Rain!

It is raining in Southern California. Actually, it's been raining for about 24 hours and supposed to rain for much of Wednesday too. Unless you live on the other side of the world you've heard about our drought. It's pretty bad but after today we can finally exhale a little.

I really should have taken a picture and texted it to Tracey. She didn't believe me that it actually rained here. I could have used a visual for this post, too. Bad blogger, I guess.

Libby has been perplexed by this all day rain. She usually loves to hang out outside most of the day, chasing birds and making friends with the people that walk along the horse trail behind our house. Hanging out inside has made her act really funny. She has followed me around a lot, slept in places that she's never slept before, been hyper and playful. The funniest thing though was this morning when I knew that she had to go to the bathroom but it was raining pretty hard and she wouldn't go out. I grabbed my shoes and an umbrella to try to coax her out. She was not fond of the umbrella (which was good. I was not about to become that dog mom.), because she didn't like the sound of the rain on the fabric. I had to walk out in the squishy grass before she would go. That started a trend, obviously, and now it seems that if it's raining she won't go unless I walk her out. This isn't looking good for the rest of winter.

Maybe tomorrow I'll take a couple of pictures and post them. I know that most of you are totally laughing at us Californians and our 'big rain storm' but when it's all you get? You take it. And take pictures of it!

Solar Powered

When I was a college freshman at the University of Tennessee I learned a valuable lesson. It isn't good for me to go too long without seeing the sun. It was actually the primary reason for leaving Knoxville and moving home. I liked UT, my sorority, the Copper Kettle (ahem), but I just couldn't get past the lack of sunshine from November to March. Not to mention that I was only 18 and not mature enough to get over myself, already.

Living in the west for most of my life I haven't had to deal with too many cloudy days in a row. 1 or 2 is about the most that either Colorado or California have before the sun breaks through. Not that it's necessarily warm, but if the sun is at least shining then I can make it. I don't mind the cold as long as there is a sun in the sky making it at least seem warm.

Therein lies the problem with this week. I don't think we've seen the sun since Sunday. Maybe Monday? Either way, that is 4 or 5 days, which is DOUBLE the number of days that I'm used to having without seeing the sun. When you're solar powered that isn't enough.

The Wind

Unless you've been living under a rock, you heard about the terrible winds that hit Southern California last Wednesday night. I have lived all over the country, been in 2 tornados, one hurricane (inland, anyway,) and lived through almost 20 winters in Colorado and I have NEVER been that scared in my life. The wind was coming out of the north and whipping down the mountains. Our master bedroom is on the north side of the house and I don't think that HD or I slept more than about 30 or 40 minutes at a time after about 3 am. Our chimney and bedroom window creaked so bad I was almost shocked that they didn't have any damage. The power went out around 2:30, and when we woke up with first light we found that we had lost both of our large shade trees in our back yard.

Look at my view out of the kitchen window. This tree landed about 3 feet from the window. The usual view is just grass with the tree above.

The canopy on these trees seemed to act like a parachute and lifted them out of the ground. You can't even tell in this picture where the tree was. It actually snapped about 8 inches underground.

Same tree, different view.

This is the close-up of the hole, and how far underground that the tree snapped.

This tree is on the opposite side of the yard, and the one that fell close to the kitchen window.

A close-up of the roots still partially attached, same tree as above.

Different view of tree #1. The upstairs window you see in this picture is our bedroom. With nothing to block the wind, it was s.c.a.r.y. Locally, the highest gusts were clocked at 97 miles an hour. Hurricane strength. This is not normal for our area. Yes, we have bad, damaging winds but most people I've spoken with have never seen anything like the winds on Wed./Thurs. of last week.

The above Chinese Elms weren't the only trees on our property that had damage. This branch off of the junipers was 6-8 inches in diameter. We also lost 2 large branches off of our pepper tree in the opposite corner of the yard.

This is the side of the yard where tree #1 was laying, now completely empty. This was taken on Saturday morning after the tree company came to cut the majority of the wood. HB#1 is up there helping to stack wood and do other clean up. All 3 of my guys worked really hard to get it finished. OH! Headless girl pitched in, too! (I let them do it all and cleaned the inside of the house, instead.)

The other side of the yard. It's so bare! You can, however, see the mountains very clearly now. Bright side, right?









I can't let this whole topic go without telling you how devastated Headless Dad is about these trees. He literally moped around for 3 days.

I have more pictures from around our neighborhood that I'll post tomorrow. If you thought our damage was bad, you ain't seen nuthin' yet!

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Progress #3

Here's the living room, complete save the pile of crap right there in front. Already being moved as we speak. Looks pretty good, eh? Also, I got a couple of stains out of the carpet. I don't know if you'd be able to tell from previous pictures. I'm motivated because I'm planning on putting up the Christmas tree ASAP. Maybe tomorrow if I can finish up.

Also completed:

• bills paid
• current laundry done
• boys thank you notes and chores
• some of the paper has been dealt with
• shelves on the bookshelf reorganized

I've just been informed that we're going out to dinner tonight. Just HD and I. Hmmm. Wonder if he remembers that our anniversary is in 3 days? (Don't tell him, HG. Seriously.)(He never remembers on his own.)(I'm not kidding HG. Don't tell him.)

So I guess I'm off to see what I can wear that I won't freeze my butt off. California decided to embrace winter with a vengeance this month. See ya tomorrow!

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Unplugged

I'm taking the day, and possibly the weekend off. I need to unplug.

The lack of sunshine in sunny Southern California has zapped my mojo for anything other than clicking from this to that and back again without making any click count. Hey Mother Nature? Bring back my sunshine, would ya? This reminds me of my freshman year in Knoxville when I didn't see the sun from November to March and decided that, No, I couldn't spend 4 years in a gray fog.

We are getting my new washer and dryer today. Exciting to no one besides me. And maybe, just maybe, all of you that have had to listen to my endless Fa*ebook updates about heading to the laundromat yet again. I will say, however, that that is the cleanest laundromat I've ever seen. It deserves a post of it's own.

I have a dozen other urgent things on my to do list as well. The first being to take a shower. Maybe I'll find some mojo there? At least I'll have clean hair and freshly shaven legs.

Happy Easter everyone! He is risen, indeed.

Fear Overcome

Have you heard about the rain in our parts? Last I heard, the rainfall totals since Friday are over 7 inches, with DAYS more to come. I honestly don't remember a storm system like this ever, in all of the years that I've lived in Southern California.

Have you checked out the satellite picture of this baby? Go here to see the latest 24 hour loop. Crazy wet, this one. What you can't see on this is the tail that extends out to HAWAII. That's over 2,000 miles more of rain in our forecast.

I'm not complaining. Nosirree. I hate the heat way more that I might dislike any amount of rain/snow, so in essence, I'm good.

However.

Saturday morning we woke up to a leaky roof, that was draining down into the wall that our front door is on. Luckily it wasn't raining too hard and Headless Dad and I grabbed our camping tarps and some sandbags and got it covered in about 30 minutes or so. We thought that was going to be the end of that.

Ha! Mother Nature had other ideas, and by Sunday morning the leak was going again. So off to Home Depot he went for more plastic and more sand.

"Up on the rooftop" has never held so much meaning. We spent 2 1/2 + hours ON THE ROOF laying plastic, taping plastic, and positioning sandbags, all the while bracing ourselves against the wind and rain. By the end I was soaked from head to toe, literally. My shoes are *still* soaked over 24 hours later. We endured periods of light drizzle and heavy downpours.

And I was petrified.

One of my biggest fears is falling. You know the sensation of falling that you have in nightmares? That. I won't go on the Tower of Fear-type rides at amusement parks because I fear that feeling. Bungee jumping or sky-diving? I can't even think about those without having a panic attack, so roof-walking is not really in my repertoire.

But I did it. I got up there, and helped my husband, and overcame any fear that I had. I did it and it didn't kill me. I won, dammit. I beat the fear.

Blocked

• You know how when you've been working at something for 30 minutes on the computer and then have to take a call? Blocked. (Or "timed out of your session." Whatev.)
• You have a sh**ton of writing to do and then it rains? Blocked.
• You have worked your tail off over the weekend, then on the weekdays you can't get motivated? Blocked.
• You *always* write out your weekly calendar but forget just one time? Blocked.
• You feel like you're forgetting something but can't figure out what? Blocked.

However, you can always make a blog post out of it and call it a day.

Just Curious-Fall

I actually made it through Halloween! Thanks for the suggestions on costumes. If you follow me on FB you probably saw what I came up with. My husband had a costume left over from an 80's party that we went to a few years ago, complete with a mullet wig, so I went digging for something 80's to wear. I hit the jackpot! I dug out my green leather skirt and matching pumps. (I actually fit into the skirt! That is a major feat!) I dug out my concert t-shirts (I wore Depeche Mode from 1986 and HD wore Billy Idol, 1985.) I rocked the white pantyhose and leg warmers, bracelets, earrings, and hair bigger than should be legally allowed. I was actually worried about being a fire hazard. My boys were Zombie sports figures and #1 decided that we should be a zombie family. So, we actually rocked the zombie look as a family. As HD said (all night) "The 80's are Dead!"




Now for today's question: What's your favorite part of fall? The weather? The holidays? Your wardrobe? Something else? Let me know, because it refuses to become fall here and I need to remember what my favorite season is all about!

This Is My Brain On Summer Vacation

This morning I slept in. The delicious sleep that follows 180 days of school, knowing that today, finally! there is nothing to rise for. The sleep that when you wake and check the clock, you decide that there is 30 more minutes of sleep that you can have, just for the asking. It turns into an hour. I remember hearing the rain pitter-pattering outside of my window.

I rose and wandered downstairs, following the blink-clink of hand-held video games. I found two boys playing nicely, they hardly noticed me, their bellies full of donuts that their daddy had bought, just for today. Good thing. There's none left, save two that I sneak later with my coffee.

I stumbled over to the coffee pot, no longer able to resist the aroma. No matter that it was made hours ago, it is still hot and steamy, perfect with sugar and cream.

I checked my email, my feed reader, my facebook, my stats. Twitter? I can't remember. Did I check that too? I had a second cup, and a third, wandering with my laptop to all of my favorite places to sit. I found a post or two that I shared, that I stumbled.

I fed the children.

I folded some laundry, and washed some, then dried some. Then folded more.

I scrubbed a couple of bathrooms. I showered, even.

Around 3 I decided to look and see if we had anything to make for dinner and came up with red beans and rice, with (shhh, turkey) sausage and shredded chicken. Homemade sweet cornbread that rivals any that Marie Calendar has ever made.

I never saw the outside of my house today, but that's ok. It was raining on the first day of summer break.

My Spring Comforter

I have been paralyzed by the tired this week. On Wednesday my kids get out of school early and after homework was done I took a two hour nap. On Friday after I picked the kids up from school I took a 3 hour nap. The tired has taken over, like an oversized comforter in winter that keeps the snowy chill away.

I want the possibilities of time to take over. Projects await, screaming at me from all directions. Paint! Clean! Purge! Laundry! But the loudest voice of all is that comforter of sleep, lulling me back down, down, until my eyes flutter shut. I don't see the mess all around. All I see are the dreams running through my mind, the ones that are not regularly there, the ones that incorporate all of the sounds that drift in through the windows of sleep.

Some are energized by this time of year. The beautiful weather lulls them outside for the sun's energy and possibilities that were dampened by the winter's gray. All I can ever seem to muster is the opening of the windows for the fresh breeze to blow sweet sleep across my freshly bare arms as I roll over and pull the comforter around me once more.

Happy

Do you see that? Let me show you better...

That is hail/freezing rain, accumulated after about an hour at the school today.

That reads about 37F.

Yes, this Colorado girl is very happy!

What A Winter Sunset Looks Like In Southern California

Luckily, This One Was Small

OK, since I'm an idiot when it comes to uploading pictures, you get to see the finale first. This was at 4:00pm today, just as they were getting the fire out. It reportedly burned about 150-200 acres. The above shot was taken from the school yard where my kids go to school, about a half a mile from our house. (Don't forget to compare it to the bottom 2 shots, mmmk?)

I had to go out and run a couple of errands and when I came out of the store I got to see the helecopter come down to a small reservoir to get water to dump on the fire. They hover over the water and the long 'tail' sucks up the water. It is incredible to watch, and I had never seen it up close like this before. That is dust in the picture from the helecopter, not smoke from the fire.

Above shot taken at 2:30, when the kids were getting out of school. When the smoke is black like this they haven't really gotten to it yet. As the smoke gets whiter (as in the top shot) they are dousing it good. The smoke in the above shot makes it look way worse than it actually was, and closer than it actually was. The fire started at about 2 pm, about 2-3 miles from where we are, as the crow flies.

This last shot was taken 30 minutes later. I don't know if you'll be able to see it (maybe click to enlarge? I'm such a blog photo idiot, sorry.) but there is a large line of flames in the dead center of this photo, next to the palm tree.

For those of you that don't live in California, this is an (almost) every day occurrence this time of year, all up and down the coast. Almost 5 years ago, to the day, we were evacuated when a fire started on the other end of our city and spread across the northern edge, across these very mountains, in just a couple of hours. We stayed away for 3 days and luckily had something to come home to. Only 7 houses burned that year in our city-pretty amazing! That is thanks to those giant helecopters and the unparalleled fire department we have here.

So, what did you do today?

God is Gracious

Look at what we have! It doesn't rain very much around here, and it rained all day yesterday, and so far, all day today, and the forecast calls for rain for much of tomorrow as well.

Quite a change from last weekend when we were setting records with the heat.

Also last week we were starting to have fires very close to us. (One right over the mountain behind our house, as a matter of fact.) This gift from God will fill the local reservoirs where the helecopters got their water to put the fires out. He is gracious and good to provide for us in our time of need.

The first picture above is the back yard through the rain on the window.

The next picture is just about the same view, with the slider open. I thought you might be able to see how much water there is-not quite.



The third picture is my welcoming committee. My darling ducks. Look closely though-there is much standing water in my front planter-this is the back side of the planter, under the roof.

The final picture really tells the story. The planter box is about to over flow.

New International Version (NIV)

7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make music to our God on the harp.

8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.

Spring, Oh Spring! Where art thou, Spring?

After my 1 1/4 hr. walk today this was the temperature when I got home:






83 degrees, people! And this was only 11:00 in the morning. I don't know what the high was, this was high enough. I think I missed spring during the great sickness of February. It is only March and it has been hitting 90 for days now.

For those of you that live where you are still digging out, wearing hats and gloves, scraping car windows in the morning, and the like, I am truly sorry. I, for one, would gladly trade places with you today. I have 2 seasons where I live. Rain and HOT.

Oh I live for those rainy days when I might don a sweater, some warm shoes. For lo those few weeks that I might feel a slight chill in the air I can dream that there is true cold in this world, somewhere, even if not here. So take your snow days, knowing that somewhere in America there is a woman in white shorts and a tank top dreaming of the drifts that surround you and wishing she were there!

God Answers Prayers

Today we awoke to rain. Glorious rain! We live in an area of the country that desperately needs it and as I write it is a comin' down.

Never mind that there are areas near us that have been in drought for many years and they are just now talking about it in our area. Oh no! We've been able to suck the surrounding areas dry of their supply for years, with out nary a care.

Anyway, thank you, God for the beautiful rain. I just wish that it didn't have to happen on the day before Headless Boy 1 is supposed to have his OUTDOOR birthday party. I'll let you know what plan B is when I come up with it. *sigh* I now pray for the ultimate plan B for an 8 year old's jumper/bounce house party. I hope You'll answer this one, God.