Busy Week

This is one of the craziest weeks of our year. Halloween, ball games, and Madgette's birthday. Due to lack of money, our trip to the American Girl store in Dallas had to be postponed. So, we are letting her have a sleepover. She has invited all the other 8 girls on her softball team to spend the night. So, come Saturday night we will have 9 six year old little girls running around our house having the time of their lives. I am sure by Sunday we will be ready for them all to head to their respective houses, but we are all excited about the sleeover. We are determined to make Lemonade out of our lemons!

A special thanks goes out to my friend Momma Pug who whipped up this super-cute invitation in about 5 minutes. She is so creative- I am lucky to call her friend!

A day in the life

Realizations I have had this evening:

1. FYI- when you go cold turkey off your anxiety and depression medication, you can act like a donkey. You cannot control yourself and will embarass yourself. (Just in case you didn't know) I would not suggest this to anyone. Always make sure you get to the doctor before your med's run out!
2. Another news flash- insurance adjusters stink. At least the ones who are independently hired to do work during a major disaster like a hurricane. They try to get you to accept a ridiculous amount on your homeowners settlement. I mean, isn't that why we pay for insurance- so when your house is cracked and wiggly they will help pay to fix it?
3. Your child can be dressed as Clifford for school tomorrow if you buy some felt and some red fur. This will make said child extremely happy. Especially if they get to wear red sparkly pants with the furry tail.
4. Knowing your oldest, bestest friend is home safe and sound with all her babies can make a girl feel better. Even if you have not laid eyes on her, nor have plans to do so in the near future. (This lack of plans obviously needs to change!)
5. Friday can be a relief, or it can be an even more stressful day because you suddenly realize there is not even a chance that you will get all your work done before the day is over. Does anyone have a magic wand I can borrow?

Just a Little Update...

We brought the car home today and I must say that getting it off that auction lot was harder than getting a newborn baby released from the hospital!

The Razorback drove it back to my school district to pick up the girls while I headed to an after school meeting. The family all met me when my meeting was over because the Razorback had night class and we had to swap off kids and unfortunately-cars. I did not want him driving a strange possibly dangerous car home at 10 pm. I have had enough middle of the night calls asking to get picked up. Therefore, I got to drive the newly acquired prize home.

I can honestly say I was scared. The gas pedal was really tight, and when it did take off it laid you back in the seat. Right until it started shaking! I have come to the conclusion that I will not be back in that car until it has seen a mechanic and all of it's problems diagnosed. After all the major problems are fixed, I think I will stick with my lovely, safe, strong, high off the ground, Yukon!

The 100 Year Flood

As usual, there is lots of excitement here at Madge and a Half. Last Wednesday night our little suburb of Houston received 8 inches of rain in an hour and a half. Madgette had PraiseKids practice at church during this little rain. By the time we headed home, we passed several stalled vehicles and Julie says "It's like we a motor-boat!" because the roads were flooding. I was getting a little concerned (even in my Yukon) when we turned on our street. By the time we got to the stop sign about 100 feet from our house, I knew we were in trouble. The entire street was flooded and our neighbor's trash can was floating down the middle of the street.

I really love my Yukon and did not want to kill it, so I parked us in the elementary school parking lot across the street (which is higher than the street). Julie, Madgette and I had to wade across the street to get into our home! We put Madgette in the middle and Julie and I each held a hand. The water was at least 3 feet deep, and it was still raining- we finally made it to our front door and laughed so hard we almost fell down. A few hours later we looked outside and the water was all gone. So we made it home safe and sound.



EXCEPT... that the Razorback was in his Wednesday night class, and being the wonderful student that he is, he had his cellphone ringer off so I could not let him know what was going on with the roads. He left class about 9 p.m. headed home and discovered that parts of Beltway 8 were flooded but not yet closed. By the time he realized that the water was to deep for him to go through, it was too late. He was trying to pull off the road and into the new NTB (National Tire and Battery) when his camry died. He had the front end out of the water, but the trunk was floating! The wonderful employees at NTB pulled his car out of the water and into the parking lot. They also rescued as many people as they could from stalled cars. I am so grateful to this store and their employees- they stayed open ALL NIGHT with all the stranded drivers, let them watch TV, made them coffee, and even made the trek about a quarter of a mile across a muddy field to pick up pizzas for all the stranded drivers. If you live in the Humble area, please give the new NTB on the Beltway your business- they deserve it! Anyway, about 5 a.m. the Razorback calls to tell me he was able to get out and catch a ride with an off duty police officer to a local Wal-mart. I got up, woke Julie to let her know what was going on, and went to pick him up.



The insurance company has totaled the car, which has made the Razorback very sad- he loved his Toyota Camry. Needless to say, we have been looking for an inexpensive car all weekend. We decided the best thing we could do was to pay cash for a little junker run around town car for him to drive back and forth to class. We really didn't need the car payment and it was a burden anyway. So this may have been a blessing in disguise.



Today we went to a public auto auction. We went early so we could examine the cars and make a list of the ones we thought we could afford. We picked out a Toyota Avalon, and a couple other cars. We sat there for about 3 hours before any of the cars we were interested in drove onto the auction block. The Avalon was driven in, and we were quickly outbid. The same thing happened with the other cars on our list. I was very discouraged and began reading a book. The Razorback was getting a little desperate so I look up and he is bidding on this black car that was not on our list. It turns out that we did not look at it earlier because someone had written "SOLD" on the windshield. Well dear readers, the Razorback did purchase this little black car for $850. By the time we added all the buyer premiums, and other fees the total came to $1600. I am looking at him asking, "What did you just buy?" to which his response was "Honey, we now own a Benz."



What a hoot! We have bought a car without checking the engine and inspecting it thoroughly. So we have either made a good buy, or the worst mistake of our life. All I can hope is that it will stick together for about a year until he finishes school. The entire purchase price of this car is about the equivalent of 4 months car payment on the camry- and we will not owe anything on it.

So here is a hip, hip, hooray for the one hundred year flood and the thought of being rid of some debt!



Below is a picture the Razorback found like the car we have bought. It is the same style, model, and color. Ours is just missing the little Benz hood ornament... hmmm, do I see a stocking stuffer for the Razorback in our future?

Hurricane Pics

There have been several blogs that I have posted since Hurricane Ike blew onto the Texas coast last month. I finally have enough time to show you all what we experienced. The first picture is of my local HEB (grocery store) when they reopened on generator power. We were just glad to be able to get out even if there was not anything cold to eat.


The second picture is of the HUGE tree that was down at the end of our street. Unfortunately, it was located on private property and the electric company would not touch it. Therefore, our side of the street was without power for many, many days. The homeowners stayed out of town due to the wife being ill- I mean who would want to sit in the Texas heat especially if you were sick. Make sure you notice the full size trampoline that has been crushed underneath it.

The next 2 pictures are of our house. Julie is showing the world our mailbox that was in the middle of our yard. We promptly replaced it with a pretty one. We also had several branches
down in the front yard. The next door neighbors told us that the city had come through before we came home and pulled the huge limbs out of the yard and chopped them up. What good luck for us!

A Night Out

Tonight I had to fulfill a little payback for The Razorback. He has helped work on my student council's homecoming float and it was wonderful. He made arrangements for me to sing with a live band at a local western dance pub. So we got the girls fed, and Madgette tucked into bed before we took off. I must admit I was a little excited, and a little nervous.
Upon arrival we made ourselves at home and got adjusted to the place. The evening wore on, and The Razorback and I finally decided to hit the dance floor and do a two-step. This may have been the biggest mistake in our evening. Obviously, once you step on the dance floor you become available to everyone. I was asked to dance by a short little man, and I looked straight at my husband who I assumed would say No. To my suprise he told me to go ahead, and the short little man escorted me onto the dance floor before I knew what had happened.
As many of you know, I was married at 19 so I have only danced with my husband (except the mandatory high school dances). Needless to say, I was VERY uncomfortable. I saw my husband get up and come out to the dance floor and I breathed a sigh of relief. I just knew he was coming to rescue me by cutting in. I then received my second suprise of the evening-- he was dancing with another woman!!!
Fast forward another hour- I am on the stage singing a little Patsy Cline and the lady he had danced with earlier comes over and wraps her arm around my hubby to inquire if he is alone. He tells her "No, I am here with my wife. She is the one on the stage singing." Can you believe that she continued to question him? She acted suprised that he was with me-the big fat girl. After all of this, we found out that the guy who had asked me to dance was her brother. He was getting me out of the way for his sister.

Oh yes, another entertaining and sad note- I overheard 2 ladies talking in the bathroom. One says to the other "Yeah, I am working on number 5- I need a new babies daddy." It was almost all I could do not to fall off the toilet and convulse into laughter. Then a stroke of sadness came over me as I thought about that baby and the type of inconsistent home life that child must have.
During another restroom trip, I hear one lady say to another "Betty-Lou you said you had to get away from them kids- why you keep calling 'em?" Of course this made me think of Madgette who I do not like to leave. If we cannot do things as a family, we do not do them. I felt bad for that child also. This is the point in the evening where I knew it was time to go home. Maybe I am becoming an old lady but I believe in the old saying "Dance with the one that brung ya" and that your children should be the first priority in your life. I discovered I like my nights at home with my daughter and husband. These are the days of my life, and the ones I love- not the ones where I go out in public and get humiliated.

Update

Hello

My dear friend at Nana Notes posted a twitter asking about our well being. What a great friend! So here we go- we currently have electricity, and running water. The Razorback restored our internet tonight (Go Razorback!!!) but we still have no cable. That is ok, my wonderful hubby went out today and bought an antenna to mount outside the house and it works very well. It even picks up high def. channels and we don't have a monthly fee!!! That will save us a little over $100 per month. HURRAY!

The insurance adjuster is supposed to be here tomorrow. I am actually glad it has taken him a while to get to us. It has given us time to notice all the things about the house that have changed. The Razorback noticed today a 2 inch crack that is zig-zagging up one of the brick walls on the side of the house. We thought that only our sunroom had shifted- now we are thinking that maybe some other damage was done that we did not realize.

I guess to sum it all up, life is glorious again. We are back in the swing of school, softball, tennis team (Julie's activity), and taekwondo. Oh yes, and children's choir at church. The Razorback is going to school full time, and I am overloading my plate as usual which makes me happy. I am glad to have friends, two beautiful children, a fulfilling career, and an amazing husband. Life just doesn't get much better than this!

HUZZA, HUZZA, The Internet has Risen again!

Due to our desperation with the lack of internet, my hubby (The Razorback) has decided to make some changes to our internet, phone, and cable service. Comcast has still not fixed any of these things for us, so he has decided to switch. He has gone with a local company that happens to be right down the street from us. So tonight he has finished installing the modem and we now have wireless internet in our home again.
Julie (the foreign exchange student) is so happy all she can do is smile and type. She has been watching her skype messenger like a hawk for the first sign that her mom or dad in South Korea have logged in. None of them have logged in yet, but she is just happy to be able to get on the internet. I am just as thrilled- I cannot lie!

Tonight Madgette tested for her next level of belt in Taekwondo. She was finally able to kick and break the board on the 3rd try. Now she is an orange belt. She is very very happy. I am just thinking that no one should pick on her at school! BTW, if anyone is interested we are selling raffle tickets for $3 a ticket, and we are selling something else as a fundraiser for her elementary school. If anyone is interested in helping her we would greatly appreciate it!

Internet Addiction

Hi, my name is Madge. I have an addiction to the internet.

Since the lovely hurrican Ike graced the Texas coast last month we have not had phone, internet, or cable TV. Comcast has not seen fit to repair the line that serves our street, even though our street is the only street in Humble, TX that has not been restored. However, through this trial I have discovered a few things.
1. I do not care if I have a home phone. I have not really even noticed we did not have it excet for the few times our exchange student has needed to use my cell to call family. Most anyone who does not have my cell phone number, it not anyone I wish to talk with.
2. Cable is huge to our family. We have gone through a major depression as a family by not being able to see the season premiers of our favorite show's. The other day Momma Pug was visiting and made fun of the fact that we have become Public television station junkies because it is all we have!
3. I cannot live without internet. Seriously!!! We have logged tremendous numbers of hours in places like Burger King, and Barnes and Nobles just to get internet access. I mean come on, I am an instructional technology specialist. I am supposed to be teaching my students how to utilize technology-- this usually requires the use of technology and I use technology and the internet to create all my lesson plans! At this moment I am sitting on the floor of the "Wines and Spirits" aisle at Barnes and Nobles typing this. I am located here because my battery died when I was sitting in the comfy chair so I had to find an outlet.

I have missed my online banking, my daily blogs I read and numerous other things.
Well, I hope someone out there understands all these ramblings...