      (409) 861-3331
      (409) 861-3334 - fax

      Business Hours:
      Monday - Thursday 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

      Friday and Saturday 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
      Closed Sundays

      Saturday, August 02, 2008

      Friday, August 01, 2008

      Peace Symbol Trivia


      • The peace symbol was designed for the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War and adopted as the badge of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Britain
      • It was completed on February 21, 1958 making 2008 its 50th anniversary
      • It was created by Gerald Holtom
      • The symbol is a combination of the semaphore signals for the letters "N" and "D" which stand for "nuclear disarmament"
      • The peace symbol button was imported into the Uited States in 1960 by Philip Altbach, a freshman at the University of Chicago
      • Altbach was a member of the Student Peace Union and had purchased a bag of the buttons while in England

      Now, go forth and amaze your friends with your vast peace-y knowledge.