7 posts tagged “rain”

Awoke this morning just as dawn must have been breaking, but the BOOM that literally thundered through the house explained the dim light. Poor Evita popped up and came over to the bed with a troubled look in her eyes, her ears cocked a bit crazily. "What the shit was that, Momma?!"

Honest, I've been through some storms, but the lighting and thunder show today was insane--with very little rain, oddly enough. Certainly not the downpour that the bluster should have signified. Every lightning zap was followed by shock of sound, followed immediately by the sensation of several people slamming all the doors in the house at once. Evita was not pleased.

Fell back to sleep about 20 minutes later and must have sunk immediately into REM, because the next dream was just ridiculous...and awful. The storm must have brought something up in my mind because my crying, in my sleep, is what woke me next. Although, as soon as I was fully awake, I had to laugh. The dream starred the ex-husband and was rather melancholy overall (I know, weird--it is what it is), but there was one very strange part...he was wearing these plastic and metal and fake jeweled gloves of some sort--think what little girl 99 cent fake jewelry looked like at Pic-and-Save or Walgreens. Anyhow, the gloves had these little fake blades and tools that he could extend or retract. They were seriously like a kids toy that he was just wearing with his regular clothes. I asked, 'Do you wear those all the time? Like, even when you teach or present..?' He kinda snapped haughtily and said something to the effect of 'Damn right I do, and no one's gonna stop me!'

LOL. Bizarre, no? Don't you just love stormy weather? (Incidentally, I rather love the Billie Holiday version and have it on an LP, but could find a good youtube vid for it. Below is the full sequence from the film of the same name.)

Maybe heading outside to tidy up after the sun broke through the clouds today wasn't the best idea. But it just couldn't be helped.

It rained from about 10 to 4:30 and the gloom was a fog soup outside my door. Despite the fact that today was the first day of no sore throat, and much less coughing, I was just blue and achy and tired...tired of being cooped in my house mostly. So when the sun came out and the breeze came through the kitchen door I just HAD to do it. I cracked all the windows along the backside of the house so the cats could enjoy the breeze too, leashed Evita, and out for a walk we went.

We went a bit farther than she's been in a long time, mostly because of her leg, partly because of the weather, but today we were both feeling spring in our bones. She did great and patiently sat herself down in the front yard after while I ran into the house for a water bowl. Walking through and back out again I decided to tackle my catastrophe of a garage. There were dried muddy paw prints all over, giant tumbleweeds of fur and who knows what in the corners, and just the usual mustiness that happens after an entire day of rain. It was icky. I had to attack.

Some of my adventures included twice attempting and failing to rehang my extension cord storage thingy (I gave up until I can hit the home store for the right sized wall anchors); discovering that I had sucked a small, still live mouse into my shopvac when I went to empty it into the garbage can; discovering the signs (droppings!) of said a mouse in my garage after the fact; grunting and hoisting one of my bikes to the ceiling hook (something I could not do a year ago! me = strong lady); and helping a completely unsupervised gaggle of neighborhood kids catch their big gallumping boxer 'Sweetie' who had managed to dash just as they were leashing her.

Evita gave the warning cry and I thought, 'Aw hell!' as I turned to see Sweetie racing through our front yard. Poor 'Vitie yelped when I pulled her inside (she's fine, just startled) and then out I went with leash and water bowl again to entice ol' Sweetie to come to heel. She was still running madcap around the yards, in and out of the street, and playing chicken with the kids ten minutes laters. Several cars had to slow to let her pass. Eventually I convinced everyone to stop chasing her, stand still, and lower their voices. She came first to me, smelling my hand, drinking some water, but not letting me pet her near the collar (smarty pants). THEN she walked over to a girl about 5th grade age who was plopped on the grass and who really looked, even to me, that she was just going to pet her...but a quick grab at the collar and 'Sweetie' was caught. The kids all laughed, 'You tricked her!' [Can I please be 11 years old again so that riding my bike and chasing my friends' dog is like the greatest afternoon ever?]

So after that I was pretty much done. I put aside two baskets of stuff that will go for the garage sale, along with piles of stuff in my office right now, put all my cleaning stuff away and came inside to tackle the floors with broom and mop.

But now I'm kind of tired and sneezing (duh) like a mad woman and wondering what on earth was I thinking kicking up all that dust. Dummy girl. Oh well. I still feel better than yesterday and tomorrow is definitely an office day. Better allergies than a cold! (I literally finished that sentence with a five-sneeze fit.)

Oh, it should be noted that dog walk, garage cleaning, and dog chase were all undertaken while in a Marilyn Monroe t-shirt and pink hippy skirt. My outfit made no sense today, but felt sooo good and girly. La la la. Spring is here!

Back home away from home in Arlington at the boy's digs. My drive into town last night was almost doubled in time due to being miserably lost no less than thrice. The latter two 'where the hell am I' moments occurred during a long thunderstorm that dropped buckets on my little car. Visibility was bad and I missed by usual landmarks and signs. (On the upside, the lightning show before I actually drove into the storm was spectacular.)

Still online right now working the regular '40-hour' gig. Have a project launching tomorrow that my lead designer is scrambling to try to finish now--his fiance has been due any day and is now in pre-labor as we speak. Shite. Still QA-ing.

I'm also trying to tie off on a piece for bitchbuzz that I started writing last week, then tweaked, and tweaked again, and now I'm just not happy with it. I'm going to go back to my clippings and see what I can salvage. But I'm exhausted, still working, and I'm just royally pissed that I've already missed my deadline and now I'm faced with not turning it in again or turning in something sub par. Poop.

Sigh. Guess it's a good thing that the boy had to work tonight, what with all this business for me to handle. Still...it's chilly out and I'd like to snuggle down under the covers and just knock out until he comes home. And then I could really snuggle.

Aw, mush.

Just realized that Election Day was an anniversary for us...the 4th of July was our start date (spoken like a true PM). Both rather auspicious days of patriotic import to have as milestones. Groovy

Back to QA...

I thought the time change would mean I would stay up later and wake up later, but in fact I was already tired by 10 while still doing laundry and some stuff for work, in bed just after 11, and thankfully asleep right about midnight. I took the time to lay out today's outfit and put my laptop and other necessities in one place ready to go for the morning. I thought today would be such a nice smooth morning...I should have checked the weather report.

My first alarm went off and I kinda yawned and thought, oh good, a few more minutes to stay in bed until the second alarm. And then just as I was drifting back into my fifteen minutes of sleep, I heard a strange noise...loud and rumbling and I could sort of feel it in the house. My eyes popped open in amazement...seriously the loudest rolling crack of thunder I have heard in a long time. Almost simultaneously I heard a commotion right outside my bedroom door. So I jumped out of bed, threw open the door and Evita launched herself into my room. Poor thing. She does not like the thunder. (And when I think of the years she was forced to sleep outside, even in the rain...grrrr.) But I think we were both surprised by her bounce past me into my room. We just kinda stared at eachother--she had a look that said, "What the hell was that?!" She must have been jolted out of sleep because as soon as I put my slippers on and started to walk down the hallway, she followed quickly. (She's a good girl; she knows she's not supposed to be in my bedroom. Trust me, she has a great life despite the fact that my allergies won't let her in my room.)

It's almost 3 hours later and the rain's still coming down, the sky is filled with clouds down to the treetops, and the roads are a mess. (Austin's a great town, but these folks just can't drive in the rain. It's a fact. And ice? Fuggetaboutit.) So it's a work-from-home Monday after all. I don't like working from home on Mondays. I have so many meetings that I have to call in for that it's much more sensible for me to be in office to handle them. But I'm on a call even as I write this--it's winding down and we're in the part where little input if any has ever been needed from me. So, I will make do.

I had planned to run at lunch today, but my body is achy from plyos and other quad work I did over the weekend, not to mention the running, and I'm wondering if I shouldn't take it easy today after all...but I'll probably try to get some yoga in just to keep myself moving.

But first things first...last night I dreamt...of pancakes. In the dream I kept trying to make some and people and things kept coming up and getting in the way! So now, pancakes it is! Who says dreams can't come true?

back in austin this week. sunshine, rain, sunshine, rain. luckily i'm well away from all the flooding. came home, though, to find the grass in the backyard three feet high and the dogs trooping through with only ears and tails visible. that would have been comical if we didn't have to worry about snakes in the area. so i finally had a chance to cut the grass on friday night -- yes, friday night in the dark; yes, it was probably not the smartest idea, especially because i was too lazy to go back inside and turn on the porch and motion lights when it got dark, but hey, i did it and no harm done. i raked up an entire trash can of clippings and the dogs seemed amazed to be able to see their paws.

had to clean out and organize the old office yesterday. my sister is coming to visit for just over a month and i needed to make room in the guest closet. so i tossed and piled and moved furniture, and came across my wonderful valentine's letter, though i only read a few lines, opting instead to let that emotional landslide happen later in the day. anyhow, i cleaned and set up my desk and now the office has my stamp on it. it looks like my room now. and i hate it. i fucking hate it. the only thing i like is the pen sketch of downtown el paso that i put in my old diploma frame and hung on the wall. i'm hoping it will help me to keep my dreams close.

spent the rest of the day with a couple of friends in austin. we met up at a azul for a drink and then went mrs. bea's bar on east 6th for the jesse canales classic car show and barbecue benefit. mr. canales is my neighbor across the street and has been in the hospital for nigh on 2 months for a heart condition, complications from surgery due to diabetes, etc. his wife belinda is very sweet and served me and my friends our barbecue plates even though i'd lost our tickets. (it may have helped that i removed a live tarantula from her front door the other day.) the food was good, the cars were sweet, the beer was COLD, and the jukebox inside was playing music circa el paso 1975. i'm entertaining the idea of making it a permanent part of my austin writing life.

we went swimming after, drank and stayed in the water 'till eleven, then went to magnolia for oatmeal. overall it was a great day but that drive home was looooooong. today is a day for rest, hope, and renewal. may your day hold much of the same.

"think of it this way," julio said, "more source material for the next story."

i'm checking the weather on my cell phone, rather checking to see if this is just bad rain or deadly rain.

"stranded at hula hut..." julio laughs.

hula hut? yes, that's where i was tonight. on the lake, surrounded--surprisingly--by many who keep austin weird, in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. the tv in the bar finally switched to local radar and we see a bright pink cell directly overhead. (for those of you not in the know about news 8 austin, pink means grab your ankles and kiss your ass good-bye.)

ok, it wasn't that bad, but it was coming down in buckets and apparently getting worse all the way down I-35--my route home--so i was weighing the options of 'should i stay or should i go'...when a flash of lightning crackles out on the lake and the lights flicker off for a moment.

ok then, stay. for a while anyway.

and i start thinking...stranded at hula hut? ha. it wasn't fear exactly, just the observation that this is definitely not how i would want to go. and something sounded familiar too...what was it?

ah yes...stranded at the drive-in...branded a fool...what will they say...mon-day at schooool

not 2 hours after the previous entry, my poor nissan pathfinder ceased forward motion a block from heather's school. alas, it had to be towed. heather's art teacher gave us a ride to pick erich up from tennis practice and then the cousins (did i mention my godmother is also my aunt?) and i relied on the kindness of neighbors--a relative term when homes are on multi-acre lots--from the emergency phone list to get us home. maybe there IS something in the cliche of country folk and hospitality. half a dozen people must have stopped to see if we were okay and if we had help coming.

the chill returns tomorrow along with clouds. rain should come on saturday. good. it may match my mood by then.

donations to revive the pathfinder will be gladly accepted--but only from strangers. methinks it's the transmission. woe is i. the husband is rebelling against the idea of being a one car household, but what choice have we? super scheduling and car pool planning await. a horse, my kingdom for a horse...or a well-designed, on-time, safe and clean mass-transit system.