River Monster

nah really it's just the concrete toad i bought last year finally peeking through.  

we are starting to see more and more of the surroundings!  i can't even remotely say yard cuz we are nowhere near that but we do have the concrete patio back as of last night.  yipee skippy!  nacho says by this Sat we might be able to walk in.  no driving in yet, but i'll take what i can get.  we still have to boat the boxers in/out for bathroom breaks but maybe by Sat the top of our berm will be showing so it will give us them some relief.  haha get it?  relief?  bathroom humor rules!

Tweet

coping skillz

not to worry, we had a little support group meeting for us flood dwellers yesterday

and it was a success.  in a very accidental way, it involved all the neighbors that we helped or helped us and/or those of us crazy enough to stay put through this whole thing!

Tweet

1 week

what a difference a week makes right?

yesterday

one week ago

well, it may not seem like much to you, but this is a big change from last week.  i am excited to say that i could actually walk on the lower concrete patio yesterday.  i was still thigh deep in water, but no danger of drowning!
and at least yesterday we could kayak into the garage without ducking!

and opposed to last week!

so it may not be leaving nearly as fast as it arrived, but we will take what we can get!

Tweet

Barbarians

in all that effort to get ready for the flood last Friday, i completely forgot to mention one of the coolest parts.    out of nowhere come these 5 kids running through our little neighborhood.  they stop at our house & ask if we need any help.  there was no car or truck that brought them, they just came running through our hood.  turns out, they were kids from the local Rugby team!

and what a relief it was to see them.  not only did they get all my heavy planters up on the deck and the super important chiminea, but there is no way we could have gotten the 3 16ft sections of our dock up on that deck without them.
and just like a super hero that shows up out of nowhere & performs feats of strength, they were gone in a flash! but they will be back because we plan to Rent-A-Rugby so they can help us take it all back down!  thanks tons guys!

Tweet

Into Each Life a Little Rain Must Fall

can someone define "a little" for me please?  this year's flood is the new all-time record!  we started out at a 30' prediction but that has since been backed down to 29.4'. whew!  that was close wasn't it?  and with so much water affecting so many more people, we were a tad bit busy the last week helping more than just ourselves.  so i'm a little light on photos but here is what i have so far:

this is my north yard as of last Friday (4/19) around 430pm.

it is one of the last gimplses i would have of it until this water recedes!  you may recall from 2008 that THIS is how it fills up.  the water started coming over at about 930pm & by the next morning, we had this

so we were definitely kayaking out to the vehicles.  you can see a glimpse of my patio under there & it was accessible most of the day Saturday.  technically, it is accessible now, it's just up to the boob line if you dare to walk around in it - which i did yesterday hence how i know!
more importantly, Sunday we were seeing the bulk of the water & realized getting The Monsters in & out was going to be more difficult than in years past.  at 11 1/2 Cookie is not having the kayak ride anymore & Baxter is just so completely freaked out that it's not worth the trouble.  so off to Tucker's we went to retrieve the john boat.  and off to Bass Pro nacho went to buy a new trolling motor because we foolishly gave our old one to my sis thinking "ahhh we'll never use this thing!"  we are mental giants are we not!  but boxers can only hold it so long, so big thank you's to Barry for taking the kids on a bathroom break for us Sunday!

later that day i decided to check out the garage & get to those hard to reach places while i have the chance!

my side sits the lowest at about 8ft.  at this point (Sunday) we still had at least another foot of water to expect.  i'd love to give you an updated photo, but i can't even duck to get in there now!  and apologies for the blurry photo here; it's hard to get a good photo in the waves & manage not to bang your head on the ceiling!

fortunately, Nacho's side sits a little higher than mine so we have less to worry about on his side.

and on the outside, it looks like this

and again, this was Sunday, so it's come up another 1ft+ by now (Tues).  

and i know you are all wondering how we do it, so you will be glad to know, we are coping just fine!

just wait though, as soon as the temps come up & the wind dies down, we'll break out the chiminea & a new Floody Mary recipe!

Tweet

here comes the flood

and so it begins!  we started the morning by clearing the beach (what wasn't under water already) and pulling the john boat & docks up to where they would be fine for the day.

we're both at work for now, but unlikely we will stay all day.  we have to get the big boat & the Z out of the garage & up to dry land cuz this thing is coming fast!  here's how fast:

that's the gauge for the little creek north of us. it went up 15ft last night.  anybody got a sump pump we can borrow!?

Tweet

Regret

you know how people say "when you see something you like, you better go after it!"  well, they are right!  and i am disgusted with myself over this little baby here!

i saw it 1 week ago today in the Habitat Restore.  actually, i saw 3 OF THEM!!!! and i did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT!!!  i am hating myself right now because it is the exact chair i was looking for to put in the office/spare bedroom remodel.  think they'd question me much if i just walked up and said "Hi!  I'm SoNSo here to pick up my chair".  that would make for one embarrassing mug shot!

**Update**
it turns out Crate & Barrel sells a similar chair (Sasha) on their site for $530.  it's probably best that Restore could not tell me how much each of theirs sold for.

Tweet

Happy Birthday +1

yesterday i celebrated the 2nd anniversary  of my 22nd birthday!  and boyee was it awesome!  and by awesome i mean i got to spend the bulk of my day dealing with the same pile of computer horrors that never seems to get any smaller.  i know!  jealous!
now to be completely honest, the day didn't start off bad. i did my usual bday swim where i swim the number of laps that match my bday.  next year i'm rolling the count back!  and so i got to spend the first part of the morning with my pool crew!  when i got back home to get ready for work, i was greeted by the usual boxer brigade & this

that's what my boy made me!  and luckily with dry erase so i can clean it off.  and yes, that is a sign above the toilet that says No Bicycle Riding. it is a persistent problem in our house!
i had the usual texts and calls from friends and family - my sister always beats everyone to the punch!  and someone always calls to sing me happy birthday - Kims do no quit your day job, nor should you produce your own jingle.  just sayin'!  but thank you so much!
the boxers worked hard on their gifts!  Baxter made me this

and Cookie spent her money & skills on this

and there was this in the mail

let me tell you, if you ever get a gift with a logo like that on the return address?  be ye suspicious.  since there was no odor & appeared to be nothing moving inside, i assumed it was safe.  nacho left his hazmat suit at work so we took our chances opening it in the house.  and because at 44 i have no shame, i'm willing to model said gift

heelloooo SpongeBob!

last but not least, it's cake time! well, it WAS cake time mmmmmmm

thanks to all who contributed to the happy day!

Tweet

This Is Just a Test

but a really really important one!  only Nacho can know how important this little paper is to me today!

let's just say, it was that kind of day & this little piece of paper was the thing i needed!

Tweet

Thurs River Reading

Just a little higher & ALOT more windy, but still  no real worries!

Tweet