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I heard from my parents last night that my brother stayed in his bay house a couple nights ago. There was some water inside but no major floor cave ins or cracks that he found so far. My dad was worried about the structure holding up, but they are more worried about looters. So sad - it's their own neighbors that do some of the looting. So they are staying there with a generator. Their neighbor that had a one-story house on a slab only had 2 interior walls/rooms remaining. When they went over to talk to him, he said you could see the water line - at the very top of the wall, so the waves just lifted the roof right off. And then they talked to the cops with dogs - cadaver dogs, and yes they had found 2 bodies somewhere in the vicinity. Kinda spooky.

So I've been hearing talk of trying to subpoena to get emails on personal email accounts from Palin and her husband. I was not sure what all that was about. I found some clarification in this article. Seems Palin had her husband around the office all the time even included him in meetings. Soon people were cc'ing him on emails for official city/state business. I wonder, he has his own job and 5 kids - didnt he have enough other stuff to tend to?! Will this be allowed in Washington?

Another article with some interesting quotes from others that know Palin.

"She looked in my eyes and said, 'Yes, I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime.'"

"The real disturbing thing about Sarah is her mind-set. It's her underlying belief system that will influence how she responds in an international crisis, if she's ever in that position, and has the full might of the U.S. military in her hands. She gave some indication of that thinking in her ABC interview, when she suggested how willing she would be to go to war with Russia."

Howard Bess (a Baptist pastor) adds, "this person's election would be a disaster for the country and the world."

Sarah Palin stated in the ABC news interview her biggest credential is her work in energy. "...this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy."
That is wrong. Alaska produces 14% of oil for US, but she said "energy" not "oil". Alaska produced 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production. Big difference! More on factcheck.org.

Texas family update: One brother's house fared good with minor damages. The other brother with a house on the bay has not been inside yet, but a friend said the main house is still standing (on the stilts - is that what it's called?). The one-story half house is gone, and ofcourse their pier and new boathouse are gone. Both of his neighbors on either side had one story houses on the ground and they are gone. The yard is gone and water is now almost up to the pilings. Maybe I'll know more tomorrow. So glad they evacuated. So sad for all the work and clean up that is ahead of them.

I made Jeff suffer thru a hour or so of hurricane Ike coverage this morning. He's not as interested in it as me, but he didnt grow up there either, with relatives that had to evacuate houses on the bay. The local news site has started posting viewers photos - beautiful skies as the storm was coming in: www.click2houston.com/slideshow/news/17453226/detail.html. I'm still anxious to see more, just waiting on the reporters to get out more.
I read where the Kemah Boardwalk and several surrounding million dollars homes are submerged. I'm glad I got to see it just a few months ago.

I saw an interesting news headline that McCain voted against a law requiring free rape exams. This ofcourse peaked my interest since I'm pro-choice and he's not, so how could he also do this. Sometimes the readers comments have more information than the actual article. I love that other people do the research for me. I knew that pieces of legislation are huge and packed with several sections, but I had no idea they were this big! This H.R.3355 is over 300 pages. I did skim through it, and to me it look like there was alot of good stuff in here, community grants, gun safety for youth, some prison stuff, etc. I dont think I could be a law maker though and have to keep up with several of these going up for vote. Anyway, it did pass, you can see who voted here (Biden voted yea, McCain nay).

I did watch the ABCnews Palin interview last night. I was not impressed. She sounded rehearsed, so much so she repeated herself and couldn't come up with a new answer, several times making me feel like I was lost in a sea of words. And the clips of her speaking in a church, saying OUR soldiers were on a task from God scared the crap out of me. Let the people in the middle east fight a holy war, not us!

Looks like several of my relatives will get a direct hit from hurricane Ike. I really hope my brother's bay house holds up. I saw that they started mandatory evacuations in Houston. I hope they do a better job with the roads and evacuation routes than they did with Rita. What would normally take 3 hours to get to my parents took them 12 hours. Guess I'll call later and see how much company my parents will have.
I was looking up Houston news, and they have a huge list of traffic cameras set up everywhere. It's interesting to see the roads already filling up.

I'm still baffled by how many people are talking about Sarah Palin, and talking like they'd vote for McCain just because of her. In my opinion she has barely any experience and was only chosen to fill a demographic to get Hillary supporters away from Obama. I decided to write down a few things that are big on my list for voting this election.

Obama(Columbia Univ, Harvard Law- top of class)
- 47 years old
- would increase taxes for extremely wealthy (unlike McCain)
- does not take contributions from lobbyists
- opposed the Iraq war since 2002
- called to repeal the Patriot Act
- excellent ideas for education reform
- 10+ years Senate experience

Biden (Univ of Delaware 506th of 688, Syracuse Univ College of Law 76 of 85)
- 30+ years Senate experience (plenty of info available)

McCain (US Naval academy, 894 of 899 - come on -even Bush went to Yale)
- 72 years old
- crashed 5 navy aircraft
- POW, returned home to former model wife now 5" shorter and with her own injuries, so he cheated on her w/in a year, and later marrying someone 18 years younger than him
- admits not knowing how to use a computer
- said on camera he does not know how many houses he owns
- 20+ years Senate experience, 5 in House of Rep
- voted to extend the wiretap provision in the Patriot Act (which is totally against everything the constitution stands for)
- uses talk of terrorism to keep this country scared and voting republican.

Sarah Palin (5 colleges, finally graduating from Univ of Idaho in journalism)
- PTA to town council to mayor of town of 7,000 to governor for less than 2 years.
- when will she finally do a real interview and answer hard questions?!
- yes she seems real and can speak eloquently, but do we want a hockey mom for #2 in line ?! Several people have said how they like that she's just like anyone else. That's great for a city mayor, but the US is a major player in world politics - I want someone more prepared to handle it, someone that is highly educated and prepared for the role.

Added 9/11: Matt Damon did an interview where he said it was like a scary Disney movie. The numbers say there is a 1 in 3 chance McCain will not live through is first term, so we'd have this hockey mom working relations with Russia. scary. So true!

I found some more information on the study of US clothing sizing and vanity sizing issues. In 2004 they scanned 10,000 subjects of all ages and races and took measurements. A couple interesting results:
* Of course we're getting taller and heavier, but heavier faster
* In 1941, the average woman’s measurements were about 35-27-37 (mostly white women measured for this though)
* In 2004, the average woman's measurements were 40-24-43 (all races)
* Average weight has risen to 157 pounds and Average sizes are now 14 to 16
And at the end of this paper, there is a note implying that Levi stopped their customization option for clothing where they'd scan your body and make the perfect jeans just for you. Well I didn't think I'd get back to San Francisco anytime soon (where I was told that store was).

Most of the family knows, and yesterday I told my boss and put it on facebook. So it's out in the open - we're pregnant with our first.
I started a separate blog for the baby stuff: http://babymach.blogspot.com .

Yeah a 3-day weekend! Saturday, I took off to my friend Stacy's house and then we headed to Franklin, TN to go shopping. They have a very cute downtown with cooler shops than anywhere in Hsv. And we usually hit lots of antique shops too. We started off with a large breakfast at Dotson's - looks like a hole in the wall, but very good food. The past 2 years we've been a little before Christmas and I think I liked the selection better then, since I dont usually decorate my house for fall harvest. Main St downtown was blocked off for a Jazz Fest but it didnt start till 5pm, so we didnt stick around that late. When we got back to Stacy's that night she showed me their new pregnant goat and the guineas and chickens and all the house renovations. Yes she stays busy. I came home to find a clean house and cut grass - Jeff was busy :) We thought his friends were going to have to stay here b/c other relatives were evacuated from Louisiana and were staying at her parents house but I guess they shifted them around b/t a few houses.

I called my parents today and it looks like my 2 brothers did not make it out of Houston in time (one lives on the water and another in Clear Lake). Houston had not called for an evacuation, but all the Louisiana people made friends with Texans and were headed west, so the roadways were already deadlocked with cars and gas stations were drying up. I hope Gustav doesn't make it to Category 4 and they ride it out ok.

Gotta make a couple dishes to take to a cookout...

This past weekend we went to Bham to hang with Jeff's family. My sister-in-law picked up a beautiful pink cake. Normally I don't post unflattering photos of myself, but this is pretty funny. I don't think I've blown out birthday candles for close to 10 years. We had a good time. Sorry I didn't get more photos.

Yesterday I ran into a friend from work who said he'd been to Italy recently and was heading toward Greece for fun. I mentioned how my cousins were there a few weeks ago. Well today I got their photos (gorgeous as expected). Then Allen fw'd his Italy photos. So - you can guess it - I'm longing for another amazing vacation. Why is it that Alabama just can't seem to keep me entertained ? ;)
I do have a Texas trip next month to look forward to - friends wedding and then visit my family. I am really looking forward to that, its just on a different level than Europe. C'est la vie.

Jeff got back from San Diego and couldn't hold in a surprise - asked me if I wanted my birthday present early. I said only if he still gives me something on my actual birthday (like flowers). I was very impressed with the necklace - definitely the coolest piece of jewelry he's ever given me. My wedding ring is beautiful, but this is cool. I think he said it was some kind of shell from New Zealand.
Last night we tried out the Dolce restaurant in Beale Street - heard it was half off on Sundays. I'm glad we didnt have to pay regular price since I was not that impressed. And watch out if you order a side salad - they are $9 - that's crazy!
We had a lazy weekend watching alot of Olympics. I have a co-worker whose daughter is swimming the backstroke. Pretty exciting.

So I have tried out 3 different teachers for the wine and canvas type parties. I think I still like the first the best. A couple weeks ago there was one at the Monaco, and that teacher was a flake. She kept saying stuff like, oh use whatever color you want and if that's where you want to put it well you go right ahead honey. And she didn't even start her own painting till 1.5 hours into it. That's not teaching! Last night was another lady that came to my friends office. She was a better teacher and more likeable overall, but the painting was a bit ambitious for new painters. Most of the other/student paintings in the room did not have much dimension. She had one painting done, and then the painting she painted in class was with mostly different colors. So that made it a bit hard for me to follow. I'm not crazy about mine - still deciding if I'll hang it up in my kitchen or not.


The wine and cheese is the most recent. The Van Gogh style one is from the Monaco party - supposed to be Starry night over Huntsville. I may have to buy some paints and work on that one some more.

Friday night Jeff and I left work a little early to head over to Bear Creek Canoe Run and get our campsite. We arrived about 3:30 to find the place closed and gate locked. So we drive 20 minutes back to town, call leave message and piddle around dollar stores. The owners returned about 5:30 (some emergency kept them away). We set up our tent in some drizzling weather. 6pm - no sign of friends. I guess about 6:30 we drive back up the hill a couple miles to get cell signal and leave messages. The brothers are lost but found some cool Bluegrass festival with old men missing teeth. I think a little after 7 the others get there. Claire brought a pop up tent which turned out great since the rain didnt stop. We also had portable tiny charcoal grills which we had to cook on since we couldn't get a fire. About 10pm the bottom dropped out and lots of rain came down. I was ok with rain, but the lightening kept bringing flashes to mind of all the downed trees in our neighborhood last weekend and I knew our tent would not stand a chance against a tree. The heavy storms lasted about 2 hours - no sleep for me when the ground kept shaking! Afterward the slow steady rain was nice except that I had drips on my legs (yes rain guard must have leaky seams). It kinda reminded me of chinese water torture - when was the next drop going to fall. So I guess I got about 4 hours sleep that night.
For breakfast we boiled omelets in a baggy -pretty easy and tasty. We went kayaking about noon for the half day trip. We went down lower bear creek, that had class I and II rapids. I think there were only class I rapids though. The water was a bit murky after all the rain, but it was a pretty float trip. In the middle we found a beautiful waterfall that you walked over shallow rocks and under a cliff edge to get to. The guys went in the swimming hole which was freezing. They guys also jumped off a rope swing a few times in another spot. After we had floated for 4.5 hours we got worried that we somehow missed our exiting spot, but we found it - guess we were just slow paddlers. Sunny managed to flip her kayaking 3 times I think. Jeff did once and had to struggle to get the water out and get back in (sorry noone stopped to help). So there were a few bang-ups in the bunch, several bug bites, one ankle twist, and one puking incident, but that was about it.
We returned home Sunday morning exhausted with alot of wet muddy stuff to clean up.

My long weekend in LA, Cali was jam packed and very fun. Stephanie and I went to see Patrick get married. That wedding is now on the top of my list as most beautiful that I've been to. Ranch in Malibu, garden set up, lights and flowerballs hanging from the trees, a big sweeping tent with more lights for the reception... you get the idea. The only 'super star' I noticed was Justin Guarini (Amerian Idol season 1) but he didnt do any singing, they just had a DJ. And after the wedding they had a bon fire - yes even that was glamorous :) For the other days we mostly stayed around the beach areas of Venice Beach and Santa Monica. Riding bikes from the hotel down the bike path was alot of fun! (Though my own bike seat would have been more comfortable). One day we did cruise over to Hollywood Blvd, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Dr, and then went down Mulholland Dr and on to the Getty Museum. That was another gorgeous place - set back in the hills, cool art, amazing circular garden, and there just happened to be an assortment of live music to add to the atmosphere. I think the only 'bad' part of the trip was that we kept forgetting our jackets and were a bit chilly at night with a breeze in the 60s. Ofcourse we stepped off the plane coming home and couldn't breathe in the 97 degree hot humid weather. That definitely meant the mini vacation was over!

Now for something closer to home - we're camping and kayaking this weekend. maybe next weekend I'll stay at home. or not :)

This morning the XM radio wasn't working thru the TIVO so I had to listen to VH1 for music while getting ready. I became paralyzed for a minute (or two) and had to watch - New Kids on the Block has a new video out. My biggest memory of them is that I didnt know who they were and felt rejected in my first classroom in 8th grade. I'll backup...
When I was in 7th grade in Houston my musical influences were from my brother - Rock music like Guns & Roses, Def Leopard and Led Zeppelin -- and another friend who listened to Depeche Mode and Erasure. Move forward, I get transplanted to Alabama arrive in a new school and all the girls are asking me which NKOTB was my favorite. I had no idea what/who they were talking about so they looked at me like I came from another country. Instead I made friends with Carole, the one chick in the class wearing mostly black and a studded necklace. From then on I was into GlamRock and went to all the rock concerts that came through town (Poison, Skid Row, etc). And it took a while, but I did befriend the other girls in the class, and we stayed decent friends through highschool.

This past weekend we went to the Hsv Farmers Market. It was free corn day - man, that brings out lots of people! I thought it'd be free raw corn still in the shucks, but no, it was small 1/3 cobb pieces that were grilled. We did pick up some plums, cantaloupe, blueberries and squash though. I was not over impressed with the plums and cantaloupe though. And why is a guy there selling plums from California?! I guess I misunderstood the purpose of a local farmers market. I do like the blueberries in my cereal, though they are pretty pricey. I'm still hoping the (closer to me) Madison farmers market grows more to include more food items instead of plants and soaps. And before I go back, I'm going to take a notepad to the grocery store and write down prices so I can compare and see if it's worth the gas money to go back. It sucks how I think in terms of gas money now. For example, my company is having a free ice cream social today. It's approximately 16 miles round trip for me to go. That makes it about $3 in gas, so technically not free. and it's not bluebell, so is it worth it?

I'm back from the Alaskan cruise. This was a family trip with several of Jeff's family members - 12 of us all together. We were on Royal Caribbean ship out of Seattle going to Juneau, Skagway, Prince Rupert and back into Seattle. A great time was had by all. We had beautiful blue skies and clear weather at all the ports. I was most excited about the whale watching excursion. We found 2 sets of mama and baby humpback whales and several other hb whales. No orcas though. We saw 2 glaciers, hiked through a rainforest, hiked a different 6 mile trail to some waterfalls, battled mosquitoes larger than Texas ones, got woken up by the foghorns, saw sea lions, walked on a beach to find petroglyphs, stretched our bellies from all the good food, battled with Ramada when a nest of ticks was found in the bed, and much more that I'm not remembering right now. I think part of the post vacation bliss I'm feeling right now is realizing how cool a family I married into. A mother-in-law that paid for and planned a vacation like this, being there and having fun, and coming back and liking them even more - life is good!

Now the mission is to get 1200 photos (combined from everyone) condensed into a single photo album. That will be my project for the next few weeks. Right now, a few photos are found here (in folders by day)
http://picasaweb.google.com/themachamers