Lightning

We *think* our house got struck by lightning yesterday evening. We had a quick, bad storm pop up. Obviously it didn't burn down (darn it!!) but us and the neighbors had several breakers that tripped randomly when a lightning bolt hit really close. I think it actually hit the neighbors house, or between ours and theirs. The pot-smoking teenager next door said their fireplace whooshed with a flame (the pilot light caught the strike, maybe) but we never know if what she is seeing is reality or the weed talking. Their gas was blinking"offline" and she *says* the TV is fried and half their breakers tripped. We lost 2 breakers, and the TV went off, but the lights in the rest of the house didn't even blink. It was pretty weird. We didn't think much of it until the firetruck showed up next door. I guess when you're 19 and your mom's not home, you call the fire department. The fireman said it probably hit us but not directly. We were joking about climbing up in the attic and starting a fire and blaming it on the lightning strike... that's one way to get out of this house!!

Another thought. Maybe God was trying to scare those kids into going to church. Hah!

update on the living situation

So greg had a meeting on Friday with the bosses and was praised for his excellent work. Unfortunately he was told there aren't any openings in Longview and they can't say when there will be. A month, three months, a year, two years, etc. SO, while we are still going to sell the house, we will be sticking around DFW until there is an opening in Longview and then reevaluate the situation then. For now, when the house sells, we will find a house to rent in our price range and stay there a while. Hopefully we can save money by not paying upkeep, property taxes, etc. So that's the plan!

Faux-Toe Overload

Here's what you've all been missing while I hovered around the porcelain throne for the past two months.

Melody's graduation: May 18thish:
The Sibs:



Vacay to the desert- Dad's "1000-acre wood" (Razor-sharp mesquite shrub, that is.)

C walking the lonely road. Classic!



C driving the golf cart. Notice the tan soft-sided weapon case next to him, complete with loaded weapon inside. Ahh, the country life.



Me, in a deer stand.



Greg and Caleb in a deer stand. Notice the completely awesome view behind it.



The wildlife. Ewwww. Eeeeeeek.



The views from the land. My dad owns this ridge, yes, the one in the far distance.



This is the rest of it.



This one too:



Here is a closer-up of that first ridge. Dad says he's climbed it. We were going to try but there was lots of weedy grass growing on the path and we were afraid of getting into chiggars. You know, those little invisible bugs that burrow into your skin and itch you for days... we turned back. Maybe in the fall when the grass is all dead?



Highlights of the trip: I did DRIVE up a small slope in the golf cart with everyone haning on for their dear lives. Great fun. Sleeping out on the windowed porch was a cool deal, I only wish the stars would have broken out from behind the clouds. In the span of 2 weeks since Dad had been out last, it had rained 8/10ths of an inch which is a lot for the area. It was pleasantly cool and slightly muddy. There was also the nice old man that runs the combination Gas station BBQ smokehouse that gave Caleb a quarter when we stopped to stretch our legs. He was probably the mayor of Robert Lee. Robert Lee is located in Coke County, Texas where there are literally 5 towns in the entire county. Robert Lee, I believe, is the county seat, which is funny to me because the population is about 87. Or maybe 187. Close enough.

Check out the Babe blog for more pictures of Caleb's life.